Life, Death, and the Breaking Dawn

by sweetcatcandy

After Edythe Cullen and Beau Swan marry, "Happily Ever After" hangs in the balance when dangerous forces are set against them after one unforgettable night and a most impossible conclusion. When long-held secrets of the Volturi come to light, will a new acquaintance be an ally or an adversary? Can Beau and Edythe find a way to save the ones they love before time runs out?

40. 39) Identity

39. IDENTITY

My eyes widened in shock. The mystery of the missing covens… that was all her doing? How was that even possible? She wasn't even a full vampire, technically - she was still part human, after all. Well, I guess it's more like she's both. And neither. It all just depends on how you look at it.

"I asked you a question." Edythe's voice grew more forceful and she took a step closer to her. "Why did you do it? Why did you destroy all those covens? We are getting persecuted here because of you. Tell me what happened, Adelaide. Show me."

"I cannot!" She proclaimed in a voice that rang out in the trees. "You don't know the things which I have seen; the things that I have endured. You don't know a thing about me."

"Try me, Adelaide, by all means!" Edythe's hands came up to touch at her chest one on top of the other, her voice a desperate sound. "Why did you do it?"

Adelaide stopped and turned around, looking Edythe up and down before shaking her head slowly from side to side, her hand coming up to touch at the hollow below her shoulder.

"My aunt knew the whole time. She knew."

"Knew what?" Edythe whispered.

"There you guys are!" I heard Eleanor's voice cutting through the rain. She lunged for Adelaide, but then Edythe stopped her, holding her back.

"El, listen – we don't need to do that. She'll come with us willingly, I'm quite sure of it." Edythe gave Adelaide a look and her tone, which had fallen to a semi-growl, had this specific kind of weight to it that left no room for discussion – it wasn't some friendly suggestion but a demand, and I think we all knew that. But then I remembered what Carine said, about how Edythe shouldn't be working herself up like this for both her and the baby's sake and quickly, I brought my hands down on her shoulders and gave them a squeeze, trying to make my voice as low and gentle as possible to calm her down.

"Come on, Edythe. It's alright, okay? Just breathe." She let out an irritated sigh, but it worked - she backed up a little and took a couple of deep breaths, though her eyes were still on Adelaide.

"What happened all those years ago?"

Adelaide's eyes moved anxiously over all the trees surrounding us and she shook her head. "No. Not here." She started walking in another direction, letting her hands fall loose at her sides. We didn't move. Turning around she looked at us, then at Edythe specifically. "Do you trust me? Read my mind." After a couple seconds, Edythe nodded and motioned for us all to follow after her. We were being led down this narrow dirt path to the left of the rock wall which snaked around it, taking us farther and farther up the mountains where the forest thickened considerably. It felt like we'd been walking forever, and I was huffing along even when we were all moving at human speed – maybe I was just super out of shape, I don't know. At least I wasn't crashing into anything – Edythe made sure of that. We rounded another corner and a twig snapped under my foot as I pushed a curtain of feathery leaves aside for us both, keeping my eyes straight out in front of me with her close to my chest. After probably another half hour or so, that was when I saw it – standing in front of a thicket of trees was a small gray cottage that looked like it had one-and-a-half floors - I could tell there was a second story but with the placement of the round white window on that floor it looked too short for someone to actually be able to stand up in the room, whatever it was. Slanted gables made up either side of the roof, a gray brick chimney stack attached to the right-most side of the building with smoke coming out of it and curling into the air like balloon ribbons. A small cobblestone walkway was laid out in a path to the front door, tufts of grass poking out from the cracks between the stones complete with flowerbeds on either side of the front porch and cool green trellises of ivy creeping up every lateral face of the cottage – I mean, the entire place looked straight out of a fairytale, it was super nice. Peaceful, I guess is how I'd describe it.

"Wow, is this your place?" I asked, my eyes widening to take it in better. She nodded her head.

"Yes. It's one of the permanent residences which I maintain; the one I always come back to the most." I bet the Cullens could understand that.

"It's beautiful." Carine added. "Do you live here alone?"

Adelaide chuckled quietly and unlocked the door, swinging it open for us to enter. She shook her head. "Not quite." She ushered us inside, closing the door behind her. Sure enough, a figure came waltzing in from another room on the first floor, a cardboard box in her arms. She put it down on a small rectangular wooden table in another room with a little kitchenette attached to the wall behind it and a cozy dining room area to the right of the whole layout. You could see a bunch of colorful dog-eared maps spilling out over the edges of the box and a small, antique baby rattle was placed rather haphazardly on top of it all. I figured the little rattle was something she found by accident; something that obviously didn't belong in that box.

