Chapter Twenty-Five

Thief of Faith

..

The Volturi had a saying, The movement of a pebble starts an avalanche, and it was apt. Bella got up in the middle of the night because the thought she'd left her computer on in Aro's office. (She still could not think of this place as hers and Edward's.) Tanya, who'd been dozing in the hall, followed her.

She ran into Emmett, literally. He was dressed head-to-toe in black, his face smeared with ash, and she hadn't seen him coming down the hall. There was a loud thump as he dropped what he'd been carrying. He looked as guilty as hell.

"Fancy meeting you here," Bella drawled. "What are you up to, Emmett?"

"N- nothing," he replied, his eyes darting nervously.

Bella peered around him. "What do you have there?"

Emmett spread his arms as if to block her view. "Nothing. Nothing at all."

Bella walked around him and saw the rock with the bloody footprint sitting on the ground by his feet.

"Jesus Christ, Emmett, you stole it?"

"Yes, ... kind of," he said, shuffling his feet.

Bella shook her head, amused in spite of herself. Trust Emmett to hack his way through the Gordian Knot. She had expected him to do something, but not to break into the Temple in the middle of the night and abscond with the damn thing.

A voice rang out in the stillness. "What's going on?"

Oh, shit. Amun.

"Good evening, Amun," Bella said, shuffling closer to Emmett to block Amun's view. She gave Amun a bright, hard smile that made him flinch.

"What are you doing?" Amun demanded. "What's that on the floor?"

Tanya, Bella and Emmett chorused simultaneously, "Nothing!"

Amun craned his neck. "It's a rock," he said.

Pure genius, that guy. "Yes, I need it to hold my Christmas tree up. Thank you, Emmett," Bella babbled. "Please carry it into my room."

Amun wasn't buying it. "You sent him out in the middle of the night to get you a rock? Where is the Emperor?" This last part was said with imperious demand, as if he knew Bella must be sneaking round behind Edward's back.

"Sleeping," Bella said. "Look, it's none of your business, so why don't you just go back to your room?"

"And why is his face covered in ash?"

"Digging up rocks is dirty work." Bella pushed Emmett and he scooped up the stone, scurrying into Bella's nest room. Tanya blocked the door when Amun made to follow. She could see him outside, craning his neck to see around Tanya as she shut the door behind them.

Emmett deposited the chunk of concrete on the floor with a sigh.

Edward sat up, rubbing his eyes. " ... What's going on?"

"Your brother is trying his hand at burglary. Where's Rose, by the way? This kind of shit seems right up her alley."

"Rose has her own thoroughfare?"

Idioms, idiot, she reminded herself. "I mean that this seems like something she'd want to participate in."

Emmett shuffled awkwardly.

"She doesn't approve?"

"Um ... no, I don't think she would. She says the people should be able to worship you if they want."

"She doesn't know what you're doing?"

Emmett pleaded, "Please, don't tell her."

"She's going to find out," Bella warned. "Amun saw the stone, Emmett. As soon as there's a hue and cry about it being missing, he's going to figure out that you were the one who took it. You need to put it back."

"I can't!" Emmett protested. "I barely got away without Carlisle seeing me. If I go in there again to put it back, he's going to catch me."

"You're going to get caught anyway," Edward predicted. "Best to put it back and admit to it rather than wait for Carlisle to find out. You know how he is. Remember that time when we stole Esme's tribi roast from the oven? He punished us worse for trying to cover it up."

"I can't do that! You know he'll give me months of penance for it!" Emmett looked panicked. "I'll hide it. No, I'll get rid of it, smash it up into bits."

"That would only make it worse," Edward told him. "Stealing a relic is bad enough, but to destroy it? You'd be lucky if the worshipers don't hunt you down after Carlisle was done with you."

"Maybe Amun won't figure it out," Emmett said hopefully. "He didn't look closely at the rock."

Bella sighed. "Emmett, the man is a fool, but he's not mentally handicapped. You show up in the middle of the night, dressed for stealth and bearing a stone. The next morning, the alarm is raised because a stone has been stolen. Even a child would make the connection."

