AN: Sorry for the delay. Real life hit a snag and kept me from indulging in my writing hobby. Ah, well. It happens to the best of us, right? At least it's here for your reading pleasure now.

Chapter 64 - The Aftermath (Ding, Dong the Witch is Dead)

JasperPOV

And so it ends, I thought to myself, staring into the flames that were rapidly turning my arch-nemesis to ash. I can't believe it's finally over. All these years of looking over my shoulder, wondering if she would strike, if she would use someone I cared about to drag me back into her hellish existence.

I waited to feel the relief and the triumph I expected, but instead this victory was hollow, like so many others had been back when I'd been her second in command. At the time, I'd believed the hollow feeling was due to the knowledge that it was neverending, that no battle was the final battle as far as Maria was concerned, for her greed knew no bounds.

This should be the end now though. Maria and all her followers are dead. All the Southern covens and their armies are dead. There is no one left to avenge them, to plot against me. My mate and I are the most powerful couple in the world. So why does this conquest feel so empty?

I think maybe it was too quick, too easy. She should have suffered longer. She robbed me of my satisfaction by ending her own life before I felt she'd been tortured long enough. So many innocent lives taken, so many souls extinguished for no reason, so much pain, suffering, and loss, all because of her selfish greed and ambition.

I wanted to make her death last for hours, maybe even days. I wanted to cover her body with as many scars as Peter, Charlotte, and I carried on ours. I wanted to give her a taste of her own medicine, force her to experience for herself the emotional torture she forced me to endure for decades on end.

I groaned and released my pent up rage into the earth, rather than projecting it to my comrades. I felt the earth tremble with the force of my wrath and desire for revenge. I had to let it go before it poisoned me. I couldn't afford to become bitter and haunted now that I had a mate to make this existence worthwhile, heavenly even.

I suppose I shouldn't really begrudge Maria the small amount of mercy she received in the end, granting herself a quick death, rather than enduring the long, drawn out torture Peter, Char, and I had planned for her. After all, I have been granted a tremendous amount of mercy myself, having been forgiven of the sins of my past. Sure, I was just following orders, carrying out Maria's punishments, attacks, deterrents, and training, but I was the one actually doing the deeds.

It was my teeth covered in blood from the humans I changed to fight in her army. It was my hands covered in venom from the year old vampires I tore apart and burned because she decided they had outlived their usefulness and needed to be discarded. It was my soul that burned along with every changing human and dying vampire. It was my body tainted with the sexual dominance she forced upon me and forced me to visit upon others.

Yet, even with all I had done, somehow I have been granted the most precious happiness known to my kind. I have a mate that makes my heart sing with love, my soul glow with joy, my body purr with ecstasy, and my mind simmer in happiness. I know there are many who believe or did believe I was undeserving of happiness, of peace and contentment, but I'm not stupid enough to throw it away, like Edward did. No, I'm not foolish enough to sabotage myself by making my mate doubt my feelings for her and devotion to her.

I may not be worthy of the joy I have been given through the love of my mate and family and the respect of my friends and allies, but there is a major difference between me and Maria. I recognized that my ways were evil and renounced them at first opportunity. I repented of my sins and chose to live a better, more fulfilling, more humane life as soon as I learned there was another way. I regretted the violence I committed, the souls I snuffed, the pain I caused to others. I stopped doing those things and actively chose to pursue a peaceful existence, to rise above my past and work to become a better man.

Though I struggled, I overcame and have been redeemed. I have earned every bit of the respect I am now given. None of it was forced, manufactured, or born out of fear.

Even unto her dying breath, Maria never once felt remorse for the things she had done or ordered done, the evil she perpetuated for so many years. No, she was evil incarnate, rotten to the core, and proud of it. She was unashamed of her misdeeds, believing herself justified in harming others to claw her way to the top. I felt not one bit of repentance from her, not even as she was burning and about to face whatever is on the other side.

