26. BLOODLUST
I'd never given much thought to how I would die. At least not since becoming an immortal. That meant I was supposed to live forever; it was part of the rules, right? I guess I should have known that of all people, I would be the one that death would catch up with despite the odds. So very limited ways to die, and it had found me.
It was inevitable, though. You can't really escape death once it has decided to take you. Sure, you can try to avoid it, but death is relentless. I would face death again and again because it was only coming back for what was long overdue; I'd evaded its grasp too many times. I was stupid not to realize I'd only been delaying the process—that death would return each time with a ruthless, uncaring vengeance.
And again, this time was no different than the last. Here I was, not running from what I feared. Death had me walking straight toward it. Dying in the place of someone I loved seemed to be my poison of choice. When you were destined to love someone so much that you would die for them, how could you not give up your life for your beloved? What other option did you have?
Every single day of these last few months, I had stared in surprise at each morning sun because I couldn't believe the earth would have me back again. I was so sure with every nightfall that this fantastically surreal dream would burn up. I would open my eyes to find that it all was nothing more than the most twisted joke conceivable by my unconscious imagination.
After all, when life offers you a dream so far beyond any of your expectations, is it reasonable to grieve when it comes to an end?
The irony was that now I felt trapped. Because the dream had turned into the most terrifying kind of nightmare—one where I needed to run for my life, but there was nowhere I could go. Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.
I was ensnared in the arms of that dream now. There was no waking up… no making it all disappear. The dream was no delusion, though. With relentless, uncaring force, real life slipped inexorably forward to its end.
It was perfectly clear to me that if I'd never fallen in love with a vampire, I wouldn't be here now. But that didn't matter.
I also knew that if I wasn't so fervent to preserve the life of the most remarkable, impossible miracle in the whole world, I'd probably be perfectly safe right now.
But how could I regret either decision?
Even if I lived this life a million times over, I would never make another choice.
It was senseless to grieve what could never be repaired. In this short life that was gifted to me, who was I to waste a moment of it in remorse for the fact that I hadn't received more? Even this single year was far better than living a thousand mundane, full-length lifetimes.
And for that, I was eternally grateful.
Sometimes in life we have to decide whether our personal lives are more important than the well-being of everyone else. We stood prepared, ready to defend not only ourselves, but the sake of our entire species. Because this would never end. We were next up in a long train of misery brought about by our world's corrupted leaders. Power-hungry authoritarians whom so many had wrongfully put their trust in.
Who knew how many had suffered unjustly at the hands of the Volturi's menace? How many more lives would be sabotaged before someone put an end to this?
We would fight until we were no more. Everyone seemed to have unanimously arrived at their decision. Of all our faces now, not a single one betrayed a hint of doubt. I'd gathered plenty from Archie's disappearance that the odds were not great. I knew that what it ultimately meant was we would all die here. I had come to terms with that.
I accepted that because my own life meant very little to me at this point. I was meant to die for this very purpose—for things that were infinitely more important.
We would soon be surrounded by our enemies, outnumbered and outperformed. They'd come at us from all sides.
They'd expect us to give up immediately like any sane, non-suicidal beings. But not us, no. We were going to make it as inconvenient for them as we could manage.
We'd charge, and rip, and slash, and tear into bodies. They'd lose a few, sure. And I was hungry for that, whatever little damage we could do. Then after our lucky minute was up, they'd come in for the kill, and that would surely be our moment.
We would die.
But I was glad for it.
For in failing this, I forfeited any desire to live.
I wondered idly what waited for us on the other side: Carine's version or Edythe's version? All I really cared about was that we not be separated in whatever lies beyond. Because I didn't want to know the other side of any world without Edythe.
The snow had started the night before New Year's Eve. And at last, the flakes didn't disappear into the earth. In just another day, thick drifts of snow had covered the clearing, and the scene from Archie's vision had been painted to its canvas.
I stood boldly now, hand in hand with Edythe as we stared in the dead silence across the field. All of our dozen witnesses gathered around us. Luca climbed agilely onto my back, wearing the backpack I'd adorned him with.
Edythe never questioned it. But she surely must have assumed what I was planning by now. Fortunately, she didn't know any of the specifics. That was what counted.
Taran was rigid and fierce, and Kirill mirrored that same presence next to him. Grace was rubbing her temples, deep in thought.
