Chapter 37

Toni's P.O.V.

When we arrived at the Cullen's house, Esme set me on the couch and went into the kitchen, while Carlisle sat next to me on the couch. I heard Esme rummaging around the kitchen and briefly wondered what it was she was doing. As I sat there, I thought about Edward and his siblings. I was worried for them. Even though I knew they outnumbered the other vampires, I was scared that one of them would be heavily injured. I didn't know the extent of their fighting skills and Edward telling me that vampires could be killed did not help.

Carlisle interrupted my worrying by placing a fatherly hand on my back.

"How are you feeling, Toni?" he asked me.

"How do you think I feel, Carlisle?" I retorted back. I immediately knew I shouldn't have talked back the way I did and apologized.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to disrespect you," I said. "I'm just not used to all this and I'm very worried for them."

He smiled in understanding.

"That's alright, Toni," he said. "I understand that this may be a bit overwhelming, especially so what with everything happening at once."

"It is a bit overwhelming," I agreed. I was being truthful when I told him that. I wasn't used to the supernatural world and I didn't know if I would be used to it anytime soon. I accepted them; being a vampire didn't change my opinions or perspective of them, but it was scary thinking about what the world really had to offer. I was a human and lived in the human world since birth. Being introduced to the vampire world and getting into situations due to vampires in a matter of days was frightening. Would I be able to handle such things if I dated Edward?

Yes, I would. I already knew the answer to that question, yet I had to question myself to make sure. Edward was my mate. Although I didn't have as strong of a pull towards Edward as he had towards me, I felt something and knew that I didn't want to let go. Mates were supposed to be forever, if the Cullen couples were anything to go by. They loved each other no matter what they went through and that was what was so appealing about the mating bond. Love was beautiful, but from my understanding of love, it could fade away. For instance, my mom and dad were in love each other when they first got together, but as time went by, they started to fall out of love and divorced. Because of that, I was scared to get married; scared to give myself to someone forever. With Edward, I could see myself eventually settling down with him. I could see myself living with him and the Cullen's and putting up with anything that came my way.

"Here you go, dear," Esme said. She was standing in front of me with a cup of tea in her hand. She handed me the cup and I gladly accepted it. I took a sip and let out a calming breath.

"It's green tea. I wasn't sure what you wanted in it, so I added some sugar and honey. I hope you like it."

"Thank you, Esme."

We sat there for what felt like hours before I was startled when Alice, Rosalie, and Cecilia seemed to appear in the room. I was relieved when I saw them and immediately got up to greet each of them with hugs. They were stiff in my arms, at first, but they melted a bit after a few seconds. I pulled away from them when I figured they were tense and stepped away from them to sit back on the couch.

"What happened?" Carlisle asked.

"My sister got away," Cecilia said reluctantly.

"She was too fast," Rosalie said angrily. "We tried following her trail, but we lost it within minutes."

"Wait, that woman was your sister?" I asked Cecilia. I remember her telling me she had a sister, but I wasn't informed that she was turned.

"Yes," Cecilia bluntly said. "I know you must have questions, but I would like it if we came back to this at another time."

"And the man?" Esme asked.

"Edward, Jasper, and Emmett went after him," Alice answered. "They'll be here in a few minutes."

"This is bad," Carlisle said grimly. "With the woman on the loose, I fear what she may do. It isn't rare that a vampire retaliates after being threatened."

"We'll need to be careful," Cecilia said. "From what I picked up from her, she's fast and smart. She'll be hard to catch."

"But not impossible."

I turned to see Edward, Jasper, and Emmett walk through into the room. Jasper and Emmett went o Alice's and Rosalie's sides respectively and Edward came to sit beside me. He wrapped me in his arms and wouldn't let go. Although I liked the feeling of being in his arms, I grew uncomfortable with the angle I was in. I tried to shift positions, but Edward growled in warning. My eyes widened in surprise and I looked up at him. His eyes were black and held a warning within them.

"Edward," Carlisle said cautiously. "Calm down, son. Toni isn't in any immediate danger."

Edward took a deep breath and slowly, but surely unwound his arms. His eyes were still dark and he kept contact with me, but he seemed more relaxed.

"Thank you, Jasper," Edward said.

"Now, tell me what happened," Carlisle demanded. He was looking at the boys pointedly and waited for them to explain.

"We caught up to him quickly and were able to dismember him," Jasper said. "We burned him and made sure there was minimal damage to the land around us."

Carlisle sighed in relief and said, "Good. The girls were not able to catch the female and the last thing we need is to direct human attention to ourselves."

