I don't own Twilight, Stephanie Meyers does.

Chapter 14

'It happened soon after the sisters betrayed Maria. We easily defeated them but it left us weakened. Malachi was one of the warlords in the south. There were many rumors about him.' Jasper wrote out as he faced Bella. His memories of that time were not pleasant but taking out Malachi's army had been one he had been proud of.

'His army was more loyal to him than any other army in the south. It was unusual because it consisted of many types of supernatural creatures, not just vampires. Natural enemies fought side by side for him. He wasn't overly ambitious, but he did have a thing about watching combat. He loved to hold fights, betting on which fighter would be victorious.' Jasper paused he had thought Malachi was long dead or he would have known immediately he was behind this.

'He wasn't greedy when it came to land or building his army but he was in the sense that he accumulated the best fighters for his games.' Jasper stopped again. When he had told Bella about his past he never told her this part as it shamed him. He didn't want to tell her now.

Bella placed a hand on his cheek and gently kissed his lips. 'Nothing will change my love for you.' She told him and Jasper got the courage to go on.

'Maria was going after a particular despicable warlord in Mexico. The vampire was ruthless and cruel. He controlled a town of humans and made them worship him like a god. I think he was insane...We were winning the battle when he gathered his most loyal generals leaving behind only a few with orders to slaughter the village...We came upon a horrific sight. Men, women and children piled in the center square killed brutally. I think he hoped to distract Maria's army with blood lust. It worked on everyone but me...I don't know what happened Bella. I lost control in my anger and horror and tracked him down. He had joined with another warlord...I killed the whole army single-handedly and brutally. It was that battle that earned me the nick name of The God of War and caught the attention of Malachi.' Jasper stopped pictures of that village square and all the death he had witnessed still fresh in his mind as if it had happened yesterday.

He felt Bella's hand on his shoulder and felt he love and admiration. He wanted to bask in it but knew he didn't deserve it. He hadn't told her how he found the army he had slaughtered when he woke from his madness. He had tortured them, it was not something to be proud of.

'Malachi came for me after the sisters' rebellion. Maria of course didn't want to let me go and our armies fought for a whole day before Malachi finally entered into the fray himself. You saw a little of his ability. He can actually set a vampire on fire just by touching them, he was holding back when he touched me today. He walked through our army as if they were nothing and approached Maria. I lost control and threw everything I had at him when he reached out to touch Maria. All the fear, self-hatred, anger, angst I threw at him in a moment of desperation. It was the most powerful projection I had ever done and it stopped him, but instead of bringing him to his knees as it did his army around him, he...' Jasper paused extremely embarrassed about this. 'He seemed to take pleasure in the feelings. He had an orgasm.' If Jasper could blush he was sure he would be.

'He looked at me differently. Before I had felt interest coming from him but after that...I knew whatever little desire he had felt to watch me fight had been magnified tenfold. I was frightened Bella...the look in his eyes.' Jasper shuddered at the memory. 'Maria was the one who saved me. She moved while we were caught in the staring contest and decapitated him before either of us had a chance to react. I was stunned and even though I looked down at his now headless corpse I was frightened. More frightened than I ever had been.'

'Maria slapped me and yelled at me to get me out of my paralysis. She told me we had to eliminate his army and ours. I didn't understand why but I followed her orders numbly. With Malachi gone they didn't fight as well and it was easy even though we were outnumbered. We killed his army then everyone we had brought with us. I didn't like it but after the encounter with Malachi I was unable to disobey Maria. Afterwards I asked Maria why we had to kill our own army. She told me that Malachi was a demon and that he had probably jumped bodies when she had killed his host.' Jasper closed his eyes at the memories.

'That is one of the reasons I never questioned her orders when she had me kill off newborns that had outlived their usefulness. The threat of Malachi was out there. Gradually as we heard no word of him I began to lose my wariness and I began to think he was dead. I think the longer he is in a body the more powerful he becomes. When he burnt me in the body of Malachi it was much more potent than the burn he left on my cheek. I don't know how to kill a demon, but if we are able to kill his host it should weaken him for a time.'

'So demons make deals to gain obedience, are able to burn with a touch, are strong and fast, can jump from bodies, and get stronger the longer they remain in a host body.' Bella wrote listing the things she had learned.

Jasper nodded. 'How long was it between the time you killed Malachi and Phil kidnapping us?' Bella asked.

Jasper did some quick math. 'One hundred twenty-three years.' Bella nodded then moved in to snuggle with him. Jasper took her in his arms and they sat there each lost in their own thoughts till the gas entered the room and brought darkness.

Jasper woke in the arena. He sat up quickly and took inventory. He was relieved to find that he was dressed in jeans, a western shirt and cowboy boots. He smiled at the boots. Bella stood up ten feet from him and his eyes widened at the sight of her.

She was wearing a floral sun dress and she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Bella smiled shyly at him and he smiled back holding out his hand to her. The crowd cheered, knocking them out of their moment.

The crowd was larger today. It surprised Jasper, he would've thought that they would be frightened after what happened last time. Instead their fear seemed to add to their excitement.

Jasper heard the arena doors open and saw four vampires walk in. They seemed very confident, the kind of confidence that comes from talent. Jasper squeezed Bella's hand.

"Be careful they have abilities." He told her while growling lowly at the approaching vampires.

The ground began to shake below them and Jasper struggled to keep his footing while studying the four in front of them. He picked up an intense amount of concentration coming from the middle one and moved quickly.

