*EPOV*
It took all my restraint to be gentle with the elevator buttons. To not kick a hole in the floor of the sluggish elevator as it lowered me down into the subterranean lair at a snail's pace.
I anxiously tapped my foot on the elevator floor. What had she been about to say? 'Edward don't come in after me. I'm...' I'm what?! I growled in agitation. Was this some kind of trap? If it was, well so be it, because there was no way I wasn't going in after my wife.
I hadn't heard any other thoughts from Bella since she screamed, but if she had any sense at all she wouldn't dare try to lower her shield with Jane around.
Aro was now acutely interested in how Jane was able to penetrate through Bella's protective mind and was standing over her prostrated form the moment he'd seen her fall to the floor.
My phone rang in the dry bag I still carried. I thought about ignoring it, but reconsidered as Alice would almost certainly have vital intel.
Quickly digging the phone out of the bag "Be quick, I'm going underground," I spoke urgently into the phone.
"You need to calm down Edward. If you go in there the guns blazing-"
"Alice you're cutting out-"
"Don't-" But then the line went dead and before I could worry too much about what Alice was trying to tell me not to do, the elevator doors opened and I was immediately enraged by the scene unfolding before my eyes.
Aro, Caius, and Jane had Bella surrounded in the lobby. Aro's hand was tightly wrapped around Bella's wrist and Jane was trying with all her might to torture Bella. Gianna hardly paid them any notice, she was more focused on "looking busy" in front of her masters.
All eyes were on me the moment the elevator doors opened. Bella looked at me in wide-eyed fear, but I couldn't tell if she was more afraid for herself, for me, or for her father whose life I put at risk by being here. I saw her brow twitch slightly and recognized it as the face she made when she was manipulating her shield.
Aro broke into a wide smile but didn't release his grip on Bella's wrist. "Look who decided to come after all! Isn't this wonderful?" But he didn't think it was very wonderful at all.
"I will respectfully ask you to take your hands off my wife, Aro," I said as evenly as I could manage as I strode purposefully toward the tense quartet of vampires.
"Not another step closer," Jane glared at me.
"Aro has more questions for your mate. You will not interfere," Caius threatened.
I growled in defiance and marched toward the group. Bella gasped in horror. Jane silently thanked me for giving her a reason, not that she needed one, and then tried to use her gift on me. Tried.
It was still painful, but bearable. Nothing that would drop me flat on my back like the last time. I grinned smugly at Jane, and then proudly at Bella, who looked profoundly relieved that she was able to successfully neutralize Jane.
Jane gritted her teeth loudly, looking back and forth from Bella to me, and then let out a feral shriek.
"Don't be put out, dear one," Aro put a consoling hand on Jane's shoulder. And while his attention was elsewhere, I took Bella's other hand and pulled her behind the protective stance of my body. Aro didn't bother holding on to her.
"It would appear that your lovely bride is more talented than she would let on," Aro beamed delightedly. "Why don't we take this conversation to a more suitable venue, hmm?" he gestured through the double doors into the larger chambers beyond.
I glanced back toward the elevator, considering making a break for it, but felt sure that wouldn't end without violence. I sighed and followed the cloaked elders through the double doors with Bella in tow.
"I told you not to come," Bella hissed through her teeth as we trudged through the door. But there was an odd sort of edge to her voice.
"I told you we'd work it out when I got back! But noooo, you just charge in here like you always do," she seethed. I was brought up short by the venom in her voice.
"What did you do, follow me here?" she asked, visibly outraged. "Well, isn't that just typical!" she spat.
Aro erupted into giggles then. "My my, is the honeymoon over already? Well, don't let us interfere in your marital affairs!"
Aro's grin was menacing as he folded himself into one of the high-backed wooden chairs alongside Marcus and Caius, and Jane who stood at her masters' side. Aro looked like he'd be reaching for the popcorn if he could.
"Bella, perhaps now isn't the best time for this-" I frowned at her with a grim expression.
"Why the hell not? It's not like you listen to me any other time. Like when I told you I'd handle this myself!
"…Since you couldn't put your feelings aside about the Volturi leaving us to fend for ourselves when the newborn army was created to kill me," Bella impatiently fluttered a hand in our audience's direction.
