Death's Shadow 5

“What happened with the Cullens?”Bella asked in lieu of a greeting when Tanya answered her phone. Tanya frowned at not only Bella’s question but the tone of her voice as well. Bella was angry and based on the subject of her question it seemed that Bella was angry at the Cullens. That meant one thing. Edward followed through on his threat to contact Aro and file a formal complaint against the sisters. Edward must have accused them of a very serious crime if Bella was as upset as she seemed.

“What have you heard?”Tanya asked.

“I just got out of a meeting with the royals where Aro informed me that Edward Cullen filed a complaint against the three of you claiming you declared war on them and he wanted you all arrested for an unprovoked territory dispute.”Bella told her.

Tanya laughed.”That’s what the boy claims?”

“Yes and because of that I am about to get on a plane to go to America and bring the whole coven back to the castle.”Bella didn’t sound that happy about her mission.”Tell me what really happened. I don’t want to have to rely on Aro.”

“Carlisle brought his coven to visit so he could introduce us to Rosalie’s new mate Victoria. Everyone was getting along just fine until Victoria asked about Lilith.”Tanya said.

“What does our cat have to do with Edward accusing you of a crime that results in a guaranteed death sentence?”Bella asked.

Tanya didn’t blame Bella for her obvious confusion.”She has nothing to do with it but talking about her brought your name into the conversation.”

“Let me guess Edward tried to argue that I don’t exist.”Bella said.

“Of course he did.”Tanya confirmed.”The boy is to stupid to understand that I would never willingly be in relationship with him even if I wasn’t mated.”

“What happened after that?”Bella asked getting back to the original topic.

“I told them the story of how you found Lilith and your belief that the gods put her in your path so you would take care of her. It was after I said gods Edward tried to correct me saying there was only one god. Irina asked him what proof he had that his god existed and he mentioned the Bible was the only proof he needed.”Tanya told her.

“If they knew that Jesus was actually the author of the Bible and a known con man they wouldn’t be so quick to worship him.”Bella grumbled.

“Probably.”Tanya agreed.

“What happened after that?”Bella asked.

“Edward asked Carlisle his opinion and when Carlisle said he believed there was only one god Edward made a comment about Carlisle knowing because he had the closest relationship to that god out of all us.”Tanya told her.

“I know that boy has him on a pedestal but why would he think that Carlisle has a close relationship to his pretend god?”Bella asked.

Tanya braced herself for Bella’s reaction to what she said next.”Apparently Carlisle is claiming that myself, Irina and Kate are the reason the legend of the succubus exists. He has been telling people that the three of us used to bed humans and drain them after we were done with them.”

“What?”Bella roared through the line.

“He has not only been saying that but he is claiming that he showed us the error of our ways and got us to stop not only bedding humans but he convinced us to change to animal blood.”Tanya was not surprised by the continuous growls she heard over the phone line.

“I will kill him.”Bella said.

“I take it you didn’t know anything about this?”Tanya and her sisters wondered if Bella knew what was being said.

“I had heard the rumor a couple of times but could never figure out where it came from.”Bella told her.

“Well it was Carlisle.”Tanya confirmed.

“Let’s get back to the reason Edward is claiming you declared war on them.”Bella said.

“When he was called out for lying Carlisle denied the accusations. Even when his coven members said that Carlisle had told them the lies he still refused to admit the truth. Edward of course was upset and refused to believe Carlisle was in the wrong. I gave Carlisle the ultimatum to either tell the truth or leave Carlisle chose to leave. It was before Edward left that he threatened to call Aro and lodge a formal complaint against us for the way we treated Carlisle. I didn’t know what he meant by that but with what you just said it seemed that he is trying to get us executed.”Tanya explained.

“That little weasel. I never liked the Cullens.”Bella said.

“I know and I hate that I didn’t listen to your concerns.”Tanya had taken Bella’s objection to Carlisle and brushed it aside. She had thought that Bella was just being her anti social self. Tanya now wished she had took them more seriously.

“What other members of the coven sided with Edward and Carlisle?”Bella asked.

