The Luxury of Mercy Redux

by Hallowed Huntress

When Bella goes to Volterra she learns the Cullens have been keeping secrets. As well as the real reasons the Volturi don't allow "vegetarianism." Then she is faced with a terrible choice. A rewrite, but its way better than the original. Diverges from canon at the end of New Moon. Slight AU. Possible BellaxOC later. A story told in two parts. Rated M for violence mostly.

25. Chapter 23: Relationships

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE: RELATIONSHIPS

…

I did suspect that Chelsea kept our own band more tightly knit,

but that, too, was a good thing. It made us more effective.

It helped us coexist more easily."

- Eleazar, Breaking Dawn Chapter 31

…

Aro held up two forbidding hands. "Now, now Caius, let's not be so hasty," he encouraged. "There are still preparations that must be made before we leave. Preparations that will take a few days, at minimum."

Caius' paper-white lips twisted into a deep, scowling frown. But he didn't offer any rebuttals.

"Fine," he conceded curtly. "Make your preparations, brother. But do not delay," he commanded. "I grow impatient waiting within these walls when we know the location of our enemy."

Alice shook her head. "We don't, though," she countered, gracefully stepping over a dusty, moth-eaten ottoman to stand closer to Caius. "Whoever started this might not be in Seattle right now at all," she explained. "They wouldn't have to be."

Caius groaned in frustration. Then, with gritted teeth, he pressed, "But they will be there soon, will they not?"

Alice paused, holding up a finger, asking Caius to wait for a moment. Then she let her eyes glaze over, peering into the future. She gazed off into space for a second. Then blinked and came back to the present.

"Yes," she told Caius. "I believe they will."

"You believe?" Caius stressed the word, clearly displeased with the uncertainty of it.

Alice shrugged. "Sorry, that's the best I can do," she apologized. "I still can't get a proper lock on them. But someone—fuzzy and indistinct as they are—will be there, waiting, watching, when the fight is supposed to break out."

"Do you believe we should make our preparations soon, then?" Aro asked, gazing at her with rapt interest—something Caius noted with a scoff. I guessed he wasn't used to having his opinion be of a lesser importance than someone else's.

But he calmed down a little when he saw Alice nodding quickly. "I think that would be best."

There was a beat of silence during which no one spoke. The stale air between us swirled with thousands of tiny dust motes, which glowed orange in the flickering candlelight. I watched them dance lazily across my vision, distracted by how sharp they looked. The sides the light touched and the sides in shadow were divided, as if by a razor's edge.

While I was distracted by the dancing dust, Marcus roughly cleared his throat. The sound was shockingly loud. And all eyes flicked to him instantly.

"Are we quite finished?" Marcus piped in from his corner of the room. He looked rather uncomfortable, squished between two battered bookcases. And it wasn't hard to see that he was eager to leave the cramped confines of this tiny, crowded room.

Aro appeared to mull it over for a second, before, gradually he nodded. "Yes, I believe we are. Let us begin making our preparations."

Aro moved for the door then. But just as his fingers coiled around the knob and pulled it open, I opened my mouth.

"What about Chelsea?"

Aro paused, hovering in the doorway. "On second thought, I do not believe interrogating her is necessary."

My eyebrows lifted in shock. "Really? But what if—?"

Caius interrupted me. "Do you have any reason to suspect her?"

My strangely sibilant voice faltered and died. Well, no. Not specifically. But—

"Wouldn't it be better to test her anyway?" I reasoned. "You know, just to double check?"

I thought that was the sensible thing to do. But apparently, Aro, disagreed.

He gently shook his head. "The others, I believe in time, will come to understand that their interrogations were nothing personal. That I was simply ruling out every possibility," he informed me in a calm, feathery voice. "Even Jane, Alice has assured me, will not perceive this as an affront to her loyalty."

There was a brief pause before Aro continued in a much darker voice, "However, Chelsea…"

He trailed off. His brow furrowed and his lips pursed, as if he wasn't quite sure how to finish that sentence.

After two seconds of silence—two seconds that felt like an eternity—I decided to give it a shot. "She won't take it well, I'm guessing?"

Alice surprised me by being the one to respond. "No. She won't take it well at all."

My eyelids fluttered rapidly in astonishment. "Why?"

I had a hard time understanding why the light-brown-haired vampire might react that way. Although my innocence was a given, and Aro could not read my thoughts regardless, if I'd been in her shoes, I couldn't imagine fearing an interrogation. She was his most veteran member of the guard. After three thousand years of loyalty to Aro, what could she possibly have to worry about?

An expression of grave seriousness washed over Alice's elfin features, before she explained. "You see, Bella, Chelsea is rather… sensitive about her loyalties being questioned. And we cannot really afford to antagonize her further right now. Aro has already upset her a great deal by placing you higher than her in the hierarchy. And inducting Jasper into the coven. Not to mention his ongoing harassment of her mate."

Alice gave Aro a pointed glare. It was obviously meant to be a form of nonverbal chastisement. But Aro merely shrugged, like he really didn't see any other option. And Caius, to my surprise, came to his coven brother's defense.

"In all fairness, Afton is irritating," Caius snarled in disgust. "Chelsea ought to be grateful we tolerate his presence at all," he mumbled, crossing his arms grumpily over his chest. "If it were up to me, he would be long gone."

I didn't miss the threatening edge to his voice in those last words. And it made me suspect Caius wasn't imagining politely asking the Scandinavian vampire to leave. But rather, tearing the poor boy's head from his shoulders, and throwing it into the nearest fireplace.

I shuddered at the thought. But at the same time, my curiosity was piqued.

My mind spun back, recalling in perfect detail every time I'd heard Afton speak to Caius. Every minute change in his facial expressions. Every gesture. Every movement. I reviewed them all in my head, searching for any egregious offense. But I couldn't find anything that stood out.

