Grant Charles had lived a tough life.

That hadn't changed once he had become a vampire. As a human, he had fallen in with the wrong crowd. He considered himself lucky though as that wrong crowd meant that he was turned into a vampire. However, just like his human life, he had once again fallen in with the wrong vampire crowd. He had met a pair of mates and they enjoyed the life of being the apex predator.

The coven leader, Antonio, was a vampire who had been turned during the Spanish revolution. Antonio's wild ways led him to his mate Liliana, who he turned shortly after meeting. They had spent decades feeding off humans and left a trail of destruction in their wake. That's how Grant had come across the two vampires. He had been engaging in less than stellar activities as a human and it piqued the interest of the two. Antonio later turned Grant and the trio started their reign of terror. Feeding and terrorising humans as they pleased without a care in the world. Unfortunately, they had drawn the attention of the Volturi. Antonio had told them many horror stories about the Volturi and what would happen to them if they were ever caught. As strange as it was, it was this fear that made Antonio often injure himself…almost as if Antonio knew the Volturi would catch up to them one day. Antonio was mentally and physically preparing himself for the torture he would experience. Grant and Liliana had dismissed Antonio's strange self-harm ways and chalked it up to Antonio being overly paranoid. After all, one doesn't survive a revolution without a healthy dose of paranoia. Besides, what would the Volturi care about the three of them?

As it would turn out, the Volturi had been monitoring the trio for a while and after their latest terrorisation of a rural human community, the trio's luck had run out. Now, Grant, Antonio and Liliana were being dragged through the hallways of the infamous Volturi coven to the dreaded throne room. Grant watched in horror as the doors were slammed opened and him and his coven members were dragged by the Volturi guards into the foyer of the throne room. Terror consumed him as his gaze fell upon the three infamous vampire kings. Aro, the mind reader sat in the middle throne. Caius, the ruthless blonde leader to Aro's right. Marcus, the half-dead leader (who strangely no longer looked half-dead Grant noted) sat to Aro's left. Antonio and Liliana were thrown to the ground by the red hooded guards and Grant followed closely behind. The guards made sure to keep the trio trapped within their grasp.

"Ahhh," Aro said as he stood up and approached the three restrained vampires, "The not so subtle hunters. I'm assuming you don't need me to explain why you're here?". Grant chose widely to remain silent.

"Who are you to decide where we can and can't eat? We made everything look like an animal attack!" Antonio hissed angrily. Liliana shrieked in agreement with her mate.

"Tsk tsk tsk," Aro hummed as he placed his hand on Antonio's head. Grant watched in both horror and fascination as Aro read Antonio's thoughts.

"How naughty indeed," Aro pulled his hand away and walked back towards his throne, "Jane?". Dreaded instantly consumed Grant.

'That's the crazy vampire Antonio always feared. This is bad! This is so bad!' Grant thought to himself.

A red hooded vampire appeared in front of them and Antonio suddenly hunched over, his body shaking slightly. Grant and Liliana weren't so lucky however. They both started screaming as their pain receptors lit up and it felt like their bodies were on fire.

Antonio, despite his shaking, slowly lifted his head and stared at the hooded vampire in front of them, "I know all about your powers bitch. I ain't gonna give you the pleasure of my screams!". The pain suddenly stopped. Grant managed to lift his head up to see why. From the rumours he had heard about Jane, merciful was not a term that applied to her. It was only then that he saw a beautiful, brunette-haired vampire standing next to the red hooded vampire that was Jane. She was dressed in a dark purple gown that had a deep plunging neckline with silver heels. She appeared to be wearing several pieces of expensive jewellery that matched her glowing bright red eyes.

"Didn't anyone teach you any manners," the mysterious vampire taunted Antonio, "We'll have to change that".

She looked at Jane, "Shall we try something Jane?". The female vampire held her left hand out and Jane hesitantly placed her hand within hers. The unknown vampire lifted her right arm and pointed her palm towards Antonio, reminding Grant of the 'talk to the hand' pose.

'The fuck is going on?' Grant was on the verge of a mental breakdown. He had a bad feeling things were about to get much worse.