"Hello." Her musical voice confirmed my suspicions – the figure was another vampire. And if that wasn't enough, all you had to do was take one good look at her - she seemed young, probably the same age Carine was when she got turned. Her shiny black hair was curled away from her face in soft waves that swept over her right shoulder, kind of like an actress in those old Hollywood movies with clear, golden almond-shaped eyes rimmed with gentle brows and her lips were a soft shade of pink. She had on this knee-length yellow lace dress, sleeveless, that buttoned up in the front - it definitely looked like a vintage piece. Obviously, she was stunningly beautiful, like literally everyone else around me was. To say I felt pretty inferior was an understatement.

"So you too are like us." Carine breathed, her lips pulling themselves up into a small smile.

"Cullens; Nisa. Nisa; the Cullens." Adelaide indicated us with her hand and named us all off.

"What a pleasure it is to meet you all. We don't often get guests here, you see."

"The pleasure is ours." Carine said and they shook hands. Nisa made the rounds with the rest of us and fell back, organizing all the stuff in the brown box again, the one with all the maps and that antique baby rattle in it.

"What are those?" I pointed, genuinely curious. She smiled.

"These are maps of all the places we've lived; all the places we've been together." She looked to Adelaide, her eyes all soft and shiny.

"Huh. Are you guys…?" Jules motioned from Nisa to Adelaide and back again, tilting an eyebrow to the sky.

"Mm. We're…roommates." There was something in the way she said the word that made me think it was a little bit more than that, though.

"Cool." Jules showed them both a half-smile. They returned it, like they were all in on a little secret.

"You're a shield." Edythe began in a quiet voice, pointing at Nisa.

"I see you've picked up on that." She replied. Edythe's hand brushed over her lips and she rested it there, nodding her head deep in thought.

"Yes. I can read minds, but I cannot for the life of me see what's going on inside your head – it's just…blank. In that way, you're just like my husband over there." Her fingers danced in the air, indicating my general direction. It was crazy strange, but also kind of exciting, to meet someone who had that same ability as me. I saw as Edythe's gaze moved across the room to where Adelaide was standing in front of the kitchen sink just looking out the horizontal sliding windows, the red-checked curtains like a cheery picnic blanket which offset the total doom and gloom of the outside world, the rain pouring down in slanting sheets one minute before thinning out to an even, hazy misting of gray the next. It was like being back in Forks.

"Adelaide, we've done what you've asked. Now please answer my question - what happened all those years ago? Open your mind to me; show me everything. I am begging you, Adelaide. For the sake of my family." Edythe's voice was soft yet pleading, her beautiful face severe. That got Adelaide's attention. She turned around, lips parted, and she looked at us with large, pulsing eyes and her breath hitched in her throat. Edythe was busy reading her again. And then I heard her gasp, and her face was stricken with this aching sense of sadness, like she could feel exactly what Adelaide was feeling just by reading her thoughts. What could this girl have possibly gone through to make my wife look at her like that, with so much pain brimming in her eyes?

"Yes." She nodded her head, slow; solemn. "It was all I had known in the first nearly two decades of my existence. I was what Aro's colleagues – vampires who had worked closely with him in his research on Immortal Children and whom stayed on to continue the project after his execution- had called special." She answered, dazed and almost numb now if not for the tiniest crack in her voice as it lilted up at the end. "There had never been a child born like me before, and for that they felt it was the responsible thing to do."

"Responsible? By that you mean… they hurt you?" I asked, feeling my eyebrows raise in shock. And then I could understand the look in Edythe's eyes from earlier.

"Appraise, was the term they liked to use instead. I was put through every experiment imaginable – they observed me day and night, making note of my habits, my feeding patterns, everything. They tested my physical strength, how fast I could run, when I'd feed and what I'd feed upon and how it all affected me. I was even trained to fight alongside the Guard, even as a young child." Her blue-on-blue eyes welled with another fresh surge of tears she tried to hold back as her arms wrapped themselves tightly over her chest and immediately, I felt bad for her again. "They'd push my abilities; see what I could do. I remember darkness, day in and day out. They would lock me in a room for days at a time, testing to see how long I could go without food of any kind; without blood to drink. Of course, this would all happen when my aunts and uncle were away. Aro's colleagues would try and see how well I could control my thirst; how far they could push my self-control. I can still remember the bodies, the smell of their blood. Go on. You're a good girl, you don't want them to suffer, do you? Put them out of their misery. They're as good as dead anyways. And then they'd watch and wait, like they were hawks zeroing in on their kill – only, they were zeroing in on mine instead – just waiting to see what I'd do; to see if and how I would hunt. I resisted at first, but then one woman – the first human I would ever feed on – dragged her mangled body on the floor to me, leaving a trail of red behind her and with a hand streaked in blood, all broken skin and broken bones, she grabbed my wrist and begged me to kill her. I was seven." She paused; took another breath. "And yet, I remember it as if it were yesterday. At her urging, I lunged and before I knew it, I could feel the crunch of her flesh as my teeth sank into the side of her neck and I drank - the warmth of it all, the way it seeped through my fingers, like oil, and dripped down my chin; its exquisite taste divine on my tongue. And then, just as quickly as it begun, it had come to an end, and her body was already cooling as she lay limp in my arms. How easy it was for me to end her life! I think about that woman every day; the woman whose angel of death was a little girl named Adelaide." Her voice broke a little, her steps slow and drifting as she paced the length of the kitchen. She looked out that window again, eyes on the gray sky above as the clouds came rolling in, just lost. Lost in the memories; lost in the pain. I didn't know what to say to her – I mean, what could I really say? To carry that sort of burden around for so many years since she was just a little kid… I don't know how she did it. I heard the rustle of her skirt as it skimmed past the kitchen counter when she turned around to look at us again.

