Playlist:

Wrong – Depeche Mode

Broken Glass - Rachel Platten

Loyalty (feat. Rihanna) - Kendrick Lamar, Rihanna

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the words. Stephanie Meyer owns the Twilight series, and the songs belong to their respective people.

*PG-13/R*

Wrong

Bella was having a fantastic dream for once. Edward and she were in the sacred space of the panic room, making love. It was amazing, awe-inspiring, wonderous; it was perfect in almost every way. She awoke suddenly to an imbalance pushing against her mind. She found herself clutched naked against something cold. She freaked out for just a second, pushing herself away from whoever had a hold on her.

"Bella?"

Oh! It wasn't a dream.

She was in the panic room with Edward, naked in his lap. Shock and happiness painted her face when she leaned back to take in his visage. Her hand flew to the bite mark on her neck, pressing down on the closed wound to remind herself this was reality.

"Edward!"

Joy rose in her; it was unstoppable, beyond anything she had ever known. She kissed him before he could speak, exulting in the feel of his mouth against hers. She was sore, aching in all the right ways, and she could still taste her own blood and hints of him in her mouth. This was unreal. She never thought – she had dreamed, hoped—but never thought, could never have imagined.

He allowed her to push him back, straddling him on the mossy stone floor. They were still gloriously uncovered. Bella didn't know what to do. She wanted to weep, to cry out, to dance uncontrollably. She wanted to do it again, to never leave this holy place where her Edward had made love to her. Her ecstasy was interrupted by a knocking at the edge of her perception: someone was removing the heavy magic that shielded the passageway to the cave.

She pulled back from the kiss, and Edward laughed as he took in her wide eyes and slightly panicked face. "Shit! Someone's coming!"

She leapt across the crevasse, throwing Edward his pants as she searched for her dress. She swore loudly when she saw the scrap of cloth that had been her panties.

"Can't you just materialize us new outfits?"

"No. Not in here, I can't cast to the outside world from in here, otherwise it would be sort of pointless. Where's your shirt?"

Edward's face grew slightly panicked. "You can't get us new clothes? Bella, I don't have a shirt. I ripped it."

She swore again as she heard the enchantment release, sensing the presence of not only Kaedra and Marcos, but the Cullens and Josephat as well. The thin halter that had held up the front of her gown was hopelessly frayed; Bella spared a half-thought for the wound on her neck, an obviously vampiric bite. She didn't have time to heal it. She didn't want to. She wouldn't.

"Bella, your neck!" Edward was wiping the blood from the corners of his mouth hurriedly, looking ridiculous with panic in his eyes as he licked his fingers; a brief flash of hedonistic pleasure flashed on his face, and Bella had to ignore her responsive heat.

"There's no time. Why would Kaedra bring your family down here?"

Edward blanched, pulling on his pants. The zipper was busted, and they were missing the button. "My family? Bella, they cannot see you like this. Hell, they can't see me like this. What are we gonna do?"

"The only thing we can do." Bella was hurriedly forcing the threads of her dress together with magick and tying them around her neck to maintain at least a small semblance of modesty. "Stay calm, cool, and collected. Escape as soon as we can. Oh, this is not gonna be pretty. I don't regret it Edward, not one second of it. But wow, this is gonna be really embarrassing."

"Embarrassing? Bella, you don't understand-"

There were footsteps in the passageway now, Edward could hear them. He leapt the crack in the floor, gathering Bella away from the entrance to the cave and placing himself in front of her as she scrambled to adjust her half-destroyed clothing. A glowing purple light raced into the cave, swirling around them, and Bella spoke a strange word to it. It flared gold and returned to the opening into the cave.

The group of friends and family stepped cautiously into the cave after the light had vanished, and Bella shifted him behind her, raising her hands in front of her to show she was unarmed. "I'm okay, really. I'm great. 110% over here, even my aura has recovered. See?" She pulled at her eyelids. "No black. Hi guys. Um—can you give me a moment?"

Her chipper voice fell flat in the suddenly tense space as the group took in her appearance and Edward's shirtless form. Marcos looked like he was about to start guffawing, Kaedra looked considering, and Josephat looked blank; but Edward only had eyes for his family. Their minds were blank with shock and confusion, their thoughts muffled.