I sighed and shook my head. There was nothing more to do or say. It was over and done now. I needed to let my past go, once and for all, and join my family for our triumphant return to Volterra. My Bella took my hand, sensing I was finally ready to move on, and the empty, hollow feeling disappeared completely. Maria may have robbed me of a small part of my victory by ending herself before I was ready, but it no longer mattered. Smiling at my mate, I realized I would always have the last laugh, because when the dust finally settled, I was the one whole and happy, content and peaceful, joyful and ecstatic. I was the one still walking and talking, enjoying my existence with my mate, family, and friends. I was the one helping lead the vampire race into a new era. I had everything a vampire could ever want or need, and Maria was nothing more than ashes in the wind.

On that note, I kissed my mate and raced with her to the waiting plane, ready to tackle the rest of our future together.

xxxxxxx

The trip back to Italy was relatively quiet, with everyone contemplating the existence of vampire/human hybrids. Carlisle fired off an artillery of questions for them and Huilen, trying to glean every aspect of their existence from conception up to the present. The rest of us sat back and listened, absorbing the information and interpreting it, each in our own way.

I could tell the wolves were tempted to see them as a threat, but knowing Leah was mated to one kept them all calm enough to give them the benefit of the doubt. They were certainly not well pleased with the idea of vampire reproduction, especially after learning it resulted in the death of the human mother. The girls' prejudiced view of humans as little more than cattle only made things worse.

Carlisle wondered if the ability to reproduce was unique to Joham, as his particular vampire gift, or if other male vampires were also able to reproduce. The hybrids didn't know, but admitted they were the only ones of their kind to their knowledge. This helped reduce the wolves' tension, as they hoped this was the case.

Rose's reaction was the exact opposite of the wolves'. She was elated with the idea of possibly having a child with Emmett via in-vitro fertilization and the use of a human surrogate. She wasn't overly bothered by the knowledge the human would die in the process, figuring it was worth the cost to have a baby of her own. I rather doubted Carlisle would agree with her, since he had taken an oath to 'do no harm' and impregnating a human with a hybrid baby would certainly harm her.

Bella was simply curious about the newcomers, ingesting the information about them indifferently. There was no inherent longing for a child that many of the other vampire females were experiencing. I sensed no maternal twinges at the thought of having a child of her own, which didn't bother me at all. I had sired enough vampires that the idea of fathering anyone else, even a baby, wasn't the least bit tempting.

Interestingly enough, Alice's emotions were nearly as indifferent as Bella's, though as time passed her frustration and irritation levels steadily increased. She eventually began muttering complaints under her breath about how the hybrids interfered with her visions in such a way as to give her a headache. I would have openly scoffed and snorted in amusement, but didn't want to reward her attention seeking behavior. Instead, I simply suggested she move closer to the wolves, to replace the headache producing static with the calm of the clear black nothingness the wolves provided her. She growled unhappily at me, but followed my advice and at least stopped whining.

I sighed to myself, knowing this was just one more thing that would need to be hammered out, discussed, and regulated. We would need to set up a system of rules, laws, and guidelines about creating these hybrids, or else many of the remaining vampires would likely create harems of human women to provide them and their mates with numerous children. Even if one failed to address the inherent moral and ethical issues involved, the potential for exposure was high, considering the speed of the pregnancy, the fatality of the birthing process, and the speed of growth to adulthood.

This entire subject had the potential to destroy the carefully forged alliance we had worked so hard to create. It was emotionally charged, probably more so than any other issue our government would face. Knowing how much of a disaster it had been to deal with the immortal children and the covens who loved and protected them, I knew this also had the potential to tear covens apart, to turn friends against one another, and even to cause major rifts between mates. No, I wasn't looking forward to dealing with this at all.

xxxxxxx

Back in Italy once again, we all took stock of the losses the vampire world has recently suffered. So many were killed in the initial ambushes by the Southern covens before we could come to their rescue. Many were injured in the fighting, and Edward wasn't the only one suffering disfigurement from the permanent loss of a body part.

