AN; I'm running late. I'm sorry! I had to rewrite a lot of this chapter then I got distracted by the shininess of the internets, then there was some TV and now I'm getting back to work, I promise. Pinky swear!

S. Meyer owns twilight

CHAPTER 4

BPOV

I was relieved to hear J say he was on his way back to Huston; we had listened into the interrogation while we scouted the route to Austin and the city itself. Pete and I had found our next location for headquarters, it was central enough to search the rest of the state without having to change locations. We could stay here for days and then move to search New Mexico. It was a relief to find no vampiric scents.

We headed back to Huston. Demitri had been on the phone with the Masters, he relayed the entire interrogation to them. Charlie, Rose and Emmett were in the other room cooking up a couple of pots and putting the contents in flasks and thermoses. J, Alec and Jane had arrived back before us. They had talked with Demitri and the Masters about the next stage of our mission.

I looked at my mate's masked face, his eyes were sad. I began to worry, everyone aside from Demitri had taken out their earpieces and we didn't have all the information. Pete reported what we'd found out; "Death and I searched the area, it's clean. I believe we can head to Austin when the sun sets. We'll be able to do a sweep of the rest of Texas in groups. There's a cheap motel in the South East where the healers can set up and man the comms."

"Is you gift still telling us to head east?" J asked Pete. "Yes, War. I'm also picking up a large army in New Mexico. We'll need back up for both attacks." He said. J sighed heavily and sat down. "I'd hoped the Wars had been stopped, god knows how many have died as a result of it. It pisses me off, to them power is more important that the lives of sentient beings." He said. His voice was rough. I hugged him to me.

Demitri cleared his throat "the Masters will send more back up; Garrett the nomad and Kate from Denali are close enough and willing to aid us. They will join us over the next few days. Caius and a couple of the guard will join us in New Mexico. Afton is going to meet us in Austin tomorrow evening, he'll take the prisoners to Volterra. Aro will find out what he can through his gift and let us know how we should proceed." He said.

"What about your gift, Demitri? What do you sense?" J asked. "I can feel a large army in New Mexico, I believe it's the one Michael told us about when you interrogated them. We should continue our sweep of Texas to make sure we secure the land, then we should head west, starting with New Mexico. We should be able to fan out over a few miles to cover a greater distance. "
"Agreed. We'll clear Texas while we wait for the courier then head west." J said.

Demitri continued. "We need to be careful about heading too close to the Louisiana border when we search the eastern border. My gift is picking up a lot of white noise associated with a large population of our kind. We can't tackle the eastern states on our own. I spoke to the Masters about the situation; they want us to finish clearing the western states and head to Volterra for the trial of Maria. Caius will meet us in Santa Fe to help with the Army there." Demitri said. Pete nodded. "I'm glad he'll join us, we'll need his help to take out that army."
"The Masters have agreed the cleanup of the eastern states will be a large mission. He wants us rested when we finish here. Caius will work out which of the guard will be most useful in aiding the cleanup and plan the mission in the Eastern states. While we're in Volterra, the Masters will deal with Maria and the other newborn army creators."

J's phone rang. "Kate, you've been briefed?" He asked. "Yes, War. I've booked my flight from Anchorage. I'll meet you in Huston tonight. My flight lands at nine PM." She said. "No problem." He said and hung up. J turned to us. "I propose we start searching the north east section of Texas when Kate arrives. Rose, have you checked the weather for tomorrow?" She nodded "rain and patchy sunlight" J nodded "we'll take the risk, stay covered with your cloaks and we'll run at top speed avoiding the major population. We'll clear and secure the north eastern part of the state."
"We should mark the state boundary with our scent." Jane suggested. I could see J thinking "they'll pick up our scent along the boarders we've crossed already, but it wouldn't hurt to boost the scent trail around the boarder."
"When Caius lead the clean up he'd use his pendant to advertise our presence. He'd push it into the trunks of thicker trees. If we leave venom with the pendant mark the war lords might slow their operations." Alec said. "We'll do the same along the eastern and northern boundaries of Texas." J agreed.

