BPOV
We dropped down into the underground tunnel leading to the Volturi compound. I remembered the last time I was here all too vividly despite my change. That memory would never be hazy, holding on to Edward with all my might as I closed my eyes against the oppressive darkness, marching to face our possible end at the hands of the Volturi. Here we were again, but things were much different. I could see, now, not that the dank gray stone walls provided a lovely view but the dark didn’t frighten and inhibit me this time. And, though we could very well be facing the end of our existence if I failed, I didn’t feel nervous. Edward was at my side, holding my hand, and whatever we would encounter, we would face together. I didn’t doubt his feelings for me now and it made all the difference.
This time, our progress through the tunnel wasn’t slowed due to my human stumbling and there was no hulking Felix behind me getting irritated at my inability to move at a faster speed. We reached the end quickly and ducked into the small door to the right of the rusty grate. Fortunately it was not locked, not that that would have been a problem for us, but why announce our presence before we were ready?
We entered the bright stone room and found the thick wooden door, waiting open now as it had the last time we were here. Edward stepped through first, protective as me as always. The bright white hallway was just as I remembered it, warm and almost welcoming, not that I wanted to feel at home here. We moved quickly down the long hallway, arriving at the elevator. Edward hit the button and the doors opened immediately. This ride, with just the two of us, was far more comfortable than the frightening one we had with Jane, Felix and Demetri the last time we were here.
“Are you ready?” Edward asked, pressing the button for the next floor up.
“As I’ll ever be,” I told him.
“When you need me to open my mind for you, squeeze my hand. I’ll squeeze yours when I pick up a thought that requires you to act. I’ll nod toward the one you need to deal with. If it’s Jane, that means she’s going to use her power on me, or attempt to use it on you. If it’s Alec, the same thing stands. If it’s Aro, well I’ll just have to tell you. I guarantee he’s going to try to touch me relatively quickly, so you might want to take that idea out of his head as we walk into the room.”
“Okay.” There was so much we didn’t know and wouldn’t be able to deal with until they happened. Edward and I couldn’t open up our powers to one another too early, we might be leaving ourselves defenseless if I was unable to bond with him and continue to hold the rest of the Volturi at bay. That had to wait for our family to join us, if possible.
The elevator doors opened into the same reception type area that I remembered. The wood paneled walls, the thick green carpet and the bright paintings were exactly as they had been nearly a year ago. It still smelled like a funeral home to me, the cloying floral scent even more powerful with my keener sense of smell. There, at the big mahogany desk in the center of the room, sat Gianna, still human and obviously still hoping to one day join the Volturi. Her green eyes opened in surprise as she caught sight of us exiting the elevator.
“Gianna,” Edward said politely. “I believe Aro is expecting us. Could you let him know that Bella and I are here?”
“Of course,” she answered, sounding unruffled despite her initial reaction to seeing us. She picked up the phone and hit a number, telling whoever answered that we were there.
“All of them?” the voice on the other end of the phone asked.
“Just Bella and Edward,” she replied.
There was a long pause and then, “Send them in.”
Gianna hung up the phone. “Do you remember how to get there? The same room you were in last time?”
Edward smiled. “I think I can manage to find it.” There was a hint of smugness in his tone that nearly made me smile. We walked down the ornate hallway and entered another plain wooden door that sent us back into the dark stone tunnels. This walk was far shorter and we entered the room where we’d nearly found our death last year. The massive throne chairs still stood in a circle in the center of the bright room. Unlike last time, it was dark outside so the lamps were on, letting off a muted glow.
“Looks like the gang’s all here,” Edward murmured quietly. Sure enough, everyone was in the room, with the exception of Caius and Felix of course. Aro was seated in the center chair, facing us. His long black hair blended with his black cloak and a huge smile stretched across his face as he saw us arrive.
“Edward! Isabella! How lovely it is to see you again. Please, come closer. We’re all friends here.” Edward smirked and squeezed my hand. Oh yes! I looked into that grinning ancient face and plastered a smile on my own. You don’t want to touch Edward, you’ll find out what you need to know just by speaking with us. His face remained smooth as we walked to within five feet of him and stopped.
I remembered Jasper’s instructions. Find all their power centers as soon as you get in the room so you can be ready to activate them the instant you need them. Jane’s was the lower right quadrant; Alec’s was the lower left, almost as if they were mirrors of one another. Renata’s was right in the center, not that I thought I would need to use her in anyway. Marcus, who was sitting to Aro’s left, was in the front right quadrant and Chelsea’s was in the back center. Demetri’s was directly above his right ear and Aro’s power center was in the front, right behind his forehead. I could feel it pulsing at me.
