A/N: I hope that all my American readers had a good Thanksgiving. I spent mine working, but it was still pretty good. A huge thank you to all my readers and my beta! Next chapter is the last regular chapter and then there will be an epilogue.
Knowing that my shield was wrapped securely around me, I didn't worry too much when Felix approached me. With it covering me, Felix couldn't so much as harm a hair on my head. So, standing my ground, I faced him down.
"We've been looking for you," I said to him, my voice calm and cool, despite the fact that I really wasn't.
"Well, you found me. What are you going to do about it?" he asked, with his arms crossed over his chest and a cocky smirk on his face.
The smirk irritated me to no end, so I figured I'd see how he liked it when I pinned him to the ground with my shield. But as I pushed my shield out at him, I got the shock of my life when it bounced back. Felix let out a long, loud laugh. I tried again and again, to no avail, and I was getting angrier by the second.
"Oh, Miss Swan, you underestimate me as does the rest of the Cullens," he sneered, and I felt something hit my shield. I stared at Felix, unable to comprehend what was happening. How? How was it possible for him to deflect my shield?
Seeing my confusion only caused Felix to laugh again, and then I felt something pushing against my shield. Whatever it was, it suddenly had me struggling, and I was barely able to maintain my shield.
I could hear Edward and Carlisle coming toward coming toward us. They were calling my name in a frantic voice, knowing I was alone with Felix. I reached my shield out to cover them, but I was too late. As they came into view, I watched in horror as they were stopped in their tracks, something holding them still, and I recognized it immediately. It was a shield. Felix was a fucking shield! Shock raced through me as I tried to comprehend what was going on. How could he be a shield? Why hadn't one of us seen him for what he really was? We'd assumed that the shield protecting Victoria had been Renata's, but perhaps, it had been Felix all along. I was floored by this turn of events. Felix had gotten us good, making us believe that he was far more harmless than he really was.
Immediately, I reached out and wrapped my shield around Esme and Carmen even though they were back at the house. I couldn't let Felix get to them as well. Keeping a close eye on the two men, I watched as they struggled against Felix's shield, stopping only when it seemed as if the shield was about to rip them apart. They didn't' seem to be in pain until they tested Felix's shield and then it seemed to close in on them. I could see Carlisle taking a few deep breaths and trying to contain his temper. Once he'd gained his composure, he began to speak.
"This isn't necessary, Felix," Carlisle said. "We won't harm you."
It was a lie, of course, and one that Felix saw through immediately. He scoffed as he looked at Carlisle and tightened the shield once again. I was terrified Felix was going to rip them apart limb from limb, and I prayed that Edward and Carlisle would keep their cool until I could figure out how to rescue them.
"You know, things were great until your family came along and messed things up for me," Felix said, walking back and forth in front of them. I reached out with my shield once more, only to have it blocked by Felix's.
"Uh uh, Isabella. Behave, or I'll rip their heads clean off," Felix warned me, and I immediately stopped what I was doing.
"Actually, come to think of it, most of this is Isabella's fault. All of those deaths could have been prevented if she'd just given up the hunt for Victoria. But no, it seems Miss Swan is stubborn and persistent," he said in a mocking tone.
I knew he was just trying to rile me up, and I wasn't going to let him. Irina's death wasn't on my hands nor were the deaths of those newborns. Those deaths were on Victoria and Tanya, so Felix's guilt trip wasn't going to work.
"Nice try," I told him, wanting his attention to be on me and not Edward and Carlisle. "But, it's not going to work. So, let's cut to the chase. What do you want, Felix?"
"Your ashes in a pile at my feet," he replied, taking a menacing step toward me, despite the fact that he couldn't reach out and physically touch me.
"Why?" I demanded to know.
"Why do you think?" he sneered. "You brought my actions to the attention of Aro, and in doing so, you've caused me to have to rush my plan."
What the fuck was he was going on about?
"What plan?" I asked as I saw Esme, creeping through the trees out of the corner of my eye. Felix hadn't noticed her yet, and I was praying he wouldn't, so I needed to keep him distracted. "World domination?"
He barked out a laugh. "Why not? Vampires are far superior to pathetic humans after all."
"And yet, pathetic humans have been hunting vampires and destroying them for centuries. We're not as infallible as you seem to think we are. We have weaknesses, and a good vampire hunter knows exactly what to look for."
He let out a snort. "And hunters can be bought. It's amazing what they'll do for you when you threaten their lives, their families, or offer them more money than they know what to do with."
