It was happening.

Alice had called. The newborns had set their plan into motion. Bella's life was hanging in the balance. And Nora felt sick. Though was this all anything new?

Snow blanketed the ground, people pottered around the Cullen house behind her, the doomsday clock counting down. Yet she remained numb to it, drowning in the sea of unrest inside her mind.

It had only been around 48 hours since the event that had changed something inside her, if she had to guess. She didn't bother keeping track. She only noticed when day turned to night and so on. It felt like it had been an eternity and yet only a second.

His screams still rang in her ears as if he were right in front of her. But he wasn't. His fate had not been so simple as that, not so quick and fleeting though it felt like a lifetime ago. Payment in a few whimpers and he was through. No. She had made him suffer gloriously, indignantly, even after the light left his eyes. But the last step had been up to Aro, Marcus and Caius. And of course the helpful talents of Demetri.

Letters were sent up and down the country. New York, Maine, here in rainy Washington, over the ways in Oregon. Arizona, Colorado, California. The southern states—Mississippi, Virginia, Louisiana, Florida. Fifty one stops, any and everywhere; dorm rooms, apartment buildings, suburban streets. Fifty one women, afforded the knowledge of their abusers death. Topped off with the evidence...one she had been unsure about. But she took the risk: a picture as the cherry on top of the cake. A morbid little keepsake she was sure most of them savoured.

As for his remains...well, that was a different story. Two destinations. The cold dirt for his body, where he belonged. And to the home of Anita and Maverick Goodman, a box had been sent.

Nora only wished she could have been there to hear their screams as they opened it to see his head.

But Nora's part was done. She had pressing matters that concerned her, and Bella was worth far, far more than seeing the result of her revenge.

The human mind is an odd thing in dire times. Nora marvelled that it had the ability to make her carry on. Ghoulish visions of his face, of what she did, of Bella's horror to see what she'd become that night Nora had stumbled her way past the congregation there in the Cullen house to witness her descent into a turbulent healing process.

It was all too present and not there at all.

No one would know at a glance, the storm in her mind. On the surface, she was calm. Watched the stagnant world outside, the frozen unchanging tundra, trying to bring herself peace in its unchanging stillness, especially during this hectic time where everything was up in the air.

But it felt like nothing would be the same again.

Marcus had vowed to stand by her. And he did that day. But there was a distance, since he'd left that room. A chasm neither were making a move to cross, because as she'd withdrawn into herself, so had he. Mirroring her sadness—out of guilt for his parting words and awkwardness about how to fix it when she was emotionally vulnerable, Aro had said.

Aro, who reserved his own aloofness. Couldn't bring himself to even touch her. Not because he was afraid, or repulsed, but because she had told him not to. Her mind wouldn't shut up; and it was unfair to subject him to that pain, the constant replay of what she'd done, the constant flood of self loathing thoughts, of victorious revelations and then horrific despair. She loved him too much to let him hear what she now thought of herself.

So he and Marcus had thrown themselves into the fray of the oncoming battle, focused on preparation, fine-tuning anything out of place. They used the two days purely for work, calling upon some of the lower guards back in Volterra to cross the seas and bolster their numbers for the fight. Extra precaution for her, too, she knew.

The added vampires she'd met were nice enough.

The first was Afton. Nora hadn't had the pleasure of being acquainted with his mate, who he gushed about enthusiastically. Chelsea. Trusted enough to sit the throne along with Renata and Corin with the kings gone. Both of whom she also didn't know.

Afton was as funny as Demetri, a cheeky sense of humor that would have immediately bonded her to him had she been in the right frame of mind.

Then there was Santiago. She remembered him. Similar to Felix, he was a man of few words. More did he stare and observe stoically. His talents were that of that brutes, too. Strength enough to match his.

They were nice enough, but she sensed their disappointment at her callous attitude. No doubt the elite guard she considered family had told them of her usual kindness, but Nora was not her usual self anymore. Time had been taken up with nothing but sadness, melancholy...and the non-stop parade of support from her most volatile mate.

Caius was the one to stand strong at her side, simply because he was on a wavelength that matched hers. Aro understood, but he sometimes thought he knew better. Marcus seemed to be having some sort of existential crisis...but Caius, it was like what she had done had transformed him, too. Gone was most of the overbearing protectiveness he and Aro shared. From the moment she'd entered that room, he was the only one to show her true, unfettered support.

She loved that about him, even through this murkiness of her mind she was plagued by. She still admired his unwavering loyalty and love. He reminded her to eat, sleep, drink; knew when she needed bolstering, when to leave her alone, when to be there silently, when to chatter and distract her with his particular brand of cynical humor she so enjoyed. Anything to get a reaction from her.

He was her rock. Despite the difficult time they were going though, they all were. And soon they'd all be out there, facing the unlikely threat of death. All while things were hanging by a thread between them. And it was stupid, insecure, she knew. But this shakiness between them all felt like it was all her fault.

There was a shuffle behind her. The only warning, before she flinched as a voice rang out in the quiet living room.

"...Looking for some company, Highness?"

Broken from her macabre musings, Nora didn't turn around to greet the disrupter of her peace.

"I think I'll pass."

"Shame." The perpetrator stayed put, undeterred, "Because I heard about what you did. Wanted to offer my condolences. Or should I say congratulations?"

