Chapter 62 - Hot Pursuit

JasperPOV

"Did you send all that to Chief, so he can warn everyone what to do and not do?" I asked Jake. He nodded his big wolfy head, but something in his eyes told me there was a problem.

"What is it now?" I groaned, wondering what else was going to go wrong. I was starting to think high school wasn't all that bad after all.

Kill me now, Major whined, at the thought of doing high school again.

He phased back and slipped on the shorts he'd kept in the sack with the blood. "Irina got ahead of the rest of them, so he hasn't been able to warn her. She's not answering her phone either. They're worried she's either been captured or will do something stupid that gets her captured."

I nodded. "Maria doesn't tolerate mates. Laurent has a better chance of surviving if Maria doesn't know he has a mate. If Irina turns up unexpectedly before we have a chance to plan accordingly, Maria will just kill them both outright, knowing that the bond they have with each other is stronger than anything either could have with her."

"Shit! You'd better try texting her then. She isn't listening to the rest of us," Jake suggested.

I sent her a quick message, hoping she'd see it in time.

Back at the castle, Carlisle was waiting for us. Embry was healing quickly, as were all the other wounded. Carlisle had arranged for fresh blood to be delivered, as well as a large amount of meat for the wolves. Esme had the meat roasting over a spit out in the courtyard, and the wolves were lined up, plates at the ready, drooling in anticipation, waiting for her to serve them.

"Good job, son!" Carlisle congratulated me. I knew Seth had been keeping him up to date on all our encounters.

"Son?" I questioned, raising an eyebrow. "I thought I was your brother."

He smirked. "Yes, my much younger little brother who is like a son to me."

"Uh huh, I hear you old man," I teased.

His smirk widened. "Besides, since you're married to my daughter, that makes you my son-in-law."

"True," I conceded.

"What about me, Doc?" Peter wisecracked, coming up and throwing his arm over my shoulders.

Carlisle's lips twitched. "Peter, you're the brother-in-law everybody tolerates because for some strange and unknown reason you make our sister happy," he teased, giving Charlotte a wink as she came up beside Peter. She giggled, putting her arm around Peter's waist.

"Hey!" Peter pouted. "Tolerates? No fair. What about Emmett?"

Carlisle's lips twitched again. "Ah, Emmett. Yes, Emmett's in a category all his own."

"Hell, yeah! You know it!" Emmett cheered from across the room, doing a fist pump. "You hear that, Rosie baby?"

Rose rolled her eyes and patted him on the back. "Yes, dear, you are quite unique," she deadpanned.

"Aw, Rosie, you say the sweetest things," he crooned, picking her up and swinging her around in a circle.

"Put me down, you big oaf," she laughed.

"Wait a minute," I suddenly remarked. "Aren't you two supposed to be chasing Maria?"

"We came back once we realized she was swimming home. I figured we could just take a plane and get there faster," Rose explained.

"Yeah, she didn't want to get her hair wet," Emmett cheerfully admitted.

She promptly smacked him on the back of the head. "Ow! What did you do that for?" Em whined, rubbing his head woefully.

"Don't tell them that," she hissed quietly.

He furrowed his brow. "Why not? It's the truth isn't it?"

"Ugh! Why do I even bother?" she griped, staring at the ceiling.

"Aw, you know you love me," he declared cheerfully. She gave him a dark look and he gulped. "Right?" She kept staring, without saying a word. He frowned and started to pout. "Right?"

"If I were you, I'd stop now before she removes your joystick and keeps it for her own personal playing satisfaction," Leah shouted from outside. Rose smirked in appreciation, causing Emmett's eyes to widen and his hands to come down to hide his junk. He slowly backed away and came to hide behind Carlisle.

"Man, your daughter is vicious," he whispered.

Carlisle laughed, before stating proudly, "I know, they all are. That's the way their mother and I raised them, not to put up with any shit from you boys." Rose and Bella came over arm in arm to give him a hug.

"Carlisle, you cussed! I'm telling Mom!" Emmett shrieked.

Carlisle only laughed harder.

"Didn't she tell you what would happen the next time you tattled?" Bella taunted.

Emmett winced and then pouted again, while everyone else smirked at him.

"Well, if you two and Leah are all here, then who exactly is off chasing Maria?" I queried, starting to get concerned.

