It was the same dream she has every night.
An impossibly long beach. Only sand, water and blue sky. A desolate oasis.
They are waiting for her. The three figures are standing in the distance, she is anxious to see them. Their movements too, betray their impatience. Immediately she starts running, her long auburn hair trailing behind her. Bare feet fighting the sand, as if it were trying to keep the brunette from reaching the three things she yearns for.
The figures watch her movement with rapt attention. Each woman was unique, yet together they held the echoes of immense power. Even the wind carried whispers of their strength to her. Their stance is confident but impatient, they are not use to being kept waiting.
To the right stands the tallest. The platinum blonde hair is almost ash in color, the sides are cut short to the scalp but in the center her hair is long, slicked back down the back of her head almost to the nape of her neck. Her stance is rigid and smug, filled with a self assuredness that could only be accomplished with hard won experience. The suit she wears accentuates her chiseled muscles, though lean, there is no denying the physical strength the woman holds.
The left position is held by a raven haired beauty, long curls hang over pale olive skin. Whereas the right represented strength, the left hummed with intelligent prowess. Discerning red eyes that could easily peel back even the most flawless facade. Her mischievous smile held a cunning wit that few could hope to match. Exotic and fiery, her body is wrapped in braided cloth crossing over her body leaving large expanses of skin exposed for the brunette's eyes to absorb, the dress leaves nothing to the imagination.
The center holds the leader, the keystone of the trio. She is devastation wrapped in beauty. Her golden hair is elevated in an elegant chignon, wisps of the blonde hair delicately frame her long face and glowing crimson eyes. The woman's features hold a cold apathy, few are worthy of her stoney regard. There is no mercy in her fine features, just cold ambition and calculation. The white dress she wears is elegant, the layers of lace that cover the pale alabaster skin in nearly see through, enough to tempt without giving away all its secrets. The blonde wears no jewelry except for a single thin gold chain, a tear drop pearl is suspended from it. The necklace is underwhelming for such a powerful being, despite this, the woman's pale cool fingers touch it repeatedly, reassuring herself that it is still there.
It takes an eternity but the brunette reaches the three women. The tallest opens her arms wide to her and she slams into the tall figure. The others immediately surround them, touching, stroking her skin and hair. Cold lips touch her forehead, neck and shoulders. It is here where she belongs. She feels more at home in her dreams than in the sunlight.
There are never words. Just the comforting cold of their touches and emotions. After so many years of their nightly encounters, they all know each smirk, grimace, and eye roll.
The brunette feels hands at her waist pulling her gently from the tall woman's grasp. She is turned towards the golden blonde. Her features thaw in front of the brunette, a slight upturn at the corner of the blonde's lips tells her they have have both missed each other equally. A cold hand cups her face, a thumb brushing against the her cheek bone. She kisses the palm.
Red eyes look to their raven haired partner, and she follows the blonde's gaze. A sly smile meets her eyes as the dark haired woman points out to the ocean. The brunette turns, her eyes widen in surprise.
The ocean is now filled with bodies. Thousands float in the water as far as the eye can see. The water was no longer blue, it was tinged red, the waves roll in with red foam as men and women come in and out with the surf.
She immediate knows that they did this for her. A gift.
The blonde's arms wrap around her waist from behind, a cold chin resting on her shoulder. Each hand is grasped by the other two women as they all look out into the water. She can feel their pride at their accomplishment.
Bella is touched by their thoughtfulness.
A persistent knock pulls Bella from her dream. The woman throws a blurry eye towards the alarm on the night stand. 6:37 am.
A pillow is smashed against her head, trying to block out the annoying sound, choosing to ignore it. 3 more minutes before her alarm was suppose to go off, 3 less minutes of cold comfort that she won't have until tonight.
The pounding only gets louder.
"Isabella!"