Emmett groaned. "Rose is probably going to beat me. The last time I got penance, she-" He cut off, ducking his head.

"What did you have penance for?" Edward asked.

"I'd rather not say," Emmett said with great dignity. "Suffice it to say that she was very angry about it."

"What was your penance?"

Emmett groaned again, covering his face with his hands. "I ... uh... I wasn't allowed to ... um ..."

Bella giggled. "You had to abstain from sex, and Rose was mad about it?"

Emmett looked like he wanted to melt into the floor. His short tail swayed from side to side as if looking for a place to hide. "Help me," he pleaded. "We've got to figure out a way to get me out of this. Can we say we, you know, found it?"

"Emmett, you're not wearing gloves and probably left fingerprints all over the scene," Bella reminded him.

"What are fingerprints?"

"What are-? Give me your hand." Bella took Edward's hand in hers and stared intently at the pads of his fingers. They were as smooth as a baby's cheek. Bella turned her own hand, palm up, and pointed to the swirls. "This is what I'm talking about. We humans have these patterns on the skin of our fingers and the pattern is imprinted on everything we touch. Every fingerprint is unique."

Edward seemed intrigued by the discovery. He traced the tip of his claw along the tiny grooves, like it was a little maze. Bella shivered from the strangely erotic sensation. "Every part of you is decorated," he marveled. "What pretty little patterns. Every day, I see something new about you that is beautiful. "

"Edward, please," Emmett begged. "Seduce your mate later. For now, I need help."

"I don't think you can get out of this one, Emmett. Take the stone back to the Temple and confess."

"Rose will kick me out of the nest again and make me sleep on the floor," Emmett said morosely. He hefted the stone to his shoulder and trudged from the room.

Bella and Edward settled back into their nest in Edward's favorite sleeping position, spooned behind her, his face nuzzled against her neck. "Edward, why didn't you want to go into the Temple today?"

It was a moment before he spoke, and when he did, his voice was so soft and low that she had difficulty hearing it, even as close as his lips were to her ear. "Because I am ashamed. And angry. And frightened. And confused."

"Let's take it one at a time. Why do you feel ashamed?"

"Because of my loss of control. Carlisle was right; I committed a grave sin, and I owe penance. I want to make it up to you and I seek your forgiveness, but I'm not sure I want to sacrifice to appease a Goddess I'm not sure I believe in any more."

"What caused your faith to be shaken?"

"Seeing the pain of my people after the attack. How could a compassionate Goddess allow something like that to happen to innocent people? Carlisle says it's all part of the Goddess's plan. But why would a merciful Goddess plan for such an awful thing to happen? And you, Bella. Why must you suffer for my sin? Did She also plan for the herbs to be ineffective?' Edward's voice was growing angry.

Bella turned in his arms so she was facing him. "Edward I wish I could offer better advice, but I've never been a person of faith. In my religion's scriptures, there's a passage that says that God sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. You're not the first to ask why bad things happen to good people and why evil is given free rein when the deities supposedly have the power to stop it. I think that the message is that bad things happen to everyone, just like good things happen to everyone, too. What you deserve has nothing to do with it."

"I'm so scared, Bella," he whispered. "I'm so scared that when I pray for you, I'm talking to empty air."

"Perhaps you should speak to Carlisle," Bella suggested.

"No, I don't need to talk to Carlisle. I know exactly what he's going to say: the same platitudes I've heard since I was a child. They don't comfort me any more."

Bella smoothed his riotous hair back and kissed him. It was the only reply she could think of.

"Last night, I dreamt that I was James," Edward said. His eyes were remote, as if he were focusing on the images in his mind. "I could feel it, Bella. I could feel the indescribable pain of losing my mate and child. And I knew that before I died of it, the pain would drive me mad."

"Edward, if something happened to me, you would have to go on. You'd have to. Not only for the Federation, but for our babies. They would need you."

Edward pulled Bella closer to his body as if he could shelter her from death with his own flesh. "I don't think I would have a choice."

I cannot live without my life. I cannot live without my soul. Edward wasn't being melodramatic. The Volturi were so strong, but even the mightiest of them could be felled by grief. They simply wasted away. They called it fading.

