Chapter 17

Patch and I drove to the outskirts of Coldwater, only a mile away from Portland. Vee was already on her way there and she said she'll just meet us. The atmosphere in the car was awkward and cold. I nervously fumbled with my fingers, tangling and untangling them over and over again. With every problem weighing in my head, I became more and more nervous until I felt my fingers ache. I stopped and started rubbing my arms with the same vigor.

Patch's Jeep Commander slowed to a stop in front of a mansion. I expected this, knowing the Nephilim higher ups are rich beyond the wildest imagination. They had centuries. The fallen angel that controlled them in Cheshvan also accumulated probably half of what they own. Patch had told me every fallen angel would want somewhere comfortable to stay in any given moment so they kept their vessels wealthy. I wonder if a few centuries from now, I would have as much money. Then I realized, it really didn't matter to me because my mom would be gone and I wouldn't have any children to fill in spaces Patch couldn't. I began rubbing my arms again.

The mansion had clearly been modeled after the Parthenon in Greece. Its roof was supported by tall white columns. Behind the columns was a large patio complete with two tall, green, potted plants in each side of the huge double doors. By the time we had walked by the threshold, someone had already opened the door for us.

It was Lisa.

"We've been waiting for you," she said ominously, sounding more like a threat than anything else.

I only nodded and followed her inside. Not unlike other mansions we've met in, this one was dim and dark. These Nephils really must love seeming dark and cynical, no doubt to intimidate me or maybe Patch. But neither of us felt any real fear. I guess no one would after facing Devilcraft, Dante, the Archangels, other fallen angels, the Nephilim race, werewolves, and vampires. After all of that, you just stop being intimidated.

She led us down to a long hallway that ended in a massive marble stairs. We followed her down to another dimly lit hallway. That was another thing, they always made you go through mazes of hallways that made you feel trapped and claustrophobic. Finally, after what seemed to be an unnecessarily long time, Lisa finally stopped in front of an unassuming door. She opened it and stepped aside, letting us in first. Patch entered and I was about to follow when I felt someone grab me by the arm and spin me around.

"You promised," Lisa hissed in my ear.

"I know," I told her calmly. "I swore an Oath."

"You did."

"But I'm not dead yet," I pressed on, trying to pry away my fingers this time. "That means I'm keeping my end of the deal."

She was hesitant for a minute. "You're alive as long as you believe you're keeping your end."

"I searched any clues about Marcie and Susanna's location," I said impatiently. It was true. I did check Marcie's Facebook page. I had browsed through her profile and any other websites I knew she would have gone but it didn't tell me anything I didn't already know. And it scares me because what I do know is that Marcie and Susanna was last seen in Volterra in Italy, the place where I knew the Volturi resided.

Lisa stared at me expectantly but I shook my head. "Look, let me go. Patch isn't pleased with you and the last thing you really want to do is piss off my boyfriend. I'll explain everything to you inside."

She glared at me before turning away. "Keep the end of your bargain and you will walk away from here after all of this."

Inside the doors, Patch had noticed I hadn't followed. I had beg him in mind speak not to come back outside and confront Lisa but he was very close to smashing her head against the wall, as he had viciously imagined it and showed it inside my head. I went inside where Patch was waiting with a visible scowl in his face. His fists were clenched as his glare followed Lisa to her position in the front of the crowd. She ignored it all the way. I pried his fingers open and forced him to look at me. Those intense onyx orbs were slowly melting until they were my favorite warm black.

"You really should teach your subjects some respect," he whispered but the viciousness was there.

I nodded. "I know but I still have to earn their respect. It's hard for them to view me the same way they viewed my father because first, I am dating a sworn enemy of theirs and second of all, I think they suspect I'm behind Hank's murder."

He let himself grin. "You are in a bad position."

I imitated a grimace. "Yeah, so it all explains the hostility."

His shoulders relaxed and I felt the warmth of his fingers wrap around my right hand. "Well they're going to be more pissed knowing you have them allying with vampires."

I grimaced again. "Oh, yeah. That's not going to be pretty. But we might as well do it."