Granted he wasn't particularly nice or interesting. And his combat skills were rather… uh… lackluster. But mediocre wasn't an excuse to be rude to him all the time, was it?

"Forgive me if this is out of place," I prefaced, remembering my manners. "But what's the matter with Afton? Sure, I understand his power, um…" I tried to think of the politest way to put this, "…leaves a lot to be desired," I decided on. "But, personality-wise, I don't think he's all that bad…"

Caius barked out a sound somewhere halfway between a scoff and a laugh. "You have barely met him," he reminded me. "I am sure, after a hundred years, you will begin to think differently."

I nodded, conceding his point. Perhaps I would. Nearly everyone else in the Volturi seemed to treat Afton with the same forced tolerance I'd had towards eating spinach as a human. And I couldn't imagine all of that was simply out of a desire to appear in line with Aro.

But Alice still hadn't really answered my earlier question. "So, if we interrogate Chelsea, what could happen?"

Alice tapped her chin. "Best case scenario, she'd just be more angry than usual with Aro for a few weeks."

That doesn't sound too bad.

"And worst-case scenario?" I prompted.

"Worst-case scenario, she could leave us. And we really cannot risk that happening," Alice stressed. "I don't know if you've noticed, but she's sort of the glue that holds everything together. Her powers help keep us focused. Help ease tensions if necessary. And she's been doing that since the very beginning. If she leaves…." Alice made a dispersing motion with her hands, "…the whole Volturi could fall apart, breaking into factions squabbling for power, almost overnight."

I gasped. Such a dire consequence!

No wonder Aro was reluctant to interrogate her.

"Alice is correct," Caius chipped in, while I was still taking it in. "We all want to be here, and to help further the Volturi's collective goals. But occasionally, even we can forget our higher ambitions. And without Chelsea's regular intervention, our individual interests could severely undermine the effectiveness of the whole."

I stood, stunned for a second by Caius' sudden eloquence. And even moreso by how passionate and convicted and humble he sounded. I had never heard him talk like that before. And now I suddenly wondered if he was actually grateful to Chelsea for keeping his volatile moods in check, rather than resentful, as I'd first assumed.

It suddenly did not appear to be beyond the realm of possibility.

While I stood, stonily still, taking that in, my eyes flicked around the room. And for once, all three brothers seemed to be in agreement. Marcus had already brushed past Aro, and was floating out the door. Caius was wearing an oddly somber expression—like he understood just how high the stakes were, and was unwilling to risk offending Chelsea. And Aro's crimson eyes on me had turned pleading, like he was begging me to see reason.

Marcus slipped out of sight. Then I nodded.

The motion was stilted, and jerky, but everyone seemed to understand it just the same. Aro and Caius took it as their cue to leave. While they floated out, Alice packed up the marble chess set, placing the expensive pieces carefully back inside their velvet-lined box. And when she was finished, I followed her out the door.

…

As soon as we were out of the cramped room full of broken furniture, Aro began ordering people around, just as Caius had instructed. He found Heidi first, and told her to make sure the jet was ready to take off in the next few days. Then, while she sped off toward a secret hangar out in the country, he took us all on a quest to track down Demetri.

It didn't take us very long. Aro knew Demetri perfectly well, so we found him in the first place we checked—in the sparring room. Though, when Caius threw open the huge double doors leading in, we discovered he wasn't alone. Santiago and Afton were practicing with him.

Well, Santiago was practicing with him. Afton, on the other hand, was trying his best to stay out of the way.

I thought that was a little odd at first. Why come to the sparring room at all, if not to practice combat skills? But then I remembered that, as the lowest ranking member of the guard, it was entirely possible that Afton had been ordered to be here. That he was only present because Demetri and Santiago wanted another opponent to practice their skills against.

That much, at least, seemed consistent with Afton's expression. Rather than wearing a look of concentration or frustration as he dodged and fled, he was openly pouting, like a child who would rather be at the zoo.

I thought that was rather brazen of him to show such obvious reluctance to follow orders. Especially when Caius had insinuated he was already on shaky ground with most of the guard as it was.

But when I glanced over to my right, it didn't look like the three Volturi leaders noticed. After Caius had opened the door, they, Alice and I had all paused, just inside the enormous room, to watch the trio of grayish-cloaked guards fight. But, as fists flew, none of them seemed to even be looking in Afton's direction. Even as the blatantly disrespectful look of disdain on his face intensified.

I marveled at their ignorance for a moment before I remembered something. Since my mental shield allowed me to see Afton perfectly clearly it was easy to forget that everyone else might not be able to do the same. But I realized, suddenly, that Afton was probably using his power of illusory invisibility right now. And thus, his facial expression was unreadable to everyone except me.

They could still see the faintly shimmering outline of his figure—I caught Caius tracking it a sixteenth of a second later, with a look of severe disgust. But Afton's resentful expression—the face that told me this extracurricular combat training hadn't been his idea—was hidden from their view.

I couldn't help but feel like that was intentional. That he was hiding his true feelings from his superiors. Though, of course, only Aro would be able to know for sure, later, when he checked the skinny, Swedish vampire's thoughts.

At the same time, however, I couldn't bring myself to blame him for how he felt. After all, it was clear, just from how he ducked and scurried away from every fist launched even vaguely in his direction that Afton wasn't a very powerful fighter. And he didn't have many friends among the Volturi guard. So, it made sense that he was enduring this exercise with such little enthusiasm.

And it made even more sense when, a quarter of a second later, Afton was eliminated from the round.

Still using his powers, he tried to sneak around the pair of other fighters. It looked silly to me, since I could see him, clear as day. But, even though his invisibility illusion worked just fine on Demetri and Santiago, it wasn't much help in combat. When his vague silhouette shimmered past his opponent's eyes, Santiago reached out and grabbed him, yanking him off the mats.