"Eleazar, Edward, Alice, and Irina, along with Chief," Rose informed me.

Just then, Chief popped back into the room, looking around in confusion.

"Billy!" I shouted.

Billy came running into the room. "He got too far away from me, so the bond between us pulled him back."

"Damn it all to hell!" I shouted. "They're all going to get fucking killed! Eleazar is the only one with any common sense and practical experience. Irina has already jumped ahead and is probably going to screw up and get both her and her mate killed!"

"Edward sped up his pace to catch up with her," Billy added, looking at Chief.

"Oh, that's just fucking great! Now he'll get himself and his mate killed too," I hollered, angry, frustrated, and irritated. "We need to get on a fucking plane right the fuck now!"

Marcus ambled over, moving like an old man. "Take the Volturi jet. It's very fast, top of the line. Demetri knows how to pilot it, and it's located right outside of town on a private airstrip."

"Perfect!" I snarled. "Demetri! Are you here?"

"Yes, sir!" Demitri called, appearing front and center in half a second. "I would be honored to pilot the jet for you, Major!"

"Wonderful! Let's go!" I commanded, gesturing for him to lead the way. He took off at a full run, and I was right on his heels, pulling Bella right along with me. I didn't bother waiting or ordering anyone else to come, knowing all who were willing would volunteer themselves and simply follow.

Marcus had called ahead when Rose, Emmett, and Leah returned to the castle mentioning traveling by plane, so the jet was gassed up and ready to go. Demetri went for the cock-pit, followed by Heidi, who was apparently acting as his co-pilot. I pulled Bella into the body of the plane and noticed there weren't many seats, as the seats that were there resembled plush leather recliners. I rolled my eyes.

As if vampires really needed all that shit. We'd have been better off with a military plane, since we could have fit way more soldiers on board, I mentally complained. Luckily, we still had enough seats for everyone who wanted to come, though I'd probably have felt a lot better with a full military contingent at my beck and call.

The second the door shut behind the last boarder, Demetri got the plane rolling. He had us moving so quickly, our front wheel was lifting off the mere seconds after the last passenger settled into his seat. I looked around at my new team. In addition to Demetri, Heidi, and Bella, I also had Billy, Tanya, Chief, Charlie, Chelsea, Jane, Jacob, Alec, Carlisle, Rose, Emmett, Leah, Quil, Kate, Garrett, Peter, and Charlotte.

Once the plane was in the air and pointed in the right direction, Demetri fired the booster rockets, and we were soon shooting through the sky faster than the speed of sound. We were much faster than the Concorde had ever been. We were even faster than the Blue Angels, the U.S. Navy's premier jets flown by the nation's best pilots. My ears felt funny as we neared Mach 3.

This is ridiculous, I thought. Since when does a vampire have to 'pop his ears' to equalize the pressure?

When going from zero to Mach 3 in less than three minutes, Major drawled.

Could a human even survive that kind of acceleration? I wondered.

I doubt it, Major huffed. Who cares? It's not like the Volturi ever invited humans aboard their private aircraft.

Alright, time for a little math. Let's see. It's roughly 6500 miles from Volterra to Maria's base in Mexico. Mach 3 is 2160 mi/hr, so we should be touching down in roughly three hours. Vampires usually run at a top speed of about 900 mi/hr, though Edward can run close to 950 mi/hr, though they can only maintain that speed for a maximum of an hour. Then their speed steadily falls by about 100 mi/hr every two hours as they use up their blood reserves. Their swim speed is closer to 800 mi/hr, as the friction of the water is greater than the friction of the air, but they can maintain it longer if they feed from marine creatures or sailors along the way. That means it should take them roughly seven and a half hours to travel the 6000 miles in the water, and less than half an hour to cover the distance on land.

Excellent! Even with all the distractions, finishing off Benito and returning to the castle, plus the time to get to the airport, they can't be more than three hours ahead of us. So, even if it takes us an hour to land and run to Maria's base, we should still get there before they do, allowing us to set up an ambush. Awesome!

"How do you want to do this, Jasper? Do you want me to set us on a course to intercept Maria or to intercept Irina, Edward, Alice, or Eleazar? The only ones close together are Alice and Eleazar. They seem to be sticking together," Demetri inquired. "The rest are all over the map, relatively speaking."

