I let the idea of leaving the island simmer on my mental back burner for a few weeks. In hindsight, I began to wonder why no one else brought up the idea independently. Emmett didn't bring it up after our conversation. And I assumed Edward read my mind immediately after we got back from the cemetery, so I further assumed he knew. Regardless, he didn't bring it up either. It seemed like the common fallback plan when something unexpected happened to our family. We were good at disappearing. Erasing our existence from Bella's life after that little mishap on her birthday so long ago swiped across my brain like fingernails across a chalkboard. I cringed.

I walked out onto the wrap around porch and found Jasper and Emmett engaged in one of their epic chess battles. Since Emmett and I haven't been able to be "intimate" for a while, he's been putting his over abundant energy into other things. Today, it was chess.

"Either you interested in a quick hunt?" I asked. My problem had made me paranoid. I hunted yesterday. But that was yesterday and today is today. So to say that I was feeling a bit parched was putting it mildly.

Neither vampire—my mate or brother—responded.

Bitches… I thought.

Feeling a little dejected, I swung around the chessboard and gave Emmett a quick kiss on the cheek. He waved me off. No kiss for me, the bastard.

I ran down to the (reconstructed) boathouse to find Alice and Ness giggling on a bed—something about Fashion Week and forcing Bella to attend. Needless to say, Alice and Ness were too busy.

Fine.

As I walked towards the tree line, it crossed my mind to check with Jake and Seth. I flitted over to the garage on the other side of the property to see both shifters plus Rosalie thoroughly immersed in the inner fluids of my Mustang. When I asked whether anyone wanted to go with me, Rose threw a wrench at me. Apparently, she was still pissed at me for nearly killing me. I wasn't quite sure on the logic of it, but I didn't feel like dealing with her drama. I had too much on my plate already.

Whatever, I'll go by myself. It had been a long time since I hung out by myself. It would be refreshing.

I moseyed over to the tree line again and enjoyed the smell of the sea breeze mixed with the freshly mown grass. Nature meets civilization. I broke into a run and as the distance from the beach increased, I let my vampire instincts take over. I rushed into the deeply forested park. In only a minute I was at the bridge to the mainland, and in only nine more I was deep in the Maine interior. My nose told me there were plenty of deer, elk, and even a few bobcats running about. Nothing sounded particularly appetizing so I decided to be picky.

I ran about for another three hours. I enjoyed stretching my legs and letting myself be a vampire for a change. Acting human was a job in and of itself. I ran a big semi-circle between New Brunswick and Vermont and then headed back.

As I was passing the New Hampshire border into Maine, I came across a scent that made my nonexistent blood both boil and freeze. Anger. Fear. All-in-one unmistakable scent.

Oh fuck, and I didn't even get dinner, I thought.

I stopped short of crossing the border. A grand lake was before me, it teemed with natural life, but there were no humans nearby for miles. Down the pebbly beach were four hooded figures that I've had the pleasure of not seeing in a decade.

I sighed. "Hello, Aro."

Accompanying this wretch was his personal shield, Renata; his witch twins, Jane and Alec; his third witch—Chelsea, and another hooded figure. I couldn't discern who this last Guard lackey was, but I didn't spend much time thinking about it as my eyes retrained themselves on Chelsea. I shuddered internally at the sight of her.

The bitch gave me the ultimate creeps. Control was my thing. She was the antithesis of my control. Bella told me that on that fateful day so long ago, Chelsea attempted to influence me, to change me, to get me to side with the Guard. That was Chelsea's assigned goal. Bella protected me that day. Bella wasn't here today though. I would have tread carefully.

"Young one, how wonderful it is to see you again! I bring salutations from my brothers," Aro announced with his hands held open wide. He acted like he was the king and I the servant. Did he expect me to bow or something? Bitch please, I'm American.

"What can I do for you, sir?" I asked. I tried to keep my tone as neutral as possible.

Aro smiled at my attempt at respect. "My Guard and I have been about these woods hoping to catch you."

My eyes went wide. Catch you?

The concern in my eyes was communicated to Aro. He attempted to calm me. "No, no, young one. I hoped to catch you to discuss an offer."

Oh, geez. I knew exactly what this was going to be. "I'm aware of what your offer will be, sir. However, I must decline it. I have a family and a mate for whom I will not leave behind."

