Empty Night

by Malthusite

The Cullens move into White Court territory. Hilarity ensues.

Empty Night

Wednesday

Bella

I began to notice Edward acting strangely not long after we moved to New England.

After my conversion and Renesmee's birth, the Cullens had decided that staying in Forks was too dangerous. People were likely to notice my sudden change, and Carlisle felt that they had stayed there long enough anyway. And I had certainly never liked the place. Charlie hadn't wanted it, but I eventually managed to convince him of the Cullens' point of view. It was always hard to make Charlie understand, but if I worked at it I could usually manage. These days, he constantly bombarded me with text messages and emails. It was annoying, but I guess he meant well.

Sterling, Connecticut wasn't much larger than Forks, but it was almost as rainy. It was mostly big families here, so we fit in well. As a physical place I didn't like it much better than Forks, but Edward and my new family, my only family, were all here, so what did it matter?

But anyway, we had started in at the local high school. Being a part of the cycle that the Cullens had repeated so many times finally made me feel as though someone wanted me to be in their club. It was new. I guess it was a few weeks after we got here that I noticed Edward had been acting strange. It was a new school in a new state, but I still found it hard to pay attention to anyone but him.

It was almost like I was more attracted to him since I had joined the family, although Doctor Carlisle never lost an opportunity to tell us that we had to maintain the appearance of being siblings at school. That was the hardest part. Have you ever been so in love with someone that you thought your heart would burst, and then somehow it managed to hold the overflow and fit in even more? That was how I felt about Edward these days. Every second not spent with him was a dull gray blur.

Which was why I noticed when he was late to meet me after school. It was only ten minutes, but it just wasn't like him. He had missed school as well, which had been happening a lot recently. I wasn't certain, but I think Carlisle was concerned. Although he tried to let us all do our own thing, he couldn't help having some fatherly habits now and again.

It didn't matter to me if Edward was in school or not. We couldn't really be with each other there. But he had seemed distracted for a long time before this. When I had looked at him recently, I had felt like there was something else there, crowding into the pure and incorruptible sanctity of what both of us had always felt for one another.

I had been sitting on the curb hugging my knees to my chest against cold I'm sure I was only imagining, but when he approached I stood and regarded him blankly. He met my eyes, but only for a second. "Where have you been?"

He briefly averted his golden eyes but they quickly whipped back up to meet me. I felt like there was something wrong but I didn't want to acknowledge it. He shrugged. "Nowhere."

"Why are you late?" I couldn't just let it go. It hurt to be away from him for too long, and his aversion bothered me.

He shrugged listlessly. "Just running late."

I kept looking at him. "You're not late. Ever."

He met my eyes with a new intensity, and something there frightened me. It was different than before. Then he laughed, and I forgot it. "Come on, Bella. You're being crazy." He held out his hand to me.

For a second I looked at him, and what I had seen there was still smoldering, like the predatory hunger of a wise and wild creature. But then I took his hand.

Ruth

"This is bullshit, Lara." My sister gave me one of her tight smiles. I may have been young, but not too young to know that this particular smile had been the last thing many of her besotted victims had ever seen before dying in paroxysms of agonizing ecstasy. Still and all, I didn't feel like playing her little word games.

"You know that isn't my name right now, Ruth." Her tone was slow and patient, but that too was artifice: she could kill me before I had time to blink. It didn't matter. She wouldn't. Not right now, anyway.

I rolled my eyes at her. "Oh please, Ms. Elgin, you know perfectly well that nobody's listening." We were sitting in the small but well-appointed penthouse apartment she had rented us in downtown Sterling for the duration of our assignment here. Our very boring assignment.

Lara had bodyguards in plain clothes unobtrusively patrolling the halls and streets, and I didn't doubt there were a few snipers keeping watch on the hotel. And when Lara hired bodyguards, they weren't so much ex-Navy or ex-Marines as like, ex-A-Team or something. These were some seriously spooky dudes.

It had been two months ago now that Lara, myself, and Evan, a cousin of ours from New York, had come to Connecticut on White Court business.

Sterling, Lara recently learned, had become the new home of the infamous Cullen family. The Cullens were viewed by most of the other Courts with a sort of derisive pity, a bless-their-heart mentality which dismissed them at the same time as it was grateful for their distance. Some hated them, most mocked them, several viewed them as an academic curiosity. A group of pathetic half-breeds and strays that barely deserved to be called vampires, the Cullens seemed to operate in a strange pocket universe all their own. They had little or no knowledge of the other Vampire Courts, although they often responded to the authority of the Red Court Volturi family. It also goes without saying that they knew nothing of the larger supernatural world of which we 'beasts of appetite' are only a small, comparatively inoffensive part.

This had led some of them, notably the one called Edward Anthony Masen, to take actions that would not only have been difficult for the courts to cover up in a world where mortals were once again growing increasingly aware of our presence, but which would also run the risk of violating the Unseelie Accords that existed for the protection of all the factions of our little shadow world. Edward, whom I had, unfortunately, come to know fairly well over the past weeks (he was better at talking than fucking), had on several occasions attacked Red Court Vampires who were engaging in regular feeding activities. That was another thing that was curious about these Cullens: they didn't feed. Or at least they didn't do it properly.

This had made them weak and strange, almost a court all their own. Although it was apparently impossible for them to reproduce, so there wasn't much chance of that. Of course, the child was a bit of an anomaly in that respect. I had been to the Cullen place, but Jasper and/or Edward and I usually stayed in their respective rooms, or a few times in the woods. That had been my idea. Something had to improve the soporific experience of laying Eddie Cullen. I had never really met the child. Apparently my sister had her own plans for her. Lara didn't generally let me in on her plans if I didn't need to know. And I was usually glad to be left out.

Our plan was simple. Lara, in the genteel guise of Virginia Elgin, had manipulated and charmed her way through the local political structures to become the principal of Sterling Community School, a role which she enjoyed too much. I'm sure she was even now the subject of several fevered jack-off sessions among the hormonal male population of SCS. As a principal, my sister was kind of like the nexus of every single besotted librarian/schoolmistress fantasy one could possibly conjure.

