Melting The Ice Queen 5

“Tell us all about her!”Kate demanded as she grabbed Isabella’s arms and dragged her into the Cullen’s living room. Knowing that Isabella would never break her promise to the Cullens to visit them after school Kate and her sisters decided to meet Isabella there. The three of them wanted to know all about Isabella’s mate. When Isabella had texted Tanya about her Kate wanted to rush to the high school to meet the human but Tanya forbid her from doing it. The coven leader claimed that Kate would scare the girl off and she wouldn’t want to associate with Isabella if Kate overwhelmed her. Kate knew she wouldn’t have overwhelmed anyone but didn’t want to get in trouble while Isabella was home. It could lead to Kate not being able to do certain activities with Isabella and Kate wasn’t willing going to risk it. That meant that the sisters were spending time at the Cullen’s home. Something they usually didn’t enjoy and mostly put up with it because Alice had the familiar bond with Isabella. They had met Carlisle in passing over the centuries but it wasn’t until Alice showed up on their doorstep did they form a relationship with the other coven.

“Kate give her a second to sit down.”Tanya scolded. She too wanted to know but if they irritated Isabella she wouldn’t tell them anything.

Isabella grunted when Kate pushed her onto the couch. Catching sight of the occupants of the room she spoke.”Hello Carlisle, hello Esme. It’s lovely to see you again.”

“It’s good to see you to Isabella. We are very excited to not only hear about your mate but the adventures you have been on for the last three years.”Carlisle loved when Isabella visited. Every time she did she told them stories of her experiences traveling to places vampires usually couldn’t go. Carlisle always hung on her every word wanting to know everything he could about the world.

“Congratulations on finding your mate.”Esme like the rest of the family enjoyed it when Isabella visited. More often than not the ancient would bring Esme knew plants to add to her greenhouses and if not gave her pictures of new ones she had come across during her travels.

Irina took a seat next to Isabella with Kate taking one on the other side of their sister.”Alright we have said our hellos. Tell us everything.”

“I really don’t have much information. Her name is Rosalie Hale. She is an out and proud lesbian. She is interested in cars and I gave her my number. We didn’t really have a chance to talk about anything personal other than my phone and that I’m wealthy.”Isabella wished they talked about more but they hadn’t.

“We did some digging. Her mother is a stay at home house wife and her father is a lawyer. They are moderately wealthy but not enough that they can afford many luxuries. I personally believe they settled into Forks because it allows them to stand out in a town that is relatively poor. Them having a large house and driving newer low end luxury cars is a big deal in this town. The pair strive to be better than others and are constantly doing all they can to show off.”Edward wasn’t impressed with Rosalie’s parents.

“Now that I think about it Rosalie was dressed better than the other kids in school.”Isabella hadn’t noticed at the time because she was used to being around people dressed in expensive clothing.

“What about Rosalie’s family? Does she have any siblings?”Tanya wanted to know everything about Isabella’s mate.

Alice nodded.”She has two younger brothers. One is 11 and the other is 13. From what I could tell is that the parents are big on having a son to follow in the father’s footsteps and had been trying to have more children since they had Rosalie. It just took awhile.”

“Are they homophobic?”Isabella didn’t want to fight Rosalie’s parents.

“No, all they care about Rosalie’s love life is that she pick someone with wealth and a good standing in society. Something all of us have heard Rosalie complaining to her friends about.”Once Jasper found out about Isabella’s mate bond he had been just as involved as the others in trying to get information about Rosalie. Not only was Isabella his mate’s sister the woman always treated Jasper like he was her own brother. She also always went out of her way to help Jasper enjoy life by taking him on trips and blocking his gift from working on others so he didn’t get overwhelmed and could actually enjoy himself. Something Jasper would always be grateful for.

“Then they will love Isabella. She is the richest person on earth and is the most valuable member of the Volturi.”Katie knew her sister was a great catch.

“Unfortunately we can’t tell them about me being a guard member. I’m going to have come up with something impressive.”Isabella didn’t know what title would impress Rosalie’s parents.

