AN: Same disclaimer, I own none of this and especially the quotes in italics which come directly out of New Moon by Stephenie Meyer. Any part of a quote in brackets is an editing correction that I made to the original text.

With that out of the way, I wish to thank everyone who was kind enough to leave a review to let me know they are still enjoying this story. In addition, I wish to apologize for taking so long, but I have been trying to earn back the respect of one of my beta's who says I have lost some of my dynamics in this story. She is right – this story has been very hard since I have entered the book directly. I'm trying to put in all the quotes and not lose any of the events occurring, but in the process, I had been ignoring the dynamic personality of Edward, and forgetting to include his deep dark agonizing thoughts. I hope I have been able to achieve that a little bit more in this chapter.

My thanks to everyone who takes the time to read this meager attempt at delving into the mind of your favorite vampire – my favorite, however, is still Emmett (BIG sigh).

Chapter 14 Verdict

Most of the others in the room turned their thoughts to what Aro would do next; we declined entry into what they considered their elite group, so the only alternative in their minds was our permanent removal as a threat. Felix's feral mind focused on claiming Bella as his blood prize after destroying me first. Jane and Caius were mentally voting on our utter, and in Jane's case painful, destruction, while others in the group didn't care what was decided as long as it didn't interfere with their forthcoming anticipated meal, and Marcus' mind was curiously silent.

I felt little trust for Aro; I knew he hadn't expected any of us to accept his offer, but then I suspected him of harboring alternative motives for meeting us here. This was the same room I had been ushered into when I made my request yesterday. 'Yesterday,' at that thought I almost laughed; yesterday suddenly felt so long ago and far away. So much had transpired in the short span since I had vacated this room in preparation for my ultimate destruction; now destruction was the last outcome I desired. My desires had sifted drastically since yesterday; my thoughts now focused on Bella's survival and successful extraction from not only this abominable room but also this accursed city. I instantly realized we were in this room for one reason, so the Volturi could pass judgment on us. I should have realized this the minute we had walked in this room, but I had focused on other concerns, and the myriad of voices had distracted me slightly. My rage – that seemed such a mild word for what I felt boiling within me – surfaced as I spat, "Join or die, is that it? I suspected as much when we were brought to this room. So much for your laws."

'Does he really believe that?' Aro questioned in amazement, which caused me to wonder if I miss judged him. Then he said, "Of course not. We were already convened here, Edward, awaiting Heidi's return. Not for you." His mention of Heidi brought thoughts and images of feasting to most of the minds in the room.

I shifted my focus directly on Aro's thoughts alone. As I searched them further, I unearthed no lingering thoughts of death or destruction toward us in his mind, although he was amazed by the fact that while I held my ravenous hunger for Bella's blood in check, I was unable to do the same for my mounting anger, but Caius' non-verbal outrage registered loud and clear. 'NO! NO! NO!'

"Aro, the law claims them." He was condemning us to death mental and verbally. For him, the law was foremost in importance and he meant to speak his mind. His justifications were also evident in his thoughts, 'He revealed our existence to a human, a female child. They must pay for breaking our most important law.'

In truth, none of us had broken the law. I hadn't stepped out into the sunlight to reveal my unique difference from humans, Alice had kept herself in the shadows so no one would notice her, and Bella never revealed our secret to anyone, just as she promise almost a year ago when she first discovered the truth about us.

To force him to supply his reasons behind his statement, I challenged, "How so?" If there was any truth in his accusation, then we had a right to defend ourselves.

Stretching his finger threatening toward Bella, he accused, "She knows too much. You have exposed our secrets."

I could have easily told him that Bella never learned the truth from me, but he had it set in his mind that he was right and that punishment had to be meted out. I wonder how he would have felt if I had informed him that it was a teenager from a Native American tribe with legends of vampires and werewolves that had unwittingly revealed our secret.

