Book Nineteen: Rikki says Good-bye to Victoria

Wednesday – October 17, 2012

I hoped Charlie hadn't been worried about our absence in Italy. We were supposed to have been back by Sunday night and it was now early Wednesday morning. The Sheriff was going to have my head.

"So where are you staying now?" Bella asked.

"What?" I had been staring out the window glad to be in a different vehicle than Rick.

"Well now that the Cullens are back are you going to stay with them? Or are you going back to the Reservation?" she asked.

"Oh, that…I don't know. I definitely need to stay with someone. I swear Rick was a rapist or something before the Volturi found him and he's determined not to leave my side," I grumbled.

"Well you're always welcome with us," Edward said, "Even if you do smell like a wolf."

"Oh don't even start that Mr. Cupcake," I laughed.

I ended up staying with the Cullens figuring that they didn't sleep so I'd be a bit safer with Rick around. But there was something worse than Rick waiting at the Cullen house when we finally arrived. A letter. From Victoria.

You know I want my revenge. Let's settle this once and for all. Edward, bring Bella. If you can manage to kill me before I kill her you win. Meet me at the cabin on Mount Rainier in three days' time. I'll be waiting.

-Victoria

"She wants revenge for James," I said.

"She wants Bella, not revenge," Edward said.

"She's not finishing what James started, Edward. She wants revenge. Trust me. I knew her long enough to know that she wasn't the bloodthirsty type, no pun intended there. She's not after Bella for Bella, she's after her because she thinks that you killed James and she wants you to hurt," I said.

"But I did," Edward said.

"I tore most of him to pieces Edward, and I was the one that threw those pieces into the fire in the cabin. I believe that makes me the one that killed him," I said.

"I can't let you go and take care of a challenge that was issued to me," Edward said.

"I'm not going to argue this point Edward. You stay here with Bella; keep her safe in case Victoria has planned something else. I'll go and take Rick with me," I shuddered at the idea.

"You really think Rick's going to have your back?" Edward asked.

"Aro will kill him if he comes back without a shifter child. Right now I'm the only female shifter, do the math Edward. I die, he gets killed. That ought to be enough inspiration for him to have my back," I said.

"Wouldn't hurt if you agreed to be my mate either," Rick purred from the doorway.

"You'll have to do WAY better than that," I snarled.

"Hey I've got plenty of time. Besides, you take too long and I can always find another girl who wants to be a shifter and screw around with her," Rick replied his voice cool as stone.

"Gag me," I grumbled to Edward, "Please!"

"I think you'll be fine. He seems to be tempered well enough. I mean you did threaten to rip his throat out," Edward laughed, "If that wouldn't work on him I don't know what would."

"She'll want me sooner or later," Rick bragged.

Maybe if I play it smart Victoria will rip his throat out for me. I thought hoping Edward was listening.

"You'd have to play that one pretty smart. Starting with his attitude," he replied.

"I can be very convincing," I said feeling my nails slide into dagger sharp claws.

Saturday – October 20, 2012

I walked with Rick as the snow ruffled our fur. He was a good actor, I had to give him that, but I still felt uncomfortable as his wolf form pressed protectively against me. It disgusted me to think of him as my mate but Victoria needed to believe it or I was going to lose it and kill him myself. Over the past three days I'd been working with him to get into a comfortable mate-like air to the way we acted. Which meant I had to let him touch me…and worse it meant I had to let him kiss me. I gaged mentally at remembering the last time I'd let him kiss me, letting Edward judge if we were ready or not. He'd laughed when we'd kissed saying that our minds were so far apart in that moment that he would have thought we'd been blind and deaf to each other. I'd known what he meant. Rick had been thinking about getting in my pants and I'd been hoping that it looked at least like we were a new couple who couldn't bear to part. No such luck.

But at least now, today, he was taking his role more seriously. He almost seemed to take on a new persona as a wolf like being a mate was serious and lifelong. And yet somehow, my mind wandered again to Seth. That's why I was here in truth. Victoria had taken his life and I was going to take hers for that. I guess in a way she may have already gotten her revenge but I really needed Rick out of my life.

The cabin was in sight now and I paused taking a breath in through my nose and catching her scent coming strong from the clearing I remembered fighting James in. Rick placed his muzzle protectively over my head and whimpered lightly. He'd seen the way Seth had acted around me through my momentary lack of control. It helped a little to think of Rick more as Seth but it made me hurt all the more. If Rick thought this was going to get him lucky, he was beyond wrong.

