Hi everybody. I'm sorry this chapter took so long. Finishing stories is so hard for me. I added a small section from Jane's point of view, which may be jarring. I think Illya and Jane's romance is kind of sweet, so I wanted to add it. I just recently watched "Let the Right One In" and it made me think about the love child vampires might share.

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Long afloat on shipless oceans
I did all my best to smile
'Til your singing eyes and fingers
Drew me loving to your isle
And you sang
Sail to me
Sail to me
Let me enfold you
Here I am
Here I am
Waiting to hold you

Song to the Siren by Tim Buckley

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Chapter 43 – The Runaways

Jane had always hated the snow. Maybe it was the silence of it. It was so relentless, continually floating to the ground like burning ash, burying towns and roads in ethereal white, smothering people like a winding sheet.

Centuries ago, the villagers in her enclave turned on her and Alec and threw them into a pit. All night long they huddled together, freezing, waiting to be burned alive the next day. All the while, silent white flakes coated the dirt floor.

Just thinking about it made her shudder.

Yet right now, all she could think about was how beautiful everything was.

Illya had taken her up to Serre-Ponçon reservoir in the French Alps. They were surrounded by hazy mountains, sweet-smelling pine trees, and fields of snow. The air was crisp and damp. Sheets of ice covered the water, and the night sky was almost white from the cloud cover.

"We should go down and check out Ubaye," Illya told her. He was always doing this, wanting to explore. The minute he read the village of Ubaye was a submerged under the ice, he had been bugging her to go see it.

"There's nothing down there," Jane argued, yanking the flyer from his hand. "Will you stop reading that brochure."

"Oh come on, Jane, you know there is. The dam was constructed only sixty years ago. They flooded three villages." He held up three fingers to emphasize. "Three…there's got to be all kinds of cool shit down there."

"I don't want to get wet."

"Are you serious?" Illya rolled his eyes. "We can do anything. You can do anything. You're much too serious. Don't you ever do anything just for the hell of it?"

Illya always smiled when he was pleading with her and his voice would get a slight lilt. He called it, sladkiy razgovor, which was Russian for 'sweet talk'. Jane, go sweet talk the attendant, distract him, or Jane, you need to sweet talk the police, that way they'll leave you alone.

However, Illya was the real sweet talker.

Gazing at him now with his ash blond hair covered in snowflakes and frost crystals on his eyebrows, she thought he looked adorable. Truly, he could talk her into anything, even leaving the Volturi. Something she would have thought impossible.

Although she really hadn't left. Aro would come find her. He always did, and she found comfort in that. She loved Aro after all. She wasn't looking forward to her punishment though. It had been years since the last time Aro punished her. However, the punishment was never as bad as having Aro angry at her.

Yet, she would risk it to be with Illya.

"Okay, I'll go with you, but on one condition."

Illya laughed. "What's that?"

"Tell me what happened to your hands?" Jane said, running her finger over the deep gnashes that slashed up and down and across his palm.

The smile disappeared from his face. He always tried to hide his scars, but she couldn't help but notice them. They were so unusual, like deep grooves cut in marble. She never asked him about it, thinking it would be rude. But now with Alec having gone to town, they were alone, and she wanted to know. Vampires didn't have scars. So what did he do to slice up his hands like that?

Illya closed his palm as if embarrassed. "I did something stupid."

"I don't believe that," Jane said, looking into his eyes. "You're one of the cleverest vampires I know."

Illya shook his head, placing his hands on his legs palm down. "Let's just say, when you have a gift like mine, other vampires will try to kill you. And one of them almost succeeded."

Jane could see the pain in his eyes, so she decided to let it drop. What good was it to dredge up bad memories, and with the way he answered, she figured it had to have something to do with Katya, otherwise he would tell her. Illya was very close-mouthed when it came to his sisters, and she respected that. She would never give Alec away, so why should Illya be any different. It was just another reason she admired him.

She was also in love with him.

She knew that now, even though she tried to deny it. It was such strange feeling. Sometimes she was so happy, she felt like she was floating. Yet there was also this awful fear that burrowed in her chest. Never in all her years did she think this would happen. Especially with someone who had a gift that embodied her greatest fear, fire. But then again, maybe that's why she was so drawn to him. He could kill her with a single thought, bring on her worst nightmare. But he would never do that. She knew that now.

"Let's go check out Ubaye," Illya said, standing up, dragging her to her feet, taking off his coat.

Jane brushed off the snow and removed her bulky sweater, stripping down to her t-shirt. She wore her blonde hair down now, letting it hang low on her back because Illya liked it. She also wore blue jeans so she would look more modern, like Illya. Kicking off her shoes, she followed him to the lake.

The ice was thin and broke easily when they both jumped in, air bubbles and dead reeds floating around them. At first, Jane couldn't see, but then the water stilled and her eyes adjusted. She could see Illya swimming toward her through the dark liquid green, his baggy blue t-shirt and jeans swaying around his slender frame.

Taking her hand, he led her to bottom of the lake.

