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BPOV

Something wasn't right. I knew it before I opened my front door, but I'd trained for this. I knew better than to pause my footing. Instead, I kept my feet moving up the stairs and onto my porch as if nothing was amiss, but my eyes roamed from left to right and took in every detail they could. It wasn't just instinct that I was relying on, although that was sending all kinds of warning bells my way, but the plants in front of the door were moved. The weather in this shitty town wasn't good for much, but in this case, it helped clue me in. The rings that the pots had left on the weathered wood didn't line up with the placement, and it was either a sign that whoever was here was either in a hurry or careless. They obviously knew very little about Jasper and I if they thought that we'd keep a spare key under a potted plant.

If Aro hadn't been the man who raised me, I may have let my guard down, may have been over confident and stepped inside without worrying. The negligence and idiocy of the entire act would lead most to believe that if there were someone inside my house, that they were no real threat to me. Yet, Aro did raise me, and the man was nothing if not thorough when it came to training. My guard stayed up, and when my hand came down on the door handle, my eyes flashed to the upper corner of the porch awning. I waited a beat, and then a second. Nothing. Fuck.

Jasper and I had wired the entire place with cameras the moment we moved in, and while most would never notice the pinprick of light that was a constant, steady flicker in that dark corner, I knew what to look for. The cameras were offline.

I'd paused for too long already, so my key slid into the lock and turned with ease, my heartbeat slowing in anticipation as I turned the knob and pushed it open. Washington was a cold place to live, and my jacket easily hid the movement of my hand as I reached into my sleeve and palmed a throwing knife. Rule number two: Always be prepared.

My feet were loud against the wood flooring, but my ears strained to listen for any noise that went beyond myself. My keys landed in the bowl beside me, and I shut the door behind me without turning around. Normal, Bella. Act Normal.

Well, normally I'd be taking off my coat, but that would leave me at a disadvantage should someone decide to make a move. Swallowing, I decide that it's a risk I need to take, if only for the fluid movement that the absence of my coat would allow. I move quickly, my fingers clenched tightly around the steel handle of my blade the entire time, but in lieu of hanging up the damn thing, I drape it over the hallway table and glance around.

Nothing. There was no noise, no movement that I could pinpoint. Flipping the lock on the door, I look at the ugly clock that Jasper hung on the wall directly across from the front door. No little red dot. My free hand slips into my back pocket and pulls out my phone as I make my way towards the living room, my fingers flying over the keys before the device is slipped back against my ass and I silently let loose a sigh of relief. Whatever happened now, Jasper would be listening, and he was the only person I trusted to do what needed to be done. Hell, he was the only person I trusted, period.

I round the corner to the living room and my wrist is immediately snared in someone's grasp, my arm slammed up against the wall and the knife nearly knocked from my fingers. If I were any less prepared, I'd be disarmed, but my grip remains firm and my leg comes up to throw my attacker off balance. It doesn't work as well as I need it to, so I snap my head forward and ignore the pain that flares across my head as I collide with someones face. A muttered profanity has the knife falling from my hand and clattering to the floor, the fight leaving my body as I'm pinned against the wall. His face hovers in front of mine, the anger in his eyes evident, but I'm not naive enough to think that I'd win this fight, nor am I stupid enough to try. He thinks I should be surprised to see him, but I'm not.

"Fuck. You're getting good at that, Isabella. You might've been able to get the upper hand."

Scoffing, I resist the urge to smirk at the blood dripping down his face. "Alec. Why are you always so opposed to knocking?"

He lifts a brow and releases his grip on me, his hand going up to feel his nose. I hope I broke it. It would serve him right. "I've got to keep you on your toes, Is. I heard your plan to woo Carlisle's kid failed. I thought maybe you lost your charm."

"It didn't fail, Alec. Carlisle sent me into this shitfest knowing exactly what would happen. If I had to guess, Edward passed whatever test this was supposed to be. I'm just a pawn. You should be familiar with the feeling."

When Carlisle had proposed his plan, I'd balked at the suggestion of seducing his son into a lifelong commitment. Joining the family shouldn't be taken lightly by anyone, and the thought of tricking someone into doing so, disgusted me. I didn't understand why Carlisle would need to resort to such drastic measures to begin with, but it was never my place to question him. If he was half the man he claimed to be, he could form a relationship with his son and it would negate any need for my involvement all together, but telling him that would be just as effective as pulling the trigger myself.

It wasn't until Uncle Aro sat me down and told me that I had no choice in the matter that I'd gone along with this ridiculous plan. I didn't trust Carlisle. I never had, but I agreed to do what I was told to do. I'd lived what felt like my entire life waiting to pledge myself to the Volturi, and if this is what it took, then I'd do it. I owed Aro that much. I had never been able to tell the man no, and he knew it.

When I was seven, I had a ballet rehearsal in Seattle. It was the first one that my Dad could attend, but we never made it to the studio. A guy with a few too many swigs of whiskey and an eighteen wheeler under his control wasn't paying attention and in the blink of an eye, my happy little family was taken from me. I was in the back seat, buckled in and dazed from the collision, but even now I can remember that night with startling clarity.

I had tear tracks down my cheeks and no matter how hard I screamed, my mom wouldn't turn around to check on me. Her head was bent at an odd angle and there was glass everywhere, the headlights from another vehicle illuminating the tiny little shards in her hair. They looked like glitter. I managed to unbuckle my seatbelt, and when I crawled between my parents and shook my dad's shoulder, his head rolled towards me. One word left his lips before the blood in his mouth made it impossible to talk.

"Aro."