We walked in front of the room together but I immediately let go of Patch's hand. They know we're together but I don't think it's a good idea to rub it in their faces. Already, I could feel the judgmental eyes on me. Accusations of betrayal and neglect crashed over me like a wave. This isn't going to be an easy task.

"So what do you have for us, Black Hand?" I heard Lisa call out in front of the room. She stared fully at me, challenging me. I hated the name she called me but I refused to show any sign of weakness.

"My family members," I began. "An hour of extreme danger is upon us. We have told you a month ago that monsters from our nightmares are threatening to bring dark power to our kind and our future. We went to a little town called Forks, Washington where some of these creatures lived. We were ready to go to war. We were ready to fight for the sake of this race. But it turned out we were tricked. A higher power was commanding them to find out about us and our race. It wasn't the creatures in Forks that wanted to harm us. It was their government, their royalty."

"So what makes these creatures in Forks a benign force?" one of them asked with hositility. "If their royalty wants us dead to get to the Devilcraft, what makes you think they don't want us dead too?"

I lifted my eyebrow at the questioner. "Are you your government? Are you the Black Hand? They are separate entities from their government. They don't even belong to the same clan. Besides, they warned us about their power hungry government. They're helping us against them. They are going to fight beside us if it comes to it."

The uproar came fast I didn't even finish talking. As soon as they heard "fight beside", the room went ballistic. I waited for their complaints and shouts of insults to die down before continuing on. I glanced at Patch who was leaning against the wall to the side, looking almost bored. Once the room had finally settled into a reasonable silence, I went on.

"I understand your hostility against working with these vampires," I told them, looking at each and every face. I wanted them to know they could trust me and they could trust my plans. "But don't you see? We have the upper hand if they even think of double-crossing us. We know how to destroy them and they have no way of destroying us."

"Do they know how to destroy us?" I heard someone ask from the back.

"Yes, it was a part of the compromise we had to agree to," I answered and heard the strong opposition rise again but held my hand up to silence them. "But they do not have the luxury of time to find out which people in Coldwater belong to a Nephilim bloodline because we will be there to stop them from hurting us in any way.

"But most importantly, we know how to destroy them! We know their weakness and their strengths. We can use all of this against them. The only thing we need to avoid is getting hurt badly enough we cannot fight any longer."

I could see their eyes stirring, looking unsure. Their protests were dying down as they exchanged hesitant glances. It was a bit surprising how uncertain the Nephils can be these days. I couldn't remember a time a few months ago I could say something and have several Nephils believe me. I decided to inject some more hope in my plan.

"I will teach you how to destroy the vampires. They will not be able to harm us as long as the Nephil race stand united. We cannot let these creatures harm our families or threaten our future. I will not let that happen on my watch. We are immortals and we will put their immortality to the test. We will fight them in order to ensure our safety!"

While we were away to investigate, it was Pepper who trained the Nephilim army but since they didn't know the specifics, Pepper only built their strength and endurance through a series of gruelingly painful exercises. Of course, it did not sit well with the army and I received several angry complaints after the meeting that night had finished. So it was decided that Vee and I will handle training while Pepper and Patch help us. I could let Patch and Pepper train the army while Vee and I were at school but after a few weeks of being under a fallen angel, I knew it was the last thing a Nephil soldier wants to be at. I think it would be better if all of them train under Vee and I after school.

We agreed that the only area large enough to house and train the whole army was the old warehouses Hank used for his army when he was alive. I remembered scaling the place, looking for any evidence he wasn't who he says he was. Of course, I was right. I remembered seeing the Archangel, the one who presided over Patch's trial, locked in a cage glowing blue with Devilcraft. I shuddered at the thought that I was slowly becoming like him, using the old warehouses and controlling a powerful army. I quickly shut that thought away inside a dark space in my brain with a heavy vault door.

A few days later, another problem had risen. This time, in the form of my mother. One day after school, just as I was about to head to the warehouses, I saw her car parked in the garage as it usually did before she moved to New York. I opened the kitchen door and saw her in her pajamas, sitting in front of the island counter. With a sinking feeling, I knew there was no way I was going to go to the warehouses tonight with my mom fully on guard mode.

