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Chapter 43:

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The mansion was several miles outside the city and I had been gone almost three hours. Three hours of god knows what happening to Bella. The thought filled me with sadness and grim determination but very little rage which was perhaps a blessing. It kept my mind clear and focused on what we had to do; destroy the newborns.

The estate was surrounded in a high iron fence, the gates closed and twin angels perched atop columns and peering down into the darkness with robes of stone and harps in their hands. Kate and I came out of the shadows and went along the fence, ducking low, listening, alert, and then we climbed and slipped over the other side silently into a thatch of garden. We moved through a bed of flowers, mindful of the rustling sound, not speaking, and squatted down in the darkness to observe the front of the mansion. The courtyard was empty, the pebbles in the drive as barren as moon gravel, and the only sound was the light rill and splash of the water fountain. Vaguely I was relieved there were no screams from inside but then it occurred to me that maybe screams would've been more reassuring.

There was a small greenhouse to the side, a glass room with rows of dark greenery brooding in the moonbeams that fell through the glass ceiling, and Kate and I made our way to it and hid behind it and peered around the side.

The porch light was on, a soft yellow radiance from the awning over the double oak doors, and there seemed to be a guard posted there. A newborn. She was leaning against one of the white marble columns, naked, slouched, arms folded under her fat white breasts. Young. Darkhaired. Ferally sexy. I looked for any other guards with her but there was just the one. She was tall and long limbed and she had reddish black eyes that swept to and fro over the courtyard. She seemed to be on the lookout. Waiting for me to return. Alone. No idea that I had bought Kate. A plan began to formulate in my mind and I whispered very quietly to Kate beside me.

"Heidi wasn't expecting me to return with help," I said. "If her army is split, we have a real chance."

Kate nodded, gazing at the newborn from behind the cover of the greenhouse. "What do you want to do?"

"Take off your clothes."

"Excuse me?"

I grinned at her, the excitement of impending battle momentarily overwhelming my anxiety, and gave her a wink before pulling off my dress. I dragged it over my head, careful to keep from sight, and let it drop to the ground in the darkness. Kate stared at me in disbelief. I reached for the catch on my bra, smiling, and my nipples began tingling as I removed it.

Kate seemed skeptical, watching my bra hit the dirt, but she gave me the benefit of the doubt and began to undress as well. Pulling off her top, no bra underneath. It felt like a long time since I had seen her breasts and I smiled at them. A pleasant kind of camaraderie was stealing over me and for the first time that night I was beginning to get a good feeling.

I took off my panties as well, pushing them down my legs, and leaned around the greenhouse to check the position of the newborn. Still just standing there against the column. I was smiling and my naked body was beginning to feel electrified. Clouds were moving over the moon and the darkness deepened as if to oblige my mood. Until this moment I had felt like how prey must feel, helpless and weak and only waiting for death. But now the fear and the anxiety was leaking away and in its place there was strength, power, confidence, and above all, the eagerness to strike.

I was beginning to feel like a hunter again.

Kate dropped her panties as well, slightly embarrassed but also gaining excitement, and I gave her a smirk and whispered to her.

"I'll lead the newborn back to the greenhouse," I said. "We can dispatch her here and leave her remains out of sight."

Kate nodded at that, realizing my plan was some version of a honeypot, and I nodded as well and slipped away.

I crept back around the courtyard, keeping low among the flowerbushes, and then I emerged into the gravelled lane. Shoes were the only things I was wearing, a modest pair of pumps, and they crunched quietly in the stones as I came around the fountain. I had my hands raised, as if to surrender, and when the newborn noticed me the first thing she looked at was my tits.

It was only a flicker but it was enough to give me a rush of excitement. Newborns were slaves to their lusts. I had to use it to my advantage. The woman unleaned from the column and came down from the porch, two steps completed with a casual swagger. Her eyes were roaming over my body, a smirk on her mouth, and I continued toward her with my back straight and my shoulders set and my large naked breasts glowing in the moonlight.

I stopped a small distance away and kept my hands up. The newborn looked me over once more and finally lifted her eyes to mine with a cocky smirk.

"The mistress said you'd be back," she said.

I thought as much. Heidi had no idea I had left the mansion with a purpose. She only thought I had run away and would come crawling back, exactly like this.

But she was wrong.

"Is Bella alive?" I asked the newborn.

"For now."

A ripple of relief went through me and the ripples radiated and expanded into more confidence, more strength. More urge for violence. I wanted to attack the newborn right now, tackle her and beat her and grind her smug face into the gravel. But I managed to restrain myself. She was too strong for me alone. I needed to be tactical.

The newborn smirked again at my body, as if she were having some urges as well, and then she put her hands on her hips and levelled a dark and seductive look into my eyes.

"I've been told to bring her to you," she said. "Are you going to come willingly? Or do I need to be rough?"

I was still standing there with my hands up and I did feel a flicker of excitement at her posture of authority and promise of forcefulness. I smiled at her and raised an eyebrow provokingly.

"Your mistress posted you here all alone, did she?" I asked. "With no one to help you?"

"What would I need help for?"

"You think you could handle me all on your own? If I should choose to be unwilling?"