“I must say, I’m pleasantly surprised at your haste in arriving! But tell me, where is the rest of your family?”
I wasn’t sure how to respond to that, surely he wouldn’t believe me if I told him that they’d stayed behind. Before I could figure out what to say, Edward responded for me. “They’re looking for Esme.”
Aro chuckled in delight. “How ever do they think they will find her? Surely you’ve figured out that I have a new acquisition, one that makes all powers moot. Dear Alice won’t be able to find her using her incredible gift, I’m afraid. Your poor family will be wandering the Italian countryside for hours.” He seemed to bask in this news. I glared at him and wanted to let him know that they were probably already with her but that would hardly suit our purposes. Now was about distracting him.
“I guess when they find a blind spot, they’ll know,” Edward replied acidly. I ran my thumb along his hand in a soothing gesture. His muscles were tensed and I knew he wanted to attack Aro for taking Esme from us.
Aro tilted his head and laughed. “How very clever. Then maybe they will have success, eventually. Still, it will take hours. Yet here you are, all alone. Brave or stupid?” He eyed us for a moment. “Maybe both.”
“You wanted me here, so here I am. Edward, naturally, wasn’t going to let me come alone,” I told him.
“No, he most certainly wouldn’t, would he? Not the protective, sacrificial Edward. And it is, of course, because of my benevolence that he is even able to be here by your side, right now. Wouldn’t you say so?” Aro’s blood red eyes sparkled.
Edward’s hand tightened on mine but I was pretty sure it was in anger, not because I needed to exert control. “I will forever be grateful that you refused to end his life,” I responded, keeping my voice level. It was nothing but the pure truth, after all.
Aro smiled and folded his hands in his lap. Renata shifted nervously from behind him, ready to shield him if need be. “You say you are grateful and yet you didn’t see fit to inform me when your power manifested. Surely you knew that it was a matter of great interest to me.” There was a slight edge to his tone now, belying the smile on his face.
“We attempted to contact you several times recently. You avoided all our calls,” Edward reminded him.
Aro raised an eyebrow. “Yes, but you waited until after I had already been informed of Isabella’s precious gift, did you? Alice must have seen Demetri’s little run-in with your cousin. Delightful girl, that Tanya. I really must send her a thank you gift.” Edward growled low in his throat at the mention of Tanya’s part in this situation. “I hear she’s a very lovely girl, even despite the disfigurement you inflicted upon her, Isabella,” Aro went on, blithely ignoring Edward’s reaction.
“I didn’t disfigure her, I just…”
Aro leaned forward, regarding me with undisguised interest. “You just what?”
I glanced at Edward, wondering how much I should reveal. He nodded at me to go ahead. “She made me angry and I’d always hated her perfect strawberry blond hair. I was going to cut it myself but first I told her to cut it. I never really thought she would but she did,” I told Aro, watching him anxiously.
“Anger is a very powerful emotion, Isabella. I’m sure you realize that now, if you didn’t already.” I just nodded. “Demetri, you really should have brought the girl back with you. It would have been…amusing, to see these two reunited, don’t you think?”
Demetri moved to stand on Aro’s right side. “I’m sorry to have deprived you of the pleasure of her company, master. I was distracted by your other mission.”
Aro waved a hand airily. “Yes, yes, nothing to apologize for, dear boy. It was your successful mission that brought us to where we are right now.” He turned back to me. “So, Isabella, do you always have to be angry to get your power to manifest?” Edward squeezed my hand. Lie. I wasn’t open to him right now but I knew exactly what he wanted me to do anyway.
“The only times it has happened have been when I was angry,” I told Aro, doing my best to keep my face and voice placid.
He narrowed his eyes at me. “I see. And what other times has it happened?”
I should have figured he’d want to know that. So I told him my other two angry outbursts. “I was annoyed with our brother, Emmett, and I made him swallow a key.” Aro let out a startled laugh. “And Rosalie and I were having an argument and she was going to leave so I told her to sit down and shut up. You don’t know Rose very well but trust me when I say she would never have done that without my gift.”
“Yes, I can imagine. Your sister is quite…impressive.” Edward shook his head and I was relieved that I wasn’t privy to Aro’s thoughts at that moment. We were both lucky Rose wasn’t there to respond either. “So, in the month since you attacked Tanya your power has only manifested twice? You must not get angry very often.”
