Chapter Forty-Four: Surrounded by Monsters
Edward (POV)
"On foot, you're fucking kidding me." Emmett swore in frustration. We had caught her scent and I found her mental presence just outside of Mexico City heading southeast in practically a straight line without regard to roads. We had to abandon the rental jeep at a dead-end road in the middle of nowhere.
"We don't have a choice." I said trying to hold in my own exasperation. On foot with a sold head start, we would likely be following her all the way to her destination.
"I wish Rose and Bella were with us, at least we wouldn't be alone." Emmett grumbled; we both knew this would keep us from home for days.
"You know they had to stay, but I miss them too." I said pulling my backpack tightly around my stomach and starting the first stretch of our run at relatively human speeds. I kept my ability open so we would know when we could let loose and move at our full speed.
The trail was difficult to keep on top of, especially as it moved through residential areas and larger towns and cities. She moved through Mexico in just a handful of hours, then down through Guatemala and deep into the mountains and wilderness of Honduras before crossing into Nicaragua to a well-hidden and sizable compound situated in a beautiful valley that was practically inaccessible to mortals. There were no roads to access the site, just a helicopter pad and a private air strip. It was so far out of range of any kind of civilization that even with our strength and speed it was difficult to get to. Cell service had been patchy for most of the journey, and to make matters worse on the fifth day we took a shortcut that ended in a mudslide killing my phone and damaging Emmett's.
Catching Victoria was out of the question when we found her destination. It was all we could do to keep from being seen by the roving patrols guarding the grounds. We waited in silence trying to catch a glimpse of her, until finally on the second day of our arrival Victoria and Maria appeared on a veranda. We trained our ears and my gift on their conversation.
"Cullen's, why on earth did you pick a fight with them? They are one of the largest and closest-knit covens in the world." Maria said, scolding Victoria.
"James set his sights on a human they had adopted, probably to turn. Turns out her mate is an ancient who eventually bested him." Victoria shook her head. I couldn't read her expression but her mental state was boiling over with barely restrained fury.
"Arrogant and foolish, I never could see what you loved about him. Was it at least one on one?" Maria seemed to sigh in mild exasperation. Victoria shook her head, nearly lashing out at Maria but holding back the impulse.
"No, I was there. We outnumbered him, and even had his mate to use as a bargaining chip. But James had to push the fight. It would've gone our way if Laurent had been there. But he left to join another Coven months ago, one I've heard rumored to be tied to the Cullen's. He barely gave me anything when I called in a favor before coming here." Victoria said with a small sneer.
"Any information can be useful, what did he tell you?" Maria advised, but her words were lost on Victoria who shook her head again, her mind full of single-minded thoughts of revenge. The things she planned for Angela made my skin crawl. Needing at least a short reprieve, I directed my focus towards Maria instead. Her mind was very calm and organized, but deeply cold. Despite the kinship she felt towards Victoria, who she thought of as a daughter despite the fact Victoria was much older than her, she held no real love for her.
"All he would give me was that the Cullen's have a telepath and a seer." Victoria's anger came through, and her mask of sadness cracked in front of Maria who just frowned slightly.
"Hmmm, that complicates things. If you do plan on using my tactics you will need a General, one you can trust. Turning one is usually a good choice, it takes time but can breed a specific kind of loyalty. Of course, not even my Sophia could match Jasper. How I miss him." She mused, and as she spoke of Jasper, I could see her memories of him, they had shared a bed until he left her coven. I hadn't realized he had been that close with her.
"From our observation of their coven, Jasper is no longer among them. I got the impression there was some drama there, but no one spoke of him directly. So as far as I know he is no longer with them, maybe you have a chance to win him back." I took in a deep breath of anger realizing they had watched us without us knowing. If I had been able to use my power then, we would never have been so blind. It just drove home the fact we needed to get back as soon as possible. Maria's mind went spiraling with the possibilities but shook her head after a moment before settling on a truth she found could accept no matter how painful it was for her.
"After sixty years? Unlikely. However, I am no longer actively at war and my army has matured to provide security rather than mindless fodder. Which means Sophia is rather bored. I would consider lending her to you, for a price." Her words were carefully chosen, and I could hear a name rolling around in her head. Alice. I felt myself tense up because I couldn't quite read what she had in mind.
"Name it." Victoria said quickly, and scanning her thoughts confirmed her excitement in finding a shortcut to her revenge.
"One of the Cullen's is responsible for keeping my Jasper away, I believe her name is Alice. I would like you to bring her to me, alive." Emmett let out a small growl, and I had to put a hand on his shoulder to keep him from charging, no matter how much I wanted to follow the same impulse.
"Easy Emmett, we are vastly outnumbered here." I thought towards him.
"I know." Emmett thought specifically towards me.
"That could be tricky, why do you need her?" Victoria felt betrayed, while she didn't really care about the rest of the Cullen's, she wanted them dead by association.
"It is somewhat complicated, but the Volturi have been problematic lately and I would like to get into their good graces. Rumor is that Aro wants this girl as a part of their guard." She was playing it coy but looking deeper I could see she had been in contact with Aro directly to secure her own future over her rivals. Something vague, something violent in store for my family. The Volturi had been planning the end of Carlisle and our coven for years.
