~ Chapter Thirty-Three — Abomination ~

Jasper POV

"We need a distraction. We need Maria."

Alice growled low in her throat. "Absolutely not!"

I sighed. It was exactly the reaction I had expected. I took a deep breath and prepared to make my case. "We need the Volturi separated. If we storm the castle, we will die. If we can deal with some of the gifted guards first, our chances will be greatly increased. Maria is the perfect ally for drawing the guard out. She has long hated the Volturi, and she has nothing to lose."

Carlisle gave me an assessing look. I knew what he was thinking as surely as if I had Edward's gift. He was weighing the cost of risking exposure with the idea of getting Bella back. I knew what he was thinking, but I did not know which way he would decide to go. He loved Bella, I knew that, and he loved Edward and would hate to see him suffering, but to go against the Volturi was in contradiction to everything he had dedicated his life to: preservation of life and order.

Edward raised his head slowly and looked at him. "I need her back, Carlisle." I noted the return to Carlisle's given name. "I can't be without her again."

"Would someone explain who this Maria is and why everyone is against getting her involved?" Jacob said.

"She is another vampire," I began.

He rolled his eyes. "I figured that much out for myself, Tex."

I pushed down my irritation and continued in my explanation. "She is among the worst of our kind. You remember the newborns we fought? Well, Maria lives among a constant guard of them. She feeds often and without conscience. She is the cause of thousands of dead and changed humans."

I gave them a brief overview of my early years as a vampire and the role I had played in Maria's army.

"It sounds to me, like you are also the worst of your kind," Sam said.

I shrugged. "Perhaps, but I am not that man anymore. Some remnants remain though, and that is why I am able to see the benefits of having Maria on side."

"I think it's a great idea," Emmett said with a hint of his usual excitement.

"I don't like this," Alice said in a small voice.

"Neither do I particularly," I admitted. "But it's the only way. If we were to cause exposure ourselves, Aro would know it's a trap."

"I think it's an excellent idea." The statement caught me off guard, as it was Esme that spoke. All eyes snapped to her. She straightened her spine and looked back with a mulish expression. "My daughter has been stolen from us again. There is little I would not do to save her."

"There is nothing I wouldn't do," Edward said in a hoarse voice. His misery was clear for all to hear. "It's my Bella."

His words seemed to affect us all, but Carlisle especially. He looked up to the skies for a moment then let out a heavy sigh. "Very well. We will go to Maria."

"Not we," I corrected. "Me. If Aro is thinking clearly, and I have no reason to doubt that he is, he will have Demetri monitoring us all at the moment. If we are all found near the site of the risk, he will suspect a trap. I think he will be concentrating on Edward and you, Carlisle. As long as I am not there at the time of the fight we should be safe."

"Then how are we going to take out the guard?" Rosalie asked.

"Sounds like a job for us," Jacob said, following my train of thought.

"Exactly. They are unfamiliar with the wolves. They can catch them off guard and take them out."

"It will be a piece of cake," one of the wolves whose name I didn't know said.

The alpha shifted uncomfortably. "Where will you all be while we risk our lives for you?"

"We will be in the lion's mouth, so to speak. We will be going to Volterra."

xXx

The journey south was arduous and long. The constant exposure to human blood was bad enough, but knowing that I had left Alice unhappy was worse. I had tried to reassure her, but it was futile. She would not be happy until I was back at her side.

I had refused all offers of company for my journey, even from Peter and Charlotte. This was something I felt I had to do alone, and Peter and Charlotte were needed back in Forks. The group we had amassed had been training in battle techniques for weeks, but my family had not. Peter especially could work to hone them into warriors.

I thought I had put war behind me the day I met Alice. I had never imagined that the peaceful family I had joined would ever need to know the brutalities of our kind. All this change because of one girl. Still, as I had once told her in a hotel room in Phoenix, she was worth it.

The wolves were travelling to Mexico on a later flight. It would give them time to settle things on the reservation, and it would give me time to track down Maria.

At the airport, I used the internet to search for missing persons and murders, hopeful that Maria and her newborns had left a trail for me to follow. The Southern Wars were long since disbanded, but Maria liked to keep a few newborns with her as a guard. There weren't a lot of missing persons reported, but those that I did find seemed to be centered around Ciudad Juárez. And so I came to find myself on the outskirts of the city, looking for signs of my kind.

