Chapter 11 - Determined

Gasps of shock filled the air. They knew I was right, it made sense. "I.. I have to go now, find them before they come here." I told them. There was no way I was letting the Volturi take out any of the Cullen's over my dead body would any of them be killed by the Volturi scum. I was determined now more than ever. They had ruled long enough, it was time to take back what is rightfully mine. Edwards hand grabbed mine for the first time in what felt like forever, a jolt of electricity shot through me from his touch.

"No Bella, I can't let you go on your own." Edward told me fiercely.

"You do not have a choice Edward" I cupped his cheek with my hand. "You need to stay here and help protect your family. If they get here before I find them Alice will see them coming. Use your new advantages Edward, protect the ones you love." He knew I was talking about his speed. He could do a lot more damage in a fight now.

"Bella, don't you get it?" He paused for a moment "I love you."

His words froze me in place. I searched his eyes, he was telling the truth, his eyes were full of love. He loved me, he was in love with me. "Edward... I need you to stay here. Do you understand me?" I didn't wait for him to reply before I reached up and kissed him with as much passion and love I could possibly manage. His lips were soft and gentle yet perfect as our lips moulded to one another as he kissed me back. All too soon I pulled back out of his reach. "I love you too" I whispered before I was gone.

I flew from the house running as fast as I possibly could. My phone in hand I called an airline to get on the next flight to Italy. There was one leaving in an half hour from Seattle that stopped in New York first but it would get me there the quickest. Perfect, I raced through the trees avoiding any towns as much as possible. When I got to Seattle I stuck to the shadows until I reached the airport. I had to stop myself from fidgeting the whole flight and tried my best to relax. I took the block off Alice so that she could see me clear now that I was in the air they couldn't stop me. She needed her full sight if the Volturi were involved.

The Volturi were going to die, I was done with them. The wouldn't live much longer I was certain and that made me feel slightly better. I had never liked the brothers, but they were feared enough that other vampire's actually listened. Mostly because they thought Aro, Marcus and Caius had managed to kill me. It was a stupid rumour but it gave me some peace and quiet. I knew that Aro had been recruiting members of his guard for when the time came he could actually kill me. The stupid idiot actually thought I'd show and teach him everything that I knew when I gave them their new position of rulers. He couldn't have been more wrong. I had plenty that he nor anyone else had ever seen.

The plane finally started its decent into New York. As soon as the door was open I was out. I turned my phone back on as I made my way to the next terminal for my flight to Italy. My phone vibrated with message after message. Alice. Bella! Call me now! I dialled her number while I walked.

"Bella?" Alice asked in a frantic tone.

"It's me Alice, what's wrong?"

"They're coming Bella! They will be here soon, all of them they're already close."

"What Alice, who's coming?" The dread in the pit of my stomach increased tenfold.

"The Volturi, they are almost here! You need to get back here or we will all die. Bella please!"

My hand shook as I turned and made my way to the exit of the airport instead. "Alice I'm on my way. How long have we got until they are there?" I jumped into a cab and demanded the frightened driver to take me in the opposite direction of the city.

"It looks like it's around mid-day in my vision. So about 4 hours."

"Ok Alice, I need you to calm down. Get to the clearing where I fought with Emmett and the boys. It's far away from town that the Volturi shouldn't go after the human's. Distract them when they get there. Hold off the fight for as long as possible. I will be there as soon as I can. Can you do that for me Alice?"

"Yes Bella, hurry!"

"Ok, if anything changes call me. I'll see you soon." I hung up.

My breath was jagged and I couldn't stop shaking as the cab took me away from the city. As soon as I seen signs of a forest I threw some cash at the cabbie and jogged into the forest. I took off at a sprint, running faster than I ever had before. I had 4 hours to get across the country to save my new family and the man I loved. Tree's flew by me, I ran at a human pace when I was too close to towns and cities. But keeping as much to the forests as possible. I stripped my jacket off and jumped into Lake Michigan. Damning my phone to hell the whole swim. I didn't have the time to go around and I didn't need the jacket restricting me movements through the water. In no time at all I was in Wisconsin and running again. Determination in my every step to reach my destination before it was too late.

Edwards POV

My family were frantic after Alice hung up from her conversation with Bella. "What did she say?" Carlisle asked.

"She's on her way, but she's in New York." Alice answered him.

"What?! She will never make it back in time!" Emmett yelled. "We're all fucking doomed!"

