A/N: This is New Moon through mid-Eclipse from Edward's perspective. These characters are not mine and all belong to Stephenie Meyer. This is her story and much of her dialogue wrapped in my interpretation of Edward's narration.

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Volterra III: Waste

Jane was waiting for us, holding the elevator doors open at the end of the long hallway. Alice and I, Bella still tucked against me, walked unhappily to meet her.

At the moment Bella and I had a virtually nonexistent chance of survival. Alice could find ways to extricate herself, but not us. These options were unacceptable to Alice - she would not abandon us. As she strategized, she kept up a flurry of I-told-you-so's and I knew I deserved no less.

The space inside the elevator was too tight. Tension crackled and pulsed between the five highly skilled predators. I angled so Bella was in the corner, my body a barrier between her and the rest of the compartment.

The three members of the guard threw back their hoods. Demetri was certainly more relaxed than he had been, but still wary. Aro had warned him of the impossible creature Alice and I became when working in tandem. Felix was thinking about the ease with which he could pluck apart Alice. It was really too bad she couldn't have her chance at him one-on-one; it would have been an appropriately humiliating death for him. Jane was bored. Like Felix, she wouldn't have minded a little noncompliance from us, but she was too disciplined to try to goad us. Still, I never took my eyes off of her.

We ended up in the posh reception area where I'd been brought to meet Demetri the night before. Gianna was there, perched at the high mahogany counter. Bella's jaw dropped, clearly shocked to see another human here.

Gianna smiled. "Good afternoon, Jane."

"Gianna," Jane responded, nodding once.

Well, he looks much better today, doesn't he? Gianna stole a quick glance at me. She cast her eyes next on Alice, appraising her in a hungry sort of way, while hardly noticing Bella. The woman idolized our kind.

Felix winked at Gianna as he had yesterday. One day, woman, he thought wistfully.

She giggled. Her thoughts were wistful as well, though in her fantasies, she survived.

I scowled at them both.

Felix noticed my reaction. Hypocrite.

We continued after Jane, passing through a set of wooden double doors.

Alec, waiting on the other side, grinned proudly at his twin sister. "Jane," he said, lightly embracing her as they kissed each other's cheeks. "They send you out for one and you come back with two... and a half. Nice work."

I realized now, they never planned to let me kill myself. Jane had been lined up to attack me at the first glimmer of sunlight on my skin, with Demetri and Felix prepared to pull me back into the shadows. They would have been so disappointed when I bested them at their own game.

Jane basked in her brother's praise - her responding giggle was something out of a horror film.

Alec smiled at me warmly. He liked me. I'd really rather he didn't.

"Welcome back, Edward. You seem in a better mood."

Bella stared up at me, confused.

"Marginally," I answered, my tone communicating my disinterest in his banter.

He laughed softly. Quite the character. "And this is the cause of all the trouble?" He eyed Bella, assuming her unintelligent. Like a little puppy dog, he thought, watching the way she cowered against me. It's almost cute.

I smiled at Alec contemptuously.

He took a deep breath, curious about her fragrance after Aro's ramblings of my control.

Felix noticed and the images in his head had me dizzy with rage. "Dibs," he called to Alec.

I turned, a snarl building in my chest.

Felix's thoughts grew more obscene as he beckoned me with his finger, smiling sadistically. Don't worry. They never notice the pain. I never leave my girls unsatisfied...

My nostrils flared, but before I could pounce, Alice's hand on my arm distracted me and I could see she was already watching my attempt fail. Jane would interfere. Jane who was watching Alice and I with gleeful anticipation.

Demetri scowled at Felix who pretended not to notice.

"Patience." Alice's expression was disapproving. Let's focus on getting out alive, okay?

But she could see I was still considering slaughtering Felix, using her visions to come up with a better plan to do it.

Edward! She thrust new images into my head. Bella trying to get herself killed when I perished. If, by some miracle, I got her out of here by myself, I'd spend the next sixty years hiding sharp objects from her. Please, Edward. Take this seriously. "And the Volturi will get us if we mess up," Alice remembered Bella saying.

