Soul not Included

Chapter 84

Charlotte's gift was hung in the main room over the fire place. It was a large canvas that Carlisle hunted a frame for under Esme's specification. The drawing was done by me and Esme painted most of it after i had chosen the base colors.

Bella and Edward looked at in in awe as Charlotte was thoroughly pleased to bits but that wasn't all of it. Not to me at least. In the cottage i had dug through some of my things and found my bracelet. I gave it to her to wear. With Simon's dragon, Jacob's wolf and Edward's heart hanging from it. She quickly made the connection that the sword that Charlie does still wear was a part of the set. I nodded and told her that sword represented me.

Alistair didn't go that night but the next morning i was awoken by Amun causing a fuss. I suppose he was getting more and more nervous as the days drawn closer to the battle. And seeing how a good amount of time had passed and Grace had yet to return, it didn't particularly inspire good faith.

"—picked a fight with the Volturi, endangered his whole family, just to lure me here to my death," Benjamin said sarcastically as I stepped out of the room. Trying to walk as quietly as possible to the stairs. I was stopped by Alistair. He shook his head. So i stood still and kept listening from where i was. "Be reasonable, Amun. I'm committed to do the right thing here— I'm not joining any other coven. You can do whatever you want, of course, as Carlisle has pointed out."

"This won't end well," Amun growled. "As if the child wasn't enough! Your human is beyond problematic! We should just all be running!"

I stepped back and Alistair was still there behind me. He gestured me to enter his room. So i did.  Alistair, grabbed one of his dirty sheets that he traveled with and tossed it over me before sitting back in the same corner we all left him in last night.

"Can you tell me what they are saying?" I whispered. Alistair licked his lips and grumbled.

"they are worried that your friends failed and now we will die," he muttered. "It's insane. Going against the Volturi. I agree. That was a stupid thing to do. There is no winning. They will hunt us all. All of us, because of you."

"I see. I'm sorry for causing distress," i muttered. "I only meant to make things easier for everyone here... my friends are very good people and I know they won't let us down. I haven't thought about my decisions in the perspective of strangers."

Alistair growled under his breath. "Amun has just declared he would join the Volturi if it becomes a battle."

"He would risk fighting Benjamin, then?" I asked.

Alistair grumbled. Words spewing so quickly and so low i couldn't really understand him. But it was nice all the same though. He came out probably to stop me from overhearing them bad mouthing me and offered his tiny corner of the room so I could hide in when i could have just returned to my room.

"He's right, this is pointless. They will kill us. We should run," Alistair's eyes landed on me. "You shouldn't be here."

I nodded. "I agree but i have to stay. I plan to redirect the Volturi's wrath to Simon and myself if they do plan to attack. They will find out that Oliver's claim is false. Possibly try to kill him for wasting their time..."

That's right. They would have to kill him. How would that work?

I hummed a little in thought. "We will be innocent. Next they would try to find fault elsewhere. If they point out that i am human, Alice will surely be there to show them that i will become a vampire, so they will not be able to hold that against us either... seeing as they too have humans in wait to become vampires in service to them. So we're safe there as well. Maybe they will push the crime of consorting with werewolves," i muttered.