Chapter 60 Pick and choose your battles

Shhhhh…..

Chapter 60

Pick and choose your battles

Edward’s Pov

“How do you do that?”

“Do what?”

I narrow my eyes at her. She has to know what she is doing. Doesn’t she?

“Turn your thoughts on and off to me. Hell anyone that knows of my gift has to practice to master that, but you have been doing it for a few weeks now.”

“I don’t know what you are talking about.” She scowls.

I growl under my breath.

“So Edward, now what? I want to know how long you are going to allow them to keep us here?”

“What would you have me do Rose?”

“I don’t know you are Edward Cullen a Dominant with a holier than though attitude. Don’t tell me that the prince of cockiness has lost his cock!” She grins very satisfied with her little slam on me.

“Fuck off!” I hiss.

“Tell me, what does he do when he takes you away.” She asks.

“Aro?”

“Well duh! Of course Aro! Where do you two go?”

I kick my foot against the floor of the cement chamber digging my shoe into the floor crumbling the material.

“He is training me.” I murmur quietly.

“For what?”

“Something you don’t….” I am interrupted by Vladimir’s thoughts and I hiss.

He steps in front of the bars of the chamber where Rosalie and I have been forced to live in over the last couple of weeks. I am not given any freedom and they use Rosalie’s well being to make sure I return when I have been allowed out with Aro.

“Forget it.” I growl stepping in between them even though there are bars between us.

Shut up! They won’t let me near her otherwise, unless you are here. I just want to talk to her.

“There is no point. Now get the fuck out of here!”

His eyes focus on Rose and she never disappoints me.

She stands then crouches, hisses and spits his direction. “GET AWAY!”

His heart just broke a little and I cannot help but chuckle at the pathetic loser.

“I just want to talk.”

She lunges for the cage pulling the bars apart again as she flies past me. Damn she is fucking fast! I try to pull her back to keep her from getting to him. Guards descend on the chamber as I pull her away from the broken and bent bars.

“Rosalie calm the fuck down!”

 “I want to kill him. Eat him for breakfast, save a little and then eat him for lunch then when dinner rolls around I will puke up both and feed it to him!”

I burst out laughing. “God you can be so evil.” I chuckle but I have to admit she makes a stunning vampire!

She smacks me upside the head. I turn and growl at her. “Stop fucking hitting me!”

She laughs. “Go play with the guards.” She scowls then turns away. Vladimir is escorted out of the chamber and the guards are already replacing the bent and broken bars.

I walk over to the far wall, press my back against it, and slide down.

“Oh brother. Could you be any more hopeless?” Rose taunts me.

“I miss her alright!” I yell getting pissed off.

“I miss Emmett too but sitting there in some sort of altered state isn’t going to make our situation any better, or get me any closer to him!”

“Fuck you bitch!”

“If karma doesn’t hit you. I will!” she glowers at me. “Don’t call me a bitch! This is not helping us either Edward! We have to think!” she moves closer and Rosalie surprises me. She seems to pick vampire traits up quick for a newborn. She can speak so motherfucking fast, I have to sometimes stop and ask her to repeat it. She has taken to being a newborn better than I have ever seen anyone adjust. It is somewhat eerie. Her thoughts though are leaving me confused. Why I can hear her mid thought and then it shuts off for a couple of hours, hell even days and then it just pops back in mid thought is freaking me the fuck out. I am just not used to it.  

She is now close and is about to say something she doesn’t want overheard.

“We need to find our own way out. They probably don’t even know where we are.”

“I am not expecting them to come for me.” I mutter.

“You don’t honestly think that your entire family is going to sit and let you rot here do you?”

“I don’t expect them Rosalie.” I say again with more anger behind my words.

“You are such a selfish bastard. Your family loves you…you fucking idiot. God knows why, hell I sure as hell can’t figure out what there is to love about you and I have spent a solid two weeks in this hell hole with you during the worst time in my life…or death.”

“Rose just shut up already. Trust me it wasn’t just your worst time. I thought I was going to rip my own head off and set myself on fire being around you during your change. I knew I screwed myself with that one.”

“Destiny is no matter of chance Edward! It is a matter of choice: It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved, and my destiny is waiting for me to be with Emmett! I want to get out of here!”

“And you don’t think I don’t? You don’t think that I don’t hate every fucking long drawn out minute that she is away from me? I am dying inside!”

“Well then let’s fight!”

I sigh. “Rose you don’t understand. We are no match for them. There are too many! Then there are the ones that are gifted, and trust me you don’t want to challenge some of them. I have seen what they can do. Aro has made it very clear that I know what I am up against. That blonde little Jane bitch is so fucking evil; I don’t even want to feel what the hell she has done to other vampires! Not to mention the fact that they will go after Isabella! I cannot just run away.”