It had only taken her about a week of crossing her legs suggestively in interviews and touting her ridiculous amounts of education to get there. She couldn't tell the administration about all of her degrees of course. Many of them came from schools that were now the sites of archaeological digs. Evan and myself had relocated here as 'Canadian' exchange students. Sterling wasn't a bad town. Pleasant, cool and overcast, with a large concentration of big families, most of them insufferable yuppies. Although if I had to actually live here, I would probably kill everyone around me, throw their corpses in a pile, and light a pyre that would be seen for miles around. Lucky for me and them I'm just visiting.

Anyway, while the Cullens had lived in Washington, they were in Red territory. The Reds' policy towards them had always been hands-off. They let them stay in the dark, and ignored them as long as they kept their hands clean. That had worked for them. In Connecticut, they fell within Lara's jurisdiction, and my sister wasn't one to let a threat sit and grow silently, or to let an opportunity slip through her fingers. That was why we were here.

Lara regarded me severely. "Never assume you aren't under surveillance, my sweet darling. Not in this family." She cleared her throat and smoothed the collar of her white business suit, suggestive but swank. "Now, what exactly are you referring to?"

"This whole stupid assignment, or whatever you want to call it."

She smiled that killing smile again. "Are you having trouble?"

I sighed at her. "Of course not. The poor things were eating out of my hand before I even turned on the serious business. Eddie looks a lot better than he is, let me assure you on that front, La-" My sister cocked her head at me as I prepared to use her name again. The gesture probably wouldn't have frightened most people, but it gave me chills. "Virginia," I corrected.

It might not have been your first instinct, on seeing my sister, to fear her. Particularly if you had no experience with the supernatural. The natural reaction most people experienced was knee-shaking lust. But they had never seen my sister in battle, her eyes burning steel, swords flashing in terrifyingly swift silver parabolas, the blood and viscera of those foolish enough to stand in her way decorating her exquisite, usually naked body. I had also seen her burnt almost to a crisp by an explosion that would have killed even most in the White Court, and even like that, she was still lovely and terrible to behold. I can't even talk about what I saw her do that day. So I shuddered when she looked at me in that mildly accusatory way, and I don't feel bad about having done it.

She sat back in her chair, crossing her ivory-white legs. "I had been curious about Masen. He isn't exactly my type, but he's certainly nothing to be scoffed at."

I rolled my eyes. "Fuck one disheveled hipster, you've fucked them all."

The woman known presently as Virginia Elgin pursed her lips. "He seems far too white bread to be thought of as hip." She shook her head and waved her hand. "But I think you had some sort of grievance you wanted to discuss."

"I just don't think this whole business is the best use of our time."

A pale flame kindled in my sisters eyes, lovely and otherworldly and enchanting. And dangerous. "Certainly that is best left to my discretion." Her tone remained even and ambiguous, but now there was a real threat.

"Of course. It's just… why not burn our way through them and be done with it?" I looked down for a moment, embarrassed despite myself. "Even when there are two, stopping before I kill them is… frustrating." It had only been five years since I had taken my first victim, completely by accident. It hadn't helped that it had been a woman. It wasn't that I was gay or anything. I was just dabbling. Until then I had just never gone quite that far with anyone of either sex. I had been a good girl. It still felt strange to discuss matters that most people viewed as deeply private so openly.

She smiled again, but the angry fire had not entirely gone from her eyes. "Little sister," Lara said with suppressed laughter. "Don't tell me you're with both of them at the same time."

I would have blushed. "Of course not!" I couldn't find words for a moment. "Do you think I should be?" I was curious.

And now my sister did laugh: a sparkling, silvery sound that filled the air and left a gaping, unpleasant silence in its wake. "Why not? It would be far more efficient." She eyed me as she said this, and now we laughed together. It felt good. It felt normal.

Sometimes I wanted to be normal again. I guess I wasn't ever really normal. I always knew my family was strange, and that I was almost supernaturally pretty. Let me put it another way. Sometimes I want to not be part of a nation-spanning organization of undead monstrosities who feed on human ecstasy. Sometimes. It usually passes quickly when I remember how constantly amazing my life has been since the day I killed Margaret and awoke to what I was. And it could only tangentially be described as murder. It was certainly the sweetest death she could have hoped for.

Would I choose this life if I could? I have no clue. Would normalcy really be better? Maybe. But that isn't how life works. We don't get things because we think we deserve them. I'm here now, and I'll live with it.

Lara gave a delicious little gasp at the end of her bout of laughter and continued. "I know you'd like to be done with it. But we should never sacrifice what we can use, my darling. These poor creatures are a constant threat to all of the courts. Through their ignorance they may one day compromise us. We've been the first to make any extended contact with them, and they clearly know nothing of us." I was starting to feel frightened of her again. "We want them as allies, and willing allies, when and if we change them." She leaned forward, pale white cleavage exposed. "Shall I summarize what I expect of you?"

I stammered. "It couldn't hurt."

She grinned. "I want you to keep feeding on them until they need you so much they can't exist without you. Make Edward and Jasper yours, and then we'll be done."

My sister leaned back, and I found I was breathing hard, which was amusing for a variety of reasons. "I don't like this place any more than you, Ruth. But we have duties, you and I."

Ah, duty. My sister was relatively effusive on that subject. I didn't much feel like having the lecture at the moment, so I just nodded. "It's pretty much finished, anyway. They haven't told me yet. They both keep trying to get inside my head. Anyway, how's Evan doing?"

Lara grinned wickedly. "I'm not certain. He complains less than you, little sister."

"I remember he was pretty eager to get to work." I pouted playfully at my sister. "I do think he has it better than us, don't you?"

Lara looked into my eyes knowingly. "Probably. Those two girls he's corralling are exquisite, especially the blonde one. What was her name?"

"Rosalie."

Lara nodded. "Rosalie, yes. I'm sure he's taking his time with that one. The other is little more than a snack, but he'll find his pleasures where he can." She frowned gently down at me, sisterly concern in her enchanting eyes. "You know, you could afford to learn from our noble cousin, sister. He enjoys life, and doesn't waste time complaining about things he can't change."