"What are you talking about?" I asked, unable to believe that any of the hunters I'd known could be bought.
"Ty Crowley," Felix said, tossing out the name of one of the hunters Jensen told me had been murdered. "He's been working for me for years; killing off vampires that were bothering me."
I stared in disbelief at him. I'd known Ty for years, and I'd never have suspected him of working with Felix.
"There are hundreds more all over the world. Some work for the Volturi, and others work for individual vampires. It's been going on for centuries. It's one of the ways the Volturi have managed to stay in power so long, but our control is being threatened."
"By who?" I asked, still trying to process what he'd told me. I saw Esme, inching closer and closer to Edward and Carlisle, but she wouldn't be able to do anything unless I could get Felix to un-shield them, and the only way I could think of to do that, was to kill him. But how?
"Aro," he spat out, "has suddenly developed a conscious. He's decided that we should no longer bribe or threaten hunters to destroy our enemies for us. He claims it's cowardly."
"Huh. Well, he's right. It is cowardly to use humans to fight your battles for you. Are you that insecure?" I taunted.
His eyes darkened, and he let out a roar as he rushed toward me. My shield repelled him, and he snarled like a caged animal.
"Fool," he hissed. "We use humans to do our bidding because they're lower than slaves. They should be bowing down to us. They're a food supply!"
"Bullshit," I called. "Humans are far more than that, and they're smarter than you give them credit for."
"Don't be stupid, Isabella. Humans are mere playthings. They're so incredibly easy to manipulate. Take Samuel Allison for instance," he began, and I stopped breathing. Felix knew about Samuel.
"All it took was one phone call, a couple of pictures, and a copy of Jensen Jenks' phone records to get him to go after you and the Cullens."
"But he hasn't," I told him. "All he did was burn the house in Forks. He hasn't come after us directly."
Felix shrugged. "Not yet, but I knew you'd go rushing back to your precious house and would find my scent. I knew you all would follow it and try to track me. So you see, Isabella, you played right into my hand. I've got you at my mercy, and you can't do a thing about it."
With those words, he twisted his shield around Edward and Carlisle, his eyes never leaving mine. He wanted to see my reaction as he slowly destroyed the man I loved and the man who'd become like a father to me. Well, fuck that. I wasn't going to stand by and do nothing.
Rage welled up inside me, and my shield shot out at Felix. It hit his shield with such force that he staggered back, and he stared at me in disbelief. I didn't have to time to dwell on what had just happened, though I just hoped I could do it again. So, I kept at it. I shot my shield out at him once more, and again, I made contact. He let out a roar and charged at me, our shields colliding and causing a loud clash to echo throughout the forest.
I could see Edward and Carlisle, struggling against their confines and hollering at me to be careful. I was beyond being careful at this point; I was furious and consumed with anger. Felix was going to die; I'd see to it.
We struggled back and forth, each of our shields fighting for dominance, and then there was a loud pop that stunned both of us. Before I could react, much less think about what had just happened, Felix was on me, tossing me to the ground. I quickly figured out that the popping noise had been our shields bursting. Something I hadn't thought was possible.
I rolled to the left just as Felix's fist came toward me. I knew from practicing with the family that a well placed fist could punch a hole right through me if there was enough force behind it. I wasn't sure how strong Felix was, but if I could fight Emmett during practice, I could certainly fight Felix. I managed to gain my footing and braced myself once more as Felix came toward me. This time, however, I was ready. I lashed out and kicked him in his kneecap, sending him to the ground.
"You fucking bitch!" he screamed in my face, and before I could attack him again, Edward, Carlisle, and Esme were there. I guess when our shields had burst, it had freed the two men.
Reaching down, Edward and Carlisle each placed a hand on Felix's shoulders, preventing him from getting up. It was taking everything in me not to tear his fucking head off, but I knew Carlisle and Aro wanted him alive.
"Call Aro," Carlisle told Esme, tossing her his phone. She caught it and dialed Aro's number, frowning when Felix when began to laugh.
"Don't bother," he said, an evil smile lurking on his lips. "Aro won't answer. He can't."
"Explain," Edward demanded, digging his fingers into Felix's shoulders and causing the man to let out a scream.
"By now, Marcus and Caius should have taken care of him. We've been planning this for years, but the timing was never right," he said, and his eyes had a wild look to them. I was coming to the realization that he wasn't right in the head.