I searched for a week before I found the first traces of vampire. It was in a small suburb on the periphery of the city, I caught the scent in an alley I was lurking in waiting for the sun to pass so I could move easily through the streets. I was trapped by the sun, and I had to wait for almost an hour for the sun to set enough for me to move. I used the time to call home and check in. I was expecting to reach Alice, but it was Carlisle that answered.

"Jasper, how are you, Son?" It was not often that Carlisle called me son. We did not have the same relationship as he did with my siblings. My entry into this world made it harder for me to accept him as a father figure. I cared for him, as I did all my family, but I did not fit the role of son. I knew it was his worry for me and the situation I was heading into that made him for demonstrative than was usual.

"I'm well. I have found a signs of vampire and I am waiting for dark before following."

"Be careful."

"I always am. How is Alice?"

"She has taken Edward hunting." He hesitated. "He is… Well, he is not himself."

"Understandably. He is going through hell at the moment."

I heard Carlisle sigh. I could imagine, even without seeing, the heavy set of his features as he tried to articulate his fears. "I don't know how to help him," he admitted. "He does not rouse himself to train with the rest of us; he just sits and stares into space."

I tried to imagine how I would feel if Alice was taken from me. My mind shied away from the possibility, not wanting to venture there. "He is managing as best as he can."

"I wish I could ease his mind though."

"The only person that can help him now is Bella."

I thought of my sister, and a weight settled over my heart. She was all alone in Volterra, having who knew what done to her. I hoped that she was strong enough to withstand it.

"Carlisle, I am going to have to go," I said. "The sun is setting and I don't want to lose the trail. Tell Alice that I called and I am fine."

"Very well. I know you are more than equipped to handle this situation, but please take care. I don't want to lose another of my children."

It sounded like he had already given up on Bella. The idea annoyed me. "She's not gone, Carlisle. She's just away awhile. We'll get her back."

"You are right, of course," he replied hurriedly.

We exchanged farewells and then I ended the call. Stepping out of the alley, I drew a deep breath. The scent was fading, but I would be able to follow it. Unlike Edward, tracking was one of my talents.

As I wandered the streets, my tension increased. I was heading back to Maria after decades of trying to avoid her. It was only love for my family that kept me putting one foot in front of the other.

The scent led me out of the town and to a small house surrounded by sparse scrubland. It was not somewhere I expected Maria to be, and I wondered if I had been following the wrong trail after all. It was only as I drew close that I recognized the scent of my maker.

I hesitated, not knowing what to do next. It was hardly sensible to walk up and knock on the door, but at the same time, I had to do something. My dilemma was solved for me as the door opened and a tall man stepped out. My breath rushed from me in a whoosh. I recognized the man. He was one of the newborns I had trained myself all those years ago.

"Jasper?" His eyes were wide with incomprehension. "I never thought to see you again."

It took me a moment to gather myself enough to respond. It was not that I didn't expect Maria to keep a newborn in the coven to replace me, but the fact that she had chosen this newborn as a companion surprised me. He was built like Emmett, but unlike my brother, he didn't have two brain cells to rub together.

"I never thought to see you again, either, Ramone." I held out a hand to him. He stepped forward and encased my hand in one of his own and shook it.

"Well, after you abandoned our mistress, someone had to take on the role of teacher."

"Your mistress, not mine, Ramone," I corrected.

"That cuts me deep," a soft feminine voice spoke from inside the house. A moment later a slight female figure stepped out onto the porch. Time had changed none of Maria's features, though I did not expect them to. There was one marked difference though; she was smiling a soft welcoming smile. I had expected that I would need to pander to her before I would be given audience, but she looked pleased to see me.

"Maria." I made a small bow. "You are as lovely as ever." I decided a little pandering to couldn't hurt.

"You always were a gentleman, Jasper," she cooed. "I am pleased to see that living among the foolish has not driven those manners from you. I see that you still hold to that ridiculous diet, though. Would you like me to send Ramone to find you a real meal?"

Ramone didn't look happy at the prospect of becoming my waiter. Even if the idea was not abhorrent to me, I would not have taken her up on the offer. I needed them both to be in the right frame of mind if they were to be of use to me.

"I am well fed, but thank you," I said.

She eyed me shrewdly. "You have come for more than a reunion, haven't you?"

