She could taste the night in the air. Behind her men were getting ready for battle. She could hear the clanking of metal and scraping of wood as they got weapons and armor in order. Omerta had given them the worse news imaginable when they made it to headquarters.
There were no humans left in Volterra.
She narrowed her eyes at the darkness just outside the window. The Italian officials saw to it that all humans had been evacuated in a hundred mile radius of Volterra. Just as they had gotten to the church they were using as a headquarters the last families had been forcibly removed for their safety.
That didn't mean she was pleased. She almost wished Omerta had found a way to discretely evacuate the human residents before they had become vampire food. But she didn't hold it against her allies. In the end only the werewolves were not really considered human among the lot of them. She knew humanity always made mistakes. She was a prime example of that.
"Ma'am, everything is in order." A man said behind her and to her left shoulder.
"Good, tell everyone to get some rest. Sunrise is in three hours."
"Yes ma'am," She didn't need to see him to know he saluted her. Instead she listened for his footsteps to fade towards the waiting soldiers.
She continued to look out the window waiting to see the light on the horizon. She wondered if Jasper ever felt like this when he was in the war. The sickening adrenaline feeling that made her mouth water but her throat dry. It was a sort of personal hell as she waited for the hours to tick down.
She went over every plan in her head. She spotted and discarded flaws as she went along. She knew by now that war wasn't perfect. It was even less perfect now since her enemy had their back against the figurative wall. She didn't expect anything less from them than complete desperation.
She had never considered herself as someone religious, but in those still dark hours before light crested the horizon… she prayed.
It was nearly two hours before sunrise when she finally moved. She knew she wouldn't be getting any rest, but she could get ready. She had to keep herself busy if she didn't want to dwell on the possible outcome of the next few hours.
She licked her lips as she made her way to her room. Her feet quivered in their boots as her hands clenched and unclenched. Her eyes started shifting back and forth to every shadow in her way, tracking every minute movement that entered her field of vision.
She focused on her clothes the moment she entered her room. The mirror didn't allow for much but she could see quite a bit of what she wore. She was surprised by the armor Santa gifted her and her friends. It was experimental from what she was told, a mixture of Kevlar and spider silk. Apparently some hotshot in New York came up with it.
She smirked to herself as she looked at her brown outfit. To the naked eye her jacket, pants, boots, and gloves looked like plane old leather. But if one were to take a closer look they would see these items were too soft and silky to be leather.
"Alice would so have loved this stuff." She said to herself as her lips curled to one side exposing a gleaming fang.
Her favorite thing about the whole outfit was that the material didn't make her armor any less affective. In fact most of her armor plates just slide over the fabric like it was a part of her skin. It truly gave her whole outfit an interesting affect.
When she felt her armor nearly shift under her skin she sat down at the desk turned vanity in her temporary room. She picked up a brush and began to carefully drag it through her untamable strands. She felt her stomach tightened slightly and twist before she sighed. Her nimble fingers slipped through the brown mess and began to weave it around itself.
The braid that she finished was thick and still wild. Some of her irate curls ruthlessly stuck out making her roll her eyes. However as it slid seductively over her shoulder she had to grin as she caught the reflection of her hair in the mirror. She practically had a busy tail gently swinging to a stop behind her.
"Coyote indeed," She said with a chuckle before glancing up at the time. She had called her mother earlier. While she didn't get into too many details to worry the poor woman, she did get to say her last goodbye in case the worst happened.
"You're not resting are you?"
She glanced up into the mirror to lock eyes with calm gray. Strong arms wrapped themselves around her shoulders and she had to smile leaning back against the equally strong chest. She noted he was wearing cotton rather than armor but she expected as much.
"I'm already to hyper." She said resting her head against his shoulder. "How are Father Ferrara and Ray doing? Are the spells almost ready?"
"Yes, although those Vatican lackeys were nearly sent into a tizzy when they learned real werewolves would be out on the battle field." Richard said with a chuckle before nuzzling her neck. "How did Ray come up with the idea to find a spell so we can transform willingly in the daylight?"
"She didn't, I had her look into it. Even with your inhuman speed when not transformed these vampires are faster than you. Since we're going to have more than a few completely normal humans out there, we needed something to level the playing field a bit." She said closing her eyes and enjoying the strength surrounding her.
"I see, well Ricci and Marino are impressed so are the others we gathered to help." He said in between laying gentle kisses on her neck.
"Are you ready for the upcoming battle?" She said gently pushing him away. She never knew werewolves could be so affectionate.
"Yes, but there is one thing I wanted to do before hand. That's why I came looking for you." He said making her raise an eyebrow before looking up at him with a dull look.
"I'm in no mood for anything but fighting right now." She said getting a chuckle from him.
"I figured, but I wanted to give you this." He said pressing a small box into her hand.