"Maria and Aro have been talking in secret about getting rid of us." I projected towards Emmett who flashed me a look of surprise, and then his nostrils flared in anger.
"We need to get home. Don't we have enough?" Emmett's thoughts made me ponder it for a fraction of a second but shook my head.
"Not yet." I sent towards him and directed my gift back towards the conversation.
"Okay, that could work. What can Sophia do for me?" Victoria looked almost thoughtful, so I checked, and was surprised to find she had calmed down and was now thinking strategically about her upcoming plans, including how she could work around both my gift and Alice's visions.
"She will recruit, train and organize an army discreetly to not draw the attention of the Volturi or the Cullen's. When they are ready, she will lead them to your enemy's doorstep and unleash them. Her success rate is second only to Jasper, so she will provide you with what you desire." Maria sounded satisfied with her general, and I checked and there was a great respect for the woman she had found to control her armies. But unlike Jasper, she did not love her at all. She was merely a tool to use in warfare.
"The human." Victoria specified, Angela still her target.
"Well yes, but namely the Cullen's will be wiped out. I must say, while they are rather reclusive, they do have a lot of friends. Are you sure you want to risk destroying them?" Maria asked not really caring but was curious how far Victoria would take this mission of vengeance.
"I don't care about collateral damage; I only want her. The rest, a bonus." Victoria said with a wide smile, the thought of killing an entire coven felt satisfying to her as memories of an ancient pain welled up in her chest. Thoughts of a coven slaughtered by the Volturi flashed through her mind. It made me momentarily wonder about her story.
"Victoria don't be sloppy." Maria said shaking her head, but the fury in Victoria's eyes made her stop.
"Fine, a deal is a deal. Just make sure it is never traced back to me." Maria stood and motioned towards the door. A deathly thin, darkly dressed woman with straight black hair and dead black eyes appeared. She came to stand next to Maria and glared at Victoria. I attempted to touch Sophia's mind, but it was as blank as Bella's, making me wonder if she had a shield of some kind. In the same instant she whipped her head towards the forest in my general direction and narrowed her eyes. She stared at our hiddenly location searching, until Maria spoke.
"Vicky, may I introduce Sophia." Maria sounded strange, and I couldn't quite figure out her expression, and her thoughts were directed entirely on the situation.
"This is who you want me to use?" Victoria looked at the woman with a note of obvious disappointment.
"She can stay here if you don't find her satisfactory." Maria raised an eyebrow, and Victoria immediately shook her head realizing her mistake.
"No, I appreciate your help." Victoria smiled and looked towards Sophia more appreciatively. The other woman just glanced at Victoria briefly before looking back in our direction.
"Good. Sophia, what's wrong?" Maria said looking out into the forest, her mind turning towards an enemy to the south that had been sending small numbers of newborn meat at her for the last few months.
"Company. Someone directed something at me, a gift of some kind." Sophia's voice matched her appearance, it was emotionless, and she sounded almost bored. Yet there was something icy in her tone, that gave me shivers. I frowned, and finally acknowledged we had overstayed our welcome.
"We've been made." I sent telepathically to Emmett.
"No shit Sherlock, never would've guessed." He responded sarcastically for a mental message. We turned and ran as carefully as we dared, and when we were sufficiently out of range we stopped.
"Do we go back?" Emmett asked, and I shrugged.
"We aren't going to get to Victoria now, she's probably going to take one of Maria's planes back to the States. We need to get back home."
"Do you have the first clue where civilization is?" Emmett asked looking around. "My phone is dead."
"We came due Southeast; I would guess we head Northwest and we'll eventually reach something." I was at a bit of a loss; I hadn't been paying that much attention to my surroundings as we followed her.
"Well shit." Emmett kicked a small stone in frustration, and I nodded in agreement. We looked at each other and started off in a generally northwesterly direction. Five hours and nearly a hundred miles later we emerged from the canopy to realize we had gone south after all.
"We're vampires, we're not supposed to have bad direction sense." I said in frustration.
"Says who? We're not omnipotent." Emmett shrugged and gave me a small smirk.
"Nice. Rose, making you read the classics finally?" I snapped back, and instantly regretted it.
"I have six college degree's Edward, I'm not as dim as I play most of the time." Emmett gave me a mildly disappointed look, which stung more than it would've if he had been justifiably angry at my remark.
"I know, I'm just upset. I've been making Bella wait for days." I hated making her worried, especially given what happened with her father. I briefly wondered what happened with Charlie but shoved it away to an inactive part of my mind so I could concentrate on our situation.
"What are we going to say? I mean we barely know anything." He frowned, and I opened my mouth a few times to respond before shrugging.
"I don't know. We have to update them, and soon." I said feeling a bit lost, even though we didn't have a ton of information, the danger to our family was distinct and urgent.
"You're right. Keep going and hope for the best?" Emmett said with a quick nod and then spread his hands wide motioning in all directions.
"Sure." I shrugged; I had no better options. We continued walking for another couple of hours before we crossed a smaller tree and I realized it looked exactly like one we had passed before.
"We're actually going in circles now." Emmett said as he noticed the tree at nearly the same instant I did.
"Yes, I just noticed that myself. I don't understand." I said as I ran through the last few hours of memories and realized we had been curving slightly to the right the entire time until we eventually looped around.
