Disclaimer. All publicly recognizable characters, settings etc, are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Savage Grace is the beta for this story too, and she is just great. Thanks girl.

Ad Vitam Aeternum*

(Until the end of days)

Chapter 1

Isabella POV

I stood perfectly still in the middle of that beautiful, cold, marble room, frozen to the bone due to my wet clothes, clutching Edward's cold arm for dear life. The room was crowded with vampires, and none of them seemed friendly to me. I was food after all. Alice stood by my other side, worry and concern flooding her fairy face, as she tried to see the outcome of this situation Edward had put us in.

To say that I was scared didn't even come closer to what I was feeling at the moment. I could feel their red eyes on me, staring down at me, watching every movement I made, hearing every breath I took, and listening to every beat of my heart.

Edward's arm brought me a little bit of peace in this crazy moment. It felt as if it the day dreams that had kept me company all those months after Edward had taken himself and his family from me, were finally coming true.

But strangely, despite the joy I felt concerning that he was here and he was safe - for the moment - a slight feeling of unease had settled inside of me. Inside the gaping shattered hole that had been the place of my heart. I now felt as if he wasn't all my life anymore. I had matured; the suffering he put me through had made me into a stronger person.

I still loved him, but now, I loved me too and that, in this precise moment, was making a world of difference to me.

I turned my attention back to the strange man in front of me that was now deep in thought; Aro, was his name. He was puzzled by my apparent ability of blocking his power and he had become intrigued when it was the same for all the other gifted vampires in the room. Even the little blond demon Jane's power had not worked against me; nor did Alec's, or Demetri's.

Of course these experiments were not done without the usual vampire fight. They really have a very dominant, animalistic side!

Edward, being the overprotective, volatile vampire that he is, had to show his physical displeasure to this experiments and ended up with his ass severely handed to him by Felix. Who, all the while he kept Edward in a headlock, was looking at me as if I was a prime rib, which, apparently, is what I am to the vampires - or at least my blood is.

A small and very sadistic, vengeful side of me, was feeling vindicated at seeing Edward placed in such a completely helpless position; this side of me that was angered and disgusted by his choices and was desperate to fight back – it wanted to hit the vampire boy that had caused me so much pain.

I am not saying I wasn't in love with him anymore, because I still was to some extent (and the realization of that was breathtaking); and it was difficult to see him being abused by Felix, but at the same time - well I am just a silly human teenager, something I learned to be while hanging out in Jacob and the packs company - Something I had never been with Edward, because he himself did not knew how to be one.

When Edward calmed enough to think a bit rationally he was allowed to be back at my side, where he stood during all of the experiments of the different vampires. To my utter relief, none of the Volturi's gift's worked on me, but that only increased Aro's fascination with me.

Now the room was silent. Aro had asked what he was going to do with me and become deep in thought. I build up the courage to lift my eyes from the lovely sight of my very smelly and dirty snickers.

I looked around and immediately wished to go back to contemplate the most recent dirt patch on my left foot. Jane and Alec were glaring at me, no doubt upset by the failure of their gifts on me. Too bad - but their bad luck is my good one.

Standing a little to their right were Felix and Demetri, both were looking at Edward with a smug smile on their lips, no doubt remembering the earlier fight with him.

Boys will always be boys!

Demetri looked at me and winked, making me blush and quickly avert my eye. Alice stood as close to my right side, as close as she possibly could, the same mask of worry on her face as Edward. Many other nameless vampires stood by the walls of the large room.

I looked up at Edward, his face the same stoic and emotionless mask as the one he had when he left me. It hurt to look at that cold face; it brought back too much pain.

I looked forward summoning all of my courage. Aro had his back to us, his hands lifted as if in a prayer.

"We must uphold the laws we created for the safety of our world. The human knows too much and it's a liability, she must not be allowed to leave our hall alive." There we go again! Someone else wants me dead, what is new? Ever since I met the Cullens there seems to be a line of people wanting to eradicate me from the world. Get in line, you can come after Victoria, I thought to myself.

The one who spoke was a God, so beautiful it hurt. It was the only thing I could think about him. But, although he was devastatingly beautiful, I could see that his beauty was supported by a cruel and evil personality that showed on the permanent scowl he had.

He was a blond, a white platinum blond that made him almost glow. His deep red eyes contrasted with his pale complexion. He was the youngest of the brothers that was obvious. Caius was his name. He was tall, slim and transmitted the elegance and grace of a feline. Placed next to him, Edward was simply a teenage boy. He exuded power and malice. I avoided his gaze as it held nothing more than hate and malice towards us, and I did not want to be on the receiving end of that anger. He already seemed ready to pounce on us and rip us to shreds.