What? I rocked back on my heels. What did that have to do with anything? And then my eyes widened with sudden comprehension.
In between the irate words of Bella's ranting, she'd been filling me in. And it was remarkable how much her acting skills had improved without her uneven heartbeat or angrily flushing cheeks to give her away.
"The Volturi could've killed me, you know. You might show a little gratitude," Bella finally said in admonishment.
Aro extended an open palm out in Bella's direction in a gesture of agreement.
"Enough of this," Marcus said irritably in his low rasp. "Hear the boy and get on with it." His thoughts were consumed with his thirst. Heidi was due back anytime with the catch of the day.
Aro rolled his eyes in mild exasperation at Marcus, briefly wondering if he ever thought of anything but his throat, but obligingly approached me.
"Aro, if Jane can't protect you," Caius sneered as the diminutive sadist shrunk to an even smaller stature in her humiliation, "perhaps we should summon someone who can..."
Aro dismissively waved off a scowling Caius. "We're among friends, Caius. That won't be necessary, will it, Edward?" Aro asked, barely bothering to conceal the threat in his voice.
"You tell me," I spat through my teeth, widening my stance in front of Bella as he stopped right in front of me.
"You first," Aro countered, holding out his hand for mine.
Through Aro's eyes, I could see Bella standing behind me. Her jaw was clenched, her hands were tightly fisted at her sides, and her expression was ice-cold and hyper-focused.
I reluctantly extended my hand toward the elder vampire who grasped it between his own.
Nothing. He saw nothing. I exhaled in sharp relief, my posture relaxing slightly.
Aro's eyes flashed to Bella. He was warring internally between his impatience for being obstructed and his intense curiosity about the enormous possibilities of her gift.
After all, if she could protect my mind from his or even Jane's, she could just as easily protect his mind from those that would seek to harm him. And there were many who would benefit from an end to the Volturi's reign.
Bella's gift would only grow stronger. She'd only become more of an asset, or a threat, as she would Alice. As would I.
Aro finally decided that it would be more prudent to be patient. It wouldn't benefit him at all to antagonize the only other coven that was very nearly as powerful and gifted as his own, not if he ever stood a chance of counting the coveted Alice among his own.
Aro's maniacal giggle echoed against the stone walls and marble floor. "Well done, Isabella. You've been holding out on us," he grinned at my wife over my shoulder.
"Aro, I value your friendship. Do you value ours?" Bella asked in a soft, unassuming voice.
"But of course I do, my dear. I count Carlisle and his talented family as some of my dearest friends," Aro reassured her with a wide, saccharine smile
"Then you'll respect my wish for you not to consume every intimate detail of our married life. It's private," Bella insisted in an unwavering tone.
Through Aro's eyes, I could see Bella lowering her face, hiding behind a wall of dark hair. She looked every bit as shy and modest as she purported to be. Even I believed her.
Aro obligingly released my hand. "Of course. This isn't an inquisition, merely a friendly conversation! Let us be done with this unpleasantness."
"Yes. Let's." Marcus grumbled thirstily.
"But the girl misled us, Aro, surely-"
"Patience, Caius," Aro sing-songed, cutting off the combative, snowy-haired vampire. "What kind of hosts would we be if we didn't offer to share our bounty with our young friends here?"
"That won't be necessary," I insisted, but as I heard the buzz of thoughts descending down the elevator shaft, my face fell. It was far too late for that. I reached behind me for Bella's hand, squeezing it in warning of what was to come.
"Don't be silly! You must be famished after such a long journey. There's more than enough to go around," Aro smiled wickedly as Heidi burst through the doors with a clutch of human tourists, a group of fifteen including two school-aged children.
"Welcome! Welcome, friends!" Aro graciously waved in the group of newcomers. Bella's reaction was instantaneous. She sucked in a sharp breath and clung closely to my side, grasping my hand in a painfully tight grip.
Meanwhile, I could still feel the pinpricks of Jane's repeated attacks trying to find purchase through Bella's shield. If she lost focus in the presence of the humans, there would be nothing I could do to help her. To stop her.
