A/N: After a very busy first quarter at work, I'm hoping for some breathing room - and a little more time to write fanfic. Thanks to everyone for sticking with the story and to all the new readers. I'm curious to know where you heard about this story, or if you just happened upon it. I'd love to hear from you on that.
Thanks to my lovelies, MunkeeRajah and Evelyn-Shaye for giving up some of their spring break time to keep me on track. I love them more than Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs, and that's saying something!
As always, Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer. I'm just pawing through her Easte basket.
Quicksand
Leah POV
Ridged and ribbed like grosgrain ribbon, light danced across the breadth of the night sky. It ebbed and flowed, pulsed and throbbed in perfect synchronicity with the pounding in my head. I'd never seen the aurora borealis before, and under any other circumstances, I'd probably have been entranced by its eerie beauty.
But as Nahuel ran through the night, still carrying me, toward distant Denali National Park, I didn't have the emotional energy to spare for marveling at Mother Nature's artistry. My thoughts were miles ahead, where Emmett and Edward – both capable of moving far faster than one over-burdened hybrid and a pack of frightened werewolves – were approaching a rendezvous with Carlisle, the Denali coven, and the Volturi.
In his arms, Emmett carried the future of our pack – my ailing Alpha. My best friend. The one person in the world who truly saw the real me. Seth, Mom, Nahuel—they all loved me, but that blinded them to who I really was, deep down in my core. They thought far better of me than I deserved. Jake knew me for the bone-deep bitch I was, yet cared about me anyway.
Six years ago, when I'd joined Jake's pack, I'd never have dreamed there would be a day when his life would depend on the aid of vampires. And that those vampires would be as terrified for his safety as his own pack mates were. Or that it would be me who'd put his life in danger.
Renesmee, Bella and Jasper had silently kept pace with the wolves for hours, but now, Jasper abruptly broke the peace.
"When we reach Denali, I think it would be a good idea to keep the Volturi focused on Joham, and away from the news that there are now three imprinted wolf-hybrid pairs," he said. His smooth drawl cut through the crisp night air clearly yet gently, despite the wind whipping past as the group ran.
Conversation with the vampires was beyond Seth's capabilities in wolf form, but he still managed to make his confusion known with a loud snort and a tilt of his huge, shaggy head in Jasper's direction. Nahuel's reaction was even more pointed—and typical of my territorial vamp-boy.
"Leah and I are to marry." His lush voice vibrated with resentment. "Why must we conceal that we are mated?"
Jasper's perfectly arched eyebrows climbed skyward, and for a moment, he seemed too surprised by Nahuel's sniping tone to respond. Bella's chiming voice filled the uncomfortable void.
"Jazz is right," she said. "The less attention you draw from the Volturi, the better. The last thing you want is Aro hearing about a rash of shape-shifters imprinting on half-vampires and taking an interest in the 'science' of it."
Her golden eyes settled on her daughter running beside her. "He's always had an unhealthy fixation on Renesmee," she observed. "Let's not give him any more reason to find us all … fascinating."
An icy weight congealed in the pit of my stomach, and I clutched Nahuel's shoulders tighter. I'd personally witnessed the avarice of the Volturi lord. I remembered the greedy glint that had glistened in his gory eyes all those years ago, when he'd tried to persuade Edward and Bella to join the guard—even as he schemed to slaughter their daughter.
If he'd been that fixated on procuring two "ordinary" gifted vampires, how much more enchanted would he be with the prospect of getting his undead claws on a pregnant shape-shifter who was carrying the world's only werewolf-human-vampire hybrid?
Seth's eyes drifted toward Anjali, who'd been—wisely—quiet and reserved since yesterday's stunning revelation of her betrayal. I didn't need access to his thoughts through the pack mind to guess what he as thinking.
"I agree," I called, raising my voice to carry to everyone in our group. "Information is power, and this is one piece of news we don't need to share with the Volturi."
