Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns it all.

Rated M for several reasons.

Chpt 12 The After Party Sucks

JPOV

"Stop her!" I roar.

But it's too late, she's past Simon an' through the back wall before he can touch her.

"Keep hold of Alice." I growl at him as I shoulder my way past. "She stays where she is until I get back."

As soon as I'm outside an' running I realise it's useless. She's covered her scent an' got a good head start.

After circling the compound an' questioning the guards I head back to the ballroom.

I thought the place would be in uproar but everythin' seems to be under control. Apart from Bella's unorthodox departure no one seems to be any the wiser to what happened. I can sense their curiosity an' hear 'em all speculating like mad, but nothing else.

Pete, Demetri an' Char join me immediately. They are all concerned. As is Simon. From Alice I feel intense relief.

"Where is your husband?" I growl at her.

"Gone." She says. "He left as soon as Chelsea disappeared. I presume Bella crushed her?"

"How do you know about that?" It's all I can do not to grab her around her slender throat an' shake her till her eyeballs rattle.

"One of the Guard has been feeding Rutilio information."

"Who?"

"I don't know."

Unfortunately she seems to be telling the truth.

"What the fuck were you doin' J?" Pete growls.

"I don't know." I can't explain it. "I knew she was doin' somethin' to me but somehow I didn't want to stop her. It was creepy but strangely pleasant."

"We need to find Bella." Alice interrupts forcefully.

"She's right." I agree, hoping to deflect the attention of the others. "She crushed Chelsea an' then heard me shout. She ran before anyone could react."

Demetri regards me icily but says nothin'.

"Whatever." Alice growls. "That is not the point. Chelsea was Rutilio's mate. He will kill her if he catches her."

We gape at her in shock.

"Explanations later." She snaps, projecting shame an' fear. "We need to find her now. Before he does."

I can feel myself about to blow. No one is going to get to her before I do.

"Demetri can you track her?" I snarl.

"Don't be ridiculous J." Pete grunts. "Of course he can't. An' you certainly ain't goin', not after the show you put on with Chelsea."

Ignorin' Pete, Demetri an' I share a long look. "Yes Master, I can track her."

"Then get some of the Guard together, we need to leave immediately." I order.

"J." Pete puts a hand on my arm. "She might not want to see you right now."

"Well she's fuckin' goin' too." I growl, shaking him off an' making my way to the hole in the wall.

"Master." Simon pipes up. "I think it might be best if Demetri, I and some of the Guard go after the Mistress."

"An' why is that?" I demand, strugglin' to hold my temper.

"Several reasons Master." He responds, unruffled by my obvious anger. Normally his lack of fear is appreciated but right now I could rip the head off anyone who gets between me an' my wife. "Firstly, we have guests and you have a position of responsibility. Secondly, as you rightly noted the Mistress probably believes that you are angry with her at the moment. Thirdly, the only reason the Spaniard was here at the party was to attempt to avert a war, if you go chasing after him now then everything you have been doing will be wasted. Master, you need to stay here and explain what has happened, nobody, I think, will find fault with your desire to deal with Rutilio. You must trust us, your coven, to retrieve your wife."

"I have no desire at present to deal with Rutilio." I grind out. "I need to deal with my wife."

"Ms Asturias." Simon speaks calmly. "What exactly did you tell the Mistress?"

"The truth." Alice states firmly. "Rutilio ordered Chelsea to break the bond between Jasper and Bella. She was to attempt to form a new one between herself and Jazz."

What the fuck?

"Look." Alice continues. "Can we do this later? I know Bella can take care of herself but I think she's very upset right now and it's possible something could go wrong. Or do you want something to happen to her?"

She's lookin' at me.

"Go!" I order Demetri. "Take as many as you need. Bring her to me. Char, you go too. Pete I need you here with me."

Needing to control my anger I spin on my heel an' march across the ballroom, my vision almost black with rage.

CPOV

We gather up Elise an' Sergio quickly and set off at a dead run, no pun intended, following Demetri.

As we run I try an' get my thoughts in order. I'm still way too sketchy on what the fuck just happened.

I was on my way back to Bella after listenin' in on Demetri an' Chelsea. He was quite forcefully warnin' her off tryin' any of her shit with the Whitlocks. He pretty much told her we were too strongly bound to be bothered by her gift, using his own resilience as an example. I was quite impressed to learn that she never managed to break his loyalty to Gus despite many centuries of tryin'.

Imagine my surprise then, when I turn around an' find her workin' her magic on J. The strongest anythin' I know. With the strongest matin' bond I've ever seen an' whose love for my little sister is like an aura that surrounds him.

I could fuckin' kill him for being so weak.

An' I can't even get a handle on what's goin' on now. Was she successful? Does he want Bella back because he's scared for her or so he can punish her for crushin' Chelsea? Good call by the way. Messin' with people like that is just about the worst act of evil I can imagine. Sometimes the love you've got for your family, blood or not, is about the only thing that makes life worth livin' an' the only thing you can define yourself by.

Fuck. I hope Pete's wrong an' Big D can track Bella, if anythin' happens to her I ain't sure I could ever look J in the face again. Gonna be hard enough as it is. God knows I applaud him for what he's tryin' to do to keep his family safe, an' I know Bella needed to get on board with it, but, shit, she's still got plenty of reasons to be pissed at him.

Within a few miles of the compound we cross the scent trail of that weasely fucker who was with Rutilio which brings us to a screaming halt.