"I'm quite aware of your mate, Logan Cullen. Emmett would be more than welcome among our Guard as well." Aro's smile appeared sincere. "And Allison…"

Wait! Fuck that shit! Chelsea is doing her thing. Does Aro really think I'm that stupid? I had to keep cool though. "Thank you, Aro, but again, I must decline. I have a life here and do not wish to be a part of your Guard, as gracious as your offer is." I kept my tone steady and unsarcastic. I wanted to keep up the pretenses of civility and grandeur that I knew Aro lived for. I would call it hubris, but never aloud.

"Are you sure I can't convince you, Logan? I could help you. I could help you attain your highest potential. You would be unstoppable. Also, it would go a long way to mend the relationship between your Coven and the Guard."

That was true. The last thing I wanted, or the Cullens ever wanted, was war with Volturi. We wanted to be left alone, but we were too powerful to be left unnoticed. And it wasn't necessarily that the Volturi feared us alone, rather it was the potential that we could inspire others in the vampire world to mount an insurrection against the Volturi. Jane and Alec could only get so lucky in quelling such a rebellion given the gifted vampires we could rally to our cause. The key to the Volturi's survival was preventing any other competitor from acquiring comparative strength by numbers or even an inspirational factor.

Still, an offer of mending a relationship and securing a more peaceful existence for the Cullens would be a worthy exchange for spending some time with the Volturi. Oh my, I could hunt humans again with them… I mean, Seth would be pissed, and so would… but I mean, whatever, I am a vampire after all. It's in my nature to be a hunter of humans. It was a necessity of my life.

"I will have to discuss this with Carlisle and the rest, of course," I stated openly. Aro must give me this. I mean just leaving with him now would shoot up so many red flags, not only at home, but also in the human world we existed in now. I could imagine it now, Esme explaining that my disappearance was… what? Emergency heart surgery in Rome? Even Aro had to understand that keeping the secret was as important to us as him and his brothers.

"Of course, Logan," Aro nodded. "That is why I wanted to approach you alone. You can take my proposal to Carlisle, and decide outside any perceived threats from the Guard."

I mean, okay… Weird, but whatever.

"Very well, Aro. I will discuss this with everyone," I nodded.

"Good, good!" Aro held out his hand in thanks.

I took it happily and gave it a good shake. Our hands were the same temperature, and it was a welcome relief. Although I don't sweat, sometimes standing near Seth bothered me. The boy was so damn hot; I'm shocked that I haven't melted before.

The Guard turned from me and began to walk slowly away. In the moments before they disappeared behind a stand of trees, I thought about the experience I would have with the Volturi. I'm sure I would see some amazing sights and meet some interesting vampires. The whole policing the world for rule breaking vampires seemed exciting in its own right. I could really showoff my ability then without fear of exposure by humans. This was beginning to sound better and better by the minute.

I immediately dismissed Chelsea. There is no way she could have pushed that on me, I thought. I'm a rational person and Aro's proposal was perfectly reasonable. I smiled and waved to the departing Guard members.

Nobody turned to wave back save Chelsea. As her eyes met my own, she silently told me two things: First, she just fucked with my head. And second, I was a fucking fool for following for it.

I saw red.

Rage erased any feeling I had. Rage consumed me. Rage told me what I should do. No! It told me what I needed to do.

"ARO!" I roared at the top of my lungs. I leapt forward and was thirty feet from Guard in a split second.

Jane sensed my approach first. She whipped around and threw the full force of her ability into my frozen veins. I screamed in agony as a fire I had not felt since the change ravaged over me again and again. A thousand pin pricks multiplied by another thousand heated to a million degrees pierced my skin leaving it perforated and torn. The pain increased in intensity and I felt myself losing myself in some sort of abyss. Was my brain losing its hold on sanity?

"NO! NO! NO!" I yelled to myself, but the pain never stopped.

Was I going through the change again? Had my second life never happened? Was it my mind playing a sick game on me? Realizing I never had Emmett or the Cullens ever was yet another painful agony of this change.

Change. Yeah, something was… changing. I felt the pain lessening, but I felt more… viscous? I tried to open my eyes, but all I saw was pitch-black darkness. Were my eyes even open? As the seconds ticked by, I felt the pain cease almost completely, and my senses more or less return. Where the hell was I? I tried to concentrate and it struck me. Earth. I was in the earth. The subtle vibrations of the soil were distinctive. So was the constant temperature. But how far down was I?

