Sacrificial Lamb Chapter 39
EPOV
“Hello, brother dear. Still daydreaming about the holidays?” Alice asked me with a knowing grin, throwing herself down on the couch next to me and nestling into my side with her head on my shoulder.
To say that Christmas had been magical would be an understatement. Bella’s gift to me, the sharing of her innermost thoughts, was priceless. She would never be able to top it. The fact that she was willing to let me in like that meant more to me than I could even express. Not that I didn’t try, both with words and with my body. I think she got the message.
She made me play our new song for her several more times that night and each time her eyes lit up with pleasure. I loved that we now had a song that symbolized our eternity instead of my sadness that my love for her couldn’t last. It could and it would forever. The thought was humbling but where once I ran from it, I now wholeheartedly embraced it.
I presented Bella with the rest of her present much later. Being allowed entrance into her head had driven everything else out of my mind including my New Year’s surprise. I took her to New York for the holiday weekend and we stayed in the Plaza Hotel. We went to Radio City and Rockefeller Center and to see Guys and Dolls on Broadway. I loved watching her take it all in with those golden eyes of hers filled with wonder. There was such beauty in her reaction to things it just made the experiences seem new to me, even though I’d been to all those places before.
And seeing and hearing people’s reactions to her! Usually it drove me crazy but she was so impossibly beautiful in the dresses that Alice had packed for her; the forest green cocktail dress she wore to the show, the red slip dress she wore to Radio City and of course the blue dress she wore on New Year’s Eve, as we danced on the rooftop of the hotel, just the two of us staring into one another’s eyes. It had been sheer perfection. And for once I didn’t mind when men found her desirable. They should because she was. Their covetous glances had all gone unnoticed by my wife, as usual Bella didn’t have a clue of the effect she had on men.
Alice poked me in the shoulder and I jerked myself back into the present. “I suppose that I was,” I replied with a grin. “It was good to get away for awhile.” We’d needed some time for just the two of us. Everything had been so insane since we’d gotten to Hanover. Bella’s change, the training, her faked death, her power and even more training…I was eternally grateful to my brother’s for all they’d done to help her adjust to this life but I did miss my wife. “I missed her,” I admitted to Alice, because I could.
Her hand found mine and she gave it a squeeze. “I know. I missed Jasper as well. Not that I’m not thrilled that he helped Bella,” she hastened to add but I silenced her with a finger to her lips.
“I get it.” And I did. I was so thankful that my family had welcomed Bella with open arms. It was going even better than I’d anticipated but there were times when I wanted to take her away from them and just lose myself with her for days, years even. Going away for the weekend had been a perfect way to reconnect. “Did you and Jasper have a good New Year’s?”
Alice smiled a very satisfied smile and I was almost sorry I’d asked. “Yes, we did. We took up residence in the lagoon for the weekend. It was perfect.” I got flashes of wet, naked limbs and quickly shoved the image out of my mind.
“When will Emmett and Rose be back?” They’d gone to some bed and breakfast in Vermont.
“In a couple hours, Emmett catches the scent of a bear on the way home so of course they have to stop,” Alice informed me with a giggle. I tipped my head against hers and just basked in being with my sister again. We’d spent some time together while Jasper and Bella had been working on her power but I had been neglecting her lately, holing up with my music, completing our song. “I wonder if Esme has driven Bella crazy yet? I know when she’s on a shopping excursion with me she’s usually begging to come home by now,” Alice’s little lip stuck out in an indignant pout.
I chuckled at her expression. “I think Bella likes shopping for home redecorating a lot more than she does clothes.” That was the understatement of the century but why make Alice feel any worse?
“I really must do something about her,” Alice muttered. “It’s a good thing I have forever because it’s going to take awhile to wear away at her.”
“I like her just the way she is, thank you very much. I don’t need you turning her into another you.” Alice pulled back and glared at me. “One is quite enough and I’m right fond of the original.” She laughed and sat back against me again. Good save, favorite brother of mine. “Always, favorite sister of mine.”
“So, tell me, what’s it like being inside the one head that you never thought you could get into?” How to describe it? There was nothing in the world like it.
