The Collateral Lust Quartet: Tainted Love
First Night
Bella
I stared, wide-eyed at the woman gazing at me from the full-length mirror in my rooms. I could not recognise her.
"You look radiant," Heidi murmured, smiling at me in the mirror, her own inhuman beauty a sharp contrast to my human face. Jane did not speak, but merely tucked one trailing curl behind my ear.
Nervously, I smoothed my gown down, fiddling with the gold braiding.
"Stop fidgeting," Jane hissed, as I inhaled deeply, straining my breasts against the bodice of my gown.
"Stop being so nervous…my Queen," Heidi murmured, and I stared at her in the mirror, as she bowed her head.
Queen…?
Just as I opened my mouth to clarify what she had just said, the doors to my room opened and Demetri poked his head in.
"You are ready…my Queen," Jane whispered in an undertone, as I stood slowly and looked at her. In that moment, as brown met crimson, understanding flashed between us.
As I stood, I realised the full depth of my change, both within and without. I was ready.
"I am ready," I breathed, as I took Demetri's hand, and allowed him to lead me from the room, the skirts of my gown shushing behind me.
I would not return that night.
Aro
I sat patiently in my rooms, awaiting Isabella's arrival. I could not get the taste of her out of my mind, her lips, her soft human warmth pressing against me….
I fingered the stem of a crystal wine glass, which was filled with blood, trailing my fingers down the curved planes of glass, so like my Isabella.
So fragile, so smooth…with just a flick of my wrist, I could break her.
But I didn't want to.
I heard her heartbeat, smelt her delicious scent, and I gazed at the door intently.
She seemed determined to draw my agony out, as it felt like aeons before the doors to my rooms finally opened. Demetri appeared first, Bella's fingers curled around his, as I felt my jaw drop slightly.
She was breathtaking.
Her gown was an enticing creation of wine-red silk, strapless, grazing the floor gracefully. The bodice was braided with gold in an archaic pattern, hugging her breasts and waist, making her pale skin glow. The skirts fell from her hips, in the same wine-red, the underskirt exposed by a split up the front of the skirt, its hem braided in the same way as the bodice. Her glorious hair had been swept up and back, so only a single curl draped itself over her swan-like neck.
She looked like a Queen, a Goddess. One I intended to make mine, this night. I had suspected my patience had worn out that afternoon, when I'd been forced to let her leave my arms and lips, but now I knew.
I couldn't go one more day without making her mine.
"Leave us, Demetri," I breathed, standing from my chair and pacing forward, my hand held out commandingly to hers, within moments. My tracker left without a word, as Bella glided forward, to place her hand in mine.
Accepting, trembling slightly as our skin touched, and I looked into her shrouded eyes. Desire, acceptance and life had rejuvenated the haunted depths, as I felt true triumph soar. Edward had lost her forever.
She had surrendered, at last, the dreams of the past.
"You look ravishing, Bella," I murmured, bringing her hand up so I could kiss it, lingering on her soft skin. Her breath hitched, and her red lips parted invitingly.
"Thank you, Aro," she inclined her head, and I marvelled at this new Bella. She was regal and beautiful and graceful. She wore a cloak of self-assuredness that draped her very soul.
So very ready to become my Queen.
"Come, sit," I led her to a carved chair opposite mine, watching the way the candlelight played over the rounded rise of her bare shoulders. I couldn't help but gently brush the skin with my fingers, running the backs of them over her neck. She shivered and arched her neck into my touch. I smiled, before I went back to my seat.
Bella ate quickly and delicately, as I watched her in silence, noting every movement of her slender fingers and red lips.
How her fingers gracefully held the cutlery, curving around the silver stem.
The movement of her jaw as she ate, the obvious look of relish on her face.
The sensual appreciation ingrained in every line, every pore…
I watched her, sipping my glass of blood, until she delicately dabbed her lips with a linen napkin before throwing it down.
