Chapter 3

Haines gave an impressed nod as he looked around the study at the antiques, books, and documents. Carlisle and Esme sat down on the couch beside the fire and he joined them with a smile.

"You have quite the collection. It even rivals mine now," said Haines and Carlisle smiled back.

"That is high compliments coming from someone of your stature and reputation. I must admit I am surprised to see you. I have reached out in the past but you declined the invitation," reminded Carlisle.

"My apologies if you took offense. It most certainly was not my intention. As you know, I prefer to stay underground as much as possible. Attending to high class parties and mingling with the most powerful vampires in the world isn't exactly my cup of tea."

"And yet here you are," said Esme with a clip to her tone that surprised him.

"I must have truly offended you to be on the receiving end of an Esme Cullen disapproving glance. I am not here to harm anyone. I assure you."

"You brought a known firestarter to our island and let him accuse us of holding a vampire captive. I am not sure how that does not bring harm," said Esme.

"The boy came to me in a panic. What was I supposed to do?"

"Call us," suggested Carlisle.

"I was going to do that, but he vowed to get to the bottom of things and find Natalie whether I helped him or not. Come now, you two know me. I am the same historian from Leeds that you met as newlyweds."

"I think we all know historian is only half the story now. Merek mentioned a run-in with you a few years ago," said Carlisle.

"The same Merek that no one can seem to find, not even the Volturi, and your coven was the last to see him," reminded Haines.

"What are you accusing us of here," questioned Carlisle and Haines put his hands up in surrender.

"Nothing, just pointing out that much has transpired since the last time we spoke, but that doesn't change who we are."

"Then who are you now, since you know so much about us," asked Esme.

"The only reason I am here is because Tomas tracked some leads back to me. I crossed paths with Natalie years ago and we helped each other out. I gave her some information and she helped me transfer all of me historical documents and records to digital copies for a database."

"And this database helps you keep tabs of all things on the black market," accused Esme.

"These days, I am in the information business. Much like in the human world, our world has had a black market for quite some time now. Under Aro's rule, it was far worse, but Marcus and Didyme cracked down. They were smart about it though and knew that eradicating it would only anger even more vampires than the ones already disgruntled by the shift in power. So, I was put in place to mediate for both sides. Under Aro, the market fueled some of the richest, most powerful vampires in our world. They also happened to be the worst of the worst, but much has changed. Tech, chemicals, and all types of things are still sold, but the Volturi keeps things in check. I let them know if anything is out of balance," he explained.

"That still doesn't explain why you are here now. Natalie isn't part of our coven. You know that," said Carlisle and Haines scoffed.

"Carlisle, you know how this looks to the rest of the vampire world. In the past year, you have added two new additions to the family, both with unbelievable amounts of power. The rumors about Allison began the day she started tracking down Natalie and Natalie, well let's just say no one steals nuclear codes without gaining a bit of notoriety."

"So Tomas is right, we are targets now," said Carlisle and Haines sat back in the chair with a smug smile.

"I happen to be very good at my job, which is to collect and control information. You didn't exactly help yourselves by allowing them to break into the Volturi castle, but I've managed to use that in my favor underground. They fear you and the powers they believe you are collecting. The problem isn't the underground. They will not get out of line after hearing about so many failed attempts in the past. The problem is that many covens now believe you are shown preferential treatment that allows you to gain power in ways the Volturi would never allow with other covens. That is why I am here. I could have turned Tomas away and let him go on a rampage until you had no choice but to eliminate him, but that wouldn't quell the fears. So, instead, I departed with him from the Isles and accompanied him to Volterra. We forged a formal complaint that the vampire world can now see and when he realizes that Natalie is here because she is the imprint of Joshua Black, not because of the Cullens, he will have no choice but to concede. The vampire world needs reassurance that the Volturi can handle you and this seemed like a simple way of accomplishing that," he explained. He chuckled when Esme glided over to kiss his cheek.

"Thank you," she said and he winked at her.

"Of course, Esme, you know you will always have a special place in my heart," he assured and Carlisle rolled his eyes with a smile.

"I was wondering when you would shamelessly flirt with my mate," said Carlisle and Haines laughed.

"Well, I wouldn't want to disappoint," he assured.

Natalie sat down on the edge of the cliff overlooking the water and Tomas sat beside her. He looked back at the cottage behind them.

"Is that where you two stay," he asked.

"Josh technically lives in La Push. Sometimes we rent a cabin there, but he also has a room in the main house and a room in there. It is Zach and Allie's cottage."

"And this is your favorite place on the island," he said and chuckled at her shocked expression.

"How did you…"

"Give me some credit, Natalie. We spent so many days and nights together talking, learning about one another, trying to just remain sane. I know you. I always have and I always will," he reminded.

"I know you too," she said as she rested her head on his shoulder and he wrapped an arm around her.

"I thought you were dead," he whispered and she looked up at him as he continued.

"I looked for you, hoping, refusing to give up because I knew you were a fighter. You wouldn't just let him win. Eventually, I did give up though. I mourned and grieved. I even planted a crambe plant in Lisbon for you that way I would always have something you loved by my home."

"You did," she asked and he nodded with a smile.

"I meant that promise, Natalie. If we made it out, we would spend our lives together being the family we never were allowed to have. I meant every word," he said as he cupped her cheek. Her eyes widened when he leaned in to kiss her and she quickly pulled back.