I was surprised by the accuracy of Santiago's aim. Even without my ability to see through Afton's illusion, he seized Afton by the throat on the first try. Then he hoisted him off his feet with one hand, as easily as one might uproot a carrot.

I remembered, suddenly, getting a similar grip on Afton once during our training. And just like before, the blonde didn't make any effort whatsoever to fight back once his opponent had him in their grasp. Instead, looking absolutely petrified, he screamed "Pieta!" before Santiago could even think about angling his teeth towards him.

Obediently, Santiago froze, before gently lowering the scrawny Swedish vampire to the floor. Though he frowned, like he was disappointed in how quickly Afton had surrendered. And I frowned too.

In every match I'd watched him fight, this one included, he'd always thrown in the towel at the first opportunity. And that wasn't a good thing. It wasn't exactly the best simulation of combat, to forfeit so early. After all, our real enemies would not be deterred from enacting lethal violence by a mere word.

But Afton, for his part, didn't look the least bit remorseful. It was hard to read exactly what emotion was on his face. But if I had to make a guess, I'd say it was a combination of apathy and relief.

I studied him for a moment, trying to figure it out. Trying to figure out why he didn't care that he was disappointing everyone. Especially the three leaders, who were all glowering at him now.

Though it was impossible for me to tell, he could easily still be invisible, which would explain why he didn't school his expression. But his actions spoke to Aro, Marcus and Caius, much louder than his face.

Maybe he figured he was going to disappoint them no matter what, so why try?

It was an interesting avenue to consider.

But as Afton slunk away from us, toward the designated loser's wall, Demetri and Santiago resumed their fight. Which interrupted my train of thought. And then, distracting me even further, Aro cleared his throat and gave Demetri the order to locate and bring back Caius' son.

Demetri, mid-lunge for Santiago's throat, dropped what he was doing immediately. And if he questioned the wisdom of such a decision, he kept his dissenting thoughts to himself. I watched, impressed, as he abandoned the fight without any consideration for his companions. Then, while Santiago stared after him with a look of confusion, and a little betrayal for being left alone with Afton, he flitted out of the red-plastic-coated room to get changed out of his battle uniform.

He reappeared a second later.

"Is this appropriate, Master?" Demetri asked, gesturing toward his new outfit.

Aro and I both poured over it at the same time. Demetri was wearing his usual—a sleek black suit, a dark red button-down shirt, and polished Italian leather shoes. And I thought he looked rather sharp. But Aro, to my surprise, slowly shook his head.

"That is much too formal," Aro informed him. "We do not wish for Theodore to feel threatened."

Without a word, Demetri dashed off again. And this time, when he got back, he was dressed in dark jeans, leather boots and a form-fitting turtleneck.

I hardly thought it made that much of a difference. With the silvery Volturi insignia still hanging around his neck, and a heavy, charcoal black cloak over everything, Demetri still cut a menacing figure. But Aro, once again, seemed to disagree.

He smiled and nodded quickly. "That will do."

Demetri gave what appeared to be a tiny bow. Then he absconded with nothing but the Aro-approved clothes on his back. I guessed he planned to run or swim wherever he needed to go, rather than utilize airborne transportation.

While we awaited his return, Aro sent Santiago around the fortress to spread the news that we were leaving in a few days. In addition to urging us to tie up any lose ends, he instructed everyone to pack for two months. Today was April nineteenth. The confrontation was predicted to occur on June fifteenth. And there was no telling whether or not we'd have the chance to return to Volterra between those dates.

After Santiago ran off, Afton zipped away, a little too eager to put the sparring room behind him. Then Alice and I split off from our three leaders.

Aro and Caius both appeared to be eager to inform their families themselves, as well as spend some final, quality time with them, before they had to leave. And Marcus, I imagined, was slinking off to some dark corner to sulk. Meanwhile, Alice and I needed to go back to our rooms.

We went to Alice's first. Her room was painted and modernized with electricity and carpeted floors, much like mine. Although she'd chosen a much more dramatic color scheme. Instead of soft, muted creams and plums, her room was a vivid, and yet somehow still tasteful, assortment of yellows, golds and pinks.

I stared at the bright, breezy, floral patterns on the wall while Alice made a beeline for her enormous walk-in-closet. And as she disappeared inside, I started to think that perhaps the Alice I had gotten to know in Forks wasn't all a lie. Even if the Volturi had an austere dress code, she was still a sunny person at heart. A person who liked canary yellow Porsches and filmy rose-colored dresses.

I was broken out of my reverie when Alice came back a few seconds later. She was lugging a huge mustard suitcase nearly as tall as her out of her closet, and already filled to near-bursting. I eyed the object speculatively as she wheeled it past me. And let my confusion show on my face.

"I'm not using a black suitcase," Alice said, in response to the question I hadn't yet asked. "You try finding a black suitcase among thirty others!"

"Oh." I hadn't even thought of that. But, of course, Alice would be thinking ahead.

"What color is my suitcase?" I asked, trailing out of Alice's room behind her.

It was only a short walk between her room and mine. When we arrived, rather than answering, she ducked into the back of my closet and came back out with a suitcase almost as large as hers. The fabric was the same color as my duvet—a deep, rich purple.

Automatically, I sighed in relief. Purple would be easy to find amid the sea of black Alice predicted. But it wouldn't stand out embarrassingly either.

Alice set my suitcase down on the bed, then. I sat next to it, and let Alice pack it, figuring she knew best. Her foresight let her move quickly, so it wasn't really an extra burden on her. While I would have deliberated for hours, unsure of what kind of weather conditions, or fighting conditions we might be in, Alice packed everything I would need in a matter of minutes.

