"Listen! Do you smell that?" - Dr. Raymond Stantz
Victoria
In a panic, I cast my mind out, listening for the source of the icy sweetness that Seth had detected. I shouldn't have been surprised to find that there was more than one vampire that had found us, nor should it have shocked me to discover they weren't some random newborns. There were two, and I knew them both.
One I knew only by his scent, but the other was more familiar to me. I had heard her thoughts in passing on the baseball field the day that James had decided to hunt my Bella, though it had been his mind I'd been focused on at the time. The elusive sweetness that I had chased through Phoenix before following her trail of murder into Houston, that I had smelled in the clearing a year ago when we'd first been confronted by James's coven, that I had caught in the forest as she'd tested the boundary lines that separated us from the wolves, that I knew without a doubt was coming from Victoria, was carried by the light breeze directly toward Seth. Along with hers was that of the intruder who had broken into Bella's house a few months earlier.
Bella had been right about everything: the newborns, Victoria, the reason her clothes had been taken, and who had taken them. My Bella, whose clear eyes saw through to the heart of the matter, who never missed any details, who – this time at least – had been the only one to see the bigger picture and recognize the glaring truth. Bella had known all along. Victoria had come for her. She was the one behind everything.
Of course she was!
Faster than Bella could have seen, I reached up and ripped the tent in half, tearing through the tarp as well. I gripped her carefully and pulled the fragile human girl to her feet beside me.
Seth bounded over as the tent fell in shreds around us. He stared into my eyes, his body quivering in excitement.
…two, I smell two. They come from the south, from the direction of your scent-trail here. Sam's busy with the army an' the pack can't leave, an' they couldn't make it here in time anyways. I can help you. I'm fast like my sister. You need me! Please, please let me take one!
I nodded. Of course the young wolf could help me! Bella's life was in danger and I wasn't stupid enough to refuse Seth's help. I could defeat these two on my own, I was sure, but not before one of them got past me. A single second was all that it would take and Bella would be dead.
I'll go around 'em, sneak up from behind, take one by surprise while you distract 'em, and then you can kill the other.
"Go, Seth!" I prompted him in a harsh whisper. As promised, he was swift. Perhaps not as fast as his sister, but fast enough. Aside from his lingering scent, the swirls of disturbed snow that had been flung up by his paws as he leapt away were the only evidence that he'd ever been there.
Following my trail from the south, Seth had said. How could I have been so stupid? I knew how to disguise my trail; I could have swum or waded up the rivers rather than spring over them. What did I care if I got wet? I could have leapt from treetop to treetop, obscuring my trail if not completely hiding it. But had I bothered doing so? No. The army had been after Bella, not me. I wasn't in danger. I was no delicious-smelling human. What cause had the vampire army to hunt for me? The very idea that I wasn't perfectly safe was absurd. Cocky and sure of my family's ability to fight off the newborns, I had failed to recognize that they weren't the real threat.
Why had I refused to see that Bella was right? We had known that the vampire behind everything was using the holes in Alice's vision to orchestrate things. Victoria had had plenty of opportunities to experiment when making her feints at Bella. She'd been testing us, I belatedly realized, probing the edges of our territory and our abilities. And now, she'd sent her army after my family, hoping they would kill as many of us as possible. She'd resigned herself to the fact that she wouldn't be able to kill me herself as she had wanted, but so long as I died, that would have to suffice. Only, not before I saw Bella die, if she could manage it. Of course, Bella seeing me die first would be fine by her, too. If they had killed me first, I would have died knowing that Bella's death wouldn't be far behind. Either way, she would be satisfied to know that we would feel the other's loss before our own far too quick end.
Yet never had she imagined that I would separate myself from my family. She'd thought for sure that I would be there in the clearing, fighting alongside my family while being forced to watch as the newborns picked us off, one by one. I saw the memory in her mind: Victoria had crept up to the edge of the clearing and had watched in satisfaction as her children attacked my family. Only half of them were there just yet, but the others were on their way, preparing to come at us from two sides.
She'd intended to wait and watch, anticipating seeing my family get ripped to pieces, and had wondered which of her children would be the lucky one to kill the human girl she knew would be with me. Only I wasn't there! And neither was the girl! Furious at my escape, she'd slunk around the edge of the clearing, smelling me, and the girl, and the rest of my family, and even the vile wolves that infested the area, but the scents were all days old. She'd heard the sound of Emmett bellowing in rage, and had heard the distinctive screeching that meant a vampire was being dismembered. Certain that her newborns would succeed, she'd concentrated on tracking, just as she had seen James do so many times before.
Then, ecstatic at her luck, she'd found a newer trail: mine. She hadn't smelled the girl, but that didn't matter. Victoria wanted me dead and knew that, though she couldn't smell her, she was sure to find Bella with me. Instantly, she'd decided that now was the time to involve herself. She'd followed my trail south, leaping over the rivers just as I had, with her companion by her side. She'd kept him with her, knowing what an accomplished fighter I was – I had killed her mate, after all, a feat she would never before have thought possible – and she wanted his support and assistance.
In truth, it had been my brothers who had killed James, not me. However, I had stopped him from killing Bella, and had fought with him until they'd arrived. If not for me, he would have been fine. My brothers' involvement was irrelevant to her, if she even knew of it. As far as she was concerned, I was to blame for everything.
