~ Chapter Thirty-Four — Desolation ~

Isabella POV

"That hurt."

Stepping away from the wall, I brushed my clothes, removing the dust that had accumulated as we had writhed on the ground.

"I owe you my thanks. You have no idea how frustrating it is to be trapped in her like that. Especially while your little witch was hurting us like that."

The witch in question hissed and focused her glare on me again. I could feel her influence prickling against my shield. It almost tickled. She shrieked and leapt forward with her hands extended. She looked like she would have liked to claw at my face.

I braced myself for impact and thought over everything I knew of vampire destruction. Tear them to pieces and burn them. A simple enough goal, though I didn't have matches. Perhaps someone here would help me out. There had to be at least one of them that she had annoyed enough to want rid of her.

She came within two feet of me and then stopped abruptly as if she had hit an invisible wall. I felt the impact in my mind, and I knew, without knowing how, that it had been me that had blocked her.

"How…? What…?" Aro gaped at me like a fish out of water.

I laughed, enjoying the fact that I had rendered him incapable of coherent speech. It was very satisfying.

"What has it done," Caius asked.

That was a question I was asking myself. I had known since they began training Bella that I was different. I could control what they called the shield much better than she could. I felt it surrounding me, a fine gossamer layer. I never knew I could block a physical attack though. Bella had never done this. I felt it now, flexing and undulating. If I concentrated, I could see it too. It looked like a heat haze surrounding me. As I focused on it, it rippled.

"She is a physical shield," Aro said in an awestruck tone. The way he was gazing at me made me pretty sure that I had just been moved to the number one item on his wish list.

"A physical shield," Caius said. "How is that even possible?"

"Don't ask me," I cut in before Aro could answer. "I'm just happy it works."

"You dare speak to me!" Caius was apoplectic with rage.

I grinned at him, showing my teeth. "Of course I dare. What are you going to do, scold me?"

Their dumbstruck expressions made me laugh. I was sure they had never encountered anyone like me before.

Aro stepped forward with a hand extended to touch my shield. I flexed it outwards and held him away from me by ten feet. It didn't seem to lose any of its strength at a distance. If anything, it felt stronger. As if by using it, I was strengthening it.

When he realized he could come no closer, he scowled at me. "I demand a certain level of respect from my inferiors, Isabella."

"Then it's a good think I'm not your inferior, isn't it?" I stepped away from the wall and advanced on him. "In fact, seeing as I am the one with the power here, I would say I am far superior to you and your minions."

He looked furious, but only for a second. Aro was practiced at shielding his true feelings. He fixed his expression in a warm smile and nodded. "I think it's time we introduced ourselves properly. I am Aro, and you are?"

I smiled wickedly. "I am Isabella."

"And yet I believe Isabella has left us for the time being. Who are you really?"

"I am Bella's protector." I leaned back against the wall and crossed my ankles in a posture that showed I was completely unconcerned by his presence. "You see, you made quite an impact when you destroyed Bella's mind. She was literally torn in two. I am the one that protects her while she cowers in the dirt."

"If you are her protector, why haven't we seen you before?" he asked. "We have certainly given you cause to protect her."

I stiffened. I didn't want to admit that I was the one at Bella's mercy. Why she had released me now I didn't know. She suffered Jane's power for hours before.

In response to my thought, Bella whispered to me. I was losing control of the block. Soon he would have been able to read my thoughts.

I didn't see what the harm in that was, other than the fact he would have seen I was the weaker side of Bella's mind.

He would have seen Edward. I didn't want him to have those memories.

I rolled my eyes. She would suffer hours of pain alone, but she would call me to protect her from Aro seeing a flash of her and Edward getting wild in the cave. Her priorities were seriously screwed.

Why did you suffer when I could have protected you? I asked.

It was my punishment for taking Edward to the cave. He didn't want to go, but I made him. It's my fault.

The girl was a classic martyr. She would allow herself to suffer for nothing. If we ever got out of here, she was going to need some serious therapy, Jasper style.

Aro cleared his throat unnecessarily, drawing my attention back to him. "Well, Isabella. Why have we not seen you before?"

"I didn't feel like coming out," I lied. "It can become tiresome."

I knew from his shrewd expression that he didn't believe me. Just as Bella couldn't lie convincingly, neither could I. It was a weakness we shared.

"I rather think you are lying to me, Isabella," he said with relish. "I think you are no more than a pet shackled and useless unless Bella allows you freedom."

Laughter erupted from those present in the room. I bit back the desire to launch myself at Aro. Physical shield or no, I was sure he would find a way to destroy me if he so desired. I doubted the shield could hold back a spurt of fire if he aimed it at me. I remembered the destruction of Victoria. I had no desire to end up as a pile of ashes. That would be an epic failure in my mission to protect Bella.

"Be that as it may, I am the one in control now," I said. "And I do not plan to relinquish that control anytime soon."

In my mind, Bella whimpered.

Hush, I scolded. If you want to survive this place, you will be quiet and let me handle this.

I want my Edward.