"No were not, you haven't seen Bella run. She will make it, I know she will." I told him.

"What? You think she could run across the country by midday?" Jasper asked and Emmett snorted.

"Yes" I said simply.

"We need to do what she told Alice, get to the clearing and distract the Volturi long enough that Bella can get there." I told Carlisle.

"How do you suppose we distract them Edward?" Jasper asked.

I thought about it for a few minutes while my family waited. Alice gasped when I made my decision. "Yes, that will work Edward." I nodded watching her visions play out.

"What will work?" Esme asked.

"The Volturi are threatened by us right? By our numbers and by our gifts. What if we tell them that Jasper, Alice and I are willing to join their guard if they promise to keep you 4 alive? Our only issue is keeping our thoughts from Aro long enough for Bella to get there. He can't touch any of us or he will figure out the truth. Right now he doesn't even know Bella, has been with us. We will negotiate with them for as long as possible." We fell into silence after than while they considered it.

Carlisle reached a decision. "Ok, we can do that. You three, will stay quiet until they are about to attack. Edward you then step forward and offer yourself. Alice and Jasper can back you up then. Esme, Emmett, Rosalie and I will pretend to be horrified at the thought. We will beg them to reconsider, Aro will never agree to our plea's instead he will enjoying toying with us at the thought of splitting our family a part." Alice nodded.

"It will work, it's the best plan we've got. We all need to hunt in case Bella doesn't make it in time, or she needs our help during the fight."

Carlisle nodded. "Let's go then."

We ran as a family for a few minutes than took turns hunting one at a time. We weren't going to split up with the Volturi lurking around. No doubt they've sent out scouts that would try to get one of us alone. When we were done we made our way to the clearing Bella suggested. As we stood together and waited I couldn't stop thinking about Bella. Last time I was here with her we were rolling around fighting for fun. Now we were about to fight for our lives but Bella wasn't here yet. I heard the familiar hum of thoughts as they approached. "They're coming" I whispered to my family. "It's not just Aro and some of the guard. It's all of them, even the wives"

"What, the wives never leave the castle?" Emmett asked quietly so they wouldn't hear.

"They are too threatened to not take all the guard with them, the wives didn't have a choice if they wanted to stay protected" I explained. When we heard their synchronized footsteps we fell into silence. They would hear just about anything now, and we weren't about to risk it.

Bella, she consumed my own thoughts. The beautiful creature that loved me. I don't know how I'm lucky enough that Bella's feelings were on par with my own. When she kissed me last night, the feeling was beyond words. She felt too soft against me, yet so strong as she kissed me with passion and then she told me that she loved me also. If I couldn't see the truth in her eyes I wouldn't have believed her. But I did, and then she was gone. I was too stunned to move and follow her. I knew I wouldn't have been able to keep up, even with my new speed. A gift from the woman I loved. She would still outrun me easily.

Her pale face, her smooth flesh that tingled with electricity as we touched. Her long brown hair that I had yet to run my hands through, boy did I want too. I hope we survived today so I could do just that. I knew that she had been avoiding being alone with me since our night together. I just didn't realise why until now. She had done it to avoid us being in this exact situation. She wanted to keep us safe. But it was going to change if we survived this fight. I wouldn't let her run again. I don't care where she goes. I'm going to follow.

Dark cloaked figures emerged from the trees. A line of vampires walked forward. I recognised Felix, Heidi, Jane, Alec and Dimitri from Carlisle's memory of his days in Volterra. The rest of the guard must have joined since he left Afron, Chelsea, Corin, Renata & Santiago. Two women held positions at the back of the group Aro and Caius's wives Sulpicia and Athenodora. The vampires spread from the middle out and three black cloaked figures walked forward. Each step was deliberate they were all in perfect synchronize. They walked slowly towards us, before stopping about 50 feet away.

I could hear the pleasure in Aro's thoughts that he would be destroying us today. He truly believed that we planned to over throw him. Paranoid fool. Caius just wanted to kill us, no reason or rhyme he just wanted to watch us burn. Marcus didn't even want to be here. He believed that we were innocent and like me thought that Aro was being paranoid. The man wanted death, he reminisced about his mate that was killed and longed to join her in the afterlife. The guards faces were expressionless but their minds said it all, they were itching for the fight.

Clearly we have some kickass Isabella action coming. Let's just hope she makes it in time before any of the Cullen's get hurt.

- Skye (FeminineHeroes)