She was right, of course; I was always to blame. I was a monster, a killer. I had always known this to be true. I had killed three times already this year, and before that I had killed hundreds, maybe even thousands. I didn't know anymore; I had stopped keeping track long ago. But I wasn't the only predator in these mountains. Today Bella and I were the ones being hunted, and the predators outnumbered me.
I saw the plan in Victoria's mind: she would use her companion to distract me. Riley, the name was supplied by her when she thought of him in scorn. And while I fought him off, she'd dart around me and snap Bella's neck. She wouldn't bother drinking her right then; that would take too much time. She didn't doubt that I would kill Riley ...good riddance... but once Bella was dead and I was distracted by my grief, she would rip my head off, then my arms and legs.
My death was as vivid in her mind as though I was watching one of Alice's visions. One by one, she would burn my fingers and toes, then my legs and arms, slowly turning me into ashes while I watched, helpless, unable to even scream. And as I watched myself burn, she would position my head so that I could also watch her drink the blood of the human girl she had been aching to kill for so long. The scene was so real in Victoria's mind that I could feel the heat tingle in my extremities as though the fire had already been lit. Only when Bella was drained and the last bits of me were burning would she throw my head in, completing my death at long last.
No. Absolutely not!
She didn't know that the wolves were our allies. Though she'd smelled them around the clearing, she'd seen us fighting each other. I could almost thank Paul for warding off Emmett when I'd taken Bella to Florida. Victoria had watched in satisfaction as she'd pitted her two enemies against each other: the wolves who had killed her friend Laurent, and the coven who had killed her mate, James.
The middle of the ruined tent where I had spent one of the worst nights of my long life was not a strategically sound place to confront the vindictive vampire. My arm was still wrapped around Bella, and I tightened my grip on her waist, holding her firmly against my side as I zipped around one of the huge boulders I had used to anchor the tent. I carefully placed her with her back against the boulder and crouched in front of her. My muscles were coiled and tensed to spring as I waited, listening and watching through the mind of my enemy as she slunk up the side of the mountain only a few feet away from where the tent lay in ruins. She could smell more of the vile wolves, but their scents had been all over the mountain range, and she was unsurprised to find their stench here, as well.
...weakling coven can't even protect their territory from a bunch of dogs... if you can even call the habitats of rats and squirrels hunting territory...
For months, I had longed to end the life of the vampire that had dared to hunt the girl I loved. Though I knew what it had cost me when I'd killed before, I had ached to be able to kill, just once more. Faster than any living creature, with senses far more acute than my prey, not to mention the added ability to see inside of their minds, I was the world's most dangerous predator - or, at least, one of them. However, I hadn't counted on my sweet, innocent Bella being there to watch. Especially after having secured her promise to be my wife, and after she had rejected Jacob even though she had finally realized her feelings for him, the last thing I wanted was for her to see me for the monster that I had always known myself to be. I had never wanted her to see me as a killer in action.
Whether I wanted it or not, Bella was going to witness exactly that. Well, that or my death. My speed and mind reading aside, the skills I'd gained from Jasper notwithstanding, I was outnumbered, and the one who stalked me was more dangerous than any other creature I'd ever pitted myself against before. Cunning, full of hatred for me, but calculating rather than reckless, Victoria was patient, and willing to sacrifice any companions she had. What's more, she had nothing to lose, while what she sought to take from me was everything. What she sought was Bella's death and regardless of my audience, it was either let Bella see me as I killed, or watch her be killed instead.
I wasn't about to let that happen.
"Who?" Bella's voice was full of fear, though she only spoke the one word, and I knew that she had understood at once: we were under attack.
"Victoria," I growled furiously. This was my fault! I had let her escape. Instead of chasing the ferocious vampire, I had dallied in Phoenix when I'd known that she was connected to Bella. That I hadn't known exactly how didn't matter. I should have seen what a threat she was. I should have concentrated on tracking her. Bella had been lost to me at the time; what good had stalking her past done for me? I could have ended this long ago, but no.
"She's not alone. She crossed my scent, following the newborns in to watch – she never meant to fight with them. She made a spur-of-the-moment decision to find me, guessing that you would be wherever I was. She was right. You were right. It was always Victoria."
I heard my voice in Victoria's mind as I spoke, and felt her thrill of victory. She loved that I had known that she was coming, that I had apparently lived in fear of her, that I knew she was to be the instrument of my death. I heard Bella's heart stumble and then break into a sprint. The scent of her fear-induced adrenaline filled the air, but she didn't speak again, waiting with me in silence for the vampires to show themselves.
I watched through their eyes as they surveyed the ruined tent.
How cute. Taking his human camping. As if he ever had any hope of escaping me. James was the best tracker to ever live, and I learned much from him over our years. I could have found him even if he'd taken her around the world to hide from me. Here, on this mountain, a few measly miles from my army of newborns, he never stood a chance.
…and yes, I know you can hear me, you bastard. You got lucky with James, but your luck has just run out. Your coven is dying as you stand here, helplessly waiting on me to end your miserable existence. You are outnumbered and encumbered by your ridiculous pet!
Deliberately, she pictured the clearing and the battle she knew was being waged there. I saw, similar to Alice's vision, my mother's headless corpse on the ground, my father, in pieces and scattered across the field, Emmett with a newborn on each arm, each leg, and one at his head, screaming as they slowly tore him apart. I saw Jasper's head flying through the air while his body stumbled about, tripping over his mate's corpse. My pixie sister's body lay in bits and pieces on the ground, and beside her lay my other sister. Rosalie's golden hair was obscuring her oddly shaped head, which seemed to have been crushed.
