Disclaimer: I own nothing in this story except for my own little plot line and any characters you may not recognize. Everything else is property of the genius Stephenie Meyer.
A/N: I apologize for the long awaited update. School has seriously been sucking up my entire life, so I'm sorry this wasn't posted sooner for you all. Big thanks to my beta, twi-ction. She's amazing. ;) Also thank you so much for your kind reviews and I hope you enjoy this next update!
Chapter 22: Lie to Me No More
Bella's POV:
The night air was cool. It danced around the sheer white curtains of the windows and fluttered pieces of my hair against his shoulder.
And then he was gone.
I looked up, panicked, only to find Edward a few feet away from me, his eyes wide in shock. "It's really you," he whispered.
Brown hair swirled around my shoulders and I realized that at some time during our journey here, I had turned back into my normal self.
"Bella," he whimpered, his voice pained as he slowly walked back toward me. "I thought… all this time…"
As soon as he reached me, he fell to his knees, his eyes roaming over every part of my body, memorizing all of the lines and curves. The beautiful features of his face twisted into agony and for a moment I thought tears would produce from his eyes.
A strangled cry left my lips as his arms snaked around my waist, pulling me to him. The side of his face was pressed against my stomach as his body shook with tearless sobs.
Drops of salty water fell from my chin, landing in his copper hair. Threading my fingers through the coarse, messy strands, I held him to me. And as the moon shone through the window from the Volterra midnight sky, I closed my eyes and wished to never leave his side again.
The side of his face pressing against the curve of my stomach was a welcomed weight. His hair was curled and twisted between my fingers, the thick strands rough to the touch. Large hands splayed out against the small of my back, sending delicious chills down my spine.
I relished in the feel of Edward against me. I memorized every pressure, every touch that he emitted.
"Bella," he whispered, his lips moving against the fabric of my shirt. "I missed you so much."
Reality set in then, like a cold slap hard across the face. What had we done to each other? He lied to me and I to him. Our charades nearly cost us his life. The despair I felt from seeing him nearly die, taken away from the world forever, rammed into me at full speed. I stumbled backwards, falling away from his grasp.
"Wh… What were you thinking?" I stuttered, tears slipping down my face as I frantically ran my fingers through my hair. "Edward, you could have died! Why would you do that? Why?"
Hysteria snipped away the last sane nerve in my body. I began seeing my nightmare intermingled with the very real horror I had witnessed only moments ago. Shaking my head, I began sobbing uncontrollably. "You… You're so stupid, Edward! Why would you die for me? Why did you try to kill yourself?"
Edward stared at me in shock, his ebony eyes wide as they followed my every move.
"Oh God, what would I have done? If I have had kept this from you longer, you wouldn't have believed me. My nightmare… you would have died…" I made no sense. Strings of words left my lips at an alarmingly fast rate, yet I couldn't bring myself under control. "What… What i-if you had died? It would have been all my fault," I bellowed, gut-wrenching cries shaking me to the core. "All my fault…"
"Bella," Edward whispered reverently, instantly standing before me. His hands reached up to caress my cheeks but I pushed them away.
"Why did you leave me?" And that's what my pain had really come down to. That was the boiling point that would make me explode. Edward had left me. Regardless of his feelings for me now, he left me all the same. Feeling almost a year's worth of pain and anguish twist my heart and pound against my flesh, I threw my fist into his chest – not hard, but enough for him to know how broken I truly was. "You just left, Edward." Gritting my teeth, I pounded my fists against his hard flesh several times more until my body went weak in his arms. The worst part of all of it was that he let me hit him without fighting back. He just stood there, holding me against his chest in silence. Tears soaking his shirt and hair matted against my face, I stared up at him. "You made me believe that you didn't love me." My words were barely above a whisper as I spoke. The salty liquid from my eyes was strong against my tongue. "You made me believe I was never good enough for you."
Edward wrapped me tightly in his embrace as he pushed his forehead against mine. "Read my mind, Bella," he murmured.
I sniffed quietly as his thumbs swept away the tears across my cheeks. "What?"
"I want you to read my mind," he repeated, voice hoarse. Then, for a brief moment, he smiled. "It's strange to think that you have the same power I do now."
But I couldn't smile in return. I could barely keep myself from falling completely apart.
"You need to see what I went through when I made the decision to leave you," he whispered.