“I’m pretty happy with my husband and my family. We don’t have very many issues.”
“Your family must be far more peaceful than mine. There’s always some matter of squabbling here. Some of my children have very quick tempers.” He sent an indulgent smile at Jane and I suppressed a shudder, knowing full what her temper could do. “I guess it takes a lot to trigger yours though, Isabella.”
Edward squeezed my hand with more pressure this time and tilted his head toward Jane. Aro regarded his favorite daughter with a benevolent smile. “Jane, darling, why don’t we see if we can do something to trigger Isabella’s temper? It really is most vital that I see her in action, so I know just how much work we have ahead of us.”
Jane’s face lit up as if she’d been given the best present in the world. She turned toward Edward and gave him a devious smile. I wasn’t about to let her harm him again. It seemed the time for stalling was coming to a very abrupt end. I tapped into her power; it was like a swirling darkness inside her head. Use it on Aro. I both thought the words and pushed her power out at the dark haired vampire she so worshipped.
Aro’s face contorted in pain and he let out a deafening shriek as he tumbled from his chair. Renata and Demetri both grabbed for him as he thrashed on the floor, screaming, sounding like a wounded animal. Marcus watched impassively, as if something like this occurred every day.
“Jane!” Alec yelled, shaking his twin, trying to get her to stop her assault on their beloved leader. There was nothing she could do though, I was firmly in control and I wasn’t ready to release him yet. Aro had caused pain to countless other vampires over the years, not to mention my Edward and Esme. He deserved this.
Edward squeezed my hand as Demetri whirled to look at me. “This is you, isn’t it? Stop, immediately or I’ll kill your husband.” Like hell he would. He took a step toward Edward. Don’t move. He froze in place, hostility rolling off him in waves but he was unable to do anything about it. Everybody stay where you are. It was only a matter of time before someone else came at us, better to head it off early.
I finally let Jane’s mind go and Aro stopped that ungodly yelling. Get up and sit back in your chair. He did as I bade, sitting down and staring at me. I couldn’t read the expression on his face. “It would seem that you’re slightly more advanced than you led me to believe, Isabella.” His voice was smooth but had a slight hint of menace to it as he attempted to straighten his disheveled black hair.
“Well you did make me angry, just like you wanted,” I pointed out.
“So I did,” he murmured, watching me intently with his crimson eyes. “Somehow I don’t think that’s all there is to it. You don’t have to be angry to use your power anymore.” I shrugged, there was no point in lying but I certainly wasn’t going to spill my secrets to him either. “You are currently using it against all of us, are you not? I cannot imagine why my people did not seize you when they realized that you were the one causing Jane to attack me.”
Jane let out a sob. “Master, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to. It’s that hateful girl, she did it!” She glared and tried to use her power on me. Tried and failed, just like she did when I was human.
“Don’t fret, child, I know that it wasn’t your doing.” Aro kept his eyes on me as he spoke to Jane. She hissed in outrage that she didn’t really have his attention.
Edward squeezed my hand again. “Jane,” he said. Would the girl never learn? Fine, then. I tapped into her power and did something I’d only done with Jasper on a couple occasions during our training. I put up a wall, just as I had done in my own mind unknowingly. I couldn’t even begin to describe what I did when Jasper had asked me, just likened it to putting a steel trap around his power. Of course, I lowered the wall right after he tried and failed to use his gift. I had no intention of doing that for Jane.
Edward winced instinctively as he picked up her thoughts, no doubt attempting to direct her power at him. Nothing happened though and he straightened and smiled at me. “Thanks, love.”
“You’re welcome,” I told him with a relieved giggle. I hadn’t been sure that would actually work.
Jane started screaming at the top of her lungs. “What did you do to me? Give it back!”
“No,” I told her with a cheeky smile, glad that I could finally do something about her sadistic streak. She’d never hurt another vampire or human with her mind again.
“What did you do?” Aro demanded. There was no anger in his voice, only interest and urgency.
“I took her power away,” I informed him blithely, as if it was something I did every day.
“How?” he asked anxiously, leaning forward in his seat. Stay right there, I reminded him. He didn’t move any further.
“I don’t know if I can explain it, I just short circuited it or something.”
“No! Give it back! I’m going to kill you,” she shrieked.
