this tale, you are
mistaken. We may all be destroyed"—he shrugged—"but then again, maybe not. Perhaps we are on
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more equal footing than they know. Perhaps the Volturi have finally met their match. I promise you this,
though—if we fall, so do you."
He ended his heated speech by stepping back to Kate's side and then sliding forward in a half-crouch,
prepared for the onslaught.
Aro smiled. "Avery pretty speech, my revolutionary friend."
Garrett remained poised for attack. "Revolutionary?" he growled. "Who am I revolting against, might I
ask? Are you my king? Do you wish me to call you master, too, like your sycophantic guard?"
"Peace, Garrett," Aro said tolerantly. "I meant only to refer to your time of birth. Still a patriot, I see."
Garrett glared back furiously.
"Let us ask our witnesses," Aro suggested. "Let us hear their thoughts before we make our decision. Tell
us, friends"—and he turned his back casually on us, moving a few yards toward his mass of nervous
observers hovering even closer now to the edge of the forest—"what do you think of all this? I can
assure you the child is not what we feared. Do we take the risk and let the child live? Do we put our
world in jeopardy to preserve their family intact? Or does earnest Garrett have the right of it? Will you
join them in a fight against our sudden quest for dominion?"
The witnesses met his gaze with careful faces. One, a small black-haired woman, looked briefly at the
dark blond male at her side.
"Are those our only choices?" she asked suddenly, gaze flashing back to Aro. "Agree with you, or fight
against you?"
"Of course not, most charming Makenna," Aro said, appearing horrified that anyone could come to that
conclusion. "You may go in peace, of course, as Amun did, even if you disagree with the council's
decision."
Makenna looked at her mate's face again, and he nodded minutely.
"We did not come here for a fight." She paused, exhaled, then said, "We came here to witness. And our
witness is that this condemned family is innocent. Everything that Garrett claimed is the truth."
"Ah," Aro said sadly. "I'm sorry you see us in that way. But such is the nature of our work."
"It is not what I see, but what I feel," Makenna's maize-haired mate spoke in a high, nervous voice. He
glanced at Garrett. "Garrett said they have ways of knowing lies. I, too, know when I am hearing the
truth, and when I am not." With frightened eyes he moved closer to his mate, waiting for Aro's reaction.
"Do not fear us, friend Charles. No doubt the patriot truly believes what he says," Aro chuckled lightly,
and Charles's eyes narrowed.
"That is our witness," Makenna said. "We're leaving now."
She and Charles backed away slowly, not turning before they were lost from view in the trees. One
other stranger began to retreat the same way, then three more darted after him.
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I evaluated the thirty-seven vampires that stayed. A few of them appeared just too confused to make the
decision. But the majority of them seemed only too aware of the direction this confrontation had taken. I
guessed that they were giving up a head start in favor of knowing exactly who would be chasing after
them.
I was sure Aro saw the same thing I did. He turned away, walking back to his guard with a measured
pace. He stopped in front of them and addressed them in a clear voice.
"We are outnumbered, dearest ones," he said. "We can expect no outside help. Should we leave this
question undecided to save ourselves?"
"No, master," they whispered in unison.
"Is the protection of our world worth perhaps the loss of some of our number?"
"Yes," they breathed. "We are not afraid."
Aro smiled and turned to his black-clad companions.
"Brothers," Aro said somberly, "there is much to consider here."
"Let us counsel," Caius said eagerly.
"Let us counsel," Marcus repeated in an uninterested tone.
Aro turned his back to us again, facing the other ancients. They joined hands to form a black-shrouded
triangle.
As soon as Aro's attention was engaged in the silent counsel, two more of their witnesses disappeared
silently into the forest. I hoped, for their sakes, that they were fast.
This was it. Carefully, I loosened Renesmee's arms from my neck.
"You remember what I told you?"
Tears welled in her eyes, but she nodded. "I love you," she whispered.
Edward was watching us now, his topaz eyes wide. Jacob stared at us from the corner of his big dark
eye.
"I love you, too," I said, and then I touched her locket. "More than my own life." I kissed her forehead.
Jacob whined uneasily.
I stretched up on my toes and whispered into his ear. "Wait until they're totally distracted, then run with
her. Get as far from this place as you possibly can. When you've gone as far as you can on foot, she has
what you need to get you in the air."
