A/N: A little heads-up for mild sexy-times abounding - nothing graphic. Just so you know. Thanks for reading and reviewing! Your insightful thoughts on my little story are really appreciated.
Chapter Twenty-One
1 Of course, vampires being swanky show-offs, Maria didn't sensibly hide out where finding her would be nigh-on impossible, i.e. in the slums. Instead, she opted for a huge tacky house one block away from the beach, located in the Playas de Tijuana borough. Thankfully, the house was otherwise unoccupied, meaning Leah didn't have to deal with a bunch of black-eyed zombie-humans lurching about. She did have to deal with the three leech bodyguards that accompanied the woman at all times, though. Luckily, once they reached the house, those three positioned themselves strategically around it, instead of clogging up the area with their sugary stench.
The ragtag little band settled down in the duplex's huge living room, as if Leah hadn't had enough lounging about in ritzy living rooms to last her a lifetime or two. Before that, though, they'd picked up Sue's car, and she had changed back into her comfy clothes. It was better ripping those apart in an emergency wolf-out than the new dress. There was no replacement for that one.
"So, how exactly does your power work?" she said to Maria, who was occupying the white leather couch with Bella and Jasper. Leah and Demetri were on the other leather couch, this one terracotta. She was nursing a cup of coffee.
Maria rearranged her femme-fatale pose she'd no doubt been practicing since the nineteenth century and shook back a few locks of her dark hair. "I can charm individual people to be inclined to do what I want. In the case of humans, it's basic mind-control activated by my voice." There must have been some measure of the horror Leah felt reflected on her face, because Maria cracked a radiant smile and waved off. "Don't worry. It only ever lasts for about twenty-four hours, the extent of the control is limited, and it has no side-effects."
"Apart from the fact that you turn them into drones," Leah said, giving her a black look. Maybe she was being unfair toward this vamp, but the vamp was an old friend of Jasper's – hell, she'd turned him – and Leah was not inclined to give her the benefit of the doubt. Also, she had no reason to believe a single word coming out of that woman's mouth. She briefly wondered if that truly creepy power would work on her. "Supernatural charm, huh? So why are you here, ruling a city, instead of being safely tucked away in Volterra?"
"Because, as your friend has assured me the last time he was here, the Volturi are not about eradicating other covens, but about keeping the peace and the secrecy of the vampire world. It serves the balance of power, too," Maria said, sort-of solemn now. Like Jasper, she probably had issues with taking anything completely seriously. At least it seemed that way. "Having a law-abiding coven in power in these parts makes their job much easier, isn't that right?"
"It is," Demetri said, not overly enthusiastic. This was probably due to two main reasons: a) he must be getting painfully thirsty at this point, and b) he wasn't even trying to disguise the fact that he didn't particularly like any of these people. Again, good on him.
"You have a pretty impressive ability, though – an ability that might give you ideas," Leah pressed on, and sipped her coffee. It tasted different from the stuff she was used to: richer, spicier, better. Only the best of the best for the owners of this palace. In her mind, Leah toasted them. Their house was butt-ugly, but their coffee was awesome. "Or, alternatively, an ability that they might want." She wasn't even sure what she was doing, but after the funny-fuse blowing moment at that club, getting some general answers to practical questions couldn't hurt. The more she knew about how vampire politics worked, the better she'd get at doing her job.
Maria laughed softly. "I wouldn't get any ideas because I don't want to die," she said, giving Demetri a pointed look. "The players they have are much more powerful than I am. Also, they don't need another charmer. They already have the best one."
"Aro," Demetri said. "There's also Chelsea and Corin and a whole lot of others who are either stronger than any of their non-Volturi counterparts, or simply immune to manipulative empathic powers." He looked squarely at Jasper, who chuckled.
"For the last time: I am not trying to overthrow the government. I know that you have friends that have abilities to outmatch mine, and don't think I haven't noticed that tomboyish little Corin is immune to what I can do because of her own gift."
"You forgot to mention the fact that you too are seemingly immune to purely mental abilities," Leah said, smiling wryly. "I think it would be better for everyone if the Volturi just threw you into a volcano. Better safe than sorry." She batted her eyelashes at Jasper, wondering if this got the general 'fuck-you' sentiment across as well than giving him the finger would.
"Am I immune to all of them, or just the ones that rely on sentiment?" Jasper said, and winked at Leah. "Ah, the little mysteries of everyday life!"
"Can we move on, please?" Bella said, visibly and audibly irritated, arms crossed, sitting to Jasper's right with a petulant little pout on her face. She had changed into a silk blouse and black pants. "We have serious business to discuss."