PPOV

Forty two hours. We'd ran continuously for forty two hours without a break. We hadn't come across any vampire scents except for the strong scent of armies in Louisiana. We had broken into two groups when Kate joined us;
Team One- Demitri, Jasper, Bella and Jane
Team Two- Felix, Alec, Kate and myself.

Char was staying with the Healers, helping ensure their safety while we searched. Team two were running parallel to us, covering the top part of the towns we passed while in we ran along the south of the towns. There was a lot of tree cover and a high human population. We were able to stay out of sight as we avoided major roadways. We didn't dare get too close to the Louisiana border, we could smell them from five miles away. We'd been lucky we hadn't come across more armies while at home. I was glad we'd started our mission heading west, the eastern states would have been too dangerous.

Felix, Demitri, Jane and Alec took care of the Volturi markers. Bella and I sometimes accompanied them. In some sections I was able to creep over the boarder undetected and carve a frenzied looking message into the bark; THE VOLTURI ARE HERE. TAKE COVER. Bella would hunt down any strays, leaving piles of ash for the armies to find near our messages. My gift was telling me our efforts would be enough for the armies to go into hiding and avoid turning more humans. Thankfully, Demitri would be able to locate any warlords, no matter where they hid. It should make our next mission easier; cleaning up the Eastern states. I just wanted the wars to be over, there was more going on in our world and I wanted a front row seat. Change was coming.

We'd been able to search most of the north west of Texas, we scoured Dallas for signs of vampires, but there were none. We had yet to search the area west of Memphis and Eldorado, but thankfully the human population was sparse and neither Demitri nor I picked up any problems. We'd be able to start our search in New Mexico in two days.

We were just heading back to headquarters; a small motel in Austin near the airport. Afton had met the Healers and had left for Volterra with the prisoners. He let us know that Caius and Eliza would arrive in three days at Santa Fe while Garrett would reach us in El Paso tomorrow night, he was running from Nebraska.

We split up to search the rest of the state and move the Healers to a small hotel in El Paso. My gift told me there was no danger so we had Bella and Demitri travel from Austin to El Paso with the Healers while the rest of us finished searching the state.

The run to El Paso took longer than expected, we arrived at 10pm. We headed to the motel rooms Demitri had set up for us. Garrett smiled as we entered. "Did you guys run into trouble?" He asked us. J shook his head "we finished searching the entire state, there were no other vampire scents."
"That doesn't surprise me War, few vampires come here. Some believe Texas is cursed, firstly because of the Wars, then the clean up, not to mention the climate isn't appealing, too sunny. No one wants to come here."

"Have you heard anything about the other states?" J asked him. Garrett nodded. "There are some nomads that keep to Northern California and the highlands, but that's as far south as they're willing to go. You can still smell the spilt venom and ash from all the deaths during the war." As soon as he pointed it out I recognized the smell, I'd always associated the added sweetness in the air to the fragrant trees, now I could smell the edge to it. No wonder Texas was empty. I turned to the others in our group "did you guys notice the smell?" Bella, Charlie, Rose and Emmett shook their heads, they hadn't lived with conflict so it was understandable they'd miss it. J, Char and the Volturi nodded. It was the smell of death.

"What about the Eastern states? Why are there so many wars there now?" Bella asked. I answered her; "the original armies fought on this side of the country. The eastern states wouldn't smell like venom. Also, the Volturi didn't need to go that far east when the clean up happened."
"Why?"
"Territory. The western states connect with Mexico and South America. That means our kind could jump international borders and wouldn't be closed in by the sea like the eastern states are." I explained. "The wars actually started in South America with a vampire called Benito. There was a lot of conflict between humans in those days and he scavenged the humans dying from battles, disease, natural disasters and invading armies. To prevent any other vamps muscling in on his territory he turned a few humans to guard the area for him. Others gradually created their own armies and the fight over territory started.