Edward's and Jacob's faces were almost identical masks of horror, despite the fact that one of them was
an animal.
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Renesmee reached for Edward, and he took her in his arms. They hugged each other tightly.
"This is what you kept from me?" he whispered over her head.
"From Aro," I breathed.
"Alice?"
I nodded.
His face twisted with understanding and pain. Had that been the expression on my face when I'd finally
put together Alice's clues?
Jacob was growling quietly, a low rasp that was as even and unbroken as a purr. His hackles were stiff
and his
teeth exposed.
Edward kissed Renesmee's forehead and both her cheeks, then he lifted her to Jacob's shoulder. She
scrambled agilely onto his back, pulling herself into place with handfuls of his fur, and fit herself easily into
the dip between his massive shoulder blades.
Jacob turned to me, his expressive eyes full of agony, the rumbling growl still grating through his chest.
"You're the only one we could ever trust her with," I murmured to him. "If you didn't love her so much, I
could never bear this. I know you can protect her, Jacob."
He whined again, and dipped his head to butt it against my shoulder.
"I know," I whispered. "I love you, too, Jake. You'll always be my best man."
A tear the size of a baseball rolled into the russet fur beneath his eye.
Edward leaned his head against the same shoulder where he'd placed Renesmee. "Goodbye, Jacob, my
brother… my son."
The others were not oblivious to the farewell scene. Their eyes were locked on the silent black triangle,
but I could tell they were listening.
"Is there no hope, then?" Carlisle whispered. There was no fear in his voice. Just determination and
acceptance.
"There is absolutely hope," I murmured back. It could be true, I told myself. "I only know my own
fate."
Edward took my hand. He knew that he was included. When I said my fate, there was no question that
I meant the two of us. We were just halves of the whole.
Esme's breath was ragged behind me. She moved past us, touching our faces as she passed, to stand
beside Carlisle and hold his hand.
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Suddenly, we were surrounded by murmured goodbyes and I love you's.
"If we live through this," Garrett whispered to Kate, "I'll follow you anywhere, woman."
"Now he tells me," she muttered.
Rosalie and Emmett kissed quickly but passionately.
Tia caressed Benjamin's face. He smiled back cheerfully, catching her hand and holding it against his
cheek.
I didn't see all the expressions of love and pain. I was distracted by a sudden fluttering pressure against
the outside of my shield. I couldn't tell where it came from, but it felt like it was directed at the edges of
our group, Siobhan and Liam particularly. The pressure did no damage, and then it was gone.
There was no change in the silent, still forms of the counseling ancients. But perhaps there was some
signal I'd missed.
"Get ready," I whispered to the others. "It's starting."
38. POWER
"Chelsea is trying to break our bindings," Edward whispered. "But she can't find them. She can't feel us
here. . . ." His eyes cut to me. "Are you doing that?"
I smiled grimly at him. "I am all over this."
Edward lurched away from me suddenly, his hand reaching out toward Carlisle. At the same time, I felt
a much sharper jab against the shield where it wrapped protectively around Carlisle's light. It wasn't
painful, but it wasn't pleasant, either.
"Carlisle? Are you all right?" Edward gasped frantically.
"Yes. Why?"
"Jane," Edward answered.
The moment that he said her name, a dozen pointed attacks hit in a second, stabbing all over the elastic
shield, aimed at twelve different bright spots. I flexed, making sure the shield was undamaged. It didn't
seem like Jane had been able to pierce it. I glanced around quickly; everyone was fine.
"Incredible," Edward said.
"Why aren't they waiting for the decision?" Tanya hissed.
"Normal procedure," Edward answered brusquely. "They usually incapacitate those on trial so they can't
escape."
I looked across at Jane, who was staring at our group with furious disbelief. I was pretty sure that,
besides me, she'd never seen anyone remain standing through her fiery assault.
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It probably wasn't very mature. But I figured it would take Aro about half a second to guess—if he
hadn't already—that my shield was more powerful than Edward had known; I already had a big target on
my forehead and there was really no point in trying to keep the extent of what I could do a secret. So I
grinned a huge, smug smile right
at Jane.
Her eyes narrowed, and I felt another stab of pressure, this time directed at me.
