Old Friends

On the outskirts of Houston, set far back where it couldn't be seen from the road, was an old barn. There was an aura of malevolence that surrounded the place. Even if I hadn't known it to be used as a resting place for one of the most dangerous vampires I knew, the barn would have looked uninviting. It must have been over a hundred years old, the door dangled from one hinge, the paint was a faded red, and the windows were cracked and black with grime.

Before entering Houston, I had bought several new outfits and shoes, hoping the new clothes would help to mask my scent. Though I doubted it would make much difference, I was willing to try anything to help in my search for Victoria. I didn't want to be found; I wanted to find them. I had searched the places Jasper had told me about, but none of her previous locations had been in use recently. Due to the size of her coven, the ever changing members, and their volatile natures, Maria had tended to avoid living too close to humans. Her homes were often large, abandoned houses, condemned by the humans as uninhabitable. Or old mines, no longer worked by the humans, but with plenty of room for a dozen or more vampires. Or, as now, old barns.

Not wanting to be caught in the city itself, I had been working my way around the city's edges after checking Maria's old haunts. I'd run across a scent and followed it back to the barn. Though I'd circled the barn, I was unable to distinguish how many were in her coven, nor could I tell if any of them were Victoria or her newborn companion. All I knew was that it was surrounded by the scents of many vampires. I had been watching the barn for an hour, waiting to see if it was empty or if any of her coven had remained behind. There were no signs of life, no movements, no thoughts.

Weighing my choices, I wavered between waiting for someone to come home and just going right inside to wait for them there. Jasper had told me to be up front with them. If I waited, it was likely that one of them would run across my scent. Finding me there hiding in the tree line was probably not a good way to win their cooperation, but entering the barn they were living in would place me in their power without an easy exit.

I finally decided not to enter the barn, but to wait right out front where I would be clearly visible, yet still able to get away if I needed to. I stood in front of the barn without moving until it was nearly morning. I heard them before I saw them. Returning from a night of hunting, their thoughts were focused on memories of the people they had killed. Clenching my fists and trying to remain calm, I watched through the eyes of several vampires as they relived the night's hunt.

Two of them had teamed up to decimate an entire family, using the human's weapons to make it seem as though one of them had killed the others and then himself.

One had stolen into a farm house and taken a child from its bed. He preferred the young, believing their blood to be stronger, sweeter. He'd hidden the child's body well. The parents would wake to find their child gone, never to know what had really happened.

Three had gone separately into the city's downtown to stage robberies.

Two more had joined forces to cause a traffic accident, killing all five of the humans in the cars involved.

Maria had tight control over her coven. Despite their young ages, none of these vampires had committed murders this night that would be questioned as other than human or accidental causes.

They stopped in surprise when they saw me standing in front of their barn. Fanning out, spreading their numbers across the field to surround me, they approached warily while I waited, listening.

Who is that? one wondered with interest.

Oh goody, a vampire with a death wish… another thought, eagerly anticipating fighting me.

Maria will not be happy about this… more vampires…one grumbled. Why are all these vampires coming here?

With a thrill of excitement, I saw him remember a visit from a red headed vampire not long ago. He hadn't known her, but Maria had spent several days talking to the stranger before she had moved on.

As they stalked closer, I forced myself to remain calm, to wait for them to approach me before beginning the conversation. I kept my mind open, listening for any that might have remained hidden in the trees. There were three, keeping out of sight, ready to stop me if I tried to flee, ready to jump in if I tried to fight.

"Hello," I said, pleasantly. "My name is Edward Cullen. I'm a friend of Maria's. Do you have any idea where I might find her?"

None of their minds pictured where she could be found. It seemed she was out hunting and would return when she was done. That was all they knew.

"Well, hello, Edward," purred one of the females, sauntering toward me. "I'm Claire. This is Brad, Mitch, Tori, Warren, and Kent."

I nodded to them, meeting each of their eyes, and saw them react to my light golden colored ones.

He smells like a vampire… Why aren't his eyes red?

Cullen? Where do I know that name from…

What's with the yellow eyes?

"It's nice to meet you all," I said, trying to sound casual.

"So you and Maria are friends, huh?" Claire asked, continuing to walk slowly toward me, her hips swinging in an exaggerated movement. Her eyes were a vivid, disturbing shade of red, a color her wide lips matched. She was tall, with short, blond hair, and a full figure. Her matching eyes and mouth, along with her pale skin and hair seemed unusually creepy to me.

