Disclaimer: I do not own most of the characters, they belong to Steph Meyer!
A/N: Hmm, I seem completely unable to please all of my readers. Most want nothing more than for Edward and Bella to have their happily ever after, but there are a few who would prefer it be Bella and Christian. Clearly, I can't please everyone, so I'm not going to try. I'll just let whatever happens happen. I've got to be near the end of this fic by now. Surely a few more posts should wrap it up. Thanks again to all those who always take the time to review, it is much appreciated. And thanks to my silent readers, as well. EdwardObsessedForever, here are some of the answers you seek or at least setting the stage for it.
Chapter 35 A Tasty Task
Felix was being ever so helpful at the moment. He'd taken up the arduous task of keeping Seline occupied while I had my little battle strategy planning session with the rest of the Cullens. Course, he didn't know what we were talking about, just that I'd wanted some time alone with them. Considering our history it hadn't taken much to convince Felix that privacy was needed.
So far, not much was getting accomplished, however. There'd been a lot of bickering back and forth between Edward and Jasper. He was finally backing me up in this matter. I'd said my piece and hadn't opened my mouth again. Really, I wasn't all that interested in what they were saying right now anyways. I kept getting distracted by Edward's gorgeous face and everytime our eyes met it was like lightning. I couldn't blink my eyes without reliving the last hour with Edward. I could still smell his scent on my body and feel the electric touch of his skin. I'd expected a lot of things to happen when he and I met up for the first time, but not that.
"We're going to call Carlisle," Edward said for what was probably the second or third time by the way everyone was looking at me.
"And?" I asked. That didn't sound much like a decision to me. "Are you simply asking him for advice or what?" I wasn't interested in Carlisle's theories or ideas. I knew what his vote would be. Asking for his approval was a mistake; we needed to just tell him what our new plan was.
"He's our leader, Bella," Emmett answered gruffly.
I gave a humorless laugh. "He's not my leader." Their eyes all widened in shock, except for Edward's. I think he was feeling about the same as me where our manipulative father was concerned.
"How can you say that?" Alice asked in a hushed whisper, but her words had a bite to them. She was so angry with me. And no wonder, since she'd seen god knew how much of my time with Christian and had to shield her thoughts constantly around Edward.
As soon as I thought his name, my eyes flickered to Kattra. Kattra, Alyria, and Demetri sat off to one side letting the Cullens have their argument. They had already made their stance on the situation known, much to everyone else's dismay. They felt that fighting the Volturi was beyond stupid considering my information.
"Look guys, I was ordered to Volterra to supposedly spy on them only to discover that there's already a spy in place. All Carlisle really wanted was to expose me to as much power as possible so I could be his weapon of mass destruction." I stood up and paced back and forth as the anger that I'd been pushing aside began to course through me. "When Carlisle told me of his plan, a plan that was contrived while under the influence of Virat mind you, I objected to it because it was a stupid plan and I wanted no part in it. Hell, that was when I truly believed that I was just in Volterra to be a spy. My view on it has not improved since learning about Carlisle's betrayal." I stopped and searched each and everyone's faces. They were all looking down except for Rosalie, who met my furious eyes with her own. "Well, I guess it wasn't just Carlisle's betrayal, was it? You all knew too."
"They wanted you!" Rosalie yelled as she stood up, her fists clenched tightly. "Why shouldn't it have been you to take all of the risks?"
"Oh my god!" I threw my hands up in frustration. "Have you not been listening? They never wanted me. The Volturi had no part in Virat's plan," I spat out.
"The Volturi have craved you from the first moment that they met you," Jasper said gently.
I shook my head. "That's irrelevant. They did not orchestrate this. This whole mess was about Virat gaining us," I motioned to everyone in the room. "You guys used me as surely as Virat would have if he could have gotten his hands on me," I whispered, my eyes averted.