“You can say you are the princess of a country you can’t tell them the name of for safety reasons.”Emmett suggested.

“It’s not really a lie. If the Volturi had a princess it would be you the royals all love you that much. Even Caius and Athenodora have claimed you as their own.”It was well know to Irina and the rest of vampire population that Isabella had all of the royals’ favor.

“What would I tell Rosalie though? She would no doubt want to know what country.”Isabella didn’t feel right lying to her mate.

“Tell her that you are the crown princess and you can’t risk her accidentally letting it slip.”Alice told her.

Isabella sighed.”I don’t like lying to her but until she falls in love with me nothing can be done about it.”

“What else do we know about Rosalie?”Kate asked.

“She has been involved in cheerleading since she was a small girl and was given the captain spot on the high school squad this year. She also runs her friend group and the students follow her lead on who should be accepted and who should be shunned.”Edward actually approved of the people Rosalie chose to be shunned as he thought they deserved it.

“That means she is a natural born leader.”Isabella was proud that Rosalie had so much influence.

“She’ll need to be strong to stand by your side.”Tanya knew Isabella couldn’t have a weak mate. It would make them an easy target to be used against Isabella.

“When do we get to meet her?”Esme wanted to meet Isabella’s mate.

“I gave her my number and Alice had a conversation with her where she told Rosalie that I was interested in her and it was up to Rosalie to reach out for a date.”Isabella turned her attention to Alice.”Thank you for your help sister.”

“I would do anything for. Helping you get a date is nothing.”Alice was telling the truth as long as it didn’t hurt her mate she would do anything for Isabella knowing her sister would anything for her if it didn’t include hurting her sisters or her mate.

“So I guess now we just wait until Rosalie reaches out to Isabella.”Kate was not happy about having to wait but it wasn’t her mate meaning she couldn’t do anything about the situation.

“Until then can you tell us what you have been up to for the last three years? It isn’t like you to go so long without visiting.”Carlisle said as he and the rest of his family took seats on the furniture.

“Yeah you never go more than two years without at least stopping by for a couple days since you made the deal with Aro.”Irina had become very worried as the days turned into weeks then months into years and Isabella didn’t come home. When her sister was away she wasn’t allowed to tell them what she was involved with if it was Volturi business until the mission was over. The fact that she had only sent cards and gifts and the phone calls were vague meant that she was actually working the whole time she was gone.

“Well when I got to Italy everything was very calm. The first four months I spent with Caius and Athenodora in Greece excavating an old temple that had been buried during a mudslide when the queen was human. She hadn’t really thought about it since it disappeared but she was watching television and the memory of it came back to her. So we spent four months carefully digging it up and cleaning all the dirt off the artifacts we found with a group vampires that volunteered to help.”Isabella had fun doing it.

“I never really thought of anything other than buildings that got buried in sand.”Carlisle hadn’t even considered something getting buried in mud.

“It makes you wonder what else in the world has been lost to natural disasters that no one knows about.”Tanya was sad she didn’t get to help on the dig. She loved history and a building that had been buried from before Athenodora became a vampire must have had a lot of it.

“I got into a discussion with a woman about making a better version of the machines the authorities use to search the ground for bodies. Her idea was to make one that could be used like a drone. You would just have to fly it over an area and it would probe the ground from the sky. I thought it was a good idea and plan to look into it when I have some free time.”Isabella thought the idea was good.

“I doubt it will be cooler than the cell phones you created.”Kate loved her cell phone. It was light years ahead of any on the market and only the royals, royal guard and the sisters had them. Even Alice wasn’t given one.

“I like the video game you made for me.”Emmett had been touched that Isabella had taken the time to design and create a video game for him that had himself as the main character. It was an apocalyptic setting with Emmett’s favorite part being the one where he had to fight a bear with his fist. Emmett had felt a weight lifted off his shoulders the first time he killed the bear not knowing that he was holding on to the event that led to him being changed.

“I like the keyboard she made for me.”Edward like Emmett was touched that Isabella made him a special keyboard that allowed him to compose music on it to include instruments other than the piano. Edward had been able to create symphonies using the device.