More so than any of the other vampires surrounding me, I felt she was extraordinarily dangerous. Her mind was full of doubt, as though she distrusted what I had told her. My instincts were telling me to run, my muscles were tense and my venom flowing freely as my body anticipated a fight.

"Yes, that's right," I answered her.

"Were you a member of her coven?" she probed for information.

"Not I. My brother was, though. I know her through him."

"Hmmm." She stopped a few feet away from me, studying my face, my posture, sniffing the air, learning my scent. "What do you want, Edward? Why have you come here? For I doubt very much that this is a social visit."

I smiled slightly. "I'm looking for someone. Her name is Victoria. I believe she's come to Houston. I know this is Maria's territory, and that of her coven," I nodded to them, trying to be respectful. If I offended them, they'd be less likely to help me. "I was hoping that you would know where she is, or that Maria could tell me, if she knew."

"And what do you want with this Victoria?" He's chasing a girl across the country? Her thoughts remained doubtful.

"She has… information that I need." This was close enough to the truth.

"Oh? What kind of information?"

I chuckled softly, "It's complicated. Suffice it to say that I need to talk to her."

"Hmmm," she said again. "I'm afraid that without knowing just what it is you're looking for, I can't let you bother Maria. It's more than your life is worth to deal with her wrath."

I scoffed. That statement was more true than she could realize. My life was worthless.

"Why are you so interested in her?" she persisted. As we talked, the others crept closer, closing me in their circle with the barn at my back.

"I told you, she has information I need."

"Why don't you tell me what information you're looking for? Perhaps I can help you," she offered.

I sighed in frustration, forcing myself to remain calm. I had no intention of telling these blood thirsty vampires about my Bella. How much of the truth could I get away with? What kind of a lie would they believe? I decided to evade the question altogether.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think you can. This is something only she can help me with. Please, I need to know where Victoria is," I repeated, stubbornly. "Of course, if any of you knew, then I would have no reason to bother Maria at all. If you would be willing to tell me, I'll be on my way and will trouble you no more." I spoke with a steady voice, infusing it with all of the persuasive passion I had learned how to use when getting Bella to open up to me.

She glanced at one of the others, seeming to want to tell me, but looking for their opinion. He shrugged, so she turned back to me, studying me while considering my request. With a thrill, I saw her recalling her conversation with Maria about the stranger.

"Who is she?" Claire had asked, suspicious of the vicious stranger.

"Ah, Victoria and I are old friends," Maria had said with a smile.

"Old friends?" she had probed, cautiously. Maria was volatile and quick to anger. The members of her coven had all felt her displeasure at one time or another and none had a desire for a repeat of the experience.

"Mmm. Her coven was destroyed several centuries ago. I've told you what happens to those who do not follow the rules, yes?"

Claire had nodded, her eyes wide.

"Victoria has a very strong survival instinct. It has kept her alive for a long time. The others of her coven were not so lucky." She nodded, significantly. "She was alone when she came to this country. We joined forces for a while, but she moved on. Like I said," she laughed, a startlingly childlike sound, making her seem almost sweet. "She's a survivor."

"So why is she here now?"

"Vengeance," she whispered, her eyes wide, her expression delighted.

I felt an icy tingle of fear at this. Who else would she want vengeance against but me and my family? I had killed James, or rather my brothers had, but it was my doing. While I was hunting her, was she also hunting ways to kill me? The size of my family made us a formidable enemy. She would surely know that she would be unable to defeat our entire family. But I was not with them now.

"Against who?" Claire had wondered, excited.

"A mutual acquaintance." Maria shrugged, indifferently. Claire didn't probe further, knowing Maria would not name her quarry.

No. Oh, no. This was bad. Was she leading me into a trap the way James had lead me away from Bella? I thought I had been hunting Victoria. Or was it now she, who was hunting me?

"What are her plans?" Claire had asked enthusiastically, wanting to hear about vampire vengeance. "How does she plan to do it?"

Maria had shrugged at this. "I don't know. We didn't go into specifics."

Claire was disappointed, but her disappointment was nothing compared to what I felt. I needed to know what Victoria had planned!

"Well you two spent a lot of time talking about something. If it wasn't vengeance, what was it then?"