"I agree with Caius. The Cullens have broken the law - there must be a choice made now." Spoke a deep, smooth voice. It reminded me of the baritones from Italian operas.

Good; and another one joins the club. I better get some tickets to organize the queue. I really had turned in to a sarcastic person.

Thank you Paul!

I looked at the man who had just joined the "Let's kill Isabella Swan Club" – he was seated on the throne situated to the left - and I froze. I had looked at him briefly before, but Aro had caught my attention.

He had a bored, uninterested expression on his face but I could feel the sadness and the melancholy that radiated from him. It made my heart weep for him. Marcus was his name, I think. He seemed the oldest of the three.

He was strange. Something about him made me uneasy and afraid and something else that I could not place yet. He was not handsome in the usual meaning of the word. He could even be considered plain, borderline unattractive. He had an angular long pale face and a straight, aristocratic noise. His lips were shaped but thin. His vampire aura, however, screamed danger. He was obviously tall - much taller than Edward - and had what it seemed to be a bulky, well built body. Next to him I would look like a dwarf, or a child. Unlike the Cullens, this man and Aro were full grown men, older than any vampire I had ever seen, not teenagers or young men.

If I were to dwell on animal analogies, the blond one, Caius, looked like one of the big cats - a panther or a tiger. Aro looked like a shark, with a smile to match. But this man… this man looked like a lion. He exuded the power and the charisma of a leader, and the deadly force of a predator.

He seemed to be in his late thirties or early forties, biologically at least. I could see however, that he had the same strange papery skin as Aro - I believe that was a sign of age between the vampires, Edward once had referred to them as being thousands of years old. He was obviously strong and the hands that rested on the seats of the throne were large with long, pale fingers. The long slightly curled black hair framed his face and reached his shoulders, framing his long, stern face.

He wore the same black tailored suit that Aro did, and the same black as coal cloak as the guards, but his was much longer, allowing it to touch the ground. Around his neck shone the golden Volturi crest that everyone here seemed to wear. I could not see his eyes, because his face was looking at some point to his right, away from us, but I could bet my truck that they were bright red, if he was to look at me directly. The thought made me shiver. He scared me to death, more than any vampire and he allured me. Why?

I turned my head to see what he was looking at. Nothing. Just a white marble wall with a small window carved in it; from it, light from the sun poured inside in a long, wide beam. It was beautiful.

I sighed and I looked at him again.

And again I froze. Not because he had moved or was doing something out of the ordinary but, because the moment my head turned our eyes connected.

I have no words to describe what happened then. It was one of those experiences that could fill a whole library or be described in one word. It was dying and resurrecting; it was all and nothing; and it was everything in a microsecond of time. His red eyes were sucking my soul from my body and entrapping it inside of his own. I felt like I had lost and found myself a thousand times in a second, making me confused as to why that happened.

Even my body followed the reaction of my soul. My heart was exploding in my chest and my whole body was hot and flustered. I had no doubt that my reaction could be noticed by every single vampire in this room. Not even Edward had elicited such a reaction from me.

A sharp hiss and Edward's arms encircled my waist, pulling me flush against him, and breaking the connection that was sucking me in. I saw that he was glaring at the man and a low growl rumbled continuously in his chest.

I managed to turn my head from Edward's hard chest and looked at the men, Marcus, again. He was watching me intently, now sitting up strait in his throne, his eyes sharp and his jaw tight, and, as he saw me looking at him, a small, cold smile graced his thin shaped lips; a calculating look took hold of his regal features and I suddenly knew that something else other than my possible death was going on.

His attention to me was unnerving and I could not bear to look at him in the eyes. I was afraid of what was inside of them, of what I would see in there; silently I sent a prayer to God, to beg him to help Edward to keep his temper in check. Marcus was dangerous, very dangerous, and now I knew Edward was just a foolish young boy next to these vampires.

He stood from his throne, and keeping an eye on Edward - who's growling had been growing in volume – began to walk with the grace and power of the lion I had compared him to be, to the end of the dais. I chanced a quick glance around the room and noticed that the other vampires seemed surprised by his actions.

He took the first two steps down, his long, black as night cloak billowing around him as if announcing the wings of death. Aro swiftly walked to him – his figure a blur of movement - and reached his raised hand. I managed to hear Aro's gasp before things started to go wrong.

I don't know what went through their minds at that moment, or what Aro read in his brush of Marcus hand, or if it was the fact that he was now walking towards us, but something had been enough to push Edward over the limit. A loud piercing scream came from Alice, who stood beside us. "Edward no, you will kill us all…" and suddenly I was once again behind Edward's back as he crouched and jumped to attack a much closer Marcus.

I notice as he did not even made contact with the tall man, before he drop to the floor pain, his screams echoing in the silent room. Jane had a sick, sadistic smile on her face as she seemed focused on him.