“Nothing is better than the software she created to help me organize my closets.”Alice said.

“The environmental weather system she created to set up in all my greenhouses I appreciate.”Esme like the others had been touched that Isabella created a way for her to control the weather conditions in her greenhouses so that the plants had the best change of thriving.

“I can only imagine what you would come up with if you actually had time to devote to your projects.”Tanya had always been impressed with Isabella’s love of technology and machines. Her sister had immersed herself in the subject when the first machines had been built and followed the industry closely learning all she could about it. Then when technology started becoming more common Isabella had searched out people to teach her all they knew. Isabella was now one of the leading innovators in the field with the many patents she held that she managed through her many businesses.

“Usually the royals encourage me to spend all my downtime in my castle lab. This time however I only had a month and a half after I finished in Greece before I was sent off again. It was supposed to be a simple recovery mission but I stepped into something that was bigger than any of us could have imagined.”Isabella still couldn’t believe the mess she got involved in.

“Start at the beginning. What was the initial mission?”Kate didn’t want to miss any part of the story because it sounded like it was going to be a good one.

“A vampire came to the kings to report that another had kidnapped his mate and was holding him hostage. To get him back they demanded that the man give them ownership of a shipyard. When asked what was so important about the shipyard the man said he didn’t know. It was something that his family had owned for three centuries and he didn’t have anything to do with it. He didn’t even own it it was owned by a trust that managed it and gave the profits to his living relatives. The most the man had ever been involved was when he was alive he worked there building boats and ships. Other than that he had made large purchases a couple time when the business was in trouble to get them out of debt. Aro read him and saw the man was telling the truth.”Isabella told them.

“Why would a vampire want a shipyard?”Emmett couldn’t think of what a vampire would want to build a bunch of ships for.

“None of us including the man being blackmailed knew. That lack of knowledge was the reason the king decided to send me by myself to investigate while the guard rescued the man’s mate after I found out where he was keeping the man. The vampire who was holding him hostage gave the the one he was blackmailing his name and where to find him so he could give him the papers to sign.”Isabella was cut off by Edward.

“He gave his name and location to the person who’s mate he kidnapped?”Edward thought that was extremely stupid.

“As I learned the operation he was involved with wasn’t the smartest group. Armed with the information I infiltrated the over the top mansion the vampire lived in and easily located the man’s mate. They were at least smart enough not to torture him and had him kept in a nice room with a refrigerator full of blood bags.”Isabella thought that was smart.

“If they didn’t and the man being blackmailed saw his mate injured he would have killed everyone in the home.”Jasper knew that nothing would stop the man from avenging his mate.

“Seeing that the man was being treated well I decided to wait to call for the rescue. I wanted to take the chance to observe the people in the mansion to hopefully find out why they wanted the shipyard. I sought out the one who made the threat and found him in an office with six other people all looking at a map. As I listened to them I figured out why they wanted they wanted the shipyard. They were part of a human trafficking ring and wanted the shipyard to make custom ships to hind the humans they were trying to smuggle around the world.”Isabella told them.

Kate whistled.”You really did step into some shit didn’t you.”

“What did you do when you found out?”Esme knew that not only would Isabella not let the vampire continue his plans but the royals wouldn’t put up with it either. The royals may have questionable morals but they didn’t put up with vampires victimizing humans.

“Initially I wanted to to kill every single person in the building but I talked myself out of it by reminding myself that there was no way that the people in the room were the only ones involved in the scheme. That being the case I listened to the entire meeting and when they all left the room I searched it over for evidence. I found a lot of things that were helpful. I then searched the rest of the mansion taking anything that would help in the investigation. Once done I rescued the kidnap victim myself and brought us both back to the castle. I immediately called a private meeting with the royals where I presented everything I had found. They of course were enraged. After they calmed down we spend a few hours going over everything I brought back. It was then decided that I go undercover and find out all the parties involved. So that is what I have been doing this whole time. Taking down a human trafficking ring by myself.”Isabella told them.