I took a deep breath, trying to focus on Bella's heartbeats rather than Felix's vile thoughts. Now that I'd shown my hand I knew he would not let up, but I forced my eyes away.

"Aro will be so pleased to see you again," Alec said, not disturbed in the slightest by what had just passed.

Jane, bored again now that I had myself in hand, led her brother forward. "Let's not keep him waiting."

Aro eavesdropped on our conversation, delighted as a child on Christmas morning waiting to open his presents.

We followed the foul little twins about halfway down the hall until we reached the turret's concealed entrance. Alec slid aside part of the paneling and held open the door behind it as our party filed through.

Among Aro's company today was Renata, of course, and Chelsea. There was a male as large as Felix who I didn't recognize. Beside him was a much smaller male that I guessed was Chelsea's mate, given his adoring thoughts. I couldn't identify a few of the others.

Their murmuring ceased as Aro spun to take us in.

"Jane, dear one you've returned!" Aro strode toward her, his smooth movements like floating, and placed a quick peck on her lips.

An almost imperceptible shudder ran up Alice's spine. She could see enough of the coming conversation to know that Aro knew something of her talent. That he was interested in her. She couldn't help the image that intruded of him doing that to her.

Ugh. She shuddered again.

Jane, however, could not have been more pleased by his overly intimate gesture. "Yes, Master." She flashed him a grin. "I brought him back alive, just as you wished."

His filmy red eyes scanned past her, landing on Alice, Bella, and I.

Alice. The lovely Alice. He was star struck.

"And Alice and Bella, too," he cheered, clapping his hands. Sweet, innocent Bella. Doll-like. I can see it. So plain and yet I can remember her beauty from his eyes. The idea amused him greatly. Yes, she's very lovely. And so much more so through Alice's eyes. He thought of visions of a red-eyed Bella.

"This is a happy surprise! Wonderful!"

Such a dumb little fool... Jane eyed Bella's expression, one of wide-eyed confusion, with condescension.

"Felix." Aro turned to him. "Be a dear and tell my brothers about our company. I'm sure they won't want to miss this."

"Yes, Master." Felix nodded, before moving hurriedly to complete his errand. He didn't want to miss this.

Now that I was paying attention and not shriveled into nothing by grief, I could appreciate how significantly the events of my visit had shaken the little Volterra ecosystem. Sure, the guard saw a fair amount of action around the world, but very little within the city walls. Aro hardly ever ventured out anymore, getting so much of his entertainment secondhand. He greatly appreciated being at the center of it this time. Along with his glee, however, was his determination to shape the narrative, to sand down the edges so that it was not one of humiliation for his image-obsessed coven.

"You see, Edward?" Aro chided gently. "What did I tell you? Aren't you glad that I didn't give you what you wanted yesterday." He remembered my features, twisted with agony as I remained committed to my stubborn determination to die.

"Yes, Aro, I am." For a moment, I was back in that place, burning again. I pulled Bella closer to me, willing myself to believe she was really here. How close I'd been to closing the door forever, to never seeing her again. Aro bought me another hour and I had to be grateful for that. God, but if I'd just checked - thoroughly checked that she had perished... Even if they didn't kill us now, she would forever be on their radar. Stupid. I was so stupid. But I could drown in that truth later. One headache at a time.

"I love a happy ending. They are so rare. But I want the whole story," Aro gushed. "Alice? Your brother seemed to think you infallible, but apparently there was some mistake."

The old bat lived for drama. He reminded me of Jessica Stanley. But there was more going on than curiosity. He sought information on Alice's talent like he was reviewing the specifications for a piece of technology he wanted to purchase.

Alice was not ignorant of that fact. She could see what he would offer her and what she would decline. She was, however, ignorant of the mechanics of his talent. Her understanding from what Carlisle had spoken of it, was that his talent was much like mine, so long as he was touching the individual.

"Oh, I'm far from infallible." Her smile was charmingly sheepish. Only her tightly balled fists gave away her unease as she attempted to depreciate herself. "As you can see today, I cause problems as often as I cure them."

"You're too modest," Aro said, gently calling her bluff. "I've seen some of your more amazing exploits, and I must admit I've never observed anything like your talent. Wonderful!"