It was not Edward that came to my side and placed a comforting hand on my shoulder, it was Demetri. He gave me an encouraging smile before addressing the room. "Maybe you have all missed the part where she already told Aro that an army is marching on him. Not to mention that he knows you are all here. All close enough to aid him. I do not think you have much of an option anymore." He glanced at me quickly. "I'm going back to Volterra with Bella and will once again fight at Aro's side."
Edward slipped his silver phone out of his pocket and called Carlisle. There was no more discussion, because Demetri was right. To not aid the Volturi now would bite them in the ass later if the Volturi were victorious. They would never let that insult slide; never leave the Cullens in peace. And I was the one who'd brought this on them. Me revealing everything to Aro had taken all their options away. Perhaps I was as manipulative as Carlisle had been, only I didn't have Virat's power to blame for my actions.
He left the room as soon as Carlisle picked up and Alice beckoned me out the back door. I squeezed Demetri's hand once in thanks and followed her into the cool night.
She was perched on the rail of the porch looking out over the woods. "What are you going to do, Bella?" She asked in her lovely musical voice.
"What do you mean?"
"I've seen a lot." She turned and faced me, her eyes still angry. "You've fallen in love with Christian and he with you. Do you really think that Edward won't notice this…" she floundered with her words before continuing. "attraction?"
I sighed. "I don't know," I mumbled and sat heavily on the first step. "I didn't want this. None of it. I begged them not to send me there. I know I've let things get out of hand, but please remember that Christian and I were supposed to be seen as lovers, supposed to make it real enough to make Marcus believe that it was so." I looked up at her and hated her for a moment. Staying in Volterra afterwards didn't seem like such a bad idea anymore. I couldn't imagine how we were all supposed to put everything behind us and go on as one big happy family. We all believed that we'd been betrayed in one way or another. "For three weeks I have played his lover, day in and day out. I left Edward on unsteady ground as it was. I was lonely and scared and Christian took care of me. He made it all bearable, Alice."
She hopped off the rail and sat down beside me. "Edward never wanted you to go. We argued with Carlisle over it, but his mind had already been made up."
I chuckled. "No, Virat's mind had been made up. Carlisle was just a pawn in his game."
She nodded. "Precisely. So, how can you hold this against us?"
"Because none of you want to do what is necessary to make it right. We cannot fight the Volturi. You need to get Carlisle, Maria, the wolves, and who ever else is on our side and explain this to them. Maybe the Romanians would back down if they lost our support. After all, it was our support that made them finally decide to take back what was rightfully theirs."
Her eyes were glazed over as I finished speaking and I waited for her to come back from her vision. I could have just read her mind like Edward, but I wasn't feeling that close to her right now. She shook her head. "They aren't going to stop. Whether we fight with them or not, they will still try and destroy Aro."
"I figured as much," I sighed. Though one could always hope.
"Edward will sort it out. He'll make Carlisle understand that we no longer have a choice in the matter. But I'm more concerned about you and Edward right now. Bella, when he sees you and Christian together he will know what there is between you two. Every time I mention his name I see the pain flash in your eyes, see you wince infinitesimally. I know you told him that you two couldn't be together, but if you could figure out a way to have both Edward and Christian, you'd do it."
"What do you want me to say, Alice? You've eavesdropped on all of my time with him. You've seen with your own eyes, heard with your own ears. I love him. I do. But not as much as I love Edward."
"Isn't that good to know," Edward's voice filled the night causing Alice and I to stiffen. Two vampires that can foresee the future and neither of us managed to see Edward wrapping up his conversation and joining us outside? "It's always nice that I do manage to stay ahead of your other men. But perhaps you could try and not become so attached to every male that crosses your path," he stated coldly.
Alice looked back and forth between us. "What did Carlisle say?" That's my girl, change the subject. Let's just pretend that I didn't profess my love for Christian right in front of my husband.