I bared my teeth, snarling in defiance of this vision. It wasn't true! Seth, whom I could still hear, was connected to the pack. Leaving behind a forest full of twitching body parts, they had driven the two newborns that they had yet to kill into the clearing. In their minds, I saw my family gathering the pieces of the vampires who had all died by their hands. The two that the wolves were harassing were all that remained of Victoria's army. As they backed away from the approaching wolves, I saw through the pack's mind as Emmett and Rosalie leapt across the field. Rose landed on the back of one, shoving his face into the earth. She held the newborn down while Emmett ripped his legs off with a fierce yell. The pack converged on the final newborn who never stood a chance.
None of my family had been harmed. None of the pack were injured. The army was destroyed. All that was left was the worst of the threat, creeping out of the trees directly in front of me. Victoria's flat black eyes were fixed on Bella's. I saw my beloved's face in the feral vampire's mind. Bella's eyes were wide with fear, her face pale and bloodless. She was so pale, she could have been a vampire herself except that - unlike Victoria, Riley, or myself - the sun did not break against her skin.
Even in this situation, I could appreciate how the sun kissed Bella's fair skin, how she seemed to absorb its warmth, how her hair shined red in the light. She was the most beautiful being to ever grace the Earth, an angel sent directly from Heaven to live among us - who had chosen to live with me - and there was no way I was going to allow her to be harmed by the approaching demons.
Beside Victoria was the vampire I'd smelled once before. He was the one who had broken into Charlie's house when Alice had held Bella hostage at mine. I felt a moment's relief once again that I had been so protective of her. The vampire wasn't a newborn, like those who had been set on my family, but he was young enough. Based on his bright red eyes, I doubted he was long past his first year. It hadn't been much more than that since we'd killed James, so I thought that made a lot of sense; if Victoria had changed him soon after losing her mate, he should be about a year old. I thought it rather impressive that he'd left Charlie alive those months earlier. She must have made a very strong impression upon him to keep him from acting on that day.
He was physically older than I had been when Carlisle had changed me, but not by much. However, that was where our reseblence ended. His hair was blond and neatly trimmed, and he was more muscular, though not as much as Emmett. His lips were twisted into a pleased smirk, and I caught his pleasure at his plans to prove himself to Victoria by defeating me. The young man was allowing the red-headed vampire to lead the way, keeping her as well as me and Bella in his line of sight. Both sets of eyes - the flat black of Victoria and the bright red of Riley - were fixed on Bella.
Seth was running silently through the woods, carrying out his plan to come at them from the side. The two vampires had no idea he was there, and I needed to distract them quickly. Victoria would not wait much longer before instructing Riley to take me, and once I was fending him off, she would go for Bella.
The pack's duties carried out, they focused on Seth's mind, and I heard the victory in their thoughts as they focused on his.
...tell the bloodsucker that he can bring Bella to the clearing, now.
...took them down! Did ya see me, huh, didjya?
...got two, all by myself!
...yeah, with my help...
...'kay, one by myself, one with you...
...quiet! The fight isn't over!
...of course it is... we got all of them.
...No! Bella's in danger! We've been found. She's come here!
...the bloodsucker can't take care of one measly newborn?
...weird, though, right? How'd it even find them?
...She followed Edward. It's that red-head we've been chasin'. And there's another that smells like the one from Charlie's house...
As Seth relayed his message, finally making the excited pack see the danger that remained, I heard Jacob's panicked howl, echoing through the mountain range, to where we waited.
…should have stayed! Made sure that bloodsucker protected her! Seth can't kill two on his own! I've gotta go!
No! Stay here, Jacob. I heard a resonating timbre to the tone of Sam's voice and felt an odd compulsion to join them in the clearing. We'd never make it there in time, and we need you here to help clean up.
Jacob knew the truth of that statement as he saw a dismembered arm grasping at a the torso to which it had once been attached. He stared in disgust as it aligned itself with the uneven stump, and then the two were one. Though they had stopped all of the newborns, the battle would not be over until the last pieces were smoldering ashes. Jacob threw himself at the newly reattached arm with a growl and hauled it and the mangled chest toward the fire my family was just starting.
Knowing that we were on our own, I had to distract Riley, to buy time for Seth to get into a position from which he could best attack Victoria's companion. Riley looked at her, waiting for her signal to attack. She jerked her chin toward me, wordlessly telling him that the time was now. Her eyes hadn't left Bella's, and I could smell her through the feral vampire's senses. My throat was raked with fire from the echo of her thirst, and also that of her young companion's. I ignored the burn; it wasn't important. I'd felt worse, to be sure. All but immune to the smell of Bella's blood now – no matter how delicious I still found her scent to be – the human girl's very presence was a weapon, just as Jasper had foreseen.
They were distracted by her. Their thirst and the compulsion to feed were nearly uncontrollable. Bella's unique and powerful scent, stronger than normal with her fear, filled the space around us and held their attention. I knew that it wouldn't be much longer before Victoria's young companion would give in to his desires and throw himself at either Bella to drink, or me to challenge. Only the need to follow the instructions of the creature he regarded as his mate were keeping him from surrendering to his basic instincts.