I went for the one word that made the most sense to me, the one place I never thought I’d be. “Heaven.” Bella had given me heaven on earth; she was my heart and my soul.
Heaven? My brother believes in heaven now? Will wonders never cease?
“She changed me. You know that.”
She giggled. “Yeah, I know that. I told you that when I first saw her,” Alice pointed out in that smug, all knowing voice she had when someone challenged her visions.
“Yes, but if I had listened to you then, would we necessarily be where we are now?” Alice, of all people, knew how things could change if one different step was taken.
She sighed. “Probably not, but you should never bet against me.”
I kissed her spiky hair. “I never will again. Where’s Jasper?”
“I told him I wanted some alone time with you, so he’s hunting. Carlisle’s at the hospital and you and I have about an hour before Bella and Esme return home.”
“So what do you want to do?”
She studied me for a second and smiled softly. “Just talk.” I miss it. I did too. We used to spend hours just talking, usually Alice speaking in her mind and me responding verbally, which annoyed the rest of the family to no end.
“What would you like to just talk about?”
The smile faded from her face. I’m worried.
“About what?” I had a clue but I wanted her to verbalize it. She hadn’t seen anything so far but that didn’t mean we were safe.
She rolled her eyes at me. You know perfectly well what. When I just stared at her she sighed. “Bella.”
“Have you seen something?” I asked urgently. I knew she probably hadn’t, she would have told me already if she had but I couldn’t stop the panic that welled inside me when Alice said she was worried about her. Alice was never wrong.
She looked highly displeased as her mouth turned down. “No, I haven’t seen anything yet, it’s just…” she shot me an apprehensive look. “Tanya’s in Europe and she was so mad at Bella and she’s so close to the Volturi and I’m scared.” The words tumbled out in that lightning quick way she had when she was nervous.
A bolt of fear shot up my spine. “She wouldn’t! You haven’t seen…”
“No, of course I haven’t seen anything yet but she’s in Greece, Edward. She’s very close to them and if she’s still as mad as she was when she left, she may just tell them.” I couldn’t comprehend it. Tanya was family. She’d been completely out of line when she was here and even she knew that. I heard it in her mind even as she touched me and flirted. That’s why I hadn’t thought anything of it. She was far less invasive with me this time out than she used to be. But Bella had never seen that before and if the situation had been reversed I would have acted first and asked questions later as well. I didn’t blame Bella for what she’d done. She couldn’t help herself.
“Alice, she wouldn’t do that to us. She may be angry…”
“Angry? Edward, she was shaking with rage. She thought about attacking Bella before they left. She’s thought about coming and attacking her since then. She…” she broke off and I waited. “She’s thought about telling the Volturi about Bella’s power,” Alice admitted in a whisper.
“What? When?” I was on my feet then, pacing around the room.
“Edward, calm down. She hasn’t made a decision. Every time she decided to do it, she changed her mind a couple of seconds later. Now she could have been doing that just to throw me off but I honestly think she doesn’t want to hurt our family like that. If there was any way that the Volturi would take Bella and we’d be left alone? Yes, I think she’d tell them then. But she knows that won’t happen.”
How could she? How could she even think about having the love of my life taken away from me? I thought we were friends, family. “Have you tried calling her?” I hadn’t, and maybe I should. Maybe I could convince her that what happened with Bella was an unfortunate accident and that she shouldn’t seek to punish her, to punish us, for something that was unintentional.
“Of course I did. She’s not taking my calls.” Her eyes went blank for a second and I got a flash of Tanya looking at her cell phone and hitting ignore. “And clearly she’ll ignore yours as well. She doesn’t want to speak to us right now. She’s too raw. She even left her own family over the holidays,” Alice said sadly. “Nobody should be alone over Christmas but she really didn’t want to be around Kate and Garrett. I’ve already tried calling them and Eleazar and Carmen, they’re all deep in the Alaskan wilderness and I can’t reach them. She’s not going to answer her phone anyway, no matter who calls.”
“Did she at least take Irina with her?”
“Irina’s off visiting some friends in Ireland. Tanya clearly didn’t want to be with her either. I think she wanted to go somewhere where nobody knew her, where nobody would comment on her hair.” Tanya was incredibly vain and Bella had hit her where it really hurt. I wished that she’d just punched her instead of permanently altering her the way she did.
