Chapter 18
As Edward made his way to the dungeons and the medical suite he thought about all that Isabelle just said. It was hard not to call or think of her as his Bella, but he recognized that would be the first step in the necessary distance her husband would rightfully insist on. He forced himself to only think of the times he had seen her after he had left. He was still trying to convince himself that he did the right thing by walking away those times he had seen her but it was becoming much harder. He thought of the life she had now and wondered if he had approached her would he be leading this life with her now. Would it have been in the cards for them to have children, because he knew they would have been happy. He could not begrudge her happiness, it was one of the most important things to him and in many ways he was happy if she was. At the same time he was beginning to realize maybe he never had given her a fair chance. Maybe he had thought because of his ability and watching human nature for so long that he believed he knew more than she did or that he saw things more clearly than she did. It was a hard pill to swallow when he realized that she had seen him for the 17 year old boy he still was, insecurities and all, and had accepted him despite them while all he had done was doubt her motives and her love because she was a 17 year old girl and human.
He could hear his family's voices and the medical procedures had not been pleasant at all. As they realized he was approaching the started asking questions, they wanted to know about the conversation with Isabelle. He could tell from their thoughts they never expected him to get her back in any way they just hoped he had not taken away any chance they had of seeing her in the future. He entered the medical suite shaking his head and said "not now" to his family. Most of the tests where fine to undergo, the hair and venom samples were easy to give but when the restraints were put on for the skin sample he became uncomfortable. When the lycan came in to retrieve the sample he had kicked into fight or flight mode and began pulling at the restraints. He could hear her thoughts and knew she meant no harm but it was instinct to not be this close to a lycan, how had his family done this. And the restraints, how had they managed to find something to actually hold them? When they were first mentioned he knew his family mentally scoffed at the idea, they weren't now. She took several small samples so the wounds would easily heal and after that experience he opted to have one of the male vampires do the rest of the scans. He understood the x-rays and MRI's but the pictures were just uncomfortable to have taken, especially since he knew Isabelle would see them. By the time they were done he was stressed and thirsty, even though he had hunted the day before.
After he rejoined the family Carlisle asked that they be allowed to hunt before the mental scans started. Once the hunting flag was flying, they were escorted into the forest by Digby, Haldor and Keldan and spent the next two hours hunting. After they returned to the castle it would be back to the dungeons for the mental scans, which none of them were looking forward to having done. Alice, Jasper and Edward were separated from the rest of the family and began to learn the mental relaxation techniques that hopefully would keep their mind from breaking. Time had never really been a factor for the Cullen's, but now they recognized what a long tedious process this would be and they settled in for the long haul.
While the Cullen's were finishing up the tests and hunting, the Hamilton's were gathering in the solar to hear about Soren, Grim and Leif's visit to the Lycans and what Thorne and Thunder had been able to find out also. Soren started their tale, "The Lycans were immediately on edge because we came to them in full war dress and demanded an explanation. The Lycan elders were called for us to explain ourselves to. When we threw down the body parts and made our own demands to know why they were spying on us and what exactly they were breeding, they were shocked to say the least. Leif picked up on some things I will let him explain in a minute, but outwardly it looked as if the Elders had no idea about either thing happening. Then they began questioning us if the Cullen's were being interrogated yet and how that was coming along. I told them yes the Cullen's were currently being investigated and they seemed elated that the vampires were the ones causing problems for a change. The lycans are positive the Cullen's will be found guilty and they plan to celebrate when they are. They seem to think it will cause a shift in the Council. They identified the werewolf before we left and that caused a commotion. He is somehow related to one of the original werewolves and things were tense with the lycans and openly hostile with the wolves when we took our leave."
Isabelle turned to Leif and asked, "You were able to pick out more from their thoughts?"
"Yes," Leif began, "One of the Lycan Elders is in on the plot. I do not know exactly which one but I have it narrowed down to two, either Jean Luc of the Canadian sect or Nikolas of the Russian sect. The Elders had their heads together trying to figure out what to make of us so I could not be positive which one but it is definitely one of them. They were focused on how good it felt to help bring the vampires down. I don't think they realize just how deeply this plot runs. They were surprised by the hybrid but accepted pretty easily that hybrids may be needed to accomplish their task. Both of their minds were all over the place but I didn't notice any missing pieces. I think us arriving was a shock and they were scrambling to appease us without seeming weak. Now the werewolves, they are just pissed off because they got caught. They aren't worried about bringing the vampires down but are glad to finally be moving up in the order. Their thoughts are very smug about being in on things most of the other lycans don't know about. They are the muscle not the brain, their information on the overall plan is non-existent."
