76. The Ties That Bind
Shoulders tense and hands linked behind his back, Eleazar paced the length of the room and back, glaring at the floor as if offended that the answer was not written upon it. He was the only one in motion in the room. The rest of us, even Jacob, stood still as statues, barely daring to breathe, as he pondered. I watched him flip through his memories of other covens whose blatant law-breaking had brought death upon themselves.
Always, it was Jane, Alec, Felix, and Demetri who were sent. Without fail. They were the Volturi's enforcers, occasionally joined by others in the guard who went to watch and learn, or who chose to accompany them to alleviate their own boredom. Between the four of them, there was rarely a need for anyone else. Even less often did Aro or Caius involve themselves, though it wasn't unheard of.
Absorbed in Eleazar's memories, it took a moment to realize Tanya was asking me a question. I glanced at her automatically as I plucked the question from her thoughts, and then wished I hadn't. She had asked about the others, the whereabouts of the rest of our family. Carlisle. Alice.
I couldn't bring myself to tell them that Alice had abandoned us. How could I expect our cousins to stay when she had left? But she had said she would look for more help as she fled.
I was able to say, "Looking for friends who might help us," and feel I was mostly speaking the truth.
They needn't be told Alice and Jasper wouldn't be returning. Not now. I would not have been able to deceive Maggie with such a half-truth, but there would be time enough for that to come out, when and if the others arrived.
A frown marred Tanya's features as she finally understood why our family was not here. She took my statement at face value, but she knew well what we were up against. Tanya had witnessed an execution for the very crime of which we were accused. I could have done without her memories; Alice's visions had been bad enough. Our coven was large, perhaps the largest to ever exist, but numbers couldn't save us. No coven or army, no matter how large, could stand against the Volturi. All who had tried were now dead.
Tanya leaned toward me beseechingly. "Edward, no matter how many friends you gather, we can't help you win. We can only die with you. You must know that. Of course, perhaps the four of us deserve that after what Irina has done now, after how we've failed you in the past - for her sake that time as well."
There was a bitterness in her tone, but I was glad to see that it was not directed toward us. She didn't believe we had brought her here with the intent that she die alongside us. She knew we were not capable of such an act. But whatever we intended, she believed there could be no other ending. We were delusional to think otherwise.
I hurried to correct her assumption. "We're not asking you to fight and die with us, Tanya. You know Carlisle would never ask for that."
"Then what, Edward?"
"We're just looking for witnesses. If we can make them pause, just for a moment. If they would let us explain…"
My throat closed over my hopes. If they would only take the time to see that Nessie was not a creature to be feared, not a monster even worse than those such as we. My daughter was so precious, so good. It galled me to know I had ever believed her to be anything else. I brushed a finger down her cheek. She grabbed my hand and held it there, glad for my gift, that I could see for myself how much she loved me.
In seeing her life, it was impossible not to see her inherent goodness, her vitality. Our cousins had come to believe. Any who witnessed her memories would surely do the same. Anyone would see, as our cousins had, that we had broken no laws.
"It's difficult to doubt our story when you see it for yourself," I was able to finish.
Tanya agreed with me that much, as did the other three.
"Do you think her past will matter to them so much?" Tanya asked.
"Only as it foreshadows her future. The point of the restriction was to protect us from exposure, from the excesses of children who could not be tamed."
"I'm not dangerous at all," Renesmee said in her own defense. "I never hurt Grandpa or Sue or Billy. I love humans. And wolf-people like my Jacob."
She released me to reach for Jacob, giving his arm a pat as if to demonstrate how gentle she was. The very fact that she understood was proof that she was not what the Volturi had had in mind when they made their laws.
I was abruptly infuriated. It was all so pointless! Killing Renesmee would only hasten what seemed inevitable. She grew so fast. Another year, and she would not look like a child at all. A few more, and she would look older than me. And a few years after that, unless we found a way to prevent it, she would die of old age.
"If Irina had not come so soon," I muttered, "we could have avoided all of this. Renesmee grows at an unprecedented rate. By the time the month is past, she'll have gained another half year of development."
They had seen Nessie growing in the memories she had shared, but the time frame was difficult to process. They knew Bella and I had been married for all of a few months, yet reconciling those months with the apparent age of the child was a hard thing, even for an immortal's brain, even for mine, when I had lived those months with her.
"Well, that is something we can certainly witness," Carmen said. "We'll be able to promise that we've seen her mature ourselves. How could the Volturi ignore such evidence?"
"How indeed?" Eleazar muttered, but it didn't seem he was agreeing with her. He didn't pause his restless pacing.
"Yes, we can witness for you," Tanya promised, grasping at this one small way she knew they could help us. "Certainly that much. We will consider what more we might do."
Anything else is suicide, but presenting the truth… well, the Volturi have always respected that. And if they don't… if they ignore the truth… we will fight to protect our family... as we should have fought before.
"Tanya, we don't expect you to fight with us." I had to stop her from continuing with this train of thought. Aro would see it as treachery. If they were to have any hope of surviving, they had to remain innocent in thought and deed. Their mother had known this, too.
Tanya squared her shoulders and held my gaze with steady eyes. "If the Volturi won't pause to listen to our witness, we cannot simply stand by." Not again. "Of course, I should only speak for myself."
Wryly, knowing the answer, Kate said, "Do you really doubt me so much, sister?"
"It is a suicide mission, after all."
Kate returned her grin. "I'm in."
"I, too, will do what I can to protect the child," Carmen promised.
Their support should have made me feel better, but knowing that they felt it was likely to become a fight, regardless of our witnesses or the truth they could verify, reinforced what I already knew: This was not going to be a simple matter of presenting evidence. But what else could we do other than keep moving forward?
"May I hold you, bebé linda?"
I looked away from Eleazar's pacing to see Carmen holding her hands out to Renesmee, who was reaching back eagerly.
How I wished we could have done this under other circumstances! I should have enjoyed watching Carmen cuddling with Nessie, cooing at her in Spanish while she listened, fascinated by the rolling lilt of an unfamiliar language. To be able to introduce our daughter to our extended family, like any normal parents, should have been a joyous, triumphant occasion. But no. We were vampires, and our family get-togethers were marred by talk of death sentences and suicide missions.
Jacob shuffled his feet uneasily. He didn't know these vampires, and in spite of their golden eyes, he didn't fully trust them with Renesmee. Perhaps, if she had not already been under the threat of death, he would not have been so anxious, but her safety was his top concern, and he was nervous enough already.
