Chapter 17 recap:
"...Aro adores his children. I hope he never finds out what Jasper did. If that secret gets out, it could destroy everything we've done here. Aro may be a lot of things, but the truth is, the Volturi see him as their leader, even after all this time. Jasper may have the Guard at his back, but everyone else here belongs to Aro. It could create a small civil war that could rival Denali." I stare at her in shock.
"We have to do something to keep that from happening!" I stand and look around the room. "Do you have a copy of the council's charter around here?" She found one and we sat down to look over the massive document. "Arianna is still young. What are the chances that Aro will go the rest of his life without touching her? The truth will come out eventually. We've got to find something in here that will protect Jasper, and keep the peace."
Chapter 18
Heart of Volturi
"You realize this charter is based on their old law. We got rid of the more ridiculous rules, and we changed the punishments for most of them from death and destruction to something more in line with the offense. But war within the city is still against the law and punishable by death. That goes for attacking anyone in leadership." She looks frightened. "Do you really think Aro would go after him, even if the deed is over and long past?"
"I don't know, you tell me. It sounds like Aro's got a pretty long memory to me. You realize, he can't touch any of us either – especially you – if you're going to try to save Jasper. All five of us know, and that alone might make him angry enough to attack him. Jasper did the deed, but Carlisle lied, you covered it up, and I shielded her mind."
"You did that? I thought Carlisle really did give her something! I wasn't paying much attention to him... he really lied?"
"Yes... to save Jasper... and you."
"How does his lie save me?"
"If Jasper dies... " I think of how Edward's death nearly destroyed me. "...trust me Alice. – he saved you."
We spend the next two hours sifting through the pages of the charter. One thing in our favor is the hybrids are given an age equivalent to their physical maturity rather than their chronological age. It makes Arianna effectively fifteen rather than seven and a half. At fifteen she barely meets the age of consent requirements. If she were any younger, the punishment for his crime is quite archaic and brutal. It would mean that he and Alice wouldn't be sharing any marital bliss for quite some time – until it grew back.
"What's this part here referring to?" It's a part of their punishment code that mentions a public judgment venue. She seems puzzled. From a shelf she pulls a huge tomb and again we read through pages and pages of hand written ancient Volturi law.
"I think this is it!" We read over it several times until we understand the whole process. "It could work, but it could fail miserably too." She marks the place in both books of law.
"The question is, do we wait until Aro finds out on his own, or should we be proactive and bring it up ourselves? Either way, this could get real ugly, real fast."
"We need to fill the council seats first. Carlisle is outnumbered by Aro and his protege. Reese will vote for whichever outcome promises the most violence, and your vote will definitely be thrown out – as would Nahuel's. That puts it at three to three, and I'll be disqualified as a tie-breaker. You saw in the book how difficult it is to settle a tie. We need to fill the seats with a good councilor and an amazing alternate – that's the one who will break the tie. It would also help if there was a way to discredit our newest member. She's been in Aro's back pocket since she was appointed."
"That's a tall order, and we've got to do it all before the next time Aro kisses his baby girl goodnight. No problem." We stare at each other, then both of us erupt in a fit of giggles at the absurdity.
Alice hugs me tight. "I've missed you so much! Please, let's never fight again." We hold each other, and for just a few moments, the clock turns back, and we're seventeen again, with nothing more important to worry about than prom and who's going to drive to school.
"So, how do we go about setting this up? Let's get a plan started before Aro can get his hands on Jasper." I'm waiting for her answer, but she's quiet, and just staring at her hands. As I watch she twists her wedding band around on her finger.
"He won't ever forgive me."
"He has to forgive you, he loves you. He doesn't want to lose you, Alice."
"He was with that little girl... he knows her. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. It was like I was watching someone who looked like my Jasper, but it wasn't him. What if we had come too late? My god, he could have even gotten her pregnant!"
"I don't think so."
"Bella, they're fertile, he could have easily impregnated her."
"No... I mean I don't think he would have gone all the way with her. She was asleep when I got there – partly from blood loss – but she was out. I thought she was dying, and that's why I screamed. I think he staged it so Aro would find him with her. He didn't expect we would find him first. Don't you think that if Jasper wanted to make love to her, it would have been a done deal?"