As we padded down the hill toward the clearing I spotted Victoria's red hair. "I told Edward to bring Bella," she growled under her breath but my ears were better than that.

I shifted to my human form and Rick followed suit pulling me closer to him with an arm around my waist. "Edward didn't kill James," I said, "I figured revenge was better suited when you got to torment the one who caused you pain so here I am."

"Oh please. Am I really supposed to believe you killed James?" Victoria asked.

"I'm assuming the game still stands as I bring my mate and if I can kill you before you kill him I win, right?" Rick froze slightly by my side. Maybe he finally guessed why I worked so hard to let him near me when he knew how much I hated his touch. But to his credit he kept up the act.

"That was the game when I was dealing with a human and a vampire," Victoria growled, "Now I'm dealing with two shifters."

"I'll let you in on a little secret," I said, "Shifters can die in any way that a human can. We just heal faster."

"Very well. I'll even give you a moment to say good-bye if you'd like," Victoria responded, "After all since you actually came it seems to me that you were ready to part with each other."

It was now or never to set Victoria on her rage so I mustered up all of my courage and let Rick kiss me. I knew he didn't want to die and he knew I wanted Victoria dead for what she did to Seth so when we heard her snarl we separated and I shifted moving just as fast as she did.

"You really would let me kill your mate?" Victoria taunted.

"He's just the bait," I snarled back lunging at her.

She was good at dodging me. She slipped out of the reach of my jaws more times than I could count, but Rick was good at keeping out of her reach too. I could see the rage that drove her was the same rage that almost made me lose my own head to James.

And then it happened. Victoria got a grip on Rick's arm. I stopped dead in my tracks as she raised her lips to his arm and bit him. I knew her venom wouldn't do anything to him because as a Shifter he was immune to the disease that it was to be a vampire. But I was interested to see what would happen to her when his blood tainted her body. My wolf body grinned as she crumpled to her knees. It was causing her pain.

I shifted back and walked over letting her fall into the snow covered ground, "How does it feel?" I asked.

"You knew this would happen, you bitch!" she snarled back.

"No, actually, I didn't. But I had hoped," I smiled down at her, "And just so you know, he's not my mate. He wishes, but he's not."

"Then why did you take his place?" Victoria asked.

I bent my head down to whisper in her ear, "Because you bit my friend. And now my friend is dead." I felt my wolf claws growing from my fingers again, "That and you're the reason Laurent is dead."

Her eyes widened and I took that moment to rip straight through her throat. Rick flicked a lighter out of his jeans pocket, lit it and tossed it onto her motionless body. "You really had a grudge against this bitch didn't you?" he asked.

"It doesn't change the fact that she's the reason for half the suffering in my life," I said looking at the setting sun.

"Let me guess, I'm the other half right?" he guessed.

"Oh don't flatter yourself. You are the cause of suffering in my life but not nearly half," I laughed emotionlessly.

"What was this Seth to you?" Rick asked.

"He was a good friend," I said, "he had a crush on me and every day since his death I've regretted telling him that four years age difference was just too much for anything to work."

"Jail bait," Rick sighed.

I nodded and turned toward the cabin. I wasn't going to run back to Forks tonight. I needed time to think about what my next step was. Bella should be safe from any other harm, and if something did come along the Cullens and the wolves could easily take care of anything that came along. "Look, Rick…you can go turn someone else. Even if I liked you I wouldn't be ready for a kid," I said when he followed me in.

"I can't," Rick said, "After your blood had turned me Aro tried to use my blood to turn someone else. Nothing."

"What do you mean nothing?" I asked.

"That's why Aro wants a child. I can't turn anyone else," Rick said.

"So he thinks if I have a child that the child will be able to," I said sinking into the couch in the front room.

"Precisely," Rick said.

"Well I will honestly claw you to pieces if you try anything, I hope you know that," I growled as he sat next to me just a little too close.

"Would you really send me back empty handed?" he asked.

"Well, the way I see it. You can run off and try and have a life, you can go back to them and beg for mercy and probably lose your head, or you can try something with me and lose your body in pieces. Starting with your manhood," I growled.

"You owe me for what happened out there," he growled, "I risked my life for you."

"And you knew going in there that I wanted her to kill you. Unfortunately she thought that the venom would affect you so she didn't snap your neck," I growled back.

"Because of how failed an experiment I was Aro was hoping you'd get rid of me so he didn't have to get his hands dirty anyway," he said.