"Oh this and that, a bit of history, talking about old times," and Maria had laughed loudly at this. I felt Claire's remembered curiosity and her urge to beg Maria for more information.

"Enough," Maria had cut her off. "Victoria's business is none of your concern. She's leaving tomorrow anyway. Now leave me alone. We're going hunting. And remember what I told you about staying out of the human's sight. You don't want to end up like Darryl, do you?" she had fixed Claire with a stern stare.

"No, Maria," Claire had answered quietly, and I saw flickers of her remembering other vampires burning.

This last memory seemed to decide her.

"Why don't you come inside to wait. I'm sure Maria will want to talk to you when she returns."

I had no choice. If I was going to find out where Victoria went, I needed their cooperation. And if I refused, the others were looking forward to ripping me apart.

"Thank you," I said, trying to sound sincere.

One of the others – Kent – went inside first. I followed, Claire close on my heals, with the others right behind her. Kent positioned himself by the door opposite the side where we came in. Mitch leaned against the door we had used. The rest gathered together to discuss the night's hunt – and to watch while Claire and I talked further. I heard them bragging over their kills, comparing who had killed more brutally, who had been inconspicuous, and who had fed on more people. My stomach clenched at their blood lust. I wanted to end every one of their lives, but I was outnumbered; if they had not had newborn strength, I still would never have been able to kill this coven by myself.

She gestured up to the loft and I ascended, seating myself along the ledge, letting my legs dangle over the side. She copied my posture, sitting beside me and smiling at me. We were so close our shoulders were almost touching and I resisted the urge to move away from her. She was curious, wanting more information about me, but also hoping to gain more information on Victoria. I could hear more of the coven entering the barn as I leaned slightly away from her and tried to control my nerves.

"So, Edward, how do you know Victoria?" Claire began.

"We met about a year ago," I answered simply.

"And? Do you go chasing every vampire girl that you meet? Will I need to expect a visit from you myself in a year or so?" she winked at me with a laugh.

I grimaced, embarrassed. "No. I found out that she knows something… something that will help me solve a problem."

"What kind of problem?" she persisted.

I sighed. "You are relentless, aren't you?"

She laughed, a trilling, melodic sound. "Maria expects thoroughness. She'll know you've been here and it's my job to ask questions." She smiled at me again, trying to come across as reassuring, but I could hear the menace behind her words. When Maria came back, she would know without a doubt that I had been here. She also surely knew more of Victoria's plans than she had let Claire know. It was far too big of a coincidence that Victoria had been here seeking vengeance and only days later I show up asking about her. If Claire did not learn why I was here, or at the very least, keep me here until Maria could find out for herself, Claire would be held accountable.

"Did Victoria come here alone?" I decided to ask. If she was going to fish for information, I figured two could play that game.

"What do you think?" she said, glancing at me out of the corner of her eye. I saw him in her memory. A newborn. He had stayed with the others of Maria's coven while she and Victoria had talked.

"I think no. I think she had a friend with her."

"And was he a friend of yours as well?"

"No," I shook my head, forming my lips into a smile, "we never met."

"Then how did you know about him?" She reached over to touch me, her fingers were cool on my arm and I suppressed a shudder of revulsion.

"The information that I have indicated that she wasn't traveling alone," I shrugged, moving from under her touch.

"Your source was correct." She was silent then, hoping I would fill in the silence and give her more information. I decided to oblige by asking a few more questions of my own.

"You said it was your job to ask questions?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Does that make you her second-in-command?"

"Close enough." She has me ask questions because I can tell when people are lying to me. And, although you are not lying, you aren't telling me the truth, either.

"How old are you, Claire?"

She laughed at that question. "Twenty-three." She angled her body toward me, closing the distance I had opened between us, inhaling and smiling widely.

I wanted to laugh at her. I had lived for many years with Tanya, the original succubus, and had resisted all of her attempts to turn my head. This girl could use a few pointers on subtlety. I supposed her blandishments might have worked on somebody else, but it wouldn't have made any difference to me. Aside from finding Claire quite creepy, after Bella's soft perfection, there was no other woman in the world I would ever find attractive again. Swallowing around the lump in my throat, I spoke again.

"No, I mean, how long have you been a vampire?" I clarified.

"Oh, about eight months." She continued to smile at me. "How old are you?"