Angry, the brunette stumbles out of bed, reaching blindly for her glasses before shoving them on her face. In the darkness, Bella accidentally kicks her suitcase that she has dumped on the floor. Colorful expletives escape her mouth as she limped around the bed to the door.
"What Edward?!"
Stupid perfectly styled Edward Masen stood outside of her hotel room, no one should be that well dressed or awake at this hour. His handsome features were framed in annoyance.
"Were you still asleep?" Disbelief colored the question.
Bella blinked at him slowly, her ears grating at the sound of his voice. "Yes. You said we were meeting for breakfast at 6:30 and that we were leaving at 7. I would have been at the car, at 7."
"It is already 6:40." Edward said looking at his watch. Her alarm confirms the time as it starts blaring behind her.
She didn't even dignify him with a response before she slammed the door in his face.
"Assward."
"You know I can still hear you!" He called through the door.
"Your next question should be 'if I care'." Bella responded before she flopped back onto her bed before reaching for her phone to silence the alarm. This was not how she wanted to spend her month long stint in Tuscany. Namely, she did not want to spend it in the direct vicinity of Edward. Yes, he was paying for her room and board. Not to mention, the flight and also their little day trip today. But did he really have to be such a dick all the time?
She rolled on to her back as she thought of her answer.
Yes. Yes, he did.
The brunette sat up and decided that she couldn't put off getting ready any longer. It was the quickest shower in history, follow by Bella hopping around her hotel room naked as she quickly emptied her backpack before stuffing it with her notebooks and a water bottle. The wet auburn locks were thrown in a messy bun on top of her head. She threw on her jeans and her favorite white graphic t-shirt (Social Vegan-I avoid meet) and ran out of the door. The 26 year old graduate student waltzed up to the rental car at exactly 7 am.
Bella climbed into the back seat behind Edward, honestly she should have gotten an award at her performance this morning. Instead Edward only rolled his eyes, not making eye contact with the brunette.
"Morning Bella." Emmett said from the driver's seat as he handed her a cup of coffee and a muffin.
Bella could have kissed the man for the coffee. In her limited experience in Italy, she had come to appreciate the Italians ability to make an excellent espresso.
"Thank you Saint Emmett." She said in reverence, eagerly sipping the Americano.
His response was a muted smile. That gave her slight pause, she was fully expecting the comfortable banter that they had quickly established early in their trip. Even though Bella had just met Emmett McCarty a couple of weeks ago, she already preferred the darker haired cousin's presence to Edward's.
It was a pattern that Bella had noticed the longer their trip continued. Even Edward's normally strict demeanor was getting worse, the stick progressing higher up his ass than normal. Bella had chalked up their progressive mood change with the lack of progress in Edward's doctoral dissertation research. Which was the whole reason Bella was hired to tag along. Edward asked for her help sifting through what was suppose to be mountains of research in ancient Greco-Roman culture. The brunette was in a completely different field, her own Ph.D focusing in Cell and Molecular Biology, but she was really good at sifting through tons of bullshit data and finding relevant patterns. Plus, it was a free trip to Italy and Bella had never been to Europe. But it was starting to get worrisome that it was affecting Emmett's normally cheery attitude.
Bella wondered if she should bring it up, but the mood in the car was already tense and she would rather not spend the drive this morning having to discuss the finer details of ancient Roman philosophy. The brunette finished her breakfast in silence before leaning her head back on the head rest, she used the lull in conversation as an opportunity to sleep during the two hour drive to Volterra.
Voices pulled Bella from her sleep as the car came to a gentle stop.
"We are here." Edward said in a clipped voice before abruptly getting out of the car.
Annoyed was not how the brunette liked to wake up but Eddie seemed to be making it a habit today.
"Do you know what has crawled up his ass this morning?" Bella asked Emmett making eye contact with him through the rear view mirror.
The larger man hesitated before responding. There were conflicting emotions that were crossing Emmett's face before he broke eye contact. "I'm sorry Bella." he said ignoring her original question.
