Cullen's Hound
Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight. Too bad, so sad.
Ch. 14: No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
RPOV
Bella walked next to me, her right arm linked through my left. Fergus, acting the part of the faithful service dog, was on the leash in her left hand while Fiona walked next to me and I held her leash loosely in my right hand. For a vampire with impulse control problems and a knack for sheer stupidity, Emmett's little experiment worked out pretty well. Just before we moved to Isle Esme, he was surfing the Internet for something (probably porn) when he came across a story about Chinese Fu dogs. Apparently they were immortal canines that guarded sacred temples and such.
During our stay off the Brazilian coast, he bit Cu and Brigit in an attempt to create his own Fu dogs. The results were not what he expected. The venom slowed the dogs' aging process and increased their intelligence. The animals also developed the ability to telepathically link to their masters, as well as increased speed and strength. Their need to consume raw meat, preferably fresh, was the only draw back.
Emmett bred Cu and Brigit twice while we lived on Isle Esme and each litter produced four puppies. That meant the each couple in our family had a pair of dogs and a two were sent to the Network to use as a breeding pair. Despite Cu originally being Bella's dog, he formed a link with our oversized brother just as Brigit formed a link with Alice. The "Wu Dogs" as he called them, because they were Irish Wolfhounds and not from China, were excellent guard dogs. Now that the family had decided to split up for a year so each couple could do their own, we were all glad of that.
During the first two of the five years the family traveled the world, Bella and I rarely left our room. Esme often lamented that we were far worse than Emmett and Alice ever were; I had actually taken that as a compliment. Anyway, my point was that me and my mate hadn't done much site seeing. Now that we were off on our own, we wanted to make up earlier distracted. Not that we still weren't easily distracted but we were going to try.
The two of us and our furry companions were enjoying a rainy day in the Cairo marketplace. Besides having mind blowing sex with my mate and fixing cars, my third passion was Egyptology. Egypt was one of my all time favorite places and I was excited to show my Bella the wonders it held. In a couple of hours we were going to drive out to the home of the Egyptian Cove to hang out with Benjamin and Tia, so I wanted to get in a little shopping.
Bella hated shopping and crowds made her nervous but the small smile on her lips told me she enjoyed seeing me happy. It was the same smile I wore when she dragged me to those martial arts tournaments she liked. Like all loving couples, we learned to tolerate those hobbies we didn't share with our mate. There was just one more stall I wanted to visit then I'd take her for a private tour of the Museum of Antiquities, the curator was an old friend of mine.
The stall in question sold beautiful hand woven rugs and I wanted to get one as a present for Esme. After ten minutes of haggling over price, I ended up the proud owner of three of the textile masterpieces which I arranged to be sent to the family's Alaskan home. Once the money had exchanged hands, we were off to the museum.
Bella seemed tense but when I asked her what was wrong, she simply changed our direction and led us further away from the throng of people. It was then that I understood her actions.
"Are we being followed," I tapped out on her arm in question.
Unlike the old Morse code the family had to learn when we first met my mate, the two of us had developed our own special code to use privately. We reverted to it whenever Bella felt there might be a threat nearby. She made an almost imperceptible nod and I eased myself into a more alert state. Once of the things that had been drilled into my head, by both my love and Jasper, was that you never wanted to tense up because you wanted to lull you enemy into a false sense of confidence. It was a skill that poor Emmett still hadn't perfected.
With few people around to draw from, I felt the familiar tingle as the brunette vampire tugged heavily on my senses. The two of us dropped the leashes we held and the dogs automatically spread out to detect danger and give my mate a broader perspective. For the next half hour we weaved our way through back allies toward our rental car but we couldn't tell if we'd lost our shadow.
Once we were safely in the car, I drove out of the city and made sure I kept an eye out for any tails. Bella relaxed when we were a few miles outside of town. I waited patiently for her to explain.
"While you were looking at those rugs, I started flipping through the excessive amount of views I had access to. A child near the entrance to the Market noticed a vampire sticking to the shadows. The little girl followed him with her eyes and he was headed our direction. I started keeping tabs on him through other views and he appeared to be watching us. When we left the stall, he started to track us, we lost him a couple of allies away from the car," she explained.
I checked the mirrors but nobody was behind us. An hour southwest of Cairo, I turned onto the dirk tact that was the private drive to the home of the Egyptian Coven's home. A sense of dread filled me when I first notice the column of smoke in the general direction of our destination. My worst fears were confirmed when the car rounded a bend and the charred remains of a house came into view. I stopped the car then Bella and I got out and investigated the scene.
BPOV
The second we were out of the car, I knew it was a mistake because my power provided me with five more views outside of Rose's and the dogs'. Five vampires in ash grey cloaks appeared from behind the smoking ruin. I recognized the signature uniform of the Volturi Guard and knew things would only get worse. Before Rose could open the door to let the dogs out, we were surrounded.
"Well…well…well, what have we here? One of the infamous Cullen's and the crippled Swan Girl; someone was pathetic enough to Change her. I had no idea Immortality would fill her out nicely when I told her father she had no appeal the night I killed him. When we get back to Volterra, I will have to break her in," the vampire with short dark hair who was obviously in charge sneered.
I stifled the growl that wanted to burst from my chest and fought to remain docile looking when every instinct screamed at me to tear the overconfident bastard to shreds. My family had been preparing for this day from the moment we left Forks so I knew that now was not the time to fight. Rose drummed her fingers on the car to cover the message she sent me in our private code, I love you.
When I was a Newborn, whenever I wasn't using my power to restore my sight and hearing my eyes were solid crimson. As I continued to follow the vegetarian diet, the crimson was replaced by a dull gold film. Over the years, I learned to use my powers to restore my senses without showing any outward sign; such as the film dissolving so my eyes looked just like the other members of my family.
I whimpered like a good little victim when he brushed his hand up my arm. Rose growled possessively and I wanted to roll my eyes but I was too busy imagining all the ways I could snap the smarmy fuck's arm off then use it to turn him into a Popsicle before the others had time to react. The rest of the vampires waited for her to react. One of the Guards opened the front passenger's door of our rental and I hear two faint pops as he used a dart gun to knock out our babies.
Once the fools were satisfied we were subdued, they manhandled us into an SUV while one of them drove off in our car. Throughout the drive back to Cairo and the flight to Italy, the dark haired sleazebag kept pawing me. Thankfully, his hands stayed above my clothes or Rose might have forgotten the plan and there would've been a plane load of dead Volturi. Too bad she didn't know how to fly the plane.
Comic book Villain 101 must've been a job requirement for these jackasses because they kept up a steady monologue for the duration of the flight. That was how Rose and I learned that learned that the rest of the family had been captured and the Egyptian and Hong Kong Covens were wiped out because they'd given us shelter during our travels.
Our family and the Denali's were to be sentenced in the morning, so we were tossed into individual cells in the dungeon of Volterra Castle. My cell was typical of the Hollywood cliché; cold, damp and reeking of fear and death. I knew cock-knocking little bitch that killed my father would be back sometime to play with me, so I used my time wisely and let my power have free reign.
An hour later the door to my cell opened and my wannabe tormentor dragged me out by my hair…