"I wasn't human nor vampire to them - not so much a person as I was an experiment; a science project to do with as they pleased. I didn't know it then, but resentment steadily began to build in my heart as consequence for what they had done to me; for the things they made me do." She shook her head, eyes locked on the sky again and searching the clouds. "And yet… for all that, it was easy for me to endure, and I was content with my position. Besides – I had Sulpicia, Athenodora, and Marcus. They were not home very often as I had mentioned, but all the while I knew I was loved. And Sulpicia – she would tell me how strong I was, how everything I was going through was for the greater good. She could have stepped in; she could have dismissed them if she wanted to. But she didn't. Perhaps she did not know of the darkness, or did not wish to see it; I could never bring myself to tell her about it. And I was after all, as I've heard so many put it, royalty. And, as royalty, one must do all they can to serve their kingdom. I was no different. So how could I not be content? How could I complain? My aunt did what she could to lighten that burden on me and lavished me with everything my heart could ever desire – beautiful clothes, toys, sweets. I was truly happy – or, at least, had convinced myself to believe that. But, seeing how my aunt betrayed my mother – her own sister – that was what pushed me over the edge. She betrayed my mother and for that, she had betrayed me, too."

"Sulpicia loved you and your mother." Edythe began, rounding the corner of the kitchen counter.

"And do you think I don't know that?"

She stopped; her face confused. "Then why-?"

"Because," Adelaide let out a quiet breath and squeezed the edge of the counter, her whole arm shaking and she didn't say anything for a long time. Then her eyes found ours again. "I saw it in her head," her voice whipped out a quick, low sound and she spread her fingers open over her lips, like the memory was still fresh. "One day when I was still very young, my aunt had taken me into her arms and I received the first conscious flash of an image; a memory which shook me to my core." She swallowed, her throat bobbing. "It was the memory of my mother's death – the memory of her murder."

Wow. This girl seriously couldn't catch a break. I felt that same aching twinge of pity in my chest again, the one I felt when Silas told us his story.

"But I couldn't see beyond that; all the events which led up to that one moment. Like other abilities, I had to learn how to develop mine. For most of my childhood, unlinked flashes of images were all I could see- fleeting glimpses into the lives of those I'd touch - and it would always frighten me, but nonesuch as on that fateful day. It horrified me so much that I forced myself to develop my gift in order to see more; to know exactly what happened that day; the day on which my mother's life – and, as I'd soon find out, my father's life as well - ended. It took me until my seventeenth year, but I finally understood it – from the beginning, Sulpicia knew what her husband had planned and did nothing to stop it. She let Amaranta die."

"You're mistaken, Adelaide." Edythe shook her head.

"Am I?" Adelaide challenged, her perfect eyebrows flicking up. "Why don't you take a look for yourself, then? See what I saw. Go on."

Edythe sighed, sliding her eyes shut.

She gasped.

"It must be done." The two of them said at the exact same time, voices quiet; numb. Detached. Edythe's eyes flew open, then locked on Adelaide's.

"It was Aro's idea, I knew that much. But Sulpicia… how could she do that to my mother? Her sister? I couldn't understand it." She shook her head, hard. "My aunt had told me my parents died in a tragic accident." She scoffed then, letting out a bitter laugh. "I suppose that's all it was now, wasn't it? After I had pieced this… revelation… together, I grew cold towards my aunt. She simply thought I was being a rebellious child, but as I got older, I continued to hold her at arm's length and feeling as if there was nothing else I could do now, I simply resigned myself to that fate; to forever hate her, and myself. I suppose that was what hurt the most, that I loved her and she loved me, and yet she lied to me, and that no matter how badly I clung to her; how badly I wanted to trust her, the only one I could ever truly rely on was myself. And my god, what a lonely world it is to be in! I convinced myself that the last good vampires died with my parents. I wanted nothing more than to be fully human, to live and die with the rest of the world and to have nothing to do with the only evil I knew– the Volturi, built on lies and on the bodies of the thousands they had slaughtered and condemned to death like my poor mother and father - over the years, with not an ounce of respect for life, human and vampire alike, to which I unfortunately belonged."