"Sun is setting, so that way is west. We go that direction and we'll hit the coast or a town eventually. The western part of this country is more populated." I extrapolated, pointing towards the darkening horizon.
"Sounds like a plan, but we'll have to go back into the thick again." Emmett frowned, but we started into the forest again. We made good time, but after a while I felt something at the edge of my telepathic range. I opened up my gift and felt several minds following us at a distance that we wouldn't be able to detect by scent or sound.
"Were being followed." I sent towards Emmett and he glanced at me with an almost imperceptible nod.
"Not just followed, I tagged one a while back on my right flank." He directed his thoughts back at me, and I could feel his worry. If they were Maria's scouts we could be in mortal danger.
"There are seven of them." I sent towards Emmett as I realized how many were chasing after us.
"Do we try to outrun them?" I projected towards him, and then he quickly flashed through scenarios and all of them ended badly for us. "No, we should stop. They know this area, and we don't want to risk a fight when the odds are worse than two to one." Emmett let out a small grunt before he stopped running.
"Point." I sent as I stopped next to him. They emerged from the shadows of the trees in a coordinated way, that made me think they had a lot of experience in combat. We were quickly surrounded, and a tall man with very short black hair and dark red eyes stepped forward.
"You follow us." His accent was very thick, and his voice was coarse despite his vampiric nature. I nodded without speaking, and Emmett followed suit. I could see it was killing him to stand down from a fight, but I had to respect his intuition. We wouldn't have won if we had decided to engage this group.
They led us back along a different path further south until we came upon another large development nestled in the wilderness with no obvious way in or out. While the compound wasn't nearly as large or extravagant as Maria's, there was an intentional almost utilitarian quality to it. There was also something else, at first, I couldn't place it, but then I realized it was the minds. There were dozens more people here, and not just vampires. Humans were imprisoned somewhere on the compound, and they were terrified.
As we were taken through the compound, I realized how many vampires were present, and it set me on edge. We weren't just outnumbered; we were vastly and almost comically outnumbered. We were taken to a large office overlooking the still rather impressive estate and the northern expanse of wilderness. A handsome young-looking man, clearly a vampire, stood at the window looking out without bothering to acknowledge us. I immediately tested his mind and found nothing. It wasn't like Bella or Sophia, or even Charlie. It was a bit like Mason, a mental wall of some kind.
"I can't read him, play this cool." I sent towards Emmett without looking at him.
"Damn. Okay, I'll be cool." Emmett responded not letting the frustration show on his face.
"Sir." One of the guards accompanying us said after a moment.
"Leave them." Our host said without moving.
"When you came south, I thought you were spies. My men seem to think otherwise, you were spying on Maria." He asked still without turning around, his arms crossed and his expression relatively neutral.
"Yes, she has a friend that means us harm." I said hoping that the adage that the enemy of my enemy could be my friend.
"Interesting. Please excuse my lack of hospitality, we rarely have guests." He turned and motioned towards two basic upright wooden chairs in front of a large block legged table in place of a traditional desk. "I am called Ricard, and you are?"
"Edward Cullen." I said easily, and then motioned towards Emmett. "This is my brother Emmett."
"Cullen." He said in surprise, a wide smile crossing his face. "Maria has chosen her enemies poorly."
"Our quarrel isn't with Maria; it is with a woman named Victoria." Emmett corrected, and I had to restrain a wince. Ricard didn't seem bothered and nodded thoughtfully.
"I know of her; she is close with Maria. As I once was." He sighed slightly, and stroked the bottom of his chin, where he had a thick well-groomed goatee.
"Were you one of her companions?" I knew a little of Maria from Jasper, and her tendency to turn people as generals and companions to keep her company.
"Not exactly, I was one of her soldiers. Jasper helped me escape. For his sake I will not end your lives, but you cannot leave until I am sure you have no ties to Maria." He said with a touch of sadness, but I wasn't sure how much of his expression was real and how much of his displayed emotion was performance.
"Can I at least make a call?" I asked hoping we could at least let the family know we were alive.
"No, however, when I am satisfied with your innocence, I will allow you the use of my plane. We are within range of a number of airports that can take you to the States." Ricard nodded thoughtfully then gave me a slightly hostile smile, his eyes cold and dangerous.
"If you were one of Maria's, how can you use the same tactics as her?" I had to do something to make him an ally, and of the list of available options pushing at his humanity felt like a good choice.
"You think my people are simply cannon fodder? Yes, I have newborns, I utilize them for strength. Yet I don't kill them when they mature like Maria does. I welcome them into my guard or release them out into the world. Their reward for service with me." Ricard said proudly, his system of course was fundamentally corrupt, but I couldn't fault him making the best out of an awful self-imposed situation.
"And those humans?" I asked, moving my eyes towards the hold with the nearly two dozen terrified minds trapped inside.
"Interesting, I won't ask how you knew they were there. However, the answer should be obvious, we need to feed, but we turn them all." Ricard narrowed his eyes at me. "So, the rumors of your soul reading are true."
"All. My god, how bad is it down here?" Emmett interjected effectively distracting Ricard from his question about me. Ricard stared at me for a moment, but then turned his attention towards Emmett.
"Unfortunately, the war consumes dozens per year. We have gone further and further out to recruit; it was starting to draw attention." Ricard looked a bit frustrated and sighed slightly looking down at his desk.