“I wish we could have stopped her,” I said softly. Alice’s hand reached for mine and she pulled me back down next to her. I’m sorry. By the time I saw, it was just too late. I didn’t know what she was even doing at the time. I still can’t get much of a read on her power. If she plans it ahead of time, then I can but if it’s a last second decision, the person she’s commanding is already acting before I finish seeing it. There was defeat in her mental voice and I had to put a stop to it.
“Alice, it’s not your fault.”
She looked up at me with sad eyes. “But it’s my job Edward. I have to see!”
I took both her hands in mine. The last time she’d sounded this way had been after Jasper had tried to attack Bella on her birthday. “You can’t see everything, Alice. How many times have you helped this family with your visions? How many mistakes have you stopped?” She shrugged. “Exactly. Too many for even us to count. You can’t beat yourself up for something you couldn’t have foreseen. Bella’s gift was something none of us saw coming. Now, we just need to work on making sure she stays protected. I can’t let them have her, Alice. I won’t.” I spoke with conviction. They would not touch Bella. I’d die before I let that happen.
She tightened her grip on my hands. “We won’t. We all love her, Edward, and we’d all fight for her if it came down to it.” I didn’t want to have to fight anymore. Why couldn’t we just be left to live in peace? I felt like taking off down to Antarctica and just living in the middle of nowhere for the next couple centuries.
That’s not even remotely feasible, Edward. Can you imagine Emmett with no form of entertainment other than the rest of us? He would drive us all insane. Not to mention that they don’t exactly have delivery services there? How would I shop? You and Rose couldn’t have any of your precious cars on some polar ice cap. We’d all be at each other’s throats and probably kill one another. The Volturi wouldn’t even need to be involved. I scowled but I knew she was right.
“Why can’t we just be left alone?” It’s the price we pay for our gifts and our immortality I guess. I don’t know if it’s a comfort or not, I don’t even see anything yet, but whatever is going to happen is going to happen soon. I can feel it. I wanted to argue with her, I wanted to stick my head in the sand and pretend that we’d never have to face another threat again but I knew that Alice was right. I felt it too. I sighed and put my arm around her and just held on. She’d give us a warning and we’d make a plan. Everything would be fine. It had to be.
BPOV
I followed Esme through the home furnishings store, delighted to be shopping for something that actually interested me. When Edward and I had gotten back from New York City, Esme asked if I’d like to come shopping with her. She wanted to redecorate her and Carlisle’s master bedroom as well as the bathrooms in the main house. I thought it’d be fun to spend some time with her and to do a little redecorating, not that I didn’t love what Esme had done with our place but I wanted to make it more our own.
“Are you sure you don’t mind?” I asked her for the fifth time. I couldn’t help it; I didn’t want to offend her in any way.
Esme laughed as she had all the other times. “Bella, I don’t mind in the least. I am thrilled that you want to make over your space and I’m glad that you’re letting me be a part of it! I love doing things like this,” she assured me with a sweet smile.
“Yes, but you decorated our house and I really do love it, I just…”
“Want to leave your own stamp on it,” she finished for me.
“Well, yes, but…”
“Bella, I want you to redecorate. I used basic colors and schemes because I knew you liked simple things but I always hoped you would redecorate when you were ready. And since you are, can I have that bedspread in your guest room? It will go perfectly in the downstairs bedroom, since I want to do it in yellows and greens.”
“Well of course! It’s yours; you don’t have to ask me for it back.”
“Bella, what am I going to do with you?” Esme asked in exasperation. I giggled at the sight of Esme losing her cool and then she giggled and pretty soon we were holding onto one another while laughing in the aisle of sheets.
Esme shook her head and put her hand on my shoulder when she calmed down. “You need to work on being more confident in yourself and your decisions, Bella. You’re not that unsure girl that we first met two years ago. You’ve found your place now, so let yourself go.”
I had found my place, that was true, but I didn’t really know how to let myself go. “The last time I did that I sent Tanya running for the hills and probably damaged the relationship you all have had for decades.”
