Authors Note: Hey guys it's late and I've had a long day so I'm not going to be long winded. Here's the next chapter just in time for July. Read and enjoy, we're in the last leg for this story. Oh and drop a review if your muse descends.
Chapter 24
I immediately threw out my senses trying to find out whatever was causing that reaction. Harry and Anastasia did the exact same thing. There wasn't anything truly abnormal; only something that was slightly warm at the very edges of my magical sense.
It couldn't be very good if it sent six super human vampires into red alert.
I jumped up from the table willing my staff into my hands; it flew into my hands at super human speed. I grasped it tightly in both hands, and started to will magic into it, if there was a fight, this time I wasn't going to be caught with my pants down (or my shoes off for that matter). With my magical senses still I tried to figure out just what was going on.
Harry had pulled his blasting rod and hand cannon from out of his leather duster, Luccio did much the same, holding her pistol in one hand keeping her other hand free. She could cast more intense and powerful fire with her bare hand than Harry or I could with a focus, again coming from a hundred and fifty years worth of experience. The six vampires were still frozen in their positions, perfect statues, ready to attack at blinding speed.
And of course the most anticlimactic thing happened…
The doorbell rang. Who rings a doorbell before they attack, that's like…I can't think of a more idiotic example than: ringing a doorbell before you attack.
No one moved from their positions, like they were frozen to their spots out of pure anger; so I went to answer the door. I gave a slight nod to everyone before I opened the door.
Again the most anticlimactic thing happened.
A regular person…A regular freakin' person was standing at the door, nothing truly supernatural about him; he sure as hell wasn't a vampire. He seemed to tower over me, not really an easy thing to do unless you're a basketball player; he was half a foot taller than my six feet, at least. He reminded me of a younger version of Wizard Listens-to-Wind (I'm not sure, but that may be a little racist,) his skin was a deep bronze color, almost red (that one I know was racist.) He was dressed in something no one should be caught dead in, a pair of old sweatpants that were cut a little too short, and an old sweatshirt that met the same fate.
I can put two and two together and most of the time I get to four. He was one of the Quileute werewolves, and the look on his face said he was none to happy to be here. "You must be the wizard." He said, as his hands began to shake.
"Well I do have a staff, and I am wearing this snazzy grey cloak. I think that makes me a wizard." I looked to my staff, and then to my cloak. "And since you smell like a wet dog; I'm gonna go out on a limb and say you're one of the wolves."
He didn't respond right away, the shaking and trembling in his hands slowly moved up his arms and into his shoulders before taking over the rest of his body. "Yes," he started to speak through clenched teeth, "my name is…"
"Listen Fido, I don't care what your name is. You interrupted a meeting of the White Council, so you better have a damn good reason." I said as condescendingly as I could with a terrible little smirk pulling at the edges of my lips. I was pushing all the right buttons; new werewolves have a tendency to rely on their anger.
His entire body started to shake, every molecule began to vibrate. He looked like he was strung out on a case and a half of Red Bull; the shaking, the narrowed eyes, the rhythmic clenching and unclenching of his fists. He began taking deep breaths, seeming to choke on the air around him; attempting to calm himself. It didn't seem to help, but slowly, very slowly he began to calm himself. The violent shaking that racked every muscle of his body eased up to a tremble.
He spoke again, very slowly, very controlled, in a vain attempt to keep rage from his voice. "Why didn't you tell us about the leeches in Seattle?"
"Gosh it was on my 'to do' list, right under learn to speak Mandarin and create world peace. I don't see how I could have missed it." I pulled an imaginary sheet of paper out of my pocket, "There it is, how silly of me. Sorry." I said with just a touch of sarcasm, and condemnation. There a few quiet snorts of laughter behind me, followed by just as many harsh glares.
Apparently I wasn't being very diplomatic.
"We have the right to know what's going on." He said controlling his rage slightly better.
