A/N: All greek and italian courtesy of online translators. Forgive any errors.

***

Carlisle met them at the door. "What is going on, girls?" he asked as he led them to his office. Even if everyone else was out of the house, that was where all the important conversations took place.

"You start," Alice said to Lily as they took the seats across from Carlisle.

Lily took a deep breath to brace herself before launching into an explanation of the dreams. She didn't go into as much detail concerning the emotional side of it as she had with Alice. There were some conversations she didn't wish to have with her father figure.

"Recurring dreams aren't odd in and of themselves, but to have almost the same dream every time you sleep just doesn't sit right with me. Do you believe it could be a message of some sort?" Carlisle's face was pulled tight with worry and confusion. His gaze moved between his daughters.

Lily nodded. "My brain's trying to tell me something at any rate. After I talked to Alice, I dropped the block and she had a vision."

"Which I guess brings us to now." Carlisle shifted his focus to Alice.

"I saw Lily with her mates," Alice said in a soft voice.

"Did you say mates? As in plural?" Lily said, panic coloring her words.

Carlisle held up a hand telling Lily to hold on. "And did you recognize her mates, Alice?"

Alice's gaze darted over to Lily before settling back on Carlisle. "Marcus, Aro and Caius Volturi."

Lily's stomach dropped. "I'm mated to the fucking kings? All three of them? Holy shit."

"Liliana," Carlisle said. She was far more foul-mouthed than her siblings but he tended to only correct her when she went overboard.

She gave him an exasperated look and gestured to Alice.

He smiled and huffed a laugh. "Fair enough. I suppose you're entitled to a bit of panic."

Alice reached out and grasped her hand. "If it helps, you looked very happy."

Those words calmed Lily just a bit. She closed her eyes and took some deep breaths. John had never found his mate, but he'd always hoped. When he taught her about vampire society, he perhaps spent the longest on mates. On the different types and what they meant, what that connection meant. He also talked about how valued they should be. The fates knew what they were doing, he always told her. She took one last deep breath and looked up at Carlisle. "I guess you need to make a phone call."

He frowned. "Are you sure about this? We could turn you here. Teach you control. You could go to them after."

She shook her head. "The only thing a delay will do is put our family at risk and I won't do that. The fates know what they're doing."

"Then we take a vote," Alice said. "Let the family decide if they want to take the risk."

"I appreciate it, but this is my decision. Make the phone call, Carlisle."

He nodded once and pulled out his phone to send a text. "I've asked Aro to call when they're free. It shouldn't take long."

Alice stood. "I'll leave you to it." She squeezed Lily's shoulder as she passed behind her.

Once she shut the door, Carlisle leaned forward. "How are you really doing with this?"

"I'm processing. I'll have a break down when it catches up to me, I'm sure. It's nearly time for me to turn. I'm just...it's a lot."

Carlisle nodded. Before he could say anything else, his phone rang. He checked the screen. "It's Aro. Are you ready?"

"As I'll ever be." She needed to do this now before she had time to think about it. Before she could convince herself that she could run away and disappear. Or that she could somehow avoid the inevitable.

Carlisle answered the phone and put it on speaker. "Hello, Aro. Are your brothers with you?"

"We are all here, my friend, and in my office so no one will overhear," a smooth voice answered. "It is always good to hear from you, but your text suggested that you wished to discuss a matter of some importance."

Lily couldn't help the smile that formed at hearing her mate's voice.

"Alice had a vision. I have information concerning your and your brothers' mate. I have reason to believe it is a true mate bond," he announced.

Lily's head snapped to him. True mates were the rarest of bonds. Made for each other in every way. Her mind raced through everything John had told her about them while Aro laughed and one of his brothers complained in the background.

"It is not like you to pull pranks, Carlisle. Particularly one of this nature. If my brothers and I shared a mate, let alone a true mate, don't you think Marcus would have seen something before now?" Aro's voice had taken on a hard edge it didn't have before.

Lily's brain was still scrambling. The dreams. The feelings of comfort and happiness that would come with them. The feeling that something was missing. But what of the bond pull? Even if she was human, she should have felt something by now, right?

"Actually, there was an incident. Several years ago," another voice came. Deep, methodical, quiet.