She sighed. “While I won’t deny that what happened is probably going to take awhile for Tanya to get over, in time she will. We have all the time in the world, Bella. It’s not like she hasn’t behaved inappropriately as well. What you did was an accident.”
“It wasn’t though,” I whispered, admitting to her only what I’d admitted to Edward and Jasper. “I was going to attack her myself. Actually, I was really mad when she cut it herself because I wanted to do it.” I braced myself for Esme’s disapproval but she surprised me by laughing again.
“You would have tried, perhaps, but you would have failed. Alice saw what you wanted to do, Edward was braced to stop you, Emmett would happily have tackled you…it was just Tanya acting on her own that surprised us all. Now that we know about your gift and now that you know how to use it, we won’t have a problem like that again,” her voice rang with confidence that I didn’t completely feel.
“How can you be so sure?” I asked as she stopped to look at some yellow thousand thread count sheets.
“Because I know you. Now that you know what you’re doing, you’re going to be just fine. I wonder if they have these in king size?” I was amazed that she could be that sure of me and move on as if what she’d said was no big deal. Her faith in me was undeserved and amazing.
“Let’s ask the saleswoman,” I suggested, pointing out a girl with long black hair looking extremely bored over by the cash register.
Esme showed her the sheets and asked if they had them in the size she was looking for and the girl just said she didn’t know and turned away. Esme looked like she wanted to say something more but she glanced away to find someone else to assist her. “Wait,” I said. I looked at the girl, who reminded me very much of Jessica Stanley. It must have been the frizzy hair. Go in the back and look for the sheets. She turned and hurried to the stock area.
Esme smiled at me. “You see, that’s a good use of your powers without being abusive.” I shrugged. It was nothing major and I had to keep practicing. Jasper had drilled it into my head that I needed to use my power whenever I saw the opportunity. Thus far today I’d gotten a toddler to stop throwing a tantrum and a teenager to turn down his blaring radio out in the parking lot.
“I’m hardly changing the world by having a lazy salesperson go look for some sheets,” I pointed out.
Esme shook her head. “Who says you have to change the world? Nobody expects that of you.”
Sometimes it felt like it, when Jasper was emphasizing just how strong I was and what potential I had. “I just feel like I should be doing something important with it.”
“Like what, exactly?” she tilted her head and regarded me with interest.
“I don’t know, like end wars or something?”
Esme chuckled and turned to take the sheets from the cashier. “Thank you,” she said politely, even though she knew the girl had not helped her of her own free will. She took my arm and steered me back toward the towel section. “Bella, maybe eventually there will come a time when you can use your power for something important. In the meantime, just use it when it’s necessary or when you see a chance to help someone. There’s nothing wrong with making a difference in one life, especially not to the person you help.”
That was a good way of looking at it. Ever since my power had been discovered I felt like I had a ton of pressure on my shoulders. Jasper was convinced that Aro would come knocking on our door again soon and I didn’t doubt him. I saw the way he looked at me when he visited a month ago; I’d felt like I was under a microscope. I shook that thought off and decided to do what Esme recommended, just enjoy my gift and use it to help others. And, of course, bend Edward to my will, only because he wanted it.
As usual, a smile lit my face when I thought of my gorgeous husband and Esme laughed at my expression. “I think maybe you’re thinking of some not so chaste ways to use your power,” she said with a big grin.
I gaped at her. “How did you know that?” Was she a secret mind reader?
“A mom always knows, Bella,” she said with a laugh. “I’ve seen that look on your face before and I’ve seen just what that mind of yours is capable of.” She had? She’d seen me and Edward? I would die again, this time from humiliation.
“You saw us?” I whispered, completely mortified.
Esme’s laugh pealed throughout the store. “No! I was talking about when you had Carlisle carry me up the stairs. He was very…” she broke off and I was grateful. “Inspired, shall we say?” I couldn’t help but join her laughter.
“There’s a way I could change lives! Maybe I could take requests,” I suggested with a giggle which abruptly cut off at the look of interest on Esme’s face. “Oh no, I don’t want to go there, Esme, I feel weird enough when I do it to Edward…” Good Lord, what was I admitting to? I had to stop talking. “These are lovely towels,” I thrust some crazy white towels covered with pink flamingos at her and she laughed even louder. “I’m just going to go check out the comforters,” I tried to walk away but she caught my arm, still shaking with laughter.