"To know what, that there has been a war between wizards and vampires for almost seven years? You play a dangerous game in a world you do not comprehend, Rover. There are a lot of things in this world that are very scary, very nasty, and like nothing better than to find ignorant people who are cocksure in their abilities and destroy them." I was desperately trying to shake him up and I'm not quite sure how I was doing.
For a short moment he was a little too stunned to speak; then the rage came back full force and flooded into his voice, "How dare you get Bella involved in this." Of course, this was the werewolf best friend Bella mentioned on my first day here. He lunged towards me, still human.
I held my hand up, whispering, "Flavis." Thunder without sound escaped my hand rippling the air around me with visible disruptions. "If you want to speak with me, yell at me, or try or beat the life out of me than run, straight back for a mile and a half."
"What? Why?" He stammered oblivious to what was happening around him.
"They can't hear us and they won't for another five seconds, if you want to really talk run; if not stay here." I said in as neutral a voice as I could. What I had done is disrupt the air around us with vibrations counter to a person's voice, it creates a barrier that sound cannot pass through, they couldn't hear us and we couldn't hear them. One of my more impressive tricks if I do say so.
"Okay." He said just before the bubble came down. He took off at a dead sprint clearly resisting the urge to change into his wolf form, as he hit the tree line he did shift into a large russet colored wolf.
I didn't waste any time of my own, I reached into my pocket and pulled out the little silver cheetah figurine that I'd been working on for the better part of a week, nights mostly.
Ya, so I lied when I said I spent a magic free week.
I held it in my free hand and begun willing magic into it, the silver figure began to glow a dull white. It worked; I took off running towards the tree line like I was shot from cannon, the faster I went the brighter it would glow, and the brighter it glowed the faster I could run. I wasn't sure just how long I could keep up this sprint before magic would destroy that little figure; it began to get painfully hot after a mile at a pace I could keep up with most cars, I slowed my pace after what seemed like a mile, and slowed even further when I could see a man breaking the solid green background.
I slowed to a stop, dropping the little silver statue onto the wet ground below; it made a sharp hissing noise and steam rose from the damp ground in a little cloud.
"Whatever you know I didn't want my people finding out, so whatever questions you have ask them." I said sharply.
"Did you really give those leeches permission to change Bella into one of them?" He asked sitting down onto a fallen log, he wasn't angry with what was going on, he was upset over losing her.
People are really obvious sometimes.
"No, I gave all of them, including Bella, an ultimatum. Either they turn Bella or I kill Edward." My words were neutral, not betraying anything I knew.
"Why?"
"Forces beyond your understanding or mine figured that Bella was involved in something huge. They've been trying to kill her, probably since the day she was born, maybe earlier." I said trying to give as few details as possible.
"How do you know?"
"Hello, wizard!" I said waving my staff in his face. "I don't like it anymore than you do. But sometimes, there isn't a good choice to be made; those times you have to choose the lesser of two evils."
"Ya, I guess, but I doubt you don't like it anymore than I do." he said. Defeated. He was beginning to understand that he wasn't an all powerful creature anymore, that there was a larger world than what he'd known. Not surprisingly he reacted this way when confronted by the truth of the matter.
"Anything else," I said, bending down to pick up my trinket. It was, surprisingly, still intact, all the intricate carving that Alice had helped me with hadn't even begun to melt.
"No, that was it."
"Okay, make sure Bella survives the night, I don't want the prophecy to come true, but in my plan she stays alive."
"Even at the cost of her soul?"
"Nope, not at all." I said willing magic back into the figurine again. I liked being able to run like this, the wind, the speed, the added agility. I kept my pace down, so that I didn't risk burning my hand, or destroying my new toy. "Even if she gets back she'll still have one."
