AN: Thanks everyone for the great response to the first chapter. I hadn't expected that!

Here's the second chapter.

Chapter 2

BPOV

'Are you really leaving?' Jane asked slightly dejected as we entered my chambers.

I nodded, but swept her into my embrace. 'Sorry doll.' I said kissing her forehead. 'but it's necessary. '

'Why? You've only been sleeping for six months. And just last year you went around the world visiting everyone.' she frowned.

I glanced around, though we were in my private chambers and I knew the brothers wouldn't be stupid enough to listen in on private conversations I held, I still didn't trust them not to try through their idiotic guard. I pulled Jane into the bathroom and started the shower. Though I knew they probably wouldn't dare, you could never be too careful. And some of the more recent additions of the guard might not yet believe the stories about me.

I was a legend after all.

'I'm going to seek out the coven Aro was talking about.' I told her. 'A seer could indeed be very dangerous, and I need to see if this gift is something I need to do something about. Plus I have a feeling Aro has a different motive for wanting to summon this coven.'

Jane nodded thoughtfully.

'I don't want the brothers to know I'm heading there. You know who else lives in the pacific northwest. I don't want them thinking I'm interested or looking into this. I want to see what Aro is going to do. I have a feeling he's been overstepping his bounds. If they act on this without my consent I'll know it's time to replace the brothers.'
Jane looked shocked. 'but aren't they instrumental in the way you run things?'

I shrugged. 'I need people to handle the day to day. Before these brothers I had two Romanian brothers, before them there were Corinthians, before them Egyptians. And before them Etruscans. Power changes. Only I have remained constant.' I sighed wistfully.

Jane's brow furrowed as she regarded me for a moment. 'How old are you really?'

We'd skirted around this topic before. She knew I was old and powerful and definitely the one in charge behind the people in power. But I'd never told her my exact past. It wasn't something I liked discussing. 'Old enough to know what I'm doing.' I told her.

She nodded, knowing my tone well enough to let it drop. 'What can I do?'

'I need you to stay here with your brother and be my eyes and ears on the inside.'

'Okay. I can do that.'

'Don't let them know what you're doing though. Don't be obvious. Don't change your patterns.'

'Will your shield still work?'

I nodded. 'You will be safe and your minds will be your own.'

'It works that far away?' she asked with awe.

I smiled at her and winked. I didn't let anyone know exactly what my gift was or how it worked. Not even Jane knew I had multiple shielding gifts. I could stretch my own shield temporarily to encompass others, which was convenient in battle situations. But I also had the ability to shield someone permanently. I could create a shield around their minds and leave it in them. They didn't notice it and it cost almost nothing to maintain it from my side. Besides protecting them, it created a permanent link between us. I always knew where they were and if they were safe. It was like leaving a bit of myself in them. I never did it without someone's consent, though no one knew the exact particulars. Aside from Jane and Alec there were currently three others under my protection, and they would remain there until they chose not to be anymore, or died.

'When will you leave?' Jane asked.

'As soon as I'm packed.' I told her, turning the shower off again, I didn't want to draw any suspicion unnecessarily. 'I'll call you when I land. And call me immediately if there's anything wrong.'

She nodded and then we set to packing. She also handed me the newest model phone, claiming I needed an upgrade. I didn't really care, as long as everything I needed was already in there. And it had the same number. Jane assured me it was all taken care of. So I stuffed it in my slacks pocket without complaint. We packed a small weekend bag, and a larger rolled suitcase. Jane insisted I needed to bring enough clothes with me, citing the cold weather in the pacific northwest and that I would need to blame in. I had to agree with her there.

We chatted as we packed at a leisurely pace. Alec came in when we were nearly finished.

'I heard you were leaving already.' He sulked, kicking the toe of his shoe on the carpet.

'I am.' I confirmed, not giving attention to his sulking.

Sometimes the siblings forgot that they were actually adults when they were turned. Somehow they felt like my real children and felt the need to throw tantrums just like children when I didn't give them enough attention. It was annoying and endearing at the same time. And more often than not, I indulged them.