For the first time in years, Bella wanted to believe in God herself. It would be so comforting to believe that she could ask for a deity to save Edward if the worst happened to her, to be able to cast aside her worries with the thought of, God will take care of us. She wished that she was able to discern a plan behind all this chaos and to see the mercy and compassion Carlisle said was there.

She wished she could believe, but there was nothing but empty space where her faith should be. Had there ever been anything there? She had lost faith in God about the same time she'd discovered there wasn't really a Santa Claus (she still remembered the outrage she'd felt when she'd learned her parents had lied to her for years). She remembered that she'd once been warmed by the thought that God loved her even if her parents didn't, which she supposed was one of the appeals of religion: to feel that one was the recipient of an unconditional love that rarely was found in life. She had always been a bit confused about the whole God-has-a-plan thing, though. What was the point of prayer if God was going to do what he'd always intended to do? No one had ever given her a satisfactory answer for that.

She had unconditional love now, and she looked over at the dozing man who gave it to her. Whether her fate was part of a deity's plan or simply up to chance, it didn't matter. There was nothing she could do about it but hope for the best.

"Bella! BELLA!" Edward shouted. "Come quickly!"

Bella was in the bathroom. She hurriedly finished and rushed out into their nest room. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong. I didn't want you to miss this. Watch." He stood and walked a few feet away from where Nessie was sitting on the floor. "Come to daddy," he said crouching down and opening his arms. Nessie pushed herself to her feet, using her tail for balance and took a few wobbly steps forward before losing her balance and falling back down onto her behind. Little Carlisle watched this turn of events with interest as he and Victoria banged blocks on the floor. Nessie hauled herself upright and plodded forward again, this time reaching Edward, who swooped her up and planted kisses on her plump little cheeks. "Smartest baby in the galaxy," he praised.

Bella had silent tears streaking down her cheeks. She joined Edward and Nessie in their hug. Little Carlisle apparently felt that he should be included because he nonchalantly hauled himself to his feet and trotted over to them. Bella squealed and picked him up, smothering him with kisses. Victoria pouted at being left behind. She thrust up her arms and said "Me!" Bella laughed and picked her up in her other arm, adding Victoria to the snuggle-fest. Victoria and Little Carlisle entwined their tails and purred.

What would it be like for them, Bella wondered, to grow up knowing that you had someone who would always love you, would always be there for you, and that person would be your destiny? Oh, God, she hoped she would be here to see it.

There was a tap at the door. Rose poked her head in. "Hey, guys. Bella, you ready to go?" Rose held up her towel and shampoo.

"Yeah, I'm coming." Bella kissed each baby and then her mate. "I love you."

Edward had installed a larger tub for them last week, so they no longer had to squish together to fit. The new tub was also deeper, so they could sink to their necks in the lusciously hot water. Alice added a generous pour of scented bath oil. Bella had discovered the scent at the market in a perfumer's stall while Edward shopped for new pillows, as he was unsatisfied with the ones in their nest. (Thankfully, he wasn't as picky as he had been when choosing the pillows for his incubation nest.) Bella found a scent that reminded her of strawberries and had asked that it be mixed into a shampoo, lotion and bath oil.

"Empress," the woman whispered, scandalized. "That is a scent for laundry soap. It is very cheap. I have others suitable for an Empress."

Bella shrugged. "I don't care. I like it."

Last she's heard, the woman was swamped with orders for "the Empress's Scent." It made Bella feel good to know that she'd helped someone into prosperity. It was much better than the criticism she had faced last week because she had refused to buy from a stall that had a sign that read "ALPHAS AND BETAS ONLY!" Edward had told her yesterday that the woman had filed a lawsuit saying Bella had ruined her business. Bella couldn't help but be secretly a little pleased. If she could influence people to not patronize businesses that discriminated against drones, it would be worth being sued.

She sank into the tub with a sigh of pleasure. Rose did the same, tilting her head back against the edge. "I'm so tempted to call in sick today," Rose said. "I have to work with Benjamin today, since Emmett is in the doghouse."