"I'm sure she's headed to her home base," I informed him, pleased with myself. "I just did the calculations, and we can get there before she does, giving us the opportunity to set up an ambush."

"Okay, so what's our destination then, Major?"

"About a hundred miles southeast of Monterrey, Mexico," I replied smugly.

"So, what's the plan, o' fearless leader?" Emmett asked with a smirk.

"We should be touching down and arriving onsite about an hour before Maria gets there, so that'll give us time to set things up for an ambush," I explained.

"Sounds good," Carlisle praised, pleased with the knowledge we'd be able to get a jump on her.

Everyone relaxed and settled in for the long haul.

xxxxxxx

About halfway through the trip, Demetri called out for me again. "Hey, Jasper? Are you sure Maria is headed to Mexico?"

"Pretty sure, why?" I wondered.

"She's a little off course if that's her destination," he offered.

"Where is she?"

"She's in the Atlantic, but if she continues on her present course, she'll make landfall in South America, not North America," he informed me.

I pictured a map and thought about it. "Oh, she may want to feed and travel along land for the last leg of the trip. She probably realizes she has somebody tailing her too and may be trying to lose them or throw them off guard."

"That makes sense," Demetri responded. "You know her best, after all."

"Well, if she's moved her base of operations further south than it was before, we can always run there. We should still get there first," I decided. "We should be able to pick up the scents once we're on the ground. Southern territories are usually well marked."

"Sounds like a plan, Major," Demetri replied goodnaturedly.

"How are our people doing?" I asked.

"Edward has caught up to Irina, who must be following the mating pull, since she hasn't wavered off course in the slightest this whole time. Alice and Eleazar are staying together, but are significantly north of the others. They are currently on a path to make landfall in Puerto Rico, which is the way I would have expected Maria to go."

"Which is probably the reason Maria has changed course. She doesn't want to do what is expected," I mused. "She knows I'm with the new government. She must be expecting me to come after her."

"Yes, that's highly probable," Demetri agreed.

xxxxxxxx

We landed about fifty miles east of Ciudad Victoria. I quickly caught the scent of vampires made by Maria and led the others to her base of operations. I could tell Maria hadn't been there for nearly a week, but the base wasn't deserted. On the contrary, there were twenty newborns training under the command of two older vampires. I recognized one from my time in this life.

The sergeant's name was Gregor, a failed German spy from World War One. He'd tried to infiltrate America by going through Mexico, where he stood out like a sore thumb, with his light blond hair and pretty blue eyes. Thinking him a tourist, Maria started to eat him, but feeling the muscular body he was hiding under his clothes, she decided to change him instead. The man was vicious and completely loyal to Maria. The poor bloke was in love with the witch, and she used it to her advantage. He had always hated me for being her favorite.

Is he her favorite now that I'm gone? Would she leave him here if he was? I wondered. She would never have left me behind to continue training those too young to travel. Poor Gregor. I guess he didn't get the promotion he wanted after all.

"Take out the newborns, but leave the older two for questioning," I instructed my force. We marched right into the base, 14 experienced vampires, three well controlled newborns, and four werewolves. If vampires could shit, they would have shit themselves at the sight of us. Then Gregor recognized Peter, Charlotte, and me.

"Major? Captain? What are you traitors doing back here?" he sneered hatefully, trying to hide his terror. "You know you signed your death warrants by going AWOL."

"Aw, Gregor, don't be bitter," I cajoled. "I left to give you a chance to shine, to become Maria's right hand man and share her bed. What are you doing here without her?"

Gregor growled, shooting me a glare of intense dislike. "She didn't trust anyone else to be in charge of her territory while she was gone. I am guarding the home front."

"Busy work," I coughed into my hand, knowing he would catch it. I could sense the rage that consumed him as I confirmed what he had been trying to deny.

"It is not busy work!" he shouted, shaking his fists. "It is an important job! What if one of the other covens attacks while she is away?"

I laughed and shook my head, conveying pity. "All the other covens went with her. The area is nearly vacant of vampires. There is nobody here to fight."

I felt his shock, doubt, anger, and sense of betrayal, but he must have already suspected something, because he believed me.