"Then is that why you killed all those vampires? To get back at your aunt, and the Volturi?" I asked, sort of confused. Did she just snap one day? Is that what happened? Before she could answer, Arch held up his hand.

"Hold that thought." His voice was a rumble of a whisper and his eyes were squeezed shut. I knew what that meant.

"There's been a change of plans."

"What are you seeing, Arch?" Jessamine flew to his side, her hands on his shoulders. Arch swallowed, shaking his head.

"They know we're in Croatia, and they know that I know. What they don't know is where we're at exactly, so they're heading back to Volterra – I can't imagine why though, we should be easy for Demeter to track, especially with us being so close in range to her. Sulpicia's talking to me in this vision, she knows I'll get the message sooner or later. She says that she trusts we'll make the right decision; that they'll be waiting for us in this- what is it? A field? - when the snow sticks to the ground - I think that's only a few days from now, next week at the latest. I can see it. Either we go to them, or they will track us down and take us by force, and we'll immediately get punished for insubordination if we do not comply. It's like they're testing us; backing us into a corner." He grit his teeth before opening his eyes again. Quickly, he turned his gaze back on Adelaide. "Do you have some paper and a pen I could borrow?" Adelaide nodded and streaked across the room in a blur to a bookcase by the window in the other room and grabbed the stuff Arch asked for off of it, coming back half a second later and handing the supplies to him. "Thanks." He went to lean on the kitchen counter, scribbling out some numbers – coordinates by the looks of it – and held it up for us to see, pointing with the clicker part of the pen. "This is the location she gave me." He blinked, then a look of recognition flashed across his face. "I see… it's back in Forks. That makes sense now, I knew it looked familiar even from under all that white."

"Do they know Adelaide's with us?" asked Edythe, leaning forward.

"Let me see." Arch's fingers drifted to his temple and he held it there, eyes sliding shut and lips pursing in concentration. He shook his head. "No, I don't think so. And let's hope it stays that way."

I swallowed hard realizing why – the Volturi's most-wanted all banded together? That was pretty darn good motive to double the search parties; to bring about their twisted justice faster, wasn't it? And we were already some pretty high-profile criminals, I'm sure. I remembered my question from earlier again, creating some new ones along with it.

"You were sentenced to death for killing all those vampires, weren't you?" I asked to clarify. "Why did you do it? How did you do it? And… how did you escape in the end?" It was obvious we'd underestimated her power, but I wanted an approximation of just how much we'd underestimated her.

Adelaide swallowed, shaking her head. She looked at me. "I killed my first vampire in my eighteenth year of existence - it started with a human family by the name of Kriegsley. They were villagers; farmers, and they had a daughter and a son whom I befriended early on in my childhood. That summer they came to me, distraught, for their parents had been brutally murdered. They thought it had been a large bear, but I saw in their memories the condition the bodies were found in and I immediately knew – it was a vampire attack." She shuddered and made the word "vampire" come out a disgusted growl like it couldn't be applied to her nor Nisa – nor Edythe and the rest of our family, for that matter, considering we were all literally right here. Remembering where she was coming from though, I let it go.

"And so, without another thought I went after the one who killed their parents in order to avenge their deaths and tracked him down - I saw in my friends' memories that there was a man - a vampire, it was easy for me to see - who made an appearance multiple times in these memories for a week prior to the attack, though the family was unaware of it at the time. It was not very difficult, you see - at first, I wasn't sure how appealing the scent of my blood would be to another vampire, but I knew there was only one way to find out. I went to the place where the siblings found the bodies and where that male vampire frequented and I remember digging my nails into the flesh on the top of my hand and watching the blood spill from the wound I'd given myself. I knew it would heal promptly but, to my amazement, it was enough for the vampire to begin hunting me, for my scent was attractive enough to have piqued their interest - it helped there was no other scent quite like mine, I'm sure. My target – and, soon enough, targets - came rather easily to me." She looked down, but a chilling smile spread across her face, her lips revealing a flash of her glinting white teeth. "I would struggle, cry and scream, careful not to put all my strength into my movements to carry on the charade of being this helpless victim and when they thought they had me, I would rip into their throats as their faces came up to my own in order to incapacitate them and then I'd tear them apart limb by limb before striking a match and burning them all to ash." Her voice sounded almost proud. "After the first killing, something clicked - I could feel it building inside of me, this intuit coursing through my veins and telling me that there was more I could do; that maybe, just maybe, I was capable of changing my fate." Her eyes burned bright. "And so, armed with my training and the secrets of the Volturi, I fled the palace soon after. At first, I sought out vampires who destroyed families; those who would leave children orphans – like the one who killed my friends' parents – and convinced myself that I was ridding the world of evil. You might even say I became a vampire hunter of sorts." She shrugged a little, her eyes looking down. "I started with discretion at first; only a few nomads here and there in the forests of Volterra. But then, I expanded my scope. And the killing; it gets easier and easier once you start. Away from my aunt's influence, the pictures of my past – and of my aunt's past, and the death of my mother and father - became clearer to and disillusioned me, and I soon grew spiteful for it. The killings soon became part of a revenge plan of sorts; an elaborate "catch me if you can" scheme fueled by a hatred for myself – perhaps you may also say of my own kind, for I am still a vampire after all - and the Volturi. And then I thought I could make them all pay." Her voice was a rumble of a growl when she said that last word and instinctively, I tried to take a step back with Edythe, who of course didn't even move an inch.