The group fell into silence as we ran. I knew Renesmee and Bella would rather be with Jake right now. They had stayed with us because Bella needed proximity to effectively shield Anjali and me from the probing power of Joham's lackey—the mind-molester and would-be rapist, Remy.
One more thing to feel guilty about, I thought miserably. Jake was in this mess—with mangled hands and feet, and venom-soaked wounds in his side—because of me. If he died … alone, without his mate and his best friend beside him … it would be my fault.
I choked back a sob and buried my cold nose against the lusciously warm, sweet-smelling skin of Nahuel's throat. I hoped the thunder of my pack brothers' paws pounding full-tilt over the hard-packed snow would drown out the faint sound of my remorse.
Of course, my imprint heard me clearly.
"Do not take this burden on yourself, ñi piuque," he murmured, as if he had read my thoughts. "You are not to blame for Jacob's injuries. My sire is the villain in all this."
His understanding, his tenderness—his fucking unconditional love—wrecked me.
"It is my fault."
I clutched the collar of his shirt and drew it over my face so the others in our madly running group wouldn't see me crying like a shamed child. "If I'd just listened to him … if I'd waited like he wanted … Jake wouldn't be in this mess."
"It is possible Jacob would not have been injured, but also highly probable that I would be dead," he chided. "Perhaps that outcome would have been more desirable to you."
Hormones instantly whip-shot my mood from weepy and guilt-ridden to glaring and pissed. My head snapped back and I glowered at him. "Of course not, you ass," I growled. "How could you even think that?"
He smiled at me as if I'd just solved the mysteries of the universe, as if I hadn't just insulted him. The raw heat of his beautiful smile stole my breath. It always did. What the hell was he grinning about?
Understanding poked me, like the intrusive touch of an overly handsy uncle at a birthday party you hadn't wanted anyone to throw you in the first place. The wolf bitch chortled approvingly.
Nahuel had just served me a dose of my own medicine, challenging my self-pity and self-loathing with an outrageous accusation. I'd done the same thing to him not that long ago, when I'd confronted him in the bushes behind that fucking barn and asked if he wanted to leave me, if he'd fallen out of love with me.
Well played, vamp-boy.
He acknowledged my recognition of his ploy. "It is unpleasant to have the one you love intentionally misinterpret, is it not?"
I shook my head in grudging respect. "I said those things to you because I was trying to make a point, Nahuel."
"As am I," he countered, effortlessly sustaining his end of our conversation, as if carrying me while running flat out was no burden at all. "Continuing to reproach yourself for anything that has happened is both counter-productive and wrong-headed. You did what was necessary. Jacob would have done the same, and he will no doubt tell you that as soon as he is able."
Emotion clogged my throat. "What if he never gets the chance?" I could barely force my voice out around the beach-ball sized lump in my throat. "If that really is venom in his wounds … he may never get the chance to forgive me."
"You are overly worried. Carlisle will set Jacob's hands and feet to rights, and his werewolf healing ability will rid his body of the venom." He chuckled wryly. "At worst, it will change him into something truly unique!"
I gaped at him, appalled by his apparent nonchalance. He raised a questioning eyebrow.
"Have I said something offensive?"
Realization ripped into me. He didn't know. Why would he? I'd intentionally never brought up the fact that vampire venom was fatal to wolves because I didn't want to freak him out. Apparently, no one else had mentioned it to him, either.
My gut sank. I needed to tell him now, even though I really didn't want to start him thinking about all the ways he could consider himself dangerous to me. I was pretty sure he'd see this as one more thing for him to loathe about himself.
"Jake can't heal from venom," I said quietly, carefully watching his beautiful face. The wind whipped around us, roaring loudly as Nahuel continued to run. I almost hoped he wouldn't catch my whisper, that the wind would shred my words to an insignificant hiss of sound. Of course, he heard me clearly—again.
Confusion drew his dark brows into a worried frown. "I do not understand."