Since the one who had manipulated him and lied to him wasn't present, he decided to take out all his frustrations on me. I had a brief flash of empathy for him, recognizing his emotions as similar to the ones I felt upon learning Alice had done the same to me for nearly as long as Maria had used him and his feelings for her to her advantage. That empathy vanished as quickly as it had come, for he then showed his true colors.

"Newborns! Kill these traitors!" Gregor ordered, pointing at us and practically foaming at the mouth.

Does he really think they can win against me? Peter, Char, and I could take out this many newborns by ourselves, without need of weapons or the rest of this team. Idiot!

The well-trained soldiers immediately followed orders and rushed to attack. Unluckily for them, our flame blasters made mincemeat of them in mere moments.

"What the hell was that?" Gregor whispered in shock. "Where'd they go? They were here and now they're gone. Poof!"

"Yeah, scary shit, isn't it?" Em boasted. "I love these guns."

"Guns?" Gregor questioned. "Guns don't affect vampires."

"These do!" Em proudly explained, showing off the weapon in his hand. "They fry vampires faster than you can say schnozdoodle. Go ahead, try it!" He nodded encouragingly.

"Schnoz . . .," Gregor began, and Emmett promptly turned and fried the other trainer. Having been prepared to watch this time, Gregor saw the flame shoot out and incinerate his fellow soldier in less than a second. He froze, staring at the smoking pile of ash, his mouth open in shocked terror.

"Emmett!" Rose scolded, whacking his forearm. "Jasper told us not to kill the older vampires so he could questions them."

Emmett bit his lip and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Oh, yeah. Sorry, bro. Did you really need to question more than one?"

I rolled my eyes and chuckled, "Nah, I'm sure we can get what we need from this guy," I reassured him.

"Cool! So what are we going to do to make him talk?" he beamed, bouncing back and cracking his knuckles in anticipation.

"There is nothing you can do to make me talk!" Gregor proclaimed. "There is no torture I cannot endure!"

"Not even if we tear your dick and balls off and burn them right in front of you?" Rose asked curiously. "Because you know that shit doesn't grow back, right?"

Gregor whimpered, but then pretended not to be afraid. "I will never betray Maria!"

Jane laughed, "Mom? Want to do the honors?"

Chelsea raised an eyebrow and snipped Gregor's connection to Maria. He visually sagged with the loss of it. "Maria who?" she asked.

"My, my b-beloved?" he asked, confused by his lack of emotion when thinking of the woman he had worshipped for decades.

"Your boss," Chelsea corrected. "Your corrupt boss who used you shamelessly and tossed you aside like garbage when something better came along."

He nodded, still looking confused. "Yes, my boss, Maria."

"All this is unnecessary," Bella reminded us. "All we need is for Dad to use his gift, and he'll tell us anything we want to know."

"No matter how much pain you inflict, I will not talk!" Gregor shouted, falling back on his human training.

"Really?" Jane wondered. "Let's try!" She immediately had him writhing around on the ground shrieking in pain and pleading for mercy.

"That's enough, Jane," Charlie firmly declared.

"Okay, Daddy," Jane responded with a wide, innocent smile. Gregor lay there twitching in the aftermath. "What do you know? I guess he was right! He really won't talk to stop the pain. Good thing we don't need it."

"What?" He choked, looking up at her with alarm.

"Our dad has a gift that compels you to confess your deepest darkest secrets, no matter what," Alec explained gleefully. "It's like supernatural Truth Serum. It's irresistible, and he doesn't even have to touch you. Show him, Dad!"

Charlie was feeling love, pride, and joy at having both Jane and Alec referring to him as their father. Loving Alec's praise and attention, he eagerly threw a massive wave of compulsion at Gregor, who began babbling every secret he'd ever known. Unfortunately, most of the information was worthless.

"This is a damn waste of time," I muttered angrily, pacing away as the useless words poured from his mouth. "We need to be preparing for Maria's arrival."

"Major, I'm not sure she's planning to come here any time soon," Demetri warned.

I narrowed my eyes. "What is it?"

He bit his lip and then admitted, "She came ashore at Delta del Orinoco National Park about 45 minutes ago. She then ran west, into the mountains south of Caracas, and she has remained there for the past ten minutes."

I frowned. "What is she doing down there? We never went so far south!"