“All of the others were shocked by learning that Carlisle had been lying to them this whole time. All of them admitted to what Carlisle had told them except for Edward of course, Esme and Jasper. Rosalie had said before she left that she was in no way siding with Carlisle she was just leaving because she was part of the coven.”Tanya had been sad knowing that Rosalie wouldn’t be in lives anymore.

“I’m not surprised Jasper didn’t say anything. With his history he likes to avoid being involved in any type of conflict.”Bella said.

“He did seem very uncomfortable when this was all going down.”Tanya had seen the tension on Jasper’s face when things had started getting heated.

“I had hoped by saving him all those years ago he would have a life without anymore tragedy. Now it seems he will once again be involved with law breakers.”Bella didn’t sound happy about it.

“How are you going to deal with them?”Tanya wondered what Bella would do to the Cullens when she went after them.

“Well I’m going to go with some members of the guard and collect the entire coven to bring back to the castle. There we will have formal trial. Knowing what Carlisle has said about the three of you I’m going to make sure there is large audience. That way when the truth comes out there will be many witnesses to Carlisle admitting he made up the stories about you.”Bella told her.

“It won’t stop the rumors right away but it will at least get the story out there.”Tanya was pleased that Bella was going to force Carlisle to admit his claims in front of witnesses. It was a good first step in the Denali regaining a good reputation.

“To make sure it is spread far and wide I’m going to personally force Carlisle to admit.”Bella said.

“You aren’t going to rely on Aro?”Tanya asked.

“Aro’s want for Kate in the guard will have him turning this whole situation around so you are found guilty instead of the Cullens. I can’t trust him to be honest about what he sees.”Bella told her.

“I still don’t understand why you allow him to remain king.”Tanya knew that Bella didn’t fully trust Aro as she caught him lying numerous times. She just didn’t know why Bella let him remain on the throne.

“Even though I have to correct him at times, his gift causes many vampires to fear being brought before him. That keeps most from breaking the laws.”Bella explained.

“I guess.”Tanya still wouldn’t let him be in charge.

“With that said I’m going to let you go. I want this Cullen thing dealt with.”Bella said.

“What are you doing once it’s done?”Tanya asked.

“Before this happened it was my plan to deal with some minor issues and come home. That will now have to wait until the Cullens are dealt with.”Bella told her.

“That means you don’t know when you will be home.”Tanya didn’t like hearing that.

“I’ll try to make this quick but my main priority is to get your name cleared and punish all those who supported the false complaint.”Bella said.

“Alright I’m going to talk to Kate and Irina and explain everything that is going on.”Tanya knew the pair weren’t going to be happy with the situation.

“You do that and I will call you when I get a chance.”Bella said.

“I love you.”Tanya told her.

“I love you too. When I get home let’s do something together. Just the two of us.”Bella suggested.

“I would like that.”Tanya was more than willing to spend some alone time with her mate.

“Good bye.”Bella said the line disconnecting.

Tanya walked out of her office and called out.”Family meeting in the living room.”

“What’s going on?”Kate asked as she looked up from her spot on the couch watching tv.

“Did Bella call?”Irina asked when she made it to the room and took a seat on her recliner.

“She did and she was very unhappy.”Tanya told them taking a seat in an arm chair.

“Did you tell her about the Cullens?”Kate figured that was what Bella was upset about.

“I didn’t have to. She already knew.”Tanya said.

“How would she know?”Irina couldn’t think of a reason Bella would know anything about the Cullens. They had only left Alaska a couple hours prior.

“Apparently Edward called Aro to file a formal complaint against us claiming the we declared war on the Cullens and he wanted us punished for an unprovoked territory dispute.”Tanya wasn’t surprised by the look of shock on her sisters’ faces.

“What the fuck?!”Kate wasn’t sure what Edward was thinking claiming that.

“Bella is on her way right now to bring all of the Cullens to the castle to be tried for making a false claim.”Tanya told them.

“She’s going personally?”If Bella was going to take care of this herself Irina predicted the Cullens were going to be in a world of hurt.

Tanya nodded.”She not only is going to get them herself but she is going to be the one in charge of getting answers out of them.”

“She isn’t going to rely on Aro?”Kate asked.