Despite the fact that I exposed our secret to no one, I still wanted to shout in Bella's defense, 'She would never expose us; she has too much heart, but then what would you monsters know about heart. Her caring and giving soul would not allow her to harm others, but you wouldn't know about the beauty of the human soul. To you humans are nothing less than a commodity used to fill your needs and hungers. You refuse to realize that humans are not a disposable commodity. They have lives that deserve a chance to be fulfilled, instead of being abruptly terminated to satisfy your animalistic thirsts.' I knew of course that they would ignore what I said about Bella and take offense at what I would say about them.

What did they ever care about the feelings or rights of others? Then I remembered Gianna, the receptionist. 'Well,' I thought, 'Two can play at this game,' so I challenged their convenient set up, "There are a few humans in on your charade here, as well," I reminded him.

"Yes" Caius sneered, a twisted smile upon his lips, "But when they are no longer useful to us, they will serve to sustain us. That is not your plan for this one. If she betrays our secret, are you prepared to destroy her? I think not." Mentally he added, 'He doesn't even have it in him to change her. Love, what a blind, foolish emotion.'

I was right on both counts, he wouldn't know about the beauty of anything, and he did see humans as a disposable commodity to fill his cold-blooded thirst. I was beginning to wonder if Caius' lack of understanding and absence of any form of compassion were due to his longevity as a vampire or his continued consumption of human blood that caused a decay and eventual loss of all his prior human emotions, or if he was always this callus and unfeeling even as a human.

Bella valiantly tried to defend herself, "I wouldn't –", but he coldly stopped her.

Caius callously continued as if Bella hadn't uttered a word. "Nor do you intend to make her one of us. Therefore, she is vulnerability. Though it is true, for this, only her life is forfeit. You may leave if you wish," he added cold-heartedly and as if he was dismissing an insignificant underling. 'And if he stays, then Felix and Demetri will finish the task they were commissioned with last night.'

Caius seemed to have the most diabolical mind in the room, and it was fixated on one event – the death of Bella, and if he could manage it, mine as well. He didn't seem to focus on Alice's death as he did on Bella and mine, but for whatever reason, we were the two he despised the most.

I clenched my teeth and with steely resolve, promised myself I wouldn't allow him or anyone else in the room to injury Bella without one impressive fight. I had lost her once through stupidity on my part, but I wouldn't allow it to happen again if I could help it.

"That's what I thought," Caius smirked when I didn't answer. 'It's time to finish this. I'll not let the law be broken without someone paying a penalty.'

It took every bit of restraint that I could still summon up to not lash out at him, and then I noticed Felix's look and I almost lost it. He leered hungrily at Bella as his mind declared his intentions, 'She's mine. It'll be my pleasure to take her right in front of him and he'll not be able to do anything but watch; Jane will happily hold him back.' I wanted nothing more than to raise my voice and declare to everyone that Bella was mine and I would not allow any of them to claim her.

Only Aro's offer of hope helped me to control my building fury and stopped me from jeopardizing Bella's wellbeing even further. "Unless . . .. Unless you do intend to give her immortality?" He had no desire to lose such a possible convert to his guard. 'She would make unique and interesting addition to our group. There is something more to her than what I can see,' Aro's mind was racing through the possibilities, some outrageous and some frightening.

I needed to stop his line of thoughts before I did something I would regret. I didn't need any more regrets at that moment; I had enough with my past actions, so I asked, "And if I do?" At this point, I thought I was ready promise almost anything to extract Bella from this infernal situation safely and intact and from Aro's growing theories about 'what if.'

"Why, then you would be free to go home and give my regards to my friend Carlisle." Aro graciously offered but then paused as his thoughts pressed forward into mine, 'Heed my words carefully.' "But I'm afraid you would have to mean it."

I seriously noted his threat, but at least he had offered me a way to save Bella; I just had to ask myself could I honestly say I would sacrifice her life for her safety and mean it. I loved her dearly, but to steal something so precious from her, and what if she no longer wanted to be with me, or with my family. I honestly believed I could say the words to save her life, but could I mean them, I wondered, and then I realized Caius was about to object to Aro's offer, but before he could, Aro raise his hand. I looked down at Bella; to steal her life wounded me more than I could say. I gazed deeply into her wide pleading eyes, and I knew I had to utter the lie to save her, but the thought of killing that beautiful life shining out of those deep chocolate eyes hurt more than I thought possible.

