"No! Don't stop there!" Your resounding cries were heard, but, honestly, did you really think that I'd end it there? Thank you for your awesome reviews. I truly appreciate your taking the time to chime in with your thoughts. Bella will buy ice cream cones for all of you.
A/N: There are many point of views in this chapter, but I wanted you to get a little insight into what some of the vamps were feeling.
This story is AU/OOC.
All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.
Mature readers 18+ only please.
Rex's POV
Bella and I were visiting my mother at the nursing home. She wasn't doing well at all. She had aged considerably and her cognitive skills were almost nil. I wanted to make sure that I saw my mother as much as possible before the impending fight. I was worried to death about it and I didn't want to lose anyone, especially Tanya, Tony, or Bella. They were the most important people in my life. Each one supported me in their own way. Right now, it was Bella that was with me. For some reason, it was her that I needed the most whenever I went to see my mother. Tanya had been without her mother for so long that she didn't really understand what I was going through. Bella understood, though. She had to witness her own father dying in front of her. She knew the pain and agony of what I was going through. The only difference was that in my case, my mother was dying slowly in front of my eyes and the kicker was that she wasn't even aware that I was watching her die.
We had just finished sponging my mother off and were now sitting by her bedside simply watching her. I had wifey sitting on my lap. I needed to feel her close to me because the thought of my mother not even remembering my name was killing me. I knew that it was the Alzheimer's Disease causing her not to remember and I also knew that it was probably a good thing that she didn't recognize me considering that the last thing she knew about me was that I had died in a car accident.
My mother's breathing was becoming shallow. Bella flashed a look of concern my way.
"Ma! Ma!" I called, desperately. She was going to die in front of me. "Ma! Ma, please!"
My mother suddenly opened her eyes. "Rex?"
"Yeah, Ma, it's me."
"Oh, it's so good to see you. Your wife is so pretty. What's your name, honey?"
"Bella," wifey answered.
"You're so sweet to my son. I can tell that he loves you,"
"How?"
"By the way he looks at you whenever you two come to see me. I appreciate everything you do, Bella. You take care of my son. You keep him happy. You keep him safe. You mean the world to him and, therefore, to me. Promise me that you'll always keep him safe. Promise me."
"Of course, I will."
"You're the daughter I've always wanted."
"Thank you, mom," Bella said and brought a smile to my mother's face.
I didn't want to tell my mom that Bella wasn't really my wife. She didn't need to hear all of our strange family dynamics. I wanted to cherish my time with her while she was coherent.
"Rex, come closer," my mother rasped. Her breathing was becoming shallow again.
"Such a good boy. You've always worked hard and you've made me so proud. You were the first one in our family to graduate from college and you did it all by yourself without your father or me helping you. You were always my favorite boy. Um, don't tell Tony or Troy that I said that."
"I promise not to tell Troy, but I can't promise you that I won't tell Tony," I chuckled.
"Stop picking on him. You know he can't defend himself. He's always been a wimp. It's a wonder he made it so far in the army."
I had to laugh. My mother always did have a sense of humor. Well, she had to in order to raise eight sons, all of whom at least graduated from high school, and not one of whom ended up in jail. In our neighborhood, that was an accomplishment.
"Ma, we all know that Tony's the daughter you never had," I joked.
"It's so true," she sighed. "Now, I need to talk to you. Rex, sweetheart, you've always kept an eye on Tony and you have to promise me that you'll continue to do so after I'm gone. You're the only family he has."
I nodded to my mother, indicating that I'd always look after my kid brother.
"Now, you have to stop worrying about everyone and everything. You take too much upon your shoulders. You can't solve everyone's problems by yourself. You stay with your wife, she'll take care of you."
"Okay, Ma. I promise."
Now, one last thing. Always remember that, after I'm gone, I'll look after you, your brothers, and your families. Rex, I love you."
"I love you, too, Ma."
She took a deep, unstable breath. "You have to do something for me now, my boy."
"Anything, Ma."
"Take my necklace off and give it to Bella."
I nodded and removed her prized necklace of Saint Anthony and clasped it around wifey's neck. Bella thanked her with tears in her eyes.
"Stop crying, Bella. You have to stay strong for my son, now, more than ever. Saint Anthony will protect you, he's always done so with me. Rex, take my wedding ring off and keep it for yourself. It's for you to remember me by."
"Ma?" I questioned.
"Just do it!"
I did as she asked and slipped the ring on my pinky. My mother looked straight into my eyes. "Take me to Jesus, son."
"Ma?"
"Oh, Rex, I know you're not human and neither is Bella. I still love you both as much as ever. If I can accept the fact that Tony is gay, I can accept the fact that you were sent to me from heaven."
I decided that she needed to know the truth. "Ma, Bella and I are vampires."
"Oh, that's nice and, honestly, you can't shock me more than when Tony came out. I don't care what you are. You're still Rex, you have a beautiful wife, and trust me it's a plus that she has breasts instead of a penis like Claude. The point is, you're my son just like Tony is my son. You'll always be my son. Now, please, let me die in dignity while my mind is still mine. Help me get to heaven."
My mother was asking me to kill her. Oh, God, no! Please! Please! Why is she asking me to do this?
"Rex, I don't have much time. Please help me. Regardless of what you decide, today is my last day on this earth."
Her breathing was becoming shallower by the second and I could tell that her heart was slowing down. I looked up at Bella. She smiled and nodded her head in reassurance.
My mother looked up at me and flashed me a brilliant smile. "Thank you, Rex. I love you. I love you so much. You've always been my pride and joy."
I smiled at my mother. I couldn't bear to let her see me sad. "I'll love you forever, Ma."
The three of us recited the Lord's Prayer together, then my mother took my hand and looked at me intently in my eyes and said, "I'm ready to go to your father, Rex."