She blinked in surprise, she had the impression that they were not talking about the same thing, but went with the obvious response. "You don't have to apologize for Edward, he is naturally talented in his asshole-ishness."
"Family trait." Emmett muttered before getting out of the car himself.
Alone in the car, she was wondering what the fuck was going on. The attitudes with two men were beyond abnormal. For a second she debated ditching them for the day, she could catch the train back to their hotel in Arezzo and deal with the fall out later.
Bella sighed and rubbed her eyes under her glasses, she decided to just suck it up. Grabbing her backpack she got out. The cousins were waiting for her at the end of the car. They both looked at the sky with grimaces. The brunette looked up wondering what they were looking at, she saw nothing but gray rolling clouds, it looked like it may rain.
"Let's go." Edward lead the way towards the entrance of the Palazzo dei Priori. The short description of the place was that it was a giant stone castle on a hill in the middle of the walled city of Volterra. History on the city dated back all the way to the Etruscan civilization, centuries before the Romans. A treasure trove of archeological relics from several civilizations, it was a no brainer why Edward had wanted to come here. The city itself has withstood the hostilities of time with amazing resiliency.
The entry way of the Palazzo was an amalgamation of ancient architecture with modern aesthetics. The stone work was from some ancient era that Bella was sure that Edward could name but the cool smooth marble floors and lighting were obviously modern. Glass cases filled with alabaster vases and other antiques next to the obligatory paper plaques were spaced through out the expansive space. She fully expected for Edward to start one of his monologues about ancient influences on architecture and the evolution of flying buttresses. Yet strangely, the normally verbose man was silent. Even Emmett had slowed his pace and was now walking behind Bella, his eyes evaluating the space around him with wariness.
Together they walked to the receptionist. The woman was dressed in an impeccable navy skirt suit, her hair pulled into an impossibly tight bun. Neither the woman nor Edward said anything to each other, she merely stood up when they approached the desk walking towards the end of the hallway. Bella turned and gave Emmett a curious glance, but he didn't return her gaze, his eyes were still evaluating the space, eyes darting everywhere, as if waiting for someone to jump out behind a display case. Though oddly, Bella just realized that the entire space was devoid of people, they were the only ones in the museum. Was the Palazzo closed today? Had Edward managed to get private access to the museum's archives?
The woman approached what looked to be a plain wall, she pressed a fob to a small flat discreet white marble looking panel. The wall slowly opened revealing a gleaming silver elevator, Edward walked into the elevator without a word. The secretary just turned and walked back to the reception desk without a word.
Bella hesitated at the elevator doors but Emmett's hand grasped her shoulder gently but insistently urging her into the elevator.
"What kind of archive has a hidden elevator?" the brunette asked Edward, starting to feel uncomfortable with the entire situation.
For the first time this morning, Edward stared straight into her eyes, his bright green eyes held something that Bella couldn't label, it was just out on the peripherally of her mind, but it was something that left her wishing that she had ditched them when she had the chance.
The elevator doors closed and they started to descend. There must have been some wordless clue that the brunette did not hear because both Edward and Emmett started to roll up the sleeves of their shirts.
She knew immediately that she had never seen their arms bare before because she would have surely noticed the tattoos. Each arm held a swirling bands of dark colored ink, some were images of caged animals, while others were winding scripts in languages she didn't recognize. They were cluttered together, competing for space on their arms. Each arm was filled more with black colored ink than free skin.
Bella was about to ask Edward if his mother knew about his gang banging hobbies when the elevator doors opened. The words lodged in her throat as she watched the massive hall reveal itself to them. It was nothing like she had ever seen before. Marble tiles lined the entire hall floor in ornate curling patterns. A series of large stone arches supported the massive stone ceiling, extending the entire length of the large room. This was not an old dusty archive, it was a palace.
