Disclaimer: I do not own most of these characters, they belong to Steph Meyer!

A/N: Wow. A very hard chapter to write. It took me nearly four hours to write. Hope you like it, but let me know if you do not. Thanks for all the encouraging comments and suggestions.

Chapter 38 Liar Liar Pants on Fire

Carlisle had left the room a few minutes ago, but I remained glued to my chair. A very angry vampire was out there waiting for me and I was in here hiding. What a coward.

Rosalie and Alice glided through the door and closed it firmly. Alice perched her lithe body on the arm of my chair and Rosalie pulled up the other chair directly across from mine.

"You can't do this to us, Bella," Alice complained. She wrapped her arms around me and buried her small face in my hair. "I will not sit back and let you leave our family. I can't," she whispered against my hair.

"You're being really selfish Bella. Look what you're doing to Alice. She adores you and you're just going to crush her, and for what?" Rosalie questioned irritably.

I closed my eyes and counted to ten. I was being selfish? No, I was being practical. Edward and I might not be able to get past everything. Maybe Alice's vision wasn't the result of a decision on my part, but on Edward's. Maybe I only remained here because he didn't want me anymore; that would explain why she hadn't seen him here with me.

"No! You look at me. I want this fixed. You are going to talk to Edward and kiss and make up so we can put all this nonsense behind us." Rosalie slapped my knee forcefully causing me to open my eyes and glare at her.

I drummed my fingers on the arm of the chair while I took in her rather intimidating form. She looked angry, but underneath all of that was something else. She was afraid. Afraid that her whole family was about to be ripped apart by a girl that she'd never even wanted to be part of her family. It seemed like another lifetime when Rose was being a pain in the ass and adamant that I not be transformed. And how I'd fought to be changed. All so I could spend eternity with Edward. I'd given up my family, my life, my humanity to be with Edward.

"Oh, Bella, please. You have to talk to Edward," Alice whined, practically sobbing as she clutched at me.

I sighed. "Edward isn't my only problem. Carlisle and I still have issues and I'm told that Esme blames me for pretty much everything that has transpired over the last month."

They shared a look which confirmed what Carlisle had said earlier, Esme was angry with me. I had a terrible time picturing sweet, nurturing, and loving Esme angry, but somehow I'd managed to cause it.

"Don't worry about Esme." Rose said firmly. "You make things right with Edward and she'll forget about everything."

"Are you guys very angry at me for telling Aro about the Romanians?" I asked hesitantly. Carlisle hadn't really said much about it, but I knew he was unhappy that I forced his hand.

Alice kissed my cheek and unwound herself from me. "I'm not. You know I'm not. We were played and as soon as we discovered that we should have nixed the whole plan."

Rose bit her lip, her eyes focused on my shoes. "You put us in a very tough position." When she glanced back at me the anger and frustration were visible for a fraction of a second then she flicked her gaze back to the floor. "But I guess we put you in an even harder, more dangerous, place." When she met my eyes this time the anger had leaked away, only concern lingered. "Alyria told us you transformed someone. That you killed someone."

I explained the assignment, but I'd been right- they were shocked and disappointed. Kattra, Alyria, and Demetri hadn't even batted an eye about it, but these two women stared at me aghast as though I was an imitation Chanel handbag.

"And you are seriously considering staying here?" Alice screeched as she leapt off the arm of my chair. "They will turn you into a cold blooded murder, Bella. Surely that is not the life you want."

"I didn't kill anyone."

"Justin's heart does not beat," Rose chided softly still looking horrified, her eyes still too wide.

"It starts like this Bella. A transformation here, a righteous kill there, and then what? Where will you draw the line?"

I shook my head. "Enough! You've made your point."

She stared at me for a few more heart beats before opening her mouth then closing it again and shook her pixy head. "Get that tiny butt off the chair and go talk to your husband Bella." That was not what she was going to say, but since I'd had enough of both of them, I let it go.