I sucked in a shuddering breath, steeling myself for his reaction. "Vampire venom is fatal to werewolves. It can't change us, and our bodies can't process it like other toxins."
Sheer horror swept over his flawless features. His eyes widened and his trembling lips fell open. Understanding crystallized painfully in his glorious eyes, and I knew he was processing not only the import this news had for Jake, but also for us.
His breath faltered into shallow pants. He looked so stunned, so utterly sickened by my revelation that I was sure he'd have stopped stock still, dropped me and puked his guts out in that moment if we hadn't been running for Jake's life.
"Every time I kiss you … every time I put my mouth on your body … I risk your life?" His voice rattled in his chest like dry, dead leaves skittering over frozen ground.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Bella glance at us. Of course she—and everyone else—overheard our conversation and Nahuel's horrified reaction. Without any signal passing between them that I could detect, the vampires subtly spread out, moving away from us but remaining in eyeshot. It wasn't real privacy, but it was the best they could do under the circumstances. I'd take it.
"You are in danger every time we lay together, yet you kept this from me," he accused, anger and something even darker and more desolate overlaying the distress in his voice.
I could see where he was heading. We'd had enough angst and drama in the past few days to last us for eternity; no way was I about to let him heap more on our already-steaming pile. I shut him down.
"No," I rapped, firmly and forcefully. "Unless you've decided you'd rather make a meal of me than make me your wife, I have nothing to worry about. You are less dangerous to me than any other vampire in the world."
In the two months he'd been in Forks, Nahuel had learned a lot about his own biology thanks to Carlisle. We now knew that while venom was present at all times in the mouths of full vampires, Nahuel's venom functioned more like snake venom. Glands at the back of his mouth produced and stored his venom, like a human's salivary glands made spit. Nahuel's venom wasn't always present in his saliva; feeding triggered the release. I knew without a doubt that Nahuel had never for a moment considered me a food source, so there'd never been a time when I was in danger of coming in contact with his venom.
I grasped his chin in my cold fingers, forcing him to look at me. I willed him to see my total trust and acceptance.
"I know you would never hurt me, Nahuel. Don't even think about worrying over this. It's a non-issue. Put it out of your mind. Permanently."
He swallowed hard, his strong jaw clenched tight against his angst. He struggled for a moment, wrestling with his desire to believe me and the habit of self-loathing he'd lived with for more than a century. He looked away for several moments, never breaking the rhythm or speed of his lope. Finally, he looked back at me with fresh resolve simmering in his eyes.
"I cannot promise that I will be able to overlook this easily, but I will pledge to try … if you will agree to stop blaming yourself for Jacob's injuries."
Oh, he's good …
He knew I would do anything for him—even turn my back on what I knew to be true. Even though he was wrong and it was my fault that Jake was hurt, Nahuel was right that my obsessing over the fact wouldn't benefit anyone. And if swallowing my guilt over Jake would convince my imprint to let this new worry of his go … well, it would be one less thing on his mind when I finally did tell him the secret I was most afraid of sharing with him.
"Deal," I murmured, pressing my lips to the corner of his mouth to seal the agreement.
Truthfully, neither one of us would be able to let go of all our issues so easily. We'd both carried them for too long. But for now, at least, it looked like we'd successfully negotiated a cease-fire on two important points.
Nahuel said no more, and simply turned his attention to the brightening horizon, so I counted myself lucky—and kept my damn mouth shut.
SSW/SSW/SSW
No one likes to realize they're a bigot, but in the past few months I'd had to admit to myself that's exactly what I was. Carlisle and his family—and their unfailing kindness and acceptance—had forced me to rethink all I'd ever believed about the nature of vampires. Accepting that I needed to adjust my world view to encompass the reality of "good" vampires had been a disturbing, humbling experience.
