*evil laugh* AT LAST! AT LONG LAST! AN UPDATE!

Yes, hello, I am, in fact, still alive. And human. ;) And I am so happy to update this fun, fun, fun story! I love writing this! It IS rather angsty, I guess, but...anyway! I hope you guys won't kill me-- it's another cliff-hanger. I think you'll like it, though. It adds to the suspense. You'll want to murder Adelaide this time.

Before you dive in, I have to make a slight correction to my manuscript: once I say that, including the Cullens, Adelaide will have twelve vampires with abilities. That's not true, I'm afraid --- she actually already HAS twelve talented vamps with her. So, with the Cullens, she would have TWENTY vampires with abilities. That is more than enough to kill the Volturi, I'm sure. Scary thought 0_o.

Enjoy!

Song list:

Gulity -- By Since October (it's got angst aplenty) .com/watch?v=A8xsrsQVGTk

Points of Authority -- by Linkin Park (can't remember if I already posted this one. This is describing Blaise more than anyone esle, since he's still in love with Adelaide) .com/watch?v=KTlgHM6qLnY

Reclusion -- by Anberlin (one of the best bands around! This song just adds to the tension. It's kinda psycho) .com/watch?v=EiDJ-3VvTM0

and

It Falls Apart -- by Thousand Foot Krutch (this one is good for the frantic atmosphere, too. Carlisle's probably thinking this by now) .com/watch?v=hs7PQCNp0Kg

Nothing light there to make you feel happy, sorry.

36. Choose

The bronze-haired man, Edward, came toward us, leaving the riverbank far behind. He was approaching without an appropriate air of respect for Adelaide's superior numbers, his eyes zeroed in on his coven leader. And Carlisle was mirroring his creation's focus, his whole body angled in a way that brought an onlooker's eye to the vampire now fifteen feet away. I glanced back at Adelaide; she was wearing a steely expression that did not comfort me.

Slowing as he reached us, Edward held out his hands in a gesture of truce. "Who here is the leader of you nomads?"

Reynard stepped forward. "What have you to say?"

An indulgent smile crept onto Edward's face. "It's no use trying to be the decoy, Reynard." The blond blinked in shock at the use of his name from a stranger. "Now, where's Adelaide?"

The nomads shifted edgily. Eyebrows raised, Adelaide pushed Reynard aside, her beauty shining next to the dirty nomad. "That was a clever mode of showing off, young man. You must have a singular ability."

Edward shrugged, unphased by the gorgeous woman confronting him. "It's a blessing and a curse. Are you the nomad that everyone's been talking about?"

"Perhaps. Are you one of Carlisle Cullen's coven members?"

For a second Edward waited to reply, as if he was listening to something none of us could hear. The pause was so short I wondered if anyone else had noticed. "I am Edward Cullen."

"So, one of you does carry the same name as your creator," exclaimed Adelaide. "How intriguing. Then if you're a Cullen, you must possess a powerful gift."

"I don't see where you got that logic," returned Edward. "But that doesn't matter. What does matter is this: are you the woman who has been causing so much trouble in Ireland, and if you are, what do you want with my family?" I thought it interesting how this much younger member implemented a possessive term, my family, to describe his creator's coven. Was this seeming youth an upstart, the rival for the clan's head? I supposed not, since Carlisle's face was full of a protectiveness he couldn't conceal. This man was a person very dear to the blond vampire's heart, not his contender.

"You're a forward boy, Edward," said Adelaide, looking the newcomer over from head to foot. I couldn't help but twitch with envy when she apparently liked what she saw. "The truth is this--I only caused trouble in Ireland to attract your family to me."

His strange golden eyes circumspect, Edward examined her anew. "I see," he murmured, and something told me he knew more than Adelaide was reckoning. "And did you plan on keeping my family members here for an undefined amount of time?"

"My plans are my own." Adelaide's poker face appeared, the one I had never been able to break through.

This young Edward peeled away her unyielding facade like a master sculptor. "So you have some ideals you intend to fulfill," he said, equally immovable. "But what does my family have to do with it?"

"A great deal, Edward Cullen."

Adelaide, I thought, why don't you just tell him, instead of playing these games? I didn't know how he was doing it, but Edward Cullen had met Adelaide for less than four minutes, and he had made more progress in discovering her schemes, disarming her, and setting her on edge than I had in all the years we'd been together.

"You might want to expound somewhat." Edward's voice carried an undercurrent that was hard to decipher. "I know nomads have a different perspective on relationships, but we Cullens don't take the disappearance of a coven member well."

"Oh, you shouldn't fret about that," said Adelaide cheerfully, "I can use your whole coven. There's no need for you to be divided."

"Since I still have no good idea of what you want to do with us, that doesn't give me any peace of mind."