"Anywhere there was a high level of mortality our kind would swoop in. The wars reached America during the Mexican-American war. When the Civil war started the territories grew more chaotic. It was War's sire that kept them going. She took over a large area of southern Texas; there was a low human population in the western states in those days compared to now. By controlling Texas she controlled the richer feeding grounds to the east." I explained.

"That's sort of what happened in the Civil war, wasn't it? One human army cut off the supplies to the other in order to weaken them." Bella asked. J agreed; "yes, Maria created the largest and wealthiest army. With little for the others to feed on the wars stayed mostly in Mexico. There was a high indigenous population, but they had their own protection. If it hadn't been for their connection to the spirit world many more would have died.

"Maria wanted the whole south east of America for her feeding grounds. A few desperate armies would challenge and attack, a few armies travelled around her territory, but her greed kept her in power. Most preferred to stay along the international border or in Mexico. The south west states were ideal in one way; the small pockets of human population meant our kind didn't have to hide, the battles were long and savage, they'd last for days." J said.

Charlotte added; "Caius told me it was Maria's greed that ultimately saved her life. By controlling the influx of vampires to the south-eastern states she actually kept the wars contained. She had a talent for strategy and the Volturi would sometimes ask her advice. With her help they were able to clean up the Wars. As a reward they allowed her to live, but forbid her from communicating with other vampires. She was supposed to report any signs of combat to our Masters." She said.

Garrett added his own observations "during the wars other nomads could feed in the eastern states, but we preferred the north because of the added coverage and less fighting among our kind. Those who fed in the south east were constantly wary of attack, we'd sometimes come across hunting parties from the west. They wouldn't stay, they'd just feed and leave. Any vampires they came across were destroyed. As far as the War lords were concerned; secrecy from the humans they fought over was paramount. If the humans spread word of our kind it would have notified the Volturi, the war lords didn't want that so they stayed to the west and fed from both sides of the boarder where they could bathe in the blood of mortals while the humans were unaware of how many died collectively. There was little communication between the countries."

"Why wouldn't they set up camps in the east and try to be more careful?" Bella asked. J answered her.
"Strategically, the more land access, the better. The eastern states back onto the sea. While our kind can swim, land was easier to control and make an escape while defending territory. If an army were to try and relocate over a stretch of water, they'd be vulnerable to attack. Our senses are good underwater, but not as good as they are on land."

"What about the tribes?" She asked. "A few tribes were able to protect themselves by connecting to the spirit world. Unfortunately, many were wiped out, combined with the settlement from the east, our people became endangered. Many languages and cultures died out because of it." I said.

Charlie and Bella were very interested in the history of the Vampire Wars, but we had a mission to finish and we were wasting the cover of night. We set off as soon as possible, crossing the border into New Mexico. My gift told me we were headed in the right direction. "War, we should stop at Las Cruces, I have a feeling the road ahead will be difficult." I said. "No problem." He agreed.

We came across apartments for short term stay and reserved three rooms. We took out our ear pieces. Charlie immediately went to bed, Rose and Emmett distributed the blood. We each had a thermos of enriched cows' blood. J, Char, Bella and I had the nasty human blood on top of that. Charlie's recipes were very effective. Our scent had muted because of the travelling, but I could tell we were beginning to smell like our old selves.

Em and Rose cleaned out the thermoses to be filled. "We're out of blood" Emmett said. "Pestilence is your gift able to tell us where to hunt?" Jane asked. I nodded "there's a drug cartel to the south of us, we can get plenty human blood, but animal will be slim pickings; the wolves are endangered, but there are plenty of coyotes around."
"That'll do us." Em said. J assigned us groups. "Okay, Pete and Demitri can bag a couple of humans while Bella, Emmett and I can get some coyote." He said. The five of us put in our ear pieces "Rose, you're on comms." She nodded to J and put in her ear piece to keep us in touch with headquarters.