Still, despite all the changes Nahuel and the past two months had brought to my life, deep down, I would always be bitchy Leah. That part of me was perversely, secretly smug to think that the Volturi reaffirmed my dislike of vampires in general.
Jane, Alec, Felix and Demetri were exactly the kind of evil, blood-thirsty leeches that I–and all my race–was born to hate.
I wasn't sure what it said about my priorities, but I remembered the Volturi guard far more clearly than Nahuel or his aunt after that initial encounter six years ago. I'd hated them on sight, and on principle. After meeting them a second time in the cavernous great room of the Denali coven's sprawling mansion—it made the Cullen house look like a shanty—I was pretty convinced my hatred was totally justified.
Edward and Emmett had reached Denali with Jake just an hour or so before us. Carlisle, Rosalie and the Volturi were already there. By the time we arrived, Carlisle was treating Jake, with Edward and Rosalie's help. Renesmee and Bella wasted no time going off to find them. I'd wanted to go too, but figured I'd probably just be in the way. Besides, if we were going to successfully negotiate with the Volturi for their help, Seth would need my support.
Carmen, the most human-seeming of the Denali vamps, ushered our group deep into the great room of the Denali house. The place made me think of pictures I'd seen of turn-of-the-century mountain resorts—all dark natural woods, evergreen accents and rustic reds. The furniture was an eclectic mix of lush leathers and plaid upholstery. Tanya, Eleazar and the Volturi were waiting for us.
"Please make yourselves at home," Tanya invited. "Carlisle wished me to tell you that your friend is doing well."
Relief weakened my knees, and I sunk down onto the first seat I could find—a deep, feather-soft leather recliner. I was the only one in our group who sat, but I just couldn't care. I was exhausted and tense. I barely listened as Jasper and Seth began to negotiate with the Volturi for their help.
Wisely, Seth had ordered the rest of the pack to stay outside, patrolling the perimeter of the compound. My little brother knew it would be a really bad idea to have a wolf as hotheaded as Paul in the same room with unrepentant bloodsuckers. He'd have a difficult time restraining himself, even knowing we needed the Volturi guard's help.
Although I'd met every one of the Denali coven members at one point or another over the past six years, I couldn't say I was as comfortable with them as I felt with the Cullens. Still, they were a hell of a lot more personable than the Volturi.
After just five minutes of interaction with the leeches, I was wishing I could have stayed outside, too. I felt a killing urge that would have made Paul proud. My burbling kettle of ire hit whistle point when the Volturi tracker hedged about helping us.
"Unfortunately, I simply can't be of much use to you," Demetri sighed dramatically, not even bothering to conceal the condescension in his voice. His smirk made it clear that he regretted the situation about as much as I'd have regretted putting my fist through his smug, sparkly face.
I was already on edge over being in the same room with so many freaking vampires—even though more than half of them were "vegetarians" that I knew. How long before one of them noticed a quiet little heartbeat whispering beneath the thunder of mine? Before one of them noticed a subtle shift in my scent? I could only think I'd been lucky so far—or that my pregnancy wasn't advanced enough—that none of the Cullens had yet noticed anything different about me. This was not a venue where I wanted my secret outed for all to see, but surrounded by so many supernaturally sensitive creatures, wasn't it just a matter of time?
My nerves made my mouth-to-brain filter even less reliable than usual, and my brittle anger shot out of my mouth before I took a moment to think. It didn't help that Nahuel wasn't beside me; he stood by a heavy-draped window on the opposite side of the room from where I sat. We looked less together, but the physical separation from my imprint wasn't doing much to calm my already raw-nerves. I also wasn't happy about the fact that Tanya—the stunningly beautiful and unattached leader of the Denali coven—had chosen a seat that put her closer to Nahuel than anyone else in the room.
"What the fuck do you mean?" I snarled at Demetri. "You're the whole point of this little get-together. We need a tracker who can help us find Joham. What's your problem?"
Across the room, Alec hissed like a leaking gas line and Felix took a threatening step forward. Jane halted them both with a flick of her tiny fingers.