“Jane, calm down,” Aro warned her. “You went after her husband, what did you expect her to do? You are a part of something truly fascinating here. You need to take a moment to think about it and appreciate the fact that you’re seeing something historic. Never before has there been such a power. There may never be again. And you were not only a witness to it, you got to experience it! Such a delight!” he giggled.
There was something severely twisted about him taking pleasure in my taking away his favorite toy’s ability. It just went to show what kind of person Aro was. He didn’t care about Jane; he cared about what she could do for him.
Alec tried to reassure his twin but she cut him off before he uttered a word. “She broke me. I hate her. Stop her, Alec!” He looked at me and I prepared to cut him off.
“Enough! Jane, you do not give the orders around here. Alec, you need not bother. It’s clear that Isabella will just stop you before you even get started. Let’s keep this peaceful.” I did laugh out loud then. Now Aro wanted peace?
“Isabella, perhaps we could talk about a solution to our situation. There’s no need for any violence here.” Sure, there was no need for violence now that he couldn’t inflict any.
“What, exactly, do you propose Aro?” Edward asked, amusement clear in his tone.
“Well, dear boy, obviously we will return your mother immediately, if your lovely wife would be so kind as to release one of my men to go retrieve her. While I would still love for you to join us, I suspect that you would reject my invitation yet again?” Edward and I both nodded. “Then, clearly, you have me at a loss. We will part, hopefully still as friends.” He beamed at both of us, all humor and good will.
Edward laughed. “So, you’re saying that if Bella released one of your men, he would go get Esme and bring her back here, no harm, no foul?”
“Well, of course, Edward.”
“You wouldn’t have that man bring back your new acquisition to try to render Bella powerless, overtake us and force us to join you?”
“Such a thought never crossed my mind.” Aro looked affronted at the very idea.
Edward grinned. “Didn’t it? I’ll admit, you covered it quickly but I still caught it, Aro.”
“Your gift is quite a nuisance. Why can’t you just join us? We’ll be one big, happy family.” Aro smiled at me, trying to appear genial. I didn’t buy it.
“We’re already part of one of those, thanks.”
“But don’t you see?” Aro asked, a gleam in his ruby eyes. “Can’t you see what we could do? We could command all vampires, all humans. Nobody would dare challenge us. Isabella could make an enemy give up without one hint of violence, or at least less violence. I know that you appreciate that, young friend.”
“What we appreciate is being left in peace, Aro. We were no threat to you, not until you pushed us to be,” Edward told him.
“You are correct. I overstepped my bounds. I let my head be turned by all the possibilities your beautiful wife presented. Surely that is understandable?” Aro dropped his head, attempting to show shame I imagine. I wasn’t buying it for a second.
“I understand it perfectly. I just don’t forgive you for it. We’ve never done anything to you. We never would have. Yet you came to our home and took our mother. And not just our mother, Carlisle’s wife. He calls you a friend, Aro. How could you do that to him? You know what she means to him,” Edward spat angrily. “You didn’t see his face. He was nearly destroyed when he heard that you took her away. That alone would be unforgivable but coming after my wife as well? Surely you don’t think we’d overlook that?”
Aro lifted his head, his eyes now glittering angrily. “And that is your problem, child. You place sentiment in front of everything else. You handicap yourselves with emotion. This is why you could never lead our people.”
Edward threw up his hands. “We don’t want to lead anyone, Aro. We just want to be left alone. Why can’t you understand that?”
“Because I am not a fool, like you apparently are,” Aro hissed. “Don’t you see what you have standing next to you? You know what she can do. How can you even think about throwing that all away? Nobody in their right mind would. You would have come for me eventually, I had to strike first.”
“We were never coming for you, Aro,” I spoke quietly and all heads turned my way. “I have no interest in using my power for my own gain. If anything, I want to use it to help people.”
“Help people? Human people? Our lunch?” Aro let out a disbelieving laugh. “Surely you can’t be serious. You wouldn’t waste such a gift on humankind! Why were you gifted with an ability so great when you won’t use it?”
“I will use it, just not the way you want me to,” I informed him.
“This is why you need to join me, Isabella. You lack imagination. I can show you so much more. I can help you live up to your potential. I can give you the world, you’ve only to say yes and take it,” he told me, his eyes burning into mine.
“Aro,” Marcus intoned. “I think perhaps it is time to cut your losses. Clearly, the Cullen’s have no plans to join us, nor do they plan on usurping our power. There has never been a bond stronger than theirs, which you well know. Let them go in peace.” Finally, one of them listened to reason.