Carlisle moved before Edward could push Bella behind him again, grabbing Bella's jaw hard and wrenching her neck to the side to examine the bite and dried blood on her neck.

"Ow!"

Edward moved on pure instinct, flashing to Bella and throwing his father away from her, almost into the abyss. "Do not. Mine. Don't you touch her."

Carlisle was already rising to stand again; his face was predatory, his movement fluid. "What have you done?"

His father's voice was heartbroken and ravaged; it was a deadly rage-filled hiss.

"Father, please. Just let me explain."

Kaedra, Marcos and Bella looked bewildered now; Josephat's shock was beginning to fade into anger as well, though his eyes were on his queen. Realization and horror painted his family's faces as Carlisle shot towards his son, punching him hard in the gut and throwing Edward away from his prey. Emmett and Jasper flashed to restrain him. Edward did not fight them, though he met his father's eyes pleadingly. "It's not what you think. I mean, it is, but it's not-"

"You bit her." Rosalie snarled, planting her feet and shaking slightly. "How could you? Why?"

"Slow down. Bella hasn't turned, she's not a vampire. She's not in pain and she's not dead. What happened, Edward?" Alice's voice was desperate and confused. She laid a calming hand on Jasper's shoulder.

"You are not my son. My son would not do this. Not to my daughter: his love. Not to Bella. You will never be near her again. How could you do this?" Carlisle's voice was angry and despairing, rising loudly through the shocked quiet.

Edward went motionless in his brothers' restraining grip, coiled like a snake preparing to strike. His eyes narrowed, and he felt his own face turn vampiric. "I have done nothing wrong. She is mine. My love, my prey. You will not keep me from her. I will not allow it. I will not submit."

"It is wrong, Edward. A century you've been my son, you know this. I will not allow you to harm her. I don't know how this came to be, how it is she has survived. But I will not allow this. Get him out of here."

Jasper and Emmett began to pull him towards the entrance and Edward saw horrified understanding and true panic cross Bella's face. Now, he resisted.

"Woah, woah, woah. Guys, what the hell? You're not taking him anywhere." Bella snapped her fingers, and Jasper and Emmett forcibly froze. Edward pulled free of their grasp, rushing across the maw of the abyss to Bella's side. "Everybody calm down. Carlisle, would you care to explain to me what's going on here?

Carlisle was holding his breath, so he didn't have to inhale the scent of his son's treachery. Josephat broke the quiet that rose in the wake of Bella's question. "Isabella, what happened here? Why did he bite you? He just called you his."

"Um, well. Uh..." she faltered, unsure of how to communicate the sequence of events that led to Edward's momentary loss of control to her healer. "He had my permission?" The words came out like a question, timid and beseeching.

"You were high as a kite when we brought you two down here, in no shape to consent to anything."

"No, no. I mean, I got better. Edward helped. He had my full consent, I promise."

"Addiction has a powerful sway on you. You are a queen. Isabella, you do not know what you are pushing for, here." Josephat's face was disappointed, angry. "It's sickness. Let me help."

"Josephat, I would hold your tongue before you piss me off. There was nothing sick or wrong about what happened here. You have no comprehension of what you are speaking of."

"Then explain." Kaedra's voice was regal and commanding. "Preferably before the vamp-doc rips off your lover's head."

"We had sex. Edward, um, lost it a little bit. I wanted him to. I didn't push him. I mean, I did, but it wasn't like you're..." Bella's face paled, her sentence trailing off at the memory of Edward pushing his back into the wall, his longing gaze into the abyss. Her lover put a comforting hand on her shoulder, ignoring Jasper and Emmett's hiss.

"Well, he doesn't seem upset about it, and neither does she. What's with the hissy fit from the vampires?" Marcos' voice was amused but guarded. He took in Carlisle's shaking form, Esme's horrified posture.

"They're 'vegetarian', Marcos. Remember? Talk about taboo. Damn, Izzy, score for the kinky business. I knew you had it in you." Kaedra was grinning mischievously, but Josephat shook his head in disappointment.

"You must let me help you, Isabella. This is not acceptable."

"Oh, wow." Bella's temper was rising now, anger at her family's judgement. "Okay, would you like me to submit a formal request? We could make a form for it, a requisition sheet. I could write a letter: Dear Jo, is it okay with you if I make love with my boyfriend tonight? I wasn't exactly thinking of you at the time, healer."