She looked up as I entered the kitchen. I feigned the enthusiastic smile but kept the curious, almost accusatory edge in my voice. "Mom! What are you doing here?"

She got up from the island counter and gave me a hug. She looked me in the eyes, smiling brilliantly. "Oh, Hugo decided I worked really hard during the Holiday season so he decided to give me a three-week vacation!"

Three weeks? How in the world would I get my army trained and ready for combat when my mom would be hovering all over me in three weeks? Who knows how fast the Volturi works? This isn't good.

She shook me a little, waiting for my response. "Hey, you could be a bit happy, you know! I know you're getting used to your freedom but still, be happy for your mom!"

I hugged her and returned my fake enthusiastic smile. "Of course I'm happy! I've missed you so much!"

"Great! We will spend every minute of your free time together! We're going shopping and maybe even go around Portland together!" she squeaked before going back to the island counter.

Great. Sounds fun.

As my mom got ready for a movie night out, I hurriedly dialed Patch's number and shut myself inside my room. I drummed my fingers against my desk impatiently, waiting for him to pick up. Once I heard the click on the other line, I started speaking.

"We have a problem. My mom is here and she's not leaving for three weeks. There's no way I could go train the Nephilim without her knowing."

"Brainwash her," Patch replied a few seconds later.

"Wha-? I don't want to brainwash her! I've done that way too many times! Worse, other people have done that way too many times! I'm not going to brainwash her."

"You can always explain the situation," he suggested mockingly.

I could almost groan. Of course I couldn't do that without the Archangels latching on to my mom's back. The last thing I want to do is involve her into this whole mess. When I didn't say anything, Patch spoke up again.

"Look Angel, the only way you can come here is if you actually brainwash your mom. If you can't do that, I'm always available to help you. Hey, how about this, I'll call your mom's boss in New York and brainwash him. He can always tell her her leave had been cut short."

I bit my lip. As bad the timing my mom's leave was, I want her to rest. The only reason why I wasn't obligated to report to her as much during the Holiday season was she was so busy to even pick up my calls. There was also a part of me that misses her terribly. I explained it to Patch.

"That would just have to be our last resort. There's got to be something else out there that won't involve brainwashing anyone else."

The silence that followed told me he was thinking about it. "Let me just make a few calls."

"What are you going to do?"

"Ask for help."

"From who?"

"You'll find out."

Before I could ask for more or even agree to whatever he was planning, he hung up. I felt an ominous feeling in the pit of my stomach. Patch wouldn't go to the Archangels for such a simple thing as my mom's leave, right? I know the Archangels aren't the bad guys but I just cannot trust any powerful being around her. What if they hurt her? I convinced myself Patch wouldn't do anything to hurt my mom and he will somehow find a suitable suggestion for everyone.

"Are you ready?" my mom called out from downstairs. "The movie starts at nine and I don't want to be late."

"Coming mom," I called out as I grabbed my jacket and headed for the door.

The next week have been utterly silent. I haven't been to any Nephilim training since my mom is keen to spending every single minute available to us together. I also didn't even have the chance to ask Vee about it because my mom kept insisting she would drop me off to school and pick me up after. It also didn't help I haven't gotten a word from Patch and I couldn't visit him either. I had called him several times throughout the week. At first, he was blatantly ignoring my calls but when my calls got more and more frequent, he just turned off his phone all together.

Frustration of feeling completely left out got me thinking of drastic solutions, all involving brainwashing my mother, running to Vee's house to pick her up and ask very descriptive details from her, and just knocking the living daylights out of my boyfriend for not including me in any of his plans.

It was in the middle of January I finally found out about Patch's plans.

I was getting ready to go out with my mom again. Apparently, she's gotten very fond of Korean barbeque after trying it out in New York. She had spent the whole afternoon looking for great Korean barbeque restaurants at Portland and found one she seemed to like the most.

