10. Confrontation

Bella's scream filled my ears. But even then, I could hear other noises.

I heard a scream of anguish. Edward. I ignored that, listening for the others.

Laughter. Three distinct sets of laughter. I was only interested in one particular laugh- higher in pitch than the rest…

She never heard the chains coming. They wrapped around her neck and into her mouth so quickly that her laugh suddenly gave way to strangled noises.

All the laughter stopped. She struggled against the chains. I held a hand out towards her now, baring my bloodless teeth, a snarl growing in my chest. The chains drew tighter around her neck, kept her hands pinned to her sides.

Edward was quick. He recovered, jumped onto her shoulders and gave her head a twist. There was a noise like metal being torn apart, and her body fell lifeless to the ground. He tossed her head away, a determined look on his face.

Twin growls brought me back to the present. I tucked Bella under an arm and jumped, barely escaping Marco's claws.

I took quick stock of the area. It seemed to be an abandoned warehouse, with a low ceiling. Not very sturdy, at that, based on what I saw of its condition.

Something silver darted in my peripheral vision. Keeping Bella close to my chest, I twisted around. The sword that was aimed at her struck my left shoulder instead- it broke into pieces upon hitting my skin. In the same motion, I leapt backwards, avoiding the other vampire.

I landed off-balance. Bella's scent wasn't helping in my current condition. Thankfully Edward rushed in to take her from me, and I was able to roll out of the way of Marco's strikes.

"What are you doing, Giovanni?" Marco called out. "Protecting the human? That worked out so well the last time."

I howled in anger, remembering.

Edward placed Bella by a wooden support pillar, keeping himself between her and the others. I grabbed the other chain, destroying the ceiling beam it was hanging from, and it twirled in the air before me like some metal snake. I was watching Marco.

"Alessio," he hissed. So that was the other's name.

Alessio ran for Bella, but Edward saw his plan and spun. With one hand, he lifted Bella and moved her out of the way. With the other, he grabbed Alessio's arm and hurled him across the warehouse and into a wall. It collapsed on impact, burying him in rubble.

Marco snarled and lunged at me. The chain dropped to the ground as I refocused my power- Marco stopped mid-motion, and I sent him flying into the same pile of rubble where his partner lay.

"Edward," I whispered. The exertion was getting to me- it was difficult to concentrate. Get her out of here, I thought.

He shook his head. "You can't win- not against both of them."

"I'm not giving you a choice." I looked up, holding my hands up to the ceiling. Just need to push… With a great metallic groan, it buckled and exploded outward, leaving a large hole. I glanced at him.

Edward stared back, eyes cold. He must be seeing what I planned. "Don't," he said.

A half-moment's doubt entered my mind. I vaguely recalled that Bella was immune to Edward's talent. What if she were immune to mine?

A stream of profanities came from the rubble, forcing me to focus. "She is much more important than I am," I hissed. I turned to Bella. "I'm sorry."

She frowned, confused.

I reached out for her with my power. I didn't know if it would work or not, so as a quick test I tried to levitate her a foot off the ground.

It worked. "Hey!" she scolded.

Then she yelped as I hurled her through the hole in the ceiling.

Edward growled, hissing oaths under his breath, but he was already in the air. I was sure he would catch her with no difficulty.

I turned back to the rubble. Marco and his partner were already out, stalking towards me. I levitated the chain, and struggled to keep it up. The ends twitched, betraying my condition.

"What's this?" Marco laughed. "He can't even keep a heavy chain up."

Alessio just sneered. He didn't seem to be one for conversation.

"You're only delaying the inevitable." Marco's tone was confident.

I growled. "You're not getting her," I swore.

"Her?" He laughed. "Her? Dear Giovanni, this was never about the girl."

My resolve faltered for a moment- the chain hovered closer to the ground. "What?"

"Oh, sure," he began, "if you had eaten her that would have made it a thousand times better. But you see- this was about you." I struggled to think of what he could possibly want to do this to me for, but he continued talking. "In all my life- or, unlife, if you prefer- I have never let my prey escape. If I wanted them, they were mine.

"But you!" he hissed the word. "You stole her from me, Giovanni. She smelled so lovely, so delicious- it made my mouth water to think of what she would taste like. But you took her away from me!"

I blinked. "You're angry at me for taking my wife away before you could feed on her?"

Marco roared. "You have no idea how mad it's driven me- to smell such a scent, and not taste it! I thought if you finally had the blood of a human in you, you would feel a tiny bit of that madness that consumes me.

"But I suppose that matters little now," he continued, his voice suddenly soft. "I'll just have to settle for ending your miserable existence." He held up his hand, nails long and sharp as knives, and rushed me. Alessio followed close behind.

I took a step sideways, batting Marco's outstretched hand aside. I dropped the chain, using my power to grab Alessio and hurl him through the ceiling. He burst through it with a loud crash.

I was still looking at the hole Alessio made when I felt something hard rip through my abdomen. A pained scream escaped my lips. I looked down, touched the long nails of Marco's hand where they burst through my skin.

He whispered in my ear. "You're finished, Giovanni. As soon as Alessio gets back, we'll rip you to shreds."

I tried to move the heavy chain, but all I managed was a slight tug.

He laughed, and pushed his hand in further, widening the wound. I gasped, and started coughing. "You're so thirsty you're not even bleeding hard!"

My vision began to swim. It was taking all my concentration to remain upright.

"Ah, there you are," Marco said. I looked up- Alessio was walking back into the warehouse, a murderous look on his face. "You killed his little singer, you see- I'm sure he'd love to kill you himself," he added.

Suddenly I saw a blur streak by Alessio, and he disappeared.

I wasn't the only one who noticed. "What-"

I didn't Marco a chance to finish his thought. With a howl, I willed the chain back up, and wrapped it around his neck. I let it pull and secure him against a pillar, yanking his hand out of my body with a disgusting, grating sound.

I fell forward a bit- the wound burned anew- but I forced myself to turn and lope towards him. He struggled against the chain, and I knew it wouldn't be long before he broke free. I had little time.

I took his head in both my hands.

"What are you doing?" he demanded. "Let go of me!"

My eyes were dead as I stared into his. "Va' all'inferno," I whispered.

His eyes widened, and he opened his mouth to yell.

I twisted his head before any noise came out. There was a loud snap, and it fell to the ground with a dull thud.

I kicked it away, and the motion unbalanced me. I fell to the floor, and the chain collapsed in a heap around the pillar.

I was barely aware of movement around me. I had nothing left- I wouldn't be able to fight back. Then I figured if Alessio wanted to kill me, it wouldn't be so bad…

Margherita was already there, cradling me in her arms.