"Riley," I said softly, and felt his shock.
...know my name? …the mind reader! She was right!
"She's lying to you," I rebutted. "Listen to me. She's lying to you just like she lied to the others who are dying now in the clearing. You know that she's lied to them, that she had you lie to them, that neither of you were ever going to help them. Is it so hard to believe that she's lied to you, too?"
...how can he know that? No. He's wrong. Our army is killing the weakling coven. We trained and prepared them well...
I saw his intention to move toward me, to come at me from one direction, giving Victoria room to come at me from another. Just before he could move, I shifted, keeping Victoria and Riley evenly spaced in front of me, allowing neither one to be in a position which would allow them to kill Bella. He stopped in confusion, not having expected my movement to block him.
I'd learned how to make my voice compelling long ago, and had perfected the skill when trying to get Bella to tell me about her past. In our early days together, she'd been so shy, and my curiosity had burned as strong as my thirst for her. I knew how to bend the humans to my will, and had used my voice to dazzle people on many occasions before. I also knew that - although not quite as effective - it was possible to dazzle another vampire. Now, I used that same tactic on this young man. I didn't really need to convince him, so long as I kept him distracted long enough for Seth to act.
"She doesn't love you, Riley," I continued. "She never has. She loved someone named James, and you're no more than a tool to her."
...dare you speak his name! He was a thousand times the vampire that you are! You are weak, nothing compared to him!
Victoria's lips pulled back from her teeth at the mention of her dead mate's name. She didn't spare a glance for the vampire at her side, who was looking at her in confusion.
...James?
I had to bring his attention back to me. "Riley?"
His eyes instantly found mine, again.
"She knows I will kill you, Riley. She wants you to die so that she doesn't have to keep up the pretense anymore."
I watched carefully as he flickered through his memories of their time together. He'd lean in to kiss her, but she'd turn her head away at the last moment. And when they'd made love, it had been glorious! ...until he'd seen the strange dead look in her eyes.
"Yes – " I latched on to his memories, gratefully. "You've seen that, haven't you? You've read the reluctance in her eyes, suspected a false note in her promises. You were right. She's never wanted you. Every kiss, every touch was a lie."
While I spoke, I saw Victoria's plans changing in her mind. No longer willing to wait for Riley to attack, especially if I could convince him not to, she considered how close Bella was to me. If she attacked me, all she would need was a second to reach around me and snap her neck.
Feeling fear fill my body at the image of Bella's death in Victoria's mind, I inched away from her, fighting the instinct to stay as close to her as possible.
Edward! Edward, I can't get through... You're too close to Bella... I'll hurt her if I try... or expose myself to them too early... don't want to push you out of the way, but... you need to move!
I saw Seth's perception of the way we were positioned and considered the angle of his approach from behind the rocks.
Seth wanted to attack Riley, understanding from my speech that Victoria was the leader and willing to leave her to me, but in order for the wolf to have a clear line at him, I would have to move farther away from Bella. Steeling myself, I slid my feet closer to Victoria, which was fine by everyone involved. Riley crept further from the red-headed vampire, putting him almost directly in Seth's line of sight.
More than willing to kill him myself if I had to, or to allow Seth to do so, I knew that it would be easier if I could win Riley over to our side. If he could recognize Victoria's lies, he might just attack her in his fury with her betrayal.
"You don't have to die," I assured him. "There are other ways to live than the way she's shown you. It's not all lies and blood, Riley. You can walk away right now. You don't have to die for her lies." I knew that Carlisle would be pleased to teach this young man about our way of life, if he were willing to learn. We could forgive him for his part in this attack. He was nothing more than a pawn, Victoria's way of getting around Alice's vision. None of this was his doing. I scooted closer to Victoria, and Riley shifted, moving so that I was kept almost evenly between them.
...just a little more... Seth urged me.
"Last chance, Riley."
The young vampire looked at Victoria again, pleading with his eyes that she fight for him. She hadn't said a word to contradict my accusations, and he was worried. My words matched his own memories and insecurities. She'd explained that I was a mind-reader, and he could hear the evidence of that for himself.
...can read my mind, could he read hers? And if he can, is he telling the truth?
"He's the liar, Riley," Victoria finally said. "I told you about their mind tricks. You know I love only you."
Her voice was soothing to him despite the way the high pitch grated on my ears. Though he could hear the persuasiveness of my voice, it seemed to him to be deliberate – and it was – where hers was the first voice he'd heard upon waking to this new life.
He's the liar, Riley repeated to himself.
I saw him remembering all of the things she had promised him, how he'd watched everything she'd ever told him come true. The human feasting, the talents he'd discovered, both his own new abilities and the few special abilities he'd found among his newborns, the thrill of the hunt, the new and powerful feeling of holding lives in his hands, of shaping those lives into an army under his control. She'd given him free rein, had promised to be his queen and to set him up as king.
I knew as his eyes met mine again that he refused to believe me. What reason did he have to trust anything I said? Everything she'd ever told him he'd seen come true. That I was a mind reader only made him distrust me more. Capable of seeing what lies would work the best, I could look into his mind and use what I saw to my advantage. He decided he would destroy me, and then he would rule over Seattle with Victoria by his side, just as she'd promised.