I blinked at her expressionlessly for a moment, convinced she had seen my earlier thoughts. I shook my head and continued. "I'm not sure Evan is the best of role models, Virginia."

She grinned again. "No, I can see your point. But take the good and discard the bad. That's how we learn and grow, little sister." Her gray eyes flitted to the wall clock behind me. "Oh my. Speaking of which, I think you should be getting back to your host family. What are they called?"

I rolled my eyes almost instinctively at the mention of the yuppies I lived with. "The Lindholms. Easy to control, but still annoying."

Lara scoffed. "Of course. But we must maintain appearances, my dear. So don't be late."

I stared at Lara for a moment. "Trying to be rid of me?"

An annoyingly elegant shrug.

"Whatever. See you."

When I left the condo I stepped into a gentle New England rain.

Thursday

Evan

I really hope I don't have to kill you, I thought as I watched Rosalie sleep beside me, her golden hair spread on the pillow, her head nestled softly against my chest. Alice was pressed against my back sleeping just as peacefully, slender arms twined around my midsection. They fit fairly easily. Although I'm relatively strong in a wiry way, even without my unholy mojo, I've always been the tall thin type. This fits pretty well in Brooklyn.

Rosalie was a creature of such exquisite beauty, and she was far more interesting than her sister. Alice didn't really seem to be interested in things as much as feelings. I'm led to understand her brothers were much the same. Rosalie was different. She liked the same kind of music and books as I did, and we thought the same way. An internet dating service probably would have matched us in a snap. I would be disappointed if she forced me to kill her.

Neither of them had revealed to me what they were yet. Once they did, my work would be done. I think they were both pretty close. I didn't look forward to Rosalie's confession. The dossier I had read prior to coming to Sterling had given me some idea of what she had been through, and it was difficult to imagine that kind of suffering. For a mortal, it must have been difficult.

I'm not even sure why I'm here, apart from being Lara Raith's nephew, but I certainly liked these Cullen girls. Rosalie was a sweet thing, and she had been as slow to betray her husband Emmet as any girl I've ever taken to bed. I respect that. Alice was easier, but she was just such a little firebrand in bed that I didn't much care. I think her waif of a husband was too depressed and hungry to make much of a lover. As always, I'm glad to stand in.

With both at once it didn't even make it that difficult to stop before I killed them, although I imagined I could only keep it up for five or six more weeks before I just snapped and drained them dry. Still, Auntie Lara could take her time, the way I saw it. It hadn't been easy to draw them into our little arrangement. I started in on them separately, but when I revealed the truth to them they hadn't seemed surprised. The main thing was to give it enough time to set in. If you give people enough time and the right fuel, they'll do what you want and fully believe it to be their own idea.

In fact, compared to the Bacchanalian orgy of my usual life, this was a welcome vacation. It was sometimes hard to keep up that pace. I was staring at the ceiling of my room in the Lindholms' house. They were both out right now. I wasn't sure where. Beth Lindholm was some sort of consultant for something. Information Technology I think. Gerrold was a real estate agent. They were only home in the evenings, and sometimes not then. I don't think they particularly wanted children, but Ruth and I allowed them to pretend.

They were old money, and had a nice house in the more pleasant part of Sterling. Ruth and I were pretending to be a brace of Canadians who had been sent to Connecticut by our rich and tragically selfish parents who wanted to be rid of us. Lara and one of her brothers, Thomas I think, had pretended to be our parents, so the act had probably come off fairly well. To be honest, I kind of liked the place. I would probably sour on it after too long, but at the moment the quiet was a welcome relief.

From across the room, I saw my phone vibrating. I pretty much always left it on vibrate. Anything else was stupid and annoying as far as I was concerned. Silently, I slipped out of bed. I didn't wake the girls, although Alice moaned when I crawled out of her arms. I grinned, quietly congratulating myself. I imagine they were both pretty tired. The contact on the front screen of my phone was displayed as RTHRTH.

Ruth.

We weren't really supposed discuss court business on the phone. Although I had thought a few times in the past few days that I could see her getting tired of the whole assignment. She liked a good fight a great deal more than I ever had, and I think all this subterfuge was annoying her. She was young. I walked into the hall and answered as I was heading for the living room. "Sister," I answered.

"Brother," she returned, just a hint of mockery in her tone.

"Can I help you?"

She sighed at me. "I'm bored, Evan. Aren't you bored?"

I sat on the couch. It was a nice day. Although the sun was out the light in the living room was low and inviting, just enough that you could nod off if it got too quiet. "Not really," I told her.

"So you don't want to do something?"

I paused for an incredulous moment. "To be honest, I am doing something. I thought you were too." From the hall, I heard the sound of soft footsteps. "Actually, I have to go. Have fun, Ruth."

Hanging up, I watched Rosalie walk into the room. She was wearing one of those black shirts with the fat white X on it. She was one of the few people in Sterling who listened to The XX, just one thing we had in common. She wore nothing else. She stopped when she saw me looking at her. She stood behind me, and I had to bend my head over the back of the couch to see her. I probably looked a fool. A handsome fool, but those are usually the worst kind. There was a worried look in her eyes, and her lips worked soundlessly.

Ruth

"Dammit!" I swore as Evan hung up. It was enough to wake Jasper. His eyes opened and he regarded me evenly.

"Is something wrong?"

I gave him my best vulnerable-girl smile. "No." I left it at that, in the way that girls usually do when something is definitely wrong. He kept staring. I felt him probing at my mind and had to fight the urge to roll my eyes as I unobtrusively pushed him out. I think he was just doing it out of habit now. He was clearly fascinated by his inability to know my thoughts. His 'brother' was too. That dude was creepy, though. Jasper was an interesting person. I liked him.

"Come on. What's wrong?" I looked away. Fuck it. I was making my move.

