Title: The Guard (Re-Post 2/22/2018)
Category: Books » Twilight
Author: Spudzmom
Language: English, Rating: Rated: M
Genre: Drama/Romance
Published: 07-09-16, Updated: 07-22-16
Chapters: 5, Words: 16,448
Chapter 1: Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot and any original characters therein. No copyright infringement intended.

.

.

Chapter 1

Volterra, Italy - St. Marcus Day - Volturi Throne Room

"So, the question is, my dear Isabella, what do we do with you now?" Aro drawled, hands clasped under his chin as one pale index finger ran lazily over his lower lip.

"You already know what you're going to do," the blond brother intoned, his pale brows drawn in a deep glare as he watched Aro prowl in front of the trembling human.

Aro smiled wolfishly, his thoughts racing as his red gaze cut to the kneeling mind-reader clutched in Felix's iron hold.

In all honesty, he did not want to destroy the obviously gifted human. Shields were rare, after all, and to display such power, even as a weak human—well, he knew she would be incredibly powerful should she be turned.

Still, even with the threat of her death looming, the stubborn mind-reader remained reticent about changing the girl. 'Such a pity,' he thought with a sigh as he turned on his heel to grasp the girl's chin, his grin stretching to cheshire-like proportions as she flinched.

Leaning forward, he ran his nose from her collarbone to her ear, taking in the full potency of her alluring scent. The action had the desired effect on his thoughts and instincts, and he secretly smiled against her skin as the mind-reader growled and the little psychic gasped.

With a shiver of anticipation, he parted his lips and his fangs descended as his body prepared to feed.

"Wait!" the seer's shrill voice sliced through the tension in the room. "Please, wait! She'll be changed! I've seen it. I'll change her myself if I have to."

Aro backed away from the panting, terrified human, his thirst-darkened gaze darting to Demetri. He nodded and Demetri released his grip on the psychic's neck.

She peeled off her glove and offered her hand. "Look and see."

He grasped her hand and fell into her visions of the girl as an immortal. Her eyes were red and shining as she ran through the woods, all human imperfections burned away by the venom of their kind. She was beautiful, like all their kind, but that hardly interested him.

Despite what the little psychic and the mind-reader thought, Aro wasn't stupid. He knew the seer's visions were subject to the decisions made by others which meant they could change as those decisions changed. Consequently, this was a situation that merited close scrutiny. He would see to it.

"Demetri, Felix, escort our guests to the waiting area. I would have a private word with Isabella before they leave."

Felix dragged the mind-reader to his feet before releasing the hold on his neck while shoving him toward the doors. "Bella?" the mind-reader rasped.

She waved off his concern with a shaking hand. "It's fine, Edward. Just go. I'll be fine."

Felix pushed him out the doors and Alice followed while Demetri brought up the rear.

The doors closed with a heavy, echoing thud, and Aro turned to the girl, eyeing her for a long moment before stating, "He does not want to change you."

Her hands wrung together and she gave a jerky nod. "I know."

"That is unacceptable."

She met his piercing red gaze. "I understand."

He gave her a smile that did not touch the cold finality in his eyes. "Then you understand, if they do not change you within an acceptable amount of time, that we will?"

She swallowed heavily. "Yes, I—I do, but…I would ask one small concession, if I may?"

His eyes narrowed even as his smile stayed in place. "What would you ask of me, sweet Isabella?"

"Allow me these next few months with my father, just until I graduate? Then, I'll be ready."

"Aro, this is ridiculous!" Caius scoffed. Without turning, Aro stayed further protests with a raised hand.

"I will allow it, on one condition." Her breath caught and held and he continued. "You will contact me the minute they change their minds. If there is the barest hint that they will not follow through and change you, I want to hear it, do you understand?"

She nodded. "I understand and agree."

"Do you have a cellular phone, my dear?"

With brows furrowed, she slipped it from her pocket. "I do."

He held out his hand. "May I?"