"Hope you enjoyed your dinner," I murmured, watching her intently as she took in my words. "Because it will be the last you ever eat."
Any normal human would have blanched and panicked at my words, but not Bella. Not my Bella.
"Are you going to kill me then?" she asked, coolly and without flinching. I let out a short, bark-like laugh as I stood and walked towards her slowly.
"Oh, no my Isabella," I breathed, placing my glass of blood down before her and rounding her chair so I stood behind her. I placed my hands on her neck, feeling the thrum of her lifeblood against my palms. She tensed then relaxed into my hold. "I'm not going to kill you."
"Will you change me?" she breathed, and I watched as her breasts strained against her bodice where she inhaled raggedly.
"Yes, Bella. Very, very soon," I murmured in reply, bending my head to her neck and brushing my lips across her throbbing vein. Her pulse leapt, and I smiled. "Do you believe in fate, Isabella?"
"What?" she gasped, utterly taken by surprise by my sudden unexpected question.
"Fate, my dear. Do you believe that there is some force controlling our actions, dictating them as a weaver dictates the patterns of her work?" I asked again, still murmuring against her neck. Bella fell silent, as I brought my hand up and traced the line of her shoulders, caressing the gentle curve.
"No, I don't believe in fate. Not anymore. My destiny is mine to decide, my choice. Just like you said," she breathed while tilting her neck to the side, encouraging my explorations. I chuckled, sensing the power running through her, heady with her own freedom.
"Veritas vos liberabit. You are truly free now," I whispered, before straightening and casually leaning against the table in front of her, taking a deep draught from my cup of blood, watching her closely. "But how deep does your freedom go, I wonder?"
Bella looked at me, her own gaze closed off to me, before her eyes drifted to the blood resting in my glass.
"What does that taste like? To you, I mean?" she asked, and I was surprised by her question.
"Like the finest ambrosia. Why so curious, my dear? Want a taste?" I teased her, expecting her to back down.
I should have known never to attempt to predict my Bella's actions.
"No!" she spluttered at first, as I raised one brow superciliously, before she looked down, and I saw to my astonishment a crimson blush heat her skin. "I mean…maybe."
Unable to take my eyes off her bowed head, I unseeingly dipped two fingers in the little blood that was left, before shifting so I sat in front of Isabella. I took her chin in my fingers, tilting it upwards so her eyes met mine. Never breaking the eye contact, I raised my blood-soaked fingers to her lips.
"Curiosity is not a sin, Bella. You should embrace it, fulfil it and taste it," I murmured, as her eyes flicked from me down to my fingers and back again before she opened her lips and, of her own volition, took the very tips of them into her mouth.
I felt the hot pressure of her mouth, felt her warm tongue as she licked the blood from my fingers, her eyes never faltering from mine, even when a moan welled up in her throat and vibrated against my trapped fingers.
Lust roared through me, seeing my Bella so delightfully sensual as she slowly leant back, releasing me, but her lips were flushed and rosy, her eyes sparkling. A slight trace of blood still lingered on the smooth skin of her lips.
"Well?" I murmured, tilting my head to the side, even as I leant closer to her, no longer thinking but just acting.
"It's not…unpleasant," she breathed, as she tilted her head up, bringing her lips closer to mine as they brushed, melded and fused…
I slid my hand into the knot of hair on the nape of her neck, feeling its silky smoothness before the taste of her, and the taste of the blood on her lips intruded, driving me wild. I heard a moan spill into our mouths, and could not tell if it was mine or Bella's.
Before I got any more overheated, I drew back, but not too far.
"I have a gift for you," I whispered, before snapping my fingers as I straightened. From a side door, one of my hooded guards glided in, carrying a velvet case from one of the vaults, giving it to me with a bow before he glided out again. Bella's eyes were wide as she looked at me, her lips still bruised from our kiss.
Bella
My eyes widened as Aro opened the case to reveal an exquisite diamond necklace nestled in the black velvet. It looked as though a Queen would wear it.