"I just…" I met his eyes, letting mine tear up slightly. "I just keep feeling that you're keeping something from me." I let my voice break. "And it hurts so much." He didn't visibly react. I respected Jasper as well as liking him. He had once been a relatively respectable member of the supernatural world, and he knew how to stay in control of his emotions. To be completely honest, he kind of made me moist.

But he was just as easy to manipulate as every other mortal. Particularly the ones with penises.

He didn't say anything for a moment. His eyes played over my face. He nodded. "You're right, Ruth. I was wrong to do it." He seemed to have more to say, but the words got stuck somewhere on their way to the surface. I fought the urge to look at the clock. How long was this going to take him?

"I'll show you." Rising from his bed, he stepped into the light streaming through the blinds. A luminescent twinkling broke out on his forearm and naked thigh. I didn't get it. I looked at his face, and I'm sure I looked epically confused, my concentrated manipulation breaking down in the face of shock. He nodded at me hopefully. "Understand?"

I watched him with wide eyes. "Uh…"

Evan

Rosalie took her shirt off.

I didn't have a problem with that. She was pale and naked underneath, gloriously blonde and radiant. She stood in a shaft of light which shone down from one of the skylights in the ceiling high above us. I was enjoying the show. What I was somewhat nonplussed by was the small, elegant tracery of fine glittering points of light that broke out all along her soft, smooth body. Like Rosalie was a universe and these were the stars within her.

She looked at me intently. She was chewing her lip, which was hot, and she looked worried, which was even hotter. I had just spent the last few hours cavorting with the two luscious Cullen girls, but I was suddenly hard for Rosalie all over again.

It was then I became aware of something I had been avoiding. I cared about this woman. The sudden and inescapable knowledge froze my blood. I don't think I had ever met anyone like her. I needed to finish this before things got out of hand.

I suddenly remembered a night many years ago and back home. I had taken a lovely young girl into the ladies bathroom after a concert in some club whose name, much like the band, I don't remember. Her boyfriend was still outside, knowing only that she was in the bathroom.

Anyway, when she backed me up against the wall, her hormones in full control, and kissed me, I felt an agony like nothing I had ever imagined. It was like drinking molten lead. I was shocked mute by the pain, and I lost consciousness. All I heard was her short, clipped scream. When I came to the girl was gone, and a couple of my friends were hauling me out. Although I had been warned before I had never experience it, and it was a painful but effective lesson in what love could do to us. The Cullen 'siblings' might have loved each other, but it didn't work the same way for vampires as mortals. That was why my sudden feelings for Rosalie were dangerous. I had no idea how it might work in reverse.

But there were more important things to deal with now, like why Rosalie was sparkling and why she was looking at me with those terrified eyes. "That's… really cute, Rose. Little early in the year for body glitter though, yeah? Not to mention the day." I returned my head to its more customary upright position, working the kinks out of my neck. "Why don't you come sit down?" I leaned back and waited for her to warm the couch beside me. I heard her hesitate, but after a moment she put her shirt back on and walked over, plopping numbly down beside me. She stared straight ahead, her eyes wide. I followed her line of sight. All I could see was a rather gaudy blown-up reproduction of Guernica that the Lindholms, ill-advisedly in my opinion, had hung on the wall of the living room. Admittedly disturbing and offensive on a dizzying variety of levels, but I don't know that it warranted the glassy stare. "Are you alright, babe?"

Rosalie started, looked at me stunned, and swallowed. Her eyes fell from mine for a moment. "I haven't ever shown anybody what I just showed you. Nobody whom I haven't then destroyed."

I was profoundly confused. "You've killed people who saw you in body glitter?" I chuckled stupidly. "That's hardcore, baby."

She looked back at me, incredulous. "It wasn't glitter! I'm… don't you understand?"

I sighed and frowned at her. "Rosie, why don't you just tell me what you were trying to show me?" I touched her face gently and she gasped, her muscles constricting in ecstasy as my power took hold of her, her eyelids half-shutting. I removed my hand, hoping I had cleared her head sufficiently.

Her pupils were dilated as she met my eyes now. "I'm a vampire, Evan." She spoke calmly. "You can't even guess what my life has been like." I decided to let her speak for a moment. "I know you have trouble believing this, but it's true. What we've been doing here, Evan, it's wrong. But it feels so good, and you're one of the nicest guys I've ever known." I almost laughed out loud at that. I knew this girls' history, and painful as it was, she had seen nothing of the real world outside her bubble. She touched my face, but I held my power in check. Whatever weird demon lives inside of us was screaming at me to take her now. "I couldn't keep you in the dark anymore. I really like you," she said. I'm sure the calm, practiced mask into which I had frozen my face twitched then. This girl was kind, and beautiful, and she was trying to live a good life. If I dropped my guard, I could let myself care about her as well. That, though, was impossible. For too many reasons to count. It might have made me sad for a minute, if I had the time for that. She may have been trying to be good, even succeeding.

But that life wasn't real. And it didn't change what I had to do.

I had been on this assignment for too long. I smiled slowly at Rosalie, letting something of the predator I was used to being slip in past the confusion I was feeling. Her eyelids fluttered as I took her face in my hands, releasing my power into her. "I believe you, Rosie." I kissed her deeply, probing her throat with my tongue. She whimpered without meaning to through a haze of ecstasy, her hips moving uncontrollably against the couch.

When I released her, she was panting. "I believe you, because I've got a secret of my own." She just looked into my eyes, almost delirious with ecstasy. "You think what we're doing here is wrong?" I stood. "Nothing wrong with having a good time, Rosie. You have to live life. I mean, what else is it for?" I walked to the wall, standing in front of Guernica, thinking how really horrible it was to have it in a public space like this, my back to Rosalie. I paused for effect. I have a taste for melodrama, and I was in full swing. "Aren't you tired of denying yourself, Rosalie? Don't you get tired of feeding and never being satisfied? Wouldn't you rather take what you wanted, when you want it?" I turned back to her. She was on her knees on the couch, staring at me in enraptured silence. "Don't you ever wish you could have children, Rosalie Hale?"