As the brothers bickered, Liliana turned in her chair to look at the painting that hung on the wall behind her just as it had in their last house. Her hand moved to her chest remembering the day she'd first seen it. Shit. She closed her eyes and dropped the block that kept her from feeling that nagging ache in her chest.

As the years of blocked pulls and pain slammed into her, she bent forward. She held up a hand as Carlisle started to get up. She'd be fine in a minute. Especially as she now knew what it was. And she was hearing her mates' voices, that would help. What she hadn't accounted for was the fact that her mates would now feel the pull as well. Oops.

"What was that? What game are you playing at, Cullen? How did you hide the bond from us? To what purpose?" Angry question after angry question. It must be Caius.

"The true mate bond is there, and brighter than it should be considering we haven't met. Most unusual," that low, soft voice came again. Marcus.

"There is no game here, no illusion," Carlisle assured them. "Your mate is a very special young woman with some remarkable gifts."

There was a beat of silence. "Did you say gifts, as in more than one?" Aro of course with his obsession with gifted individuals.

Carlisle hummed as he thought about how to explain it. "It is really just one gift, but she adapts it as needed remarkably well. She is extraordinarily talented."

Her cheeks heated and Carlisle flashed her a smile.

"And why have we not heard of this intriguing immortal before now?" Aro's voice still had an edge but this one was different. Irritation maybe that she had managed to evade them so far.

Lily rolled her eyes. Of course, they would assume she was immortal.

"Because she's human."

"Ανθρώπινη? Απολύτως όχι, αρνούμαι. Κανένας άνθρωπος δεν θα μπορούσε να είναι ταιριάζοντας με εμάς," Caius' angry tone came immediately, ranting in Greek. (Human? Absolutely not. I refuse. No human could possibly be a match for us.)

Aro snapped back, "Δεν χρειάζεται να παραμείνει άνθρωπος, Κάιους. Ηρέμησε. Αυτό το μίσος για όλα τα ανθρώπινα πράγματα είναι γελοίο." (She doesn't have to remain human, Caius. Calm yourself. This hatred of all things human is ridiculous.)

"Θα απορρίψεις έναν αληθινό δεσμό επειδή είναι άνθρωπος; Μην είσαι χαζός," Marcus' voice took on a harsh edge that seemed to surprise Carlisle if the look on his face was anything to go by. (You're going to reject a true mate bond because she's human? Don't be stupid.)

She understood about 90% of what they were saying. They were speaking so fast, she knew she missed a word here or there, but she could figure it out. As entertaining as it was listening to them argue in Greek, it wasn't very productive. Carlisle pinched the bridge of his nose as if they were giving him a headache and vampires didn't get headaches.

"Perhaps I might say something?" she said, interrupting Caius as he began another tirade.

The kings went completely silent and she grinned.

"And who might you be, dear one?" Aro asked, his voice soft.

"Liliana Montgomery Cullen," she answered. Carlisle smiled when she gave Cullen as her last name.

"John Montgomery's little human?" Caius asked, clearly surprised that he recognized her name.

"I was."

Another stretch of silence.

"We thought you dead." Marcus sounded devastated at the thought.

"Sorry to disappoint," she teased while Carlisle looked at her like he wanted to kill her. She waved him off.

"Not a disappointment, cara mia. Especially if you are truly ours," Aro said. "And John?" (my dear – Italian)

"Dead. I had met the Cullens previously in our travels. They took me in to make sure I adhered to the terms of the contract." She wasn't about to allow her family to get in trouble because of decisions she made.

Contract? Carlisle mouthed. She shook her head in response. This wasn't the time.

"I do wish they had informed us of your survival, but that is neither here nor there." Aro sounded overly happy. She didn't trust it.

Lily merely hummed in agreement to his statement. Someone wearing a Volturi crest killed her father. She hadn't been about to tell them where she was unless she had to.

"Well, what do you suppose we do with this information, little human?" Caius asked.

"There are a couple of things I would like to clarify first," she said.

"Anything," Marcus agreed immediately.

"The wives." She supposed she didn't need to elaborate more than that. If they couldn't figure out what she wanted to know from that, they were being deliberately obtuse.

"They've both been gone for some time. They wished to leave and find their mates. We allowed it," Aro explained.