I pulled my lips wider, showing my teeth.
Jane let out a high-pitched scream of a snarl. Everyone jumped, even the disciplined guard. Everyone
but the ancients, who didn't so much as look up from their conference. Her twin caught her arm as she
crouched to spring.
The Romanians started chuckling with dark anticipation.
"I told you this was our time," Vladimir said to Stefan.
"Just look at the witch's face," Stefan chortled.
Alec patted his sister's shoulder soothingly, then tucked her under his arm. He turned his face to us,
perfectly smooth, completely angelic.
I waited for some pressure, some sign of his attack, but I felt nothing. He continued to stare in our
direction, his pretty face composed. Was he attacking? Was he getting through my shield? Was I the only
one who could still see him? I clutched at Edward's hand.
"Are you okay?" I choked out.
"Yes," he whispered.
"Is Alec trying?"
Edward nodded. "His gift is slower than Jane's. It creeps. It will touch us in a few seconds."
I saw it then, when I had a clue of what to look for.
A strange clear haze was oozing across the snow, nearly invisible against the white. It reminded me of a
mirage—a slight warping of the view, a hint of a shimmer. I pushed my shield out from Carlisle and the
rest of the front line, afraid to have the slinking mist too close when it hit. What if it stole right through my
intangible protection? Should we run?
A low rumbling murmured through the ground under our feet, and a gust of wind blew the snow into
sudden flurries between our position and the Voituri's. Benjamin had seen the creeping threat, too, and
now he tried to blow the mist away from us. The snow made it easy to see where he threw the wind, but
the mist didn't react in any way. It was like air blowing harmlessly through a shadow; the shadow was
immune.
The triangular formation of the ancients finally broke apart when, with a racking groan, a deep, narrow
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fissure opened in a long zigzag across the middle of the clearing. The earth rocked under my feet for a
moment. The drifts of snow plummeted into the hole, but the mist skipped right across it, as untouched by
gravity as it had been by wind.
Aro and Caius watched the opening earth with wide eyes. Marcus looked in the same direction without
emotion.
They didn't speak; they waited, too, as the mist approached us. The wind shrieked louder but didn't
change the course of the mist. Jane was smiling now.
And then the mist hit a wall.
I could taste it as soon as it touched my shield—it had a dense, sweet, cloying flavor, it made me
remember dimly the numbness of Novocain on my tongue.
The mist curled upward, seeking a breach, a weakness. It found none. The fingers of searching haze
twisted upward and around, trying to find a way in, and in the process illustrating the astonishing size of
the protective screen.
There were gasps on both sides of Benjamin's gorge.
"Well done, Bella!'7Benjamin cheered in a low voice.
My smile returned.
I could see Alec's narrowed eyes, doubt on his face for the first time as his mist swirled harmlessly
around the edges of my shield.
And then I knew that I could do this. Obviously, I would be the number-one priority, the first one to die,
but as long as I held, we were on more than equal footing with the Volturi. We still had Benjamin and
Zafrina; they had no supernatural help at all. As long as I held.
Tm going to have to concentrate," I whispered to Edward. "When it comes to hand to hand, it's going to
be harder to keep the shield around the right people."
"I'll keep them off you."
"No. You have to get to Demetri. Zafrina will keep them away from me."
Zafrina nodded solemnly. "No one will touch this young one," she promised Edward.
"I'd go after Jane and Alec myself, but I can do more good here."
"Jane's mine," Kate hissed. "She needs a taste of her own medicine."
"And Alec owes me many lives, but I will settle for his," Vladimir growled from the other side. "He's
mine."
"I just want Caius," Tanya said evenly.
The others started divvying up opponents, too, but they were quickly interrupted.
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Aro, staring calmly at Alec's ineffective mist, finally spoke.
"Before we vote," he began.
I shook my head angrily. I was tired of this charade. The bloodlust was igniting in me again, and I was
sorry that I would help the others more by standing still. I wanted to fight.
"Let me remind you," Aro continued, "whatever the council's decision, there need be no violence here."
Edward snarled out a dark laugh.
Aro stared at him sadly. "It will be a regrettable waste to our kind to lose any of you. But you especially,
young Edward, and your newborn mate. The Volturi would be glad to welcome many of you into our
ranks. Bella, Benjamin, Zafrina, Kate. There are many choices before you. Consider them."