"A hundred and four." I smiled to myself, remembering Bella teasing me, calling me an old man.

"Really?" she asked, impressed. Victoria was the only vampire she'd met, other than Maria, who was more than a year old.

"What about them?" I asked, indicating the rest of the coven.

"Mitch is our newest recruit. He was changed about a month ago." Right after we lost Darryl. Stupid vampire, letting himself be seen by humans, just after he turned a year old.

"And all of the rest of them are in their first year, too?"

"Why?" she was suspicious now.

"Well, why isn't anyone in the coven over a year old?" I knew the answer of course, but I wanted to know what she thought the reason was.

"Oh, we live with Maria, helping her to defend her territory and in turn, she helps us learn how to survive. Then we move on. Like your brother." One year of service learning the ways of a vampire and then eternity to spend how I please.

But I knew this wasn't right. Maria hadn't wanted to let Jasper go. I frowned.

"What is it?" she asked, seeing my discomfort at last.

"Is that what Maria told you? That you can leave after a year?"

"Of course."

"And you don't think she was lying to you?"

She eyed me for a long moment. She hadn't questioned when the others she'd known had disappeared or were killed. Maria's enemies were vicious and had killed several members of her coven. And there were rules to follow and consequences when those rules were broken. Everyone knew that. Yet it was true, she hadn't personally known of any to leave Maria's coven alive. She only knew of those she'd heard about, such as Victoria. But she also knew that Maria was hiding something from her.

"So I have to know," she said, deciding to change the subject. "What's with your eyes?"

I forced a laugh. "You mean why aren't they red?"

"Yeah. You are a vampire, right?" She flashed her teeth at me.

"I am," I confirmed.

"So?"

"It's possible for a vampire to live on the blood of animals, rather than killing humans. My eyes are not red because I don't drink human blood. Not for a long time." This information shocked her and she stared at me, open mouthed.

"Is that… I mean… animals don't really smell very good." She wrinkled her nose in distaste.

"No," I agreed, "they don't taste as good either." I tried to push the thought of Bella's taste away. Her blood had been unlike anything I'd ever imagined before. The floor jumped under us as the piece I'd been holding on to came away in my hand. I swallowed and tried to control my breathing.

"So why do you do it?" She couldn't understand my reaction.

"There are other compensations." I shrugged and tossed the broken floorboard down to the ground below.

"Such as?"

"Do you remember your human life well?"

She grimaced, "What I can recall wasn't pleasant."

I nodded, accepting this information with a frown. "I don't want to be a killer. Living on the blood of animals allows me to live almost like a human again. To live among them." I said the words slowly, quietly, fighting the pain they caused. I wasn't human. I never would be again.

Worse, I was a killer. I had killed. Many times. I wanted to kill the vampire at my side and the others that surrounded me now. I had wanted to kill the girl who I loved more than anything in the world. Had I remained human – and not gotten sick – I still would have been a killer. The war that had raged at the end of my life had consumed my thoughts and the moment I had turned eighteen, I would have joined the army and been trained to kill as a soldier. Instead, Carlisle had found me and stolen me from the hospital where I lay dying from the Spanish Influenza.

As a vampire, I was made specifically to kill. My beauty served to draw my prey to me like a carnivorous flower, my voice was seductive, a lure to mesmerize humans and bend them to my will. As if I needed such things. If the transformation from human to vampire reflected what we were on the inside, we would be hideous, terrifying to behold, and the humans would run away screaming. Not that they would get very far. Our speed alone made vampires a more deadly predator than any animal to ever walk the earth. It was my fate to be a killer.

She turned the idea of feeding on animals over in her mind. Then she shook her head.

No, I don't think I could do it. "I like hunting humans." She leered at me, "Human men are sooo tasty." And I enjoy giving them a taste of what used to happen to me.

"Well, most of our kind would agree with you." I shrugged again. I hadn't expected her to change her ways. Newborns had a thirst for human blood that was nearly impossible to contain. Again I was filled with rage and pain at the thought of Bella killing.

She sat back and studied me for a moment.

"You are very strange, Edward Cullen."

I sighed. "I know." I wasn't normal. I was a monster; not a human. I wasn't even a normal monster. I was a freak among freaks. I sighed again.