"Then you were also the one to have left all those drained animal carcasses where those villagers could see, weren't you?" Edythe asked, lips parting.

"Yes. On one hand, I knew and was pleased by the fact that it would turn an eye of suspicion on vampires which belonged to my aunt's coven - and simply the existence of vampires in general - and on the other, that was what I fed on in my years of rebellion, for I refused to feed on another human again. In either case, it caused quite the stir." She shook her head, letting out a dark chuckle. "For ten years, I eluded my aunt. The Second Wave of the Plague of the Immortal Children was an immense help in this, though I knew she would catch up to me sooner or later. And she did." Adelaide's voice got all quiet again and her eyes flicked to the kitchen counter then back up at us. "For my indiscretion, Sulpicia sentenced me to death."

"But you escaped, right? How did you do that?" I quickly asked, leaning forward. Adelaide shook her head.

"I didn't escape. In the end, my aunt… she let me go."

"She sentenced you to death then let you go?" Edythe's voice was dubious; her glinting crimson eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"It's true."

"I don't believe you."

"Take a look for yourself."

Edythe's eyes slid shut, her lips pursed in concentration. After another minute, she nodded her head and let out a quiet breath, her hand coming in to cover her chin. "I see - she couldn't bring herself to kill you."

"No, she couldn't. Instead, she told me to leave Volterra and to never come back - she gave me the chance to run. For the magnanimity which my aunt had shown me, I vowed never to kill again. That withstanding, I am hard-pressed to believe that she will be so merciful this time around, to either one of us." She motioned to herself, then Edythe. "It is for the errors of my past that my aunt is after you, and I truly am sorry." I heard the same thing in her voice that I heard in Kirill's when he called to tell us about Ivan; that they would do anything to fix this for us a hundred times over. For that, I couldn't be mad at her – plus, all the things she'd gone through, the things she'd seen, all that betrayal, the loneliness she felt- my god, it's a wonder she even made it to eighteen without breaking. Of course, this didn't really help our case at all – the Volturi did have reason to put us to death because they do know what our child could become; they do know what she'll be capable of, and it terrifies them. There was no getting around that now, was there? I bit my lip, feeling all panicky again. Jessamine noticed, and I felt her put a hand on my back. "Thanks." I whispered, and she smiled at me in return. I felt a little better then, but I still wasn't sure where we were going to go from here.

"After that, your aunt… she made it as if you never existed, didn't she?" Edythe's voice was soft; trying hard to understand. But could we really? Could anyone else but her?

"Yes. Athenodora and Marcus continue to turn a blind eye for my aunt's sake. My mother, father and I were expunged from all traceable media; all traceable documentation. It was forbidden to even speak our names." She laughed then, but it wasn't a happy or joking sound; just dark and agonized. "I was Sulpicia's greatest shame; her greatest weakness. And she never forgave herself for that."

"I see…" Edythe muttered, resting a finger on her chin and laying her other arm across her torso, propping her elbow up with it. "It's almost as if… as if she's punishing us now to make up for her inability to punish you all those years ago- that is, to compensate for her perceived inadequacy as a ruler; her weakness - her love – for you." Her breath trembled and she shook her head, hard. "I do understand it, but our child is innocent." She looked down, touching her stomach. Her eyebrows furrowed and she swallowed. It took me a minute to register that – I felt that hopelessness again, because judging by the sound of that we were, by all accounts, totally and majorly screwed. There's no way they're going to listen now; their minds were already made up. What were we going to do?

"Do you think it will come to a battle?" began Earnest, his tone grave.

"If it does, then we fight." Eleanor said with a shrug, unphased.

"We can't win, El." Jessamine's voice was low, both in pitch and spirit.

"Well, we can't just run away either, not with Demeter around." Eleanor made a disgusted noise, and I knew instinctively that she wasn't upset by the idea of the Volturi's tracker but by the idea of us running away instead.

"She's right. Both Demeter and Felicia, who is an expert in combat skill." Adelaide chimed in agreement. "Together, they are even more lethal - I had trained alongside them both, they taught me everything I know."

"Can you tell us the odds of winning? Is that even possible?" asked Royal.

