"Very well," Marcus began, in his typical monotone voice. "Then let us see what kind of power the little one possesses, shall we?"
"She is obviously a shield, but I believe she should be able to share it," Aro said.
"Then, how do we test the theory?" Caius asked. "Have her try to shield someone?"
"That would seem the easiest way. Felix, please come here. Stand by Isabella," Aro directed.
Felix came and stood beside her, towering over her with his great height.
"What do I do?" She asked.
"Your shield exists around your mind, Isabella. Try to feel it."
She explored the feelings within her, but she didn't know what of all the sensations to associate with her shield.
"I don't know how."
"Jane, try your power against her again. Isabella, while she is doing that, see if you can feel what she is trying to do."
"You want me to try to feel her power?"
"Try to feel its effect on your shield."
"Okay," she responded warily before turning her attention to Jane. "Hit me with your best shot."
Jane grinned before narrowing her eyes at Isabella. She focused on trying to feel any change, but there was nothing. Then she decided to try and see if she could feel Jane's power if she wanted to.
That, it turned out, was a mistake, because she succeeded. Unimaginable pain shot through her and she collapsed to her knees, screaming.
"Jane, stop!" Isabella heard Aro call, but Jane had already.
She knew Jane was no longer trying to hurt her, but the memory of the pain was slow to fade as she lay on the floor trying to regain her senses. After a second she tried to stand, but felt herself falling before she could regain her balance. Felix reached out and grabbed her before she fell again.
"Isabella, are you alright? Did she break you?" Felix sounded genuinely concerned as he cradled her to his chest.
"I'm okay, I think," she told him as she tried again to get her feet back under her. He kept his hold on her arms, just to be safe. "I felt it! I moved it!" She got excited when it finally dawned on her why she was in such pain.
At this point, Felix was chuckling. Most of the others looked concerned. Aro looked... Proud? But Jane looked guilty. That was not the expression Isabella was expecting from Jane. Happy or smug, but not like she felt bad for hurting her. Could it be possible that none of these human-drinkers were evil, or even mean at all?
None of these vampires had hurt her. The ones who had hurt her were the good ones. She thought her definition of good and evil had turned on its head since she'd arrived in Italy. Nothing was what she expected it to be at all.
She pulled away from Felix's grasp, surprising the both of them with her strength, and ran toward Jane. Alec must have thought she meant to hurt Jane because he stepped in front of her in a crouch and narrowed his eyes at her. She stopped immediately, realizing everyone thought she meant revenge on Jane when she'd only meant to comfort her and assure her that she was okay.
Then she felt a silky fog moving over her body. It tickled and pushed at her newly discovered shield.
"What is that?" She asked in amazement.
Alec just stared for another moment, and then the feeling retreated and he stood back up.
"You stopped."
"Of course I stopped. You obviously thought I was attacking her."
"You weren't?"
"No, well, I mean I can see why you would think that, but I swear that's not what I meant."
"But you threw off Felix and ran at her after she hurt you. What were you doing if not seeking revenge?"
His eyes bore into hers with an intense curiosity that seemed more like one of Aro's looks than his own. As she stared for another second she realized, his eyes were a little bit purple around the edges. That made her remember why and she gave a small chuckle that she was sure sounded out of place to the situation, but she couldn't help herself. He disarmed her without ever meaning to. It was too easy to just be happy around Alec.
"She looked like she was upset that she'd gotten through. I don't know exactly what I would have done if I'd gotten to her, but it would have been closer to a hug than a punch, I promise."
"After I did that to you, you were planning to hug me?" Jane finally spoke up. "I can't say I've ever had that particular reaction to my power before."
"I'm sorry." Isabella couldn't tell if Jane was mad at her or just amused by her. "I just didn't want you to feel bad. It wasn't your fault. I was the one who moved my shield."
"Master Aro is right about you," she said with a small smile before turning and placing a hand on her brother's shoulder.
He looked at her for a moment and Isabella didn't know what he saw in her expression, because Jane's back was to her, but it must have been something good because he gave Isabella her favorite smile and his body relaxed a bit.
"Isabella," Aro called her back to the center of the room and the waiting Felix. "I know it is not easy to concentrate, you are so very young, but do you think we can try again?"
"Yes, Master. Now that I know what it is, I think I can move it more easily."
