Be Careful What You Wish For

Chapter Thirty-Four

1 It was about fifteen minutes after Demetri carried Leah away that Bella and all the others found themselves in the resort's relatively small, but lovingly furnished dining room – wood panels, slanted roof, a leather couch, small wooden tables, chairs, big windows. For the next hour, they talked over the broader strokes of their new peace treaty. For that whole time, Bella said nothing and just listened. She took in every detail of the room. It was nowhere near as grand as the Cullens' erstwhile living area, but that was gone, now – burned to the ground. The Cullens were, apart from herself and Jasper, all dead. Jasper wasn't even one; he'd even gone back to using his actual last name instead of Rosalie's. Edward, whom she'd once believed to be her soulmate, was dead, and she hadn't even found it in herself to mourn for him. Carlisle and Esme were dead. Alice was dead, also un-mourned and un-missed. Rosalie. Emmett. Renesmee.

Bella was the last Cullen. It was a strange notion, to say the least.

So many people had died, many of them directly because of her, others indirectly. There was really only one name that popped up in her mind incessantly: Jacob. Oh, Jacob. Poor, poor Jacob. He was dead. He had loved her, and now he was dead. He'd been her friend. He'd nursed her back to health, if one could call it that, after her transformation. Now, he was gone forever, and she couldn't feel bad about it because she was chock-full of living human blood.

She was sitting on the couch, flanked by Jasper and Charlie. The twins, Irina, Chelsea, and Corin were occupying chairs. Caius was still unconscious; they'd placed him on the floor, to the side. The humans were there, too, as were Billy Black, Sam Uley, and the Children of the Moon. Bella herself wouldn't have taken a seat, but she'd been told to do so by Aro, and he was the boss. Aro himself was standing by the largest window – the one that looked out at the beach – facing everyone, seeming relaxed and good-natured and pleased with the overall situation. He was either really in touch with the human side of himself, or he was just amazing at faking it. Maybe he'd found a balance between uncontrollable misery and emotional numbness by never drinking too much blood; the way the vampires in Volterra fed, as had been explained to Bella a short while ago, sounded perilous. It must have some advantage, though. Why else would they make such an effort?

Most of the people present were positively enthralled by Aro, and Bella had to admit that he was an exceedingly charming person, but the wide-eyed fascination, borderline infatuation she saw on the faces of everyone except Charlie and the Children of the Moon was off the chart. Even Jasper, as a quick sideways glance confirmed, was watching him with visible fascination stamped all over his face.

That was impressive.

Bella's power, however, made her immune to this, because Aro's ability was mental, not physical.

Still, he was in charge. It would be wise to remember that at all times. "We are in agreement, then," he now said. "This is not just a truce, but the beginning of a new era of cooperation between our species."

"I still don't trust you," Sam objected, rather composed. He was standing a little apart from the others and leaning against the wall, arms crossed, looking and sounding weirdly apologetic. "No offense." He made a face, as if he himself couldn't believe what he'd just said.

"Demetri does," Blake, sitting on one of the chairs, said, looking at Sam with a calm expression on her severely scarred face. It gave Bella Emily Young flashbacks. Her countenance was just as ruined. "That's enough for me."

"This is...this is...I need to clear my head. I don't think I can trust a leech," Sam said, shaking his head. He rubbed at his temples as if he had a headache. "How can you-"