I inched closer to Victoria, opening up just a bit more room between myself and Bella, seeing through Seth's eyes and feeling him prepare to attack. Victoria was waiting for this, for me to get close enough to her that her swift attack would be over before I saw it in her mind. She was firmly keeping Bella's death and mine in her mind, deliberately not thinking anymore of how she would do it, only picturing the end result.
Riley tensed to spring at me. Seth took this as his cue. He could wait no longer, or it would be too late. I felt him gather his courage, felt the confidence his pack sent to him through the strength of his species and their unique bond, and heard a wild snarl rip from him as he lunged forward.
His young body filled with purpose and adrenaline, Seth sprinted through the space I had opened between Bella and myself and lunged at Riley. The two toppled to the ground with Seth on top of the young vampire. His teeth were flashing and snapping, trying to get to Riley's neck. In shock, the vampire tried to fend the ferocious wolf off with his hands, but Seth grabbed onto his wrist and crushed the bones. Wrenching his head to the side, he tore the hand away. Like his sister, he found the taste repulsive. Eager to get rid of the offensive flavor, he flung the hand he held over his shoulder, where I heard it hit the boulder behind Bella and land near her feet.
"No!" Victoria screamed. Why did it have to go for Riley and not the damn Cullen!
Ignoring the burning taste, Seth continued trying to get his teeth around the vampire's neck, but he was hitting the wolf with the stump of his arm and using a fistful of fur to hold him off with his remaining hand. Seth kept scraping small pieces off, his strong teeth grazing down the stone-like skin on his arm, but unable to gain the angle and leverage needed to dismember him further. Sam had been right to keep Seth out of the main fight; I could tell that he didn't have the strength or the reach of his older pack members.
Not bothering to look at the young man who was fighting for his life only feet away from her, Victoria groaned, "No," again. …can't let her live! She won't get away from me… and whichever of them wins… She carefully shielded her thoughts from me, but I caught an image of Seth turning to attack me next, leaving Riley in pieces on the ground.
I grinned at her, knowing that wouldn't happen. Refusing to rise to my taunting expression, she crept to one side, away from the snarling pair on the ground. I shifted, keeping myself between the ferocious vampire and my fiance.
…can't win. You're outnumbered. Either I will kill you, or Riley will, or the werewolf. Leave now, let me have the human, and I might just let you live… She feinted to one side, then lunged to the other. I was already there, blocking her, and she backed away. Slinking back and forth, she was maneuvering me closer to the pair on the ground.
Riley got in a sharp jab at Seth, and I was aware of a flare of pain in his shoulder. Riley rolled away from the wolf and leapt to his feet, kicking out at his shoulder again, and I heard the crunch as Seth felt the bone crack with the force of the kick. Pain seared down my arm and I flexed my hand in an attempt to shake off the sensation, knowing I was only feeling Seth's pain. I was not injured, and the wolf was already healing.
Riley spread his arms, crouching and grimacing. I wanted to laugh at him. He'd never lost a limb before, and the sensation of being in more than one place at a time was disconcerting. He kept feeling his hand flexing, but it wasn't there. I heard a rustling on the ground behind me and knew it was his hand, moving with jerking spasms on the leaf covered ground.
Seth limped to the side, trying to keep out of my way, while advancing on Riley again. He lunged, just as he'd seen his sister do and grabbed onto the stump, ripping more of that arm off and flinging it through the air. Riley screamed, unable to comprehend how a mere animal was able to hurt him.
Victoria was backing away, luring me away from the girl I was protecting. If she could get me into the trees, she thought she could use them to get around me, killing Bella and running away before I could stop her. I mirrored every step that she made, seeing them in her mind before she moved. Like Alice had done when sparing with Jasper, I danced with my enemy, anticipating her moves, and leading her in a deadly ballet.
…want to kill her so much! The thought in her mind was nearly a sob. Her pain at losing her mate – a pain I was all too familiar with – filled her mind, and her body strained against her instincts. She was torn, needing Bella to die, but determined to live, as she always did. I felt her gift working. Like most talents that I had experienced before, it was a strange sensation. More than an instinct, not quite an ability to see the future like Alice's, she felt a sensation of wrongness as she contemplated lunging at me.
I heard her thinking of various scenarios, ways to go around me, through me, over me, anything that would accomplish her aim, trying to find one that felt right. The only one that seemed to accomplish that was for her to run away and never come back – something that she couldn't abide.
"Don't go, Victoria. You'll never get another chance like this," I taunted her, practically crooning as I used my voice to its fullest persuasive potential.
She hissed, baring her teeth at me. She stopped moving away, while I crept a step closer to her, and then another. ...so close! She growled at me, seeming incapable of speech, but her mental voice was flowing and deadly, like the venom I could taste in my mouth. ...can't hide her forever. You will live forever looking for me over your shoulder until the day when I end you both! But, oh, I want her right now. Then again, if I don't end her today, there is always tomorrow... Surely I can find a way around...
"You can always run later," I countered. "Plenty of time for that. It's what you do, isn't it? It's why James kept you around."
Deliberately, I downplayed her relationship with her mate. She had loved James, just as Riley loved her, but in neither case did I believe the feeling was returned. They were a triangle the opposite of my own with Bella and Jacob.
"Useful, if you like to play deadly games. A partner with an uncanny instinct for escaping. He shouldn't have left you – he could have used your skills when we caught up to him in Phoenix."
She hissed through her teeth. You know nothing of James! We were in love for longer than you've even been alive!