“She thinks that if he gets the chance he will find us guilty instead of the Cullens. That way he can get you for the guard.”Tanya said.

“He’s never going to give up on that.”Kate wasn’t worried about Aro’s obsession with her. Bella would never let anything happen to her or her sisters.

“Did you tell her what really happened?”Irina asked.

“I did and she was even more unhappy hearing about Carlisle’s lies than she was about Edward’s false claims.”Tanya expected that at least Carlisle and Edward weren’t going to make it out of this alive.

“What’s is she going to do about it?”Kate was sure whatever it was it was going to painful for the coven leader.

“She is going to hold the trial in front of a large audience and make Carlisle confess he was the one who was responsible for the lies that spread about us.” Tanya wished she could be there to see it.

“If she is the one who makes him confess then a lot of people are going to talk about it.”Kate was of the same thought as Tanya. She wished she could see it happen.

“True anything Death’s Shadow is involved with people talk about.”Irina expected the Cullen’s trial would be well known by vampires in less than day after it was over.

“Who do you think is going to be punished?”Kate wondered who out the Cullens would be held responsible.

“Well Edward will of course. Carlisle as well as we all know Bella isn’t going to let him go free after all he has said about us. As for the others I think they will be alright. Bella may be harsh to law breakers but she doesn’t hurt the innocent.”Tanya’s mate may be a ruthless killing machine but she went out of her may to make sure those she killed deserved it.

“How long do you think this trial going to take?”Irina asked.

“Bella wasn’t sure.”Tanya hoped quickly.

“Wait does that mean we can’t go to fashion week?”Bella had promised Kate and her sisters that she would take them to New York fashion week. It was something they all liked going to but couldn’t go every year without the humans getting suspicious of them not aging. Bella had finally agreed enough time had passed and Kate was excited to go.

“Bella said she was coming home after it was over so we may still be able to.”Tanya really didn’t want to miss it because Bella always made a huge event out of it. She arranged for them to meet the famous designers and got them into all the exclusive parties.

“If we have to miss it I’m going to kill the Cullens myself.”Irina was just as excited as her sisters about going. If they didn’t get the chance then Bella would be the least of the Cullen’s worries.

“If we do we are not to blame Bella.”Tanya told them.

“We wouldn’t. Not only would it not be her fault she would make it up us.”When Bella had to break a promise to any of the sisters she always went all out to make it up to them. Bella wasn’t one to apologize to anyone but she always made sure Kate and her sisters knew she felt bad.

“Good now I’m going to go do some work. Bella recently acquired a tech company and I need to make sure that the books are in order.”Tanya said.

“Better you than me.”Kate hated anything to do with business. She left that to Tanya and Bella. Those two were the breadwinners for the coven. Kate and Irina sometimes brought in some money but never enough to make a difference.

“Well someone’s got to fund both of your spending habits.”Tanya said. Getting murmurs of agreement Tanya made her way to her office. She didn’t mind being the one responsible for managing all the coven’s assets. Bella of course did a lot more than she did but Tanya liked helping. She also liked seeing what Bella thought were worthy investments. Bella had seen the creation of the world as Tanya knew it and she found the things Bella thought were going to be important in the future interesting. Especially because Bella’s investments usually made a lot of money. Her mate had a better understanding of societies wants and needs than anyone Tanya had ever met. Tanya smiled thinking of the argument Bella and Kate had in the early 1900’s about the railroad expansion. Kate was of the opinion that it would never amount to much. Bella on the other hand had said it would revolutionize human transportation. Luckily Bella wasn’t deterred by Kate’s objections and had invested millions into the building of the railways. When all was said and done the return had made them a cool billion dollars in modern day conversion rates. Not that that much money really made a difference to them. Bella had been amassing wealth since she was turned. She just converted her money with the changing times. She had made the Denali wealthier than the Volturi could ever wish to be and with Bella’s contacts no one even knew it was theirs. They only had their name on a couple vacation properties to keep up appearances. Everything else was owned through one Bella’s many corporations. Logging into her computer Tanya focused on the documents in front of her. To keep that wealth they had to make sure things were running smoothly. To do that she had to focus.