Chelsea's attempt to sway us fluttered impotently against my shield. Aro's gaze swept across our hard
eyes, looking for any indication of hesitation. From his expression, he found none.
I knew he was desperate to keep Edward and me, to imprison us the way he had hoped to enslave
Alice. But this fight was too big. He would not win if I lived. I was fiercely glad to be so powerful that I
left him no way not to kill me.
"Let us vote, then," he said with apparent reluctance.
Caius spoke with eager haste. "The child is an unknown quantity. There is no reasonto allow sucha risk
to exist. It must be destroyed, along with all who protect it." He smiled in expectation.
I fought back a shriek of defiance to answer his cruel smirk.
Marcus lifted his uncaring eyes, seeming to look through us as he voted.
"I see no immediate danger. The child is safe enough for now. We can always reevaluate later. Let us
leave in peace." His voice was even fainter than his brothers' feathery sighs.
None of the guard relaxed their ready positions at his disagreeing words. Caius's anticipatory grin did
not falter. It was as if Marcus hadn't spoken atall.
"I must make the deciding vote, it seems," Aro mused.
Suddenly, Edward stiffened at my side. "Yes!" he hissed.
I risked a glance at him. His face glowed with an expression of triumph that I didn't understand—it was
the expression an angel of destruction might wear while the world burned. Beautiful and terrifying.
There was a low reaction from the guard, an uneasy murmur.
"Aro?" Edward called, nearly shouted, undisguised victory in his voice.
Aro hesitated fora second, assessing this new mood warily before he answered. "Yes, Edward? You
have something further… ?"
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"Perhaps," Edward said pleasantly, controlling his unexplained excitement. "First, if I could clarify one
point?"
"Certainly," Aro said, raising his eyebrows, nothing now but polite interest in his tone. My teeth ground
together; Aro was never more dangerous than when he was gracious.
"The danger you foresee from my daughter—this stems entirely from our inability to guess how she will
develop? That is the crux of the matter?"
"Yes, friend Edward," Aro agreed. "If we could but be positive… be sure that, as she grows, she will be
able to stay concealed from the human world—not endanger the safety of our obscurity …" He trailed
off, shrugging.
"So, if we could only know for sure," Edward suggested, "exactly what she will become… then there
would be no need for a council at all?"
"If there was some way to be absolutely sure," Aro agreed, his feathery voice slightly more shrill. He
couldn't see where Edward was leading him. Neither could I. "Then, yes, there would be no question to
debate."
"And we would part in peace, good friends once again?" Edward asked with a hint of irony.
Even more shrill. "Of course, my young friend. Nothing would please me more."
Edward chuckled exultantly. "Then I do have something more to offer."
Aro's eyes narrowed. "She is absolutely unique. Her future can only be guessed at."
"Not absolutely unique," Edward disagreed. "Rare, certainly, but not one of a kind."
I fought the shock, the sudden hope springing to life, as it threatened to distract me. The sickly-looking
mist still swirled around the edges of my shield. And, as I struggled to focus, I felt again the sharp,
stabbing pressure against
my protective hold.
"Aro, would you ask Jane to stop attacking my wife?" Edward asked courteously. "We are still
discussing evidence."
Aro raised one hand. "Peace, dear ones. Let us hear him out."
The pressure disappeared. Jane bared her teeth at me; I couldn't help grinning back at her.
"Why don't you join us, Alice?" Edward called loudly.
"Alice," Esme whispered in shock.
Alice!
Alice, Alice, Alice!
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"Alice!" "Alice!" other voices murmured around me.
"Alice," Aro breathed.
Relief and violent joy surged through me. It took all my will to keep the shield where it was. Alec's mist
still tested, seeking a weakness—Jane would see if I left any holes.
And then I heard them running through the forest, flying, closing the distance as quickly as they could
with no slowing effort at silence.
Both sides were motionless in expectation. The Volturi witnesses scowled in fresh confusion.
Then Alice danced into the clearing from the southwest, and I felt like the bliss of seeing her face again
might knock me off my feet. Jasper was only inches behind her, his sharp eyes fierce. Close after them
ran three strangers; the first was a tall, muscular female with wild dark hair—obviously Kachiri. She had
the same elongated limbs and features as the other Amazons, even more pronounced in her case.
