Chapter Fifty

Esme

I knew Garrett was nervous about travelling to Volterra but I needed to do this. I needed Aro to know that I stood beside the people who had done this to Carlisle and acknowledge that I had a new mate. What Aro decided to do with Carlisle was up to him. He was quite capable of keeping Carlisle's head on his desk as a talking paper weight but he was equally as capable of tossing it into a furnace and I didn't care which he chose. As for Edward, he was only reaping what he'd sown and just maybe it might knock a little sense into him although I doubted that. The one thing I was certain of was that Aro would never let him leave Volterra. No, Edward was a permanent guest in Italy now. Would his mate stand by him though? Or would she decide Edward wasn't worth the imprisonment. If asked to put money on it I'd bet she'd leave him, Belissama was way too self-centred to stay on with a maimed mate under house arrest but we'd see.

Luckily Garrett was drawn towards his missing parts and after a lengthy search we found them in an underwater cavern close to the mouth of the river and intact. Removing Edwards replacements I carefully placed each part where it belonged and we sat together and watched them fuse back in their rightful places. My darling was whole once more and after hunting we set off for Volterra. I admit I used Carlisle's money to rent a private jet but then it would be little use to him now and it was half mine in any case. The flight was long but we didn't get bored, private jets came with extra luxuries, like a bed! I had only ever slept with two men, my human husband and Carlisle and I'd had no idea what I was missing. Garrett was a thoughtful and tender lover but exciting and adventurous too and I learned a lot on that flight. Lessons I intended to revisit on the return flight and it couldn't come quick enough for me!

Aro was intrigued when I rang and asked for an audience, he didn't know what had happened that much was apparent and was only too willing to grant my request. In his office I placed the box on his desk,

"A present for you, but before you open it I have something else."

I pulled the lid off another smaller box that Garrett had been holding and tipped it to show him the contents. He smiled and gestured for us to be seated.

"You are bringing back Edward's fingers, I take it they are no longer required then?"

"No thank you but they served their purpose. As to what you do with them, well I'll leave that to you to decide."

"No my dear, you can choose. No Carlisle? What a pity, I miss him, and your companion is?"

"Garrett and he's not just my companion but my mate, my real mate."

Aro looked stunned,

"I see. Then perhaps you'd better explain fully the reason for your visit Esme Cullen"

He listened in silence as I explained, throwing glances at the box as he finally realised what was inside.

"So you see, I thought Carlisle's true place was here with you or if you prefer, with Edward. All I want is the opportunity to return to my friends with my mate Garrett."

"Your friends? That would be Bella and The Major?"

"Yes it would"

I had sent and he had received the warning, mess with us you mess with the Whitlocks.

Edward

I didn't understand how my life could go from so good to so bad so very quickly. I had trusted Aro to keep me safe after telling him about Bella and he'd proved it was misplaced but then Carlisle although never openly criticising his "friend" had intimated that Aro could only be trusted so far and no further and now I learned that lesson in the most horrifying way. I was helpless, I couldn't hunt properly so was forced to drink human blood now. I couldn't write or play a piano, my life had gone from good to horrendous just like that. Worse still was Belissama's reaction to my plight. When she first saw what had been done she was very solicitous and I thought I could cope with her love and aid but she soon showed her true colours. I found her packing her bags two days after my loss,

"What are you doing?"

"I'm leaving. I've spoken to Aro and he's agreed if I feel that way I should go."

"What way?"

"Edward look at you, I feel sick just looking at your face. I fell in love with the angel face, the creativity but its all gone. I couldn't bear the thought of you touching me, not with those hands."

"But Aro promised me replacements soon"

"But whose? Who would be caressing me? Not you, some stranger that's all. I can't do this Edward, I'm sorry I just can't."

"So you're just leaving me? On my own like this?"

"Yes I am."

She zipped up her bag and walked out shutting the door firmly behind her, leaving me more alone than I had ever been.

I struggled for the next week before I finally had a visitor, an unexpected one. I had assumed Carlisle would come to my rescue and his continuing absence hurt even more than Belissama's abandonment. When Felix told me I had a visitor as he took away the human I had just drained I smiled but then I read his mind. Esme? What was she doing here? Perhaps she had a message from Carlisle, maybe she'd come to help me until he could come himself but she wasn't alone. When she came in there was no loving smile, no comforting hugs, just a cold stare and Garrett stood at her side.

"Where's Carlisle?"

"He's here Edward, with Aro"

I heaved a sigh of relief,

"Why did you bring him?"

"I thought you might like the return of some items belonging to you Edward. Items Garrett has no use for any longer."

She tipped up the box she had been carrying and my fingers and eye rolled out onto the table. I looked at them greedily then her words sank in,

"Garrett used them? That's why Aro removed them from me?"

"Bella thought it an apt punishment, an eye for an eye and all that."

I squirmed uneasily at the thought my body parts had been used by Garrett while Esme looked around curiously

"Where's Belissama? I thought she'd be with you"

"So did I but she decided she couldn't stand the sight of me. If you'd been a little earlier maybe she'd still be here."

"I doubt it but you'll never know will you Edward? Lets hope you learn to enjoy your solitude."

"Carlisle will help me, he'll get me free of this place"

"And deliver you straight into our arms? How kind of him"

I scowled at Garrett knowing he would always be waiting, just waiting to pounce if I ever left Volterra.

"Well I've delivered my message. Goodbye Edward. I hope for your sake we never meet again"

They turned and left, Esme smiling and waving her hand as she went and I fell on the table eager to reunite my missing parts with their rightful places.