Title: Isabella Volturi

Author: MarieCarro

Beta: Project Team Beta

Translators: LaMomo (Italian) myworldisblue (Portuguese)

Genre: Supernatural/Drama

Rating: NC-17

Summary: After being left by Edward, I couldn't stand the thought of him controlling me even in his absence. I admit it was an act of defiance, but it was a decision that brought me more happiness than I'd ever thought I'd experience. New Moon AU/Canon

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

CHAPTER 26

When we walked past the corridor that led to the reception area, I was reminded of that stupid human, and I huffed.

Felix glanced at me questioningly.

"We should consider a change of receptionist," I told him, but it caused him to frown.

For some reason, he didn't like my suggestion. "What's wrong with Adriana?" he asked, his tone challenging.

I thought I heard Demetri snicker on my other side and I turned to him with all my confusion apparent in my expression. What was all of this about?

We stopped walking.

I was surprised by Felix's tone, and it took me a second to respond. "Well, for starters, she was unacceptably rude toward me when I arrived. I understand that she hadn't met me before, but that doesn't excuse her behavior."

Felix sighed. "Maybe not." He paused. "I'll talk to her."

"You? Why would you talk to her? That's way below your responsi—"

"I said, I'll talk to her," Felix interrupted me, and I almost choked on my own venom.

Felix had never talked to me like this before. He was curiously protective of Adriana, and I appraised him for a moment as a suspicion of mine bloomed. I hoped I was wrong, though, because I really wanted that girl out of here.

"Demetri, how long has Adriana been here?"

Demetri had to swallow his laugh before he answered. "About a year."

"How often does Felix linger in the reception area?"

"At least twice a day." Demetri winked at me, and my dreadful suspicion was confirmed.

Felix growled with irritation. "What? What is so funny?" he demanded, but that only caused Demetri to crack and laugh out loud.

I had a difficult time finding the humor myself, and I hated that this had happened to my friend with that girl, but it only showed how completely unexpected love was.

"Oh brother, I believe you have been shot by one of Cupid's arrows," I explained with a sigh.

Felix's eyes widened when he realized what I was saying. "No, that's not poss—"

"Believe it, my friend." Demetri patted Felix on the back.

"No, no, I just—" He didn't finish the sentence before he hurried down the corridor toward the reception area.

Demetri started to laugh again.

I elbowed him playfully and eyed him pointedly. "I guess it's your turn next then."

"I wouldn't hold my breath," Demetri said with a smile, but I could see the sadness in his eyes.

"Why not?" I asked seriously.

Being unmated could be a touchy subject for some vampires, and my brothers and I had never discussed it, for various reasons.

Demetri's smile faltered, and he sighed. "Isabella, I've lived for over a thousand years. If my mate was out there, don't you think I would have met her by now?"

"Not necessarily," I said encouragingly. "Felix isn't that many centuries younger than you, and look at what happened to him."

"Jane is older than me and she is still alone."

I tilted my head back so that I could look him in the eye. "Alec is the same age as Jane, and it took him one-thousand-two-hundred and thirty-six years to find Sadie, so don't lose hope just yet."

Demetri smiled again, but he was only humoring me.

My heart ached for my friend. If someone deserved love, it was Demetri. He had a very gentle nature outside of his duties. "The day you meet her, she will be the luckiest woman ever," I told him. "And don't forget that."

"You always know exactly what to say, don't you?"

"I try."

My thoughts went back to Felix and Adriana, and I sighed. "I hope for Felix's sake that Adriana will have a power once she's changed. Father's growing tired of recruiting vampires to his ranks that can't add anything to the guard," I mused.

"Yes, it's becoming a bit of a full house around here nowadays," Demetri agreed.

That was the understatement of the century. It was highly unusual for so many new vampires to join our coven so frequently.

Before my change, there hadn't been a new guard in the ranks for almost five-hundred-fifty years. Only in the last seventy, we'd had three new ones: me, Sadie, and now Adriana.

Edward also lived in the castle until we presented our idea of moving to Florence, and he wasn't even a member of the guard, which made his prolonged presence even more unusual. His mind-reading ability made him more than tolerable in Aro's mind, though.

I wondered how long it would take before Aro reached his limit and if he would ever put a stop to the guards finding mates.

If he did, it wouldn't be a very popular decision.

"What do you think of this Adriana?" I inquired, hoping for some more information.

Demetri chuckled. "You really don't like her, do you?"

"No, and I'm just being honest. She's arrogant and rude. I assume Felix had something to do with her getting the job because she doesn't fit the criteria that we usually have." My annoyance with the girl grew stronger every time I thought of her. Why does she have to be Felix's mate? That just means I have to be nice to her because he's my brother.

"Sorry to burst your bubble, but no. Felix had nothing to do with her employment. She was actually the most qualified of the ones we interviewed. She's a great receptionist. Keeps everything on a professional level. I think you just caught her on a bad day."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. She'd caught Demetri under her spell too? "Not you too!" I whined, and Demetri shook his head at my childish behavior.

"You just need to get to know her, that's all."

We started toward the throne room again, and our conversation continued in there.

"I don't like her and don't want to get to know her. I'll play nice for Felix's sake, but don't expect me to become friends with her." I crossed my arms defiantly.