It started high around the neck, the diamonds arranged in intricate geometric patterns, interspersed with a delicate flower or two, before the collar dropped into a strand of flower-shaped diamonds, from which hung intricate loops of vine leaves and flowers again.
"Aro, I couldn't…it's so beautiful," I couldn't help but sigh, making my denial seem nonsensical. After the kiss we had just shared, my mind wasn't exactly clear at that point. I was still flushed from my own audacity at tasting the blood on his fingers.
The old Bella would never have done that.
"Don't be ridiculous," Aro scoffed, lifting the fragile necklace from its bed and clasped it around my neck. I felt its cold grip with a shiver, reminding me of the man who stood behind me, as if with this gift he was claiming me. "It is a beautiful gift for an exquisite woman. It is you who makes it shine, my Queen."
His words caught my attention, away from the cold press of the diamonds at my throat and where it trailed over my décolletage.
"What do you mean, Aro? Everyone keeps calling me their Queen, and now you as well. What's happening?" I murmured, almost afraid to ask, as Aro stood behind me, his icy hands heavy on my neck, caressing my skin through the gaps in the necklace.
"Bella, the reason my family is calling you their Queen is because that is exactly what you will be, in a very short space of time. You shall rule our world by my side," he replied steadily in his breath, whispery voice, sending shivers down my spine.
Soon I would be a vampire. Soon my skin would shine in the sun in such a way as to outshine the diamonds hanging from my throat. I would be beautiful and perfect and strong and powerful.
Everything Edward never wanted me to be.
As that thought settled into my mind, I felt an elusive something snap into place. A sense of belonging, of rightness.
"You will belong at my side, forever," Aro whispered in my ear, as I felt desire rise, the fire beginning to burn in my veins, as I smiled.
"I have never belonged anywhere, Aro. Not in Forks, not in Arizona, not in Edward's world-" I began to say, but he cut me off fiercely.
"You belong here. You belong with me, and my family. You were never meant for a lowly existence as a mortal, Edward knew this, knew you were destined for greatness in our world. Why do you think he fought so hard to keep you human? And then you came to me," he whispered in my ear, seductive and passionate, and I heard the truth in his words and felt them set me free.
Veritas vos liberabit. The truth will set you free.
Accepting it, accepting my place here, in Aro's arms for all eternity, I leant my head back and twined my arm around his neck, offering my lips.
"I belong with you, forever," I murmured, before setting my lips to his. His hand splayed over my cheek, cupping my jaw and bringing me closer to him, before he groaned into my mouth.
Aro swept me into his arms, depositing me on the dining table, pushing me back as he assaulted my mouth. I gasped into his mouth, leaning back on my hands, when I felt the dull sting of cold metal on my palm, followed by a flash of pain. I cried out into his mouth, my eyes flicking open in shock as I stared into the jet black eyes of Aro, and realised my palm was bleeding.
I was sitting on a table, pressed against the stone-hard chest of a ravenous vampire, with my blood on the air. I could smell it, ten times as strong as the blood in the glass behind us. I leaned back, my breath suspended as I watched Aro's face.
Watching for the first signs of his control buckling.
Slowly, he took my injured hand, and I saw the slight tear in the folds of skin, nothing serious but still sore; and he raised it to his lips. Never taking his eyes from mine, Aro bent his head and pressed his lips to the incision, as his tongue darted out to taste the tiny rivulet of blood that had leaked from my palm.
I shivered, my eyes closing lethargically as his cold tongue licked down the cut, leaving a stinging kind of pleasure in its wake. I groaned, first in pain then in pleasure before Aro finally raised his head.
"With me, Bella, you will never have to live in fear of me losing control. As wonderful as you taste, that is nothing when compared to the thought of you by my side forever," he murmured, spearing me with his intent, hungry glance as he took my hand away from his lips, and I glimpsed the trace of blood there. On my hand there was nothing left of the cut but a thin, cold white line.