I nodded my head and gave her one last hug taking in her beautiful floral scent. "I love you, Ma."
She hugged me as tight as she could and said, "Let me go, Rex."
I mustered up all of the determination that I had in me, looked into my mother's beautiful eyes for the final time, and sunk my teeth into her jugular. After about six pulls, I couldn't do it anymore.
"Help him, Bella," my mother whispered.
Bella nodded. "Take care of my Daddy for me," she whispered to my mother.
Bella sunk her teeth into the other side of her neck and, together, we helped my mother get to heaven. The last words out of my mother's mouth was, "Stay happy, stay together, and you'll stay strong."
When Ma's heart stopped, we knew that we had accomplished our task. I closed my mother's eyelids and said a prayer for her.
Bella was sitting in the fetal position in the chair. Her eyes were blood red as I supposed mine were. We heard footsteps approaching my mother's room so we had to leave quickly. There was a framed photo of her and one of our entire family on her nightstand. I grabbed them both and tossed them to Bella who threw them into her purse for me. I kissed my mother goodbye one last time, took Bella's hand, and the two of us jumped out of her window and ran into the night.
We stopped running when we got to nearby Carson Beach in South Boston. I plopped down onto the sand and broke down. I felt Bella's arms wrap around me.
"Let it all out, Rex."
"I killed my mother, Bella."
"No, Rex, you let her die in dignity."
"Bella, she's gone. Ma's gone!" I cried.
"No, Rex, she's not. She'll always live in here." She placed her hand on my heart and looked earnestly in my eyes. "The thing is, Rex. My Daddy's been gone a long time and I'll never forget him. There's a part of him living here, in my heart. He's always with me."
"It hurts."
"And it's gonna hurt. You'll always miss her, but it gets better with time. I'll be with you every step of the way. I promise."
"I love you, Bella."
"I love you, Rex."
We held each other for the longest time without saying a word. We watched the sun come up before we decided to head on our way, throwing some contacts in to cover our blood red eyes. We still had about eight hours until our flight home. I pulled Bella along with me and we decided to visit the house that I grew up in. We climbed up into a tree and watched. Two boys, one around thirteen and the other around ten came outside.
"I can't believe that Dad's sending us out for milk again. How come he never sends the girls out?" the younger boy asked.
"Tony, let me tell you something. Dad will never send the girls out for milk because they're girls and he thinks they could get hurt. It doesn't matter that they take after him and look like pitbulls and that no one will ever touch them with a ten foot pole. Thank God we take after Uncle Rex and Uncle Tony. You and I are gonna be legends, kid, just like they were. Now, how much did Dad give you?"
"Five bucks."
"Five bucks? That's it? We can't even get ice cream for five bucks. That cheap fucking bastard." Ah, my nephew seems to have inherited my habit of swearing. Hmm...is that something that I should be proud about?
"Dad said that if he gave us a ten, we'd use it all up on crap at the corner store and that milk only costs four bucks and some change."
Just then, Bella winked at me and walked across the street to the corner store. She came out with a dozen eggs and a gallon of milk, then proceeded to drop them just as the boys got to the store. If they're Fantasia boys, they'd better mind their manners and help her or I swear, I'll put them across my knees and give them a whooping they'll never forget.
"Miss, let me help you with that," the older boy said. "Tony, go inside and ask for something to clean this up with."
Little Tony went inside and returned with a roll of paper towels. Both boys helped Bella clean her mess up.
"Thank you," Bella said, gratefully.
"Anytime, miss."
"Well, polite boys are so few and far in between nowadays. Here, this is for helping me." Bella handed the boys a twenty dollar bill.
"That's too much, miss, and there's no need. It really wasn't a big deal."
"It was to me. Now, take it and go buy yourselves some ice cream."
"Thanks, miss. If you wait here we'll bring you the change."
Bella nodded to the boys with a smile. As soon as they went into the store, Bella ran back across the street and back to the place where I was hiding.
The boys soon came out. The older boy was carrying an ice cream cone and Bella's change while the younger one was carrying an ice cream cone and a gallon of milk. They both scanned the area, but didn't catch sight of Bella.
"What should we do, Rex? The pretty lady is gone. How are we going to give her the change?"
"We can't, she's gone. We'll just have to use it on ice cream whenever dad sends us out. She sure was hot. One day, when I get older, I'm gonna find her and marry her."
"Not unless I find her first."
"How the fuck are you going to find her first, you little runt?"
"I'm telling Dad, you cursed!"
"Why you little fucking tattle-tale!" The two boys started arguing just like my brothers and I used to.
From inside the house, Troy came outside looking like a pitbull. He hollered at the boys from a block away. "You two boys better stop arguing and get your asses in the house this instant! Do you hear me? There are chores to be done, this ain't the fuckin' Hilton."
"Yes, Dad," they both muttered, quickly finished off their ice creams, and ran home with the milk.
Troy waited for them with his hands on his hips, gave them both hugs, and sent them into the house. I had to chuckle. My dad used to use that exact same line on us boys. We all swore that we'd never use the Hilton line, but sure enough, Troy was using it loud and clear, but just like my dad, he always showed them that he loved them with a hug. I saw Troy look up at the sky and whisper, "I don't know if I can do this without you, Ma."
"Your nephews are named after you and Tony," Bella noted.
"Yeah, Tony said that Troy wanted them to turn out like us and go to college. That's why he named them after us. It's probably a good thing if the two girls look like Troy."
"Well, they were very polite."
"Thanks, Bella, for everything."
"I promised your mom that I'd look after you. I always keep my promises."
We went to the airport after that and caught an earlier flight home. The plane touched down in Detroit around noon and from there the two of us just ran home. Halfway through our run, we both buckled and doubled over in pain.