"Okay, if I give you information about Maria, will that be enough to let us go?" Emmett said pushing things forward a little, although it was a dangerous tactic admitting that we had been watching Maria in the first place, although if his people had been watching us there was no point in lying.
"Perhaps. But I must be sure of your identity before listening to your… information." Ricard said with a slow nod.
"I have a driver's license." Emmett said, reaching towards his wallet.
"Please, our kind traffic in falsehoods. Maria has resources to generate any false identity. No, I need details only a Cullen would know." Ricard said with a shake of his head and an incredulous smile.
"Anything, we need to get back to our family." Emmett continued, holding his hands up in a gesture that meant he was an open book. Ricard glanced at me, and I nodded in kind.
"Hmmm, perhaps. But not tonight. I will fetch you tomorrow evening, and we'll discuss this over dinner." Ricard's eyes widened excitedly; he was going to test us in the vilest way possible.
"You must know of our chosen lifestyle, my eyes prove we are different, we don't feed from humans." I said letting out the disgust I felt at his thinly veiled threat.
"Yes, I believe you are Edward Cullen; however, I have no reason to trust you." Ricard leaned back and pursed his lips. He was playing with us, and I felt a pang of desperation overwhelm my logical mind.
"The woman I love is in danger, please. I beg you." My voice had a tinge of desperation, the same tone that my mother had when she begged Carlisle to save me back on that bed in the isolation ward, echoes of a human memory nearly a century gone.
"Fine. Tell me what you know about my old master?" Relenting, Ricard stood and started to pace in front of the window.
"She is working with the Volturi. From her discussion with Victoria, she is going to give them a gift to keep them off her back. That might also mean she would clue them in about you." I said as factually as I could without including Alice in the information.
"You would have me believe she is close to making a deal with the Italian's?" Ricard stopped and stared at me, his gaze intense.
"It's true." Emmett said defiantly, sitting forward a bit. Ricard shook his head slightly in disbelief. I closed my eyes and felt my body sigh despite the situation.
"I can show you." I offered reluctantly.
"How?" Ricard's eyebrows were raised, and a twitch of a smile curled up the right side of his mouth.
"I am a telepath; I can show you my memory of that conversation." I wasn't entirely sure it was within my ability, but I had to try.
"I… accept." Ricard looked slightly wary, but there was an excitement in his eyes. I closed my eyes again and scanned him to see if he had dropped his mental walls. Much like Mason, I could feel his thoughts as he lowered his defenses. I quickly organized my memory, trying to skip over Alice's name, and project it towards Ricard. I realized quickly it would be just a disembodied conversation with no visuals, but I felt it would be enough. After playing out Maria and Victoria's entire exchange, omitting only Alice's name and any direct reference to her connection to our family.
"My god. That power is astounding." He gasped, as I finished, and his mental wall slammed closed. "Okay, I believe you. I will also allow you the use of my plane." He took his seat again and wiped a hand over his face. Then he gave me a tired smile and took an exaggerated breath before continuing.
"Unfortunately, there are two problems." He frowned and shook his head slightly, getting up again and looking out the window. "My plane is on a recruiting run, and it is not expected back another fortnight."
"Let us go then, we'll find something local and get to an airport ourselves." I tried to not sound desperate as I spoke, but I couldn't quite hide it anymore.
"Yes, well that's problem two. I cannot allow you to leave right now because we must go to war." Ricard's tone was somber, he looked down at the grounds and closed his eyes in obvious pain. I had to give him credit for genuinely caring about his people.
"Lovely. Can I use your phone?" I asked again, hoping for a better response.
"Of course." He smiled, but then leveled me a dangerous look. "When the hostilities are over."
"How long will that take?" Emmett asked, clearly agitated but restraining his usual bombastic response.
Ricard cocked his head. "Normally we wouldn't risk an entire crop of recruits on one assault, but Maria is forcing my hand and our new recruits will be here soon. If all goes to plan, three days to turn. A week to train. Two days to travel in stealth, and then however long the conflict takes. You are welcome to join if you think it would affect the outcome."
"We need to remain neutral as much as possible, however we do welcome your hospitality." I gave him a serious look and nod.
"I guess we're stuck here for two weeks no matter what." Emmett thought in my general direction.
"Looks like. Not the end of the world, but I hope Victoria isn't ready by then." I projected back towards him.
"A pity, but understandable. Make yourselves at home during this time, the only restriction is that you cannot leave the grounds. We'll speak again soon." Ricard said loudly enough to draw his men back in and we were quickly escorted out. Ricard made sure we were given decent accommodations and entertainment. We were given mostly free range of the compound, and found he was being completely up front about his people. They loved him. While they were war weary, most had retired from active combat and lived in relatively luxury entrusted to turn new recruits and train them personally. For as brutal a cycle of war and death, it was relatively civilized. Of course, all the humans were turned that first night, and within days twenty newborns emerged.
Most were obviously local to Central America, Columbia Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru and Brazil. All ranged in age between roughly eighteen to early thirties. Except for three. An older black man in his forties, a Asian woman in her mid-twenties, and a young white woman were among the group that emerged that day. While likely tourists, the young woman stood out more than the rest. Her pale skin and red hair drew attention, but it was her age I found disturbing, she couldn't have been more than fifteen. While not young enough to be considered an immortal child, she was far too young to be going to war. We were standing next to Ricard when they came out of the hold into the yard and I wasn't entirely sure how to react.
