Daughter of Three Suns

Chapters 21

The hallway smelled of drudge when we exited the room. Cautiously, we scanned the area, but neither of us saw or heard anything suspicious. Edward pointed to our right, then held up three fingers. "James said they would be in the third room on the right." With a nod, I followed him as we crept slowly along the wall.

The odor grew stronger as we got closer to the room. "Edward," I whispered. "Something about this doesn't feel right. I don't trust James. Let me go in first." For a moment, I thought he wouldn't agree, but then he nodded and stepped aside. Clutching my staff tighter, I reached to open the door.

"Bella." His voice was barely perceptible in my head. When I glanced toward him, I was stunned by the look on his face. Sadness, remorse, deep regret—all haunted his eyes and wiped away the joy that was there earlier.

"Wha …"

"I'm sorry." It was the faintest of whispers before a barrier crashed down on his mind, and I could no longer feel or hear him. The door in front of me was jerked open, and I stumbled into the room.

Two things happened almost simultaneously. A thick heavy coil of rope was thrown over my head and pulled tight across my chest, trapping my arms against my body. I struggled against it, but it was too tight and too strong. Edward's hand grabbed my chin, pulling it up and back, and a knife blade was once again at my throat. "Don't talk and don't move," he warned.

The room in front of us was quite large, dimly lit, and filled with groups of people. Senna and Tia were standing against one wall with two men at their sides. All had shackles and chains attached to their ankles. They looked thin but healthy enough to break the chains and get to the doorway. Four drudges were guarding them.

Off to my far right, I could just barely see James and Victoria. Both were restrained with wrist and ankle shackles and guarded by two more drudges. Victoria looked okay, but someone had hit James. His lips were bloodied and one eye was swollen. He glared angrily at Edward.

A cluster of thin, poorly dressed men and women stood together on the opposite side of the room. I wondered if they were what was left of the shapeshifters who had always lived here, the ones Edward said were Emmett's people. I studied them carefully. Although lean, they looked healthy and fit enough to make it to the top of the building and through the doorway to my world, if they wanted to leave. One of the women caught my eye. Her gaze was intense, but I couldn't tell if she was looking at me or Edward. She nodded slightly before glancing quickly at one of the darker corners at the back of the room. When I followed her gaze, I could see several drudges standing in front of something or someone. I glanced back at her, and she blinked quickly before looking away with another short nod. I felt Edward move slightly behind me. Maybe the look had been for both of us.

I counted at least twelve drudges scattered around the room and six other beings who had to be the grays that Irina had mentioned. They looked weak and sickly, and none of them were armed. Why wasn't anyone doing anything, I wondered. Why hadn't they tried to escape? The grays were of no consequence—they could easily be subdued. The drudges were strong, very strong, but so slow they could be avoided and outmaneuvered. Yet everyone stood in their groups as if waiting for something to happen. Clearly, there was something going on that I didn't understand. Perhaps it had to do with that dark corner and whatever the drudges were guarding. I tried to reach out to Edward but was met with that same impenetrable wall.

His and everyone else's attention seemed to be focused on the person standing in the middle of the room, beaming at the man who had just betrayed me.

"Well done, Edward, my son." Aro grinned, then clapped his hands excitedly like a silly child. "James brought all the wild shifters here. Just like you said he was going to do, and now, I have more of them to use for my experiments. Someday, we'll have a whole race of shifters to control and rule."

"Don't call me son," Edward growled behind me. "You're not my father, and we had a deal. You don't get this one until you keep your end of the bargain."

Aro's grin morphed into a high-pitched giggle. I shuddered with revulsion, and disgust rolled off Edward. Hoping he'd let down his wall, I tried to reach him. "Edward, my mate, my love, what are you doing? Tell me of your plans." The knife at my throat trembled slightly, but I heard nothing from Edward.

"She's trying to talk to you, isn't she?" Watching us closely, Aro glared at me, then spoke to Edward again. "Put up that wall, boy. Just like I taught you. Don't let her get inside your head. Those bitches will twist your mind and have you doing what they want until you're little more than a pet bird."

"Shut up," Edward snarled at Aro again. "I'm tired of talking to you. Now, where is she?"

Still watching us closely, Aro waved to the drudges in the dark corner. "Bring her here," he told them. One of them grabbed the figure behind him and began to drag her toward Aro. A strangled sob escaped Edward when they got closer. It was a woman, an older woman from my world who had been badly mistreated. One leg was twisted, causing her to limp awkwardly as she struggled to keep pace with the drudge who was pulling her. Her claws were chipped and worn to nubs, and her skin looked dry and thin. Even in her weakened state, however, she held herself proudly and glared defiantly at Aro.

Off to my right, I heard a gasp. "Mother?"

Turning toward the voice, a sad but loving smile lit up her face. "James, my son, is that you?"

"Yes. I thought … I mean, Aro told us you escaped back to your world, but Edward said you were injured and died."

At the mention of Edward's name, she looked at the man behind me. Her gaze roamed his face, then focused on me. "Auntie Esme?" I asked.

She nodded, then asked my name. "I'm Bella, third daughter of your sister Renee."

"Oh." Her eyes blinked in surprise. "So much time has passed." Shaking her head sadly she asked, "And my mother?"

