A/N: Usually I write the author's notes in the document manager, but this was something that I didn't want to forget…again. In the last chapter, there was a quote from the series Trueblood that I used (the initial conversation between Aro and Marius that ended with Marius saying 'Do you want to be a companion of death?') I do not plagiarize my work!! While I was writing the chapter, the scene from the show was still stuck in my head, and I thought it fit perfectly with what I was trying to convey in Aro's history. I originally had the reference written in the 1st author's note, but I felt that it was giving away a part of the story that hadn't been revealed yet. And instead of cutting and pasting, I deleted the entire thing, forgetting to rewrite it in the second author's note of the chapter. Forgive me, Thank you to n. for pointing that out to me. And to edwac00, I agree Eric is very yummy. And now back to our regularly scheduled program:

Chapter 10

Aro and I spent every night like that for a month. He'd tell me stories from his past lives, the different changes the guard had within the last two thousand years. Jane even sat in every so often, which I found to be quite remarkable in and of itself. In my opinion, and I think Aro may agree with me, I believed that Aro's stories brought me and Jane together. Well, somewhat. I still caught her so often trying to use her power against me. I was contemplating on just letting my shield down for her and allow her to electrocute me, when Caius's wife interrupted my thoughts.

" Bella, honey. Aro asked me to get you. You're team is needed in the antechamber." I looked up at the fragile looking vampire from my book. I hardly was able to see the wives, for the most part the two of them didn't associate with the guards. They always kept to themselves. It was foolish of me to even think to ask if she knew what this was about. 'Felix and Corin, meet me in the antechamber.'

I grabbed my cloak from the closet and quickly made my way to the grand room. Gianna waited at the door for the three of us before opening the door. That really annoyed me. I can open my open damn door, thank you.

We walked in and I saw the brothers seated on their throne, but there was one other figure in the room. Even though I couldn't see the face, I could recognize Demetri's body anywhere. Within the last month, the relationship between me and Demetri had cooled off. There was a period in the beginning that I wondered if there could be something more between us, but I never let it get farther than that. Surprisingly, Demetri understood and backed off. Though, we did flirt from time to time.

Felix on the other hand, was becoming a problem. My team has done several dozen missions for Aro since I came to be in the guard, and at some point, Felix had developed a little crush on me. Whenever he thought I wasn't looking, he'd look at me with puppy dog eyes. Let's put it this way, if Demetri was Mike, then Felix was Tyler. Jane and Corin sometimes even joked about it with me, and I knew if it was possible for me to blush, I'd be as red as their eyes.

"Ahh, Bella. I'm glad you could join us." Aro said pleasingly. I gave a slight bow of my head to Aro, Caius, and Marcus. Knowing their history gave me a sense of honor just knowing them so intimately. Much more than anyone could claim outside of the guard. I took my place beside Demetri, and my team instinctively flanked the both of us.

"I was discussing a matter that ultimately concerns you and part of your team." I was confused by the last part of his statement.

"Part?"

"Well, I think for this mission, Corin would be better suited for a task that I've put Jane on. Jane and her team will need Corin's abilities for that particular undertaking. Corin?"

"Bring me back a souvenir." Corin joked with me as she started out of the room.

"You want a blonde, or a redhead?" I chuckled. She knew good and well that I would never condone her habit of human food. But we always joked anyway. I made it very clear, as long as I didn't say anything about their diet, they weren't allowed to comment on mine.

"Surprise me." And she was gone. Caius rolled his eyes at the camaraderie, but Aro secretly told me once that Caius was just as amused by it as he was.

"You will leave immediately, Alec is standing by in the garage to take you to the runway. I want you to pay a visit to Denali. I've asked Demetri to go with you Bella because if by some chance Laurent's not there, he'll be better suited to track him."

'Aro, I thought Demetri's gift only works when he's already heard the tenor of someone's mind?' I knew it was silly to question Aro's logic, I was just hoping to avoid taking a trip with only Felix and Demetri as my companions. Talk about awkward.

"Yes, I'm surprised you didn't know. Whenever there is a guest in the castle, Demetri hides in a secret compartment behind Gianna's desk. He literally scans everyone who comes in." So there was no way around it, I was going to be alone on a plane with two vampires that had a thing for me.

'Alec I'm going to run back to my room real quick, I'll be behind the two juggernauts by a few seconds.' I informed Alec. There was no way I was going through this mission without being prepared. I grabbed a book, and my iPod off of one of the shelves and headed for the tunnels. Alec led me to the town car with the deep tinted windows. It was eight o' clock in the morning, but even through the black windows, I could see that it was already bright outside.