"What's some time? Like Carlisle said true mate and you ordered a guard to kick them out? Or they left to find Camelot? I need a time frame here."

Carlisle appeared to be unsure whether to horrified or amused.

A bark of laughter through the phone had him smiling as well. "The queens left nearly a century ago now, dolcezza. They are no threat to your happiness." The joy in Marcus' voice flowed through her and had her grinning. (sweetheart – Italian)

"Okay. Point two. I don't do towers. I don't do being locked up or ordered about for no reason. You can't use Chelsea or Corin on me. It won't work." As much as Lily wished to be with her true mates, she wouldn't tolerate the behavior the queens apparently had.

"You will reside in the tower for your own safety," Caius bit out.

"No."

"What do you mean, no? You can't just say no."

"No." Liliana thought perhaps Caius could do with hearing that particular word a bit more. "This is a non-negotiable point."

"You will not be required to reside in the tower, dolcezza," Marcus assured her.

Caius immediately started ranting again, "Δεν είναι δική σου απόφαση και μόνο. Δεν έχεις δικαίωμα να υπόσχεσαι τέτοια πράγματα." (This is not your decision alone. You have no right to promise such things.)

"Ο αδερφός μας λέει την αλήθεια, Μάρκους. Το παρατραβάς," Aro added. (Our brother speaks true, Marcus. You overstep.)

Marcus spoke louder than both of them. The tone of his voice made it clear he would brook no argument. "Δεν έχασα εγώ τον φίλο μου; Δεν θα σας επιτρέψω να την κλειδώσετε για να μας μισήσει όπως οι γυναίκες σας. Είναι η πραγματική μας φίλη και θα κάνουμε πρέπει να την κρατήσουμε ευτυχισμένη." (Am I not the one who lost my mate? I will not allow you to lock her away so she slowly grows to hate us as your wives did. She is our true mate and we will do as we must to keep her happy.)

She thought about interrupting them in Greek but decided to keep the fact she spoke it to herself for the time being. "As entertaining as it is to listen to the three of you bicker, today has been a little overwhelming. Perhaps we can finish our negotiations so I can get some rest?"

Carlisle closed his eyes and shook his head. Lily couldn't help but smile at him.

A laugh came through, higher-pitched than she expected from any of the kings. "Is that what this is, cara mia? A negotiation?" Genuine amusement colored Aro's words.

Lily merely hummed in agreement and bit her lip. When she'd started this, she'd intended to ask for six months. Now that she'd unblocked the bonds, the mating pull tugged constantly at her chest. Mates times three. Yay. "Give me two weeks to gather my things, and I will come willingly."

Carlisle frowned when she said two weeks, but when he met her gaze he gave her a sad smile. His mating pull had led him to rescue Esme many years ago. He had to understand how it would affect her being half a world away from hers.

When they began to bicker again, Lily slumped in her seat. Was this what the rest of her life was going to be? Playing referee between three overgrown toddlers?

This time it was Carlisle that interrupted. "I don't believe two weeks is too much to ask for."

The three kings fell silent. Surprisingly it was Caius that broke it. "Agreed. We will be sending a guard to watch over you in the meantime. Take care, little human. We will be meeting you soon."

"Farewell, dolcezza. I look forward to getting to know you." Marcus just seemed so damned happy to know she existed. He also came off as the most genuine of the three.

"Thank you for this illuminating conversation, Carlisle. Until we speak again, cara mia," Aro signed off.

Carlisle ended the call and Lily practically melted onto the floor. "Holy shit, that was intense."

"You did remarkably well," Carlisle told her, pride heavy in his words.

She blinked at him. "That is not what your face was saying."

He chuckled. "It's true. At first, I was appalled you weren't giving them the reverence they've come to expect. When I heard Marcus laugh, I realized that you were handling them perfectly. Sincerely, Lily, that was brilliant."

"You got all that from a laugh?"

"Lily, Marcus has barely spoken since Didyme died. To hear him laugh, to know that you made him smile, that is proof that you are perfect for him. You will be good for all of them." Carlisle's smile turned soft. "As much as I don't want you to leave us, I am incredibly thrilled that my friends are finding their happiness. And I have no doubt in my mind that they will always take care of you. Be happy, Lily. That's all I ever want for any of my children."