She backs off for now, but I know she will be at me again the first chance she gets. We have been over this and over this. I have considered every option. I have run out.

I hate the thought of feeling defeated but right now, that is exactly where I am and I am the one to blame.

I do what I have done everyday since I have been here. Pull my legs up to my chest, wrap my arms around them, lay my head down, and remember things about her.

It is as if I am dreaming while wide-awake.

She sits there in the window reading a book and I watch her from afar. I notice she is still human and I think it is because I have more memories of her human than as a vampire.

She sighs and her leg is curled up under her ass. She lifts her head up and I have been caught, but that’s okay because I wanted to be.

“Ogling?” she smiles and her lips catch my eye.

“Always.”

“You make my heart swoon when you say things like that!” She bats her lashes as she teases me. She is so fucking sassy.

“Oh, why don’t you let me lure you upstairs and I will make you swoon alright.”

She feigns horror.

“Oh no….I am afraid of the big scary vampire. Who knows what he will do? He could like…” she looks around and lowers her voice so no one else hears even though we are alone, “….like…suck my blood or something.”

I grin at her. “Or something.” I smirk.

Her cheeks flood with color.

My heart aches.

S*h*h*h*h*h……

Bella’s Pov

“I’m the ultimate weapon of mass destruction.” Emmett snarled and charges for me.

“Bring it on monkey boy!” I stood my ground and concentrated. He was running right for me and then veered off. I smirked. It was working! He looks confused. Out of sorts and lost!

“Unbelievable.” Jasper mutters as Peter stands there with a huge grin on his face.

“She deflects him, confuses him and the most important part, he can’t touch her.”

“Amazing.”

“She has to be able to do it with Edward. I know it.” Peter sounds so certain.

I walk over to Peter and stand right in his face. “I am ready let’s go get my Master.”

“Oh no you don’t princess, not yet. We don’t go until you can do that for a few of us near you.”

My face fell. “I don’t know if I can do that.” I mumble.

“Sure she can.” Zafrina walks up and smiles at me.

“Hello Isabella, you make a stunning vampire. I see Edward did a perfect job, but then again everything about Edward is perfect. It is sickening.” She laughs. Throws her head back and laughs.

I narrow my eyes at her.

“Sorry.” She snickers. “He knows I envy him. The handsome devil.” She smiles.

“Isabella, Zafrina is here to help you master that little deflection thing you just did to Emmett.” Peter states.

“How? I didn’t know Zafrina was even gifted.”

“I certainly am.” She cocks her head to the side and asks, “Let your shield down and I will show you.”

I look over at Peter and he nods his approval. I concentrate really hard to drop it. Sometimes I have trouble with this, but the more I practice it seems the better I am getting.

Everything around me disappears and I am alone on the beach.

“What do you see?” I hear Alice ask as if she is standing right there next to me, but she isn’t.

“Where did everyone go?”

Then I see a movement out of the corner of my eye and turn towards it.

It’s Edward.

“Oh my God!” I start to move but I can’t. It feels like my limbs are frozen.

“Edward!” I yell.

“What the fuck Zafrina!” Peter yells.

Suddenly I am right where I was a moment ago and everyone is standing around me.

“Sorry.” Zafrina looks remorseful. “I didn’t think that through thoroughly.” She looks chagrined.

“What the hell just happened?” I ask.

“Zafrina can project a scene and although it was supposed to involve just you she put Edward there with you. She wasn’t thinking.” Peter glares at Zafrina.

“I didn’t think. I am sorry.”

“Yeah well it looks like we are done for now.” Peter can tell that my heart is hurting.

I am looking down at my feet in the sand and I can feel the crack in my heart grow deeper.

“I miss him.” I mumble to no one in particular.

“We know honey.” Alice wraps her arm around me and pulls me away from the group I have been training with all morning. I walk past Embry who gives me a sad smile.

It has been three weeks since I saw him last. The only intelligence we have gained from Peter is that Rosalie is in Volturra only no one knows why. He has humans that are roaming the streets like tourists and they know what the Vampires in that town wear to disguise themselves. It has been overheard by some, that there is a blonde human female that was brought in. Peter is certain it has to be Rosalie. He laughed as he assured me that yes even Vampires tend to gossip. They don’t lose the one trait from their human side.

Vampires are fast, so fast humans don’t even see them if they choose not to be seen. They are fast at everything. As for me, I must be some sort of anomaly. I am the slowest damn vampire around because the training and all the stuff that I have endured still doesn’t have me mastering this stupid gift of mine. I really even wonder if it is a gift. I can run fast, but to pick up other skills, is taking me forever!

Sometimes anyway, then there was today, and that was pretty cool though. Emmett was going to attack and I managed to deflect him.