"She's too young." I pointed out to Ricard who took note of her, possibly for the first time.
"Ah yes, she is an unusual find. It was hard to extract her story, and my recruiter rarely bothers. But from what we can tell her family was killed in… I want to say Brazil. Anyway, she was wandering the streets when Lupe found her, and we never overlook a wayward soul lost in a foreign country where no one will care. She is perfect for our cause. I'll admit she is a bit young, but youth has advantages." He gave me a slight shrug. I considered my options; I couldn't go to war, but I also needed to make sure she was safe. There was only one thing I could think of.
"May I mentor her?" Ricard looked at me and let out a short explosive laugh. He slapped me on the shoulder and then continued to chuckle.
"Of course, she's yours." I glanced at him and realized he took my compassion for something else entirely. I was about to correct him but realized it didn't really matter what he thought of me. "Please, by all means introduce yourself."
I looked at him, and after a minute nodded. Then I leapt over the railing and into the courtyard. That drew the attention of most of the newborns, some hissing viciously at me. I let out a small growl of dominance and they all backed away. Slowly I made my way through the crowd, trying not to start an unwanted fight, extending out my gift for any signs of danger. I found her near the furthest wall, cowering behind some boxes, sobbing softly to herself. I knelt down a few feet away.
"My name is Edward." I said softly, trying to be soothing. She looked up at me and swallowed a few times.
"Lexie." She said in a timid voice, as she almost reluctantly met my eyes. "What happened to me?"
"There is too much to explain, but you were brought here by the man over there." I pointed with my thumb towards Ricard. "He needs soldiers in an upcoming fight. I'm here to help you survive and offer you some hope."
"Fight. Why does it hurt right here?" She pointed at her chest, where the heart of our thirst rests.
"This will sound impossible, but you're a vampire now. What you are feeling is your thirst." I said trying to explain a difficult reality to someone who may have no idea how to interpret that kind of change.
"Dracula or Rice?" She said furrowing her brow, making me smile.
"Closer to Rice, but we're a little different from fiction. I'll explain everything in time, but first we should take you hunting." I looked over at Ricard who gave me a strange look. I tapped at my temple and he rolled his eyes.
"Allow me to take her on a hunt of wildlife in the area. Just me. With Emmett here I would never risk running." I sent him telepathically trying to be as open as possible.
"A rather pointless endeavor, but I'll allow it. No more than two miles out, any further and I will be forced to use unpleasant measures." He sounded different in his mind, a touch deeper in voice but softer in tone. It gave me the impression he was decent at heart, despite his monstrous operation.
"I don't want to hunt. I won't touch a gun." She shook her head, clearly upset by the idea.
"Sorry, I don't mean that kind of hunting. You have two choices, you can hunt like I do, exclusively from animals. Or you can feed off people. Unfortunately, it isn't like the movies, if you choose human blood, you will kill." She stared at me for a few seconds, and eventually nodded.
"Can I join you?" I looked up to find the older black man and Asian woman standing a few feet away. His deep voice had a touch of desperation in it.
"Of course." I said with a happy smile, pleased to find anyone willing to forgo bloodshed. "What's your name."
"Constantine, my friends call me KC." He held out a hand and I shook it easily. His manner was polite, despite the obvious strain he was under, holding back his newborn aggression. His hand was shaking slightly, and he had trouble meeting my eyes.
"I'll go too." The woman standing next to him said with a thick Korean accent. "I am Hana."
"Hana, KC it is an honor. Please let me show you how I hunt." I stood and offered a hand to Lexie. She stared at my hand for several seconds before she tentatively grabbed a hold of it and didn't let go the entire time we went hunting. It was a relatively positive experience as both KC and Hana took to it fairly well despite some hesitation in killing their prey. I had to hand Lexie her first meal, and she sobbed the entire time she fed. All three of them looked better after feeding, and before I knew it, I was training all three of them along with Emmett's help.
Despite her fear, Lexie took to me quickly. She rarely left my side and seemed to absorb information like a sponge. Tactics, basic combat, listening for movement, tracking all three of them made a surprising amount of progress considering they were newborns without the benefit of Bella's shield. They had their moments of struggle, and all three of them reacted when blood bags were handed out on the third day. It took some coaxing and another hunt, but all three kept from taking human blood for sustenance. I felt a pride I had never felt before, a hope that even in a place like this one there was a spark of humanity. Days flew by, and we were merely three days until the plane was due to arrive. That morning Ricard called everyone to the courtyard, and I felt my heart sink.
"Today you will fulfill your purpose. Why you were given the gift of immortality. There is a great enemy to the north of us, and she is intent on killing every single one of us, unless we attack her first. We will march to her compound and burn it to the ground. You have learned much over the last nine days, but I know that is not enough to properly prepare you for battle. I understand your fear, I understand your bloodlust. But the time to hesitate is through, we will be victorious!" He raised his hands above his head, and for the most part the crowd cheered. KC gave me a look that spoke volumes.
"I'll watch over her." He looked down then, and I knew he had no illusions that he was coming back from this battle.