She handed it to him and he quickly entered his contact information before handing it back. She arched a brow as she looked at it. "Uncle Vittorio?"

He flapped a hand. "Yes, yes…how do they say these days? Just roll with it?"

Despite the nerves still wracking her body, her brows shot up and she bit back an incredulous laugh.

"Don't look so shocked. It can get boring here. I watch TV.

"Now, it will be dark soon," he said as he tucked her hand into the crook of his arm to walk her to the doors. "You should be on your way." He stopped, kissed her knuckles and handed her off to the posted guard. "Alec, be a gem and see Isabella to the waiting area. Remind them not to leave until sundown. And for the sake of the gods and decent people everywhere, get the idiot mind-reader a proper shirt."

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Groaning at the feel of cold lips on her cheek, Bella rolled over and clutched her pillow while pulling the blankets over her head. "Five more minutes," she grumbled.

The dulcet tones of a light laugh met her ears just as the comforting darkness of the blankets disappeared. "I would leave you to it, love, but my dear sister is expecting us at the house in thirty minutes, remember?"

She groaned again and shot a frown at him over her shoulder. "I'm trying not to."

"Bella, you know these decisions need to be finalized. They're the last details of the wedding and our input is vital."

She sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed. "When I agreed to this, I was told all I needed to do was show up. What happened to that?"

His eyes narrowed, though his crooked smirk remained. "Keep this up love, and I'm going to think you don't really want to marry me."

She glanced at the massive ring on her finger and stifled a grimace before rising to grab her toiletries bag. "Don't be ridiculous," she said without looking at him. "Now shoo while I get ready for the day."

He hopped off the bed and kissed her forehead on his way out the door. "I'll go make your breakfast." She nodded and sighed heavily as he called back over his shoulder, "Alice said to wear the skirt and blouse she hung at the center of your closet. She said you'd know which shoes to pair with the outfit."

With a scowl, she entered the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.

Twenty minutes later, she entered the kitchen, taking a seat at the table just as Edward slid a plate in front of her. "What would you like to drink, love?"

"Water," she grumbled before forking a bite of eggs into her mouth. They were delicious, but then, she'd come to expect nothing but perfection from anything her vampire family did. It got to where she was gleefully anticipating the day where they managed to fuck something up. So far, their record was nauseatingly spotless.

"Something wrong?" he asked while gracefully lowering himself into the adjacent chair, having already cleaned the entire kitchen.

She swallowed and shook her head. "Nope."

He frowned. "You seem…down…not your usual self." He reached over and grasped her free hand. "Love, please talk to me."

She sighed heavily and placed her fork on the plate, finally meeting his earnest, golden gaze. "Edward, I've held up my end of the bargain, but every time I bring up my change, you deflect. I need a solid answer from you. I need a date."

"I told you, we'll discuss it when we get back from our honeymoon." He raised her hand to his lips, ghosting a kiss over her fingers while staring through his lashes. "We have all the time in the world, love. No need to rush."

She nearly growled. "Edward, the Volturi…"

He did growl. "I'm sure, now that the mess with Victoria is taken care of, we barely register on their radar. They have better things to do than worry about what we're doing. It will be years before they think to check up on us. Besides, with my gift, if need be, I can stay well ahead of them, even if they do have a talented tracker."

She frowned. "Stay ahead of them?! That wasn't the agreement! They let us go on the condition I would be changed, and soon."

"And you will be," he crooned while cupping her cheek and staring into her eyes. "But I don't want to think of that right now." He kissed her lips, a heavy gust of his sweet breath wafting over her face just as she inhaled. She blinked as her features relaxed, her thoughts now distant and somehow unimportant. He leaned back, a satisfied smile curling his lips. "You only get married once, Isabella. Let's enjoy it and put off all the unpleasantness until afterward, hmm?"

"All right," she nodded woodenly. "Whatever you say."

"There's my beautiful fiancée," he drawled. "Now, let's go, love. Alice is waiting."