"What is the werewolves' part in this?" Tanya asked.
I was saved from having to explain his attachment to my daughter when he answered for himself.
"If the Volturi won't stop to listen about Nessie, I mean Renesmee, we will stop them."
Over confidence has been the undoing of many. "Very brave, child, but that would be impossible for more experienced fighters than you are."
I couldn't quite hide my amusement. I had called him a child before, too. And Bella had not been pleased. This time, she didn't seem to notice. I wondered if it was because her feelings for him had changed, or if becoming an immortal had erased her sensitivity to the whole age issue. I supposed I would never know. Just another one of Bella's many mysteries to add to the list.
Oblivious to my reaction, Jacob said, "You don't know what we can do."
"It's your own life, certainly, to spend as you choose," Tanya said, dismissively, as if she had not just offered to lay down her own life for my daughter's.
He bristled, but chose not to alienate those who were here to protect Renesmee, who were willing to fight and die for her. The need to change forms had subsided, but now he was suffused with another need: to take Nessie and run, as if there were anywhere on this planet they could safely hide.
There was nowhere to run, no safe place. If it were possible, we would have taken her already, or sent her away with him. Knowing this only seemed to increase his need to have her in his own arms again, that she could at least be under his protection. I understood. I had always felt better when Bella was safe in my arms… even when I had been her biggest threat.
Tanya followed his gaze. Carmen had been joined by Kate, and the two of them were as entranced by Renesmee as everyone who had ever held her.
"She is special, that little one," Tanya said. "Hard to resist."
They had all witnessed the evidence of her charm in her memories, though it didn't seem unusual to Nessie herself that everyone she came in contact with loved her. We all loved each other. That was just how things were. She didn't realize how irresistible she was. And our cousins, too, had fallen under her spell. With one touch, she had them wrapped around her fingers. Just like all the rest of us.
Special, mused Eleazar. Though he wasn't immune to her magic, he questioned its source. Was it because of what she was, or who? Everything about vampires was enhanced. Was this simply an enhanced form of the draw that caused humans to find puppies and kittens so irresistible, or was it an affect of her ability to touch their minds directly?
He didn't think it was something she did with any intent, but I read minds without trying. Many talents were multifaceted, with both automatic and directed abilities. Given her parentage, it was unsurprising that she should be gifted. It would have been more surprising if she were not.
"A very talented family," Eleazar commented. "A mind reader for a father, a shield for a mother, and then whatever magic this extraordinary child has bewitched us with."
I felt as though Emmett had landed a punch in my gut. A what for a mother?
Caught up in his pacing and contemplating, Eleazar was unaware of the way I was gaping at him, and continued thinking out loud. "I wonder if there is a name for what she does, or if it is the norm for a vampire hybrid. As if such a thing could ever be considered normal! A vampire hybrid, indeed!"
I reached for him before he could make another circuit of the living room.
"Excuse me. What did you just call my wife?"
Puzzled, he returned my confused stare. Surely he knows? "A shield, I think. She's blocking me now, so I can't be sure."
"A shield?" I felt the word must have another meaning with which I was unfamiliar. I had always thought of Bella as a magnet. What shield would draw danger to itself?
"Come now, Edward!" he exclaimed, surprised by my ignorance. "If I can't get a read on her, I doubt you can, either. Can you hear her thoughts right now?"
"No. But I've never been able to do that. Even when she was human."
"Never?" Eleazar blinked at me in surprise while I shook my head. "Interesting. That would indicate a rather powerful latent talent, if it was manifesting so clearly even before the transformation."
Frowning as he eyed her, he seemed to be trying to use his gift on her, to no avail.
"I can't feel a way through her shield to get a sense of it at all. Yet she must be raw still - she's only a few months old."
Bella stared back at him, evidently as stunned as I was. But how could I know for sure what she felt when I couldn't see! Because she was shielding? Hiding her thoughts from me?
In contrast, Eleazar's frustration was plainly evident when he turned back toward me to mutter, "And apparently completely unaware of what she's doing. Totally unconscious. Ironic. Aro sent me all over the world searching for anomalies, and you simply stumble across it by accident and don't even realize what you have." He shook his head, bemused by my good luck.
Really though, it wasn't all that different from how Carlisle had found me. Hadn't he been looking for nothing more than a companion? And yet I had a gift that rivaled Aro's. And wasn't it Bella's silence that had first attracted my attention, even before her scent? Was it any wonder I would find her fascinating? Mysterious? Her hidden thoughts entranced me still.
Why would she be frowning now? Wouldn't she be pleased to have an explanation? It was a better one than my theory that her brain worked differently from others', making her, in her own words, a freak.
"What are you talking about?" Bella demanded. "How can I be a shield? What does that even mean?"
Eleazar studied her, apparently trying again to get a feel for her gift. He was straining to do something, of that, I was sure. I could have told him it was a waste of time trying to get past the impenetrable shield she surrounded herself with. How often had I tried to hear, to see, to sense anything? As far as I could tell with my extra sense, she wasn't even there. He wasn't likely to be any more successful.
"I suppose we were overly formal about it in the guard," Eleazar explained. "In truth, categorizing talents is a subjective, haphazard business; every talent is unique, never exactly the same thing twice. But you, Bella, are fairly easy to classify. Talents that are purely defensive, that protect some aspect of the bearer, are always called shields."
Bella nodded almost imperceptibly, seeming to accept this explanation.
Eleazar cocked his head at her, wondering just how powerful this automatic, unconscious gift could be. No doubt she knew I could not read her, but what of the other talented members of our family?
"Have you ever tested your abilities? Blocked anyone besides me and your mate?"
Bella didn't answer him right away. I wondered if she was searching through her human memories for the other vampires she had met. I knew she remembered meeting Aro and Jane, but perhaps the details had faded. I wished I could forget meeting Jane. Just the thought of her had me wincing. How grateful I was that Bella had been immune!
"It only works with certain things," Bella finally said. "My head is sort of… private. But it doesn't stop Jasper from being able to mess with my mood or Alice from seeing my future."
Eleazar nodded, mentally slotting her into another category. "Purely a mental defense. Limited, but strong."
"Aro couldn't hear her, though she was human when they met," I said, wondering why she had spoken only of those gifts she couldn't block. Wasn't it more important to discuss those she could?
Eleazar gaped at Bella. ...never heard of Aro being blocked... didn't think it was possible...
