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Chapter 28

Return

Edward had not stood in front of the large stone dwelling that housed his father in nearly half a century. He could feel Carlisle here and, as ever, that presence disgusted him.

The throbbing in his head was distant now; it had faded away to an echo of pain over the course of the lengthy walk. His sire's mansion loomed before him, Golgotha, the place of death.

Summing up his courage, Edward walked up the path to the large double doors, rapped once, twice. There was no answer, but he felt the invitation as if on the breeze.

Come in, come in. He opened the doors, stepped into the light that burned not for Carlisle, but for appearance. Carlisle's quarters would be without light.

There, down the hall where the torches lay dark. Edward stood outside the doors to Carlisle's sanctuary, wondering what he might say to this creature whose evil he had abandoned. Wondering what vengeance might be exacted for this betrayal.

There was a low chuckle from somewhere beyond the doors, and they swung open before him. All inside was blackness, save the embers of a small fire just inside the doorway. When the voice came, it was from the far end of the hall.

"And so, the prodigal son returns. Come in, Edward."

"Carlisle. Father." Edward stepped into the darkness, and the doors shut behind him. The elder vampire laughed again.

"Oh, and now it's 'Father,' is it? How very delicious. Now that the lover is on the slab, and the dream is over, the fledgling returns to his sire."

Edward felt his heart shudder at this. He shut his eyes for a moment, spoke into the darkness.

"She is … dead, then?"

"Surely she must be, no? Garret is many things, but a procrastinator he is not."

"How much do you know? Could you not have stopped it?"

"Edward. You never gave me time to teach you! You never wanted to be my son, not after that moment of weakness in the graveyard, after you were accosted by that idiot Felix. The scrolls speak of many things, and one of them is this: the affairs of others are their own. Certainly, I could have interfered, but these are not my affairs. Your reluctance to be my son has made it so. What concern is any of this to me?"

"And so you did nothing." Carlisle laughed.

"My son, my son … why would I do else? Do we share a bond of love that I would come from on high to rescue your beloved? No. You have spurned me from the first. Now you come to me with accusations. I am not the guilty party, Edward. You have not earned the right for such salvation."

"But it was in your power to grant, as it is within your power to give me revenge."

"Many things are within my power. Light a candle, Edward."

Edward had no matches, and so used a branch from the fire. The light did little for the room, but he could see Carlisle's face now, the heavy eyebrows overshadowing eyes which gleamed with malefic humour.

Carlisle looked like a wolf as it gazes upon a herd of sheep. Edward found he preferred the darkness. Carlisle seemed to sense this, and the gleam of his eyes was joined by firelight reflecting from his grin.

"You will never be like me, Edward."

"No, father."

"And yet, some part of me is pleased with your return. A deal, Edward?"

"Go on."

"Be my fledgling. Be my servant. Be what you were supposed to be when I made you. Remain here with me, or wherever I may choose to go, until such time as you are of age. Perhaps in a handful of centuries, you will be ready. Some fledglings never leave their masters. My blood runs in you, though, and you are powerful … or will be.

"Now, though? Now you are weak, and in need of a master not so easily dispatched."

"What do I receive for this service?"

"Ah. Yes. The deal. My end of our little … bargain. Remain with me here, Edward, prove your loyalty, and perhaps I will look more kindly upon you. Perhaps I will see your plight with Garret in more sympathetic light."

"Perhaps? It seems an unbalanced arrangement, father."

"I do not think, my son that you are in a position to make any demands at this time. I will assuage your doubts, however. I am many things, and most of those are evil. Wicked. Hateful. I hold no love for any vampire. I hold no respect for the scrolls, short of how I may use them to my advantage.

"Garret and I are bound to come into conflict. I know of his foolish politics. He would oust all competition and gain control of London. I could leave, or simply ignore him, but I could be persuaded to take a more … active interest.

"Serve me now, Edward, and when that time comes I will give you not only Garret's head, but those of his entire line."

Edward was young, still gripped by mortal concepts like revenge. Still able to hate. He felt this hatred now, burning hot like something molten inside of him.

"Ah, son, such emotion! Garret has left you alive. Would you not give him the same courtesy?"

"There is nothing else left for me, without her, but my hate. Garret took from me everything I had. I would not."

"Then we have a deal?"

"We do, father." There was a moment of quiet as the two vampires surveyed each other. At last, Carlisle turned back to whatever lay on the desk, beyond the reach of the light.

"Put out the candle. There is a room for you in the west wing. I shall call upon you tomorrow."

Edward, as he would for centuries thereafter, did what he was told.

"And that is all there is, or nearly so. I could tell you lies. I could tell you that I worked for goodness, even in Carlisle's service, but that is hardly true. I've done many things that humans would consider evil for Carlisle, and I regret very few of them, beyond bringing Rose and Alice to him. I held my own goodness close. I would not tarnish Kate's memory by returning to my former ways.

"I was hated, greatly, by some for my continued existence after my transgressions with Kate. Carlisle's power protected me where hers could not, and in time, my own was more than adequate for the task. Of those vampires left that might be capable of bringing about my destruction, none care enough anymore to bother. The old hate is gone."

Bella stirred, stretched, felt the rush of air through her fingers. She should be freezing, driving in late November with the top down. The only cold she felt was internal.

"Garret?" she asked at last.

"Garret. Yes, Garret died badly. I was present for it, but I found that I took little real pleasure in his destruction. A certain … mortal need for revenge was served, but after that I had before me only endless years as Carlisle's servant.

"Kate's words proved true, though. Garret knew fear. He knew his weakness, and he died in shame. Carlisle had him bound and gagged, hung upside-down, so the blood would go to his head and keep him alive while his skin was flayed from his body and he was unmanned and disembowelled.

"Carlisle brought out his children, his fledglings. Garret had three of them. And in front of him, while he wept, Carlisle cut their heads from their bodies and burned them to ash. I was not sorry. All three had taken part in Kate's abduction.

"At the end, when Carlisle removed his gag, Garret could not even speak coherently. Terror, sorrow, and pain had combined to rob him of his senses. He wept and pleaded, some of the words in the vampire language that Carlisle has never allowed me to learn, and Carlisle did him a favour and cut his head from his body."

"Jesus …"

"It was something less than pretty. I watched from a distance, but I made sure Garret could see me. Oh, I made very sure of that. I am not proud of these things, Bella, but I do not regret them, either."

Bella was quiet for a moment, thinking the story over in her mind. What would it be like if someone swooped in and took Edward from her now? How could she go on? Edward smiled at this. They were very near the mansion now.

"Bella, there is no one left to do so. Carlisle has known for many years now that the time of my leaving was imminent. He does not have to like it, but he will permit it."

To Bella, this was somehow little comfort.