Now could I do it again?

As history is showing, probably not. I seem to have switches that turn it on and off. I can’t seem to control it when I need to.  

I want Edward back. I feel like half of me is dead, and although Emmett constantly tries to boost my spirit, I wonder if it that is just broken. Without him, I am lost.

S*h*h*h*h*h……

“You know, if I know Edward at all, I know that he is just as lost as you seem to be.”

Peter walks into the room with his hands in his pocket as I just sit in the window seat and stare out at the surf.

“Then how could he leave me behind.”

“Please Bella. He did what he did to protect you. It wasn’t because he suddenly had some sort of epiphany and thought he doesn’t love you and being Aro’s minion sounds so much more appealing.”

I glare at him. “Sarcastic son of a bitch aren’t you?”

He laughs. “Edward says that to me all the time.” He grins.

“He loves you Isabella. More than his own life.”

The words stung.

“It was one of the things he said to me before he left with them.” I felt my eyes fill with venom.

“See, so now what you do is, you get up, you go out there and you train your ass off, and you learn how to shield me with you just as if I were Edward and if you do that for me Isabella, that is all I will ask of you. Then I will say, let’s go and get your Master.”

Therefore, we trained. And trained. And trained.

S*h*h*h*h*h….

Peter’s POV

Isabella looks as nervous as a cat, but I know she is determined. She wants him back and she is as determined to get him back as I am to save him from the stupid choice he made without consulting with anyone else. I know I don't know what happened on that ranch when Bella wasn't in the room but according to her, Edward seemed oddly calm. 

Edward should have known better. He should have trusted me enough to know that I would never put her in harms way.

Granted they were approached at the ranch, but that was a slip on my part. I should have insisted especially knowing who they are and how dangerous it would be for them. There are times when Edward demands something of me and I allow him too much credit.

He is my maker after all and I am used to being told what to do by him. I should have known. In all my military training, you never leave your King and Queen unguarded. I fucked up. So sue me. Now I had to make it right again.

She is clawing at her seat the closer we get to Italy. I keep looking back at them and I can see a perfect view of her. She is chomping at the bit to do what it is that is in her destiny to do. She is feral and I might add really somewhat cute for how tiny she is when she gets like this. I chuckle to myself.

“We almost there?” Seth looks over at me and cocks his brow up in question.

“That we are…are you ready to rock?”

He grins. “I almost feel bad for saying it, because you are one and all, but yeah I wanna torch some bad evil vamps.” He grins this huge cheesy grin.

I laugh.

“It’s okay. No blood. No foul Seth. You are more than welcome to burn the bad guys. Just keep that motherfucker pointed away from me and anyone else on our team and whatever you do…don’t panic and shoot that off under her shield!”

He nods. “Do you think he knows?”

“Aro?”

“Yeah that we are coming for them.”

“No. It will be a total surprise. My only concern is that little girl back there and Edward. If I have to die to make sure they are safe then so be it.”

“You are loyal Peter.”

“I am indebted Seth. There is a difference.”

“Either way…you’re a good guy.”

“Yes well let’s hope Edward still thinks so once this is all said and done shall we?”

“Okay, but if he thinks you aren’t loyal, then I will tell him so, and if he don’t believe me, well then I may just make him dance a little when I aim the flame at his feet and demand it.” He grins.

I laughed even harder. “Now that would be something, although I don’t recommend it.”

He grins wider.

The weeks we had spent training Isabella were intense. I have to admit the girl has some sort of quirk that makes her sort of clumsy little she-vamp. It is endearing but when she needs to be on her game it is debilitating. I knew the being a newborn would be an issue and trust me it was. She has many issues we had to overcome. Her control over her gift being one of them.

Then there were the times that Emmett had to tackle her before she nearly took Seth, Embry, and a few other humans out for a meal when the thirst was getting to her.

Poor Embry was skittish for a few days around any of us but he bounced back after his encounter with her. I have never seen a Native American go paleface before. It was rather funny and I knew he could run and he barely got away from her before Emmett tackled her and kept apologizing for letting his guard down.

I thought his color would never come back. I worried more about his trust in her, but when she finally gained her senses hunted and fed she came back to find him. She begged him to forgive her. He knew it was the thirst and that it happens to all newborns. He just didn’t expect to be one of that days blue-plate specials.

Finally, the last three days she had finally got it. Mastered that gift as well as she could. She could shield every damn one of us in it. We are untouchable with her in our presence. There is only one problem. She has to use the gifts of those around them to render them useless since she can bounce any gift off her shield and send it back with ten times the power they had used on her. The bad part is…our human flame throwing team cannot use that flamethrower under her shield. If they did, it would be the death of all of us. My other concern, what if one of them got a little sketchy when the time came and they lost faith in her, or they accidentally shot that thing off with us locked in with him.