"That's all you ever were to him, though," I argued. "Silly to waste so much energy avenging someone who had less affection for you than a hunter for his mount. You were never more than a convenience to him. I would know." Tapping the side of my head, I smirked at her.
A pain-filled shriek escaped her and she launched herself toward me, swerving at the last second to try to reach Bella. I saw her plan and stepped around her, blocking the way. She wove back and forth, darting to the left, and then the right, edging backwards and then lunging forward again, trying to get around me, but each time, I was there first. I could see her planning each move, and there was no way I was going to allow her to get even close to my Bella.
Pain seared through my hip this time, and I was aware of a low yelping from Seth, though he panted, I'm okay, I'm okay, I'm okay. Riley had gotten in a lucky punch and Seth's back leg was hurting. He played the injury up, limping and twitching as he backed away. I watched through Riley's eyes as the young wolf retreated toward me and Bella while he advanced on the wolf, taking advantage of his apparent injury.
Seth lured him away from the trees, closer to Bella and myself, but into a better position from which he could attack the young vampire. Victoria stopped advancing on me, watching eagerly as Seth got closer to me. Each step Seth took allowed Riley to get closer to Bella. Victoria didn't take her eyes off of me, but a vampire's vision could see a great deal of detail. Though I was concentrating on Victoria, I could see the trees behind her, the lakes in the distance, and the rainbows that our skin was throwing onto the ground, the boulders, and the snow. She didn't need to look directly at Riley to watch him anymore than I did.
As Seth inched closer to me, I felt the excitement in Victoria's mind and saw an image of the wolf ripping my head off. Through her eyes, I watched Seth get closer to me until I felt his tail brushing against my back. He continued to stay focused on Riley, growling low in his chest. His lips were pulled away from his teeth which he snapped in warning whenever the vampire got too close to Bella. The strange sensations of having his hand moving about on the ground and a part of the same arm laying several feet away from himself made Riley wary, and he backed away in fear from the wolf's razor-sharp teeth.
...attack. He has to attack! Why isn't he attacking him?! Come on! Turn around you dumb mutt!
"No, he won't turn on me. You provided us with a common enemy. You allied us." I grinned and edged closer to Victoria, giving the wolf more maneuvering room.
She ground her teeth together, furious and confused. ...not possible! No werewolf has ever befriended a vampire! We have been enemies since the dawn of time. It's practically programmed for them to hate us, and humans, too! Why? How? He should have attacked the human by now, driven by his need to increase his numbers, like all of their kind are. James told me...
I saw in her mind an image that I had only ever before seen as a drawing that Carlisle remembered studying during his time among the Volturi. She was remembering James killing a large wolf that was somehow not a wolf. It had been rather like a monkey with its long forearms, or a bear with its hulking body. And yet, the image was very wolf-like with its long muzzle full of sharp teeth and the way it had walked upon its toes rather than its feet due to the distinctly shaped hind legs of a dog. The creature Victoria remembered was truly a monster, for despite its animalistic appearance, there was an odd human quality to the shape of its head, its eyes, and its ears. She remembered it slinking and skittering across the snow with its tail tucked between its legs as James lunged at and harassed the beast.
"Look more closely, Victoria. Is he really so much like the monster James tracked across Siberia?" The Quileute wolves were wolves. Gigantic, to be sure, able to become wolf or human, yes, but in their animal form, they were wolves, indistinguishable from their animal cousins in shape and form.
She stared at Seth, recognizing for the first time what Carlisle had seen from the start. These werewolves were not our ancient enemy. These werewolves were men in wolf form, but they were not the monsters of legend. They were not the creatures that Caius had hunted to near extinction, that others of my kind – like James – would track simply for the sport of an opponent worthy of our vampire speed and strength.
Victoria's eyes grew wide and darted from Seth to Bella to me and back again. She saw that the only fear on Bella's face was due to herself. The human girl was unable to take her eyes off of the ferocious red-haired vampire, though she was the threat that was farthest away. Neither Seth nor Riley could hold Bella's attention. In Seth's eyes, Victoria saw his intelligence in the way his focus never wavered from the vampire he had pitted himself against, where the werewolf she had seen James kill had appeared to be driven by instinct and rage even more so than a newly made vampire.
"Not the same?" she gasped and growled in fury. "Impossible!" ...never heard of any other kind of werewolf. James would have known! Maria would have known! How can there be more than one?
"Nothing is impossible," I whispered to her. "Except what you want. You'll never touch her."
I will! She's as good as dead! She shook her head violently back and forth, infuriated by Bella's presence, by the fact that the human girl was still alive despite all of her efforts. She saw a space to one side of me and lunged, but as soon as I saw the decision to do so in her mind, I blocked the space, placing myself in between the vampire and my beloved. Bella's heart still pounded out the rhythm I'd listened to for so long, pushing adrenaline through her system, filling the small space with her unique and powerful scent.
The smell distracted Victoria and the sound of the wet pulsing pulled at her. Her eyes were completely black and the fire in her throat rivaled a desert under a noonday sun. She had to have her! Her entire body shook with the need to take Bella's life.
Fine, then. If I can't get around you, I'll have to go through you.
She crouched, no longer attempting to outmaneuver me, and stalked toward me, feral and feline. I tasted my venom, and knew that if my heart still beat, it would have been pounding in tempo with Bella's.
