I don't own Twilight or its characters. Stephenie Meyer does.
Cheryl, Noles, and Gabby, thank you for pre-reading, and April, thank you for editing. Any mistakes left are my own.
Ch 16
A part of me felt guilty reading through my mate's mind to make sure he was being truthful about no one else. But since he was willing and encouraging me to check for myself, I did. I was more reassured now that there was no other past flings that could cause any issues.
Another reason for my guilt was from hiding that my aunt wanted me to destroy the Volturi. I had glimpsed into the future and knew that Edward would blow a gasket and try to forbid me from seeing her again, maybe even hurting her in his fury. However, there were many things I still wanted to ask her, so I thought I would wait until we went home. It wasn't like I planned on doing what she asked anyways.
"We had enough heavy talk tonight," I said, preventing him from asking about my private conversation with my aunt.
He hesitated for a moment, then conceded. "You do look tired, perhaps we should get you settled somewhere tonight."
I glanced around at our surroundings. "Here is just fine. It's nice and secluded and the weather will be nice."
"Won't you be cold?" he asked in concern.
"I've noticed that I don't seem to get hot or cold anymore since I became a witch. Unless we're being intimate."
Edward smirked, obviously pleased with himself. "That's good to know, Kitten."
The first thing I created was a big soft bed with several blankets. Then I made a safe haven bubble that surrounded us by several miles. I changed Edward's clothes and mine into something more comfortable then climbed under the sheets.
Edward joined me with a bemused expression on his face. "I don't think I have ever slept under the stars."
"Technically, you still won't." I curled into his side.
"Very funny." He nuzzled my cheek. "If you like the stars, we should go to Alaska sometime, so you can see the Northern Lights. Maybe, we can go there for our honeymoon."
I traced my finger along his abs. "You're forgetting one thing; you never asked me to marry you."
"We're mates. A wedding would just be a formality anyways," Edward said nonchalantly.
"Well then why bother at all then," I stated, feeling disappointed.
Edward rolled over so he could look down at me. "Do you want me to do the whole bended knee thing?"
I narrowed my eyes. "I don't want a proposal out of obligation. In fact, if you do propose to me right now, I will use my magic to throw you in the ocean."
He chuckled. "I have no doubt you would. So, are you saying no wedding?"
I shrugged. "What would be the point? I don't like being the center of attention anyways."
Edward frowned and tilted his head while looking at me. "I really hate I can't read your mind. I feel like I'm missing something."
"I think it was great of you to save those girls tonight. You could've killed them too," I changed the subject.
"I may like being the bad guy, but I draw the line at using kids as test subjects. Plus, you already know we don't kill for the sake of killing, those girls were innocent," he said.
"You have saved others from real bad guys too. In fact, are you sure you technically qualify as mafia?" I questioned, playing with him.
He chuckled darkly. "Trust me, Kitten, I have done plenty that would make me more than a bad guy."
I saw in his mind what he and Liam had done earlier that night. I blinked rapidly at the sight of the building blowing up with people inside and looked away. It was a lot of lives lost, I just hoped they were all guilty.
"I'm sorry. I should have kept my thoughts to myself," Edward apologized.
"Did they all deserve it?" I asked.
"Everyone was there of their own freewill. Some were making the crap, there were a few girlfriends that helped lure in kids, and few of them were thinking about trapping these kids with addiction to start a human trafficking ring," Edward told me.
"Then it's good thing that you took care of it before they could do more harm. I don't think I can ever do the killing thing. You probably think that makes me weak," I admitted, thinking about my aunt's request once more.
He used two fingers to hook under my chin, so our eyes met. "On the contrary, I'm happy to hear that. You can be the angel and I'll be the devil—we'll make the perfect pair."
I giggled and ruffled his hair, so it was more wild looking. "It sounds more like an idea for Halloween costumes."
"Well, there is a costume party at the club coming up if you'd like to go," he said.
"Are you asking me on a date?" I then cringed. "Ugh, that sounds like a high school thing, doesn't it?"
"How about we refer to it as we are going to have a good night out together. Ma…couples do that all the time." He kissed my nose.
"I like that idea," I agreed.
"Do you know what I would like more?" he purred as his hand ghosted down my waist and grabbed the edge of my nightgown.
"What?" I played coy.
"To take you under the stars." He yanked my nightgown over my head.
In the morning, Edward returned with me to my aunt's. Today, I wanted Edward to stay with me since I knew Aunt Siobhan wouldn't bring up me going after the Volturi again. Aunt Siobhan met us at the door with a warm smile.
"Have you had your breakfast? I made some fresh muffins," she offered.
"That would be great, thank you," I accepted.
"Edward, Liam was going hunting, would you care to join him?" she asked, trying to get rid of him.
He raised an eyebrow, suspicious of what she was up to. "I have no interest in deer or squirrel blood."
