Prologue
They were coming for us.
This wasn't a trial.
This was the execution.
They didn't care about Jackson's actions; they, all of them, were scapegoats.
The Olympic Coven was becoming too large, too powerful. That is what this was really about.
Aro didn't give a damn that human blood flowed through the veins of the child; he was here for slaughter.
I backed up, raising the front layer of my shield to surround our witnesses. My heart sank as I glanced to the other side of the field where Edward stood next to Carlisle, shielding Esme from the impending terror. As if he could feel my gaze, he turned, and his eyes met my own. An invisible force pulled my chest. I was sorry. I was sorry I fought with him; sorry I fought my hardest to make the inevitable not happen. I did love him; I always have and I always will. Why did I try to lie to myself? Why did I try to hurt him with the weapon of ignorance for the past two decades?
They told me not to expose myself—the full potential of my shield. I had the ability to hide—my mind, my scent, myself, everything.
Aro made a notion to move, but I couldn't help myself. If this was the end, so be it. In their vision, I disappeared. By the gasp coming from the one called Felix, I knew they had been watching me. Swiftly, I moved across the clearing. The gasp returned when I suddenly appeared next to my family.
Edward's hand slipped slowly into mine as he took count of my decision.
We were lovers, not fighters.