I grinned mischievously and took off at full speed. Two miles and one red hot trinket
I arrived back and Chateau Cullen, to a frightening scene. Six vampires dressed in solid black with two brand new shining silver swords at their hips. No two vampires were carrying the same set of swords. Carlisle had a rapier on one hip and a main-gauche on the other; Emmet's back was strapped down by two five foot bastard swords; Alice was armed with two short swords, one was a nasty curved sword that resembled a long Kris; Edward with old fashion cavalry sabres; Esme, who was extremely uncomfortable with the swords, and Rosalie, who wasn't, were carrying two different versions of long swords.
Luccio and Harry were standing off to the side, of this odd and rather scary tableau; Luccio was giving commands in a mixture of English and Italian, I didn't think that I was gone that long. Everyone was following the orders quickly, only Carlisle looked like he had handled a sword before, the others looked like amateurs who only know how to hold one because of what they'd seen in movies.
I hadn't ever bothered to explain to them why they needed the swords, I wasn't doubting their ability to pull the head off of a Red Courter or rip their stomachs open with their bare hands; I was worried about what would happen if they got all of that warm, sticky, juicy, wonderful human blood on their hands. Alice had probably told them what was going to happen so they happily played along. When I first saw them through the trees, the swords were in their scabbards, I hadn't taken another step forward when all the swords were in their hands, every single one of them gleaming in the grey light of the Washington morning.
I didn't hear anything, but at once they all broke up into pairs and started sparring, only occasionally touching swords, sending a loud metallic ring into the air. The plan was coming together quite nicely, possibly because there was no one in the immediate area trying to stop us.
It didn't take long before the six of them stopped, sheathing their swords of course. For all the intense training none of them looked tire or out of breath, naturally. I hate immortals so much sometimes. I suppose it is at a cost, all of their eyes were several shades darker, and the circles were much more noticeable.
I started through the trees perfectly content to watch this display from the comfort of the tree line. Start to finish the entire scene before me was over in less than fifteen minutes. I casually crossed the meadow around the house, watching a tensely pleasant conversation between Carlisle and the captain, probably about their need to hunt before tonight.
They all politely took off their swords before speeding off into the forest in different directions. Doesn't seem like they treasure family dinners. I crack me up sometimes. I walked up to the two other wizards.
"Aaron, it seems like I owe you an apology. These vampires are everything you said they were and more." Anastasia wasn't used to apologizing; I could hear the strain in her voice.
I accepted her apology and at the same time acknowledging how hard it was. "Captain, never apologize..."
"…It's a sign of weakness," she cut me off, finishing my line. "John Wayne, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon. I'm impressed." Now it was my turn to be shocked.
"Now I'm even more impressed, I never knew you knew John Wayne." I know I've played the age card before, but I would have never figured a hundred and fifty plus person, let alone a women, would not be able to quote John Wayne.
"I've always had a fascination with the American West. It was the first western I saw; I've seen all of the John Wayne westerns." She said matter-of-factly.
"How hot is that?" Harry said, getting an elbow to the gut and a look that shot daggers. I think Luccio still thought I was in the dark about their relationship. "I mean, how hot does it get around here?" He added quickly trying to get back on her good side. It didn't work, but for my mentor I was happy to play along.
"I haven't seen it get above forty, but then again it is early February." I said with an exaggerated wink, that most blind people wouldn't miss.
"What did Lassie say?" Harry said skillfully changing the subject.
Damn it why could I think of Lassie, or Rin Tin Tin. I could only think of common dog names. "Not much, apparently he's heard that there were vampires and was upset that he and his pack aren't getting a piece of the action." Yes I lied to Harry, but I wouldn't have if Luccio wasn't there. It's not that I don't trust her, I trust her with my life, but she's some of the whitest of the White Council, she doesn't do grey area very well. I thought it was better she didn't know, that way I have complete deniability.
The three of us went back inside; apparently we have permission to use their humble mansion. I already knew that, that's what happens when you're dating one of the family. The sole reason they were helping was because of Bella, they all thought of her as family (even the ice queen.) I've never seen this kind of loyalty.