The water grew darker as they descended, but she could still make out large shapes below with floating debris. But then to her surprise, she found the shapes were the ruins of the village. There was an old steel frame of a church covered in algae, and several stone structures that looked like they were once buildings. There was even an old sailboat tipped on its side.

Sorting through the silt and sand, she picked up a piece of green bottle glass. Funny, how glass used to be valuable. but was now worthless. Illya found a rusty shovel and Jane found an old ceramic casserole dish. Nothing of value really, but Jane was happy he talked her into it. She was starting to see the world in a whole new light.

When they swam back to the surface, it was dawn, so sunlight was shining through the ice, lighting the water to a murky blue-green. She grabbed onto Illya's hand, so they broke through the ice together.

Looking around, she could see they were ridiculously far from the shore, bobbing in the middle of the lake. But Jane didn't care. She just kept gazing at Illya who had his arms around her, his hair freezing into icicles.

Maybe it was the beauty of dawn or the way the snow fell all around them, but a feeling of joy burst from inside her. "I love you, Illya," she cried, but then immediately regretted it, embarrassed, wanting to take the words back. Why did she say that? She felt like a fool.

But then what Illya said next made her want to cry.

"I love you too, Jane," he said sheepishly, looking away, before turning back, gazing into her eyes.

At first, they just stared at each other, treading the water.

"Should we kiss?" she asked.

"Yeah," Illya said with a grin, his body stiffening.

Pressing their lips together, Jane didn't quite know what to do. Neither did Illya it seemed. But when they pulled away, the look they shared said it all. Jane realized then they had made a silent covenant. Her life would never be the same.

...

"Oh good, I'm glad I caught you," Renata told Bella when she came into the shop that afternoon. She had a bright red coat on with matching poinsettia earrings, which made her look very festive. "We have a high priority meeting today."

"What?" Bella cringed. "Again? We just had one yesterday."

"There's some urgent news about Illya and the twins."

"What happened?"

Renata came over and sat by her next to the computer. She typed in the words, '43 car pile-up on A43,' into Google. "Let me show you. Demetri sent this link to Santiago."

Instantly, several images popped up of a massive car crash with several vehicles crunched together in a nasty pileup.

"Holy crap."

Renata nodded. "News sources say this pileup was caused by a strange weather anomaly. They think it was fog, but Demetri says Alec did this."

"Whoa, that's a lot of damage"

"Tell me about it. Demetri is coming back to Volturi to explain it all." Renata glanced at her watch "He'll be here in about an hour. It seems Illya and the twins have gotten into all kinds of mischief. Master Caius is furious."

"I'll start getting ready," Bella said, jumping up, grabbing her purse.

Renata grabbed her arm. "See if you can get Master Marcus to come."

Bella shook her head. "I don't think I can. He's been out of it since last night. He won't even come out of his room."

Renata's brows furrowed. "What happened?"

"Aro didn't tell you?"

"No, not at all."

Quickly, Bella explained what happened last night with Marcus. However, she decided to leave out the part about her and Aro.

Renata's shoulders slumped and she shook her head, placing her hand on Bella's arm. "Try at least to talk him into it. Sometimes, Master Marcus is the only peacemaker in the coven."

Bella nodded. "I'll do my best."

"Thank you." Renata stood up and prepared to leave. "By the way, how are things going between you and Aro?"

Bella hesitated. She knew eventually she would tell Renata everything. But right now, she just couldn't. "I'll tell you later, Ren. I promise."

Renata gave her a puzzled look, but she let the subject drop.

Bella watched her go and closed up the shop.

To her surprise, getting Marcus to come with her wasn't that difficult. He still had a sort of dazed look, but he seemed to be curious about what the twins were up to. Since he was still a little wobbly on his feet, Bella decided to drive him over, parking the car in the underground garage.

Everyone watched them as they came into the meeting room. Aro had a grim expression on his face. However, he did manage to smile at her when she took her seat.

"All right, everyone is here," Aro said, turning to Demetri. "What do you have to report?"

Demetri shook his head and took a seat. "I hate to say this, but I don't think Illya and the twins are planning on coming home anytime soon."

Aro cocked his head. "Aren't they running short of funds?"

"No, believe me, money is not a problem for them."

Aro cocked his head. "Really?"

"Yes." Demetri looked like he didn't know where to begin, his fingers pushing back his hair. Shaking his head, he laughed. "What can I say? Illya is a charlatan. It's that simple. Seriously, the kid has no problems acquiring money. He picks pockets, steals cars. In fact, when they found out I was following them, the little shit stole my wallet. He's that smooth, and to top that off, he hardly ever pays for anything, even petrol. He just parks his car next to other cars, pulls out a hose and siphons the petrol right into his own tank. And he's so quick at it, nobody sees him. No one ever suspects him either, because he's so nice and friendly. He's got this pair of a nerdy glasses that he wears and he flattens out his hair, which makes him look like he's twelve. He's also a master at language, just like Jane and Alec. All of them pick up local slang very quickly."