She snorted at that and gave me a smirk. "Heidi's been training me for a long time. I was her first."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah," she said. "That's so."

She said it with a certain firmness, a certain hardness, her brow creasing into a frown as if daring me not to believe her. I smirked at her, reading her whole relationship in her eyes. Heidi had filled her head with lies, with promises of how special she was, all simply to secure her devotion.

And this poor creature had believed it all.

"You must think you're very special to her," I said in a tone of mocking.

She began glaring at me. "I am."

I smirked at how proud she was of that and gave her body a look that was designed to be somewhat desirous, my eyes moving over her breasts and her tummy and that pale slit between her thighs. "Hmm," I murmured. "I suppose I can see why. You're very beautiful. And apparently quite loyal. Hm?"

She was getting confused now. She hadn't expected me to act like this. She gave me a look that was almost disgust and snorted once.

"I thought you're supposed to care about that girl upstairs?" she asked me.

More useful information; Bella was upstairs. Likely in the exact same room I had left her. She hadn't been in any condition to be moved anyway with that damage between her legs.

So I smiled and sauntered forward a step or two, my heels crunching in the gravel, and I placed a hand on the newborn's shoulder. Her skin was cool and it froze even more under my touch. She didn't know what to make of it. I smiled at her and caressed the pale shoulder suggestively.

"I do care about her," I said. "I care about her very much. Which is why I was thinking maybe we could make a deal. Heidi would not listen to my begging and pleading but perhaps you will. Hm?"

She was frowning at me and she didn't seem to trust herself to reply. Her nipples had stiffened and her eyes had gone a shade darker. Already lust was clouding her mind. I smiled at her and kept my eyes on hers.

"You know why Heidi is here, don't you?" I asked her. "She wants to reclaim me. As her lover. Does that not make you a little jealous? Hm? I can tell that it does. Because you love your mistress, don't you? It's you who should be her lover. Not me. Don't you think?"

I gave her a moment to think about that. She could tell I was trying to manipulate her but it was to her own benefit as well. Her brow had loosened and she was watching me. I smiled at her and put my hands at her hips and spoke to her with my eyes on her body.

"See, the truth is, your mistress is obsessed with me," I said. "I won't say she loves me, because I don't believe she does, but she will never be able to love anyone as long as I'm around. So help me. Return my mate to me and I will go away and you'll never see me again. Heidi will be all yours. Hm?"

She was standing very still. I could feel her skin trembling under my touch from conflict. The poor thing really did love Heidi. I smiled at her and leaned to her mouth prettily.

"Come with me to the greenhouse," I whispered onto her lips. "Let me show you how grateful I would be for your assistance. Let me—"

A sudden snarl came out of her and her hand clenched in my hair.

No pain but the grip was like iron. I tried to jerk away but couldn't. Her other hand closed around my throat and she glared into my face fiercely. She seemed to have given into her lusts only it was the wrong lusts.

"I have a better idea," she growled. "To kill you right here and tell the mistress you tried to fight. Then we'll kill your mate and I'll still have the mistress all to myself. What do you think of that?"

Honestly, I thought it was a rotten idea, but she didn't give me a chance to say so. She had wrenched me off my feet, leaving my shoes in the gravel, and then she was dragging me.

Toward the greenhouse.

Well, I suppose that was one bit of good luck. Good thing I had mentioned it. My hip was dragging through the gravel and I was thrashing and kicking with my naked legs but I didn't dare scream. I didn't want to alert any of the other newborns.

She opened the door to the greenhouse and forced me inside. It was darker here, away from the porch light, but the moon was bright and icy enough to cast a crisscrossing of shadows from the framework of the glass ceiling. I was on my feet but her hand was still in my hair. My eyes cut about for Kate. She was supposed to be here, and honestly, any time now would be great for an ambush.

The newborn wrenched me up and wrapped her hand around my throat. I was pushed back against a wooden bench. The bench jostled. A clay pot tipped over the edge and shattered on the floor. Her tits were pushed into mine, soft and cold, and I couldn't move at all. I was clutching her wrists and I was simply amazed at how strong she was.

"Wait," I gasped. "Don't do this."

The newborn grinned at me and tightened her grip in both my hair and around my throat. "I can see why she likes you. You're kind of hot."

The hand in my hair dropped and clawed into one of my tits instead.

Well. It seemed she might be interested in raping me as well.

Which would at least stall her, so in all honesty I couldn't say I was all that distressed at the idea of being violated a little. Kate must be out of position and she needed some time. But the hand around my throat was tightening and I wasn't sure just how interested in raping me she really was. She needed to be encouraged and so I did.

I grabbed her head and pulled her into my face.

Instantly I pushed my tongue into her mouth and gave her a desperate tonguing. It had been quite a surge of strength and I could only hope I hadn't misused it. I could've perhaps tried to break free instead but that might've only hastened my death. Tanya had managed to fight four newborns at once and even kill one of them but I was at a severe disadvantage with that hand at my throat. At least this tactic succeeded in taking her by surprise.

