Disclaimer - All recognizable characters belong to their original owners. I do not make a profit from writing this; I simply do it for my own amusement. No copyright infringement intended.

WARNING: Implied sexual assault.

Chapter Seventeen

A holographic floor plan of Royce's mansion appeared in the middle of the large table.

"Okay," Jasper began. "This is where Royce and his followers are currently hiding out. As you can see, it's big, and we're limited on numbers, so we have to be smart about this."

It intrigued Edward how Jasper planned this. But a part of him was also excited. This was the first mission they would include him in, and he wanted to prove himself.

"I say we form two groups; one goes in through the front door, one through the back, simultaneously." His eyes were hard. "We kill every vampire in there."

Kate's eyes looked to the vampires who sat opposite her. "What about them? How do we know we can trust them?"

"We gave you the information, didn't we?" Victoria practically snarled.

"It could be a trap."

Emmett sighed and rolled the sleeve of his shirt up. He pulled his scribe from his back pocket and hovered it over the truth rune on his forearm. "Is this a trap?"

Garrett simply said one word. "No."

"He's telling the truth."

"We shouldn't have to prove ourselves to you."

Edward could see that Victoria was getting more annoyed by the second.

"Well, when you need our help, you do," Kate retorted.

Victoria let out a feral growl and placed her hands on the table, rising to her full height. Her eyes went black, and the blue veins in her skin popped. The corners of her mouth turned up in a snarl to reveal two razor-sharp fangs.

"Don't test me you…"

Kate let out a laugh and threw her head back, flicking her hair over her shoulder. "You honestly think you can take me on?"

Victoria growled again, and she moved forward an inch.

In an instant, Garrett had grasped her upper arm with his hand. "That's enough." His eyes flicked between the two women, Victoria looking as if she would leap across the table and devour Kate while Kate looked incredibly smug—like the cat who got the cream.

"Believe it or not, we're all on the same side."

"If Jasper trusts them, then so do I," Riley said.

Embry nodded his head in agreement.

Kate held her hands up. "Just trying to cover all the bases."

Garrett released her, and Victoria sat back down. Once seated, her eyes returned to their normal color. Her alabaster skin was now free from any blue veins, and the fangs she had proudly sported were no more.

Jasper's eyes flickered over everyone, and when he was sure that another outburst wouldn't begin, he carried on. "Rose is going to be our decoy. We know Royce has an… interest in her, and we'll use that to our advantage."

Rose visibly shuddered at Jasper's words. This was the only part of the plan Edward was uncomfortable with. He felt he was sending Rose into the proverbial lion's den.

"Rose will leave via the front door of the Academy and hopefully, the tail Royce set up will follow. Alice will portal the rest of us there. Rose will keep Royce distracted while we get in and take out as many vampires as we can."

"What about Royce?" Embry asked.

"He goes down as well. It's clear Royce has an agenda, and we can't trust the Council to keep him in line. Ultimately, whatever he does affects our area." Jasper checked everyone's faces, making sure they understood. After a few seconds, he nodded his head. "We leave in fifteen. Let's get ready."

It was all hands on deck after that. Garrett spoke to Rose about what she should do, keying her in to what to say to stroke Royce's ego and have his attention fully on her. Edward and the rest of the demon hunters got ready, changing their clothes quickly before they went to get their weapons.

Edward strapped his sword to his body and watched as Nessie grabbed two circular… things.

"What are those?" he asked, never having seen anything like them before.

"Chakrams," she told him. She walked closer so he could see them better.

The objects looked like circular knives with a piece of wood in the middle in the shape of yin and yang.

"They look… difficult."

"They are." Nessie smiled.

"She's the only one in the Academy who can use them," Emmett said proudly as he walked past, one hand holstering his axe while the other reached out and ruffled her hair.

Nessie let out an annoyed noise and smoothed her hair back down.

"I don't think I even want to try," Edward commented as the sharp edge of the chakrams glinted under the lights in the armory.

Bella came up next to him and threw her hair up into a ponytail. "Are you alright?" she asked.

"Yeah, you?"

"Nervous."

"Why?"

A blush covered her cheeks. "I don't want you to get hurt."

Edward quickly checked to make sure that they weren't the center of attention, and then he leaned down and gave Bella a quick peck. "I'll be fine," he whispered.

She gave an adorable little giggle just before Jasper came into the room, armed with his bow and sword, looking every bit the warrior that he was.

"Let's do this."

Rose approached the large doors to the mansion and took a deep breath, holding it for three seconds before releasing it through her nose, her nostrils flaring as she did. Nerves ran through her. Rose didn't want to be there. She wanted to be at the Academy with Edward, watching him train. Or wanted to be back at the apartment with Alice, watching a film and reading a book. Hell, she'd even take returning to her old apartment and looking after her drunk father. She'd take anything right now.

The doors opened before she could knock, and the same vampire who had greeted her the last time she was there gave her a toothy smile and invited her in. He closed the door behind her and grabbed her upper arm, his fingers digging into her skin. He pressed his face close to her hair.

"We're all so glad you came back."

Rose resisted the urge to shudder at the sound of his voice and his body being so close to hers. She yanked her arm away from him. "I'm here to see Royce."

"That will please him."

He leered at her, and Rose felt a snarl build itself inside her. But she pushed it down. There would be plenty of time for that. Edward hadn't been the only one who had been training.

He led her to Royce's lair—it was probably his office, but lair seemed more appropriate—and the man of the hour sat in his chair, a glass of blood in his hand. When she entered the room, his eyes darkened.

"My Queen," he greeted.

Rose's stomach churned.

His eyes turned on his lackey. "Leave us."