Vampire venom.
I stared at it, before returning Aro's heated gaze. Our lips met without conscious thought, hungry and urgent, as I clutched him to me.
Our lips would only part for one last time that night.
"I want you so much, Isabella," he breathed against my lips, as I panted for breath. I looked into his black eyes, and felt the last wall of ice around my heart melt, as the fire in my veins burned.
"Then claim me, my love," I sighed, as Aro looked at me with undeniable adoration in his eyes before our lips met once more, and he swept me into his arms.
I knew nothing more except the caress of his lips and the frantic joining of our mouths, the hard support of his arms as he carried me, bridal-style, somewhere.
I was blind, deaf and dumb to all else but Aro.
I felt the soft feel of velvet against my skin, felt something like a mattress dip beneath our combined weights. I heard the soft shushing of silk as my dress was slid down my body, felt it as the sensitivity of my skin rose to an all new level, the fire in my veins swelled like a supernova.
I learnt to take my breath from him, to still the dizziness of my head, as his cold hands roamed my body, mimicking the iciness of the diamond necklace still around my throat. Pain mixed with pleasure that night when his hands clutched me so tightly, as if convinced I would disappear, only to be soothed when he followed the routes of his hands with his lips. I knotted my hands in the bedcovers, as he laid me on a sensual rack, tightening it and the tension in my muscles with every caress, every kiss, every touch of his body.
In all my existence I had never known such pleasure, such desire, such fire as though I would be consumed.
I let it.
As Aro took me, cold skin to my burning flesh, I let that fire rip through me and transform me into a sensual, sensate being that cried his name and begged for more even when her body screamed in pain and exhaustion. Who set free shuddering cries on the heated air, drawing more from her shadow lover, her dark angel.
I revelled in the claiming, in the joining of bodies and the carnal pleasures that swirled around us, drawing us into an eternity of our own. I never wished to leave.
Our desire was like a tidal wave, and as it rose up from the seas of our consciousness, it overwhelmed everything. There was but one choice: ride the wave or let it destroy you.
I chose the former.
And as I crested the wave for the last time, I opened my eyes and looked up to see Aro's eyes, black and intense, and knew I would desire to see nothing more for the rest of eternity.
"I love you," I cried, as I felt my release come upon me, all the tension in my body dispelled, as I clutched him to me, his raven hair surrounding our faces like some dark curtain, shutting out the real world, enfolding us even further into our carnal eternity.
Aro shuddered, pulling me close as his own release came, brushing my lips. "I love you."
And I was surrounded by fire and ice, as I let it sweep me away into a sated sea of pleasure and exhaustion.
Aro
The first tendrils of sunlight crept across the wall of my rooms, as I lay on my bed.
I had no need for such a thing, since I could not sleep, but last night I had been thankful for it. Last night, I had finally claimed my Bella.
She lay beside me now, sleeping peacefully, nestled against my cold side, one hand splayed over the space where my heart had once beaten.
I traced her skin, tracing the bracelets of bruises across her arms and collarbone, and regretted them. But soon she would be as I was, and there would be no more pain, just pure pleasure in all its forms.
Last night, Bella had thrown off the shackles of her past, and now I had her. And she had me.
I felt the truth of that statement, did not fear it as I leant down and kissed her shoulder tenderly. She stirred at that, lifting her head and blinking at me tiredly. My gift, the sign of my adoration and claim of her, still glimmered and sparkled around her neck. Her hair was mussed and tumbling freely, in deliciously tumbled waves down her bare skin. Her lips were red and swollen.
Swollen by me.
I kissed them tenderly, a kiss she returned, igniting our overwhelming passion but I sensed her utter exhaustion. We couldn't, not yet.
"Rest awhile yet, love. I'll come to you later," I whispered, before I kissed her once more. Without a word, Bella sank back down on the velvet covers and closed her eyes, a look of bliss on her youthful features.