Emmett broke in. "It would have hurt. Love doesn't hurt, Bella."

Rosalie and Esme, however, looked more considering now. Jasper was blank-faced and evaluating, in full-soldier mode. He was Major Whitlock once more.

"It's none of our business." Alice was angry now, removing her hand from Jasper and turning to Carlisle with pain on her face as she approached where Bella and Edward stood. "If Bella is okay with it, if Edward is okay with it, we don't get an opinion."

The battle lines were drawn now. Bella, Edward, Kaedra, Marcos, and Alice were on one side of the crack in the stone. After a moment of indecision and with a soft look at Emmett, Rosalie crossed to stand with them.

On the other side of the aching maw stood Carlisle, Esme, Emmett and Jasper. Josephat shook his head in anger and sadness as he crossed to join them.

Bella felt her heart turn to stone in her chest, a lump forming in her throat. No, this wasn't right. This wasn't how this went; this wasn't how she had always thought it would be. It was supposed to be happy ever after now, at least for a little while. Instead, this was a nightmare; this was devastating and just... wrong.

Broken Glass

At dawn the next day, Esme realized she had endured enough. No more of this. Her husband had fumed in the empty main room of the Attic all night long. He had actually thrown a book at the empty futon. At breakfast, Bella had visibly gathered her courage and come to join them at the high table. She and Edward barely sat down before Carlisle had gotten up and left. It had been all Esme could do to keep from smacking him upside the head like she would Emmett and Jasper when their bickering got nasty.

Emmett looked like a kicked puppy, and Rosalie did too. Her normally affectionate daughter had sat across from her husband instead of next to him.

Alice and Jasper were no better. Alice practically vibrated with aggression from her seat next to Edward; Jasper ignored the steel goblets on the table in favor of glaring at Edward like he was going to bite Bella right there in the dining hall. Edward had a dead blankness on his face that Esme had grown more used to seeing on Bella's features; he had left the table shortly after Carlisle with his hands over his ears.

But Bella was by far the worst.

Her Fae daughter's every movement was jerky and violent as she ate her blueberry pancakes mechanically, and she was expectantly silent; it was like she was just waiting for the inevitable explosion. Marcos and Kaedra had lowered their voices into calming and professional monotones when they delivered the morning reports, and Lizzie had taken one look at Bella and turned to walk in the other direction.

There was also something...disquieting... underneath her violence. It wasn't anything Esme could put her finger on, but the violence in Bella's movement wasn't directed...outward. Esme had seen self-destructiveness in her daughter before, but this was frightening. Esme would not have been comfortable asking Bella to chop vegetables in the kitchen with her; she didn't want Bella near a sharp object right now. Bella's eyes flashed lazily black when Edward got up to leave the table.

Jasper hissed when they did; Alice lost her tenuous calm and swiped at him. Bella caught Alice's wrist in her hand with a snarl before she could strike Jasper.

"No."

"Don't tell my wife what to do, Bella."

"The hypocrisy is strong this morning, Jasper. Alice, if you and Jasper need to have a discussion, do it elsewhere. I will not tolerate a scene in the dining hall."

"Or what? You'll hurt us?"

"Why would Bella hurt us?" Emmett broke in, looking confused and uncertain.

"Shut up, idiot." Rosalie's words were a snarl. "Bella wouldn't hurt us; quit making things worse."

"I'm making things worse? Edward is the one who fucked up here."

"Edward didn't do anything wrong!" Alice almost leapt across the table.

"Alice! I will not tell you again! Stop!"

"If you attack my wife, you will regret it, Bella."

"Bella is the victim here, Jasper!" Emmett looked frustrated now.

"No one is a victim, you simpleton!"

"Enough." Esme's children blinked at her in shock. She knew her face was vampiric. It was rare enough to make all her children pause. "I have had enough of this. Alice Cullen and Jasper Whitlock-Cullen, the two of you are going to walk to the training grounds together. There will be no physical violence, and so help me if I hear of a scene, I will make the two of you wear matching outfits for a month. Khaki outfits." She turned to Rosalie. "And you, Rosalie Hale-Cullen, are going to shut up and listen to Emmett, who is not going to solve his problems with sex and is going to think before he speaks."