"Could you please get Jane to stop doing that?" I snarled through my teeth.
"Jane, my sweet, ladies first!" Aro gestured to the tourists.
"Yes, Master," Jane relented and the pinpricks ceased.
"We'll be leaving then, Aro," I tugged Bella to the door, not waiting for permission, but Jane was faster. As one of the humans fell screaming to the ground, writhing in agony, the others looked on in confusion. We only had seconds before the slaughter ensued.
"Bella, no!" I cried out when she jerked her head toward the tourist who had lacerated his scalp while thrashing around on the ground, only serving to stoke the thirst of all the other vampires in the room.
I put myself in between Bella and the group of humans, getting right in her face to repossess her attention. I gripped her tightly by the tops of the arms."Bella, stay with me!" I whispered urgently, shaking her once. "Come on, we have to get out of here," I urged over the tortured shrieks.
Thankfully, I seemed to have gotten through to her. She nodded once, and we made a break for the doors just as the screaming began.
"Arrivederci, young friends!" Aro cackled behind us. "Do come visit again soon!" he added just as the doors shut behind us with a low thud.
As the human begged for death, Jane happily obliged. followed by the screams that would be muted in short order by the other ravenous vampires.
*BPOV*
A human man in the coveralls of a maintenance worker was replacing the plate glass door that had been shattered all over the floor of the street-level lobby.
"Subtle," I muttered sarcastically with the breath I was still holding as we rushed out into the crisp Volterra night air.
"Did you expect me to take the time to open the wretched door when I heard you screaming, Bella?" Edward rolled his eyes as if I were the one being unreasonable.
"You wouldn't have heard me scream if I hadn't been under a ridiculous deadline, Edward!" I railed, finally able to breathe once the street lanterns of Volterra had grown fainter and fainter behind us.
Once we were outside the city walls, Edward lurched to a sudden stop, ostensibly so we could talk. Or maybe shout.
"What is that supposed to mean?" he demanded.
"It means I was on my way out, Edward!" I cried out in utter frustration, shoving him on the chest with both hands. This knocked him backward with much more force than expected (or intended).
Edward flew backward for several meters and smashed into one of the tall, narrow cypress trees that grew so commonly along the Tuscan hillsides. The forty-foot evergreen quivered at the impact but withstood the blow.
Wide-eyed, I froze, hands still extended palms out in front of me, in complete shock and horror of what I'd done. "Edward!" I cried, aghast. "I am so sorry! I didn't mean to-"
Without hardly missing a beat, Edward regained his balance and was back in front of me, completely unfazed before I could fully recover.
"It's fine, love," he cracked half a smile. "You're just the only one that can take me by surprise," he chuckled despite himself and brushed off the resiny fern like-fronds of the cypress tree that had broken off and landed on his shoulders. "Now what were you saying, they let you go?"
I sighed, all the wind out of my sails, still feeling very guilty that I had shoved him like that. I was used to taking my frustrations out on boys who were wholly unaffected by my weak human body.
"Everything was settled; they had let me go. First, they wanted to know why you weren't there. I told them I made you stay home since you were feeling unkindly toward the Volturi after the war with the newborns...They all laughed at me like I was some kind of a shrew, but even if they didn't believe it, they let it drop."
"Then Aro told me to tell you to 'lighten up' I air-quoted with a snort, "right before he asked me to give Carlisle his regards.
"I was on my way out!" I repeated in a half-shout, regaining a bit of steam as I remembered just how badly we bungled things. I shuddered to think about just how much worse it could have been.
"Then the bells started ringing, and I rushed out of there in a panic so that you wouldn't come charging in after me like some overprotective idiot!" I balled up my fists at my sides to keep from shoving him again.
"That what I'd been trying to tell you! Not to come in after me because I was on my way out!...I'll admit, it was careless of me to not wait the few extra seconds until I was out of Jane's sight to drop my shield…
"But that doesn't change the fact that your arbitrary time constraints had been the very reason I'd dropped my shield to begin with," I railed, flailing my arms out to the sides in exasperation.
Edward's eyes widened and his jaw fell open, his face twisting into one of horror as he processed what I'd told him.
"I...You...Jane...Because I-" he fumbled for words.