That should've had her defences up. Instead, Nora couldn't have sounded any more bored when she whispered in response, "It sounds like you've already decided. But what could you possibly know?"

Her mates must've truly had their hands full, because there was no way Caius out of all of them would've allowed Rosalie Cullen and all of her scorn anywhere near her if he had a say in it. He despised the woman. Was always wary of the ways she might pay back his bloodlust against her. The easiest route to maim him was Nora. It was obvious as the clouds in the sky that she was his very life. That he'd be ruined without her.

"More than you'd think." The vampire scorned. "But then again your appearance the other night left nothing to the imagination, looking like you'd been in a tussle with Bloody Mary. If you were going for subtlety you massively missed the mark."

"It's none of your business."

"Isn't it?" Nora could hear the smirk her voice as she clarified, "Your guards talk, to your detriment. They're not quiet about how they praise the ground you walk on, no more so then the witch girl and that coiffy haired tracker."

Nora didn't speak. So Rosalie came to stand beside her. Shoulder to shoulder, they watched the outside world.

"She couldn't shut up about how proud of her mistress she was." Rosalie's sneer was audible, turning a critical eye upon Nora, "And I thought to myself...you? Mortal 'queen' of vampires, a murderer? The cold blooded killer of that poor, innocent boy?"

A goad maimed so Nora would crack and let it out. Rosalie knew he wasn't innocent. The name the guards had uttered matched that of the wealthy prodigy that had gone missing in Seattle. The boy whose own father had outed all of his horrid misdeeds. The one who'd named her 'Queen' as a victim.

Nora wished she had recognized the antagonisation. But she snapped, "He wasn't innocent."

It was too late. She'd said it. Confirmed any doubts the vampire might've had.

Nora barely moved a muscle. Rosalie's vitriol, her tricks, they were something dull by now, and in the past slogging hours, she'd gone through too much to care about what some random bitchy vampire thought of her.

"Ah. I see."

Okay...that was different.

Nora met her gaze, cold steely eyes framed by deep circles so dark she looked as if she'd been punched. And she sometimes couldn't believe vampires considered themselves soulless. Because Rosalie tried to remain impassive, but those burnished eyes of gold were windows deep into where hers lay inside, and Nora only felt and saw empathy, the spark of understanding roaring to life.

There wasn't sympathy, though, which she liked. There was growing warmth bleeding through her icy exterior, her stare cutting. Examining. Lengthy. She concluded, done with her thorough, reciprocal search into Nora's soul, "I recognize something in you. Something that lives inside myself."

"Bitchiness?" Nora guessed.

"Survival." Rosalie's full lips twitched up in the corners. "You're a winner."

Now Nora was the one to smile fully, demurely, lacking any real amusement: it was a hollow gesture. It was all she knew these days. "I don't feel like one."

"Take it from me. Filth like that deserves nothing but what I hope you gave him." Rosalie donned a cold, nasty, brilliant look. This was a grouchy subject, then. She seemed to relate a little too closely, and Nora remained quiet as she seethed, "You eradicated a being from this world that would only go on to hurt so many others. And you feel bad for him?"

"No."

"Then?"

"I feel..." Nora saw herself in Rosalie, too. Knew they'd experienced something similar. And she found speaking on her pain became easy. "I'm angry."

Rosalie's indignation vanished. "Why?"

"Because nothing has changed."

The only noise was the shuffling of people throughout the house for a short stretch of time.

"What did you expect? It would vanish with him?"

Rosalie wasn't critical. She was curious. So Nora nodded. Tears welled, but she blinked them away, trying not to show the pain she felt deep inside.

"I'm meant for this life. Meant for violence and killing in one way or another. To be the mate of not one vampire, but three? Rulers of your world? My destiny is mapped out. It's there inside me, the innate violence of my future. It has to be or I wouldn't be meant for this. I just hadn't expected it to come so soon. But that night...there was the opportunity. There was the urge. I knew if I let it pass me, gave the responsibility to someone else, I'd regret it. So I forced myself to cull the monster under my bed, hoping maybe it can't peek it's head out and frighten me anymore. And still..." She sniffled, betrayed herself, allowed a singular tear, "Nothing's changed. I'm stupid for thinking it ever will."

Nora saw the memories take over the other woman, the same glazed look to her that had haunted Nora in the hours since Joshua's death, and Rosalie disagreed, "You're not. It's...a particular brand of pain, what we have suffered. It leaves its marks. And despite my years, Nora, or what you may think of me, whether people deserve death or not, there remains guilt. But you have to decide what to do with that."

What was there to do with guilt but bear it forever? Let it be nothing but a reminder of bad times? It was the embodiment of loss. To her, that's all it had ever been.

"You can let this grief for the 'you that you've lost' be a burden...or you can let it give you purpose. Let it be fuel, remind you who you want to be. Evil exists in everything. And sometimes, being good when you've gone through so much bad is eternally difficult. But there is a 'better'. You can be better, because the worst is over. You never have to cross the line you did that night ever again if you don't want to. Do you know why?"

"...No."

"Even after this, damaged, but unbroken is your soul. And if you don't fight this, you'll be letting him take it with him."

