This chapter rated 'M' for moments of strong language and minor dark themes.

Previously: Riley met with Welsh, Maria's second, and told Bella about Maria's plans to make a deal with Vic. Bella has him leave the room to get Jean and so that she can talk with Jasper.

Bella's P.O.V. (2446 words):

"You must pay the price if you wish to secure the blessing." ~Andrew Jackson

.:!*!:.

"Thank you for staying, Major." I told Jasper once Riley had left the room. Jasper and I had made up fairly quickly, and I was glad for that. We were going to need to be getting along perfectly if we were going to get through this one. "Do you have any idea why Maria would want to make a deal?"

"She wants some control over Victoria's second-in-command. This is that worst-case scenario comin' to life." Jasper replied, and his eyes narrowed slightly. He took a deep breath. "Plus, it would give her jurisdiction over all of Victoria's land. I feel as if there's more to it though."

"Victoria cannot hear about this." I whispered, grinding my teeth. "She'd agree without pause because she'd have her name on more land. Not only that, but her and Maria already have some loose ties. Maria's the one that told Victoria everything about the South."

"Riley told me." Jasper said, sighing heavily. "This is very bad. We need information, and quickly."

"Two hours of sleep before I have to go somewhere again. Super." I mumbled, swinging my legs off the bed and standing. I hadn't bothered changing out of my black outfit, so I wouldn't have to waste time with a change of clothes to prepare for scouting. "Do you want Peter and Charlotte in on this?"

"That might be best." He agreed before shouting in the direction of the door. "You heard her!"

"No need to yell, Major." Peter teased, walking in and leaning against my dresser. Charlotte stood next to him silently. "I've got some of that information that you want, Major... compliments of my awesome ability to just know shit."

"Then spill it." Jasper ordered just as Riley and Jean entered the room.

"You were right. She wants Swan." Peter confirmed, causing my blood to run cold. "Nathaniel told her everythin'. She would've brought the army if it wasn't for you bein' here, Major."

"Thank you, Peter. It makes sense, of course. She knows an army wouldn't work." I mused, biting my bottom lip. "Making a deal is a genius idea, really. I won't lie. We just need a better one."

"Excuse me, boss." Riley spoke up, gaining my attention. "What if we just got you out of here?"

"I refuse to run from this. I've run enough. You know better than to suggest such a thing, Riley." I spat in return. "I already hide!"

"I assume you have an idea, boss." Riley said with pursed lips, making it sound more like a question.

"I might." I whispered in return, worry flowing through me. I felt an unnatural calm engulf the room, and I nodded at Jasper in thanks. "The only problem is, I know my own limitations. This idea would require me to push myself well beyond them. I am not ashamed to admit that it worries me."

"Explain." Jasper urged, continuing to diffuse calm around the room.

"We let Victoria take the deal. We give Maria what she wants. I gain her trust. The moment I have it, we strike." I said, not making eye contact with anyone in the room. The calm that Jasper was leaking out was suddenly gone.

"You know nearly as well as I do how ridiculous that is." Jasper hissed, sounding incredulous. "Maria is temperamental at best and a sex-crazed, psychopathic murderer at her worst. You would really subject yourself to this? You cannot be serious!"

"Not to mention the fact that you're human... even more easily disposed of than the newborns." Peter put in.

"You think I don't know the risks?" I screamed, fear and anger combining within me, creating a volatile mix. "The things you point out are the least of my worries! I do not fear death. I fear the possibility of succumbing to her! Think about how deep I am in it already. I know you feel it, Major. I know you can sense the darkness in my emotions. Now imagine for a moment what would happen if I lost my will to that bitch! I can just see it now... 'What can I do to please you, Mistress?' It makes me fucking sick!"

"And what of the rest of us, Miss Swan?" Jasper whispered, his eyes blacker than I'd ever seen them before. "What of the Whitlocks? What of your own second and third? Maria would own the rest of us as well."

"It is for that reason that I think this could work." I replied, closing my eyes against the images in my imagination. "I could never leave you to fight this on your own, especially if it was me that put you into her hands in the first place. I am not one of many noble attributes, but I am loyal to the end."