The next was a small olive-toned female vampire with a long braid of black hair bobbing against her
back. Her deep burgundy eyes flitted nervously around the confrontation before her.
And the last was a young man… not quite as fast nor quite as fluid in his run. His skin was an impossible
rich, dark brown. His wary eyes flashed across the gathering, and they were the color of warm teak. His
hair was black and braided, too, like the woman's, though not as long. He was beautiful.
As he neared us, a new sound sent shock waves through the watching crowd—the sound of another
heartbeat, accelerated with exertion.
Alice leaped lightly over the edges of the dissipating mist that lapped at my shield and came to a sinuous
stop at Edward's side. I reached out to touch her arm, and so did Edward, Esme, Carlisle. There wasn't
time for any other welcome. Jasper and the others followed her through the shield.
All the guard watched, speculation in their eyes, as the latecomers crossed the invisible border without
difficulty. The brawny ones, Felix and the others like him, focused their suddenly hopeful eyes on me.
They had not been sure of what my shield repelled, but it was clear now that it would not stop a physical
attack. As soon as Aro gave the order, the blitz would ensue, me the only object. I wondered how many
Zafrina would be able to blind, and how much that would slow them. Long enough for Kate and Vladimir
to take Jane and Alec out of the equation? That was all I
could ask for.
Edward, despite his absorption in the coup he was directing, stiffened furiously in response to their
thoughts. He controlled himself and spoke to Aro again.
"Alice has been searching for her own witnesses these last weeks," he said to the ancient. "And she does
not come back empty-handed. Alice, why don't you introduce the witnesses you've brought?"
Caius snarled. "The time for witnesses is past! Cast your vote, Aro!"
Aro raised one finger to silence his brother, his eyes glued to Alice's face.
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Alice stepped forward lightly and introduced the strangers. "This is Huilen and her nephew, Nahuel."
Hearing her voice… it was like she'd never left.
Caius's eyes tightened as Alice named the relationship between the newcomers. The Volturi witnesses
hissed amongst themselves. The vampire world was changing, and everyone could feel it.
"Speak, Huilen," Aro commanded. "Give us the witness you were brought to bear."
The slight woman looked to Alice nervously. Alice nodded in encouragement, and Kachiri put her long
hand on the little vampire's shoulder.
"I am Huilen," the woman announced in clear but strangely accented English. As she continued, it was
apparent she had prepared herself to tell this story, that she had practiced. It flowed like a well-known
nursery rhyme. "A century and a half ago, I lived with my people, the Mapuche. My sister was Pire. Our
parents named her after the snow on the mountains because of her fair skin. And she was very beautiful
—too beautiful. She came to me one day in secret and told me of the angel that found her in the woods,
that visited her by night. I warned her." Huilen shook her head mournfully. "As if the bruises on her skin
were not warning enough. I knew it was the Libishomen of our legends, but she would not listen. She
was bewitched.
"She told me when she was sure her dark angel's child was growing inside her. I didn't try to discourage
her from her plan to run away—I knew even our father and mother would agree that the child must be
destroyed, Pire with it. I went with her into the deepest parts of the forest. She searched for her demon
angel but found nothing, i cared for her, hunted for her when her strength failed. She ate the animals raw,
drinking their blood. I needed no more confirmation of what she carried in her womb. I hoped to save
her life before I killed the monster.
"But she loved the child inside her. She called him Nahuel, after the jungle cat, when he grew strong and
broke her bones—and loved him still.
"I could not save her. The child ripped his way free of her, and she died quickly, begging all the while
that I would care for her Nahuel. Her dying wish—and I agreed.
"He bit me, though, when I tried to lift him from her body. I crawled away into the jungle to die. I didn't
get far—the pain was too much. But he found me; the newborn child struggled through the underbrush to
my side and waited for me. When the pain ended, he was curled against my side, sleeping.
"I cared for him until he was able to hunt for himself. We hunted the villages around our forest, staying to
ourselves. We have never come so far from our home, but Nahuel wished to see the child here."
Huilen bowed her head when she was finished and moved back so she was partially hidden behind
Kachiri.
Aro's lips were pursed. He stared at the dark-skinned youth.