The mysterious female continued to stare in Jane's eyes, "If you will Jane".

"Pain," Jane whispered. Antonio's body suddenly snapped back and he started screaming. The unknown female slowly bought her fingers together, as if she was forming a fist, which caused Antonio to start screaming louder. Grant and Liliana watched in terror as their previous unfazed leader was reduced to a screaming mess. The female continued to stare in Jane's eyes and as her fingers closed more and more, Antonio's screams grew louder. Cracks started appearing on Antonio's face from the massive mental pain he was experiencing. Grant had to look away from his maker. It was unlike anything he had seen before and something Grant knew would stay with him forever. His gaze fell back once more on the two female vampires in front of him.

"This is your punishment for calling her a bitch," the female smiled and closed her fingers completely. Antonio let out one more horrific scream before there was a sickening crack noise. Grant slowly turned away from the two female vampires and, despite it being physically impossible, he wanted to throw up at the sight before him. Antonio's head had collapsed under all the pressure from the cracks that had formed in his head.

"You were right my loves," the mysterious female dropped her hand and looked at the Volturi leaders, "I can concentrate my mirror and use it to reflect a person's power to another person at a much greater intensity. Like a magnifying glass focusing light on an ant".

Aro clapped his hands together in joy, "How marvellous my little swan! What a combination you and Jane make!".

'…just who the fuck is this bitch?' Grant thought in terror.

The female smiled fondly at the leaders before she turned back to look at Jane, the same fond smile still on her face, "Shall we explore this partnership more Jane?". Jane removed her hood and a feral like smile appeared on her child-like face. The female vampire lifted her right arm again and pointed her hand at Grant. The female vampire held her left hand out and Jane's hand covered hers once again.

"No!" Grant begged, "Please no!".

"Pain".

It was the last thing Grant ever heard.


It had been several months since we had received the invitation for my sister's wedding. As much as I wanted to crash the wedding, because it would have been brilliant to see the Cullens' and my sister explain why I was not so dead, it meant that I would be putting my loved ones in danger. Humans could not know about the existence of vampires and it would be unfair if my loved ones did and were either not killed or turned. While I was still very upset with my twin, I loved my family and friends more then to put them through that suffering.

'August 13th,' I thought to myself, 'The day my sister married Edward and the day she would have lost her humanity'. It was just under two weeks until Christmas and I couldn't contain my excitement. Many of the guards had not celebrated Christmas in centuries and I was determined to bring the Christmas spirit back to the coven. During my time with the Volturi, I had started growing close with the personal guards who guarded myself and my mates; Jane, Alec, Demetri and Felix. Now that my thirst was under much more control and I had been exposed to more political issues, I had been introduced to the remainder of the coven members. Unlike our personal guard, I still had a much more professional demeanor with the remainder of the coven members. Until I had their respect as their leader, I kept all my relationships strictly as their ruler. My mates had slowly been exposing me to more and more of the issues they face as leaders. Normally, I was hidden away in the sea of red cloaks and if I felt confident, I would emerge and handle the situation myself. I was careful with this though. The outside world did not yet know of my existence and my mates and I agreed to keep it that way for a bit longer. In a majority of the cases, unless the vampires involved were to be executed, I watched hidden away on the sidelines.

"Do you think it's possible that they own every book ever written?" I asked Jane one day after we had finished training, "There's certainly plenty of libraries that I wouldn't be surprised if they did". Jane and I had developed a bit of an unusual relationship ever since we discovered that I could intensify my mirror-like ability. I came to view her as a younger sister and slowly, every so pain snakingly slowly, Jane had started to open up a bit to me during the time we spent together. I was confident, while maybe not the sister relationship I viewed it as, Jane did value our friendship.

Jane stared blankly at me, "No. If you want to get them books for Christmas, I would advise that you clean their personal library up first. Have an idea about what books they treasure most and you can go from there".

"Oh Jane," I smiled cheekily at her, "You're so smart! How did you know that's what I was planning? You know the saying, those who torture together, stay together".

Jane rolled her eyes at me, "You are always so dramatic".