"Jane tried to hurt me, but she couldn't," Bella said. "Edward thinks Demetri can't find me, and that Alec can't bother me, either. Is that good?"
'Is that good?' Shielding herself against Jane? While human, no less…
"Quite," Eleazar whispered, awed by the immensity of Bella's power.
"A shield!" I was quite glad to have a name for it! To have even one of Bella's mysteries solved was supremely satisfying. "I never thought of it that way. The only one I've ever met before was Renata, and what she did was so different."
"Yes," Eleazar said. "No talent ever manifests in precisely the same way, because no one ever thinks in exactly the same way." You should know that.
"Who's Renata? What does she do?" Bella asked, ever curious, though there was more than idle curiosity behind this question.
"Renata is Aro's personal bodyguard," Eleazar said. "A very practical kind of shield, and a very strong one. I wonder…"
I didn't like the image in his mind. It was much too akin to Bella's suggestion - that she might act as a distraction by throwing herself at the army. Who better to target than the leader no one else could get close to?
"You see, Renata is a powerful shield against a physical attack," Eleazar explained. "If someone approaches her - or Aro, as she is always close beside him in a hostile situation - they find themselves… diverted. There's a force around her that repels, though it's almost unnoticeable. You simply find yourself going a different direction than you planned, with a confused memory as to why you wanted to go that other way in the first place. She can project her shield several meters out from herself. She also protects Caius and Marcus, too, when they have a need, but Aro is her priority. What she does isn't actually physical, though. Like the vast majority of our gifts, it takes place inside the mind."
His enthusiasm made me smile. He and Carlisle truly were kindred spirits. Discussing their subjects of interest or study made them both light up, eyes bright and expressions animated. My father never seemed more human than when discussing medicine, and Eleazar's occupation had been finding and assessing vampiric talents. While he no longer had as many chances to use his ability, nor the need, not since leaving the Volturi, discovering a powerful gift still brought him pleasure and excitement.
"If she tried to keep you back, I wonder who would win? I've never heard of Aro's or Jane's gifts being thwarted."
I wasn't quick enough to stop him from following his explanation to its logical conclusion. I guessed it didn't really matter. It wasn't as though he was giving her ideas she hadn't already come up with on her own, though it hadn't been Aro she'd set her sights on at the time.
Was Bella's gift a manifestation of her need to protect others, even at the expense of her own life? To shield them?
Regardless, whomever she chose and whatever powers she blocked, there were still plenty of guards who would be more than capable of physically taking down a single newborn long before Aro or Alec could be reached.
Renesmee enjoyed the discussion of Bella's gifts. It confirmed what she had known all along. She leaned toward Bella and stated, "Momma, you're special."
For once, Bella didn't refute the label.
"Can you project?" Kate asked, picturing Renata and her ability to shield Aro.
"Project?" Bella repeated.
"Push it out from yourself. Shield someone besides yourself."
"I don't know. I've never tried. I didn't know I should do that."
As if she could be blamed for failing to practice a skill she didn't know she had!
But now that she did know… If she could project it out from herself…
I sucked in a sharp breath.
With all that Bella could do, with no effort expended, I felt certain she was capable of this.
The image of Bella with our daughter safe in her arms, protected by the invisible force only Nessie herself had ever been able to penetrate, was exhilarating. It made me wonder if Bella unconsciously allowed her daughter within the protection of her shield, or if Nessie got around it somehow.
"Oh, you might not be able to," Kate hurried to alleviate Bella's obvious feelings of failure. "Heaven knows I've been working on it for centuries and the best I can do is run a current over my skin."
Bella frowned her confusion and shook her head. Kate's was not one of the gifts I had told her about, I realized.
"Kate's got an offensive skill," I explained. "Sort of like Jane."
Automatically, Bella flinched back, a look of distrust contorting her face.
"I'm not sadistic about it," Kate said with a laugh. "It's just something that comes in handy during a fight."
Bella's gaze turned inward, making me wonder what picture was in her mind. Then, I decided I might not want to know. Not if it made her eyes cloud over like that. Her breathing sped as her eyes abruptly widened and her arm shot out, faster than I could follow, to grip Kate's arm.
"You have to teach me what to do!" Bella demanded.
In the same instant, I was aware of an intense burst of effort from Kate. She was trying with everything she had to throw Bella off. The force she was putting out should have thrown Bella to the ground with a pain-filled cry, but Bella simply stood in place, eyes wild and imploring, Kate's arm in her unflinching grasp.
"Maybe," Kate said through her teeth, "if you stop trying to crush my radius."
"Oops!" Bella exclaimed, releasing Kate hastily. "Sorry!"
"You're shielding, all right," she muttered, rubbing her arm as if to make certain the bones were undamaged. "That move should have about shocked your arm off. You didn't feel anything just now?"
If it hadn't been Bella she was trying to shock, I would have found her failure quite interesting. I'd thought that Kate's was one of those gifts that manifested physically. Eleazar had, of course, known better, but the inner workings of Kate's gift had not been a subject he and I had previously discussed. But if Bella was able to block it, then it was all in her - Kate's - mind. She was more like Jane than I had realized. Jane didn't truly burn a person, and apparently, neither did Kate truly shock.
However, it was Bella she had been trying to shock, and not with a minor warning, but with all the force she could muster.
Angry, trying not to growl the words, I said, "That wasn't really necessary, Kate. She didn't mean any harm."
Neither woman looked at me. I wondered if they had even heard me.
"No," Bella answered Kate's question. "I didn't feel anything. Were you doing your electric current thing?"
"I was. Hmm. I've never met anyone who couldn't feel it, immortal or otherwise."
"You said you project it? On your skin?"
"It used to be just my palms," Kate said, extending her hands, palms up. "Kind of like Aro."
"Or Renesmee," I added, wondering if, with practice, my daughter would one day learn to project, to share her thoughts with no contact at all. Assuming she lived long enough to try, of course.
"But after a lot of practice," Kate said as if I hadn't spoken, "I can radiate the current all over my body. It's a good defense. Anyone who tries to touch me drops like a human that's been Tasered. It only downs him for a second, but that's long enough."
Bella stopped watching Kate halfway through her explanation. Her gaze turned inward again, and I wondered if she was, even now, trying to manipulate the shield that protected her. How would she know if she was doing anything? Unless… unless it was me she was attempting not to block. If so, she was not succeeding. As always, I heard nothing of her thoughts.
I did hear Eleazar, though. He was thinking of the similarities between Jane and Kate, and the differences. Jane had been able to project from the beginning.