Emmett's heavy hand brought Bella back to reality, guiding her out of the elevator. Again Edward took point, Bella in the middle while Emmett following closely behind her. It was only a few moments later that she saw a man walking down the hall to meet them. He was in a black suit over a black button down, the only contrast was a dark gray tie that graced his chiseled figure. His long black hair was pulled back into a neat ponytail. But what caught her attention were his crimson eyes. They snapped to hers and for a second she could have sworn that the man recognized her. Which was impossible, Bella would have recognize those eyes anywhere. They lived in her dreams on a nightly basis.
Immediately the feeling was gone as the man gave an appraising look to her two companions. Ponytail's lips muttered something but Bella could hear no sound with it.
"Edward." The man greeted with a slight nod of his head when he stopped a respectable distance from them.
"Demetri." Edward curtly responded.
"I must say that I was surprised when you reached out, usually any communication is handled by Carlisle."
"My father is not involved in this." The bronzed haired man gritted his teeth.
"Obviously." Demetri gestured to Bella.
Father? The young woman was now truly confused. The very air was thick between the two men. Even though she had known Edward for the better part of a year, she barely reconciled the man in front of her with the preppy spoiled rich boy she had spent her days dodging. The Edward in front of her was different, he held a darkness she had never noticed. Tension flowed between the two men, though Demetri held a more relaxed stance, both men were ready for a fight. Her instincts were telling her that everyone here was a threat. Bella found herself slowly backing away from Edward.
Her retreat was immediately blocked by Emmett, his beefy hand gripping her shoulder in warning. Demetri's eyes flickered to the movement but recentered his gaze on Edward.
"The mere fact that you came here, of all places, also says something too. So enough with the small talk. What is it that you want?"
"An exchange." Edward said with a muted edge.
Exchange? It took half a breath to realize that Edward was talking about her.
"Fuck no!" Bella spat. Emmett had anticipated her resistance. Before she could get away, Emmett grabbed her left arm and twisted it at an unhealthy angle. Bella tried to resist but when she did pain exploded throughout her elbow and wrist. He gave her a warning squeeze, wordlessly saying that he could break her arm with little effort. The pain was tolerable so long as she held still. Embarrassingly, he had done it without the use of his second hand which was still resting on her shoulder.
"You motherfuckers! I am going to fucking kill you Edward!"
In that moment, Edward gave her another glance, it the same look as in the elevator, this time was Bella saw it for what it was. Remorse.
Edward held out his right arm, his forearm glowed with a warm light, one of the tattoos burned brightly. His palm reached towards Bella's chest and for a second she thought he was going to touch her, but he stopped shy, he made a fist and threw his hand in the opposite direction as if he were ripping out an invisible string from Bella's chest. With the motion, concentric set of four golden rings appeared from Bella's chest they rotated slowly in the air. With trembling fingers the brunette reached with her free hand to touch them, she felt nothing but air, but when her fingertips touched the edge of one of the rings, it spun on its axis, flipping end over end in place.
Evidently the rings needed no explanation to Demetri as he barely paused to examine them. "In return for what?"
"I want my sister."
Demetri's red eyes narrowed dangerously. "Rosalie is not here Edward."
Edward was vibrating, barely keeping it together. "She disappeared after she encountered a group of your Guard in Prague."
"Exactly, after. Not during, we have already been forthcoming with this."
"I don't believe you." The ferocity of the statement took Bella by surprised, despite her constant trolling she had never seen Edward this angry.
"That is your problem, not ours."
"We are making it your problem." For the first time Emmett spoke, his normally light hearted voice took on a gravelly tone.
Everyone was at an impasse. The floating rings slowed their rotation before fading away. Red eyes eventually drifted to Bella. There was a silent weight in the hall, the wants and needs of everyone but Bella's were warring in the room. Was this all that her life amounted to? A bargaining chip to be tossed at the feet of more powerful beings? Bitterness filled her frame, helpless was not a characteristic Bella enjoyed.