"Jasper," Bella whispered at the same time I called out Tanya's name. I grabbed Bella and pulled her into my arms for a minute. The pain wasn't subsiding. I threw wifey onto my back and started running.
When we got to the massive gate, we noticed that it had been broken down. We smelled vampires all over the place.
"Wait," Bella whispered. She got out a can of Scent Away and doused both of us with it. I put my fingers to my mouth and the two of us started making our way silently towards where our homes were located. We approached from the back. Rosalie pulled us down behind the wood shed. The three of us held onto each other as we watched the bitch Maria do her thing.
I dug out my iPhone and started recording what was happening. The more information that we had, the better. It appeared that one of Maria's vampires had our family members in some sort of physical hold. None of them were able to move, but they were all able to speak.
"I'll come with you, willingly. Let my family go. They're innocent," Jasper pleaded.
"Mi amor, I can't do that. I have big plans for all of you. Where is James?"
No one answered her. Maria grabbed Vicky and bit down on her arm. Vicky was screaming in pain.
"Where is James?" she repeated.
"He's on a business trip," Jasper lied.
"Bueno, bueno. Then, we'll take his psychotic companion along with us. He'll come for her. I guarantee it." Maria threw Vicky onto the ground. "Let's go, take everyone with us except for the Captain's mate. I never liked her."
There was a pyre that they had started to the side. One of the vampires grabbed Charlotte and tossed her callously into the flames.
"NO! Charlotte!" Peter cried. "Kill me, kill me now! I have nothing to live for!"
"Oh, no, Captain. You're much to valuable to kill. Let's go!"
Maria's soldiers grabbed the rest of our family and threw them into the back of a tractor-trailer. The truck sped away quickly. After we were sure that there were no vampires in the vicinity, Bella, who had been concentrating on the pyre, ran into the flames and whisked Charlotte out. They were both completely unharmed. I guess we know that Bella's physical shield can repel fire, too.
The four of us collapsed in each other's arms and started sobbing. Bella was the first to recover. "We need to figure this shit out now. Rex, who didn't she take?"
I scanned the video I took. "Aside from the four of us, Amanda, Esme, Chelsea, Gianna, Amrita, Carmen, Kate, Claude, Riley, Laurent, and Mike are still out there somewhere. If they felt the pull like we did, they're probably on their way home."
Sure enough, about fifteen minutes later, the rest of our family came storming into the compound looking frantic. We met at headquarters, explained what happened, and showed them the video.
"We have to get them out of there," Chelsea declared. "We can do this. Maria made the biggest fucking mistake ever. She separated all of us from our mates and even a hundred vampires is no match for a mate hell bent on revenge."
"Alright, what are our assets?" I asked.
"First of all, they have no idea that Charlotte's alive," Bella stated and we know that her gift combined with Chelsea's can be deadly. What bonds did you see, Char?"
"Most of them are tied to Maria for obvious reasons. The two men hanging all over her are mates, not her mate, though. Other than that, I didn't really see any mating bonds among the group, but there were only about a hundred of them."
"What other assets do we have?"
"Your power as an incubus, of course, Rex. You can make a fuckton of women become insatiable in a second with it. We also have Riley's lie detector, Kate's zapper, Claude's perception, Mike's tracking, and Sush's soul reading and clairvoyance. We also have the element of surprise. Maria has no idea that we're coming after her ass. She thinks she's free and clear."
I wrote this all down on the white board. All of those elaborate plans that the ridiculous planning committee made were null and void, we had to start from scratch. Alice couldn't even get the date correct, Maria was six whole months early.
"You forgot your shield, Bella," Chelsea noted. "That's our number one asset right now. Remember there's the one vampire that neutralizes all powers except for shields."
"Okay, so we combine all of our gifts and hit 'em where it hurts. We know they're in Colorado so that's a plus, too. Once we get on their grounds, we have to release our mates first so that we have their powers too."
"We should also be taking note of what powers they have," Claude suggested.
"We know there are two females, one's a shield and the other neutralizes all vampire powers," Chelsea pointed out.
"There's also a male that can incapacitate our bodies from the shoulders down. That's how Maria was able to subdue us so fast."
"Can we blow up the video that Rex took so we can analyze it on the big screen?" Laurent asked.
"Sure, I can download it onto the hard drive and play it on the projector," Amanda explained. She turned on the secure computer, but none of us had the password. Those fucking asshats planned for everything except the unexpected. Shouldn't they have given us the password?
"I'll go get my laptop. I doubt Maria's going to hack into it," Amanda said before running to her and Edward's house.
Meanwhile, the rest of us took inventory of the weapons we had stored in the basement. We had grenades, grenade launchers, flame throwers, Marine fatigues in all different sizes, and Scent Away.
Chelsea suggested that we take out as many of the vampires as we can using the grenades. She also stated that in a pinch, we should have the ingredients for molotov cocktails on the ready. Apparently, that's how the Volturi take out huge groups of vampires.
Amanda returned and had the video up and ready to go. We analyzed the video. "Stop, right there," Char ordered. "Do you see that redheaded vampire right there. He's the incapacitator and that blonde girl right there is the gift neutralizer."
"I think the short brunette girl is the shield. Look at how Maria keeps her by her side at all times," Bella pointed out.
"Oh my goodness, I think I made a discovery," Esme said, excitedly. We all turned to her. "The vampires with gifts all have red stars embroidered on both sleeves of their uniforms. The ones without have no stars. The three commanding officers have blue stars."
I watched the video and Esme was absolutely correct. Maria had put ranks on their uniforms which would make it easy for us to identify who was important and who wasn't. We counted roughly eighty vampires including Maria. Out of the entire group, there were five total wearing red stars on their sleeves. These were the gifted vampires.
We sat discussing the situation. We all agreed that we needed to put our heads together and come up with a reasonable plan. We also agreed that the quicker we acted, the better the outcome would be.