I covered her in the bedcovers, before I dressed silently and turned to leave. The taste of Bella's intoxicating blood was still on my tongue, the very essence of her ingrained forever on my body. The very fact that I tasted her blood and still drew back had been a factor in finally bringing her to me. I licked my lips, savouring the taste of her before I watched her sleep.
I listened to the call of her siren heartbeat, registered its relaxed rhythm, felt tenderness rise. But before I could move in her direction, I heard Caius's call.
"Aro,"
I sighed, before turning and leaving the room.
As I walked into the throne room, I felt my good mood dissipate when I saw the Cullens grouped in the centre of the hall, awaiting me. I sighed, and rounded my throne before settling into it wearily.
"Carlisle, it's been too long since you've graced our halls, old friend…but I gather this isn't a social call?" I began, adjusting my position casually. My gaze drifted to Edward, at the almost perpetual snarl ingrained on his immortal face and felt satisfaction rise.
You've lost her, Edward. She's mine.
"We've come-" Carlisle was cut off by Edward growl.
"No! Where is she?" he yelled angrily, and my Guard shifted, muttering angrily. I felt Caius hiss beside me, and even Marcus stiffened.
I held up my hand for silence, before looking the impudent boy in the eye.
"You have very little right to demand anything here, Edward Cullen. Clearly Carlisle never succeeded in teaching you manners," I breathed softly, amusement beginning to creep in. However, remembering Bella's pain and sadness because of him, I decided to deal him a dose of his own medicine. "I must say though, Edward. Your past restraint has impressed me anew…she tastes exquisite."
All the Cullens tensed, even the gentle Esme as she clung to her husband's arm. Carlisle was the one to speak, placing a hand on his son's shoulder.
"Is she dead then?" he sighed, resignedly. I glanced at Caius and Marcus, saw the anticipation and amusement in their usually bored faces before glancing at Heidi.
"Bring her," I murmured in a voice too quiet for the Cullens to hear, before I stood and walked down the steps of the dais towards them. "Soon, you shall see what your thoughtlessness and your heartlessness has wrought, my dear Cullens."
As I clasped my hands together, my eyes focussed on Edward, I made sure I remembered each and every moment of the past night.
Bella's lips on mine in the library
Her slender body in that wine-red gown
The sparkle of diamonds around her neck
Her warm lips opening under mine
The taste of the blood on her lips, where she'd licked it from my fingers
Her own blood, hot against my lips, as it trickled from her palm
"Then claim me, my love…"
Her soft body arching beneath mine, as I claimed her
"I love you!" she screamed against my lips as I gave her release
"What have you done to her!?" Edward almost screamed, as he tried to flit forward, but his brothers yanked him back before my Guard could react. I laughed delightedly, before a seductive, familiar scent filled my nostrils and the sound of a human heartbeat wreathed my senses.
Bella.
I turned my head as she walked in beside Heidi, and caught my breath.
She was gowned in a crimson dress that trailed behind her. It was bright red silk, clinging to her curves and floating as she walked. It was long-sleeved, hiding the bruises of our mutual passion from even vampire eyes, the neckline resembling that of a wrap-around, showcasing enough of her skin to show the diamond necklace, my gift, still around her neck. Her long hair was swept up and pinned, like a halo of auburn glory around her face.
Her eyes widened as she entered and saw our guests. I held out my hand to her, and she came to me, clutching my hand tightly. My eyes locked with Edward's angry gold ones.
It was the final choice.
Devil take the hindmost.
Bella
I felt my heart stutter within me as I entered the hall behind Heidi, and saw them.
The Cullens. And Edward.
Aro held out his hand to me, and I almost rushed to his side, clinging to his hand as I watched the family I had once dreamed of joining.
And him.
"What are you doing here?" I asked, and I was surprised to find my voice was steady.
"Bella," Edward breathed, as he shifted impatiently. I felt Aro step back, and I spun around to stare at him, wide-eyed.
What was he doing?
