AN ~ Things are getting intense at the Cullen household! The next two are prepped too and will be up in the next few days, if not hours! It might even be finished this holidays! To the oldies, thanks for sticking with me guys, and to the newbies, I am super honoured to still be getting new readers, followers, favouriters and reviews! Glad you are enjoying it!

Chapter 76: The Enemy of My Enemy

Carlisle:

I paced my study as the snow fell outside, an ever-thickening blanket that preoccupied my thoughts more and more with every day. Tanya, cross-legged on the table and surrounded by abandoned books, watched me.

"I can't believe Irina did this to you," she whispered with a bitter edge to her tone.

"Does anyone else know it was Irina?" I asked her. "Outside of the family?"

"No." She shook her head. "It hasn't exactly been 'Hug-a-Stranger' week here, Carlisle. There's enough tension as it is. We try to avoid the subject whenever possible."

"That's good. If they found out, you and Kate would be in a lot of trouble."

"I doubt we could be in as much as you are, Carlisle."

"I know." With a sigh I stopped pacing, and turned to the window. The snow continued to fall steadily, relentlessly, like sand through an hourglass. "What do I do, Tanya?"

"It is a lot of weight to put on your young shoulders," she murmured sympathetically, crossing the floor to put a hand on my shoulder, turning me to face her. Her golden eyes shone as she looked into mine. "But you are more mature than vampires twice your age, and you have a house full of friends who stand beside you. Kate and I will fight with you. You do not deserve to suffer what we have. We will do what we can to protect your family, Carlisle. Your grand-daughter is a wonder; everybody loves her. They'll all protect her. You are loved, Carlisle; you will not be fighting alone."

.o.o.o.

One of those most determined to fight, of course, was Bella: when she was not with Renesmee she was either physically training, or trying to extend her natural mental shield. The shield was a curious thing, protecting Bella against physical as well as mental harm, so long as that harm was the result of another vampire's power. That is to say, she was safe from Kate's electric shock, but if someone launched a projectile at her, the shield would not have any effect. Perhaps that would change if she could stretch it beyond herself, but she seemed to be having little success. The thicker the snow became, the more anxious Bella grew, which was not surprising, but which could be risky.

I found myself thinking increasingly of Jasper. Even without his special abilities – which would be indisputably valuable in this situation – he would know what to do, what to say, better than I could. It was all I could do to send my friends off hunting – killing humans – and pace around the backyard, watching them train to kill each other and listening to them wonder about what this whole situation was doing to me. I was worrying them, which was stupid of me. Jasper would have scolded me, and rightly so, but whatever I did – whether I avoided them or faked my way through conversations - was inevitably a reflection on the same emotions. Unless I could change the way I felt, there was little else to be done.

Between them, the Denalis, the Amazonians and Rose barred me from my study as my mood continued to sink. I retreated to the grove of purple flowers, now dead and buried in snow, where Esme and I had talked about Edward and Bella's wedding. It had only been months, but it felt like decades. The place no longer felt the same. I stared into the murky grey waters, which reflected the bland grey sky, and they did little to lift my mood.

"Carlisle," Esme started quietly, in a low voice. I turned to face her. She was wearing a neat, dark-blue dress, and had her hair curled like always, like art, but her whole shape was dulled somehow, darkened and worn by circumstance. She looked like a war wife. Her eyes shimmered with concern for us, for me, but she continued talking, her voice ever so slightly shaking.

"There's...uh, some others here to see you. Out the front. They say they're not friends but not enemies either. I've never seen them before."

"What do they look like?" I asked. Esme's brow creased.

"Uh...Scandinavian?" she guessed. "Russian, maybe? Romanian?"

Romanian.

I sprinted back towards the house, Esme hot on my heels. In the front yard they waited, pale and sickly, with slow, bloodthirsty smiles.

"Hello, Carlisle," they greeted together, with voices like parchment.

"Stephan, Vladimir," I returned, albeit shakily. Vladimir shook his ashen hair with silent laughter as I pulled Esme behind me.

"Did we scare you?" he mocked.

"It's been too long," Stephan said. "I haven't seen you since Churchill died."

"You haven't exactly made yourselves known," I retorted.

"Yes, well, it's best to keep a low profile when your people have made such a black mark on the Volturi's perfect reign." Vladimir sneered confidently. A shiver ran down my spine at the greasy smile on his face.

"Did Alice and Jasper find you?" I demanded. The two looked at each other, puzzled. I frowned, glancing between them for a sign of recognition, but there was none. "Did Alice send you?"

"No-one sent us," Stephan replied.

"Then what brings you here now?" I asked warily.

"Word travels." Vladimir answered this time. "We heard hints that the Volturi were moving against you. There were whispers that you would not stand alone. Obviously, the whispers were true; this is an impressive gathering."

To make a point, he leaned around me to the windows of the front room, where an audience had gathered. Both he and Stephan were smiling to themselves, far too eager to see what kind of a fight we would have against the Volturi. I tried to clarify, but of course, they were having none of it.

"We don't care what they say you did," Stephan said. "And we don't care if you broke the law."

"No matter how egregiously," Vladimir added, his grin stretching.

"We've been waiting a millennium and a half for the Italian scum to be challenged," Stephan continued. "If there is any chance they will fall, we will be here to see it."

"Or even to help defeat them," Vladimir concluded Stephan's speech. He paused and raised an eyebrow at me. "If we think you have a chance of success."