Chapter Twenty-One

My mind worked furiously as the pandemonium continued. There had to be something else that I could so. I had to stop this. I couldn't lose them, especially not this way.

Two of the Guard, a blonde-haired male and a tall brunette female, ran hissing at my family, with two others close behind.

I screamed again. My heart hammered frantically in my chest. I looked at Mom and Tara, hoping desperately that they were ready. Both had closed their eyes, their jaws locked.

As the Guard reached them, both went flying back several dozen metres simultaneously.

Each of the Volturi froze.

I almost sobbed in relief.

"What?" Caius asked in stunned disbelief.

"How did she do that?" Emily murmured in awe. "Her shield is strong, but not that strong."

"It's her and my mom," I whispered, only partially aware of what I was saying. The terror that had locked each of my joints in place and frozen my blood made my brain feel numb. I couldn't remember being this terrified ever before, not even during the first time we'd been in this situation.

"Alana, Lyle, stop," said Caius to the two that had followed the blonde mail and brunette female towards my family, and were now eyeing them with a murderous expression.
Both ducked their heads and hurried back to their side.

My knees, locked though they were, felt ready to buckle beneath me. For the first time in my life, I felt myself whispering prayers heavenward beneath my breath. We would need whatever help we could get. I wondered randomly if God accepted prayers from vampires, much less half-vampires. Or were we, as dad thought, products of evil? And if that was the case, what did that make me? Half-evil?

That's what you're thinking about now? I hissed at myself mentally. We're all probably going to die and you're stopping to ponder the philosophical aspects of immortality? What is wrong with you?

"Well, well, well," Aro said with a strangely delighted smile. "Your family is even more talented than I had thought, Carlisle. What a wonderful trick! Ha ha!"

"I apologize for being forced to draw upon it," Grandpa Carlisle said sincerely, his eyes locked on me though he spoke to Aro.

I lowered my eyes guiltily.

"Well, you've given us even more to consider," Aro said with a faint smile. "I would be grateful if you would permit us a moment to discuss the situation."

I searched each of Aro, Marcus and Caius's faces carefully. Aro and Caius seemed pensive. Marcus looked bored, as always. I looked for any hint of compassion or perhaps recalculation, something, anything to make the situation seem less desperate.

My breath hitched as I realized that even my last-ditch effort had been just as pointless as Emily's. Nothing was going to deter them now that they had what they so earnestly desired within their reach, like a delicious treat being dangled in front of them. They were determined to add my father, my aunt and my friend to their equation, regardless of the cost to our family, to their own friend, Grandpa Carlisle. I wondered if they would bother to offer him amnesty as well.

I felt as though the strength were being leached from my bones. I had spent so long preparing for this day, for this moment: my death. But now that I had arrived at it, my life was not flashing before my eyes as I had expected it to. Instead, my thoughts could only rest on one subject – Jacob.

I forced myself to meet his handsome dark eyes. They were filled with a complex array of emotions: rage, fear, intense pain, anxiety (although that would have been an extremely mild description of it) and many others I found myself unable to understand. The expression on his unfathomably handsome face looked the way I imaged it would if a killer holding were holding a gun to his forehead, as though it was his life that they were threatening.

I closed my eyes and tried to keep the pain that fought for prominence amongst my senses at bay. Look what you've done to him, my mind snarled at me. After all you did to hurt him, you do this? What sort of monster are you? How can you put him through this? Or Mom and Dad and everyone else, for that matter? This is how you're thanking them for a lifetime of unswerving love and devotion? You're throwing everything they gave you away. Does it mean nothing to you?

Suddenly, a very out-of-place sound re-opened my eyes.

Across the field, someone's phone rang.

I giggled involuntarily. Of all of the things that I had expected to hear, a phone was certainly not among them. It seemed utterly ridiculous at a moment like this. Everyone on my family's side of the field blinked in confusion and looked at one another, and then all turned to Tara as she withdrew her slim black phone from her pocket. She opened it with a frown and turned away to answer.

Emily exhaled in relief.

I glanced at her, more than moderately surprised by her reaction. What could be so good about a phone call right now, of all times? I made my way over to her. I touched her arm and thought, What do you know that the rest of us don't?