Emmett had finally gathered the courage to confess to Carlisle about stealing the stone. As he predicted, Carlisle was livid and Emmett was sentenced to scrub the Temple floors today as part of his penance. He was suddenly on everyone's shit list, even that of people who didn't believe Bela was divine. The Temple was supposed to be sacrosanct and Emmett had blithely violated that sanctity. Every time Bella saw him, he looked like a raincloud.

"Did you make him sleep on the floor again?" Bella asked.

Rose snickered. "He told you about that, did he?"

"What'd he do to piss you off so bad?"

"Nothing important," Rose said breezily. "But he won't do it again, that's for sure."

Bella was intensely curious, but wouldn't push. "Sorry you have to work with Benjamin."

"He's been a little better about work," Rose conceded, "but I just ... well, I'm a little creeped out by him. I think he's coming on to me."

"Really? Does Emmett know?"

"Obviously not, since Benjamin is still alive." Rose dunked her head to wet her hair and poured some shampoo into her palm. "And, I hate to admit it, but I'm kinda grossed out by his scars."

"Jasper has scars and you're not bothered by them," Bella pointed out.

"Yeah, but not like these. Benjamin was badly burned in the attacks, all over his face and chest. They're healed and everything, but the guy looks sort of like Freddy Kreuger, minus the Wolverine hands. I feel so childish, but it really bothers me."

"It's a visceral reaction to a reminder of the fragility of mortal beings," Alice said.

"Yeah, whatever, Dr. Freud," Rose said and splashed her. "I'll admit, I'm no expert on heterosexual flirting, but whenever Emmett isn't around, his demeanor totally changes. He sidles up to me and starts this macho posturing shit and touching me 'accidentally'."

"Have you tried telling him you're gay? And married?"

"I tried telling him I would rearrange his limbs in new and interesting patterns if he didn't knock that shit off, but he took it as a joke." Rose shuddered. "Oh, yeah, speaking of extramarital shit, Amun is telling everyone about how he 'caught' you and Emmett in the hall the other night."

Bella was alarmed. "Rose, you can't believe-"

"No, of course not," Rose said. "And I don't think anyone believes his insinuations, either. But I just wanted you to have a head's up. You'd better tell Edward so he isn't blindsided by it."

"God, he's worried sick that I might die and now he has to listen to some little twerp imply that I'm cheating with his brother."

"Did Edward ever find a position for him?" Aro's family had been nagging Edward to give Amun a position in the government and Edward was trying to find one for him which entailed no responsibility and didn't call for sound judgement, something which Amun couldn't fuck up too badly. Perhaps it was a testament to the efficiency of Volturi government that he hadn't managed to yet find anything that fulfilled those conditions. "Maybe once he gets to working, he'll want his own home."

Bella snorted. "Unlikely. I think he likes the status of living in the 'palace'. He hints around that he's our confidant and knows all sorts of secrets, so that people will think he's important. Anyway, Edward is looking for a suitable house for us."

"Oh," Rose said. Her face became impassive as if she'd slipped on a mask.

"Rose, you and Alice will be invited to come with us," Bella told her. Rose smiled and dunked under the water to rinse.

"How's your new bodyguard?" Bella asked Alice.

"Oh, Liam? He's great. I really do feel safer with him around, especially with Jasper being gone so late every evening and those Purist weirdos frothing at the mouth about us trying to destroy their religion. It's like being followed around by a big German Shepard. He doesn't talk and I can't read his writing, so we've had to devise a little sign language to communicate."

"Does he roll over so you can rub his tummy?" Rose asked sweetly.

Alice threw her sponge at Rose, who caught it deftly and whipped it back, right into Alice's face. "Did I ever tell you I used to play softball?"

Bella climbed out of the tub. "Let Emmett back in the nest, Rose," she said. "He's turning into Color Me Emo Emmett and it's depressing, like watching a puppy left out in the rain."

"All joking aside, he really did step in it with that damnfool plan to steal the stone. I knew he was up to something, but I never thought he'd take it that far."

"Perhaps use of the phrase 'plausible deniability' should have been your first clue he was up to no good," Alice said pointedly.

