Heartbeat [Alec Volturi]

Before

 "No," Rosalie's voice was clear as I walked down the steps of the house. "She shouldn't make decisions like this. She's too young."

"Rose–" Someone tried to cut her off, but it was too late.

I hung onto the bannister, and assuming they were talking about me, I said, "well, she's not wro..." The vampires in the room turned to look at me. Their usual pleasantry or smiles were absent, even Esme's. "What's wrong?"

There was a beat.

Rosalie's eyes flickered to the hallway, where I knew Carlisle's office was located. I followed her eyes, but they darted away. The others were all, still, watching me.

Immediately, I took the last step off the staircase and went directly into the hallway. Carlisle's office door was cracked open, and the conversation inside drifted into the hall. But the voices cut off as soon as I reached the door.

"Saffiya, go back upstairs."

The Cullens seemed to wait with bated breath as I pushed open the door, unsure of what to expect. Alec looked up when I ignored his directive.

"What's going on?" Jasper and Alice stood together, their bodies naturally positioned into the other, both a protective and intimate detail. His hand rested on her lower back, his senses heightened as I entered the room. Edward leaned against the bookshelf, taking me in, almost assessing me. For what, I couldn't be sure.

Carlisle was closest to me, and he pushed off a wooden side table. "Good morning, Saffiya." I raised my eyebrows, finding pleasantries to be a poor attempt to ease the atmosphere. He nodded with a sigh as if he expected me to ignore the societal politeness. "Alice has had a vision–"

In the corner, Alec growled, "do not." He tasted each word, creating them from authority and lacing them with venom. But he did nothing to enforce them.

There seemed to be a collective sigh of frustration among the group. Carlisle placed his hands in his pockets but didn't back off, exchanging glances with his family members. The dynamic in the room was curious, and though concern for Alec's threat was present, Alice tried next despite it.

"It appears that Razin does have a backup plan." A similar sound came from the same area, and Jasper hissed back at him, ready for whatever reaction Alec might decide. The two stared each other down.

Jasper's touch influenced Alice to continue. "I couldn't find Razin blindly. So, I tried to look into the possible futures of other members of the Volturi if you really were to cross paths with his coven." Alice peeked at Alec again. "It was...difficult to sort through until I focused solely on your decisions."

I crossed my arms, worried that I wouldn't understand. "But I'm literally not making any decisions. Especially not ones that affect the Volturi's moves."

"Only you will, sometime in the future, and it may lead you to Alice's vision."

"Saffiya," Carlisle brought me back in a consoling tone. "You are Razin's contingency plan."

Immediately, I turned my head to check in with Alec. He refused to look away from the window. I swallowed my nerves, "I thought I was a part of the first plan?"

Edward confirmed, ironic considering he had been absent from the conversation in which we'd learned this information. "You were, but only to lure and subdue Alec." I nodded, not wanting to ask the obvious question. "He's going after you directly now."

Out of nowhere, a snarl broke the air and echoed throughout the house.

"That's enough." Alec's voice lowered, rougher than before. The finality was unchallengeable. More direct than I'd heard him speak in a while now. This was dangerous, a warning. A promise. I realised then it was not a kind of over-protectiveness of me or a desire for control over the room. It was Alice and her gift that unnerved him. The future and what it possibly held.