Curious she turned to open the small box. Her eyes widened as she saw the beautiful silver looking ring with three gleaming diamonds on it. She blinked at it before looking up at him questioningly.
"I bought it a while back. Its platinum not silver…" He said shifting slightly. "I wanted to give it to you before the fight."
"Why?" She said still stunned getting a chuckle from him.
"I was planning on waiting until we were settled in England to ask you to marry me. But with how big this fight is going to be, I probably would have kicked myself if I didn't give that to you if something went wrong." Richard said before giving her a gentle hug. "You don't have to answer until things have settled. But I don't want to regret not allowing you know the depth of my feelings for you."
She could feel tears prickling the back of her eyes. "Richard, I don't know what to say."
"Don't say anything for now. Focus on the task at hand and when you're ready…I'll do my best to be there waiting." He said making her frown before leaning against him and closing the box.
"Don't say that, you'll make me more worried than I am." She said putting the box on the table. For a moment she thought back to everything she knew about the werewolf. "You can propose to me properly later, so I can properly accept it."
"Accept?"
"You're like my rock Richard. All those years of vampire hunting, I always knew I could count on you when swinging through England after we met. I would be lying to myself if I said I didn't want to have you there to lean on when I needed someone the most." She said looking up to find a slowly growing smile on his handsome face. The gentle emotion in his eyes almost seemed foreign to her but she recognized it from the time years ago when her mother met her stepdad.
"I love you." He said making her smile in return.
"I love you too." She said just before he leaned down to capture her lips with his. The moment would have been perfect if she hadn't noticed the sky starting to lighten outside the window of her room.
The outside air was cool on her tongue as she inhaled the morning sunlight. They were waiting just outside of Volterra. It was almost excruciating but she was almost giddy with what was coming. She was never one for confrontation before so it struck her as odd that she now reveled in it.
She looked over to her right to find Madison bouncing on her heels next to her. She could see the slow shimmering of silver in the mutant's skin and clothes. She also was amused to see her friend's long braid almost seemed to wag back and forth like an impatient puppy.
Turning to her left she smiled some more. Laura stood proud and emotionless. Her cool dark brown eyes gazed down at the city from their perch. Despite being crouched, her aunt was able to convey a sense of dominance that would make any apex predator proud.
"Are you two ready?" She asked calmly turning back to look at the city. They had a clear view of their target resting regally among the vacant buildings guarding it.
"Yes," Laura said calmly.
Madison giggled, "Let's play."
She took a step and let herself fall from her perch. Her landing was surprisingly silent on the stiff ground. As she stood, Coyote briefly looked at the two landing before taking off towards their goal.
A few steps before they reached their destination a wave of magic washed over the area. She bit back a snort and withheld a shiver as her instincts told her of the event. She could see X-23 do the same even as Silverpool slipped through the cracks and locking mechanism of the door in front of them.
The door opened and a silver hand beacon them inside with a quick signal that the coast was clear. X-23 watched her back as she went in and spread out her senses. The door closed and they moved.
As they made their way towards their target, she felt her armor slide into place. She also could hear the faint sound of X-23's claws extending. She grinned as the first vampire they saw unwittingly walked right into them. He was dispatched so quickly he didn't have time to widen his eyes, let alone scream.
He knew something was wrong as a distinct shift rippled through the air. It made his red eyes narrow and a shiver go through him. He stood abruptly and looked at Marcus, whose dark crimson eyes were wide. At the nod from his brother he turned to an annoyed Caius.
"Send out the troops, she's here." He ordered but it really was unnecessary as the ground around them shook with a powerful explosion.
"Is Felix back from his errand?" Marcus said as the three stood from their thrones.
"Not yet my lord." Alec said from his spot near the door.
"Then we must do our best to keep dear Isabella from breaching our citadel. We are woefully behind schedule." Aro said with a frown.
"Huh now that is something I can actually agree with him on." A voice said near the door.
Aro watched as a silvery substance pooled on the floor as it slid under the door. The substance slithered out of reach of Alec going straight towards the three vampire leaders. Aro took a step back even as a new born jumped into the puddle.
"Awe, the kiddy wants to play with Sliverpool. She likes to play." The puddle said as the baby vampire was ripped to shreds.
"Mutant," Caius hissed as he stepped towards the puddle.
"That's what I am," Sliverpool said as the silver substance suddenly rose up to take the shape of a blonde haired woman. "Lovely place you got here but I would have fired your interior decorator. There is far too much marble."
Another shockwave rippled through the earth shaking the room around them. Sliverpool looked up at the ceiling with a smile that reminded Aro of a mental patient. The smile was large enough to take up most of her face but as cold as ice.
"Looks like you're in trouble. Coyote and my friends are having fun playing with your baby vamps." Sliverpool said before emitting a deep chilling chuckle. "Come on, let's play!"