CHAPTER TWO
American glory faded before me
Now I'm feeling hopeless, ripped up my prom dress
~ Taylor Swift, Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince
Edward Cullen
Volterra, present day
My footsteps were silent against the elegant marble that lined the cavernous, underground city none of the unsuspecting humans above ground could have imagined. All so close to dozens of red-eyed vampires yet they were the safest humans from vampire attacks in the world.
No Volterra citizen had been so much as scratched by a vampire in millennia. Aro had his meals and those for his guard imported from around the world.
Mine included.
Aro had many faults, but he had given me the small grace of letting me follow my vegetarian diet. In the beginning I worried he would see it as a betrayal, a link to the life I had told him I was bored of.
But Aro had accepted Carlisle's diet during the time he lived with them, and he had never once questioned mine.
Of course it wasn't a purely selfless decision of his to allow me to, at the very least, not have any more human lives ended by my own hands. It was useful for him, to have someone by his side who was just a fraction of a bit more passable as a human. Someone who he could trust to blend in the human world if need be.
I had handled more than a few delicate matters with humans over the years. Amber eyes were more trustworthy than red.
Not that my choice to abstain from harming humans made much of a difference here. The screams while the rest of the guard fed could be heard for miles by my ears. No matter where I was in the intricate underground castle, I could always hear them.
The scent of fresh human blood lingered in the air as I breezed into the throne room, immediately taking my position beside Aro. His palm fell onto my shoulder.
Felix and Demetri captured the coven that has been causing problems in Seattle, Aro told me silently a moment before the doors swung open again.
Felix threw down two of the three nomads while Demetri tossed the third at Aro's feet. There was nothing of consequence going through their minds other than panicked thoughts of self preservation.
The vampire in the center with the dark skin and burning eyes seemed the most reasonable. The other two, a man with dark blonde hair tied at the nape of his neck and a woman with fiery red hair that curled in every direction, were nearly feral. Furious at being caught and even more upset at having to follow Aro's rules.
"Aro," the calm man gasped. "Marcus, Caius."
"You and your coven have made quite a mess, Laurent," Aro started, picking the man's name out of my head, where it picked it out of Laurent's.
"I apologize, Aro. Profusely. James and Victoria, they heard about the strength of the olympic coven and decided to try to take them down. It was a game to them. I tried to stop them–"
"You did not try hard enough if I had to intervene."
With a nod from Aro, Felix tore the woman's head clean off of her shoulders with a grating screech of stone against stone.
"Please, Aro," the sane one gasped, watching in horror as the blond man thrashed unsuccessfully against Felix and Demetri. He was destroyed with another unpleasant squeal of stone.
"Seven!" he gasped. "Carlisle Cullen has grown his coven and is now seven strong!"
Aro held his hand up, freezing Felix and Demetri.
I kept my unnecessary breathing steady and mind as clear of my own thoughts as possible.
"Seven?"
"Yes, yes. A girl. She was in the process of changing when we were surveying the area."
"Hmmm," Aro sighed. "Carlisle always writes when he adds to his coven."
Laurent searched his memories, looking for any information that might be useful to Aro, anything that would save his own life.
"This was months ago," Laurent stressed.
Aro let out a dramatic sigh. He left my side and approached Laurent and reached for his hand to search his memories.
He had never seen the new addition. He and his now-slaughtered coven had heard of Carlisle and his family, his coven mates deciding it was a fun idea to challenge them. Then they heard the screaming. Blood-curdling screeches coming from the Cullen household.
James, the blonde one, decided it would be more fun with a newborn to take on as well. They left the tiny town of Forks, Washington behind while she changed and headed up to Seattle.
They had been creating a newborn army in Seattle, hoping to toy with Carlisle and his coven now seven strong. They got carried away, making their little army. Took too long, lost too many in the process. It gave Felix and Demetri time to track them down.
"Interesting," Aro sighed, returning to his spot beside me. One hand returned to my shoulder as his other motioned for Felix to finish the job.
The slaughtered vampires were carted away, pieces to be shredded and burned outside of the city. The ornate throne room was left with only Aro, Marcus, Caius, and myself. When I made the decision to leave and give the three of them their privacy, Aro stopped me.
Stay, my son.