Hands trembling, I placed them on either side of his face. Taking in a deep breath, I allowed myself to focus on his thoughts alone. Moments flashed before my mind – dancing images of the two of us. I saw his fear for me when he stopped Tyler's van from crashing into me in the parking lot. I felt his panic when he found out that James had tricked me last year, and the suicidal thoughts he had when he thought I wouldn't make it. That was truly his downfall. Every thought since then carried a hint of worry that some day, somehow, he wouldn't be able to protect me because of what he was. And when my birthday finally came around and Jasper nearly attacked me, he realized it was too dangerous for him to stay with me. I was human. I was fragile. But he loved me. He loved me more than anyone has ever loved me in my entire life.
A particular memory of his passed through my mind. I recognized the dark blue shirt that he wore as he drove down the highway, his gaze hard… blank. The way his face was set in determination, the way his eyes held no emotion, the way he carried himself as if everything he did was mechanical, it all was so devastatingly familiar. This was the day he left me.
Alice sat in the passenger seat, her eyes carefully scanning the receding tree line. Jasper didn't mean it, Edward. He feels terrible for the pain he's caused you.
The knuckles of his fingers turned an ivory white as he gripped the steering wheel.
When he made no attempt to acknowledge her thoughts, Alice turned to him, her face solemn.
This is wrong. You should go back to her. Edward, you need to go back to her.
Still, Edward stared straight ahead, his eyes following the yellow lines in the pavement.
"Say something," she finally spoke.
More silence emanated through the small Volvo and Alice clenched her teeth in frustration. "Ever since we left you've done nothing. If it weren't for your emotions, we would have truly believed you wanted to leave today."
More thoughts flooded Edward's mind. All of them were from his family in the cars behind him and all of them were in turmoil about what they were doing.
"You think this will be so easy for her, Edward, but it won't," Alice spat, her voice nearly hysterical. "She loves you. Don't you see that? She'll always love you and you're just throwing it away!"
The car screamed in protest as Edward threw the weight of his foot against the brake. Dirt kicked up beneath the tires as he haphazardly veered the car to the side of the road. There were no humans around for miles and in moments, he had leapt out of the car, racing into a patch of evergreen woods where a flock of grackles took flight into the dreary afternoon sky.
Fingers digging into stripped wood, Edward gripped the trunk of a tall pine, uprooting it from the ground and launching it several feet away. It crashed violently into another tree and the sound of wood cracking in two ricocheted around him. A guttural cry burst through his lips as he sank to his knees on the damp forest floor. For over a hundred years he had waited for Bella, and now he had given her up all in the name of making her happy.
"Edward." Alice had silently knelt before him, her eyes soft and full of worry.
"You all know nothing!" he yelled, clutching the tattered strands of his hair. "All of you have been paired from the beginning. You don't know what it's like…"
"But you could be too," Alice pleaded, reaching for him.
Edward jerked away from her, his face drawn in agony. "Don't presume to tell me what I can and can't have. I'm a danger to her, Alice. I need to know that she can live a happy, normal life without me in it. If I can't have that, then what else is there?"
The vision was brief, but it left my heart shattering into thousands of miniscule pieces. It was like reliving the same pain and heartache I had experienced that day. The pieces of my heart had been put back together but the glue that held them was not sturdy. My heart would always be damaged. Now, seeing what he went through had lessened the pain to some extent, but I would never be whole.
I shut my eyes tightly, loosening a few more stray tears. "You could have talked to me about this," I whispered.
"You wouldn't have understood. Imagine it, had the places been switched."
My hands slid down his neck, over his shoulders and down his chest. "But Edward… they were."
Frowning, he pushed strands of my hair away from my face. Deep down he knew what I meant.
"I'm not human anymore, Edward. Everything I've had to do so far up till now has been a risk. I couldn't involve you so soon and maybe it was wrong of me to tell you the truth now, but I couldn't chance losing you. Every day it drove me nearly insane to see you and not be able to tell you the truth. I wanted to so badly, Edward."
He shushed me and kissed the tops of my eyelids, making me gasp quietly.
"I'm so sorry, Bella," he breathed. "Had I not left, this wouldn't have happened."
"Stop it," I demanded, voice shaking. "This would have happened whether you left me or not. We wouldn't have been able to fight it."
Tremors shaking through my limbs, speeding between the layers of muscles beneath my flesh, I gripped the distressed fabric of his shirt. "I'm sorry," I muttered, breathing in gasps around the tears. "I'm so sorry. Edward, I'm – "
He ducked his head down, his lips claiming my own and officially silencing my pleas. And suddenly, I found myself back in the meadow, feeling Edward's arms around my waist as the warmth of the sun beat down on our skin. There was no warmth here, in Volterra, but I found solace in his presence. I found love in his embrace and the startling realization that he was real and here with me as his frozen lips moved against mine.