I marched back over and questioned Gregor, but he knew nothing of why she would be in South America right now. "Perhaps she is simply setting up a trap," I murmured to myself, trying to process this new information. "Go ahead and kill him," I ordered. "He has nothing further to offer us."

"Jasper," Carlisle protested. "Are you sure . . ."

"He's a liability," I snapped. "He can't be trusted."

Carlisle looked like he intended to argue with me, but just then, Gregor's phone rang. I snagged it quickly and saw it was Maria! How fortuitous!

"Shut him up!" I hissed, unwilling to take the chance of him warning Maria about us, and Peter quickly tore off the bastard's head.

Goodbye Gregor, I thought, watching him burn to ash. Good riddance.

"Yes, Mistress?" I answered the phone, mimicking Gregor perfectly.

"Bring the newborns to northern Guatamala. I'm going to set up a temporary camp there, as soon as I wipe out an annoying enemy I can't seem to shake off my tail."

"Right away, Mistress."

"Thank you, Gregor," she purred. "I can always count on you."

With that, she ended the call.

"Looks like you were right, Demetri! We'd better get going!" I cursed. "How much time until Edward and Irina catch up to her?"

We all started running south, even as I waited for his reply. He reached out and grabbed me, bringing us all to a halt. "That's over a thousand miles away on foot, over two thousand to Maria. We need to take the jet."

I nodded, and we all followed him back to the plane instead.

"Is there any way Chief could get to them faster than we can?" I asked Billy.

Billy frowned. "He can only run as fast as a shifter, which is considerably slower than this jet, so I don't see how."

I groaned anxious to warn my family. At least Edward and Alice knew of Maria's power of hypnotism. Hopefully, neither of them will fall for it.

xxxxxxx

Third Person POV

Edward finally caught up to Irina north of El Tigre. He didn't bother trying to stop her, hearing her determination in her thoughts.

"Relax, I'm here to help you," Edward assured her. "You need to know that Maria has the ability to hypnotize you if you meet her eyes, which is probably what she did to Laurent. So, be careful not to look at her face. According to Jasper's thoughts, only a mate can easily break her influence, which is why she never allowed mates in her army. Their loyalty was always greater to each other than to her."

"Thanks," Irina offered, not slowing in the slightest.

"Just be careful until you can meet his eyes, because he'll be following her orders until you break her spell."

Irina nodded, worried about what Maria might have done to her mate. She had heard stories of the atrocities committed by the Southern Covens, the disturbing tortures they'd concocted. She sincerely hoped Laurent hadn't suffered through any of them. With the constant pace they'd all been running, she couldn't see how they would have time to torture him, but she also knew they were horrifically creative and inventive in their methods. Unfortunately, this only encouraged her own imagination to go wild in picturing the possibilities.

Edward shuddered and studiously avoided her thoughts as much as possible. They had been running for over 150 miles when Edward suddenly picked up on Laurent's thoughts.

"They're close," Edward whispered to Irina. She nodded, feeling how strong the mating pull had gotten.

"We need to sneak in and get Laurent away from the others. Now that they have guns too, I don't know if we would survive their countermeasures," Edward admitted. He could hear in Irina's mind how much she wanted to just go in guns blazing, but she knew we were outnumbered and didn't want to risk her mate. They slowly caught up to them, surprised and pleased to find Laurent bringing up the rear.

"Laurent!" Irina whispered excitedly. "We're here! We came for you!"

Laurent stopped running and looked in the direction of her voice. Mate! His inner beast exclaimed.

He was distracted by the sound of footsteps crashing through the forest toward him, and Maria's second in command, Pablo, shouted, "What the hell are you doing? It's not like you need to stop and take a piss!"

Laurent frowned and answered, "I heard something, a voice." Don't let him near our mate! His inner voice hissed, causing him to lie. "Turned out to just be a bird. Better safe than sorry, right?"

Pablo grunted. "Too bad it wasn't a hiker. I could use a little dinner. Okay, let's go."

He turned around to run toward Maria again, now that everything seemed to be fine, and the new recruit wasn't trying any funny business.

Edward inched forward, and a stray gust of wind brought his scent directly to other males.

Threat! Laurent's instincts screamed. Protect our mate!

Pablo growled, "It's the enemy! One of those damn Cullens! Roast him!"