"Anything else we should know before we destroy you?" Edward asked, and I saw a look pass between Edward and Carlisle.
"You won't win," Felix told us. "The brothers have a large number of supporters on their side. The enslavement of the human race will be fulfilled."
With a look of disgust, Edward took his hand off of Felix's shoulder, then cleanly and quickly removed Felix's head. He tossed it on the ground as Carlisle took out a lighter and Felix was burned.
A loud crashing through the forest had the four of us on the defense, and we let out sighs when we saw the remaining members of our family breaking through the trees.
"You people really need to learn to answer your phones!" Alice shouted at us, hands on her hips. I hadn't heard any one's phone ring, but then again, we'd been a bit preoccupied.
"So, Felix was a shield?" Jasper asked after we'd relayed the whole turn of events to them.
"Yeah, but what I don't get it is why Alice didn't know," I commented as we headed back toward the house. We still didn't know where the missing Denali family members were, and Carmen hadn't said anything to Esme.
Alice shrugged, but it was Carlisle who suggested that perhaps Felix's shield allowed his decisions to go undetected when he wanted them to.
"There's a lot we don't know about shields, and every talent is different."
It was as good an answer as we were going to get. Back at the house, Carmen was on the couch where Esme had left her. She was in horrible shape, but Carlisle did what he could to ease her pain. After a bit of discussion, Emmett told us he'd go look and see if he couldn't find Carmen's leg. If he could find it, Carlisle could reattach it.
"Felix?" she croaked out, and Carlisle told her he was dead. Carmen sighed with relief, her body visibly relaxing.
"We never heard him coming," she said in a strained voice. "All of a sudden, he was just there. He—he's a shield. He must have wrapped it around Garrett because one minute, Garrett was beside me, and the next, he was in pieces. We took off, running in different directions."
She paused for a moment, and Esme gave her hand a gentle squeeze.
"Felix caught up to me, ripped my leg off, and tossed me off the cliff. I heard him, running back toward the house. I think he went after Eleazar," she said, her voice tightening. "Did you find him? Did you find my Eleazar?"
We shook our heads, and her body began to heave with dry sobs. I had to look away. I hoped for Carmen's sake that Eleazar was okay, and I looked over at Alice. Her face was scrunched up as she concentrated on finding Eleazar, but in the end, she saw nothing.
Hours later, Emmett and Rosalie came back with Carmen's leg along with some bad news. They'd found what they believed were Kate's ashes deep in the woods. It certainly wasn't what any of us wanted to hear. Carlisle was reattaching Carmen's leg when Alice let out a gasp, at the same time, Edward's phone rang.
"Yeah?" he barked into the phone, and then I saw him sigh with relief. He thanked whoever was on the other end before informing us that Eleazar was alive.
"He's beat up and hurt, but he's okay," Edward told us. Apparently, Eleazar had headed toward Forks to find us and ask for help. He'd stumbled upon Quileute land and had managed to let Sam know he was a friend of ours. Edward then let Carmen know that Eleazar was on his way back to her, and he'd be there as quickly as possible.
"Aro's alive," Alice blurted out once Edward was done speaking. We all stopped and turned to look at her.
"He managed to escape from his brothers, and he's heading to Forks."
"Shit," Carlisle muttered, and I stared at him in shock. I'd never heard him swear before. "We need to get to him before Marcus and Caius realize where he's headed. God, this could bring a war right to us."
"Shit, shit, shit!" Alice chanted when we were about two hours away from Forks. I turned to look at her in the backseat, and she had her head buried in her hands.
"What is it?" I asked, exchanging worried looks with Jasper.
"Samuel. He's coming back to Forks. He'll be there in three hours."
I let out a breath and closed my eyes. I really didn't want to fucking deal with him right now. We had bigger concerns at the moment.
We arrived back at the house with an hour to spare before Samuel arrived, we sat down to discuss what to do. The more we talked it out, the less concerned I was. He'd be dealt with one way or another.
"It's going to turn out just fine," Alice said suddenly as the clock on the mantel chimed one.
We all stood up as we heard the engine of a car come roaring down the driveway, and I fell in line behind Carlisle as he made his way out the door and onto the porch. I was sure we looked on the defensive, and I knew if I was Samuel, and I was about to face down a coven of vamps, I'd be scared. But, the man emerging from the truck didn't look scared; he looked pissed off and ready to take on the world.