"Perhaps, other arrangements could be made." Ponytail ventured. "We have certain resources that can assist in your search. Though, this circumstance is not ideal, considering Rosalie is your twin, I should be able to rely on your connection to locate her."
The offer lingered in the air, a compromise. A sneer accompanied Edward's response. "Fine. Once, Rosalie is found, I will release Isabella to the Volturi."
"No." Demetri's neutral expression morphed into open hostility. "The woman stays. You have our word, the Volturi keep our promises."
"No." Edward and Bella said at the same time.
"All of you can take your bullshit and shove it back up your asses! I am not going anywhere with either of you." Bella gritted her teeth. Emmett gave her a harder warning squeeze, Bella ignored it struggling in earnest now. McCarty twisted Bella's arm hard, bending her wrist backwards, close to breaking it. The brunette couldn't help the scream that rippled from her lips, knees buckling from the pain.
"That is no way to treat a lady." A voice of cold steel echoed.
"Fuck me." Emmett said panic clearly filling his voice. Thankfully, he released Bella's arm in his shock. She immediately cradled it to her chest, gasping at lingering pain. Between ragged breaths, her eyes found the source of the voice.
The world immediately held its breath. The sole figure commanded the room, everyone acknowledged her presence. Demetri bowed his head as the woman approached. She looked exactly the same as in Bella's dreams. Ash blonde hair, red eyes, tall and dominate. She was dressed more casually than what Bella normally saw her in. The light button down's sleeves rolled past her elbows, the charcoal colored pants with simple black shoes. It was a glimpse of what she wore in her personal time, it was an intimate fact that struck a cord with the brunette. A clue that the woman was real and not some psychotic manifestation Bella had nightly. The glowing eyes meet hers, this time Bella knew that they recognized her.
If she was here…
The brunette started searching for the other two. She found them.
As if in no particular hurry, the blonde and raven haired women walked towards them in a steady pace. Bella felt her breath catch at the sight, they were as elegant and bold in life as they were in her dreams. Swan's eyes roved over each of them, absorbing every detail comparing them to her memories. The blonde's hair was loose, flowing freely over her shoulders, a long champagne colored dress hugged and flowed over her body in just the right ways. The single pearl necklace still hung against the white expanse of her chest. The raven haired beauty walked with a natural sway of her hips, temptation dressed in white, her cream colored dress clung to her like a second skin. A dress that could only be worn if one was confident in one's figure, and there was none lacking in the woman. The ebony locks were braided in an intricate design that twisted into a bun at the top of her head. Everything about them caused Bella's chest to clench. She felt the same weight of recognition in their gaze, their eyes, too, examining every detail of the brunette. And just like every night, she found herself moving towards them, needing to be closer to their cold touch.
Unfortunately the weight of reality stopped Bella before she made it two steps. Emmett grabbed her backpack, yanking her backwards, she stumbled into into his chest. A thick arm secured her there.
The trio had perfectly crafted indifferent masks in place, but Bella could see the faint changes in their eyes, their stance. A cold fire settled in each of them.
"Mr. Cullen," The leader greeted cooly. "Demetri's ability is more than adequate in finding your sister, despite the handicap. Your distrust, though displaced, can be… forgiven. To assuage your misgivings, Demetri will accompany you immediately."
Ponytail bowed lightly at the waist in acknowledgement.
Edwards jaw clenched tightly before he surprisingly also gave a bow of his head. "Your Majesty Sulpicia's offer is most generous."
Sulpicia. Years of wondering suddenly cleared. Her name was Sulpicia, and according to Edward, royalty. Despite her detainment, Bella could feel her hands tremble, she just wanted to feel their skin in real life, no she needed to touch them. She must have been squirming, as the grip across her chest tightened, trying to hold her still.
"Then we are agreed?"
It was obvious that Edward didn't agree but in the current situation, he couldn't help but relent. He nodded. "Yes."