Nora processed, or tried to, idling a moment. She was sick of the darkness. But if there was a light at the end of the tunnel, then she could fight.

"Does it get better?"

Truth, Rosalie decided. Nora could handle it. She deserved it when everyone else treated her like a damaged bird. But Rosalie was still tentative. "I'm young still. I don't know if time truly heals wounds. Being a vampire isn't a miracle or a fairytale. It grants us gifts, exceptions in some things. But pain doesn't just go away, even for us. You can only spend all of the time you'll have putting yourself back together after something like that rips you apart."

Oh. Nora's shoulders sagged. That really hadn't been what she was expecting.

"Don't despair." And here envy and sadness weighed heavily in Rosalie in equal measure, "You're alive. And you're human life is too short to be an enemy to yourself, or waste it thinking of your wrongs. You won't forget what he did, what you did, but eventually it'll fade. You'll realize one day you haven't thought of it at all. And then you'll have more and more days like that. Where there's bad, there's good. Remember that always. Remember to live while you still have the chance."

God. Nora really hadn't thought of any of it like that, and she appreciated Rose's brutality in this. Honesty wasn't always pretty. But at least now she had some sort of outline for her future. Some days bleak. Others not. But the woman was right. She was alive.

Nora had seriously underestimated Rosalie. At a glance she was hostile, mean. But here she was so much more than that. So Nora sent her a wobbly smile.

The vampire accepted the olive branch, placed a cold hand on Nora's shoulder. "I'm sorry I can't offer you a pretty lie."

A jab at her mates, Nora recognized. She didn't fault Rosalie for it. A modicum of understanding had been bred between them, and instead she listened.

"I wish I could tell you it becomes a distant memory and one day you won't feel anything at all. But I'm not there yet."

"...Maybe someday."

Their conversation was evidently done. Rosalie saw the mask slide back over Nora as she returned quietly to the spiral she hadn't yet broken out of. Loneliness and sadness, hollow and cold as they are, can become so constant that the presence of them can start to feel like a friend. And Nora embraced them easily, back to her dullness, her ghosts keen to haunt her until she learnt to banish them.

Yes. One day, perhaps decades from now, the new Queen of her world would figure out how to bear that mask more easily. Because it didn't vanish when you wanted it to. Pain would be felt, regardless of what you desired. But today was not the day Nora donned the weight of her tragedy with a lighter heart.

Rosalie stepped away, not eager to leave the other to her suffering, but knowing it was what she needed. A wound can heal, but it must scab first. And then there is the scar.

So Rosalie curtsied sarcastically, "Here's to hoping, your Majesty."

The mug in Nora's hands was cold as she was, the tea within it no longer drinkable. She'd have to apologise to Esme. But her stomach was far too volatile with nerves to accept anything she tried to give it.

So instead she sighed, set it down on the steps between her and Bella, and watched Caius rant. He'd been going for quite some time, and she thanked her numbness for once, because it had made her deaf to it. But he was reaching new, dramatic heights that broke through that flimsy shield.

"This is a massive oversight, Carlisle," He was shouting, frantic, inconsolable, "Why were we not informed? We should have you executed just for the notion of this grotesque alliance!"

"My King—"

But he went on, sneering to the left of him, "Look at them. Vile creatures."

Bella was tense as a string pulled taught next to Nora. Understandably, of course. Her precious Jacob was among the horde of wolves Caius so abhorred.

"For the last time," Carlisle tried to be cordial, but it was strained, "They aren't the children of the moon that you know and loathe. They're shifters. And they've come at my urging to help us despite their hate for vampires and their reluctance of you."

One of them snuffled, a sound almost begrudging. It nearly pulled a smile from Nora. Nearly.

"Preposterous." Her snowy haired diva bent down, scooped up a stick, waving it at them, "All they're good for is fetch." Then he lobbed it into the trees, cackling madly as one of them let out a braying, deep grumble, "Go on! Go get it, you mangy—"

"Caius!" Nora bellowed, fingers pressed to her temples.

It was the most sound she'd made in days, and he as well as...all of them, really, gawped at her as she glared at him.

Caius resolved to pout sadly at the ire on her face. Seemed playtime was over.

He held up his hands sheepishly, huffed a plaintive whine meant to convey his innocence, like a giant petulant kid, "Sweetheart—"

"—No, brother! She's right. Enough." Aro finally erupted, and she imagined his face would be red if blood still circulated his body, a mix of mortification and rage. "Please. We must show happiness to Carlisle for his ingenuity, and respect to these shifters for putting themselves in harms way and exposing their secrets to us." He smiled at Carlisle, then at the black wolf that was head of the pack. "You certainly have my gratitude."

A silver wolf, the colour of steel and an animal version of a sneer on its face, chattered lowly, almost akin to a scoff. And then Caius snarled at them, a sound echoed by the beast. The midnight leader snapped his maw.

Caius pivoted to glare at Aro. "You might as well be wearing Carlisle as a hat, your head's so far up his backside."

Aro lost himself to the stress, bore his own teeth in response.

Marcus just stared impassively at the ground.

"Are these seriously the leaders of our world?" Emmett did a crappy job whispering to Rosalie.