I stood in one fluid movement and walked right up to her. "Maybe you see me staying here because we can't reconcile our grievances. Did you ever think of that? That he may not want me? Perhaps that is why he was not in that vision with me," I spat out. "Quit blaming me for everything! It takes two…or in this case a whole damn family to fuck things up or make them right." I started walking towards the door. "I did not want to come here. I was ordered here and ordered to do things that would surely violate my marriage vows, but you all just want to heap all that blame on me." I turned back towards them. "Well that ends now. I will not sit by and be the bad guy. You guys want someone to blame? Then look in the goddamn mirror."

I slammed the door open and was met by some very surprised vampires and wolves.

"Gee, Bells, don't hold back, tell us what you really think," Jacob said trying to keep a straight face. I felt my own lips tugging upward as he and Seth moved forward. Jacob picked me up as though I weighed nothing and whirled me around before setting me down so I could be attacked by Seth who wrapped his arms around tightly before quickly releasing me.

I felt Alice and Rosalie at my back, but did not turn around or acknowledge them in any way.

I leaned near Seth's ear and whispered, "How much did you hear?"

He snickered. "Only the stuff you said by the door, but your emotions have been wreaking havoc on Jasper." He motioned behind him and my eyes followed until I found Jazz's tense, hunched form all the way across the room as though he thought distance would save him, but I knew better. I let some of my power escape and sent some happiness and calm his way. His muscles relaxed slowly and he stood fully erect now that our emotions had been lifted. It was almost as if our negative feelings had weight and I just removed the heavy burden so that he could straighten his broad shoulders.

My eyes searched the room more carefully now. I saw Esme blatantly avoiding eye contact with me. Leah was huddled in the corner with Demetri who sent me an encouraging smile over her head before bending down and brushing his lips across her forehead. Well at least one relationship had survived this ordeal intact. The Denali clan was here along with Maria and a few others that I did not recognize.

"You two aren't mad at me too, are you?" I finally asked as I looked between Seth and Jacob.

"Hell no," Jacob chuckled. "Your change of plans makes no difference to me. I still get to kill bloodsuckers."

My mouth fell open and I shook my head and slapped him in the arm. "Well, I'm glad some things do not change." For the first time in almost a week, I felt almost happy. Here between these two wolves, my two good friends, I felt normal and relaxed.

Seth smiled. "Hey, I don't know what on earth is going on, but heck no, I'm not mad at you." He ruffled my hair like I was a child and grabbed my hand. "I think maybe Alice and Rosalie would like to get past the door at some point." I allowed him to drag me to the middle of the room where Seline and Felix joined us.

"You need to feed, Bella," Seline noted. "I'll send for blood. You are going to be utterly useless if you don't take care of yourself." Her brows puckered and her lips pursed. "What did you mean when you said that you were ordered here?"

I groaned inwardly. Let this be a lesson to all. Do not lie. Ever. About anything big or small. It always comes back to bite you. I swallowed trying to gain some relief from the acid-like burn in the back of my throat. "I'll explain everything later. I promise."

Felix lightly reached out and traced the circles under my eyes. I could feel how my betrayal hurt him. He didn't know exactly what I'd done, but he knew I'd lied to him, and yet, he still worried that I was thirsty. I reached out and squeezed his hand lightly. "I came here for a reason different than what I stated," I began because I could not stand to see that look in his eyes. "But my friendship with all of you, that was real. I've damn near destroyed my whole family to protect all of you."

Seline nodded once curtly. "We don't have time for explanations. We do have humans living among us, and if one of them crosses your path right now, I'm not sure you could resist in your starved state."

"The fight with Justin and his oh-so-unpleasant power took a lot out of me." I watched her walk out of the room and my eyes met Alyria's. She was grinning from ear to ear and I had no idea why she was so damn happy, but it couldn't be anything good.

"Your husband is with our Christian," she supplied cheerfully as she curled her legs under her.

No good could come of that. "Did they say where they were going?"

Her grin had morphed into a full blown cat ate the canary smile. "Oh, yes. They are up in your quarters with Kattra and Justin. It's just one big party. If you'd like I'd be more than happy to escort you up there."

I'll just bet you would. I scowled. I needed blood, but I needed to be upstairs. Edward wouldn't hurt Christian, would he? Well damn. I marched past her without another word.

I didn't bother to knock I just burst into the room. I could feel the many emotions spilling from the it. Christian and Edward stopped in mid argument. No one else was in the room. That was good, but I was a bit concerned about Justin. He should not be free to run around here in his unpredictable state. And what about Kattra? How much had she heard? "Dammit," I swore softly under my breath as my gaze locked on their two gorgeous forms.