"No more apologies," he whispered, his words washing over my mouth. "Just be with me… Bella."
"I've always been with you."
"Somehow I knew it was you, but I couldn't bring myself to hope," he breathed, his arms lifting me up until my legs found purchase around his hips. We kissed, relishing in the feel of each other once more, memorizing the fluidity of our lips moving together.
I felt a soft breeze sweep past my face and when I pulled away from him, we were within my bedroom. The moon's luminescent glow swept across the floor, bathing our forms in its incandescent light.
I lowered myself back to the floor, my eyes staying connected with his. "Stay with me," I breathed quietly, pulling him back to the bed.
As a human, my hormones always took control of my body when it came to Edward. But tonight, after being apart from him for so long, I didn't want to spend time seducing him. I just wanted to be with him, talk with him, hold him.
We settled down amongst the cotton sheets, simply staring into each other's eyes. I let my gaze trace the lines of his face, the curves of his jaw and the smooth slope of his nose and lips.
"Your eyes are different," he spoke, a teasing grin playing at the corners of his lips. "That's something I'll have to get used to." He reached out a hand, placing it against my chest where my heart beat violently. I watched as he closed his eyes, relieved. "I missed this," he whispered. "I missed you."
Pulling him to me, I pushed my forehead against his. "There's so much I wanted to tell you and couldn't."
He breathed in deeply, his onyx irises glistening in the darkness as he looked up at me. "Then tell me now," he said. "Everything."
The next several hours were filled with quiet words and soft caresses. I told him everything that I could, even though he had already seen most of it in my mind earlier. And when I spoke of Charlie and Renee, he held me and let me release more of my tears, even when I didn't think I had more to give.
"They will always love you, Bella," he whispered, running his fingers slowly through my hair. "And they know you loved them. Remember that."
Sometime during the dark hours of the night, I fell asleep.
Interchanging visions of Edward and Lukas haunted my dreams, stabbing my mind with pain and sadness. And when I dreamt of Edward kneeling before me in the woods, the tall blade of a sword ready to strike down against him, I woke up with a blood-curdling scream.
My name was being repeated anxiously in the darkness and I suddenly felt cold hands against my sweat-drenched skin. Gasping, I frantically clutched the hands that held me. "Edward? Edward!"
"I'm right here, shhh…"
Edward had me flush up against him within a matter of seconds, his arms enclosing around me tightly. "Shh… Bella. I'm here, it's okay."
My fingers dug into his marble-like flesh as my eyes darted around the room, frightened. Why were the nightmares still there? I almost lost Edward before; I couldn't handle it if I were to go through that again.
He held me like that for almost an hour, asking once what I had dreamt about. But I was too horrified for words. My grip only tightened on him more and the minute he felt my hot tears soak his shirt, he asked me nothing else. It would have been so much easier to tell him through my mind, but I couldn't let him see the terrors that plagued me.
Eventually, he had lulled me back to sleep with the lilting song of my lullaby soft on his lips.
It wasn't until much later when Edward's musical voice drifted into my dreams, rousing me from my black reverie of peace, that I opened my eyes. "Victoria's here," he murmured, lightly stroking my arm. "She's waiting for you in the kitchen."
Slowly, I sat up, rubbing away the evidence of sleep. I grinned at the hardened, worried expression on his face. "She's not going to bite me, you know," I teased.
"Maybe not," he muttered. "But before you changed, she had every intention of doing so."
A shrill 'hmmpfh' echoed from the kitchen and I rolled my eyes.
"I'll be back," I murmured, bending down to lightly kiss him before climbing out of bed. His hands lazily fell from my hips as I moved over him.
Victoria stood by the bar, her cerise eyes focused on the floor. She looked up at my approach. "Did you have a good night?" she asked, a small smile coloring her features.
I shrugged, crossing my arms. "Of sorts. You?"
"Hunted," she stated matter-of-factly. "Aro wants you to meet with him this afternoon and I'd tell ol' Romeo back there to get back to his quarters. Fast."
Edward was by my side in an instant. A growl rumbled deep within his chest as he glared at her. "Why?"
Victoria glanced at him, her eyes roaming over him quickly before returning her gaze to me. "Jane and Alec have been sent to speak with the Cullens. They'll be there within the hour."