I watched her throw in a big fluffy white towel, a bar of diamond-laced soap, my special steel-bristled toothbrush, some metal floss and an ordinary hairbrush. Then she packed my battle uniform and a few, sensible outfits. She left my cloak and my Volturi pendant out—I would be wearing those on the plane. But while she was packing my underwear, I noticed some of the pairs she picked were rather scant and bordered with lots of expensive lace.

I raised an eyebrow as she tossed them in, but didn't say anything. I didn't want to know what I would be using those for.

There was a loud ziiiiip then as Alice closed up the last pocket of my suitcase. Then she wheeled it over to me. I took it from her carefully, wrapping my fingers around the handle gently, like I was handling tissue paper. And for once, I managed not to instantly crumple something underneath my hands.

While I marveled at that fact, Alice scrambled to pack Jasper's bag, too. She wheeled it into my room from some unknown part of the fortress. And as it passed over the threshold, I noted that it was navy-blue, just as large as our suitcases, and travel-scuffed from his recent trip.

When Alice threw it onto my bed and opened it, I was surprised to find it was mostly empty. Only two changes of clothes rested at the very bottom. And there were no toiletries of any kind to be found.

I guessed the rest of the space must have been used to house the enormous metal chain Jasper had found in Seattle. But now that the chain was gone—probably still resting on the cracked floor in the turret room—that space was available for Alice to fill.

I wasn't sure what she was going to fill it with. Alice was tiny compared to her mate, so none of her clothes would fit him. Not to mention they were hardly his style.

But Alice, as always, was prepared. While I stood next to the foot of my bed, gingerly holding the handle of my full and zippered suitcase, she flitted out of the room, and came back in with a rolling rack filled with clothes suited to Jasper's tastes and size.

"When did you get that?" I asked, eying the long row of hanging clothes curiously.

They looked too modern to have simply been sitting around or donated by other members of the Volturi. So clearly Alice had to have gone shopping. But when? Sure, I hadn't been watching her every second. But I knew she'd been too busy over the past month to sneak off to Calvin Klein.

Alice shrugged, like it was no big deal. "I hit up some shops while you were transforming into one of us," she informed me. "There wasn't really anything else that needed to be done at the time. And, of course, when you were finished changing, I wanted you to look your best."

I swallowed, remembering how that had turned out. Then I shook myself violently to get rid of the ghastly memory.

Alice kept going, oblivious to my horror. "As soon as I left for Volterra it became a possibility that Jasper might join us. I wanted to be prepared in case it panned out."

That brought me up short. Suddenly, I wondered how many possibilities Alice prepared for that didn't pan out. Would she have purchased Edward clothing too, if he'd decided to stay? Was there already an extra suitcase tucked away somewhere, in case he suddenly changed his mind?

I couldn't be sure. But I wouldn't put it past Alice.

While Alice rifled through her options on the rolling rack, Jasper knocked on the door. I let him in, since Alice seemed to be distracted, checking washing labels and peering into the future. But as soon as he noticed what we were doing, he snatched his suitcase off the bed with one hand, and yanked the rolling rack out of Alice's hands with the other.

"I can pack my own things, thank you very much," he snapped.

Alice, looking like Jasper had just scalded her with hot water, backed away instantly. "I'm just trying to help…" she said in a small voice.

"Well, go be helpful somewhere else," he bit out, rolling his suitcase and the rack of designer clothes in his size away from her, and out the door with him.

We both watched him leave in stunned silence. He slammed the door on his way out—not hard enough to break the hinges, but hard enough to give me a good scare. And hard enough to make Alice burst into loud, tearless sobs.

I rushed to her side immediately, and wrapped my arms around her. She collapsed into my shoulder, barely supporting herself on her own two feet. And wept dryly into my arm.

"What's wrong with him?" I demanded, suddenly furious. "Why is he acting like this?"

"He's upset that I've dragged him into this," Alice blubbered. "He wishes he could just stay with Carlisle."

My mouth fell open in shock. "Despite the risk?"

Alice nodded against my sleeve.

My eyes narrowed in bewilderment. Not only did that not make a lick of sense from my perspective—why be upset with someone who was literally just trying to make sure you stayed alive? But the accusation that Jasper had been forced struck me as wildly inaccurate.

"But you didn't drag him into this," I stressed. "He came here of his own free will, right?"

At least, that was how I remembered it.

But, to my surprise and dismay, Alice shook her little head. "Not exactly."

I stiffened. "I don't understand."

Alice sighed, and leaned back so she could look me in the eyes. Vampires didn't get all puffy and red like humans did when they cried. But there were other signs that she'd been crying. Or, at least, trying to. Her crimson irises looked pink under the thick film of venom trapped inside them.

I swallowed. And looked away.

"Jasper and I are mates," she stressed, using that word again. "I'm not sure you fully understand what that means. Like I said before, it isn't just a marriage for vampires. It's forever. And once you enter into it, there's no backing out."

I squinted as she spoke, trying to remember when she had told me this. It must have been before I was transformed. The relevant memories my mind tried to dredge up were murky, and indistinct, like watching an old film reel. And they weren't very helpful. I vaguely recalled her mentioning something about this. But her actual words were a muffled blur.

Alice, noticing my look of pained concentration, put her little hands on her hips. "You weren't listening, were you?" she said with a slight edge of accusation in her tone.

I held up a hand in my defense. "I'm sure you told me something about this when I was still human. And I'm sure I listened. But I don't remember the details. My human memory sucks."

