Chapter Fifty-Three:

Benito Martino watched the man the vampire world had known as Lucifer walk through the ruined office door and disappear silently into the hallway. He briefly thought about alerting his soldiers to the killer's presence, but discarded the thought almost as soon as it occurred to him.

In retrospect, he didn't want anyone to know the killer had been there. That would not have fitted in with the larger plans that were developing in his mind at the moment.

Besides, Lucifer had gotten into his lair without most of his men noticing, he'd probably have the same covert way of escaping as well. For about forty years, everyone from the Volturi on down had tried to capture, trap, and kill the assassin with no success. He seemed to come and go as he pleased, killing entire covens at will and then disappearing without a trace as if he were a phantom.

He now knew without a doubt the man wasn't a specter of any kind.

Back then, they all had thought him just a human with a grudge and a whole lot of incredible luck, but tonight he'd learned that the man was something else. What that something was, Benito at the moment hadn't a clue. He wasn't a vampire that was for certain, not with that heartbeat – as strange as it was. Nor was he a Shifter or a Child of the Moon. His scent was odd and not really human or shifter either.

He'd have to make some discreet inquires about possible answers if he was going to learn Lucifer's secret, he thought to himself as he idly fingered the pendant, running the old gold chain through his hands.

Once he had learned what he wanted to know it might give him the upper hand, then perhaps Lucifer could be persuaded to form a different sort of alliance with Martino's coven, one that would be very profitable to Martino personally.

He wouldn't need to depend on the groups of unreliable Rogues he'd been recruiting any longer, if he had the infamous Lucifer as his private assassin. Perhaps he could think of something the killer would find mutually beneficial to them both in return for his assistance. Money, power, or just a safer haven… every living being had his or her price.

With Lucifer's help, Benito foresaw himself as Lord of Seattle in the very near future. Well, Lord of Seattle in the sense that he would be holding the territory for his true masters. He also might be able to eventually use his Illuminati backing and Lucifer's deadly skills to finally take his revenge on Aro and his cluster of hanger-ons. He definitely wanted to make them pay for the disgrace he suffered at their hands all those years in Italy.

And if Lucifer declined to be willingly cooperative in his quest for a new order, there was always that grazer girl he has an even stranger interest in, to use as leverage if need be.

He made a mental note to discreetly attempt to find out all he could about her as well.

Martino smiled to himself, in coming here and making this deal, the infamous killer of vampires had handed over his very weakness right into Benito's hands. If nothing else, that mud-eyed girl would be the key to controlling Lucifer.

He decided to put only a few of his very best and most trusted people on quietly learning the girl's identity if they were able, just in case that back up plan for leverage became necessary.

Perhaps, he thought next, it might also be in his own best interest for Martino to tip the odds against that particular pack of Rogues in Lucifer's favor. It would have to be done discreetly and with a delicate hand of course. It wouldn't do for it to become known that he had betrayed his own employees, which would make it much harder to recruit help in the future if his plans for the killer didn't bare the fruit he hoped they would right away.

He turned the idea over in his mind for several moments, and then decided that it would be wise for him to wait and see how Lucifer handled the situation. After all… if the legendry Lucifer couldn't exterminate a pack of lowlife Rogue vampires, then he wasn't the killer he use to be, was he?

Yes, he would wait and see… and if Lucifer proved worthy and still capable in his estimate, Martino might assist him a little bit in removing the remains of the Rogue coven if required. He didn't want a possible valuable asset needlessly lost on a simple test either if it still held some promise.

It was always best to hedge each and every bet as much as possible in this business.

Especially when he was acting secretly in the interest of his new masters, and by thus, working to undermine the hold the Volturi have had on this new country, and the vampire world in general, for centuries.

A painful gasping murmur from the floor by the door earned Martino's attention. The guard with the broken neck still lay there looking up at him. He was trying to make words, but was having trouble getting anything out but a bunch of annoying noises that made no sense.

"Oh yes. Must do something about that," Benito thought to himself.

The big guard would continue to have trouble with speaking until his neck bones mended themselves and he regained control of his lungs once more.

Fortunately, without feeding, that was hours if not at least a day away for the vampire!

Perhaps Lucifer had done him a service without realizing it by choosing to incapacitate the guard in such a manner?

Martino slid the medallion into his desk drawer for safekeeping and locked it, he wasn't ready to reveal to anyone the signet had been returned to his custody just yet. As always, you could never have too many backup plans whenever possible, if the Illuminati's plans failed, then the medallion assured his place back on the Volturi council.

He didn't like the last option very much, as it would still leave him as an underling of Aro and the others. And it was especially undesirable given the disrespect he and his coven had suffered at Volturi hands for the last eighty years, but it was better than nothing if the Illuminati's quest for power proved unsuccessful.

He needed to carefully construct and place his story to cover its reappearance in that regard. His coven had waited over eighty years for its return to some semblance of power; it could stand to wait a little while longer.

He hit the button on the intercom atop his desk as soon as the pendant was safely tucked away from casual view.

"Staschio… come up here," he demanded as soon as his second in command answered his call.

The sentry looked up at him with grateful eyes, thinking his master was calling for someone to aid him.

Benito smiled back at the guard in a kindly reassuring manner.

Staschio appeared within ten seconds of the summons. The tall Spanish vampire paused at the destroyed door with a question plainly in his red eyes as he took in the considerable damage.

Martino waved the question off, and instead pointed at the guard on the floor.

"Take him to the basement and dismember the fool. Then burn all the pieces in the furnace," Benito commanded. "I want nothing left of him."

The unlucky guard's eyes widened in shock at the order, and he began trying to yell and plead. The sounds that came out were not any more understandable as they had been just a few minutes ago.

Staschio shrugged in indifference at the order, and picked up the massive sentry as if he weighted about as much as a feather-filled pillow. He was out of the office in a flash, taking the doomed vampire guard with him.

Martino smiled.

Staschio was the perfect second in command, the coven head reflected. Unlike Montimori, Martino had chosen his second with an eye toward lack of ambition… as any smart coven leader would do in his opinion.

Publicly, Benito had been outraged when Lucifer had killed his sire; privately… he really hadn't been all that heartbroken over the matter. Seeing it suddenly left him in a new position of power. Perhaps it had been because he was so much older when he had been brought across that he could view the situation in a more logical manner, and see it for the opportunity it had been. Younger, more hot-blooded vampires, always screamed for vengeance first, and didn't see the bigger picture presented to them by an abrupt vacuum within the coven.

However, he hadn't foreseen his new status being cut relatively short by the Volturi summoning him back to Italy as a result of Montimori's sudden death.

Still, Staschio never questioned anything Martino asked of him. He probably just assumed that the guard his leader asked him to destroy had angered Benito in some way, and that's how the door got damaged as well. When in truth, Benito simply didn't want to have any witnesses to the meeting between Lucifer and himself around to talk about it later.

Three could keep a secret much better if one of them were dead. The secret was even more secure if two of the three were dead… but that would leave him without the asset of his own private assassin… so exceptions to that logical rule needed to be made.

He made a mental note to have Staschio and his people perform a random inspection of the security measures of his home, to see if they might discover how Lucifer had gained entry… and to have someone repair his office door and refurnish his prized desk.

However, at the moment, he had other more important things to plan for. He smiled and breathed deeply, as if he could smell power again coming his way – and great power at that.

His future was looking brighter by the moment.