"His coven was already too large," Caius rasped. "He has always written before a change is even complete."
"He has," Aro mused. "Months without word of his newest addition is… troubling. I've always had a soft spot for Carlisle. How disappointing."
"Newborns are a handful," I said quietly. "Perhaps he was just busy trying to keep her under control. Make sure she didn't cause as much of a mess as those in Seattle."
"Carlisle is a smart man," Aro conceded. "Losing him would be a tragedy. And his coven. So many gifts."
"Instead of eliminating them, simply give them the choice," Marcus sighed. "Either join us or be destroyed."
"He has broken no laws," I reminded them boldly. "You know I have a soft spot for Carlisle as well," I told Aro, using his own words carefully. "Allow me to handle the situation, personally. Perhaps the newborn got out of control and he destroyed her himself, unable to trust her to keep us from exposure."
Caius scoffed. Marcus seemed indifferent.
"Carlisle will be more likely to be truthful to Edward. With his ability he has no choice. Felix will–"
"Felix won't be necessary. All due respect, Aro, he's hardly inconspicuous."
Aro flashed me a toothy smile. "Edward will go," he decided. "Carlisle trusts him. I trust him."
I nodded. "I'll leave at sundown."
I was nearly out the door when Aro spoke one last time. "Do come back soon, my son."
—Miss Americana—
The packed bag was for appearances sake only. Nothing was more suspicious than arriving at an airport empty handed, especially these days. Thankfully, the dark gray cloak I had donned for the last ninety years was also going to be left behind.
Nausea wasn't something a vampire had to suffer through, but the thought of seeing Carlisle with it on had a phantom wave of it rolling through my stomach.
The door to my quarters cracked open with a soft squeak as I was sliding my arms through a simple black button down.
"Heidi," I sighed, not bothering to turn around to see her.
"Aro told me you were leaving."
"Just to handle a situation for him."
Her palm came to rest on my shoulder, blood red nails filed into sharp points curling into the muscle. "Do you want some company for the trip?"
Her touch and the insinuation behind her words fueled an automatic response. My vision became hazy as I twirled around and had my hand wrapped securely around her neck. The stone wall cracked as I pinned her against it.
"The answer has been no for ninety years, Heidi. Take the hint."
She was unfazed by my outburst, straightening the obscenely tight dress down her thighs as soon as I released her. "Maybe you'd be less of a dick if you let someone help you take the edge off."
"Leave, Heidi."
She left with a huff, purposefully making her steps as loud and obnoxious as possible as she did.
I didn't let the interaction delay me any longer than necessary. I grabbed the duffel and stack of falsified documents and left the room without a single glance back.
My mind remained a safe, neutral place until I was in a secluded corner of the Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris. I dropped the backpack, the one I had picked up in Italy on my way to the airport and stuffed with a few miscellaneous items I assumed humans would pack to travel across the world, against the wall as I slid down beside it.
Seven hundred miles away from Aro.
Not another vampire within the miles my mind was able to search.
My head fell back against the wall as I finally allowed myself to think.
Carlisle had always written to Aro whenever he changed someone or added to his family. There was always a story, an explanation as well as a small description of the addition. He wrote when he changed a woman, Rosalie, in 1933. She was a twenty-year-old at the time and had been brutally attacked by her fiancé and his friends and left for dead. She was a beautiful human and even more beautiful vampire, long blonde hair and an uncannily perfectly symmetrical face. He sent word when she found her mate, Emmett, just two years later. The twenty-three-year-old had been attacked by a bear when Rosalie found him; a curly haired hulk of a man. He wrote when Alice and Jasper found him in 1950.
Alice was described just as I remember, short and sweet with a penchant for winning all of her bets. Her mate, Jasper, was far more rugged than her. A former military man turned commander of the southern newborn vampire armies.
A knot of dread settled in my stomach. Had I played my hand too early? I had no confirmation this new addition was who I assumed. Who I hoped.
Alice should have seen the three vampires stalking the family, but perhaps James was more skilled at tracking than the small glimpse of his mind had given me, and maybe Victoria was being modest with her thoughts of evasion.
Maybe they truly didn't know. And maybe my ninety years with Aro had finally paid off.
It was absurd to be as utterly relaxed as I was in the sequestered corner of a busy Parisian airport, but it was the first time my mind had been able to move freely in decades.