What were you showing him? Why? I don't understand. Her eyes flickered briefly to mine.

"I'm sorry," Aro apologized hastily. "We haven't been introduced properly at all, have we? It's just that I feel like I know you already, and I tend to get ahead of myself. Your brother introduced us yesterday, in a peculiar way. You see, I share some of your brother's talent, only I am limited in a way that he is not."

"And also exponentially more powerful," I added, no patience for his false humility.

Cut to the chase, Alice grumbled at me.

"Aro needs physical contact to hear your thoughts, but he hears much more than I do. You know I can only hear what's passing through your head in the moment. Aro hears every thought your mind has ever had."

Every thought?

Her eyebrows shot up, guilt and dread dominating her thoughts. She very much hoped Aro would not ask to touch her... I got the impression it was me reading secondhand that so terrified her.

Grimly, only imaging what caused her such trepidation, I nodded once.

Amazing. The little conversation they carried on there. An image flickered through Aro's head so fast I almost missed it. Me in a dark gray robe at his side, our hands touching and carrying on conversations entirely in our heads, conversations around the visions Alice broadcasted to him through me. Omniscience...

"But to be able to hear from a distance..." he sighed wistfully, waving his hand toward Alice and I. "That would be so convenient."

Convenient, yes. But it was the power it brought him that was most appealing.

...dragging on still with this nonsense. It's an embarrassment... Caius was still silently ranting as he, Marcus, and Felix arrived at the chamber.

Marcus was indifferent about the little excursion from his quarters. He thought only of his Didyme. While I was glad Aro had sided with Caius in rejecting my appeal for euthanasia, I couldn't deny I felt a slight warmth towards Marcus still for his yes vote. I wished I could end his misery, destroy him and let him be free of it.

"Marcus, Caius, look!" Aro sang. "Bella is alive after all, and Alice is here with her! Isn't that wonderful?"

Caius glared openly at Aro. Apparently we will be subjected to the dinner show today. Oh joy.

Marcus glanced at us. Huh. Stronger than Aro and Didyme, he thought of the bond between Alice and I. And the human... she would die for either him or the female. What he saw was unexpected, but the train of thought quickly dissipated into the mush of his depressed thoughts.

"Let us have the story," Aro crooned, holding his hand out to Marcus. They touched briefly and Aro raised an eyebrow.

Like mates, Aro thought incredulously as he imagined Alice in my arms.

I snorted, repelled by the image.

Alice looked at me, frustrated again. What now?

Even if my sense of her being a sister wasn't so strong, the idea was still laughable. How could romance ever thrive when there was absolutely no spontaneity or mystery? When both parties were know-it-all control freaks? She probably would have ended up killing me purely out of annoyance.

Perhaps the depth of Bella's bond to us would have surprised me two days ago, but, of course, it could not now as she had knowingly thrown her life into the Volturi's hands to save me. Aro was not surprised, either, knowing something of the way humans fawned over our kind.

"Thank you, Marcus. That's quite interesting." Aro pressed his fingertips together in contemplation. He could see now that prying our trio apart would be impossible without violence, destroying precious talent with it.

Marcus drifted over to one of the three thrones against the wall. Caius sat in one of the others. Each was flanked by two guards.

And this bond... given birth to by Carlisle's strange habits. He had so much faith and look how it has manifested! A magnet for power and giftedness when all he wanted was peace and family... "Amazing." So much bestowed upon my dear friend because of his strange sacrifice... "Absolutely amazing."

Edward, what is he rambling about?

I turned to Alice slightly. "Marcus sees relationships," I said in a low voice. "He's surprised by the intensity of ours."

Aro grinned. "So convenient. It takes quite a bit to surprise Marcus, I can assure you."

Surprised was a bit of an overstatement. Marcus stared absently at the light passing through one of the turret windows. I fought a shudder. His mind ushered in vivid memories of staring at walls and lonely night skies and things that were just generally not there.

And that's not all that's special about you. Aro studied my arm, wrapped around Bella. He could imagine what he would do in the same place with such delicious prey. He did imagine it. How he would crush her body into him, pulling her up with the same arm to gain access to her throat.