Aro's body stiffened, and he glanced over at Caius who was glaring at him. "And here I thought they'd be living in their car."

Demetri shook his head. "Oh, no, they're living quite comfortably. In fact, Illya has this little business venture going. First, he finds a house, preferably an expensive house that's been closed up for the winter. He then starts hanging out around schoolyards, handing out fliers to all the little teenagers they can find, ages ranging from twelve to fifteen, and then invites them to a party. Jane's really good at this too, moseying up to the boys, smiling at them wearing her fancy sunglasses. Illya then pays a bum to go buy them one or two kegs of beer, Alec and Jane steal a shitload of chips and dip, and then when the kids arrive, they charge ten euros per person as a cover charge to their party. And let me tell you, these parties are huge. I think at one I saw almost three hundred teenagers there. Of course, these parties always get out of hand and are usually raided by the police, but by that time, Illya and the twins are long gone, counting their money. They were actually able to pull off three parties in one night in three different parts of town."

Marcus laughed at this. "So basically what you're telling us is young Illya is a budding entrepreneur, much like Aro."

"Oh please," Aro protested, giving Marcus a dirty look. "I've never been a swindler."

"So tell us about this accident on the motorway," Caius grumbled.

"Well, it's pretty simple really. Illya and the twins stole a car and were driving up in the French Alps when the police started chasing them. To get them off their back, Alec released a mist and created a God-awful, massive pile-up on the motorway. You should have seen it. Cars were everywhere, and it took me hours to steal the film that was recorded by the helicopter cam. It didn't help either, that Illya purposely drove the car into the ravine and then blew it up. Now the police are all mystified as to why there were no dead bodies in the vehicle."

Caius clenched his fist. "This is absolutely unacceptable. I want them brought back immediately, and I expect you to punish them, Aro. We can't have this kind of behavior in the coven."

Aro sighed. "Yes, I suppose we shall have to do that," he said reluctantly. "Where did you last see them, Demetri?"

"When I left them, Alec had gone to go steal another car, while Illya and Jane dallied together by the reservoir. To be honest, I have no idea what they were doing," Demetri said, shaking his head. "For some odd reason, they went for a swim. But it's pretty obvious they're enamored with each other."

"They're not having carnal relations I hope?" Aro said.

"No, nothing like that. But they do kiss and they give each other these long lingering looks."

Aro sighed. "That's a relief. We should leave immediately. Renata if you could distract Katya, I would be very grateful. I want you two to come with us," he said, pointing toward Felix and Santiago. "And Isabella, of course. We may need her shield."

"What do you mean by 'we'?" Caius complained. "Why are you going?"

Aro looked at him offended. "Alec and Jane are like my children. It is my duty to go get them."

"Fine," Caius barked, waving his hand. "Get out of here then, and try not to take forever."

"Thank you for your permission, Brother," Aro snapped, walking over to Bella, offering her his hand. He glanced over at Marcus. "Do stay out of trouble while we're gone."

Marcus just looked at him. For some reason, he seemed highly irritated, which wasn't like him at all. Leaning over, he whispered in Aro's ear.

Bella was so close, she actually heard what he said.

"I know you're up to something, Aro. And I don't like it one bit," Marcus muttered.

Aro just smiled at him. "Dear Marcus, you know I only have everyone's best interest at heart."

"Sure you do," Marcus said sarcastically.

Aro just smiled and led Bella out of the meeting room and down the hall. Once they were out of sight, Aro pulled her into the corner and kissed her. "My darling, you don't know how difficult this is for me. I cannot wait until I can tell the whole world that you belong me to me."

Bella untangled herself from his grip. "Aro, I haven't agreed to anything yet. In fact, I don't think we should do this. I've been thinking about it, and all this sneaking around makes me feel like a mistress. I don't want to be a mistress."

Aro groaned. "Good heavens, you're on that again. My dear, once I get you safely tucked away into my quarters, we're going to have to have a long conversation about this rebellious streak of yours. It's very unladylike and totally unacceptable."

"Is that so? Aro, you're just going to have to get over the fact that you're not always going to get your way."

Aro chuckled. "Really?"

"Yes, really?"

"I see." Teasingly he kissed her and then pretended to ring her neck. "Che cavolo! You're so frustrating. Why could I have not fallen for a more agreeable woman?"

"Oh please, you think I'm frustrating?" she said incredulously.

"Absolutely," he said with a grin. "But I suppose if you were entirely agreeable that would bore me. However, we will have this discussion later."

Bella rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

Lovingly, he took her hand. "Come, we must get out of here before Katya finds out."

Bella just shook her head. If only she knew what he was up to.

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Thank you, everyone, for your reviews. They really mean a lot. I was hoping to get to the big Christmas Party by Christmas day, but I don't think I'm going to make it. Sorry about that.

Note: Priyatnyy razgovor, of course, isn't Russian. It's just the phonetic spelling for Приятный разговор.

Also, the town of Ubaye was most likely bulldozed down before the reservoir was put in place, but I thought it might be cool for Jane and Illya to find something.

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