"The rest of you should rotate between showering, resting and keeping an eye out for trouble."

JPOV

We headed east while Pete and Demitri headed south. It was a clear morning, a few hours before dawn. Emmett carried a duffle bag full of containers. We followed the scent of coyote for a couple of miles, Em lay down the bag and the rest of us went to kill the pack of eight. We snapped their necks and piled them next to the bag. Em slashed their throats and filled the containers with blood. We headed out another few miles and came across a pack near a small town, this one only had six, we brought them back to Em for draining.

We hadn't filled all the containers, but there would be enough to last us a few days. We headed back to the apartment after an hour. "Death, Emmett and I have returned." I said to the ear piece. We took out the comms and waved to Rose. Jane got out of the shower and took her place as watcher, Alec went to the bathroom for his turn. I could hear the shower running in the apartment next door, Kate and Garrett had settled in, I could feel their lust and cringed.

I grabbed our duffle bag and took Bella's hand, guiding her to the apartment we'd rented on the other side of this one. I checked and closed all windows and curtains, keeping the lights off. She undid the clasp of my cape and pushed it off my shoulders, I returned the favor. We gently lifted our masks off and sighed in relief, we'd been wearing them constantly for days. She smiled up at me and I kissed her hard, pulling her with me into the bathroom.

Our clothes fell to the floor, covered in dust from our journey. I turned on the taps, she joined me. We gently washed each other, the dust turning to mud and pooling on the shower floor. She spoke softly under the noise of the water "how are you going?"
"I'm good, I thought this trip would trigger an episode, but it hasn't. I'm in my element here and I kind of like it. This place is familiar but it also feels different. Last time I was in this area I was in so much pain, so depressed, revisiting it has helped. Seeing all the places that were so active during the Wars free of vampires helped me realize it's over. Sure, there are armies fighting in the east, but after seeing how peaceful this area is I feel stronger." I said. She nodded "I guess its closure for you, it reinforced the fact that you survived and the Wars didn't. Now we're bringing new memories to these places, admittedly it's been boring at times, but I like seeing the places you lived in a previous life."
"I'm dreading the mission to the eastern states, but seeing the change here gives me hope that those states will recover like Texas has." I told her.

We kissed for a bit in the shower, the water eventually turned clear. We dried quickly and I led her to the bed and cuddled up to her naked body. "We have a few hours" I whispered. Our lips met again and the need for her kicked up. I ran my hands over her body, she ran her hands down my abdomen to my cock. Her hand curled around me, we'd never gone this far. I moaned and kissed down her neck, gradually lowering my head to run my tongue over her nipples.

She moved her hand up and down, electricity was singing through my body. I moved my hands lower, slowly teasing her before gliding my fingers between her legs. She let out a breath in surprise, then bucked into my fingers. She pumped me harder, faster. I wouldn't last long. I twitched in her hand and turned my head into the pillow to muffle my growl. She kissed my neck pumping faster and faster.

I tried to stay focused, dipping a finger into her. She gasped and thrust against my hand. I could feel the pressure coil inside her, it pushed me over the edge. I sank my teeth into the pillow and a moan erupted out of me.

I moved her hand from me and climbed between her legs. I kissed lower and lower, my head travelling to the apex of her thighs. I licked along her slit and pushed another finger into her. I lapped her folds and thrust my fingers into her faster and faster, I sent her my love. She bit her lip, trying to stay quiet through her climax.

She lay there panting, her wet hair splayed across the pillows. I kissed up her body then headed to the bathroom for a face washer. I cleaned her up and wiped the trail of cum from my stomach. We kissed and slowly changed into clean clothes. The clothes in the bathroom were a mess, but still in good condition. There was a washing machine in the corner, I chucked in our clothes.