"It's just so difficult to understand," he murmured. "Even now. How can you stand so close to her like that?"

Something very real had changed since he touched my hand... Well, everything had changed, but specifically what Bella's scent did to me. I was still waiting for this strange immunity to collapse - I was braced for it, even as no venom flowed and my muscles were tense only from the threat around us. She smelled wonderful, but I didn't want her. Now my body cringed away from the idea of hurting her as much as my mind did.

If I told that to Aro, though, he would either not believe me or only be further fascinated and I could not afford for him to read my thoughts now. I was paying too much attention to my surroundings. Noticing things like the inner-workings of Demetri's talent - how all of the minds in the room pulsed like bright lights to him. Never did he seem to register Bella's light...

Also interesting was Chelsea - not the fact that she was frustrated by the unyielding bonds of our trio, but by the fact that she had an awful lot of headspace dedicated to Marcus and a fair amount dedicated to Caius as well. Really, she seemed to be pulling at the threads of all the present guard. The robe she wore was as black as the leaders, denoting her importance and I had to wonder what would happen if she was eliminated. Was she the glue holding the whole operation together?

And then there was Aro fighting thoughts of Didyme as he had yesterday. His imaginings of her death. Only they didn't seem like imaginings, they seemed like memories. Memories of his hands pulling at her limbs... pulling her head from her neck. More purple smoke.

Was it possible...? Would Marcus ever believe it?

Yes, it was much better that Aro not know my thoughts.

So, without missing a beat, I simply answered, "It's not without effort."

"But still!" Aro objected. "La tua cantante! What a waste!"

I gave one bitter laugh. "I look at it more as a price."

That affords you what? Spending time in a dumpy little house with the girl and her father? Insubstantial touches with no promise of true intimacy? No, I don't understand... A high price. "A very high price."

"Opportunity cost," I bantered sarcastically.

Delightful. What joys we could have if you were to join me here. He laughed. "If I hadn't smelled her through your memories, I wouldn't have believed the call of anyone's blood could be so strong. I've never felt anything like it myself. Most of us would trade much for such a gift, and yet you..."

"Waste it," I concluded dryly.

He laughed again. "Ah, how I miss my friend Carlisle! You remind me of him - only he was not so angry."

I knew he meant it and if I hadn't been prepared to annihilate a dozen innocent festival goers that very morning, I might have even been flattered. "Carlisle outshines me in many other ways as well."

But even at his own game you exceed him. "I certainly never thought to see Carlisle bested for self-control of all things, but you put him to shame."

"Hardly," I answered in a clipped tone.

I was feeling more in line with Caius than I ever wanted to. Like him, I found Aro's meandering whimsy exhausting. According to Alice we were still quite likely going to die. Chatting about Carlisle's merits wasn't going to save us.

Aro mistook my agitation for offense. He certainly doesn't need to be the best on this front. He's created a whole family around this philosophy and look at what it has brought him. "I am gratified by his success," he commented, trying to stop the intruding images of said family under his hand. "Your memories of him are quite a gift for me, though they astonish me exceedingly. I am surprised by how it... pleases me, his success in this unorthodox path he's chosen. I expected that he would waste, weaken with time. I'd scoffed at his plan to find others who would share his peculiar vision. Yet, somehow, I'm happy to be wrong."

There was truth to his words. He wasn't only jealous.

"But your restraint!" Aro sighed, torn, just as he had been with Carlisle, between exasperation and wonder. "I did not know such strength was possible. To inure yourself against such a siren call, not just once but again and again - if I had not felt it myself, I would not have believed." He envied me this gift, this gift that I wasted. Inhaling deeply, he concentrated as if he could make the scent turn it to what it had been for me. He would have stolen her from me right then and there if he could, mauling her like an animal.

The memory was not the same as feeling that pull himself, but still the venom flooded his mouth and his throat went dry as a bone.

"Just remembering how she appeals to you..." He chuckled sheepishly, thinking of her blood coating my tongue, seeping down my throat. "It makes me thirsty."

I tensed, prepared for all of his reckless indulgence of desire and senses to overwhelm him.

