𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐣𝐚𝐜𝐨𝐛 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤

Chapter Twenty-One: Better Than Okay

Aro held out his hand for Renesmee to hold. The young girl looked up at her mother as if checking whether it was safe to do so. Bella was unwilling to let her daughter go anywhere with five feet of Aro, but it was necessary. Renesmee slowly walked toward Aro, placing her hand on his cheek. "Hello, Aro."

"Magnifico," Aro snapped out of his trance quite immediately, "Half mortal, half immortal. Conceived and carried by this newborn while she was still immortal."

"Impossible!"

"Do you think they fooled me, brother?" Aro asked Caius threatening. Bella, Edward, Renesmee, Seth, Emmett, and I walked back—anywhere to get away from the Volturi. "Bring the informer forward."

I stopped in my tracks and turned around.

No. They couldn't.

"Is that the child you saw?" Caius asked Irina as he pointed at Renesmee. "I'm not sure."

"Jane." Jane was delighted to use her powers before she was interrupted by Irina. "She's changed. This child is bigger."

"So your allegations were false."

"The Cullens are innocent. I take full responsibility for my mistake," Irina switched her gaze to Bella and whispered, "I'm sorry."

"Caius, no!" I screamed as the blonde looked at Felix. The vampire snapped Irina's head clean off her body and Caius set it on fire. "Irina!"

Tanya and Kate ran toward the Volturi, only to be stopped by the other vampires. Kate was harder to cease—her electric fingers harmed everyone who even touched her, but Garrett held through the pain. "Blind them."

Zafrina did as told and soon, the sister stopped fighting, unable to see what was around them anymore. "Give me my sight back."

"Tanya, this is what they want. if you attack now, we'll all die." Edward motioned for Zafrina to stop blinding the two after they stopped struggling. "Pain."

Edward gasped in pain as he fell to his knees. I should've known that Jane would play dirty. Bella immediately expands her mental shield so that every one of us were protected from Jane's disillusionment. Jane was speechless and angry when she found out that none of us were affected by her powers, blindly stepping forward. Alec stopped his sister, earning a growl from Jake. My eyes widened slightly as I saw the familiar black smoke appearing out of Alec's hands, but thankfully enough, Aro halted the boy.

"Agreed. But, does it then follow that there is no danger? For the first time in our history, humans pose a threat to our kind. Their modern technology has given birth to weapons that could destroy us. Maintaining our secret has never been more imperative. In such perilous times, only the known is safe. Only the known is tolerable—and we know nothing of what this child will become. Can we live with such uncertainty? Spare ourselves a fight today, only to die tomorrow."

The member of the Volturi looked at each other, convinced by Aro's words and how Renesmee would be the cause of their downfall. 

"Alice."

I turned around to see Alice and Jasper walking side by side toward the Volturi. 

Thank God, they had made it in time. 

"Alice!" Aro said in wonder. He'd been coveting her since discovering her powers of seeing the future. "My dear, dear Alice. We're so glad to see you here after all."

"I have evidence that the child won't be a risk to our kind. Let me show you." Alice held out her hand for Aro to touch and read her thoughts. "Brother?"

Aro motioned for Alice to come forward as she shoved Dmitri's hand off of her. The vile man held Alice's hand for quite a bit of time, before jerking his hand out of hers. "Now you know—your future. Unless you decide on another course."

"We cannot alter our course. This child still poses a great threat."

"But what if you were sure she could remain concealed from the human world? Could we leave in peace?" I asked. "Of course, but that cannot be known."

 "Actually, it can." I smiled at Alice, who returned the gesture. I looked beside me to see Nahuel and Huilen walking toward Alice.

"There might be a way we can stop this."

"How? The Volturi seems intent on killing the other Cullens."

"Remember your trip to South America two years ago?"

"Brazil? You can't be talking about...Nahuel?"

"We're gonna need him to prove our testimony."

"If everyone finds out, then there's a chance that the Volturi will kill Nahuel before we can even present him."

"That's why everyone won't find out."

"I've been searching for witnesses of my own—among the Ticuna tribes of Brazil." 

"We have enough witnesses—" Caius tried to stop Alice, but was fortunately interrupted by his brother. "Let him speak brother."

"I am half human, half vampire like the child. A vampire seduced my mother, who died giving birth to me. My aunt Huilen raised me as her own—I made her immortal."

"How old are you?" Bella asked suddenly. "A hundred and fifty years."

"At what age did you reach maturity?" An eager Aro stepped forward. "I became full-grown, seven years after my birth. I have not changed since then."

A thankful Bella looked over at Renesmee happily. "And your diet."

"Blood, human food—I can survive on either."

"These children are much like us," Marcus concluded. "Regardless, the Cullens have been consorting with werewolves—our natural enemies."

"Dear ones, there is no danger here. We will not fight today."

Caius was mortified by his brother's words but made no notion to disagree with him. The Volturi left just as the way they came. Aro hung back, glancing at Alice and Bella before catching up to the others.

"Such a prize."

I fell to my knees in relief, hands running through my hair. Somewhere in between, Jake had shifted because I could feel his arms wrapping around me and lifting me up. Everyone broke out into huge smiles as what could have been the biggest war of this decade was prevented. SO that they could return to their normal lives.

"We're okay," Jake mumbled, leaning his forehead against mine. I was beaming—I was happy and so relieved because I didn't know what I would've done if things had gone another way.

"We're better than okay."

We were together. Happy. Living. Breathing.