I hurried from the car to the plane, eager to get my favorite seat. I was getting used to jet setting all over the world on these missions. I couldn't believe, however, how envious I was of Jane. She was a leader of her team and she had such an offensive power. I, on the other hand, seemed to have only a passive power that allowed me to defend my team from mental attacks.

I hurriedly placed the earbuds in my ear and turned the volume to the max, next in my ritual was opening my book, Pride and Prejudice. I was determined to enjoy the plane ride without either of the vampires talking to me.

So imagine my surprise when I heard the pilot announce that we landed in Anchorage ahead of schedule due to tailwinds and I didn't hear a peep from Felix or Demetri. Before leaving the plane, I walked over to the weapons closet and grabbed my favorite samurai sword. A mission that Aro had sent my team on several weeks ago, led us to Japan. There, I saw my first sword, and I wanted one. It only took me a total of three hours to fully comprehend the art fighting with a samurai sword.

It was about ten at night, but there were still quite a few humans around, so we took the Jeep that Aro arranged to wait for us. There wasn't any snow on the ground, which I found to be a disappointment. I found running across the snow exhilarating. Oh well, I probably wouldn't get a chance to run anyway, though I could always go on the hunt.

The drive to Denali seemed longer than usual, but that was because there was a human driving us this time. The boys made me sit up front with the driver because I was the less intimidating one.

"So do you and your, umm, brothers come here a lot?" He asked. Only when he said brothers, he raised his voice in question, hoping that he may have a shot with me.

"No." I replied. I hoped that my uninterested reply would be enough to discourage him from speaking to me.

"Are you staying long?" Of course he would keep talking. I heard Demetri and Felix in the back trying to keep their laughter to themselves. I growled back towards them and they shut up. Good.

"No." I prayed this time that this kid got it right. And again I was wrong.

"Oh. I only ask because you didn't come with any baggage." Eyeing my sheathed sword, I switched its position from my lap to the side closest to the door.

"That's why we're not staying long." I was now looking at him. Edward once said that I dazzled him. Maybe I could do the same and get this kid to leave me alone.

To my surprise it worked and he didn't speak the rest of the trip. Pleased with myself, I sat back in the seat and watched the stars twinkling in the sky.

Not before long, we finally arrived at our destination. 'Demetri, can you pay him for me?' I smiled as I saw the kid shudder when Demetri flashed his teeth as he took his wallet out. I stood outside waiting for him to finish paying and Felix was standing right next to me. I fixed the sheath so that the handle of my sword faced down when it was on my back. I found it easier this way to remove it and swing it at my target in one move. I flung a look to Felix as I heard him sigh. He never understood why I liked my sword, our bodies made us the world's best predator, no equipment necessary. I just liked the art of it.

The three of us walked quietly to the door, but just as we got to the stoop, someone opened it. I was about to yell at Aro with my gift since this mission was to be without warning, but Tanya stepped through the door not expecting anyone to be there. I cocked my head to the side when she noticed the three vampires in front of the door. She groaned as she backed her way into the house.

"We have company." She whispered, knowing that every vampire in the house would hear her. She started to walk back through the door, when I told her to stay.

"This may concern you too." I warned. By now the entire Denali clan were standing in the entry room now. "Where is Laurent?" I said looking at Irina.

"He's out hunting." Carmen answered. I looked to Demetri and he excused himself to go track where he was. If he was in the area he would escort him back immediately. I hated babysitting.

"Good. We'll wait." Felix said behind me.

"Bella, it's good to see you again. How has your training been?" Eleazar inquired. I always liked him because he was the only one that stayed to train me the last time I was here.

"Good. I no longer find it tiring to project different thoughts to multiple people at the same time."

"Excellent! I also see you've moved up in the ranks. Aro has you leading missions now? I never would have pegged you for staying with the Volturi. Has Aro told you his story?" I didn't respond to his question so Eleazar took it as a yes. "Yes, well it is a sad story indeed. But don't think for one moment that he isn't a ruthless cutthroat vampire. You're too good for whatever plans he has for you."

I squinted my eyes at his warning when a sudden gust of wind came through the door. Laurent rushed in and ran over to Irina. He started kissing her as if there was nobody else in the room. I looked back and saw Demetri strolling in with an odd look on his face. His face was literally stone and his eyes were locked on mine. I looked past him and noticed two vampires following him in.

Without taking my eyes off of them, "Eleazar, you didn't tell me you had company." I saw the two visitors' heads look up, their amber eyes immediately finding mine. I felt like I wanted to collapse, like there was a need to, but I just wouldn't.

Emmett's mouth curled into a goofy grin when he saw me standing there, while Jasper looked like he was smiling through his pain.

I turned my back to them, looking to Eleazar for answers, but before I saw Eleazar, my eyes were on the stairs. I saw him.