The drier had just finished, our clothes were clean and dry. We'd repacked our duffle bag. Bella had put her hair in a platted pony tail. She'd left her hair down for the days previous and suffered through brushing out the knots. We returned to the apartment we'd set up as headquarters, reluctantly wearing our cloaks and masks.

We entered and greeted the others, Pete and Demitri had collected human blood for us and Charlie was preparing it and putting it in the cooler. Most of the ice had melted, but he'd been able to buy a bag of it from reception. "How did you sleep dad?" Bella asked, Charlie smiled at her "really well, I actually slept for five hours. We're just packing up. Pestilence said we should reach Albuquerque within the hour." I nodded and helped them pack up the car. We'd been lucky enough to get a parking space out of view of the apartments and sheltered from the sun. The road to Albuquerque was isolated and our cloaks would keep us from sparkling.

Pete regaled us with how he and Demitri had taken care of the cartel "we only needed two bodies worth of blood, but we couldn't do it without killing the rest. Demi here pretended to be from a rival cartel and started a fight. There were five of them in a rusty old warehouse; as soon as they started firing at us, we took their guns and shot them. We set up the scene so the cops will think it was a dispute. We made sure there were lots of incriminating papers and substances lying around." He chuckled. He had picked up a few grenades and C4 saying they were souvenirs, the evil glint in his eye made me wonder.

We were just entering Monticello when we caught a faint scent of vampires. It made sense, this place was isolated. There were mountains to the west, they were ideal; easy to defend, a view for miles around and plenty of hiding spots. We kept heading north to Albuquerque "the Mountains" Pete whispered, I nodded. His gift had just confirmed it.

"We'll head into the city, do a run through and if it's safe we'll stay, if not we'll head straight to Santa Fe. Pestilence, do you think they saw us?" I asked him. "It seems likely, we would have looked like fast moving dots, obviously not human."
"Okay then. We form two groups; Emmett, Rose, Charlie, Jane and Felix, keep driving around. The rest of us will do a sweep, groups of two running down parallel streets, we stay close together and head from the south east to North West. Death, you're with Garrett. Demitri, you're with Alec. Kate, you're with Famine and Pestilence, you're with me."

We slowed down as we approached Albuquerque, when we reached a large street in the central business district I would point and direct a group down it. We kept to the shadows and hid as much as we could. Occasionally we'd see a glimpse of one of our cars. There were vampire scents all through the city, I just knew we wouldn't be able to stop here. It wasn't safe.

We reached the north western point of the city and I spoke through our comms "head to the north east." We caught up with the others, the car was parked close by. "Did anyone come across fresh scents?" I asked. Demitri and Alec nodded "there were ten scents in total, five of them from the past six hours." I sighed "we had five fresh scents too, there were ten old scents." Each team reported the number of scents they'd come across "we could be dealing with up to a forty in both areas combined-" I said. Pete interrupted "my gift is telling me there are about thirty in the mountain range we passed and another sixty in the mountains around Santa Fe."
"Two armies?" I asked, Pete shook his head, "one army two hide outs." It makes a little sense, this city is smaller than Santa Fe so they have fewer soldiers feeding here. They could also act as a look out for the larger group.

"Okay, neither Albuquerque nor Santa Fe are safe and we can't turn back to Las Cruces or we could be attacked. We'll have to stay mobile until we meet Caius. He'll take the lead. Pestilence, is your gift telling you about any curve balls?" He nodded "there are three; one is a teleporter, the leader can drain your body of energy and one of the generals can make your body feel heavier and slow you down, with any luck they won't have reached their full potential. I get the feeling the Monticello troop have gifted ones as well, but I can't seem to get any details."
"Any idea about the leader?" I asked, Pete shook his head "all I can tell is that the main leader is in Santa Fe with two generals while there are another two generals in Albuquerque. I have my suspicions though. His gift reminds me of one we encountered before." Shit. I could only hope he wasn't talking about the vampire who'd nearly killed us decades ago; Angelo.