“Brother, I cannot let such an incredible gift be ignored. It means too much to me…to us.”
Edward flashed a triumphant smile. “To you, you mean.” He turned to Marcus. “What your dear brother is leaving unsaid is that he has every intention of using Bella’s power for his own gain, even at your expense. You don’t plan on continuing to share control with Caius and Marcus, do you Aro?”
Aro didn’t even bat an eyelash. “I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about. My brothers mean the world to me.”
Marcus glanced at Aro and then at Edward. “I hold no illusions as to my brother’s thirst for power. Nothing surprises me anymore.” His voice held no inflection; he may as well have been discussing the weather. “Tell them where their mother is, brother, so that they can return home where they belong.”
“No, Marcus, the location of Esme is the only thing still holding them here. It’s the only power I have left. Therefore, we shall need to work on some sort of compromise.”
Edward regarded the elder vampire with unabashed amusement. “Such as?”
“You and Bella and your entire family, if you wish, will stay here for a month or two and help me with something that has been plaguing me for centuries. After you do that, you may leave and I will never both you again.”
“What specifically do you want help with?”
Aro frowned. “That is not your concern.”
“Oh, but it very much is, Aro. We will agree to nothing blindly.” I watched Edward in awe, his confidence and strength were extremely intoxicating.
“Fine then,” Aro waved a hand airily. “There are two very old vampires that continue to attempt to overthrow me.” He glanced at Marcus. “Us,” he corrected himself. “They’re Romanians and feel that they are the rightful leaders in our world. Vladimir and Stefan,” he spat their names like they were a curse word. “Help me remove them and you’ll never hear another peep out of me.”
Edward smiled at me. “What do you think, Bella? Does that sound like a good deal?” He squeezed my hand gently.
“Not really,” I responded. “I mean, it seems to me that we’re the ones in control now, yet he’s still trying to make deals.”
Aro chuckled. “I’m the one who has your mother.”
“I wouldn’t be too sure of that,” Edward told him with a small smile. “I’m pretty confident our brothers and sisters have found her by now.”
“How can you be so sure?” Aro asked, his eyebrows rising inquisitively. “They have a lot of space to cover and you’ve only been here for a short time. Make things easier on yourselves, agree and you can all be reunited without any hassle.”
“He can be sure because we’re here,” a familiar voice boomed from the doorway. “Bro, Little Sis, looks like you have things under control. Shall we go back to the plane and wait for you there?” Emmett’s voice was full of amusement and joy. I breathed a sigh of relief; he wouldn’t be so boisterous if anything was wrong with Esme or the rest of our family. I wanted to turn and look at him, at all of them, but I was loathe to turn my back on Aro, even though I still had control of all of them.
Edward had no such qualms, turning his back on the Volturi and greeting our family. “Esme, you’re okay?” He opened his arms and she ran into them. I couldn’t contain the smile that spread over my face at the sight of her. Then those arms were wrapped around me, holding me in that perfect hug that only Esme could give.
“Thank you, dear. I knew you’d come for me,” she whispered, squeezing me tightly and then moving to stand on my right, her hand immediately enveloped in Carlisle’s. He was glaring down at Aro, who watched him impassively.
“As you can see,” Edward told Aro, “we haven’t any need for your assistance in finding our mother.” Edward glanced at Jasper, standing to left. “Did you have any trouble at all?”
Jasper grinned. “Who, us? I have more trouble hauling Alice away from the mall than we did with Caius and company.” He turned that smile on Aro. “I’m really quite sorry to inform you that your newest toy is broken and burning in a cabin in the woods. You’ll have to try to find some other way to neutralize us, if you can.”
“How did you find them so easily?” Aro asked, his voice frosty with rage.
“Why, your man led us right to them,” Jasper drawled, amusement in his tone.
“What man? None of my guard would be so blind as to not notice you…” he broke off as understanding dawned on his withered face. “You?” he asked me.
“I made Felix take them straight there,” I told him; there was no point in keeping that a secret now.
Aro closed his eyes. “Your gift…” he whispered. “The things I could do with it.” His voice was bereft, as if he’d lost a beloved family member instead of just potential power. It didn’t surprise me that he’d react like that. “And what of my brother and Felix?”
“They joined Haides in the fire,” Jasper told him. There were several angry hisses from the Volturi, Jane and Demetri were particularly loud, but Aro and Marcus had no physical reaction whatsoever. One woman, I presume she was Caius’ wife, let out a loud, angry wail.
