"When the train arrives, we will take it to North Station," she repeated for the fifth time since they'd sat down. More to keep him awake than to actually reiterate the facts in her mind, he was sure. Bella's mind was like a steel trap. "There will be a car there for us, to take us to the airport. The helicopter will be there."

"Now, is this the helicopter that takes us to your clan, or the helicopter that takes us to the sanctuary?" He hadn't listened in on Bella's whispered phone conversation in Ziggy's car. Max didn't want to jinx things somehow.

"To New York City. My father's jet will be waiting at JFK, to take us to Rome ." She closed her eyes, intentionally this time, and breathed deeply. "Back home."

He didn't know what to think about the prospect of meeting Bella's family. Her obviously rich family. "Listen, if they don't like me—"

"It does not matter if they like you. What matters is keeping this child safe. They will understand that." She placed a hand on his knee and gave a comforting squeeze. "Now, don't you have a call to make?"

Reluctantly, he pulled the phone Ziggy had given him from his back pocket and flipped it open. "How do you do this?"

"Dial the number and talk." She pointed out, arching her eyebrow as if to imply he had lost his mind.

"That's not what I mean." He glanced at the sky, starless thanks to the bright lights of the nearby condo development. "How do you tell someone goodbye? How do you say, 'Nice knowing you, I'll never see you again?'"

Bella's eyes took on a faraway look for a moment, then turned with pity to him. "You do it knowing that it is for the best."

He opened the phone and dialed.

Later, I finally ate. Nathan had to prop me up on his arm and hold the bag for me to drink, but the blood restored me somewhat. By the end of the second bag, I could sit up and remain conscious. But I tired quickly, and I'd nearly nodded off again when the sound of Nathan's cell phone, muffled in the sleeping bag, woke me. Groggy, I sat up, fumbling for it. "I think you have voice mail. I can't believe you didn't put that on silent."

Nathan reached for the phone, glancing up at the ceiling of our little tomb. After a long moment, when he'd decided no one was lurking upstairs, he opened the phone and punched in some numbers.

I watched his face scrunch up with tension, then melt in relief at whatever he heard. "Oh, thank God. Max and Bella, are all right."