Sushmita was deep in concentration. She sat in the same position with her eyes closed for roughly twenty minutes. Everyone was afraid to talk because we didn't want to disturb her. She finally turned to us and spoke, "It's going to take them over twenty-four hours to arrive in Colorado. We can scope out the area before they arrive if we run there. Then, stay at a hotel in a nearby city until we're ready to strike."
"Amanda, what city is closest to Hinsdale?"
Before she could search, Riley answered, "It's Telluride. I was raised in Colorado, remember? In fact, I grew up in Telluride."
"So, you know Hinsdale County..."
"...like the back of my hand," Riley finished for me. "I'd say we rent out a house. There are tons of vacant homes there because it's summer and there's no skiing. I'll find one in a secluded spot for us, leave it to me."
"How are we going to get the ammo there?" Bella asked.
"Easy," Claude said. "Two of us drive there while the rest go ahead on foot."
"We'd have to take Jasper's Tahoe," Rose stated. "I can get the steering column fixed in an hour. I have the part."
"Alright, let's do this," I said.
"Hey, why do you and Bella have red eyes?" Riley asked.
I sighed, then told my family what happened to my mom. Everyone got up to hug me. Laurent patted my shoulder sympathetically. He had done exactly the same thing with his human wife.
"I think we should all drink human blood," Chelsea declared. "We'll be stronger with it running through our veins. Remember that Maria's soldiers have been feeding solely on animals. We have more than enough human blood stored in the basement for injuries, and it'll go to waste if we don't use it."
Chelsea was right. The basement at headquarters had more blood stored than a bloodbank.
"Okay, we'll do this democratically. I want to hear arguments for and against drinking human blood before we make a decision. If we decide to do this, anyone who has a strong objection to human blood can still drink animal blood."
There were some good arguments on both sides. Those who thought human blood would be better argued that it would make us faster and stronger for the fight. Those against it thought it would be inhumane. That argument was squashed because we weren't actually drinking from the source, we were drinking donated blood that would, otherwise, probably be wasted. A few were worried about becoming accustomed to animal blood again after consuming human blood. In the end, we took a vote and it was decided that we would drink human blood. Surprisingly, Charlotte was the one with the strongest objection to drinking human blood, but even she conceded that it would make her stronger and faster.
After the vote, Riley went downstairs to bring up the stores of human blood. We had about three hundred pints stored. Riley said that we would need roughly ten bags each. He wanted to bring the rest of the blood with us to Colorado in case we had injuries on our end. We poured the blood into mugs, clinked them together, and downed mug after mug until everyone except for me and Bella had taken in ten bags. We each had five since we had my mother's blood powering us still.
After fueling up, Rose went straight to working on the Tahoe while the rest of us started gathering supplies. I pulled Bella outside for a chat.
"Why does bad shit happen all at once?" I asked her.
"Dunno, I think we're meant to get it over with all at once. We'll be okay, though. I'm confident. We're already making more progress than we did in two years of meticulous planning by the so-called 'planning committee' who are currently being held in a tractor-trailer along with their secret plans waiting for us to rescue them."
I kissed Bella atop her head. We both had a good chuckle. The last twenty-four hours had been brutal for us and it was only going to get worse. We had no choice, but to laugh at adversity as it hit us in the face at this point. We also had my mother's blood, her strength, fueling our adrenalin.
Peter's POV
Oh God! Kill me now, please! God, Charlotte is gone. My reason for existing is gone. I saw this happening, but I wasn't expecting my power to be neutralized. I was supposed to block her from the pyre, giving her enough time to escape and then burn in the flames myself. I'm not strong enough to go on myself. I'm just not. I want to die!
Edward's POV
For some reason, the power neutralizing vampire's gift isn't working on me. I'm not going to delve into why because I don't have time to contemplate it. I'm just grateful that I can read everyone's minds right now because we have one up on these assholes. I knew for a fact that other than the power neutralizer, her shield, and the vampire who was able to freeze our bodies; Maria had no other vampires with any significant powers that could do any damage. This bothered her to no end.
The one thing that she had going for her was that she had numbers, huge numbers—she had over five hundred vampires with half of them being newborns. Maria was ingenious in the way that she turned and trained her group. She started out two years ago by turning one vampire. She made sure he was fully in control, then turned one more eight weeks later. She had the first vampire train and control the second vampire. This helped in two ways, the older vampire worked hard to obey Maria because he was given a position of responsibility and the second vampire remained disciplined so that she would be given the same position as the first once she gained control. Eight weeks after that, she turned two vampires and allowed the first and second vampire to train that group. Using that formula, by the end of roughly a year and a half she had over five hundred vampires, each one completely disciplined and loyal to Maria. Of course, some vampires took more time to train than others so the formula wasn't precise, but it worked. Our group, although considerably smaller, was much more powerful than her vampires and more intelligent. Her group only knew one thing, obey Maria and be well behaved.
Tanya's POV
Thank God Rex has Bella to keep him calm. He would go haywire without her. I have complete faith that they'll get us out of this mess. Sushmita just told me the other day that their souls were purer than the rest of ours and, that together, they can move mountains. I believe her words to be true. Bella completes Rex in a way that I can't and I'm okay with that because I know in my soul that he needs both me and her to be the man he was meant to be.
Carlisle's POV
Odd as it may seem, I'm not worried. My mate can run circles around these vampires. She'll come and save me, I'm not ashamed to say that I'm a pussy and that Chelsea's stronger than I am. Plus, I couldn't wait to see her angry. She's going to bring her brand of terror to surface and these vampires won't even know what hit them. I couldn't help, but smile at the thought.
Felix's POV
One little, two little, three little newborns; four little, five little, six little newborns; seven little, eight little, nine little newborns; ten little newborns in the pyre.