This was it, I was sure. There would be no more backing her off, or distracting her from her attack with my words. Victoria would not be diverted from her goal. She would either kill me, or die trying, and I was determined that the fight would result in her death, not mine, and certainly not Bella's. Bella was going to marry me. She'd admitted to her love of Jacob at last, and had rejected him. She was mine! Now and forever, she was mine and I was hers. All that was standing in the way of eternity in each other's arms was this vindictive vampire.
My body filled with strength from the knowledge of Bella's love, and I crouched, feeling my lips pull away from my teeth. I could see them glistening with venom in Victoria's mind, but though my eyes were black like hers, I was not thirsty. Despite being aware of her thirst echoing in my own throat, my recent months without blood - and before that, my months of denying my need for Bella's blood - had given me a kind of strength that few of my kind had ever had before. The sound of Bella's living heart was what I was thirsty for and the taste of her willing kisses was the only thing my mouth desired. Her gentle love was what my body craved, and Victoria's determination to kill Bella was nothing in the face of my resolve to keep Bella alive.
We moved at the same time and the sound of our bodies colliding together was like thunder. Thrusting hard against her shoulders, I shoved her backward and into the air with as much force as I could muster. She crouched as soon as her feet hit the ground. Her bare feet gripped the rock-hard mountainside and she only skidded slightly. Without a pause, she came for me again. Her hands were like claws, and I winced at the image of my eyeless face in her mind. Her face was lit with eager anticipation as she aimed for my eyes.
Avoiding her grasping fingers, I ducked under her arm and used my greater body mass to force her further away from where Bella stood. I grabbed onto an outstretched arm and spun, throwing her over my shoulder. She hit a tree and it shattered with a sharp crack. Shards of wood flew around us and the tree toppled over, but not before Victoria had used it to propel herself back toward me. As though she was my lover throwing herself into my arms, I caught her about her waist. Rather than embrace her, I used her momentum to swing her around and flung her away again, at the cost of another tree's life.
I was vaguely aware of Riley's pain as Seth used his distraction with our fight to snap off yet another piece of him.
Victoria was oblivious to her companion's bellow as she launched herself at me again. Unlike a newborn, who would attack based on instinct, Victoria was strategizing, trying to find a way past my defenses. I knew that the next time I saw Jasper, I'd have to thank my brother a thousand times over for the training he had given to me and our family. I remembered the moves he'd taught me, recalling how he'd analyzed our attacks on him, and how he'd defeated every one of them.
I saw each of her moves in her mind before she made them, and was there to counter her before she could strike. She reached for me, but I was already ducking and spinning, slamming my fist into her shoulder blade as I stood up behind her. I heard a sickening crunch as my blow shattered her bones. She hissed in pain, but didn't pay the injury any attention, knowing that if she won, she would heal, and would heal as she fought, too. She spun, kicking out her leg in a high arch. I swerved back and her foot just missed connecting with my face.
Victoria reached for me and I wrapped my hands around her arms. We grappled, pushing and twisting as she tried to tear one of my arms off and I attempted to do the same to her. She kicked out, trying to knock my legs out from under me and I had to let go of the arm I held to block her kick. Lunging and darting forward like a snake, she tried to get a hold on me again, but I parried, blocking her arms with mine. Our forearms connected, and then our legs as she stepped close and brought her knee up between us. Though not as vulnerable as a human would have been to the kind of blow she was trying to land, I was grateful my speed allowed me to knock her leg away before it connected with my sensitive groin.
I heard the sound of a large body crashing against a rock, and felt the surprise and pain from Seth as he fell to the ground only a few feet away from Bella, who stood motionless, her wide eyes locked on my fight against Victoria. I doubted she could see much; the ferocious vampire was moving with as much speed as she was capable, but not for nothing did my family call me fast. Victoria was a snail compared to me, and I flashed around her, hitting her in her rib-cage, the small of her back, and her other shoulder in quick succession. She flinched, feeling her bones shatter and her skin tearing and cracking under the force of my blows.
Using her distraction due to the pain, I reached for her, latching onto her with my teeth. I intended to deliver a killing bite, but she ducked and I missed, catching her instead just at the top of her shoulder, inches from her neck. Victoria spun and twisted away from my bite, gasping in pain, and I spat out the hunk of her flesh I had torn away. Her face was twisted and angry, her eyes wide, and her teeth bared in a furious grimace. I crouched, waiting for her next attack, seeing through the eyes of both vampires and the wolf. In Victoria's mind, my face was wildly triumphant, my glistening teeth bared in an ecstatic grin. I had wanted to end this vampire's life for so long that I was nearly giddy with excitement.
Seth lay on the ground, waiting on Riley, whose hand was misshapen from where Seth's teeth had crunched his fingers off, the other arm ending in a jagged stump, the hand gone. Seth saw that Riley's eyes, bright red and furious, were locked on him where he lay, seemingly helpless. Riley opened his mouth wide, preparing to rip the wolf's throat open.
Looking past me to where her companion was about to end the wolf's life, Victoria chuckled softly. ...you lose. Your pet wolf is all but dead, and your human will be next!