I hated to admit it, but I wanted him too. Though he was next to useless, he would at least be a comfort in this place. No matter how I strived to appear unaffected, just being here was torture to me. This was the place where they had broken Bella's mind. I worried that if she came to the fore again, they would find a way to do it again.

"Well, Isabella, now that you are here, what are we going to do with you?" Aro tapped his chin with an expression of concentration.

"Kill it," Caius commanded.

"Hmm, that is a possibility." I knew better than to believe Aro was really considering it. He was entranced with the idea of Bella and me. He would not destroy us if he could avoid it. I was much more fascinating to him alive. "If you can control yourself, we will allow you to live," he said.

I nodded. "I can do that. On one condition."

"And what would that be, dear Isabella?"

"I'm going to need a room."

He smiled wickedly at me. "I think that I have an even greater idea as to what to do with you."

Something about his cruel smile made me uneasy. What conclusion had he come to?

xXx

Edward POV

I felt like I was floating in a sea of despair. At times people would speak to me, but I would block out their voices. It was impossible to concentrate on anything else when every fiber of my being was concentrated on my Bella in Volterra. I thought of her constantly, wishing she was here safe in my arms and wondering if she was thinking of me. The only time I roused myself was to hunt with Alice. I had no lust for the kill, but, as Alice reminded me, I needed to be at my strongest for the fight.

A strong hand clapped me on the shoulder and I raised my head sluggishly to look at Emmett. "What is it?"

"Just checking you're still in there. You've been staring at that same rock for the last hour."

I wanted to scowl at his tactlessness, but it was too much effort. Instead, I bowed my head again and returned my attention to thoughts of Bella.

"Hey, man, I was kidding. I'm sorry." He thumped down on the ground beside me. "I'm just worried about you, you know."

"I'm not the one you should be worried about," I said in a hoarse voice. "It's Bella that is in danger."

She sighed heavily and scrubbed his face with one of his shovel-like hands. "That's true. But unlike you, she's strong." He saw my wounded expression and backtracked at once. "Don't get me wrong, you're no weakling, but Bella has survived worse. She can handle whatever they throw at her."

I considered his words. It was true that Bella had survived horrors beyond imagining, but she had also lost her mind. What if, after all she had gone through, she broke again? What if I truly lost her this time?

"I'm scared, Em," I whispered.

"We all are. But losing ourselves to the fear isn't going to help anyone, least of all Bella. You lost her once, and she came back to you. This time we will go and get her."

Something in his words triggered something in me. It was as if a flame had been lit where previously there had only been darkness. I looked around me, noticing for the first time the sheer number of vampires around me. My family, the Denalis, Peter, Charlotte, Garrett. People I knew well and some that I knew by name alone. Liam, Maggie, Siobhan, Alastair, Mary, Randall, all people that were prepared to risk their lives for my Bella. They were fighting and training while I sat and stared at rocks. What was I thinking?

I leapt to my feet, startling Emmett. "What's wrong?" he asked. "What can you hear?"

I shook my head. "Nothing, I just realized what I am doing. I need to fight."

"Yes," he said slowly. "That's the point; we are all going to fight."

"No, what I mean is that I need to fight now. I am out of practice, I need to know more."

He grinned. "That's what I'm talking about. A sparring match. C'mon Eddie, give me your—"

I didn't give him a chance to finish his sentence. I launched myself at him, tackling him to the ground. With growls slipping between my clenched teeth, I threw myself into the fight. Feeling for the first time since Bella had been lost, some of the fury returning to me.

After that first fight with Emmett, I trained ceaselessly. Faceless opponents came and went; the only constant was my rage. It took great restraint to not to harm them irreversibly. In my mind, they were all the Volturi. The ones that were keeping my Bella from me.

When there were no more opponents for me, I hunted. With every animal I took down, I reminded myself that it was for Bella. When I felt that I could hold no more, I hunted again. Any and everything that could tip the odds in my favor was leapt upon and utilized.

After one such hunting trip, I returned to the house to find everyone in a state of agitation. I understood from the thoughts I could hear, that Alice had seen something that distressed her.

I pushed my way through the crowd surrounding her and kneeled at her side. Pushing a strand away from her face, I asked her, "What did you see?"

She looked up at me and I saw horror in her eyes. My silent heart clenched in my chest.

"Please, no, not Bella," I choked.

She shook her head. "No, Maria. She has done something terrible."

"What?"

Rather than answering me in words, she opened her mind, and I watched with horror the images she showed me.

Jasper standing outside a ramshackle house surrounded by empty scrubland. A woman I recognized as Maria standing in a doorway. Jasper's troubled face. And finally, a small figure standing in a darkened room.

I hissed and fell back on my haunches. An immortal child. A living, breathing vampire child.

"What is it?" Carlisle asked, laying a hand on my shoulder.

"A child," I half moaned. "Maria had created an immortal child."

The reaction to my words was immediate and intense. There were hisses and growls and, from someone, a shriek.

"Jasper is there," Alice moaned. "He's there with it."