"The ambiance seems really great," she was saying as she browsed the restaurant's website for reviews and other pictures. "They really know their food too. You'll like ddeokbokki, sweetie. I had it only once and I fell completely in love with it. The place is about an hour drive from here. It's actually quite near the airport. So if we want to get a good seat, we might as well leave soon. Oh, I cannot wait to try some beef bulgogi again and I think you'll like their dumplings. They have this-"

My mom's avid explanation of Korean cuisine was interrupted by a knock on the door. I was quick to get away from my mom but I felt the air fill with electricity as I stepped in front of the door before I opened it. I hesitated, knowing whoever is outside is not human. Was it the Nephilim army finally getting tired of my absence and finally dragging me by my hair to the warehouses? Was it the Volturi finally finding out I am at my most vulnerable right now and finally decided to do away with me?

But when I opened the door with a calming inhale, I was taken aback. Standing there on my home's threshold was a sight I never expected to see. Bella, Edward, and Seth were waiting patiently outside my door. I wasn't sure if it was because I haven't seen them in a few weeks or because everything in my line of vision paled in comparison to their outstanding beauty, but it had once again rendered me speechless. I stood there, my mouth opening and closing as I struggled to find the words to welcome them.

"Hi Nora," Edward greeted me pleasantly with a smile.

My heart began pounding and my mind reached conclusions why vampires would be here at Maine. "What are you guys doing here? Is there a problem? Is the Volturi making a move?"

"Relax, Nora," Seth piped up. "Nothing's happened yet."

"Yeah. Jev had called us yesterday and informed us about your predicament," Bella added. "May we come in?"

I stepped aside to let them in, hoping I didn't embarrass myself. "Of course, come in."

"Nora, who's at the door?" My mom's voice floated from the living room. I quickly glanced at the vampires in my mom's "Welcome" mat, just realizing what kind of trouble my mom is in.

"Don't worry," Edward said in mind-speak. "We promise we will not lay a hand on your mother. That's partly why Seth is with us. He'll make sure we won't hurt your mom."

Finally my mom's figure stepped out of the living room and into the foray. She glanced at me, puzzled for a second before her eyes wandered at our visitors. I could see them widen in surprise and in awe as she took in the beauty of the three magical creatures standing by our welcome mat. I rolled my eyes as she opened her mouth in an attempt to say something but close them again when nothing came out.

"Mom," I finally said. "These are the people I met at Washington. This is Edward Cullen, Bella Swan, and Seth Clearwater."

She stepped forward and offered her hand uncertainly towards the three. They took it one by one politely. "It's nice to meet you," she was finally able to mutter. "I-I'll go get you three something to drink. Please come in, come in. It's freezing outside."

A smile played on Edward's lips. I knew the joke was something on the lines of vampires are cold and Seth is a werewolf and well, cold doesn't exist in their dictionary either. Nevertheless, they entered my house and peered around interestedly. Edward and Bella stayed on the foyer while Seth walked around, examining the pictures on the walls.

"Cute," he smiled, pointing at my 10th grade yearbook picture.

I rolled my eyes. "Come on, sit down," I told them, walking inside to the living room. "Might as well make yourselves at home."

They followed me inside and settled down on the couch. As soon as I sat down on the love seat, I realized how embarrassing the house was. The vampires' beauty was such a stark contrast to the humble walls of the farmhouse.

"I'm sorry my home isn't like the Cullen manor," I said in a small voice.

"It reminds me of Charlie's place, actually," Bella said with a smile as she looked around again.

"Yeah," Seth piped in as he made himself more comfortable on the other loveseat. "It has real character. You know? Really…homely. I could get used to living here."

Once again, I chose to ignore his comment but without blushing. I coughed pointedly and brushed a strand of hair off my face. "So, what is it exactly you're doing here?"

"Well, Jev thought all you needed was a reason to get out of the house. If you pretended to show us around Coldwater, Maine, you can go to the Nephilim meetings and train your army," Edward explained. "We are that reason."

"Here you are!" My mom entered with a tray carrying a plate of cookies and three steaming mugs of hot chocolate. She settled all of that in the middle of the coffee table. "Please, eat up. Any friend of Nora is welcome here."