"Nahuel, you are one hundred and fifty years old?" he questioned.
"Give or take a decade," he answered in a clear, beautifully warm voice. His accent was barely
noticeable. "We don't keep track."
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"And you reached maturity at what age?"
"About seven years after my birth, more or less, I was full grown."
"You have not changed since then?"
Nahuel shrugged. "Not that I've noticed."
I felt a shudder tremble through Jacob's body. I didn't want to think about this yet. I would wait till the
danger was past and I could concentrate.
"And your diet?" Aro pressed, seeming interested in spite of himself.
"Mostly blood, but some human food, too. I can survive on either."
"You were able to create an immortal?" As Aro gestured to Huilen, his voice was abruptly intense. I
refocused on my shield; perhaps he was seeking a new excuse.
"Yes, but none of the rest can."
A shocked murmur ran through all three groups.
Aro's eyebrows shot up. "The rest?"
"My sisters." Nahuel shrugged again.
Aro stared wildly for a moment before composing his face.
"Perhaps you would tell us the rest of your story, for there seems to be more."
Nahuel frowned.
"My father came looking for me a few years after my mother's death." His handsome face distorted
slightly. "He was pleased to find me." Nahuel's tone suggested the feeling was not mutual. "He had two
daughters, but no sons. He expected me to join him, as my sisters had.
"He was surprised I was not alone. My sisters are not venomous, but whether that's due to gender or a
random chance… who knows? I already had my family with Huilen, and I was not interested*—he
twisted the word—"in making a change. I see him from time to time. I have a new sister; she reached
maturity about ten years back."
"Your father's name?" Caius asked through gritted teeth.
"Joham," Nahuel answered. "He considers himself a scientist. He thinks he's creating a new super-race."
He made no attempt to disguise the disgust in his tone.
Caius looked at me. "Your daughter, is she venomous?" he demanded harshly.
"No," I responded. Nahuel's head snapped up at Aro's question, and his teak eyes turned to bore into
my face.
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Caius looked to Aro for confirmation, but Aro was absorbed in his own thoughts. He pursed his lips and
stared at Carlisle, and then Edward, and at last his eyes rested on me.
Caius growled. "We take care of the aberration here, and then follow it south," he urged Aro.
Aro stared into my eyes for a long, tense moment. I had no idea what he was searching for, or what he
found, but after he had measured me for that moment, something in his face changed, a faint shift in the
set of his mouth and eyes, and I knew that Aro had made his decision.
"Brother," he said softly to Caius. "There appears to be no danger. This is an unusual development, but I
see no threat. These half-vampire children are much like us, it appears."
"Is that your vote?" Caius demanded.
"It is."
Caius scowled. "And this Joham? This immortal so fond of experimentation?"
"Perhaps we should speak with him," Aro agreed.
"Stop Joham if you will," Nahuel said flatly. "But leave my sisters be. They are innocent."
Aro nodded, his expression solemn. And then he turned back to his guard with a warm smile.
"Dear ones," he called. "We do not fight today."
The guard nodded in unison and straightened out of their ready positions. The mist dissipated swiftly, but
I held my shield in place. Maybe this was another trick.
I analyzed their expressions as Aro turned back to us. His face was as benign as ever, but unlike before,
I sensed a strange blankness behind the fagade. As if his scheming was over. Caius was clearly incensed,
but his rage was turned inward now; he was resigned. Marcus looked… bored; there really was no other
word for it. The guard was impassive and disciplined again; there were no individuals among them, just
the whole. They were in formation, ready to depart. The Volturi witnesses were still wary; one after
another, they departed, scattering into the woods. As their numbers dwindled, the remaining sped up.
Soon they were all gone.
Aro held his hands out to us, almost apologetic. Behind him, the larger part of the guard, along with
Caius, Marcus, and the silent, mysterious wives, were already drifting quickly away, their formation
precise once again. Only the three that seemed to be his personal guardians lingered with him.
"I'm so glad this could be resolved without violence," he said sweetly. "My friend, Carlisle—how
pleased I am to call you friend again! I hope there are no hard feelings. I know you understand the strict
burden that our duty places on our shoulders."
"Leave in peace, Aro," Carlisle said stiffly. "Please remember that we still have our anonymity to protect
here, and keep your guard from hunting in this region."