I bid my farewell to Jane and started on the marathon task of organising the private library I shared with my mates. It was only then that I truly came to understand just how many books my mates had collected over the years…and this was only their personal library! There was no order to the system and I found myself becoming more and more frustrated as a result. It was evident that there was simply not enough room for all the books they had gathered over the years.

I was perched high on a ladder shifting through another shelf when I heard, "What are you doing i kardiá mou?".

I turned around and looked at my beautiful mate Marcus standing in the library doorway, "Do you realise how many books you have? Not that I'm complaining but there's no order to them. How am I meant to know what to get you for Christmas if I can't tell what books you already have?".

Marcus smiled at me, "I kardiá mou, your presence is gift enough. You don't need to get us anything". Marcus entered the library and walked over to our loveseat before taking a seat. It was after all the time of day where we would read together.

"I know," I assured him, "But it's our first Christmas together and I want it to be special". I turned back to the shelf I was arranging, keen to finish so I could spend time with Marcus. It was only then that I saw a book wedged between the shelf and the back of the cabinet.

"What's this?" I muttered to myself as I fished the book out and wiped the dust away from the surface of the book. I carefully opened the cover and was surprised to see writing in a language I had never seen before. I am proud to say that over the last few moments, and with the help of my mates, I have learnt at least a bit about most languages. My specialises were still Italian, Greek and French as per my mates but I was confident I could at least identify any language. The language in the book was something I had never come across before. The pages inside were old, shrivelled paper and were a complete mismatch to the much newer looking cover. I gracefully jumped off the ladder and approached Marcus.

"Marcus, what language is this? I've never seen it," I asked in fascination as I sat down next to him and curled up into his side.

Marcus wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me closer to him as he carefully opened the book and studied the words for a few minutes, "It's Mapudungun".

"Mapudungun?" I asked in confusion, "I've never heard of it".

"It's the language of the Native people of Chile," Marcus said as his eyes roamed over the handwriting on the page, "I came across these pages from the remains of a burnt-up village when the Volturi had travelled to the area to sort out a werewolf problem. The person who had written them had gone to great efforts for the pages to survive whatever burned the village down. I had all the pages bound together in this book but never got around to reading them".

I hummed, "Shall we change that? Do you know how to read it?". I watched in wonder as Marcus continued to flick through the pages in the book.

Marcus started to run his hand up and down my arm, "It's definitely been several centuries since I last have but I remember enough. I will translate it into English as I go thought I may need to add words for the translation to make sense. Where did you find this?".

"At the back of one of the bookcases. It had appeared to be pushed to the back when other books were added and fell into the cracks," I smirked at him, "See what happens when you don't organise your library".

Marcus smiled slightly at my teasing as he turned back to the first page, "From my brief reading of it, it appears to be the journal of the village scribe dating back to maybe the 1850s. The first page details that a man from a far away land visited the tribe and gifted them paper. The scribe notes that he previously wrote on rocks or giant leaves but he found this paper to be much durable".

"Well that was nice," I muttered as I snuggled into Marcus' side as he continued to read through the journal. It detailed the daily life of the tribe, the events the tribe experienced but my favourite section was when the scribe described his own life. It detailed his grief over the loss of his love Huilen, him finding love again with the apprentice of the village healer and the family he went onto have with her.

"There seems to be quite a jump from the previous entry to this one," Marcus began, "It has been many moons since I last wrote but I had too. I joined my sons on a hunt and I could not believe my eyes! My beautiful Huilen had become a red-eyed libishomen. She had not aged a day since I last saw her. The young man next to her looked so much like Pire. Maybe her son? They shined in the sunlight. Huilen brightly, the male shined but nowhere near as bright. His glow was very dull".

I frowned slightly as I looked at Marcus, "That sounds awfully like a vampire but one to shine brightly while the other doesn't? That's strange".

"You're right i kardiá mou," Marcus frowned as well, "Libishomen is a local term for vampire. It sounds like Huilen somehow become a vampire. It is strange about the male though. I've never heard about a vampire not fully shining in the sunlight".