"I'm going to check on Hana and Lexie." I said with a warm smile, and he nodded in kind.
I turned towards my room, which I had shared with Emmett and KC. I had given Emmett's adjoining room to Lexie and Hana. It took them awhile to realize that basic human needs were no longer relevant, but they eventually enjoyed staying closer to me and Emmett when we weren't training. All three had agreed to come back with us if they made it through the battle. Every fiber in my being wanted to go with them, but I couldn't risk bringing Maria's vengeance down on my family. Victoria was bad enough.
Hana was brushing Lexie's hair. She had taken an almost motherly role with her after we learned that the girl had only just turned fourteen. Lexie smiled as I came in and ran over to me, her eyes bright. I accepted her hug and met Hana's eyes and shook my head. Hana closed her eyes tightly, she sat down and leaned against the wall and started to openly weep. My meeting with Ricard had gone badly, my attempt to get the three of them out of their obligation to fight was denied without any possibility of argument. His only concession was to let them all go if they survived, which I had already promised them anyway. I eventually pushed Lexie to arm's length.
"I have some good news and bad news. Which do you want first?" I asked Lexie and she pouted, her face turning instantly hard.
"Bad." She said after a few seconds.
"Okay. You have to go and fight with the rest of them." She hissed and pulled away from me, running to the bed and burying her head in the pillows.
"Lexie. I'll come with you. Make sure you're safe." I couldn't explain the impulse. In just a week she had become one of the most important people in my life. Had I adopted her like Carlisle did with me? She looked back and sat up, then she started to shake her head violently.
"No, no, no, no!" She rushed over to me, her face intense and her newborn anger coming through in her expression.
"No?" I said in confusion.
"No. I can't lose you too." She was shaking her head rapidly, her face twisted in fear and pain.
"KC and I will watch her." Hana said coming over and taking Lexie's hand. I opened my mouth to say something, but Hana led her away without another word. I stood feeling lost for a long time, and when I finally did come to my senses I ran out to the courtyard, but they were already gone. I could barely think as we waited, day after day. Until the day the plane arrived with thirty more humans. The survivors came back; two generals, and five newborns. Seven out of the twenty-five that went. I could see KC holding onto someone as they walked, his face hard. I craned my head until I finally set eyes on Lexie who looked as lost as she did that first day. Then she saw me and rushed over to me and I pulled her into a tight hug. Smiling at KC who just gave me a strained smile. I didn't ask about Hana; it was easy to guess what happened. Ricard was clearly upset, but they came back with victory news, Maria's compound was in flames. He invited us to join in the celebration but we had other plans.
"Please my friends, stay the night." Ricard said pleased, his warmth coming through as he looked at us as true friends. I shook his hand but shook my head.
"I will keep in touch, but we must get back. Victoria has had weeks to put together her army, my family could be in imminent danger." I said in response, although I had every intention of keeping in contact with him.
"Of course. Here is a satellite phone as promised, and the plane will take you to Managua where you can catch a flight anywhere you like. I also have a gift for you, the identification and passports for both of your new friends." He nodded once, handed me the phone.
"Thank you, Ricard." I said trying to keep my emotions in check, our visit had been more emotional and impactful than I had expected. Neither KC or Lexie could return to their old life, and both had expressed a desire to join our coven and live with our chosen lifestyle.
"Goodbye my friend." He shook my hand one last time and left to join the festivities. I quickly dialed home, and it picked up on the second ring.
"Hello?" The woman on the other end wasn't familiar, or at least… no.
"Angela?" I gasped. Utterly thrown the idea that she had already been turned, I felt a mixture of shock and sadness, because there had to be extenuating circumstances. The short list of which made me worry something horrible had happened.
"Edward?" She said in surprise.
"Yes, it's me. What happened to you?" I wasn't sure it was right to ask, but I had to know what could change in such a short amount of time.
"There was an accident. My human family is gone." She didn't sound utterly broken, but the pain in her words was palpable.
"Edward!" Bella said obviously entering the room, with a high-pitched voice.
"Here's Bella." Angela said simply, and there was a short rustling sound as the phone was turned over to her.
"Bella." I said, my voice melting from emotion. I couldn't process how much joy I felt just being able to utter her name in a way that she would hear.
"Edward." Her response elicited the same reaction in my stony heart, it felt as though it were once again flesh and was beating furiously.
"I'm so sorry, we've literally been detained for weeks down here." My apology felt inadequate for making her worry for weeks, but it was all I had.
"That doesn't matter. I'm just happy you're calling, hopefully in one piece… and with Emmett." Bella added clearly because Rosalie was in the room.
"Hey Rose, we'll be back tomorrow." Emmett said loudly enough to be heard over the line.
"Better be." Rose said with a bit of anger laced through her tone.
"Shit." Emmett thought towards me. "I'm in for it." I held in a chuckle. In the background I heard some odd noises that almost sounded like baby-talk, and then another phone went off. The simple ringtone was pleasant on the ear, and familiar, it was the one Angela used.
"Mason?" Angela whispered, although it was still audible. "Yes, we're all here. Even Edward and Emmett are listening. I'll put you on speaker."
"Hello everyone. I have encountered a problem that I need help solving. I am sitting here with two close friends. Jane has left the Volturi and has committed to abstaining from taking another human life." He spoke the news as though it wasn't a massive revelation. Turning one of the Volturi to our life wasn't just an impressive feat, it was unprecedented. No one left the Volturi.