"You would do well to moderate your language, shape-shifter." She delivered her warning flatly, in a mild tone that belied the tension radiating off her fellow guard members. "We expect a basic level of respect, even from less evolved species such as yours."
I ground my teeth. Briefly, I fantasized about phasing and teaching the Bride of Chucky a thing or two about respect. Like a small child craving its security blanket, I found myself wishing Jake were there. And that thought slammed another wave of guilt and fear through me. Why the hell hadn't someone come yet to give us an update on how he was doing?
Before my next eye-blink, Jasper was between Jane and me—which was pretty fucking odd. From the corner of my eye, I saw Emmett watching us with a raised eyebrow. Jasper had helped me out when I was hurt, but we'd never had what you'd call a close relationship. Why was he taking such a protective stance now? Of course, there was no way I could question him about it—not now, and maybe not ever.
"Her delivery might be lacking in diplomacy, but Leah's point is valid," he drawled. "Since we share a common goal, we'd hoped Demetri would be able to help us locate Joham."
His words floated gently on a cushion of calm, and behind Jane, the other guard members visibly relaxed.
Jane, however, regarded Jasper with the impassive stare of a viper debating with itself whether striking the puny prey in front of it was worth the expenditure of energy it would cost. Clearly, she was aware he was trying to manipulate her emotions. The fact that she didn't feel threatened by it said a lot about her confidence. Jasper was bad-ass, but without Bella present to shield him, Jane could probably drop him like a ton of bricks.
"Demetri can't track someone he's never met," she said dully. "The Volturi did extend an invitation to the renegade to meet, but since he declined, Demetri has never had the opportunity to make the personal connection necessary to facilitate his tracking ability."
My ears had been ringing for hours, ever since Edward had said he thought there was venom in Jake's wounds. Now, the ringing had crescendoed to a cacophony, and I wasn't sure which stunning revelation was responsible: the news that Demetri couldn't track Joham, or that the Volturi had attempted any kind of cordial contact with Nahuel's batshit-crazy sperm donor.
"I don't understand," Tanya interjected carefully. "Why did you contact Joham? How?"
"Aro's reasons are his own," Jane said, her reptilian little eyes shifting to the leader of the Denali coven. "I don't question him, nor should you. As for how … a messenger was sent."
Tanya arched an icy eyebrow. "What was Joham's response?"
"He returned the messenger to Volterra in pieces." A small smirk tugged at the corner of Jane's pert little mouth. "It was not difficult to interpret his meaning."
I wasn't sure which was worse: Joham's chosen method of communication, or the fact that Jane found it amusing. What could you say to that kind of sickness?
Apparently, not much, since Jasper and Tanya both slipped into that unsettling stillness that overtakes vampires when they're actually not sure what to do or say next. I figured they were both trying to think of how to salvage this situation, to get something out of the Volturi's presence besides angina—if vampires even got angina.
I kept my mouth shut for the second time that day. I had nothing, and the present company was just too sharp—and too friggin' dangerous—for me to pretend otherwise. I watched Jasper and Tanya process things, watched Emmett and Seth watch the Volturi, and watched the Volturi make a show of not caring that they were being scrutinized.
I fought the urge to cover my stomach with my hands, and wished like hell I could be close enough to Nahuel to touch him. I was afraid to even look at him, sure if I did that Jane's beady little eyes would see far more than we wanted.
If my eyes had been on him, I would have seen the unmistakable signs of my imprint scheming, because Nahuel never spoke without thinking first. But I wasn't looking at him. The fact that he spoke at all was almost as flabbergasting as what he said.
"Let Demetri follow me."
Every vampire in the room took a full second to grasp his meaning, but I understood before the last syllable left his mouth. A crazed sound, somewhere between a hysterical giggle and a horrified gasp, slipped through my lips, and I was on my feet, crowding Jasper, before I even realized I was moving.
