Author's Note: Hopefully updating a few times a week. This first one is about James, but I have a bunch of other drabbles to dump in other chapters; yes, with the characters that are actually tagged. If I need to write down trigger warnings, it'll be in the notes at the beginning of each chapter, but I don't really think I'll have things that need to be tagged?
I don't even know.
He's lured to her by the mere whiff of her blood.
James is fifteen miles away, not particularly thinking of his next meal. He is thinking of how the three of them are moving in silence, how the Pacific Northwest is the rainiest place he has ever travelled through, how modern technology will make it harder and harder to successfully evade the Volturi's watchful gaze.
So, there he is. Utterly still, a statue amongst the trees and deer and mountains. The Pacific Northwest is a boon to him, in so many ways: there's a litany of places to hide from the humans, when need be, and there's a litany of humans who would never be missed, should his thirst get the best of him.
He does try his best to stay inconspicuous, to stay under the Volturi's radar; he will play with his food, but the food he plays with doesn't have any side dishes, so to speak. Friends, family, they will not miss the ones he chooses. But those he does choose...well, they need to provide him some sort of amusement. Laurent so loathes the way James plays with his food, but that's half the fun; they taste better when he is able to make the adrenaline rush in their veins, when he can see the fear in their eyes, hear it in their chest.
Victoria was the one to suggest they try out the Pacific Northwest, and James is immensely grateful. This is a step up from the arid climate of the southwest; Arizona and New Mexico were quite a bit boring compared to what Washington has given them.
The golden-eyed vampires are oddities, for sure. James has heard of those who choose to drink the blood of animals rather than humans, but it utterly baffles him, to intentionally deprive yourself of one of life's greatest pleasures. Were it up to him, he wouldn't play nice, but Laurent has always been the diplomat, and James allows him to converse with their leader without question.
But then he takes in a deep breath of cold night air – an unnecessary breath, but a welcome one, especially with the newfound breeze that ripples through the area like a tidal wave – and he smells her.
She is irresistible.
She is irresistible, she is the delectable dessert that all vampires crave and would spend eternity looking for, and James must have her.
The fact that the golden-eyed ones are willing to fight for her...well.
That makes it even more exciting.