“Wait you’re the one responsible for taking down the organization that was reported on the news two months ago?”Alice and the rest of the world had seen the coverage of the many powerful men and women who were arrested for their involvement with a world wide human trafficking ring.

Isabella nodded.”I spent a lot of that time giving tips to the police so they can rescue the victims and leaving evidence at every scene to have them connect it to one of the human players involved. Any of the police who proved to be corrupt and tried to ignore the proof I murdered and linked it back to the people who I connected the crime to to begin with. Killing cops makes their coworkers very angry and it causes them to double their effort to convict the person that did it for the crime. By doing so it made them more determined to investigate than they originally were.”

“That is true. When a cop is killed not only do his coworkers get upset but it upsets the public. They won’t rest until someone is held responsible.”Carlisle had seen it happened regularly over his long life. Those who defended the public being killed angered everyone because they were keeping society safe.

“How many vampires were involved?”Tanya bet a lot if Isabella took so much time to bring the ring down.

“42 were involved. All of which have been tried, convicted and killed. Hunting down the last five is why I wasn’t home four months sooner.”Isabella had been annoyed that they vampires were so hard to find. It did cause her to treat them very roughly when she did catch them.

“I still don’t understand how you are a better tracker than a vampire with the gift to assist him with tracking.”Edward knew that Bella had no gift that helped with tracking but the woman was said to be the best one that ever existed.

“That’’s because my sister is amazing and all the Volturi guards are beneath her.”Kate bragged.

“The tracker has hated me since the first time I caught a criminal before he did and brought them back to the castle to be tried. Then again most of the guard don’t like me very much.”Isabella may have been loved by the royals but she wasn’t well liked by the rest of the castle.

“They don’t like you because the guard has been working for the royals since they took their thrones. Even though you are older than most of them they look down on you because of you not being there from the beginning as they had. Then in the first year when you proved that you were superior to all them by completing mission by yourself that usually took a whole team it proved that they weren’t special anymore. They hate you because you made them all worthless. You took away their value and any bargaining chips they had with the royals.”Irina would have hated Isabella as well if she was one of the guards.

“They really are worthless aren’t they?”Alice hadn’t considered that was why the guard hated Isabella. She just thought they were jealous of the attention from the royals Isabella got.

“With Isabella’s gift she is the most powerful being alive. There is no way to injure her or kill her. Plus the may she manipulates her shield makes her a dangerous weapon. If I were the guard I wouldn’t be as hostile as some of them are. Especially because the royals favor her and likely would kill anyone who targeted Isabella for any reason.”Jasper himself would go out of his way to be nice to Isabella if he was a guard member.

“You do do really rad things with your shield.”Emmet loved when Isabella would show off with her shield for him when he asked.

“It doesn’t really matter either way. I am stuck with them even though I wish I wasn’t and will be until time ends or the royals are killed and as it is my job to keep them protected I doubt that would happen anytime soon.”Isabella’s fate had been set the night the Volturi came for her mother.

Irina took Isabella’s hand in her own.”I’m sorry sister.”

“It’s not your fault. It was Sasha’s for committed an unforgivable crime and then trying to pass on the guilt to us. You, Tanya, Kate and myself are not at fault. We are victims. I don’t even blame Aro for wanting to kill us. Nor do I blame him for making the offer. The only one I blame is Sasha.”Isabella would never blame her sisters for her predicament. It was their sire’s fault.

“I hate the fact that I felt compelled to save her.”Kate too blamed Sasha but still felt guilty that Isabella had gave up her freedom to keep her safe.

“I’m just happy Isabella’s shield held us back from attacking the guards and Aro.”Tanya like her sisters blamed Sasha but along with Kate and Tanya knew Irina as well felt guilty that Isabella traded her freedom for theirs.

“Let’s not talk about things that will make us angry. Let’s talk about why Alice thought it appropriate to tell Rosalie a story about my human life.”Isabella wasn’t happy her sister told Rosalie part of her origins.