Superior mental capacity, my ass.
Once it started beating again, my heart ripped loose from its mooring behind my end of that fucking invisible cable and tumbled toward my toes. It ricocheted off my stomach and clipped my uterus on its way down. Frigid liquid terror gushed through the crevasse it gouged in its wake. Carlisle's herbal supplements be damned—the nausea was back in full force.
"No!"
"Capital idea!"
My shouted protest crossed and clashed with Demetri's pleased exclamation.
Nahuel's gaze shifted calculatingly among the Volturi guard. He pointedly did not look at me, and continued speaking as if he hadn't heard me at all.
"My sire wants me," he said, his voice steady, calm and reasonable, as if he were suggesting nothing more dangerous than an afternoon fishing trip with dear old undead Dad. "All that is required is that I make myself available to him. He will find me. I will do whatever is necessary to stay at his side. Demetri need only track me, and I will lead him to Joham."
Demetri nodded enthusiastically and clapped his hands together, eyes alight with the glee of a little boy who's just been told he can have a cookie before dinner. Behind him, Felix and Alec smiled appreciatively.
My eyes tracked to Jane, who was wearing the same bland, bored expression she always displayed. Yet something in the set of her ruby eyes was … satisfied. Somehow, I just knew that the Volturi had orchestrated this. Nahuel might think he'd come up with this idea on his own, but the lousy leeches had herded him toward it.
It's all a game to them. Just a fucking game.
Seth stood silently, slack-jawed, his eyes flitting from Nahuel to the Volturi to me and then back to my imprint. Jasper and Tanya seemed every bit as speechless as Seth. Trust Emmett, however, to not be at a loss for words.
"Dude!" he crowed. "You want us to use you as bait? That is fucked up. It could work, but still … it's fucked up."
Jasper was still standing in front of me and, without thinking, I sank my fingers into the back of his shirt, trying to drag him out of my way. He glanced over his shoulder, astonished that I'd voluntarily touched him. Whatever he saw on my face quickly drove the surprise from his, and his golden eyes narrowed. He shook his head minutely, and I felt calm waft over me.
I understood what he was doing; he feared I was on the verge of losing it—and I was. He thought I was about to say something that would reveal to the Volturi the depth of my connection to Nahuel, and Jasper wanted to protect me from the ramifications of that revelation. I understood his concern, and he was probably even right. But in that moment, I didn't care.
"Stop it," I hissed, glaring at him.
Purposefully, I stepped around him and marched across the room. It was a huge fucking room and Nahuel was on the far side of it, but it still took me only seconds to reach him. When I stopped in front of him, so close my tits were all but rubbing against his chest, he finally met my gaze.
The candy-ass, imprint-whipped school girl wanted to back down at the fear and pleading in his soulful eyes. He was begging me silently not to expose us—not to expose myself—to the Volturi. The wolf-bitch didn't give two shits about the leeches at the moment, and she brutally squelched the urge to relent.
"You are not going anywhere," I snarled. "I won't allow it."
I'd said those same words to him before, behind my father's shed on the day he attacked Charlie. Then, he'd been relieved and grateful to hear them, but not now. No, now he looked furious. Cords of muscle rose in tense lines down the length of his throat, and his teak eyes hardened and chilled.
"Who are you to forbid me to do as I wish, werewolf?"
My mouth dropped open. That gut-punched feeling that only Nahuel could give me slammed the breath from my lungs. I couldn't process the sheer disbelief his truculent tone washed over me. I gaped at him, stunned.
Something melted in the amber ice of his eyes. It was the only change in his angry facade, and it was so slight that anyone else would have missed it. But in that second I knew.
He's not pissed at me for telling him no. He's angry that I just gave us away to the Volturi, and he's trying to keep up the pretense. Tough shit.