If it was her…Time moved differently for Aro and the rest of his guard. My mission here could take five, ten years and none of them would think twice about it. I would have time to come up with a reasonable explanation for my absence.
A soft growl left my throat at the thought of ever having to go back there. Of having to invade minds for Aro to exploit or suffer through Heidi's unwanted, often obscenely graphic, thoughts or advances.
Mating for a vampire was absolute. Irreversible. Just the memory of her hand on my shoulder and the insinuation behind the touch had me fighting to keep my composure. For the last ninety years I had been devoted to a woman who hadn't been born yet. Could still not be.
But if it was her…
A wave of utter peace and contentment washed over me.
If the newest addition to the Cullen family was the woman from Alice's vision so long ago, I would fight until my own destruction to keep her safe.
I had hoped to be able to let her have a full, human life. A life where she wasn't coveted for her power, a safe life. I knew it had been a fantasy, Alice had warned me of it. And if Alice had been right, that this woman's destiny was to become one of us, we were headed into a very dangerous time.
Aro was getting restless. He had gotten better at hiding his thoughts from me the last few decades, but he still slipped. He had been more hasty in destroying vampires like Victoria and James and Laurent who tested his limits and put our secret in jeopardy.
Because Aro wanted to reveal it himself.
—Miss Americana—
Just like that first meeting in London nearly a century ago, Alice Cullen skipped right up to me outside of Sea-Tac airport and wrapped her arms around me. The only thing that had changed about her was her clothing. She wore a casual pair of dark jeans and a luxurious taupe sweater.
It's her.
My knees nearly buckled underneath me. Alice's hug kept me standing.
"I'll explain everything on the way," she said softly, grabbing my hand and giving me a tug out of the doorway until I faced another vampire. "This is Jasper."
If I had seen him in any other moment of my existence, I would have found the brutally scarred vampire threatening. As it was, the one with the shaggy blonde hair and tense gaze as I held his mate's hand was inconsequential to me at the moment.
"Jasper," I nodded in greeting.
"Edward."
His thoughts were quiet and contemplative. Alice had taught him how to shield them.
"Let's go," Alice chirped. She squeezed my hand tight enough for me to realize she was doing it to keep me from running through the busy parking lot.
I did my best to appear human as I slid into the passenger seat of the car Alice pushed me toward. She got behind the wheel, Jasper sliding into the back seat.
"We're in Denali now," Alice said, carefully maneuvering through the parking lot. "We'll drop the car back off at the rental place on the border and run the rest of the way."
Details like that were unimportant. "What's her name?"
A finch of pain crossed Alice's face before she could hide it. "Your mate's name is Isabella Swan. She started her transition into a vampire the afternoon of her eighteenth birthday."
I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.
"How?"
Alice finally opened her mind to me and I saw the moment as if I had lived it through her eyes. The woman… Bella walked into what I had to assume was Carlisle's home. They were all there, lounging around the living room as if they were a normal human family. She had invited her over for a birthday dinner because her father had to work late.
Bella stood to the side of the room, drowning in an emerald green sweater and never taking her eyes off of the piano beside her.
My piano. The one my mother taught me to play on.
She didn't seem to have heard a single word anyone had said, not Alice talking about dinner or Carlisle and Esme introducing themselves. When she turned toward Carlisle, eyes wide and mouth open as if she were going to speak, I heard the steady beat of her heart abruptly stop.
Alice caught her before she could hit the ground, Carlisle cursed to himself as he started chest compressions.
The screaming started as soon as her heart started beating on its own again.
"Christ," I gasped, watching that fragile human girl start changing into a vampire seemingly without any venom in her system.
"Her change would have taken nearly six months if Carlisle hadn't helped."
Six months. The thought of my own three-day change still sent phantom burning through my veins. Spending months on end burning…
Alice's phrasing came back to me. She started her transition into a vampire the afternoon of her eighteenth birthday.
"How long did it take?"
Alice hesitated. "Three months."
It was a swift punch to my gut. The thought of her burning for three days had been painful, but three months…
"She had no venom in her system when she started changing. How?"
Alice turned toward me, not needing to keep her eyes on the road to navigate the highway seamlessly. Her guilt was palpable, even without my gift. "I don't know. Even now that she's changed I still can't see her. Only the two I showed you."
