More Debriefing

EPOV (cont)

Stephen and Vladimir entered the clearing, their thoughts carefully guarded. Ah, they know about my gift, I realized. The crowd, on the other hand, was full of disparaging thoughts.

Ugh, not these two.

Gross. It's the Dracula Twins.

I hate these guys. Why can't they just give up? They're never going to defeat the Volturi. You'd think they'd have figured that out by now.

Ooh, these guys are in trouble now. I can't wait to see what the Whitlocks do to them.

I don't think Aro is going to let them live after this little fiasco.

Everyone moved out of their way, opening up a pathway to Carlisle, Jasper, and Peter.

"Carlisle, we heard you are going up against the Volturi," Vladimir hissed. Yes, this is perfect.

"And we came to offer our assistance," Stephan continued. We will succeed this time.

"Welcome," Carlisle intones stoically, though his thoughts are anything but welcoming. They are the reason we've harbored a traitor in our midst for over half a century. The cause for my mate's pain at being betrayed and in losing someone she loved and cared for as her own child. All in an attempt to regain the thrones they lost nearly two thousand years ago. I hate what they've done to my family, bringing death and destruction to my doorstep, taking advantage of my compassionate nature and my friendship with others of our kind.

Wow, I never thought I'd feel hatred coming from Carlisle, Jasper thought. I guess I understand though, considering that all of this is essentially their fault. Without them masterminding this war, Alice wouldn't have come up with her plan to use him and his allies. He and his mate wouldn't have been betrayed and then forced to deal with the traitor. He needs someone to blame for his pain.

This is finally going to be over, and we can get on with our forever doing something other than constantly checking over our shoulders and going around killing evil vampires. The missus and I can finally take a nice vacation and fuck each other senseless for a few decades without worrying about anything else, Peter thought, mulling over vacation destinations as he watched the Romanians approach.

As the Dracula Twins moved forward, the crowd slid into position behind them, surrounding them.

These bastards aren't getting away.

This stupid feud is ending today. We're not doing this yet again in another hundred years.

These cowards are going to stay and face the music. They dragged us all into a war we had no intention of fighting for their own purposes. We're not going to let them get away with it.

"It's finally our time, brother," Vladimir murmured. It's been a long time coming.

"I do believe you're right," Stephen agreed. Finally, we will triumph. So many wasted years . . .

Now! Jasper and Peter thought in unison, attacking in perfect harmony. It was beautiful, like a symphony. The four fighting were working on instinct and muscle memory, exchanging blows fluidly, without conscious thought. Every now and then a word or two slipped through, a direction such as left or right, or the recognition of an opening or a weakness.

I kept part of my mind scanning the crowd, looking for anyone to slip, to root for the Romanians or express fear for one or both of them. Everyone was counting on the Whitlocks to win though. Nobody hoped for or expected the Romanians to survive.

In fact, the crowd was frenzied, eager for destruction, angry for the betrayal the Dracula Twins had perpetrated on them and particularly the Cullens. When body parts began flying, they barely stopped to ensure it was from one of the Romanians before all fighting to get a piece of the action, literally ripping off chunks by the handful.

Enough! Vladimir mentally screams. I can't take it anymore! "It's obvious you've won."

Too much pain! Death will be a sweet release, Stephen internally whimpered. "So just finish it."

"We can no longer fight," Vlad admitted. Amazing warriors. If only they were on our side instead of against us. Where did we go wrong?

"We are warriors, like you. Playing games with defenseless prisoners is beneath you," Stephen adds. I hope. Please, just end us quickly. Put us out of our misery.

Jasper accused, "You've been playing games with people's lives for decades in your quest to regain power! You don't know us at all, or you'd know exactly what we're capable of doing to traitorous bastards that attempt to endanger our family, friends, and mates." They expect mercy? After what they've done? They never gave mercy to anyone in the past. They expected us to risk our lives to fight their battles without even knowing it. They expected many of us would die in the attempt to destroy the Volturi. Yet they think we should go easy on them, give them a quick and painless death?

Ha! Aro will be here soon to read their minds and discover all their little secrets. Of course they want to be ended quickly so Aro won't have all the answers, won't know who else is working against him. Peter realized.

"The Volturi killed my mate and have left me to suffer without her for over 1600 years!" Stephen roared, thoughts of his mate and her death filling his mind.