"Cut the crap, Nahuel," I snapped. "You're a shitty liar and I'm not fooled. I'm not about to stand by while you talk about using yourself as bait to catch your psycho father, and if that means cluing the creepy quartet …" I chucked a thumb over my shoulder in the direction of the Volturi. "… into the fact that you're my mate, so be it."
I lowered my voice and stepped even closer. "You're mine and I'm yours," I whispered, throwing back at him the very words he'd used on me in my kitchen what felt like a thousand years ago. "I won't allow you to do this."
Behind me I heard a soft, feminine gasp. Had I actually managed to surprise the cosmically jaded Jane? Score one for me.
Nahuel heard the gasp, too, and winced almost imperceptibly. At my back, I could feel four sets of curious red eyes scorching through my shirt, burning into my skin. I resisted the urge to turn around and glare at them.
Indecision danced in the depths of Nahuel's eyes. Three seconds. Four. Five.
Finally, he expelled a weary sigh and shook his head.
"Be reasonable, beloved," he pleaded. "We have lived beneath the edge of this blade long enough. I want to begin our life together free of this fear. It is time to end Joham. This is our best chance to find him."
"Risking your life is not a chance I'm willing to take," I countered. "We'll find another way."
"Far be it from me to come between such an … interesting … mated pair, but I really must agree with the half-breed," Demetri called from behind me. "This is an excellent plan. Allowing Joham to reclaim something he desires, and then using his own greed against him, will make it very easy to locate and eliminate him."
I turned my head just enough to be able to see the tracker from the corner of my eye. "I didn't ask your opinion, bloodsucker," I snarled. "Stay the fuck out of this."
"Careful, wolf-bitch," Alec interjected. "Your entertainment value is waning."
Noiselessly, Jasper flashed across the room into my line of vision.
"Leah, we can't afford to reject this idea out of hand," he murmured gently.
"What?" I gasped. I turned to face him fully, gaping in outrage. As if he didn't trust me not to lunge at Jasper, Nahuel slipped an arm around my waist from behind.
"Well, it's not like we wouldn't know where Nahuel was the whole time," Emmett argued. "Edward could keep tabs on him while we followed with Demetri. And it's a pretty safe bet that Joham's not going to kill Nahuel, seeing as how he figures into the whole breeding plan thing."
"What the fuck?" I raged. "If Carlisle or Jake were in this room right now, this conversation would already be over! They'd never allow this."
Nahuel's warm fingers gently grasped my chin and nudged my face toward his. He turned me in his arms, and angled our bodies so that his back was now to the room, blocking my view of our audience. If it weren't for the overpowering stench of vampire, I could almost allow myself to believe we really were alone. His beautiful face dominated my attention.
"Carlisle and Jacob would both say that it is not their place to dictate my choices," he whispered, tenderly brushing his fingers down my cheek. "But I am yours, ñi piuque, and so it is your right to share in this decision."
He drew a shuddering breath and gathered me close, pressing his lips just below my ear. His voice was so low, and so soft that I thought even our supernaturally powered audience would have difficulty hearing him.
"I wish to do this thing." His breath barely stirred the air. "I will feel less a coward, and we will be free of this threat. But if you ask me not to do this, I will stay."
Maybe if he'd been mine for longer, or if I hadn't been pregnant and scared shitless of facing motherhood alone, I might have been able to give him what he so clearly wanted. But not even the imprinting compulsion could overpower my terror at the thought of losing him. I didn't hesitate. I flung my arms around his neck and buried my face against him, my lips brushing over the solitaire nestled in the opening of his collar.
"Please don't do this."
The muscles in his shoulders tensed and the strain rippled across his back. For a moment, he said nothing, and I wondered wildly if he'd actually thought I might give in. Then, he softly sighed beneath my ear, gave me a gentle squeeze, released me and stepped back. He partially turned to face Jasper, and beyond him, Demetri.
"My apologies, my friends. We will need to think of alternatives."
The silence stretched and strained. Demetri studied Nahuel and me, then flicked his gaze to Jane, wordlessly questioning.