That meant the future where she was Aro's prisoner was still at play. A wave of calm spread through me before I could follow through on my anger.
Jasper can manipulate emotions. He's worried you spent too long with the Volturi. That you might be… volatile.
My eyes met his in the rearview mirror. I could hardly blame him for being skeptical of me. I had spent more decades than I ever would have wished with the Volturi. Done things I would always hate myself for.
But if that quick decision made outside of London in 1931 was the reason I was here in place of Felix or Demetri or the whole Volturi guard ready to slaughter Carlisle and his coven and my mate, then I was fine with it.
"When was this? How long has she…?"
"She started her change six months ago. She's been awake for three."
"Laurent–"
Alice frowned. "They showed up at the most inopportune time. Bella had just started her change, we were in the process of getting her story straight. Severing her human ties. Bella, she messes with my visions in the first place. They slipped by. I'm so sorry."
A wave of relief settled in my bones. I was fairly certain it was my own and not given to me by Jasper.
Because it was worth it. All those years with Aro had been worth it because I was here instead of the entirety of the Volturi Guard.
"What–"
"We should save the rest of your questions for Denali. Everyone is waiting for you."
I had spent so long constantly monitoring my own thoughts, always keeping so many of them locked away, that I appreciated the small reprieve to process what she'd told me so far.
"Carlisle and Esme… they've missed you terribly, Edward."
I saw the glimpse of the two of them in her mind and took off at a run before she was parked at the rental shop.
—Miss Americana—
It had been decades since I had free reign to run. Hundreds and hundreds of miles to race through uninhibited. The three of us made it from the Canadian border to the outskirts of the Denali National Park in record time, even for a trio of vampires.
Edward?
Carlisle's voice came through crystal clear.
The three of us slid to a stop as they all came into view. An impressive group, larger than I had been expecting. Carlisle stood at the front, beside another male with crisp black hair I had never personally met but knew was Eleazar. The dark haired woman with the matching olive hint to her skin would be his mate, Carmen.
The three women behind those two were the rest of the Denali coven; Tanya, Kate, and Irina. All equally alluring and the perfect succubi.
Esme, sweet and kind and wholesome as ever, beamed at me from beside Carlisle and another blonde who glared my way. Rosalie.
Alice and Jasper took their place beside Rosalie and Esme. I was left standing opposite of an impressive ten vampire strong alliance.
A position that should have felt threatening. Would have, if Carlisle hadn't immediately closed the distance between us and pulled me in for a fierce embrace.
His mind was pure; full of nothing but relief that I was back. There was no disappointment for my original rebellion against his lifestyle and no frustration that I spent the last ninety years by Aro's side instead of his.
"I'm sorry," I gritted out.
Carlisle shook his head. Unnecessary. "We have a lot to catch up on, you and I. I assume there's someone else you'd like to meet, first."
I tensed as he released me, eyes scanning the crowd again for the brunette I had only ever seen in Alice's visions.
Esme appeared before me, wrapping me in a motherly hug. I've missed you, Edward. "She's not here. She's in the field with Emmett. She gets… uncomfortable around too many of us at once."
Eleazar spoke up. "Are you sure you trust him, Carlisle? He's a member of the Volturi."
"No, he's not," Alice snapped firmly. "He's a Cullen."
"I trust him," Carlisle added. "Implicitly."
—Miss Americana—
I had never physically stepped foot in this field; buried deep on the outskirts of the Denali National Park and miles and miles away from any unsuspecting humans. But it had been my sanctuary on the rare occasions I allowed myself to think of it. The flowers were starting to bloom, lovely shades of lavender and rose filling up the field, just as they had been in Alice's vision.
Our group thinned the closer we got to her. The members of the Denali coven broke off first. Then we found Emmett leaning against a hulking tree. He said nothing verbally, but immediately challenged me to a wrestling match mentally.
I've been waiting for a worthy opponent, he said, sending me a menacing smirk.
We always have someone with her. Watching her. Alice told me. Explaining when my eyes flashed to hers. You'll see.
Carlisle's hand fell to my shoulder. We'll be close if you need us. Bella… this life is not easy for her.
