CHAPTER 8

My epiphany made it impossible for me to enjoy the aftermath of my mating, and I extracted myself from Edward's arms despite his protests.

When I started to get dressed again, he sat up in bed, and his expression wasn't what I would have expected. He was looking at me knowingly and as if he was just waiting for me to speak up.

It only solidified my suspicion.

"So the cat's out of the bag, huh?" I asked him. I knew I didn't have to elaborate. He'd know exactly what I was referring to.

"I'm not sure it was ever in the bag," he replied and in the same breath continued. "I have my gift for a reason. I was very perceptive as a human and a very good listener. Even without people explicitly telling me their secrets, I could figure them out easily enough through the hidden meaning in their spoken words."

I smirked and looked over my shoulder, strangely proud of my mate for not falling for the ruse. "Did I ever fool you?"

"Not really. I knew you were lying from the start, but I had a feeling that confronting you would be counterproductive, but it wasn't until you bit me that I found out the extent of your lies."

"How?" I asked. My back was still to him because I didn't want to see his face as he told me what he knew. "Did you just piece it all together yourself or what gave it away?"

"You did … or rather, your mind did."

I couldn't comprehend what he was telling me, but I didn't have to try and figure it out for long because he didn't keep me hanging.

"From the moment you bit me, that block of yours hasn't been able to keep me out. I think it's because I have a part of you in me."

Of course. My venom. I could have groaned out loud over my own ignorance.

"Right," I said but didn't know how to continue. It was a first for me to be aware that my thoughts were no longer just my own. "So you know everything then?"

"I doubt it, but I've understood the gist of it."

"And your family? Do they know?"

"No," he replied instantly. "And I don't plan for them to know either."

I had no choice but to turn around and look at him after he said that because it shocked me so much. "What? Why not? Don't you know who I am?"

"I do. I just don't care," he said and steadily looked into my eyes, but I wasn't certain he was telling the truth.

"Really?" I contended. "Then tell me who I am."

He immediately recognized the challenge and stood up from his bed, not at all caring he was completely naked. "What your exact name is isn't relevant to me. I don't know your real age, and I don't know your real background. What I do know is that you're one of the first; one of the originals. A breed of vampire I thought, until yesterday, was extinct." His blue eyes pierced into mine as he stepped closer and raised his hand to touch my cheek. "I also know that you're my mate, and yes, I know the true meaning of that word. You've thought a lot about that aspect for the last twenty-four hours." He traced his hand down my neck and even farther until it settled on my waist. "And I also know what we just did might result in, which means you are the mother of my eventual child. That's what I know, and that's all that matters to me."

As much as his words meant to me, I was afraid they weren't enough. "That's not all that matters in the grand scheme of things though," I told him, but at least I knew I could completely trust him. I just hoped he would extend the faith in me. "You say you don't know my real background, and that you don't care, but my background is a huge factor in what my future will look like. If you want to know about it, I will tell you, but I'll need you to do something for me."

I had figured out that Edward was basing all of his information on what he'd heard in my thoughts, but he'd been asleep for the part where I truly thought of my plan. He didn't yet know what my end goal was.

But I couldn't tell him while we were in the house. For now, all the other vampires were asleep, but if any one of them were to wake up, everything would be over.

"Anything," Edward promised. He was about to prove how serious he took his own promises.

"In the safe in Carlisle's office, he keeps a very old book—a codex—the Volturi lent him to translate. I need you to take that codex and meet me at my place." I gave him the address of the small studio I was occupying in downtown Seattle. The real tenants were on vacation, so I'd taken the liberty to stay at their place since I had never planned to stay for very long.

What surprised me the most was the complete lack of hesitation in Edward when he nodded, and I couldn't help but question why he wasn't questioning me.

He gave me a small smile. "I'm certain you have a reason for everything, and until you give me your explanation, I won't judge you. I won't say it doesn't worry me that you're after the codex, but I trust you. Just like you trust me."

It was a little bit disconcerting to have an unspoken question answered in that manner, but I had to admit it had perks to it. I just needed to get used to it.

"I'll meet you in ten minutes," I instructed, purposefully giving a little extra time since we'd have to move in the daylight, and it made us a tiny bit slower. I placed the sunglasses I always kept on me over my eyes, and then left the house.

It was bright outside, and I felt very uncomfortable, but I shook away the feeling and made way toward the little studio to wait for Edward. Hopefully, he'd have the codex with him, but I wouldn't blame him if he didn't.

If everything worked out, that would mean I could finally move forward with my father's revival ritual, but first I had to convince Edward to let me look through the codex, if only to cast a mere glance at the page I needed.

Since I didn't have a key to the studio, the window had been my main entry and exit, and I sat on the sill of it to show Edward where he needed to go.

There was a moment of silence as we sat at the small kitchen table, and he put the codex between us. It was impossible for me to hold in my excitement, but I didn't immediately reach out for it. I wanted Edward to feel secure in giving it to me.

"What does this codex mean to you?" he asked, his tone soft.

"Everything," I breathed out. "It's what I've been searching for and the real reason why I was at the hospital the other night."

"But why?"

I smiled humorlessly. "The Volturi might have lent it to Carlisle, but it was never theirs. They stole it from my father after they killed him and burned down our home."

Because I had given him a version of the truth even when I lied, he immediately understood what I was telling him and what that meant. It wasn't a secret in the modern vampire world that before the Volturi took on their position as rulers, they'd killed the rulers before them.

The issue was that in their version of events, they were liberators of humans and vampires alike and my family had been a ruthless, uncivilized, and monstrous breed of vampire who couldn't be allowed to live because of our terrorizing reign.

"You're a Dragulia."

I closed my eyes and allowed them to transform back into my own brown ones. "I am."

Edward gasped in shock. "I thought they all died with—"

"I wasn't bitten by my father, Edward," I said and gave him a pointed look. "The Volturi doesn't know I exist, which is why it's been said for a millennia that vampires can't procreate." I placed my hand over the codex. "It's obvious you know everything about our history that you've been allowed to find out about. This codex holds all the knowledge you could possibly dream of about vampires and what we're capable of, and it's essential the Volturi don't get that information."

Edward scrubbed his face with his hands, and I could see how overwhelmed he was. "I don't understand."

"I don't blame you," I said. "A lot of what the Volturi has told the world since they mounted their thrones are lies, and I understand it must be confusing to you. But if there's anything you take with you from this conversation today, then it needs to be a promise that the Volturi will never know what's written in this codex."

"They've tried to translate it for ages without success. I doubt their luck will suddenly turn."

"Their lack of success has only been because they haven't found anyone who knows the language." I gave him a grim look. "Imagine what they'd do if they found out the only living creature on this earth who can read that codex is none other than the mate of the first vampire Carlisle Cullen sired."

He pointed at the codex. "You can read this?"

"My father wrote it. What do you think?" I said with a deadpan tone. "Not only am I the last living Dragulia, but I can also give them what they've wanted for a thousand years. Do you think they'd be kind to me?" I shook my head and grimaced. "No, they would torture me slowly, and painfully, before they killed me."

Edward grabbed the hand I held over the codex tightly in his. "Over my dead body."