The Major's POV
I sensed her presence as Maria nabbed us. I made sure that we were fully connected when I marked her on the heart. My mate was watching. She is angry. She is coming. She will save us. I trust her. She is the Major's mate and she is stronger than he is. Maria will die.
Bella's POV
Esme and Claude were driving down in the Tahoe with the weapons. The rest of us had scoped out the territory that Maria had lay claim upon. With the Scent Away, none of Maria's vampires were able to detect us so we were able to get in and out with absolutely no detection. Riley said that the area she's taken over has been deserted since the mid-1800's. I suspected that it was once a pop-up city that was created as a stopover city while the nation was expanding west. She was well outside of any areas where there would be any human contact.
Currently, we were waiting for Amanda to set up the projector so we could review the video we shot of the territory on a bigger screen. Claude and Esme had arrived in record time, they must have pushed the speedometer on the Tahoe which could only mean that Esme did most of the driving.
I ended up purchasing a fully furnished twelve-bedroom, twenty thousand square foot, luxury home in the secluded Mountain Village area of Telluride for twelve million dollars. It had fourteen full bathrooms and five half baths and every amenity imaginable on earth including a bowling alley, a game room, a jacuzzi, an indoor swimming pool, and even the capability to ski in and out during the winter. There was also a large four bedroom guest house located behind the property. It was already vacant because the previous owner only used it as corporate retreat for his company.
I tried to rent the house for a month, but the real estate agent said that the owner only wanted to sell the property so I made a snap decision and decided to purchase it with the twelve million dollars that I won in Las Vegas a few years back when I went there with Rose. This was actually my very first house. The original asking price was almost fifteen million dollars, but when I told the real estate agent that I was willing to purchase it on the spot in cash, she called the owner who agreed to sell it for twelve million dollars. Of course, I could have given him his asking price, but I'm not Jasper and I refuse to pay full price for anything no matter how desperate the situation is.
I staked my claim on the master bedroom, which took up the entire third floor, for me and Jasper and then let everyone fight it out amongst themselves as to who gets which room. Rosalie claimed the second largest room arguing that Emmett needed the space. Gianna brought up the point that she could say the same about Felix, then the two of them got into a massive fight about whose husband was bigger built resulting in Rose slapping Gianna and Gianna spanking Rose. It was nuts. Mike pulled up a chair and was actually enjoying the fight.
Mike chose to live in the guest house because he knew that I could only put up with only so much of Alice, Esme did the same, Gianna moved in there too because she said that she'd rip Rose's head off if she lived in the same house as her, and finally Claude because he liked to do hair with Gianna and he actually got along with Esme.
"Okay, we're set up Belly Mama," Amanda called. She still used her monicker for me from time to time. It was usually when she was under duress. I sat next to her and rubbed circles on her back as she worked on her laptop.
"Amanda, pause it right there," Laurent requested. "The saloon is the only building that seems to be unused as of yet. I have a feeling that's where they're going to hold our family. It's large, most of the tables and chairs have long since been removed and there are rooms upstairs for Maria to interrogate them if necessary."
"I have a feeling you're right," Claude agreed. Well, that settles it then, his hunches are usually correct. On top of that, Eleazar said that Claude has the gift of perception.
"Okay, so we avoid blowing up that building," Rex stated.
"Rex, I think we need to draw them out into the clearing a couple of miles west instead of blowing up any buildings. They're made out of wood and fire spreads easily. Fire used to be a huge problem in these pop-up cities." I drew upon my knowledge of history. Isn't he a fucking history teacher?
"You're right, I forgot about that."
"The question is, how do we draw them out?" Riley asked.
"I know." Mike smiled a sinister and knowing smile.
"How?"
"Sex."
"Sex?" Amrita asked. "How the hell are we going to draw them out using sex, Mike?"
"You don't know? Some of the hottest vampires in the universe are sitting around this table right now. Send Bella or Rose along with Rex out in bathing suits in the middle of that clearing and I guarantee that all those sex starved vampires will swarm around them like flies. Hell, I'm not even starved for sex and I'd go out there if I saw Bella and Rose standing around in bathing suits."
"You're a fucking genius, Mike. This goes along with my theory that we should be using Rex and Tony's powers as incubi."
"Kate, do succubi have similar powers as incubi do as far as being able to make the opposite sex go insane with the need for a release?" Riley asked.
"Actually, we do. I've just never used the power. I don't think that I know how."
"Well, can we test it out?" Mike asked.
"Mike, we can't test it out because if it works, whoever she uses her power on would need to mate right then and there."
"Why can't we just snatch a male vampire when he goes out hunting?" Carmen asked. "They have hundreds of vampires, they wouldn't miss one, especially if it's just an ordinary soldier with no powers."
"This will work," Sush declared.
"I've got a better idea," Amrita piped in. "What if we found a male and female hunting together? Rex can use his power on the female and Kate can use it on the male. If it works, they'll go insane with the need for sex, see each other, and simply mate with each other. That way, we won't risk Maria finding out that two of her vampires are missing."
"I like it," Kate smiled. "When should we do this?"
"Now would be good, while Maria is still gone."
"Alright, I think Rex and I can handle this ourselves. It's best not to risk any of you looking into our eyes by accident."
With that, Katie and Rex doused themselves with Scent Away, then took off for the woods near Maria's camp to await two vampire test-pilot dummies.
The rest of us continued to analyze the videos so we could come up with a rescue plan. Everyone contributed their ideas, and by the time Rex and Katie returned five hours later, we had a general idea of how we were going to get our mates out of Maria's clutches.
"It worked," Rex said. "We caught a male and a female hunting within a mile of each other and we used our power on them. They went insane with lust within seconds. The female started chasing after me so I led her to where Kate was with the male and they jumped on each other instantly."