She returned to Felix and took his hands in hers, looking up into his eyes.
"Hang on a second, let me try this, okay? Just stay still."
He became a statue under her hands as she felt inside and found her shield. In the same way she felt it move earlier, she stretched and pushed it toward him. When her shield covered him entirely, she felt the strangest tingly sensation before she distinctly heard him say, "I hope this works. I've felt Jane's power before and I do not want to feel it again."
She looked up at him and gave him a small smile. "We can always have Alec try instead of Jane, if that would make you feel better."
"That's exactly what I was thinking," he responded with a huge smile.
That was what he was thinking? He said that out loud, right? She took a deep breath and double-checked the shield to make sure it was covering both of them.
"Okay, Alec. Give it a shot," she called to him.
Within a fraction of a second, she felt the silky fog of his power press against her shield. She'd have to ask him later what it did when it worked. For now, she glanced up to check on Felix.
He looked normal, but then she started feeling tingly again and she distinctly heard him say, "I wish Alec would hurry up, so we can get on to some fun training. I bet she has a hell of right hook." But he didn't say it because she was staring right at his mouth and it hadn't moved.
She was reading his mind! Hmm, this was going to be interesting.
She felt Alec draw his power away and she released Felix's hands and pulled back her shield.
"So, it works? You can share it," Aro said, sounding very excited by the news.
"There's a little more to it than that, Master," she told him with a smile.
"What do you mean, my child?" He had that look on his face; she'd piqued his curiosity again.
Walking over to him, she placed her hands in his.
"Ready?" She asked, excitement lacing her voice.
"For what?" he asked.
"Just this," she said before moving her shield away from her mind. She knew it had worked immediately because his face lit up.
"Isabella!"
"One more thing," she told him, before slipping her shield around his mind.
Where Felix's thoughts had brought on a tingly sensation, Aro's were like an explosion. She dropped to her knees with the intensity of it all. So many thoughts being shared, back and forth. She could only do it for a moment before it became too much and her shield popped back in place.
He knew so much. He'd experienced so much in his long life. And the lives and memories of all those he'd touched were there too. She'd only gotten a small taste, but it was enough to know she was hooked. She wanted to know everything he knew.
Her head fell into his lap, she was exhausted and exhilarated, all at once. She didn't even know vampires could get tired, but she felt very tired at the moment. Then she felt his hands petting her head and she wasn't quite so tired anymore. She was just happy and excited. This discovery meant a whole new life for her. She hoped he'd let her do it again.
She finally lifted her head to look up at him and he was staring at her with awe.
"That was something we will have to explore further, my dear. If you'd be willing."
"And eager, Master," she responded honestly and without hesitation, her voice a little breathy from the effort.
Realizing it was probably bad decorum to be sprawled in his lap, she started to stand, but found herself quite shaky again. Using her powers seemed to really take it out of her. She felt large, strong hands grasp her hips and help her stand. Looking up, she saw it was Felix to her rescue again.
"Thanks," she told him as he held her steady on her feet. "I didn't know it was possible for us to be tired."
"Not much seems to be out of the question with you, Isabella," Felix responded with a huge dimpled smile. He was sorta cute when he wasn't scowling. She chuckled at herself as she regained her balance and turned her attention back to Aro.
"Perhaps you should go rest, Isabella. We can work more on this after you've had a chance to recover," Aro said, reaching up to give her hand a soft squeeze.
He smiled at her then and she realized that she loved seeing him smiling. She was glad to have brought new and interesting things to the castle, even if she did have to be a freak to do it.
"Mind if I help you out?" Felix asked with a mischievous grin.
"What did you have in mind?" She asked him warily.
Instead of responding, he showed her, picking her up bridal style and running her back to her suite. She'd have found it embarrassing, but it was probably the least embarrassing thing she'd done since she arrived. So she just said, "Thank you," as he deposited her outside her door.
"Anytime. Has anyone ever told you that you are really funny?"
"Yeah, someone used to tell me that all the time, but it's nice to hear it again."
They laughed as she remembered her favorite former brother and she wondered if she had found a replacement who actually wanted her in Felix. She hoped so.
"See you later, Isabella."
"Bye, Felix."
With that, she went into her room and collapsed on her bed for some much needed rest.