"Yes, we do, sweetness," Maria said, either oblivious to the tension, or wilfully ignoring it. It was probably the latter. "You're completely right, and may I just say that you are absolutely divine! No wonder our Jasper here likes you so much."
"It has something to do with the fact that she never tried to kill me," he said jovially, and patted Maria's bare knee.
"You never know what the future will bring, dear. She doesn't know you as well as I do," Maria said, and laughed again. "Never mind that, though. The delightful Miss Isabella is right: we do have serious business to discuss. This morning, everything was running smoothly, just the way I like it. I'd just spent the night slapping a couple of careless new-borns on the wrist and was returning to my humble abode at the Grand Hotel. Imagine my surprise when I walked into that place and found it populated by brain-washed monsters that were being controlled by a hybrid hive queen." She snorted derisively and snapped her fingers. "Just like that, I was deposed. The little snot sent two of her minions down to the lobby to collect me, but luckily, I'm pretty good at getting myself out of tight spots. The hotel, it seems, is lost for the moment. Do you beautiful people have a plan that will result in the restoration of my beloved status quo?"
"The demon-spawn needs to die," Leah said, staring into her now half-empty mug. When she looked up, she saw that all eyes were on her. "I think we can all agree on that. It went from slowly corrupting the minds of people it touched to taking over an entire hotel inside of…I don't know, a few hours? There's no way she personally slapped her hand to every single face. Her powers are growing quicker and quicker. What's gonna happen in a week? Will she have turned all of Baja California into her own personal Borg collective?"
"Yes," Demetri said, a grave expression on his face. His eyes were huge and conspicuously black in his pale face. "That or worse. This is the most powerful dhampir I've ever seen. It needs to be stopped within the next few days. I have no idea what will happen if we don't manage to accomplish that, but I don't think I need to emphasise that whatever it is, it will be bad news for everyone."
"Great," Maria said cheerily, looking from one to the other slowly, and clapped her hands together once. "That's settled, then. The question is, how do we get to her, and if we do, how do we prevent her from taking us out?"
"I may be immune to her mind-control, but I am not immune against that weird scream of power," Jasper said, and chewed on his plump lower lip. "It caught me at unawares at the house, so I don't know what'll happen if I go in knowing what to expect. I suspect that this power's only gotten stronger, though, and is probably not limited to screaming anymore. Bella is probably completely immune. Mental powers don't affect her at all – only physical ones do. It's why I can affect her, but Edward couldn't, and neither can their daughter."
"Blocking out a voice is doable," Demetri said. "Everything else presents a challenge. The dhampir will be surrounded by drones: vampires, humans, a werewolf. There is literally no way to inconspicuously get to her, and when we do, we'll be walking into the situation blindly. We don't know what the true extent of her abilities is. From what I gather, she is rather immune to Jasper's power."
"Sadly, yes," Jasper said, running a hand through his hair and leaning back. "I tried quieting that little brat down a number of times, but she didn't even notice it."
"Given the fact that your ability is physical and not mental, that's bad news for us," Bella said, watching him intently. "It means Maria's power won't work. It means Aro's power wouldn't work, either." She glanced at Demetri. "It looks like I'm the only one who can kill her, because I'm the only one who can get close enough to her at all."
"As far as we know," Leah said, emptied her mug, and set it down on the glass coffee table between the two couches. She briefly wondered if she should go look for a coaster, but scolded herself for being a moron. Like it mattered. More relevant was the fact that apparently, she would actually be starring in a cop-buddy comedy alongside Bella Swan! Hurray! It was awesome being right!
Yeah.
" 'As far as we know' is the best bet we have," Bella said.
"It doesn't solve the problem of how to get to her without drawing all kinds of public attention to ourselves," Demetri said, "or running the risk of being integrated into her collective. I don't have to tell you that that would be an unmitigated disaster."
"We can play into their erroneous belief that we will bow to their wishes due to the hostage situation," Bella said.
Leah stared at her out of wide eyes. It was as if someone had emptied a bucketful of ice-water on her head. "That's Charlie you're pompously talking about here, Captain Purple Prose! Your father! Show some fucking compassion, you sociopathic little brat!"
Bella met her look squarely. "He's gonna die, anyway. He knows too much and he's been exposed to Renesmee. There's no way he's gonna make it out of this alive. It makes more sense to use his presence to our advantage than to bemoan his already sealed fate."