"That's not our only problem," Edward said darkly.

-Page Break-

Third P.O.V.

Victoria was standing in a warehouse located in Seattle after running away from the female Cullen's. She was waiting for James and her other companion to show up. She knew Laurent wouldn't show up after disappearing on them. She growled in annoyance at the thought of that traitor. She always knew he would leave when things got tough; it wasn't in his nature to fight and take risks. When she found out he had left, she was livid. How could he have left without trying to help her and her mate escape? Although they were coven mates for only a short period of time, she couldn't believe he gave up on them so quickly.

She had been cautious as the Cullen's crouched in defense and all she could think about was how she and her mate could escape without getting harmed or killed. After their leader gave them the order, she sped off into the forest with James at her heels. She decided to split up and was glad when only the girls came after her. She knew that James could handle himself, so she only worried about getting away. She smirked as she remembered how slow they were and how angry they had gotten when she had laughed at them. She has been running from danger since she was turned, so the thought of them thinking they could catch her was hilarious.

She stiffened as she felt a presence I the room with her, but relaxed as she recognized the scent.

"Finally decided to show up?" she asked.

"I had a few things to do."

She turned around to find a male vampire. He had long, chestnut hair that was hanging freely down to his shoulders and red eyes that were bright due to his recent feeding. He was wearing a plain, gray T-shirt and ripped jeans with a leather jacket and a pair of sneakers on his feet. He looked to be in his early twenties, and he was tall, at least 6 feet in height, with an impressive muscle mass.

"Where are James and Laurent?" he asked Victoria.

"We were cut off by some vampires before we could bring her to you. They were protecting her and came after us. Laurent left before they attacked and James and I split up to try to shake them off our tail," she explained.

"Are you lying to me?" he asked dangerously.

Victoria tried to hide her fear, but she knew she wasn't covering it up well. Even so, she straightened her back and said, "Of course not."

The male pushed her up against a wall and slammed her head into it. He hissed and held her chin, making sure she was looking him in the eye.

"I'll ask one more time, Victoria. Are you lying to me?" he asked slowly. He knew she was lying about something, but wasn't sure about what. It was his gift. When someone lied, a red slither of fog or breath would leave their mouth with their words. He had watched as a red slither of breath had left Victoria's mouth during the first part of her explanation and wasn't sure if she was lying about the vampires or about bringing Toni back.

"Yes," Victoria said.

"Tell me the truth."

"We were cut off by some vampires, but we weren't planning on bringing her back to you."

The male threw her away from him in frustration and started pacing back and forth. Who were they to disobey his orders?

"You're lucky I still need you or else I would kill you. Now, you said Laurent left?"

Victoria sneered and said, "You knew he was a coward from the day we met him."

"Still, I didn't think he would flee like that," he said with a frown on his face. "No worries, though. He'll get what's coming to him after we finish this. Now, tell me about these vampires you encountered."

-Page Break-

Toni's P.O.V.

"I looked into James's mind before we killed him and saw that there was someone working behind the scenes. Their attack wasn't random," Edward said. I grew fearful as I understood what he was saying. Someone was trying to kill me.

"They're weren't trying to kill you," Edward told me. "They were trying to take you to someone."

"They were trying to kidnap Toni?" Esme asked with alarm.

"Yes," Edward said in a clipped tone.

"Who's behind it, Edward?" Carlisle asked.

Edward remained silent for a while before he asked me to leave the room. I gave him a questioning glance and stayed rooted in my seat.

"I think I deserve to know who's behind all this, Edward. It doesn't just affect you, but it affects me," I argued.

"She's right," Jasper said. "I understand your protectiveness Edward, but Toni needs to know. What if she were to bump into this person without any of us by her?"

"I understand that, but I don't want to scare her. She knows who it is."

"Which gives us an even better reason to tell her who it is. Since she knows this person, she could give us valuable information about them," Jasper said.

Edward sighed and looked off in the distance. I grabbed his hand in mine and rubbed my thumb against the back of it.

It's okay to tell me. I'm strong enough for this.

He turned his head and gazed into my eyes before he sighed once more and told us the person's identity.

"It's Dean, Toni."

A.N.

shadowoftheblackdeat: It was Dean! and stay away from my computer.

Guest: I'm happy you're such a happy potato \(^0^)/

AHealingRenaissance: I thought that Edward's character needed to be refined I'm happy you like it!

Guest: Thank you!

sholtsclaw698: Thank you so much!