It only took a moment before she returned the kiss, savagely, swiftly overwhelmed by her newborn lusts. It was now her own tongue invading my mouth, filling it, causing me to groan with my face tilted up slightly, taking it, backed up against the wooden bench with one of her hands around my throat and the other clutching my tit. My own arms were wrapped loosely around her and I confess I almost hoped Kate wouldn't come to my rescue too soon. Oh my.

Finally I broke the kiss and looked at her to gauge her expression and the effectiveness of the tactic. Her eyes were lidded and almost entirely black in the moonlight. Her grip on my throat had loosened but the cocky smirk on her face didn't imply she had changed her mind.

"You think that'll save you?" she asked me mockingly.

Over her shoulder I saw a shadow move against the glass.

Kate.

I smiled and turned the smile back to the newborn.

"Yes," I whispered seductively. "I do."

Then I pulled her back into the kiss, gently and gloating inside, and opened my mouth once more for her tongue.

This time she let go of my throat entirely and instead wove her fingers into my hair erotically. The gesture filled me with arousal and I moaned into her mouth and moved my body against hers, arching into her, hooking a leg around her hip, embracing her with all the lust and desire of a woman in love. I was actually enjoying it and why not? Kate would only need a few moments and the poor woman would be dead any minute. She thought she was raping me but she wasn't. What she was doing was allowing me to distract her.

Eventually she snorted into the kiss and again grinned at me cockily.

"It's not gonna help," she said. "I'm still gonna kill you."

I giggled at her. It was almost cute that she thought so. I wrapped my arms around her, gazing into her eyes hungrily, and smiled at her.

"We'll see," I said.

Then I gripped her butt hungrily and lifted her and turned and deposited her on the wooden bench.

She allowed me to do it all, completely confident that I wasn't going to try anything. I suppose she thought she could overpower me at any moment. That was probably true although now that her hand was away from my throat I would've had a much better chance against her.

But still not a guaranteed victory, so I stayed the course, kneeling down on the floor and looking up at her slavishly. She was sitting there on the bench and the bench was tall enough that her legs dangled. I could see the moon beyond her and beyond the glass of the ceiling and her skin was pure white and her hair pure black, her breasts huge and luminous. It was almost a shame she had to die. She was quite incredibly sexy. If only she had accepted my offer earlier of helping me rescue my mate I would've gladly let her live. But now I'm afraid her fate was sealed.

I hooked one of her legs over my shoulder and leaned and licked at the mound of her vagina.

A shiver of pleasure went through her and then she snorted and grinned down at me.

"You know I can twist your head off right now, don't you?" she asked me.

My head was dangerously between her thighs but that was the point. To lull her into thinking she held the position of power. I smiled at her and licked her little slit again.

"Just give me a minute," I told her sultrily, all but whispering into her vagina. "It'll be worth it, trust me."

She shrugged a shoulder and moaned pleasurably. "Go ahead."

I smiled up at her and then I lowered my eyes and licked again, deliberately, letting her enjoy her domination over me. It wasn't going to last very long. I had both her legs hooked around my shoulders and my face was between her thighs and I continued licking for a while, gently, making her moan and stroke my hair.

"I'll make sure to tell your mate about this," she said. "Right before I kill her."

That gave me a flash of anger but even the anger only fed my hunger. I growled and suddenly pressed my mouth flush to her vagina, gripping her legs and swallowing down her sweet liquid. She was delicious and the deliciousness made me lap at her harder, over and over, licking long swathes of her moisture. Her legs were beginning to spread and lift into the air, like a blooming flower as her orgasm approached, and under the bench I noticed a pair of feet with pink toenail polish creeping up behind her silently.

Kate.

I smiled and lifted my eyes to the slit right in front of me and hurriedly pushed my tongue into it, wriggling it into her vagina, distracting her, causing her to moan even louder. She was slouching back on the bench, gazing down at me with her legs open and her mind entirely focused on the orgasm that was so close, and I smiled up at her with my tongue buried into her vagina and—

Suddenly her head snapped back and her pussy was snatched away.

It even took me by surprise. I was still sitting there on the floor, kneeling, and I watched under the bench as the newborn was dragged over the other side, causing several pots to clatter and smash, and pinned down with a knee in her spine as two hands gripped into her rampant black hair and ripped her head off before she could even scream.

I smiled and licked my lips and used a finger to wipe my mouthcorners. Pity.

I rose and breathed a satisfied sigh as I fluffed out my hair. Kate was standing on the other side of the bench with the head of the newborn in one hand. The expression on the face of the head was dismay at being denied the orgasm and shock at the beheading. Technically she was still alive but with no vocal chords or any kind of motor functions.

Kate looked at the head in her hands and chuckled once. The newborn would have to be incinerated later but for now she simply tossed the head aside. The head rolled under the bench and wobbled to a still where it lay on its side with eyes agape and staring at the naked corpse sprawled there with its legs open and pale vagina drying under the moon.

Kate smiled at me and I smiled back and together we were already walking toward the exit of the glasshouse.

"Good work," I said. "There ought to be four more inside. Before I left there were two with Heidi and two with Carmen."

I pulled open the door and stood aside for her to go first. She nodded and then stopped suddenly and looked at me with a puzzled expression.

"Wait a sec, why did I have to take off my clothes too?" she asked, quite reasonably.