"That's all I'm asking for, Isabella. For Felix."

"What is this conversation about, dear?" Aro asked, and I knew it was up to me to tell him about Felix's predicament.

"We're going to have a new guard soon, Father," I told him and he looked at Demetri and me with confusion. "The receptionist is Felix's mate."

I offered him my hand so he could see what had transpired, and also what I thought of the girl. He didn't approve of her behavior either, but he knew as well as I did that there was nothing that could be done about it now. She was to be a part of our coven if we wanted to keep Felix with us.

Once she was a vampire, I was going to make sure that attitude of hers was but a memory, though.

Later in the day, I went back to my room where I found Edward reading on my bed. As soon as he saw me, he got up and wound his arms around my waist to pull me against him.

"How did everything go?"

I encircled his neck and nuzzled his throat for comfort. "Most of it went well," I told him.

"Most of it?"

I huffed. "Well, it wasn't a part of my plan that Adriana turns out to be my brother's mate?"

"You mean that rude receptionist that you hate?" he asked to clarify.

"Yes, and thank you for agreeing with me about her attitude. It seems everyone else around here just loves her," I said exasperatedly. "I would have preferred her as a snack over Felix's mate."

"I know you would, but we don't choose who we love. You and I are a prime example of that."

I chuckled. "I'm afraid I don't remember that far back," I teased because even though I didn't remember every detail of how Edward and I started out, I knew the gist of it.

"Oh, but I do," he replied with amusement. "I can especially recall how infuriating it was that when I fell in love for the first time, it had to be with a human, and also, if I'm not wrong, which I know I'm not, you weren't very fond of me either."

I shrugged. "You were quite infuriating yourself." I fingered the collar of his shirt. "I guess we should be thankful we got past those first initial feelings, huh?"

He grinned and tilted my head back to look me in the eyes. "A day doesn't go by when I'm not thankful for it."

He kissed me sweetly and I smiled against his lips. He always knew exactly what I needed, when I needed it.

"Speaking of Felix," he said when we pulled apart. "How did the talk with him and Demetri go?"

"It went better than I expected, actually. We all apologized and they really liked the rings. They put them on almost immediately." I glanced at my own ring, the ruby glinting in the light seeping in through the window.

"I'm glad. I see a new light in your eyes that I haven't seen before." Edward's smile was genuine, and it felt good that he was happy for me and not jealous like male vampires had a tendency to get when their mate had a close relationship with another male.

"Yes, my relationship with my brothers was already a bit rocky when you re-entered my life."

Something dark passed over his face when I mentioned our first separation, and I dropped my head to the floor and sighed.

Edward knew I was growing tired of his masochistic thoughts and self-doubt. "You might have forgiven me, but I will never forgive myself for leaving you the way I did."

"Will you explain something to me, baby?"

"Anything, my love," he replied without hesitancy.

"Do you like being in pain?" I looked back up and locked my eyes with his.

He appeared confused by my question, and he waited for me to elaborate. When I didn't, he looked even more bewildered. "I'm not entirely sure I know what you mean," he eventually said.

"Do you like being in pain? I mean, since you never let go of past events that hurt you." I extracted myself from his arms and took a few steps away. "You just said it yourself, I have forgiven you, so why can't you forgive yourself?"

My question was real.

I couldn't understand why Edward had such a hard time to move past his own mistakes; why he always berated himself for his wrongdoings.

We weren't those people anymore, yet he still allowed that past to plague our future.

It took a few seconds for him to answer me. "No, I don't like being in pain," he said and ran his hand through his hair like he always did when he was agitated. It was a human trait I doubt he'd ever stop with. "I just can't help myself. I've always blamed myself when things have gone wrong. It's so deeply rooted in my very being, it's hard to stop."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" I asked sincerely.

"I don't know," he replied. "I wish there was an easy solution for it."

"Well, what's the biggest reason you can't forgive yourself?" I lay down on my bed on my stomach and looked at my mate. I didn't know why we hadn't had this conversation before.

He sighed. "Mostly because of what I stole from you?"

"You mean my 'innocence'," I stated when I understood what he meant, and he nodded. "You do know that my innocence was lost the moment I saw you and your family across that cafeteria, right?"

"No, what do you mean?" he asked and sat down on the bed next to me and started to play with my hair. We couldn't be apart for very long when we were in the same room.

"I would never have been satisfied with the simple rumor of you guys being the town freaks. I was too curious for my own good back then, and I don't know what it was, but something pulled me to you." I rolled over on my back as he lay down on his side. "You didn't corrupt me, Edward. Destiny did. The second it decided I was supposed to know about vampires, it was too late because no one in the supernatural world is innocent. It's impossible to be when you understand that the monsters under your bed that you feared as a child are all real."

I touched his cheek with the tips of my fingers, and he closed his eyes as he enjoyed the sensation. "I love you so much, Edward, and I really wish you would forgive yourself because it wasn't your fault. I might not remember all of it, but I do know you fought tooth and nail to keep me away from this world, but you were as defenseless against destiny as I was."

I shifted closer to him until I was lying on his arm, and there I stayed until he finally smiled and looked into my eyes with adoration shining in his.

"I don't know how you do it, but you make me infinitely happy."

"Right back at you."