Bella
"Come on, Nessie! Try some, please?"
Renesmee frowned at the plate I set before her. She sniffed in and delicately scowled. "But it smells funny…"
I looked at the plate of raw hamburger I had placed in front of her and silently agreed. Ever since Nahuel had told us that he, a human/vampire, could eat some human foods, I had tried to convince Renesmee that she should try some too. And since Edward and I wanted to keep her on a still blood diet, we decided to try raw foods before we used the cooked food.
I forced a smile. "Just one bite?"
Nessie picked up her fork and speared a small piece of meat. She sniffed it again, popped it into her mouth, and dramatically swallowed. She blinked then gave a crooked smile that she had picked up after watching Edward smile.
"Do you like it?"
"Hmm…" Nessie took another bite and this time chewed thoroughly. "I think I might just like it more than doe…"
I heard a chuckle and turned to see Edward leaning in the doorframe. He wrinkled his nose. "Bella, love, can Nessie eat that outside next time? It's bad enough that Jacob spends most of his time here smelling like he does, but do you really need to bring another animal into the house?"
I shrugged. Edward had really taken into calling the cottage our "house" because we had finally settled quite comfortably in it. Nessie had been begging us to paint her room but, when we refused, she had gone to Alice. Of course, Alice couldn't resist and now Nessie's room was creamy white and chocolate brown. Nessie laughed. "It's really good, Daddy. You want to try some?" She extended her fork and waved it in front of him.
Edward smiled and politely pushed the fork away. "Maybe later, Nessie. How about we go see the family?"
"Yay!" Renesmee cheered and pushed the food away, her new interest forgotten. I shot Edward a look, to which he smiled slightly at. Nessie jumped onto Edward's back and nudged him with her feet. Edward took my hand and, after closing the cottage door, we started running towards the house. Once the house was in sight, Nessie promptly jumped off Edward and experimented with her own running skills. She was fast for a human, but somewhat slow for a vampire.
I skidded to a stop at the back door and opened it quietly. I listened carefully and heard them from the living room. Renesmee had not stopped running and flew past me to greet her extended family. Edward chuckled and we followed her.
I almost burst into laughter when I saw what the family was doing. Rosalie, Emmett, and Jasper were all sitting around the coffee table playing poker. Alice stood to the front of the table, playing dealer. "I see to your bet, Rose, and I raise you five hundred," Jasper said coolly, pushing a large pile of chips into the center of the table.
Emmett folded but Rosalie smiled angelically. She pushed her own chips into the center. "Okay, Jazz, what do you have?"
"House of Kings," Jasper said, showing the cards to her.
"House of Aces," Rosalie retorted, collecting the chips from the table.
Esme chuckled as she watched from the couch behind them. I looked around and noticed a family member missing. "Where's Carlisle?" I asked Esme.
"He's in his study." Esme frowned slightly in disapproval. "He's been in there a lot lately. I wonder what's going on…"
Edward and I watched with amusement as Renesmee sat down at the table, eager to know what kind of game they were playing. After watching a couple of hands, she joined in. It wasn't long before she had a large pile of chips in front of her, with Emmett and Jasper with only ten chips left.
I heard a door close and looked up. Carlisle appeared from the hall and walked somewhat slowly towards the living room. His face was full of concern. Edward stared curiously at him, reading his thoughts. He blinked and looked confused. Clearly, Carlisle had something to say.
Carlisle cleared his throat and the poker players looked up. "What's wrong, Carlisle?" asked Esme as she beckoned him to sit next to her.
"Everything," Carlisle replied tiredly as he plopped onto the couch.
We all looked curiously at him. Everything? Just one year ago, we had fought against the Volturi and won. Just one year ago, I had joined the family with my newfound gift. Just one year ago, it had been chaos. But now, it seemed calm.
"What do you mean?" Jasper finally asked.
Carlisle sighed. "When we were gaining allies before we fought with the Volturi, I had called all of my own friends to join us. It occurred to me only a week ago that I had forgotten an important coven. This coven could fairly easily bring us to dust."