"They will meet us here tomorrow night. Alyria, Kattra, and Demetri will go back to Volterra with Bella." A sardonic smile fell on his lips as he looked at me. "You and Kattra and Christian should have lots to talk about, I would think. Let me know how that goes." He gave me a wink, turned on his heels, and strode back into the house.
"Well, talk about bad timing," Alice muttered. She placed an arm around my shoulder. "Don't fret about it. You two will be fine. He just needs to cool down." she chuckled nervously. "It's not like he can exist without you, you know?"
I couldn't just leave things like that. I knew I had to get back to Volterra and change Justin, but I had to try and undo some of the damage that I'd wrought. I went back inside, but Edward was no where to be seen. "Where's Edward?" I asked.
Jasper looked at me with such pity before replying, "He went for a run."
Ah. So no goodbyes or good lucks or anything. Not that I deserved it, but it still hurt. I nodded too many times, too quickly and blinked back tears that would never fall, my throat tight with the emotions. I closed my eyes briefly and used my own powers to calm myself so that I could wrap myself in my emotionless bubble again. The numbness swallowed me and provided me with a much needed reprieve. "You guys ready?" I asked of Demetri. They all nodded solemnly and got to their feet gracefully.
"Felix and Seline are already out front. She doesn't much like us," Rosalie said as she rose from her chair and gave me a hug. "You be careful, Bella. We'll be there in a day or so."
I was taken aback at her abrupt change of heart. Just a half an hour ago she was blaming me for everything and now she was wishing me luck? I just did not understand how her mind worked. Though, most of them were probably saying the same thing about me.
"Thanks Rosalie," I mumbled against her shoulder. "You be careful too."
Emmett wrapped us both in one of his bear hugs and ruffled my hair. "Try not to kill everyone before I get there," he teased lightly, but the smile on his lips never met his eyes.
Seline took in the three vampires following me. "Aro will be quite pleased with you, Bella." She walked around Demetri and then planted her feet directly in front of him. "He has wanted you back with us, did you know?" She glided to Alyria and inhaled deeply. "Oh, what fun you will be. We have not had a succubus among us in a very long time," she whispered as she trailed a polished nail down Alyria's pale throat. Alyria grabbed her hand firmly and pushed her away.
"I am not your plaything, nor Aro's."
An evil smile spread across her face. "You will be whatever Aro declares you to be."
She turned her attention to Kattra and tilted her head to one side as she examined her. "Your tattoo matches Christian's," she noted thoughtfully. "Is there any significance to that?"
"We were part of the same coven for a while," she replied.
"That may be, but you did not get that tattoo as a vampire, that would be impossible. You got it as a human. What does it mean?"
"It means that it's none of your damned business, Seline," Alyria hissed. "Let's get into the car and be off to Volterra and not waste any more time of these idiotic games."
Seline shrugged and practically danced back to the car. Nothing made her happier than irritating others and she'd done a fine job of that.
The Lincoln was large, but there were six vampires in it now, and barely enough room to breathe let alone anything else. I was crammed up front in between Felix and Seline as I didn't want Seline near the three in the back. "Are you excited about completing your assignment?" She asked mockingly.
"Can hardly contain myself," I replied tersely.
"I myself hope that you loose all that control that you have and drain Justin dry. It's not like we really need another vampire."
"Actually, I think Aro would argue that point with you." He hadn't told either of them about the Romanians yet, so I wasn't going to point out why an extra newborn might come in handy.
"You and lover boy fighting again?" She asked after a short silence. "You seemed to have quite the happy reunion, but I saw him rush off looking very disgruntled. Is he peeved at you, Bella?"
I'd have definitely been blushing if I could. Being with Edward had seemed like the most important thing at the time, but now realizing they'd all heard every sound of our love making was beyond embarrassing.