I grabbed my rapier, and my other stuff, out of Alice's room and brought it down to the expansive living room. I settled on the couch and started polishing everything I owned.
Waiting is the worst part of the fight; all I could do now was imagine all the nasty possible outcomes.
Anyone of us might not come back. A month ago I wouldn't have given death a second thought; I didn't have anything to live for back then, now I had Alice. I couldn't do that to her, she'd already lost one love, because of me.
Oh God, what if she doesn't come back, what if the other vampires have some sort of magic bullet to kill them. I would be back to having nothing to live for, not to mention that everyone else would lose a daughter or a sister.
I didn't spare a worry over Harry or Anastasia. I've seen them both get out of impossible situations; if only two people survived tonight it would be them. Good god, if Harry did die than his apprentice would be killed, she's already on wizard probation; having your teacher die, is considered breaking it, the only punishment is death.
I continued to absently polish my sword, until it had a mirror finish. I gently sheathed taking up my staff and a piece of fine sand paper, just as absently I started buffing out every ding and every scratch. I was so focused on worrying I didn't notice Harry sit down.
"Worrying doesn't do any good, kid. Trust me." He said giving me a reassuring tap on the shoulder.
"I know, but that doesn't stop me, I keep thinking about all the bad things that could happen." I wanted to tell him what was really worrying me, but again I didn't like showing the captain just how much I was in the grey area. I felt weak; I'd opened myself up to so much pain when I made the decision to pump life into that shriveled piece of beef jerky I called a heart. I didn't realize that when I took Ana's advice that it would suck so much in the end.
"So you and the short one huh; what's her name…Alice?" He said casually. I never could keep a secret from him; he and I are too much alike, it's probably why we worked. "Don't worry, she doesn't know." Luccio was meditating in the corner of the dining war room; that was her prefight ritual. "You're the only one who could rival me for the most screwed up love life."
I coughed a short laugh, "You don't even want to know." I kept my eyes on my staff, still buffing it in short circles, "First morning I was here; I killed her 'husband.' I show up here, soulgaze her, leave, she sneaks into the house I've been staying at and lays with me all night. If that isn't the most screwed up first date in the world, I don't know what is." I idly turned the staff over in my hands inspecting the end I'd been working on.
"You got me beat, I only proposed to a half-vampire, you're dating the real thing." He took the sand paper out of my hand, "I should do this more often." He said turning it over in his hand a few times. He picked up his staff that he leaned up against the couch and did the same thing I'd done.
That's the thing about guys; we can have entire conversations in complete silence.
I rolled my staff between my hands absently; the white Modesto Ash of my staff reminded me of all the things that I'd left behind. Wizards normally choose a piece of wood that has some meaning to them, Harry's is made out of a piece from a lightning struck tree, mine was one of the main branches of a tree from Katherine's front yard, she gave it too me when she found out Harry said I was ready to make one. That was Katherine, ever the pragmatist; the staff, the ring, and the bag were the only things I had to remind me of her.
At least I had her, not nearly long enough, but I had her. For the first time in three years I was able to smile when I thought of her. I let all sorts of memories flood in to my consciousness; things that used to be painful, our first kiss, the week we spent on the beach, even normal school days that I'd taken for granted at the time, caused pain. I managed to make myself smile at the memories. Just because I can smile, doesn't mean that I don't want to cry.
Promise you will never forget me. The memory of Katherine's voice echoed through my head like she was sitting right next to me, not like an echo from a dream I will soon forget. I can't forget her, even if I wanted. Even when I wanted to I couldn't, if anything I remembered her more; everything in the world reminded me of her.
I should have been stronger; it shouldn't hurt this much after three and a half years.
"Don't blame yourself too much for what happened to Katherine." He said absently, "Trust me; it leads down a bad road. It happened, it sucks, but you were playing with powers bigger than either of us. But what the hell do I know, I'm insane."