"He mentioned earlier that Pire was Huilen's sister correct? And that they disappeared one night together?" I asked, "Maybe Pire had a child and Huilen turned him when he was old enough?".

Marcus hummed as he turned the page and continued to read, "It appears that the final entry notes that the man who gifted the paper returned, unaged from their first encounter all those years ago, days after the scribe saw Huilen and the mystery male. The man said he was searching for the half-libishomen. Apparently, he didn't like the answer he received from the Village Head and started killing the villagers. The entry abruptly ends there".

"So, the man who gifted the paper all those years prior was a vampire? And he returned years later to find a half-libishomen?" I asked in confusion, "Where did you find these pages exactly?".

"It would appear so but a half-libishomen…I've never heard anything like it. We came across the village in a remote area on our last day in Chile. It appeared that the village had been destroyed for quite some time. Burned to the ground. The guards and I had investigated the site in case it was related to the werewolves we were hunting down. As we investigated the site, I found the pages buried in the ground underneath one of the buried bodies. Based on what we know now, it appears the scribe buried the papers underneath his house when the vampire started attacking the tribe and the scribe's body hid the evidence of the buried papers he protected," Marcus explained, "I took the pages because once we deemed that the destroyed village had nothing to do with the werewolves, I wanted to add Mapudungun to our library as we had yet too".

"Unbelievable," I muttered, "You can't locate a book in this damn library, but you knew you didn't have Mapudungun in the library".

Marcus chuckled and kissed my head, "Mapudungun is a rare language. It hadn't been well-preserved on rocks and leaves but the paper had kept the writings safe".

"What a tale though. The scribe was gifted paper from the vampire that would later kill him. His first love turned into a vampire and a mysterious vampire, who looks Huilen's sister, that could be a half-vampire?" I took the book from Marcus' hands and flipped through the pages that I could not read, hoping it would provide more answers, "I didn't know half-vampires were such a thing? I mean, you mentioned that not-so-little Marcus comes to life because I am your mate. Maybe Pire found her vampire mate while she was human?".

Marcus carefully plucked the books from my hands and quickly flipped through the pages, "I've never heard of such a thing. Half-vampire? I suppose that theoretically, it could be possible that a male vampire could impregnate a female human if she is his singer. But the taste of her blood would be overwhelming. I do not know of a vampire with enough resistance to not drain or kill the human during the sexual act".

"It's possible though," I argued.

"It is," Marcus didn't disagree with me, "But in all my years, I've never heard of anything like it".

I hummed in thought, "Interesting".

"A topic we can discuss later i kardiá mou. We are due to see Aro and Caius for your lessons," Marcus kissed my head once more and we untangled ourselves from each other before we headed towards a small chamber that my mates and I used for my studies. The library was our place of relaxation and I refused to bring work into the space. Marcus and I entered the room and my two other mates looked up from the books surrounding them. While not as big as the throne room, the chamber was still a decent size. There were four thrones and a drainage area in case we wanted to eat in the room. To the side, where two of my mates were currently sitting, was an oval shaped table with four chairs.

"My little swan," Aro greeted while Caius nodded his head in acknowledgment.

"What am I learning today?" I asked as myself and Marcus took a seat at the table. There were piles of ancient looking books stacked high on the table.

"We are reviewing the financial records over the last few decades," Caius explained as he turned the page of a book he was reading, "We are investigating our investments and whether we need to make any changes".

"Well…that sounds like fun," I chipped unenthusiastically as I picked up a book, "What exactly do I need to do?". My mates explained in great detail about how to read the financial records, how to determine the returns on the investment, what money was being spent on in the coven and what the coven's overall financial position was. I had argued that a computer could easily do this and was promptly informed that a computer could be hacked…sealed books that lived in the belly of the Volturi, not so much. As we reviewed the records, my mates would randomly quiz me on other topics I had studied with them.

"You must be able to draw on your knowledge quickly," Caius justified.

After several hours, Aro stood up and walked behind me.

"Tell me my little swan," Aro placed his hands on my shoulders and massaged them softly, "What are the most common issues that we deal with?".