"Did he just say Jane, as in THE Jane?" Emmett directed his thoughts at me with extreme curiosity and more than a little bit of awe.
"There's more. Two members of my former coven have surfaced. Cain is here with me now and has been tracking Aro trying to figure out a pattern to his movement surrounding a Volturi prison." As Mason spoke, I thought about my two new companions and looked at Lexie and gave her a warm smile. She waved and went back to talking to one of the other newborns she had gone through hell with.
"Prison, since when have the Volturi ever taken prisoners?" Rosalie said incredulously.
"Generally, we… they don't. The only time that would even be considered, is when the individual is deemed unsuitable to be a member of our society, but too valuable to be executed." Jane explained, her voice was different from the last time we had interacted. The coldness that had always laced through her words was gone. Replaced by something new.
"I cannot think of a single example of who would fit into those criteria." Carlisle said with an obvious note of consternation and confusion.
"We know of only three prisoners. Two we have identified almost conclusively. The first is one I would rather we left to rot." Mason said with a touch of disgust in his voice. "The other two, well one is probably my former coven mate Katherine, partially to spite me, and partially because her gift would be invaluable to Aro. The other we have guessed is Didyme."
"My god." Carlisle gasped.
"Who's that?" A female voice questioned; someone I didn't recognize.
"Marcus's wife." Esme said, sounding mortified. "She has been dead for over two thousand years. If instead he imprisoned her all that time… he's worse than I ever imagined."
"Aro has always been ambitious and cold preferring games of manipulation, including those he considers allies. Betraying Marcus and imprisoning his sister may have been his original sin, but what he did to Jane and Alec… Sorry Jane, I didn't mean to discuss that in such an open form."
"That's fine." Jane said quietly, just loud enough to be heard over the line.
"More to the point, Aro tortured me for nearly a month, so I do not put anything past his arrogance and thirst for power." Mason paused for a moment. "May I ask who our new friends are?" Mason requested.
"Oh, of course. Three members of the Quileute wolf pack have broken off and formed their own pack and allied with us. Jacob, would you do the honors?" Carlisle sounded proud of the boy. Having encountered Jacob Black a couple of times during his interactions with Bella, it made sense he would not go along with Sam Uley for too much longer.
"Ah, yeah. I'm Jacob Black, I guess I'm the Alpha. For some reason. This is Seth Clearwater." Jacob sounded less than confident but didn't seem upset by the way Carlisle introduced him, which meant he hopefully didn't regret his choice to break off with the rest of his pack.
"Hey, nice to meet you… Angela's boyfriend, right?" Seth said with less tact than I would've expected but considering his age it wasn't surprising.
"Yes, I suppose you can call me her boyfriend." Mason said, sounding both bemused and if I wasn't mistaken, disappointed.
"Dadda?" The small voice was startling, and beautiful. I wasn't sure what I was hearing, the child's voice was unlike anything I had ever heard. I glanced at Lexie who was staring at me almost waiting to be introduced. I gave her a small smile and muted my phone.
"I would like to introduce you to Bella first in person, but I can do it now if you prefer." Lexie frowned, and then pursed her lips a little.
"I can wait, as long as you tell me all about her first." She said with a bright smile, which felt good given the state of her mind, and how it was a swirling mess of instinctual urges, conflict and guilt over her emotional connection to me, and the confusion she felt about starting an entirely new life. I nodded emphatically, and she went back to her conversation with KC.
"What was that voice?" It was Jane questioning first breaking the short silence. My first reaction was trouble; A Volturi guard member, even a former one, hearing the voice of an immortal child. Even having broken away from her coven, there was no way she would be able to abide such a blatant violation of the laws set down by the Volturi.
"Um… I wanted to wait. I… I don't even know where to begin, it is so hard to explain." Angela sounded terrified, but not of some implied violation of an archaic rule she would mostly likely not understand. No, this was something else. I could almost feel the weight of it over the phone. "Mason, that was the voice of Jezebel, your daughter."
"What? I don't understand. How, how is that… daughter. I have a daughter?" The ancient's voice broke from the emotion behind it.
"Actually, you have two. Twins. I named one after my mother, Jezebel. The other after my grandmother." She paused with a single breath but he interrupted her.
"Rebekah." He whispered. "Jane, the Cullen's would never allow for an immortal child to be created. Angela has been in a coma for over a month… which makes the timing of it all utterly inexplicable."
"I can answer that." Carlisle said.
"Please." I said feeling somewhat lost.
"Angela found out she was pregnant a week after you left for Italy. The pregnancy resulted in twin hybrids who are a perfect blend of vampire and human. Their growth is unprecedented, with a gestational ratio of nearly nine days per twenty-four hours. Your daughters were delivered a little over twenty-nine days after conception. They began to speak four days after their birth."
"Pretty amazing aren't they." Seth said and I could almost hear the grin behind his words.
"That's impossible." Jane said and there was another momentary pause in the conversation. There was a slam of a door, and the sounds of urgent foot falls.
"Jane, stop. Look, I know her, Angela would never do that to a child." He said defending Angela in a way that would make sense to him, the fact that our family would never subject a child to that kind of perversion made my own adoption of Lexi even more problematic. I closed my eyes feeling almost sick.