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Bella tilted her spoon, the tiny cheerio corralled within splashing down into the milk in her bowl as she stared, her thoughts consumed with her future.

It had been a week since she'd been to Edward's house to finalize wedding details, and she was still no closer to pinning Edward down to a date for her change.

Every time she brought it up, he seemed to talk his way around it with smiles, chaste kisses, and smoldering looks. The thing that bothered her about that the most was she never could hold her own in those arguments. For some reason, she always seemed to cave and it wasn't until later, after she'd been left to her own devices for a while, that such instances would creep up to bother her.

It was almost as though…

The buzzing of her phone startled her out of her thoughts and she dug it out of her pocket and answered. "Yes Alice?"

"Bella!" the seer greeted brightly. "Want some company? I'm bored since everyone else went to hunt, and besides, this'll be a great time for us to talk with no one to eavesdrop."

Bella's brow pinched at how Alice's tone had gone from bright to serious during the course of one sentence. This was going to be an important conversation, she could feel it. "Yeah, Alice, come on over."

"Be there in ten!"

She pocketed her phone and took her bowl to the sink, dumping it and washing it absently as she wondered what Alice wanted to talk about.

She'd thought it strange that Edward hadn't insisted she stay at his house while he went hunting this week. He usually always insisted on a 'babysitter' for her during those times, but that was back when Victoria was a threat and Jacob was still speaking to her—back when she still had friends and wasn't totally isolated.

Now though, it seemed almost as if he was trying to distance her from his family too. Every time she'd suggested going to his house to hang out, he'd declined with some excuse or another. It was bizarre and making her feel uneasy for some reason.

She'd just placed the bowl and spoon in the dish drain when she heard a knock at the front door. "Come in Alice, it's open," she said while drying her hands on a towel. She grabbed a bottled water from the fridge and took a seat at the table just as Alice walked in.

The seer grinned and set a box on the table while sliding gracefully into a chair. "Cannoli from that new little bakery in town. I know you love them and I also know my asshole brother refused to buy you some."

Bella grinned and lifted one from the box, moaning happily as she bit into it. "Oh god, Alice, this has to be better than sex," she mumbled around the mouthful of sinful, cream-filled pastry.

Alice smirked and arched a brow. "Not that you'd know," she said dryly.

Bella glared. "Don't remind me. But, bless you, all the same," she said with a smirk before licking some cream from her fingers.

She finished up the pastry and sat back with a satisfied sigh. "God, that was good. Now, what did you want to talk about—and if you mention the wedding, I swear to all that's holy—bringer of the cannoli or no—I'll find a way to end you."

Alice bit back a snort. "I don't doubt it, but no, it's not the wedding I came to talk about." Her features pulled into a frown while her fingers tapped a rhythm on the table. "I don't know any easy way to say this, so I'm just gonna come out with it." She met Bella's gaze and Bella nodded slowly.

"O…kay. What is it? Have you seen something?"

Alice leaned forward and took her hand. "Sweetie, I've seen some disturbing visions lately. They change and alternate, like he's changing his mind to muddle my visions on purpose, but the gist of the scary ones is that he's planning to take you and run after the wedding."

Bella's breath left her in a gusty rush. "Take me where?"

Alice shook her head. "The places are always different and there are never any landmarks, so I can't place any of them."

"Any idea why he would do such a thing?"

Alice took a long few moments before meeting her gaze, her golden eyes swimming with sadness. "Yes, and if you think about it, I'm sure you could come up with one too."

Cold seeped through Bella's veins as the two stared at each other. "He still doesn't want to change me, and he's going to try to stop anyone else from changing me either."

Alice nodded. "Yes and with his gift, even Demetri, the Volturi tracker, would have a hell of a time pinning him down. Of course, the fact that he's traveling with a human will slow him down, but still, he's got the funds to run for a very long time, and I'm talking funds that aren't tied to the Cullen accounts."