"It's your choice," he whispered, in the millisecond before he left my side, and I was left standing alone.
"Bella…"
At the sound of his voice, I spun back, anger coursing through me. "I waited for you."
I met his aching beauty, and felt only anger.
"I've kept my promise, I came back. Bella, I've come to take you home," Edward murmured, stepping forward, his arms rising. "It's over."
I stared at him, and he faltered.
"I waited for you, Edward. I loved you, and I waited, and you did not come. Ever since we met, all I've done is wait, and I'm tired of waiting," I murmured, and I felt the tension in the hall coalesce, becoming tangible. I could taste it in the back of my throat as I inhaled, steeling myself. Digging deep for the strength to do what I must.
"Bella, I'm here, it's ok," Edward replied gently, that once beautiful smile on his lips as he moved forward to embrace me. Behind me, I felt Aro tense.
"You're too late," I whispered, stepping back and away from him, back towards Aro.
Towards my destiny.
His arms came around me, hugging me back against him, as he raised my hand, the one which held that single, cold white line, and kissed it.
"Bella, no!" Edward's voice was horrified and pleading, and I felt some kind of vindictive pleasure. "You don't have to do this. He can't control you anymore,"
"That was always your problem, Edward. So sure that I, the weak, silly little human was so easy to control, that I could not decide for myself what is right or wrong. Now it's too late, you've lost me forever," I sighed, pressing back against Aro, leaching strength from him as he would drink from a human.
"Bella, you don't belong here," Carlisle said, stepping forward beside his son, his face pitying.
"Come home, honey," Esme added, with a gentle smile. I smiled, confident and sure in my resolve.
"I am home," I murmured, with a slight smile.
"Bella," Rosalie suddenly stepped forward, and I was surprised by the usually cold blonde vampire. She hated me. "Your place is with us, not with them. Come home."
"You're wrong. My place is here," I replied. "Everything begins, or ends with a choice. You taught me that, Edward. I chose to discover what you really were, I chose to follow you into this world. I chose to love you, and I chose to be yours forever, but now…I choose different. I choose this world, this place, this family, this man. I choose Aro."
"And you'll always have me," Aro whispered in my ear, placing a gentle kiss on my neck before raising his head to glare balefully at the Cullens. "And now, my dear Cullens, it is time for you to the reap the reward of your heartlessness…"
"NO! I WON'T LET YOU CONDEMN HER!" Edward shouted with all his might, lowering into a crouch and springing at us. Before my eyes could widen, he collapsed to the ground, writhing in pain and I turned my head to see Jane smiling at him. The rest of the Cullens rushed forward to help their son and brother, but they were quickly subdued by the Volturi Guard. I tugged at Aro's arm, and he released me as I walked forward to look down on Edward as he writhed in pain. The sight brought me no pain anymore.
The fire still burnt in my veins.
"Jane," I flicked a glance at the diminutive girl vampire, and she flicked her eyes up to me.
"My Queen," she inclined her head, as I smiled at her, and she stepped back. I looked down at Edward's agonised face as he rolled over, his muscles tensed over, and he crawled towards me. His hands gripped the hem of my gown, and yet his grip was pathetically weak. Even a human could break it.
"I want you to know this, Edward. I choose this, and I want you to see what you have always feared come to pass. Feel the agony I felt when what I feared most came to pass," I said, gravely and emotionlessly, looking down at my former boyfriend.
"Bella, you don't know what you're doing," he growled out, through gritted teeth, as I broke away from his grip. Still weakened, Felix flitted forward and held him still, utterly imprisoned.
"Yes, I do," I murmured, stepping back to Aro. I knew what was going to happen, as I met the horrified eyes of the Cullens, and the anticipatory eyes of the Volturi.
Marcus and Caius stood from their thrones, as Aro pulled me close.
"Soon, love, we will have all eternity," Aro murmured, before he kissed me deeply. I moaned into his mouth before he released me and turned me around, so I faced the hall.