In the woods nearby, I heard the heavy panting and the thumping, large hearts of the wolf pack. They'd come after all.
Everyone braced themselves nervously as the Quileutes stoically marched out to our side to stand with us. They made most vampires instinctively uneasy. Julie stood closest to me, some distance from the rest of the wolves. Luca reached to grab a fistful of her fur, and her body relaxed a little. And I felt better, too. As long as he was with Julie, he would be all right.
I reached out behind Edythe, and she copied the motion. I gripped her side and pulled her tightly into me.
The minutes ticked by as I strained my ears for some sign of the coming approach. But even when I felt Edythe shift slightly, her jaw tightening, there was still no sound but the wind. I knew that meant only one thing. The minds of the Volturi were now in her head.
When they did appear, it was so silent I almost couldn't believe they were real. They came with such a choreographed pageantry, it was strangely beautiful, almost ironic. They emerged together from the northern tree line in perfect synchronicity, long cloaks hovering inches above the snow. Their advance was so smooth it almost appeared as if they were a single black mass coming toward us.
Those on the outside wore a dark grey, and in a gradual gradient, the color deepened to the richest black at the very center. Every face looked down, shadowed by hoods. Then without warning, the configuration spread outward. It resembled the opening of a flower. Their pace was unnervingly slow and deliberate. It was the pace of the invincible.
The scene from my worst nightmare was now reality. Though, rather than faces intent to kill, all I saw were emotionless, disciplined faces. I counted forty-seven of them. Our gathering seemed dwarfed in comparison, of course, but the most glaring difference was the disorganization on our part. We each had our own groups we clearly belonged to, with varying objectives for standing here. The Volturi were seamless. They operated as one.
And then, just mere seconds later, more vampires started making an appearance where the black cloaks had entered. These faces explicitly wore the gloating desire of vindication. They must have been the Volturi's own witnesses.
But unlike our witnesses, theirs were an angry mob that held very strong feelings against what we had been accused of. When we were dead, I'm sure they would be eager to spread the word that justice had been served impartially.
We didn't have a chance. Even if I could block every mental offense they could muster, they could so easily bury us in bodies. Despair weighted the air and pushed me down with more pressure than I had ever felt before.
"We were right," Edythe whispered.
I raised my eyebrows at her.
"They come to destroy and conquer," she breathed almost silently so that only our side could hear. She'd read the pertinent minds now. "They already have many strategies in place. Even if we could somehow prove the accusations were false, they will find another reason. We'd have to attempt to defend ourselves against their contrived allegations, but they would have to stop and listen. Which they have no intention of doing."
Just then, the procession came to a sudden halt. They were still a hundred yards away from us. Their faces broke character for the briefest moment with looks of shock and… disbelief? Then they quickly regained the resolve of their prior discipline, remaining motionless once again.
That was when the ten wolves stalked forward in a menacing way toward them.
I wondered then why they would ever gamble their entire pack on something like this. They were only children, some of them younger than me. We were going to lose, and the Volturi would surely destroy them as well just for being here.
All at once, I was furious again. No, beyond furious. I was murderously enraged. All of my fear and despair disappeared at that moment, and the figures in front of me lit up in a faint, reddish glow. I envisioned them being ripped limb from limb. I wanted to shred my teeth into every last one of their throats and pile them into a huge, burning heap. I was so unbelievably insane with anger I could have laughed maniacally and pranced around while their ashes smoldered. My shield exploded in the same ferocity all around me, blanketing everyone on our side, including the wolves. I had never accomplished such a feat before, but it was second nature to me now.
Without thinking, a snarl ripped up from my stomach, and my lips pulled back into a frenzied smile. Edythe squeezed my hand, cautioning me.
The shadowed faces of the Volturi continued to remain mostly expressionless. Only two of them moved now. In the very heart of the formation. Two women in the deepest black faced each other in evaluation. These had to be Sulpicia and Athenodora. Their entire guard waited on them. Waited for the order to kill.
I'm not sure why I had anticipated some sort of change from the figures Solimena had painted centuries ago. The masses of elaborate black curls and the face they framed were exactly the same on the woman from the center of Carine's painting—Sulpicia.
I was astonished as I focused in on her face. Rather than the exquisitely beautiful face I would expect from a vampire, she just looked… plain. And that surprised me. I don't think I'd ever seen a vampire that had anything less than unquestionable beauty. Her skin was translucently white, seeming delicate in the same way as the Romanians. It made the leader of the vampire world look fragile and weak rather than strong and intimidating.