Before anyone else could get more pent up, Alice gasped, spacey. Jasper gripped her arm, face even more pinched into a frown by his concern. It shut everyone up, because when she resurfaced, her chippy voice was grave. "It's time. They'll be here soon."

"Victoria?" Bella was up, fiddling with the sleeves of her flannel shirt nervously.

Alice blinked, vacant again, remorseful, "I...I'm sorry. I still can't see her."

"We all had a hand in James's demise." Jasper intoned, brushing a strand of Alice's hair behind her ear before he pinned Bella with a serious look. "Not just you. Pray she comes for us first."

"In any case, guards will be outside at all times. And the Volturi are seasoned in combat. You have nothing to fear, dear Isabella. We will dispatch her and this Riley boy quickly and efficiently." Aro piped up helpfully, smiling with less intensity than normal at Bella. He didn't need to use his powers—not that they worked on her—to know he inadvertently scared her when he did.

Bella nodded, swift to turn from him in spite of his kindness, venturing to the safe warmth of Esme, eager to dole out goodbyes should anything happen. God forbid.

Panic mode wasn't the word for it. Though he tried to keep a cool head, Caius was visibly stressed, arms already outstretched to receive Nora as she wandered like a lost ghost toward him.

She would have been embarrassed, that she clung to him the way she did, buried her face into the soft material of his coat to hide her sadness, but she hardly cared if anyone saw. Not when he held her just as tight.

"Hey," His voice was quiet, a comforting croon, followed by a remorseful tut. Because she was shaking. "Oh, carissima. We won't be long."

"I know." Her voice warbled with suppressed tears, a catch in her throat. She cleared it, but it did nothing, so she nuzzled into his neck, hands fisting the thick material of his coat. "I can't help it. I love you. I can't even think...about someone hurting you."

"My sweetheart." His hand stroked the back of her hair, rings cold and an annoying reminder this was real. His chin rested on the crown of her head, and she took comfort in feeling him talk, the rumble of his voice in his chest, the soft sway in his embrace he allowed her despite the chink it would cause in his fearsome reputation. "Worry not for me. I can more than handle myself, especially against a bunch of pesky infants."

Still, she didn't relent her grasp. And he realized where it was coming from. He had made it his job to be their 24/7 since that night. But what could he do? This was his duty, this was a burden he would never escape. It was imperative for her safety, and that of her sister. Because losing Isabella would destroy her. And he'd sooner rot in hell then let another thing happen to her.

It tore his frozen heart in two to leave her here and his hug became tight as a boa constrictor. Almost like he wanted to fuse to her so he couldn't leave. Because her anxiety transferred to him, and his imagination began to run away from him.

"I know you're scared, sweetheart." He said, hushed, trying to soothe her. "And now more than ever I fear for you too. If something were to happen I'd never forgive myself."

"Your faith in your people and their ability to protect your Queen is truly awe inspiring, mighty leader of the vampire world." Rosalie sassed across from them, looking even more severe in her black attire, hair braided like some warrior goddess.

Caius hissed. Seriously, hissed. Like some overgrown, displeased house cat.

Nora sighed, resting her forehead against his chest, hoping the cool of him might ease her headache. They were actually doing their weird, animalistic pissing contest now?

Marcus, more stressed over this truce than the fight ahead of them, snapped caustically, "Gods, enough. Compose yourselves or the newborns will have a field day."

Nora tipped her head back and eyed Caius. "Do you have to be such a mean girl all the time?" And then she huffed and pushed away from him, left him stammering for a response.

Marcus was next to receive her, an angry little frown still on his lips. But it evaporated as she looked up at him, as he took in all of the signs of her turmoil on her. The pale skin, the mauve rings under her eyes, the shallowness to her cheeks. A waif, who he'd helped create.

Unable to contain himself despite their audience, he placed a finger under her chin, tilted her face up, leant down and brushed his lips against hers. Chaste and unsure, considering the tenebrous nature of their strained relationship. But he melted into her when she kissed him back, his regret heavy on his mind as she pulled away and leant to place one upon his forehead, like he'd done that night they'd admitted their love to each other.

She whispered against his porcelain skin, eyes scrunched closed to bid away more tears. Endless tears. "Please be careful."

It was the most emotion she'd shown, especially toward him; even though she hurt, that he'd hurt her because he was too catatonic with the fear of loss, she still went out of her way to convey her love for him.

"We'll return." He vowed, misty eyed but unable to cry and show her his regret.

Nora unleashed her own promise. She couldn't let him go into battle focused on this, on them. It could get him killed. "We'll talk, when you do."

Marcus had always been vulnerable. Not an open book, but still one begging to be read. For understanding. And with this she could visibly see the weight lift itself off his shoulders, the self-loathing lessen.

There was one last thing to get off his chest. "I love you, amore. And I'm more sorry than you could ever know that I did not keep my promise."

She didn't say it was alright. Because it wasn't. But she tried to smile, to give him something to inspire his fight when he looked so defeated. It only made his still heart ache even more. "I love you too."

Aro was next, and nerves bubbled within her. But he stretched out his hand, gloveless, accepting her easily enough. Soon swamped with the chaotic whirl of her thoughts and memories.

It took him a second to get his footing after being bereft of the familiar edges and workings of her mind for so long, but when he did there was that sympathy she was growing to loathe to see something once bright, now bathed in shadow.