I tried to go to Edward, to make them stop inflicting him so much pain, only to be stopped by Aro himself. His grip around my waist was almost painful and made me whimper in shock. Immediately Marcus growled and looked in my direction, his teeth bared at… Aro?

"Release her Aro." The command was evident in his voice. Aro obeyed and released me, but I was unable to reach Edward because Aro still had a grip on my arm. Alice tried to reach me but Alec grabbed her by the neck. I stood there alone, despair flooding me at the situation we were in and that Edward seemed to make worst by the second.

Marcus walked to stand in front of me, his gaze intense. I shivered at the mere sight of his presence.

"Your bond to the mind reader is strong but is not absolute - it is only a bond made by his doing and therefore you can break it. It lacks the strength of a soul mate's bond. His bond to you is, however, unchangeable and absolute. He is not your intended mate as he and the Cullens have been telling you. He has chosen you as his mate, and even knowing that you are not his, he tied himself to you, the foolish boy." His expression was thoughtful and by now his milky red eyes was looking between me and Edward, seeing something invisible to our eyes.

His voice was steady and deep, smooth like satin and I had to stop myself from moaning at what it did to me.

I remembered then that Carlisle had told me of Marcus power - He was able to see the relations, the intensity and nature of the bonds that connected people.

A subtle but powerful gift that made him a force to be reckon with.

His words were confusing. Edward chose me as mate? How was that? I had thought it was something instinctual and life altering...And I am not his intended mate? I love, loved? Him like I have never loved anyone before and until a little while ago I thought he was my life and my world…but my love for him was his doing?

I did not voice my thoughts, though. Why bother? Marcus was stating this as if he was telling us the state of the weather. The silence in the room now was almost deafening. I could see that no one dared to make a sound or a movement except for Edward who was panting on the floor.

"But what is not known is that all forceful bonds of this kind can be broken - by time, by fate or by the hand of man, a great crime has been committed here." All eyes were on him now.

"I am going to ask you both a question, and your answer to this question will decide your fates. Aro, release her arm please." He was looking at me straight in the eye and I just stood there mesmerized, feeling like I was the mouse and he was the snake. Not even Edward mattered anymore.

"Stay here Isabella, do not move or interfere, do you understand me?" All I could do was nod. It did not even pass through my mind to question him, to say no or to disobey him. Never Edward or any one of the Cullens had ever got this reaction of me. I had no wish to defy him at all, never.

It was effectively a good lesson on how prey and predator behave. None of the Cullens had ever managed to make me see and feel this way. These people were superior to humans, without a single doubt, and this man stood in a category all of his own.

One last searing look at me that left me trembling, and he gracefully glided - or floated - towards Edward, who was still panting on the floor while watching our exchange. As Marcus approached, Edward made to stand up and, with some difficulty, crouched down in a fighting stance, his teeth bared.

"Stand down you foolish boy, I am not here to attack you. If you do not calm yourself, you will meet your doom. We do not come to the Volturi simply to offend them, as you have already done so several times." Edward grudgingly stood from his crouch and nodded stiffly.

"My question to you is…are you going to turn her into one of us and claim her as your mate for eternity? After all, you broke the mating law for her by not letting nature take its course." Edward's eyes widened and he looked oddly surprised at Marcus statement.

If I thought the room was quiet before, that did not even come closer to what was now. I could see that more vampires had entered the room and stood by the halls, watching every move and phrase.

But what surprised me the most was how Edward's shoulders slumped and he lowered his head in defeat. It was obvious that he was dreading to answer the question.

"Answer me boy!" Marcus growled at him, making Aro glide towards Edward and grab his arm. Edward struggled to get away but a hiss from Aro made him stop.

"Yes…I…I…will." It was forced and clearly strained, but it made my heart soar. I was finally going to be one of them.

"Liar." Aro said growling low. One word. One simple word and I deflated like a balloon.

"Edward, what have you done? " Alice whispered pain clear in her voice. I could only look at Edward.

"He doesn't want to change her. He is determined to never do it, and he is trying to fool us. He simply chose her as mate for companionship, and by using his vampire skills he made her fall for him. He knows that she is not meant for him. He wants her as a human, with her soul intact and in love with him for the rest of her life and wants her to live a full human life with him by her side until she dies, and then he will find a way to follow her and finally be at peace." Aro's voice was like the bells of doom in the vast room.

He tricked me into loving him? He forced himself to be my mate?

That is just sick. Plain and simply sick!

And no one said anything? Who knew? Did the Cullens know about this? Were they accoumplices?

I needed answers and I needed them now!

A/N - So, did you enjoy this? Tell me what you think of it.