There was an image in his mind, hazy and indistinct since he had not actually been there at the time, but one which I'd seen clearly before in all three of the sisters' thoughts: Aro, sparing their lives. Because of their ignorance regarding the illegal child their mother had created, they'd been proclaimed innocent of her crimes, and allowed to live.
Similar events where he had been present flashed through Eleazar's thoughts. These were vivid and clear, as if he had left those battlefields to join us here, just now. He wondered, if Kate had been capable of projecting like Jane, would things have ended differently? Would Kate have joined the Volturi, like so many others who had been spared?
...like so many others… The Volturi's benevolence is as widely known as their propensity for punishing any rule-breaking… Those who obey the laws have nothing to fear, and may even be presented with the offer to join their prestigious group…
Such an honor… For some reason, the word was thought with scorn.
...of course she would have been grateful for his willingness to spare her sisters' lives and would have jumped at the chance to serve… I wonder though... would he have spared the others, if he'd wanted her? It's usually only one…
The chosen one… the one with a gift… the last man standing and oh, how convenient to discover their innocence when they have nothing left… nothing but a skill to be used… no ties to their former law-breaking coven who are all dead now… Or better… break the ties first, that they may watch, impartially, as their former allies pay for their crimes.
And they are always so grateful to be found innocent. To be wanted and offered a new home with all the protection joining the rulers of the world would bring…
But in their innocence, in their ignorance of the crimes of their fellows, who could know if the crimes had been committed at all? Judge, jury, and executioner, proclaiming guilt or innocence with a touch of his hand… who could doubt those others were guilty? Or accuse him of ulterior motives? Any who might think to try would be silenced.
Of course they were grateful to be safe amongst those whom no others could stand against. No army of any size, newborn or mature, no one can stand against the Volturi and hope to live.
But when Aro goes, there is always one who is spared… a gifted one. Coincidence? Or by design?
And never have I seen one offered a place within the guard whose coven was not destroyed to the last man… Not when Aro travels with the punishing party…
And he comes here… to this very talented family… why?
Punishment? Or acquisition?
Which of them will he acquire this time? There's always one… When Aro goes, the gifted are always spared… and the guard gains a new member…
Our gazes met while he considered, and I saw my horrified expression in his thoughts as I realized what he was implying. If Aro came, not to punish us for a crime we did not commit, but to gain the services of one of our number, presenting him with the truth would be no defense. Was there a defense?
The sensation of dozens of spiders crawling over my skin was accompanied by a cold trickle of fear running down my spine and settling in my stomach. If I were a human, I thought I might vomit. It was a sensation every bit as real as the shock Kate could project, though it was all in my mind.
What had I done? In going to Aro, seeking my own death, I had exposed us all! Aro didn't need Eleazar to tell him of our talents. I had already done so!
This was what Alice had wanted me to discover. I was certain of it. The real reason behind this attack. Aro had already tried to gain my services. Oh, how convenient it would be for him to hear from a distance, as I could.
But much, much more than mine, he coveted Alice's ability. The future… To know what was to come, before it happened… To see how to change it… Never had he encountered a gift like hers.
If Aro was coming because he was after Alice's gift, then this was my fault, all of it. I didn't want to think that my impulsive actions were to be the cause of my family's deaths. Why had I been so stupid? With only a little effort expended, I would have discovered that Bella wasn't dead. I should have checked better!
No, I should never have left Bella in the first place!
There had to be some other explanation for this attack. If the Volturi had spent centuries killing entire covens solely to gain one member's gifts, it would be known, wouldn't it? Discussed among the guard, whispered between the nomads, warnings passed down from creator to fledgling? Something this big couldn't be kept a secret for millennia, could it?
But in Eleazar's mind, time and time again, whenever Aro went with the punishing party, he returned with a new, devoted, gifted, follower. Always. And while he had lived among them, it had always been he, Eleazar, who had singled out the one who was spared. Any he identified had never been among the guilty. The one Aro wanted was always innocent. Coincidence? Or by design?
"Can you think of even one exception, though?" It felt like I was begging him to tell me I wasn't responsible for the deaths of everyone I loved.
"I don't want to think of them that way," Eleazar denied. To be responsible for the deaths of so many… "If you're right - "
"The thought was yours, not mine," I reminded him quickly.
He waved off the distinction as unimportant, but I felt he would be less defensive and more willing to consider the evidence if it came from within himself.
With a sigh, he resumed, "If I'm right… I can't even grasp what that would mean. It would change everything about the world we've created. It would change the meaning of my life. What I have been a part of."
"Your intentions were always the best, Eleazar," I tried to reassure him.
"Would that even matter? What have I done? How many lives…" Unfamiliar faces flashed in his mind amid a blur of fire and the conviction that each death was merited. A conviction he now questioned.
Alarmed by his obvious distress, Tanya reached out to console him. "What did we miss, my friend? I want to know so that I can argue with these thoughts. You've never done anything worth castigating yourself this way."
"Oh, haven't I?" His voice was bitter, his sorrow clearly written upon his face. He ducked away from Tanya's consoling hand and resumed his frantic pacing. He had no wish to be consoled, not when those who benefited from his participation in innocent deaths continued to perpetrate them. Not when they now had their sights set on us. Death or eternal servitude were our only futures, and he was at least partly to blame, or so he felt.
Only too well did I know the entrapment of self-castigation. Alice was lucky to live in the future as she did. Reliving the past, over and over and over, mistakes made and how things could have gone, should have gone, was a powerful trap, a quicksand of the mind, a mire whose hold was nearly impossible to break.
We all watched him, but when he didn't speak again, Tanya turned to me and demanded, "Explain."
Go ahead. Eleazar almost snarled his permission for me to speak for him, but I thought there was a touch of relief in him too, that he didn't have to speak his crimes aloud. But they weren't truly his crimes, and I wanted to be sure to lay the blame where it rightly belonged.
"He was trying to understand why so many of the Volturi would come to punish us," I said. "It's not the way they do things. Certainly, we are the biggest mature coven they've dealt with, but in the past, other covens have joined to protect themselves, and they never presented much of a challenge despite their numbers. We are more closely bonded, and that's a factor, but not a huge one."
No, of course not, not once he had her…
"He was remembering other times that covens have been punished, for one thing or the other, and a pattern occurred to him. It was a pattern that the rest of the guard would never have noticed, since Eleazar was the one passing the pertinent intelligence privately to Aro. A pattern that only repeated every other century or so."