I manipulated the dirt around me and raised myself closer to the surface. Gravity told me which way was down and I definitely didn't want to go down. The temperature rose sharply and I realized that I was just below the surface, maybe an inch. I tried to clear my ears of all distractions. I heard muffled voices, but that was to be expected. I was below the ground in a half-phased state.

"Master, where has he gone? He just melted. Melted," Alec said in his prepubescent voice.

Aro growled. "Jane, if you have lost me this prize…"

"But Master, he was charging!" Jane griped.

Charging… Yeah, I was charging! Holy shit… Everything that had just transpired ran through my brain again at vampiric speed. Chelsea…

My turn, bitches, I thought as I rose out of the Earth and silently stood behind Jane.

"Wha!" she cried as I ripped her head in a circle and tore it clear away from her body. I dropped it near where her body had landed with a crash reminiscent of a falling granite statue.

"Sister," Alec screamed in a combination of rage and terror.

I laughed manically and before Alec could concentrate to throw his ability upon me, I snapped my fingers and both of his eyes tore away from his face and into my hand. His body fell to the ground and thrashed hard.

Two down; three to go.

Renata threw her hand in front of Aro and backed him away from me with her shield. Nobody, but Bella and I could see this shield. It was a physical force that derived from Renata's brain. I was physical control.

I growled in fury. "HOW DARE YOU!?" I yelled over gritted teeth.

"I surely do not know what you are upset about, Logan Cullen! But attacking any member of my Guard is an intolerable offense!"

"FUCK YOU!" I yelled. "Your Guard? Right…" I felt the space around me for Renata's presence with my mind. Bingo! With every last ounce of strength I had, I liquidated Renata and she slid into the earth until only her head remained above. I let her body phase back to normal and instantly Renata felt the immense pain that was every nerve ending crashing together with particles of rock, plant roots, and water.

Renata howled in terrible pain until what little air that could make it up her airway was exhausted. All that remained was a painful expression of disaster. She almost sounded like Seth when he loses at some vampire Logan versus wolf Seth competition.

I laughed again and swung my legs low to the ground. Aro saw my approach and promptly kicked off from the ground and landed forty feet down the way. Aro wasn't my target though. Renata's head popped off like a bad blackhead. I pushed off my hand so that I landed on my feet.

I stood facing Aro with Chelsea cowering behind him. Aro glanced down at his feet to see Renata's head staring up at him. He moved to secure it, but I pulled my hand back and so did Renata's head fly back… right into my hand.

As if I was a witch myself, I held Renata's hand in my left hand and snapped the fingers on my right hand. Above them, a small flame arose. Pure oxygen was easy enough to manipulate, and it made a good fuel.

I let my head fall to the side as if I was surveying my prey. My prey was Aro. My prey was Chelsea.

Aro's milky red eyes communicated his own fear. He tried to mask it in his voice though. "Logan, I'm warning you! My brothers will retaliate if you destroy me. You risk war!"

"You risked war yourself the day you threatened my family," I announced. "You see, we do not need the likes of Chelsea to hold us together. Imagine what your Guard would be without her. You have made a critical error here today, Aro. One that I am willing to let slide by. No apologies are needed; only that you agree to leave in peace." I let the flame go out and I raised Jane, Alec, and Renata's bodies up with my mind. They looked like puppets until their respective heads were reattached and they were fully reanimated.

Jane's eyes spilled pure rage, but Aro was quick to call her over.

"Do we have an agreement, Aro?" I asked. "Or we can do this all over again."

Aro turned to leave. When his Guard didn't immediately follow, he cursed and pulled Alec by the cloak. As they were about to disappear behind the tree line, I threw out one last quip to Aro.

"Don't think that I won't be watching Aro. Any sign of war, and I will come knocking—as in destroying your castle with every last one of your Guard inside. Fire may be the only way to destroy a vampire, but an eternity melded to the Earth is a worse fate in deed."

Aro didn't stop, nor did he say anything in return. What had I done?

As the tension of the situation abated, I felt like I was losing myself… again. I became nauseous and fell to the ground with a large crack. Blood, I needed blood. How long had it been? How much had I done… I needed bl… Darkness overtook me.

…

…

…

I felt a pull on my arm.