And that emotion was precisely the reason he had heeded her and refrained contact, knowing she was starting to hate it. But he couldn't stop his heart from bleeding any vestibules of remorse it contained for her.

"Darling—"

"Later."

Aro winced at her tone, the Cullens murmuring amongst themselves. The wolves even grumbled and grunted in discomfort, expecting the Cold One to snap and hurt her, and ready regardless of the treaty to step in and stop it.

A slither of regret accosted Nora, and she cupped Aro's face, drew him into a kiss that left him starry eyed and everyone else uncomfortably looking away. She stroked his cheeks with her thumbs, sending him a shaky imitation of a smile as she whispered, "I get that you're eager to play 'normal couple', and we can have all the domestic arguing you could want in the world later. I promise."

"And I promise, we will come back to experience your beautiful fury." He rested his forehead against hers, soaking up the last of her that he would get before the battle. A precaution. Just in case he did meet a grim fate. At least he could go knowing he got to hold her. Hear that she loved him.

And didn't it come as easy as breathing, in spite of everything, to tell him, to make his desperation reality, "I love you, Aro."

She'd never grow tired of the way he looked at her. As if she were truly something precious to behold. Never grow bored of the adoration that softened his voice to a murmur, "As I do you, my darling."

One last kiss, rushed but impactful, and Nora stepped away, choked up as he kept hold of her hand until he was forced to let it go by their distance.

If she hadn't of moved, they would never leave. And she was starting to give in to the desire inside to beg them not to go.

Gravitating back to Bella who waited by the steps, Nora pursed her lips at the Cullens before ultimately deciding, fuck it. "You be careful too."

They stopped pretending to be busy, stopped meandering amongst themselves in their shock.

She grinned cheekily, flashing a wink at Rosalie who failed to hide her amusement, her growing fondness. "It would totally suck for you to die when I'm just starting to like you."

She received varying looks and nods of genuine thanks, the vegetarian family plagued with far more anxiety than the Volturi, not so used to combat as her ruthless coven.

Lastly Nora beheld her little family—the one she would have for eternity, made up of murderers, ruthless vampires who'd only ever shown her kindness, and felt some warmth seep its way back into her walled heart.

"Be safe."

Jane answered, not a care in the world that she was failing to uphold her cold reputation, or the regulations of their hierarchy. Her big eyes glistened sadly, and she sounded so small, "Always, Nora."

Nora tried to bolster her, "Kick ass."

"You know it." Felix reassured, mellowing himself out like an athlete before a big game.

She looked down at her sister as Bella gripped her arm in a vice-like hold, even more pale in her stress, and a frown warped Nora's gentle features unpleasantly. "Bring me that bitches head."

"My pleasure, boss." Demetri threw her a salute, a bow.

And then, with a flash, a last heavy look from all of them, they were gone, the wolves and the Cullens mere steaks of colour behind them.

All Nora had left was a heavy heart, an uneasy sibling, and two guards awkwardly trying to avoid looking at her tears as they ushered the pair inside and took their posts.

It had to have been building up to an hour.

Nora hadn't been counting. She'd been staring. Unblinkingly. She couldn't stop looking outside. Waiting to see some black infect the green and white stillness. Each second it was undisturbed was a knife to her heart.

Bella, too, watched. Eagle eyed, she took in the sight of her sister.

They hadn't spoken about what Bella had seen and it should've weighed heavy between them...but if it was what Bella suspected it to be, some part of her deep inside...was proud. It took courage to get rid of your demons, she knew. But doing it yourself? It was a whole new level of brave. And she felt only admiration for her sister.

Which is why she couldn't leave her trapped like this, a ball of anxiety waiting to explode.

"Just come and sit down. How is checking the trees every two minutes better than watching Mean Girls?" Bella queried, sprawled on the couch, bursting into giggles when Regina lost her shit and did her infamous screaming scene. Very reminiscent of a certain platinum haired king.

Nora gnawed at her lip until it was raw, wandered back to her, arms crossed over chest, disbelieving as she stood over her eerily chill little sister and tried to gain her attention. "How are you so calm right now? People we love are literally out there fighting for their lives."

"Vampires you love." Bella corrected, muffled by a mouthful of munched up popcorn, craning her head to try and see the TV around Nora's body. "The only ones I give a crap about are Carlisle, Alice and Esme. And they can handle themselves."

"So the rest are, what? Chopped liver?"

And Bella nodded.

Okay...who was this icon and where was her cringy little sister?

"You wanna know why?" Bella huffed, hopeful if she told her sister she could get back to her favourite movie.

"Please share."

So Bella sat up, absently chewing at her selection of candy, "Emmett basically told Edward to kill me. Rosalie is a stone cold bitch, which I kind of respect and understand due to her past but still, I don't know what the fuck I ever did to her. And Jasper? Pfft. It might not be his fault, but that uptight son of a bitch has always wanted to rip out my jugular. So I can't say I'd be too bothered if any of them kicked the can and called it a wrap."

Nora's mouth at the end of her sisters tirade was hanging open. "Huh. Well my respect for you just skyrocketed. There really is a badass beneath all that clumsy, awkward bravado."