She pinned her Fae daughter under her glare. "As for you, Isabella Swan-Cullen..." Her heart broke a little bit when Bella straightened her head and looked at a point over Esme's shoulder. "You are going to go and find my son, and you are going to allow him to follow you all day long with no complaints." Bella finally met Esme's gaze, looking hopelessly nonplussed. "And then, you are going to come to the Attic this evening, where you will sleep in your bed. As for myself, I am going to go and talk some sense into my husband."

She addressed the whole table now, practically vibrating with rage. "Let me make something very clear to all of you. What Edward and Bella do in the privacy of their bedroom is their business, and theirs alone. While I am uncertain of the morality of their decision, no one at this table will condemn or judge them for their actions without first giving them a chance to explain. Tonight, at sunset, our family is going to discuss this situation and this discussion will be civil. Each person at this table will come to this conversation in a posture of communication and understanding, and regardless of where we stand at the end of this discussion, we will still be family. No one is leaving; no one is going to take any sort of drastic action today or in the near future. Is this understood?"

Each of her vampire children eventually nodded at her, though Alice managed to imbue her brief nod with more sassiness than a Siamese cat. Bella's eyes were wide, and when Esme turned to glare at her Fae-daughter, her head bobbed eagerly. Bella had tears in her eyes - clear ones.

Esme got up from the high table in the dining hall in one smooth movement, making sure her children followed her orders. She took only a single bracing breath before she went to the gardens to find her husband.

When Esme found Carlisle, he was leaning against a low wall in the gardens, in an alcove that still carried the scents of Bella and Aphroditus. He had his head in his hands and his shoulders were slumped in the manner that Esme knew meant he was praying. She did not interrupt him, instead choosing to lean back against the curve of archway. He spoke soon enough.

"That's where I hid. To watch them."

"Who?" Esme asked, even though she knew.

"Bella and Aphroditus. I stood behind that archway, and I burned for her to be my daughter. I wished him dead for betraying her so. I couldn't imagine how he could have done it."

"You are not Aphroditus."

"No. I'm his killer. I don't understand. Esme, darling; I don't know what to do. She is my daughter. He is my son. If not by blood, by venom; by spirit. Aren't they?"

"Oh, darling. They are. They are your children, through and through. But they are also mine."

"Perhaps it is punishment for my covetousness."

"No. My darling, God doesn't work that way."

"She said that too, when she forgave me my sin. It is not that I cannot forgive them, Esme. It is that they do not believe that they need forgiveness."

"It isn't that they don't believe they need forgiveness. Everyone needs forgiveness. Even you."

"What does that have to do with it?"

Esme pinned her husband under a glare. "Carlisle Cullen, you are not a dull man. There are two greatest commandments from the mouth of Jesus Christ. "Love the LORD your God above all else." and "Love your neighbor as yourself." I do believe that nowhere in the Holy Scriptures does it lend you the authority to judge in the LORD's stead."

"I will not condone evil, Esme."

"I'm not asking you to. I'm asking you to acknowledge that there are gray areas. I'm asking you to acknowledge that you are not all-knowing or all-powerful. I'm asking you to be okay with saying 'I don't know.' And I am asking you to beCarlisle, my love; a man whose compassion knows no bounds."

Carlisle looked, really looked, at his wife. "Esme. You have thought about this for a long time."

"It is not only for your children you must offer this grace; I must ask for grace of my own on this matter. There are things I can see that you cannot, my darling. There are parts of me that know this path. I do not believe that what Bella and Edward have done is a sin. I believe it is a…concession."

Carlisle couldn't stop himself from flashing to her, clutching her close to him. "Dear one, tell me your thoughts."

"I love you beyond all reason, Carlisle."

"I know. You tell me that all the time."

"And yet you never hear me. I love you beyond all reason, Carlisle. You must understand. When you raised me to this life, you took my death from me."

Carlisle stiffened. It was incredibly rare for Esme to speak to him about how he turned her. Carlisle will never forget her angelic forgiveness of his craving for her, the way she loved him so passionately it overcame even her newborn bloodlust.

"I am so very grateful to God for allowing me to spend my eternity with you, Carlisle. God is my shepherd to give me a love such as ours. Because of your righteousness, I too, am righteous. But understand this: To be with you, I would have killed humans."

It was an utter shock.