"Then go off and try to live a normal life. It's not like you look out of the ordinary," I growled.

"I would love to but something is holding me here with you," he said brushing his fingertips against my neck.

I jumped away from his touch, "It's called being an arrogant son of a bitch!" I snarled.

He was like a snake with his fluid movements and I somehow found myself in a corner a few moments later. I was starting to regret thinking I could spend one night without him trying something. "Maybe it's something to do with the fact that your blood runs through my body," he suggested his hands pinning my arms to my sides and my back against the wall, "Or it's possible that your scent after a kill is intoxicating." This was worse than the dream I'd had back in Italy.

I felt his lips against my neck and fought hard against the hormones that he was building in me. Bull shit had Aro thought he was a failed experiment. He wanted a shifter baby from the beginning and had chosen the most persistent seducer he could find. I didn't know, nor did I care if he really could turn another person into a shifter but he wasn't getting anything further if it killed me. "Rick, I really don't want to have to kill you. I'd really like to believe that you could be a good person if given the chance," I said as he pressed his lips to my collar bone probably trying to elicit some kind of reaction from me.

"Oh please babe, you're just as susceptible to a man's charm as any other chick out there," he purred against my skin. At least to his credit he was trying to be nice about potentially raping me.

"Maybe I didn't make myself clear," I growled finding my voice as he tried to get under my shirt, "You're not getting lucky with me and if you continue on this path I will kill you even if I don't want to."

"No, sweetheart, I don't think you understood me. I'm not going back to Volterra without a child that I get from you," he said pushing me hard against the wall. My head thumped against the wall harder than the rest of my body and I felt dizzy, he must have taken it as submission because he continued working his hand under my tank top, "There's a good girl," he purred returning his lips to my collar bone.

I really hated killing people, which is why I hadn't yet gotten blood on my hands. But Rick had made the mistake of thinking I was submitting and had let his grip on my arms go. I let my claws slide down my fingers bracing myself in case he noticed and threw me back against the wall again. To my luck he was too focused on touching ever part of my skin under my shirt that when I shoved my claws through his chest and into his heart the only thing that flashed through his eyes was surprise and then pain as he realized he was bleeding out.

I didn't let go of his heart in my hand until he'd ceased moving. And even then I was so numb that I didn't let go for a good while after that. I was a bloody mess when my mind finally returned to the present. I walked numbly to the bathroom and showered until the water had finally run clear.

I wrapped myself in a warm towel before walking into the kitchen to find something to eat. There wasn't anything but a couple bottles of wine. "Of course," I complained, "owned by bloodsuckers…" I retreated to the bedroom, my stomach growling hungrily at me and curled into the sheets of the bed. "What's happened to me, Seth?" I asked the blackness.

I felt tears slip from my eyes onto the plush pillow and tried to think of Seth's happiest moments. His brown eyes stared at me in the early morning. "I brought you breakfast. Thought you'd be hungry," his white smile was so childish yet it held the warmth of someone twice his age.

"There's more food here than I can eat," I laughed sitting up in bed.

He ran a hand through his thick black hair, "Well I was hungry too," he laughed.

Memories of him hurt. Memories of his smile hurt worse. But the memory that hurt the worst was the look on his face when I had told him that things would never work between us. "I love you," he'd said and those words seemed to echo around the room now.

I returned to the bathroom and dug my cell out of my bloody pants and dialed Lara, "Hello?"

"Lara," my voice shook with how much I'd been crying.

"Oh god Rikki, what happened?" she asked.

"I know you didn't know at the time you could save him…I know that…but it…it just hurts so much and I don't know why," I felt more tears spill over my cheeks.

"Where are you?" she asked.

"Still at the cabin…" I replied trying to cease my tears.

"I'll come up, do you need anything?" Lara asked.

"Well there isn't any food up here and my one set of clothes is drenched in Rick's blood," I said, "And honestly a volcano spewing chocolate lava wouldn't hurt."

"I can bring you up some food and a new set of clothes but I'm pretty sure I can't make the mountain spew chocolate," she sounded like she wanted to laugh but how much I was hurting made her very serious.

"Lara," I paused holding back more tears.

"I know Rikki. I'll see you soon," and with that the phone went dead and I found myself wandering back to the bedroom to sulk.

A/N: Okay so I just decided that Seth needed more of a mention in this story since he died too early for my liking. Maybe Lara can bring him back like how she made Dante appear. I'd love that and I know you guys would too so I'll see if it fits in another chapter.