I quickly changed into black leggings and a floral printed t-shirt after Bella had fallen asleep, pulling socks on as I jumped down the stairs. "Dad, I'm heading to the Cullens." I told him, slipping my shoes on at the door. Before Dad could respond, Leah spoke up.

"Why?" She asked. Her face twitched a little. "They're dangerous, Aspen."

"I know, but they won't hurt me." I assured her, grabbing my jacket. Leah grabbed my arm. I turned to her.

"Please." She begged softly. "Don't…dont go…"

"I…" I trailed off. I sighed. "I have to. They don't know what's coming, and I have to tell them." I gently pulled my arm out of Leah's hold. "I'll call you when I'm heading home, ok?"

"Uh…" Leah trailed off. I gave her a smile.

"Great. Bye Lee, see you Dad." I smiled at the two before closing the door behind me. I raced through the woods, back towards the Cullen household. I slowed when I reached the hidden household. Everything was lit up, it was a stark contrast to the rest of the times I had come to keep the house clean. The door was almost thrown open and I was met with a tiny Vampire squeezing me. "Alice." I squeaked. "You're…you're crushing me."

"Sorry, sorry." Alice said, backing away, a frown tugging at her lips. "Why do you smell like a wet dog?"

"Probably because I've been hanging out with them the past couple months."

"Wolves aren't good company to keep." Alice told me.

"Gods aren't good company to keep and I spent my summers with the God of Wine, but…I have news, it can't wait."

"Yeah, ok." Alice said with a nod. I followed Alice into the house. The other Cullens were coming from the other parts of the house. Emmet pulled me into his arms and lifted me off my feet.

"Put me down, Emmett, we don't have the time for a warm welcome." I said. After a quick greeting from the others, we all sat down in the dining room and I went through everything that was happening. In turn, Alice told me everything that happened in Volterra. I understood

"Are you sure that it's Gaia?" Carlisle wondered. "Entirely positive?" I nodded.

"I told you, she visited me in my dreams, she wants me to join her because we share powers, but I refused her because…well, the Gods, as flawed as they are, we need them to keep the world in balance."

"I agree."

"What does that mean for us?" Rosalie asked.

"None of you have to worry." I assured. "Us Greek Demigods, and Roman if they agreed, can handle it."

"We can't let you do this by yourself." Jasper protested.

"We can. And we will. We fought the Titan Kronos and won, we can do this too." The Vampires then turned, and Carlisle stood, heading to the entryway. I watched as Bella walked in with Edward, and I rolled my eyes, looking away from them as Edward pulled a chair out for Bella to sit down.

"The floor is yours." Carlisle said.

"What is going on here?" I demanded.

"Well…" Bella trailed off. "I'm hoping Alice has already told you everything that happened in Voltera?" I scoffed, looking away.

"Everything." Alice assured.

"And on the way…?"

"That too."

"Good, then we're all on the same page." Everyone was silent. "So, I have a problem. Alice promised the Volturi that I would become one of you. They're going to send someone to check, and I'm sure that's a bad thing, something to avoid. And, so, now, this involves you all. I'm sorry about that." I felt Bella's eyes on me, but I refused to look at her. "But, if you don't want me, I'm not going to force myself on you, whether Alice is willing or not. Please, let me finish. You all know what I want, and I'm sure you know what Edward thinks too. I think the only fair way to decide is for everyone to have a vote. If you decide you don't want me then…I guess I'll go back to Italy, alone. I can't have them coming here. Taking into account, then, that I won't put any of you in danger either way, I want you to vote yes or no on the issue of me becoming a Vampire."

"Just a minute." Edward but in. I turned to him as he spoke. "I have something to add before we vote. About the danger Bella's referring to. I don't think we need to be overly anxious." Edward lent forward a little, setting his hand on the table. "You see, there was more than one reason I didn't want to shake Aro's hand there at the end. There's something they didn't think of, and I didn't want to clue them in."

"What is it?" I asked.

"The Volturi are overconfident, and with good reason. When they decide to find someone, it's not really a problem. Do you remember Demetri?" I saw Bella nod. "He finds people, that's his talent, why they keep him. Now, the whole time we were with any of them, I was picking their brains for anything that might save us, getting as much information as possible. So I saw how Demitri's talent works. He's a tracker, a tracker a thousand times more gifted than James was. His ability is loosely related to what I do, or what Aro does. He catches the…flavour? I don't know how to describe it, the tenor, of someone's mind, and then he follows that. It works over immense distances But after Aro's little experiments…well…"

"You think he won't be able to find me." Bella said flatly.

"I'm sure of it." Edward said, a little smug. "He relies totally on that other sense. When it doesn't work with you, they'll all be blind."

"And how does that solve anything."

"Quite obviously, Alice will be able to tell when they're planning a visit, and I'll hide you, they'll be helpless. It will be like looking for a piece of straw in a haystack!"

"There's one problem with your plan there." I argued, leaning forward myself, folding my arms and leaning them on the table. "If this Demetri guy has already gotten your brain mapped, he can come after you. You may be able to protect yourself, but I wouldn't bank on that. If the Volturi come knocking, then I take Bella to Camp Half Blood. No one knows where it is, and the protection won't allow anyone in without express permission."

"Excellent plan my brother." Emmett said with a grin, holding a fist out to Edward. Edward fist-bumped him.

"No!" Rosalie hissed.

"Absolutely not." Bella agreed.

"Nice." Jasper said.

"Idiots." Alice muttered.

"Alright then." Bella called the table back to herself, sitting up straighter. "Edward and…and Aspen has offered an alternative for you to consider. Let's vote." She turned to Edward. "O you want me to join your family?"

"Not that way." Edward said. "You're staying human.

"Alice?"

"Yes."

"Jasper?"

"Yes."

"Rosalie?"

"No." Rosalie stated. "Let me explain. I don't mean that I have any aversion to you as a sister, it's just that…this is not the life I would have chosen for myself. I wish there had been someone there to vote no for me."

"Hell yes!" Emmett cheered. "We can find another way to pick a fight with this Demitri."

"Yes, of course, Bella." Esme said gently. "I already think of you as a part of my family."

"Thank you, Esme." Bella muttered.

"Edward…" Carlisle started.

"No!" Edward growled.

"It's the only way that makes sense. You've chosen not to live without here, and that doesn't leave me a choice." Edward then stood and stalked out of the room. "I guess you know my vote." There was a crash from the other room.

"Aspen?" Bella turned to me.

"Oh, what, I get a say in what you do now?" I asked sarcastically.

"Aspen…"

"Whatever I say, you're not going to listen to me. My answer is no. After the stunt you pulled this week, if you think Dad and I are going to let you go off and turn when you have so much life to live? No, I won't let it happen." I then stood. "I'm going to head home. If you don't come home tonight, I know you've made your decision, and you'd have broken Dad's heart."

"I'll take you home." Rosalie said. I lifted my hand.

"I'm fine, Rose, I can make my own way back. I guess I'll see some of you at school." I then walked out. On my way through the woods, I pulled my phone out and called Leah. About half a second through the first ring, she answered.

"Aspen." She greeted instantly. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine." I sighed. "I'm…I don't know, Leah. I'm heading home, now, are you still there?"

"Yeah."

"Call your mum, can you…sleepover? After what I just went through, I can't be by myself, and Dad won't understand."

"Uh, yeah, sure…what…what happened?"

"I can't say I'll see you." I then hung up and sighed. I love my sister, I really do. But right now…I want to kill her. She was throwing her life away, and for what? A stupid Vampire who left her for dead? I wouldn't break my vow to her, to protect her, but I can at least try to talk her out of this stupidity.