"Animals?" I questioned in surprise.
"Why not? Blood is blood." Aunt Siobhan shrugged.
"Actually, we weren't going to visit long today. We were going sightseeing. I had a few questions to ask you, first," I told her.
She handed me a muffin and a cup of tea. "Go right ahead, dear."
"I was wondering if you mind if I looked at your book of shadows. I was curious about what one looked like." I wanted to leaf through to see if there was a certain spell.
"Don't you have your father's?" She looked confused.
"I didn't know if he had one, so I don't even know what one looks like. I had to leave fast and most of my things were left behind," I explained.
"You don't need to know what it looks like; all you need is a summoning spell. If it belongs to you, you can summon it to you. But only your own things, you can't summon anything that doesn't, like the crown jewels," she told me. "For example. Book." She held out her hand and a large leather book appeared in her hand.
I nodded; it sounded no different than how I brought my truck to Edward's place. I held out my hand and summoned the Swan's family book. A large book fell into my hands, and it was heavier than I expected. It would take a long time for me to read.
"Are you looking for a certain spell?" Aunt Siobhan asked.
I bit my lips since I didn't know what Edward would think about it. "For one to maybe revert a vampire back to a human."
I felt Edward's glare on my back. "Who are you trying…Rosalie. Of course, it had to be her. No wonder she's suddenly nice to you."
I turned around to face him. "I don't think it's the only reason. She really wants a child of her own and I want to help her."
"She's using you, trust me." Edward shook his head.
Aunt Siobhan cleared her throat. "Unfortunately, there is no spell for that. Sometimes things are meant to be as they are. Rosalie needs to come to terms with it."
I felt disappointed that I wouldn't be able to help Rose like I wished I could. I was also irritated with Edward, insisting that Rose was using me. Since I didn't need the book for the time being, I sent it home to nestle between the mattress of my bed.
"Thank you for everything, Aunt Siobhan. I'm sorry our visit will be short this time. But I will visit again soon," I told her.
"Whenever you'd like to just pop in. You don't even have to wait for your mate to come with you. We still have plenty to talk about." Her mind slipped to the Volturi.
Edward caught it and growled; I removed the two of us back to the cliffs before he could react further. He stood tense with his fists clenched.
"Take us back, right now, Isabella," he ordered, and his face was filled with furry.
I fought the urge to react to my formal name. "No. Not until you calm down. I won't risk you hurting her, she is my family."
"It's not going to happen. I forbid it. You will not go after the Volturi; I don't care how strong you are," he snarled.
"Stop yelling at me. I told you last night that I couldn't bring myself to kill anyone, and I meant it. I'm not going after them," I explained, trying to stay calm and not rise to his level of anger.
His eyes clenched shut. "You should've told me right away about your conversation. This is what you two silently conversed about last night, wasn't it?"
"I was going to tell you as soon as we were back in Chicago. I didn't want you to kill my aunt before you had a chance to calm down," I told him.
"I wouldn't—"
"Yes, you would've or at least you would've hurt her. I just got back some of my family. I knew you'd calm down if I got you away from there. So, you don't have to forbid anything. I want to live in peace. How many times do I have to tell you that?" I wrapped my arms around him.
He relaxed at my touch and returned the hug. "I guess I do need to control my anger better. The mere thought of any danger around you brings out the monster in me. I won't hurt your aunt, even though I have a feeling she won't give up on the idea. "
"She wants justice for her family. You can't fault her for that. Speaking of intentions, you're wrong about Rosalie." I gave Edward a firm glance. "I was in Rosalie's mind the entire time during the conversation since I didn't trust her at the time. I'm fully aware of what her motives were. I brought up the idea that hopefully I could find a spell to help her. She never asked me. She's jealous that we could have a baby and she can't. And to be truthful, I don't blame her for feeling robbed of the opportunity. Especially, since it was a prophecy that we would have a baby."
I didn't like how he stiffened in my arms. I had avoided the subject for a while concerned to hear his answer on the matter. After several moments of tense silence, he spoke very quietly.
"Are you…"
"No. I asked my aunt about it, and for a witch to get pregnant it has to be during an eclipse. Since there hasn't been one, you don't have to worry about it." I couldn't hide my disappointment, first, he made a wedding sound unromantic, and now this.
"Kitten, it wouldn't be wise for us to have a baby. It would only put a target on its back." He sounded regretful.
"Not necessarily. I can look out for our child's future. We can even move somewhere peaceful like here until they're grown and can defend themselves." I tried to reason.
"Would that be fair to a child? Think about how you grew up, do you want to wish that one anyone else?" he questioned.
My shoulders slumped. "I guess not."
He cupped my face and kissed my forehead. "I'm sorry, Kitten. I would give you anything you want in this world if I could. I just don't think this one is in the cards for us."
A/N: A lot of conversation in this one. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me.