This pretentious and arrogant little shit deserved a good hiding. No, screw that, she deserved to be boiled alive. Leah shook her head slowly. Her hands were numb. She felt as if all the warmth had been sucked out of her body. "Can you at least try not to be this callous about it? Apart from the fact that there is a good chance that we might still save him." An awkward, heavy silence ensued. She scanned all their faces. Bella and Jasper were looking meaningfully at each other, Demetri was staring down at his clasped hands, and Maria was studying her. She almost barked out an irritated 'what', but then, the penny dropped. This was a sucker-punch, right in the gut. Her stomach cramped; her throat constricted. "The rule of secrecy," she said, her voice toneless.
Another good number of seconds ticked by in uncomfortable silence.
Finally, Demetri looked up with visible effort and locked eyes with her. "I'm so sorry."
Leah just stared back at him, her mind drawing a blank. This was…this…how the hell had she not seen this coming? A voice in her head timidly reminded her that usually, her temper would get the best of her, that she would scream at them for being undead monsters, that she would furiously tell them to go fuck themselves, that she would then storm out of the house to be alone until she calmed down a bit. She did none of those things, though. No, she just stared at Yuppie Brit, the Friendly Vampire, unable to sort out her scrambled thoughts. "You're gonna kill Charlie," she whispered. "You're gonna kill Charlie."
"I won't have a choice. Bella is right: he'll be infected, and-"
"So was Irina, and she got a nice little free trip to Italy!" Was this really happening? It couldn't be. This couldn't be happening!
"The law is the law," Maria said softly, sounding honestly sympathetic. "If we start making exceptions to the rule, it'll only endanger everyone else."
Leah was still gawking at the obviously unhappy Demetri, still trying to gather her thoughts. "I…but…it's Charlie, I…" The protest petered out rather pathetically. She didn't have a good counter-argument. It was their law, and it was a reasonable one. The good of the many, blah, blah, blah. That didn't make it right, though. That didn't make it right.
"Let's say there is a way to break the demon-spawn mind-control," Jasper said. All eyes were on him. He was looking directly at Leah. "I know you all think there isn't, but let's say there's hope for one. Let's say an infected person can be isolated and kept in quarantine until a cure is found for this particular infection. Would that be a reason to keep the infected person in question alive?"
"Yes," Demetri said wearily, "which is why Irina isn't dead, yet. She's the most promising candidate for finally finding a cure…at least one for this one specific dhampir's powers. That doesn't solve the problem of Chief Swan being a human who knows too much." He gave Irina another pained look. "If there were any other way to-"
"There is, and it's pretty simple, too," Jasper cut in, spreading out his arms so that he basically had one around Maria's and one around Bella's shoulders. When everyone looked at him again, he shrugged and pulled up one corner of his mouth in a Crooked Smirk of Doom™. It made Leah want to either punch him or, alternatively, knock herself out. "Make him stop being human. It's the Volturi's usual modus operandi, isn't it? Turn or die?"
As if on cue, everyone now stared at Demetri, who straightened his posture. "I…in Chief Swan's case, I really hadn't thought of that, to be honest."
"And with good reason," Leah said, more or less able to shake off her shock, now. "He wouldn't want to be a leech."
"I'm pretty sure he wouldn't want to be dead, either, but those are his only two options," Jasper said, smiling down at Bella, who was staring at him in what looked like pure awe. "Who knows, maybe a transformation from human to vampire will even break the hold Renesmee has on him. Maybe he isn't even infected. Edward always said his mind was quiet. It may very well be the case that he has the same power as Bella."
"He'll probably still be infected," Demetri said. "Powers are always less pronounced in humans."
Jasper raised his eyebrows at him. "That's beside the point. Turn him, and he might not even be infected anymore at all. At the very least it would solve the Volturi law conundrum."
"Yes," Bella said, and placed a hand on his dark-washed-jeans-clad right leg. "I say turn him."
"I'd give him the choice, first, providing that we even get the chance to free him," Demetri said, using a tone of voice Leah could only describe as cautiously optimistic.
"You people and your turning perfectly healthy humans into monsters!" Leah buried her face in her hands and groaned. Why did everything always have to be complicated, and why were the only solutions to these complications complete nightmares? The worst part was, she couldn't come up with anything better. After taking a few steadying breaths, she raised her head again and brushed some rebellious strands of hair behind her ears with slightly shaky fingers. "Whatever. We'll see about that when and if we get the chance. Until then, we need a plan on how to get to the death-baby without dying or being converted."
"Or becoming international news," Demetri said.
"Well," Maria said, a little smile playing with her full, dark-red lips, "I might be able to be of some assistance."