She was suddenly shocked back into full awareness. She appeared frightened, but more than that she was interested. I knew I had her. "Who are you?" She asked me, astounded.

I smiled. "My name is Evan. That wasn't a lie. What I am would be a better place to start. What the Cullens have managed to do is kind of admirable. And yet somehow in the process you've all managed to neatly insulate yourselves from the wider world. I'm from the White Court, Rosie. There are a few Vampire Courts, but we're easily the most pleasant. We feed on strong emotions, usually lust and ecstasy. I've come here with two of my kin to bring you and your family into the fold."

All Rosalie could manage was a confused stutter. I leaned closer to her. "We can have children, Rosalie. I myself am 'true-born', as we call it."

Her eyes fixed on me at that. "Really?" The weight of the word might have broken my heart, if that had been possible. I nodded. Rosalie hesitated. "What if I refuse?"

I simply shrugged easily. No reason to tell her that wasn't an option. She was smart enough to know it. "Why would you do that, Rosie?"

Her eyes were tearing. "I've always wanted children."

"And you can have them."

"So… you'll turn me?"

I nodded.

She started suddenly. "But what about Emmet?"

I laughed. "You'll take care of that."

There was steely resolve in her eyes now. She nodded, pulling her shirt off again. Smart girl. "Let's do it."

I held up a finger. "One last question. You told Alice you were going to tell me, yeah?"

Rosalie looked sheepish for a moment. She shrugged. "She's my sister."

Crossing the room to her, I gently stroked her golden hair, causing her to gasp again. "Of course. So she's been listening?"

Alice stepped out of the hallway, grinning. I had known she would be easy. She unabashedly craved the blinding ecstasy of my touch. It had been Rosalie I was worried about. I smiled back at her. "You were very quiet, little one. I barely heard you."

She beamed.

"You accept my offer, then?"

"I've already seen it."

Although I wasn't sure how far I trusted this supposed seer sight of Alice's, I couldn't argue that this wasn't going well. I was sick of stopping just short of killing them, anyway. This would be delicious. "Come join us, then."

As Alice bounced over to us, I looked down into Rosalie's eyes and felt a brief twinge, but it was quickly gone.

Ruth

"I don't mind if you like body glitter, Jasper. It's okay for guys to wear it." Although usually they only did it at certain clubs. I left out that bit.

He stared at me. He was cute when he was confused. "It's not that."

I raised my eyebrow. "Sure looks like it."

"It isn't." He sighed. "I'm a vampire, Ruth." Any other girl would have laughed at him. I was just relieved this would all be over soon.

"Oh," I sad nonchalantly. "Is that how you people tell that? That's weird. Anyway, I know you are."

He looked cuter and more confused. "Huh?"

"Yeah. I am too."

He frowned at this point, probably thinking I was acting like a bitch. Actually, I probably was. He sat down on the side of the bed, in front of me. "No, Ruth. I'm serious. I was born in 18-", I took his cock with my hand, releasing my power. He fell back on the bed in involuntary spasms of ecstasy.

"Shut up a second. 1843, I know." I rolled my eyes. "I know all about you. You were in the Civil War, you served a vampire named Maria. I know. I'm a vampire, too. Different from you. You and the Cullens are some sort of mutants or something." I waved my hand. "Nobody really knows."

He regained enough control to say: "wha-?"

I went on. "We don't feed like you, though. Nobody does. You know what we've been doing here? That's how we feed. I've just been stopping short of draining you dry. You've got a lot of energy." I straddled him, careful not to bring our skin into too much contact. I was having trouble controlling myself. "We're called the White Court. I'm here to make you one of us." I remembered his 'wife' Alice, although that shit probably wouldn't last long one Lara had them, and added: "the other Cullens too."

He was breathing hard, just recovering from my touch. His pupils were dilated, and I could tell he wanted me. There were more indicators than that, but it was a start. He looked at me. "Have you been fucking Edward?"

It wasn't hard to look embarrassed. I actually kind of was. "Yeah. How'd you know?"

He shrugged gently. "I've known the guy for a while." He met my eyes. "The Cullens are good people. Earnest people. But sometimes…"

I spoke in his ear, breathing every syllable. "Sometimes you have trouble not seeing them as meat."

He laughed. "That's a… succinct way of phrasing it. This life isn't really for me. You say Alice will be in this White Court as well?"

"She probably already is."

He grabbed my ass. "Then let's get to it, baby."

I laughed as he kissed me. No more holding back, then.

Friday

Margot

"Yeah?" He stuttered a little after that. "I mean, sorry. Harry Dresden."

I smiled. "Mr. Dresden. This is Margot Maddox. From Boston? We met last year." I hadn't really had much communication with the famous Harry B. C. Dresden since he had been appointed my commander. I know a lot of the other younger Wardens thought he was the greatest thing that had ever happened to the human species in general and wizards in specific, and that he was somehow the salve to all the profoundly complex and intractable problems of the White Council. To be honest it seemed to me like he was a really earnest guy who got lucky a lot. Whatever. I just assume that half of what most men do is a façade.

He paused for a moment. I heard him doing something. I don't know what. "Uh, yeah, I remember. How are you?"

"There's nothing immediately wrong with me, Mr. Dresden-"

"Call me Harry, please."

I pursed my lips, which I would've liked for him to have seen, but phone calls can accomplish only so much. "But I did call you for a reason."

Another pause and more background noise. Was he trying to assemble an engine or something? "Okay. Nothing too horrific, I hope. I'm kind of expecting company." He sounded nervous.

"Female company?"

He sounded surprised at the question. "Oh, uh, yeah. I mean, we haven't seen each other in a while."

"That's not necessarily a bad thing, Mr. Dresden."

"Yeah, I guess. Only we… it's complicated."

I nodded. There was a pause, and he broke the brief silence.

"So what's up Boston way?"

"Nothing too bad, but I thought you might like to know. Are you familiar with the Cullens?"

"Um…"

"Abberant vampires?"

There was another pause, then he got it. "Oh yeah. Aren't they a Red Court problem?"