"The Volturi; they are formidable; they are powerful. Not to mention highly trained, every last one of us – them." Adelaide quickly changed her word choice – I guess she still hasn't forgiven herself nor her aunt yet. "Take it from me – you and your family will not stand a chance."

"We're not going to fight. That was never our intention in the first place." Edythe shook her head, holding her hands up.

"But, if I may ask, what exactly did you have in mind, then?" Adelaide gave my wife a confused look, her eyes full of doubt. "You sought me out after hearing a mere rumor of my existence, racing halfway across the world to come find me. You delve into the forbidden past at great risk to you and your loved ones, and now you are going to have to pay the consequences for your actions. What service could I possibly have done for you, to make you so desperately seek me out?"

Edythe didn't have to say anything to that for me to know the answer: It was because she'd do anything to save us. It was because she was not afraid to hope, even when all hope seemed to be lost. I think that's what takes true courage, and I felt my chest tighten looking at her, just in awe and totally overwhelmed by the sheer intensity of her ability to do that: to hope; and to be so strong for us all. She's amazing.

Edythe looked up at me, squeezing my hand a little tighter in hers - maybe she knew what I was thinking. She turned to look at Adelaide again, getting ready to explain her train of thought. "At first, we were going to use the mystery of those missing covens as leverage -blackmail, if you will – against the Volturi to get them to listen to our pleas for just one second. But when we discovered that there was another hybrid that could potentially be out there, I had hoped that we could present them to the Volturi as proof that a child like ours will not pose a threat to our kind – that was going to be you." She motioned to Adelaide, extending her fingers in her direction. "But, after hearing your story, I know that very likely won't help our case much now, will it? And then I circled back to the idea of simply using your existence as leverage against the Volturi so they would listen to us; to make them aware that we knew they had something to hide, too – in that way, I hoped we would have been given a chance to plead a case for ourselves; that we would have gotten them to stop and listen to us for just one second."

"And how's that working out for us now, Edy?" El began seriously, motioning to Edythe then Adelaide.

"It can still work, you know." Edythe insisted.

"Really? Because I'm not seeing it, sis." El shook her head. "Here's how I do see it going down, though - Sulpicia's going to do what she couldn't do all those years ago and eliminate Adelaide. And, chances are, we're going down with her – I mean, that's all their proof right there. The wrong kind, at least." El's voice was hard as she pointed to Adelaide. "There's no other option but to fight." She urged. "Look, Carine's got friends all over the world, and-"

"It's not going to come to a fight." Reiterated Edythe.

"Look sis, I know your non-existent vampire hormones are kind of out of whack right now with you being pregnant and all and your reasoning skills might be sorta skewed, but let's be real here – you can't just discount the possibility of it coming to a fight." El urged and I could tell she meant it not just for her inclination to thrill to a challenge but that we really did have to be prepared for anything. She laid one arm across her torso, motioning to Adelaide with her other hand. "Plus, like I said earlier, Carine has friends all over the world, friends with great powers and plenty of experience on the battlefield."

"You'll have me, too, and Lee and Sarah." Jules stepped forward. "And I know it's a long-shot, but I'll do everything I can to get the others to join the fight, too."

My hand flew out, seizing her shoulder. "No way, Jules. we can't ask that of you guys. We're not going to condemn you all to death, are you crazy?" I frantically interjected, my eyes wide on her. There was no way I was going to let her do that, they'd all get killed. but I was only met with her strong, unwavering gaze.

"Look Beau, I wasn't asking for your permission. It's the right thing to do." She gave my hand a squeeze before lifting her eyes to meet Eleanor's. "I don't care what I have to do, I'll even grovel to get Sam and the others on board. Plus, my mom will back me, I'm sure of it. They'll listen to her… probably."

El showed my best friend a grateful smile before turning to look at Adelaide again. "And if you fought alongside us, then we'd also have an advantage, right? If we knew all their battle tactics." Eleanor pointed out.

"I will not stand against the Volturi." Adelaide's voice was hard making that declaration.

"But why not?" I asked, trying to control my voice and making it as calm and patient as possible. I was upset that she could say that. I couldn't understand it – I mean, it was terrible, everything that happened to her; everything they did to her. But all the things that she did because of them… I tried to understand - I didn't want to blame her, but it was hard not to. It was precisely for the actions of her past that my wife and child were in danger today. She was the one thing that would give us even the slightest edge over the Volturi; of us putting up a fight and she wanted to back out.

Adelaide put her hands up in exasperation before lowering them on the kitchen counter again, shaking her head. "It may very well be a death sentence for myself as well, but that is not the only reason for my refusal. You must understand- I do not wish to dwell on the past, I want to move forward and to never, ever look back. I cannot face them… I couldn't bear to." Her voice grew thick.