“It seems I underestimated you and your peaceful tendencies,” Aro told Jasper, his red eyes boring into Jasper’s golden ones.
“I thought I made it clear when you visited us that I was more than ready to make the fight physical,” Jasper responded, leaning forward with glittering black eyes. “We did what we had to do. Your brother tried to bargain for his life, offering us power and riches, as if we have need of either. Of course, you’re here doing the same thing, aren’t you? You truly are two peas in a pod. Both of you underestimated us. He paid with his life. Do you want to do the same?” His voice was challenging and threatening all at once.
“I’d rather not,” Aro told him, not sounding remotely intimidated. He turned his head to look at me. “Well, it seems you have bested me, for now. Someday, Isabella, you will start to crave more. Playing house with your husband and the rest of them won’t be enough for you. You will want power and position. When that day comes, return to Volterra and I will take you in with open arms. I will overlook this defiance, for as your husband rightly pointed out, I brought this on myself by acting in haste. I will be waiting for you, because one day you will come to your senses.”
Rosalie snorted behind me. “Oh yeah, Bella is real power hungry Aro. Don’t hold your breath waiting for her. Well actually, go ahead and do that, it won’t kill you, unfortunately.”
“I hope to see you again someday soon,” Aro told me dismissively, waving a hand as if we were just going to leave and let that be that.
Edward chuckled. “Do you really think we’re going to walk away and pretend this never happened, Aro? Wait blithely for the next time you figure out a way to strike at us? I know you think we’re foolish, but surely you don’t think that we’re that stupid.”
For the first time, Aro’s face wrinkled in mild concern. “What do you plan on doing, Edward? Your lovely wife could hold us here indefinitely I suppose but then you’re stuck here as well. Isn’t it best we just go our separate ways, peacefully?”
“You don’t know anything about peace, Aro,” his voice, when he finally spoke, was strong and confident. Carlisle stepped forward and stared right into his former friend’s face. “You came after my family. You took my wife. You’re trying to take my daughter away from me. Even the most peaceful man is incapable of overlooking that.”
Some emotion flickered in Aro’s eyes but was quickly blinked away. “Carlisle, dear friend, I know that you’re angry with me and you have every right to be. But you must know it was never my intention to harm your beloved wife. I didn’t touch a hair on her head. I would never do that to you. As soon as Isabella came and took her place at my side, I was going to return her to you, just as I took her, completely unharmed.”
“You took her from me, Aro,” Carlisle’s voice shook with barely suppressed anger. “You know just how long I waited for her, how lonely I was. You, my supposed friend. I can’t, I won’t, forgive that.”
Aro nodded slowly. “That is perfectly understandable. I am sorry to lose your friendship, I have always valued it.” Emmett snorted now while Alice let out a tinkle of laughter at Aro’s audacity to say such a thing.
“You have lost a lot more than that. You lost your brother and two members of your guard. You’ve also lost my respect. I no longer recognize you as any kind of leader. I will continue to live my life the way I want to and there is nothing you can do about it,” Carlisle told him, stepping back and taking Esme into his arms.
“I am still your sovereign, Carlisle. Just because you chose to turn your back on our lifestyle doesn’t mean that you don’t abide by the same rules that govern us all.”
“I will keep our secret; you have nothing to fear there. I just will not recognize you as any kind of leader. The Volturi no longer exist to me, unless you come calling again. And if you do, so help me, you won’t walk away with only a few men lost.” My jaw nearly dropped at the warning in Carlisle’s tone. He had been pushed too far it seemed.
“Will you kill me now, then?” Aro asked, his voice taunting. “Because you know that I am not going to forget this disrespect. You may have the advantage now but you can’t guarantee that you’ll always have it. There’s another Haides out there somewhere, just waiting for me to come along and offer him the world. You may as well take me now, while Isabella has me defenseless, because I won’t be for long.” The menace in his tone sent shivers down my spine.
“I don’t kill defenseless beings, Aro, that’s your forte. Bella has something even better planned for you,” Carlisle told him, placing a hand on my shoulder and giving it a gentle squeeze of support.
“And what might that be, Isabella?” Aro asked, his voice dripping with venom.
It was strange that I was getting butterflies in my stomach now, when I had my whole family here to help and support me. I guess it was because now I was really going to be testing myself. “Alice?” I asked, hoping the plan that Jasper and Edward had come up with was clear to her now.
“Yes, Bella, it will work!” she told me excitedly, bouncing next to Jasper.
