Twilight: blood & brimstone

Aro knew.

Bella saw it in his expression—curious, intrigued, hungry.

The knowledge slithered behind his crimson eyes like a serpent curling around prey, squeezing.

Edward was rigid beside her, his grip on her arm unforgiving.

But he wasn't the one Aro was looking at anymore.

Bella was.

A Secret No Longer

Aro exhaled slowly, savoring the moment like the first taste of an exquisite meal.

"My dear Isabella," he murmured, voice velvet-soft. "You are… full of surprises."

Bella forced herself to stay still. Breathe. "I don't know what you mean."

Aro chuckled. "Oh, I think you do."

His head tilted, pale fingers steepling together in thought. "There's something inside you, child. Something ancient. Something dark."

Bella's throat tightened.

Edward growled, stepping in front of her. "Stay out of her head."

Aro waved a dismissive hand. "I only see what she allows me to see, dear boy."

His gaze flickered back to Bella, amusement twinkling in his eyes. "Or, rather, what she can't hide."

Bella felt Edward's frustration coil into something dangerous, something on the edge.

But Aro wasn't concerned.

Because he had already won.

Because he knew.

And knowledge was power.

The Volturi's Interest

Caius, silent until now, leaned forward slightly, his pale lips curling in disdain. "What exactly have you found, Aro?"

Aro's grin widened. "Oh, my dear Caius, I do believe our little Isabella is not so little after all."

Bella's heart slammed against her ribs.

Edward tensed.

Alice took a subtle step closer.

Aro's voice was light, almost playful. "She's already begun to change."

Bella's stomach dropped.

"No," Edward snapped. "That's impossible."

Aro lifted a single elegant brow. "Is it?"

His red gaze flickered back to Bella. "Tell me, child, have you felt it?"

Bella's fingers trembled.

Because she had.

She just didn't want to admit it.

Not to Aro.

Not to herself.

Aro smiled like he already knew. "You don't belong to him anymore."

Edward snarled. "She's mine."

The words left his mouth too quickly. Too possessively.

And Bella felt it then—

The shift.

The thing she had been avoiding.

Because once, she would've believed him.

Once, she had belonged to him.

But now?

Now she wasn't sure she belonged to anyone at all.

And Aro saw it.

He grinned. "Oh, how delightful."