Cerulean Star

Chapter 33: Stripped From Heaven

Bella's POV

The young girl that was handling the paperwork for our transportation from the airport kept looking at us anxiously. But then again who could blame her, dealing with any of the ancients is a bit unnerving; what with their fragile looking skin. But unfortunately, no one from the guard looked old enough to rent a car. She also seemed to fancy Demetri which I found to be amusing. It was a good thing that Heidi wasn't along for the ride, she and Demetri had an on again-off again relationship, and currently they were on.

"Alright, here are the keys to your two vehicles. If you have any problems just call me here at the office, my name is Amber." Amber flashed a smile, extra cheesy to Demetri who seemed to eat it up. I playfully punched him in his arm and rolled my eyes.

"You know Heidi is going to bite you when she hears of that." I casually reminded him.

"How is Heidi going to find out about the human?" I raised an eyebrow at him and it took him half a second to catch on. "Oh come on Bells! You wouldn't!" Demetri raised his arms in protest and started to attack me with a hug. But thankfully, Felix swooped in to save me.

"D, leave my girl alone. Everyone needs to focus now anyway."

"Exactly. Demetri, Bella and I will follow you in the second truck. The rest of you will be with Demetri." Marcus commanded us. I immediately changed my disposition, and remained solemn as Marcus handed me the keys. "Demetri, lead the way to the Cullen residence. I want to get this done quickly and return back to Volterra." There was nothing odd in the request for Marcus to want to be alone with me. Everyone knew that Marcus was the one uncle I'd trusted throughout my assimilation to the guard. Some said he was my favorite, and maybe they were right. My relationship with Aro and Caius changed, at least for me and I wasn't even sure if they had noticed. It was doubtful.

I handed my carrying case for my compound bow and my arrows to Felix and watched him place the bag in the trunk of his SUV. I climbed into the SUV that was rented for us and waited for Marcus to get in as well, and before I knew it we were going a hundred and forty miles to Upstate New York.

'He wants us to kill them. Doesn't he?' I looked over to Marcus and he simply nodded his head. 'You know I can't allow that to happen.' Marcus nodded again and turned his attention back to the car in front of us, and I continued to contemplate what was going to happen. 'Do you think the Cullen's will come peacefully?'

"You know them better than I do, Bella. But if they don't, the only way that you can assure that the rest of the Cullen's remain alive, is to convince the others that it's the only way. Though Alice has probably already seen it, there's a chance that they will choose death versus being split apart." I gave consideration to Marcus' words. Would it even be possible to convince them otherwise?

Aside from Emmett, the Cullen's had no defensive abilities. In contrast, the group that I escorted had Jane, Felix, and Demetri, all skillful fighters and in their case offensive gifts. Though Jasper was gifted enough to calm them down, I would definitely need to count him as an ally. But an ally for what? War? Was I pitting myself in between my two families, if the Cullen's even considered me family still? Once I chose to keep myself hidden from them, I effectively alienated them and aligned myself with the enemy.

It was times like this that I was thankful for Marcus. Everyone assumed that I drew closer to him because he chose to be the comforter that they thought I'd need. All at once I practically lost my father and my place with the Cullen's. However, when it came to Charlie, I was able to speak to him on the phone, a small consolation from my uncles. But the real reason me and Marcus stuck together was because of Chelsea. Or rather, my ability to block Chelsea's gift and shield Marcus from it as well. I remembered the night he said a fog was lifted from his eyes and he saw Aro for what he truly was. I was sad when he told me the story of what happened to his wife, and I found it easy to hate Aro and Caius.