"Interesting," she muttered. "Aro will find this development most interesting."
There was no missing her implied threat, but I was too relieved to care. Nahuel wouldn't be risking himself as bait for his deranged daddy, and I wouldn't be stuck here, alone, unable to phase and help him. Whatever happened next, at least we would face it together.
"Well, that is that," Jane continued. "I see no reason to prolong our presence here. Alec, please contact Gianna and have her arrange our travel back to Volterra."
"Wait!" Tanya protested. "Aren't you even going to consider alternatives?"
"None exist," Jane said mildly. "As I said, Demetri cannot track someone he has never met. If the halfling is unwilling to function as a lodestone, the matter is ended. Aro will be disappointed."
Anjali had been silent and half-hidden in a corner behind Seth throughout the entire tableau. I'd almost forgotten she was there. Apparently, so had everyone else; every vampire in the room startled when she spoke quietly and confidently.
"Nahuel is not the only hybrid Father wants to recapture."
Seth's big body went rigid and his eyes shot to mine. His left shoulder dipped oh-so-slightly, and I knew he was fighting the urge to turn and face his imprint. It must have taken tremendous willpower, but he didn't move, didn't indicate in any way that he cared at all what Anjali was getting at.
Demetri erupted into pleased chuckles and clapped his hands again. "Of course! The female halfling. Joham must have been most displeased to lose her. She can be our …" he glanced at Emmett. "… how did you put it? Oh yes, 'bait.' " He pirouetted gracefully to face Jane.
"Now why didn't we think of that?"
I'd have been more than happy to personally shove Anjali's lying ass into Joham's waiting arms, but the pain and fear in my brother's eyes destroyed me. I knew he was struggling with himself, feeling cornered by circumstances. If he said nothing, Anjali would put herself at risk, and Seth's beautiful soul would die if something happened to her. If he spoke up, he'd alert the Volturi to his connection to her, and possibly draw even more unwanted attention.
The Volturi already knew, now, about Nahuel and me, and though I hated the bitch with the intensity of a thousand burning suns, Anjali was still Seth's imprint. Still Nahuel's sister. I had to do something. I pushed around Nahuel and glared at Anjali.
"You ditched your father," I sneered, tapping my rage at her to get just the right infusion of disdain into my voice. "He won't want you back. You'll be useless as bait."
Seth's eyes were huge and moist, and if any of the Volturi had been looking at him in that second, the gratitude on his face would have totally given him away.
Anjali stepped forward into the weak morning light that had begun to trickle in through the heavily draped windows. She looked like hell—almost as bad as Nahuel had looked when he'd first arrived in Forks months ago—and I knew it was because Seth was still angry at her. She was feeling the pull of the imprinting as strongly as he did, and their emotional isolation from each other was painful for both of them.
She passed Seth without any acknowledgement of his presence, and halted in the middle of the room. Her pale hazel eyes were empty and impassive.
"He will want me back," she said tonelessly.
"And why is that?" Jane sounded only mildly curious.
"I have something he desires very much for his breeding program," Anjali replied.
When she said nothing more, Demitri huffed, exasperated like an impatient child. "Really, dear girl, the suspense is too much. Out with it, if you please. What is it that you have?"
Her eyes scanned the room, taking in every member of the Volturi guard, the Denali coven and the Cullens—all hanging by their collective short hairs to hear her explanation.
And still, she hadn't looked at Seth. Not once.
"A proven track record."
What the fuck does that mean? Does that mean she has ….
"A child. I have a child."
End note: Yes, I did it again. I can hear it now "Viv, you cliffie bitch!" So, fair warning, a lot of the remaining chapters are going to have WTF danglers (and no, I'm not talking about Nahuel's or Jake's manly bits). Not only is that how I roll, but the story is going to pick up pace so much that there will be no avoiding cliffies. Thanks for sticking around!