"I'm in." Riley declared, standing tall near the door next to Jean. I watched my second-in-command carefully, knowing he had more to say. "This is crazy, and I seriously think that we'll all probably die. I'm with you though, boss. I always will be."

"The way I see it, we're all doomed to die in these Southern Wars anyway. This might at least make it fun." Jean shrugged and smiled slightly. "Let's do it. Boss Swan has never failed before."

"You know that Char and I are with you no matter what you choose, Major." Peter said, his eyes on Jasper. We all turned to watch him. Jasper turned to look out the window again. There was a silence then, broken only occasionally by the newborns in the yard below. I could guess what was going through Jasper's mind. Agreeing to my plan would be giving the Whitlocks back to the very Warlord that they'd risked their lives to escape. It was one of the last things he would be willing to do. I didn't expect him to agree, so his words surprised me.

"I have only one condition, and I will not explain my reasonin'. You will either accept my term and we will maintain our alliance, or you will refuse both. Understood?" Jasper said, turning to me. I nodded for him to go ahead. "If we are to do this, you will command us. The Whitlocks will make no decisions. This includes me. I will not be under Maria again. I refuse. I will take orders only from you."

"We are agreed." I announced, nodding at the three of them before pointing to the door. "Now, if you could all leave me, I am going to need my rest. Jean, I want you to work with the army. Riley, stay. I wish to speak with you."

They all left silently, and Jasper squeezed my shoulder as he passed on his way to the door. I knew that he could feel my boundless fear as if coursed through my veins. I was thankful for his quiet reassurance and the strength that he offered me. Once they were gone, I walked over to Riley and raised my right hand as if I were about to give an oath. He lifted and put his left hand against mine, watching me with concern. Riley knew that if I was talking with him this way that I was more overwhelmed and stressed than I could handle. I'd told him in the beginning that it was calming for me to have this simple contact, and I needed my second in this moment of weakness.

"I don't know what to do anymore." I whispered, unable to meet his eyes. "I have no expectations for the end of this. I know not what Maria will do, and it kills me. For the last eighteen months, I have always known the possibilities of the future. I knew what was ahead. Even as Victoria sent me into the darkness with her punishments for crimes I did not commit, I was in control. There was always a plan, always a strategy or tactic at my disposal. I was never this useless. Now - Now I am truly as inferior as the red-headed swine intended me to be in the beginning."

"You have no other choice, boss. I see it as well as you do. This is our only chance at Maria. It's the Major's only chance as well, and I believe he can see that also. None of us want to be put in danger, and we don't want to kill unnecessarily. This is the South though, and we can't always have control. It doesn't make us weak or inferior. Sometimes, we just have to do what's best for our family and damn the consequences." Riley replied, his voice soft and comforting, and for a pain-filled moment, he reminded me of a bad-ass version of Carlisle. "You've become family to me, boss. I'd go to the ends of the earth for you."

"I don't want to ask that of you." I argued brokenly, lifting my gaze to lock with his.

"Which only makes me more willing to give it all." Riley said, his eyes burning as he wound the fingers of our touching hands. "My life is yours, if you should need it."

"Riley," I choked out, gripping his hand as if my own life depended on it. "I don't want it. I want you to keep it."

"If the need ever arises, mine goes first." He insisted, and I lost it for the first time. I burst into tears. Riley was hugging me to his stone chest in the next second. "You can do this, boss. I have no doubt."

"Mi mayor confianza, mi esperanza, mi hermano..." I whispered through my silent tears as I clung to him. I meant every word. He was my most trusted, my hope, my brother. "I do not deserve you, Ri."

"Yes, you do." He said reverently before pushing me back just enough to look me in the eyes. He ripped off a part of his shirt and wiped my tears away, a frown shadowing his features. "I'm worried about you, boss. You're going to have to be your darkest if you're going to gain Maria's trust. Her second, Welsh, is not going to accept you easily. You're going to be the one giving orders to the Whitlocks, and Maria isn't going to like that fact that the Major isn't hers anymore. You already shut down when you're forced to kill. With Maria here, you'll have to torture with a smile on your face. How long are you going to be able to go before it breaks you?"