Bella pushed Nora's hand away as she ruffled her hair, sighing matter of factly as she fixed it. "Yeah, thanks. I just choose not to show it."

And Bella felt some accomplishment as Nora giggled to herself. That she had given her some peace. But not for long.

She was only able to stand about two minutes, before she she was back to pacing around, staring out the window, an urge to both laugh and cry as no one appeared, but the two guards eyed her like she was insane.

She'd just finished sticking her tongue out at Afton, moving her stare back to the trees, when her heart did a little leap with anxiety. For a second, only one, she had been sure she'd seen a glimpse of fiery red amongst the fauna.

Nora practically stuck herself to the window, squinting to see better.

Bella clearly thought she was taking her panicking to insane levels, the worry effecting her now. "Look, Nora, would you just sit down? You're massively missing out on taking advantage of all the Cullens assets here. And your also just being a major downer."

Nora tried to convince herself it had just been a trick of the light, and she nearly succeeded, stepping back one step. Until something finally broke through the tree line.

"What the fuck?" There was no space to breathe she was that pressed up to the glass, straining a look to her left with a frown.

Demetri.

He was supposed to be fighting, wasn't he? Head of the guard. He was needed.

He stopped in front of Afton and Santiago, talking quickly, frantically. They stood straight, and she watched with tensed shoulders and bated breath as they left their posts to move closer, looking unsurely at one another.

He seemed to become irate, movements frantic, an asinine sneer on his face that could rival Caius's.

"Turn that off." Nora said, quiet on purpose.

Bella stopped her obnoxious chewing. "What?"

"Turn it off!" Nora whisper-yelled, still trying to be quiet, not resisting a eye roll to hear Bella fumble with the remote and kill the TV.

That was better, she could almost hear. Demetri had his voice raised, anyhow.

It was easier to read his lips. She managed to get something along the lines of 'furious' and 'heads' before he really got going. And whatever he said next had them disappearing in a flash like a fire had been lit under their asses.

Nora's heart skipped, and she stumbled back, pulse an anxious thudding in her ears. Because this didn't feel right at all.

Something must be seriously wrong, and as Demetri moved to enter the house Nora came to a stop in the middle of the room. He appeared in the doorway in the time it took her to blink.

Bella peered up at her sister dubiously, and following her line of sight she gasped and jumped up, nearly spilling popcorn all over the floor he had materialised that suddenly.

"My Queen." He dropped into a sweeping bow before standing straight, an urgent countenance to him. For all of his worry, his voice was smooth. Not matching the franticness of his expression. "I need you to come with me. Now."

Nora felt a chill actually crawl like some horrid little creature down her spine.

"What's happened? Where are the Kings? Everyone else?"

There was no missing the odd flash of anger darkening those red eyes at her questions. "Still at the battle. But there's no time to explain. I have been instructed to take you elsewhere and that's what I will do."

"Where?" Bella questioned, cowering as he shot her a glower with hostility that was so unlike himself.

"Nowhere that concerns you. You are to remain here."

His behavior with Bella was one of many red flags. He had alway been cordial. Even kind to her.

So leaving her here? Alone? It was a stupid move. And the Volturi were anything but that.

"Are you mental? She's not being left behind when that crazy psycho ginger bitch could be skulking around in the woods, waiting to pounce." Unease churned through her, and she placed herself in front of Bella, still speaking in that furious way that had Demetri almost smirking, "Who gave the order to leave Bella? Because that wouldn't happen, and I'm not fucking going anywhere until you tell me why you've come here acting like a grade A douche when you're supposed to be out there."

To this, Demetri finally allowed a smile. A nasty, hair raising one. He chuckled, hands behind his back. "I did think you'd be easier to trick. But it's not an act. You really do care about your little minions, don't you? I respect that."

She knew it. Demetri was her closest friend, and something in her mind she'd dismissed as all the craziness of the past days had been screaming this wasn't him.

Nora tried valiantly to keep her features schooled and calm while Bella became as stiff as petrified wood behind her. "Who are you?"

In answer, the Demetri clone began to shed the look like a second skin. Hair grew darker, messy long curls, choppy and shaggy. Skin became a smooth, deep russet. Clothes changed from the austere black uniform of her coven to a white, gothic, old Victorian-esque dress; draping lace sleeves, a tight corset, a purposefully tattered looking skirt down to the knees. Innocent, and pretty—as mush as the features that morphed from her friends into that of a beautiful woman were, eyes crimson and bright.

"My name is Soma." Her accented voice had that same smoothness she'd enhanced in Demetri's, sultry and hypnotic, and she flashed her teeth in what was supposed to be a smile, but one that was almost to the manic degrees of Aro's, "And I have come to bring you home."

"What are you talking about?" Nora faltered, her grip on Bella's hand tightening. Because gravity was zeroing in on her. They were alone with a random vampire, completely unprotected.

How the hell had this happened? And how had nobody clearly picked up on it?

"Your questions will be answered in time." Soma promised, never once blinking or removing her gaze from the petrified women. Sympathy shone in those relentless, predatory eyes. "Though I must apologise for what's to come next."

And then the cause of her apology manifested itself.

Bella choked on a scream.

Fiery hair that had been the demon in her nightmares, in hallucinations, and yet this was no such thing. Victoria stood to Soma's right, the same manic stare going through Nora, locked onto Bella.