"Fine, I'll give you both the benefit of the doubt until I can meet them." She said giving him far more leeway than I had ever imagined she would as a member of the guard.
"Thank you. Angela, why didn't you say anything?" Mason didn't sound as accusatory as the question implied. He did however sound confused, and a little hurt.
"I didn't want to give you that kind of news over the phone. I thought telling you in person would be better. I… I also wasn't sure how you would react. We've only had one date." That was the shy, kind, beautiful girl who I had always admired. If Bella hadn't come into my life, I could see a different version of my life that intersected with Angela's in a wholly different way.
"Do you love me?" He asked, the subtle desperation and hope laced in those words felt like an echo of my own heart as I asked Bella to marry me all those weeks ago.
"Yes." She said breathlessly, the passion in her voice left no doubt to her sincerity.
"That's all that matters. I cannot begin to explain how happy you have made me; you have given me more than I could ever repay. I was anxious and impatient to see you, and now every second is going to be interminable. Twins. I have twins…" He trailed off, clearly overwhelmed by the emotional weight of such a revelation. A creature who never expected to have offspring, suddenly after thousands of years becoming a father. No one could speak after that, it was too much to try and wrap even our vast minds around.
"Well. Um. Yeah, so Leah is holding Rebekah right now. She's the third member of the pack, I mean Leah is the third… Leah just speak." Jacob continued his introductions, at least partially changing the subject.
"Hi, I'm Leah Clearwater. So, I don't know how to explain this, but your daughter is pretty special. She did something to me just now, which is indescribable." I knew of the Clearwaters in passing and absorbed the news that her father had died the same day as Bella's fake death. Yet she didn't sound angry, she didn't sound like she had just lost her father and had her life destroyed.
"Could you try?" Mason asked, he sounded deeply excited by the prospect of his child having a gift.
"Okay, so she touched my cheek and it was like, I don't know, she kind of cleared up my head and made me realize my shit wasn't as complicated as I was making it. It felt almost euphoric and gave me a clarity that made me realize several things about myself I hadn't been facing."
"I've never heard of something like that, not empathy or compulsion but something new. I would love to hear more." Mason's conjecture was interesting, and I did want to hear more but it wasn't the right time.
"Yes, I would love to know more too, but Let's table that for a later discussion." Carlisle interrupted.
"And, not to put too fine a point on it but we're calling from Italy and I'm not made of money." I didn't know the man, but he sounded mildly frustrated.
"I told you I would set you up with a bank account tomorrow." Mason countered and sounded a little irritated.
"Yeah, but they'll shut off the phone soon because I don't have that many minutes left." Cain explained, and Mason let out an audible sigh.
"Is this a prepaid?" Mason said as if the idea of a prepaid phone was preposterous.
"Yeah, you think I would sign up for a contract?" Cain said incredulously, the sarcasm practically dripping from his voice.
"Moving on, is there any other news that needs to be relayed now." Carlisle's voice let through a bit of uncharacteristic impatience and irritation. I instantly knew something was bothering him, and it wasn't a small thing either. It did make me realize I had to speak to Bella alone, but I had no idea how I was going to explain Lexie.
"I have some news as well, but it is complicated and private. I'll stay on the line with Bella." I explained, hoping that would suffice for the public conversation.
"Alright, so this prison situation means we have to plan some kind of prison break. My first impulse was to call on Bella and Alice, Edward you would be a massive help as well." Mason said moving forward, getting back to the reason he called.
"I'll go." Charlie said easily.
"And me." Rosalie offered.
"I should probably stay with the twins." Angela said reluctantly.
"Plus, we need one big gun to stay behind." Bella said without further explanation.
"Your gift?" Mason guessed.
"Is difficult to explain." Angela answered deflecting another long tangent.
"Good, then we'll work out the details but some of us should be headed your way shortly. Which airport?" Carlisle said settling the conversation and bringing it to a close.
"Pisa." Cain said.
"I'll call tomorrow to get details. Goodbye for now everyone." Mason agreed. "Except, Angela could we speak for a moment alone?"
"Of course." There was the sound of movement and then the phone moved through the air and there was a subtle click denoting we had come off speakerphone.
"I'm alone now." Bella said simply.
"I'll go to Italy, but I have two companions that I wish to send to Forks. I would also like for someone to call the Denali to come down and help defend the rest of the family, the threat is imminent." I warned, before elaborating. "Victoria has had weeks to build her army already."
"Wonderful. We have time, Alice's visions are working again… kinda." Bella sounded oddly bright, but there was a touch of sarcasm in her voice.
"That's good to hear. I'll see you soon then. I love you." I said knowing we were only hours away from each other.
"Yes." She said softly. I had to ponder her meaning for a moment, and then it hit me like an anvil landing on Wylie E. Coyote.
"You mean?" I felt my heart in my throat, and I couldn't quite believe she was accepting my proposal.
"Yes. I'll marry you." I felt a wave of utter joy before looking over at Emmett, KC and Lexie who were talking to another survivor who had apparently saved KC's life. I had no idea how to tell them they were jumping out of the fire into the flame.
Author's Note: Shout out to Mz Peaches for doing a proofing pass on this chapter, TYVM.
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