"You doubt my strength."

"The strongest even have their limits. Like you said, boss, you know where yours are. What's our time limit?" Riley elaborated. I sighed, peering over his shoulder.

"I don't know. The worst that can happen is I fall to her will. If that happens, you take Jean, and you run. That's an order. Do you understand?" I commanded, letting the coldness pierce my eyes as they returned to him.

"If that is your wish." Riley nodded his head in acceptance.

"I want you to do all you can to make sure the Major goes with you as well." I said, and I knew Riley could tell that I was myself again. He gave my hand another squeeze before dropping it. "He doesn't need to see that. He shouldn't be there if I lose myself... shouldn't have to feel the complete lack of light in my emotional climate, the evil. He's had more than enough of that ten times over."

"I'll do my best." Riley replied, nodding his head.

"Thank you." I whispered. My next words were louder and filled with determination. "Now, we wait. I want to hear about anything related to Maria or her slaves the second you get anything. You can go now. Help Jean out. I need sleep now more than ever."

As if to prove my point, I yawned. Riley simply nodded at my words before leaving the room. It didn't take long for me to fall asleep.

.:!*!:.

The next two and a half weeks were mostly uneventful. There had been one instance where Victoria had tried to drag me to Houston, but Jasper got in the way of that really quickly. He told her that she was not to lay another punishment upon me. She agreed without much hesitance, but I was sure it was only due to her fear of the God of War. I wasn't going to think on it. The absence of pain was doing wonders with my performance. The army was more lethal than ever, and even the new recruit from Baytown that I'd wanted was now up to par.

His name was Richard, but he insisted we call him Rich. He'd been a Warrant Officer during his time in the army. He couldn't remember what grade he'd been, but he had remembered hearing stories about the young Confederate Major that disappeared during the Civil War. Imagine his surprise when he found out that Jasper was one in the same. It had been a surreal moment, especially as he heard the other legends that Jasper had stared in.

Warrant Officer Richard Tate was a very unique newborn. Apparently his change had brought his favorite saying, 'mind over matter', to whole new levels. If he was determined enough to do something, he could do it. When he'd first awakened from the change, he'd been determined to get around Jasper's gift to take a bite at me. Jasper couldn't get to him, and he got out of the basement easily. I'd yelled for him to stand down, knowing he was a soldier, and he hesitated. Picking up on my idea, Jasper told him that I was their version of a General. He shocked us all then by apologizing and guessing that I must be the Boss Swan that Riley had been telling him about during the burning. Since then, he'd been determined to make bloodlust not effect him. It was as if he willed things into reality. Jasper and I had decided it would be best to keep his strange gift a secret from all parties.

Rich and Jean were inseparable. Once I'd noticed the way they looked at each other, I'd approached Charlotte. She confirmed my suspicions. They were mates. I had taken them both aside told them about Maria's hatred of mates in her ranks, warning them of the importance of secrecy. If Maria found out about them, they would have to die. After that little talk, they'd started hiding their feelings for each other. They were good actors. I wasn't worried about them.

The door to my second story room burst open, bringing me out of my thoughts. I raised an eyebrow in question at my intruder.

"Boss Swan, we have a guest that would like to negotiate with you before turning it over to the Warlords." Jean informed me, standing completely straight, acting more formal than she ever had. She was acting the way a third under anyone else would. That was signal enough for me. Welsh had arrived.

A.N.: I hope that was worth the wait! It was so hard not to update earlier, but I want to stay two chapters ahead of my updating. That way, I'll be able to update even if RL gets in the way. Tell me what you think of Jasper's request and the Riley/Bella relationship.
Don't worry too much about the slight cliffhanger. It only gets worse from here! (I just realized that probably wasn't helpful.)
PLAYLIST NEWS: I think I'm going to post the songs that go with each chapter up on my profile every week along with my chapter updates. I'll be putting up the first nine songs today. I'd love to know what you think about my song choices, and if you have any suggestions, PM them my way!
UPDATE NEWS: February 5th is when I'll be updating next. I'll give the first couple people that review a sneak preview.
As always, R&R!