"By the way, we scoped out her camp. The truck had just arrived and they were carrying our mates into the saloon," Kate informed us. "You were right, Laurent, that's definitely where our mates are being held."
"Also, Maria's headquarters is in the brothel," Rex added.
"Figures," I muttered. We all had a good chuckle at that one.
"Call me crazy, but I actually want to tour inside the brothel," Gianna said. "Do you think it's the type of place where Felix and Jasper went to have sex during the Civil War?"
"Oh, great, Gianna! Now, I'm curious," I huffed. "You know I'm a history freak."
"I can't believe that they actually went to brothels," Esme stated.
"Trust me, Esme, during times of war. Your need for sex becomes heightened," Claude explained. "Your adrenalin is going on full tilt and in a war zone you're sexually deprived so you actually begin to crave human touch."
"Actually, there was a lot less incidents of rape during the Civil War than in the modern wars because of brothels," I pointed out. "The soldiers actually had a place to go to for their release and I think that helped to reduce the incidents of violence against women."
"I've always been in awe of your knowledge of history, Bella."
"Thanks, Esme," I smiled.
A few hours later, we were fairly sure that we had developed a sound plan for rescuing our mates. We wanted to move in quickly, but first we needed to go to a store for some supplies specific to our task. Riley and I drove to a Walmart in nearby Montrose to accomplish this.
"Sis, I'm proud of you," my big brother stated.
"Why? I haven't done anything special."
"Bella, you've pulled our group together so we could come up with a workable plan to rescue our mates. You did it so that everyone had an equal say, too. It's more than I can say for the now defunct 'planning committee.' How the hell did you get so smart?"
"Rye, I wouldn't be the girl I am today without you. You do know that, right?"
"Yeah, I do, Bella, but most of the growing up you did on your own."
I ran into Riley's arms for a hug. He held me for a bit longer than he usually does before releasing me. I felt all of his brotherly love in that hug and I committed the feeling to memory so that it would give me strength if I needed it.
We were done with our shopping and cashing out when the middle aged woman ringing us up recognized my brother.
"Riley Biers?" she asked.
Holy shit, it must be someone he went to school with. Riley, Mike, and I still hadn't faked our deaths. It was actually kind of comical because we were all receiving junk mail from AARP at this point. "Uh, no, my name is Peter Swan."
"Oh, well, you're the spitting image of my junior prom date from high school. I'm being ridiculous, he'd be forty-four years old now."
"Uh, nope, I'm only twenty-three, but if I were twenty years older, I'd ask you out in a heartbeat." Riley winked.
The woman blushed into a bright shade of crimson. I used my card to pay for the purchases and we rushed to the Tahoe.
"Holy fuck, that was close!" Riley exclaimed. "I keep forgetting that I'm at home. You know, I lost my virginity to Jenny Summers."
"Too much info, bro."
"Well, it's true. We were in the backseat of my mom's car and..."
"Rye!"
"I love getting a rise out of you," he chuckled as he started the engine and we made our way back to the house.
When we walked inside, we were approached by Chelsea. "Amrita and I ran reconnaissance. Our mates are definitely being held in the saloon. The power neutralizer and the incapacitator are their only guard. I think we need to get in there ASAP before the bitch has a chance to harm our family. I'm kind of worried about Carlisle, you know he's a pussy. He's probably waiting for me to rescue his ass and I'm gonna have to cause I love him to death."
I had to laugh at Chelsea's comment, she hit the nail on the head. It was weird, after we analyzed the videos and formed a rough game plan, our group was unusually relaxed. We didn't build up the hype like the 'planning committee' did. We knew that what we were doing was risky, we made our plans, and we were ready to roll. Besides, we had nothing to lose.
"Let's do this," Rex stated with a look of determination on his face.
Two hours later...
Kate's POV
Rex and I parked the Tahoe and laid out lawn loungers in the middle of the clearing a couple of miles away from Maria's camp, stripped down to our bathing suits and waited. Sushmita, Mike, Gianna, Amanda, Esme, Carmen, and Claude were waiting in trees ready to assist. A few minutes later, several vampires came into the clearing. They took one look at us and their eyes became filled with lust. We didn't unleash our power on them yet, we needed more to come into the clearing. One of the males ran up to me and touched me. I shocked him with my gift and scolded him, "You have to wait your turn over there with everyone else. We're gifts from your mistress. She wants you to proceed in an orderly fashion. Go stand by that vehicle over there and we'll call you over one by one. Go on, tell your friends."
Another vampire went running back, presumably to get the others, and soon they came in droves. Roughly three hundred newborns filled the field and they were all waiting patiently, watching us from where the Tahoe was parked. It was weird, as soon as I told the newborn that his mistress wanted him to proceed in an orderly fashion, he obeyed. Each vampire had another vampire telling the other one what to do.
"Well, hello," Rex drawled seductively. "You've all been good little boys and girls. Now, I want you to look into our eyes."
That was my cue. The two of us stared at the newborns and unleashed our gift. They were immediately in a lust-filled frenzy. At the same time, Mike and Claude fired flame throwers directly at the Tahoe which was filled with gasoline soaked rags. It blew up immediately, taking many of the newborns out along with it. This was Rose's idea. I wish her luck when she has to tell Jasper about his beloved Tahoe. Meanwhile, Sushmita, Gianna, Amanda, Esme, and Carmen lobbed live grenades at the rest of them. Rex and I ran back to the treeline to throw on our Marine fatigues and helped with the action.
We heard an alarm go off in Maria's town. Hopefully, Bella and her crew were able to accomplish their goals and get our mates out. Oh, shit, we've got vampires, time to throw down.