"The witch twins killed my mate 1200 years ago! I have been waiting to see those little demons burn for centuries!" Vlad screamed, memories of her and her death haunting him.

Bella stepped forward and said, "End it, Major. They've gone mad from being forced to live without their mates for centuries on end, left with only the hope of revenge but never able to attain it."

I wondered what she was thinking. Was she feeling pity for the Romanians, like most of the crowd were? The majority of those gathered were thinking about how that much time without one's mate was likely to drive any vampire crazy. Many wondered if perhaps the Romanians were simply trying to avenge their mates and weren't trying to regain power after all. Looking down at my Vicki, I understood what could drive a vampire to attempt to kill his mate's murderers, before seeking death himself. If someone were to take her from me, I would end them before ending myself. But would I keep trying even for hundreds if not thousands of years if I were unsuccessful. Perhaps. I don't think I could rest knowing they were happy and living the good life while my mate was ashes in the wind by their hands.

Many of the crowd are thinking along the same lines I am, particularly those who are lucky enough to be mated. We only get one chance at this. I pulled my mate closer to me, hoping I never had to feel the horror and pain of losing her.

Jasper and Peter each received phone calls and came over to join us. Even though they were whispering, we could still hear Aro and Caius on the other lines.

Ignoring the crowd, I concentrated on Jasper and Peter.

Excellent! Aro will be here in a few minutes, read the Romanians, weed out the remaining traitors, and this will all finally be over and done. Then I can have some good quality time with my mate, Jasper thought eagerly as he issued his report.

Something's not right. What is it? Stupid knowing shit! What good is it to know something bad is about to happen, but not know what it is? I need to alert the Major. We need to be on guard. Peter worried, even as he spoke calmly to Caius.

Before I could comment on his thoughts, I heard a whoosh and smelled burning vampire.

Fuck! Shit! That's it - too fucking late, damn it! Peter mentally howled.

Jasper yelled. "Fuck! Who did this?" I'm going to kill him. I'm going to fucking kill him. After I torture him.

Tanya was mentally whimpering, Oh, shit! Oh, shit! Oh, shit!

"Why? She was just finishing what you started," Irina snapped. What's the big deal? Why is he so mad? What difference does it make who held the torch? They were going to die, no doubt about it.

"They weren't the only ones leading this conspiracy," Jasper growled. "Aro was planning to use his gift on them to find the rest of the traitors." But now he can't, thanks to Tanya. Did she know? Is that why she did it? Was she in on it?

Tanya cried, "I'm so sorry, Jasper! I didn't know! Please! I thought you were planning to burn them and didn't want them fusing themselves back together while you were distracted with other things. I was trying to help! Honest!" She thought about the pile moving, the parts trying to reattach themselves, the suffering in the ancient vampire's eyes, wanting it to be over, not wanting to watch, to see, to be part of torturing them, to deal with it any longer. Wanting it just to end, deciding to act, to take care of it, to finish it.

Jasper looked at me. Is she telling the truth, Edward? I can feel her fear, regret, and sorrow, no deceit.

I nodded grimly, sending him my understanding linked with just a hint of doubt, so he'd know I thought she was likely being truthful, but couldn't be certain.

I understand. Aro will use his gift to search deeper. She won't be able to hide from him if she's lying, he thought back. "Aro will be here in two minutes, Tanya, so you'd better hope for your sake that your thoughts were pure, and you don't have anything to hide," he warned. I hope for the Cullen's sake that you're not in on this. I don't want to feel their emotions if somebody else they've considered family has been working against them all these years.

"That's why you kept their heads!" Carlisle quietly murmured. Aro's gift must still work on the heads, because the brain is still intact, where all the memories are stored. I wonder how long the memories can last without venom in the tissues. Oh, dear. I hope Aro finds all the information he needs in the minds of the others. He will not be happy in the least to have lost the opportunity to find out all the details of the Romanians plot against him. He can't be certain he has all the players without seeing everyone whom they've contacted. What if there are others who haven't arrived yet? What about the double agent within the Volturi? The Romanians would've known how to work around Alice's gift. They would've been smart enough not to entrust all the pieces to any one individual, just in case that person got caught by the Volturi. I'm sure this is only one part of the plan. I'm sure they've got their bases covered in other areas as well, along with contingency plans. Oh, yes, Aro is going to be very displeased indeed.