We sat in silence for a long time as she pondered what I had told her. I saw her remembering her human life, blurry images of different men, remembered pain as she was struck, a memory of fear as she hid from the one who was supposed to be her protector. The feeling of vindictive joy as she hunted the men who had hurt her. And the new and powerful feeling as every night she sought out another man who reminded her of the humans she had known, stalking them, seducing them, then her fierce pleasure as she drank their blood.

"So, second-in-command-Claire, did you question Victoria's friend, too?" I said, trying to interrupt her line of thinking.

"That's my job," she said, her smile returning.

"And what did you find out?" Turning to look at her for the first time, I stared into her bright red eyes intently, listening hard, hoping she would remember her conversations with him for me.

"Um… what?" she asked vaguely.

"What did Victoria's friend tell you?" I demanded, not releasing her eyes. Was it possible to dazzle another vampire? I had never tried before, but it seemed to be working.

"She needs protection. There's safety in numbers," she said, the words coming forth without her permission.

"Protection from what?"

"Others."

"Did he mention the Cullens?"

"No."

"Washington?"

"No."

"Forks?" I didn't want to give her the name of my home town, but I had to know. Bella had to be safe.

"No." Overwhelming relief.

"Did he mention where they were headed next?"

She shook her head slowly, trying to resist my gaze. She pressed her lips together, but that didn't stop me from hearing her thoughts.

Rio de Janeiro.

Victory! The thrill shot through me. I had gotten her to tell me where the pair had been going next. It was all I could do not to leap down to the ground and take off running for Brazil. But I knew that I had won only part of the battle here. I had my information. Now I needed to escape.

They would never just let me go. I couldn't fight all of them. Maria would return and when she did, it was likely that she would order them to destroy me. Just as she would eventually destroy them. As I realized that, I saw a way to win my freedom.

"Claire, you need to leave."

Suddenly we were surrounded by the entire coven and I was pulled to my feet, my shirt in the grip of the youngest vampire, Mitch.

"You all need to leave," I spoke calmly.

"I think you need to watch your mouth, yellow-eye," he growled in my face.

"Maria plans to kill you. She has no need of a vampire who has lived past a year. None of you will live if you stay." I kept my voice steady, despite my muscles that were demanding that I fight this vampire. If I made one move, the entire coven would rip me apart, burning my body, turning me to ash before Maria even knew I was there.

I swallowed the venom that was flooding my mouth.

"My brother was a part of her coven long ago. It was his job," I glanced at Claire, "to dispatch those who had outlived their usefulness." I knew she would see the truth in my words. "You are all no more than pawns in her bid for territory. Pawns that she can easily replace as she has for centuries before you."

"I think he's telling the truth, Mitch." Claire was staring at me with wide eyes.

"What do you mean, 'outlived their usefulness'?" Mitch asked, still holding me by my shirt.

"I mean that you will never be physically stronger than you are now. Young vampires begin losing their newborn strength around a year mark. Once that happens, you will need to be replaced and she will find some reason to get rid of you. She will claim you broke the rules and have you burned. Or she will claim that you left. Or that you were killed by another coven while defending her territory. Whatever excuses she has told you in the past to get you to believe why the others have left will be the same reasons she gives to your replacements. In reality you will be ashes. Unless you leave now. All of you. That's the only way you can be safe from Maria."

As I spoke, Mitch tightened his hold on me. "You mean that's the only way you can be safe from her," he accused.

"What am I to you? Would you risk your life just so that Maria could have the chance to kill me? Leave now, all of you, and Maria will be unable to hurt any of us. Stay and we all die."

He stared into my eyes, looking for any indication I was trying to deceive him. He glanced at Claire, and I knew he was seeking confirmation from her. Her eyes were wide and scared.

"Where should we go?" he asked, releasing me at last.

I shrugged. "Wherever you want. Go see the world. Travel. Eat new foods," I faked a grin at Claire, "even if they sound disgusting. You never know till you try. This way of life is not the only way." Though I loathed the thought of releasing this coven on the world, I saw no other way to get away.

"And you?" Claire asked me.

"I have my own search to continue," I shrugged.

"You're the one Victoria's after, aren't you?"

I grimaced, "Yes. I'm sure you're right."

"Why?"

"I killed her friend."

"Why?" she repeated.

"He attacked my family." My eyes tightened as I clenched my fists. This was as close to the truth as I was getting.