She laughed. "Ah, so your sweet body was not enough to smooth over everything, mm-mm? Let me see…" she pondered dramatically thoroughly enjoying herself as she chewed on her pointed nail. "He is unhappy about you moving on with your Christian." She leaned her head close to mine and whispered so softly that I had to really concentrate to hear her. "I must confess that when you two arrived on our doorstep I did not believe that you two were lovers, but I think I might have been mistaken after all. What a waste for your Edward to travel all the way across the ocean to get you back only to learn that you were already quite happy without him. Is that why he ran off?"
I didn't bother answering her. First, she didn't deserve or even want an answer, she was just having fun. Second, Kattra was seated right behind me. I could feel her eyes boring into me. Seline hadn't really said anything that Kattra hadn't expected. She had known that we were to pretend to be lovers. All she knew now was that we'd been pretty convincing, especially since we weren't lovers at all. If that had been me, though, it would have driven me insane to have someone talk about Edward like that in front of me.
Demetri rescued me again from another uncomfortable conversation. "Who is this Justin?" Okay, that wasn't really an improvement, but I guess I'd rather talk about that instead of Christian and Edward.
I filled them in on the assignment and the requests that I'd made on their behalf. One of the Cullens would have freaked out, but the three vampires in the back took it in stride.
"You feel confident that you can perform his transformation without being consumed by the bloodlust?" Demetri asked.
"Mostly." I replied.
"Bella has learned much control in her three weeks with us," Felix finally spoke up with what sounded like pride in his voice. "She has spent much time training with us and developing her powers. I do not doubt that she will be able to accomplish this task easily enough."
"I do hope that you are wrong, Felix dear," Seline cut in. "I have quite a sum of money riding on her failure."
Seline escorted us back to Marcus' aquarium room where both Aro and Marcus were plotting the Romanians' demise. They glanced up at us simultaneously, their eyes widened in surprise. Aro recovered first and smiled welcomingly at our newest additions. "Demetri!" He clapped him on his broad shoulder. "I had hoped that you would return to us, my old friend."
I used my shield to keep his thoughts hidden about our part in the Romanian assault, but let everything else pass. I could tell Aro was diligently searching through Demetri's memory, but I made sure that it wasn't complete. He glanced at me. "You and our Demetri were quite close at one time, were you not?"
I smiled. "I told you we were."
"Yes. Yes. But I did not realize how very close." He faced Demetri again. "You came because of her, then? Not loyalty to me and the Volturi?" He asked in a tone utterly devoid of emotion.
"I came because Bella informed us of the Romanian army heading your way."
He nodded once and held out his hand to Alyria. "Welcome. I am Aro and this is my brother Marcus." He motioned to the vampire still seated in his rich leather chair.
She took his hand and he lifted it to his lips and brushed a kiss against her knuckles. "Alyria," she replied. "And this is Kattra."
"Lovely. Lovely. Come. Sit. We have much to discuss." He took Seline into his arms lovingly and bestowed a chaste kiss on her lips. "Did you two play well together, my raven goddess?" He asked her.
She smiled broadly. "But of course, honey." She turned her mocking eyes toward me. "Didn't we have a splendid outing, Isabella?" She drew out my name in a long purr.
I chuckled. "Better than I expected. You only slapped me two times, Seline," I added pointedly.
Aro's eyes darkened with anger. "It wasn't like that," she supplied quickly shooting a pleading glance at me.
I sighed. I didn't like her, not one little bit. But she hadn't been malicious when she'd slapped me, just trying to get my attention. I rested my palm on Aro's forearm and allowed the scene to play out for him. "She wasn't trying to hurt me, Aro. Just snap me out of my horror."
He nodded. "Good. Are you thirsty? Shall I send for some refreshments?"
"Yes, that would be welcomed and maybe Christian as well."
"He has not left the Lucci's side. I doubt he will come until we have transformed them." He whispered into Seline's ear and sent her off.
"I have procured the Morphine. We will take care of some business here then we shall go make us some new additions."