Edward grabbed my arm gently. "I need to go," he whispered in my ear, his voice tortured at the idea. I couldn't say I'd sound much different. The thought of him leaving me was almost too much to bear.
Silently, I nodded and thread my fingers through his, squeezing his hand. "Go."
He swept past us, intent on reaching the front door.
"Edward," Victoria called out.
Edward stopped in the entryway and turned around. His eyes held no emotion when it came to looking at her.
"Not that I really care what happens to you, but when was the last time you fed?"
I stared at the purple bruises beneath his eyes. His porcelain face was sunken in around the bones of his cheeks and the color of his lips had nearly drained away. "Edward, she's right," I said, walking toward him. "Your eyes have been black since I got here."
"I'm fine," he told me, his voice stern but quiet.
"No, you're not," I argued.
Victoria was next to speak. "You know what will happen if you wait too much longer. Bella won't be able to save you so easily next time, Cullen," she spat. "Even more attention will be drawn to her and you'll be to blame for that."
I shot a deadly glare over my shoulder at her and her jaws clenched automatically. Slowly, I turned back to Edward. His eyes were cast down in despair and guilt. "Edward," I whispered, placing my hands on either side of his face. The hollows of his cheeks were more easily defined beneath my fingers. "You need to go hunt. Take Emmett and Jasper with you. I'll make sure you have permission to leave. Promise me?"
He nodded with a heavy sigh, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. "I promise," he murmured, kissing my temple. "Can I see you tonight?"
My answering kiss seemed to be enough. He gave me a small smile before turning around to finally leave.
It was still early enough that Gianna wouldn't be at her desk yet. I listened to the sound of his feet against the floor until he was too far out of earshot. When I was sure he had made it back to the tunnels safely, I turned to Victoria.
"So… what did I miss?"
~*~*~*~
The chime of the elevator sang above me as the metal doors slid open. I entered the underground tunnel, feeling the cool air sweep past me as my eyes darted from vampire to vampire. Some of them I had recognized at the previous meetings but they all made sure to stay clear of me. Their thoughts alone were of distrust and alarm.
My pace was quick but not frantic. From what Victoria told me, Aro had gathered the guard for a meeting of their own after I had left with Edward. They discussed Edward's behavior and whether or not they should just let it go. Caius was hell-bent on punishing him but Aro continued to silence his words abruptly. He was too frightened of my reaction to their decision in the arena. He didn't trust me but he knew my kind would be helpful in this war. Not only that, he certainly didn't want to risk the bloodshed of his own people should we change our minds to help them. Instead, Aro sent Jane and Alec to speak with the Cullens and to warn Edward that if he should leave the area without permission again, they would make sure to kill him, regardless of whether I was around or not. This had pleased Caius but Aro also made sure that I would be included on any similar decisions that they made in the future.
I had expected the twins to be more than willing to speak with the Cullens, a little smug even. What I hadn't expected was for them to go against Aro's wishes and overstep their boundaries once they arrived.
Instantly, my head was enveloped by something heavy – a pressure that pushed against my temples. My heart began to race as I realized what was about to happen. Alec had disabled them, stripping them of their senses and abilities. He and his sister did not share Aro's ideals in leaving Edward unscathed. They wouldn't kill him but they felt that he should suffer the consequences of his actions, his family included.
I broke out into a full on run, racing against the small amount of time I had before all hell broke lose inside the Cullens' domain.
Using my senses, I honed in on the ones I cared most deeply about.
"If Aro merely sent you to deliver a message, I wonder why you have decided to disarm us." I could hear Jasper's voice as he spoke to the young vampiric children.
"Protocol," Alec replied smugly. "For precautionary measures… you understand." It wasn't a question but a statement – a fact; and I could almost feel the animosity radiating off Jasper and his family. His powers may have been stripped, but I knew they were greatly unsettled by this.
"Friend," Carlisle interjected, his voice welcoming and calm. "We understand fully and do not wish to cause anymore trouble. Please, what is it that Aro wishes us to hear?"
"Aro's message is for Edward," Alec told them casually. "It's rather boring, really."
"Boring indeed," a small musical voice echoed.
I instantly knew that it was Jane and my skin hummed with anxiety. It was almost palpable. Jane, above all else, respected Aro and carried out his exact wishes. She wouldn't really be planning to go against that would she? Even as I questioned her motives, I knew the exact answer. She would.
"Edward," Jane beckoned and I could almost imagine a sardonic sneer gracing her lips as she looked at him. "I'm sorry, but this must be done."
"What must be done?" Emmett growled.