I stared at the two men that I adored more than all others and had no idea what to say. Either way someone was going to get hurt.

Edward cocked his head to one side as he took in my speechlessness. "Ah, my lovely wife. I was wondering how long it would be before you decided to grace us with your presence. Tell me, love, did you come up here to protect Christian from me?"

Truthfully I didn't know what I was going to do once I got up here, only that I needed to intervene. I tore my eyes from Edward and looked at Christian. His face was full of uncertainty, like he was expecting me to hurt him and I couldn't keep my feelings hidden. Christian relaxed at that one glance and Edward tensed. "Can you give me and Edward a few minutes?"

He started to move when Edward reached out and grabbed him roughly by his pale blue shirt. "No. We weren't done."

"Yes, you were." I bit out as I closed the distance between them. With my back against Christian's chest, I glared at Edward. "Let go of him, Edward."

He ignored me completely and glanced at Christian over my head. "I will not give her up without a fight," he stated coldly.

"It is not really our decision, it is hers," Christian spoke softly and still Edward's hands remained clenched around his shirt. I sighed again. Maybe I'd be lucky enough to die in the war. It would certainly be easier than dealing with all of this. One could only hope. I physically began prying Edward's fingers from the shirt and as a newborn I had the strength to do so, not to mention that I was coating him in lethargy. Once free I turned to Christian and touched his forearm gently. "Go please. I need some time with Edward."
He nodded, but looked worried. Then he did something he absolutely should not have done, he brushed the lightest of kisses across my cheek. Edward snarled, but my power still gripped him, so he couldn't do anything more than rest on the bed and glower.

I sat beside him and waited for him to calm down enough to think.

After a while his breathing slowed and his muscles relaxed. "He loves you. He was practically screaming it in his mind. And he believes that you love him." He turned to face me with absolutely dead eyes. "I know what you told Alice, but tell me again. Tell me that you don't love him." He gripped my hand tightly and pulled it to his mouth. "Tell me you love me and only me."

I could always lie. It's not like he could read my thoughts, except that I'd been caught in enough lies in this lifetime. Hell, I hadn't even dug myself out of the one with Aro yet. I couldn't even imagine how that was going to go over with him and Marcus. Marcus would let it slide as he was so besotted with me, but Aro…well, torture was not out of the question. My eyes closed so I wouldn't have to meet his intense gaze, so I wouldn't have to watch his heart break at the sound of my words. "I do love you Edward. I do."

"But?"

"I love him too." I hated myself at that moment. Hated that I was causing him so much pain. That I'd done everything in my power to be brought into this life so we'd never be separated again, and now I was the one standing in our way. He'd left me once to protect me, because he believed that it was wrong to drag me into this world. If I left, it would be for a much less noble reason.

He pulled me closer, one hand curled around my neck. "And who do you love more?" He asked almost frantically.

"You," I breathed.

"He nodded and released me. "Once this is all over promise me you won't make any decisions. You've spent a month with him. I want at least that much time before you decide that everything we've been through was meaningless, that every word you spoke was a lie, that every touch of your body meant nothing, that you do not crave me the way I crave you. Give me the chance to remind you of our life, our love." He finally looked at me again. "If after that time you're still uncertain…" he trailed off looking sick. "… maybe we can work something out…an arrangement between the three of us." The words seemed to have to be pried out of his mouth, but he'd finally gotten them out. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. An arrangement?

"What? Like you pass me back and forth every other week?" I asked, my voice full of disbelief and a little bit of anger.

He pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes while mumbling, "You're outraged? I just heard my wife admit to loving another man, and you're outraged?" His hand fell to the bed and his dark eyes glittered menacingly. "What more to you want from me, Bella? I have given you everything. What more is there?" He took both of my hands in his again and gave them a little shake. "In these hands you hold my heart. You've had it since the first day I met you. You are my sun, the stars, the moon," he kissed my knuckle. "You are my whole world. I have given you every part of me; I have nothing left to bargain with. What more can I do?"