The woman standing opposite her was the total opposite; her pale blond hair was much shorter and straight as silk. Athenodora was much more physically appealing than her counterpart, but there was something serpent-like in her expression. Or maybe it was just the way her face looked naturally. It was hard to tell. I almost imagined her voice to sound like some evil snake.
The only other whose cloak matched their pitch black was a dark-haired man who stood next to them, though he didn't appear to be a part of the conversation. I remembered Marcus in the way that he seemed slightly withdrawn from the two women in that old painting, and nothing appeared to have changed.
In fact, the immortalized Father Marcus looked utterly bored. I imagined he didn't care much about anything in life as I thought back to the old story. The murder of his wife had left him little reason to live. With Chariton's ways of bonding people to one another, I knew that Marcus's loyalty to the Volturi was most likely artifice at best.
I realized then he was probably the only true diplomat of this entire group, totally indifferent to power and acquisition. He should be the one we discussed things with. But I knew for certain that wasn't what was about to happen.
I tensed reflexively when I noticed who stood right behind them, just a few paces back. Victor hovered there shrouded in a gray cloak. He was with them?
The next darkest cloak was a man standing just behind Sulpicia. It looked as if he was touching her back ever so lightly. This must be her personal bodyguard, Renazo. I wondered if he would be able to repel me. And when I looked closer at his face, I was suddenly baffled, because there was something there in the set of his eyes… the shape of his nose… the form of his lips that looked almost exactly like Luca. In fact, if someone had told me this was what Luca would look like when he grew up, I wouldn't have doubted it.
I was so distracted by this thought, I almost didn't notice my two most vital targets next to them. They were so tiny compared to the others, I had no problem picking them out now. Their cloaks matched Renazo's because they were equal in rank.
They were clearly the smallest, and youngest, of all the Volturi. They looked barely older than children. The 'witch twins,' Stefani had called them—Jasen and Alexandra—the cornerstone of the Volturi offensive and jewels in Sulpicia's collection.
Venom welled in my mouth, and my all muscles tensed.
Sulpicia and Athenodora's eyes flickered across our line, looking carefully at each face. Athenodora kept shooting quick glances at the wolves that flanked us. The silence ensued until Carine spoke to Edythe.
"What's happening?" Her voice was low and sharp with anxiety.
"They aren't sure exactly what to do. They're evaluating what options they have. They're irritated by the Romanians' presence. And they're worried about the thing they weren't anticipating. The wolves, of course."
"Should I speak now?" Carine asked.
"Yes. We need to take the chance. This may be all the time we get," Edythe said quickly.
Carine stepped several feet out from the rest of us. I felt the pull of her life-force on the edge of my umbrella, and I stretched it easily to accommodate the change. I still hated to see her stand out there alone, though.
She held her arms out in greeting. "Lady Sulpicia, what an honor it is to see you again after all this time." She bowed lightly.
There was no immediate response. The whole clearing went dead silent for a long moment. I could see Edythe's tension as she concentrated on their reaction to Carine's words.
Then, mirroring Carine's actions, Sulpicia stepped forward from their side, with only Renazo following close behind her, never breaking contact. At this, the entire guard reacted, and a nervous murmur broke out in the crowd. Eyebrows furrowed. Hisses came from clenched teeth. A few eased forward to protect her.
Sulpicia held out a hand behind her to stop them. "Peace."
Her voice was just as serpent-like as I had imagined Athenodora's to be. I guess it suited her character.
She walked a few more paces before she looked up at Carine with a curious expression.
"Fair words, my dear Carine," she said in her wispy, Italian accent. "But I do find them rather out of place… considering the battalion you've assembled against me."
She waved her hands out, gesturing to our line.
Carine shook her head and held her hand forward as if she were trying to shake hands, like they weren't still standing a hundred yards apart.
"You have but to touch my hand to know that was certainly not my intent."
Sulpicia's eyes narrowed in skepticism. "But, Carine, how could that possibly matter, given what you have done to lead me here?"
Strangely, her face looked saddened, like she truly cared about Carine. Though, I couldn't be sure this was genuine. I'd wager it was a façade to convince her witnesses she was a caring person.
