Emmett had definitely broken the tense silence. Jasper and Edward were trying to hide the fact that they were laughing by covering their mouths but their shoulders were shaking and they looked like they were having trouble breathing. Even though they didn't even have to breathe. Rosalie rolled her eyes and smacked Emmett in the back of the head. He tried to feign innocence while asking what he did but the huge grin on his face was giving him away. Alice and Bella were shaking their heads at their boyfriends and looking like they wanted nothing more than to follow Rosalie's lead. Poor Esme seemed to be wondering where she went wrong with the boys and Carlisle was smiling but shaking his head at the whole thing. Artemis was enjoying herself by just sitting back and watching the show. She didn't take offense to much of anything.
Eventually, Edward and Jasper cleared their throats and put their hands back down as if that was what they were doing the whole time. Alice and Bella rolled their eyes but didn't say anything. Artemis smiled brightly, looking very content, and leaned back, putting her hands behind her on the floor to hold her up. She looked very relaxed as she answered Emmett's question. "That's actually something both Carlisle and Ephraim asked me," she said and watched out of the corner of her eye as Esme gave her husband a reprimanding look and he shifted around nervously and shot a quick glare at Artemis, very likely thinking the word 'snitch'.
"And the reason," she continued with a smile on her face, "is because I'm… balanced right now." Without waiting for the questions, she explained, "When I'm relaxed or when I'm just not thinking about it, my body automatically rests at half vampire and half werewolf. At this point, I smell more like a human than anything else. I can consciously change my… well, species, I guess. I can't think of a better way to put it."
Artemis paused and blinked. There was another almost-breeze in the air and Bella noticed an immediate change in the way Artemis looked; the most noticeable of which was that her eyes were now yellow instead of blue (yellow, which was very reassuring to all present). If she was beautiful before, there weren't words to describe the way she looked now. She knew that Artemis had just demonstrated how simple it was for her to become more of one species than another. Bella was, once again, struck by how alluring vampires were, even when they weren't trying to be. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she remembered that it was one of the things that made them the best predators.
Edward was instantly tense when Artemis forced her vampire-self to the front. He didn't know how much control she had over the thirst or if living with wolves for so long had weakened her strength. He wrapped his arm back around Bella and pulled her close.
This time, Artemis didn't ignore his actions. She smiled reassuringly at him, "You don't have to worry. I'm no more likely to loose control as a full vampire than I am as half. You may think that living with the pack, I don't have many opportunities to sense things as a vampire so my resolve is weakened, but it actually means it's easier for me to keep control. I get more practice than you think. Not to mention, when I was first turned, Carlisle and Esme spent a lot of time training me. I'm not a threat to her or any other human. Even if I meet someone who has the same effect on me that Bella has on you, all I'd have to do is force my wolf-self out and there's no temptation."
Edward looked unsure for a moment but he glanced at Carlisle and that seemed to make up his mind. Bella felt him relax and move his arm so that she could hold his hand instead. For a moment, Bella was very happy with the way things were turning out. But then she remembered something and couldn't stop herself, "What's your power? You said you saw their minds or something. What does that mean? Was that what you did to Mike? Did you even do anything to Mike?"
"Slow down," Artemis giggled, "I'll answer all your questions. There's no time limit or anything." Bella blushed and laughed nervously but Artemis seemed happier now that the conversation had turned to the subject of her power. "Like I said, I think my power is really-"
"Artemis," Carlisle cut her off sternly. "Who is Mike and what did you do to him?"
Artemis sighed and turned her head to him. "Mike Newton is a guy I met at school today and I didn't do anything…much." Carlisle narrowed his eyes at her and she fidgeted nervously. "Well, I didn't! He was just being really nosy and he was pressing in a subject that I didn't want to get into. So I… nudged him in a different direction. No harm done, I promise."
Carlisle looked at her suspiciously for a moment but he nodded after a moment, satisfied that she hadn't been abusing the power that she thought was really cool. She turned back to the rest of the family and started talking again. "Well, my gift is a lot like Edward's only cooler," she giggled to let him know that she was just teasing and then continued, "I can read people's minds if I want to but I can also…tweak them and the thought doesn't have to just be one that's passing through your mind for me to hear it. I kind of think of it as going into someone's mind and looking through all the files and stuff till I find what I want."
Most of the faces around the room were still confused so Artemis tried again, this time talking mainly to Bella, "Ok, let me see. Hmm… Oh! Ok, that's perfect. So Edward's power is like everyone's mind is a radio, right?" Edward and Bella both looked confused as to how she would know that since that was the way Edward had described it to Bella when she had first learned about his power such a long time ago. They nodded slowly and made a mental note to ask her later. "Well my power is more like… a house. Everyone's mind is a house. And for a normal person, all those doors would be shut and locked because normal people can't read minds. But, for me, almost every door is wide open. Some doors are shut, but those are usually unlocked. It's actually not that hard to lock your door; I taught Jake how to do it when he was little. The thing is, I can pick the locks. He doesn't know that but I've never forced my way into his mind. I actually try not to use my power too much. I don't have to actively tune anyone out because the thoughts don't really jump out at me. I have to go to the door myself. Does that make more sense?"
Bella looked thoughtful but then she nodded. "Yeah, I think I get it." She looked nervous, like she wanted to ask something but wasn't sure if she should. Artemis looked at her expectantly until she finally asked, "So, can you read my mind?"
Artemis seemed to think about this for a second, "I had heard that your mind was… difficult." She paused and then continued, "Hmm that is odd. I've never encountered anything like this." Bella subconsciously leaned forward in her seat as she waited to find out if Artemis's power would do what Edward's, Jane's and Aro's could not. "Bella, would you mind working with me for a moment?" she asked finally.
Her brow furrowed in confusion, "Sure, but how?" Edward tensed slightly but he trusted Artemis a little more now so he didn't voice his disapproval just yet and instead watched to see what would happen first.
"Ok, here's the thing," she said, sitting up straight and looking very interested. "Your mind's door is locked. And I've never seen any door locked like this. So I'm gonna teach you how to unlock your door the same way I taught Jake to lock his. Only if you want to, of course."
Bella thought for a moment and bit the inside of her cheek. "Will I be able to lock it back?" she asked, trying to make sure she didn't look at Edward. He laughed lightly simply because that was the one thing she was afraid of.
Artemis smiled sweetly and nodded her head, "Of course. You won't be…breaking the lock or anything. You're simply, unlocking the door. You can lock it back as soon as you want to. I don't even know if Edward will be able to hear your mind when you unlock the door. His power is different from mine, remember? And after all, Edward can still read Jake's mind when he's locked the door to me."
"Well," Bella said almost reluctantly. But she couldn't resist finding out what would happen. "Ok. What do I do?"
With an excited grin, Artemis invited Bella to join her on the floor. They spoke animatedly and excitedly while Esme decided that Bella and Artemis couldn't have gotten a decent lunch and went to the kitchen to rectify the situation. She loved having people around she could cook for. Carlisle smiled and followed Esme for no real reason except to be around her. The rest of the family chose to stick around to hear how to lock their mind, half hoping that they could block the nosy Edward and, of course, to see if Edward would soon be able to read Bella's mind.