Livid, I threw myself at her, reaching for her head, planning on ripping it from her shoulders, but she locked her hands around my arms again. I twisted so that we gripped each other's arms, and – knowing that her shoulder was already broken – was able to use my greater size to my advantage. I wrenched at her arm, nearly tearing it off, but she tucked her leg up between us. Victoria placed her foot against my chest and shoved me away, pulling herself out of my grasp. The arm I'd held was still attached, but dangling from her shoulder. Not caring that I could feel my own shoulder burning in an echo of her pain, I kicked out hard. My longer legs gave me the advantage, catching her in her chest and knocking her into another tree.
At that moment, fear shot through me. I heard Bella's pain-filled gasp and the scents of the forest, the wolf, and the vampires were overshadowed by the rich smell of Bella's flowing blood. Victoria's eyes instantly locked on the source of the scent. I felt the victory in her mind from her certainty that Riley had his teeth buried in Bella's neck. My eyes were wide, and if my heart had still beat, it would have stopped in terror. I looked through Victoria's eyes and felt her confusion. Bella stood feet away from Riley. Her blood was coating a rock that she held in her hand and dripped from the fingers of her other as it ran down the length of her arm.
As it had done with Jasper, the scent overpowered Riley's mind. The wolf forgotten, he prepared to launch himself at the delicious smelling human girl who was bleeding in front of him.
I groaned in frustration. I had known something like that would happen! This was why I couldn't allow Bella to be in the clearing. If ever she believed me to be in danger, she would sacrifice herself to save me. Seeing Seth apparently incapacitated and not capable of following my fight with Victoria, she had acted as the elders of the Quileute tribe had taught her. Using the vampires' nature against them, she'd shed her own blood, hoping to distract them from their fights with Seth and myself.
No longer planning on ending the wolf's life, Riley had only one thought on his mind: to get to Bella and drink her dry.
Seth's plan had been a good one. He'd lain on the ground, waiting for the vampire to get closer, at which point, he would have flung himself upwards, at an angle that would have allowed him to latch his teeth onto Riley's throat, and torn his head from his shoulders. Now though, the thirsty young vampire had no interest in the wolf, and – fast though he was – Seth would never be able to move quick enough to prevent Bella's death.
In the instant that it took me to see the situation, I was already flinging myself at Victoria. I hit her with all of my strength and speed, throwing her into the trees and using her body as a spring to propel myself in the opposite direction, to where Riley was just beginning to take a step toward Bella. His arms were reaching out toward the fearless human girl and I planted a foot in the middle of his back, grabbed onto the arm that still possessed a hand, and twisted. Unlike when I'd attempted to do the same thing to Victoria, I had the leverage and the element of surprise, and this time, the familiar sound of screeching metal filled my ears as Riley's arm came off in my grasp. The young vampire screamed in shock and pain.
Seth jumped to his feet, prepared to finish Riley off, but his eyes focused past me onto Victoria. No longer blocking her way, my attack on Riley had left Bella exposed to her line of sight, and she had the clear path she needed in order to reach the human girl. Her face broke into a wild grin, and I heard her laughter dancing in my head.
Your human is dead! And her blood is mine...
My hands still gripped Riley's arm and I flung the twitching thing at my enemy as hard as I could, hitting her square in the chest just as she began her leap toward Bella. The speed at which I threw my makeshift weapon combined with her forward momentum and diverted her. The arm hit her with the force of a missile and she spun to the side, crashing into yet another tree. She landed on her feet and crouched, determined to drink Bella's blood, but I was already standing in her way. Furious, she kicked at the arm that lay at her feet. As I had told Carlisle only weeks earlier, the thing seemed alive – but wasn't. The fingers of the ruined hand convulsively opened and shut, pulling the arm around on the forest floor.
Beside me, I saw Seth launch himself at Riley, grabbing his remaining arm and crunching through the bones, twisting as I had done. The horrible metallic screeching that I hated filled the air, but was quickly drowned out by the sound of his screams.
Seth flicked his tongue, trying to rid his mouth of the burning taste of the vampire. …Blech! Leah was right! They taste worse than they smell. Blech, blech, blech!
Riley was armless, incapable of fighting off the snarling fury of slashing teeth as Seth lunged for him again. "Victoria!" he cried as Seth grabbed him by the throat, tumbling with him into the forest, not far from where Victoria crouched, watching me. She didn't spare the pair even a thought as Seth tore through his throat, separating his head from his shoulders, and silencing Riley's screams. Knowing that even that didn't equal a vampire's death, he continued to rip and tear at the young man's twitching body, shredding it into pieces.
Picturing herself in Riley's place when the wolf was done, Victoria backed away from me, staring at Bella in agonized disappointment. No! All my planning, ruined by those MUTTS! Her breaths began to hitch and tear from her chest; she was practically sobbing in her defeat. This isn't over! The past months were only a taste of the terror you'll feel. Enjoy this victory because it will be your last. I'll return and finish your coven off one by one, saving you for the last! After I kill her, of course...
"No," I taunted her. "Stay just a little longer." This was going to end now. She would never leave this mountain.
She saw my eyes blazing, and knew that it meant her death. She spun, sprinting for the trees. I wasn't even aware of my feet touching the ground I moved so fast. One moment I was standing in front of Bella, the next I was wrapping my arm around Victoria, bending my head to kiss her throat like a lover. Rather than pressing my lips against soft skin, my teeth sank into her stone flesh, and with a twist of the arm I had wrapped around her, I tore her head away from her body, and it fell at my feet, bouncing once and coming to rest against a tree. Her fiery red hair wrapped around her head and obscured her face and the look of surprised horror which I was sure was there.