"That's so... devious! My god, he had her clothes off and everything...!"
"He kept his on. Plus he wasn't aroused."
"You looked?"
"I got the whole scene burned into my retinas!" I take her hands in mine. "Jasper's a good man at heart. He doesn't really want to hurt Arianna; this was a stab at you and Aro – especially Aro. He's hurting, and feeling a bit self-destructive. He's not trying to replace you."
"I love him." Her voice is so small and hopeless. "I don't know what I'd do without him. I can't believe I ruined it." She looks up at me with her big dark eyes. "Where would he go, Bella? Why hasn't Carlisle found him yet? Maybe I should go and look for him?" She looks as if she's ready to run out the door immediately.
"No... you need to stay here. What if you run into Aro instead?"
"Oh my god! He can't ever touch me again." She looks away. "How perfect is that? If I cheat with Aro again, it will literally kill Jasper."
"Alice...?" I try to change the subject. "... how did Aro find out so soon? He was too far away to hear anything."
"His oldest daughter Aurora told him. Aurora's a telepath. She can both send and receive thoughts. She becomes more mentally attuned the longer she knows someone. She has a pretty strong bond with her family."
"Do you think she knows about Jasper?" I start to get a sick feeling about the whole thing.
"If she knew, Aro would know. Distance works against her, thank god. "
That's a pretty powerful ability. It sounds a lot like Edward's gift."
She shakes her head. "Armando has Edward's ability – exactly." It takes a moment to process, that the very thing that made Edward so special was passed on to Aro's son. I recall the young man's substance abuse and strange behavior. "I think part of the reason he's so messed up is because he hasn't learned to control his gift. He's still trying to make it go away." I'm impressed by Alice's insight.
"He might know what happened... I thought he was asleep when I looked in his room, but I'm not sure."
"I don't think he'll tell Aro. He and Arianna are close." She sighs. "They think Aurora is his favorite. He does favor her a little bit, but it's because she was his first. He was pretty blown away that he could have children." She stops talking abruptly, then looks embarrassed. "I'm sorry... we talked a lot."
The tap at the door interrupts us. Carlisle comes in alone. He looks tired and worried, and I wish I could go to him. Alice looks at me as if she expects me to.
"I didn't find him. But the car he uses is missing, so I believe he left the city."
"If Aro finds out, he can attack him outside the city with no serious consequences." I can feel her anxiety increasing as she squeezes my hands. "It's all my fault he's in so much danger now."
"Jasper brought this on himself!" Carlisle looms over us. "He should have known better than to mess around with a vulnerable teenage girl." I stare up at his disapproval. I don't want to argue with him, but the words come out before I can stop them.
"He believed Aro was messing around with a vulnerable girl himself. He was only repaying him in kind. Has anyone gone to see how Arianna really feels?"
"I checked her over myself. I may not like it, but venomous hybrids can give blood the way she did, with no serious consequences. They heal quickly, and if they eat, their blood is replenished faster than if they were human. It's one of the things I'm trying to stop, but I've been fighting a losing battle. If you remember, it's how Nahuel and Gemma kept Huilen alive. We've been fortunate that we haven't lost anyone yet."
"I'm sure she'll be fine physically, but has anyone checked to make sure she's not upset? Is someone with her right now? Did Aro stay with her, or did he go out and try to find whoever attacked her?"
Carlisle looks at me strangely. "I saw Aro out looking for her attacker. He didn't say it, but I think he was looking for Jasper."
Alice Jumps up in a panic. "Oh my god, he'll kill him!"
I stand and wrap her in my arms. "Alice, calm down." I do my best to hold her attention. "Think about it, you would know if he was in imminent danger. If Aro were closing in on Jasper, I know without a doubt you'd feel it. You also need to be careful what you do to find him. If you sense where he is, you can't go to him, or Aro will follow you right to him." She looks at me with her eyes wide, and I can see all her pain, guilt, confusion, and fear. I hold her gently, then she collapses back on the couch.
"Why don't you tell Carlisle about what we've found that could get us through this situation. I think I'm going to go and check on Arianna." I need to get out of the room with him. Every time I look at him it's a painful reminder of my loss. I kiss her cheek and retreat into the hallway.
