"Kill them. Kill them both."

My words echoed through the hall simultaneously with the metallic sound of two heads being ripped from their bodies. I didn't care. They were guilty of their crimes, I knew. They were a danger to the balance and order the council had created. I knew. They were a threat.

I didn't know how many hundreds I had condemned at this point. It seemed, though, that more and more of the undead were becoming...sloppy. Or perhaps there were just more of us now than there were before. That was also possible.

My dead eyes scanned the room, hoping to find those familiar red eyes. Jane peered out from beneath her black hood, speaking to me through her mind and emotions.

We're almost through. Tonight we'll make it worth the separation. Her thoughts were accompanied by a slight smirk, its meaning known only to me. I mentally cringed and exalted at the same time.

I'd never known how to classify this relationship with Jane. We were not mates, I was sure, but we enjoyed each other's company. Each other's carnal company. Tonight looked to be another of those rough, carnal nights.

I smiled darkly at her as my mind shot back to our last encounter. The pain I inflicted on her had only intensified my sexual response. I live for pain, and blood, and death now. These things alone filled the void in my heart, a void caused by...but even I couldn't remember what caused the hole.

I motioned to the guard to bring the next prisoner forward. Guilty, I was sure. But then, we must appear to give fair trial, must we not? I heard Aro stir beside me, but I was too buried within my mind to recognize his anxiety.

Until I saw her in front of me.

Jane crouched and hissed, the guards jumped forward in high alert, but I simply stared. She stood before me in a white dress that hugged her chest and flared at her waist. The skirt dropped to the floor, tattered edged showing slight glimpses of her bare ankles, dirty from trampling through our castle halls. The browned grass and leaves caught in her hair stood out from the darkened auburn colour that burned in the brilliance of the sunlight. I knew this woman, this angelic demon in white. But I knew, I felt, that I had blocked her from my conscious mind. Her face drew my mind toward her memory, but I refused to feel that pain again. I knew her…and she had destroyed my life once.

Only after the male to her left made a lunge for my throat did I notice that the angel had not been brought in alone. My red eyes burned, anger rising, as I took in his face. Her lover. Jasper. The hatred in his eyes told me that he felt the emotional war in my mind, the war I fought to keep her memory out. I was fighting the pain and lust I had for her, and he felt every moment of it.

We stood frozen, staring at each other for hours. Or minutes. Aro rose to his feet beside me, determined to end this conflict before it turned violent. He turned toward the guard to speak the command.

"Kill th…"

"No."

My soft command rang through the hall before Aro had the chance to finish his statement. I did not want them dead, damn the consequences, and I would fight Aro for this one. The guard wavered for a moment, unsure of which command to follow. One cocky young killer, trying to hasten his movement up through the ranks, moved to tear her head from her body. Without hesitation, I reach forward, grabbing and renting his arm from his body in one swift move. She was MINE. My mind knew that she held a part of my soul.

My action forced a hasty drawing of lines, and within seconds, my back was to the two lovers, teeth bared at the Volturi guard that now saw me as a threat. I knew my actions were unforgivable and irrational, but I had to protect this angel. Even as I caught Jane's eyes, staring into their anguished depths, I realized that I must. The physical draw toward the angel, my mate, could not be overcome.

Amidst the fury, Aro let out a small laugh. "Civility, please! We must not lose our humanity, my friends." His humourous attitude irked me as he walked slowly to my side again. "You wish to protect them, do you not my child? But why? What are they to you?" He spoke softly as he looked into my eyes and touched my cheek.

At his touch, I was confused once again. What was I thinking? This devil woman, though beautiful, should not be allowed to ruin my life as such. Why should I be drawn into protecting her when she meant nothing to me? She was the source of my pain. My thoughts went wild as I tried to process the scene around me. I did not know the lovers standing behind me, yet my body told me that I should protect her. Then I heard Aro's mind. I cannot lose him again…

Hastily, I drew in my breath and pulled away from Aro's touch. Although I was still suspicious of the white angel, my anger was now directed at the man before me. In an instance, I read the manipulation of his tone. He was controlling me, forcing the repression of my memories, willing me to forget her. He wanted me to forget her so that I would not leave his side again. He did not want me to leave his side because my gift was a powerful asset to him. As I thought back, I realized that I had only a hazy remembrance of my abandonment of Volterra…one year ago? Five years? Time did not seem to exist in my memories either. But whatever it was that my mind had forgotten, my biology still remembered. Aro did not want that.

Aro's eyes showed the moment that he realized I knew. I knew of the deception he had orchestrated, even if I did not understand how he did so. As his mouth turned into a sneer, I grabbed the arms of the two behind me and ran. We fled down the hall, through the stairwell, and into the streets above as Aro's voice rang through the turret.

"Kill them! Kill them all!"