Once she took in his chilly demeanor, Adelaide sobered up. "Have you ever met the Volturi, Edward?"

"Once or twice," he said frigidly. "Carlisle was once good friends with Aro."

The change in Adelaide's mood would have been comical, if our lives hadn't have been at stake. Her eyes widened, then narrowed, her teeth exposed by her slightly open mouth. She turned slowly to pin Carlisle under one of her deadly stares. To his credit, the doctor didn't cringe like I would have; he raised his eyebrows in a condescendingly undaunted expression. Adelaide stood silent for several seconds. I observed Edward, wondering if he'd figured his comment would throw Adelaide off her interrogation.

"You are allies with the Volturi?" asked Adelaide of Carlisle, her aminosity slipping through the cracks in her poker mask.

"I haven't spoken to Aro in a century."

"But you are, in truth, associated with them?"

He hesitated, his eyes traveling to Edward's face. "I was in Italy in my younger days, quite some time ago. But that was my last encounter with the ancients."

It was true, I supposed, although Carlisle had proven himself to be an accomplished liar. Why wouldn't he lie about this fact, when it could mean life or death for him and his family? Why would he tell Adelaide the truth? Maybe there wasn't a Cullen coven-- maybe they were just Volturi spies. Was the whole thing a ruse? Was Carlisle going to give us up to the Volturi at any time?

I had to stop letting my imagination get away from me. Of course Carlisle wasn't a Volturi agent. He certainly wouldn't have endured all the nonsense Adelaide had put him through, if he was. Besides, the man's nonviolent nature would be out of place among the ranks of the Volturi guards. Many vampires had been acquainted with someone in the ruling class, I reminded myself. Even I had a friend that had served the ancients for three decades.

But, hardly anyone claimed to know Aro, the leader of the Volturi, personally, much less call him by his first name.

"This does put our relationship in a different light," said Adelaide. "No wonder you've been so disagreeable."

"What I've already said to you has nothing to do with my alliances," replied Carlisle, with a trace of fire in his black irises. The man did have a bit of a stubborn streak. "My answers would be the same, regardless."

"Your creator," Adelaide frowned, turning to Edward, "has been unbelievably hard to persuade. Now that you're here, perhaps we can talk some sense into him."

"Don't you touch him." Carlisle was his most frightening yet, and he'd only dropped his voice. He was standing civilly beside Adelaide, with his hands folded calmly together, but his manner was lethal. I was amazed that none of Adelaide's so-called guards had restrained him. They must not have perceived the aura of desperation about the doctor, the air of a caged animal. Carlisle was very thirsty, weary of being chastised by a woman he despised, and fiercely defensive about his coven members.

"Adelaide," I said, "listen to him." It galled me to talk to her, my false lover, but she had to see what I saw.

"You will tell me what you're talking about," Edward demanded without any pretense of politeness. "Carlisle, what is this woman planning?"

With an irritable growl, Adelaide devoted her attention to the young vampire. "I will tell you what we're discussing. For a millenium the Volturi have been the masters of the vampire world, suppressing us with their threats of annhiliation. I think it's high time we put the Volturi in their place-- at our feet, in the dust. I've amassed enough men to do this, for now. But I must have your coven with me, Edward, to help me abolish the tyrants."

Edward blinked. "You want to kill the Volturi? All of them at once?"

At first I thought he was horrified, because his mouth hung open for a moment, his face screwed up in doubt.

Then he started laughing, great peals of laughter that showed no signs of stopping. Wordlessly, Edward bent over double, gasping for breath as he laughed in the face of Adelaide's grandiose speech. We all stared at him, aghast. What did he think he was doing, trying to get killed?

If Adelaide had been human, I'm sure she would have flushed a beautiful pink as this vampire who looked no older than eighteen mocked her war to end all wars. "That--" he finally sputtered, "is--ridic--ulous!"

Rosalie, her fair face dark, glared at him. "Edward, you idiot." The blonde seemed unable to say more, but she was conveying in so many words what we all were thinking: Edward was signing his own death warrant by making a joke out of Adelaide.

"If you are, by some unlikely chance, serious," Edward said, regaining his formal posture, "I pity you, Adelaide. I really do. There is no possible way you can defeat the Volturi."

"You're wrong," retorted Adelaide, smoldering. "What you see here is only a fraction of the men who have joined me. And, of course, when your coven consents--"

"It's clear we haven't, though. Not so far, isn't that right, Carlisle?"

"Quite right, Edward." Carlisle was relieved to have the spotlight away from this treasured coven member. "I have refused Adelaide's proposition."

"For the moment," said Adelaide. "But the doctor will submit; he holds his family too dear to him not to."

The young vampire's eyes cleared. "You've been threatening us?"

"I had hoped it wouldn't be neccessary--"

"Oh, don't lie, woman," I cut in, growling. I'd had it with her attempts at kindness.