"Bella..." I turn back at the sound of his voice, and Carlisle's there, just outside her door. I freeze. He looks at me with his warm, honest eyes, and I'm caught. "I'm sorry I yelled at you. Thank you for making peace with Alice...I..."
"No problem. I've got to go..." I turn to leave, and he catches my arm.
"Do you think we could make peace between the two of us?" I don't expect him to be so close, but I can't read the look on his face. I want to throw my arms around him and tell him I love him. But the way he treated me earlier is too fresh in my mind. I take a step backward.
"You know... there's just something about the Cullen men that finds it a little too easy to walk away from me when I need them the most. I'm going to need a little more time." I reach out impulsively to touch his cheek, but pull my hand back before I do. I force myself not to look back as I stride down the hall.
I tap on Aro's door, and Armando answers. I step inside without being asked, and close the door behind me.
I lean against the door and watch as Aro's son comes closer. He smirks and looks down at me. He's got that cocky attitude that often doesn't survive past the teens, once it's evident the world doesn't revolve around you.
"Couldn't stay away, could you, Bella?" He crowds in closer.
"I came to see how Arianna's doing. Who told you my name?"
"I got it right out of Alice's head." He makes a motion with his hand, as if plucking something out of thin air. "You really are a beauty – Bella." He grins as if he's the first one to ever notice the Italian translation of my name. I'm about to push past him, when the grin drops from his face and he stares at me. He leans in close enough I can smell the cigarettes and beer crawling up my nose. "I can't hear you!" He laughs nervously. "What the hell are you?"
I edge around him in the narrow space. "You need to back up, I'm here to see Arianna. Why don't you go take a shower and brush your teeth."
"What are you?" He grabs my arm in his strong grip. Dad would be impressed with how easily I break his hold with the self-defense moves he taught me when I was in Forks. But maybe the way I slam him against the wall with my arm against his throat would bother him.
"I'm the one who's going to see if a hybrid can lose teeth, if you touch me again!" I remember after a moment that he's only sixteen. I step back, and raise my hands to show I don't mean him any harm. "Sorry... it's been a long day already... I'm just here to see Arianna." I step past him as he stares at me.
I tap on the door to her room and find her sitting at the vanity. She seems a little embarrassed to see me, which is perfectly normal considering the last time I saw her she was in bed with Jasper.
"I just came to make sure you were okay." I sit on the edge of the bed so I'm not staring down at her. She really is a beautiful girl, and I can't imagine how it must have made Alice feel to see her with her husband.
"I'm really sorry about this afternoon... I don't know what came over me. Vito's never treated me like that before. I mean I was taking your advice, and trying to take things real slow... but when he came to see me, I just couldn't resist him." She stares down at her hands.
"Vito?" Oh my god... she doesn't even know!
"Isn't he adorable?" She sighs dreamily. "Thanks so much for not telling Papa about him. He'd probably kill him after what he said at breakfast.
"Arianna, did Vito bite you?"
She looks puzzled for a moment. "I've been bitten before, but I don't like the scar it left behind. Vito didn't bite me, he cut me with a kitchen knife. It hurts, but there's no venom burn to leave a scar. He wasn't used to it, and he made a mess of my sheets!"
I kneel beside her chair and take her hands in mine. "Honey, you shouldn't let anyone drink your blood – or sleep with you either for that matter. You're precious, and no one should be allowed to use you like that."
She shrugs dismissively. "It's not as if I'm a virgin or anything. I've been doing oral or getting laid since I was eleven. It's no big deal, all the girls do it." My jaw drops, and she laughs. "When Joham was in charge, it was expected of us. Everyone had to have a purpose. I don't have a power, so I served in other ways." I close my eyes and wish one more time for a chance to have my hands around that monster's throat.
"Joham is dead. And I'm here to tell you once and for all, he was wrong. Your value doesn't lie in what you can do for someone, but in who you are! Honey, you have the right to be safe and secure, and not have to worry about anyone violating your body in any way. You should be loved and adored, not used and abused. You have every right to demand that people treat you with dignity and respect."