"Well, yeah, but I didn't think he would ..." Bella trailed off.

"What did you think he was going to do, Bella? Write a strongly-worded Letter to the Editor? For a smart girl, you sure are stupid sometimes."

"Did you figure it out with your prodigious brain or did you see it in a vision, Miss Cleo?"

"I haven't seen a vision in a little while," Alice said. "It's scary, flying blind like this. I just have to have faith that-"

"Yeah," Bella said, yanking on her clothes. "I've gotta run. I need to get to work." She went out into the hall and started toward Aro's office, Tanya in tow. Jasper met her in the hallway.

"Hey Jasper, I haven't seen you in a few days," she began.

His expression was grim and she felt her heart sink. "What's wrong now?"

"There's something you need to see," he said. "You too, Tanya."

Edward was seated at the desk, his head in his hands, his face pale. He rose when Bella entered and pulled her into his arms, shuddering.

"What is it?"

"Watch." Jasper turned on the viewscreen perched on the end of the desk. It was James. He wore a white mourning robe and he looked like he'd lost a lot of weight since Bella had last seen him in an interview.

"Edward," he said. His eyes burned with hate. "Because of you, my mate is dead and you have stolen my son from me. I want you to know that I am going to take yours." He held up a knife and sliced his palm open, clenching his fist around the blood that dripped. "I swear it on my blood, my life and my soul: you will hold your mate's lifeless body in your arms and know my pain. I want you to know that it's coming. I want you to fear it. I want you to dream about it and wake screaming in the night. I want you to live in dread. It's coming. And you can't stop it."

With that, the video ended.

"Why is this so significant?" Bella asked. "He's made threats against us before."

"It's a Blood Oath, Bella. He's just sworn to the Goddess that he will kill you and the children or sacrifice his life."

Bella suddenly remembered seeing a woman slicing her hand in the Temple, the first time she'd visited.

"Take this seriously, Bella. Very seriously. What's more, that vid did not originate from Lapush. Either James is no longer under house arrest or he escaped, and I'm betting on it being the latter."

Bella took a deep breath. "What do we do?"

"I'm putting more guards around the house," Jasper said. "Just try to be sensible, Bella. Don't go running off without security with you. And don't trust anyone besides the family and Tanya. We still don't know how many traitors are in our midst."

Bella felt a chill of fear. So many people were in and out of the house all day ... she wanted to take the children and hide in a cave somewhere, to stand in the entrance like a momma bear guarding her cubs. "Should we get the children their own guards?" Bella asked.

Jasper considered and shook his head. "Not right now, because that means having to trust more people and let them into our inner circle. Just make sure that one of us is always with them.

Bella nodded. Edward would like it if they brought the children with them to the office, though she wasn't sure how much work they'd be able to get done. "Are you any closer to finding out who sabotaged the grid?"

"I'm down to a few suspects," Jasper replied. "Whomever it was, they were very careful to cover their tracks. Don't worry, Bella. I will find them and I will keep the family safe."

"I know you will, Jasper. Just make sure that Alice doesn't feel neglected, okay? I know she's been feeling a little lonely."

Jasper bowed his head. "Thank you, Goddess. Even with all that's going on, you still worry about the happiness of others."

"Why don't you go get her and take her to lunch?" Bella suggested.

"I'll do that." Jasper bowed again and left the room, shutting the door behind him. Bella went over and sat down next to Edward, who still had his head braced in his hands. "Edward? Please don't let James get to you. That's what he wants. Truthfully, I'm in no more danger than I was before. He always wanted me dead, right?"

"This is different," Edward replied. "This is ... personal malice, not just hostility to your position."

"It's not going to change anything," Bella said. "As unstable as he seems right now, it's likely he'll make a mistake and we'll be able to catch him."

Edward gave her a smile and a kiss. "You always manage to make me feel better, even at the darkest of times."

Bella laid her head against his chest, listening to the strong thump of his heart. That's what mates did. She realized that it was a lot like religious faith, a mixture of hope, trust and love. But, in this, Bella had no difficulty believing.