Disclaimer: I own nothing but the story line, SM owns the characters I'm just having fun with them.
Previously on Just Between Us:
I finally heard two sets of footsteps coming at a pretty fast run directly toward us. How the hell do they know where we are? Nobody has ever gotten around my shield like that. I tried to keep my nerves in so I wouldn't tip off my mate but I felt him send me some of his calm reassurance anyway. That went straight out the window when I heard the voice.
"One of them's a shield and I think the other's an empath. They seem to be mates but I'm not sure- they're both males!" What the hell? Jasper's eyes met mine with a look of shock. Is he a mind reader or something?
"Yes, I am. Don't worry- my sister and I mean you no harm. We just wanted to talk. We are looking for a new city for our family and I wasn't aware this area was claimed." The strange vampire just kept talking like we were friends instead of possible adversaries. "I told you we don't mean you harm. That's a powerful shield you have, I didn't hear a sound or pick up your scent at all. If it wasn't for my gift I'd never know you were there." About this time he ran into a view- a tall, lanky bronze haired boy, and a tiny girl with spiky black hair. What caught my eye wasn't their obvious youth and striking clear skin free from scars, it was their strange yellow eyes. What were these creatures?
"What the hell are you?" my mate finally spoke up. "And what kind of idiot walks around advertisin' his gifts? Do you want to get picked up by the Volturi or somethin'?"
"Oh, no, we don't worry about that. Our father is close friends with Aro and he would never take us away from our family." the boy responded confidently. "By the way, my name is Edward. Which one of you is Jasper and which one is Peter?"
I started to speak but stopped when Jasper put his hand on my arm and sent me some caution. I shut my mouth and let the Major take the lead but before he spoke the little pixie girl jumped in.
"Hey! I know you! I saw you but not now, it's supposed to be a few years from now in Philadelphia. What are you doing here with him? I never saw him. You were supposed to be alone!" She rattled on looking straight at my mate the whole time. I couldn't stop the frown on my face, who does this little sprite think she's talking to? Nobody addresses the Major like that. She needs to learn some respect. I turned to her "brother" and told him what I thought about the situation by replaying my thoughts of our escape, my mate's demon out in full glory. These kids needed to learn who they were dealing with.
Edward reached out and put his hand on the girl's shoulder, interrupting her. "Alice, I think you might want to ease up a bit. These guys are obviously soldiers, we don't want them getting the wrong idea and attacking us." He turned to my mate then, "I apologize, sir. She has these visions and when something doesn't go as she planned she can be a little hard to deal with. She meant no disrespect, sir."
The girl was obviously a mental case. She could not seem to close her mouth. "Sir? Why are you calling him sir, Edward? He's just a boy, he's probably as young as you are. The other one looks like he's in charge. He's obviously older." she continued, looking me over from head to toe. As she turned her eyes on me I felt the Major pull me back toward his chest and let out a deep warning growl.
"Uh, Alice, I don't think you want to look at them like that. The one with the shorter hair is the Major from the Southern Wars- you know, the one Garrett told us about? And I'm guessing the other one is his mate, and he doesn't seem to like you looking at his mate." Looks like the boy is the brains of this duo. I tipped my head to him, acknowledging that he was on the right track there.
Then his words caught up with me. "Wait, did you say Garrett? Tall guy, long brown hair? Revolutionary era? When did you see him last?" This had to be the same nomad we had talked to. I thought the major had killed him but he must have let him go? I turned to my mate with curiosity and he briefly met my eyes while nodding to me. I gave him a smile and sent him some pride. I had liked that Garrett and I was proud of Jasper for letting him go free.
"Yes, that's him. We saw him about 6 months ago when he came to visit my father. He and Carlisle have been friends for over a century. Carlisle has tried to convert him to our diet without success. When he told us that he ended up captured by the Major and the biggest army in the south we thought he was joking. But I saw his memories and how he was released. He never mentioned anything about the Major having a mate though. How did you hide your relationship around camp?" God, this kid was curious. I glanced back at Jasper to see him still tense but his eyes were lighter than they were before. I raised my eyebrows to ask him how he wanted to handle this and he let out a breath before looking at the vampires below us.
"Look," he said, "we're gonna come down from this tree but I need to get somethin' straight with ya first. Back away and make yourselves look as submissive as possible. Don't look at Peter and don't talk to him unless he talks to ya first. I'm trying not to be as much of a hard ass as I used to be but I'm still pretty damn protective when it comes to my mate. You understand?" They nodded and backed away. "Pete, you know the drill."