"Don't mind if I do," Seth reached towards the cookies and began munching loudly. Edward and Bella remained still on their seats, smiling politely but not sparing a glance at the food's direction.

I looked incredulously at my mother. She was never that friendly to Vee, even though Vee could walk in our home even without her permission or knowledge. She would never even consider those words when she's talking to Patch.

"It's the beauty," Edward whispered in mind-speak. "Humans are naturally attracted to us vampires. Your mom is not showing favoritism. She's just reacting the way any other human would when they're around us. It's one of our…predatory skills."

"Oddly enough, I don't feel comforted," I told him, horrified at the idea my mom is serving herself in a platter for them.

All I got was a smile from Edward.

"So, where did you meet Nora?" my mom asked, taking on an exaggerated interest.

"We're students at Seattle University," Edward told her, the lie flowing out smoothly without a flinch.

"She was staying at my dorm for two weeks," Bella added. "I was assigned as the tour guide for potential students. Nora seemed to be interested in the school."

"Oh really? So what are you guys majoring on?" My mom was wrapped around their words.

"English literature," Seth said through bites. He swallowed hard and a mischievous smile took over his face. "With a bit emphasis on mythological creatures."

He's an idiot.

"I'm majoring in English literature as well," Bella replied. "Classical English literature."

"Medicine," Edward simply said.

"Wow, well that's great. I'm glad Nora surrounded herself with the right people while she was there. You must have met Vee and Patch."

Edward nodded but it was Seth who spoke. "Yes, I met Patch once. He seemed mildly interested in our university."

My mom scoffed as if she expected this. "Well, I personally don't know what that boy will do with his life."

"Mom," I said in a polite but curt voice.

She ignored me. "I don't really know what Nora sees in that boy. Well, if she met boys like you, Edward, Seth, maybe she'll be able to forget that boy. He's trouble."

I opened my mouth in disbelief. Is she serious?

"Well actually he told me what he was planning on majoring," Seth said and I sensed a slight tinge of defensiveness in his voice. "He told me he was going to major in History. He seemed to be interested in old things. He was my roommate and he was able to talk to me about it."

"Oh, really?" she challenged the words coming out of Seth's mouth. "Well what useful profession is he going to do with a major like that?"

Seth shrugged. "I think archaeologist is an option. He might actually discover ancient documents. Or he can end up archiving them in a local museum. Either way, I heard the pay isn't bad."

I couldn't believe it. Seth had just defended Patch in front of my mom. When I was able to recover, I looked at my mom. "Please, don't insult Patch in front of my friends."

She heaved a sigh loudly. "I'm sorry, Nora. I'm sorry to all of you. I don't know what got into me. I just really wanted someone like the two of you to end up with Nora."

"Well, I can't," Edward said, grabbing Bella's hand so her sparkly diamond wedding band glittered under the dim light. "We're engaged."

I pretended this was news to me just to fill the awkward silence.

"Oh my gosh! Since when?!" I grabbed Bella's marble hand and feigned complete shock and awe.

"He proposed Christmas," Bella replied sheepishly. These vampires are such good actors. They would blend in Hollywood if it wasn't for the whole Volturi thing.

"Well if that's the case, we have to celebrate!" I urged on encouragingly, recognizing a perfect reason to go out. "Mom, can we please?"

She seemed to look disappointed. "But we were going to eat out."

"Mom, please? We've been hanging out a lot these past few days, anyways. I haven't seen them in ages! Look, they're getting married! Please?"

She thought about it before sighing. "All right. But I don't want you staying up too late, all right? Be home by ten."

"Eleven," I bargained.

"Ten-thirty," she countered.

"Ten forty-five," I said back.

"Deal."

Ten minutes later, Edward, Bella, Seth, and I filed outside. They had rented a sleek black silver Volvo, not different from what he drives in Forks. Edward and Bella reached their doors but Seth hung back. They looked at him curiously as he walked beside me.

"I'll ride with Nora," he explained. "I don't trust your GPS. You guys can just follow us."

Edward nodded. "That makes sense."