"So is that why you are really trying to find her? Is it just vengeance? Or to kill her before she kills you?"

I shook my head, "I hadn't realized she was after me until you said something. She really does have information I need. Before you ask," I interrupted as she opened her mouth, "I'm not telling you what it is. I'm sorry, but it's not something I can share with you." She looked disgruntled, but didn't question me further.

"Well, we can't leave now," Mitch said.

"Why not?"

"It's day," he said. Obviously. I saw memories of vampires on fire, smelled the icy smoke, felt his remembered fear when he got too close to the rays of sunshine.

"You've never gone outside in the daytime?" I asked slowly.

He stared at me, shocked. "I'm still alive, aren't I?"

My lips twitched in amusement. "The sun won't hurt you."

Claire protested. "We've all seen it happen! Stu! And Manny! They were killed when they went out in the day!"

"Fabricated evidence. Just another way for Maria to control you."

"If she lied about that we would know," Claire insisted, stubbornly.

"Am I lying?" She frowned. "You have a special sense, don't you, Claire? You can tell when people are lying to you." She stared at me in surprise.

"How did you know?"

"I'm right, though."

"But how – "

"How I know is not important. I know. You can tell when people are lying. Maria has always been able to tell when a human might have a special skill as a vampire and was quick to take advantage of those abilities. But there are always ways to get around someone's abilities. It's possible for Maria to tell you something that is essentially true while withholding key information that negates the meaning of what she tells you. That way she can lie to you and you won't be able to tell."

"Then you could be doing the same thing!" Mitch accused.

"I'm not. And I can prove it easily."

"How?"

"By stepping into the sun." I said, simply.

Several glances were exchanged. Finally Mitch gestured toward the door. "Go ahead." It's your hide. He shrugged. Save us the trouble of burning you.

I jumped down from the loft and strode for the open door. I glanced at their fearful faces and stepped into the light. They gathered around the door, keeping to the shadows and stared at me, open mouthed. I pushed up my shirt sleeves and tilted my face up to the sun. When I turned to face them, I could see the rainbow reflections from my skin shining off the side of the barn and glistening off of their faces.

Slowly, Claire took a step into the sunshine. She looked at me and then at herself, her face awed as she examined the affect the sun had on her skin.

The transformation that changed us from human to vampire made us into something completely other than what we were before. No longer flesh, more like living rock, hard and cold, unyielding and unchanging, our skin was crystalline and broke the light like a prism. When the light from the sun hit our skin, it bounced back, separated into the spectrum that makes up white light. Each cell was like the facet of a cut stone, and our skin shimmered and sparkled in the daylight.

If any human were to see us exposed like this, it would be obvious immediately that we were not human. The number one law among vampires, one that was strictly enforced, was to keep our existence hidden. The humans could not be allowed to know about us. We had to stay out of sight when the sun was out. To expose ourselves to the sunshine – at least when a human was nearby to see – would mean death. Not from the sun itself, but from those who enforce the rules: the Volturi.

In telling them that exposure to the sun would kill them, Maria had lied, and yet still told the truth.

Of course, Bella knew what I was. She had seen me standing in the sun in our meadow. But she was not going to go telling people what she saw. Keeping our secret kept us both safe. The Volturi had to know the rules had been broken in order to punish those who broke them.

One by one the coven stepped outside, examining themselves and each other. When the last of them stood around me, I spoke again, explaining the laws as they had been told to me. I also reiterated what I had told Claire of the option of living on animal blood. I didn't think I convinced any of them, but I owed it to Carlisle to try. Finally, I decided it was time for me to leave.

"Thank you for your help," I told Claire. "If there's anything else about Victoria or her companion you can tell me," I glanced around at the vampires who circled me, "I'd really appreciate it."

"Ethan said they were meeting a friend of hers. A man named Gustav, who she met in Rio de Janeiro." Kent volunteered, speaking to me for the first time.

"Ethan?" I asked, wanting to confirm the name of Victoria's companion.

"Victoria's friend." I nodded.

"What is going on here?" a voice I recognized exclaimed from the trees. I turned to face the direction of the speaker.

"Hello, Maria. I was wondering when you would show up," I greeted her pleasantly.

"Edward Cullen," she spoke my name in a slow drawl. "Fancy meeting you here. And making new friends, I see. Some things never change." Maria strode slowly toward us.

