Chapter 7

Bella stood rooted to her spot as the Denali’s raced forward too fast for her to see to meet the other vampires. Bella had just enough time to see that there were five total vampires with Victoria before she couldn’t see anything else. All the Denali’s but Carmen raced towards the vampires to fight and Bella could hear the second the groups met. Her hands immediately covered her ears, the loud boulder clashes hurting her ears.

“It will be okay.” Carmen said in a whispered tone, her hand immediately coming to rest on Bella’s back as a form of comfort. Her eyes stay trained on the fighting ahead, her ears focused on all the sounds she could in case there other vampires nearby that may try to sneak attack. She also took note of the red head watching from a very safe distance, clearly not wanting to fight herself and that worried Carmen. “The sisters are far too old and have been in much too many fights to lose; never mind Kate’s motivation.” Carmen had to cut herself from mentioning Kate’s gift; the red head likely already knew about it, but the fact that the warrior wasn’t using it at the moment meant the blonde was keeping that as under wraps as possible. “Eleazar also has plenty of experience from his time with the Volturi; these newborns will not survive the fight.”

Bella could only nod her head that she understood what she was told. Bella couldn’t see anything that was happening, could only hear the growls and loud bangs. But if Carmen was confident they would win, then that was good enough for her. It wasn’t like she could actually do anything to help, she was just a good distraction to all the vampires fighting, keeping still and not reminding people, especially the red eyed vampires, that she was there was the best thing she could do to help.

Carmen watched as her coven dealt with the baby vampires. While her coven was more than capable of beating the vampires, watching them fight without her helping was nerve-wracking. And since Kate seemingly refused to use her gift, the fight was taking longer than it should. Carmen assumed it had something to do with the redhead that was still watching them; Kate didn’t want the woman to get a better grasp of what they could do. That reasoning also likely explained why it appeared they were all holding back, mostly just keeping the newborns distracted and taking hits that they could heal from. But Carmen knew that if the Cullen’s had anything to do with the redhead being there, then the redhead at least had an idea of what they could do and of what Kate could do. Luckily, something Tanya had demanded from when they first found out long after they had joined the coven, they weren’t aware of the other two sisters’ gifts. But only Tanya was using her gift and it was highly unlikely the redhead would be able to tell she was.

Carmen could see her coven dodging punches, diverting kicks and preventing bites. It was nearly like watching a dance, a very violent dance but dance nonetheless. If Carmen didn’t know any better, she could have thought they were just having fun. The small smiles Tanya and Irina were trying to hide belied the seriousness of the situation. As soon as Kate and Eleazar detached the heads of their targets, Kate immediately took off with all her strength towards the redhead. It was clear what her goal was.

“Don’t leave sight.” Tanya warned as she kept her main focus on her target. As much as Tanya knew, and everyone else knew for that matter, how much Kate wanted to kill the threat towards her mate, she couldn’t. The redhead could very well lead Kate away towards another trap and that wasn’t something Tanya didn’t want to risk. They were going to kill these newborns and then fly the plan themselves out of here and as far as they could get before moving an actual airport to get the first flight they can find the quickest flight to Italy.

Kate’s only response to her sisters was a growl of agitation. Everything in her, all her instincts, were telling her that she could see the one that posed the most immediate threat to her, she had the danger in her sight. She needed to kill, to eliminate the immediate threat so it wouldn’t come back. But if there was one thing she had learned in all her years with her sister: always listen to her. The Cullen’s may have always joked about never betting against Alice, but there was a very good reason why Tanya had kept them alive when Sasha broke the laws, why Tanya knew when to keep them away and for how long and not to arouse suspicion. Tanya’s gift was much more fine-tuned than Alice’s, and one hundred percent reliable.

Kate ran not nearly as far as she dared, the redhead only running just fast enough to not get caught, taunting her. Kate growled, sounding the most threatening she could. Everything in her was telling to give chase to the redhead, to catch her and kill her. But she wouldn’t go against her sister. Plus, she didn’t want her very human mate out of her sight. She had seen too many mates lost because they took their eyes off of the other. She wasn’t going to risk Bella’s safety by doing something foolhardy. Instead she raced back to her sisters once she was sure the redhead was well and truly gone and helped finish off the vampires.

Carmen ushered Bella closer to the rest of her coven, wanting to physically make sure her mate was okay. She was sure he was, his experience and age ensuring that, but it never hurt to be cautious.

