52 Weeks
by Wizardtho
Chapter 23:
As soon as Caius opens the door to our bedroom, I’m hit with a hundred different scents. I immediately stop and take in the air wafting toward me, so Caius waits patiently as he says, “Try to separate the ones you can. The scents that are too closely entwined, don’t try to pick apart, Sweetling.”
He inhales deeply, then assures me, “The 3 Whitlocks, Marcus, Aro, Sulpicia, Demetri and Jane… they are the only ones in the room. Take your time and think back to how each person smelled to you before. The scents should be similar, just more complex now. Once you are ready, we will greet them again, my beautiful queen.”
I do as Caius asks, thinking back to how an individual smelled, then try to find the more complex scent that matches it. Once I find and categorize it, I move on to the next individual. The whole process only takes me a minute or 2, but when I’m finished, there’s still one scent I’m not sure about.
I inhale deeply, almost gag, then cough, “There’s one I can’t place. It’s almost sickly sweet. It’s not fresh… not here anymore. It’s maybe 2 or-”
I growl deeply when the scent finally registers, “Fucking Edward.”
Caius nods sadly, “Yes, Isabella. The cleaning staff was not allowed access to our suite while you were in transition, so the boy’s scent is still quite noticeable. Once the sentencing has concluded, I will have our suite thoroughly cleaned. The scent should dissipate quickly afterward.”
I let out a heavy breath, shake my head to clear it, then say, “The sooner the better. His scent is literally making my skin crawl. I can feel my shield slithering under my skin, just waiting for him to attack again.”
When Caius leads me the rest of the way into the main room, my eyes are immediately drawn to Jasper. He’s in the corner, trying to look non-threatening, but his eyes are black.
Ah, Major.
I chuckle, then send him a bit of disbelief and roll my eyes, “The look doesn’t suit you, Major. I think I’ve told you before that whether you are in Major mode or Jasper mode, you could never be anything other than family. You can stop the kitten shit, now, ‘cuz I’m gonna need you to be every bit the Major when we enter the throne room.”
He raises an eyebrow, but when I step forward toward him, he quickly stands to his full height, his stance all Major. It was meant to see if I would scare easily, but I just hug him and say aloud, “You could never hurt me, and I knew that before my shield allowed you in. You’re my brother.”
He lets out a breath, hugs me back, then says, “Alright, Li'l Darlin’. Your reaction makes it much easier for us when we do make our way to the throne room.”
He sends me a dose of familial love, and I release him to smile at all 3 Whitlocks. Next is Sulpicia, who seems to be fidgeting slightly. Her excitement has her wrapping her arms around me before I’m even completely to her, but I hum as I hug her just as tightly, “I love you too, Cia.”
When I release her, Aro is there, taking her in his arms. I smile at them both, then cup Aro’s cheek. His eyes close, and I think to him, “Thank you, Brother. For everything. Though I don’t think I’ll give you full run of my mind, I like this communication between us. I can see it being beneficial to be able to talk with you like this.”
His eyes open, and he pats my hand on his cheek, “I can, too, Isabella… though I don’t mind telling you that you have an amazing mind for one so young. I look forward to the glimpses you do allow me over the next centuries.”
I chuckle, “We’ll take that a step at a time, shall we?”
He chuckles and nods as I move to Marcus, who gives me a soft smile. For some reason, though he’s holding his hand out for me to take, I bypass it to hug him tightly. I don’t know why, but my gut is telling me to do this, so I whisper in his ear, “Trust me.”
Suddenly, my physical shield encompasses both of us, and I hear gasps all around the room. None, though, are as loud or as joyous as Marcus’.
He hugs me tighter, then sobs against my shoulder, “Thank you. Thank you, Sister.”
Major yells for me to drop my shield, that it’s depleting me too fast, and Caius reaches me just as I can’t hold my shield up anymore. I nearly collapse in his arms. The exertion has me panting as I try to calm my worried mate, “I’m fine. Just need to feed again. Whoever is stopping Didyme’s essence from being felt by Marcus is seriously powerful. It sapped my strength, just shielding him for that small minute. I needed to see if it would work, though.”
Marcus, who has venom tears in his eyes and a grin on his face from ear to ear, says confidently, “It did, Isabella. I not only saw our mating line, I felt my Didi, for the first time in what seems like forever.”
I lean more completely against Caius, then say surely, “She’s alive, Marcus, and I know for sure now that I can block the vampire’s power. I can get you to her, but I need to strengthen my physical shield. I just need time. I need to train, and I need to work with my physical shield to understand it.”
Before I can say another word, Major is there, handing me a bag of warm blood. I look at my mate, still panting slightly, “Please. I don’t think I can concentrate enough to hold it right now, and I don’t want to ruin this outfit.”
He nuzzles my neck, picks me up, takes the bag from Major, then says, “Heat several more, Major. I want Isabella full to the bursting point, from now on.”