Seconds later I was pulled from the car, and no amount of kicking or screaming would get anyone to let me see my parents again. It was hours, maybe even days, later that I listened to my father. I was in a room with a police officer and a lady with a badge around her neck. It had tiny, little pink flamingos up and down the ribbon, and I stared at them while the police officer talked. My father hated cops, so I didn't want to listen to anything that lady had to say. If Dad didn't like them, neither did I. Instead, I gave the flamingos names and pulled the blanket that someone draped around my shoulders, a little tighter. It smelled like old people, but it was warm and it hid my blood stained tutu from sight.

"…any relatives. She comes from a large family, there has to be someone that will take her."

My head snapped up and I looked at the flamingo lady's face for the first time. "Uncle Aro. Call my Uncle Aro." That's what my father had meant, wasn't it?

I spent that night in a hospital bed. Concussion, they had said. I was lucky, they had said. I'd lost everything, and I certainly didn't feel very lucky. These people, these officers and nurses and that stupid flamingo lady who had an answer for everything even though I asked her nothing, they were all stupid. It was the first thing I told Uncle Aro when he showed up the next day. He was in a suit, as he always was, a blood red tie hanging from his neck. He got down on one knee in front of me and grabbed my hand, a strange look in his eyes. "My dear. They said you're asking for me, but I'm afraid I can't help."

"You must. Daddy said so. I'll do whatever you need, Uncle Aro. I won't be a bother."

And so began my deal with the leader of The Volturi. Aro agreed to take me, but he'd warned me that I wouldn't have a normal childhood. He'd given me a choice. I could come with him, do things I probably wouldn't want to do, or go with the flamingo lady.

I knew what Charlie did, or at least I knew that he killed people sometimes. My choice came without any real contemplation at all. My father's last word to me was Aro's name, so it was an easy choice to make. He wouldn't tell me to go with Aro if it wasn't where he wanted me.

I'd been a good kid, but my easy life changed the night my parents died. There were no more hugs, no more teddy bears to keep me company while I slept or ballet lessons on the weekends. Instead, I was homeschooled by a lady who never smiled but taught me how to hide weapons underneath my clothing. Alec beat me to shit on a daily basis, and I practiced hand to hand combat with him until I could take down Jasper without even trying. My ballet skills, what little I had of them, were put to use when soft footing came into play, and I learned my way around more weapons than I could count.

If I were being honest, Alec was more of a presence in my life than Aro was, but at the end of the day, they were one and the same. Alec was Aro's right hand man, and regardless of our camaraderie, he would always be loyal to his boss.

Alec scowls at me and wipes the blood from his face as I push off of the wall and snatch my knife off of the floor. The sound of a key sliding into the lock has both of our heads turning towards the front door, and Jasper swaggers in with that look of ease that he always has. Alec rolls his eyes and makes himself at home by taking up residence on the couch, but my eyes are locked with Jaspers. He's silently asking if I'm alright as he makes his way towards us, and I blink once, letting him know that I am. His lips lazily turn up at the corner and his eyes flick towards Alec as his hand slips into my back pocket and pulls out my phone. Hitting the end button, Jasper drops a kiss to my cheek and slides it back into place.

Jasper was the only person who knew me as both the girl I was before my parents died and the girl I was now. We'd been shoved together for formal functions for as long as I could remember, and Aro tolerated his presence because of the ties his family had with The Volturi, but he and Alec had never gotten along. Alec had all but demanded that I have nothing to do with him as a child, but it was one of the few times that my defiance paid off. Aro was fine with it, so Alec had no choice but to tolerate my friendship.

Friendship. That's all it was, despite how much enjoyment Jay got out of it by pretending otherwise in Alec's presence. He found it endlessly amusing to irritate my mentor, as Aro liked to call him.

"What brings you by, Alec?" Jasper casually rests his weight against the armchair beside me. He'd never sit down with Alec in the room if he could avoid it.

"Isabella and I need to talk. It's of no concern to you."

Exhaling in aggravation, I throw myself down into the chair Jasper is leaning against and throw him a look. I wasn't in the mood for games today; I had enough shit to deal with without them.

"Alec. Cut the shit. Why are you here?" Alec taps his fingers against his knee for a few moments before responding. He had picked up his penchant for theatrics from Aro, but unlike Aro, he could never hold out for long.

"Aro isn't happy with Carlisle at the moment. It seems they made an arrangement and he wasn't entirely honest about his son. Your Uncle wants reports from now on, directly to him, about Edward Cullen. It seems you're going to have to find a way to get closer to the boy some way or another, Isabella. If Carlisle comes to you for any reason, you're to let me know immediately and give him nothing of value. Is that understood?"

Gritting my teeth, I nod. I knew something like this was coming. Edward knew much more than Carlisle had led me to believe, and I have no doubt that he'd done the same to Aro. Alec stands, and Jasper shifts his weight in response.

"Isabella? There are no more limits. No more rules. Do what you see as necessary." Before I can respond, Alec is out the backdoor. No more limits? Did they want me to kill Edward?

I didn't think so, but it was clear that I had permission to do so if I uncovered something that posed a threat to Aro. One thing was certain; Edward Cullen had just gotten a hell of a lot more interesting. What did he know that Aro considered a threat?

Jasper shakes his head and lets out a low whistle. "I don't trust him, B."

A let out a soft laugh and move to turn the surveillance feed back online. "Rule number one, Jasper. Trust no one."

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Sorry for the slow update on this one, guys. There isn't a set schedule for chapter updates on this story, but it's been a few weeks. The puppet master was getting married and the holidays have been keeping her preoccupied. Reviews make her write faster though! Enjoy!