Maria was not technically gifted with any talent, but she always had an ability to know when I was trying to conceal something. It was why she was preparing to kill me before I ran from her. She could sense my disquiet.

"I admit I am here with a purpose," I said. "Can we go inside and speak freely?"

"We can speak freely here," she said. "I still have some secrets from you, Jasper. And until I am satisfied that your allegiance is the same as ever, I will not share them with you. Now, tell me what is it that brings you here?

I steeled myself for the revelation. "My family is in trouble; we need your help."

She raised an eyebrow in question. "What possible trouble can your coven had found themselves in that would require my assistance."

"The Volturi have taken one of my family. We need your help to get her back."

"Not your charming mate, I trust."

"No, my brother's mate. My sister. She was stolen from us a week ago and we need your help to get her back."

I gave her a brief overview of Edward and Bella's romance and how she had come to fall in the hands of the Volturi.

She considered my words for a full minute, then she smiled. "I think it is time you came inside."

Ramone gestured me ahead of him and I followed Maria into the house. It was sparsely furnished, though scrupulously clean.

"This is unlike you, Maria," I observed. "You always liked to be in the city."

"One of my companions has yet to conquer her need for blood. She needs her freedom, and so we are here."

I nodded as if I understood what she was saying. I didn't. I also didn't understand why there was only Maria, Ramone and, if my hearing was correct, one other here. A coven of three was not Maria's usual choice of living situation.

"I see much has changed, Maria," I said.

"You are very correct. I will tell you more, but first I wish to know what it is that you want from me. As you can see, I do not have the numbers to support you anymore."

"Numbers I can provide. It's a distraction I need," I said. "I want to draw the guard here to you and our allies while the rest of my family take the castle."

She laughed delightedly. "You are going to take the castle? Oh, Jasper, you do amuse me."

"I am not kidding," I said in a stony voice. "They have taken my sister. We will get her back. We have the numbers." I told her about the vampires we had amassed and the werewolves.

"You have actual Children of the Moon among you?" Ramone asked.

"No, they are shapeshifters, but all the more dangerous that the Children of the Moon because of it. These are rational in their wolf forms and are ferocious fighters."

"And you have allied yourself with them?" Maria asked. "How is such a thing possible?"

"They fight for Bella, as do the rest of us."

Maria laughed a girlish laugh. It was incongruous coupled with her shrewd expression. A snake pretending to be a mouse.

"I need your help, Maria," I implored. "We cannot hope to succeed without you."

She considered my words carefully. "What do you need me to do?"

I explained about the plan for her to provide a risk of exposure to draw the Volturi from their castle. "You will not have to fight," I said. "The wolves will do it all; we just need you to provide the distraction."

"That doesn't sound very fun for us," Ramone said.

"By all means fight among them. My point is that there is no risk to you."

"Unless your dogs fail us," Maria said.

"They won't," I vowed. "There are nineteen of them, and I have seen them fight before. They are more than capable of dealing with the guard."

Maria pursed her thin lips in silent contemplation of my words. "I will help you, on one condition," she said.

"Anything," I vowed.

"After the fight is over, and the Volturi are overthrown, I want a part of the new leadership."

It was a ridiculous idea. Maria would expose us within days if she was left in charge. I had no choice but to agree though. I was evidently silent too long as Maria started to turn away from me.

"No wait!" I called.

She turned back to face me and I noticed the maniacal gleam in her eyes. "Those are my conditions, Jasper. Take them or leave them."

"I agree," I said, hoping that there was no sign of my trepidation in my tone.

"Then we shake." She held out a hand to me.

I reached out and took it. Locking eyes with her, I shook her hand, feeling like I was striking a deal with the devil.

"Excellent," she said clapping her hands together. "Now we are allies, I can share something with you." She gestured to the door in the corner. "Come meet my greatest treasure."

I stepped through the door, feeling a growing sense of trepidation. My phone rang in my pocket, but I did not reach for it. I didn't want to offend Maria.

In the corner of the room, there was a small figure. As I entered the room, it turned to face me. I hissed and lurched back until my shoulders met the wall.

"Maria, what have you done?" I demanded.

She laughed a girlish laugh. "Now, Jasper, let's not be rude. You will offend her."

Offend it? I hardly believed such a thing was possible. This thing was an abomination. A crime against nature and our kind. A gross infraction of our greatest law.

Maria had created an immortal child.