"That's why I never went after them. You turned me into a newborn vampire in the middle of the city. But you also asked me not to kill a human. It was because you asked me to live on the blood of animals that I did so — even as a newborn. I wanted to be worthy of your love, and so I abstained no matter how impossible it was. That is the truth, if ever I have uttered it: my love for you is an impossibility."

Esme had her eyes fixed on his face. She was tracing his features with her eyes like she had a million times, just like she had at their very first meeting.

"I had been planning the jump since I felt my baby cease kicking inside of me, since I had run from Charles and his hell on earth. You took my death from me; it was all I had left, and you stole it away. That alone should have made you my villain, though that is perhaps not the only reason I should have hated you. It alone should have been enough."

Esme turned into his embrace; she took his hand. Her wide eyes looked into his, and she gave him a brief kiss before she continued. Carlisle returned it only absentmindedly, but he did return it. His head was whirling.

"I had met you once, Carlisle Cullen, ten years before you turned me into a vampire, and even then, after one meeting, I never found another who measured up to you. I made it known to Charles that I was in love with another when I married him. He used to beg me to love him; he would get violent when I refused. The fight that took my baby from me...it was about you. I can remember every second of it, even now. Charles punched me in the stomach over and over, and when he had me bleeding on the floor with my hair in his fist and the knife to my throat, he asked me if I still loved you. And I laughed. I knew my baby was gone; I knew that he was going to kill me. And still, I laughed and told him I did. I could not have done otherwise. Even then, my life and my death were yours."

Carlisle felt numb all over. What? What? Carlisle and Esme had spoken about her life and death, but she had never revealed such a detailed account. Human memories were supposed to fade away with time. Dear God. He was a fool. But...but why now? What did this have to do with his son's depravity, with Bella's compliance?

"And then? Ten years after you vanished off the face of the earth, I awaken from the hellfire I deserved to find you gazing at me with golden eyes. I was the undead; 'amonster by your hand,' you said. It was hell, a condemnation. I had been damned to an eternal life where you knew I was a monster. But then... then you said those magic words. 'I could not bear to see you die.' and it was like...it was like heaven."

Esme took a deep breath. "There was a part of me...before I agreed to marry you, before that glorious night that made me your wife, there was a part of me that wanted to hate you, — a part of me that catalogued all the reasons I should. You took my death from me. In a sense, you took my baby from me. But I couldn't do it. It wasn't possible, do you understand? It still isn't. Everything, anything you ask of me, my life is yours. And now, our children have this kind of love; Edward and Bella most of all."

"What?"

"Can you not see it? There is nothing they would not do for each other. If you had killed me, if I had never been turned and you had drained me dry, I would not have hated you. If you had taken my baby from me, still, I could not have hated you. You have condemned our daughter and my most beloved son for my sin. Still, I cannot hate you. In this way, Bella cannot hate Edward. A mother knows – I saw it on her face the moment she realized James was coming after her. All of you were watching him. I was watching Bella. And as for Edward...my love, your son is Vampyr. You are his sire. Isabella Swan is his singer and his only love, but she is Fae and human."

She took a deep breath and kissed her husband passionately; she wanted to give him a tangible, physical reminder that she could not hate him before she spoke.

"There is darkness and light in everyone, Carlisle. Even you. I would not trade our family for the world; I know you struggle mightily with what you have done to find your home, and I believe you have done what is right. But your darkness birthed the darkness you now condemn. Edward is hurt by his vampiric nature in the way you once were; he has not yet found the peace in it that you have."

She pulled away from him. She squeezed his hand and Carlisle remembered all over again that she was his angel.

"Bella will do anything for Edward; her decision to allow Edward to drink from her safely is a concession to his need to love himself. Bella needs this too; but I will let her speak for herself. So, my love, if you are to condemn Edward and Bella for their choices, then I am afraid you must condemn me as well. For they are my children as much as they are yours, and this sin is mine."

Esme kissed Carlisle deeply, her hands on his shoulders and aligned to him completely. She pulled him into her; she ran her thumb along his crinkled brow as though she could remove his burden by touch alone.

"Carlisle Cullen: a man whose compassion knows no bounds. Tell me, my love: do you have compassion for me? I will leave you alone with your thoughts if you wish it."

"No. I have much to consider, but my love for you is steadfast, as it always shall be. I find it deepens by the moment. Stay with me, my angel. I would have your company to temper my thoughts awhile."