“Bella,” she choked out between chuckles, “it’s no surprise that you use it on Edward in that way. Any of us would do the same and I’m sure he’s not the least bit bothered by it.” That would be a giant understatement. “It’s nice that my controlling son has learned to not only give up some control, but to enjoy not having it.” She was calm now and smiling sweetly again as she alluded to our sex life. I would never get used to this family. Then again, this was most Renee-like I’d seen her and it kind of made me feel like I was talking to my mother again. Well, Esme was my mother too and I guess she could step in and embarrass me now that Renee couldn’t.
“Um, yeah, I guess that’s a good thing,” I agreed and this time she let me escape to the bedding area, though I could hear her giggling behind me. I had a feeling I hadn’t heard the end of that conversation. I just hoped Emmett wasn’t around when she told the story.
EPOV
Bella and Esme returned from the store laden with packages. I helped lug ours over to the house and switched bedding at Bella’s request. I rather liked the blue comforter she had chosen for our bedroom, it was a simple navy with some swirls of green mixed in. Bella always did look lovely in blue and I liked the mental image I had of her lying across the new bedspread.
She came in to check it out and I decided to make the image come to life, lifting her and placing her in the center of the bed. Yes, it was a very appealing picture. I started to lower myself down next to her but she popped up and danced out of my reach. “Oh no you don’t, Em and Rose will be home soon, as will Carlisle. We need a little family time now.”
I sighed. “We’re always with the family,” I pointed out.
“Oh really?” she asked with a raised eyebrow. “And where was the family this weekend?” Blissfully away from us, that’s where they were. I loved them but I loved my private time with Bella even more.
I stepped toward her and she dodged to the other side of the room. “Let’s go back to New York,” I suggested with my most persuasive smile. “We could hole up in the Plaza, see some more shows. You know you want to.”
She gave me a wicked grin and eluded me again when I reached for her. “I do.” Well, alright then! I turned to grab the suitcase. “Soon. Right now, I want to go see the rest of our family. Is Alice terribly annoyed that I went shopping without her?” She looked so concerned that I stopped my quest to get her to leave town with me.
“No, we spent a little quality time together. I’ve neglected her terribly since we got here.” Bella just shook her head but she had to know there was a kernel of truth to what I said.
“Well, if you’ve neglected her, so have I. That’s why we’re going to go over and spend some time with her and everyone else.” I walked right into that one. I held my hand out to Bella and this time she took it because she knew she’d won.
“Remember when I used to always get my way? Those were good days. Whatever happened to those?” I demanded with a smile to let her know I was just playing.
She gave me a sultry smile. “I discovered my power over you and I’m not talking about mind control.” I stared at her as she dropped my hand and sped over to the main house. She’d always had power over me; I just hadn’t let her know it all that often.
I walked into the house and was assaulted with Emmett’s raucous laughter. “You’re as whipped as the rest of us, brother!” He pointed at me and laughed even harder. Bella smiled triumphantly from her spot on the loveseat next to Alice.
“Welcome to the club, son,” Carlisle said with a wry grin as he gestured to the women in the room.
“What club?”
“The club where the big, bad male vampires are ruled by the smaller, badder female vampires,” Emmett supplied with a huge grin, his dimples showing. “Soon Bella will be smacking you upside the head just like Rosie does to me,” he winced as Rose’s hand crashed down on his head. “Abuse,” he muttered as the whole room burst out laughing, myself included.
I’ll never hit you, not even when you deserve it; the most beautiful voice in the world assured me in my head. I must have gotten that goofy smile on my face that I always did when Bella let me into her mind because everyone started laughing at me again. I didn’t care though; I was right where I wanted to be. I lowered myself to the floor in front of Bella and let out a groan as she ran her fingers through my hair.
Jasper kicked my leg as he walked past me to sit on the Alice’s other side. “Down boy, didn’t you get your fill in New York? I enjoyed not being assaulted by your hormones for a few days.”
I rolled my eyes. “Please, like you haven’t enjoyed the side benefits?” I knew my brother’s sex lives were just as active as mine and I was a newlywed, I had an excuse.