Alice smiled sheepishly.”I didn’t do it on purpose. You have been blocking my gift like you usually do when you are involved in a mission so I didn’t know what you were up to. In art class we got the assignment to paint anything we wanted. I got my bank canvas and stared at it trying to get some inspiration. I thought of you on your mission and then began imagining you being on a mission for the king you served while you were a knight. So the painting I chose was you as a knight in full armor with a shield and sword. Rosalie saw the painting and I made up the lie about you telling me the story growing up about woman who did what you did. Like I said I didn’t do it on purpose.”

“I see. I apologize for being upset with you about it.”Isabella could see Alice meant no harm.

“I understand and accept your apology.”Alice was happy Isabella was no longer upset with her.

“Do you think we would be able to see the painting when you are done?”Irina wanted to see Isabella dressed in the armor of a knight in her time.

“It’s almost done. When it is I’ll bring it over.”Alice would likely give it to the sisters as a gift. She could always paint another one if wanted one for herself.

“Thank you Alice.”Tanya wanted to see Isabella dressed in her human armor as well. Before anyone could say anything Isabella’s phone made a noise. Tanya held her breath praying that it wasn’t the royals insisting Isabella go back to Italy. Seeing Isabella pull out her phone and read the message Tanya wasn’t sure what to think by Isabella’s bright smile.”Who’s it from?”

“Rosalie, she asked if I would be willing to spend some time with her. It’s not exactly asking for a date though is it?”Isabella’s smile turned into a frown rereading the message.

“I think she is feeling you out. Seeing if you are actually interested in her.”Edward told her.

“That’s a good point. I need to write her back.”Isabella typed a message then sent it.

“What did you right?”Kate asked.

“I asked her what her curfew was on weekdays.”Isabella wasn’t going to wait until the weekend to see Rosalie. Her phone chimed again. Reading it over Isabella replied right away. Rosalie’s reply was just as instant. Isabella send off a final message and put her phone away.

“So?”Irina wanted to know what Isabella said.

“Rosalie agreed to let me pick her up from cheerleading practice tomorrow and go to Port Angles for dinner. I have to have her home by 9pm.”Isabella was very pleased with securing a date with her mate.

Alice lunged at Isabella and gave her a hug.”This is great!! We need to pick out an outfit for you.”

“Along with Alice the three of us bought you a whole new wardrobe that is in your closet at the house. We didn’t get a chance to show it to you yet.”Tanya had wanted Isabella to spend a day with them before going to school but Isabella only spent two hours with them and they really get to talk about anything.

“Then I am sure the perfect outfit will be in my closet.”Isabella didn’t mind that her four sisters dressed her. She had no fashion sense at all. She patted Alice on the back and moved her off her body so she could sit up.”We have time before we have to do that though and I would desperately like to spend it catching up with all of you. So why don’t you all tell me what you have been up to the last three years.”

Alice resuscitated herself on Bella’s lap and wrapped her owns around her sister’s neck. She hated when Isabella was doing work for the Volturi because Isabella block Alice from seeing her. That meant Alice couldn’t make sure the ancient was safe.”Well we moved to forks a little over two years ago.”

Isabella wrapped her arms around Alice and got comfortable while she listened to her sister tell her about what she and the Cullens had been doing for the last three years. Isabella honestly would prefer not dealing with all the Cullens but Alice loved them so Isabella went out of her way to be nice to them. They really weren’t that bad of people they were just really sheltered and refused to step out of the perfect world they built around themselves. Isabella feared for Alice and Jasper because living with that mentality meant that they wouldn’t be prepared for dangerous situations. They all relied on Alice’s gift to keep them safe but Isabella didn’t put much faith in it as it only showed Alice what it wanted to not what Alice wanted to see. That and the visions couldn’t be controlled and they only came at random times. Isabella knew that Carlisle feared the kings wanting Alice for the guard but Isabella had been told numerous times that the kings didn’t trust Alice’s gift at all. Isabella never said anything because she didn’t want to hurt her sisters feeling or make her feel less. Isabella also thought it was good for them to have a little bit of constant fear. It would keep them more alert.