“What will work?” Aro demanded, slamming a hand down on his chair and causing the arm to splinter open.
“Let’s go to the back of the room,” I suggested, wanting to make sure we were out of range for what I had planned.
Aro laughed sardonically. “So your plan is just to leave? How very terrifying.”
I narrowed my eyes at him and gripped Edward’s hand tighter as we took our places near the door. “You can do it,” he whispered to me, confidence clear in his tone.
I focused in on Alec’s power source, the lower left of his brain, and pushed it out toward the rest of the Volturi. Slowly, a mist began to creep away from Alec and swirl around the coven, rendering them completely immobile and senseless. “Alice, you’re sure?”
“Yes, Bella, you will have plenty of time.”
“If they start to surface, I’ll pull on your arm and you and Edward will exit the mind so you can do it again,” Jasper informed me. I let more of Alec’s power wash over them all, sending more mist floating around them.
“Okay, Edward, are you ready? We’ll just go from left to right, starting with Jane and ending with Aro,” I told him. He nodded and squeezed my hand. I opened my mind to him and he opened his to me. I wanted to bathe in the feeling that swam through me as we became one like this. The connection was incredible. But I couldn’t take the time to enjoy it now. Together Edward and I connected into Jane’s unbelievably dark mind. Her memories were filled with glee over the torture she had inflicted upon others over the years. She disgusted me and I was glad I had taken her power away.
Together we sorted through her memories quickly, taking away this instance first, as it was the freshest in her mind. Edward flipped through the various strands, pulling out the ones involving us the first time we came to Volterra. Forget, I told her, watching as the memory curled upon itself and withered away. We found a couple of instances where she had heard Aro talk of us and of Carlisle and removed those as well. She didn’t have much of a history with us and we were done very quickly.
Alec’s memories were identical to that of his twin’s, they were rarely apart. We found and disposed of them quickly. Aro and Caius’ wives took a little more time, as they had been around when Carlisle lived in Volterra. I wanted to smile over the fact that Carlisle over two hundred years ago was very much the same he was now, peaceful and caring. I had to be ruthless, though, and take even pleasant memories away. For Caius’ wife, I left her with the only gift I could give. Your husband is on a long trip, he will return at some unknown time. She didn’t need to know he was dead, though maybe that was less cruel, I didn’t really know.
Chelsea, Heidi and Renata were both fairly recent acquisitions to the Volturi and also only held the same memories of us as Jane and Alec did, although Renata had several conversations with Aro that the others were not privy to. She was there as he formulated his plan to kidnap one of us and bring the rest of us running. So it hadn’t been Esme in particular they were after, just whomever they could get alone. We took those conversations as well as Edward flipped through images and conversations like he was turning the pages of a book.
I had no idea how long we were taking as we flipped from mind to mind but I trusted that my family would pull me out if they needed me. Demetri’s mind contained a bit more than the others, since he was there for the kidnapping and spent many hours alone with Esme and Aro. I wanted to rage at the fear on Esme’s face in his mind, at the taunting she had endured from the three vampires as they flew over to Italy. Now was not the time. Edward grabbed the memories for me and I made them vanish.
A new mind came into my awareness. I wasn’t sure how but there was someone else there. I opened to it and realized that Emmett had brought Gianna into the room. She would have been the last one we had to get past and now we didn’t have to worry about taking care of her while the others awoke. We quickly entered her mind and it was far less convoluted than that of the vampires. Edward and I erased our two visits, which was all she knew of us. She wasn’t exactly part of Aro’s inner circle.
Finally there were only two left and they were the two with the longest memories. We entered Marcus’ mind first. I started with the newest ones and we worked our way back. I felt a little sad removing his memory of Edward’s and my love for one another upon our first meeting. I could feel the strength of our bond through his gift and I wanted to bask in it but I knew better. I ruthlessly cut it off and sorted through Carlisle’s time in Volterra. We went all the way back to when a nearly broken Carlisle showed up on their doorstep. I breathed a sigh of relief. We were finished with him.
Are you ready? I asked Edward, more than a little daunted at the task still remaining. I felt slightly tired from the informational overload.
I am, love, can you handle one more?
Yes, it’s just that saving the hardest for last might not have been the smartest plan.
I felt his chuckle moving through me, as if I were the one laughing. It was a beautiful feeling. If we started with him, we probably would have been too worn out to do the rest. We can do this, love. Together we can do anything.
