"Bella, no."
Edward's sad eyes pleaded with me as he glanced down at the confused child in his arms, now I was closer could take a better look at her. My anger abated as my eyes roamed over her perfect features. When I had first glimpsed them I had automatically assumed that the girl was human, but now I stood closer her heartbeat was painfully absent.
I raised my eyes to Edward, our quarrel for the moment, forgotten as I whispered. "What have you done?"
He just shook his head at me. "I need your help Bella, we need your help."
I turned around to meet the many eyes of Edward's companions, all of whom were looking at me warily, as if they were prepared to jump in between Edward and I should it come to it. Realising I was hopelessly outnumbered, I nodded and followed them to a large house; it was the grandest piece of architecture I had seen since my arrival.
"I'm sorry for leading you all this way but once I'd heard about Charlie,I'm sorry for your loss by the way, I knew you'd come looking for me. The others have been trying to get me to enlist you to our cause for a while now, I've tried explaining that we parted on rather strenuous terms." He smiled wryly at me but I kept my face neutral, I had lost my weakness to his charm many years ago. "This is Clara, she is an immortal child. I don't know if you ever learned about the history of-"
"I did. I learned whilst I was with the Volturi." I interrupted him swiftly, my eyes flicking to the other Vampires who gasped as I mentioned the Vampire royals. None of them had spoken yet, but they had followed Edward and the child like an entourage.
Edward nodded as his mouth set in a grim line of determination. "I wont lie to you Bella, that's precisely why we need you. If anyone can talk Aro out of his current course of action, it's you."
I shook my head and smirked. "I haven't seen or spoken to Aro Volturi since the day I fled with my father. Since the day I discovered you had put everything I held dear at risk over something so petty." My eyes flashed as I watched him bow his head and sigh.
"I'm not proud of what I did Bella, I regret it. But i'm glad you left, you had to have realised that you were more like a prized dog to Aro than a mate." I said nothing at his correct assumption and merely raised a brow as he continued. "We can resolve our issues at a later date and if you wish to take me to task and tear me apart because of the pain I caused you then I will not stand in your way. I only ask that you help us first."
The child looked to Edward and gripped his shirt in her fists as he spoke of dying, terror in her eyes.
"What do you expect me to do? You know the rules, immortal children are forbidden." I played along for now, intrigued to see where this was going.
"Clara didn't ask for this, she was stolen from her bed and turned without choice. She isn't like the others in the stories, she has control. She's only a few years younger than Jane and Alec, but because Aro made them the rules are forgotten. These people are gathered because they believe in Clara and her power. They believe that she should be allowed to live." My eyes roamed over the group that had gathered in the large hall. "She's powerful Bella, she even managed to block your shields so that Vivienne could change your surroundings." Edward tilted his head to a caramel skinned vampire with green eyes who bowed her head as her name was mentioned. "Only you can stop him from killing her."
Every eye in the room was trained on me but the ones the intrigued me the most were the black eyes of the child, so like my own.
"She hasn't fed?" I asked, knowing that my own reason for not doing so was to blend in with more ease.
Edward shook his head. "She can control her thirst, just as you can. She's only ever fed once, it was an experience that traumatised her so much that she's refused to ever do so again."
I frowned in confusion as I waited for him to elaborate, eventually it was the soft, melodic voice of the child that spoke. "My mother… Was nursing me back to health after I was attacked. No doctor would see me so she did it all herself. One night she was asleep in a chair by my bedside, that was the night my transformation completed."
I felt a pang in my chest as I looked at the expression of total desolation on this angelic child's face, but it was only for a moment before I composed myself again. "The Volturi are coming here?" I asked Edward.
He nodded and looked stunned as I stood and raised the hood over my shining hair. "Then I will be going."
I turned on my heel only to be blocked by twenty other Vampires looking like they were prepared to try and force me to stay.
"You can't go, we need your help!" The desperation was clear in Edward's voice for all to hear. I couldn't help but feel a small amount of jealousy. Had he ever cared for me as much? No, he hadn't.
"I've spent 35 years avoiding the Volturi, do you really think I will walk to greet them because you have asked me to, to protect a child who means nothing to me? You forfeited the life of my father for your own personal gain, I owe you nothing." I glared at the Vampires blocking my way, suddenly very aware of how weak I felt after so long without feeding.
"True enough Bella, you owe Edward nothing. But what about Carlisle? He risked everything to let you into his family. He even helped hide you from the Volturi." Alice's voice sounded from the crowd and she danced her way through the throng of bodies, coming to a graceful stop in front of me. I ground my teeth in irritation.
"Where is Carlisle?" I asked, my eyes scanning for any other Cullen's that might be hidden away.
"In London, trying to recruit others to our cause. That's how we heard about Charlie, he saw you there and rather than report to Aro he kept it quiet." Alice levelled her gaze at me and I couldn't help but feel loyalty toward Carlisle battling with my gut instinct.
"Fine." I said grudgingly. "I will stay until Carlisle returns. I am not promising to fight with you, but I will hear what he has to say. I have one question though, who is she to you? Why do you care?"
Edward and Alice both smiled in a maternal sort of way as they looked at the child. "Immortal children have a way about them, they're easy to fall in love with. This is about more than just Clara, this is about the Volturi murdering innocents and being allowed to get away with it."
I looked around at all of them, their hopeful gazes and soft smiles as they looked at the child made something startlingly clear to me.
"He will kill her and then he will kill you all." I said softly, knowing that Aro would have no mercy.
Their eyes told me that they had already made peace with their fates.
