I lift Bella in my arms as I stand. She's in so much pain, thrashing against me and moaning, even as her mind stays completely silent. I press her gently against my chest as I walk, trying to still her movements and whispering quiet words of reassurance into her hair.
Demetri says absolutely nothing. His thoughts are awash with confusion. He's replaying the events in the clearing over and over, turning it around in his mind and trying to understand it. Thinking about different orders Aro has given him over the centuries. Calling everything into doubt.
We take our time, moving slowly down the rocky trail, each lost in our own thoughts as we retrace our steps.
The scene that confronts us on our return is very different to the one we left. Dawn reveals the true extent of the devastation in the clearing. Broken rocks and tree limbs; the smoldering embers of the bonfires that have destroyed the bodies of the newborns. Dirty streaks of exposed mud cross the snow. In the center, Felix and Alec stack logs to form two enormous funeral pyres upon which Jane arranges the bodies, her thoughts a dark, crumpled mess of loss and betrayal. Sulpicia has collapsed into Athenadora's embrace, weeping helplessly, face buried against her dark robes.
My family is with the pack, crowded around Seth's body. He is still in wolf form and still not moving. Carlisle has one ear pressed to his chest, his hand running through Seth's fur, as he confers quietly with Alice. As soon as I step from the trees they move instantly to my side. Esme cradles Bella's head, prizing gently at my fingers to get me to release her. Every instinct rebels. I want to press her fragile body to me, closer still. To keep her safe; to never let her go.
Oh Edward, let me take care of her, Esme pleads, her heart full of a mother's compassion for both a son and a daughter, guiding me to lower Bella to the ground. Alice clutches at Bella's hand, her gaze far away, searching for something. Anything. Bella sobs, but doesn't open her eyes.
Rose and Emmett are both full of questions. How this happened; if I am the one who bit her. I see myself through their eyes. My Volturi robe torn and disheveled; my skin streaked with dirt and Bella's blood. It's a horrific sight. I want to be able to reassure them but no words seem to come out.
Carlisle helps me to my feet. "There is little we can do now but wait." He murmurs softly. "Hopefully Alice will soon be able to give you some idea of how long." His expression is conflicted, desperately worried about what I've been through. Today. All the days before this one. He squeezes my arm briefly.
"How is Seth?" My voice sounds flat and distant, almost as if it is someone else who is asking. I can't comfort him. Can't offer any of them the answers they need.
Badly wounded. In some ways it's a blessing that he is unconscious and unable to phase. I think he will heal faster in this form.
Jake kneels at the young wolf's side. He looks up briefly, taking in my appearance. His glance shifts to where Bella lies, her cries subsiding to whimpers. The devastation that takes over his expression is too much for me to bear. I look away.
Renata and Chelsea stand side-by-side, both of them utterly lost. Aro was their reason for existing. He gave them purpose and status; a sense of self. As I take in the thoughts of the assembled Guard, I realize it's true for almost all of them. Near the tree line, Jasper is sitting with the newborn, Bree, trying to explain to her what has happened here today. An exercise in futility if ever there was one.
"I warned Aro." Caius' voice is brittle with grief, as he strides toward me across the snow. "I told him he would regret having someone around who had free reign over our thoughts." Rummaging, like a thief. Some things are better left buried.
"I hadn't understood the way in which our...priorities...had diverged, my brother and I. It seems that, over time, his primary concern was that there be unity among us. It seems that Aro's quest for loyalty began to overcome the paramountcy of the law."
This conclusion seems to be for the benefit of the Guard. Caius and I both know that it wasn't loyalty that drove Aro. I think back to the first night I spent in Volterra, to Caius' own words: Aro's fascination with your gift has blinded him to the law.
"Aro didn't understand that the bond between mates can surpass even the most powerful of ties," Caius continues. "He didn't understand because he was never forced to choose. Look at you: covered in the blood of your singer; without having tasted a single drop."
Marcus understood. Aro made him choose, and suffered the consequences.
I nod in confirmation. Caius has a much better grasp of what has unfolded here than he is prepared to let on to those around him.
He turns to face the vampires of Volterra, the thin morning sunlight shattering like bright diamonds across his face. His voice is now clear and strong. "We are nothing without the law. I return to Volterra to continue to see that it is upheld. Those of you who choose to return with me must do so freely."
He points a pale, bony finger at Chelsea, who raises her chin even as her lip quivers slightly, betraying the terror she feels.
"And if youreturn, Chelsea, you do so on the understanding that your gift will never again be used in this way. Serving the Guard is an honor and a privilege. It will never again be compelled."
Her shoulders slump in visible relief, clutching at Renata for support.
Caius looks back to me, ruby eyes blazing. "You kept your bargain, Edward. You stayed with us and served us in exchange for Bella's life. The last of her blood flows into the ground behind you, and so I release you from your commitment."