He jumped over two of the vampires and landed a kick on the concentrating vampire. The ground stopped shaking and Bella recovered her balance just in time to repel a blow from an ebony haired vampire.

Jasper wasted no time eliminating the ground shaker. He had little fighting abilities and was easy enough to defeat, he turned to the remaining three only to find he could no longer move. His body no longer obeyed his commands and he watched in horror as one of the remaining three came toward him slowly, enjoying Jasper's helplessness.

Bella screamed Jasper's name in anger and suddenly whatever had held Jasper was gone. He moved quickly, surprising the vampire in front of him and removing his limbs. He then moved to Bella's side and they made short work of the last two. He felt their concentration and knew they were trying to use their abilities but nothing seemed to work. He didn't dwell on this but took advantage of it.

When the battle was over, Jasper stood looking down at the bodies, lost in thought. Whatever ability they had didn't work on them...Jasper looked over at Bella and it all began to come together in his mind. Edward's ability didn't work on her, he had been loosened from whatever hold he had been under when she had screamed his name, he was sure the last two vampires had abilities but had not done anything to them even when they were losing the fight.

The crowd was booing, disappointed at the easiness of the fight, but Jasper didn't care. He began to smile and his pride welled inside him. His mate was a shield. That was going to be very useful...

Charlie was surprised at the sight that greeted him at Angeline's house. No one had answered the door when they had knocked and Jacob had informed him that he could smell the boy but there was no one else in the house. Just the lingering scent of his mother and another disturbing scent he couldn't identify.

After learning that the boy was home alone they decided to break in and had found the boy was indeed alone. Carlisle examined the boy and said he seemed to be very healthy, though there was evidence of chemotherapy treatments, Carlisle could see nor smell any hint of the disease in him.

Charlie didn't like it. The woman he had met loved her son and wouldn't have abandoned him, he was sure. The boy could tell them nothing other than that he had woken up to find his mother gone and feeling better.

Charlie sat down on a chair in the kitchen while Carlisle talked to the boy. He knew that this was a distraction that they didn't need but his instincts were screaming at him and he couldn't just let it go. Somehow this was important...

Jacob paced agitatedly in front of him.

"What's wrong son?" Charlie asked.

"The smell...I have never smelled anything like it...it's evil." Jacob said struggling for words to describe what he smelled.

"It's a demon." Carlisle said coming out of the boy's room.

Charlie turned toward him his eyebrows lifting in a question.

"I have encountered very few demons. I don't think many exist, and the ones I have encountered have never been as strong as this one seems." Carlisle told them.

"Explain." Charlie demanded curious.

"Demons are incorporeal. The smaller ones can not even inhabit a body and are just a nuisance living only to influence and elicit negative emotions in their prey. More powerful ones can take over bodies with permission, but their mischief is not great and limited to their hosts ability. The stronger ones can make deals...like a djinn in the Arabian tales. They grant wishes for obedience. In the western culture I guess this would be selling your soul, though they don't have that ability they just take obedience. The more deals they make and the longer they inhabit a body the more powerful they become. I have never actually met one of these and only read about it in one of the ancient books at Volterra." Carlisle told them.

Charlie leaned back in his chair as this sank in. "Deals like the ones Harry and Alice made?" He muttered his mind turning at the possibilities.

Carlisle's eyes widened and he nodded in agreement. Charlie glanced at Jacob debating for a moment before voicing his thoughts.

"So these deals...In the tales they usually have some catch and don't turn out the way the wisher hopes." Charlie said.

"Yes, the book mentioned this." Carlisle agreed.

"I think that Billy upon learning what Harry had done made a deal for Jacob's safety, not knowing that his other son would be taken." Charlie continued.

Jacob looked up sharply. Charlie wasn't sure but he didn't like Jacob to be so upset at his father and felt guilty for implying Billy had gotten ridden of Embry because he was illegitimate. Even if he did that wasn't something that he should have told Jacob.

"The Billy I knew at one time was many things but never was he a coward. If he was under the influence of a deal it would explain his actions." At least as far as not telling him what he knew of Bella's kidnapping. It did not excuse him from telling him about vampires when Bella was dating one or when Charlie was in danger unknowingly hunting one. Charlie kept that to himself though.

Jacob growled loudly and began to shake. "How do we save him?"

"I don't know Jacob the book told of no way to kill a demon or nullify a deal." Carlisle said compassion written on his face.

"Jacob calm down!" Charlie demanded. Jacob growled but tried to get a hold of himself.

"So the rest of the Quileute's are not to be trusted, as Billy is in the tribal elders. I believe Marcus made a deal, so the Volturi are not to be trusted..." Charlie thought out loud. He turned his eyes to Jacob studying him.

"Can you follow the scent of this...demon?" Charlie asked.

"I..I no I would need to turn to wolf form and that would be frightening for humans even in Las Vegas." Jacob answered.

"Emmett is a surprisingly good tracker." Carlisle suddenly said.

Charlie nodded. "Call the crew. I want Jacob to go with Edward and Char as they continue to talk to people and search for clues on the Arena. Carlisle you, Esme and Seth will search for more information on both the arena and demons, through your contacts and public records." Esme could watch over Seth while Carlisle was busy and Seth's presence would hide them from Alice's sight. "Have Emmett, Rosalie, Peter and Leah meet us here. Rosalie can look after the boy while the rest of us track this scent."

Charlie sat there while Carlisle went to make the phone call and Jacob paced. They were close he could feel it.