2 In a thousand years, the inability to weep had not weighed as heavily on Irina as it did now. She stared at the creature inside that cell, her face contorted into a mask of anguish, her whole body rigid. The creature stared right back at her out of huge, round, red eyes. It wasn't a creature at all. It was a little boy. It was a small, thin, round-faced, blond little boy in home-made wool clothes. He was enchantingly beautiful, but he was crying – crying thick, impossible tears. The tears were impossible because that little boy wasn't human; he was a vampire. Still, he wept profusely, tears rolling down his cheeks. He held his chubby little arms out to her, wordlessly begging her to save him from all this nameless horror.
Despite herself, Irina pressed her cold hand against the even colder metal of the door. Oh, how she wished she could cry, too. She felt like she was being ripped apart from the inside. This wasn't just any little boy. It was Vasilii. A millennium had gone by, and yet the pain of his loss was still a gaping wound.
"What do you see?" Aro said quietly, a slight, expectant tremble underlying his otherwise very pleasant voice.
"An immortal child," she whispered, pressed her lips together, and shut her eyes. "Aleksandra's immortal child."
"Fascinating," Aro said, and exhaled sharply. "Absolutely fascinating. Incredible, even. Is he saying anything?"
"No. He's crying," she replied in a quiet, thoughtful, resigned tone. "Can't you hear him?"
"There's nothing to hear," he said, clearly awed, and uttered a low, enchanted little chortle. "Amazing, isn't it? Even though we've taken away the dhampir's ability to use its voice for mind-control, it still can render a vampire completely helpless just by making her see it how it wants her to see it."
Irina turned her back on the door and stared at him, willing him to understand how painful, how awful all of this was. She felt heavy, empty, as if all life-force had been drained out of her. Her throat burned, and her limbs ached dully. Her head was pounding. "This is a half-breed?"
He cracked a smile. There was a spark in his eyes. "Oh, yes. The most powerful we've ever encountered. It managed to contaminate ten of our best fighters and almost got strong enough to defeat us. Thankfully, due to the dedication and commitment of people such as Demetri, we were able to render it relatively harmless," he said, and leaned in a little, as if to conspire. "Don't tell Demetri, though. He firmly believes that this creature has been dead for the past six-hundred years."
The soft sound of child-like weeping behind her made her want to run fast and far – as far away as possible. She just stood there, though, staring at her captor, paralysed and cold. "You've kept this dhampir locked up in there for the past six centuries?"
"It tried to escape a few times, but I found ways of immobilising it," he said, still smiling, still sounding enthralled and almost ecstatic. "The bars are mostly there to keep vampires that might fall victim to its powers out. We have other ways of ensuring that that won't happen, but with this specimen, one can never be too careful." He stepped forward and stretched out a hand, lazily tracing the contours of the little window with his fingertips before shutting it again. Instantly, the sound of weeping stopped. "This thing," he said, his voice laden with contempt, "oh, this wretched little thing, it was born with so much power, and yet all it ever wanted to do with it was to crush the whole world under its boot-heel so that the world would have no choice but to love it desperately. Pathetic, isn't it?" The disdainful expression melted off his face, and he focussed his attention on Irina again, smiling. His eyes were shining. "Tell me, did you really hear it cry?"
Feeling strangely detached from herself, Irina nodded slowly.
The smile broadened considerably, and he laughed; he actually laughed. "Fascinating! It can still project sound into the minds of its victims. That is truly amazing. I must say, I'm absolutely astounded."
"Why wouldn't…" It wasn't that hard for her to answer her own question, though. Again, horror made her freeze up. "Oh, my God, did you…I mean, you couldn't…"
"Remove its vocal chords?" The smile morphed slightly, gaining a mischievous, boyish quality. "Absolutely. I would have had to kill it, otherwise, but that seemed like such a waste. I believe that if we manage to finally find someone who is immune to its mind-control, even if not its ability to project an image of itself, then we will be able to protect ourselves against its like…maybe it will even be allowed to live under less harsh conditions. Naturally, we can't ever set it free, but we can make it more comfortable."
"That's…that's a sapient person in there, that's-"
"I know that. I don't keep it like this out of sadism, dear girl," he said, taking her by the hands, staring right into her mind. His expression turned sympathetic. "I have no desire to inflict suffering on anyone. My job is a thankless one. I need to protect our civilisation, but also the human populace, who has to remain ignorant of the existence of creatures such as us and this dhampir. These…these things are dangerous, and this one was nearly unstoppable. It corrupted a good number of individuals who were very dear to me, and whose loss pains me to this day. I don't want to keep it chained up and mutilated like an animal."