Aro and Marcus had been busy calling other vampires to Volterra while we'd been dealing with Virat. He seemed to feel certain that we would have an army to rival theirs and then some. It was clear that he planned to annihilate them. It had always bothered Aro that Vladimir and Stefan had always managed to escape him. The two great families had been at war with one another for centuries, but the Volturi possessed special abilities that the Romanians could not contend with. So though they were hundreds of years older and had reigned over all vampire kind since before Aro was even born, they had conceded power to Aro to save their family and followers.
It was doubtful that I was going to be able to pull off something miraculous enough to prevent this battle. It had been brewing for so long. Both families looking for the perfect excuse to attack the other and now they both had it, we just happened to get caught up in the middle.
I sipped my blood from the golden goblet that Seline had given me a few minutes ago and tried to focus my attentions on the strategy session, but my mind kept wondering to Justin, Christian, and Edward. I leaned over to Seline who for some reason decided to move Renata out of her seat and glued herself to my side. "There wouldn't happen to be more blood readily available, would there?" I asked as I worried about my next task. I'm not sure ten goblets-full would be enough to provide me with enough restraint.
She nodded with an odd smile and left the room before I even registered her leaving her seat.
When she reappeared she had several more glasses and set them down beside me. "Why are you helping me? I thought you wanted me to fail."
"Oh, nothing would please me more, dear. But we are at war and I am practical if nothing else. Newborns are stronger and faster and we'll need all the help we can get."
The room grew silent and Aro stood in front of me offering his arm. "Come, Bella. Let us take care of business so that you can spend a few happy moments with your Christian."
The room the Lucci's were kept in was just as nice as mine except it was decorated in silver. Not at all to my liking, but hey, I didn't have to live there. Christian stood abruptly when we entered and his eyes flickered between me, Kattra, and Alyria, before settling on Aro.
Brent was lying on a bed with Laura soothing her. I sent waves of calmness to all of them and watched as the three of them laid back more relaxed than they'd been since our unpleasant arrival a day ago.
Renata strode forward with a syringe. She tossed two to Seline and they made their way to the beds explaining what was in it and what they hoped it would do for them, but both sounded doubtful. Apparently their transformations were fresh in their minds too. Mine, however, was not that memorable. Hopefully that was because of the Morphine, but I did not look back on it as a horrible memory, just something that had brought me closer to Edward.
Aro sat beside the mother and stroked her hair tenderly as Renata pushed the drugs into her system. I took my place beside Justin. Seline had already dosed him and was now giving Laura the last syringe full of Morphine. I leaned forward and whispered, "I'm so sorry, Justine. Please forgive me for what I have to do."
"I'm ready," he responded sluggishly, a small smile on his lips. I opened his shirt a little revealing his sculpted chest and struck right over his heart in one quick movement. He tensed, but no sound escaped his lips.
The taste of his blood flooding my mouth was euphoric. It was sweeter and far more satisfying than animal blood ever was, but I kept myself in check. I could easily have lost myself to the sensation of feeding from him, but I stayed alert to the sounds of his heart and breathing and only took as much as was needed to pump him full of venom.
I'd been intrigued, but slightly disgusted, by the whole blood donor concept when Alyria had explained it to me, but to taste this on a regular basis, oh, that would be divine. I could understand why Brent had chosen to take a donor rather than live on animal blood. It would be hard to go back to such a bland form of sustenance. It had been hard enough after I'd tasted Tyler, but at least I had my horror over his death to urge me to get back on the vegetarian bandwagon, this time there was no death, no consequence, just the exquisite taste of Justin's blood pumping into my mouth and extinguishing the constant fire in my throat. When I heard his breathing become a bit labored I pulled back and watched as his precious blood trailed over his chest and pooled on the satin sheets. He moved restlessly, but the drugs seemed to be helping.
I glanced over at Brent who had just pulled away from Laura. Relief was evident on his face that we'd both been strong enough to accomplish this task. He'd known that me being ordered to transform Justin had been Aro's way of punishing me which meant that I could have easily have killed his girlfriend's brother.