She looked at me briefly and then refocused her gaze on Tara. "You'll see," she whispered back.

My brow furrowed in confusion and watched Tara's back for several moments as she spoke into the phone. Emily would nod from time to time, her expression becoming increasingly more hopeful.

When Tara finally turned around, she looked at her sister firstly and then turned to whisper something to Rob and Ian, whose expressions looked about the same way I imagined mine would have been. They spoke for a moment, and then looked at Emily as well.

I fidgeted with uncontainable curiosity. I touched Emily's arm again. Okay, seriously, what's going on?

She smiled in reply. "We're going to be just fine."

How?

"You'll see."

How, Winter?

She gave a light chuckle. "Always so curious."
I sighed. Rob, Ian and Tara now motioned to the rest of the family. They gathered around them in a loose circle, their voices too low for me to hear. I wondered if the full vampires could hear them. I looked at the Guard. Judging by their expression, they seemed as puzzled as I was.

Just as I became certain that I would explode if someone didn't tell me what was happening, the circle dissipated and Grandpa Carlisle and Rob stepped forward, flanked by Uncle Emmett and Ian.

"Master," a reedy voice said softly.

I shuddered at the sound of Jane's voice and tried to locate her in the sea of faces. She was fairly easy to spot as she was easily the shortest of them all. Her blood-red eyes were fixed on Aro as he drifted towards the front of the Guard, his face alight with curiosity.

"A development, my dear friends?" he inquired of the group.

"Indeed," Grandpa Carlisle said, glancing briefly at Emily. "It would seem that Emily has made contact with one of her and Tara's half-sisters. Another half-breed named Rebecca and her mate Ajay, are on their way. They have some information pertaining to William that I believe you will find most interesting."

I gasped quietly and rounded on Emily. She was almost beaming.

Of course, I thought to myself. It only made sense that she would have come up with a back-up plan. Emily was smart. She would have known as we all had that the chances of the Volturi accepting her offer weren't in her favour. There was no way that she would have placed her full assurance in Aro's sense of justice. She knew how much they wanted to add Dad, Aunt Alice and her sister to their equation.

I could have kicked myself for not realizing it sooner. I had spent the whole time lamenting our doom, when in fact she'd had this planned all along. I looked at her. So why had she looked so terrified before? Had it all been an act?
Caius blinked and looked at Aro. "What?"

"I'm afraid Rebecca didn't disclose that information when she last spoke to Emily," Aro said to Caius.

Caius looked at them. "What information is this, precisely?"

"I believe it would be best if we allowed them to explain," Grandpa Carlisle said.

Aro nodded. "Of course."

I whirled around to look at Emily again, who was practically glowing with confidence.

"Is this going to be safe for them?"

"For who?"

"Whoever you called."

"Rebecca and Ajay," she replied. "Rebecca is my half-sister, and Ajay is her vampire-mate. And yes, they'll be perfectly safe. The Volturi have no reason to take an interest in either of them. They have never participated in my father's…work, nor have they any gifts. I wouldn't have called them if had thought they would have been in danger," she said, as though I'd missed something obvious.

"You realize they're all furious at you, don't you?" I said, casting our family a quick glance.

She winced slightly. "Yes, I am aware. At both of us, I believe."

I didn't look. I was afraid to. "Do you know when they'll get here?"

She shook her head. "No. But I doubt that they're far."

I took a deep breath. Whatever it was, I would have to trust that it would be enough to help us.

"This is ridiculous," Caius said. "We have waited long enough. The decision has been made. They knew the law, and they broke it. All that is left is its enforcement."

My calm vanished instantly.

Caius turned in our direction. "We ought to start with them."
"At least let Nessie go," Emily said desperately. "She is entirely innocent, as she said. She has committed no crime."

"She is guilty by association," Marcus said, speaking for the first time.

I looked at him for a moment. He still looked utterly bored with the entire situation.

Guilty by association. I could very clearly recall the story that my grandfather had told me long ago about our cousins, the Denali clan. Caius had wished to prosecute them as well as their mother after she had created an immortal child. His reasoning had been that they were "guilty by association". But, luckily for them, Aro had been in a merciful mood and had allowed them to go.

