Carlisle

Then, with no warning to Edward, no indication that there was any movement, Aro had Esme in his grasp.

She gasped but she didn't try to fight him off. There was no way she would win, and she knew that. He held her with on hand across her from shoulder to shoulder, and the other lingered on one side of her head. One move from us and she was gone.

"Mum." I heard Violetta breathe. I looked at her behind me. She took a step forward but Jasper and held her where she was. Silence consumed us for several seconds as our whole family was in shock. Our family matriarch, their mother, my wife, was standing in the hands of someone who despised us, not just for who we were, but for the size of our family and the gifts we possess, and for the loyalty we hold, with each other, and with the wolves.

I glanced to my side where Renesmee stood, terror in her eyes, her mouth hanging open slightly.

A sick smirk spread across Aro's lips. "It appears your family cannot function without her."

She was avoiding my eyes, there was no way she would let me see her eyes. She knew I would attack if I saw what was in them. The utter most fear of death, yet the relief of no longer having to live this life. She knew if I attacked, then it wouldn't just be her dead, it would be all of us. Her children, her grandchild, her husband. Her more distant children, meaning the wolves. She would never let that happen if she could prevent it, so she kept her eyes down. Her breathing was steady, she looked calm, she wasn't fighting his grip.

"She looks ready to die, Aro." Demetri said, "I think we should grant her that…"

"Tempting." He said quietly. "But, Marcus could use a new mate…"

She looked up then, straight into my eyes. The fear in them was more dominant than the relief. She didn't want to leave us, she just wasn't in a particularly good place right now, much like Violetta wasn't.

"Renesmee, Violetta, go inside." Edward said, his voice strained, as if it was holding back tears. What was Aro thinking?

"No." Renesmee said sternly.

Violetta was in shock, it was like she hadn't heard anything. Like she wasn't seeing anything. Like she was completely unaware of everything happening in front of her.

Jasper tried to guide her back gently but she stood her ground. Her eyes were locked on Esme. She knew exactly what was happening; she just wasn't reacting at all, to anything except for Jasper's slight force to move her backwards.

She resisted and pushed him away from her before she walked down the few steps. "I'll make a deal with you, Aro. You want to see a fight, just without being involved, right?"

"I guess you could say that."

"Delanna and I will fight. No gifts, and if I happen to win, I won't kill her. If she wins, she can kill me." Mason growled at that, but Violetta ignored it and continued, "You win, if I'm alive, I go with you and you can do whatever you want with me. If I'm dead, then well...I'm dead. I win; you leave this family, Cullen's and Denali's, intact, alone until you have probable cause not to."

"How do you know we do not have probably cause now?" Caius asked.

"Because you literally said you were here just for Delanna and because they have not done a single thing to break any of your rules."

"You speak as if you are not one of them." Marcus said.

"I'll never be one of them." She said. "Now please let Esme go."

Aro thought about it before he released his hold on Esme I stepped forwards and pulled her backwards. "Go to Jasper." I said.

She hesitated. "Please, Esme?" I begged.

She looked into my eyes before nodding and walked towards the porch. Jasper met her and stood in front of her and Alice.

"Okay." Aro turned and walked a few feet away from us, "Delanna, come." She followed him to the other side of the meadow with Caius and Marcus and they began talking to her. She was bouncing and nodding, like she was ready for a boxing match.

"You're going to try, right?" I asked.

"If I win, they leave all of you alone and intact."

Edward moved over to Esme and hugged her. Jasper walked down to us.

"Want a few tips?" He asked.

"I was just planning on winging it."

"Have you ever fought before?"

"Um, not well…" She said hesitantly.

"Well what a hell of a deal to make." Emmett rolled his eyes, "If you lose this, we're all dead, not just you. It affects us all."

"I didn't really think about that, I was more focused on getting Esme out of his hands…"

Edward walked down to us at the same time Eleazar and Garrett did. Rosalie went up to Esme.

"We're stronger. They're off guard. We could attack now." Emmett said so quietly that I nearly didn't hear it, and I was right beside him.

"That risk's losing several of us. If Violetta does this, and wins, then all of us are okay." Garrett said.

"If he sticks to his word…" Eleazar said.

"He will." Edward confirmed.

"Why did you have to say no gifts?" Emmett asked.

"She has one, Em. I don't know what it is, but if it's worse than mine, I wouldn't even have a chance." She said.

"It's venom. She has venom, but it'll kill you almost instantly. Much stronger than all of ours." Edward said.

Violetta snickered, "My venom doesn't even kill slowly."

"You're venom is useless." Emmett smirked. She nodded and smiled.

Mason walked over to us and did that thing the wolves did that was equivalent to a hug. You know, when they rub their head against your side or something? Yeah, he did that to Violetta. She petted his head, a strange sight to see. I imagined her petting his head when he was in human form.

"Dude, what the fuck?" Edward asked me, seeing my mental image.

"Sorry, I just thought it was really weird."

"What are they telling her?" She asked Edward.

"Isn't that cheating?"

"Would you like to win? If they didn't want you listening, they should have left for their little talk and then come back."

Edward smirked, "They said your left side is your weaker side. They're saying go for the left side, and bite when she's close enough."

"But that's using a gift…"

"Well, they're going to claim it isn't, so you can't use yours, but they're going to use theirs."

"This is a bad idea…" I said. "I don't like the idea of my daughters fighting…"

"You didn't even know you had 2 daughters until not even half an hour ago…" Jasper said.

"There's always an evil one, isn't there?" Emmett asked.

"Vi!" Edward scolded.

"I'm going to hell." She laughed.

"That was disgusting."

"Suck it up princess…"

"Oh my god, I have the best come back to that but I don't want to say it because Carlisle and Eleazar are here…"

"Do it." She encouraged.

"Afterwards."

"Can we please just realise that there isn't going to be an afterwards?" She asked.

"Don't say that."

"They have strategy, and a gift that they don't class as one. We have my disturbing thoughts for Edward to hear, and his majorly inappropriate comebacks. I just realised what you were going to say."

He laughed but tried to supress it.

"How old are you again?" She asked.

"Okay, well make strategy then. Jasper, give her some tips."

"I think she's set…" Edward said, staring at her.

She looked down.

"There is a lot about your past that we don't know about, isn't there?" Eleazar asked.

She nodded.

"You lied. You have fought before." I concluded.

"Very well, if I do say so myself." Edward said.

"But you just said that we should realise that you're not going to win." Garrett said, "If you have experience, you should win."

"She's been with the Volturi for how many years? I think she's had more training."

"Training is different to the real thing." Emmett said. "And if she has a gift, they wouldn't have given her much training. They would just tell her to rely on the lethal venom."

Violetta stepped away as the guys argued about just how much training she would have been given. She walked up the porch steps, and I followed. She went straight to Esme and hugged her.

"Did Jasper teach you to kick arse?" Alice asked.

"Nope." Violetta replied.

"You're running out of time…" Tanya said, glancing over at the Volturi members who started to peel away to separate sides of the meadow.

"I think I'm set. I'll explain afterwards, if I win."

"When you win." Esme corrected.

"You're too optimistic." She said. "If I lose, just ask Edward to tell you about my past. He knows most of it."

"You're not going to lose."

"I feel like you're about to go into a boxing match or something." Kate said.

"I do too." Violetta agreed.

"They're ready." Edward said to us.

Violetta shrugged her jacket off and walked down the steps and into the meadow.