Again, I couldn't resist the "Yes, sir" that popped out as I followed him out of the tree and stood behind his right shoulder at attention. I saw that filthy smirk as he sent me his lust and caught my eye. Apparently this new Jasper isn't as opposed to being in charge as he would like me to think. Good thing to keep in mind. I noticed the boy in front of us had a grimace on his face as he avoided our eyes. Wonder what Jasper was thinking about just now. I swear if the kid could blush his face would be bright red.
"He's, uh, thinking about mating with you. Um, I wasn't sure two males could do that kind of thing. I wasn't raised that way when I was a human and I've, I mean I've never, uh... never mind." the kid trailed off and looked down at the dirt beneath his feet. As he did I noticed what he was wearing- some expensive looking black leather shoes, all shined up even after running who knows how far. A dove grey suit complete with vest and a tie. Who was this kid? Why did he dress so fancy? And what the hell was up with those freaky looking eyes?
"Look kid, you don't like what ya see in my head, you might wanna stay out. I've seen more shit than you can even imagine. And what did I tell you about talkin' to my mate? I thought you were the smart one but now I ain't so sure." Jasper stared him down, looking more like the Major every minute.
"I'm sorry sir, I have a bad habit of responding to thoughts, especially when they are directed at me. I apologize for offending you. You and your mate both have similar questions about us, may I address some of your concerns?" God this kid was polite. My ma would be proud of him, too bad I ain't nothing like that now. Guess hard livin' and war will do that to you.
"Sure kid. Use them fancy words of yers and fill us in. Why the hell do ya have piss-colored eyes and where the hell did ya get them fancy clothes?" Ok, now Jasper is just messing with him. But God I love when he pulls out the country boy act. I'm sure he could feel my lust when he sent his amusement back to me. Damn, we really gotta get us a meal and get somewhere private.
"Um, well, sir, we have topaz colored eyes instead of red because we only drink the blood of animals, not humans. My father feels it helps us keep our humanity, and it also allows us to settle down in the same place for several years without drawing attention to ourselves with a rash of murders in our wake. He has never drank from a human in almost 300 years of his immortality. He works as a doctor for the humans and we integrate ourselves into the day to day life of the community around us. My mother attends sewing circles and does volunteer work for various ladies' organizations. My sisters and brother and I also attend the local high school. We are a very close-knit family and we live a very civilized existence, far different from most vampires today." Edward's speech seemed a bit rehearsed, like he's tried this sales pitch on every vampire he meets. It's quite obvious he thinks much more of himself than he does his red-eyed brethren.
I saw him cut his eyes to me as I finished my thought but he wisely held his tongue from replying. His "sister" however was still living in her own world and she cut in again, "Why can't I see you? I can't see if you're going to decide to join us or if you'll go on a murder rampage and take out half the city." She turned to me again, "Is it your stupid shield that's blocking me? Why are you doing that?" and just like that the Major is back and has the pixie's throat in his hand as he lifts her 2 feet off the ground. I'm really beginning to think she is related to Maria. Same short stature, same black hair, same stupidity...
He pulled her face toward him until his nose was about 2 inches from hers and let out a loud roar. Guess the little seer didn't see that one coming! She let out a squeak (probably all she could manage with his hand tight on her throat) and began kicking around trying to get free. Edward wisely dropped to his knees and bared his neck toward my mate as I showed him what to do in my mind. Maybe some kinds of stupid can be fixed, just not others. I kept my position and fed my mate my feelings of safety and calm, trying to bring him back down before he ripped the girl apart. Yellow eyes or not, they were part of a large coven and we really didn't need the trouble.
The Major took a deep breath before dropping the girl down beside her brother and stepping back toward me. Reaching back, he took my hand in his and laced our fingers together. In a deadly calm voice he continued, "What did I say about talkin' to my mate? Now, if you don't mind, we are gonna turn around and head out. If this is where you're gonna be settlin' we are gonna be anywhere but here. Good day."
With that, he turned to the northwest and took off at a dead sprint. I was hard pressed to keep up with him even though I knew he wasn't running at his full speed. I just hope we never cross paths with those crazy vampires again, I have a really bad feeling about that little seer.