I sighed, thankful once again for the ability to block out the heavy emotions around me. "We need to organize a self-defense class," I murmured.

"I thought the threat was over?" Esme gulped fearfully.

"It is for now, but who knows how long the peace will last," I grumbled. "We wouldn't have lost so many if they had known even some basic self-defense moves, allowing them to stall long enough for help to arrive."

"I agree," Peter remarked seriously. "Newborn armies have been eradicated in the past, only to spring up again after a few years. We'd be fools to ignore the possibility of history repeating itself."

"Who would be so foolish?" Rose snapped, looking around the room suspiciously.

I frowned, but it was Char who answered, "It's not the ones who've endured the fight you need to worry about. It's those who come after, who are created postwar who find out about the theory and ignore the warnings, believing it can't possibly be as bad as everyone says it is."

"We need to do something to control the creation of others of our kind then," Charlie decided. "It's too easy to simply create one of us and then set it loose to wreak destruction. I mean, we refer to new vampires as newborns. Humans have laws governing the responsibilities of parents toward and for the children they create, and I think it only reasonable for us to have some too. I'm eternally grateful to Tanya and Kate for changing me, but I'm not a typical newborn either."

"I agree. Humans even have laws governing the responsibilities of pet owners," Billy added. "If my dog bites somebody or tears up the neighbor's flower bed, I'm legally liable for the damages he causes. Vampires should be held responsible for the actions of the newborns they create, for at least a decade. It's the parents' duty to teach their children right and wrong, as well as the rules and laws that govern society. So, if a vampire under ten years of age breaks the law, his or her sire should receive the same sentence. After all, if the sire cannot control the newborn, it is the sire's duty to destroy the newborn before any harm can be done. That would greatly reduce the number of careless creations, I would think."

Groaning, I stirred up even more conflict by adding the revelation I'd had on the plane. "It's not just the creation of normal vampires we need to regulate now. What about hybrids? I've felt the longing, the hope, and desire for children in many of those who've learned the truth about our new friends. I don't think this is something we can take lightly and simply trust our kind to do what's right. The issue is too emotional for logic to prevail."

"What do you mean, regulate?" Rose demanded, fear and rage spiking within. "You intend to make laws restricting a vampire's right to have children?"

I sighed. "I know how much you want this, Rose, but even you have to admit there are certain aspects of it that must be restricted. I'm not saying nobody can have a kid. I'm just saying there needs to be certain standards involved. I'm sure you don't want young girls stolen away from their homes and families and forced into a fatal pregnancy against their will, right?"

"Of course not," Rose agreed. "But I'm positive there are some who would be willing, in exchange for other things we can provide."

"These hybrids represent a major exposure risk," Chelsea murmured. "I think they are a wonderful miracle, but they must be kept away from human observation while they are growing exponentially, both during the pregnancy and during their abbreviated childhood. The pregnancies described sound highly risky and should have careful monitoring. I can't help but wonder how many young ladies Joham impregnated who died before the babies were old enough to survive on their own. How many were unable to meet their unique nutritional needs, not realizing the need to ingest blood? Obviously any prospective surrogates cannot be treated by human doctors, but they will still need appropriate prenatal care for the best possible outcome."

"I see what you mean," Rose admitted, calming down. "Well, I volunteer to be on the committee that works out the rules and regulations regarding the creation of hybrid children."

I nodded. "Sounds good to me. You guys can discuss it further if you want, but I'm going to track down my mate now. She's been introducing the hybrids around to some of the other covens, and I just want to make sure there aren't any surprises waiting to bite us in the ass when we least expect it."

xxxxxxx

Once out of the tension surrounding the conference room, I relaxed and followed the mating pull to hunt down my Bella. The emotional overload oozing from the area where she was waiting cued me into the knowledge that at least one more soul mate couple had found and acknowledged one another.