As I spoke, I watched his memories carefully. Hearing them voiced helped focus them, and I matched my words to the direction his thoughts took him, following and leading at the same time, certain that everything would be revealed if I just gave him the opportunity.
"What was this pattern?" Carmen asked.
"Aro does not often personally attend a punishing expedition. But in the past, when Aro wanted something in particular, it was never long before evidence turned up proving that this coven or that coven had committed some unpardonable crime. The ancients would decide to go along to watch the guard administer justice. And then, once the coven was all but destroyed, Aro would grant pardon to one member whose thoughts, he would claim, were particularly repentant. Always, it would turn out that this vampire had the gift Aro had admired. Always, this person was given a place within the guard. The gifted vampire was won over quickly, always so grateful for the honor. There were no exceptions."
"It must be a heady thing to be chosen," Kate said carefully.
I didn't look away from Eleazar's thoughts to see if hers had gone back to that day, so long ago, when she had been declared innocent.
"Ha!" Eleazar barked out a sharp laugh of denial.
"There is one among the guard." I saw her face as he did, remembered meeting her myself, remembered her trying and failing to use her gift on me. My ties to Bella were too strong. If not for Bella, if I had met the Volturi under other circumstances, would I be in their service even now? Conscripted against my will, without even realizing my will had been usurped?
I swallowed against the dryness in my throat. Bella needed me to be strong, to follow Eleazar's thoughts wherever they might lead.
"Her name is Chelsea. She has influence over the emotional ties between people. She can both loosen and secure these ties. She could make someone feel bonded to the Volturi, to want to belong, to want to please them…"
Eleazar spun to face us, goaded into abandoning his pacing by his need to defend himself, his previous actions and beliefs. "We all understood why Chelsea was important. In a fight, if we could separate allegiances between allied covens, we could defeat them that much more easily. If we could distance the innocent members of a coven emotionally from the guilty, justice could be done without unnecessary brutality - the guilty could be punished without interference, and the innocent could be spared. Otherwise, it was impossible to keep the coven from fighting as a whole. So, Chelsea would break the ties that bound them together. It seemed a great kindness to me, evidence of Aro's mercy. I did suspect that Chelsea kept our own band more tightly knit, but that, too, was a good thing. It made us more effective. It helped us coexist more easily."
Of course it did.
Our ties, our bonds of familial love, were what allowed a coven of our size to live together peacefully. We had lived with the Denalis for a time, the seven of us easily living with the five of them without strife - Tanya's pursuit of me, notwithstanding. Twelve vampires, in the same house, living as a large family, hunting together, swapping stories, playing games. It was unheard of outside of Volterra.
Even when we fought, as Rosalie and I so often did, our love for each other kept it from escalating. In a coven such as the Volturi's, with so many powerful vampires, if there was not a unifying force holding them together, I could imagine they would set upon each other quite quickly. Vampires did not naturally coexist peacefully, not in great numbers. Our family of seven - now eight - was the largest grouping to ever do so for any length of time.
"How strong is her gift?" Tanya worried.
Through Eleazar's thoughts - which I continued to watch closely - I saw Tanya meet his eyes, and then turn to look at Kate and Carmen. Her brow was furrowed with worry. I pulled away from his thoughts enough to touch her mind, and saw her picturing our two families, united against the Volturi… and then we were unified no longer. Allegiances changed, our allies were now aligned with our enemy.
Would conquering us be so easy? Could the love I felt for my family, and they for me, be severed? If they could break ties and re-establish them however they pleased, they could defeat us by attrition, no matter how many we gathered, until only Bella, Nessie, and I were left to pay for our crimes.
Could Carlisle and Esme watch impassively as we burned, believing as it happened that we were being rightfully punished? No. No, surely not. No one's gift was that powerful.
I focused again on Eleazar, hoping he would remember something that would invalidate such horrifying imaginings.
"I was able to leave with Carmen," Eleazar reminded Tanya.
He thought of meeting Carmen and feeling as if the whole world had abruptly opened up to him. Though he had never been quite satisfied with his life among the Volturi, he had not wanted to leave them, not before her. Aro had not been pleased to let him go, and it made him wonder if Chelsea had tried to prevent it, and failed.
He remembered expressions of disbelief on the faces of vampires, now long dead, who had experienced precisely the image of Tanya's that so horrified me. He had believed severing those ties to be a kindness to those surviving vampires, but the sting of betrayal must have hurt those who had been abandoned more than the fire that ended their lives. He also remembered that she had not always been successful. Chelsea had never separated a mated pair, only those who could be singled out.
Love, it seemed, was not so easily broken.
Eleazar shook his head. "But anything weaker than the bond between partners is in danger. In a normal coven, at least. Those are weaker bonds than those in our family, though. Abstaining from human blood makes us more civilized - lets us form true bonds of love. I doubt she could turn our allegiances, Tanya."
I shared Tanya's sense of relief.
Eleazar did not wait for me to pick up the narration of his thoughts, and continued on his own, "I could only think that the reason Aro had decided to come himself, to bring so many with him, is because his goal is not punishment but acquisition. He needs to be there to control the situation. But he needs the entire guard for protection from such a large, gifted coven. On the other hand, that leaves the other ancients unprotected in Volterra. Too risky - someone might try to take advantage. So they all come together. How else could he be sure to preserve the gifts that he wants? He must want them very badly."
I was aware of his curiosity, wondering which of us Aro hoped to bring home with him. Perhaps more than one of us. Jasper's talent could be as useful as Chelsea's, at least in a fight. Maria had used him in such a way for many decades. Aro must have been intrigued by Bella's gift, manifesting as it had when she was still human. And me, of course. Listening from a distance could prove quite valuable.
But Alice… Eleazar had never heard of another vampire who could see the many possible futures. Certainly we had found her gift useful. Aro was bound to want her amongst his ranks.
I didn't want to admit that this was all my fault. It was, of course it was. I knew that. If not for me, Aro would never have known of Alice. But to speak the words aloud, to have Bella know it too, that it was only my stupidity that had endangered all of us, I didn't think I could bear it.
Bella was so strong, so courageous. She deserved better than a coward for a husband.
Forcing myself to speak, though I could only whisper the words, I said, "From what I saw of his thoughts last spring, Aro's never wanted anything more than he wants Alice."