"Do we follow it?" I snarl at Demetri.

"No, Bella is straight ahead." He seems confident.

I nod an' we run on, following him. Rutilio has no scent an' he could still be after Bella.

After a few more miles Demetri stops suddenly an' I'm so lost in my desperate fear for Bella's safety an' the damage to her relationship with J that I crash into him sending us both tumbling to the ground. Simon an' Elise hurdle over us and Sergio swerves. Some fuckin' rulers of the vampire world we are, more like the Keystone Cops.

"She's here." Demetri says as we scramble to our feet.

As one we look up into the treetops above us.

An' then we scream in surprise when her voice sounds directly in front of us.

"Are you the cavalry or the posse?" She asks bitterly.

"Mistress, where are you?" Simon asks carefully.

"Right here." She says an' something fluffs his hair.

"You can make yourself invisible now?" I gasp in awe. She's one kick ass vampire that's for sure.

"Apparently so." She says carelessly, materialising in front of us. "An' it's a good job too. Shield or no shield I'm pretty sure Rutilio was gonna kill me."

"He chased you?" Demetri demands, sounding outraged. I gotta have a talk with him once this current clusterfuck is squared away.

"I just killed his mate Demetri." She shrugs, she has a dainty little shrug an' it's real cute. "Of course he came after me."

She turns her sad eyes to me. "Is he okay?"

Fuckin' J. I don't know how to answer that question. My hesitation is enough apparently. She sighs heavily.

"Did it work?" She asks me in a small, pleadin' voice.

"I don't know." I answer truthfully, my own heart breaking.

"I guess we already know the answer to that." She mumbles sadly, almost collapsing in on herself.

Oh Pete. Why did you stop J from comin' after her? Oh yeah, in case it did work. Fuck me this is the worse yet. Just the worst. I'll fuckin' kill Rutilio myself when I get my hands on him. I ain't one for wasting time on hate or revenge but I won't ever rest again until he's dead. Ever.

"Mistress." Simon breaks the silence, his voice gentle. "We should go back."

"We? Back?" Her small empty voice scares the crap out of me. "Why?"

"Hun. Bella." What do I say? "You need to talk to J, find out what happened. Sort everythin' out. We'll be there with you, it'll be okay."

Oh Pete you useless pile of shit. Is this supposed to be happenin'. What do I do?

"Bella." I keep tryin'. "Do you still feel it? The matin' pull?"

"Yes." She says tonelessly. "But Chelsea didn't do anythin' to me did she?"

"Then you can't leave. It'll hurt too much." Now my own voice is pleading. "If you still feel it then it can't be broken, can it?"

"Mistress." Simon chimes in. "Chelsea's gift does not usually work that quickly."

Abruptly she collapses to the forest floor, her arms wrapped tightly around herself.

"I can't do it." She whispers. "I can't see him. I can't. Know. See. I can't."

"Then what will you do?" Simon asks sensibly.

She doesn't respond.

"Mistress. Bella!" His voice becomes more commanding.

"Enough Simon." Demetri snaps.

"Bella." He continues softly, droppin' down beside her. "Mistress, is there somewhere you want to go for a few days? To think, recover?"

I open my mouth to object but Simon shakes his head at me an' him I do trust with my little sister.

Bella raises her eyes to me an' it takes all my strength not to look away from them. I can't imagine how it must feel to be so connected to someone else, by mating and love, an' yet believe that they've forsaken you. I know humans go through that kind of shit all the time but I can't remember it ever happenin' to me an' vampires feel stuff much more keenly. Painfully I recall her tellin' me how Edward's betrayal affected her. An' later how much deeper her feelings for J were than anythin' she thought she had with him.

Fuck. Suddenly, an' selfishly, I just wanna be near my own mate. Maybe then the suffocating ache in my chest will disappear.

"Go to Montana for a couple of days." I offer, when I can't stand her pain any longer. "Then come home an' sort this shit out."

"Thank you." She says so quietly I can barely hear her.

My quivery knees give out an' I hunker down beside her, pulling her into my arms.

"You come home in no more than two days." I choke out. "Or I'll come kick your butt an' drag you home by your non-blonde hair."

She hugs me back, hard enough to make by bones creak.

"I love you." I sob uncontrollably.

"I love you too." She whispers, with more animation than she's shown since we found her.

"Mistress." Demetri interrupts our moment. "If Chelsea truly was Rutilio's mate you cannot go alone, he may still be looking for you."

I don't like what's comin' next but he's right.

"Simon, Elise and I will accompany you to Montana." He continues. "Sergio will accompany Char back to the compound."

"Will Char be safe?" She questions in a muffled voice, her face still pressed against mine.

"Yes Mistress." He assures her gently. "You have run in a circle and are very nearly back at the compound now."

This bit of information galvanises her into action an' she jerks to her feet.

Scramblin' up after her I watch helplessly as she turns an' vanishes swiftly into the night with the others hot on her heels.

I pause for a moment, the weight of it all pressing down on me.

"My Lady." Sergio brings me back to reality. "We may be near but Rutilio may still be out here, we should head back."

Nodding I set off towards home with Sergio following me closely.

Resolved, I speed up, I need to work out what the hell is going on. I need to talk to Alice, to Pete an' to my sire.

Racing into the compound I realise that the party is over so I veer off towards the house.

Hurtling up the steps into the hall I skid to a halt when I find J an' the darth midget locked in a tight embrace.