Jasper's POV
I can feel her. I can feel Bella. She's close. We were holed up in a decrepit saloon completely immobile with two of the stupidest guards in history watching us. One was a power neutralizer, the other an incapacitator. Maria has been off fucking her two lovers in one of the buildings across the road. Everyone could hear the loud mouthed skank. She was overconfident and careless. I heard some shuffling outside and a fuckton of vampires made their way out of the town probably to go train. I was trying to come up with a plan to get us out of this mess. I couldn't help, but think that everything Bella had said had come true. The entire planning committee was being held prisoner here. We didn't even leave them with the password to Emmett's computer.
Suddenly, Chelsea, Rose, and Amrita strolled inside carrying buckets, rags, and brooms wearing maid's uniforms. The two stunned guards stood up immediately.
"Who are you?" the power neutralizer asked.
"Oh, we're just the cleaning crew," Rose said with a twinkling smile. She started sweeping the floor.
"How come we've never seen you before?"
"Beats me," Amrita said with a shrug of her shoulders.
What the fuck are they doing? How are they supposed to rescue us using cleaning equipment?
"Go and confirm this with Maria," the power neutralizer ordered.
"How the hell am I supposed to do that? If I leave, it'll release my hold on them."
"Shit and I can't leave either for the same reason." Gee whiz, are these the dumbest vampires on the planet or what. Have they never heard of cell phones? Oh wait, it's good that they're idiots.
The incapacitator then spoke, "Look, it's clear they're newborns. Look at their eyes. They're still red. We probably haven't seen them because they were just turned."
"When were you three turned?" the power neutralizer asked.
"A week ago," Chelsea said.
"Do you have any gifts?"
"Gifts?" she asked innocently while looking between the power neutralizer and the incapacitator.
"Yeah, they're newborns. They don't even know that some vampires are gifted. Go ahead and get to cleaning."
Suddenly, something seemed to have hit our two dumb-fuck guards. They were staring at each other with black, lust-filled eyes and the male incapacitator tore off the female power neutralizer's uniform. They started fucking right in front of us and a minute later, both of their gifts had worn off of us. They were completely oblivious to who or what was around them.
"Don't worry, I mated them so powerfully that they won't be able to think about anything, but each other. This is what I did to those Italian asshats," Chelsea declared proudly.
Man alive, the Volturi must be in complete chaos.
Charlotte ran inside all of a sudden.
"Char, how are you still alive?"
"Not now, Jasper, we're running the show here. You bozos on the planning committee shut the fuck up and do as we say."
Chelsea started explaining that there was a clearing roughly two miles to the west that we were to run to. Meanwhile, Charlotte descended upon Peter and started feeding him. It took him a couple of minutes, but he came to. The look of relief that crossed his face was palpable. He sat up and marked her on her neck causing her to cry out in pain.
"Chelsea, you can't just come in here and tell us what to do. We're okay now, we can go with our original plan," I said.
"Fuck no, Jasper! You don't get to be rescued and all of a sudden take command. You and your fucking planning committee are our bitches now."
"Get the fuck to the clearing now!" Rose yelled.
We started running in the direction that Chelsea sent us to with Amrita in the lead. I still hadn't caught sight of Bella. As soon as we got to the clearing, we were thrown into the fray. There was a massive fight going and a fire erupting out of control at the other end of the field. Purple smoke was billowing in waves as our group fought off Maria's newborns and chucked limbs and bodies into the gigantic fire.
More vampires had followed us into the clearing. Our group turned and started ripping them apart, left and right. Vicky and I worked together to take out the more violent ones. Charlotte and Peter moved together flawlessly like they always have. Felix was an odd one, he was singing merrily while he took out one newborn after another with a huge grin on his face.
Maria suddenly came barreling into the clearing dressed in only a man's dress shirt, flanked by her two lovers. It was clear that she had run out here in a hurry. "How did you? How? Aaaagggghhhh!"
She starting belting out orders to her army. Out of nowhere, at least a hundred more vampires appeared. "Where's Brittany? Where is she?"
Bella strode calmly onto the field with Brittany in a choke hold. She was flanked by Riley and Laurent. The field was at a complete standstill, the fire raged on, but everyone stopped to watch what was happening.
"Is this who you're looking for?" Bella asked. She took a whiff of Brittany's jugular. "She smells divine. I wonder why you're looking for her?"
"Who? Who are you?" Maria demanded.
"I don't feel like telling you."
"You have no idea what I'm capable of girl! Now, tell me who you are! That's an order!"
"Oh, I don't do well with people ordering me around."
"I'm not fucking with you!"
"And I'm certainly not fucking with you! You reek like Eau de Skank!"
"Oh, this bitch invented Eau de Skank," Charlotte piped in.
"You. Why are you still alive? I made sure you were dead."
"I didn't feel like dying that day, bitch."
"What power do you have, Charlotte Whitlock? I demand you tell me!"
"Pfft, I don't have to tell you shit!"
Maria gave up on Charlotte and went back to Bella.
"I want Brittany returned to me."
"No, I kind of like her. I think I'll keep her for myself."
"Give her back to me!"
Brittany elbowed Bella in the stomach and tried to run for it. Bella was too fast for her. She grabbed Brittany, exposed her neck, and gave her a deep bite. I looked over to Vicky and she had a look of extreme pride on her face. "Don't try and run from me again, pet. The consequences will be graver next time."
Maria growled at Bella. She was eyeing her vindictively and I was getting scared for my mate. Maria had years of experience on her.
"I want my shield back." Maria had just slipped and she knew it.
"Ooh, a shield. I have a shield for a pet. I've always wanted one of those," Bella taunted.
Never, in all of my years, had I seen Maria so completely unwound. She was frazzled, confused, and unstable. For the first time in her years of rule, she had been bamboozled and it was by my Bella.
"You have no idea who you're dealing with, you little whore."
Bella rolled her eyes at the comment. "Maria Asesina de la Noche, born October 31st. Your lovers are Manuel Amante Dulce and Rodrigo Pene Grande, though I can't be too sure that his pene is that grande."
