COLOURS || Seth Clearwater

SIXTEEN

Lucinda watched as the blonde vampire's eyes widened visibly.

"I haven't seen you in nearly two hundred years," she continued as if she were talking to an old friend. She glared at Leon when he tried to wrap an arm around her waist.

"You talk as if we're friends," Jane snapped, stepping back nervously. Lucinda shot her a look of mock hurt as she stepped forward with a small grin.

"Well, I consider you a friend. Clearly, you still think of the woman who kicked your ass, but we all make mistakes."

"Lucinda," Carlisle warned quietly, finger tips laced with his mates out of fear for the woman that he considered to be a daughter.

"It's fine, Carlisle," Lucinda chuckled, not once taking her eyes off of Jane. Alec was staring at his sister worriedly, glancing between the two women.

"You cheated," Jane accused lowly, and Lucinda snorted.

"Yes, Darling, I cheated," she mocked. "Seriously? Are we five?" She scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest in mild offense. Lucinda brought her right hand up to feel the coldness of the glass bottle, then shot Jane a smirk. "Anyways, I was taught to keep my emotions in a jar," she shrugged. "But I had to settle for a glass bottle."

Jane shot her a look before focusing her attention on Carlisle. "You missed one," she mused. Lucinda first noticed the young girl standing behind her family, and raised her hand. Alice gently pushed it down.

"We're giving her a chance," the small girl whispered and Lucinda rolled her eyes. Jasper walked away from his mate to stand next to the girl, as if to protect her.

"We offered her asylum in exchange for her surrender," Carlisle explained carefully.

"That wasn't yours to offer," Jane retorted smoothly. Lucinda noticed that the longer you looked at her, her red eyes became more apparent. "Why did you come?" She yelled.

The girl fell to the ground screaming. Her body curled in on itself, but Lucinda knew that there was nothing she could do to relieve the pain.

"Who created you?" Jane asked, but the girl could only scream in response as the pain intensified. Lucinda let out a sigh and looked at the ground, looking down at her feet.

"It's going to be a long day," she muttered. A faint smile grew on her lips when she felt Zara rub her head against her thigh.

"You don't need to do that," Esme spoke up. "She'll tell you anything you want to know." Jane smiled as the girl stopped screaming.

"I know."

"I don't know!" The girl cried out, still laying on the ground. "Riley wouldn't tell us. He said out thoughts weren't safe." Lucinda stepped away from the Volturi guards, and moved so she was standing between Leon and Dorian.

"Her name was Victoria," Edward snarled, clutching Bella tightly to his side. "Perhaps you knew her."

"Damn," Dorian whistled quietly, and Leon's brows arched.

"Edward," Carlisle warned, "if the Volturi had knowledge of Victoria, they would have stopped her. Isn't that right, Jane?" Lucinda scoffed loudly while Dorian snickered, and Leon nudged them both in the side.

"This must be how Kane felt," he muttered. An ache went through Lucinda's chest, but she pretended that it wasn't there. She had to.

"Of course," Jane answered, though her tone was doubtful. There was a moment of silence before she spoke up again. "Felix."

"She didn't know what she was doing!" Esme cried out, stepping in front of the girl. Lucinda felt her eyes widen.

She didn't care what happened to the girl — the newborn wasn't her family — but she did care about what happened to Esme.

Jane held Felix back as Esme continued talking.

"We'll take responsibility for her."

"Give her a chance," Carlisle cut in hopefully.

"The Volturi don't give second chances," Jane answered coolly. "Keep that in mind." Lucinda could see Edward murmuring something in Bella's ear, and she felt annoyance at it.

Edward acted as if the girl were fragile. She was — in a human way — but if Bella wanted to be a part of the supernatural world, then she would have to get used to the Volturi's idea of law.

There was no way to hide from it.

"Caius will be interested to know that she's still human," Jane noted, her gaze focused on Bella. Lucinda stepped forward, placing herself between Jane, and Edwards human mate.

"The date is set," Bella announced softly, leaning to the side slightly so she could look at Jane.

"I suggest you take care of your business, then leave," the witch warned, narrowing her eyes. Rowena flew down from the tree and perched on her shoulder, staring at Jane with cold black eyes.

Jane swallowed nervously, then returned to the task at hand. "Take care of the Felix. I'd like to go home." Lucinda stepped back — though she stayed in front if her brother — as Felix nodded.

The Cullen family looked away as the Volturi guard stalked forward, Dorian and Leon doing the same from a few feet to the left.

Lucinda watched as Felix grabbed the girls arms — earning a loud scream — and tore them from her body, then her head.

After he'd tossed them in the fire, he returned to his previous position next to Jane, and the four guards left. Lucinda clenched her jaw in disgust then walked away to retrieve her coat that she'd left on the rock, Zara in tow.

She let out a tired breath as she turned around, coming face to face with Dorian.

"What did you mean when you said you keep your emotions locked away in a bottle?" He asked her in a hushed voice, his brows furrowed. Lucinda offered him a weak smile and pulled the chain from her neck and held it out to him.

If someone with an untrained eye looked at it, they would merely see and empty bottle. But as Dorian looked closer, he could see small uncoloured, translucent specks swimming around inside that glittered in the rare sunlight.

"I wasn't ready to deal with the grief," Lucinda explained softly. Then she pulled the necklace from his grasp, carefully did up the clasp, and walked towards Carlisle, whom she knew would need her help.