"I've been trying to tell her that for ages." Aro leans in her doorway watching us. I stand up, feeling suddenly nervous.
"I was just checking to make sure she was okay after all the drama this afternoon." I watch him like a mongoose must watch a cobra.
"That's very nice of you. I'm afraid I'm not very good at the mothering side of parenthood." He looks suddenly guilty. "Sometimes I'm not very good at the fathering side either. What kind of father allows an intruder to get inside his home with his young daughter?"
She stands and puts her arms around him. "It's okay Papa, I'm fine! See, it's already healed." She shows him her neck, where the cut has disappeared. "I'm not even dizzy anymore."
"He could have killed you!" He looks over her shoulder at me, and I can't tell if he's trying to read my reaction or tell me he knows it's Jasper. Either way, I keep my expression of concern for Arianna carefully in place. "Tell me, has Alice succeeded in finding her husband?" His eyes narrow.
"No. Carlisle even went to look for him, and it seems he's disappeared. He's worried about him." I want to say more, but I shut up with just the obvious revelation.
"He should be worried. How am I supposed to keep my daughter safe with the Captain of the Guard missing?" His eyes bore into mine, and it's clear he knows Jasper's the one responsible. "Once he's found, we can make damn sure this never happens again!"
"We want nothing less." I smile sweetly. "We just want to keep everyone safe."
Arianna steps away from her father. "I'm going to get a little snack. Dr. Cullen says I need to eat and drink more to replenish what I lost." She slips past him, leaving me alone in the small space with him.
"How is Alice?" He shifts gears on me, and I have to remind myself he's been in power among the most powerful for hundreds, if not thousands of years.
"She's calm. We've made peace after this morning's disastrous meeting. I'm sorry to have caused a problem."
He laughs. "You are not the cause of any problem." He steps into the room, neatly trapping me. "Do you have a few minutes to talk?" He takes her chair and turns it so he can sit astride it with his arms folded across the back. "I've been wanting to talk to you since your first visit to Italy."
"I... guess." I sit on the edge of her bed again, and he's frighteningly close. I know he could kill me without much effort on his part.
"I never did thank you for putting your shield around me – during the war."
"That was Jasper's idea. He knew you'd never voluntarily give up power..." He stares at me at the mention of Jasper's name.
"He's very cunning, that one." He doesn't smile.
"If he wasn't, he'd have died a long time ago."
"Eventually, everyone's luck runs out."
"Not yours." He holds my gaze for a long uncomfortable moment.
"People would do well to remember that." He smiles humorlessly. "That shield of yours comes in quite handy doesn't it? I mean I knew when I first made your acquaintance it was guarding you. But it's a whole different story now that you can use it to block the minds of others." I feel like a bug under a magnifying glass. His deep crimson eyes miss nothing.
"It's purely defensive. It keeps others from doing what they shouldn't be doing."
"I think there was a whole field of Volturi who would disagree with you on your assertion that your shield is purely defensive. In fact, I imagine it would be quite useful even one to one in close quarters." He looks at me meaningfully.
"Maybe." I concede. "Did you only want to talk to me about my shield?"
"No. Actually, I want to talk to you about Alice." I wish I had a shield for my emotions and facial expressions. "I know she told you..." He pushes the door closed. "...about our affair." He looks troubled. "I'm worried about her."
"She's fine. In fact I think she's better than she's been in quite a while. She's finally starting to heal after everything that happened."
"I'm in love with her." His words make me gasp. "I think I've always been carrying a torch for her. But now... she's all I can think about - now what we've been lovers."
"You were married! How could you love Alice when you were married yourself?"
He laughs bitterly. "I married Sulpicia for her kingdom. We were only intimate for the first year. I spent seventeen hundred years in a loveless marriage. That's the most expensive piece of real estate anyone's ever purchased."
"Are you the reason she died in the war?"
"Joham is the reason she died in the war!" He's on his feet in an instant. "He insisted that every vampire woman was a waste of resources since she couldn't reproduce. He didn't even care about the abilities of Jane, Renata, or Chelsea. He reasoned that there were hybrids being born every day with powers to rival theirs. Don't you understand, Bella..." He leans over me, with his face inches from mine. "...we all lost in the war! They were my coven, my friends, and my family, and he didn't care about any of them! All that mattered to him was his precious hybrid army!"