I placed my hands over Aro's and squeezed them slightly, "Exposure to humans, arguments between covens, vampires trespassing on the land of covens, immortal children and covens moving against us".

Aro lent forward and kissed my cheek, "Well done my little swan. What is the expectation for trespassing vampires?".

"It is not trespassing if the trespassing vampire is blood related to one of the vampires of the coven," Aro spun me around and pressed his lips against mine. I quickly reciprocated and wrapped my arms around his neck as the kiss became more heated.

"If you two are both done," Caius drawled, "We appear to have a guest". Aro and I pulled apart and he stood beside me as Demetri opened the doors. A female vampire wearing a black dress with gold eyes and blonde coloured hair pulled into a bun was escorted in by Felix. Alec and Jane watched from the shadows in case the vampire appeared to be of any threat.

"What a pleasant surprise," Aro said as the female vampire cautiously approached us but stopped a few feet away. Her eyes flashed towards me before quickly returning to Aro.

Caius snapped his book shut in annoyance and turned to the intruder, "What do you want?".

The vampire hesitated before she slowly walked towards us, "I'm here to report a crime. The Cullens'…they've done something…terrible". My eyes narrowed slightly at her.

'What was my dear twin up too now? Maybe, even though Carlisle had said she had been turned, Bella hadn't been turned?' I thought to myself.

"Allow me my dear," Aro soothed as approached her and took the vampire's hand.

"Her name is Irina," Caius whispered silently to me, "She's a vampire belonging to the Denali coven who fed on animal blood. The Volturi had a run in with their maker Sasha. Her maker was killed after she had created an immortal child".

"Oh my," Aro suddenly said as he released Irina's hand, "That is very serious. Demetri, could you please escort dear Irina to one of our guest rooms? My brothers and I have much to discuss". Demetri bowed and escorted a very hesitant Irina out of the room.

"What did you see Aro?" I asked my mate.

Aro returned to his seat, "Edward and your sister have created an immortal child".

I sat there in stunned disbelief, "…what?".

"Those fools," Caius smirked, "It's been a while since we've last had a fight".

"Are you sure?" I asked, still trying to get over my disbelief, "She wouldn't do such a thing".

'I joined my sons on a hunt and I could not believe my eyes! My beautiful Huilen had become a red-eyed libishomen. She had not aged a day since I last saw her. The young man next to her looked so much like Pire. Maybe her son? They shined in the sunlight. Huilen brightly, the male shined but nowhere near as bright. His glow was very dull'

'Was it too outrageous to think that it might not be an immortal child? Bella and Edward were mates so was it really outlandish to think that they could create a half human half vampire child? A hybrid' I thought to myself. I watched from the corner of my eye as Demetri re-entered the room and took his position in the shadows amongst our personal guards.

I hesitated, "What if I go to Forks and investigate myself?".

"No," Caius replied instantly.

I sighed, "Hear me out Caius".

"What is there to consider vasílissa mou?" Caius asked in curiosity, "You're not going-".

"Now, now, brother," Aro interrupted Caius, "Let's not be too hasty brother. Let's hear what our little swan has to say".

"You're even considering this Aro?" Caius roared in anger.

"I'm asking you to trust me," I snapped back, "I know my sister. She's not an idiot, though she sometimes acts like one, and wouldn't do anything to risk the safety of Edward".

"No," Caius repeated.

I growled in annoyance, "Listen to me Caius. Marcus and I were reading in the library and I want to investigate further. I know my sister and there's enough doubt in my mind about whether this is indeed an immortal child".

"And pray tell vasílissa mou, what is it that you read that causes you such doubt over this creature being immortal child," Caius taunted. I narrowed my eyes in frustration at Caius' condescending tone.

"It was a tale from a scribe who lived in a remote village in Chile. The area we visited over a hundred years ago to deal with those werewolves. I found those pages and had them bound into a book. I had never had a chance to read them and i kardiá mou found the book when she was cleaning. It mentions the potential existence of a half-vampire," Marcus explained.

Caius didn't respond immediately, "You expect me to risk the life of our mate over a rumour you both read by a human who had no idea what really existed out there in the world?".

