Breaking Dawn - Stephenie Meyer [194]
A shield? Edward repeated, bewildered.
Come now, Edward! If I cant get a read on her, I doubt you can, either. Can you hear her thoughts right now? Eleazar asked.
No, Edward murmured. But Ive never been able to do that. Even when she was human.
Never? Eleazar blinked. Interesting. That would indicate a rather powerful latent talent, if it was manifesting so clearly even before the transformation. I cant feel a way through her shield to get a sense of it at all. Yet she must be raw still- shes only a few months old. The look he gave Edward now was almost exasperated. And apparently completely unaware of what shes doing. Totally unconscious. Ironic. Aro sent me all over the world searching for such anomalies, and you simply stumble across it by accident and dont even realize what you have. Eleazar shook his head in disbelief.
I frowned. What are you talking about? How can I be a shield? What does that even mean? All I could picture in my head was a ridiculous medieval suit of armor.
Eleazar leaned his head to one side as he examined me. I suppose we were overly formal about it in the guard. In truth, categorizing talents is a subjective, haphazard business; every talent is unique, never exactly the same thing twice. But you, Bella, are fairly easy to classify. Talents that are purely defensive, that protect some aspect of the bearer, are always called shields. Have you ever tested your abilities? Blocked anyone besides me and your mate?
It took me few seconds, despite how quickly my new brain worked, to organize my answer.
It only works with certain things, I told him. My head is sort of private. But it doesnt stop Jasper from being able to mess with my mood or Alice from seeing my future.
Purely a mental defense. Eleazar nodded to himself. Limited, but strong.
Aro couldnt hear her, Edward interjected. Though she was human when they met.
Eleazars eyes widened.
Jane tried to hurt me, but she couldnt, I said. Edward thinks Demetri cant find me, and that Alec cant bother me, either. Is that good?
Eleazar, still gaping, nodded. Quite.
A shield! Edward said, deep satisfaction saturating his tone. I never thought of it that way. The only one Ive ever met before was Renata, and what she did was so different.
Eleazar had recovered slightly. Yes, no talent ever manifests in precisely the same way, because no one ever thinks in exactly the same way.
Whos Renata? What does she do? I asked. Renesmee was interested, too, leaning away from Carmen so that she could see around Kate.
Renata is Aros personal bodyguard, Eleazar told me. A very practical kind of shield, and a very strong one.
I vaguely remembered a small crowd of vampires hovering close to Aro in his macabre tower, some male, some female. I couldnt remember the womens faces in the uncomfortable, terrifying memory. One must have been Renata.
I wonder , Eleazar mused. You see, Renata is a powerful shield against a physical attack. If someone approaches her-or Aro, as she is always close beside him in a hostile situation- they find themselves diverted. Theres a force around her that repels, though its almost unnoticeable. You simply find yourself going a different direction than you planned, with a confused memory as to why you wanted to go that other way in the first place. She can project her shield several meters out from herself. She also protects Caius and Marcus, too, when they have a need, but Aro is her priority.
What she does isnt actually physical, though. Like the vast majority of our gifts, it takes place inside the mind. If she tried to keep you back, I wonder who would win? He shook his head. Ive never heard of Aros or Janes gifts being thwarted.
Momma, youre special, Renesmee told me without any surprise, like she was commenting on the color of my clothes.
I felt disoriented. Didnt I already know my gift? I had my super-self-control that had allowed me to skip right over the horrifying newborn year. Vampires only had one extra ability at most, right?
Or had Edward been correct in the beginning? Before Carlisle had suggested