I pulled out of the driveway with Seth on the passenger seat. I could see the Cullens' car following close behind. The awkwardness inside the car couldn't be any more obvious, it was thick in the air. I really didn't know what to say and I was still a bit surprised at the way he defended Patch in front of my mom. But I have a feeling it's mostly because of the whole imprinting thing. Nevertheless, I knew I had to say something about it.

"Thanks for defending Patch in front of my mom," I told him quietly. "You didn't have to do that."

He scoffed, amused. "Well, I kind of felt bad for the guy. The way your mom just put him out like that made me feel like you're not doing enough to leave her with a good impression of him."

"I tried but when she sees an alternative, she tries to grab it. You should have seen her trying to get me to hook up with this guy. I haven't seen him in years and she invites him and his mother for dinner. "

I could hear him chuckling now and for some reason, it annoyed me. "Wow, you're throwing boy troubles at me? What are you trying to do, make me jealous?"

"No, believe it or not. That guy became one of my guy best friends and…he's gone because he saved my life," I tried to roll my eyes and sound indignant but the memory of Scott made my throat constrict.

Seth must have sensed the emotion in my voice, because when he spoke, his voice was made out of sympathy. "I'm sorry, Nora. I wish I have some way of thanking him. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't have met you."

I nodded, not really listening because I was too busy trying to hold the tears back. "Yeah, well I think you would have liked him. You both are very similar, actually."

"I don't think so. I really believe I'm one of a kind."

"Well, you both have the whole magical creature thing going on. You are unbelievably confident of yourself, like him. You are more similar than you would like to admit."

"So that's why you didn't choose him?" he asked. He looked at me expectantly, anticipating any emotion but I kept my eyes on the road and my face expressionless.

"I didn't choose him because we both knew we weren't going to work out. He saw me as someone he had a huge debt to and I saw him as nothing but a brother. Besides, Vee became very interested in him and 'bros before hoes' right?"

"Then I'm glad I don't see you as someone I have a huge debt to," he grinned again.

"Can we just change the subject, please?"

"All right," he agreed. "What are we going to do once we arrive at this Nephilim headquarters?"

"Introduce you to them, I guess. They aren't going to be pleased but since they've been training under their archenemies and are commandeered by someone they think as a traitor, one more surprise might be okay to them. Introducing you as allies might just push them over the edge but they need to differentiate who we're fighting and who we're fighting with," I explained as I turned to the warehouses' road. I parked to the side, behind one of the warehouses I recognized as the Nephilim army's sleeping quarters. I could hear the grunts, crashes, and clashes of weapons on the distance from the other warehouse where the Nephilims are training right now.

I turned off my headlights and got out of the car just as Edward parked beside mine. I heard a door opening from the training warehouse and saw a figure walking towards us. The buzz in the electricity told me everything I needed to know and I ran towards him. He wrapped his arms around me as I took in his scent. I didn't realize how much I missed him until this moment.

"I thought you needed help, if you don't mind," Patch whispered to my ear.

"I wish you would have given me a heads-up," I told him as I broke away from his embrace. We walked towards the cars to meet the others.

"Jev," Edward extended his hand towards him as Patch took it. "It's great to see you again."

"Thank you for coming," he replied as he extended his hand towards Bella. She smiled and took it gently before breaking away. "Come on, we'll have to start training right away."

The warehouse was filled with activity. It was amazing how older first generation Nephilim fought their younger counterparts savagely. The concentration in each soldier's eyes is intense as they engaged in battle.

"You've done a great job," I told Patch in amazement as I looked around. I saw Vee and Pepper engaged in an intense fight, so intense that several groups had stopped fighting to watch them.

"It's not me. Pepper and Vee had been shaping them very well," he acknowledged. He glanced towards Edward and Seth. "You have a lot of catching up to do."

Once we stood in front of the crowd, the whole warehouse fell silent. I registered the shock and anger in each Nephilim's face. The angry, silent outbursts in front of their brains assaulted me as hard as if they had screamed at me. They knew we were fighting with the Cullens but none of them seemed too pleased about it.