Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns it all.
Rated M for several reasons.
Chpt 36 The Audience
I'm so happy I'm surprised the bottom half of my face hasn't fallen off.
Which is why I am finding it incredibly hard to deflect my amorous husband so I can put my makeup on.
I don't know what did the trick but I'm fuckin' glad it did. Funny how you never truly appreciate how much something is upsetting you until it's not.
"Jasper." I sigh in exasperation. "I'm tryin' to get ready."
"It's not like you to make such a fuss over it." He grouses, finally removing his lips from my neck.
"Yeah well." I huff. "The mad Mistress didn't make much of an impression last time. I need to atone for it."
"Oh you made an' impression darlin'." He chuckles, pulling on his pants. "They're all fuckin' terrified of you."
"Perhaps." I allow. "This time I am goin' to show them I can be charmin' as well as deadly. Jasper, last time I was out in public as part of the leadership of the Cowboy Coven I crushed a slut an' knocked a wall down. This time I need to show a little dignity."
"Alright." He grumbles, plonking himself down on the bed. "You win, I'll wait like a good boy."
Sixty seven seconds an' his hands are roaming my sides.
"If I stab myself in the eye with this mascara wand you're a dead man." I threaten. It won't hurt but I discovered as a newborn that the mascara spreads out over your eyeball until you look like an extra from a zombie movie. An' the method for getting it out is, uncomfortable.
"I'm already a dead man an' I don't know why you're botherin', you don't need makeup anyway."
If I wasn't a vampire that would be a sweet compliment. I really don't need makeup.
When an over excited Simon arrives to do my hair Jasper beats a hasty retreat, muttering something about finding Pete an' checking the running order.
"Well?" He asks as soon as the door closes.
I give him the thumbs up.
"Oh Mistress." He chuckles pulling me into his arms. "Finally."
Unexpectedly I start up a good sob. Which alarms the hell out of him.
"You are not happy?"
"I'm very happy." I manage to choke out.
"Do we need a slap?" He asks after an awkward pause.
"Yes please." I sob.
He slaps my ass.
"Did you actually read any of Elise's books?" I ask in disbelief.
"Of course not!" He gasps with indignant surprise. "I am a member of the Guard and an accountant!"
When I've stopped laughing he helps me remove the excess mascara an' fixes my hair. Once again covering the worst of my scars an' making me look beautiful.
"Come on." He says offering me his arm. "I will escort you to the audience chamber."
I raise my eyebrow.
"The Dining Room, Mistress." He explains.
Of course, where else would one hold a vampire audience but in the most pointless room in the house.
Jasper is already seated at the head of the table with Pete stood behind his left shoulder. I take up station on the right an' Simon lounges by the door looking deceptively harmless. I can't look at Char, she's wearing a business suit an' a set of glasses without lenses, poised with a pad an' pen presumably intending to make notes.
Despite the men being in suits I feel ridiculously over dressed in my clinging silk creation.
We have barely a moment to exchange 'I'm ready when you're ready' looks before the door sweeps open an' Nicholas appears.
"Aref of the Iranian Coven." He announces.
Border dispute. Someone will be sent to negotiate with the rival coven. He takes a seat along the wall.
"The Nomad Thomas."
Wants to serve a spell in the Guard. Jasper has made it known he is willing to consider others serving a term with us, fosters loyalty he says. He hasn't worked out the details yet so Thomas takes a seat.
"Harto of the Indonesian Coven."
Paying his respects.
An' so it goes on. The walls filling with spectators, their own presentations over. Most have come to pay their respects an' have a gawk at the Cowboy Coven but there are a few issues we will need to deal with. Demetri will have three new recruits to bully when he gets back, an' nobody's died.
This whole thing has made me think though. There is a lot more to ruling than appears on the surface, there are already a few things that I would have heartily disapproved of the Volturi doing which are suddenly starting to make an unpleasant kind of sense. We have a lot to learn.
"The Nomad known as Oliver." Nicholas announces.
Oliver, a small fair vampire, joins us in the firm grip of two of the Guard. Saved until last on the list for obvious reasons. I don't know what is going to happen to him but I'd bet money it won't be pleasant.
"You attacked one of my coven." Jasper says sternly. "Why?"
"I didn't know he was one of yours." Oliver speaks rapidly. "I would never have done it if I did."
"Interesting." Jasper drawls. "So apparently it is perfectly acceptable to you to attack a lone vampire for no good reason but not when you discover he belongs to the most powerful coven in the world?"
"Yes, no." Oliver stammers. "I mean, I didn't think . . . ."
"Apparently not." Pete observes, looking a trembling Olive up an' down with distaste.
"I have a problem now Oliver." Jasper muses in a quiet but compelling voice, flooding the room with alertness which has the hairs on the back of my neck standing to attention. "You seem like a young vampire to me?"
"Twenty years Master." Oliver responds.
"Hmm. Quite young. I am not really sure what to do with you. After all you were not able to inflict much damage on my Brother, as I understand it the beating went more in your direction. So, on the one hand I could decide that you have been punished enough for your foolishness.
On the other I must consider how your actions will appear to other vampires.
Historically we have tolerated much abhorrent behaviour by one vampire against another as long as it does not attract the attention of humans. In the first instance I do not believe that is fair an' in the second, human technology is expanding at such a rate the reality is every year the scope of what we can get away with becomes smaller an' smaller.
Unless anyone here would like to suggest that it is good thing for us to come out of the closet I am of the opinion that our primary law not to reveal our existence should remain in place."
Everyone nods seriously. I keep my face neutral. That particular cat is already out of the bag although in a very controlled way, the humans we deal with are as unlikely to reveal our existence as we are. The general populace finding out about us is another matter entirely.
