Chapter Text
Bella POV:
Warm light filtered onto my skin through the window. I wanted to keep sleeping, but the heat was making me antsy. It took me a few moments to realize where I was. I wasn’t used to the heat, not since I had lived in Phoenix as a child. I wasn’t in Forks at all.
“Good morning.” Edward’s dreamy voice whispered.
I flipped around, feeling the ache of my muscles and my head still pounding from the previous day, as I tried to reach for Edward with my braced hand, pain shot through the bone, forcing a sound out of my mouth.
“Easy.” He chided, easily slipping his hands around me, cooling my bare skin.
As I woke up more, I marveled at the rainbows dancing on the ground from the sun bouncing off his skin. All the while, he played with my hair. It felt so good to be with him that it ached, like pressing on a healing bruise. Our bodies seemed to come together like they were carved for each other.
“How do you feel?” He finally asked. I looked up at his golden eyes, and it made my heart sing to know that he was functioning at a hundred percent, no need to torture himself.
I smiled, allowing myself a moment of respite. I knew there were loose ends, I knew I would have to explain myself to everyone, I knew I would have to call Charlie and explain, but I was intent on enjoying the moment, no matter how fleeting. “I’m so happy.”
He looked as if he could cry. “Me too. More than I knew was possible.”
I placed my hand on his face, which was now normal, but the image of his emaciated face gaunt from a lack of blood, completely still, haunted me. I pressed a kiss to his cheek. I never wanted his eyes to be anything but a perfect golden color. I never wanted Aro near him ever again.
And for the first time, I considered the unthinkable. I had been able to save Edward as a human, though we nearly didn’t make it out. If I had been a vampire, I could have protected him. If my suspicions were correct and I was a shield like Yema, I could control it, project it, and protect the people that I love.
“How are you, though, physically?” He pressed.
I did a mental check of my body. “Sore, a bit of a headache, I suppose. And I’m not thrilled with this.” I said, holding up my braced wrist. It was an ugly navy blue, and the fabric chaffed my skin.
“You only have to wear it for a few weeks.” He said with a smile, though I could tell there was something more he was thinking about. His eyes flickered back and forth a few too many times to be a coincidence.
“Who's here?” I asked, trying to be quiet, even though I knew every vampire in a 50-foot vicinity could hear my heart beating.
“Everyone.” He said matter-of-factly. “It's too sunny to be out.”
“Oh.” I hoped that I hadn’t said anything in my sleep. But before I could be too embarrassed about that, my stomach growled, which was even audible to me.
“You should eat.” He said plainly. “What would you like?”
My heart rate spiked; it was embarrassing being the only human with human needs. “Wait, wait, can we talk? I want to know everything.” I pleaded.
“Bella.” He chided. “You need to keep your strength up.”
“I just- I want to know what's going on.” It wasn’t a lie. “Then I’ll eat okay?”
That seemed to satisfy him. I didn't want to make him unhappy. I promised myself I would eat what he put in front of me until we were back home and settled.
“What do you want to know?” He asked. I felt guilty; his discomfort was obvious. I felt like I had manipulated him into talking about something he wasn’t comfortable with just so he would ensure that I ate. I didn’t deserve him.
I buried my face against his shoulder. “Whatever you want to tell me.” I hoped that would remedy the situation.
“Well...”
Edward POV:
It wouldn’t be easy to talk, but being so close to her, running my hand up and down her arm helped a little to soothe the feelings that were bubbling to the surface.
“We captured Victoria, and after she was executed, they took us. Yema…he’s a shield like you, but he can project his powers, it’s his “gift.” In combination with Alec’s powers, which robs the victim of all 5 senses, and Jane’s powers, which induce the illusion of unfathomable pain in the mind- ”
I felt Bella flinch next to me at my mention of Jane. “Did she?” The look of horror on Bella’s face made me regret being so detailed. Of course, I knew all too well how torturous Jane’s gift was, but she deserved to know the truth.
I nodded slowly. “All of us were subdued until we were safely in the dungeon at the bottom of Volterra. Aro wanted Alice and me separated from everyone else. It has always been his intention to make us a part of his collection of desiccated vampires with unique gifts for him to study and dissect and show off to his friends. I just never thought he would attempt to do so when we were attached to such a large coven.”
“Desiccated.” She asked slowly, her hands were wrapped tightly around my midsection as if I would fly away.