The ire from Alice's facial expression suddenly evaporated. "Oh. Right. I'm sorry, I don't have any idea what that's like." She turned her toes inward, abashed. Then took a deep breath to compose herself and began to explain. "That's all I said last time. But there's more I didn't mention before. I didn't want to say anything in front of the entire guard but…"

Alice trailed off, looking even more embarrassed than before. I felt my eyebrows inching toward my forehead. What had Alice done that she was so ashamed of?

When she started speaking again, her voice was lowered to a whisper. "Mates have a hard time being apart for very long. Once the bond is forged, it can become… physically painful to be away from each other for more than a few days. Especially for newlyweds like us."

I blinked. "Newlyweds?" I repeated, having a hard time believing it. "But you've been together over fifty years!"

"Which is nothing to a vampire!" Alice reminded me, raising her voice again. "Titania and Lucretia were only born eight years after I left. And you've seen how tiny they still are!"

I got quiet then. Alice had a point.

But now I was curious. "How long does it take until you're no longer considered newlyweds?"

"A century at least," Alice revealed. "Carlisle and Esme are nearly there. A measly two decades away. And already they can stand to be away from each other for longer. While they don't enjoy separation, they could be apart for almost half a year, if they had to, without feeling any pain. But Jasper and I can barely go a month before it starts to get unbearable.

My forehead crumpled with confusion. "I thought you said it might take him a thousand years to come around?"

"So, you do remember some of what I said," Alice said brightly, before her face fell and she sighed. "Yes, at the time there was a chance that he might try to fight through the pain. I was hoping not. It can get pretty bad, and I wasn't eager to see just how bad it would have to get before he finally caved. But he ended up deciding against that."

"So, you weren't in any pain?" I probed.

Alice shook her head. "Nothing serious. A day or two before Jasper arrived, I was starting to feel a few twinges here and there. Tiny, sharp, flashes. But they were pretty spread out. Just little reminders of the pain that would come if we didn't get back together again."

I took a step back on the plush carpet in shock. "How bad does that get?"

Alice gave me a piercing look. "Worse than what Jane can do."

I winced. I didn't have any personal experience with that specifically. But seeing how everyone else writhed on the ground like they were on fire, I thought I could sympathize.

How awful.

"So, Jasper feels like he didn't have a choice?" I asked, just to clarify. "That he had to come here and join the Volturi, despite his misgivings, because he's mated to you?"

Alice nodded. And I frowned.

"What about Hippolytus, and his mate?" I said recalling one of the vampires who'd left during my induction. "He said he had one back in Greece. One who isn't with us. How come he wasn't in pain?"

By all accounts it didn't make sense. At least, until Alice clarified.

"Hippolytus and his mate have been together for nearly as long as Aro and Sulpicia have," Alice informed me. "Their bond is so old, they can be apart for decades at a time, perhaps even a whole century if needed. I'm not sure what his mate's misgivings with the Volturi are—what prevents him from joining the guard, or at least, living in the fortress. Nor can I be sure what their relationship is like—some of us grow to resent our mates after so many centuries of being stuck together. But I imagine he was able to find time, when things were quiet, to slip back to Greece and reunite with his mate often enough to avoid agony."

I took a full second to take all of that in. Then I nodded to show that I'd understood.

"It isn't always happily ever after, is it?"

Alice shook her head gravely. "No. No it is not."

…

Jasper finished packing a few hours later. He didn't have a room of his own yet—or maybe Alice was hoping he would eventually move into hers?—so when he was done he came back into my room, and lined up his full suitcase against the wall next to mine and Alice's. After everything was in order, he didn't so much as say a word to Alice before he turned around and went right back out the door.

Alice's lips trembled for a second, and her eyes crinkled like she was going to cry again. But she forced herself to smile at the very last moment, banishing her dark thoughts with a strained, but still blinding, flash of her teeth.

It was… kind of terrifying, actually.

But as she left the room to make some other preparations for our upcoming trip, still beaming, I sat down on the edge of my bed and didn't say anything. She probably felt like she had to put on a strong face for the rest of the guard. Aro had put a lot of pressure on her by giving her the top position in the hierarchy. And I was starting to see now, why she didn't want it. She couldn't afford to be seen as weak. Not even for a moment. Or else, like ravening wolves, the other members might see that as an opportunity to pounce.

Not… literally. Aside from Jane's occasional, blank-minded taunts, they would never physically attack Alice. And there was only so much scheming they could get away with under the watchful eyes of Aro and Marcus. But if there was anything I'd learned in my month here, it was that no matter how omniscient someone's powers seemed, there was always a way to get around them if they were familiar enough to you, and you were determined and creative enough.

Which meant that—even if Aro could read the entirety of someone's thoughts, and Marcus would be scanning everyone's relationships constantly—as soon as Alice showed weakness, the other members would start maneuvering, in the shadows, to get her knocked down a peg. Or maybe even taken out of the picture entirely. If they could keep their thoughts in check and make it look like an accident….

I shuddered, the bedframe creaking underneath me from the force of my horror. But I wasn't sure how possible that was. The risk of Aro finding out and enacting severe, retributive punishment was probably too high. If he learned someone had tried to get Alice killed….

…that would be instant death.

The bedframe creaked again as I pictured the aristocratic lines of Aro's face, warping with unbridled fury. I could see it in my head, clear as day, how he would react. The initial burst of shock as the thoughts poured in through his skin that would rapidly melt into rage. How his hands would go straight from holding their hand to latching around their throat. How his razor-sharp teeth would descend faster than anyone else could act. How Caius would be waiting in the wings with a flask of gasoline and a lighter…

I shook myself to make the picture go away. And tried to reassure myself with the knowledge that Aro would never be able to find anything in my thoughts that might invoke his wrath. But I realized then that this was something the other Volturi guard had to know. Even without Alice's foresight, they had to be able to see what I saw—that Aro would personally kill anyone who seriously threatened Alice.