"You lied to us!" Claire accused her.

"I told you what you needed to know. Nothing more. It is this poor excuse for a vampire who has been lying to you." Maria spoke with assurance.

I recognized the tactic. A proficient liar myself, I knew that speaking with calm authority would cause the listener to tend to believe whatever you might tell them. Of course, my Bella had been the exception to that rule. As she was to nearly everything.

"He has told me more truth in one morning than you have in eight months!" Claire told her angrily.

"I gave you life! I brought you into this world and provided you with a home, a family, and unlimited prey. If I chose not to tell you my life history, that is my business. You should be grateful. Now stand aside little girl." Maria had walked straight up to Claire, her demeanor threatening, her face livid.

As one, Maria's former coven stood behind Claire, silently informing Maria that she no longer held any authority over them. She turned to me, her eyes blazing.

What are you doing here, Edward? And where is my Jasper?

"He's with our family. And I think you know why I'm here." I saw Victoria's face flicker through her mind. "That's right," I nodded, confirming what she already knew.

Do you seek vengeance as well? Maybe you will destroy each other, saving me the trouble. Or perhaps I will take that pleasure for myself. I need no newborns' help to turn you into ashes!

"You can try. Vengeance is one of your specialties, isn't it? I guess I shouldn't be surprised that is why she came to see you. But that's not why I'm here." I was aware of Claire watching me curiously, the rest of the coven exchanging confused glances.

Then what is the reason?

I pressed my lips together in a hard line. "She holds the key to a question I need answered."

What question?

I smiled grimly and shook my head.

I know our last parting did not end well. Do you seek to destroy me? I'll admit, I didn't think you had it in you. Doesn't your family have some sort of sick reverence for life? she thought at me, scornfully.

"We do. I wasn't after your death any more than I was after Victoria's. But if my hand is forced, I will not hesitate."

Hypocrite! she accused. So superior until your morals get in the way. How convenient!

"Self defense is not hypocrisy. You should remember that from Calgary."

"Hmmm," she laughed, recalling how we had fought the last time. The casualties of that encounter were vivid in her mind.

"Why did Victoria come here?" I demanded with a growl.

She laughed again and shook her head, hiding what she knew.

I advanced on her, listening hard, straining to pick up any clue.

She was proficient at guarding her thoughts and pictured Jasper killing vampires and humans by the thousand. As she taunted me with vivid mental images, she moved to stalk me.

"What did Victoria want?" I prompted again.

She envisioned herself killing the humans we had known in Calgary.

"That is old news, Maria. Tell me of Victoria!" We were circling each other at this point. I had all but forgotten the existence of the coven that surrounded us.

No.

"What did you tell her?"

Still laughing, her mind blocked from me the information I sought.

I stared hard at her, growling loudly, trying to penetrate her mind and force her to tell me what I needed to know.

"Is she after me?"

Yes.

"And my family, too?"

Yes.

"How?"

Laughing no longer, she was grimacing, trying to keep her mind only on images that would cause me pain; images that would not tell me what I so desperately needed to know.

"Why would Alice see Victoria's future disappear?" I tried a different line of questioning, knowing that she knew of Alice's ability to see the future just as she knew of my ability to read minds.

Her thoughts were startled at this question. It wasn't one she expected, but it was the very question that was at the root of my search for Victoria. I saw the break in her armor I was looking for and pounced.

"Why does she seek vengeance?" I launched myself at her and grabbed her arms, my face inches from hers, my eyes boring into hers, trying to pry the information from her unwilling mind.

You killed her mate.

I was shocked. Her mate? She and James had been mates? Oh, this was bad. Suddenly I understood. The reason why she kept burning the studio down. Why she would go to such lengths to go after my family. We weren't rivals for territory; my family didn't hunt humans. The reason was one I should have understood all along. Love. Loss.

"What does she have planned for me and my family?" I demanded, shaking her.

I saw my family's bodies burning, Victoria standing watch over the pyre that consumed our corpses.

"How?" I shouted at her.

She doesn't know! She hasn't decided how to do what she needs. She has to talk to Gustav first. Her plans aren't set, yet, and so neither is her future. Taking control of herself once more, she snarled, But yours is! And she pictured my burning body as she moved swiftly to disengage herself from my grip, twisting around me, baring her teeth, and going on the offensive.