He seems to regain control of himself. He sits back down facing me. "I had it worked out with Caius, that if we won, Alice would be mine. Don't look so shocked, it was war."
"It was an unprovoked attack on us!" I stood, feeling the same rage I felt earlier. "Just like when you came twelve years ago to destroy my family. You didn't care about the truth or about right and wrong, you just came to destroy for the sake of power and control!"
"We thought you were breaking the law then!" He was on his feet and we were facing each other, inches apart.
""Liar!" I shout. All I can remember is the sea of Volturi robes, and feeling as if I was about to lose everything. "You wanted to smash our family to pieces and take the parts you wanted for your own!"
"We thought you'd created an immortal child."
"We did – we just didn't make her a vampire!" I throw up my hands in exasperation. "How in the world did you ever claim Carlisle as your friend, if you couldn't even pick up the phone and talk to him? You couldn't have possibly known him if you thought for one minute he'd allow us to create a vampire baby." I shake my head determinedly. "No... your reasoning doesn't wash. You came to attack us and wipe us out. You came to pick and choose who you would bring back, and who you would kill."
He stares at me, then drops his guard. "You're absolutely right," he declares unapologetically. "The Cullen Coven was powerful. Carlisle traveled for the better part of three hundred and fifty years. He made friends and admirers everywhere he went. He seemed to have a knack for attracting powerful children to him, and he was even well-respected among humans. In all the world, there are only a handful of covens who could ever touch us, and of those, the Cullen's topped the list."
"We were never a threat to you." I feel more sadness than anger at his revelation.
"Do you think that mattered? To Caius, anyone who could defeat us, was a threat. He was always proactive in taking out our competition. It's how we became the law. It's how we kept every small coven and nomadic vampire cowed and afraid."
"Delphine was right," I marvel.
He laughs. "Delphine... I remember her. Her own coven was third on the list." He smiles disarmingly. "Joham underestimated the vampire women, and it cost him his life."
"Not soon enough."
"Agreed, not soon enough."
"I can't believe you were going to kidnap Alice."
"So, we're back to that now, are we?" He exhales loudly and sits down again. "I would have taken her in a heartbeat. I tried to have Chelsea break them up the first time they came to Volturra. Alice has the most beautiful mind I've ever seen. It's like a maze, with walls, and rooms and doors, and places even I cannot access. I wanted her even then." He only smiles at my look of distaste.
"She stayed away for so long, but then when you came to save Edward, I had two treasures presented to me. She delighted me, and you... you were such a mystery even then. I knew immediately why Edward loved you." He closes his eyes as if dreaming. He opens them to gaze longingly at me. "The silent mind... what I would give to have taken you then and there. I would have gladly stolen you and taken you as my mate, if not for two things..."
I don't want to ask, but I hear my voice ask the question anyway. "What..."
"You were his singer. It would have been cruel to deprive him of your blood."
"But taking away someone he loved would have been fine?"
He laughs. "Do you know how many of the Volturi dropped their mates to join us? Let me just say, no matter what anyone tries to tell you, vampires don't necessarily mate for life. True love among our kind is rare. We kill people for dinner, what do we know about love?" He smiles at the irony. "Once someone joined us, Chelsea was the glue that held us together."
"So if not love, then what saved me?"
He raises his eyebrow. "You make it sound like it would have been abhorrent. I would have made a good mate for you. Italians are passionate lovers..."
I clap my hands over my ears. "Stop please!"
His laughter cuts through my inadequate barrier. "I would have set Sulpicia aside for you." He reaches out and touches my face with his gloved hand, and I try not to flinch. "I would have married you, and turned you on our honeymoon night." He grins wickedly. "I knew from his mind you were a virgin. It's a rare treat to be able to spill a woman's virgin blood while tasting her life's blood at the same time."
The image in my mind horrifies me, and I slap the smug look from his face. I see anger flash in his eyes and know the razor's edge of fear. It seems to take him a moment to get himself under control.