He anxiously scrubbed a hand over his face and through his windswept hair. Edward painfully fisted a handful of his bronze locks by the roots before sliding his hand down the back of his head and sheepishly rubbing the nape of his neck.
"I don't know what to say except that 'overprotective idiot' doesn't remotely cover it," Edward said miserably, dropping his head. "I'm so sorry...beyond sorry that Jane did that to you because of my involvement in this. I wish it had been me instead."
He paused briefly to collect his thoughts then continued on in explanation. "I know I worry," he frowned. "I'm sorry, I don't know how to turn it off." His sorrowful eyes pleaded with me to understand.
Then his hand found its way beneath my chin so that I couldn't look away even if I wanted to. His butterscotch eyes pierced right through me.
"Bella, you are my heart and soul wandering around outside my body! I can't live without you; I know what it feels like to try.
"I know I get a little crazy when I think about you being in danger, and I am just so sorry that my clouded judgment got you hurt. I'd do anything to take it back," his face crumpled with pain and regret.
I couldn't stand to see him so miserable, even if he deserved it.
I shrugged. "It might've been worth it for the chance to see the look on Jane's face when I blocked her," I smiled proudly. Foiling her felt every bit as amazing as I always imagined it would.
My diversion worked. Edward's face lit up with pride. "You didn't see Aro's face. Or hear his thoughts. He is absolutely beguiled by you. And frustrated beyond belief, of course, that his gift is useless against you. I know the feeling well," he chuckled.
Then Edward's face twisted into one of loathing. "Caius, that..that" he looked like he couldn't think of a word that was bad enough that he was also willing to say in the presence of a lady.
"Asshole?" I supplied.
"Yes. Exactly," his lips twitched toward a smile for a moment, then twisted back into a fearsome scowl. "Caius wanted to torture you until you dropped your shield and revealed all to Aro.
"But Aro respects gifts, and a vampire's right to use them more than just about anything else. You stumped them fair and square which earned you his respect...and a spot on his list of desirables," Edward added in a flat voice.
Then, speaking more to himself than me, he shared the other insights he gleaned from Aro's mind.
"Though he'd much rather you, or me, or Alice join up of our own accord rather than by force or coercion. It's a damn sight harder to keep a vampire loyal to the Volturi if he has to have Chelsea artificially manufacture that loyalty out of nothing. It also makes the Volturi entirely too reliant on Chelsea. Aro gets paranoid that she'll stage a coup..."
And then his eyes burned into mine, full of awe and wonder. "You were amazing in there, love. Truly amazing. Aro might not have been so lenient about the deceptions if he wasn't so impressed.
"All of your training and hard work these past months really paid off! You should be so proud of yourself, love. I know I am!" His glorious face, bursting with pride, matched the awed tone of his voice.
I shook my head in refusal of the praise. "Still not good enough. You were right about one thing...If you hadn't been there when Jane started in on that human..." I shook my head again, in grim recognition of the fact that had Edward not been there I would have joined in on the feeding frenzy. And hated myself for it.
"You are still so young, love. Just give it time. Most importantly, the Volturi is still in the dark about your father. That's the important thing."
I sighed, content and relieved.
"I also must commend you on your acting skills. They've greatly improved since your human days," Edward mused. "I really thought you wanted to rip my throat out back there," he chuckled a bit sheepishly. "Aro loves a good melodrama. He was greatly entertained."
My brow furrowed. Who'd been acting?
I'd been furious when he'd shown up and nearly ruined everything. And then had the gall to provoke Jane after he told me not to. But I didn't see the need to reignite the ire after he'd already apologized.
"Oh, ah, thanks!" I smiled a little guiltily. I would clearly need to add anger management to my training.
"So... where to now, love? Any place you'd like to visit before we go back to Alaska? Anywhere at all?" Edward offered enticingly, always looking for an opportunity to indulge me.
"Just one. I want to see Charlie."
*A/N* Squee! Nobody is more excited than me about getting to write a confrontation between Charlie and Edward! Oh, this is going to be fun.
Stay tuned, and as always, thank you for taking the time to read and review! Nothing motivates me to write faster! Can't wait to hear what you think!