Walking into the room, I rolled my eyes upon seeing not one, but two newly mated couples. Embry and Seth had apparently imprinted on the two female hybrids. That left only Huilen without a mate, but I figured with the way things had been going lately, it wouldn't be too long before she found hers too. This matchmaking was getting bloody ridiculous, though I certainly wasn't one to complain. After all, my happy ever after was standing there watching the couples with amusement. I couldn't begrudge anyone else the kind of happiness I'd found with her.

Feeling the wave of love and adoration I sent her way, Bella's eyes snapped to mine. She flitted over to join me washing me in wave after wave of her own love and admiration for me. I opened my arms and she sank happily into my embrace, molding her body to mine.

Feeling her warmth and softness against me triggered my purr, and it didn't take long for her purr to join mine in perfect harmony. I lost track of time as we stood there, wrapped up in each other, taking comfort in the love and support only a mate can give. The remainder of any pain of the past was healed and forgotten, leaving behind only hope and determination for the future.

xxxxxxx

All too soon, another meeting was called, this time in regards to all the injured. It would be much harder for those with missing body parts to blend into human society, and Carlisle was hoping to brainstorm all together to come up with any possible solutions to the dilemma.

"Why not simply stick another vampire's arm on in place of the missing one?" Charlie suggested.

Peter and I both shook our heads, and I let Peter answer this one.

"We've tried that before. It's extremely painful as the two types of venom fight against each other," he explained. "The body always rejects the implant, and the tissue damage done in the area from contact with foreign venom renders the site even more scarred and painful than it already was."

"What if we simply drain the foreign venom out first?" Rose wondered.

I smiled. "Good thinking, but it still doesn't work. The host venom still destroys the limb."

"Well, our scientists should be able to develop some high tech prosthetics, right?" Billy offered.

Carlisle sighed. "I suppose it will have to do, though it won't be anywhere near as easy as it is with humans. Human tissue is so much more malleable."

"So why don't you just use a human limb?" Bella asked.

We all looked at her in confusion. She rolled her eyes and expounded, "Do a transplant with a human limb. The host's venom will change the human part, so there's no reason to reject it. The venom can then use the changing human tissue to repair the damage on the host's body, locking it all together once the change is complete."

My jaw dropped, and it wasn't the only one. Such a simple solution. How come none of us ever thought of it before?

"Let's try it!" Carlisle exclaimed excitedly, jumping to his feet.

"Whoa, wait a minute," I cautioned. "You can't just get spare parts from anywhere, unless you're planning to have dinner from the rest of the human."

"Of course not," Carlisle agreed with a huff. "We'll go to the morgue."

"It should probably be fresh, shouldn't it?" Char queried. "I mean, once the tissue starts to die, I don't know if it can still be changed."

Carlisle furrowed his brow in thought. "You're probably right. We'll have to catch them when their heart first stops beating."

"Yeah, but how do you know the parts will match?" Emmett protested. "What if the body you get is the wrong size or the wrong gender for whomever is with you? Are you going to have all the injured vamps hanging out at the morgue?"

Carlisle frowned, his logic now catching up to his enthusiasm. He sat back down to consider the matter further.

"Alice, dear, can you see if it will work?" Esme inquired, her expression hopeful.

Alice grimaced and shook her head. "Sorry, I can't see anything in such close proximity to the wolves and the hybrids. Give me a minute, and I'll go for a short run until my gift is working again."

We waited patiently for her return, which only took about five minutes. I started grinning when I caught her emotions. She burst back into the room at full speed, laughing and grinning like a crazy person.

"It works!" she crowed. "It hurts like hell, burning just like the original change, except the pain is limited to the changing limb, but the limb is fully functional afterward! It works!"

The emotions in the room skyrocketed, and I gladly absorbed them, locking this moment into my memory in case of hard times ahead. This is some of the best news we vampires have ever received!

xxxxxxx

Things had calmed down a bit, though everyone's emotions were still running high. Plans were being made all around the room in small groups, each having their own ideas on the best ways to obtain the donor limbs. Since the majority of the remaining vampires were human drinkers, the most common suggestion was to remove them from their meals. Carlisle wasn't fond of this idea, but most of his recommendations thus far were fairly impractical.