I had pushed through the door of their rooms, breaking it off of its hinges in my haste, just as Jane uttered the word, "Pain." Without thinking, I projected her power back on her, letting the fire and flames eat their way through her flesh as she buckled to the ground.
Her screams amplified around the room and I had no doubt in my mind that every vampire within the vicinity could hear them. It was something I would have to explain to Aro and his brothers, but in that moment I didn't care. It was either she or Edward. There wasn't even a choice in the matter. "You will feel your own suffering," I hissed.
Alec stepped back, alarmed – everyone did.
I lowered myself, crouched down beside of Jane as her body bent and twisted in ways it never should. She cried out in agony as the heels of her Mary Jane shoes dug into the hard surface of the floor. It only took one word to ease her pain, to stop the torment that I inflicted on her every limb, but I didn't want to say the word. I didn't even want to think it. All I could do was stare at her, letting the waves of pain she issued on so many others beat down against her. Her small hands gripped the side of her head and the veins in her neck were more pronounced as her back arched up off the ground.
"Marie."
It was Carlisle's soft voice that distracted me. I looked up at him, startled. There was a small hint of triumph in his eyes, but it was overshadowed by his remorse. He would have never wanted to see his family, including me, torture anyone. It was against everything he worked so hard for. Though, I understood him, I could not feel ashamed for my actions. I would gladly repeat what I did a million times again if it meant protecting Edward and his family. Turning back to Jane, I finally ended her suffering. "Stop."
The room became deafeningly quiet, with the exception of her heavy breaths as her chest heaved up and down with effort. Alec moved by her side quickly, scooping her up in his arms. Jane immediately turned to me, her claret eyes wide.
"When I said you'd be next, I meant every word," I seethed, my voice low. "I never go back on what I say and I'd advice you to never go against your master again. Trust me when I say he'll find out what you've done."
She cringed within her brother's arms and allowed him to lift her up. She couldn't do anything but rest her head against his shoulder and stare blindly ahead of her. The pressure in my head had instantly ceased in the moment I had inflicted pain. So it didn't surprise me when a wave of calm settled around the room.
Jasper had moved closer to me but still gave me my space. I was truly grateful to have him there. An unsettling feeling had begun to stir deep within me and I was afraid of what Edward thought at seeing me act in this way. I couldn't even look at him.
Watching Alec as he held his sister close only amplified my inner turmoil. His eyes were frightened, but I reminded myself that I never intended to take that fear away from him. No more would the Volturi try to betray me.
"We will go see Aro now," I said, my voice devoid of emotion. Without taking my gaze off of the twins, I spoke deliberately to Carlisle. "I will be returning to see your family soon. Expect my visit within an hours time."
And then the three of us were gone, blurring out of the Cullens' living room and back into the underground maze. I could hear Jasper struggle to close their door to the best of his ability and I realized then, that I had damaged it beyond repair. That was the only part about my visit that I actually felt truly guilty for.
Whispers floated through the tunnels at the sight of the "fair one" as weak as she was. Though no one dared question me about the event. They all heard Jane's torment.
It didn't take long to reach our destination. Victoria was already waiting for us by Gianna's desk and spoke not a word as she followed us toward the main hall. The golden doors seemed overbearing and powerful before us, but I opened them easily without a hint of trepidation.
Aro was already halfway to us the moment he saw Jane in her huddled position.
"Bring them all here," I ordered before he could issue a word. He turned to me, almost daring me to continue but too afraid to speak against me.
"Your grace – " he began.
"Bring. Them. Here," I dictated, my words puncturing the tension that lay thick in the air. "I want your guards to see this. All of them."
Moments later, the atrium of the main hall was filled with cloaked vampires, their eyes suspicious and as red as the devil himself.
Caius was livid but chose to keep his voice hushed. Aro didn't know what to expect but stayed close to Jane and Alec, his gaze never leaving me. Marcus rarely ever showed interest in the events before him but he had straightened up in his seat, his eyes locking onto my own.
"I want you to understand something," I said, turning to Aro. Before he could react, I had grasped his cold hand in mine, letting him see what had transpired only moments ago. He gasped, slowly turning to Jane.
"My dear girl," he whispered, astonished. "Why did you go against my wishes?"
Jane couldn't speak. She merely shook her head as her brain tried to compute what had happened to her.
"Master, we didn't believe that Edward Cullen should be left unpunished for what he did," Alec spoke, swallowing thickly as Aro's greedy eyes turned to him. "We had no intention of ending his life but we wanted him to be clear that we would make no exceptions if it were to happen again."