Fearfully, I looked into Bella's eyes, and saw the shock there. Mouth open, eyes wide, I knew she understood the implications immediately. To my immense relief, there didn't seem to be any hint of accusation as she held my gaze. Perhaps that would come later, when the fear had run its course. Then again, perhaps not. She forgave so much, could she be capable of forgiving this, too?
"Is that why Alice left?" Bella asked.
I reached out to cup her face, grateful to feel her press her cheek into my palm. How I knew I would never deserve her.
Finding my voice again, I agreed, "I think it must be. To keep Aro from gaining the thing he wants most of all. To keep her power out of his hands."
"Left? Alice left?"
"What does she mean, 'Alice left'? Isn't she with the others, looking for help?"
I ignored Kate and Tanya and their very justified questions. There was no mistaking the accusations in their voices. I had all but lied right to their faces, after asking for their trust. They were right to be angry with me, but I couldn't spare them a glance. Bella held me immobile from the sheer power of her gaze.
There was concern in her eyes now, a familiar fear. She always worried about me, and I anticipated her next whispered words.
"He wants you, too."
"Not nearly as much." I shrugged, feeling a little smug at being right, even while I wished she would worry about her own safety as often as she worried about mine. I wasn't worried. Aro coveted my gift, but I also presented a problem. He wasn't used to having his mind read.
He knew me, yes, but I knew him, too.
Bella made a face, disapproving or perhaps disbelieving my lack of concern.
"I can't really give him anything more than he already has," I explained. "And of course, that's dependent on his finding a way to force me to do his will. He knows me, and he knows how unlikely that is."
I raised an eyebrow at her. If there was one thing Bella and I had in common, it was our stubbornness. How often had Bella tried - and failed - to convince me to change her? And I loved her, and had wanted what she'd asked of me, because of what it would mean for me. If Bella couldn't change my mind, it wasn't likely Aro would have any success.
And yet… here she stood, a vampire, as requested. To save her, to keep her with me, I had done as she asked.
"He also knows your weakness," Eleazar said, giving Bella a significant look. There are other ways to cause a vampire pain than Jane. All he needs is to threaten her. Is there anything you wouldn't do in order to keep her safe? Or her, for you?
"It's nothing we need to discuss now." I didn't want to hear him. I didn't want Bella to hear him. I didn't want her considering what I knew to be true. For Bella, I would do anything.
Then when? It needs to be said. "He probably wants your mate, too, regardless. He must have been intrigued by a talent that could defy him in its human incarnation."
I couldn't argue, but I wished he would stop speaking truths I didn't want to have to consider. I didn't want Bella to think about being used as a means of my coercion, nor being coerced herself, if I were threatened. I could see from the uneasy look in her eyes that she understood. Of course she did. She was smart. She wouldn't have needed Eleazar to spell out the dangers in order to see them.
Hoping to steer the conversation away from such a distressing topic, I said, "I think the Volturi were waiting for this - for some pretext. They couldn't know what form their excuse would come in-" not yet, not until he had Alice "-but the plan was already in place for when it did come. That's why Alice saw their decision before Irina triggered it. The decision was already made, just waiting for the pretense of a justification."
He'd wanted Alice last spring, and me too, I conceded privately, but the time had not been right, not then. All he needed was to be prepared to seize the opportunity when it inevitably presented itself.
So he'd waited. Evidence would turn up against us.
It always did.
Aro didn't get to be three thousand years old - and the ruler of the entire vampire world for the vast majority of that time span - by being hasty. The service, the devotion, of all the vampires in his employ had been carefully obtained, and his position as their benevolent leader patiently nurtured. As an immortal, planning and patience would bring him nearly all he desired… with the help of a little planted evidence along the way, as needed.
Carmen, watching her husband's misery, tried to shift his focus to where the blame belonged. "If the Volturi are abusing the trust all immortals have placed in them…"
"Does it matter?" Eleazar spat. That he had been used eased none of the remorse he felt for the part he had played. "Who would believe it? And even if others could be convinced that the Volturi are exploiting their power, how would it make any difference? No one can stand against them."
"Though some of us are apparently insane enough to try," Kate said.
Why did it seem they all assumed it would come to a fight? Did Bella think so, too? Regardless of their motives for coming, the Volturi wouldn't break their own laws in front of so many witnesses, would they?
No, they couldn't. They would lose their power if they did so in such a public setting. Why else had Alice insisted on a gathering of so many witnesses? To make them pause, yes, of course, but our witnesses were not here just to witness Nessie's life. They would witness whatever the Volturi's response, and hold them accountable. The Volturi would have to follow the laws they themselves had written, or render them impotent.
Of course, they could just kill us all, but they were bringing their own people as well. That had to count for something.
Stubbornly, I shook my head. "You're only here to witness, Kate. Whatever Aro's goal, I don't think he's ready to tarnish the Volturi's reputation for it. If we can take away his argument against us, he'll be forced to leave us in peace."
"Of course," Tanya agreed sardonically.
Arguing that I was not a naïve child would only prove that I was. I scowled at her, but held my tongue.
No one else had anything to add, out loud at any rate. It seemed everything necessary had already been said. We had their agreement to stay, and we knew the Volturi's ulterior motives. What more could there be?
I watched their minds in silence while they each turned the conversation around in their thoughts and came to terms with the knowledge that our leaders were not what they had claimed. I looked for anything new they might come up with that could help, but there was nothing.
Carmen turned her attention back to Nessie, whom she still held. I thought she might start talking to her again, but it seemed she simply found her fascinating. Could I blame her? Every member of our family had found it hard to look away from Nessie from the very beginning. She drew our attention, despite whatever activity we might be engaged in. Without meaning to, every one of us would find ourselves gazing at her in awe.
I imagined if humans found evidence of God in their midst, they would be equally as spellbound.
The long silence was broken by the sound of a car turning onto our driveway. Automatically, I reached for the minds of whomever it might be and felt my silent heart leap as I caught the image of Alice and Jasper in our visitors' thoughts.
"Oh crap, Charlie," Bella said. "Maybe the Denalis could hang out upstairs until - "
"No," I cut her off. I understood why she would think it was him. The others of our family might have already located a friend or two, but it was really much too early for them to have made their way here. As usual, Alice had had a head start.
Feeling a hopeful smile spread across my face as I met her eyes, I explained, "It's not your father. Alice sent Peter and Charlotte, after all. Time to get ready for the next round."
Alice! I could see the same thing in Bella's eyes as I felt in my chest. My sister hadn't abandoned us, not entirely. She had to save herself and Jasper from falling under Aro's control, of course she did, but she was still doing everything she could to save us, too.