"Were a Red Court problem. They recently moved to Sterling, in Connecticut. Which puts them directly in White territory-"

Almost automatically, he interrupted. "You keep away from the White Court, Margot. Okay?"

I smiled. I had forgotten about the whole chivalric thing he did. It was cute. "I'm fully aware of the White Court, Mr. Dresden. I don't take any risks I can't safely manage."

He scoffed. "You're a hell of a lot smarter than I was at your age, then." I liked that. He chuckled to himself again. "Anyway, what do the Cullens have to do with the White Court? I thought they abstained from feeding on humans."

I shrugged. "Most of them have for some time. But-"

"A cat is always a cat."

I nodded. "It's what they are."

"Continue." I didn't hear as much background noise now.

"Anyway, the Cullens recently moved into White Court territory, and almost immediately my informants spotted what we're pretty sure are three White nobles who've moved into the school they're attending."

"Why?"

"I think they're attempting to eliminate the Cullens."

"Hm." He paused. "Has there been any collateral damage?"

"Knowing the Whites, it's unlikely they'll resort to conflict. I'm sure they've been feeding, though."

The response was almost immediate, and mildly surprising. "Can't do much about that. The right of the Vampire Courts to feed within certain limits is protected by the Unseelie Accords. One thing to learn that'll keep you ahead of the game, Margot: you'll never be able to save everyone. Ever."

It was one of those things you knew but don't want to hear anyone say. "Of course, Mr. Dresden."

"I learned that one the hard way, kid. Couple times, actually. They were all hard." He was quiet for a minute. He cleared his throat. "Sorry. Just made myself want to die there for a second."

I laughed. "That would be inconvenient."

He chuckled. "It would piss off a lot of people. Anyway, Margot, I don't really think this is an issue. As long as there aren't any civilian casualties, it seems like it's no concern of ours. I would definitely keep the situation under tabs though."

"Alright."

"Hell, Vampires killing each other sounds great to me. Saves us a lot of trouble."

"I hadn't thought of it that way."

"Sorry if I was a downer. I'm just certain I'm about to have a very unpleasant dinner date."

"I hope it isn't so bad, Mr. Dresden. I'll talk to you later."

He sighed. "I wish I could hope that. Keep your chin up, kiddo."

Bella

Edward was gone. Esme and Carlisle hadn't come home last night. I knew they had been in some sort of conference with the new principal, but there was no answer when I called their phones. Renesmee wasn't there, either. Edwards' absence had concerned me the most, though. It wasn't like him. We hadn't really talked since our argument on Wednesday. He was scaring me. Emmet had gone to find Jacob and see if he could help at least find my daughter, but that had been this morning.

It was four now. According to Emmet, Rosalie had been acting weird too. I had found him hard to pay attention to. He had wanted me to come, but I thought I should stay in case Carlisle or Esme or even Edward returned.

I hadn't seen him at all yesterday. He had been angry about something recently, though he said it had nothing to do with me. Emmet could look after himself. Jacob could probably keep Renesmee safe. The most important thing was Edward. I wasn't angry, like Emmet was. I was scared. I was scared for my family and scared for my daughter and for the man I loved. We still had enemies, though there had been little sign of trouble. I sat in the living room and watched the clock, waiting for something to happen. I had no idea what, but wished something would. It was quiet where we lived now, off of some wooded road outside Sterling, and I started to feel like I was the last living human on Earth. Then I remembered I wasn't a human anymore, and it made me strangely sad for just a second. I almost screamed when a gentle, steady knock came on the door. I rose, nervous, and approached the door. Slowly, I peeked outside.

It was Edward.

I unbolted the door and threw it open, wanting to jump into his arms, but he held out an arm, keeping me at bay. I was shocked. For one thing, he wore a nice set of expensively tailored gray dress pants with a gray blazer and, most strangely, a shockingly white tie. I had never seen him dress so nicely before, and I had certainly never seen him wear white. There was something different in his aspect and bearing as well. He seemed somehow more attractive and confident, but also dangerous. He smiled at me gently. His warding hand turned into a beckoning one.

"Where have you been?" I blurted.

He smiled at me brilliantly, which in the context I found pretty annoying. "Follow, and I'll show you."

And in a flash, he was gone.

I was starting to get angry. This was hardly the time for games. I set out after him, running at his pace. At once he almost melted into the trees, moving swiftly along the forest floor without disturbing the undergrowth. I saw him mainly as an indistinct blur, but I could feel his exhilaration as he led me on a wild chase into the woods, running like we did when we hunted. But the exultation of it was far more consummate, far more intense than anything I had ever felt. For an instant, I felt as though I knew what it might be to hunt actual human blood and flesh, and it was sublime. There was nothing in the world but Edward and I, and with each leap and bound the ecstasy of our shared hunt grew deeper, until it was as if all of my senses had narrowed to a pin's head of white-hot focus, and yet each sensation, each leap or bound or smallest footfall felt more intense than anything I had ever felt. The world was ours, if only for a while, and there had never been any feeling so sweet.

These thoughts weren't my own.

Although I knew this even as I thought them, the feeling was different than when Edward or Jasper had tried to get inside my head before, which had just had a sense of violation. It was almost narcotic, like an amphetamine rush, but much sweeter. So much so that I didn't care that this probably wasn't how I should feel about this, and that in fact it probably wasn't happening in exactly the way I was imagining. Even though it was an illusion, and I knew it for one, it was an illusion of such brilliant, blinding ecstasy that it didn't matter. I had never been more terrified of anything in my life. I knew I was in terrible danger, and yet all I could do was focus on the thin, quick figure before me, listen to his soft, careful footfalls and the sound of his slow, metered breathing. Although I couldn't see them, I could imagine his new blazer billowing in the wind, a brilliant smile on his usually dour face, the thrill of the hunt and the chase combined in his deep, lovely gray eyes.

Death was near.