The more aggressive of our kind favored deliberately seeking out meals who had the best body match with an injured vampire. Carlisle hated that idea, since it condemned a human simply based on their height, weight, and muscle mass, rather than on their deeds, responsibilities, and families. I could tell by their emotions that most of the vampires liked this idea best, but the majority of them were unwilling to admit it in front of Carlisle. Only a few brave ones were willing to risk his disappointment and condemnation by openly supporting it.

Before any decisions could be made or restrictions placed, one of the scientists, Klaus Einstein, came striding into the room chuckling to himself. He had a thumb drive in his hand, which he plugged into a laptop in the room.

"You have all got to see this!" He loudly announced. "It's priceless!"

Everyone paused and turned in his direction.

He smirked and continued, "Words can't do it justice. You just have to watch it for yourselves."

Hooking up a projector to the laptop, Klaus projected the images high up on the castle wall, where one of the other scientists, Logan, was hanging a screen. Once everything was in place, he selected for the video to play. The view was of the cockpit of the rocket, showing Caius and Athenadora inside. I quickly realized this was a broadcast from a hidden camera inside the rocket.

"Ha, those idiots! Let them squabble amongst themselves and tear each other apart. We're best rid of the lot of them," Caius crowed. "We'll start the golden age of space travel and have the last laugh."

"You're so smart, dear," Athenadora giggled. "Once the fuss has died down, we'll go back and reclaim our thrones. Everyone will be so impressed with our space flight and your intelligence in helping us escape the mayhem that I'm sure we won't have any problems regaining our rightful places as royalty."

"Sure, Dora, whatever you say," Caius remarked sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

The screen faded to black with a message announcing the passing of time. Then the cockpit was up again.

"How long is it going to take us to get to the moon?" Dora wondered, putting down her magazine.

"A few hours, I think," Caius mused, looking through a manual of the ship's controls.

"I'm bored," Dora whined.

Caius groaned. "Ugh, don't start that now. Can't you just be patient?"

She scowled at him. "I've been patient for over two thousand years and look where that's gotten me. Inside a stuffy tin can with an old bore."

"Hey, we're safe, aren't we?" Caius huffed indignantly, his attitude defensive. "And I'm trying to figure out how to work this stupid thing. There's so many buttons and switches. It's not like it's intuitive."

"I'm getting claustrophobic," Dora complained. "I think I'm going to have a panic attack."

Caius rolled his eyes without looking up from the manual. "You're a vampire. You can't get a panic attack. Just stop being so unreasonable and find yourself something to do."

"Fine," she growled, throwing her hands up and indicating it was anything but fine.

Like a truly clueless and oblivious male, Caius chose to ignore the warning signs in her voice and kept on reading.

The black screen appeared again, letting us know more hours had passed.

"Are we there yet? How much longer?" Dora moaned.

"Just shut up!" Caius growled. "We'll be there soon. You're driving me crazy!"

"Are you sure we're not lost? Maybe we should try to get directions," she accused. "You probably pushed the wrong button and sent us off to the middle of nowhere."

"I did not!" Caius shouted angrily. "We are not lost! We are right on course for the moon!"

Athenadora rolled her eyes, crossed her arms over her chest and stared out the window, infuriated with her spouse.

More boring, uneventful hours were edited out of the film.

"You have no idea at all how long it takes to get to the moon, do you?" Dora challenged.

"No, not really," Caius admitted.

Dora scoffed. "I knew it. Do you even know how to land this thing, or are we going to crash into the side of the moon in a fiery ball of flaming death?"

"It's on autopilot,' he grumbled. "It'll land itself."

"Good. I didn't really want to go down in history as the first vampire to spread her ashes on the surface of the moon."

He scowled, but didn't reply.

She let out a long, drawn-out sigh.

His eyes flicked in her direction, but she ignored him. He looked away. A few more seconds passed in silence. Finally, he offered, "Do you want to see the plans for the colony Aro was creating? I've got the blueprints for some of the buildings."

She looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "Blueprints? Are you expecting me to build something?"

He grimaced and hurriedly replied, "No, of course not, dear. I just thought you might like to see what the compound is going to look like."

"Is going to look like? Do you mean to tell me none of it's built yet?" she demanded. "Are you seriously taking me to live on a barren rock, exposed to the elements, with no friends, no shopping, no running water, and no creature comforts?"

He chuckled nervously. "Well, I'm sure some of it's built already. These plans are pretty thorough. I believe the rest of the supplies we need are in the hold."

"They'd better be!" she growled menacingly.

He awkwardly patted her thigh, hoping to calm her. She pushed his hand away.

"Don't get frisky with me!" she warned. "There's not enough room in this cramped space to maneuver!"

His face fell, and he even seemed to be pouting a little. She scowled and sighed heavily again. Then her eyes fell on one of her bags, and her face lit up with a smile.

"I have an idea!" she exclaimed, reaching behind her to grab her bag. She opened it up on her lap, revealing tons of makeup in all different kinds and colors. "I'll give you a makeover!"

"No way!" Caius roared, looking at her makeup stash in horror. "Don't even think about it!"

"Aw, c'mon, Caius," she wheedled. "We're both bored, and there's not a whole lot else we could be doing anyway. You can pick our next activity if you want."

"I am not wearing makeup!" he protested, holding up his hands defensively.

She pouted and pleaded. "Please, Caius? It's just the two of us. Nobody else will ever see or know."

"Aro will."

"Aro's dead."

They stared at each other in a standoff for a few more seconds, before Caius groaned. "Okay, fine, but only this once. The things I do for you, woman!"

She giggled and smirked happily. "Aw, thank you, Caius. I'm sure I can find a way to properly express my gratitude later."

Caius's face became much more hopeful then, and he calmly submitted himself to be tortured purely for his mate's entertainment.

Athenadora took her time, moving at human speed and treating his face like a canvas. His back was to the camera, so after a minute or two, the scene faded to black to indicate the boring portions had been removed, and it came back just as she put on the finishing touches. Caius finally turned forward in his seat so we could get a look at his face. The entire room erupted into laughter. Dora had painted her husband to look like a werewolf, his least favorite creature of all.

She handed him a mirror so he could admire her handiwork. He startled when he first saw his reflection and quickly realized what she'd done.

"Dora!" he fussed. "I can't believe you did that! Give me a towel so I can wash it off now."

She started laughing and handed him a wet wipe.

The next bit was a montage of small clips, the freakiest of which was seeing Athenadora deign to give Caius head right there in the cockpit and the creepy ass smile he wore while she did. She really had to contort her body in the confined space to make it work. Luckily, there were only a few seconds of that clip. I doubted we could stomach any more than that.

The funniest part was seeing them freaking out during the landing. Caius was nearly climbing the walls with anxiety, but was still trying to put on a brave front for his mate, pretending he wasn't bothered in the slightest. It was obvious she wasn't buying his lies of serenity and just as obvious he was convinced he had her fooled.

I heard some murmuring around the room questioning how he had possibly held the throne as long as he did, considering how stupid this video portrayed him to be. I figured he must have had some pretty awesome blackmail material up his sleeve.

The screen flashed to black and back again, indicating the montage was complete, and we were back to the regular format.

Athenadora was sitting by herself in the cockpit in the next screen, painting her toenails. This was the third color in as many hours. Caius maneuvered himself back into the cockpit and into his seat with a look of dread on his face. She glanced over at him and then did a double take.

"What? What is it?" she demanded. "What's wrong?"

He gulped then whispered, "The hold is empty."

"O-o-kay-ay," she drawled, stretching out the word, clearly unaware of the significance of his statement.

He glanced at her, then glanced away, ducking his head in shame. "There's no building materials, no supplies, no blood."

"Oh. Okay. Well, we'll just go to the colony and see what they have there," she decided, patting his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him.

