Chapter 9

My fiancé. My mate. I had been on the other end of the world from my mate, and I hadn't even realized it! I felt like an idiot. No wonder I was so empty, so anti-social! Half of my being wasn't even with me! And Garrett, Kate's mate. She was even worse than me sometimes, because they were even closer than Jack and I! I had to get my sisters, make them wake up from this nightmare. We hated the Volturi! Why on Earth were we working for them? I had been friends with Chelsea, with Jane to an extent! I had tried to arrest Carmen, Eleazer, and Marcello because they 'lived too close to us.' Aro just wanted Marcello's talent for himself!

My mate's eyes lit up as he watched the look on my face change from doubt to recognition. I picked him up off the floor very carefully and turned to face Aro.

"Yes, I do know these vampires," I said calmly, "and I'd like to return home with them if you don't mind, along with Tanya and Kate." He sighed dramatically.

"Very well," he said, "but you must stay here until the sun goes down." Just then the door opened and Chelsea walked in.

CHELSEA!

He was going to try to make us ALL work for him! Well of course he should know that wouldn't work, not with Bella here, but he would never give up. Of course, he and Chelsea weren't the only ones trying to get through her shield.

Jane glared at my friend through glowing red slits, obviously trying to make her fall. She seemed frustrated when it didn't work. Again. Then her face smoothed over and she grinned angelically. Edward growled, but I paid no attention to him; Jane was now looking at me.

Well, I wasn't having that.

The urge to fade into the background was immediate, and this time there was no reason to deny it. I didn't need to be seen right now, nor did I want to be. Feeling the burn of transformation wasn't exactly something I wanted to go through again, either. I'd have to let my survival instinct guide me, and everyone else, away from these lunatics.

She blinked in surprise, her smile fading.

"Master?" she asked, still staring at me. I looked around in confusion. Everyone was still staring at me; nothing had changed. So why wasn't I writhing on the floor?

"Incredible," Aro breathed. Then, a bit louder. "Tell me, Cassandra, are you still in the room?" What kind of a question was that? He was staring right at me, speaking directly to me, asking if I was in the room! I certainly didn't want to be.

I didn't answer for two reasons: 1) the question was absurd. 2) that little voice in the back of my head thought it could be dangerous if I spoke out now, if he truly couldn't see me. But why couldn't he see me?

I was reminded of my little hallucinations. That first day I came here, when my skin was no longer visible for that split-second. I had only wanted my skin to hide; I didn't want humans to see through my disguise. Just before I got to this room, when I was afraid to go to Aro. Even before this whole mess started, when Alice and I were shopping. Every time I had that urge to fade into the background, was it possible that I actually did? When there was nothing to stop me, could I turn invisible?

Did I have two talents?

I looked down at my hands. I could still see them, but it was as if they were faded at the edges, like they were just a figment of my imagination. I would have to trust that I was the only one who could see that.

"Well, Aro," Edward mused, "it appears your vegetarian can also teleport. Who knows where she could have gone?"

"Demetri," Aro ordered, "can you find the girl?" Demetri looked around helplessly.

"I'm not sure, master," he admitted, breathing in deeply. "Her scent is… gone. There's nothing there. Even her energy is gone. She may as well have fallen off the face of the Earth." Ineresting. My body wasn't the only thing that disappeared. But were my thoughts still audible? Could Edward hear me right now?

I turned to look at him and saw his head nod the teeniest bit. Yes, I was glad I had kept my mouth shut; noises were out of the question if someone could still hear my thoughts.

"We need to find her," Aro said. Then, turning to my friends. "You are welcome to help search, but you may pass time in the lobby if you wish."

"Thank you," Edward replied. "We will find Tanya and Katrina and prepare them for our flight home." The four guard members departed to go search for me, and Edward led Bella, Garrett, and Jack out towards the Denali's quarters, with me right on their heels.

When we were out of earshot, Edward stopped and looked around.

"Okay, Cassandra," he said quietly. "It's safe to come out of hiding. No one is looking for you here." He got plenty of strange looks.

"I don't want to," I admitted. Everyone nearly jumped out of their skin. I hadn't made a sound since Jane looked at me, and I forgot everyone else thought I had teleported.

"We need you to help… get through to Tanya and Kate," he replied. "They probably won't remember us, thanks to Chelsea." I hesitated.

"Why doesn't Bella just use her shield?" I asked. "Why didn't she use it on me?" She smiled.

"I'm only here as a precaution," she explained. "In case Jack couldn't snap you out of it. And so Tanya will come back with us. We thought maybe Edward could get her to come to, but we're not sure. There's nothing as powerful as the bond between mates, and even Jack had problems with you." She looked at Edward for a moment, her expression unreadable.

I remembered Marcello from the cottage, and how he acted with Tanya. I didn't think Edward would work on her anymore; she found someone single and eager. So it was up to Bella and me.

"Fine," I sighed, letting go of my will to hide. Everyone's heads turned as I returned to their line of vision. "But if I so much as smell one of the Volturi, I'm disappearing again." Jack smiled and took my hand, meddling with my wedding ring.

"You left this on," he murmured, stroking my fingers. I shivered happily. It had been so long since we'd seen each other. I couldn't believe how good it felt to have him close again.

"It never really occurred to me that I could take it off," I said sheepishly. "It felt like it was attached almost, like it was a part of me. I'm glad I kept it though."

"Me too." He looked up into my eyes, and I could see the desire raging there. I was sure I looked exactly the same way.

By now we had reached my friends' rooms, luckily without another vampire in sight. Garrett knocked on the first door tentatively, his eyes wild with excitement. Kate opened the door, stared at him for a moment, blinked, and tackled him to the ground, covering his face in kisses. Well, that was easy.

Now on to Tanya.