"We may be eternal." Jasper continues. "But we forget sometimes just how much the world is changing around us. If we want to survive we will need to change with it. We will need to remain hidden an' we will need to curb our excesses."
Everyone nods again. God he's good. An' handsome. An' sexy. An' mine.
Concentrate.
"So, Oliver." He concludes. "That is my dilemma. If I punish you, that could be perceived as unduly harsh under my own stated objectives. But if I do not, how am I to send a message to the rest of our kind just how seriously I take the need to change, if most of us are little more than savages when it comes to our own interests?. On a more personal level I cannot ignore that you attacked a member of my family."
Humph. I was all for ripping him to pieces, now even I don't know what the right course of action is.
Silence stretches out an' I can tell most of the vampires in the room are having the same uncomfortable struggle with themselves.
"However." Jasper concludes eventually. "If experience has taught me one thing it is that decisions do not always have to be taken quickly."
He nods at the Guard who spin abruptly dragging a jibbering Oliver out with them. Nicholas closes the doors.
"Nicely done." Pete whispers.
"I thought so." Jasper murmurs back, starting to relax slightly.
The tension in the room is just starting to dissipate when Nicholas sweeps the doors open again.
"Esme Cullen." He informs us grandly.
She scurries in after him, the very picture of supressed hysteria.
Startled to find the room full she stops suddenly, looking around worriedly before dropping into a nervous curtsey.
"Jas . . . . Master." She stammers. "I am sorry to interrupt but I need your help."
"Nicholas." Jasper orders, rising to his feet. "Please escort our visitors into the other room, we will join them shortly."
With a bit of assistance from Simon everyone is soon cleared out.
Jaspers whips around his desk an' leads a clearly distraught Esme through to his office, settling her onto one of the couches.
"What's the problem Esme?" He asks gently as the rest of us arrange ourselves around the room.
"It's Carlisle, Jasper." She almost sobs. "He left for the hospital two days ago and no one has seen him since!"
"What happened." He prompts.
"He didn't come home." She sniffles. "I wasn't too worried at first, he often gets engrossed in things at work and forgets he's supposed to be pretending to be human. Although, recently, since Ed-Edward, he has spent far more time working than he used to. I think he may even have been moonlighting at another hospital.
Em went to look for him eventually, they were supposed to be going hunting, but the hospital hadn't seen him for two days. His car was gone. When his son turned up looking for him they overreacted and called the police.
Oh god Jasper, the police are looking for him!"
"Shit." Pete growls.
"Where are the others?" Jasper asks, putting his arm awkwardly around Esme's heaving shoulders.
"Rose and Em are out looking for him." She sobs. "And Alice is waiting at the house in case he comes home. I came here, I didn't know what else to do. I'm sorry Jasper, sorry for everything but I'm afraid something terrible has happened to Carlisle, he hasn't been himself in so long, please I know I have no right to ask but I need your help."
Over her head the rest of us exchange helpless shrugs. Esme crying is enough to make a grown man quake, she's just too nice to be upset. I for one can't think of a reason anyone would attack Carlisle but on the other hand I can't imagine him taking off on a two day bender either.
"He didn't say anythin' to you Esme?" Jasper asks desperately. "About goin' somewhere or meetin' someone?"
"No." She shakes her head firmly. "Nothing. I was surprised when he didn't come home that night, but not concerned. It was only when he wasn't back to go hunting with Em I started to worry. You know him Jasper, he's always so conscientious about his responsibilities to his family."
Smirking, Jasper manages not to snort at that wildly inaccurate statement.
I sigh. If Alice or Rosalie had come to ask for our help I would have had no hesitation in sending them away with a flea in their ear. But Esme? Slightly annoyed I realise that we are going to have to try to help find the useless twat.
Jasper's expression tells me he's come to the same conclusion an' isn't too pleased about it either.
Rising he beckons us over to him, leaving Simon to pat Esme carefully on the shoulder. Better than her bottom I suppose.
"What do you think?" Jasper asks with a frown.
"I think you're fuckin' soft." Pete growls. "But I suppose we'll have to send someone to look for him."
Char giggles.
"We'll be stretched thin." Jasper points out.
"I can ring Evans, he might be able to trace his car, he'll at least be able to call off the cops." I suggest.
Jasper nods, casting another pained glance at Esme.
"Fuck." He mutters. "This is all we need. A wild goose chase after Doctor Fang."
I snuggle up against him in sympathy an' he wraps his arms around me.
"Char." He orders after a moment. "Get his cell details from Esme, maybe we can track him that way. Pete, work out the assignments with Simon, call Demetri an' make sure he knows what's happenin'. Darlin', get onto Evans straight away we don't need a bunch of humans stumblin' around gettin' in the way."
He kisses the top of my head an' I wriggle out of his arms so he an' Char can get back to comforting an' questioning Esme.
Using the phone on his desk I make a quick call. Even though I've woken him up Evans is happy to help, promising immediate action through the Canadian authorities. Somehow it irks me that Carlisle will probably now end up with a James Bond style rep at the hospital after the local cops are told to stop looking for him under the guise of US national security.
At a loss I stare down at the blotter on Jasper's desk for a moment, suddenly realising it's got miniscule hearts with J&B inside doodled around the edges. An' I didn't think he was romantic?
The phone rings, making me jump an' I snatch it up thinking it'll be Demetri reporting in.
"Hello?" A young human voice sobs brokenly. "My name is Lisa Caerphilly, I've been told to call this number and ask for Bella."
The eyes of every Whitlock snap immediately to mine. Horror on all our faces.