“Everyone get in the plane, Irina help me move all the parts into the shed.” Tanya immediately commanded, full on coven leader mode to get her coven out of the area without being seen and ensuring the newborns were killed before they could figure out how reattach themselves and go on a rampage. “I’ll stay back to ignite them and then run into the plan as you start flying off. The sooner we get out of here the better; something tells me Victoria is not out there alone.”

Kate rushed to Bella’s side, replacing Carmen’s hand on her back. It took a lot more willpower than Kate was willing to admit to not just grab Bella and run. But she knew she was safer, her mate was safer, with her coven. Tanya wouldn’t steer her wrong. She was sure of it.

Without another word from anyone, they all moved to do as told. Kate picked up Bella and seconds later put her down in the plane that was still on the hanger, undamaged. She was sure there was likely some sort of tracking on it, she knew there wasn’t a bomb because she would have been able to smell the explosives. The plane would be just large enough to hold their coven, no baggage.

Carmen took a few seconds to make sure her mate was unharmed and then both took a moment to pull the doors open just large enough for the plane to exit, and then with Eleazar and Carmen in the front seat, they started the plane. Irina and Tanya had the body parts paced where the plane was just moments before as soon as there was space. Irina jumped inside the plane, keeping the hatch open for Tanya to get in.

“Move.” Tanya commanded from outside, not wanting to waste time. She knew the secret to beating Alice’s gift, to at least make it harder to find them would be to not make decisions; but that said, there were tools in Alice’s arsenal to find ways around her limitations. They had to get to the safest place they could as soon as possible. They had no idea what Carlisle’s plan was, much less his endgame. Tanya hadn’t kept her coven alive for as long as she had by ignoring her instincts, her instincts that always dead-on. She couldn’t see the future per se but her instincts seemed to speak louder to her than others’ instincts.

Carmen started the engine with her mate, they both started to move the plane for takeoff. They didn’t bother talking with the very slow tower that seemed to be usually there for decoration. As soon as they were far enough away, Tanya ignited the bodies and left in a gush of wind as the flames took hold of the bodies that had the most flammable substance in existence: the venom throughout their bodies.

Tanya jumped into the plane, closing the hatch behind her. All the vampires couldn’t see it, but they could feel eyes on them, Victoria was watching them.

***

Emmett cursed as his character once again died. In his anger, he threw the remote through the television. It seemed since they left Forks, he couldn’t win a single fight in any of his games. He couldn’t concentrate on anything he used to find fun. It was all useless. He couldn’t help but growl in frustration.

“Calm.” A steady voice commanded from behind him. Even though the word itself made him want to do the opposite out of spite, the woman who spoke would always be able to calm his nerves. Even now, when their life was collapsing around them, she could ease his mind.

“I’m sick of being here.” Emmett complained, leaving back against the lone piece of furniture in the single room apartment they had temporarily rented under a hiatus. “Can’t we leave yet?” He was doing his best not to whine, but he was a fighter. A man of action. He felt he was going insane as they waited.

“We just need to buy a little more time.” Rosalie said as she flipped a page in the old magazine she had swiped from the store so long ago that she couldn’t even be bothered to remember where she stole it from.

“How much longer though?” Emmett said, tilting his head back to look at the woman he was sure was painted by the gods themselves. “I’m going to go insane from boredom.” It was a shame they were never meant to be; regardless of what Jasper and Edward had wanted. They had finally escaped their control, they had to stay that for as long as possible.

“You’re a vampire.” Rosalie dryly replied, “You’ll heal.” She said as she spared a moment to pat the top of his head.

For a few minutes, they were silent. Only the sound of pages slowly being turned filled the air. As the seconds ticked by in the slowest pace Emmett had ever seen in his life. Time was usually muted to vampires as it seemed to either stall altogether or speed by them. Emmett wasn’t a fan of time moving slowly.

“I just want to be free though.” Emmett said in a very defeated tone.

“We need to make sure she can’t follow us. Once I’m sure we’re safe, we’ll flee.” Rosalie explained, “But until then, while she’s keeping a close eye on us, there is nothing we can do but wait or be forced to help them.” Rosalie, a sneer clear in her tone. “I will not be forced to help them in their foolish desires. We are better than their trifle experiments and I have no desire to be a part of it. We have our freedom and we need to protect it.”