"So even if Carlisle cut him off…"

Alice shook her head. "Wouldn't matter. He's set financially for centuries if he's smart about it."

Pain lanced through Bella at the thought of such a betrayal. Despite everything, she still loved him and she'd hoped he'd deliver on his promises. It was this part of her that prompted her next question. "How sure of this are you?"

Alice sighed and rubbed her temples. "I'm not. I mean, I can't be because he's always changing his damn mind. To be fair, I see more of his plans for your honeymoon and return trip home than I see these other visions, so, could I be wrong? Yes, I could be. There's just no way to know for sure until his mind settles. The scary visions could just be from thoughts he's having during moments of insecurity." She met Bella's gaze. "You know the anguish he's always felt about 'damning' you to this life. Still, I thought it only fair to let you know."

Bella felt a rush of affection for her best friend and she smiled sadly. "Can you keep him out of your head, at least until I've had some time to think about this?"

"I'll try, Bella. I'll do my best."

"And you'll let me know if something changes?"

"I will."

She leaned forward and hugged her future sister. "Thanks Alice, for everything."

"You're welcome, now, let's pick a movie and flop on the couch. You can be lazy today and stuff yourself on cannoli. Edward comes back tomorrow."

Bella grabbed the box and headed for the living room. "Don't remind me. He's like a Nazi dietician these days."

Later that night, after Alice had left and she'd had dinner with Charlie, she laid on her bed, frowning at the ceiling as she thought about what Alice had told her. Her phone was in her hand and she glanced at the screen while scrolling through her contacts. "Uncle Vittorio," she mumbled with a snort before biting the corner of her lower lip. Should she call him? Or should she wait? She just wasn't sure.

Calling the Volturi, no matter how amiable Aro had been—when he wasn't ready to sink his fangs in her neck—still seemed like a last resort, at least in her mind, and wasn't something she looked forward to.

What if Edward's thoughts of running were just moments of insecurity? If she called Aro based on some fleeting thoughts and the resulting visions, she'd be screwing everything she'd ever wanted to hell and back.

Then again, if he was that good at masking his true intentions, she could be screwing herself into a mortal life of running until she was too damn old to be worth changing. What would she do then? She knew, if he did such a thing, without help from the Volturi and their tracker, she wouldn't have a chance of escaping him. He was just too fast and too gifted.

What was really bugging her was the hazy memory of a conversation they'd had where he'd alluded to running, so that combined with Alice's visions sealed the deal and she sat up, ran a hand through her hair and pressed send.

"Isabella, my dear! How good to hear from you. Concerning, but good. Now, what can your Uncle Vittorio do for you?"

She snorted a laugh and shook her head. "Well, dear Uncle, you said to call at the barest hint. I'm calling."

"Please explain, my dear, but keep it acceptable for all ears. We wouldn't want to burden anyone with private family business," he said, his tone now smooth but grave.

"I understand, Uncle. As you know, my wedding is set for a week from today."

"Yes, my dear! Such happy occasions, weddings. Go on."

"Well, Edward, my fiancé, seems to be having second thoughts about my…joining the family. He wants to elope, so to speak, and he isn't sharing any details about where he wants to elope to, not even with his sister Alice."

"I see," he murmured. "Well, perhaps this merits a visit from your cousin Demetri? If there is anyone who can get your dear Edward to see reason, it's our dear Demi."

Bella sighed, a feeling like lead settling in her stomach even as she resigned herself to their intervention. "I think—I think, considering all circumstances, that would be best, Uncle."

"Of course it is, dearest. We can't have him running off with my favorite niece, especially after all the careful planning that's gone into the preparations. I won't have your day ruined."

"Thank you, Uncle."

"You're very welcome, my dear. Look for your cousin to arrive sometime late tomorrow. Goodbye, Isabella."

The call disconnected and she rested her head against her bent knees, tapping the edge of the phone against her forehead, all the while wondering—had she done the right thing?

Only time would tell.