The name Cullen rang a bell somewhere in the back of his mind, but the thought of an enemy so close to his mate made protecting her his highest priority. He quickly located Edward on the periphery, and something about the boy's face pinged against his mind again. At the same time though, the sight of the guns Edward carried, guns that could destroy Laurent's mate in seconds, sounded much louder in his brain, demanding immediate action.

Flames shot from Laurent's gun aimed to engulf Edward. Having that split second warning between Laurent's mental decision to attack and his finger actually pulling the trigger, Edward tried desperately to jump out of the way. He nearly made it, but at the last second, he felt the heat bite at his fingertips. Having experienced it in the mind of others caught by the fire, he instantly tore off his own arm and flung it away from himself. Just as he'd expected, the whole arm lit up milliseconds after he released it, becoming a raging inferno of burning venom.

It's better to lose an arm and live than be engulfed and combusted completely. Alice needs me! He reminded himself through the pain.

The sight that helped ease the pain in his torn flesh the most was of Pablo. Maria's second had turned just in time to catch the flaming projectile, which was a fatal mistake. The instant the venom-covered arm touched him, he caught fire and burned to ash.

While Edward was retreating, Irina was worriedly advancing. "Laurent! What are you doing? Edward is on our side!" she shrieked racing toward her mate. Upon spying her, he shook his head as if shaking himself out of a trance. Edward could hear the confusion in Laurent's mind as he tried to understand what had happened.

Did I really shoot Edward? He thought. Carlisle is going to kill me!

Meanwhile, Maria and her other guards had backtracked, worried about why Pablo hadn't rejoined her yet, with Laurent or his ashes. Seeing the golden eyes of Irina as she ran toward her man, Maria identified her as an enemy.

Recruit her or destroy her? She thought smugly to herself, enjoying the feeling of power over life and death for a supposed 'immortal'. I definitely need more bodies to fill my decimated ranks, even if all she does is keep the males happy. What's this? Pablo's ashes? She killed Pablo?

"Shoot her!" Maria screeched.

"Never!" Laurent protested appalled. Instead, he joyfully wrapped his arms around her, as he declared, "Irina!"

"Ugh! Mates!" Maria sneered in disgust, having learned the lesson the hard way long ago that mates couldn't be controlled by her talent. "You're useless to me."

Before Edward could shout a warning, Maria whipped out the gun she had confiscated from Laurent and pulled the trigger, roasting the pair where they stood embracing. Knowing he would be next, Edward fled in a panic, not realizing he was leaving a trail of venom droplets that fell from his mangled shoulder.

Maria, of course, noticed the spilt venom right away, while retrieving four guns from Irina's ashes. She'd taken two of the three guns Laurent had, giving one to Pablo and keeping one for herself. The one she had left with Laurent, so he could protect their backs, was now spent, but the one she recovered from Pablo's ashes was untouched.

I can't let that vampire get away and call for reinforcements, she thought. I'm down to four guards, with my best men dead. I can't afford to send more than one of these guys after him, or I'll leave myself too vulnerable. Judging by the amount of spilt venom I see, he shouldn't be too much trouble. I need to get Gregor to come meet me, before the Whitlocks catch up to me.

"David, take this gun and follow the yellow-eyed freak. Destroy him at first opportunity and then return to me," she ordered. David bowed his head, caught the gun she tossed him and took off after his prey.

In his injured state, Edward instinctively followed the mating pull toward Alice. Alice had witnessed what happened in her visions and was distraught. She had informed Eleazar too, who was crushed by the loss of Irina.

"What will we tell Bree?" he lamented. "She's gotten so attached to both of them."

"I need to warn Edward about David. Why don't you go ahead and call Carmen?" Alice suggested. Eleazar sadly agreed, and they pulled out their phones. Unfortunately, the prolonged submersion in the salty water had destroyed them both.

"Shit!" Alice shrieked, crumbling her useless phone to dust. "Edward will die if we don't get to him before David does!"

She took off, racing as fast as possible toward her mate, Eleazar on her heels.

xxxxxxx

Maria was surprised to find a nice, large, well-kept house hidden in the side of the mountain range they were crossing. There were no roads leading up to it, and it was so well camouflaged by the overhang, the design, and the vegetation that a pilot flying over the treetops would never even see it. Curious, she decided to move in closer and soon came within range to notice the smell of her kind in the air. Using hand gestures, she cautioned the guard to be prepared.