I don't know how long this lasted or what direction we went in. All I knew was the blinding, overwhelming impulse to follow, never turning away. We may have gone north or south. We may have gone in circles. I don't care and it doesn't matter. Edward had to extend an arm to tell me to stop. I did so messily, almost falling. I just managed to catch Edward's outstretched arm, which didn't even move as I hung on it and pulled myself to my feet. I leaned on him breathlessly, panting and trembling. Everything around us was muted white, like a quiet forest clearing. Dim sounds bled through the wall of white trees in front of us.

I wasn't tired. I don't think I had ever felt more awake. I was embarrassed to realize that what I had just felt had been intensely sexual.

Edward was solid and immovable as I leaned on him, but also indifferent to me, like a lovely statue. "What's wrong with you?"

He turned to me, smiling like he had at the house, his steel-gray eyes deep and unfathomable. I had never seen an expression like it on his face. He put a finger to his lips. "Just keep an open mind, Bella. I'd prefer if nothing bad happened to you. You are the mother of my daughter."

I stared at him. I sincerely hope that wasn't the way he thought of me. Mothers were dowdy and wise and attentive in my mind, and I wasn't any of those things. Not that I didn't love Renesmee, but…

I began to realize that the man I loved had been somehow irrevocably changed. It was like the difference between sleeping and waking. It was like a snap in my head, as something turned on. I tried to take his hand, but he avoided my grasp. I felt tears start to form. "Edward, what-"

He put his finger to his lips again. Now I was crying a little. He gave me a hard look. "Don't cry. I can't even imagine what she'll do to you if you come out crying." He regarded me evenly. "Remember. Keep quiet, keep an open mind, and show no weakness. I'm trying to help you, Bella. Understand?"

Sniffling and wiping my eyes, I nodded. He smiled again. "Today's a big day." Gesturing with his head, he spoke to me shortly, like a command. "Come on." He walked forward, towards a gap in a wall of white trees, and I followed him.

I stepped into a bizarre and decadent and lovely tableau that frightened and confused me like nothing I had ever seen. Edward and I stood at the top of a series of multi-layered platforms that stretched far below us. Each of the platforms were at least as wide as the Cullen house, and were all connected to one another by sets of stairs. They were arranged in a pattern of descending v's. Fresh water flowed in circular defiles around each platform, and down around the wide staircases connecting one to another, so the air was full of the tinkling, musical, hypnotic sound of flowing water.

Edward and I stood on the highest platform, at the intersection of the v, its two arms stretching out on either side of us. It looked as though the platforms, which went farther down than I could see at a gentle slope, were carved from the side of a mountain. The platforms were of some variety of white marble. The whiteness was more white than anything I had ever seen, like a variety of the color beyond the scope of mortal comprehension. Virtually everything was white: the stately trees occupying the pleasant and well-tended gardens that most of the platforms housed, the tall, obviously phallic white pillars that stood in the center of many of the platforms. The tables and chairs were also white, and the people who sat at them and milled about the platforms or, in many cases, kissed or copulated openly, were pale and luminescent, like something from another world. The air smelled like flowers and honeysuckle and fresh water. Far below it, like the dregs of wine, there was the smell of sex.

Pale, beautiful, almost radiant flesh was the norm, set apart by dark hair. I noticed there were also people, not quite as beautiful as the others, who roamed around, most of them completely naked, some actually in the process of sex, most of whom had glazed eyes and sad expressions. Apart from that, everything was beauty, light, and companionable, relaxed Bacchanalian excess. No one at a platform two v's down, for instance, seemed particularly concerned or offended or even interested that a powerfully built man with shoulder-length dark hair was vigorously mounting one of the I guess they were servants on the table as those around them talked and laughed and embraced and caressed. The servant, a beautiful blonde woman, was screaming in delirious, toneless ecstasy. I had the confusingly distinct and rather disturbing feeling that I was witnessing a murder. I looked up, and saw the sky gray and overcast, but pleasantly so, like the sky in the English countryside. I swore I could see what looked like a chunk of land, like a floating island, far off through the clouds.

I noticed most of this in passing. I was suddenly intensely aware of my own arousal. I was also sure that everyone else was aware of it. The platform on which Edward and I stood, the highest platform, was of far greater immediate interest to me. Across a small clearing of well-manicured white trees and soft, green grass seven people regarded me. In a broad white marble throne of sorts sat the most lovely woman I had ever seen.

Her long, shapely legs were crossed in front of her as she sat in total relaxation. although there was something coiled about her, like a bow ready to shoot or a dangerous snake ready to kill. Her full lips pouted cleverly, she smiled at me with an air of amusement and heady condescension. She wore a flowing white dress, and it displayed an ample but respectable ratio of white, luscious cleavage. She wore nothing else, not even shoes. Her perfectly manicured toenails were painted a silvery white, and they bobbed slightly as she casually regarded me. Her black, lustrous hair was tied into a ponytail, and draped casually across her left breast. Her dress fell to her ankles, but her crossed legs exploited the long slit in it, exposing just enough of her thighs to make me want to dive between them, though I had never liked women before. Against the side of her chair or throne sat a long-sword in an ornate scabbard, carved with images of people in the throes of ecstasy. It was as beautiful as she was, although it didn't seem nearly as dangerous.

I hate to say I was attracted to the woman, but it's hard to deny. I recognized, by this time, that this might not be entirely my idea, but I won't say I wasn't involved. All my arousal was checked, however, by the utterly uncaring look in her steely gray eyes, which did little but chill me to the depths of my soul. This woman was ancient, and evil, and when I looked at her I knew that I hadn't ever before seen or understood cruelty or malice.

On her right stood a lovely young woman, who also had pale skin and dark hair, although wearing a pageboy cut and dressed in a white dress similar to the one the woman in the chair wore. She stood with her legs set wide, her bare feet firmly planted on the grassy sward, and her gray eyes met mine defiantly, like she was ready for a fight. She wore a fine gilded belt loosely, and two short swords hung on it. Beside her stood a person who I barely recognized as Jasper, though he was much changed. He looked stronger and healthier, for one thing. Despite his demons he had always been a strong, confident person. But now he seemed powerful and dangerous, like maybe the way he had once been. His eyes were gray as well, but he just smiled at me in a casually disarming way. He was dressed the same way as Edward, and wore what looked like a Civil War cavalry sword across his back.