Of course, that wouldn't necessarily stop them from trying to do whatever they could to discredit her. To try and encourage Aro, through subtler means, to move her out of the coveted top spot.

Being the highest-ranking member of the guard came with significant privileges. Alice didn't have to answer to anyone except the three leaders. And even then, Aro—the king of kings—seemed to be willing to allow her a significant amount of leeway. So, I could easily imagine, the other Volturi guard members would be willing to risk a little for that same kind of power and influence.

While I thought it through, I gritted my teeth to resist the urge to nibble nervously on my lower lip. I wasn't sure my new teeth wouldn't saw through my own skin. And I wasn't about to risk having to glue my own face back together a second time since becoming immortal.

With my teeth clamped together, I sat motionless on my bed, worrying for a long moment about Alice and her relationships with the rest of the guard. While I knew she hardly cared about her rank, I knew there were at least two members of the guard who would make her life hell if they could manage to scrabble above her. And from what I'd learned in Aro's etiquette classes, as long as they did not resort to bodily harm, there wasn't much he could do about it.

A strongly worded chastisement, even to Aro's most loyal followers, wouldn't necessarily deter them from lighting Alice's entire wardrobe on fire.

I sat for a moment longer, worrying. Then, suddenly, I realized there was someone who might be able to help. And, before the thought was even fully formed, I was out the door.

…

It took me the better part of the rest of the day to find her. I hadn't exactly paid strict attention to what all the guard members did in their free time. And I still wasn't allowed anywhere near the library. But eventually, I found the person I was looking for in the last place I looked—the receptionist's room.

I remembered passing through the space when I was still human. I remembered the wood-paneled walls. The thick, deep green carpet. The large, brightly lit paintings of the Tuscan countryside hanging everywhere to make up for the lack of windows. The little clusters of pale leather couches. And the glossy tables beside them, carrying crystal vases full of vibrant flowers.

I also remembered Gianna—Aro's human secretary—who had been inside last time. And she was the reason I was reluctant to enter the space. The room itself wasn't off-limits. But I had been rather sternly instructed not to go anywhere near Gianna until Aro deemed me in adequate control over my thirst. And, although I also cared little for rankings, I wasn't especially keen on disobeying those orders.

I didn't want to kill anymore people than strictly necessary.

But the sun was setting, leeching all of the warmth out of the stone ceilings closest to the ground. And I was beginning to feel a little desperate. After all, making sure Alice didn't get enmeshed any deeper in Volturi power struggles was kind of a time-sensitive issue. So, despite the risk, I slunk down the wide hall leading from the conference room on one end, past the concealed entrance to the turret room, and toward the heavy wooden door that led into the receptionist area.

The door had been left slightly ajar, so I peeked in. I eyeballed the high, polished mahogany counter in the center of the room first. Gianna wasn't sitting there. But that didn't rule out the possibility that she might be in the room. So, I flicked my eyes around, taking in everything again—this time in much sharper detail.

Still no Gianna.

Even with my enhanced eyesight, there was only so much of the room I could see. So, just to be safe, I balled my hands into tight little fists and clenched my teeth, before I braved a tiny, insubstantial inhale.

At first, nothing wafted in except for the overpowering scent of lilies. Then slowly, as I took a few more experimental sniffs, I caught the other smells of the room. The lush of clean carpet. The woody notes of mahogany. The clear ping of crystal. And, tucked somewhere near the warm smell of leather, the familiar honey and sunshine smell of a fellow immortal.

I recognized the scent automatically. Finally, I thought.

Spurred on by the excitement of finally locating the one I'd been searching for, I flicked a few cautious glances around me, then slowly, silently pushed open the door just wide enough for me to slip through. Once I was past the threshold, I padded around the room cautiously, my eyes darting around in all directions to make sure I hadn't missed anything.

I didn't want to run into Gianna by surprise. Even fully sated, I knew that was too risky. But she appeared to be attending to matters elsewhere.

I breathed a quiet sigh of respite. Which turned out to be a mistake.

The sound alerted the immortal sitting on one of the couches to my presence. I heard a book snap shut. And when I whipped around to face the noise, the person I'd been looking everywhere for, was glaring ate me with baleful eyes.

"What do you want," Chelsea said flatly. "You know you're not supposed to be in here."

I winced. I really didn't want her to go tattle on me to Aro.

"Gianna's not here," I felt like pointing out.

Chelsea rolled her eyes. "For now. She left to fetch me the next book in the series," she explained, brandishing the book in her hands so I could see the words Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban printed across the front. I only had half a second to be surprised by her choice before she added, "She'll be back in a few minutes. So make it quick."

I suffused with panic. So soon?

Terrified by what my newborn instincts might compel me to do if Gianna came into the room while I was still here, I rushed to explain my predicament. "Alice is having a hard time fitting back in. I think a lot of people here have forgotten the bigger picture and are more focused on their rank relative to hers, rather than our goal of defeating the enemy. And I'm worried that their individual interests might…" What were the words Caius had used earlier? Ah yes! "…undermine the effectiveness of the whole."

Chelsea looked at me blankly. "And?"

I scratched the back of my neck. "I was wondering if, well—"

"You can just order me to do it," Chelsea interrupted, clearly tired of beating around the bush. She rose from her seat and gestured to my fractionally darker cloak. "You hold a higher station. As I'm sure Master Aro told you, I'm expected to obey your commands," she explained curtly.

My eyes flew wide open. I wasn't expecting that.

I held up two hands defensively. While that was true…

"I don't want to be rude…"

Chelsea gritted her teeth. "Right now, you're being ruder by wasting my time. So, out with it," she snapped. "What do you want me to do?"

"Could you… smooth things over between the other guards and Alice?" I asked carefully.

Chelsea made a face. "I can try."