"So things with the lycans are much as we thought they were." Gabriel said taking his wife's hand. "Thorne, Thunder welcome back, your brothers can fill you in on everything that you have missed about their travels. The Cullen's are here and I think hunting at the moment. When they return we will start the mental scans. There have not been any problems and I want it kept that way. Do not start anything, understood?" Both boys nodded, "Yes, sir." "OK then which one of you wants to start?" asked Gabriel.
"I will" said Thorne. "First, we never did have to split up. The information was surprisingly easy to find. So easy that at first we thought it was planted for us to find. But after sifting and observing several meetings it became obvious that they never expect to get caught. They think people have forgotten about them and that we will be so wrapped up in proving the Cullen's innocence that they are being careless. They are very arrogant in the way they are handling things." Isabelle turned to her son, "Are they who we think?"
"Yes," answered Thunder, "The ones ultimately behind everything are the Brudes. They are mainly using the Druids to do things. The werewolves and voodoo priestesses think they are working for the druids, although the priestess may have a guess about the Brudes. The Cullen's were specifically picked because they were personally marked by the Keeper. The Brudes know that to be able to hold any sway with the Council they must discredit the Guardians & Executioners first. Once we are out of the way they think it will be easy to either take over or destroy the other clans so they can rule. With them ruling the humans do not stand a chance."
"We were also able to find out the human sacrifices at Stonehenge are used to call a Brude from the underworld." stated Thorne. "That is how they are getting their orders. We witnessed it twice and both times the Brude was able to stay 24 hours and then they returned to the underworld without a sacrifice. The offerings are always the female human virgins that were taken. The other girls taken are being used for the breeding program. They are mixing the girls DNA with different species to enhance the hybrid. We know they are using lycan, werewolf, druid and a mix of Cajun/voodoo and so far they seem to be happy with the results they are getting. They grow to adulthood faster than normal hybrids and judging by how many they are breeding they are going for quantity and not quality. We could not find any place where they are being trained to fight."
"It looks as if they plan on overpowering us with sheer numbers." Thunder said continuing the report. We were not able to find out when they plan on starting anything. However the druids were not happy when you captured the 3 spies and they have been trying to find a weakness in the protection around Hamilton land but I can't say it is a priority for them. The when, where and how of the attack are a closely guarded secret but it is obvious that we are the targets."
"Well we have some decisions to make then." Gabriel said. Isabelle nodded, "Yes we do. So far they have behaved exactly as we expected no surprises. I do not like that we have no idea when an attack will happen. I think your father is right it is time we go on the offensive. Now we need to decide how and when to do that. Do we go directly for the Brudes, which requires calling them from the underworld and releasing other things also or do we go for one of the clans? Think on it and we will discuss our options after the Cullen's are done with their scans."
Everyone agreed and as they were leaving the solar Anthony approached his grandfather and informed him of the return of the Cullen's from hunting. As Isabelle approached the Cullen's suite to discuss the remaining procedures she could hear them trying to get Edward to talk about his meeting with her. She could tell it was not something he wanted to do. Isabelle knew what she said had hurt him and she felt sad about that, but it was his decisions more than hers that forced things to work out this way. She would not feel guilty or regret what she felt for Gabriel, he was her life and she loved him but she was sorry that what made her so happy hurt Edward so profoundly. She hoped eventually he would be able to come to terms with the way things are now. She knocked on the door lightly to save him from the inquisition he was experiencing.
"Carlisle", Isabelle said as he opened the door. "I have come to discuss the scans with you before they start. As stated before Alice, Jasper and Edward will be the last ones done and they must be in the secured room while the others are being done. The scans can be performed by Mary, Leif, Digby, Haldor, Ingram or Kate and more than one can be done at a time. Remember they will be going through all of your memories so be sure you choose who you want to do it carefully. Follow me so we can begin."
Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or its characters.
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