"A right choice," Caius remarked.
I wanted to rush over there and snap his neck but forced myself to remain where I was. My fists clenched tightly by my sides as I glared at him.
Marcus watched me curiously but said nothing.
"Jane has suffered for her mistake but Alec," I spat and he looked at me in alarm. "He might need another reminder."
Aro's jaws clenched tightly as he stared at the young guard. He was clearly furious with him. "Indeed."
The sun streamed in from the circular window high above, but no light ever touched the faces of the guards who stood within the shadows. "I want to make myself clear," I announced, my gaze moving over each guard. "Jane is probably one of the most powerful guards here. She should be respected for her gifts. However, she made the mistake of disobeying Aro's wishes and in doing so, she also disobeyed me. Should any of you make that same error, you will endure what she did. I know you heard her screams. I know you felt her pain. You think you know suffering, but you will never know the true meaning of it until you come up against me."
The surrounding guards stirred restlessly as quiet hisses filled the air. Aro nervously cleared his throat. "Alec would you take Jane to her quarters please?" We watched them leave the hall and Aro's gaze sought out a hooded female vampire who stood close to his thrown. She nodded her head once and quickly took off after the twins. I could only guess that this was his wife, Sulpicia.
"I trust Victoria let you know of our original plan to send Jane and Alec to the Cullen family?" Aro asked me, his eyes sliding over to Victoria who stood by the main doors. She grimaced at him.
"Yes, she did," I said earnestly, wanting to ensure that Victoria did her job well.
Aro nodded in response. "I'm sorry for the trouble we've caused you recently, Miss Rigas. I assure you, it won't happen again."
I smiled – a peace offering. "Of course."
For the remainder of my time with them, we discussed the morale of the vampires here and Aro made absolutely sure that I would never be left out of decisions they made ever again. He wanted me to choose leaders to train the vampires for the war. There would be several groups of them and they would all practice at different times in the underground arena. Jasper was already number one on my list of trainers. Laurent might possibly be another, but I wasn't so sure I could trust him just yet. Eventually, Demetri spread open a map of Romania, pointing out where he had tracked down some of the wolf covens there. We made arrangements to send a few of my own people to those areas as well as to Siberia. I knew some of the members of the La Push pack had already made an attempt and failed at communication with these wolves, but I didn't need the Volturi to know that.
We all planned to meet again the next day in order to separate the vampires into training groups and I was to bring a list of leaders with me. I was immortal, nowhere near a school, and yet I still had homework. Figures.
A wave of relief washed over me as soon as I exited the golden gates of this hell. Marcus had continuously kept an eye on me throughout our meeting and it unnerved me to no end. I was practically itching to leave the place as soon as possible.
Just as I had promised, I had returned to Edward's family within an hour. The door to their quarters was partially fixed with duck tape and as I looked around at them and spotted Emmett twirling the roll of silver tape around his finger, I couldn't help but laugh. Though it was short lived. I was anxious and fidgety and I needed to speak with all of them privately.
"Is there a room further away from the hall where we can all talk?"
Sensing my unease, Edward was at my side in an instant, gently placing an arm around my waist. I leaned into him automatically.
"Of course," Carlisle said, leading the way down a small hall to the far back room of their quarters. I could tell just as soon as we entered that it was he and Esme's room.
There were many things we needed to discuss, my identity for one, but there was something nagging at my brain, eating slowly through my nerves. Rosalie quietly closed the door behind us and I didn't waste time asking the one question I needed to have answered the most.
"Carlisle, you were here for a long time in your early life as a vampire."
He watched me curiously, but nodded in return.
I swallowed, my throat feeling thick and Edward squeezed my side in reassurance but his face was a mixture of emotions. Jasper tried to ease my tension and I shot him a grateful look.
"How much exactly do you know of Marcus' power?"
His eyebrows rose in surprise but Carlisle told me exactly what I didn't want to hear. "It's infallible. He speaks little but Aro trusts him more than the others, I think. Marcus can sense relationships between people. It could be love, family, friends, enemies… the list goes on. He knows exactly how everyone is interconnected."
I thought back to the way Marcus had glanced at me the moment I felt hostile toward Caius.
Taking a deep breath, I stared directly into his eyes. "We may have a problem then."
Reviews are much appreciated. Also, I know I take awhile to update but I do post sneak peeks to upcoming chapters on my livejournal page. So, if you find yourself really itching for a new update, go check out my page and see if I've posted anything. ;)