"Know this, Cullens," Caius suddenly spoke, as he took a position on my left. "You have done this to her. We should be thankful, I suppose…"
"Bear witness as we claim our Queen," Marcus sighed, taking a position on my right. I felt their cold hands gently take hold of my wrists and lift them up, baring the skin of my arms. One of Aro's arms slid around my waist, pulling me back against him, before he unclasped my necklace with the other.
"Heidi," he murmured, and the vampire took it from his hands, before he turned back to me. "Are you prepared, my love?"
"Yes," I sighed, feeling a strange peace fill me, even as the fire in my veins flickered anew. My eyes fell on the Cullens, and I met the eyes of Alice, my best friend. Her head inclined ever-so-slightly, and I smiled at her.
She understood.
"Then forgive me, love," Aro whispered in my ear, and I shuddered as I felt his cold lips against my neck. "But soon we will have eternity."
"I love you," I breathed, as I felt the three Volturi rulers' teeth shear into my skin, and fire that burned hotly tear away my vision and my consciousness.
But it was still nothing to the fire that burned in my heart for the man who stood behind me, drinking from my neck, as my body lost resolution and my mortality fell away, and I was reborn.
Aro
I withdrew my teeth from Bella's neck, as her weight fell into my arms. Caius and Marcus released her wrists, as I scooped her up into my arms.
She looked so perfect, lying in my arms, as the venom began to burn away her mortality, her heart labouring already. With the venom of all three of us within her blood, the transformation would not be as long, and she would soon awaken to her new life.
The memories of what had just transpired here came back, and I marvelled anew at her strength, her power. She would make a perfect Queen.
I looked up at the Cullens, now dejected and forlorn as they realised they had failed. With Bella nestled in my arms, I faced the coven.
"As for you, my dear Cullens," I hissed, surrounded by my brothers and my family, Bella lying prone in my grip. "You are never to return here, on pain of death without the express permission of myself, or my mate."
"You have reaped your reward for your cruelty," Marcus sighed, before he folded himself back into his chair, and regarded them apathetically. Caius sneered down at them.
"We should be grateful, really," he said haughtily. "If it weren't for your…interference, we would not have Isabella."
"Aro…" Carlisle began, but I cut him off.
"Carlisle, my friend, it pains me to see you turned enemy like this, but I shall never forget the harm you have inflicted on my mate. You will be held here until nightfall, and then you shall be escorted to the city limits. If any of you are found here after tomorrow morning, you will be executed." I barked shortly, as Bella shifted in my arms, whimpering slightly.
"Goodbye, Cullens," Caius sighed, as the family was dragged out, Edward's agonised screams of mingled fury and despair filling the halls.
As soon as they were gone, I left the hall, carrying Isabella back to our rooms. I laid her on the bed, feeling pain pierce my heart as she whimpered again and gritted her teeth against the pain.
"Hush, Bella. It'll be over soon, my love," I whispered, stroking her hair. I lay there beside her, and waited as she moaned and screamed in pain, hearing her heartbeat slow and then speed towards the final burst, felt it as her skin iced over; and felt impatience take over.
Our eternity would begin soon, and I could hardly wait.
Finis
Phew! That's over and finite, at least from me. Now the important stuff.
As you all know I will not be expanding on this story but EmpressHimiko will be. She has my full blessing to do so, and full creative licence so put her on alert. I have no idea where she'll take it, but I'm sure she will do a brilliant job. Please, give her your support.
Thank you all for reading and reviewing, and hopefully the next update for Siren of the Twilight will be up soon.
By the way, the links for the dress and necklace used in the first part of this chapter are up on my profile page if you want to take a look, as is Bella's dress in the final scene. I have to admit that final scene is largely inspired by 'Devil Take The Hindmost' from Love Never Dies. Say what you will about the plot, but that man sure can write music.
Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, or any of its associated characters, or concepts used herein. They all belong to their respective owners.