"I know it sounds…far reaching…but trust me Caius. I know my sister and the Cullen's aren't stupid. They barely left Italy alive last time they came to the Volturi. As if they would risk our wrath again so soon," I tried to reason with my stubborn mate as I stood from my chair, "Trust me Caius".

Caius leap from his chair and appeared in front of me but I refused to cower under his gaze, "I trust you Charlotte. I do not however trust the vampires you seem so content to return to". This is how serious this issue was to Caius. The only time he ever called me Charlotte was during our intimate moments together, when it was only myself or our mates.

"I don't trust them either," I assured Caius as I cupped his face between my hands, "But I do know my sister. She wouldn't do this and there's too much doubt in my mind over what I read".

Caius and I stared at each other for several moments. He lent down and rested his forehead against mine, "I'm sorry vasílissa mou. I cannot let you do this. If anything was to happen to you, I would never forgive myself. You are so young and are barely able to control your bloodlust at the best of times".

I sighed before pressing my lips against Caius, "Please Caius. I'll be back within 24 hours".

"That's 24 hours too long not in the safety of the coven. We have so many enemies vasílissa mou. They would not hesitate to take you…to hurt you," his eyes somehow turned blacker. Really confirming to me how much Caius feared for my safety if I was to leave the coven.

"Leave us," Marcus ordered. Demetri, Felix, Alec and Jane disappeared from the shadows.

"I agree with Caius. You do not know what you ask i kardiá mou," Marcus stood up from his chair and approached us. I removed one of my hands from Caius' cheek and placed it on Marcus' cheek when he was close enough.

I cradled each of their cheeks in my hand and my thumbs stroked little patterns, "I know what I ask is high but I am doing this for us. You read what I read Marcus. You have the same doubts that I do. Imagine what would happen if we went marching with an army for it not to be an immortal child. It would look like the Volturi are power hungry and looking for any reason for a fight. And if it is possible for a hybrid to exist, how bad would it look if the Volturi had no idea about it".

Marcus covered my hand with his, "I know what we read i kardiá mou but we cannot take such a huge risk with your life. We will face the repercussions together. A hybrid? A half human half vampire creature from the ramblings of a scribe in a remote village? Your life cannot be risked on something so flimsy". I frowned at Marcus and Caius. I understood their concerns but not investigating this further would be the downfall of the Volturi. It would show that we were impulsive, 'shot first, ask later' so to speak. We had so many enemies already, we couldn't afford to give them any more leverage when it could be prevented. It was only then I noticed that Aro had been strangely silent. My gaze turned to Aro who appeared to be deep in thought.

I stepped away from my mates and headed towards Aro, "Aro?". He appeared to snap out of his thoughts. I held my hand out for Aro to take.

"Please Aro," I begged him, "See my plan". Aro and I were locked in a staring contest before he reluctantly reached out and took my hand. I closed my eyes and focused on lowing my mirror so Aro could read my thoughts. I opened my eyes and observed Aro as he took in all my thoughts.

Aro pulled me into arms and cradled me close, "I can never say no to you my little swan".


Thank you everyone for your support and my apologies for the delay!

Unfortunately I fell quite ill a few weeks ago and am still yet to fully recover! I apologise in advance if some aspects of this chapter do not make sense. I'm still taking some heavy medications so while I have edited again and again, some bits and pieces may have spilled through the cracks.

A goal of mine for this story has been to tie up some of the loose ends that were in Twilight. A big point that I wanted to address was the damage to the Volturi's reputation at the end of Breaking Dawn. With how scheming the Volturi are, I found it hard to believe that they wouldn't have sent any spies to investigate Irina's claims before bringing the whole coven to Forks.

I thought of a creative way that the Volturi could be made aware of the rumours but still create the uncertainty about whether a hybrid was even possible. I fact checked as much as possible and confirmed that paper was indeed a thing back in the 1850s (not the same paper we have today but still a thing back then!). As the chapter was getting quite long, I have split it into two sections. The next chapter will explain further why Charlotte is the best vampire for the job of spying and she will be seeing some very familiar faces soon!

Thank you everyone for your continued support!

Stay safe xxx