Edward gave Emmitt a look who reluctantly eased his grip. The brunette threw off his hand. "Asshole." Bella muttered.
The ash haired woman extended a hand, inviting, and Bella found herself willingly moving towards her, the brunette's heart was beating violently against her chest. Her thoughts only rang with a single word.
Finally.
A heavy hand slammed against Bella shoulder shaking her from her thoughts, stopping her progress. Frustrated, she tried to shake it off, but it annoyingly persisted.
"You're ok with this?" The disbelief echoed through McCarthy's voice. "Two seconds ago you were fighting us tooth and bitter nail and now…?" His gray eyes moved from Bella to the trio of women. There was a heavy pause. Horrified realization crossed his face before the world exploded into golden light.
Bella was reeled back as a golden sphere snapped around her, Emmett, and Edward. Barely an instant later, the ash haired woman slammed her shoulder against the sphere throwing her entire weight behind it, she had crossed the room within a blink of an eye, the sphere groaned for a second before shattering into a shower of golden sparks.
It barely delayed them, but it had been enough. Emmett grabbed Bella by the hair and slammed something cold into the side of her neck.
"NO!" The roars were in unison and they all contained the same fury.
At first the only sensation she felt was cold pressure but soon it transformed into a paralyzing agony.
He stabbed me, mother fucker stabbed me.
"Don't move!" At first she thought that Emmett was talking to her, but finally her eyes caught up with her ears. All three were now within arm's reach of the brunette, surrounding the two, the tallest one, the closest. "All I have to do is twist and it'll shred both the vein and the artery. She'll be dead within seconds. Back up, Athenodora!"
A darkness swirled within crimson eyes, it contained whispers of terrifying promises, the ash colored hair woman didn't move an inch. "I said back up!" Emmett's voice took on a hysterical edge. To make his point, Emmett's dug the knife deeper into Bella's neck. Bella gasped in pain, her throat spasming against the foreign object, the brunette could feel blood pouring in earnest down her neck, soaking her favorite T-shirt.
At the sound, Athenodora snarled, and as if it were the most unnatural movement, she took a half step backwards.
"Release him!" Bella tore her eyes from Athenodora to glance at Edward. She had honestly forgotten about him. He was suspended in the air, Demetri's hands wrapped around his neck. Edward's hands clawed at Demetri's arms, golden light flowed around his hands, they glowed red like burning coals, smoke flowed between the two men as Edward gripped Demetri, burning him. Demetri didn't even flinch.
Demetri didn't move a muscle until the raven haired woman gave a curt nod, her eyes never leaving Bella. Edward dropped to the floor, barely landing on his feet. The only sound in the room was his ragged breaths and coughs.
"I am personally going to rip your entrails from your abdomen and hang you from the city walls by them." The olive skinned woman promised Emmett.
Sulpicia clicked her tongue and shook her head softly. "Didyme, my love, that would be far too quick. How about something more enduring?"
A sweet smile appeared on Didyme's face, pleasure graced her features. "Blood eagle. It has been centuries since the last time, I am sure to be a bit rusty, I may need some assistance, Athenodora?"
"With pleasure." Athenodora nodded.
"It is settled." Sulpicia said with finality.
Emmett adjusted his grip on Bella's hair pulling her backwards, forcing her to follow his lead. "Edward, elevator."
Stumbling Edward ran to the elevator pushing the call button. The doors immediately opened. Edward ran into the elevator holding open the doors as Emmett and Bella backed into it.
Helplessly, Bella watched the doors close in front of her, separating her from the three women she had been searching for the past decade. It was the worst cock tease, she finally met them, they had been within arm's reach. Bella knew she should be freaking out over the very real possibility that she was going to die. There was a small comfort in that she finally learned their names, but her thoughts revolved over that fact that she was losing them.
Bella must have been falling because Emmett had to release her hair to catch her. Her body weight was almost fully being supported by him.