"How did you get this information? Who do you know?"
"Senorita, Rodrigo's pene really is grande," Manuel informed Bella. What the fuck? Is this guy for real? What an idiot!
Apparently, Maria thought so too because she smacked him on the back of his head. "Idiot! We're not here to discuss Rodrigo's pene."
I saw Rex whispering something into Tony's ear. Bella smiled at Maria and spoke, "I'd like to introduce you to a mutual friend of ours."
"Who? I don't even know who you are. How can we have a mutual friend?"
"Captain Delicioso, meet Sergeant Slayer and her two lovers Manuel Sweet Lover and Rodrigo Big Dick."
"Ah, the amateur from the Bone Chewer realm who can't seem to best me," Tony chuckled, then turned to Manuel and Rodrigo. "You two are kind of hot. You have kind of an Antonio Banderas look going."
Manuel and Rodrigo's attention immediately turned to Tony. He stared into their eyes and the two of them went ballistic with lust within seconds.
"What's happening? What's going on? Manuel! Rodrigo!"
Maria couldn't bring them back no matter what they did. Manuel Sweet Lover went after Tony and Rodrigo Big Dick was heading for...holy hell, he's headed straight for me. Oh shit. I saw Bella chuckling as I backed away from the dude. I grabbed him, put him into a headlock and turned his head to face Manuel. The two of them immediately noticed each other and ran off deep into the woods holding hands.
Maria was alone now. She knew she was surrounded, but the nervy bitch started spouting out orders to our group. "Where's the mindreader?"
Edward just walked up to Maria on his own.
"Read her mind! Tell me what her name is!"
Bella winked at Edward. She clearly dropped her shield momentarily so she could send him a message. Meanwhile, Chelsea was doing something with her gift, I could feel it. Eleazar noticed because he raised his eyebrow.
"Well? Who is she?"
Edward turned and looked Maria directly in the eyes. "She says that she is of the Captain's direct bloodline and has both his and the Major's venom running through her veins."
This tidbit of info seemed to peak Maria's interest immensely. "Who are you? What's your name, girl?"
"The Major's mate."
Maria's eyes widened in fear as she saw the feral expression on Bella's face.
"Run," Bella growled as she ripped Brittany's head clean off of her body and took off after Maria.
"Attack!" Maria yelled to her vampires. Half of them started running for us.
To the rest of the vampires, Chelsea ordered, "You will not attack, you will submit yourselves to the flames!" Clearly she had used her power to make them submit to her. The other half of the vampires walked straight into the pyre, making it even larger than it was before.
Peter and I simultaneously took out two hulking vampires and hurled them into the flames. We both started running towards Bella who had caught up with Maria and had just flung the bitch into a tree. The two were lethal and feral. Maria was snarling like a rabid dog as Bella landed a punch to her gut.
Meanwhile, I was fighting off three vampires at once. Rex jumped in to help me and ripped one apart for me. When we turned to look, Bella was gone. She was racing closer to the flames after a terrified Maria. One by one, her vampires were being thrown into the pyre. I looked back and we were down to about seventy newborns.
From my left, a huge female vampire, bigger than Emmett or Felix, tackled me. She was strong and I was about to get torn apart.
"What the fuck, were you taking steroids or something?" I asked as she lobbed me onto a rock.
Amar came running to assist me, but the she-man bitch picked us both up and started punching and kicking the shit out of us.
"Amrita, help us!" Amar yelled. My sister who had retained her newborn strength came running to assist us with a riding crop in her backpocket. She jumped on she-man's back and started whipping the girl. She proceeded to throw a blindfold onto her and with one fell swoop, the Maharani ripped off the huge newborn's head and tossed it into the flames. She smacked both me and Amar on our asses with her riding crop and yelled at us to man-up.
From out of a tree, a newborn jumped down directly on top of Amrita. Amar bit his head off and yanked him off of his mate. On the other side, Amanda was ripping apart a female vampire and Vicky was taking on two at a time. Meanwhile, Emmett was simply hurling vampires directly into the flames while a smiling Felix was still bouncing around and singing as he tore apart vampires.
I caught sight of Bella who was rolling on the ground, wrestling Maria. I looked over by the trees and Alice was about to be ripped apart. I jumped in to help her, taking apart the newborn that had a solid hold on her head. My ex-wife was in poor shape, she had an arm and a leg missing.
"Thanks, Jasper," Alice said, gratefully. That's when all hell broke loose.
"Noooo! Bellaaaa!" Peter wailed at the same time as Emmett and Carlisle. I brought my attention to where I had last seen her and that's when my heart died, Maria had pulled my beautiful wife into the flames with her.
"My baby!" Irina shrieked and fell to the ground. Vicky collapsed alongside her.
"Bellaaaa! Bellaaaa! No, God, no! Please, not her. Please!" I screamed. I looked behind me and the others were still fighting off newborns. I was on my knees, begging and pleading for mercy. I no longer had the will to fight, the will to live. I stood up and took one last look at my family. They would survive and get to live for eternity with their mates. I was happy for them.
"I'll be right there, baby," I said, as I stepped into the flames and let them consume me. Death would be a welcome respite compared to the pain I was feeling in my heart right now. "I love you, Bella."
Wasn't Rex's mother a hoot, even on her death bed? Do you think Rex did the right thing by putting her out of her misery while her mind was intact? Weren't Little Rex and Little Tony cuties? As for Maria, she did show up early, but did you notice that she made the exact same mistake as Jasper did? What do you think of the planning committee now? Do you like how the non-vampnapped family members worked cohesively as one unit? More importantly, did you see how supportive Rex and Bella were to each other and how that supportiveness carried over when executing their plan to rescue their mates? Let me know your thoughts. I shall always reply to your reviews. XOXO