No more words were shared. Carlisle put his head on top of Esme's as he sheltered her in his arms and turned his thoughts from the sin of others to his own character. He had discovered a fault in himself, a judgmental self-righteousness he had not seen before. Perhaps it was time he took the advice of his Fae daughter and tried meditation for himself. He did not know what to do, but he would find a way.

Loyalty

Isabella Marie Swan was the queen of the Fae. She held all of the affinities, and there were questions if her power even had any practical limits. There were those who called her a goddess; there were those who called her a monster. It had been that way since she was born. The rumors were resurfacing again after the back-to-back shitshow that had been the gala and her almost-fall. The revelations of her past hadn't helped matters; not to mention the newly submitted Cullen bloodline had made quite a first impression. Apparently, her vampires had ripped the experimental shade limb-from-limb, "like they were peeling an orange, Izzy; I'm telling you; those vampires are lethal together." Marcos was very impressed.

When Esme Cullen ordered her to go find Edward and clear her schedule for a family discussion at sunset, Isabella Marie Swan abandoned her half-eaten breakfast and did exactly that. It didn't even occur to her until she was halfway through explaining to Lizzie why she couldn't make it to work on budgets that she was following Esme's orders.

Oh, if the kings and queens of the ancient past could see me now.

The worst of life's cruelties are the unexpected ones. As Lizzie left with an understanding smile, Bella took a moment to appreciate the twisted irony that her vampires could forgive her raising the Master from Shannara's grimoire as though it were of no consequence, but somehow couldn't forgive her the sin of loving Edward the best way she knew how.

Some part of her was still reeling. What had she done wrong? She was no fool to the ways in which she could be manipulative of those she loved to achieve what she wanted, but this was different. Even now, Bella couldn't be sorry about what she had done. It was the right thing to do.

Bella stopped in the wide hallway that separated the medical wing from the Council offices, distracted from her search for her lover by raised voices coming from a secluded hallway off to the side.

"Isabella has pushed her way into a situation she has not considered thoroughly, just as the royal three did when they sought to avoid the Choosing. Allowing Edward to drink from her is a mistake."

"It's none of your goddamn business, Josephat."

"It is my business. In fact, it is exactly my business. It is a symptom of sickness. She does not know how to love without pain. This gives the Master a foothold."

"Izzy isn't broken, and I'd say Edward seems to diminish the Master's foothold, not strengthen it. I don't really care what you think about Izzy's sex kinks, I want to know that you are not motivated by more personal misgivings."

"Kaedra Salem, how dare you." Josephat narrowed his eyes; Bella subconsciously straightened her shoulders as Josephat channeled the commander he had once been.

"She held the knife that killed my Chosen; but the Master killed Ayesha. My child is gone because of what Isabella has done, but Isabella and Adeline also saved my child's life. My wife and I tried for years; centuries. We were overjoyed when she finally conceived. We stood against the Master foolishly, too bold and obvious by half. It was the end of my world when Tomas came for Ayesha to punish me for my insolence. She made known to me through the Silencing that I had lost my Chosen, but my child lived still. I believe her. I had no concept of how involved Isabella was in my child's life. What she- what she sacrificed so that my little girl could live. I have pledged my life to her, and I would do so again in a heartbeat."

Josephat seemed to recover himself, and Bella could see Kaedra reach for her healer from her hiding place, peeking around the corner. Her relieved empathy cut off at her healer's next words.

"I am not saying she is broken, Kaedra. I am simply saying that she is sick. The Master has done damage; and this is a symptom of that damage. Isabella allows Edward to dominate her in the way a master would. What if Edward cannot control his bloodlust? The spell does not allow for complete exsanguination, and she refuses to pursue immortality. She calls it pointless. Her blood vitamins will have to be monitored, as well as her iron levels. I worry she seeks self-destruction."

"Immortality is pointless for her, Josephat. There is no impenetrable way to cheat death, and immortality would be paltry defense against Purging or Binding. You are being too hasty here; you're seeing things that aren't there. Trust me, Josephat. Me and Marcos saw her go there; only once, but it was enough. She's not there, not in that headspace."

"It is a slippery slope for her. We do not know Edward Cullen as we know Isabella Swan. How can we be sure he will not take advantage?"