"Damnit." Emmett balanced her against his chest and adjusted their positioning, his left arm wrapping under her arms. "I must have nicked the vein or the artery. She is bleeding too much. We have a few minutes before she passes out. Edward, I will hold them off as long as possible. You have to transport yourself out of Italy completely. No where in the country will be safe for any of us."
"Isabella cannot live." Edward whispered. "We should just kill her now."
"I know. But I cannot protect you, did you see what Athenodora did to the barrier? Lord help us, it took less than a second to shatter. With Rosalie missing, you are Carlisle's heir. You cannot die here."
"This'll be war."
"Better than Iselia returning."
"…yeah." Edward nodded.
"We are almost at the top, start the incantation now. Once you are out, I will finish it."
Bella wanted to rage, yell and fight against the two, tell them what pathetic excuses of humans they were. But her limbs felt too heavy, her breathing was labored and for the life of her she couldn't remember why they were in this stupid elevator.
When the doors opened, they were already waiting for them. Sulpicia stood in the foreground, Didyme to her left, their hands touching. Athenodora stood farther out carrying a particularly nasty looking sword. Was that new? Did she have that downstairs? Despite her thoughts, Bella couldn't help but admire the ease that she held it, she painted an impressive authoritative image with a sword, it was sexy.
Emmett half carried, half pushed her out of the elevator. The entire room was now filled with a dozen silent figures, they all wore some form of black, as they moved every figure followed their progress, their heads turning, tracking, as they moved.
Somewhere Bella stumbled, but she couldn't get her feet to cooperate anymore, the arm around her chest tightened as she was now being dragged across the floor. She looked down at her shirt, it was now a beautiful shade of red, like their eyes.
It took a long mental minute of staring at her shirt before Bella realized that she was dying. Emmett had no intention of letting her live, she was going to be disposed of very soon. Bella searched for Sulpicia, Didyme and Athenodora, they were following them step by step at a slight distance, she was expecting their eyes to be the same crimson as before, but only a black onyx met her brown ones.
They were now almost to the main foyer, they would be outside soon and it would all end.
"It's so unfair." Bella muttered to the women, "I only now just found you all." It was a flash, brief, but she saw the desperation in Sulpicia's face. Bella hated it, it didn't fit.
Whether it was from blood or sweat, Emmett's arm slipped slightly, his wrist rose near where Bella's head lolled. She then decided, Why not?
And she bit him as hard as she could.
"Shit!" The word was barely out of Emmett's mouth when the room shifted. Sulpicia and Didyme appeared next to them. Sulpicia's body was pressed against Bella's, her hand gripping the hand that held the knife in her neck, the other immobilizing the elbow. Didyme grabbed his shoulder and twisted, dislocating it from the socket. Before Emmett could even react, Athenodora cut clean through the arm above the elbow, severing it clean from the rest of the body.
They ignored the screaming as Didyme removed his other arm from Bella, separating their bodies from each other. Athenodora immediately replaced him, cradling Bella to her frame. The raven haired woman dragged Emmett several paces away before she threw him like a rag doll across the room.
"Keep him alive." Didyme spat, hooded figures descended on Emmett. His screaming continued. A cursory glance around the room showed that Edward was missing. "Find Cullen."
The blonde carefully unlocked the still attached fingers from the knife handle, careful not to jostle the knife before tossing the tattooed limb carelessly to the side. No one tried to remove the knife, the cause of her injury was probably the only reason Bella hadn't bled out yet. The brunette was then lifted into someone's arms, she didn't know who's, only that it was cool and comforting.
"Stay, my love. Stay." Was whispered into her ear. Bella fought to reply but she felt the edges of darkness creep up and couldn't help but let it overtake her.
A/N: Trying my hand at something a little darker. Together is still my priority, Corruption, unfortunately, is not. The good news is that the other fic is nearing its end and my priorities will change once it is finished. Please review, it makes my day.