A/N: This is a continuation of my story, The Consequence of Heat. If you have not read that first, this story will not make sense to you. This prologue is in third person, but the rest of the story will be in various first person points of view. Let it be known that my amazing betas, harrytwifan and remylebeauishot, continue to aid me on this story.

A Clash of Covens

1. Prologue

Jane, Caius and Marcus were in the library, arguing over their next move in the vengeance of the deaths of their coven members. Jane wanted to act quickly, taking down those who murdered her brother. Caius was also out for blood, so to speak, having lost his friend, Felix, and the eye-candy that was Chelsea, whom Caius had enjoyed ogling. But he enjoyed games of cat and mouse, so he was more willing to prolong the eventual demise of their foes, the Cullen coven.

Nobody missed the arrogance of Aro, who had taken the leadership role upon himself. Caius and Marcus had resented that for centuries, but they were powerless to stop him, as Aro had possessed the most useful ability of the three.

Being mate-less, Marcus had taken it upon himself to comfort Aro's widow, Sulpicia, during her lonely nights. After centuries of celibacy, Marcus had become rejuvenated. Sulpicia had let it slip after one evening of love-making that Aro had been the one who murdered Marcus' wife, Didyme, so any feelings of guilt he may have harbored were quickly washed away.

Here in the library, Marcus had taken the lead, being the most rational of the three.

"For now, we must pretend as though we know nothing," Marcus concluded.

Enraged, Jane rose from her seat and began to pace. "Pretend nothing has happened?! Alec is dead! Aro is dead! Those responsible must be brought to justice!"

"Peace, Jane," Marcus placated her. "They will be expecting us to come now. Our retaliation must be carefully planned. We cannot just swoop in and murder vampires without all of the facts. We do wish to continue our rule, do we not? Remember, we have lost some powerful assets: two strong-arms, a mind-reader, a sensory depriver, and a bond forger. The Cullens are the more formidable coven now, in terms of abilities. Our strategy must be airtight if we wish to continue our reign."

Jane huffed and crossed her arms, but she did not protest.

It was Caius' turn for a rebuttal. "You think our kind won't notice the absence of their leader?" he asked pointedly.

Marcus shook his head. "No, Caius. We have been known to lie low for decades at a time. No one will find a few years of quiet unusual."

"But, the Cullens know he is gone. We must dispose of them before they start an uprising," Caius continued.

Marcus sighed, annoyed. They had already been over this. "The Cullens have made no move toward dominance over our kind. That is not Carlisle's desire."

"It is only a matter of time," Caius muttered.

Jane had been silent long enough. "For how long will we allow them to continue to live freely?"

"For as long as it takes. It is better this way, my dear. Just think—what would Aro do? They expect us to retaliate now. If we wait, they will become complacent. It will be much easier to make them pay."

Caius and Jane shared a sinister smirk. Marcus grinned, satisfied that they had been sufficiently convinced. They would lie in wait...for now.


A/N: In the interest of producing quality chapters, I will not have a set posting schedule, like I did with CoH. That being said, there won't be any month-long waits for updates either. I just don't want to make promises I can't keep! I hope you enjoyed this little tease, and will stick around for the rest.