TPOV
"Tom, please. Tell me what happened."
Her voice was masking the pain well, even I was nearly convinced.
"They said no to execute me Lena." I looked up and saw the pain in her eyes. Neither of us wanted to remember that time. But it had to be revisited for her to understand.
"When they said no, and then asked me to join them." I sighed, not sure how to tell her.
"Tom?"
"Lena, I accepted. The Volturi are the most powerful group of Vampires known to our kind. They're not nicknamed 'the royal family' for no reason."
She gulped as if she knew what I was about to say.
"They were the ones who..."
I nodded, wishing she could forget the pain of losing her brother. Only know did she know the truth that the Volturi was behind it all.
"Lena. When I accepted to join them, it was the only other option other than being killed. It made me numb, to be with them. But even as I was numb, absent from conscious life, I never stopped thinking of you."
She was staring at the floor now. I could only guess as to the thoughts in her head.
"I became their spy. Aro loved my talent, so I spied on large groupings, like the Cullens, to see if they were planning to overthrow the Volturi. Most of the time, people were just living harmlessly, getting on with existing. But there were a few that were conspiring."
I couldn't look at her any longer. Her silence was deafening, and the fact she was in emotional pain hurt more knowing I was the culprit.
"I was on a job when I saw you again. I couldn't have avoided it, but I'm partly glad you didn't see me as I was then. I realised then what I was doing to you, what I had done."
I had to stop myself from breaking down as she looked up with nothing but hate in her expression.
"Lena, I saw you and I began to feel again. Not just little things. But everything. I began to realise I had been living in a comatose state. Not really there, but still animated."
She frowned and turned away from me.
"And then you came back to me."
I nodded, and gulped.
"I managed to escape, they tried to stop me and catch me again. But I came back to you."
She shook her head, and I could just see her shoulders shaking from the dry tearless sobs.
"Tom, why did you risk it all for me?"
I blinked. As per usual, Lena had said the unexpected.
"Because I love you."
She turned to face me, her face paler than usual.
"But why? I could be... dead, forgotten to you. You could be with another vampire who deserves you more than me."
I shocked her by laughing. She really was outstanding.
"Lena, I don't want anyone else! I want you!"
"But..."
"But nothing. I'd rather spend eternity alone than without you."
She buried her head in my chest.
"But you could be with any woman you..."
I lifted her chin and smiled, interrupting her train of thought.
"I'd rather fight with you than make love with anyone else."
I noticed her smile as I leant down to kiss her, and I felt elated now she knew the truth.
"No more secrets?" She smiled.
"None." I grinned back.
"Except one."
The voice that came from behind us sent chills up my spine.
"Tom?" Lena looked up at me with her big topaz eyes.
"Go on Tom."
I could have killed Demitri right that second.
"Tell her what really happened to her brother."