"Well, to put it quite simply, we have not committed the crime we have been accused of," Carine said confidently. "You've received false allegations."
Before Sulpicia could answer, Athenodora flitted quickly to her side. "How could you possibly bear false witness to what you have so obviously done?" the ancient woman hissed. "We see the child, clearly!" Her voice was clear and strong, the opposite of the creepy gentleness in Sulpicia's demeanor.
"If you would only hear me out—"
"Do not treat us as fools!" Athenodora shouted angrily. "Why else would you have formed such an unnatural alliance?" Her eyes drifted swiftly to the Quileutes. "Our natural enemies! Of course, they would side with those whose twisted ideas go directly against the very grain of our kind. I must say, Carine, I am not at all surprised at your determination to subvert our way of life."
"These are witnesses, Athenodora." Carine gestured to the wolves, as well as the rest of those standing alongside us. "Just the same as you have assembled. Any one of my friends you see here can attest that the allegations were entirely false. And the wolves are merely interested in protecting the local human population."
"Blatant deceits!" Athenodora snapped. "Step aside, Carine, and let us punish those responsible for the child!"
"Be composed, my sister," Sulpicia warned her. "No need to be hasty."
All this time I had been worried about Sulpicia. But now it was her equal counterpart I most concerned myself with. Sulpicia seemed relatively tame in comparison to the hateful woman.
Sulpicia turned to her audience. "And so it seems we have a not-guilty plea on our hands. Such a surprise!" she said, clasping her hands together. "I suppose we have come to punish the innocent… Does that appear so, my dear ones?" she asked them sarcastically.
The army of soldiers and witnesses hissed in discontent and poised for the kill. They smiled at Sulpicia's ruse.
"I know this will not be easy to believe, but no one has actually broken the law," Carine said, her voice almost relieved. Did she really believe Sulpicia's mocking tactic? But this was the pause we had all pinned our hopes on. I felt no relief, though. I knew what to expect of the layers of strategy Edythe had warned about. Carine held her hand out again.
"What sort of fools do you take us for?!" Athenodora screeched in offense. "We see the child plain as day, Carine, along with the brigade you have amassed to protect him! You are very plainly guilty, and I will not tolerate the mockery you make of us."
"Witnesses, Athenodora," Carine corrected. "They each can attest that this child is not what you think he is. Or you might just look at him for yourself! Do you not see the flush of blood in his cheeks? Hear the beating of his heart. Think about these incongruences with your preconceived notions."
Athenodora inhaled sharply. "Where is the informer? Let him come forward!" She spun around to locate Victor. "You! Come here, now!"
Victor was staring at Luca uncomprehendingly. Athenodora impatiently snapped her fingers as Victor hesitated. One of the Volturi soldiers moved toward Victor and shoved him forward to the ancients. Victor blinked rapidly as he tried to avoid Athenodora's glowering.
Athenodora marched toward him to close the gap and slapped him hard across the face. It couldn't have hurt, but it looked absolutely degrading. And I had to admit, I enjoyed seeing it.
Athenodora pointed one finger sharply at Luca. "Is this the immortal child you saw?" she demanded.
Victor continued to peer past me at Luca in disbelief.
"I… I don't know," he said in his high-pitched, sheepish tone.
Athenodora tensed up as if she were restraining from slapping him across the face again. "What do you mean?!" she barked. "You don't know?"
"He isn't the same!" Victor admitted defensively.
"So they have brought us a different child, you suggest?" Athenodora asked with sarcasm.
"No," Victor shook his head. "That's the child, but he looks different now. He's bigger than he was…"
Athenodora scoffed. "Why you heedless, imprudent little—"
Sulpicia flitted to her side, holding the woman back from attacking him. "Calm yourself, sister. We will sort this out. Do not fret."
Athenodora turned her back on Victor, unwilling to avert her angry eyes.
"Victor?" Sulpicia said. "I am going to request that you show me what you are trying to say." She held her waiting hand out for him.
Victor touched his hand to hers. He let go within just a matter of seconds.
"Ah, you see, sister? It is quite easy to get the information we need. And so it seems we have quite the conundrum on our hands! For those who may not be following, this child has indeed changed from Victor's memory, yet he appears to be an immortal child. What a curiosity…"
"This is what I am trying to tell you," Carine jumped in.