Very softly but overflowing with emotion, she whispered, "Mean it. Please."

She looked to me to save her once again, she counted on me to provide the protection she so desperately needed, and I sincerely wanted to do as she asked, but I knew deep within me that I would never be able to carry out the horrendous act. If I said I would, Aro would want to confirm it by connecting to my mind and then all would be lost for he would see the unadulterated truth. There would be no way I could convince him of a lie when he read the truth in my mind. I felt guilty of betraying Bella once more by remaining silent and I saw the deep ache in her eyes as my silence continued. I wanted to say the words, but I couldn't make my mouth form the lie I knew I had to utter.

It only took a faction of a second to struggle with myself about making a decision about what to do, but before I could resolve this issue, I started catching glimpses of an ever-changing vision that Alice was having. There was no way to decipher what Alice was seeing because she and I only caught bits and pieces, too many decisions rapidly being made and just as quickly changed during our meeting with Aro and company that there was no way to see a final outcome. The effects of the ever-changing visions were dizzying, to say the least. Even Alice was feeling dizzy from the constantly shifting sights.

Right then, I was glad Bella couldn't read minds, but regretted immensely that her mind was inaccessible to me. I needed Bella to answer a multitude questions that overwhelmed my mind, but now wasn't the appropriate time to ask them. Added to that, Aro had just asked the most problematical question anyone could have asked of me, and Bella had pleaded with me to say yes and mean it, but the questions was did she really want me to mean it for eternity or did she want me to mean it only to get her out of here alive.

I pushed all the questions I needed to ask Bella to the back of my mind and focused on the most important one that faced me. Could I truthfully tell Aro that I would change Bella, that I was willing to steal the life from the most important person in my life?

Before I could firmly resolve to make a commitment either way, I saw Alice step toward Aro and, she never once glanced at me as she continued to approach him with her hand reaching out toward him. I was shocked as I heard her thoughts.

'Edward, say nothing and control your temper; no matter what you see, don't react to it or we'll never get Bella out of here alive. I will do what has to be done; I'm going to show Aro exactly what he wants to see, but you must remain quiet no matter what you see and hear. Hopefully he'll believe me.' Alice's thoughts were so clear, and I needed to be mindful of her warning. I knew what Aro wanted to see, but it was the one thing I still was determined would never happen to my precious Bella.

Aro, for his part, moved forward to meet her with a look of anticipation on his face. He was more than happy to pull Alice's thoughts and memories from her mind. I was not happy with her move; in my opinion, Aro didn't need to know any more about our family than he already did, but Alice planned on opening up her mind to him.

I watched as she cleared her mind of all memories she was unwilling to share, but she didn't realize that Aro had a way of digging into your mind and pulling out hidden memories even if you buried them deep inside. Both stood motionless as Aro took Alice's hand, and then Aro closed his eyes as he drank in her thoughts and memories. I observed as Aro pulled forth visions of Alice and Jasper's first meeting, her first vision of Bella arriving in Forks, and the accident that nearly killed Bella. Inwardly, I cringed at the sight; I had been only seconds away from losing her forever. Alice moved on to her first meeting with Bella, and Bella coming over to the house and meeting my family. That memory brought a slight smile, she had been more fearful about my family not liking her, rather than entering a household of vampires. Her next memory was of their frantic flight to Phoenix in an attempt to escape James and then I saw Bella's broken body lying on the floor bleeding. Before I could react, she shifted to the image of me sucking the venom out of Bella, and then Bella lying in the hospital hooked up to the machines. She then focused on her transformation of Bella – the most beautiful memory yet, for me – for the prom, Bella's disastrous birthday party, her own grief over leaving Bella, the vision of Bella jumping off the cliff, and finally her surprise when Bella walked through the doorway.