"Tomas, we can't. Josh and I are…"

"Josh is a boy who can never really understand you. He doesn't know what we went through, none of these Cullens can understand. They sit in their mansion on this island, throwing their parties, and living like royalty, but we know what it can be like out there. You can't tell me he understands you." She sighed and looked down.

"Josh and I are different, but I do love him."

"And what about your love for me and our promises to one another," he challenged and she averted her eyes, not wanting to see the pain in his.

"Tomas…"

"You and I are free now. We can be together like we always wanted. Just think about it," he suggested. The sound of footsteps drawing near caught their attention and Natalie scooted away from him. Josh cut his eyes at the man before smiling at Natalie.

"You two having a nice chat," asked Josh and she nodded.

"Yes, just catching up," she assured.

"Zach and Allie are speaking with Carlisle's friend at the house, so I figured you and I can go back to the cottage and spend some time alone together since we've barely had any lately. I am sure your friend has his own life to get back to now that he sees how happy you are," said Josh.

"Actually, I planned on sticking around in the region for a bit."

"And why would you want to do that," Josh practically growled.

"Just to keep an eye on things here and make sure Natalie feels as safe as she says she does."

"Dude, seriously, we don't have time for this. It's the holiday season. Don't you have friends or family to annoy," challenged Josh, but the moment Tomas smiled slyly he caught his mistake. Natalie looked down and Tomas gave her a sympathetic smile.

"No, I don't because like Natalie, I don't have a family. They were taken from me at a young age, which is how I ended up on the streets of Portugal. Not all of us live on islands and have lavish parties to celebrate holidays or a new year. Some of us had to learn to survive in this existence," said Tomas as his eyes never left Natalie. Josh glanced back and forth between them before crossing his arms.

"Nat, can I speak to you for a minute, alone," he said as he glared at Tomas and Natalie nodded. Tomas sighed, but gave a curt nod as he stood up.

"I won't be far if you need me," he assured to Natalie and Josh rolled his eyes as the man darted toward the house where Haines, Alexander, and Lena were. Josh sat down beside her.

"So, can we finally talk about the big fat, Portuguese elephant in the room," he asked.

"I didn't ask for him to come."

"I know you didn't, but what I don't understand is why you lied to me about him. I may not have vampire memory, but my recall is still pretty good. You said the firestarter you knew was named William and you only knew each other for a few days before Aro had him killed."

"I lied," she confessed.

"Why?"

"Because I still wasn't sure if I could completely trust you. We had just met and I wasn't sure of your intentions. With all the connections your family has, I didn't know if you knew of him or if you had heard things about The Program. I was protecting myself."

"By lying to me, were you honest about anything that night?"'

"Of course I was. Everything I told you about my childhood was true. I was trying to protect the memory of someone I lost, but I did open up to you Josh, just not completely. I am trying, but it seems like that isn't enough for you."

"That's not true."

"Really because I have been more open and honest with you than anyone else since my parents died. I learned the hard way to keep my mouth shut and my thoughts to myself, but I have pushed every fear and insecurity I have aside so I can be with you. It hurts more than you can imagine to know that isn't enough."

"Nat, you are more than enough for me. I am just trying to understand and I can't do that if I don't have all the facts." He waited patiently for her to speak as she gazed out at the water to collect her thoughts.

"Tomas and I were close. Each person in The Program was marked and put in a category. You either were monitored by Aro or Caius. Those with Caius were being trained like guards and those with Aro were trained for something bigger. I never found out what it was, but he called us special. There were five of us, but only Tomas and I made it past the first few months. We were newborns and most of us were unruly. Aro lost his patience pretty easily, but wanted to keep Tomas and I. We spent a lot of time together, which is why I was traumatized when he was murdered in front of me. I saw them behead him. He wasn't picking up on the lessons the way Aro wanted and he apparently had enough. After that, it was just me until your family caught his attention again."

"See, that wasn't so bad. Nat, I love you. All I want is to be with you and to know you. You can trust me," he assured as he kissed her cheek, but she took in a shaky breath.

"There is more," she whispered and he slowly nodded.

"Okay, what else do I need to know?"

"I wasn't completely honest about my intentions when you, Zach, and Allie found me."

"What do you mean?"

"I didn't just hack the nuclear codes to keep the world safe from humans. I mean I did, but I had other reasons."

"Nat, why would you need access to nuclear weapons," he questioned and she tearlessly sobbed as she shook her head.

"I was so scared and tired of hiding. I didn't want to have to hide anymore. He had taken so much from me."

"Nat…"

"They were leverage. I was going to access the codes to come out of hiding and tell Aro if he ever even made a move to come near me again, I would use every nuke in the world's arsenal to obliterate Volterra," she confessed.

"So…I mean…okay…" he said as he tried to process the information.

"It is what I have been trying to tell you since we met, Josh. I am not good. Marcus was right about me. Aro saw it in me as well. Marcus was wrong about one thing though. I was never meant to be a defense system. I was meant to be the ultimate killing machine, one that is untraceable and can get past even the powers he was obsessed with because he could never collect. I never knew for sure, but I had a pretty good idea once I learned about your family. I was meant to make their powers null and void and stop them at all costs. I was made to be a monster and so was Tomas. That's why we understand each other."

"Nat…"

"I need to hunt," she said before darting away and he scrubbed his face with his hands as he tried to figure out how to get through to his imprint.