Jewel in the Crown

Chapter 7: Impenetrable

Bella and I walk out of the shadows of the square and down the alley until we reach the back entrance to the Volturi's fortress. Bella is obviously terrified, clinging to me and looking at me with large brown eyes. When we reach the grate, I grasp her as tightly as I can and jump.

She is freezing cold, but refuses to let go of me. I can hear Felix huffing and puffing behind me at the slow pace, so I pick her up and carry her. She buries her face in my shoulder and we are all able to move much more quickly.

Too soon, we are standing before Marcus, Aro, and Caius again. Marcus is looking bored. Aro looks absolutely delighted, while Caius looks fierce. Within each of their minds, I can read Marcus's amazement at the tight relationship between Bella and I, at least from my side. He lightly touches Aro's hand. For a second, Aro's thoughts are triumphant, but then his mind is whirring with possibilities.

This is not good. My only hope had been that he would decide quickly so that Alice would know of our fate. Instead, he is refusing to consider outcomes, only possibilities, nothing that Alice can see. In Caius's mind I can read all of the vindictive pleasure that he will get if Bella is killed, not only watching her pain, but mine as well. At least he cannot discern that of the many choices that Aro is considering, so far none of them involve death for either of us.

I take the time to look around the room. They are all there, the whole guard and the wives. They are waiting for Heidi to return with their next meal. This will force Aro's hand quickly. If he wishes to preserve Bella, he is going to have to get her out of the tower room before the feeding frenzy begins. He lifts his hand languidly and gestures to a pair of small vampires who are standing off to the side.

"Jane, Alec," he whispers. "Come here."

With a whoosh of air they are at his side, each with the same bored expression as Marcus.

"Put her down, Edward," he says. "Why don't you introduce us?"

"Bella, this is Aro," I say as he moves forward towards us. "Aro, I believe that you have already met Bella, after a fashion."

Bella is too scared to speak, but she nods. He reaches forward and I reluctantly extend my hand. He very much likes something that he sees. For some bizarre reason, he is pleased that Bella is here. He drops my hand.

Then he grasps Bella's hand and concentrates for several minutes, but at last he looks up bemused. If I weren't so worried, I feel smug.

"Nothing, I see nothing," he says.

Bella looks up at me.

"Aro can read every thought that you've ever had," I explain. "But just as I can't read your mind, neither can he."

Aro takes a step back; and inclines his head toward Jane. Before I can react, Jane locks her gaze on Bella. I wait for her to begin writhing in pain. But nothing happens. Once again, Bella looks up at me in confusion.

"Jane has the ability to create intolerable pain in your mind," I say. "You believe that you are burning, but nothing is actually happening to you. I guess that her power doesn't work on you either."

Jane scowls, but for some strange reason, Aro looks pleased. He glances back at Alec. For a moment, nothing seems to be happening, but then it hits me. I am blind, deaf, and unable to feel anything. I know that it is all in my mind, so I keep very still. This is torture because I have no idea of how Bella might be reacting. After a few moments, I am present in the moment once again. Bella looks at me in utter bewilderment.

"What is going on?" she asks.

"What just happened now?" I ask in return.

"Nothing," she replies. "He was looking at us and you froze stiff. But I didn't feel anything at all."

"You weren't blind or deaf?" I ask quickly.

"No, was I supposed to be?"

Suddenly, we are interrupted by a high-pitched laugh. I drag my eyes away from Bella and Aro is laughing almost hysterically. Caius has lost his hostile look and now looks thoughtful. Marcus, despite his attempt to remain indifferent, looks mildly amused. The others in the tower room look puzzled, except for Jane and Alec. They are angry.

"Demetri!" cries Aro. "Can you get the flavor of her mind? Could you track her if you had to?"

Bella and I turn to see Demetri focusing very hard on Bella. But after a few minutes, he shakes his head and holds out his hands in a gesture of defeat. But I can see that he is unperturbed. He doesn't really think that Bella will be going anywhere.

"She confounds us all!" cries Aro, as if this is the best news that he has had in a long time. "What a wonderful day this is!"

Suddenly, Aro thinks that he has not one, but possibly two jewels to add to his crown. Whatever he sees in Bella makes no sense to me. But Caius quickly interrupts him.

"Heidi is due any minute," he says quickly.

"Get them out!" commands Aro. "Unless, Edward, you would like to join us."

"I prefer to do my own hunting, thank you," I answer through gritted teeth.

"Yes, of course, just like your father," he says. "Well, take them to the reception area where Gianna is, Demetri. We wouldn't want any accidents. The girl looks cold. Give her your cloak. We wouldn't want her to get sick now, would we?"

Demetri looks both baffled and annoyed. He is baffled because he doesn't understand why he is not adding Bella and her sweet blood to the feast. He had already been thinking of how he could reach her before Felix, who is also disappointed by this odd turn of events. But now Demetri wants to get us out as quickly as possible so that he doesn't miss anything.

He tosses me the cloak, which I wrap around her and quickly scoop up Bella in my arms again and follow him out. We are barely out of the hall when we pass the line of tourists. And we fail to make it all the way to the reception area before the screaming starts. The enormity of what has just happened suddenly falls on Bella and she begins to tremble and sob.

All that I can do now is try to sooth her so that she doesn't completely go to pieces. But I still have no idea of how she got here and why. Someone obviously brought her to prove to me that she was still alive. And it must have been someone who both knew that she was alive and what I planned to do. I don't even dare to think the name.