I bit my tongue, too many questions on the verge of coming out.
It was a steep hill. Physically an easy climb but I couldn't help but hesitate before I rounded the peak. I committed every detail to memory; the color of the bright spring grass and the scent of the fresh spruce trees wafting through the breeze.
She was in the center of an open plateau, surrounded by overgrown grass and wildflowers. Sitting cross legged in the field her hair blew in the wind, soft curls tangled and messy but not fazing her in the slightest. The thin straps of the pale blue sundress tied in delicate bows on top of each of her shoulders.
Her eyes were locked on the distance, focused intently on something other than the skyline. When I reached out for her mind to know what had her so enraptured I got nothing.
Silence.
My legs started moving on their own accord, drawn to her before I could even take her in completely. I forced myself to move slowly to avoid startling her. Her focus never faltered from the skyline by the time I was able to fold my legs underneath me and match her position.
"Hello Bella," I said quietly.
Her concentration broke, liquid amber eyes snapping to me. She didn't flinch at my proximity, didn't show a hint of the aggression I would have expected from a newborn.
She smiled. A slow curve of her lips when she focused on me.
"My name is Edward Cullen," I told her gently.
"Hello Edward," she whispered.
The world could have imploded around us at that moment and I wouldn't have noticed. Fire could have broken out through the park, blizzards or tornadoes or earthquakes wouldn't have broken the moment.
My palm reached up, slowly stretching toward her cheek until she flinched away.
"I'm sorry," I said quickly. Too soon, I told myself. She was so new to this life. I'd had ninety years to fall in love with her and she'd had three months to adjust to the idea of being a vampire, let alone having a mate.
"No, I…"
Her eyes scanned my face, looking far too distraught for my liking. At that thought, a small smile twitched at her lips.
"I have the same gift as… Aro. Tactile telepathy. If you touch me I'll…"
I didn't let her finish, letting my palm rest on the smooth curve of her cheek. I had no secrets. My mind, body and soul were hers already.
Bella's eyes fluttered closed. After a moment her brows furrowed and a second later an electric shock shot through my palm and down my arm.
I pulled my hand away with a grunt, frowning down at it before looking back up at Bella.
Her eyes were wide, horrified. They would be swimming with tears if it were physically possible for her. "I'm sorry," she gasped, moving across the field with blinding speed. She stopped in front of a large tree trunk, sliding down to the ground. "I'm sorry!"
Her head fell to her hands, fingers tugging so harshly at her hair I was surprised she didn't pull it out.
It was easy to connect the dots.
Bella did not simply have one power.
She had them all.
Carlisle was beside me instantly. Rosalie and Esme headed toward Bella.
"How many?" I asked him, never taking my eyes off of my mate. It didn't escape my notice that neither Rosalie or Esme touched her as they tried to console her.
"Dozens that we know of so far. I don't know if we'll ever know the extent of what she can do."
"Who knows?"
"Only those of us here."
"Nobody else can ever find out."
Carlisle nodded.
"I didn't mean to hurt him," Bella whispered, fingers digging into the grass beneath her.
"It's alright, sweetheart," Esme said gently.
The ground started to shake beneath my feet.
"Bella," Carlisle chided softly, unfazed by the small earthquake. A human wouldn't have been able to feel it, it would have barely registered on the Richter scale. But it was there. And it was evidently not the first time Bella had caused one.
Bella yanked her hands away from the ground, burying them in her hair again.
The ground stilled.
What did you see? I thought, not at all surprised when Bella's head snapped up in my direction. Her eyes widened, still sad enough to make my chest ache.
"I…" she mumbled, frowning down at her lap for a moment. "Heidi. In your room. A lot."
I've been telling Heidi no for ninety years.
She looked a fraction of a bit less devastated. "I don't like her."
A hint of a smile tugged at my lips. Me either.
A/N: Thank you guys so much for the feedback on this story - I'm am so so so happy you guys are enjoying it!
A little update on my update schedule: I think I'm going to add Miss Americana to my regular rotation. So I'll try my best to update once a week, alternating between Miss Americana, Mine, and IICHLIWP. I caught a big case of writers block for Mine this week (hence the MA update) so I'll hopefully get past that and update it next Friday!
PS: this was the funnest chapter to ever write out of any story I've ever written.