Would history repeat itself, or would we find ourselves not as fortunate as the Denali coven had been? Would the shadow of the Volturi ever stop hanging over our lives?

"Indeed," Caius agreed, drawing my thoughts back to the present.

"But she's a child!" Emily exclaimed. "How can she be held responsible for the actions of those around her? She –"

"Quiet," Jane snapped at her. She strode towards us, her ashy cloak billowing behind her. "Or I'll quiet you."

I shuddered.

I realized half a second too late that Emily didn't know about Jane's gift.

She snorted disdainfully and looked coolly at her. The two glared at each other for a moment before Emily's eyes flicked back to the leaders of the Volturi. She opened her mouth to speak, and then dropped to the ground suddenly with a piercing scream.

I gasped in horror and looked at Jane, who was smiling at Emily as she writhed on the ground, screaming shrilly. "Leave her alone!" I shouted impetuously.

Jane's gaze did not leave my friend as she watched her convulse at her feet.

Rob roared in fury.

When I looked up, Rob was already halfway across the field. Fear drained the blood from my face. Was this going to be the same tactic that they had used with Irina when we had confronted them before? Was Aro allowing this to provoke some sort of reaction from our family?

Suddenly, Ian crash-tackled him to the snow, pinning his brother's arms beneath him. "Stop!" he commanded. "Stop it. You aren't helping."

"Jane, my dear," Aro said lightly.

It felt like an eternity before Jane's gaze left Emily. Immediately, her body relaxed.

I knelt beside her. "Ar-Are you o-okay?" I asked, noticing a tremor in my voice. I was surprised to feel a tear hit the back of my hand. I hadn't noticed the torrent of tears streaming down my face, either. My body was shaking violently. All of these sudden emotional changes were fraying me around the edges. I could only imagine what they were doing to Uncle Jasper.

She rolled onto her back slowly. Her eyes were squeezed shut as she gasped for breath. After a moment, she nodded her head.

"Can you get up?" I asked, although it came out as a half-sob.

She opened her eyes and then tried to push herself up. I jumped up and pulled her to her feet. I supported her weight for a moment until she whispered, "Thank you, Nessie. I'm all right."

I watched her for a moment and then looked across the field. Ian was towing Rob back to their side. Rob's eyes were tortured as he looked at his mate. I noticed that Aunt Rose had both arms wrapped around Tara to keep her from bolting as Rob had. Tears were flowing freely down her face. Everyone else was wide-eyed with shock.

"So you see, Emily, Jane does not take well to being underestimated," Aro said. I felt a surge of anger at the note of amusement in his tone.

"I have had enough of these pointless games," Caius spat. "Clearly this fictitious additional half-breed and her mate are a device intended to stall our proceedings," he said to Aro. "We must continue. This has gone on for long enough. The decision has been made. We cannot abandon the law. It has been put in place for a reason, a reason which apparently has escaped the Cullen and Winter coven. And now they must be punished for their mistake."
"Peace, Caius, peace," Aro bade him. "We have all of eternity, do we not? Surely we can wait a few moments more. If this Rebecca and Ajay do not appear by then, we shall proceed."

"Forgive us for the lateness of our arrival," said a pleasant soprano voice.

I looked up quickly to see a red-haired female stride up behind my family. She was as pale as any vampire, and just as beautiful. Her delicate features bore a definite resemblance to those of Emily, Tara and William. Her gait, though graceful, was not quite as effortless as that of the tall, handsome vampire that walked beside her. He had pale brown skin and slightly windswept black hair. He was incredibly handsome, even more handsome than William and almost as handsome as my Jacob. His maroon eyes roved over my family before flicking to the Volturi.

Emily exhaled.

"Consider yourselves forgiven," smiled Aro. "Are you Rebecca Taylor?"

"I am," the red-haired woman confirmed. "This is my mate, Ajay."

The handsome vampire's gaze flashed to her for a moment and then back to Aro.

"And you've something to tell us?" Caius said.

Rebecca's brown eyes locked on Emily. "Yes," she said without looking away. "We've much to tell you."