"I am sorry, Edward," Carlisle sighed, his form shrinking back to its inobtrusive self. "I had no intention for you to be mixed into this catastrophe."

"It doesn't appear you had a choice," answered Edward, bemused. The boy wasn't taking the matter seriously. "Would you quit worrying, Blaise?" I started, and found the strange golden eyes on me, full of a wisdom I hadn't noticed. "I know the dire ins and outs of this business, thank you very much."

"I didn't--how did--" How in the world did he know I was so upset over his nonchalance?

"His ability," said Conner, from his position behind me. "It must be some sort of telepathic power."

"How useful," Adelaide purred, her eyes aglow.

Edward glanced over at Carlisle. The doctor must have been shouting something in his head, judging by the immediate response he got from his son. "Unfortunately, Adelaide, I have to agree with Carlisle, and decline your offer of an alliance. That goes for all of us."

"What a shame," Adelaide said. "Reynard, Jonathon."

The two vampires seized Edward, dragging him over to where his two other coven members were sitting. When he struggled against them a third vampire, Conner, cuffed him soundly on the head. Hissing, the young vampire was flung down between his brother and sister. The male, Jasper, laid a hand on him, urging him to be quiet. Rosalie hissed along with Edward, sneering at the guards with her characteristic pig-headedness.

"I don't like your strong-arm tactics, Adelaide," remarked one of the men around her, a dark vampire with a carpathian accent. "It does not comfort me to think this is how we shall be treated, should we oppose you."

"Once we have dominance, these harsh methods won't be needed."

The man wasn't convinced. "So you say, but I myself wonder: once you have power, will you be willing to let us go our own way? I will not be forced to remain your guard."

Here, at last, was the complaint I knew would be lodged against my former mate. Adelaide had been too liberal with her punishments, and had made some of her minions unsure of her. These men were too intelligent to be fooled into thinking she would deal with them less cruelly if they ever wanted to leave her army. Or, maybe she wouldn't pressure them into service, like she was doing with the Cullens. After all, they were sympathetic to her cause, unlike the doctor and his family, whose hand she felt she had to force.

"I can't make you do anything, Elek," Adelaide responded serenely. "All I ask is for you to help me conquer the Volturi, then you may do as you please."

Elek shrugged, a noncomittal noise in his throat. "Perhaps because I have no great talent?"

"Not at all. Because you're already on my side."

"This is no way to win admirers," Edward interrupted angrily. "I won't bow to you for throwing me around."

"It's not you I want, Edward, dear," Adelaide laughed, stepping toward Carlisle and placing one ivory hand on his arm. I tried not to stiffen-- she was touching him so casually. It offended me for no reason I could see. "It's your gifted creator I want."

She only meant she needed him for her army, I told myself obstinately. That was all she meant by wanting him, naturally. She didn't need anyone for anything else. Not Adelaide, selfish and self-serving as she was.

My former mate snapped her fingers authoritatively, pulling Carlisle with her to stand before the three coven members in the dirt. The five vampire guards formed a half-circle behind the three, fencing them in with no escape. Jasper was the most ill at ease with the arrangement, squirming in his designer clothes. A large redheaded vampire loomed over him, grinning at his discomfort.

"You've driven me to this, Dr. Cullen," Adelaide began, her fingers still wrapped around his arm. She was brushing against him, her leonine figure complimenting his tall form, sickening me. "I have no other option, now, but to give you this ultimatum."

Edward gasped. "You wouldn't!"

"I don't want to," continued Adelaide ruefully. "But what else is there?"

"What is it, Edward?" asked Carlisle, concerned. Edward was hissing, his lips stretched into a feral snarl.

"Know that this is your own doing." Adelaide pointed first to Jasper, her finger carrying its own weight of condemnation. "Here is your first choice: you can spare your coven member Jasper, or you can sentence him to death by fire."

Rosalie and Edward both cried out in rage, but Carlisle was frozen, his body paralyzed with shock and horror.

Adelaide stroked his arm soothingly, sending spikes of anger through me. Her finger moved on to Edward. "Here is your second choice: to save Edward, whom you clearly favor above your other creations, or to send him to the same end as Jasper."

Carlisle fought for words, but nothing but empty air came out.

"You--" Edward bit back his biting comment.

"Your third choice," Adelaide said, as her finger switched to the last coven member, "is this: to give Rosalie, your mate, life, or to kill her."

"We've heard worse, Carlisle," Rosalie said bracingly, trying to shake her creator out of his frozen stage.

"So, Doctor, those are your options." With a cat-like gleam in her scarlet eyes, Adelaide turned Carlisle's head until they were facing each other, barely inches apart. "Your true choice is this: decide which you love more. Your mate, your son, or your coven member. One of them must die. Make your decision. Choose."