Bella shimmered with rage as she stepped into view. "The disloyalty. Tell me, Josephat, what use is the life-pledge from a traitor? You ignorant fool. Edward would never."

Josephat's fearful swallow was satisfactory. "Do you know that? Tell me, my queen, what would you do if the Master wore Edward's face?"

Bella felt like she had been slapped. She knew her eyes flashed black, but she threw the Master far from her mind ruthlessly. Her eyes were consumed with the burning golden fires of her own anger. "Josephat Salem, if ever you ask that question of me again, I will take it as Challenge. You call me your queen and acknowledge your debt, even as you speak treason in the same breath. I have never and will never bow before the Master, and if you think I would do so after he took Edward from me, you know me not at all. The body and the soul are not the same thing, healer."

"I believe you capable of making a mistake, Isabella. Edward Cullen is not my king."

"Rest assured that Edward Cullen is not your king, though it is his influence on my character that is keeping you alive at this moment. I am your queen, and you are beholden to what I believe is right. There are some questions you have no right to ask, and you know it. Josephat Salem, who owes me a life-debt, who has under no duress pledged to be what I need him to be above all else; you will leave my sight immediately, or I will kill you."

Josephat stiffened in shock and dismay, but then the healer bowed low, scraping his fingertips across the floor. His voice was quiet. "As my mistress wills it, so mote it be."

The ritualistic response made Isabella set her jaw, and Kaedra began a countdown in her head. So much for keeping Izzy out of a self-destructive headspace. Josephat turned and left to return to the medical wing, and Izzy immediately went limp and pale, leaning against the wall and breathing heavily. Kaedra slung an arm under her opposite armpit to keep her upright. Her own office was closer.

When Kaedra and Bella reached the regent's office, Bella immediately retched, the bitter taste of bile on her tongue that she rushed to spit in the small sink instead of on the floor. She collapsed before she could reach the low table and the comfortable cushions in front of the mandir. Kaedra broke from her for only a moment to light incense and set a stone bowl of scented water on the floor next to them.

"Fuck this. This is not going to be the thing that kills me. Don't they know this is killing me? After...after everything...how can they betray me over something so small? Oh god, Kay. He's so loud. It hurts."

She began to scratch at the brand on her shoulder absentmindedly, felt her eyes flash. Kaedra was saying her name, over and over, and wiping the water on her brow with two fingers as she directed her to lay on the floor. "Isabella Swan. Isabella Swan, you need to breathe. Come on, breathe. It'll be okay, be patient. Don't let him take it from you. It'll be okay. They'll come around. Shh, it's okay. Isabella. Breathe. Trust me, I'm trying to help you." Kaedra placed a stone on the center of Bella's forehead.

Bella drew a gasping, panicked breath, a shuddering inhale that released some of the immense pressure on her mind as she tried to lay still. Kaedra began to pour purple energy into her aura; not healing, just...soothing. It was warm, like sitting around a fire with friends or in her grandmother's kitchen.

"Kay. I don't know how to do this...I can't tell if this is a nightmare or a dream; I can't tell if this is real. I don't know what to do. What can I do? I am Queen; they Challenge me. No one has the right to tell me what I can choose. I'm so angry. I'm so scared. I don't know what to do. Is this even real? I just invoked Jo's life-debt. Holy crap. Ohmygod, I might throw up."

"Isabella. Just breathe. You must calm down, or you're gonna lose it. Breathe. Find your center."

Bella acquiesced. She drew another shuddering inhale.

"The water is to soothe your aura. The gem is a little spell I wrote to help you after me, you, and Marcos had our attempted discussion about life-debts in Miami. It should be soothing; bolster your logic and help you process your emotions without being overwhelmed by them."

Kaedra's aura withdrew slightly as the spell ebbed, but Bella flared hers in welcome, inviting Kaedra to stay mingled for a moment. The purple glow obliged, a glittering tint on the edges of golden light.

"Breathe, Isabella."

Bella forced another gasping breath, feeling the effects of the spell. She knew who she was; she knew what was right. "It's coming back now. I just need a minute. Kay, why? What happened, why is the Master like this? You two were in love. I don't understand."

Kaedra sighed deeply, looking at Isabella Swan: a girl who held all of the affinities; a girl who knew she was Shannara and still laid helpless in front of Kaedra's temple, flaring in joy at their mingling and totally vulnerable. It was her brightest and her darkest dreams, all held within a single moment. She forced herself to pull back her aura, to let the gold shine untethered to the purple.