I barked another short laugh, "You're right, but I'm insane too. I take on too much." I set my staff aside, staring out the window at the green and grey scene. "So how's Chicago?"
"Same old, same old. Mob bosses, vampires, werewolves, denarians, warlocks. The usual people that want to see me dead." He said indifferently, "and of course you realized about me and Ana."
"Ya, let me be the first to say that it's weird, and I'm a little grossed out." I said just as indifferently.
"Too bad kid, too bad." He said putting his feet up on the coffee table. "How long 'til sunset?" He closed his eyes, settling into the couch.
"Five-hours, forty-six minutes." I said getting up form the couch; sunset was the time we decided to leave for Port Angeles.
"Still have that weird time telling thing." He said lowly, cocking one eyebrow.
"It's more accurate now, than it was." I said, "five-hours, forty-five minutes," I walked out of the room, towards the kitchen. Since I was a kid, I've always been able to tell time without a watch, when I was ten I was about fifteen minutes off in either direction, by fifteen I was five minutes off, now I'm dead on with those atomic clock things you can buy from Best Buy.
And before I get any questions, I learn what time the sun sets, just like everyone else, from the newspaper. Okay, not like everyone, most people probably find out on the internet, and that requires a computer, which I can't use.
I hadn't been in the kitchen before, but I wasn't surprise that it was just as ultra modern as the house; stainless steel appliances that, although aren't used very much, have no dust or grime on them. I was afraid to touch anything in there; I could imagine the sparks flying. I opened the refrigerator door, quickly scanning the contents, or lack of contents.
Nothing!
I moved onto the cupboards, still nothing.
I was beginning to feel like Old Mother Hubbard; except I was hungry and not some stupid dog. I guess there's only food here when there's someone to eat it. I couldn't eat, I couldn't sleep, so all I could do was worry.
I stared out the window some more; just hoping the scenery would change, melt into something that was truly breathtaking. There was beauty here, but only if one likes green and grey; real sunshine would do a lot to improve this scene.
I wish I could speed up time, or at least make it seem like it's going faster, all the clocks seem to be taunting me, moving forewords only to move back again. A heavy sigh escaped my chest.
"Bored?" A voice chirped beside me. "There's nothing interesting outside that window, trust me." Alice successfully snuck up on me; not hard when my minds focused on a million things at once.
"Bored," I replied not moving my eyes off the window, "but mostly worried."
"About?" Alice said standing closer to me, "I already know, but it's always nice to get things off your chest." She winked. Her reflection looked ethereal in the crystal window.
"Tonight – I always get like this before a fight. I run through all the terrible possibilities: who's going to die, will my number be up tonight. It must be silly to you, but it's all too real for me." I've only been completely honest with two people in my, admittedly short, life: Katherine and now Alice. Anyone else would get a varying degree of my macho male exterior.
"What if I told you no one was going to die?" Alice asked placing a reassuring hand on my back.
"Wouldn't help, I would think of all the possible ways that you could be wrong." I replied putting my hand around her shoulders.
"Okay, what if I told you that you were going to die?" She asked pulling me closer.
"That would be a relief, at least I would know, for sure." I paused, a bird landed on one of the nearest trees, "I would also get a chance to say goodbye." I resisted the urge to kiss her, there was too big of a chance of getting caught.
"It's a shame you're not going to then." Alice said with a shit-eating grin, "Even if I saw it, I wouldn't let it happen."
"So you would do everything in your power?" I asked not really wanting to hear the answer, "I do mean everything."
"Yes, absolutely everything."
"Would that include turning me?" I said dreading either answer. If she said no, she would be willing to let me die; if she said yes – that's a can of worms I don't even want to think about.
"You don't want me to answer that question." She violently shook her head side to side, "you'll hate me if I tell you the truth." I could plainly feel her pain, she saw my reaction either way, and I couldn't imagine it was pretty.
I pulled her as close to me as I could, "Do what you think is right. I trust you."