"Death would've been the kinder option."
Again, he smiled, but it was cryptic, impossible to read. "Yes, it would have. We have eliminated all the others of its kind that we came across. This one, though…this one's a challenge. I don't want to end the life of something this…" He trailed off, chewed on the inside of his lower lip, shrugged, and chuckled. "Something this unique. It's too interesting, and I know that it holds the key to unlocking all the mesmerising mysteries of its kind. Sadly, our experiments have thus far not yielded any positive result. With your arrival, though, I'm sure that we have reached a tipping point."
She didn't even want to begin to think about what those experiments might have looked like. Instead, she said, "What can I do? I'm already infected by Renesmee."
There it was again, that strange gleam in his eyes. "Ah! That's precisely it. You have been infected by a different dhampir, yes, but you are also more resilient than anyone in your unfortunate position, despite displaying symptoms of being linked to her. I wonder what will happen if you get exposed to this one."
It was useless, and still she couldn't help but suck in a sharp breath. "What? You actually want me to-"
"Yes. Yes, I do," he said, smiling so warmly that she couldn't stop herself from relaxing. He then placed his right hand on the side of her face. "We've never attempted this due to sad lack of test subjects, but you can change everything. Don't you see? You're already bound to another half-breed, and you are quite resistant to it. If you touch this one and it tries to take over, who knows what'll happen? It's worth finding out, don't you think?"
So this was why her life had been spared. She was supposed to become a guinea pig in the world's most horrifying experiment. "No, I can't…I can't."
"It can't actually turn you into a drone; it's too weak. You want to know what I think will happen?" He was beaming, now, looking through her more than he was looking at her. "I think your current compulsion will war with whatever this one here is able to force on you, and they will cancel each other out." His eyes focussed on hers again, and he tenderly caressed the side of her face with the back of his hand. "If you see it the way it really looks like, I'll be right. From there on, we'll know whether you, my dear, are the key to solving this millennia-old puzzle. Now, isn't that absolutely fascinating?"
"What if it doesn't work?" she whispered, defeated, arms hanging loosely at her sides. How heavy she felt. How heavy and weary and ancient.
"Then we'll have to find another way. The research is never over. Don't worry, dear Irina. It'll be all right. Everything will be just fine." He cupped her face and placed a soft, gentle kiss on her forehead. When he looked her in the eye, that warm smile was back, turning him into the centre of the universe again. It had to be part of his power – it just had to. "I'm going to unlock this door, now, and you are going to go in there and very briefly touch its face. Then, you'll step back and tell me what you see."
"I wish I could hate you," she said, and stepped aside to let him unlock those bars and the door (and wondered what kind of metal this was that was strong enough to keep a vampire out). "I can't, though. How many other things are going to be taken away from me?"
"I wouldn't see it that way," he said cheerily, turning the key in the final lock. "Your life has taken some unfortunate turns, yes, but now you have the chance to make a truly amazing contribution to vampire society. That's a cause for celebration, not grief." Then, he grabbed the door handle and gave her a gleeful beam. "Ready?"
"I suppose so."
"Wonderful." Slowly and with obvious effort, he pulled the door open. "Fiora, dear, I want you to meet the lovely Miss Irina Horváthová," he said, and beckoned Irina inside the cell. "Please. Go ahead. It's all right."
Feeling like an automaton, Irina robotically stepped inside that dreadful cell, eyes closed. There it was again, that awful, awful weeping sound in her head, begging her to make the misery stop. Behind her, the metal door was shut with a deep, forbidding rumble. It caused her physical pain to re-open her eyes, take in the quadrangular shape of the grey, stone walls, and then to make herself look at the fragile little boy just sitting there on the naked floor, cross-legged. He stared at her out of those vampire eyes, crying tears that weren't possible for an immortal child.
This wasn't Vasilii. This wasn't a helpless, poor little boy. This was a dhampir. It was a creature that had been locked up and experimented on for the past six centuries.
It was also a monster that had once been powerful enough to nearly wipe out the strongest vampire coven in all of history. Irina thought of Renesmee, of her terrible, fledgling abilities, her selfishness, her casual cruelty. Irina remembered her own fear of having her personality completely wiped out by this one horrible little creature. At the same time, this here was no way to keep any sentient, let alone a sapient being locked up – locked up for over half a millennium. Yes, Aro had good reasons for it. No, that didn't make it right.