I paused and became quite quizzical myself. Kate stood there, small and naked, ripe-bodied like a moonnymph among the greenery. I looked at her tits and said:

"Um…"

She realized I had no clue and she scowled and swatted my shoulder. "Oh, fucking brilliant, Victoria. I thought Bella was the stupid one. Some strategist you are."

I laughed guiltily. "I'm more of a lover than a fighter. And right now my partner is in very grave danger, so if you wouldn't mind…?"

I gestured outside with elaborate solicitude. Kate sighed and rolled her eyes and stalked through the door.

We headed toward the mansion, moving low and silent across the moonblanched courtyard. The SUV was still parked in the courtyard and there were a few muffled thumps as we went by that made me pause. I'd almost completely forgotten. Kate paused as well and cocked an eyebrow at the thumps and I smiled at her and opened the hatch. Inside was the ravishing redhead known as Leanna, supermodel extraordinaire, currently captured and tied up and wriggling her womanly body in her duct tape. Her dress had ridden up from all the kicking, no panties underneath, and one of her breasts had fallen out of the neckline. She looked up at us with desperate confusion, as if hoping this might be just a practical joke, and I pressed a finger to my lips and carefully peeled away the tape over her mouth.

"Oh god," she said as soon as she was able. "Oh god, what's happening?"

"Shh," I whispered to her. "I need you to be very quiet and stop kicking the car, okay? Will you do that, Leanna?"

"But—"

I pressed the tape down over her lips again and she actually settled down and went quiet, as if she thought it was probably the best thing to do, all things considered. I tucked her boob back into her dress for her and tidied up her skirt and then I lowered the hatch.

There was no kicking. Kate looked at me with her arms crossed, not a huge supporter of abducting women against their will. I smiled at her and then gestured with my head for her to keep following.

We passed the porch where the newborn had been stationed and continued around till we came to the kitchen entrance. I opened the sliding door, quietly, and closed it again after we were inside. The light was on and the sink was filled with the dishes of Bella's dinner. An empty bottle of wine sat on the counter. Kate and I glanced at each other and advanced slowly. She was willing to follow my lead and my first thought was for Irena. I couldn't leave her strung up the way she had been. Kate looked at me and I gestured with my head for her to stay close.

Irena was still where I had last seen her, hanging from the chandelier with all of her limbs missing. Her chin had sunk to her chest and her eyes were closed and she was perfectly still in the air as if she hadn't moved at all in a long time. Kate gasped softly at the sight of her coven sister like that and covered her mouth. I felt a stab of guilt for bringing all this to their door but I pushed it all away and focused. Irena had heard the gasp, soft as it was, and opened her eyes. They were lidded and only opened halfway but then she saw Kate. A spark came into them and she looked at me as well. I finger with a hand to my mouth for silence, even though she was gagged, and then I moved over to where the chain was hitched to a wall sconce.

The chain rattled as I untangled it but I was careful to be very quiet. Slowly I began to lower Irena. Her corset-clad form descended, revolving slowly, and Kate stood underneath and steadied her when she was within range. I continued to lower her and Kate guided her onto the floor. Irena hadn't made a sound, laying there with no limbs, just a leather wrapped lump of body, and Kate's face was completely broken from what they had done to her. The chain was attached to the collar around her neck and Kate carefully unbuckled the collar. The chain rattled again and I glanced toward the winding staircases anxiously. But nothing moved and I quickly went over to Irena and knelt down beside her with Kate.

Irena's eyes were looking up at us and there was something of a smile deep in those tortured red pools. I unbuckled her gag and removed it and stroked back her blonde hair.

"I'm so sorry, Irena," I whispered to her. "I'm so sorry."

Irena shook her head to dismiss all that, the only movement she was capable of, and looked at me. "They have one of the newborns patrolling the house," she said in a faint rasp. "She'll be coming downstairs any second."

I looked toward the upper balconies but there were only oilpaintings up there right now. Kate looked up there as well. I turned back to Irena and Irena looked at me and smirked and licked her lips so that she could speak.

"It's the same bitch that did this to me," she whispered softly.

I looked at her and slowly I began to smirk. Because I knew what she was saying. She didn't want apologies. She wanted revenge on the newborn who had done this to her. Irena saw that I understood and nodded and smiled darkly.

"Take the strapon," she rasped. "Rape that fucking bitch."

Kate glanced at me in surprise. I grinned at her and then I wrapped my fingers around the long black shaft protruding from Irena's corset and ripped it off. Kate grinned as well and grabbed the gag and then we both leaned down and kissed Irena on the forehead before rising and moving away to hide.

The two of us went around the curve of the staircase and knelt down behind a sidetable and waited. Irena lay there in the center of the foyer, staring straight up with her blonde hair spread on the tiles, the chain still dangling in the air with only the collar attached to it like a baby's mobile. She was directly beneath the chandelier and the light winked and reflected off the black patent leather of her corset. I was clutching the huge plastic dildo in my hand, waiting, and then we heard footsteps on the stairs.