"Come on," I said as I grabbed Bella's hand, eager to have her meet them, and as eager to find out what, if anything, Alice had said. As I pulled Bella across the room, I was aware or a fierce longing from Jacob. More than that, a desperate need to protect Nessie, to keep her safe from these friends of ours who so happily lived off the blood of humans.
I paused at the door and looked back at our cousins. "Carmen, please give Renesmee to Jacob to hold. It's your job to keep her safe," I said, shifting my eyes to him. He gave me a look of profound gratitude in return. I didn't foresee any trouble from either of our newest guests, but it made both of us feel better all the same, for Jacob to gather Renesmee into his arms.
As soon as she was settled, one hand pressed to his cheek, Jacob slunk back into the dining room, wanting as much distance as possible between Renesmee and the approaching red-eyed vampires.
My request renewed our cousins' curiosity regarding the werewolves' role in our lives, but I stopped paying them any attention. I opened the door as Peter and Charlotte pulled up to the house, to park beside Eleazar's car.
Apparently, Alice had told them nothing of what to expect, not even the addition of Bella into our family. They mounted the steps, noting Bella's golden eyes with surprise. How had we managed to convince yet another vampire to join our madness and live off the blood of animals?
"Peter. Charlotte." I held out my free hand to shake theirs. "It's good to see you again."
"And you," they returned, but it was Bella they continued to stare at.
"Although the circumstances are unusual, I am very glad you're here. I'd like you to meet my wife, Bella Cullen." She gave a little huff at the introduction, but I couldn't have stopped the grin from spreading across my face if I'd wanted to. "Bella, these are Peter and Charlotte, Jasper's brother and his wife."
Bella and Charlotte exchanged polite greetings, but it was me Peter addressed.
"Your wife, Edward? When did this happen?"
"Bella and I married a few months ago. She and I met shortly before your last visit here, when Bella was still human."
"Ah. This is the human you were, um… worried about." Peter remembered my odd behavior during their last visit and being warned of my obsession - my insanity, Jasper had called it at the time - as reason to give Forks a wide berth. "Human no longer, I see. Married, huh? Well, I'd say congratulations are in order."
"Indeed, and thank you." I gave Bella a wink, and then turned back to them. "Obviously, things have changed a lot since we last saw you, but there is more. Bella is not the only new member of our family. I would like you to meet everyone, but first, I need to ask something of you. Several somethings, in fact."
Like the Denalis, they expected me to escort them into the house, yet I kept them on the porch, blocking the door.
Peter motioned for me to go ahead while Charlotte nodded. She and Bella continued to eye each other. I could only guess that Bella was curious or nervous over meeting her first friendly pair of human hunters, but I knew Charlotte was quite surprised over Bella's composure. Bella couldn't be very old, not if she'd been human when the two had last visited, yet she acted completely at ease, and her eyes held no trace of red.
"First, I need to ask, what did Alice tell you?" Could they hear the longing in my voice, the fact that I was begging for news of my sister?
"Only to come," Peter said.
"She didn't say why? Or where they were heading next? Or when they'd be back?"
Or if? I thought privately. Would my sister ever return to us?
Peter shook his head at each question. "We were only told to come without delay. It was Alice. We came." Peter shrugged.
I took a breath, trying to stifle my bitter disappointment. I shouldn't be disappointed. Here was proof positive that Alice was still looking out for us. Yet how I wished I had more to go on. I could see the memory prompted by my questions. Alice and Jasper, finding them mid-hunt, telling them to come here as quickly as inhumanly possible. They knew her well enough not to need more. If Alice said it, they believed, without question. They had taken their victims' car and left immediately.
What's this about, Edward?
"I mentioned there are some people I would like you to meet, and I ask for your promise not to jump to conclusions. They are friends, family. They are unusual, but everything is not as it seems. I ask that you keep an open mind until you hear all the facts."
They nodded, more curious than concerned.
"Thank you. Now, what do you smell?"
"Your family, of course, and I'm guessing the other vampires came in that car?" Peter indicated the car he'd parked beside with a jerk of his head.
"Yes. You are not the only friends we have asked to join us. But what else? Anything unusual?"
Both their noses wrinkled as they took a deeper breath. We may as well have been hiding the corpses of our kills beneath the very porch on which we stood, the scent was so strong. They'd been trying not to show their disgust, to ignore the rotten, musty odor floating on the breeze, but now that I'd addressed it, they couldn't hide their reaction.
As yet, they did not notice Nessie's scent.
Well, no matter. I was sure they would once we were all inside.
"That's Jacob. He was a friend of Bella's while she was human, and remains a friend still. A very good friend. A brother to us both. As much so as Em and Jazz are. He saved Bella's life more than once. It's a long story, which I will tell at another time if you like, but he and his people saved all our family. His tribe, the Quileutes, are a very special group of people. I must ask, on his behalf, that you refrain from hunting any of the peoples who live in this region, not just in Forks."
"No problem. We ate just before we came," Peter said with a nonchalance that had Jacob seething. He could hear us from inside, and began debating the likelihood of outrunning me if he just took off with Nessie. I ignored him as best I could. He knew the chances of getting as far as our cottage before I caught him were remote.
"We never hunt in your territory, Edward," Charlotte said. "You know that."
"Yes, but if you stay for a time, as we hope that you will, please leave them be whenever you do hunt again."
"Honestly, if they all smell like that, you don't have anything to worry about."
I tried not to laugh, truly I did. Peter had a point, though. Who among vampires would willingly feed on anyone, or anything, that stank like the werewolves did? In their past, vampires had hunted their people, but the pack's numbers had been small then, and the stench must not have been enough to keep those vampires from targeting the human population.
Reality quickly reined in my amusement. "Unfortunately, that is not quite true. There is much cause for worry. Alice asked you to come here because we're in danger, all of us, and we need your help."
In what way? The memory of words I had just spoken ran through Peter's mind. I'd told him that Jacob's people had saved all our lives. What could have threatened a family of our size? Was this danger more of the same? Or something new? Had the southern wars with their newborn armies spread this far north?
He wasn't sure he wanted to know. He'd had enough of fighting.
"All I'm asking is for you to witness the truth for yourselves. When you meet Renesmee, I think you will understand. Just, please, please, reserve your judgement until you hear the whole story."
Peter wordlessly indicated I should get on with it.