Rose didn't take her eyes away from Royce as the other vampire left them alone, the door shutting with a 'click' behind him.

"Why did you come back here?" Royce asked, never moving from his position in the chair. "Last time, you got me to reveal some… sensitive information."

"People at the Academy don't understand me." Rose spoke slowly, hoping she was a good enough actress that her words appeared sincere. "They don't understand the… cravings."

Royce's tongue came out and licked his lips. "What do you crave, Rose?" He shifted in his chair and parted his legs.

Saliva pooled in her mouth as the urge to vomit became almost unbearable. He was a pig of a man, and she wouldn't touch him with a ten-foot pole. She wouldn't touch him if she was the last woman on Earth and the last man was him, and it was their job to repopulate it; she'd much rather humans went extinct.

Rose sashayed forward. She may have never had a relationship, but she knew the effect her body had on people. Her lovely, hourglass figure and beautiful face made her extremely attractive. She knew the way men and women looked at her. "What do you think I crave?" she asked, leaning against the couch opposite Royce and cocking her head to the side.

Across from her, Royce panted. "I think you want—" A loud noise of glass shattering sounded around them cut his words short. He placed his glass on the coffee table and stood. Rose waited, and as he walked past her, she delivered a swift punch to his stomach, winding him as she whirled around, her eyes turning black, fangs dropping.

Royce hissed at her and got into a defensive crouch, his mouth parting to reveal his own fangs.

"My Queen wants to play."

Rose growled and allowed the animalistic instinct inside her to take over. Fighting as a vampire was strange but exhilarating. Once her fangs descended, everything changed. While she could still hear the heartbeats of every living thing within a half-a-mile radius, and her eyes allowed her to see the blood of people as it pumped throughout their bodies; flesh bodies turned into blacked-out figures, and the fluid in the veins became prominent—humans' hearts bright red as they pumped and kept them alive, their veins vines of red. Vampires were different, though. Blue replaced the red, so Royce crouched in front of her was nothing more than a blacked-out figure, blue ribbons of venom running through his body as he waited to see what she would do next.

"I'm not your Queen!" Rose shouted, using her feet, pushed herself forward and closer to Royce as he did the same; their bodies collided with an almighty thud as they did.

They were a mix of arms and legs and teeth and hisses, both of them fighting with all their might.

"I think I prefer you like this," Royce said as he rolled on top of Rose.

She was aware of crashes and shouts in the other room, but her attention was on Royce. They didn't mean for her to fight him, just keep him occupied; however, Royce pissed her off and wanted revenge. He'd taken her life away from her… turned her into a monster.

"It was no fun touching you when you didn't respond."

Rose froze at his words.

Above her, Royce grinned. "I could tell no one had ever touched you before."

"You're lying," Rose spat, desperately trying to kick her legs free, but Royce placed more of his weight on top of her, his hands pinning hers down.

He placed his face next to hers, his scorching breath in her ear. "If I'm lying, how do I know you have a mole on the inside of your left thigh?"

Her blood ran cold. It was high on her thigh; not even her shortest shorts showed it off. Oh, God… he had touched her. Her mind whirred, and she hated herself at the moment for not knowing, for not realizing when she had awoken that something was different.

"You looked so beautiful laid there, all vulnerable."

It was like the devil was whispering in her ear, spilling poison and bile into her mind.

"I just had to touch you." He paused. "My men quite liked you too."

A feral scream erupted from her throat. Her legs bucked, and she kicked Royce off her, white-hot anger running through her veins.

He stumbled, but she charged. Her hands clasped around his waist, and she acted like a bulldozer as she plowed him back through the door and into the hallway.

Fights were happening all around them. Edward was holding his own against a vampire. Nessie was taking on two at a time, and Victoria disappeared up the stairs after a fleeing vampire. Rose didn't know where the others were, but she didn't care. She had one motivation and one goal: kill Royce.

The arrogant look that plastered face previously had disappeared. His eyes were wide open with fear as he tripped over his own feet, trying to get away from her.

Stalking toward him, she slammed her body into his once again, pushing him into the wall as she delivered a blow to his neck with the side of her palm before lifting her leg to kick him in the side. He groaned and brought his arms up to shield himself from her angry hits.

Rose was a woman on a mission, though. She rained down on him, hit after hit after hit, never relenting as all the anger she had felt throughout her entire life bubbled up, and she used her fists to release it.

He fell to his knees in front of her, his face a pathetic, bloody pulp. "Please," he begged.

Rose grasped the back of his neck in her hand and threw him across the room. He landed on his front with a grunt, and Rose came up behind him, pulling him up on his knees. Just as both he and his lackey had done to her, Rose placed her mouth at his ear. "You'll hurt no one else ever again," she said, her voice even and sinister. She placed one hand on his neck and the other on his chin as he pleaded for his life, choked sobs streaming from his mouth.

She listened for two seconds before she snapped his neck and let his body sag to the floor—sun walkers didn't turn to ash like their 'standard' vampire counterparts. Her chest was heaving, and slowly her vision returned to normal, her fangs retreating into her gums.

She heard her name being called and turned to see Edward looking at her, his eyebrows pinched together. She felt like she was underwater or wrapped in plastic.

"Rose?" His voice sounded distorted. "Rose?" He held his hand out to her, and she took it, burying her face in her chest as she sobbed.

Edward wrapped his arms around her and smoothed a hand over her frizzy hair, some tendrils having escaped her bun. "It's alright," he whispered. "I've got you."

A massive thank you to monica03. I can't put into words just how wonderful/amazing/supportive she is.

What do you think of my take on vampires in this? (I kinda like it!)

See you next time.