"So, I see it's true," he scowled as he caught sight of Alice and me. I nodded and stepped forward, Alice at my side. Ignoring Edward's muttering for me to stay where I was, I headed down the steps with Alice in tow. I was hoping we could prove to Samuel that we weren't a threat to him.
He flinched as we got closer, and he leveled his flamethrower in my direction. I hadn't attempted to use my shield since it had burst with Felix, but now I did. I almost sighed with relief when it wrapped around me as well as the family, with the exception of Edward.
"Yes, Samuel. It's true. Alice and I were both turned during different fights."
He stared at me as if I'd somehow betrayed him, and I guess I had. I'd broken the hunter's code by allowing myself not only to be turned but to continue to live as a vampire.
"What would your father think about this?" he snarled, his eyes darting back and forth between Alice and me. I guessed it was time to let him know the truth about Dad.
"I think he would have been okay with it since we're what you would call vegetarian vampires. We don't drink human blood. We feed off of animals," I explained. "Besides, Dad was friends with Carlisle Cullen and occasionally worked with him."
Shock ran over Samuel's face as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing. Then again, he probably couldn't. I'd just turned his whole world upset down by uttering those words, but what I was going to say next, might send him into a conniption fit.
"There are hundreds of hunters who assist vampires or are used by them. Ty Crowley was working for a vampire for years. By coming here to kill us, you're doing the dirty work of a vampire named Felix."
Samuel's face had been ashen, but now it turned bright red, and his eyes darkened.
"Bullshit!" he screamed at me. "I'm not working for any fucking vampire! I wouldn't fucking work with those leeches."
"Who do you think called you, sent the photos, told you about Jensen?" Alice asked him softly as if she was talking to a wounded animal, and in a way, she was. "That information was giving to you by Felix, a member of the Volturi guard. The Volturi have been using hunters to kill vampires that got in their way for centuries."
Confusion ran over his face when Alice mentioned Jensen's name.
"Jensen? What's he got to do with anything?" Samuel asked, and I shot a look over my shoulder at Edward.
"He honestly doesn't know," Edward said quietly, and we all stared at him. How was that possible?
"You found out he was friends with us and helping us out. You attacked him, Samuel. You stabbed him multiple times in the chest," I told him and watched as the blood drained from his face.
"You're lying!" he shouted, his hands trembling on the flamethrower in his grasp. I shook my head as I saw Edward begin to move toward us. Samuel was agitated and wound up enough as it was. If more of us gathered around him, chances were good he'd panic and use the flamethrower.
"We're not," Alice promised him. "You can call Jensen and ask him if you don't believe us."
He looked utterly bewildered and scared, and I imagined he was very much both.
"I wouldn't hurt him," he swore. "I wouldn't, and if I had, wouldn't I remember doing so?"
"Not if you weren't in your right mind. Not if your allegiance to Jensen had been shifted," Carlisle said softly, and I knew he was thinking of Chelsea and how she could make you change sides.
I thought Samuel might collapse as he leaned on his car for support, and Alice and I moved forward to help him. He flinched when one of Alice's hands touched him, but at least he didn't recoil. Perhaps we were getting through to him.
"You know some vamps have talents. There's a vamp who's a member of the Volturi who can change your allegiance and make you turn against everyone you know," I told him softly.
His face was dead white now, and he stared at me with disbelief on his face.
"I hurt him?" he questioned, and Alice and I nodded. "Oh, God."
I watched as he fought to stay composed, but it was difficult for him. The thought of hurting someone he'd known for years was obviously tearing him apart. Eventually, he composed himself enough to ask about us.
"I'm still the same person I've always been, only with a few minor changes. I still love dancing to music on the radio, reading gossip magazines, and talking about fashion. I'm still me."
Samuel stared at her before looking at me.
"Still me," I said with a grin, crossing my arms over my chest. "I still hate vampires, well the ones who kill children anyway. I still love my fucking car more than life itself, and I fucking love classic rock. Did I have a hard time dealing with the fact that I had become the very thing I hated? Hell, yes. It took some time before I realized it wasn't the end of the world. I can still hunt vamps. Hell, it's a lot safer to do so in this form than it was as a human."
Alice caught my eye, and I knew we had to keep talking to him, so we did. We talked about the past, about the present, and about the future. Once in a while, someone from the family would chime in and say something about Dad or about us, and I could slowly see Samuel letting down his guard. He was no longer holding the flamethrower on us, and he seemed less frightened. Now that he had calmed down a bit, I had to ask the one question that was definitely on my mind.
