35. Duel

"Hmm," Cody said softly to Claire, putting his arm around her waist. "I didn't think they would actually show up. I guess you were right." There was a seductive purr to his voice that made my blood run cold.

"I know them better than you do, my love." She winked at him and her laugh was high-pitched and extremely annoying.

Jason stiffened next to me. From the corner of my eye, I saw the way he narrowed his eyes, how he clenched his fists, and how he pressed his lips into a hard line, his face determined and downright pissed. Jason was ready for the fight. He was ready to end it all. I could sense it.

Their outnumbered us by far. Claire and Cody stood in the front, clearly the leaders of the operation. Not five feet back stood Aro, Caius, Marcus, and the rest of the Volturi, the ones whom I couldn't name other than Jane and Alec. Their black cloaks billowed in the breeze, making them look like they were from a horror movie. A woman stood behind Aro and moved with him constantly. I thought it very strange, but what wasn't strange anymore? 3 males-Vampires, I assumed- stood behind the Volturi. They stared very intensely at us-no, not us. They were staring sharply at me. I glared back and gave them a sneer. They grimaced in return. The last person in their group was the one person who had the power to kill me with just one word…literally.

Amber.

Her head snapped up as soon as I thought her name. Her eyes met mine, and I got the familiar rush of warmth in my cheeks. I wanted to reach out my hand, to wrap her in my strong arms, and to hold her close to my heart. I wanted to protect her from everything I've ever done to her. I wanted to take back every mistake I've ever made that has hurt her. She deserved none of this, yet she was right in the middle of everything I've tried to protect her from. My Amber. My love. My world. She was here, and she was on the wrong side.

Light as feathers, I felt her mind brush against mine. I'm sorry, she whispered, and it felt like she meant it. She sounded guilty and remorseful, but not so much as to fight with me. She made her bed, and she was content to lie in it.

And just like Jason, I narrowed my eyes at her. If looks could kill, Amber would've been a crumpled heap on the grass. She took a step back, feeling the heavy weight of my glare, and turned her head from me. Good. I didn't want to see her traitor face anymore.

"How wonderful! This is just like I imagined it!" Claire clapped her hands together in glee.

"The dreams of a demented Vampire." Skylar snickered, inviting laughs from each of us. I smiled.

Cody glanced at Aro, who nodded back at Cody. They both looked worried about something, but worried about what?

"Very amusing, Skylar. Good to know your humor hasn't changed. That would be a pity." She winked at him.

"Good to know that we finally see the real Claire. I would've hated to have been fooled for much longer." Was Skylar's retort.

Claire just shook her head and smiled warmly. "You're missing the big picture here. I'm going to reshape the world. You'll see…or I guess you won't. Oh well."

"Reshape the world?" Jason scoffed. "I doubt killing every living being inside the world will do much good. There won't be a world left if you're put in charge, just ashes."

"Is that so bad?" she asked innocently.

"Is that your big plan here? To destroy the earth?" Jason asked incredulously.

"Not destroy, just rule."

It all sunk in at that moment. Why Claire wanted all of this, why she wanted us gone. She couldn't rule the world if she had a family of strong Vampires who waited in the wings to take her down at any moment. She had to stop us now, once and for all. We couldn't be allowed to live in her world.

Jason rolled the shock off of his features. "Well it's too bad that you won't be ruling the world then because we won't let that happen."

"Who says you'll be standing much longer to stop us?" Cody challenged, inviting Jason to come and stop him personally.

"Well if my son can almost kill you, I'd say all of us together have a pretty good chance."

Cody shook his head in amusement. "He caught me off guard. It won't happen again."

"I'll still kick your ass." I smirked.

"Wanna bet? You're nothing but a child, Jonathan."

Claire held up her hand, holding Cody back. "Patience. Now is not the time to fight."

Cody growled. "I don't see the point in waiting."

"There's a reason. Don't you trust me?" she looked up at him and smiled.

His eyes softened a touch. "Of course." And he kissed her.