All the air leaves my lungs in a sigh. This was never the way I wanted to earn my freedom. From the very first moment I realized Bella had followed me to Volterra I wanted to avoid this very outcome. The victory seems hollow; the price we have paid far, far too high.
Caius turns to consider the Quileute, most of whom are still wolves crouching low on their haunches. Behind them, Carmen and Eleazar are trying to reason with a bedraggled-looking Irina. She is out of her mind with fear and humiliation.
"That leaves us with the matter of the alliance between this coven and the wolves, and the death of Irina's mate," Caius announces.
My heart sinks. This is not over yet. Irina is stumbling out of Eleazar's grasp, wanting to somehow atone for what has happened. Planning to throw herself on Caius' mercy and plead that she was mistaken, or beg that he take her life instead. She is without reason, prepared to throw herself on the funeral pyres themselves. Carmen catches her wrist and holds her.
If Caius has noticed the scuffle, he doesn't let on. He continues to weigh up his options. Ordering the Guard to strike down the family and its allies is risky. He knows that they are wounded and battle-sore, but he has no way of knowing what state the wolves are in or how quickly they heal. The numbers are still evenly matched. That wouldn't matter, with Jane and Renata at his disposal, but a quick glance reveals both are suffering deeply. He has no guarantee that either will do as he commands. He also knows that I am listening. Giving the order reestablishes my authority, Edward. The Guard respects a wartime leader.
Panic rises in my chest, thick and suffocating. Jasper looks up in surprise at the change in my emotional state.
I don't know what to do. To run; to argue with him; to fight.
And then I see it. A short burst of clarity in Alice's second sight, like clouds parting after a storm. She gasps. I bite my lip, too afraid to hope. Too afraid to trust the vision. But then it's happening. Right in front of us. Just as Alice sees it.
Sarah steps forward, unpinning her robe and letting it fall to the ground. Her face is determined, her posture confident.
"You're right, Caius," she says. "The bond between mates can surpass anything, even reason. Irina came to you out of love, but she made a mistake. Laurent was in the wrong. The wolves acted to protect Bella. The Cullens have done nothing to bring your judgment down upon them."
Caius listens to her words, taking in the determined set of her shoulders, the abandoned robe pooling around her ankles. His mind muddies and shifts at her supernatural intervention, a frown marring his pale forehead. Sarah does not blink.
"Go back to Volterra, Lord Caius. Uphold your law. This coven and its allies are not your concern."
Her scarlet eyes do not break contact with his. A long silence stretches through the forest; abruptly shattered by a guttural moan from Bella. My heart aches to go to her. Like everyone else, I remain frozen in place.
Caius' mind finally clears, like sediment settling in water. I let out the breath I am holding as I see his decision.
"Our work here is done," he announces curtly. "We mourn our dead, and we leave."
Sarah gives me a small, tight smile. It is enough for now, I think? I give her an almost imperceptible nod, gratitude rolling off me in waves.
"Light the pyres," Caius calls, and Felix and Alec both crouch to set fire to the kindling and underbrush. Tongues of flame lick up around the heavier logs, tendrils of smoke rising in the crisp mountain air. "Carlisle?"
Carlisle steps forward to stand at Caius' side. In the still of the morning, his voice carries, tolling like a bell. "Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis..." The vampires lower their heads. At first it seems a dreadful caricature of human worship, but in their thoughts I see nothing but respect and a desire to do what they can to send the Volturi brothers to their lives in the next world, whatever might await them there.
"Te decet hymnus Deus, in Sion, et tibi reddetur votum in Ierusalem..." Carlisle intones, the ancient language flowing easily from his tongue. The fire takes hold, reaching the dark robes wrapped around the bodies and flaring briefly as the fabric incinerates. The thick stench of the burning corpses fills the air. Sulpicia lets out a strangled cry. Jane turns and stalks from the clearing.
"Exaudi orationem meam; ad te omnis caro veniet. Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis."
Eternal rest. Perpetual light. Not the domain of the vampires of this earth.
Caius turns to Carlisle, drawing him into a tight embrace. "Be well, brother."
"And you. It is a lot of responsibility to rest on one set of shoulders," Carlisle cautions.
Caius nods. His mind gives me comfort that he understands this, at least for now. He looks at me. Bring your bride to Volterra when she is ready, Edward. I should like to meet her.For the first time, the idea no longer fills me with dread. It is neither a command, nor a threat. I nod.
"Which of you intends to leave us now?" he asks the group. Jane has not returned. The others remain silent, looking at one other for direction. Sarah raises her hand. "I wish to stay here in America," she says, matter of fact as ever. "I wish to spend some time with Edward's family." Caius nods, unsurprised. Demetri is the only other mind that wavers, albeit briefly. He settles on returning to Italy for now, and seeing how things will play out.
"Very well. Let us depart."
As the sentence is spoken, so the Guard disappears. Melting silently into the trees, like thunderclouds rolling back to reveal the sun.
In the stillness that follows, a wounded wolf begins to stir and whine, and my dying beloved cries in anguish.