Author note: Now, for those of you who have read Breaking Dawn (the fourth book), you will know that Stefan & Vladimir are the last of the Romanian coven, since the Volturi burned their castles down who-knows-how-long ago. Enjoy! :)
Chapter 7
Demetri cocked his head to the side as the two vampires emerged from the woods. One had short, pale brown hair and the other was ashy blond.
"Stefan?" Demetri asked, surprised and shocked, then he turned annoyed.
"Ah, so you do remember me."
"Of course. You're the two that Aro and Caius call the Romanian assholes. I couldn't agree more."
Stefan chuckled and Vladimir snorted. "Amusing. Send them our thanks," he said sarcastically.
Demetri narrowed his eyes. "What are you two doing here in Italy? Aren't you supposed to be plotting revenge or something?" he asked with a smirk.
Vladimir growled under his breath. Stefan placed a hand on his shoulder. "Patience, brother. We need to speak with the ancients," he informed us.
"What for?"
"Oh, I'm afraid I can't speak to you about this. It's... never mind. Would you take us to them?"
All three of us exchanged glances. Demetri spoke tentatively instead of suspiciously now. "We...aren't a part of the Volturi any longer. Corin, my mate, and I broke off from them."
Vladimir, who had remained quiet, spoke up now. "I never thought it was possible. You were so loyal, Demetri."
"I was," he agreed. "But I met Sophie," he inclined his head toward me, "and I changed my ways." He turned and smiled at me. I smiled back.
Stefan studied me carefully. My eyebrows knit together in confusion. "Your mate is quite young, I see," he observed.
"Yes, she is. As a matter of fact, she just completed the transformation process."
"Wow. She is very young. Do you think she's talented?"
"Well, um..." Demetri glanced at me and then Corin, who shrugged. "We aren't sure."
Vladimir raised his hand slightly. "We know of someone who can sense the abilities of other vampires."
Demetri nodded. "Eleazar. I remember him. He was the one who ran off with that Spanish vampire... Carmen, I believe. He lives with a group of vegetarians in Alaska, now."
"Yes," Stefan said impatiently, but I could sense a very faint hint of eagerness hidden behind the impatience. "We could take you to him. He would be able to help you."
The two Romanian vampires exchanged a glance, and something passed between them that I didn't understand.
"Can we have a moment to discuss the matter?" Demetri asked.
Stefan and Vladimir looked at each other again, then back to Demetri. "Of course," Stefan began.
"We understand," Vladimir finished.
The three of us formed a small circle. Corin, who, thus far, hadn't said anything, spoke up first. "I don't know if we should trust them. They're the Romanians after all. Devious and untrustworthy."
"Corin, we could seek refuge in the Americas. Aro wouldn't bother-" Demetri started, but she cut him off.
"Don't tell me Aro wouldn't bother coming after us. I'm sure, as sure as I know that lightning follows thunder, he's going to chase us down. You're the best tracker in the world, Demetri! Do you think he's just going to let you go? Remember the time he threw a fit after Eleazar left? I'll bet that would happen, a hundred times over, if you left."
Tracker? Huh? "Whoa, wait up," I cut in. "Tracker? What do you mean?"
Demetri chuckled. "I suppose I didn't tell you what I'm capable of. I'm a tracker, meaning that I can locate any one person with a ten mile radius by their brain waves. It's a very powerful ability, the only reason Aro kept me around."
I nodded, understanding. "I see." I glared at Corin while I said, "And can I offer my opinion without getting my head bit off?"
She just rolled her eyes. "Yes. I wasn't biting Demetri's head off. I was just... driving my point home."
I blew it off. "Whatever. Anyway, this is how I see things. If we go to this coven in Alaska, we could not only find out what I can or cannot do, but we should be safe in North America. I mean, without Demetri, they can't find us as easily." I smiled my encouragement.
"I concur," Demetri said, putting his arm around my waist.
Corin sighed in defeat. "I'm outnumbered, so I guess I have to go along with you guys, huh?"
"Hey, you can always leave," Demetri offered happily.
She gave him a dirty look. "Fat chance."
We turned back to the Romanians.
"All right, Stefan, Vladimir. Take us to the Denali's," Demetri said. Reluctantly, he added, "And thank you."
Stefan smiled proudly. "Excellent. We'd better be go-"
We all froze as we heard light, fast footsteps sprinting through the forest.
Demetri growled. "Son of a bitch..." He trailed off into what sounded like a string of profanities, but he was speaking a language I didn't understand.
"Is that-?" I didn't even have to finish for them to know what I meant.
"Unfortunately," Corin muttered.
And with that, the five of us took off into the Italian landscape as fast as our feet would carry us.
Okie dokie, artichokey. There's chap 7! hope you guys like it! :) Anyways, I thought including the Romanians would be a surprising and/or interesting twist for everybody :) And you still don't know what Sophie's special ability is. MUAHAHA.
I'm evil, I know xD Anyways, REVIEW!