"I'm sorry. Grandmother Marie sought the sands soon after I was born. Mother said she mourned you every day but stayed to do her duty until the third daughter of her third daughter was born."

A tear slipped from Esme's eyes as she nodded slowly. "Third daughter," she muttered softly to herself. Frowning, she stared at me more intently. Her eyes took in the darker burns on my arms and the red circle on my chest, which was glowing again. "Thrice burned," she said suddenly. "And thrice times thrice, times thrice born. You're the prophecy fulfilled, Bella. I dreamed of you!" Her voice rose with her excitement.

"At the worst of times, when I was in pain, or longing for my Carlisle. When I knew I would never see my children or my home world again. When all I wished for was the oblivion of the sands, I would dream of a glowing red circle. I thought it was Grandmother Sun, but it was you, Bella. Grandmother Spirit sent me visions of you to keep me alive and strong until you arrived. Now you're here, and my son is your basherter.

"Edward." Her gaze returned to her son and the knife at my neck. "What are you doing?"

"Sending you home, Mother—you, James, and the rest of the women from your world. I made a deal with Aro. Freedom for everyone in exchange for my cooperation in capturing the rest of the wild shapeshifters and my mate when she came through the opening."

Esme shook her head sadly even before Edward stopped talking. "You can't trust Aro, Edward. He'll never let us go."

"He will this time because I have something he wants."

Aro, who had been listening to our conversation, laughed with glee. "You should listen to your mother, dear boy. Why would I let anyone go now that I have all of you here exactly where I want you?"

"Because a slip of this knife kills your dream of establishing a shapeshifter nation to rule over." A sharp tug on my chin pulled my head up and stretched my neck. Small beads of blood formed where the sharp edge of the knife cut a thin line. I heard Esme gasp.

Aro's laughter halted abruptly. "She isn't the only woman capable of having a child."

"Are you sure?"

Edward's words brought a frown to Aro's face. "What do you mean?"

"How long have Victoria, Senna, and Tia been here? More than enough time to have several children, and yet, with all your experiments, and injections, and forced mating, they haven't conceived."

"But I have the wild ones now."

"Really? Oh, come now, Aro, you're the great leader, the genius scientist. Use that spectacular brain of yours to figure this out. If they were capable of having children, don't you think they would have by now?"

Aro was visibly shaking by the time Edward quit speaking. Red-faced, fists clenched, he glared at both of us.

"Let them go, Aro. Let all of them go, and we'll stay. There isn't enough food for everyone. We can go to a different place and start over."

Sly calculation replaced the anger on Aro's face. My belly twisted with revulsion once more at the madness I saw there. Why did people do his bidding? I wondered again. He glanced around the room as if assessing his support. "You won't kill her," he finally said when he looked at us again. "She's your mate. You aren't ruthless enough to carry through with your threat, Edward. Might as well give up to the smarter, stronger man."

The room was deathly quiet as the two men stared at each other. Finally, Edward shrugged and removed the knife from my throat. "You're right, Aro. I can't kill her, but I can do this." With a quick flip of his wrist, the blade tip was now pressed against my stomach. "I can kill the child she's already carrying and make sure she can never have another."

The gloating smile died on Aro's face. "You can't know already."

"Yes, I can," Edward answered. "Her scent has changed. She's definitely pregnant. You lost your chance with Rosalie, but now you can have the younger sister, trained, toughened, and shaped into the strongest woman we've ever seen. A warrior of immense capabilities, and a child who will be extraordinary. A mother from their world, a father who's a mixture of this world and theirs. It will be immune to the radiation from the rogue sun, able to shift in sunlight or darkness. This is the child who will repopulate our world and found the nation you want to rule. Just think what a strong shifter it will be, or maybe they will be. Maybe there's more than one child growing in this belly. Think what you'll lose if you don't keep your end of our bargain."

Edward's goading words had their desired effect. Aro shook with anger, spittle flying from his mouth as he sputtered and cursed. Edward waited, but when he didn't get an answer from Aro, he slit the front of my shift and pressed the knife against my exposed abdomen. Blood welled up around the tip. I saw Esme's eyes widen with fear, and she clenched her lips. "Let them go, Aro. Now!"

Aro drew a large key from his pants pocket and threw it on the floor toward James. "All right!" he shouted.

"Senna, get the key and unlock all the shackles, quickly," Edward instructed.

Now that Edward no longer held my chin, I could see more of the room. I scanned it again, trying to make plans for attacking Aro and his servants, but I couldn't concentrate with my mind in a turmoil over Edward's mention of Rosalie. Had he actually known my sister? What did he mean when he said I had been trained, toughened, and shaped? I tried to reach for my mate's mind again, but it was closed tight against me.

"Is Liam in place?" Edward asked the woman shifter who had looked at us.

"He's ready," she nodded.

"Good. James, carry our mother and take the rest of the women and their mates to the top of the building. Make sure they all get through the opening, then you follow them."

Edward's voice focused my attention back on the room. Senna had released everyone, and they stood near us. James gave Edward a hard stare, then nodded, and picked up Esme before starting toward the door. As they passed in front of us, Victoria stopped. "May Grandmother Spirit guide you, Bella. Our people will know of your bravery and your sacrifice." I nodded and watched them leave.

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AN: I'm a fail at responding to reviews, so sorry.