He sighed. 'I bought your plane ticket. I sent it to your email. It's a direct flight to New York. It was the first flight available.'

'Thank you Alec. I'll probably run part of the way, or buy a car and drive. I'll see when I get to the US.'

he nodded. 'Why can't we go with you this time?'

Usually I took the siblings with me. I didn't like being apart from them for too long.

'It's not going to take long this time.' I assured him.

I just wanted to check out the seer and see some friends I hadn't seen in a while. I figured a month at most. But I also nodded my head to Jane and held my finger to my lips. Alec knew I didn't trust the brothers. And by doing this he knew I had already filled Jane in on the real reason I was leaving, but I couldn't tell him now.

He nodded once. 'Alright. I've already brought the car around. We'll take you to the airport.'

I smiled at him and quickly hugged him. 'You'll be fine. And you can always call me.'

He relaxed slightly against me and when we pulled back he was smiling.

We headed out of my chambers to the lower levels of the castle and out the door where the car was waiting under the carriage drive. Alec loaded the bags as the brothers appeared in the doorway. I quickly ushered Jane in the car and Alec quickly got in on the drivers side as soon as the trunk closed.

The brothers bowed deeply. 'We wish you a safe journey.'

I regarded them coolly for a moment, appraising them. Aro was fidgety, Marcus just looked miserable and Caius was unhappy at having to bow to me. Again I had the feeling that these brothers would soon need to be replaced. Caius' unhappiness at having to serve me was growing, Marcus' apathy at life was causing him to take a disinterest in anything. He was the brother that kept the other two in check. And he was failing at that now. And Aro was turning into a power hungry fool.

I didn't respond or tell them to rise, I just got in the car, and Alec took off.

As soon as we were well out of town limits Alec turned to face me. 'Tell me the real reason.'

I grinned. He could never wait. 'I'm going to seek out the seer Aro was talking about. And visit my friends in the pacific northwest.'

He frowned turning back to face the road. 'Why can't we go with you?'

'I need you and your sister to keep an eye on the brothers.'

He cocked his head. 'You think they're no longer useful to you?'

I nodded. Alec never was slow on the uptake. He knew a bit more about the politics that surrounded court and how I ruled the vampire world. He took an interest in it as well and he'd asked me more than enough questions about other rulers I'd had in the past. Something Jane had no interest in whatsoever. They complemented each other well. Jane brought her interest in the human world and her humanity, Alec brought his intellect and political acumen.

We arrived at the airport quickly and Alec unloaded my bags again.

'Take care of each other.' I told them seriously. They both nodded and I hugged them both tightly. 'Keep your eyes and ears open. Don't trust anyone.' I whispered to them. 'And be careful when you practice.'

They both nodded again.

'Call us when you land.' Jane said, hugging me again.
'And stay safe.' Alec murmured, also hugging me again after his sister was done.

I grinned at that. I worried about them as my children, but sometimes I forgot that they worried about me too as their sire, and family.
'I'll see you in a while.' I told them before turning around and heading to the check in.

I arrived in New York twelve hours later and quickly decided I wasn't going to fly again. I'd had enough of enclosed spaces crowded with humans for a while. Although the pacific northwest was quite a while away, I figured I could just buy a car and drive there. I didn't need to sleep, and if I bought a fast car I was sure I could make it in a two days at most. I headed out of the airport and googled the closest car dealership. There was one not too far, so I hailed a cab and gave it the address.

It took no time at all to arrange a car, if you had enough money. The car salesman was about on cloud nine when I'd told him I wanted to a car I could drive off with right away and handed him my black American express card. He of course tried to sell me the most expensive one they had – some flashy sportscar – but I wasn't interested in that. I wanted something with power, but not something shiny that every man going through a midlife crisis would buy. Finally we settled on a jaguar F type. I quickly signed the paperwork and paid the money. Then I loaded up my stuff and set off.