I drew my hands away from him, my mind utterly made up. "There's nothing more you can do, Edward." I felt him flinch as though my words had sliced him open like a knife.

"No. I didn't mean it like that," I said softly as I touched his face gently. "I don't need a month with you. I want you and only you." I leaned forward and kissed his lips. "But you might not feel the same way after I tell you everything that has transpired over the last month."

He pulled me onto his lap, his arms locked around my waist, mine around his neck. "There's nothing that you could do that I couldn't forgive, love."

I cringed and asked, "Have you met Justin yet?"

He nodded, looking puzzled.

"I made him into a vampire," I murmured. "And we killed his father."

Edward stilled beneath my touch for a breath. "Open your mind to me, Bella. Let me see everything. Please don't hide anything. I want to see all of it. Every moment spent with Christian. Every conversation with Aro. Every death that you caused. All of it," he demanded.

I did as he asked and watched the emotions play over his face with each memory. He would see me making out with Christian, my heart breaking as I learned of Kattra and his marriage, my behavior at the Lucci's house, Mr. Lucci's body crumpling to the floor at my feet by Christian's hands…everything. I edited nothing. Since he was in my head I figured turn about was fair play and I was already touching him, so I used Aro's power to access his true thoughts on what he was seeing.

I could feel the tightness in his chest as he watched Christian's lips roam over my face as my hands clutched at him so tightly. His horror as the blood trickled down Justin's frightened face and my tongue lapping at it hungrily. But what tore him apart and made him truly reconsider our relationship was my reaction to Christian's admission of marriage and our brief conversation in the car on the way back to Volterra.

When he could finally talk he said, "If Christian was not already married, what would have happened?" His words were so quiet that I barely heard them.

I shook my head because I did not want to admit that I would have probably made love to him willingly, not because it was part of the charade, but simply because I'd wanted to.

"You two came close to having sex several times. You stopped it a few times, but the last time you had barely hung up the phone with me before turning to him. You instigated it. He had to turn you down that time."

I don't know what I would have said, because I never got the chance.

Aro strode through the door like and angry storm. He flashed a look of warning at Edward before settling his livid eyes on me. "Drop your shield," he roared. "And take my hand."

Edward's hands tightened around me. "Let me up, Edward," I pleaded. He relaxed his grip and I stood in front of Aro and reached for his outstretched hand while dropping my shields.

His grip became painful, and a small sound escaped my lips. Edward was immediately by my side growling a warning. Several Volturi guards, ones that I had little contact with, were suddenly packed in the room, as well as Marcus.

"Restrain him," he ordered and the guards descended on Edward pulling him away from me while Aro dragged me out of the room.

"Aro, please," Marcus implored. "You are hurting her."

He pulled me roughly against him; his fury was like flames licking against my body. "She has lied to us about everything. Everything!" he growled. "We have two days before the Romanians arrive. She can spend those two days with Santiago in the Hall of Despair."

Seline sauntered up to me and removed me from Aro's grasp. I did not fight her. I deserved to be punished, so I let her take me to the lowest level of the castle where she had spent two weeks because of me. I could still hear Marcus pleading with Aro and Edward growling at the guards. What I did not hear, amazingly enough, was some sarcastic remark from my companion. It was not like her to show such restraint, especially where I was concerned.

Everything was wet and musty down here. I could already hear someone's screams reverberating against the cold stone walls. Santiago?

She stopped abruptly. "I know you lied, but you also did everything in your power to protect us." Her face softened for a second. "I fear for you Isabella. Aro is a master at punishment and you are already in a weakened state." She feathered her perfectly manicure finger across my eye. "You are starving and he will use this against you."

Felix rounded the corned with two goblets full of blood. He held them out to me and she released my wrists. "Drink it, Bella, please. He has already sent others out to collect humans. He will lock you in a room with them and you will feed. Please, hurry. It will take the edge off."

I gulped the two glasses down, but the burning persisted. He pulled me into his arms briefly. "We will continue to try and make him see reason. Marcus and Seline will be your best allies, but you have many friends among the court. Pray that all he does is physical harm, Bella, because there are much worse things. Trust me. I spent months and months down here when Marcus, Caius, and I failed to acquire you."

With that they led me through the heavy door and handed me over to Blain.