No matter how much she begged the universe for it to be a lie, there was the crazy vampire gunning for her sister's head, shadowed by a vaguely familiar boy, near unrecognisable in his superhuman beauty. Riley.

But Nora only had eyes for the megalomaniac, and she gasped, the breath stolen from her. "You."

"Me. The crazy psycho ginger bitch, was it?" A satisfied laugh rumbled up Victoria's throat, feral and wrong. There was nothing in that gaze, a black void, but hunger. It slaked her voice, made it unnaturally raw and inelegant for a vampire, "And I'm here to collect my payment."

There was nowhere to go. Nowhere to run. Nothing but the ugly truth for Nora that there was going to be no way to protect her sister from the salivating beast ready to rip her to pieces in some fucked up fantasy of revenge.

"N-No, please," The tears were immediate, and Nora would be concerned she was breaking Bella's fingers with her grip, but fear was all she could see, hear, taste as salty spit gathered in her mouth, and she begged the indifferent, odd vampire apparently here to steal her away, "Why are you doing this? Please, please don't. She has nothing to do with this. Let her go, I...I'm begging you."

"It was the price." The female vampire sighed, apparently bored, raised her hand and crooked her fingers, demanding, "We must go."

Before Nora had time to beg further, Victoria hissed. The boy echoed it, the little lap dog he evidently was, both vampires looking more murderous by the second.

Though Victoria especially was proving to be every bit the insane beast Bella had made her out to be as she raged at the other vampire, "You said I could have both!"

Bella was shaking so hard she was jolting Nora at his point. But the elder Swan could do nothing but push them further away from the three creatures now facing off with each other, trying her best to hide her sister behind her.

Victoria might as well have stamped her foot, no better than a child whose parent had stolen their toy away. Except this was a big, inhuman child whose toy just so happened to be Bella.

She was snarling, akin to some rabid dog in her rage, "That was the deal. Those ancient fossils took Edward from me! Stole the true ire of my vengeance. She's the only thing left. She had my mate..." She clutched her stomach and made an awful sound, "...killed. He's gone, because of her. She deserves all the pain I can cause her, and you said I could kill the would-be queen and make it so. You promised!"

Riley became silent. So quiet you'd think someone had stolen his voice. Nora's brows furrowed, because he was...gaping, betrayal shadowing every inch of his perfect face, darkening his gaze.

Soma merely lilted, balefully, "I lied."

A metallic crunch. Bella screamed.

Despite all the gore she'd seen recently, Nora gagged as Victoria's severed head rolled to knock into her foot, betrayed face looming up at her.

Sound was muffled for Nora, a ringing in her ears as her sister cried behind her. There was the ruffling of fabric, and she heaved for air as she looked back to a nonchalant Soma who wiped the venom from her fingers with a curl of her lip.

And then she was honing in on the boy Victoria had so clearly lied to, and with mercy that seemed foreign to her she said, "I am not your enemy. I offer you a chance, Riley Biers. The least I can do considering your immortal life has been a rather humiliating sham."

The boy pried his slitted eyes away from Victoria's corpse, his body shaking to suppress his fury. Nora didn't know who he was angry at, Victoria or Soma, only glad it didn't seem to be her or Bella. They were inconsequential. He didn't even spare them one speck of attention.

Soma did not flinch under the intensity of his outrage. "Be rational, child. Leave now while you still can. Forge a new life, a better one." And then she watched his hands flex as if that could dispel everything he was feeling, a calculating quirk to a defined, dark brow. "Or stay here and fight me for your foolish cause. Defend the honor of this woman who puppeteered you. Who lied to you and told you that you were special when you were nothing more than the scapegoat. But I warn you. Challenge me, and you will perish. Horrifically."

He was so still he may as well have been carved from marble, as all vampires appeared. There was no breathing. No blinking. Riley Biers was beginning to understand he had been made to be a martyr for a cause meant for another man. He had been taken, changed, destroyed for nothing. For fake love. And his rage was terrible.

Soma seemed to pick up that sentiment, eyeing him with trepidation. "Your choice, boy. Do you live? Or die?"

Nora hadn't seen a vampire...transform. But from what she recalled when seeing the missing person posters her dad had stacked on his kitchen table, it had only been around a year. Perhaps mortality lingered, because he suddenly looked so defeated, so wounded and small. With Riley, some human was left in him. And she saw it take over as he murmured, downcast, "I'm already dead."

"You are sure, young one?" Even strange Soma sounded surprised by his abrupt change.

His nod was almost imperceptible. The slight tremor of his chin was not. He pressed his lips together. "This isn't a life. That was taken from me." Then he gave in, glanced up, eyes wide and glistening with grief and sorrow that could never fall. "...Please."

Soma didn't waste time.

Bella only whimpered now as his body fell to the ground with a great thump, head nauseatingly rolling along the ground, but his face...peaceful.

Unlike Victoria's which was still staring up at Nora. And yet she couldn't move, frozen stiff.

"I'll have to remember to burn these later." The vampiress muttered under her breath as she looked between the bodies, frustration pinching her expression as she wiped venom from her hands again on the ends of her dress.