He winced and gurgled, before gathering his courage and admitting, "There's no colony either."

"Nonsense!" she barked. "You read the blueprints earlier. I saw the markings on them, the changes and notations that are only made after construction starts."

He nodded sadly. "Yes, but I just found out they were build on earth as part of the testing phase. There's nothing up here. Those notations about buildings and blood storage depots on the moon is all fanciful, a hope for the future. None of it exists in reality right now. We are the first vampires on the moon."

Dora froze and considered this new information, frowning heavily. Then she relaxed and smiled at him. "Well, we've certainly been gone long enough for the fighting to be over by now. We'll just turn this ship around and go back home."

He flinched at her cheerful tone and shook his head. "There's not enough fuel to get us home," he confessed in despair, tapping one of the gauges.

It was quiet for longer this time as Dora thought about their situation. Finally she smiled and reached for his hand giving it a small squeeze. "Don't worry, Caius, they'll come for us, just as soon as everything settles down. We're royalty They wouldn't dare abandon us up here."

"Sure, honey," Caius murmured, squeezing her hand back, though his eyes told a different story. He knew nobody would be coming to rescue them

He seemed to get a second wind when something suddenly occurred to him. "The humans! The humans are always sending stuff up into space. All we have to do is wait for one of them to arrive, and we'll have dinner and fuel."

Dora smiled indulgently at her mate. "I wouldn't mind if a human ship got here first, honey. I'm starting to get a trifle peckish. A little blood would go a long way to satisfy my thirst right now."

Caius tried to smile back, but it came out more like a grimace. "Why don't we just sit here and watch the sunrise? Then we can go take a look around. Who knows? Maybe we'll find those elusive moon men the humans used to think lived up here."

She giggled and settled back in her seat to enjoy the view. The sun slowly crept around the edges of the earth until the rays were shining directly on the moon's surface. The two vampires appeared relatively peaceful and content, starring out the glass of the cockpit and holding hands.

Thanks to the angle of the camera, the audience was privy to something happening behind the vampires' heads, just out of the range of their peripheral vision. An oddity in the glass was making one spot shine more brightly than the others. Somehow that portion of the glass was focusing the suns rays into a beam, concentrating on a specific point.

Tracing the bright ray, I could see it led to the headrest, right behind Caius's head, and a portion of my mind immediately flew to thoughts of little boys with magnifying glasses torturing ants on sunny days. Sure enough, the material soon began to smoke slightly.

Caius's nose wrinkled in distaste as he sniffed warily. "Do you smell something burning?" he asked, looking around the cockpit. By the time he thought to check behind himself, it was too late. The movement of his head had placed his white hair directly in the path of the sunbeam, and it soon burst into flames.

He immediately started to freak, as did she. Instead of trying to get away from him, Dora foolishly tried to swat the flames on his head with her hands. Within seconds, it was all over. Two piles of ash now graced the cockpit of the rocket, while the flames consumed all the other combustibles in the small space. It didn't take long for the fire to run out of oxygen and fuel, causing it to flicker and die.

The screen faded to black for the final time, and the room was silent for a few seconds.

"Good riddance to bad rubbage!" Alec shouted, breaking through the solemnity. The crowd was soon laughing and other snarky comments were made.

I smiled at my mate and wiggled my eyebrows, relieved to be rid of one more loose end. She giggled at my antics and whispered seductively, "Is that supposed to be some kind of invitation, Major? Because it looks like you're doing a bad impression of the villain in those old timey movies where he ties the maiden to the railroad track and threatens her virtue."

"Tease!" I growled playfully.

She shot me her faux innocent look and asked quietly so only I could hear, "So does that mean you don't want to tie me up and threaten my virtue?"

My eyes instantly went pitch black, and she took off running, giggling and shooting off small pulses of lust, like the rhythm of a heartbeat. What else could I do? I gave chase, of course!

xxxxxxx

AN: Well, how was that? I hope it hit the spot for you.