The newborn that came down was naked and slim with straight dark hair. She noticed Irena on the floor but she only scoffed. She didn't hurry her steps or seem to think anything strange was going on. Kate and I had risen slightly and we watched her through the spindles of the staircase like prisoners behind bars as she descended into the foyer and swaggered over to Irena without a care in the world. She had a cute butt.

"I knew the chains wouldn't hold," she said, kicking at Irena's limp form. "Maybe I should just rip off your head too and be done with it."

Kate and I nodded at each other and came out from our hiding place and silently approached from behind. Irena saw us and rolled her head to look up at her tormentor.

"And how do you think I got the gag off, bitch?" she asked raspily.

Kate and I didn't get to see the doubt come into the newborn's face but it would've been too late anyway. Kate dropped the gag over her head and buckled it instantly and the ball shoved into her mouth completely muffled the squeal that came out of her when I rammed the dildo directly into her vagina from behind.

But it was still very loud and I glanced wildly toward the stairs. No movement. I didn't think they could hear from any of the bedrooms. The newborn was panicking and she began grasping for the gag, unable to get any fingers within the leather to rip it off. Kate grinned and tackled her to the floor and came up with one of her arms and bit into her bicep to create a tear before ripping the whole limb off. Another scream was muffled into the gag but still there was no movement from upstairs. Kate threw the arm away, spitting a chunk of bloodless flesh, and then she caught one of the kicking white legs and trapped it between her thighs in a judo hold before wrenching and wrenching it until it ripped away at the hip.

At this point the newborn was basically harmless. Gagging it had taken away its teeth, one of a vampire's greatest weapons, and now it was outnumbered and missing an arm and a leg. She managed to slip away from Kate and Kate let her go for a moment. The newborn scrabbled backwards on the tiles, gibbering into the gag, the big black dildo poking out from her vagina. Kate smiled at me as if to ask if I wanted a turn and I smiled back and went over and took the newborn's hand. She had been holding it out to beg off or plead for mercy but instead I planted my foot against her body and ripped the arm from its socket.

Another scream was stifled into the gag followed by crying and whimpering. I let the arm fall. All she had left was a leg. It was kicking feebly and I smiled and grabbed it by the ankle and then I planted my foot into her crotch, pushing the dildo deeper inside her, before tugging on the leg until it ripped away.

She didn't scream this time, only cried, but I looked toward the upper balcony anyway. Vampires had sensitive hearing but the walls and doors of the mansion were very thick. Irena had been watching all this, her head rolled to the side, and now I grabbed a handful of the newborn's hair and dragged her over so Irena could watch the final part closer. Irena smiled at the newborn and the newborn whimpered and begged with her eyes. The stumps of her arms and legs were wriggling and her whole torso was buckling and flopping like a beached fish. The dildo looked like a gigantic black tampon jutting out of her stumped lower body. I put a foot on her stomach to keep her still and Kate mounted the newborn's chest and took a hold of her chin and skull. The newborn shook her head and screamed and pleaded into the gag but Kate only began twisting. First the spine broke in a sickening crack and then her throat tore and suddenly all sound ceased. Kate made a little grunt of effort and started tugging and wrenching and finally the head came away.

I was still looking toward the upper balconies but there was still no sign of alarm. The remaining newborns were very preoccupied. Probably with Bella. The thought tightened my brow and my chest and I knew we had to hurry.

Kate let the head roll out of her arms and wobble across the floor before smiling at Irena.

"Well," she said. "She's dead."

The dildo had come out a little and now I shoved it back in.

"And raped," I added pleasantly.

Irena smiled as well and nodded tiredly. Her wounds had sapped so much of her strength that she couldn't even speak. Even the smile seemed to be a strain. I bobbed down and stroked back her hair caringly.

"We'll fix you up as soon as we have Bella," I said in the tone of a promise. "Till then we'll put you in the cellar where you'll be safe."

Irena's eyes were closed and she nodded again and I leaned and placed a kiss on her lips.

"I'll carry her," Kate said, and then she too placed a kiss on those pale lips before carefully gathering her up in her arms like an amputated bride.

Irena opened her eyes and cracked a sardonic smile at Kate. "See all the fun you've been missing out on?"

Kate returned the smile weakly and adjusted the limbless body in her arms.

The cellar was just down the corridor and the door was unlocked. Inside there was silence. At first I was worried perhaps our stockpile of women had been raided by the newborns. But then a few whimpers began as they realized someone was coming down the stairs. I went down first and Kate followed with Irena in her arms. Candles had been left lit and the small room was suffused in an orange glow. Tanya had been bought down here and my heart was throbbing to see her and when I did see her my heart simply stopped.

She was chained to the ceiling by her wrists and dangling there with no legs.

Eyes closed. Pale. Blood in her blonde hair. Her breasts exposed and shimmering softly in the dim orange light. Wearing nothing at all but a pair of white lace panties. Like a maimed angel. The sight devastated me. All the other victims were intact, chained to the wall and gagged and squirming in the candlelight, but I didn't care about any of the others. They were nothing but food. They could be replaced. But not Tanya. Her eyes were opening and now she saw me staring at her in paralysis. A smile came onto her lips and in her eyes was no anger or accusation. Only relief and happiness that I was alive.

I ran at her and threw my arms around her and whimpered in grief.