The weeping in her head got stronger, as if the dhampir could hear her thoughts and was dialling up the plea for mercy as much as it was able to.
A strange, strangled whimper escaped Irina's lips. She whispered, "I'm so sorry," and then got it over with. In a flash, she darted forward, touched her fingertips to the boy's small and round forehead, and backed off again, crashing against the metal door.
Then, she saw it. She saw it. Oh, God. Oh, God.
She'd been right: death would have been the kinder option.
3 Jacob was sitting with Nessie in the living area of the Grand Hotel presidential suite. Nessie was watching cartoons on TV, not bothered by the fact that they were in Spanish, not looking for American channels. Charlie was sleeping in one of the single beds in an adjacent room, and Barbie…Barbie was by the window, staring outside, scanning the crowds below for potential threats. They'd failed to acquire Jasper's old flame Maria, which was a dent in their plans, but not catastrophically so. They still were in control of the hotel, and more allies were going to follow. At the moment, all they could do was wait for the inevitable attack. This time, they wouldn't run. They'd stand their ground. They'd stomp everyone who was a threat into the ground. Nessie said that it would be all right, that all would end up seeing, and Jacob had no choice but to believe her.
This crap had gotten worse, hadn't it? Up until a few days ago, he'd still been able to disagree with her in his mind, to not want something that she wanted. What the hell had happened to that?
Was the old Jacob completely gone?
He shifted his weight, uncomfortable. It was better not to think about these things at all. He was here, with his Nessie, and she was healthy and happy and confident. Nothing else mattered. No-one else mattered. Fuck, he didn't matter. She was the sun around which he orbited. That was the truth of it, and it was irreversible. Maybe it was better to stop struggling against the imprint altogether. It would be easier, in any case. It would be less draining.
The chime of a phone dragged him out of his pity-party. He raised his eyebrows at Barbie, who pulled her cell out of her pocket and frowned as she stared at the display. "It's Bella."
"That's just great," he mumbled, leaned his head back, and rubbed at his eyes with the heels of his hands.
Nessie perked up. "My momma? Does she want to join us? Tell her that I forgive her, Aunt Rose! Tell her that I love her!"
Jacob just put an arm around her frail, slim shoulders, and kissed the top of her head, inhaling deeply the sweet, floral fragrance of her hair.
"Yes, sweetie." Barbie took the call. In a much harsher tone, she said, "You heard her. What do you want?" Barely three seconds later, she was standing right in front of Jacob, holding out the phone. "She wants to talk to you and offer a deal."
Frowning and with hesitation – because yeah, right, Bells – he took the phone, careful not to touch Barbie's icky corpse hands. "What?"
"Jake," Bella's weird, flat vampire voice said from the other end of the line. "Is my dad okay? Are you all okay?"
"We're fine, thanks," he said, exchanging a meaningful look with Barbie, who hunkered down in front of Nessie, beaming.
"Honey, why don't we both look at the room service menu and see what human food we can order you for breakfast, hm?"
Nessie pouted. "But my momma's on the line!"
"She wants a private word with Jacob to see if she can make it all right again." Barbie held out her arms. "Come with me, angel. It'll be fun; you'll see."
"Okay." Nessie jumped into Barbie's waiting arms. Barbie kissed her on the cheek, and they sauntered off into the kitchen.
Covering his aching eyes with his free hand, Jacob said, "We're peachy. We're just super. We'll be better once I get my hands on that traitorous peace of crap, Jasper…and Leah, while we're on the subject."
"Jake, listen to me: we don't want any more trouble."
Jacob scoffed. "Who's we, Bells? You with the Volturi now? Congratulations. Finally moving up in the world. Wasn't enough for Leah to whore herself out to those undead freaks."
In the background, there was some laughter. Sounded like Creepula. Yeah, he'd be one to laugh at this kind of shit. Asshole.
Bella, however, kept completely composed, and said, "I want my dad back, and I want no-one else to get hurt. I lost my husband. I lost so many people. I don't want to lose you or my daughter. Please, let's find a peaceful solution."
"You're with fucking Jasper and the Volturi, which at the moment includes my cousin. How the hell am I supposed to trust you, huh? Tell me!" He punched his own leg in frustration.
"If you recall, I was knocked out against my will. I'm currently only alive because I might be able to talk some sense into you. The Volturi didn't attack us back at the house. That was Sam and his pack. I have assurances from one of the Volturi leaders that no-one else will be harmed if they don't pose a threat to their laws."
"And what are those laws?"
"Secrecy. The human world must never, under no circumstances find out about the supernatural world. That's all it is, really."