The distaste in her voice was palpable. My forehead crumpled with concern.

"You don't want to?"

Chelsea glared at me like I was being especially stupid. "Of course not. But that's not the issue. I'll do my best, since you asked," she explained, her voice still cold and monotone. "And before you get all worried that I'm lying, Master Aro will check to make sure I've followed through to the best of my abilities. I simply don't know what I can promise you. I can only work with what's already there. And if what's already there is a lot of hatred and feelings of inadequacy, there's only so much I can do to help that simmer down."

Chelsea's face soured even further before she continued. "You might want to ask your new blonde friend instead," she grumbled, malcontent. "He's probably more suited to this kind of thing."

"Jasper?" I pressed.

Chelsea rolled her eyes. "Obviously."

My eyes blinked, bewildered.I wasn't confused by her tone—I understood well enough why she resented the newest member of the Volturi. The similarity of their powers threatened her position—or so she thought. But I was confused as to why she thought he would be any help.

Does she not understand how his power works?

"Well… I mean… Jasper might be able to change their feelings in the moment. Make them feel all warm and fuzzy about Alice for a few minutes. But his powers aren't going to have any real, lasting staying power," I explained. Then, after a short pause, I made a sheepish gesture. "Not to mention he's not on the best terms with Alice right now."

"Neither am I," Chelsea felt the need to point out.

I cringed. "Yes but… he's not going to listen to my orders."

Chelsea cocked her head. "Then make him."

"What?" I sputtered out. "I couldn't do that! And even if I could… how would I do that?"

Chelsea shrugged, like the details weren't her concern. "Enlist Jane. She might rank higher than you, but she's always down for torture."

I recoiled in horror. "Torture?!" I practically screamed. "You want me to torture Jasper to get him to help me?!"

Chelsea raised a finger to her lips immediately. "Shhh! Keep your voice down! You don't want the whole fortress to hear what you're planning, do you?"

"No. But…" I shook my head in disbelief, "…this all sounds very…"

I wanted to say illegal. But what I meant was that it was against the rules. Against protocol. As members of the guard, Aro had taught me it wasn't good etiquette to fight amongst ourselves. And I was pretty sure siccing Jane on Jasper counted as fighting.

"As someone whose been here a lot longer than you, trust me, Master Aro turns a blind eye to most of Jane's minor indiscretions." Chelsea, seeing my look of horror only worsen, switched tactics. "But look, if you don't want to involve Jane, or Jasper, fine. I really don't care," she said in an exasperated tone. "I'll help as best as I can. Just wait outside for a few minutes. I think I hear Gianna coming back."

And sure enough, just then, I heard it too. Several loud clacks of stilettoes. Clacks that fell at uneven intervals—nothing like the fluid, regimented gait of an immortal.

Yup. That's got to be Gianna.

I held my breath before her smell could hit me. Then I gave Chelsea a short nod. And zipped back out the way I'd came faster than a human could blink.

Once I was back in the hallway that led towards the turret room, the conference room, and the rest of the fortress, I stepped a few yards back from the still halfway-open door, and pressed my back up against one of the cool stone walls. I stood there, utterly motionless for a long time, holding my breath, and waiting.

While I waited, I heard Gianna's footsteps grow louder. And as the steps swelled, I realized they were accompanied by another, much softer, noise.

I focused in on that other noise. It was more rhythmic than Gianna's imperfect steps. And it sounded oddly familiar. But, although my memory was perfect now, it sounded so different from a distance, it took me a few seconds to recall where I had heard it before.

When it hit me, I felt suddenly stupid. It was a sound I'd heard during both of my meals. And several times in both Aro and Carlisle's memories.

The sound of a beating human heart, and blood being pushed through human veins.

But it was so muffled now as to be almost unidentifiable. And for that I was actually quite grateful. While the sound of a racing human heart wasn't as difficult to resist as the smell of one, it could still awaken my feeding instincts if it was loud enough.

I tried tuning it out, focusing on the other sounds again. I heard Gianna's footfalls come to a gradual halt near where Chelsea was still standing. Then the two conversed briefly.

Through the cracked door, I could make out all of their quiet conversation. They spoke to one another in Italian. But my brain automatically translated what they were saying now.

"I retrieved the book you requested, Miss Chelsea," Gianna said, her tone cordial, businesslike.

I heard the soft scrape of hardback binding against fingernails as the book changed hands.

"Thank you, Gianna," Chelsea replied in the same, formal manner. Although her voice, even impassive, was a thousand times lovelier. She made Gianna sound scratchy and off-key in comparison.

"Do you require anything else?" Gianna asked.

I heard the soft whoosh of Chelsea shaking her head. "No, that will be all for now. You may take your leave if you wish."

Gianna nodded—another strange thing I could now hear. Then she fidgeted in her heels, hesitating.

"What is it?" Chelsea demanded.

Gianna's heart leapt in her chest with fright at the sudden steel edge in the vampire's voice. And I heard her breath catch in her throat. But otherwise, she remained perfectly, outwardly calm.

She's very good at her job, I thought. If I was still human, I would have flinched for sure.

"It's simply…" Gianna nervously rubbed her elbows. The sound of her fingers brushing across her skin, reminded me of the grit of sandpaper. "Felix promised he would meet me here any minute now. If you wouldn't mind allowing me to wait…?"

Chelsea, probably mindful of my presence less than twenty yards away, frowned. But her voice had softened back to neutral when she spoke again.

"Very well," she allowed. "You may wait for Felix here. I know how much you mean to him."

I didn't move—I was completely motionless against the cinnamon brown stone wall. But Chelsea's words brought me up short.

I know how much you mean to him?

What does that mean?