"Oh, Tanya," I said.

The chains rattled. Tanya's body swayed. My breasts were mashed against hers and I was nuzzling her neck. Holding her. My heart breaking. Much of her strength was drained and her voice came out soft and almost inaudible.

"Victoria," she said. "Is Bella…?"

The name of my mate jarred even more complicated feelings into my heart but I didn't let her go. Not right away. I held her for a moment more and then finally I released her and cupped her face with both hands instead.

"She's still alive," I said. "I managed to run away and I bought Kate back to help me rescue her. To rescue all of you."

Tanya glanced toward Kate. Kate was lowering Irena to the floor and propping her up against the wall. Irena smirked at Tanya and then she smirked across the cellar toward Claire. Claire was gagged, same as all the other victims, but her eyes were wide and filled with horror and they hadn't left Irena's amputated body for a second. She almost seemed worried about her.

Tanya turned her eyes back to mine. I was still holding her face and gazing at her in abject sadness. She smiled thinly at the love and concern I was showing her and looked away shyly. I touched my forehead to hers and held it there as if to establish some telepathic link, some intimacy, something that would let her know that even if she wasn't my mate I would always love her just as much as a mate ever would.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, without looking at me.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm sorry I couldn't protect you."

"Hush, Tanya," I told her, pressing my forehead even harder. "Everything tonight is my fault. But I will make it right. I swear. I swear I will not let any more harm come to your coven."

Tanya finally lifted her eyes to mine. The sadness in her them seem to suggest she cared nothing for her coven and only for me.

I crashed my lips onto hers and kissed her passionately while she dangled from her chains leglessly and she moaned and invited my tongue by opening her mouth and I continued to kiss her until finally I had to stop. She looked into my eyes, smiling now with the candleflames trembling inside them like some frail hope, and I smiled as well before standing on my toes and reaching for her chains.

The wrist shackles broke off easily and I lowered her down gently. Kate was watching with eyes full of worry. I helped Tanya over to the wall and propped her up beside Irena. The two of them sat there, both legless, one armless as well, Irena in her black leather and Tanya in her white lace, spent and exhausted and limbless like two women who'd gone a little too far with their amputee fantasies.

Also in the cellar was the corpse of a newborn. I hadn't noticed it till now. It was laying there on the darkwood floor, headless, and I poked at its buttocks with my toe.

"What happened to this one?" I asked them in general.

Irena gave a grin that was somewhat coy in the candlelight. "It tried to kill Claire," she admitted. "So I…"

I raised my eye brows. Irena shrugged one of her stumpy shoulders embarrassedly. Claire was chained up against the opposite wall and she seemed to beam at Irena's protectiveness, albeit guardedly, with just her eyes and a bit of preening of her naked breasts. She was very aware of how close she was to being spared and kept instead of butchered like all the others.

Tanya smiled at all that and shook her head before speaking to me.

"Go save Bella," she said. "You need to hurry."

I nodded at her sadly. Such a selfless woman and truly a special friend. "You're right," I said. "But I can't just leave you like this. You need to feed and regain your strength."

I turned to the row of women who were chained to the wall. They were for Bella's transformation but we could certainly spare one for Tanya and Irena. But which?

Claire was out of the question, of course. Irena didn't save her life only to feed from her now. Next to Claire was the muscular amazon woman. She had been here almost as long as Claire and she seemed numb from the trauma, slouching in her chains, empty eyed, breasts sagging. Further down at the end of the row were the two sisters, the tiny blonde and the taller goth, big sis and little sis. They had only been here a day or two and their eyes were horrified at the limbless women on the floor and uncomprehending at how they could still be alive. Next to the sisters were the two pixies. The blonde one, Ashley, and the dark one, Nikki, chained there in their cuteness like things captured from a fairytale. They were fairly submissive as well but they did avoid my eyes in fear as my eyes passed over them. Finally there was the mother we'd snatched out of the suburbs. The milf. A healthy full grown woman with plenty of blood in her body and not at all one of Bella's favourites. Perfect.

The milf started shaking her head in terror as I went over and broke her chains with my bare hands. She tried to struggle as she came free but I grabbed her by the hair and slapped her, causing a few of the other victims to gasp. Kate stood by, frowning but not saying anything. The milf had gone a little limp and I forced her down on her knees and handed her to Tanya. Tanya took her. Irena had no arms but Tanya offered the woman's neck to her and Irena bit into it without hesitation. The woman screamed into her gag. A rattle of chains came from some of the other prisoners and a low moan of horror. Tanya then bit into the other side of the woman's neck and the woman began crying as she was lowered to the floor with these two limbless creatures moaning and chewing and crawling over her like zombies. Kate seemed slightly disturbed but again she said nothing. I gestured with my head toward the stairs and she nodded and hurried to catch up.

There had been no activity in the foyer. The chains lay in a coil on the marble floor and the tiles were littered with legs and arms and the head of the newborn whose body was now nothing but a chunk of meat with a dildo sticking out of it. Kate and I went passed and continued up the stairs.