This was definitely the pause we'd pinned our hopes on, but I couldn't feel relieved. I just knew it in my gut that it couldn't be this easy.
Carine held her hand out toward Sulpicia. "You have but to touch my hand…"
"No," Sulpicia answered quickly. "I would much rather obtain this information from someone directly involved in the breach."
Carine shook her head. "I am telling you, there is no breach."
"Shhh," Sulpicia cautioned like she was scolding a child. She pressed a finger to her lips. "I want every facet of the truth, and I think we all know where I can get that."
Everyone on their side looked at Edythe next to me.
"As the child clings to her newborn mate, I presume Edythe is involved?"
"We are all equally involved," Carine argued.
"Is that so? Then I must ask, where is your immensely talented son? And his gifted mate? Why do they not protect the child?"
As expected, she was looking for Archie, securing her prospective assets.
"Well, as I am sure you can imagine, he was quite frightened by what he foresaw of your visit," Carine sighed.
I watched Sulpicia work to remove the disappointment from her face before she turned to squint at Edythe impatiently.
Edythe turned slowly and kissed me once, not meeting my eyes. Then she started out across the snowy expanse. I heard Earnest's teeth grinding together in anxiety behind me.
I couldn't bear it; I thought I would explode trying not to follow her, but I didn't want Luca any closer to them either.
I saw Jasen smile as Edythe crossed closer, and that smug little smirk did it. I couldn't hold back any longer. My shield ripped through me, flying across the wide span to encompass her. It was like I wasn't even controlling it anymore. It worked automatically now, and knew exactly what I wanted, what it needed to do.
As Edythe was walking, a startled laugh burst out of me. Everyone glanced at me as if I were crazy. There was nothing visible for them to see.
Sulpicia closed the distance between them, much to Renazo's discontent. But what did she have to worry about? Dozens of the best fighters in the world stood right behind her.
But no one knew I had the power to stop every single one of their mental attacks that they would surely use by default before recruiting the physical violence. Not even Edythe knew it as well as I did.
That's when it occurred to me I needed to stop what I was doing. I couldn't prevent this exchange from happening, or it might be seen as us having something to hide. And Sulpicia would probably rip me away from them herself at the sight of such a feat.
I left Edythe exposed again, and I grunted at the effort against the shield as it fought to snap tightly back into place around her.
Sulpicia looked absolutely peaceful as she grabbed Edythe by the hand. Her eyes closed in an instant, and she tensed up at the onslaught of all the information.
Every single thought Edythe had ever had, which included the thoughts of everyone she'd ever met, were all Sulpicia's now. It felt so invasive.
I started trembling in frustration. My breathing picked up as the air hissed through my clenched teeth.
I felt Luca put his hand on my shoulder comfortingly, and I relaxed a little.
It seemed to take forever as Sulpicia continued to skim through Edythe's mind. In fact, it took so long, and they were so silent, that many of Sulpicia's guard started to shift around uneasily as if Edythe might be harming her in some way.
Sulpicia let go unexpectedly as a small gasp escaped her mouth. Her eyes widened. "Oh, my…"
"You see?" Edythe asked in a calm voice.
"Indeed," she said in an exasperated breath. "But I don't believe it…"
"What is this about, sister?" Athenodora asked impatiently.
"This is much more than I could have ever anticipated, dear," Sulpicia mused. "You will never believe it yourself."
Athenodora rolled her eyes at her sister's antics.
Sulpicia turned to face all of her guard and witnesses. "Half mortal! … Half immortal!" she cried out in an excited voice. "Such an unexpected revelation, indeed!" Her hands clasped together.
"What on earth are you blathering about?" Athenodora asked.
"Conceived by a human…" Sulpicia continued. "And fathered by a vampire…"
Shocked gasps rattled across their ranks. Most of the guard's faces were totally incredulous, like their leader had gone utterly mad.
"Impossible!" I heard someone exclaim.
"Patience, my dear ones," Sulpicia said. "They truly mean us no harm if we are peaceable."
The guard grew even more uneasy then, and others started to protest. Renazo reclaimed his position with relief. "Master," he sighed, as if he had missed her dearly.
"I would like to see him up close," Sulpicia mused.
"Perhaps my family shall bring a few members along with him? It will make them feel more at ease," Edythe answered immediately.
Sulpicia nodded. "Of course, dear."
If Edythe trusted this woman, I guess I did, too.