Maria was centuries old. Most of that time had been spent at war with vampires who coveted her territory. She had been in countless battles and won them all. I was in trouble, but Maria wasn't counting on her coven to come to my aid. Suddenly finding herself fighting, not one vampire, but a dozen newborns that she had trained, Maria was striking and whirling, grabbing arms and twisting, tearing, using her teeth to gouge out hunks of flesh. She was a blur that even my eyes found difficult to follow, and the newborns, for all of their massive strength, did not come close to matching her skill.

But I didn't have to watch her with only my eyes. My mind saw her planning her next movement, saw her land behind me, sinking her teeth in my neck. I saw my head tearing away as my body fell, lifeless, at her feet.

Moving faster than I thought possible, I turned and caught her, my hands locking around her forearms. Straining, pulling sharply outward, I used my larger size to full advantage, spreading her slight form apart. Holding her away from me so that she could not reach me with her teeth, though she kicked and flailed, I heard a familiar metallic screeching as her arms slowly started to separate from her body. Mitch grabbed her hair, forcing her head back. He sank his teeth into her neck and, at the same moment as I tore her arms off, he ripped through her throat and her headless body fell at my feet.

His face expressionless, Kent struck a lighter and tossed the flame on her corpse. We all backed away from the vile stench as Maria burned.

As one, they turned to look at me and I tensed again, wondering if they were planning on attacking me next. Then I read the tenor of their thoughts and relaxed.

"Thank you," I said to them.

"Thank you," Claire returned.

I looked around at the aftermath of the brief, fierce battle that had been fought. The newborns had all been in fights before and calmly walked around the small field gathering their missing parts. Disgusted, I watched as they reattached their limbs, using their venom as a seal, their arms fully functional again with only a thin line as a scar showing where the limb had once been torn off.

I was more than ready to be on my way.

"Stay out of sight," I cautioned again and took off.

I didn't get far before I knew that I was being followed. I stopped and Claire was instantly by my side.

"What are you doing, Claire?" I asked her with a frown.

"You can read minds, can't you?"

My one-sided conversation with Maria had made that rather apparent. I nodded once.

"Then you should know that the answer to your question is," I'm coming with you, she said, as if it was obvious.

"No, you're not."

You can use my help, and I'd rather be with someone who knows what's going on. At least until I get used to my new freedom. She smiled at me, expecting me to smile back. She was enjoying talking to me without speaking. The novelty was fun for her. For me, not so much.

"Claire…" I was shaking my head. I didn't want company. Especially not with someone who was so eager to kill humans. Even more especially not someone who was so used to using seduction to get her way. I'd had enough of that with Tanya.

"Give me one good reason why not," she folded her arms across her chest and stared at me, a taunting smile across her face.

"I'm not good company."

"I said a good reason."

I'd had about as much forced politeness as I could take. I wanted to go back to my private misery and had no desire for an audience to my pain.

"I'd prefer to be alone."

"Why?"

I ground my teeth together. "Look," I growled at her, "I don't want to talk about it. Just… Go back to Mitch, Claire. He wants you with him. I don't." I felt a flicker of pain cross my face and turned my back on her.

I felt the sting of rejection in her mind. She considered several questions and arguments, but finally accepted the truth in my words and was gone in a flash.

Alone again, I took a deep breath and strove to remain calm. All of the newborns I had interacted with this day were exactly what I would expect newborns to be: thirsty, vicious, killing machines, uninterested in their lost humanity. They held no interest for me. Now that they had served their purpose by telling me where Victoria had gone, I wanted nothing more to do with them, and did not desire the reminder of what I was protecting Bella from. I didn't want her to be like them. I didn't want to be like them. I stayed in the shelter of the woods for a long moment, fighting my desire to go, not to Rio, but home to Forks.

I forced upon myself the image of Maria being ripped apart, heard again the horrid screech as I ripped her arms off. A similar memory of a predator in Seattle dying by my hand followed. I felt again the sickening crunch when I put my foot through Roger's face. I wanted to wrap Bella in my arms and protect her from all of the dangers and horrors of the world, but I knew that there was no horror greater than becoming what I was, and nothing more dangerous for her than to be with me.

Forcing my legs to move again, I continued my run back to where my car was hidden. From there, I had a flight to book. I was going to Rio.