Kate stayed behind me and I remembered which room they had been keeping Carmen. The door was still ajar and I approached by creeping against the wall. From inside I could hear low moaning sounds and the moaning was getting louder. Like the approach of an orgasm. It sounded like Carmen. I turned back to Kate and gestured with a hand to check if she was ready and Kate nodded. I turned back to the door and crept closer, the moaning on the verge of a climax, and then suddenly burst through it with my shoulder.

The door slammed open and a newborn reared up from between Carmen's legs. A second newborn was mounted over Carmen's face. Carmen was laying on the bed, armless, her ankles lashed with bedsheet and tied to the bedposts to keep them open, and the newborn instantly leapt from Carmen's face and tackled into Kate. The other newborn hissed at us with a mouth that was glossed over with Carmen's arousal and then suddenly Carmen's legs ripped free of the bedsheet and whipped around the newborn's head and proceeded to wrench it off with a quick and vicious twist of hips as Carmen's moans crescendoed into an orgasm.

It took me by surprise for one of them to be dispatched so easily but there was still one more. Kate flung her into a sidetable where the newborn's naked body crashed into a crystal vase and shattered it before springing again like animal for Kate's throat. I grabbed the newborn in midflight and swung her by the leg into a wardrobe. The wood exploded in a mighty crash. So much for stealth, but we had little option. The newborn sprang backward, standing in front of the crackling fireplace, and hissed at us. Kate and I attacked together this time and soon we had the newborn on the floor. The rug tangled around us, the three of us twisting and writhing in frenzy of teeth and tits, and then finally Kate bit into her leg and I bit into her face. The newborn screamed and thrashed away but I grabbed her hair and spun her around and shoved her head into the fireplace.

The howl that came out of her seemed to rattle the entire mansion. Instantly her dark hair was consumed in a whoosh of blue flame. My hand was scorched but I gritted my teeth and shoved her face directly into the coals. The howl was choked away as her vocal chords were incinerated. Her skin blistered and stank. By now Kate had grabbed her kicking legs and she shoved her even deeper into the fireplace. Her tits caught fire and split and peeled like burnt fruit. I had retracted my hand before any damage could be done and now I grabbed her other leg and began shoving her even further into the fire until we had her whole body crammed into the hearth where it blackened and shivered like an enormous spider.

Kate and I stumbled back from the heat and rose. There was a small rack of firetools and I quickly grabbed one of the pokers and shoved it into the embers to heat. Kate passed her hands through her hair.

"Heidi would've heard that," she said.

"She has only one newborn left."

"We still need to hurry."

I nodded at that and moved over to the bed. "Carmen, are you going to be okay?"

Carmen had shuffled up against the headboard but she couldn't sit up properly because she had two vibrators poking out of her, one in her pussy, one in her ass. Kate and I looked at her in concern but she only smiled and wriggled slightly against the vibrators.

"Yes, I'm fine," she said. "Actually, I rather enjoyed it."

I paused. Kate cocked an eyebrow. We looked at each other as if to check if we heard properly and then back at Carmen. Carmen blew out a breath, kind of dazed, and the stump of her arm moved from the end of her shoulder as if she were going to sweep a hand through her hair. But the arm was gone and she got a little confused and chuckled a bit instead.

Well. Obviously she'd been fucked quite senseless.

I went over and pulled the vibrators out of her. "Can you walk?"

"Yes, I think so."

"Well, head downstairs and take refuge in the cellar," I said, leaning to kiss her mouth quickly. "This will all be over soon, I promise."

Carmen began struggling out of the bed clumsily. Kate grabbed the iron poker out of the fire. The tip was a dull cherry red. She handed it to me and I took it and nodded and led her out.

The master bedroom was at the end of the hallway and I rammed the door completely off its hinges.

There was one newborn here and she spun around and hissed at me. I drove the red hot poker through her chest, directly through one of her big white tits, and the hiss sputtered away in surprise. The newborn tottered in shock, its eyes bulging, and Kate forced her to the floor and pinned her down and began ripping away her head.

I moved forward. The room was dark aside from the evil orange glare of the fireplace. It had burnt almost to embers. Bella was on the bed and the scent of her blood was thick in the room and burning in my throat. Heidi was standing by the bed. Her body was covered in blood. Bella's blood. Smeared all over her breasts and legs. Covering her face and mouth. Bella was covered in blood as well and she hadn't moved. She was splayed over the bloodsoaked sheets and if not for the slow blink of her eyes as she saw me I might've thought she was dead.

Heidi had a kitchen knife in her hand, the tool she'd been using to torture my mate, and she pointed it at me threateningly.

"I don't know how you got past my newborns, but you made a grave mistake, Victoria," she said. "Girls! Get here at once!"

The shriek echoed through the mansion. There was no reply.

"It's over, Heidi," I said. "You're alone."

It was the word alone that undid her. Her arm dropped to her side. The knife slipped from her fingers and clattered onto the floor. She looked at Kate. Some fleeting thought of resistance might've passed through her head. But she knew there was no way she could fight against both of us.

Kate was climbing onto the bed and she was gathering Bella in her arms and checking on her. Heidi watched. She might've also had a thought to at least kill Bella before she herself was killed. But she seemed to lack the energy even for that. She turned her lost eyes back to mine.