"Okay. Easy enough. We'll stay here, hidden, and tell no-one that we're not humans. There. Problem solved."
"It's not that simple and you know it. Look, I'm calling you because I want to make sure my dad is still alive, and because you and I are friends, Jake. I want to find a peaceful solution and I know that you would do anything to make sure Nessie is safe. I-"
Staring blankly up at the ceiling, he said, "Charlie's fine. He's sleeping."
"Let's meet up and talk, just you and me, in a public place. I'll carry the Volturi's terms, and you'll carry Renesmee's."
That actually sounded viable. He sat up straight (and chose to ignore that she'd said 'Renesmee's terms' instead of 'your terms'). "Okay, but I get to choose the venue and the time."
"Done. We'll both come alone, talk, and work this out. We can do it – I know we can. I just want my dad to be okay, and you just want to make sure nobody hurts Renesmee. We all want the same thing: to live our lives in peace."
It might still be a trap, but Jacob hadn't been born yesterday. Closely studying the dirt under his short fingernails, he said, "Yeah, I hear ya. Let's do this. Let's work it out."
4 The moment Bella disconnected the call, her eyes found Jasper. He was standing by one of the living room windows, watching her as they were all watching her.
"How did I do?" she said.
A truly dazzling smile spread across his beautiful face. "You did great, sweetheart. I almost believed you."
"Yay, Bella's a great liar," Leah said flatly. She was sitting on the couch, eating sugary cereal out of a brightly orange ceramic bowl. "So, when do we set this brilliant plan in action?"
"At dusk. Jacob wouldn't have it any other way."
"He's probably going to double-cross you," Demetri said, leaning against the wooden doorframe that led out to the entrance area and the spiral staircase. "Renesmee won't let him walk into a potential trap unprepared."
"Well, to be fair, she'll have a point," Jasper said.
"They'll be going through the same thought-processes as we are and will take countermeasures," Demetri said. It didn't take a telepath to deduce that he didn't approve of this little plan one iota. It was his problem. He'd been outvoted.
"We'll be ready for that," Maria, who was all but attached to Jasper, said, confidence oozing out of her alt voice and her posture.
For the first time ever since being turned, Bella felt like punching someone in the face. Luckily, she had her reactions somewhat under control for the moment. She said, "Since we don't have anything urgent to take care of at the moment, could I talk to you for a minute, Jasper…in private?"
"That's gonna be difficult in here," he said, tilting his head slightly to the side, watching her with unblinking interest. There must be something in her face betraying her irritation, though, because he then said, "The neighbouring house is empty, as well. Why don't we go have a nice, quiet little chat there?"
"Good idea." Bella turned around on her heels and marched outside without looking back even once.
Not a minute later, there they were, alone, in the equally ritzy but less pastel-coloured living room of some unsuspecting rich family's beach house.
He closed the light, toothpaste-green blinds and then positioned himself right in front of Bella, who was standing in the middle of the room, between a big, red sofa and a humongous flat-screen TV. "Might telling me what the matter is?"
"I just want to ask you a simple little question," she said, arms crossed, chin jutted out. Yes, she was probably pouting, and yes, it probably looked ridiculous. She didn't care. This wasn't a pose for an audience. "What do you see in that woman?"
His fair eyebrows shot up almost to his hairline. "Maria? What don't I see in her? She's beautiful, smart, talented, ruthless, and damn sexy."
It was worse than a slap in the face. It was…no, it wasn't like being dumped by Edward in the middle of the woods, or even being spurned by Jacob during his early werewolf days. This was something new. This was something she'd never quite experienced before, even though she remembered what rage felt like. This new sensation didn't just make her want to groan and roll her eyes and make snide, condescending, passive-aggressive little remarks. It made her want to break things. It made her want to tear heads off. It made her want to kill.
Through clenched teeth, she said, "Well, then I wish you all the joy in the world, coz she was all but salivating all over you." Without waiting for a reply, she headed for the front door.
"You're cute when you're jealous."
She stopped dead in her tracks halfway out and whirled around, snarling at him. "Don't make fun of me!"
"Why not?" he said, smirking, watching her with undisguised amusement. "You make a pretty easy target like this."
For the first time, she got why everyone hated his guts so much. Before she knew what she was doing, she was right in front of him. Her hand flew up as she meant to backhand him, but he caught her wrist, grabbed the other one, spun her around, and crushed her to himself in an iron grip.
"Let go of me!"
"Why?" he said directly into her ear, his lips lightly brushing her skin. "So you can bitch-slap me? I don't think so. Why don't you calm down before you hurt yourself, honey?"