"Don't touch her," I whispered almost silently to Luca at my back.
"Julie? Eleanor?" I asked, nodding them forward. I heard the guard start to murmur in dissent as they observed my choice of a wolf.
"Interesting company you keep," I heard one of them say to Edythe.
We moved swiftly to join Edythe standing near the ancients.
"I am so very pleased to meet you, young Beau," Sulpicia said as she grinned at me. "I must say, you have grown to be quite the intriguing immortal. And so very handsome," she complimented.
Too bad I can't say the same about you, I thought to myself.
"Sulpicia," I said, giving her a wry smile.
She cleared her throat in amazement as she looked at Luca on my back. "And might I have the honor of meeting this extraordinary child, dear?"
This was what we had hoped for, but I still had to war with myself not to turn and run. I pushed the shield around Luca as I sat him down on the snowy ground.
"My, my, is he exquisite," she murmured. "Such a beautiful child. Hello, Luca."
"Hello, Sulpicia," he answered formally.
Sulpicia's eyes widened bemusedly.
"Sulpicia!" Athenodora scoffed from behind. "I cannot believe you wish to confer with this abomination! Step aside and allow me to take care of justice at once!"
"Calm yourself," Sulpicia cautioned without looking away from Luca. "I do know how much you love serving justice, but there is no justice in acting against this one. So much to learn, you see? I know you lack the enthusiasm for the histories and sciences, but do be tolerant with me. This adds a new chapter to our world! Such an improbability. I came expecting the loss of good friends, but just look what we have stumbled upon instead! Be joyous with me, sister."
Sulpicia reached down before I could react and grasped Luca's tiny hand. Luckily, I already had him covered.
Sulpicia's face altered as she looked down at Luca. Her unshakable confidence seemed to waver into doubt for the first time. And then she was suddenly composed again.
Her eyes flickered to the three of us with a thoughtful expression.
"A first…" she said to herself. "I see absolutely nothing."
Her eyes locked on mine next. Then she shook her head. "So very interesting, because this is what I had expected from Beau, rather. I find it curious that he seems to possess the same talent you do. Wouldn't you say so?"
I smiled smugly at her and gave a one-shouldered shrug. "He's so different from us. He conquers us all," I bluffed. "My gift doesn't work on him either."
"Is that so?" she asked, taking my hand unexpectedly. Again she waited, and nothing came to her. "As expected…"
She dropped my hand.
"Then I presume he is immune to our other talents as well… Jasen, dear?"
"No!" Edythe snarled, lunging forward. A big guard rushed in to grab her by the arms, pulling her back away.
Jasen smiled happily some distance away. "Yes, Master?"
"I was wondering, dear, if these two might be immune to you."
Jasen turned in my direction and smiled. I met his gaze confidently. After a few seconds, his smile dropped from his expression. He glared now as he tightened his jaw. Nothing happened.
He turned angrily, looking down at Luca, giving him the same intense glare. He started to tremble in frustration at being rendered harmless.
"Ha, ha, haaaa!" Sulpicia cackled in amusement. "This is just wonderful!"
Jasen snarled from behind her.
"Oh, don't be put out, dearest. You've had plenty of moments to shine," Sulpicia said to him. Then she kneeled down to look at Luca straight on. "Absolutely brilliant… Just what do we do with you now?"
"Please?" Luca asked her in a shy voice.
Sulpicia smiled warmly. "Oh, my precious. I assure you I have no desire to harm your loved ones."
Her voice was so convincingly affectionate that I almost didn't notice the aversion of truth hidden in her words. Edythe ground her teeth together in confirmation of what I had picked up on.
"I wonder," Sulpicia mused as she looked at Julie.
"It doesn't work that way," Edythe snapped.
"Just an errant thought," Sulpicia defended herself. She looked back at the rest of the wolves behind us.
"They don't belong to us," Edythe said. "They are here because they want to be."
The wolves growled menacingly.
Edythe hissed and tensed up again. I clutched at her arm, wondering what she was accessing that would create such a reaction. The guard slipped into ready crouches in sync again, and Sulpicia had to wave them off. They all relaxed at her command.
"Decisions, decisions…" she muttered nonchalantly like she was in a business meeting. "Much to discuss there is. Now, if you and your furry guard dog will excuse me, dear Cullens, I must consult this matter further with my brother and sister."