"Are they dead?" she asked, referring to her newborns.

I nodded at her. "Yes."

"All of them? Even Michelle?"

"If she was the girl you posted at the front door, then yes. She appeared to be your favoured one. She tried to kill me so that she could keep you to herself."

Heidi looked away toward the fireplace. The flames of it shimmered in her eyes and in those embers that smouldered among the logs there seemed to be genuine regrets revealed to her.

"Michelle loved me," she said. "In a way you never did."

I looked at her for a long moment. She continued to stare into the fire, as if she longed for the flames. I hadn't been angry at her until now. I could feel it boiling inside me and rising through my chest and overwhelming my heart. My eyes began to sting and my face twisted and then suddenly I marched over to her and grabbed her and—

Hugged her.

The embrace took her by surprise. She had half lifted her arms to defend herself but she didn't wrap them around me. She just stood there while I squeezed her tightly, Heidi, my oldest friend, and whispered into her ear.

"I loved you more than you ever understood, Heidi," I said. "Run."

"What?"

"Run," I hissed, squeezing her, our tits mashed together. "Now. I love you too much to hurt you. You know that. I only hope in the future you can love me the same way. Leave me with my Bella. I beg you. I beg you, Heidi."

Heidi began pushing at me. I released her. She was confused and hurt and she looked at me in despair in the firelight before glancing one last time at Bella. Something softened in her eyes, as if something had fallen into place at last, and then she turned back to me and sobbed and spun around and dived out the window.

Kate had watched all this in disbelief. She was still holding Bella and now she laid Bella down again.

"She's gonna get away," she said, climbing out of the bed.

I ignored her and moved toward Bella. I had neglected my mate far too long already.

Bella was watching me climb into the bed, her pale lips curved in just the tiniest smile. Her face was carved and the gaping red wounds were like multiple mouths in her face. I gathered her into my arms and cupped her cheek ever so gently. Her body had been mutilated but she didn't wince. Her breasts were all stabbed up. Her vagina. A crisscrossing of gashes all over her limp and deathwhite body like a doll that was coming apart at the seams. Dimly I was aware that Kate had given chase to Heidi out the window but none of that was important right now. Bella gazed at me and I brushed my thumb over her cracked lips.

"Oh, Bella," I whispered. "I'm so sorry."

A soft chuckle came out of her and her mouth moved into a painful grin. Her teeth were covered in blood. "Guess you can't fuck me like this, huh?"

A smile came over my own mouth and I shook my head.

"No, baby," I said. "I think we should just turn you."

"Me too."

I laid her down on her back and swung a leg over her hips to straddle her. The fireplace crackled and cast a shadow on the opposite wall that was ten times my size and hulking over my mate like some sinister nightshade. Bella smiled up at me and I stroked her bloody hair away from her face and leaned to her lips. I kissed them and tasted her blood and she opened her mouth to allow me to taste more. I let my tongue glide around her teeth and tongue and she winced from the pain and moaned until I finally pulled back and looked into her dark eyes.

"Are you ready?" I asked her.

She nodded and turned her head to expose her neck. "Yes."

I looked at her for a moment, smiling, her face bloody and beautiful and lacerated into a broken porcelain mask that trembled in the guttering firelight, absorbing these last few precious moments of her humanity, her fragility, her inexplicable desirability.

"I love you, Bella," I whispered to her.

Her eyes fell closed and a dreamy smile came over her mouth. "I love you too."

Slowly I leaned down to her neck. Already I could feel the venom welling in my mouth. I closed my eyes and inhaled her scent and let my lips brush her skin there. This was it. It had taken me five hundred years to reach this moment and now it was here. Eternity begins now.

I bit into Bella's neck and Bella gasped softly. Her blood began leaking, fresh blood, sweet, delicious, and I growled and sucked it down and let it mingle with my venom. Bella moved softly beneath me, a gentle squirm, and she whimpered as the venom began entering her system, carrying with it all my love and every intention to keep her forever.

—

AN: I have mixed feelings about this one. It was tough to write, and I'm not sure it turned out very well. I tried to lighten the tone a little during some of the scenes, but there was also a ton of angst, and I'm not sure if it meshed properly. Hope it did.

The other problem was the Twilight vampire ruleset. Frankly, it sucks. I've already gotten rid of special powers, but the speed and strength and steel skin were still very limiting. I wanted creative deaths for the newborns, but there just wasn't many options. No knives, no strangling, no blood even. The most creative one was the newborn who got crammed into the fireplace. I thought that was a pretty cool visual. But still, regular humans are so much more fun, lol

Speaking of deaths, well, some of you might not agree about Heidi. To be honest, I'd been planning it like this for a while. Everyone wanted her to die very painfully, but it just didn't feel natural. I just couldn't picture Vicky doing it. The Denali's might be upset, and Bella as well, but I'm sure Vicky can explain. I hope it at least shocked you, lol. This is a weird story, isn't it? The shock value is in letting characters live, not in killing them, lol.

I think my favorite scene was with Tanya. Very emotional. I think it almost overshadowed Bella and Vicky for a moment. But don't worry, in the next chapter there's going to be some intense Bella/Vicky loving while Bella is turning. :)