“It takes a few months for a vampire to dry out. We still require blood for our muscles to move; that's why we need to drink it, but once it's dried up, we sort of shut down. That was his intention anyway; it is what he has done in the past.” The smell of dessicated corpses still lingered in my nostrils, and I would not soon forget it. “He visited us every few days. Yema’s shield kept us trapped, so Aro would come and try to convince us to willingly join them and escape desiccation. Jane, of course, used her own persuasion methods. Aro had grown frustrated with our stubbornness.” Her hands wrapped somehow tighter around me. “I suppose he realized we wouldn’t budge and left us to dry out. You sort of go numb after a while, it's not as painful towards the end.”
I had left things out of course to spare Bella, who I knew was already in a fragile mental state. I didn’t want to upset her more than necessary. The fact that Alice’s screams as Jane had her way with her were just as bad as my own torture sessions or that I retained a bit of consciousness in my desicated state, trapped, unable to move or speak. I shuddered to think of how long those others had been there…were still there. I vowed to get them out as soon as I was able, and Alice wanted to as well.
“And then, I tasted your blood, sweet nectar that brought me back to life. Thank you for saving me.” I pulled her onto my lap and cradled her close. Emmett and Rosalie had filled me in with their thoughts, showing up at the hospital to get her, and how different she looked from the last time they saw her.
She had hid her face in my shirt, she was shaking, sort of vibrating.
“Bella!” I said, alarmed, worried, there was something wrong. But I soon realized she was crying from the squeaks that she let out. “Bella. Ssshhh.” I never could anticipate her reactions. It must have been a shock. “It’s okay.”
“I’m sorry.” She blubbered.
I almost laughed at the absurdity of her apology. Somehow, she believed she should apologize for the things that happened when she was the one who allowed us to escape at her own expense. She let me drink her blood. I would forever be in debt to her.
“Promise me that you’ll stay as far away from Aro and Jane as possible. I don’t want you anywhere near them.” She managed to say between sobs.
“Okay.” I was putty in her hands, Alice and I would devise a way to get the rest out. “I promise.”
I wanted to know what she had been through, but I knew her well enough not to stir up those feelings before she was going to eat. She needed to eat, I could sense her blood sugar dropping by the minute. But I allowed her a few minutes to compose herself, and of course, I was never opposed to cuddling in bed with her. I had missed her warmth so much, the softness of her skin was soothing and her scent burned my throat, but was so comforting, sweet, and floral and familiar.
I tuned out the thoughts of the others in the next room as best I could so I could stay in the moment with her, enjoy the bouquet, if you will.
“I’m such a mess.” She whispered, her tears having dried on her skin, though her cheeks were still pink and hot.
“I’ll give you a pass this time.” I joked.
She smiled, making my frozen heart melt. She took a deep breath. “How about breakfast?”
“Excellent idea.” I beamed, relieved. “The hotel breakfast is still on.” It was too much of a risk to go outside to be seen; we had the advantage of being able to dwell in places vampires would normally go for fear of slaughtering a large group of people, not very inconspicuous. Yema was being rather restrained. Most vampires believe themselves to be out of control because often we are encouraged by our creators or older vampires to give over to instinct, but it is not as difficult to resist as most think. It gets easier with practice as well. Plus, it was a sunny late summer day in Italy.
“Okay.” She chirped. “But you’ll have to come with me.”
I donned my hoodie, complete with a baseball hat. I didn’t need to go so far as putting gloves on; it was easy enough to avoid the sunbeams coming through the windows, and it was more of a precaution. I helped her wrap a robe around herself, trying to avoid her wincing too much, her muscles were still sore, of course, and would be for a few days. I tried to scoop her up into my arms, but she protested and squirmed out of my grasp, planting her feet onto the ground.
“Just hold onto me.” She said, clutching my hand. “I always have to make my grand entrance, don’t I?” She cringed, whispering under her breath.
I only smiled and led her through the doors to the sitting area. They all were able to hear us, but most of them kept up the charade of being surprised that she was up. Alice was pretending to read an Architectural Digest magazine. Esme was pretending to have a conversation with Jas and Emmett. The only ones who didn’t seem to want to play along were Rosalie, Yema, and Carlisle. Of course, Calrisle’s mind was a maze of medical terms which I could easily tune out.
{She looks a bit better.} Rosalie thought, seeing Bella in a less-than-ideal state had made her nervous. She wouldn’t even admit it herself, but she was growing attached to Bella like the rest of the family. Her golden eyes caught mine, I could even pick up on a ghost of a smile forming.
Bella seemed to find a way to trip over her feet as we walked the first few steps, but caught her before she got near the ground.