Our cousins stood in the center of the front room, placing themselves between our new visitors and where Jacob waited out of sight with Renesmee. It was reassuring to see how committed they were to her protection.
Introductions were made between my cousins and Peter and Charlotte, with cordial exchanges of having heard of each other before, through us, and how good it was to finally meet.
With the pleasantries out of the way, Peter turned to me, frowning. "Where is everyone else? Is your family not here? And I don't see… what was the name you said? Ren… Renesmee?"
"My family is looking for more of our friends to come and help. Alice told us who seek out, so I expect everyone will return soon. As for Nessie, er, Renesmee, she's with Jacob, and she's eager to meet you. But first, tell me, do you smell anything different now? Something that isn't Jacob."
It went much the same as it had with our cousins. Even Jacob's scent, concentrated within the house, could not disguise it. Nessie's smell was inviting, her beating heart compelling, and both were unlike anything either of them had encountered before.
"What is that, Edward?" Charlotte whispered. "What's making that sound?"
"That's Renesmee."
Who are these people, Edward? What have you gotten yourselves involved in?
"You'll see. Just remember what you're hearing, and what you're smelling." Although they continued to frown their confusion at me, they both nodded, so I said, "Jacob? We're ready now."
He shook his head and didn't budge. Even when Nessie tried to convince him, he refused to bring her into a room with people who so callously killed humans for their blood.
"Bella? Will you get Renesmee, please?"
"Oh. Okay." Before I could blink, Bella disappeared from my side and reappeared in front of Jacob.
"Are you sure?" Jacob asked in a choked whisper as he clutched Renesmee against his chest. It had been hard enough with the Denalis, but letting Nessie meet these guests? After listening to them casually talk of eating? As if they weren't taking people's lives! It's sick!
"We have to," Bella whispered back.
"It'll be fine, Jacob. Go ahead, please," I called.
Bella took Nessie from his trembling hands. Jacob could smell Peter and Charlotte from where he stood. Their scents stood out from ours, as if enhanced by the human blood they drank. It was painfully sharp in his nose, forcing him to blink rapidly against the watering in his eyes. Or perhaps it was more than Peter's and Charlotte's scents that were causing him to react thus. I hoped he would get control of himself quickly. The house was soon to be filled with traditional vampires, just like the two standing beside me now. He would have to get used to it if he was going to stay.
Contrarily, Bella did not seem as nervous to be introducing Renesmee to Peter and Charlotte as she had been with our vegetarian cousins. Perhaps their quick and easy acceptance of our daughter had eased her fears somewhat.
Renesmee herself was eager to meet these new arrivals. She liked Carmen very much, and was excited to make more new friends.
Bella came around the corner, with Jacob once again shadowing her every step, but this time, she didn't hesitate in the doorway. Bella continued into the room, coming to stand right between Kate and Tanya. Feeling confident now, Nessie didn't hide in Bella's hair, and their eyes found her right away. They barely noticed the werewolf glowering at them. Renesmee's mere presence demanded their attention.
An immortal child? What would possess them to create one of those creatures?
I knew it; animal blood does turn them mad eventually. Why else would they take such a risk? ...want us not to hunt the locals, but what's going to stop the child?
"She's not what you think," I reminded them quickly, pleased for Nessie's sake that they were not shrieking and cowering away, though Peter's lips curled and Charlotte shook her head and inched back toward the door.
"Edward, what - What have you done? Don't you know-"
"Yes," I cut Peter off. "I do know. Immortal children are illegal, and for good reason, but she is not one. Immortal children don't have beating hearts! Renesmee does. You can hear it, remember? Listen."
I waited while they did as I asked. There was no mistaking the source for the thrumming they heard. It could only be coming from the child in Bella's arms.
"Look closely," I said as understanding softened their features. "You can see that she is not a full vampire."
"Then what is she?"
"Half human, half vampire. Renesmee is not our creation; she's our daughter, Bella's and mine. I am her biological father, and Bella is her biological mother. I told you Bella and I met when she was human? I only changed her after Nessie was born. This might be even harder for you to accept, given your past, but Bella is only a few months into this life."
"Impossible," Charlotte hissed.
"That's what we said," Tanya agreed, though she was referring more to Nessie's existence than Bella's composure. The others nodded, smiling. Now that they had witnessed the truth in Nessie's memories, they seemed to be enjoying Peter's and Charlotte's reactions.
"I assure you, it is true. Bella and I married this summer, while she was human. And then, well, we didn't know it was possible for a human to conceive a vampire's child. Like you, none of us had ever heard of such a thing. From what little information we've been able to find since, if it ever did happen before, the women did not survive long enough to deliver. Bella's pregnancy all but killed her. Renesmee grew at an astounding pace, and continues to do so."
"She grows?" Charlotte gasped. But, then… how old is she? Looks like two years, but he said it was this summer?
I nodded. "Renesmee was born little more than three months ago. Bella was pregnant for a matter of weeks. She would have died giving birth, but I was able to change her, to save her. It was a close thing. I so very nearly lost her."
Without having chosen to cross the room, I found myself standing beside Bella, brushing her cheek with my fingers. To see her smiling up at me with love in her golden eyes was nothing short of a miracle. I knew myself to be the luckiest creature to ever exist, no matter how this ended.
"Edward, what you say cannot be true. Vampires can't have children. If it were possible, it would be known." Peter shook his head. "You aren't the first vampire to lie with a human woman."
"The first? No. But it was only through extraordinary measures and modern medicine that Bella survived long enough to deliver Renesmee. I may not have been the first to impregnate a human, but I am convinced that Bella is the first to have survived it."
May I show them, Daddy?
"Ask them yourself."
"May I show you?"
Peter and Charlotte gasped at the sound of Nessie's voice. It seemed to contradict everything I had just told them. So clear and precise, how could a months old child speak thus?
"Yes, child, show them, like you showed us." Carmen and Renesmee shared a grin.
"Yes," I agreed. "Renesmee has a gift for explaining things. If you will allow it?"
Renesmee turned her brilliant smile toward them and reached out in a wordless plea for them to come closer. Without meaning to, Charlotte responded. Neither she nor Peter were afraid of her the way Tanya, Kate, and Eleazar had been. They were more like Carmen: aware of the law, but lacking the experience that gave it weight. Curious and fascinated, Charlotte drew close enough for Nessie to touch.
This time, Renesmee chose her earliest memories to share first. Charlotte watched, lips parted and eyes wide, as my daughter's life unfolded in her mind.