I rolled my eyes. "Okay, enough PDA. How about we get to why we're even here? I thought a big fight was going to happen? We're supposed to die? Blah blah blah. Remember any of that?" like everyone around me, I was growing anxious of waiting. I just wanted to get on with this.

"So eager to die." Claire shook her head. "You know, I'm not ready for a fight just yet."

"And what do you want to do?" Taylor snapped.

Claire beamed. "I want to talk."

"Claire, there's nothing left to talk about! We get it: you don't want us alive. You betrayed us. We've got nothing left to even say to you. So why don't we just get this whole thing on the road?" Skylar shouted, pain leaking through every word. He was breaking down. We needed to fight now before it was too late.

"They have a point. I don't see why we must delay the inevitable." Aro commented softly.

Claire spun on her heels and flashed a glare at him. "We do as I say!" Aro shrunk back; something on Claire's face clearly scared him. When she turned around to face us again, I could see why. Her expression was the same as the day I stopped Jason and Claire from fighting. Her eyes were just red orbs: I saw no light in them. That thing that Cody talked about was still inside of her, and it looked like it was growing stronger. She looked like a true monster. Then she blinked, the monster gone.

Cody shifted on his feet, uncomfortable.

"I've spent so many years with you. The least I can do is give you some little respect before I kill you." She smiled as if she had given us a compliment.

I snorted in disgust. "You call this respect? You know, you act so tough, but I bet your skill can't back up your over-confidence."

"Really?" she placed her hands on her hips and laughed. "Silly boy, you don't realize who you're talking to."

I took a step forward, breaking my rank. "Oh, I think I do. You think that you're the strongest thing alive right now. You believe that nothing can stop you. But I beg to differ. No person who betrays a family so easily can't be that unbeatable."

She raised an eyebrow. "Is that a challenge?"

"No, it's a proposal." I said sarcastically.

"You don't honestly believe that you can beat me, do you?"

"I do." I sounded stronger than I felt.

A wicked grin crossed her face. "Then let's dance, Jon. I'll take great pleasure in killing you. Slowly." She added. She dropped down low in a crouch, poised to strike at any moment. She snarled, and fear finally struck my heart. I couldn't possibly beat her. She was Claire. She was lethal and determined to kill me.

I gulped.

I tensed my muscles, preparing to phase at any moment, flipping through images of beasts from old movies that I thought might be able to bring Claire down. I pictured a dragon and began to tremble when someone interrupted my thought process.

"No."

Jason strode up to me and grabbed my arm, spinning me behind him. He threw me back about five feet and stood in my place. He squared his broad shoulders, trying to appear as tall as he could. He glanced back at me for a moment. His eyes screamed sorrow.

Claire leaned out of her deadly crouch, watching Jason closely. She appeared confused, like she hadn't of expected this. She shook her head and then displayed a row full of teeth that glinted like daggers in the light. "Didn't want your son to die just yet?" she teased.

"If you should die by anyone's hand, it should be by mine."

She laughed loudly. "You sound like that little punk could actually defeat me."

"I know 'that little punk' could do it faster than I could blink."

I bit my lip. To know that my father thought so highly of me gave me hope. If he thought I could do it, then I could. Jason now knew me better than anyone else. And I knew that Jason could surely beat her.

"I'm so sure." She tilted her head. "But I'm curious, what makes you think that you can beat me? I'm stronger with a lot more fighting experience. You've got nothing on me."

Jason nodded. "True, you've fought a lot more battles than me, and you've killed many more people than I ever will. But I've got a little bit of an edge too."

"Oh really?"

Now it was Jason's turn to smile. "Really. You see, when Cody switched bodies with me, I got to see into Cody's mind for a bit, and a lot of his mind involved you. And I remember all your fighting styles and weaknesses. So I may not be the best fighter, but I have the knowledge to actually win."

Her confident smile faltered. She then glared at him with such fury I thought he would catch on fire. "We'll see about that then. Are you done talking now?"

"You're the one who wanted to talk." Jason reminded her snidely, sinking into a crouch that I knew contained enough power to jump the Empire State Building.

Claire shrieked at the top of her lungs and lunged for Jason, her teeth and claws aimed for his throat.