I didn't have to wait very long to find out. Just as Gianna had been promised, Felix came into the room through its' other entrance—the one that led out to the elevator and up to the street level—a minute later. And as soon as his huge, booted feet were through the door, Gianna broke into a run, speeding in his direction.

As she ran, I heard her feet sink down into her shoes. Then suddenly the thumping of her heels against carpet was replaced by the sound of two large, solid structures coiling around human skin. If I had to hazard a guess, I would say it sounded like Gianna had launched herself into Felix's arms.

Either that, or Felix had yanked her off the ground, intending to devour her.

But I didn't hear any bloodcurdling screams. Or any wet, slicing sounds to indicate he had bitten her. So, I had to assume she hadn't been harmed.

I wasn't about to breathe in to find out.

Felix spun Gianna around—I heard the whoosh of her legs through the air. And she giggled. So that added more fuel to the theory that he wasn't planning on hurting her. But it also only made me more confused.

What are they doing?

Just as suddenly as it had started, the whooshing stopped. Then I heard another wet sound, this once like suction. And, at last, I decided my ears simply were not cutting it. Still holding my breath, I inched along the wall slowly, until I could peer again into the room through the door left ajar.

But nothing could prepare me for what I was about to see.

Felix and Gianna were locked in an ardent embrace. He held her tight to his chest. Her feet still weren't touching the ground—her body dangled in the air, suspended by his thick, powerful arms. Her thin tan arms were thrown around his neck. And their lips kept pressing together, over and over, creating that odd suction sound every time.

If I was still breathing, my breath would have gotten stuck in my throat. They were kissing?

It appeared that they were. And not just chaste pecking. But full on Frenching. Right in front of Chelsea, who looked desperately like she wanted to be reading her next Harry Potter book somewhere else.

I resisted the powerful urge to gasp—I still couldn't afford to breathe. And watched the pair closely through the gap in the door.

After a rather passionate make-out session, Gianna finally needed to breathe, so Felix set her down on the carpet again and let her catch her breath. She sucked in several ragged ones, sounding positively winded. Then she smiled bashfully up at Felix, her cheeks flaming with color.

"Mia amore," he purred with his beautiful bass voice.

Even though my opinion of Felix was strictly neutral, the sound sent tingles down my spine. And Gianna, who was clearly besotted, giggled giddily.

Felix grinned at her in response—and somehow, she managed to read his sudden flash of teeth as endearing rather than menacing. Then his face smoothed in straight, serious lines.

"I was so worried when I heard our newest member had come near you," Felix told her in quiet, tense Italian. "His eyes were so black... I thought for a horrible second that—"

Gianna shook her head before Felix could finish his sentence, making the tight bun her dark hair was wrapped in, rotate back and forth. "He did not harm me. But he did seem to want to. More than most."

Felix balled a huge, pale olive hand into a fist at his sides, the tendons going taut like steel cables. "I hate to see you in danger. But hopefully you will no longer have to be. After I finished my assigned duties for the day, I spoke to Signorino Aro again about the possibility of changing you."

Gianna and I both suffused with shock. Changing her? Felix wanted Gianna to be made into a vampire?

If he really did love her as much as he appeared to, it made sense that he would want that. I couldn't imagine living with the anxiety—the constant fear that one of your immortal companions, or perhaps some rogue criminal might decide, on a whim, to devour your other half.

But this was all so out of left field for me.

I thought I remembered Felix winking at Gianna on my way into this fortress. But the memory was just as unreliable as the rest of my human memories. And even if I could trust it, I would have never thought it meant anything like this was going on.

A few seconds later, when the news, at last, seemed to sink in, Gianna gasped. And at once, she began quivering in her pointy, black Louboutin heels.

"What did he say?" she demanded, her voice bordering on hysterical.

Felix's face was utterly impassive. It was impossible to predict what he might say.

Still, I wasn't expecting what I heard next.

"Signorino Aro says that there is no time to search for your replacement now," Felix said in a low, sad voice."Not to mention we already have one newborn to train. But after our business in Seattle is finished, he will honor our affection for one another and permit me to change you."

I clung even tighter to the wall just outside the door. It was a mix of good and bad news—for the couple, at least. Good news, because it wasn't a flat refusal. But bad news because the longer Aro left Gianna human, the higher her likelihood of dying from some unfortunate "mishap" was.

Gianna, however, was choosing to look on the bright side. "This is great news!" she insisted. "Just a few short months and then I will be one of you?"

Felix made a stipulating gesture. "As long as you stay out of danger until then. Do you think you can manage that?"

Gianna nodded enthusiastically. "I've survived this long, haven't I?"

Felix and I both grimaced. That was no guarantee of anything. But he nodded anyway, before gesturing to where Chelsea sat, pressing her fingers to her temples, and staring pointedly down at the opened book in her lap.

"I think Chelsea would like us to take the rest of our conversation elsewhere," he noted in Italian.

"Yes, please," Chelsea begged in English.

Gianna flushed even redder than before in embarrassment. "My apologies, ma'am," she replied, also in English now. Then she and Felix scurried back the way they came, disappearing through the door that led to the elevator.

I waited until I heard the electronic mechanism hum to life, carrying the pair up and away, before I peeled myself off the hallway wall. And waited a few extra seconds for good measure before I stopped holding my breath.

Gianna's scent lingered faintly in the air. But as I squeezed through the halfway open door, back into the receptionist area, it didn't bother me in the slightest. It smelled nice of course—a bit like standing next to the open window of a bakery. But I wasn't thirsty, so it was more perfume than temptation.

When I touched the dark green carpet again, Chelsea was already standing directly in front of me, both of her Harry Potter books left sitting on one of the polished tables next to a vase of vibrant lilies. Her arms were crossed, and she tapped her foot impatiently—a motion that reminded me of Caius.

"You ready to go?" she asked.

I nodded.

And then, we were off.