Jasper flashed a wicked grin. “Well, now that you mention it…” Alice elbowed him and he broke off.
“You were saying?” I challenged him. He just shook his head, not risking Alice’s wrath. Yes, clearly we were all in the same boat.
“So,” Carlisle clearly wanted to change the subject. “Did everybody have a good New Year? I’m sorry we didn’t all spend it together but I do think it was good for all of us to have a little time to ourselves.”
Emmett immediately launched into a play by play of his bear hunt on the way home. I tuned out and just enjoyed Bella’s fingers in my hair. Jasper kept asking Emmett questions, enjoying it as everyone feigned interest in Em’s billionth bear story. I’ve heard this story three times and I was there when he caught the thing, Rose mentally sighed to herself but she smiled indulgently at Emmett. Since her talk with Bella she had really made an effort to appreciate him more, even when it meant hearing the same story over and over again.
I wonder if I should have gotten those beige towels as well, offset the darker colors with some light, Esme mused.
Perhaps I could try that new medication on Linda Johnson, it might lower her blood pressure, Carlisle’s mind was filled with his patient’s.
I wonder if I could get him to re-tell the grizzly in Canada story, Jasper wondered with a mischievous undertone. He loved to encourage Emmett to bore us all into a coma. I groaned and he chuckled. What? I’m sure Bella’s only heard the story about ten times. She needs to catch up to the rest of us. I raised an eyebrow at him. Okay, so we’d hear it again and she wouldn’t gain on us, I get that but it’s fun to encourage him and annoy you all. I shook my head and leaned further back into Bella’s caress.
You like that? I nodded emphatically to her mental question. Her fingers dug further into my scalp and I had to bite back the urge to purr. Maybe you were right and we should have stayed home, or gone back to New York. I chuckled, even Bella was bored. Emmett stopped to look at me and I kept my face blank so he went back to talking about cornering the bear near a river. If we were back in New York, I think I’d like to get back into that amazingly huge hot tub again. Would you like that Edward? I nodded and shifted uncomfortably at the effect those words were having on my body. And I could put on that black nightgown you liked so much, you know the one with all the ties in the front? I knew the one. I gulped and she tugged a little harder on my hair. Or we could sneak up to the roof again and you could destroy another fancy dress. How does that sound? She was killing me. Would Emmett ever shut up?
Mercifully, he eventually finished and Carlisle hurried to change the subject. “So, Bella, have you thought about possibly going to school, now that you’re doing so well around humans?” I started in surprise because I hadn’t even really thought about it.
“Yes, well obviously I can’t go to Dartmouth now, since I’m supposed to be dead and all, but I was hoping maybe in the fall we could go somewhere.”
“Wherever you want, love,” I assured her. We’d be in college together soon. I was rather excited to experience it with her; I’d enjoyed the day at Dartmouth despite all the males lusting after her. I’d have to get used to that, even if I’d never like it.
“I think we should consider getting out of the country for awhile. What do you think about going to London? You all could enroll in Oxford over the summer.” London? I loved London and it had been ages since we’d lived there.
“Oxford? But surely I couldn’t get in to Oxford,” Bella muttered.
“Please, you got into Dartmouth, didn’t you?” My comment was meant with a glare and even worse, she took her hand out of my hair.
“You bought my way in,” she accused. I caught her hand and pressed a kiss to her palm.
“And I can do it again at Oxford.” She scowled but before she could protest, everyone else was chiming in with their opinions.
“London! I love London and it’s not far from Paris!” Alice shrieked with joy. Shopping weekends. Boutiques, designers! That is my idea of heaven. Her mind was filled with happiness at all the new clothes that would be within her reach.
“God knows the weather is terrible enough, we can wander around without issue most days,” Rose said.
“Works for me,” Jasper said with a shrug.
“We can turn Bella loose on all those proper English folks! It’ll be awesome. Maybe you can get the Queen to knight me!” Emmett mentally pictured us all calling him “Sir.” Like that was going to happen.
“I’d love to see our estate again,” Esme said with an approving smile. Her mind was instantly filled with potential home makeover ideas.