"It was different then. Things were different; he was different. I loved him, wholeheartedly. But you know what it's like to play in the dark in order to defeat it; power was law, then. I thought he could handle it, but I was wrong. It consumed him. I didn't know what to do. I've spent eons looking for a way to fix it. I'm so sorry for your pain, my young friend. I'm sorry for the world I placed on your shoulders with my mistakes."

Kaedra removed the gem from Isabella's forehead and pulled her into a cross-legged pose across from her. She mimicked taking a deep breath and Bella copied the action.

For long moments, they simply breathed together, and then Kay reached out and took Isabella's hand. When Bella opened her eyes, Kaedra's eye was consumed; Bella could see all of Havana reflected in Shanarra's magicks. She felt her own eyes grow consumed in response to the depths of power shown behind her friend's gaze.

"You are a Queen, Isabella Swan. More than I ever was. I never should have established that stupid Choosing ceremony. I thought...It doesn't matter what I thought. I'm so sorry he's done this to you. I don't know how you can forgive me. I don't know that I can forgive him this, what he's done, what he's doing to you - and I have forgiven him a great deal. I can't...I can't love him anymore. There's too much damage, too much betrayal."

"To you, Isabella Swan, I once offered a life-debt. Again, I find I must offer my oath, as now you are in full knowledge of how broken it is. My oath is worthless, Isabella Swan-Cullen. I would give it to you anyway."

"Here? Now? Kay...Kaedra...Shannara. I Bind no one."

"I do not offer my soul-power or my magicks. I do not offer to die for you, I offer to live for you. I offer my service— to be all that you need me to be, above all else. This, I offer to you."

Bella had known this day was coming. Marcos would be offering his oath soon, too. Kaedra and Marcos had offered her life-debts once before, but that time...the timing had been wrong. She hadn't known the joy that a life-debt could be, only the pain. For Kaedra to choose now, when things were so uncertain...it meant a great deal.

"Why now?"

"I offered you a life-debt once. I offered it to you when you were Izzy. You were right to refuse us, you know. I had no knowledge at that time that you were the rightful Queen. But you are not Izzy, anymore. You are Bella. Isabella Swan-Cullen, Queen of the Fae. And I am your regent, Shanarra Kaedra Salem, who lives because of your forgiveness. And here, now, I must be what you need and tell you the truth: you are beholden to the Cullens."

Bella paused. She felt strangely calmer than she should have, like Kay had just said something out loud that she had always known. "Wow. Hell of a spell, Kay."

"I thought you'd like it."

"I... I am beholden to the Cullens." Her tongue went slightly numb as it formed the words. "I... I owe them a life-debt. Oh God, you're right. You're absolutely right. It's so obvious. I gave them full security access their first day here. I have contingency plans in place to protect them even if they reside in the Badlands. I set the best warriors in my Core to watch them. Oh no. I should be way more freaked out about this."

"And thus, I offer you my life-debt, in full knowledge of your own. You love another; as for eons, so have I. And yet, how you feel, right now, about your life-debt to the Cullens; that is how Marcos and I feel at your mercy. We are yours, Isabella Swan. Let us be. And then...be theirs. Their Bella."

Bella straightened her back and stood, pulling Kaedra into an embrace. "Well, then. Shannara Kaedra Salem, I accept your oath and honor your promise to me. From this day on, I will count you as mine."

The fire at the base of the mandir lit itself, and the sound of windchimes rustling rang in the air. When Edward knocked on Kaedra's door, both girls jumped.

Kay grinned sarcastically as she snuffed out her incense. "I should've known the stalker couldn't stay away for long. - She's in here, Edward! Come on in!"

"Kay. Shanarra. My dear one. What was his name? When you loved him, before he was the Master, when he was still human; what was his name?"

Kaedra walked towards the door with her shoulders back, her head high. Bella thought for a moment she wouldn't answer.

"Samael. His name was Samael."

She kept walking, leaving the two lovers alone in her office. Enough indecision. She was a Queen. She could be loyal to the Master no longer. Things had changed. She had changed, and so had he. She would not let him ruin the life of one to whom she owed a life-debt.

She didn't love him like she did yesterday.