"Did you kill Demetri?" I asked, and he stared at me blankly. I described Demetri to him, telling him that he was probably in the photos or phone records that had been sent to him.
"Not that I'm aware of. I've been in New Mexico hunting three blood suckers who'd taken out a family," he told us, and Edward nodded to indicate that Samuel was telling the truth.
I felt a collective sigh echo amongst the family, and I was relieved to hear that Samuel hadn't killed Demetri. Demitri had been a friend and his loss, at least we assumed he was dead since Alice hadn't seen anything from him, was a hard one.
"Why aren't your eyes red?" Samuel asked us a while later.
"It's because of our diet," Carlisle said from behind us. He slowly walked toward Alice and me and stopped when he reached our sides. "As the girls stated earlier, we only drink animal blood. Very few of us in this family have ever tasted human blood, and we work hard to keep it that way."
Carlisle went on to explain that he'd been changed in the 1600s, and that he hadn't wanted to become a monster. He told Samuel how he'd lived off of rats and other animals, and how he'd never once, in over three hundred years, tasted human blood.
I heard Edward tell Carlisle to keep talking, that he was getting through to Samuel, so Carlisle did. He told Samuel about his time with the Volturi and about meeting Edward and the rest of the family. He explained that he was a doctor and worked around blood every day and how he wasn't tempted. I still didn't know how he did it. Carlisle truly was the strongest person I knew.
An hour and a half after Samuel had shown up with guns blazing, so to speak, he set the flamethrower aside and accepted a hug from Alice. He grimaced at how hard and cold her skin was, but it was a giant step for him. I mean a fucking humungous step. I wasn't one for hugging really, so we shook hands, and then I introduced him to the family. Samuel gave them all a nod before he apologized for setting the house on fire and for coming after us. More than anything though, he was pissed that he'd been used as a pawn.
"I want this Felix guy's head on a fucking platter," he said with venom in his voice.
"Too late, dude," Emmett said. "Edward already ripped his head off. Felix is no more."
"Good. Fucker deserved it," Samuel growled out.
"While Felix may no longer be around, we do have a bigger problem," Carlisle said, and invited Samuel inside. We all headed in, and once Samuel had taken a seat in the recliner, Esme asked him if he wanted anything to drink or eat. Samuel declined, and I knew he was anxious to hear what Carlisle had to say.
"Before Felix was disposed of, he mentioned that Marcus and Caius, two of the Volturi brothers, are going trying to take out their brother, Aro."
"Aro? As in head of the Volturi?" Samuel asked, leaning forward, his hands on his knees. "Why would the others want him dead?"
"Because Marcus and Caius believe that vampires are the superior race and want to, essentially, enslave the human race."
Samuel stared at Carlisle as if he'd lost his mind. "Oh, hell fucking no. Not happening. How can we stop them?"
"We're not sure if we can," Jasper said, staring at Samuel. "We're going to need a ton of help if they truly decide to start this war."
"Aro's here," Alice piped up. "He's on the east side of the house, and he's hurt."
Samuel stared at Alice, and I saw a flicker of fear in his eyes, realizing we hadn't disclosed our talents to him.
"Alice can see decisions that have been made, and I'm a shield," I told him quietly. "Edward can read minds and Jasper can feel your emotions. We're a talented bunch."
"I see," he muttered, crossing his arms over his chest. I could see he wanted to say something, but Alice shook her head at me and told him we'd have to deal with it later.
I knew there would be no point in telling Samuel to wait inside, so I wrapped my shield around him as we walked out the back door. We walked to the east side of the house and found Aro behind some bushes as if he was trying to hide. Carlisle moved forward and held out a hand, greeting him, and Aro clasped his hand.
I gasped at the site of Aro. He looked much like Demetri had when the wolves had gotten him. Aro had obviously been in a fight for his life. His skin was blackened on the left side of his body, he was carrying his left hand in his right since someone had snapped it off, and he walked with a major limp."
"Marcus. Caius," he whispered before collapsing to the ground.
As Carlisle hauled him up and carried him inside, Emmett and Edward did a perimeter check to make sure Aro hadn't been followed. Samuel slowly followed us back inside, and I could see his hands twitching at his side. It was going against his grain to be in a house full of vampires, especially when one of them was one of the leaders of the vampire world.
I had a feeling that a war was about to break out, and hunters and vampires alike were going to have to work together to defeat the forces.
a/n: See you all next Friday/Saturday!