Caius sits with me in his lap, then as soon as I settle into my meal, he whispers, “Promise me you will not try that again until after Major works with you on your shield capabilities, Sweetling. You exhausted your energy reserves in less than a minute, yet you just fed.”
I nod and send my promise in my emotions, knowing Major would send them to my mate. Caius’ eyes lose a bit of the worry they hold when the emotions reach him, so he says, “Thank you. Now rest and feed, my love.”
Unfortunately, it takes 7 bags of donated blood to fill me. Major looks at me, then says, “Try pullin’ your physical shield around only yourself. I wanna make sure it’s workin’ right before ya walk into the throne room. If Edward’s scent has your shield ready to expand, we need to prepare for it to do just that, and ya need to be in top form when he’s brought into that room.”
I nod, then close my eyes and let my physical shield expand over me like a thin film. Though I’m sitting in Caius’ lap still, it doesn’t encompass him. He can still reach me through it, which calms me as I look to Major.
He lets out a breath as he studies me, “No energy loss… and your mate can still reach ya. Try shieldin’ Caius with ya.”
I nod, and the film expands to cover my mate without a single hesitation. Major comments after a minute of silence in the room, “Good. That means it wasn’t because ya shielded someone else that ya lost energy. It was the other power or combination of powers fightin’ against your shield. We’ll work on that later, since there won’t be any physical powers in the throne room to worry ‘bout.”
Caius nods to Major, then I say aloud, “Got it. I know this could wait until later, too, but I just need to say it. I want Dem and Jane on my security, and if neither of them are available, I want Char, Peter, or Major. If anyone else claims anything about my security, it’s got to be cleared by both Major and Caius, in person. I don’t trust anyone outside this room with my security.”
Jane and Char both seem to relax slightly, so I tell them the same thing I told Demetri. “My attempted abduction was neither of your faults. I asked you girls for time before I went to my mate or the brothers, which you gave me. I could have easily asked Dem into the suite when we got here and told him. I chose not to, and my choice led to my abduction. I have been told of the new security law, and I have agreed that it is necessary. Now, at least, you all know my feelings about my security and who I trust.”
Both girls nod in acceptance, while Caius kisses my neck and states, “Well put, Sweetling. Are you ready to deal with sentencing?”
My physical shield slithers under my skin, but knowing it will appear if needed, I state, “I am. I want this behind us as soon as possible. We have more important things we could be doing with our time, like finding our sister and bringing her home.”
As soon as Caius opens the door to our bedroom, I’m hit with a hundred different scents. I immediately stop and take in the air wafting toward me, so Caius waits patiently as he says, “Try to separate the ones you can. The scents that are too closely entwined, don’t try to pick apart, Sweetling.”
He inhales deeply, then assures me, “The 3 Whitlocks, Marcus, Aro, Sulpicia, Demetri and Jane… they are the only ones in the room. Take your time and think back to how each person smelled to you before. The scents should be similar, just more complex now. Once you are ready, we will greet them again, my beautiful queen.”
I do as Caius asks, thinking back to how an individual smelled, then try to find the more complex scent that matches it. Once I find and categorize it, I move on to the next individual. The whole process only takes me a minute or 2, but when I’m finished, there’s still one scent I’m not sure about.
I inhale deeply, almost gag, then cough, “There’s one I can’t place. It’s almost sickly sweet. It’s not fresh… not here anymore. It’s maybe 2 or-”
I growl deeply when the scent finally registers, “Fucking Edward.”
Caius nods sadly, “Yes, Isabella. The cleaning staff was not allowed access to our suite while you were in transition, so the boy’s scent is still quite noticeable. Once the sentencing has concluded, I will have our suite thoroughly cleaned. The scent should dissipate quickly afterward.”
I let out a heavy breath, shake my head to clear it, then say, “The sooner the better. His scent is literally making my skin crawl. I can feel my shield slithering under my skin, just waiting for him to attack again.”
When Caius leads me the rest of the way into the main room, my eyes are immediately drawn to Jasper. He’s in the corner, trying to look non-threatening, but his eyes are black.
Ah, Major.
I chuckle, then send him a bit of disbelief and roll my eyes, “The look doesn’t suit you, Major. I think I’ve told you before that whether you are in Major mode or Jasper mode, you could never be anything other than family. You can stop the kitten shit, now, ‘cuz I’m gonna need you to be every bit the Major when we enter the throne room.”
He raises an eyebrow, but when I step forward toward him, he quickly stands to his full height, his stance all Major. It was meant to see if I would scare easily, but I just hug him and say aloud, “You could never hurt me, and I knew that before my shield allowed you in. You’re my brother.”
He lets out a breath, hugs me back, then says, “Alright, Li'l Darlin’. Your reaction makes it much easier for us when we do make our way to the throne room.”
