CHAPTER 13

"Do you plan to travel for much longer?"

Carlisle's voice wasn't even muffled by the phone. I could hear him just as well as if he'd been in the room with us, and so could my parents, but they were politely ignoring Edward talking to his sire.

"I can't give you an exact time frame for when Bella and I will be back," Edward replied, and Father gave me a questioning look in response to the strange name. I gestured to him that I'd explain later. "We're in Norway right now, wandering through the fjords and such, but I'll call as soon as we plan on heading back."

Clearly, we weren't in Norway admiring the fjords, but it was a precaution to lie about our location. We didn't really believe the Volturi kept tabs on Carlisle, but if he were to tell them in a casual conversation that his oldest son had met someone and they were traveling abroad, it was in our best interest to keep everything a secret.

Even though it did make Edward feel terrible to lie to his family, his motivation was me and our ever-growing child.

"All right then, but just so you're aware, the family needs to relocate soon, so we might not be in Seattle when you return."

"Okay, I'll keep that in mind. Tell the others Bella and I said hi."

"Absolutely. Take care, Edward."

Edward hung up, and Father immediately turned to me.

"Bella?" he asked.

I smiled in amusement. "I couldn't walk around and boast about being Marya Dragulia, now could I? I had to create a fake name."

"It was still tied to you though, Vlad," Edward commented before walking over to me and crouching down to give me a kiss. I was sitting in my new favorite armchair, reading through the copies we'd made of Father's codex to bring forth the endless amount of information he had in his head. "She called herself Bella Swan—beautiful swan as I've heard you address her."

My parents exchanged a loving gaze, and then Mother turned her head to me.

"How are you feeling, darling?" she asked in English. She was getting better at it but still spoke with a heavy accent.

"Couldn't be better," I replied and patted my stomach. "He's finally sleeping, I've got my favorite seat, and my personal pantry at my beck and call. The only thing I wish was different is that my child could be born in a world where Aro doesn't rule."

"Speaking of feeding," Edward said, narrowing his eyes as he took in my appearance and completely disregarding my latter statement. "You look paler. Do you think Jessica is up for another meal?"

"I didn't take much from her yesterday, but we'll ask. Jessica!"

Jessica was a human woman in her 30s, and she had become my feeder on the demand of my mother. She said it was essential I had around the clock access to food, and the best way to assure that was to acquire a feeder.

Edward had squirmed at the thought but soon got used to it. In fact, he preferred me drinking small amounts more often from the same human who actually got to live instead of killing excessively.

"Oui, madame?" Jessica said when she walked through the door.

"How are you feeling? Are you very dizzy or tired? Edward thinks I might need to eat," I explained, and she smiled.

"I feel fine. You took very little last time." She was already walking toward us and rolling up the sleeve of her sweater where my bite was visible on her wrist.

Edward placed a gentle, caring hand on her shoulder. He was already experiencing the friendly relationship vampires had with their feeders. "Don't be averse to letting us know when you need more time to rest in-between. We don't want you fainting again."

"Of course, monsieur," Jessica replied, not at all uncomfortable with Edward's touch. "I won't let it happen again. I was careless that first time."

We had found Jessica in a small town in France out of pure luck and coincidence. We were looking for a feeder, but we were expecting resistance and disbelief and were prepared to do everything to convince the chosen to believe vampires existed.

Jessica had approached us because she recognized my father from a painting in her great-grandmother's house. She said the painting had been passed through generations of her family longer than anyone could really remember, and the story that came with it was that far back in her family tree, there was a French princess by marriage who, before she met the prince she eventually married, she came into riches by serving a very powerful master and his family. She had lived with them in their castle, providing them with what they needed—blood.

The painting had been given to her when it had been time for her to leave and for another feeder to take her place. It was meant as a gift and reminder of who she had to thank for her fortunes in life.

Father couldn't recall giving such a painting to one of his feeders, but he knew that one of my brothers had been very fond of a young French girl. So fond, he didn't even lie with her because he didn't want to ruin her future and rob her of a chance to find a husband someday.

So Jessica had known about my family since she was a little girl, loving to hear the story told by her great-grandmother about the princess they descended from. She had always hoped the story was true, and when she saw Father, the spitting image of the man in the painting, she was certain it was.

She willingly became my feeder. She said her life had been very disappointing up to that point, and if she could serve a purpose, it would only make her happier.

I sank my teeth into her flesh, and she didn't even flinch. Naturally, there was no pain for her, and she calmly sat through my meal. When I was finished, Edward was there to tend to the open wound with sterile bandages.

"Merci, monsieur," Jessica said when he'd secured the bandage.

"Go to the kitchen and get some food and drink lots of fluids. Then, you're going to take a long, nice nap, okay?" he gently ordered.

"I will," she agreed, but before she left, she reached for my hand and squeezed it with a smile. "How are you? And how is the baby?"

"We're fine," I reassured her. It was very common for feeders to get attached to their vampires as well, and Jessica had started to show an almost maternal worry for both me and the child. "Go rest. Please."

She finally left to take care of herself, and I got up from the chair.

I was ten months along, but still not a whole lot bigger than a human pregnant woman. The two months I had left were mostly to strengthen the baby's muscles and bones as well as developing the intelligence further. Once born, the child would look like a human baby would at four to six months—apart from the fact that he would have all of his teeth—but he would have the intelligence of a five or six-year-old.

As I approached the table where our plans were laid out, Edward came up behind me and put his arms around my waist. He liked standing like that because he could connect with both me and the child.

He'd already been able to read his thoughts, which was how we knew it was a boy, and we talked to him through my stomach almost every night, explaining things to him, painting a picture of the world, what we were, and what he was.

But we'd yet to give him a name.

I wanted to name him Theron as it meant "untamed", which was exactly what I wanted him to be, but Edward wanted a more traditional name. As it was, we were still discussing it.

"So the plan is to eliminate those with closest ties to the brothers," I observed, and Father nodded. "Chelsea is the one who ties the guard to them, right? Wasn't she with them from the beginning?"

"According to our sources, yes," Father said. "She won't turn her back to Aro, no matter what, which means her partner, Afton, won't either. We can't let them live. Hopefully, with Chelsea out of the way, it will be easy enough to see which ones are too loyal to the brothers to go against them."

"We can't let Jane live either," Edward chimed in. "Not that she's necessarily completely devoted to Aro, but she's a sadist. She'd never submit to your more tolerant rule." He sighed. "I've never met her myself, but I've seen enough in Carlisle's mind to know she's a danger to humans and vampires alike."

I pointed to a name on the list of all the members of the Volturi coven. Specifically a name high up, yet I had no idea who she was. "Who's Renata?"

Before Father could answer, Edward spoke.

"Aro's personal bodyguard. A very timid vampire. Carlisle never once saw her physically fight, but that doesn't mean she can't."

"Why the question mark?" I asked.

"It's hard to determine if she's loyal to Aro out of choice or because of Chelsea," Father said. "She will clearly be an obstacle. She's like Aro's shadow, so we can't underestimate her place in the grand scheme. She can make or break our success if we can't get to Aro."

I hummed as I thought about if for a moment. "What's her gift? Why is she so valuable to Aro?"

"She blocks physical attacks with her mind. Like an invisible force field."

A small little laugh escaped me. "I can easily bypass that. So far, there haven't been any tricks of the mind I can't shut out."

Edward placed a kiss behind my ear, which made me giggle. "Except for mine, that is," he teased.

I smirked. "Don't let it go to your head. If I hadn't bitten you, you still wouldn't have heard a peep out of me."