At that point the visions shifted, Alice was standing next to Bella saying, 'This is for both of you so you can be together forever,' then she reached up and bit Bella in the neck, and then the vision suddenly ended. I wanted to cry out when I saw her teeth sink into Bella slender white neck, and if I could have, I would have cried as I watched a thin thread of blood run from her wound down her neck. As I watched, I wondered if Aro realized I was seeing what he was seeing. Then I asked myself, was Alice serious about changing Bella, or was it just a decision for the moment so Bella would survive. It would have been easy to snarl at Alice's vision, but I knew what she did was a desperate attempt to save Bella and I couldn't afford to jeopardize that.

I knew the most important factor facing all three of us was to get Bella home safe. I wouldn't – I couldn't let anything else harm Bella, and I absolutely could not lose Bella again. It was heart wrenching the first time; I wouldn't survive a second. If I lost her because of my folly, my dead heart would shatter and I would cease to exist. There would be no need for a second visit to the Volturi because I would literally self-destruct.

I had promised to keep Bella safe, but I had failed. I could feel her frail body shaking as I held her close. The cold, I knew, had partially been induce her physical shaking was; I had earlier noticed, as soon as I had realized she was not dead, that her clothes were wet, and the trip underground, plus my cold body, had only made her colder, but I couldn't help but speculate if part of the shaking resulted from fear. I decided that as soon as we left this room I would do whatever I could to warm her up, but the fear I could only soothe out of her. If that meant holding her tenderly in my arms, caressing her arms and face, and kissing her gently yet amorously, then I would blissfully do my duty to soothe all of her fears away.

As Aro stepped away from Alice with a smile on his lips, he let out a loud laugh. I took that as a promising sign, so I searched his mind. He was extremely pleased with Alice's visions, and from what I could tell, he believed she was showing him the absolute truth. I was not about to remind him that Alice's visions were subject to change and often did change. That fact was not advantageous to our plight.

With his eyes were shining from excitement, he exclaimed, "That was fascinating!"

"I'm glad you enjoyed it." Alice's voice shared none the excitement that his conveyed.

"To see the things you've see – especially the ones that haven't happened yet!" His mind was awash with excitement and desire to have a gift like hers and to have her as a part of his entourage. 'Amazing, simply amazing. She would be a magnificent asset to our guard and make a dazzling addition to our family.'

For his benefit, she simply added, "But that will," and to me she silently said, 'Stay calm. Let him believe what he needs to believe so we can all leave as quickly as possible.'

"Yes, yes, it's quite determined. Certainly there's no problem."

Aro may have viewed the problem as solved, but Caius, Jane, and Felix did not share his optimism or contentment. Jane remained indignant that she had no control over Bella's mind while Felix still craved her blood, not because it called to him as it did to me, but more out of spite that I ruined his fun when I didn't allow him to rip me to shreds, and Caius still required the letter of the law upheld.

Caius could no longer hold back his objections, "Aro."

"Dear Caius, do not fret." A placid smile crossed his face as a myriad of options about Bella's future abilities flitted across his thoughts. "Think of the possibilities! They do not join us today, but we can always hope for the future." In his mind, he was already envisioning the alternative scenarios that could occur. "Imagine the joy young Alice alone would bring to our little household . . .," his smile widened, 'To know what will happen before it actually happens,' his thoughts strayed, and then he pulled himself back to the present. "Beside, I'm so terribly curious to see how Bella turns out!" He continued while his mind still fantasized, 'What potential, what possibilities. Why, she might be a greater find than even Jane.'

Bella being a vampire, no matter how great or unique her ability might be was a consideration I did not enjoy. Even worse was the idea that he was planning to make her a part of his household because I absolutely would not allow him anywhere near her. 'The only household I will ever permit her to belong to is mine,' I internally yelled, and then I realized he even had me considering the possibility of her being changed. I instantly reigned in those thoughts that had briefly felt so pleasing and forcibly reminded myself that I would protect her from that ever happening.

Since Aro seemed convinced that Alice's vision was infallible, I hazarded commenting, "Then we are free to go now!"

With a small smile on his face, he replied, "Yes, yes, but please visit again. It's been absolutely enthralling!" I found his mind still focused on the entertainments and enjoyments he had derived from this encounter and the possibilities of further visits from us in the future.