"With all due respect Adelaide, my whole family is in danger because of what you had done. You owe us this much." Edythe crossed her arms tight over her chest, eyebrows furrowed and jaw set like stone. "And besides, don't you want to fight for the way you want to live? To stop living in fear; in hiding? Like a prisoner in every part of the world?" Edythe's voice got more and more forceful with every word she said and she slammed her own palms down on the counter, looking Adelaide head-on in the eye, matching her gaze. I could hear the desperation in her voice; see it in the way she moved her body. Immediately, I came up to her, bringing my arms around her shoulders. Nisa came up behind Adelaide, resting a hand on her back. Nodding like she understood it, her eyes found mine before locking on my wife's. "I will fight with you, too."

"Nisa!" Adelaide's face looked wounded.

"It is the right thing to do." Nisa answered, her voice soft; gentle.

"Adelaide. I am begging you- just help us now. Please. For the sake of my family." Edythe's voice fell to a whisper and her eyes shone in the light.

Adelaide's face changed, left eyebrow corking up, eyes hard-set and cheekbones buckling. I could tell we were wearing her down. She clicked her tongue and covered her eyes with her hands before making to push her hair back and out of her face, letting out a yielding sigh.

"Then I will fight with you."

"Thank you, Adelaide." Edythe's voice came out quiet; breathless with gratitude. "I suppose my sister may be right. We have to be prepared for anything – Arch will keep monitoring the future for us, though we will do whatever it takes to keep this confrontation from turning into a battle. I'd like to know first, then -what would you say their biggest advantage is? Do they even have a weakness?"

Adelaide took the pad of paper and pen Arch was using earlier and flipped to another page before beginning to write on it. "Jonathas and Alecia are their biggest advantage – they are their greatest offense. We were friends in my childhood. Our defensive players rarely saw any real action." she explained.

If I was remembering right, Jonathas and Alecia were those crazy twins. I knew that Jonathas could burn you where you stand—mentally, at least – and I shuddered at the memory, instinctively reaching for Edythe and bringing her close to me.

"We know what Jonathas is capable of. But didn't you once say Alecia was even more dangerous than Jonathas?" Arch asked. Adelaide looked confused there for a second when her eyes found his – she hadn't said anything about that - well, not yet, anyway. Arch realized though and quickly started to backtrack. "Well, at least I thought I heard someone say that; maybe it was in a vision - I think it was probably going to be you." He shrugged, gesturing to Adelaide. She nodded.

"Actually, yes. In a way, Alecia is the antidote to Jonathas. He makes you feel the worst pain imaginable. Alecia, on the other hand, makes you feel nothing. Absolutely nothing. Sometimes, when my aunts and uncle were feeling kind, they would have Alecia anesthetize someone before executing them if they surrendered or pleased them in some way."

"Anesthetic? But how is that more dangerous than Jonathas' gift?" I wondered out loud.

"It's because Alecia cuts off your senses altogether. No pain, but also no sight or sound or smell. Total sensory deprivation. You are utterly alone in a void of darkness. You don't even feel it when they burn you. She had tried it on me once as a child when I had asked about it."

I shivered. Was this the best our family could hope for? To not see or feel death when it came?

"Of course, that would make her only equally as dangerous as Jonathas," Adelaide went on in the same detached voice, "in that they can both incapacitate you, make you into a helpless target. The difference between them though is like the difference between my aunt and your wife. Sulpicia can hear the mind of one and only one person at a time and Jonathas can only hurt one target of his focus while your wife can hear everyone at the same time."

I felt cold when I saw where she was going with that. "And Alecia can incapacitate us all at the same time?" I whispered.

"Yes." she said. "If she uses her gift against us, we will all stand blind and deaf until they get around to killing us all—maybe they'll simply burn us without bothering to tear us apart first. Oh, we could try to fight, but we are much more likely to hurt one another before hurting any one of them."

It wasn't news to us. My eyes slid shut and slowly, I let out the breath I'd been holding. There had to be something; anything. Was there something I could do? Something that would have any hope at all whatsoever of making a difference? My head began to throb.

But then it hit me.

I was a tiny bit special, in my own way—if having a supernaturally thick skull could really be considered special. Was there any use that I could put that toward? With that in mind, an idea quickly began shaping itself in my head. Not very promising, but better than nothing.

"Do you think Alecia is a very good fighter?" I asked. "Aside from what she can do, I mean. If she had to fight without her gift. I wonder if she's ever even tried…"

Edythe glanced at me sharply. "What are you thinking, Beau?"

I looked straight ahead but not at her, knowing exactly what she was going to say. Still, I had to bring it up. "Well, her gift probably can't work on me, right? If what she does is like Sulpicia and Jonathas and you."

"She's been with the Volturi for centuries," Edythe cut me off, her voice abruptly panicked. She was probably seeing the same image in her head that I was: our family standing helpless, senseless pillars on the killing field…

Unless I became one of them.

