"Oh, there you are, Isabella," Raven said the next afternoon when she came back from class.

Isabella was sitting in the family room reading a book in Italian. Tony was sprawled out on the floor playing video games. Ray came in and kissed Isabella and grabbed another remote to play with Tony.

"Yes, Raven?" Isabella looked up from her book.

"Hey, um, Trey asked me to tell you something."

"Trey?" Isabella asked, sitting straighter."What did he say?"

"When did you talk with Trey?" Ray asked, looking over at her.

"Not that it's any of your concern, but he stopped by last night."

"He was here last night?"

"Yes, after Jake woke up everyone with that nightmare."

"Why is he coming to see you in the middle of the night?" Tony demanded.

"Why not? Everyone was up anyways."

"What did he say, Raven?" Isabella asked.

"He told me to tell you: forget it. What did he mean? Forget what?"

"Did I get that right?" Raven asked, looking at Isabella as Isabella only stared. "I swear, that's what he told me to say."

"Forget it?" Isabella repeated softly.

"Yes, that's what he said," Raven said slowly.

"No. Trey wouldn't say that," Isabella said, fighting back tears.

"I'm sure that's what he told me to say."

"No." Isabella covered her face and leaned over. Ray got up. "He can't. He can't, Ray," she moaned.

"I know, honey. Come on," he said, helping her up.

"Why would he say that, Raven?" Isabella demanded.

"I don't know. He just asked me to tell you," Raven said in wonder as tears streamed down Isabella's face.

"What's going on?" Tony demanded.

Isabella ignored him. "What were you talking about to make him say that?"

Raven spread her arms as if she didn't know.

"Please, Rave, think," Ray said.

"I don't know. Um, he had gotten upset, we were talking about trusting people, or lack of trusting, and he apologized for getting moody with me, and he promised me that no harm would ever come of me..."

Isabella ran out of the room. "Isabella!" Ray called, running after her.

"What in the world is going on around here?" Tony asked Raven.

"You know as much as I do."

"I doubt that."

"What?! Hey, he came by, we talked, he asked me to tell Isabella 'forget it' and now she's all upset. Is that new? She's been upset half the time she's been here."

Ray came back in the room. "Raven, get Trey on the phone."

"What?"

"I want to talk to him. Now."

"What's going on, Ray?" Tony asked.

"Believe me, best if you didn't know. Phone, Rave?"

Raven shrugged and pulled out her cell phone from her pocket. She brought up Trey's name and handed the phone to Ray.

Ray took it and left to go outside. He hit the send button and the phone dialed.

"Hello?" Trey answered.

"Trey, it's Ray."

"The boyfriend?" Trey asked with a chuckle.

"Yeah, that's me. Look, we need to talk."

"About what?"

"You know what."

"Apparently, I don't. Mind enlightening me?"

"Are you alone?"

Trey chuckled. "My, my, this is serious."

"Is he there with you?"

"He who?"

"Stop playing games, Trey. I know everything. And this is no time to play games. If Max is there, we can't talk about this now," Ray said angrily.

"Are you responding to my message?"

"Yes."

He heard Trey sigh. "She knows something I don't?" he asked quietly.

"Yes."

Trey cursed in Italian. "What... I can't talk now, Raven. I'll call you back later okay, darling?" he said smoothly.

Ray interpreted that to mean Max had walked into the room. "Alright, but don't tell him what you told Isabella, got it?"

"Sure, sweetheart. Ciao."

******************************

Trey looked over at Max. He suspected that Max had more of a plan than Trey and Isabella had planned. But he didn't think it'd be something against them. Obviously, it was if Isabella had broken down at the message and told her so-called boyfriend about it.

He wondered what Max had planned. To take it all for himself? That was possible. Max was always jealous of what Antonio had. You'd have to be a fool not to see it. So it had been extremely easy for Trey and Isabella to talk Max into their plan. It was simple. Maybe too simple.

But Max had always made allowances for him and Isabella. He was a softie with them sometimes, Trey knew. Max was definitely not someone to give in easy but Trey and Isabella somehow always managed to convince him to do things for them that other vampires couldn't. They went way back and Max had always been there for them.

Trey didn't understand why Ray had called though. What had made Isabella break their confidence and tell an outsider of their plan? And why was it that Ray and not Isabella who called after Trey said to forget the plan? And why would Ray say that Isabella know something that he didn't? What did Isabella know that would cause Ray's alarm? Why would it matter so much to Max that they call off the plan?

Ray said not to tell Max. So, Isabella knew it would upset Max to know. There was something going on and he needed to find out. Trey cursed in his mind. Another one not to trust to put on the list. He never thought it would be Max. Would the next one be? Isabella?

*****************************

"Are you okay?" Ray asked, putting an arm around a crying Isabella on the front porch swing.

"I'll be okay when I know he's safe."

"He's fine. By the sound of it, he hadn't gotten to telling Max about calling off the plan. And I told him not to."

"I hope he listens," Isabella wiped her tears away.

"He will."

"How can you be sure of that?"

"Because he didn't give it away to Max while we were on the phone. So he knows something's up. Especially since I called him."

"I still can't believe you did that."

"It's the only way, Isabella. We have no choice now."

"Did we ever have a choice?"

"It's more serious now."

"It was always serious, we just didn't know...didn't realize what he was really capable of."

"Well, now we know. And I'll be damned if I'm going to sit back and wait for Max to make the first move."

"God, how am I going to tell him, Ray?"

"Just tell him. It'll come out." Ray hugged her.

"He won't believe me. He never does where Max is concerned."

"Then we'll convince him to go on with the plan and he'll find out for himself."

*******************************

"Emily, I need you to tell me what's going on with Isabella and Ray," Tony demanded, coming into her bedroom without knocking.

"Don't you have to be invited in?" Emily asked from her couch. She closed the book she was reading and tucked it between the sofa cushions.

"You already invited me up here." He sat down in an arm chair across from her.

"How 'bout common courtesy?"

"There's no time for that."

"You want to know about Isabella and Ray and you're asking me? Why don't you ask them?"

"Because they won't tell me."

Emily chuckled. "Just let them be, they're in love."

"No. I don't mean about them being in love. As strange as that is. I mean, they're up to something and I want to know what," Tony said, leaning towards her.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean in the past several days my great granddaughter has been crying constantly. Now, I haven't known her that long but I find that unusual for her, especially since she's supposed to be so in love. And I have a sneaking suspicion it has something to do with this Trey guy that Raven's seeing."

"Why do you think that?"

"Because Raven delivered a message from him to Isabella saying 'forget it'. I want to know what 'it' is."

"What do you think is going on with Trey and Isabella?"

"That I don't know. But it concerns me. Immensely. Ray's never been so secretive. He's a lay it out on the table type of guy. He obviously knows something but he's not laying it out on the table. Something's up. Something big. And I think we need to know about it."

"If Ray thought we should be involved he would have brought us in on it," Emily said, shaking her head.

Tony's eyes widened, "You already know what it is, don't you?"

"They need to work this out themselves."

Tony started to protest.

"For now."

"You'll help them if they need you, right?"

"They need to want my help. And they don't. When they are willing, I will help. And so will you."

He sighed, "Ok. Fine, if you think they can handle whatever it is, I'll be patient," he said squeezing her shoulder, "for now."