"Don't be disturbed." He held up a pacifying hand. "I mean her no harm." The bastard had been trying to tempt me - to overwhelm me like I'd nearly been at her birthday party by hitting all of the worst triggers he knew from my head.

He quickly changed the subject. "But I am so curious about one thing in particular." Perhaps I can give you something else you've desired. Something you've desired even more than her blood. He eyed Bella with new interest and looked back to me before he asked eagerly, "May I?" He lifted his hand with false tentativeness as he spoke.

I didn't really think he'd take no for an answer, but still, it bothered me the way he saw her - all of them saw her - as my pet. "Ask her," I said in a hard voice.

He thought my suggestion was downright charming. "Of course, how rude of me!" He shifted towards Bella, his demeanor that of an adult speaking to a young child. "Bella, I'm fascinated that you are the one exception to Edward's impressive talent - so very interesting that such a thing should occur! And I was wondering, since our talents are similar in many ways, if you would be so kind as to allow me to try - to see if you are an exception for me as well?"

Bella's eyes flashed up to me in terror. Maybe she was afraid of his touch. Or maybe, as Alice had been, she was cringing at the idea of me knowing her thoughts.

I nodded, hoping to reassure her that he didn't, at this second, intend to hurt her.

Bella raised a trembling hand in front of her and I locked my muscles in place, fighting the urge to block his approach. The idea repulsed me - that he would put his disgusting murderer's hands on her.

His expression, intended to be reassuring, looked like that of a sinister clown. Bella's heartrate jumped as he ghosted closer.

Listen carefully, he prodded me.

A part of me wanted to focus on anything else. I knew Bella didn't want me to hear her thoughts. On top of that, I hated the benevolent grandfather bit he was doing when this whole act was merely a flex. A reminder of his superiority.

But it was not my nature - for so long, I'd craved her mind. And there were so many unanswered questions... if I could have this before I died...

He reached out, staring into her eyes. Boldly, unflinchingly, she stared back as he pressed his skin to hers and...

Well, that's... But she's...

His forehead wrinkled as he allowed himself to consider that he might be just as limited as I on this front. He concentrated harder, much as I had in the beginning, but still nothing came.

I bit back a laugh at the incredulous expression that flashed across his face before he resumed his friendly mask.

"So very interesting."

And humiliating. I battled with the corners of my lips, threatening to turn up.

Finally he released her hand and floated smoothly away from us. Peculiar. All of them. Even the girl. That Carlisle's family would draw in this... oddity of a human. It's as if the Cullens have a sort of gravity to them. Special. So very special.

His humiliation evolved into something else as he gently paced. Aro very much had an if you can't beat them, join them mentality - or perhaps if you can't beat them, acquire them was more accurate. Suddenly Bella was nearly as interesting as Alice or I. This new tentacle of his longing sent a chill down my spine.

He studied the three of us, on the brink of destruction and shook his head at the waste. So much talent right in front of him, in his lair, and it was going to slip through his fingers.

"A first," he murmured. And then he thought of a way that not only assuaged his embarrassment but also tested the limits of the new toy he wanted. It might just wrestle me into submission, too. I heard his plan as he spoke the words and Alice watched the future shuffle with alarm.

"I wonder if she is immune to our other talents... Jane, dear?"

"No!" I growled fiercely, poised to attack.

Edward! Alice's thoughts were loud, but I didn't make out more than my name, entirely focused on Jane and Aro. Alice grabbed my elbow but I shook off her grip.

Jane grinned sweetly at him. "Yes, Master?" Anticipation stirred in her like water brought to a boil. She knew exactly what he would ask.

Furious snarls vibrated through my body as I glowered at Aro, death threats in my black eyes. I concentrated through the abruptly loud thoughts around me, haughty and indignant at my behavior.

Aro never looked at me, though. He would not reward my childish behavior. With a glance, he locked trigger-happy Felix in place.

"I was wondering, my dear one," Aro spoke to Jane, not adjusting his volume to speak over my feral growls, "if Bella is immune to you."

A/N: Up next Edward encounters Jane and Aro reads Alice's thoughts... Thank you for reading!