I stared at them, mouth open. What were they doing here? I broke away from Edward, but he held my hand, not letting go.

“Bella, I am so glad to see you are alive and looking well.” Aro sighed in his thin, papery voice, gliding over.

I stood frozen to the spot, confused. Over Aro’s shoulder, I could see the others all looking slightly surprised and bored.

“Thank you for your concern.” Edward’s voice was cold.

I shot a look at him. “What are they doing here?” I whispered, feeling slightly panicky.

“Shh Bella, it’s going to be fine, nothing to be worried about.” Edward reassured me.

I nodded. Yeah, it was going to be fine. The royal vampire family and their small band of vampire warriors were in my house (it was my house now, actually), and it was going to be fine.

Not like I hadn’t heard that before.

I plastered a smile to my face, and turned to look back at Aro. “Thanks, I guess.”

Caius drifted towards me. He sounded amused. “You have not told our Bella why we are here?”

I bristled. I wasn’t ‘their’ Bella. I was Edward’s.

Edward’s voice was indifferent, icy. “She just woke up a few minutes ago. I thought it better not to rush her into the scheme of things.”

I looked at him, confused. What did he mean by ‘scheme of things’?

Jane laughed, and I shivered. Her tinkling soprano was unforgettable. “Bella certainly had been out for a large period of time. Highly unusual. Now she is awake again, and transformed, I wonder…”

“Nothing’s changed.” Edward hissed, angry. “It still doesn’t work.”

A look of regret passed over Jane’s features. “A pity, I was hoping to be able to break her shield. I suppose I could give it a try.” She concentrated on me and I winced, waiting for the agonising pain, but none came. I realised I had been holding my breath since I saw them, but since I was a vampire, it didn’t matter. I let it out slowly, exhaling through my lips.

“Jane dearest, if you’ve finished, let us explain to our Bella what has been happening while she had been away.”

There it was again. ‘Our’ Bella. I felt Edward stiffen besides me. “I’m not ‘your’ Bella!”