Once I was out of the city limits I made a quick pit stop, stopping near the woods and quickly hunting. I didn't need a lot of blood to survive, and I could consume human food, but blood kept me strongest. Animal blood was nourishing enough, but I usually made sure to drink at least a pint of human blood every month or so, to make sure I kept up my strength. For now though a deer would do fine. I did need to stop before reaching the coven and make sure I drank some human blood. I hadn't fed in six months after all. I wanted to make sure I was at my strongest before running into the coven. Not that I was weak right now. My strength wouldn't decrease that suddenly. I was still the most powerful vampire on earth even after six months of no nourishment. Still, I was feeling peckish. I quickly located a deer and drank it dry, burying the carcass afterward to feed back into the soil.

I made sure I was clean of dirt and mud and blood, before getting back in the car and driving on. I checked in on Jane and Alec to inform them I'd landed and bought a car. They in turn updated me that Aro would like to get in touch with me about a new situation in Asia.

I sighed at that. It seemed vampires couldn't really behave themselves for too long. I hung up with Jane telling her to tell Aro I'd call him back. I figured she'd do so immediately. So I pulled up his number and made sure to shield my own number from him. I didn't want him having direct access to me. Any contact we had when I was not in the castle went through anonymous calls or Jane and Alec. He didn't like that one bit. But since he annoyed me at the best of times, I could only imagine how quickly I would want to kill him if he had a direct line to me.

I pressed the call button and when his voice came over the line I got to the point immediately. 'What's going on in Asia?' I demanded.

'Ms Isabella.' He greeted, his voice high with surprise. Then he cleared his throat. 'News just reached us that a vampire is posing as a Tibetan monk, claiming to have found the secret of everlasting life. He's selling it in the form of a book.'

I blinked in surprise. Of everything that could have been going on, this was the last thing I'd expected. I laughed out loud. Oh man, what people came up with. It was amazing. 'What's in this book?' I asked through my laughter.

'We are not sure. But we believe it could pose a great risk.'

I sighed. 'Alright. Summon him then, have him explain how he thinks his book isn't endangering our secret and then decide what to do with him.'

'Thank you Milady for your wisdom.' Ugh, I hated this man. He always tried to butter me up.

'Aro, when you do decide to kill him, make sure there is a good cover story. Don't just make him disappear. That will only fuel rumours.'

'Of course, Milady.'

'Was that all?'

'Yes.'

I hung up, not bothering with pleasantries. Honestly why he couldn't have handled that himself was beyond me.

I turned on the radio and put my foot down, reaching the top speed of the car quickly as I soared over the road. It didn't take long to get to Washington state this way. When I was pretty close to where I needed to be I pulled into a nature reserve.

I wasn't sure of the exact location of the coven's home base, just that it was somewhere in the pacific northwest. I figured a nature reserve was a good place to start to see if I could catch their scents somewhere. If I couldn't I would just head to my friends first and see if they knew anything about a coven that had settled in the area. I parked the car and trekked into the woods for a while, looking for a quiet and open space. I went off the walking paths and found a small clearing.

I sat down in the middle of the clearing on the slightly damp grass and closed my eyes, opening my senses. I inhaled deeply, pulling everything in and then cast my senses wide like a net. It was a little overwhelming at first, but after a few moments, I could filter out the smells of nature and the different animals that were roaming around. A few more moments and breaths and the scarce humans that were roaming around were dismissed. Then cars and pollutants and then every other smell until finally I located the sweet distinct smell of my own kind.

There were quite a few of us here it seemed. At least eighteen different scents.

But seven stood out.

Their scents were fresher and stronger than the others. It seemed their scent was concentrated, like they were settled around here. I figured they would be the coven Aro was looking for. Seven was quite a large number for a coven of vampires. The largest outside of Volterra I guessed. Most seemed to max out at four, an occasional six happened, but was rare. Another smell filtered in then and I smiled. It seemed my friends definitely knew of this coven.

I grabbed my phone from my pocket and dialled the familiar number.