"The Liberty Coven," Edward murmured.
"Yes, the Liberty Coven. This coven is one of the strongest and most powerful covens in the entire world."
Nessie hopped into Carlisle's lap. "I don't understand. I thought you and Daddy said that the Volturi was strongest coven with the most threatening vampires of all…"
Carlisle smiled at her. "Although the Volturi is strong, Liberty is said to be stronger. And, unfortunately for us, they have just learned of you, Renesmee."
It took a moment for his words to sink in. "How did they find out?" I asked.
"Liberty has many people who fear them, some of which are humans. They do not care who sees them use their talents, as long as that person is dead after a short period. One human was a witness to the Volturi battle. That foolish human had poor hearing so he didn't quite understand the whole purpose of the battle. So, all he reported was that a vampire baby was born and the Volturi was fighting over it."
"Are we going to have to fight them?" Rosalie asked Alice.
Alice stared off into space and blinked. "I don't see anything, Rose…" She looked at Carlisle to explain.
"Liberty has an illusionist," he explained, "But let me finish my thought. I have talked with the coven leader, Jennifer, if she would meet us to discuss the whole matter. After careful consideration from the other members of the coven, they have agreed to meet with two representatives of our family in their own home and perhaps come to a better conclusion."
I looked at Edward and his now understanding face. "You wish to send Bella and me to meet with them?" he asked.
Carlisle nodded. "I thought it would be the best choice, with both your gifts and also the fact that you are the parents of dear Nessie."
Edward sat, thoughtfully. He turned to me. "Would you be willing to go through that, love?"
"If it is for the sake of our daughter," I replied carefully.
"Before we send you off," Carlisle interrupted, "I wish to tell you of the dangers and the abilities of Liberty. I had to talk to many other friends in order to give you a proper retell of their strengths. Besides, that way, you may be able to influence them further."
"Of course," Edward replied.
"Very well then. Of course, there is the leader, Jennifer. Jennifer is one of the most remarkable vampires ever to exist. She possesses on of the strangest and most deadly gift. She can cause you to instantly die."
"Instantly die?" Emmett asked in disbelief.
"With just one touch, Jennifer can cause humans to die but vampires to go into a coma. Once in that coma, you are trapped in a world that you cannot escape. Because her gift is so dangerous, Jennifer uses it for the use of money. People will hire her to kill a certain person, which she will do quite easily, and then collect the sum of money she orders them to pay.
"Then, there is her mate, Jesse. Jesse is called the perfect match for Jennifer because his gift is the exact opposite of hers. Jesse can raise the dead, or when a vampire is in a coma, he can instantly revive them. He can also enter the world where you are trapped in and sometimes, he persuades vampires to join the Liberty side. After they are convinced, he revives them and they begin to support Liberty.
"Then, there is the illusionist, Claudiena. Claudiena is similar to Zafrina but somewhat more advanced. Once she projects her illusion out of her and into someone else, she can make that person feel and hear everything to match the illusion. For example, let's say she projected you to be in the center of a lion attack. You would feel the lions clawing at you but have no visible injuries. She can also use her talent on other people's gifts."
"So, she created an illusion of a perfect ordinary day so I couldn't see into the future?" Alice asked.
"Yes. She can also use illusions to cause a mind reader, like Edward, to hear another thought. She joined with Liberty after Jennifer discovered just how useful she would be. Finally, there is Tomas, Claudiena's creator but also her mate. Tomas trained Claudiena and later the two fell in love. Tomas can freeze people."
"He puts them in a block of ice, like in those old superhero movies?" asked Nessie eagerly.
Carlisle chuckled. "He physically freezes a certain object. For example, he can freeze a body, an animal, a storm…Even a heart. He can just simply hold up his hand and that object will completely stop."
Edward frowned. "This sounds extremely dangerous, Carlisle. How do we know that Liberty won't try and trick us?"
"Honestly? We don't. We just have to hope that they only want to talk or else we declare war with them."
"Bella and I love Renesmee. We will go…" Edward replied.
"Excellent. You leave tomorrow…"