I'd be the only one who could fight, right? I was immune to Jonathas' power, wasn't I? Surely, it'd be no different when it came to his sister. It's the one thing I can do that no one else in my family can. And if Nisa's coming with us too, then that would be even better because we had that same gift; we had that same immunity. Our chances of winning would skyrocket if only I could fight with them, too: if I became one of them. If I could only even things out—remove the Volturi's overwhelming offensive advantage. Maybe then there was a chance.… My mind raced ahead. What if I was able to distract or even take them out?

If I was able to kill them, what a difference that would make.

I took my wife's shoulders. "Edythe, if you changed me into a vampire right here; right now, then I can fight. I can take out Alecia. And then, even if I can distract her for just one second—" Could I last long enough to give the others a chance?

"Please, Beau," Edythe said through her teeth. "Let's not talk about this."

"Come on Edythe, be reasonable."

"No. I'm not going to change you, and don't even make me think about you sacrificing yourself as a diversion, I-" she choked and didn't finish.

"I want you to change me, Edythe. That's the only way I can help. Right now, I'm just this fragile, useless human. If you change me, then I can make a difference - I can protect you; I can protect our child. Please, Edythe, I am literally begging you right now- let me do at least this much."

She wrenched herself from me, easily breaking my hold on her. Her eyes narrowed and her breath came out low and threatening, and the sharp gleam in her crimson eyes sent a shiver rocketing up and down my spine. Still, I had to hold my ground; I had to try and make her see.

"Change me, Edythe. And then I can protect you both, I can-"

"No. End. Of. Discussion. Don't make me say it again." A seething growl ripped from the back of her throat and her hand sliced through the air in front of her chest, cutting me off. She began walking away from me but my hand darted out, grabbing hers. She shook it off and went to stand by the window. I started after her but then I felt an unintentionally-hard tug on my shoulder and was lurched backwards, but then that hand steadied me. I turned to look - it was Jessamine.

"Edythe's right, Beau." she answered, her voice soft. "I've been around newborns long enough to know – you're going to be out of control; wild with thirst - more liability than advantage. Remember what I told you? And that baby my sister is carrying; that baby right over there-" she pointed to where Edythe was standing by the window, hands on her stomach. Her eyes were downcast, lips trembling. She looked like she was about to cry and it made my chest hurt. "That child is still part human – part you - after all. What if you hurt either one of them?"

"I would never." I snapped, my voice coming out more of a snarl without my intending it to.

"I know you wouldn't, Beau, not if you could help it. But you very well might not be able to. Are you truly willing to risk that?" Her voice was hard, eyes sharp. She shook her head. "It's too dangerous, Beau. I'm sorry." But then how could she even say such a thing? It was outrageous to even think I could potentially harm them like that; they are literally everything to me. There was no way I could actually hurt them, that was simply impossible.

But then again, maybe it wasn't as impossible as I'd like to think it was. I've seen firsthand how those newborns can be… and I realized that Jessamine might have a point. Falling back with her I sighed, nodding my head.

"Fine, you're right. But there has got to be something – anything – I could do." I put a hand on my chin and started pacing around the kitchen.

"Perhaps there is something you can do." Nisa turned to look at me and held her palms out in front of her face. "You and I are both shields. Have you ever thought of using yours to shield someone other than yourself?"

And then it hit me.

"Is that possible?" I felt the excitement vibrating in my voice. If somehow, I can project my shield onto someone else – like Edythe – then they'd be protected from the twins, too. And if I could shield more than one person at one time… my god. And with Nisa there too, we'd get double the immunity.

That's it.

It was a total "Eureka" moment.

"It is difficult, but not impossible. I've done it myself for Adelaide, putting it to use if we had ever come across a member of the Volturi walking around or heard anything about them disciplining someone nearby in the towns we'd stay in – it has taken me over two-hundred years to learn how to hold it for an extended period of time but perhaps your ability does not have to be so advanced, since we would only need enough time to distract the twins."

That sounded great and all, but then I realized something – was it even possible for me as a regular old human to use and develop my gift like that? In that way? To actually use it effectively on wolves? On vampires?

"Do you think I could even do all that as a human? Or would my mind just, like, totally clash with the person I'm trying to protect? Would it even be strong enough to project at all, onto anyone?" All these questions whirred in my head, and I didn't know whether I'd find any answers to them or not.

"There's only one way to find out." Nisa said with a grin. "Let's see what you can do."

Author's Note:

Hi everyone!

I am officially on Summer Break, woohoo :D And I finally got this chapter posted, yay! I know this one took a while, so thank you all for being patient with me. I know there's a lot going on in this chapter, so if you have any questions or need clarification on any specific details, plot points and/or the story as a whole, feel free to reach out to me and I will try my best to answer! I hope you enjoyed learning a little more about Adelaide, she's definitely a fun character for me to write because she's got such a rich history and I'm fascinated by her - what do you guys think?

As always, thank you for reading and for all the support! Until next time :)