In addition to the vampire, there were three heartbeats. The rapid speed of those beats sounded similar to the approach of the end of the transformation, but the lack of screams indicated that was not the case. Her next idea was that they were afraid, yet there was no scent of adrenalin, no sounds of a struggle. Perhaps they are ill? That seemed to be the most likely possibility. Satisfied with her conclusion, she continued forward, determined to confront the other vampire.

Having been alerted to their approach, Joham came out on the front porch to greet her, hoping to turn them away and avoid their discovery of his secret children.

"What do you want? You're trespassing on my territory!" he shouted belligerently, glaring at all of them.

"I need solders and you are hereby drafted into my army. Fight for me or die," she calmly informed him.

He growled impatiently at her. "Leave me alone! I am a scientist, not a soldier. Your petty territory wars are of no interest to me."

"You are either with me or against me," she insisted. "You will fight for me or you will die."

"Get out of here!" Joham sneered. "You're wasting my time, woman!" He made shooing motions with his hands and turned to go back inside.

Maria's eyes flashed with fury at his casual, condescending dismissal of her. "Such a pity," she drawled. "Kill him!"

Her guards grabbed him before he could even open the front door, ripping off his arms, then his head. He was too slow to resist their attack, having not taken her threat seriously, thinking she was bluffing.

"Papa!" Beatriz screamed from inside the house, where she was watching the altercation from her bedroom window. Jumping down from the second story and landing lithely on her feet, she immediately tried to tackle the guards to keep them from burning Joham's body parts. She managed to get a few good hits in while they were confused and distracted by her heartbeat, but their training soon kicked in, and they ripped her arms off, just as they had done to her father.

To their surprise, a strange mix of blood and venom poured from the gaping wounds. The rapid blood loss sent her into shock, soon followed by cardiac arrest. As she lay dying, her vital fluids spilling out all around her, she watched her father burn, tears dripping slowly from her eyes.

Maria observed all this with interest, wondering how someone could have the strength and speed of a vampire, yet still have a heartbeat, tears, and blood. She got close to the girl, who was too weak to even push her away. She dipped a finger into the growing pool on the ground under Beatriz' shoulders and brought it up to her face to examine it more closely.

This is blood and venom together! How can they coexist? He said he was a scientist - he must have found a way. But why? What is the advantage? Well, she would blend in better with the humans, but she can't put herself back together like we can.

Maria reached over and gave the dying girl a small scratch on her forearm with her fingernail. She was surprised to note she had to push nearly as hard as she did with a vampire before she broke the skin. Even more incredible was the way the cut began healing itself, just like it would on a vampire.

Hmmm, so she can withstand some damage. Still, vampires make better soldiers. So what is her purpose? Why create her? Why keep her? Perhaps as a neverending blood supply?

She paused to sniff the blood on her finger, then screwed up her nose in confusion. She shook her head in disappointment. No, too much venom. She smells too much like a vampire to seem edible. That's probably what his experiment is for - enough venom for rapid healing and not aging, but not enough to turn a vampire off from feeding. What a clever experiment!

I wonder if she tastes better than she smells, Maria thought curiously. She carefully reached out and gave her finger a small lick. She then grimaced and wiped off her tongue with her shirt. No, she doesn't taste right either. Too bitter. Like trying to drink from someone mid-change.

She stood up and took a few steps away from the girl, ordering, "Go ahead and burn her too."

"No! Please!" Elena cried, as she and Ana stepped out onto the porch. Maria whipped her head around to face them and raised an eyebrow. The two girls were trembling with fright. In the moments while the three females assessed one another, Beatriz' heart gave its final thump.

"It's too late!" Ana wailed. "She's dead!" Her elder sister comforted her as she began to mourn the loss of their father and sister.

Well, I suppose they're better than nothing, even if they only serve as a distraction to the enemy, Maria figured. She sighed. "You're either for me or against me. You can serve in my army or die here with your family. Which will it be?"

The two girls shared a look and came to a mutual decision. "We'll come with you."

xxxxxxx

AN: Okay, I know you all wanted Maria dead, but it seems she wants to push the conflict to the next chapter. It's all coming together shortly, I promise. Hope you enjoyed it anyway.