Caius' parting words rather than being pleasant were more of a threat, "And we will visit you as well to be sure that you follow through on your side. Were I you, I would not delay too long. We do not offer second chances." From his look and his thoughts, I knew he was serious.

In response, I just nodded wanting nothing more than to leave as quickly as possible. The longer we stayed the more dangerous our situation became because of the escalating blood lust in the room.

Felix's only response to our release was a low groan, and then Aro informed him, "Ah Felix, Heidi will be here at any moment. Patience."

I caught the thoughts of many in the room focused on fresh blood, and with the thought of human prey nearby for them to feed upon, they were gearing for a feral feeding frenzy. If I wasn't careful, someone might pounce upon Bella and feast upon her. I also could not allow Bella to witness the act of ferocity that would shortly begin, and I definitely did not want her in the room when they did start their cold-blooded attack on their prey. Once it started, there would be no stopping, it would be like watching the relentless furious feeding of a school of piranha as seen on one of those wildlife documentaries, but the victims would be human. It definitely was time for us to take our leave. "Hmm. In that case, perhaps we'd better leave sooner rather than later."

Aro's thoughts concurred with mine as he glanced toward Bella. He too realized that once Heidi arrived it would be unwise to have her in this room. "Yes, that's a good idea. Accidents do happen. Please wait below until dark, though, if you don't mind."

"Of course." I could appreciate the fact that Alice and I would not make a good impression out in the bright Italian sun, and as anxious as I was to leave, I also didn't want to incur Aro's displease by exposing their secret to the unsuspecting citizens of Volterra.

"And here," Aro quickly signaled Felix to approach him. Then he reached out, removed Felix's cloak, and tossed it in my direction. "Take this. You're a little conspicuous."

I accepted his offer because I realized I was still shirtless since I had left mine lying on the ground in the alley. Besides, not only would it cover me until I obtained something else to wear, it would also serve as extra cover to help warm up Bella who was still shivering slightly.

"It suits you." He accentuated his comment with a deep sigh. 'Such a loss – all three – what an addition they each would have made. Carlisle has earned their loyalty and I hope he appreciates that fact.'

I laughed softly as he examined his losses mentally, but was brought up short on his comment about Carlisle. He was right; we were loyal to Carlisle, but not loyal by his definition. Could he even understand how we all saw him as our father not our master that our loyalties were as a family?

Before we had completely departed from the room, I looked back and extended my appreciation for what Aro had done to help us escape unscathed, as it was the polite thing to do. It was odd that at that moment when we were barely escape a certain doom I had thought about Esme and etiquette. Esme would appreciate the fact that I could still be somewhat polite despite the unpleasant and somewhat antagonist circumstances. As a tribute to Esme's teachings, I offered, "Thank you, Aro. We'll wait below."

In parting, Aro said, "Goodbye, young friends," and silently added 'We'll meet again.'

As we began walking, I heard human voices in the distance and realized they were the ones Heidi was bringing. Hurriedly, I said, "Let's go." My one thought now was to whisk Bella away as quickly as possible before she realized what was happening.

As we followed Demetri through the only exit in the room, I pulled Bella closer to me. I wanted to completely shield her from what was about to occur, but I knew we had left to late as the voice drew closer.

Alice realized it as well for she softly said, "Not fast enough."

The voices were coming closer and Bella couldn't miss them. We would have to pass the unsuspecting group of humans, as they were lead down the hallway toward the hall where Aro and the others anxiously and ravenously awaited their arrival. They were typical tourists looking around and examining their surrounds as they unknowing followed their guide to their inevitable demise. Like sheep to the slaughter, I thought. In an effort to screen Bella from what was about to happen, I pulled her as close as possible to my icy hard chest as we stood against the wall to allow this truly doomed group to pass. As soon as it was possible, I propelled Bella quickly toward the door leading out of the hallway. As Demetri and Heidi exchange greeting, I concentrated exclusively on getting Bella as far away as possible before she understood – or worse, heard – what was about to happen, but I failed miserably because before we could safely pass through the door, I heard the terrified screaming and smell the rich delectable blood of the humans as the feasting began.