She struggled, but he was stronger despite her new-born boost. Damn it. Couldn't she do anything right? This was so infuriating! "Let me go!"
"You know what?" he said in the most irritatingly conversational tone she'd ever heard. "You should take a deep breath, stop your hysterics, and then we can talk about what's really got your panties in a twist, hm? What do you say?"
That caught her off-guard. She stopped fighting him. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"No? So you didn't drag me over here for a very touching display of possessiveness? You didn't secretly hope that I wasn't attracted to Maria anymore?"
After voicing an incoherent sound of disdain, she said, "She tried to kill you! She doesn't care about you at all!"
"Nobody's perfect. Does the fact that you have a pretty titanic – not to mention flattering –crush on me make you the better choice? I'm not sure." He let her go so suddenly, she almost fell on her butt.
Instead, she swirled around and jabbed a finger at him, almost into his eye. "I do not have a crush on you! You are an arrogant, smug, self-satisfied little jerk!"
His good friend, The Smirk, was back. "Who you have a crush on."
She threw up her hands, staring at him with incredulity. How dare he? How dare he? The sheer insolence! "I don't."
"Then you don't mind if I rekindle my relationship with Maria? Because she's more than game, if you know what I mean." The look he gave her was one of pure innocence. "I'm pretty sure you do. You gave birth to a demonic baby, after all, and that didn't descend from the heavens, accompanied by an angelic choir."
"You know what? You can do whatever the eff you like!" she all but shouted at him, wanting to chew through his throat, wanting to slap him punch him rip his head off goddamn holy crow this was maddening!
"Then why are you so angry?" he said – calm, quiet, and exasperatingly composed.
She glared at him, tried to ignore the strange beauty of the scars criss-crossing his face, tried to not notice how she was able to focus on nothing but how heavenly his skin smelled to her. After shaking her head at herself, she snapped, "I'm mad because you are insufferable! I'm mad because you're being nasty on purpose just to rile me up! I'm mad because I'm jumping the bandwagon and starting to hate you! I'm mad because-"
The rest of the sentence was lost when he grabbed her by the sides of her face and crushed his lips against hers.
That…that…all her glorious, alive, self-righteous fury evaporated. She dropped her arms. She stopped breathing.
Backing off a little, he said, "That worked better than I thought."
"I…okay," she said dully, blinking. "I…you're not…"
"Mind-doping you? Nope. This is all you, darling." He grinned at her. "Little peck on the mouth, and she's already speechless. Makes me wonder about all the rest."
To be frank, it made her wonder, too. He was an annoying snot and he was provoking her deliberately and he was a self-enamoured jerk and…and…and she couldn't care any less if she tried. Unable (unwilling) to help herself, she mirrored his expression, said, "Please stop talking," buried her hard fingers in his soft hair, and stood on the tip of her toes. Very slowly, she brushed her lips against his – once, twice, three times. The fourth time, she lingered. He kissed her back, opened his mouth, and ran the tip of his tongue across her lower lip, making her shudder.
She opened her mouth drank him in put an arm around his neck slid one hand down his flat taut stomach pressed her body against his as hard as she could helped him pull her blouse over her head and toss it aside. She relished the stars she was seeing behind her closed eyelids. She…oh God, how warm he was, how warm and strong and alive – how hungry. Like she was hungry. He flinched in pain as she brusquely raked her fingernails across his back. She gasped as he returned the favour. It hurt him and it hurt her, but it was good, so good, so unbelievably, darkly, breathlessly good nothing could compare this was like feeding like killing like being alive like being alive.
He put his arms around her skinny waist and crushed her to himself.
Her breath hitched in her throat. She was tense, coiled, wired, taut, muscles straining throat burning desire want need heat oh it had been too long never like this never like this inhuman unbreakable frantic greedy violent. She caught his lower lip between her teeth, bit him savoured the sharp intake of breath that this elicited hands in his hair tongue in her mouth oh this was so good she wanted to crawl on his lap push him down devour him drink his health get closer so much closer no more distance no more only skin biting sucking grinding pushing arching tearing squeezing scratching. Ripping off his clothes as quickly as possible – not fast enough not close enough too slow clumsy not enough – she pushed him down buried him under herself. This was good, so good so amazing good overwhelming wonderful painful furious so much skin so much closeness so much no room no thinking no confusion guilt despair no being undead a thing a monster, only instinct desire want need craving longing yearning so much so close so terse so hard so wired sweet and painful honeyed agony clarity everything more now now now.