To the left of the marble throne a handsome young man, obviously related to the terrifying woman on the throne, leaned on a massive sword almost as tall as he was, its scabbard white and ornate like the white woman's. His dark hair was stylishly disheveled and his expression was easygoing. An assault rifle of some kind was also slung across his back. He wasn't as tied to the white theme as his kin, apparently, because all he wore apart from that was jeans and a Talking Heads shirt. He lifted a hand at me companionably.

What really shocked me about him was who he was with. On his left stood Rosalie, blonde and beautiful, who watched me confidently and almost haughtily, her gray eyes hard. She was dressed exactly like the other two pale women, and also the same as Alice, who stood smiling on the young mans' right hand. She also carried two short swords.

But what shocked me the most, what stunned me utterly speechless, was my daughter. She sat at the foot of the white woman's throne, dressed in a respectable children's version of the lovely white dress theme, and watched me with blank gray eyes, as though she had never seen me.

I looked straight into the ancient, evil eyes of the White woman. "I'm in Fantasia now, right?"

The woman's perfect eyebrows furrowed, and she looked at the young man on her left. He grinned. "It's a movie."

The woman rolled her eyes and looked at Edward, still standing beside me. I quickly turned to him. He looked at me and shook his head sadly. "I can't help you anymore, Bella. Remember what I said. Don't follow me."

With that, he walked away and stood beside the girl on the White woman's right side, and my heart broke. Smiling briefly at Edward when he had assumed his place, the woman turned to me once again and stood, spreading her bare arms. "Welcome, Ms. Swan, to the White Court." She walked toward me, every curve of her perfect body moving enticingly, and stopped within arms reach. She wasn't much taller than I was. She continued. "Very few have seen this place." She touched her perfect white neck. "I am Lara Raith. The two you don't know behind me are my sister, Ruth, and my nephew Evan." She walked back to her throne and sat. "I'm sorry to bring you here like this, but I didn't know exactly how to deal with you. The rest of your 'family' was known to us, but we have nothing on you. Is there anything I can do to set your mind at rest?"

I nodded. "You can call me 'Mrs.' I'm married to Edward."

Lara laughed tinklingly, a frustratingly lovely and unimaginably cruel sound. "I'm afraid your marriage to Mr. Masen is no longer valid. I permit no permanent lovers in my retainers' lives. Except perhaps myself."

My eyes widened and I looked at Edward. "Edward… is this true?"

He met my eyes and shrugged. "We were fooling ourselves, Bella."

I gasped like I had been stabbed and looked back at Lara. My nearest instinct was to rip her in half, but something warned me against trying. I don't think it would have been much use. "What about Esme and Carlisle? And Emmet?"

Lara smiled gently. "I'm afraid they had to be eliminated for logistical reasons." Her beautiful white shoulders shrugged. "I simply couldn't use them."

I put my hand over my mouth, and looked at Rosalie. "They killed Emmet?"

She smiled, and I saw the proud, lovely girl she had once been. "Actually, I killed Emmet. To demonstrate my loyalty. Esme and the doctor were insulating themselves from the world, Bella. There's so much more out there than we ever knew, and it's more terrible and wonderful than you could possibly imagine. And we can see it all. Together."

Lara nodded. "Your friend is right, Bella. At my side you, your friends and your daughter will see things mortal eyes couldn't dream of." A fire burned in the gray depths of her eyes, and I knew she was telling me the truth. Tears spilling out in spite of Edwards' warning, I collapsed to my knees. I felt everything I had ever wanted crumbling around me, as though it had never even been real. Maybe it hadn't. But I had to know one thing.

"What's going to happen to Renesmee?"

Lara smiled fondly down at her, stroking her hair. She smiled back. "Your lovely daughter will take the Raith name and become our ward. For all intents and purposes, she will be Esme Raith. That isn't negotiable. I think you can see how this will cement the bond between our two organizations."

I stammered through my tears. "But… you've changed her."

Esme spoke up. "I chose that, mother,". I stared at her. "We can't live in the shadows forever. Like it or not, we have to accept it. You chose this, and we've got to live with it." I could do nothing but look on numbly.

But the girl Ruth spoke up, looking at me. "Wait, you chose this?" Her beautiful eyes were wide.

I just nodded. She stared. "But why?"

I gestured weakly to Edward. "For him."

"Really? Him?" She said, incredulous.

Edward frowned. "I'm right here."

Ruth laughed. "Yeah, sorry. It's just that you're about as compelling as my nose."

There was a good-natured laugh all around. Evan spoke to me. "You shouldn't have done that, Bella. Had you remained mortal, the strength of your love for the boy, no matter how mysterious it's source, might have saved you from us. As it is, you're at our mercy." He shrugged helplessly. "That's a bad place to be. Plus and, I'm not sure even I would choose this if I could."

Lara gave him a dangerous look, and he stopped talking. I looked at Lara triumphantly as an idea suddenly struck me. "Jacob!"

Lara looked confused and annoyed again. I think her patience was about gone, but I didn't care. "Who?"

"Jacob and the wolves will come for us!" It sounded impossible even as I said it.

Evan spoke. "I think she's referring to the Quileute." He looked at me. "Were you under the impression that he followed you to New England?"

My heart began to grow heavy again.

"That would be a serious violation of the Accords," said Lara. "And whatever his attachment to your daughter, the wiser members of his pack would prevent him from interfering. Besides, this is the Nevernever. No Lycanthrope can reach us here." Lara smiled cruelly now. "You are alone, girl. But don't hate me for it. it isn't my doing. All I've done is to remind you all of something you tried to ignore. You can never let habit or appearance make you forget that you are a monster."

She no longer appeared amused. "I'm tired of trying to reason with you. Will you live as what you've chosen to be," There was a sneering accusation poorly-hidden there. "Or will you choose to die here and be forever lost?"

I was alone in a place I had chosen for myself. On a high platform in a lovely but desperately far and foreign place, strangers and creatures from a nightmare waited on my words.

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