I understood her horror. Though Jasper was a ferocious fighter, and I had no doubt he would be able to handle the child should it come to a fight, to be around such a creation was a danger. Immortal children were forbidden, but enchanting. They lured those around them into protecting them. Even at the cost of their own life. Jasper was in terrible danger.

I heard the sounds of keys being pressed and then a dial tone. Someone was trying to call Jasper.

"Is there time, Alice?" I asked. "Can we avert it?"

She shook her head. "It's too late. I saw it the moment Maria decided to show him. He is there already."

I took her hand in mine and tried to comfort her. "It's okay. Jasper is strong. He will resist."

"What if he doesn't?" she asked in a kind of moan. "I could lose him."

"To who?" Rosalie asked. "The Volturi? Unless you have forgotten, Alice, we are about to go to war with them. A fight that we are going to come out of alive. They can't do anything to him."

I huffed a laugh. Rosalie was right. We had all our lost reason at the possibility of the Volturi finding out about Jasper being near the immortal child. None of us had remembered that we were planning to kill them all anyway. There was still a risk that Jasper could become attached to the child, it would have to be destroyed, but like I said, Jasper was strong.

The crowd around us began to disperse, still talking amongst themselves about the taboo child. I sat beside Alice and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She leaned into my touch, and for that moment, we were united in fear for our mates.

After an hour of sitting in silence, the house telephone rang. No one knew we were back in Forks and all our friends were among us, so it had to be Jasper calling. Esme snatched up the phone and handed it to Alice.

"Jasper?" she said into the receiver.

His answer was slightly muffled through the speaker, but I could make it out. "Alice, did you see?"

"We did. What is she thinking, Jasper?"

I heard his heavy sigh. "I don't honestly know. This is completely out of character for her. She has never taken this kind of risk before. From what Ramone told me, she is the child of one of Maria's meals. I don't think it was compassion that made her change the child though. Maria does not operate on kindness."

"What are we going to do?" Alice asked.

"You are going to do nothing. I don't want you anywhere near this thing. Maria has agreed to help us. We are going to carry on with the plan. Are the wolves on their way?"

"They will be with you soon. I have called and told them where to find you."

"That's good. As soon as they arrive, I will come home. When the Volturi arrive here, we will go to the castle."

"How are we going to lure them out? Are you planning to show the child in public? It's such a risk, Jasper. Even if we defeat the Volturi our world will be exposed."

"No, we have a better plan. Maria is going to flaunt the child to one of the surviving coven leaders. They will want revenge for the wars, and I am sure they will go straight to the Volturi."

We were relying too much on chance and luck. What if Maria's enemy chose to attack rather than report? But then this plan had always relied on luck. We were going against the Volturi, something no one had dared since the time of the Romanians. Other than the reliance on luck and chance, our plan was a good one. Jane and Alec were always used for missions such as these. The wolves would take care of them and any other guards that were sent, and the way would be clear for us to attack.

"I hope you are right," Alice said, a sentiment echoed by us all.

"Trust me, Alice. I know what I am doing."

Alice got to her feet and darted out of the lounge to her bedroom. She would still be in hearing range, but it would give her some semblance of privacy as she finished her call with Jasper.

I settled back on the couch and closed my eyes. For a selfish moment, I allowed myself to immerse myself in memories of Bella. I would have to rouse myself soon enough, but for that time I was free to love her from afar.

I thought of how I would hold her when she was returned to me. We would go back to the island, if she wanted to. There she could have peace and freedom to heal, as I was sure she would need to. I would have to tell her about Charlie at last. I hoped that, with her diminished memories of him, she would be able to recover from the loss. Once she was healed, we could travel together. There was so much of the world that she hadn't seen yet. I wanted to show her it all. I was comforted by these thoughts, and drifted into a state akin to sleeping.

The first thing to hit me was the mental scream of anguish. It was followed by a vocal scream. Someone was in unendurable agony. I was propelled to my feet and before I knew it, I was racing up the stairs to Alice and Jasper's bedroom.

Alice was bowed on the floor gripping her head in her hands. There were no audible thoughts from her, just that continued scream. It had to be Jasper. Cold horror surged through me. What had she seen?

"Alice! What is it?" Esme asked, kneeling beside her.

"Oh God, I can't… She can't."

When I heard the scream I had thought it must be Jasper she had seen, but I knew better. Only one other person could cause Alice to react like this. There was only one other person missing from our number that Alice loved.

My knees weakened and I fell to the floor. My head met the carpet and I made no effort to raise it. I didn't want to see Alice's face as she answered my next question. "Is it Jane?"

Hands touched me, but I barely felt them. I was numb with shock.

"No." Alice's voice was querulous. "She's not hurting, Edward. No one can ever hurt her again. She's gone."

Someone somewhere was screaming, and other voices bellowed denial and demands for more, but I was rendered mute. I was lost inside myself as the awful truth settled over me.

My Bella was gone.

xXx

There were two outcomes for a vampire that had lost its mate. Death or revenge. I once chose death. This time I chose revenge.