Human hands grabbed my wrist and Edward pulled me away. Carlisle leapt to his feet and, in a blur, he was in front of Edward, blocking our exit.
"Edward, where are you going?"
"Bella will not be here when he arrives. Alice!" he called aloud, "Alice, come down here now!"
"This is the safest place you can be right now."
"Safe?! If he is coming here, then this is the last place she should be!" he roared.
"How will you protect her?" Carlisle's voice now had an edge to it and his eyes narrowed on Edward. "How will you outrun him? We are your family, Edward. We have always protected you and we will continue to do so now. He is not far, now, Edward. You must stay." Edward was speechless, his mouth opening and closing in an effort to argue, but his grip on me slackened. With my free hand, I caressed the side of his face, locking his beautiful eyes with mine.
"He's outnumbered. He can't do anything to us."
He looked away from me, gazing at some far away place just beyond me.
------------
Carlisle led us into the foyer where Esme, Alice, and Jasper stood waiting. Alice gasped. Edward seemed to be, oddly, embarrassed, as if he were naked in his humanity. He tried to greet them warmly, but I still saw the distance in his eyes. Esme was unperturbed and moved to embrace him, but she stopped and the four vampires turned towards the front door.
It swung open.
"Carlisle! Quelle surprise…" He opened his arms wide before us in a welcoming gesture, a smile plastered to his porcelain face. The smile was sharp and cruel like it didn't belong there at all. His eyes were dark now, void of any traces of the emerald they once had. They were coal colored. No, darker. Blacker than anything I had seen before. Shadows on top of shadows.
He was hungry. "I so hoped that I would find you here. What a boon to find my old friend! I am afraid, though, that this is a business call." He chuckled and then his terrible eyes fell upon Esme. Carlisle growled in his throat. All the Cullens, Edward included, flexed with fury as Declan's features changed into perverse glee. "You must be Carlisle's mate. Esme." He rolled the name out of his lips unpleasantly and Carlisle growled louder this time. "A pleasure, my lady." And he bowed his head slightly. Esme remained calm and expressionless throughout as the tensions in the room grew. I wondered if Jasper was trying to calm his family to diffuse the situation…or incite them so Declan could meet a messy end. Declan turned gracefully and bowed to Alice and then to Jasper.
"Edward, you are certainly looking a little under the weather. Is human life not agreeing with you?"
"You look ill, yourself." Declan bared all his teeth in a grin.
"I am famished. That is one of the reasons I am here." Carlisle stopped Edward's advance.
"Why have you come here, Mason?"
"Mason! Ah me, that takes me back. I am here, my friend, because Edward and Bella have broken the rules. They are human and they know our secret."
"You made Edward mortal, Mason. That is not his fault. And as for Bella, we have already assured Aro and the others that she will be turned as soon as possible."
"Yes…. I will admit that I might have been hasty in changing Edward. I was smitten with their taboo love affair and I just thought….
"Then give it back to him. Edward will be immortal and, soon, Bella will be, also. There is no need for any violence.
"Ha! Violence? Did you think I came here to…." He paused and looked at each Cullen. They only glared back. "Oh, Carlisle, did you really mean to assault me? I am a little hurt. And a little amused. None of you are faster than I am. I will turn each and every one of you and then you will just be a house full of mortals. Won't that be funny? Well, funny is one word, anyway."
The room was full of statues. Even Edward and I were still. Only Declan moved, punctuating his threats with his lithe, agile hands. He regarded Edward and I for a moment before continuing.
"I am glad that you left the island. I had some time to think.
"I thought about love, as I often do. I was in love once. But it ended badly. So badly, in fact, that it cost me my life. I think that is why I showed you mercy on the beach. Our stories are almost the same. Mine was a tragedy, however. She was nothing in the face of my power and she died begging for mercy.
"I thought it would be enough to save you both from that. From the bloodshed that is certain to follow from a forbidden love.
"But it is not enough. For two hundred years, I have been performing this little fiction, halfway between two worlds. And I have nothing to show for it." He spat these last words. This Declan was different from the one we had left on the beach. I should have seen it in his eyes. His thirst was getting the best of him. His madness was cracking through those chiseled features. The others seemed to sense it, too, and they moved slowly, slowly, to surround Edward and me.
"You will not be able to protect him."
"What do you want with Edward?" Alice asked.
"I want her." Edward roared and tried to push through his family, but they remained firmly in place. Desperately, I pulled him back. He ignored my pleas to stay and it was only the Cullens who kept him from being killed.
"Let him come. Let him die a hero, if that is what he wants."
"Mason, don't do this."
"Why?" he screamed. "He doesn't deserve her!" There was a blur of white as every vampire in the room reacted. I held on to Edward and he held on to me as a rushing wind tore through the foyer. There was a crack, the sound of stone hitting stone and the blurs stopped.
Carlisle flew across the room, crashing into the far wall.
"You are too old for this kind—" In a flash, Esme backhanded Declan, throwing him to the floor. Her eyes were livid and bright as a scorching sun.
"Don't touch my family again…" Blurs of ivory clashed against each other once more and the sound of tearing metal filled the hall. Alice, Jasper, and Esme leapt on Declan howled in rage.
"Alice, Jasper, get them out of here!" Carlisle yelled and joined the fray.
I was ripped away from Edward. I tried to call for him, but my breath was taken away as Alice threw me on her back. The foyer disappeared, the furious growls and roars fading in the distance.