We were as good as toast. I drilled it into each one of them that they had to trust us. We would not let one of them perish. Our devotion to them was just as strong as their devotion to this cause.

I landed the plane pulling up to our hanger, and then the unexpected happened. But then again…I should have known the way she was clawing at her own skin.

“Isabella!” The sound of metal tearing and the yelling and screaming was frantic. I wrestled to get out of my seat and out of the cockpit.

The door to the plane had been ripped off the damn side of the plane. Embry, Seth, and Tyler stood there with mouths hanging open. I looked out and could see her flying across the field.

She was out of control and on her own mission apparently. I took off after the line of vampires that had trailed behind her yelling for her to stop. I yelled back to Tyler that the cars are parked inside of the hanger. He had the keys already and since I had pulled the jet up next to the hanger, it was right outside of it. 

Isabella was fast and had gained quite a bit of distance between us. I was getting worried she wouldn’t stop before we got to the walls. If she made a move without us then God knows how this would end, but I cannot say that I wouldn’t be in the same frame of mind she was in. If it were Charlotte in there, I wouldn’t be thinking clearly either, so I cannot blame her for going after what is hers.

Now we just had to stop her.

S*h*h*h*h*h…..

“By the way…I want my fucking phone!” Rosalie hisses.

Edward looks up at her. “Excuse me?”

“My diamond phone. You know! I want one just like Bella’s!” Rosalie demands.

“Where did that come from?” Edward looks at her surprised.

“Well I do believe that you gave her one after you knocked her out cold, sort of like what happened to me! So I want a phone too!” She crosses her arms over her chest.

Edward snorts out a laugh. Rosalie quirks her eyebrow up at him and glares.

“Something amusing?” she asks.

“It wasn’t some sort of parting gift Rosalie! I gave it to her because hers got destroyed in the fire at the club!”

“Oh…well….so I still want one! You can call it a parting gift.”

Edward quirks his brow up at her. “Are you planning on going somewhere?”

“I don’t plan on staying here forever. The next time Aro comes for you I am going to ask to be let go.”

“Rose he has no use for you besides me! He will not let you go. Sorry, but you are just collateral damage.”

“How do you know he doesn’t keep me for other reasons?”

“What skill do you have Rosalie Hale, besides super stupidity?”

“You take that back!”

“I will not!”

“I hate you.”

“Well that makes me feel better about hating you too bitch.”

“Stop calling me a bitch!” Rosalie lunges for Edward. He steps aside and watches amused as her body crashes into the wall.

“Yes…as I was saying super stupidity!” Edward throws his head back laughing and then there is a commotion and vampires scramble out of the chamber.

Edward turns towards the only entrance and exit out of this dungeon. The thoughts of every vampire are on alert. There is a lot of confusion and jumbled thoughts. It is hard to decipher at first what is going on.

We are under attack!

Hurry! Protect the King…the Prince! Aro! Marcus!

“Edward what is going on?” Rosalie looks over his shoulder cautiously.

“Someone is attacking.”

Rosalie gasps. “We have to get out of here before they come for us too.”

Then he hears a familiar voice.

“I do believe that you have a few things that belong to us.” Emmett’s voice bellows out from above.

I know you can hear me little brother…don’t you think you are a little old to be playing kidnapping games with the neighborhood kids? Do I have to protect you for the rest of eternity really? I thought you would have grown up. Hell, you should be able to defend yourself you wuss!

Edward laughs aloud. Only Emmett!

“Trust me Rose, if you leave now, you are seriously going to regret it!” He turns and smiles at her.

“What? Why?”

“My brother has come for his mate, he would be pretty pissed off to find out she escapes before he is able to save her like the big dopey hero he wants to be. Don’t hurt his ego. Let him come for you. He needs the ego boost, especially when he sees what I have done to you. Just remember, you said you wanted this life!”

Rosalie’s eyes lit up. “Really? He came for me?”

“Yes you little wench, all though I don’t know what he sees in you.”

“Oh shut up.” She slaps him upside the head.

“For the love of God would you stop hitting me!” Edward scowls.

“Shut up or I will tell him you attacked me out of thirst!”

“You bitch!”

“Yeah, now that you mention it. I sort of am.” Rosalie smiles cheekily. Edward watches her red eyes swirl with a tiny hint of blue.

Edward shakes his head and focus’s on the confrontation upstairs and then he catches the faint hint of her scent. His smile falls and he realizes that his Bella is up there among the chaos.

“OH FUCK! NO! NO! NO!!”

Edward grips the bars and pulls them apart pulling his body through and he makes his way up the stairs. Rosalie is hot on his tail.

“What the fuck Edward what’s wrong?” she yells.

“I can smell Isabella!!!”

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