He sends me a dose of familial love, and I release him to smile at all 3 Whitlocks. Next is Sulpicia, who seems to be fidgeting slightly. Her excitement has her wrapping her arms around me before I’m even completely to her, but I hum as I hug her just as tightly, “I love you too, Cia.”
When I release her, Aro is there, taking her in his arms. I smile at them both, then cup Aro’s cheek. His eyes close, and I think to him, “Thank you, Brother. For everything. Though I don’t think I’ll give you full run of my mind, I like this communication between us. I can see it being beneficial to be able to talk with you like this.”
His eyes open, and he pats my hand on his cheek, “I can, too, Isabella… though I don’t mind telling you that you have an amazing mind for one so young. I look forward to the glimpses you do allow me over the next centuries.”
I chuckle, “We’ll take that a step at a time, shall we?”
He chuckles and nods as I move to Marcus, who gives me a soft smile. For some reason, though he’s holding his hand out for me to take, I bypass it to hug him tightly. I don’t know why, but my gut is telling me to do this, so I whisper in his ear, “Trust me.”
Suddenly, my physical shield encompasses both of us, and I hear gasps all around the room. None, though, are as loud or as joyous as Marcus’.
He hugs me tighter, then sobs against my shoulder, “Thank you. Thank you, Sister.”
Major yells for me to drop my shield, that it’s depleting me too fast, and Caius reaches me just as I can’t hold my shield up anymore. I nearly collapse in his arms. The exertion has me panting as I try to calm my worried mate, “I’m fine. Just need to feed again. Whoever is stopping Didyme’s essence from being felt by Marcus is seriously powerful. It sapped my strength, just shielding him for that small minute. I needed to see if it would work, though.”
Marcus, who has venom tears in his eyes and a grin on his face from ear to ear, says confidently, “It did, Isabella. I not only saw our mating line, I felt my Didi, for the first time in what seems like forever.”
I lean more completely against Caius, then say surely, “She’s alive, Marcus, and I know for sure now that I can block the vampire’s power. I can get you to her, but I need to strengthen my physical shield. I just need time. I need to train, and I need to work with my physical shield to understand it.”
Before I can say another word, Major is there, handing me a bag of warm blood. I look at my mate, still panting slightly, “Please. I don’t think I can concentrate enough to hold it right now, and I don’t want to ruin this outfit.”
He nuzzles my neck, picks me up, takes the bag from Major, then says, “Heat several more, Major. I want Isabella full to the bursting point, from now on.”
Caius sits with me in his lap, then as soon as I settle into my meal, he whispers, “Promise me you will not try that again until after Major works with you on your shield capabilities, Sweetling. You exhausted your energy reserves in less than a minute, yet you just fed.”
I nod and send my promise in my emotions, knowing Major would send them to my mate. Caius’ eyes lose a bit of the worry they hold when the emotions reach him, so he says, “Thank you. Now rest and feed, my love.”
Unfortunately, it takes 7 bags of donated blood to fill me. Major looks at me, then says, “Try pullin’ your physical shield around only yourself. I wanna make sure it’s workin’ right before ya walk into the throne room. If Edward’s scent has your shield ready to expand, we need to prepare for it to do just that, and ya need to be in top form when he’s brought into that room.”
I nod, then close my eyes and let my physical shield expand over me like a thin film. Though I’m sitting in Caius’ lap still, it doesn’t encompass him. He can still reach me through it, which calms me as I look to Major.
He lets out a breath as he studies me, “No energy loss… and your mate can still reach ya. Try shieldin’ Caius with ya.”
I nod, and the film expands to cover my mate without a single hesitation. Major comments after a minute of silence in the room, “Good. That means it wasn’t because ya shielded someone else that ya lost energy. It was the other power or combination of powers fightin’ against your shield. We’ll work on that later, since there won’t be any physical powers in the throne room to worry ‘bout.”
Caius nods to Major, then I say aloud, “Got it. I know this could wait until later, too, but I just need to say it. I want Dem and Jane on my security, and if neither of them are available, I want Char, Peter, or Major. If anyone else claims anything about my security, it’s got to be cleared by both Major and Caius, in person. I don’t trust anyone outside this room with my security.”
Jane and Char both seem to relax slightly, so I tell them the same thing I told Demetri. “My attempted abduction was neither of your faults. I asked you girls for time before I went to my mate or the brothers, which you gave me. I could have easily asked Dem into the suite when we got here and told him. I chose not to, and my choice led to my abduction. I have been told of the new security law, and I have agreed that it is necessary. Now, at least, you all know my feelings about my security and who I trust.”
Both girls nod in acceptance, while Caius kisses my neck and states, “Well put, Sweetling. Are you ready to deal with sentencing?”
My physical shield slithers under my skin, but knowing it will appear if needed, I state, “I am. I want this behind us as soon as possible. We have more important things we could be doing with our time, like finding our sister and bringing her home.”