"Well done, Bella." Aro peered over my shoulder at Justin's tense face. "This drug does seem to help." He drew me away from the bed. "We will leave Felix, Seline, and Brent here to watch over them and administer more Morphine when needed." With that he whisked me from the room. "Why don't you show our guests to your wing? There are plenty of rooms available."
Christian and Kattra were locked away in one of the unused bedrooms while Demetri, Alyria and I stayed in the sitting room.
"Have you heard from Leah?" I asked casually not wanting to deal with any questions they might have for me.
His eyes dimmed some at the mention of her name and I mentally kicked myself for causing him any pain. "No. Virat watched over us closely and once I began tracking I was too focused on it to do anything else."
Alyria sat there saying nothing, just watching me the way a snake watches a mouse. "What?" I finally asked as she showed no sign of speaking anytime soon.
"Do you know that as a succubus that I can judge a person's level of lust for another?"
I rolled my eyes slightly. "Yeah, I was in your dressing room back at the club when you pointed out the attraction between me and Demetri, remember?"
"Ah, yes. That's right." She flowed off of her chair like water sliding over a cliff and knelt before me. "Christian is an amazing shield, but he could never hide things from me, Bella. I can feel his desire for you." She licked her lips suggestively and her hands began working their way from my knees up my thigh so slowly as she unleashed her full power against me, and probably poor Demetri, who had pushed himself as far away from the two of us as possible. "We do not mind sharing, but to be with one of us is to be with all of us." Her hands snaked around my waist and pulled me roughly next to her flesh and I found myself powerless against her frightening power. My shields had been shattered by her full power and I was drowning in desire for her. I knew that she was feeding on it and Demetri, as well. The power that I'd inherited from her flared but only fueled the fire. Her lips nuzzled my stomach as she began working her way up my body. "You can have Christian," she purred. "Just say yes, Bella. Say yes to us, and we'd be with you forever."
Christian and Kattra wrestled her off of me and dragged her back to her chair. "Alyria!" Kattra hissed. "What the hell is wrong with you?"
Christian reached out to touch me, but I swatted his hand away. The power had not receded and I did not want to have him included in it. The reason I wasn't rolling around on the floor with Alyria was that I just didn't swing that way, but I already lusted after Christian. Add her power to that and I would not be able to resist. "Please don't. Her power still clings to me," I whispered hoarsely.
Kattra chuckled softly behind us. "Enough, Alyria. Please. You have feasted. Rein it in."
And just like that I could breathe again, could think. Kattra turned her kind eyes to me. "Better?"
I smiled in relief. "Yes." I glanced at Alyria who was slouched in her chair like a cat full of cream. "Why?" I asked of Alyria.
She pouted some. "I do not drink animal blood, Bella. I needed a boost and you four," she motioned at Christian, Kattra, Demetri, and myself, "have an awful lot of lust within you to make my time here bearable.
"You did not feed on Kattra and Christian, just me and Demetri," I noted a little angrily.
She smiled a contented smile. "No your power gripped me just as mine gripped you. I couldn't break through their shields while I was occupied with you."
She placed her palm against Kattra's face and forced her to look at her. "We might have a new addition to our coven, love. I believe your Christian has captured Bella's heart."
Kattra turned back to us and gave us a searching look. "There may be something there, but she will never leave her Edward, no matter how much you wish to acquire her," Kattra finished giving Alyria a stern look.
Why was everyone always trying to acquire me?
"We shall see, love. After all, her Edward is quite livid with her right now. Perhaps he will not wish to take her back?" She suggested as though I was not right there privy to her words.
"Enough, Alyria." Demetri shouted. "You have been playing games with all of us and it is getting old. You want to raise lust in us, then do so and feed, but do not try and make us do more than feel it, and quit trying to cause trouble between her and Edward. They have enough problems without you adding to it."