Chapter 21
The Loyalty
“He who does not feel his friends to be the world to him, does not deserve that the world should hear of him.”
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
My cheeks were aflame as we walked to the back door of the Cullen house. I clutched at my jacket, trying to hide the fact that I was wearing Eric’s shirt underneath, but it was still visible at the bottom. Part of me wanted to run upstairs and slip on something else, but I knew I’d have to pass the living room in order to do that. Seeing how the Cullens usually met there for discussions, it was a useless plan.
As we approached the back porch, I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw a shirt folded on one of the steps. I quickly fled to the bottom floor bathroom, which was accessible without going by the living room, and slipped the shirt over my head, making a mental note to thank Alice. When I found everyone else in the living room, I noticed that Eric was still shirtless and was standing to a very irritated Edward.
“When did it show up?” Avarice asked as he turned a white, square envelope in his hands. The borders were detailed with shiny, gold trim, and the calligraphy on the front was exquisite penmanship. All in all, it looked like a letter you’d see in a bad romance film, heralding a visiting prince or such. However, knowing that it came from Zions made me uneasy.
“About an hour ago,” Garrett, who was sitting on the sofa in between Jasper and Dante, said. “It was strange—I was outside and didn’t see anything on the door, but when I turned around a few seconds later, it was just sitting there.”
“Well, this is comforting,” Emmett growled. “These guys can move on our property without us knowing.”
“Now, just hold on a second,” Carlisle said, and took the letter from Avarice’s hands. “We don’t know what it says—it could be a cease fire, of some sort.”
“Yeah, sure,” Dante snorted. “I bet they’re trying to recruit your family to their side.”
The other McRaes agreed with Dante’s observation, and Emmett even offered to wager him twenty dollars that it was a cease-fire. However, everyone fell silent as Carlisle opened the letter.
‘Surrender the fugitives and your coven will be spared.’
Carlisle read it aloud, and everyone was speechless once he was done. With a heavy sigh, Carlisle set the letter on the coffee table. The Zions had made their position clear: the Cullens would live if they turned in the McRaes. I glanced around the room, and the faces of Edward’s family held a plethora of emotion.
“Well, that was short and to the point,” Eric commented, running a hand through his hair, but his attempt at humor failed.
“We shouldn’t have come here,” Melena growled and turned away from the group. “The only thing we’ve succeeded in is complicating their lives. Avarice, I think it would be best if we leave.”
“No, you can’t.” I couldn’t stop my outburst and couldn’t bring myself to regret it. There was no way I could lose them again. “Look, you’ve been dealing with them for hundreds of years, Avarice—did you honestly think they wouldn’t do something like this?”
“It’s not in our nature to get others killed, Bella,” Avarice answered with a broken smile, his eyes barely making contact with mine. “I think Melena might have the right idea.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing; a few days ago, they’d been so keen on fighting the Zions. What on earth had changed? I knew what was different; Avarice had discovered that Skye wasn’t his mate. His trust in everything had been shaken, and in his desperateness to hold onto those who did love him, he was making a bad decision. Of course, that was merely my speculation and could have been wrong. Regardless, I knew what had to be said.