"Maybe I deserved that." He leans in close to me. "But there was a time, not very long ago, when I would have been within my rights to end you for that unprovoked attack."
"You deserved it!" I meet his eyes. "And there was a time, not very long ago, when I could have left you to die with the others, just like a helpless puppet." He moves away from me and chuckles – he's so mercurial, and I feel like I've got to be constantly on my guard.
"You needn't worry. As long as you came with Alice, I wouldn't have taken you. Even when we came to Forks, I planned to have her. When I saw she was missing, I wanted to just leave and go home. But then she showed up and everything turned against us, as you know."
"You would seriously sentence Alice to a life without the people she loves? You'd take her against her will and force yourself on her? That's not love."
"Don't you think I understand the problems?" He's on his feet again. His mood changes faster than vampire speed, and I'm having trouble keeping up. His gloved fingers clench into fists, and he becomes frustrated with the gloves, and tears them off. He visibly calms himself, and with a sigh he sits down on the bed beside me beside me.
"It's a curse as much as it is a blessing." He looks at me as we sit side by side. "Alice has such a complex mind, and yet touching her lets me see her love for her husband. It's all there in a moment – almost a hundred years of loving, intimate, companionship. I hate him for what he has with her." He stares at me – through me. "I've loved her for so long through his memories... and now I know the difference. I now love her because of my own memories. I can never forget her now."
He laughs bitterly. "I actually wish I'd never lain with her. I feel like I've lost so much, because I had her once, and now I can't have her. Does that make any sense?"
"Perfect sense." I remember wishing I could banish Edward's memory. "Wait a minute... you've seen her through reading his mind... have you seen me through Edward's mind too?" I remember when they met on the field in Forks and he'd read Edward then. "You've seen us together?" I hear the alarm in my voice.
He laughs softly. "Blessing and curse, remember. Anyone I touch shares their every thought with me. Most of the time I don't choose to sift through their memories beyond the handful of things I'd like to know." He closes his eyes, and smiles. "But gnawing on the pillows and breaking the headboard... that is charming! I never would have guessed he could do it without killing you. You're lucky he only bruised..."
"...YOU SAW ME!" I'm on my feet, screeching. "It was my honeymoon! You have no right to steal those memories!"
"Relax Bella, you were so beautiful... soft, warm, fragrant... " He groans
"You're disgusting! You're a mental voyeur! You're no better than a common peeping Tom!" I turn to storm out, and he grabs my wrist in his iron grip, stopping me. He stands, staring down into my horrified eyes.
"I could tell you what he was thinking the day he left you in the woods. He was such a fool to leave you." His voice is low and beguiling. "A few miles away, there was a stand of trees he completely destroyed in his grief. There's nothing but matchsticks left." He's pulls me closer, and his arm slides around my waist. I want to run, but he's holding me fast with his words. "He was so afraid he was going to be the one to kill you. Every time you were together he visualized drinking from you – he fought it so hard! Every time you kissed him, he ached to go further."
He releases my wrist, and his hand slides around my neck. "You were everything to him, and he walked away and left you... he didn't think you could possibly love him as much as he loved you. He agonized over the thought of you in another man's arms." He holds me close, looking down into my eyes, and I'm so caught up in the memories of Edward, I can't pull away.
He softly strokes my face with his fingers. "There's a lot I could offer you, if you were my mate." Like a bucket of ice water dumped over me, his words shock me out of my reverie. Before I manage to pull away from him, he kisses me. I clamp my lips shut and try to twist away from him, but his arms tighten and he holds me still.
His lips slide along my face and he presses his cheek to mine. He murmurs softly in my ear. "Bella please... you're so quiet... so peaceful... you could help me forget her...I could learn to love you. I can touch you and not hear your thoughts... it's blissful. I can do the things he did for you...I can be what you want. Just give me a chance. I'll leave them alone." He pulls back so he can look me in the eye. "Give me a chance Bella, and I'll leave Jasper and Alice alone."
A/N: I can hear all your gnashing of teeth at how horrible Aro is behaving. But don't get too used to hating anyone in this story, they're liable to change. I'm still two chapters ahead, so the next chapter will come on Thursday. Thank you so much for reading!