{Still clumsy as ever, that’s a good sign.} Alice thought, looking up from her magazine, reminding herself to be slow with her movements. The abundance of blood in her system made her giddy.
I looked to Bella to make sure that she was alright, but her head was crooned to the side, staring at Yema, who was staring back at her.
How could I have forgotten? I couldn’t read his mind, I couldn’t hear him because his shield was up. It was purposeful. What was he hiding? I instinctively pulled Bella in closer to me. There was no telling what he was capable of, especially when none of our powers worked on him. Or I assumed they didn't.
{Easy Edward.} Jas commented. I realized my teeth were clenched and venom was pooling in my mouth. {He’s like Bella. He’s different.}
Yema was as beautifully, repulsively, intimidating as any vampire, but there seemed to be a kindness in his face that, for some reason, led me to believe that Jas was right.
{Don’t worry, Edward, he may be immune to you wackos, but we still have the numbers and the strength. He wouldn’t be here if he was going to try anything.} Emmett added. He was right.
“Your eyes,” Yema said, taking me by surprise. I was used to anticipating what people were going to say. But it was frustrating to only hear what they decided to say. It was familiar, though.
He was speaking directly to Bella. She looked at me warily.
“Orange and yellow.” He said again, slowly. “Like fire.”
“Yours are green and blue,” Bella said.
It made my head spin to be without their inner thoughts. Their connection to each other was tangible.
“But you’re human, right?” He asked.
“As far as I know.” She joked. I was frantically trying to read both of their expressions to no avail.
He tried to conceal his smile.
{Strange, these two.} Carlisle thought. {I’ve never…} “I think Bella should go and get something to eat, it’s been a long couple of days. We can all talk when she’s done eating.”
“Of course,” Yema replied almost immediately. “Forgive me, I don’t spend much time around humans.” He was still talking directly to Bella.
A strange feeling twisted in my chest.
“No problem. I-I’ll talk to you later.” She said, still unable to tear her eyes away from him.
I tried to distract myself from the mix of feelings brewing in my body by composing a couple of plates of food for Bella. I took a little bit of everything, taking more of the things that I knew were most nutritious. Eggs, bacon, sausages, a waffle with syrup, an assortment of Italian pastries, fruits, yogurt, juice, milk, and a bowl of sugary chocolate cereal.
As I approached our table with everything balanced in my hands, her eyebrows came together before she forced a smile, I was sure for my sake.
“That’s a lot of food.” She said quietly.
“I didn’t know what you like, and plus it needs to look like we both are going to eat. Eat whatever you want.” I said, placing the plates on the table and sitting down across from her.
She smiled and took a few slow, methodical bites of the eggs. She looked up at me with blushing cheeks. I had been staring at her as she ate.
“Sorry.” I looked away, reminding myself to fidget and make my chest move in and out to appear as though I was breathing. The dining room was not crowded, just a family sitting on the other side and the hostess. The family's thoughts were mostly concerned with making sure the baby wasn’t fussing, so it was easy to ignore.
“You can’t read his mind either, can you?” She asked in between bites.
“No,” I answered quickly. “It's almost as frustrating to not be able to read your mind.”
“So I guess shields aren’t so rare, are they?”
“I think it’s rather irregular. This situation.” I took a fork from the table and began to move the food around on the plate in front of me. “What did you mean by your eyes?”
“Um. I don’t really know… it's hard to explain. This like this sheen that shifts from blue to green over his eyes. It was on the bars of the dungeon, too. And when I touched it, I felt him sense me sort of. I think he sees orange and yellow on me.” She said, processing as she said. “Have you met any other shields?”
Met was a strong term; I had come across a few, but never could confirm that they were shields or just had quiet minds. “I’ve never spoken to any before. Sometimes people’s minds take a while to figure out, so I’m not even sure they were shields.”
“Why do you think he wants to be here?” She said after sipping the juice.
“For you.” It was obvious to me. “Alice has spoken a bit to him, though he’s not so forthcoming, but I don’t think he’s met anyone like him before.”
“But I’m a human.” She said matter-of-factly.
“If it's as rare as we believe, I don’t think it matters.”
She chewed deeply in thought. “Won’t they come after him? Aro and his…collection.” She seemed to have difficulty saying it.
“I’m not sure. I don’t think Alice has seen anything.”
“We should go back to Washington soon, though. To get you away from them.” She looked concerned.
“Don’t worry. We’re arranging it. I want you to focus on getting better.” I grabbed her fingers gently as best I could, avoiding the cast.
She nodded. “Okay, but we can go. I can go today if we need to.”
“We’ll be here for a couple of days yet.”