And with his death, the combination of everything in the span of the last minute, rationality slammed back into Nora and she kicked Victoria's head away with a shiver. "Just what the hell is going on?!"

Fuck...surely someone would be here, soon. Would realise Victoria hadn't shown up for the fun.

But it was starting to seem unlikely. Soma was easeful. Hardly in an urgent hurry.

"Forgive me, Elenora." She regained her composure. "I was going to wait, but there's no harm in telling you now. I owe you that, at least, for this scare."

"Get back." Nora warned her sister as the stranger moved closer.

The woman simply smiled, the condescending way a parent does to a child when they find amusement in their stupidity. Nora could see at least a little why Victoria was so quick to anger around this woman.

The vampiress looked down with a breathy chuckle, kicking Victoria's body, a soft snort to see it twitch, "Our plan was meticulous. She and her little army of nuisances were a great distraction to busy your mates, all so I could get here and see you. I have talents I shan't divulge, but I hadn't thought it would work. Your kings have quite the reputation. But it seems unwarranted now. They are men, at the end of the day. Relics of a bygone age. No better than Neanderthals, cocky and eager for torment and bloodshed. To lay claim to what is theirs." She shivered, disgusted, ridiculing with glee, "Luring them and those ridiculous veggie freaks with a fight was easy enough."

What?

"B-but Alice—"

"The seer?" Lalita rolled her eyes. "Yes. She was said to be a formidable foe. Unavoidable. But there is something you will learn, dear girl. Every opponent has a weakness if you are sharp enough to look for it. With patience, we found hers, just like we found it in your three brutes."

Again with the 'we.'

The regal woman cocked her head at Victoria's corpse. "This one however was such an easy target. Blinded by her rage. It was embarrassingly simple to have her believe our agreement was real. I had to make it look real," She beseeched Nora, "Rage is easy to manipulate, yes. But it's a dangerous thing. Taking her by surprise was a lot less messy, you understand? We avoided a fight and saved Isabella's life, after all."

Nora's head was spinning, "I...what?"

"It doesn't matter now." Soma smoothed invisible specks of mess off her clothing, sidestepping the body with a sneer, clunky boot crunching into one of the fingers of Victoria's hand. "I will explain it better at a later date, when we're out of the crossfire. All is well, as it stands, and here we are. Unharmed. Just as they planned."

They?

The more she talked the more this whole situation was only becoming more baffling.

"And you will come with me, now, if you wish for it to remain that way."

The threat should've had her complying. But this was a whirlwind, and steadfast, Nora shook her head defiantly. "No."

Soma visibly slouched with remorse. "Please do not make me do this. I had wanted to spill not even a single drop of blood."

Nora had only ever been scared like this once before. And though she'd killed that monster, this one here before her was realistically not going anywhere unless Nora went with her.

Victoria was semi-dead. But the merry band of bloodthirsty miscreants she'd dragged along with her were a different story, out there either being pummelled into ash or, more unlikely, eviscerating everyone she loved.

Nora refused to leave Bella. But...this woman could hurt her sister for her non-compliance. She had shown she was perfectly capable. A viper lying in wait to strike.

What do you do, when stuck between a rock and a hard place? When there's nowhere to go? When you are meant to be a queen but inside, you're only a terrified girl. A sister.

Nora tried to buy time, be tactful, anything, begging the creature's understanding, "I can't go with you if it means leaving her here alone with all of those newborns out there."

"They're being taken care of as we speak."

"If you're so smart, then shouldn't you know not to underestimate any enemy?" Nora retorted, letting anger swallow her common sense for a moment. "One could easily sniff her out. Blood outweighs even the thrill of killing for a newborn, but as an added bonus, you just murdered their commander. You think they're gonna let that slide?"

The beautiful goddess clenched her firsts, and it was almost like the action squeezed Nora's heart, heightened her distress until it was choking her.

"You will not get out of this on practicalities. I tried to limit damage to you sister, but she is human. And I don't care for them." Soma's lips twisted into a reproachful grimace. "I didn't want to have to do this, but I will involve her wellbeing to force your hand."

"No! No, please," Nora struggled to shove down her cries, Bella cowering into her back. "Don't hurt her."

"There's no other choice. You will not go without inspiration, and we have to leave now."

And Nora saw fear shine through mysterious Soma's graceful nonchalance in the contemptuous glares she cast about her.

So she was afraid, after all.

"Whatever you're taking me for, money or power, it's not worth it, Soma. They'll do so much worse than just killing you for this." She whispered. Soma couldn't conceal her fleeting terror, and Nora latched onto it, implored her, "You're right to be afraid. If you do this you're not just signing a death sentence. You're batting up for an eternity of misery, of torture. Because when they find you and whoever you work for, and they will, nothing will be left of you. Nothing will stop their rage. They'll take anything you care for, anything you hold dear, and they'll destroy it."

There were seconds of contemplation that had Nora thinking she'd swayed her.

But then the vampiress closed her eyes briefly, opening them to reveal only resolution. A martyr for her mysterious cause. "Then when the time comes, I shall go proudly into deaths hands knowing I saved a woman from monsters that would only destroy her, too."

No moment for air. For anymore pleading. To even blink. She rushed them, and as Bella screamed, Nora's world was eclipsed with blinding pain...and darkness.