Chapter 35

"I just want to talk," Salvatore repeated, seeing Carlisle's protective stance increase in intensity.

Carlisle felt the venom dripping in his mouth and knew his pupils were swollen, though he attempted to allow himself to hear the young man out.

"Who else is with you?" Carlisle asked him, reaching a hand back for Esme to grab. He needed an instant reassurance that she was still there. When her hand connected with his and he heard Marshall's quiet sigh, he managed to focus on Salvatore.

"Nobody," he replied, "It's just me."

"Why?" he asked, "Why are you here?"

Salvatore didn't immediately answer. He looked around. "I started off here with one purpose, but I'm now here for a completely different reason."

"Why?" Carlisle asked again. He kept his voice firm and he forced Salvatore to keep eye contact with him.

He cleared his throat, finding Carlisle slightly more intimidating than his father had lead on.

"If I'm being honest," he began, "I was sent to Washington State to keep an eye on your family. It was by the orders of my father, and so I obeyed while he, my brother and some of the others went on a global mission to find the coven from Egypt."

Carlisle waited for him to continue, glancing once back at Esme, who's eyes still held fear in them from the Volturi member's presence.

"Go on," Carlisle urged, waiting to hear the rest.

"I haven't reported back to my father," he explained, "I followed you all here across the country. I've known you've been residing here, but I didn't say anything... to anyone."

"What's stopping you? Something must be."

Salvatore nodded. "Yes."

Again, Carlisle waited anxiously for his next few sentences.

"I've... fallen," he went on. "For someone here."

"Fallen?" Carlisle asked.

"Yes. I've fallen for a member of your family. And it made things rather complicated for me."

"You've fallen for someone in our family?"

He nodded. "I was intending of doing as I promised my father. I figured it'd be easy. I could watch you all from a distance and report to him if you spoke to Amun or any of the others. I didn't think much of it really."

"And you're here alone?" Carlisle asked skeptically.

"Yes, it's just me," Salvatore said in a promising tone. "I've only stayed around because of my feelings for-"

"Salvatore!" a female voice called out, making all of them change their attention toward a break in the trees.

Alice marched up the path and looked surprised to see Carlisle and Esme.

"Alice, what's going on?" Esme asked. Her hand was still linked to Carlisle's and she clung to Marshall as if someone was trying to pry him from her arms.

She looked at the two of them, and then to the boy who she hadn't at all warmed up to in regards to being close with her daughter or their family. "I just got some interesting news."

"Mrs. Cullen..." Salvatore started, looking at Alice.

"It's actually Mrs. Hale," she said firmly, and then motioned toward Esme, "This is doctor and Mrs. Cullen."

"I'm sorry," he said with a nod.

Carlisle looked to Alice with a puzzled expression.

"He's courting my daughter," she explained in a less-than-thrilled tone.

He raised his eyebrows and looked back at Esme, who was still catching up

"Yeah," Alice went on, "That's how I feel, never mind Jasper."

"Is he upset?" Salvatore asked.

"What do you want with Nicole?" Alice asked, "I agreed to come speak with you for her sake. She seems to think you're in love with her."

"She's right."

Alice walked up to him, passing Carlisle and Esme without a blink of an eye. She stood only a foot or so away and looked him in the eye. "If you are trying to corrupt my first born child, I will find out. If you try to manipulate her in anyway..." she paused, "I will make you wish you were never born."

Esme was shocked to hear the tone of Alice's voice, though she couldn't blame her either. Whatever was going on between Nicole and Salvatore, Alice had a right to be cautious and to do whatever it took to assure her daughter was safe.

"I understand," Salvatore said back. His expression was submissive. "I'll never hurt Nicole."

"You had a sudden change of heart. That was it right?" Alice asked.

He shrugged. "The first time I saw her I felt something. That time in the woods where the wolves lived back near your old home."

"Oh, while you were in the middle of conspiring against my family?" Alice went on, "Then?"

"Unfortunately... yes." Salvatore wore an expression of guilt, but he felt the need to be honest.

"Why are you in Connecticut?"

"I followed you all from Washington at my father's request. I just haven't checked back in with him. I've been spending all of my time with Nicole, and if I'm not with her I'm thinking about her."

Alice wanted to smack him in the back of the head and tell to go. She held no trust for the young man, though she wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt for the small chance that he was being honest On the same note she couldn't ignore the feeling of distrust that she couldn't shake.

"I can see you don't approve and I don't blame you," Salvatore went on, "But I'd love the chance to prove that I do care deeply about her. I'll obey any of your rules."

Alice didn't know what to do. She had come with the intention of being non-judgmental, though that had gone completely out the window when she saw his face. All Alice could see when she looked at him was an arrogant modern, young version of Aro. She didn't see Salvatore as his own person. She wouldn't allow herself to.

"So, there's no other members of your coven here?" Carlisle asked, chiming back in on the conversation.

Alice awaited his answer and Salvatore shook his head. "No."

She stared into his soul through the gateway of his eyes. "If we find out that someone else is here, I will not accept you in any way, shape or form. I'll repeat Carlisle's question. Are there any other members of your coven here?"

"There's no one here but me," he explained. "I don't know how to prove that to you, but it's only me." Salvatore thought a moment before he closed his eyes as if he was concentrating on something.

Carlisle and Esme exchanged a glance, and Alice looked at Carlisle as if trying to find an answer.

"Do you have a vision of us?" Salvatore asked without opening his eyes. A look of pain clung to his expression.

"What are you doing?" Alice asked him.

"Can you have a vision of us?" he asked again.

"I can see you," she claimed, "How are you doing that?"

"I'm removing my shield," Salvatore told her. "I've been able to do it for short periods of time but I have to really concentrate."

Carlisle felt his posture relax a bit, though Alice still remained slightly on edge.

"I'll continue to work on this and then I'll remove it completely when I'm around you," he went on. "I'll do whatever it takes to gain your trust."

He's awfully convincing, Alice thought.

"Anything." He emphasized the seriousness in his voice.

"You're not to be alone with Nicole," she instructed him.

"Okay," he agreed with a nod. "Will I be allowed to see her?"

"Under my supervision, and the supervision of her father."

Salvatore nodded again.

Alice took another step in his direction, minimizing the distance between them. "The second you disobey me," she said, "This trial period... is over. I have no problem banishing you from seeing Nicole."

He couldn't keep himself from nodding. "Yes ma'am."

Alice didn't know if she was being fair to her daughter, or making a mistake. She knew only time would tell, and with the spotty use of her shield due to Salvatore's gift she wasn't sure when that time would be exactly. All she knew is that the protection of her daughter came above all else. She hoped she wouldn't regret her attempt to accept Aro's son into their world.