Carlisle beamed. “I guess we’re all okay with it then. Bella?” She nodded but was frowning; I knew it was at the thought of getting her into Oxford.
“You’ll love London,” I assured her. “Think of all your favorite novels that are set there; don’t you want to see all those places?” Her frown abated and she smiled as she imagined the English countryside. “And we can go back to Paris.” Instantly her mind flashed to a hazy image of us in the rain and I had to lock my muscles to keep from picking her up and running to our bed. I couldn’t wait to reenact that particular scene from our honeymoon without having to worry about hurting her. Her new memory of the experience would be as vivid as my old one was.
“I’ll start the process at work, there’s no reason to wait and since they know I’ve just lost my son and daughter-in-law they won’t be remotely surprised that we want to get away from here.”
“There’s so much I want to see,” Bella said, finally giving in to excitement at our impending move. “I want to go to Spain and Switzerland and Germany and Greece.” At the mention of the word Greece Alice gasped and her eyes went unfocused.
Tanya was strolling through a Greek marketplace, stopping to look at some handmade scarves at a vendor.
“Surely someone as lovely as you are doesn’t need to cover herself,” a smooth voice interrupted. Tanya turned and took in the tall dark haired vampire at her side. He was wearing sunglasses despite the cloudy day. I gasped as I saw Demetri standing next to Tanya. “No!”
“Edward, what is it?” Jasper demanded.
“Demetri’s in Greece talking to Tanya. Just a minute,” I snapped.
Tanya batted her lashes and put on her sexiest smile at his flattery. She loved being complemented. “I recently got a rather unexpected haircut; I’m looking for new ways to hide it.” Her voice tensed at the word haircut and I felt a cold sense of foreboding run through my body.
He ran his hand through her stylish short hair. “Well it suits you. My name is Demetri. And you are?”
“Tanya,” she said, placing her hand in his.
“It’s very nice to meet you, Tanya. Tell me, did the person who gave you the unexpected haircut get properly punished?” He’d noticed her golden eyes and knew she was not a typical vampire.
“No, she’s sort of family now and her power got away from her.”
“Power?” he asked sharply. Please, Tanya, please don’t tell him, I begged her mentally.
“Can you keep a secret?” Tanya asked him flirtatiously.
“My lips are sealed…well, except when they’re doing far more interesting things,” he licked his lips at her.
“She can control minds,” she whispered, running her fingers up and down his arm. “Damn,” I muttered.
“Edward?” Bella asked. I gripped her hand. “In a minute, love.”
Demetri did a double take. “I’ve never heard of such a thing. Who is your family member? Is she as lovely as you are?”
“Not hardly! She did this to me because she was angry at me for flirting with her husband. As if I am still interested in Edward!” She flashed him a smile.
“Edward? Edward Cullen?” Tanya’s smile fell and she looked surprised.
“You know him?”
“We’ve met. May I presume you’re talking about his wife, Bella?”
She nodded. “How do you know them?”
Demetri removed his glasses and Tanya started a little when she saw his red eyes. “I met them in Italy when Bella was still a human. Also, I saw them recently but Bella had yet to discover her power. How fascinating.”
Tanya gaped at him, realizing what she’d inadvertently done. “You’re with the Volturi.” It wasn’t a question, it was a statement.
“Yes,” he kissed her hand. “And thank you for the information you’ve given me. My master will be most pleased.” He kissed her hand and walked away, dialing his cell phone immediately.
“Have you found him?”
“Not yet, I found out something more important.”
“Explain.”
“Bella Cullen’s power has manifested. She has mind control.”
There was a gasp on the other end of the line. “How do you know this?”
“I ran into a Cullen family friend, Tanya. Bella apparently lost control of her power and cut Tanya’s hair, or maybe made Tanya do it. I didn’t bother to ask.”
“This is most wonderful news! The things we can do!”
“I knew you’d think so. Do you want me to return home?”
“No, no, find Haides. He’s important. There will be plenty of time to entice the talented Mrs. Cullen to join us.”
Alice’s vision cut off and we stared at each other in horror. “What happened?” Carlisle demanded. Every face in the room was panicked; they all knew the secret was out.
“Aro knows.”
Leave a comment