I took a deep breath and we slipped inside Aro’s mind. I could feel the anger pulsing at me, no wonder he and Jane got along so well, their minds were very similar, he was just in more control of expressing his emotions than she was. We quickly erased our current interaction and slowly wove our way through Aro’s plans for getting me here, his joy in finding out my power, his visit to us in New Hampshire, his interest in my future after our first trip…it was a little daunting to see just how much of his mind had been filled with me. I shuddered and continued through his memories of Edward and I during our first visit, Edward’s begging for the end of his life…I let out a little sob at that memory. Bella, love, it’s okay. It didn’t happen and we’re together now, forever.
I know; it’s just hard to see again. It had been Marcus’ mind as well and I’d done my best to ignore it, but I couldn’t overlook it twice. I locked it away, to deal with later. I also had to remove all of Edward’s and Alice’s memories, including the vision of me as a newborn vampire and every precious moment Edward and I had together. It would have been impossible for me to take them if I didn’t have them for myself, as it was I was glad to take back our private feelings and memories for our own. I yanked them out of his head angrily.
We continued on, taking out small visits Carlisle had made, conversations they’d had on the phone. They really had been friends, discussing philosophy and religion with a passion and respect. We continued down through Carlisle’s actual time living there. There were too many memories to count. We just worked through them and worked through them until, finally, they were all gone.
Is that it? Edward asked me.
No, we have to do one more thing.
What?
We have to make sure that he never finds out about us again. I can’t control if someone mentions us but I can stop him from reading us in the minds of others.
You mean you’re going to take his power away?
I have to. We hadn’t discussed this in detail but I thought I could do to him just what I’d done to Jane. Only I wanted to be absolutely sure he never found out about us again and there was only one way to do that. Just a little longer, Edward, I reassured him, taking us out of his memories and into his center of power. Forget, I ordered over and over as we moved through this complex part of his mind. Just like with his memories, though, his ability to control his power faded away. I paused before leaving his mind and found I could no longer feel it pulsing away at me like before. Aro could no longer take anyone else’s memories and make them his own.
We exited and I opened my eyes, feeling slightly unsteady on my feet as I held onto Edward. “Is everything okay?” I asked anxiously, glancing over to the front of the room where the mists were still swirling around the Volturi.
“Absolutely. Somehow you managed to keep control of Alec despite what you were doing,” Jasper told me. Relief swept over me.
“Did you do it?” Emmett demanded.
“Yes,” I answered.
“Not only that, she made sure that Aro can’t ever find us in anyone else’s mind either.”
“How?” Jasper wondered.
“She made him forget his power, took it right out of his head.”
“Brilliant,” he told me, giving me a tight hug.
“Alice?” I asked. I still needed the reassurance.
She threw her arms around me. “It worked, Bella, stop being such a worrywart. Now can we go home?”
“Please, let’s,” Carlisle said, giving me a hug when Alice released me.
I sent another dose of swirling mist from Alec and kept directing the word forget behind me as we made our way through the tunnels and out into the balmy Italian night.
Edward slipped his hand in mine as we ran back to Pisa, wanting to leave Volterra behind as quickly as possible. “I’m so proud of you,” he told me, a soft smile on his handsome face. “What you did back there was amazing.”
“What we did back there was amazing,” I corrected him. “I’m not half as strong without you.”
He laughed, freely and happily. The sound rang through me like a bell. “The same goes for me without you, love.”
We arrived at the plane and piled inside quickly. Carlisle told us all to sit down, even Rose and Emmett who were supposed to fly the plane. “I just have to say one thing and then we can go. I’ve lived a very long life and I hope to live a lot longer, but I know I’ll never be as happy or as proud as I am today. What you did, what you all did, to get Esme back and gain our freedom, is beyond incredible. I love you and I’m grateful that each and every one of you is part of my family.”
“We’re just as grateful that you made us a part of it,” Rose told him softly, emotion welling in her eyes.
“Let’s go home and enjoy our lives, free of fear,” Carlisle said. Rose nodded and she and Emmett hurried to start up the plane. Esme and Carlisle cuddled into one another’s sides and began to whisper softly. Alice and Jasper did the same in the back of the plane.
I looked at Edward and he looked at me, love and pride shining in his eyes. “I love you,” he murmured, pressing a soft kiss to my lips.
“I love you, too,” I told him, resting my head on his shoulder and closing my eyes, content in the fact that for the first time since we met, nothing was hanging over our heads. We had our entire lives ahead of us and I looked forward to every second.
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