Sacrificial Lamb Chapter 44
APOV
I didn’t like it, any of it. I despised not being able to see as we followed Felix out of Volterra. We were walking into the unknown and that didn’t sit well with me at all. Even worse, we were leaving Edward and Bella alone to confront Aro and the majority of his guard. I could see them up to a point and I knew they’d be alright. I believed in the two of them but that didn’t mean that I was comfortable with not seeing the end. My visions had both helped and hurt my family over the years but I didn’t want to live without them.
Jasper squeezed my hand as if he knew what I was feeling, which, of course he did, but his presence didn’t provide the comfort it normally brought. His constant harping on my need to live in the moment just irritated me and I was doing my best not to turn and snipe at him for no reason. Emotions were boiling over for all of us and he was enduring it all on his own. My Jazz was brimming with anticipation and I knew his inner warrior was rejoicing that it might finally be freed. No matter what he’d told Carlisle, he was ready and willing to fight.
Carlisle…he was a broken man at this point. I didn’t need Edward’s gift to know that his thoughts were only for Esme. He followed behind Felix only because we didn’t know where we were going but I knew the instant he got close, the second he smelled her, he’d be off like a shot. Emmett and Rose were on either side of him and I hoped that they would keep him from running headlong into God knows what.
Felix angled west, studiously following Bella’s silent orders to take us to our mother. Her talent was an asset that we could not do without. I knew as well as Jasper did that if Haides could block all of us, he had to die. I didn’t relish the thought of killing someone who was more or less innocent, just another blind follower doing Aro’s bidding, but we could not risk Bella’s power being compromised. And I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t want my own to work again as well. I didn’t have to have it now to know that someone was going to die shortly; we just had to make sure that it was Haides and not one of us.
I glanced at my Jasper’s handsome face, so beautiful to me because of his scars, not despite them. He was a fighter, my warrior, my entire life. He’d given up who he was for me and now here he was doing everything he could to bring our family back together. I wasn’t a fool, I knew without him we’d be a complete mess. He’d done his best to plan for every contingency and though I was blind, I still believed that what we were doing was going to work. It had to; there was really no other option. We were whole now and we needed to remain that way.
I took a second to focus on my surroundings. I hadn’t really noticed where we were going, I’d let my thoughts and fears guide me instead. We were running along a dirt path that wound through a quiet forest. It was deafening in its silence, there were no birds chirping or animals rustling. I suppose that the sheer amount of vampires in and around Volterra drove some of the wildlife away. Not that the vampires here were interested in the animal population, but still, it was interesting. Good thing we’d all hunted fairly recently.
I wondered what they planned to do about Esme’s diet. Had they brought her an animal? Would they try to get her to succumb to feeding on a human? She hadn’t been gone long enough for that to be an issue but I couldn’t help but wonder. It was better to focus on something mundane than it was to worry about what they might be doing to her. A huge part of me feared that we would be too late and we’d find the remains of a fire, the fire that destroyed the only mother I’d ever known. I couldn’t wrap my head around such an idea and I felt a lump form in my throat.
“Alice,” Jasper whispered softly, his visual focus on our surroundings, his emotional focus on me, as always. “Whatever you’re thinking about, don’t. Everything is going to be okay.” His voice was confident even as his eyes darted around the forest, searching for any potential threat. It must be nice to feel sure about everything. It seemed like ages since I’d felt that way.
“How can you be sure?” I asked, trying to keep the petulance out of my tone but failing miserably by the smirk I saw on Jasper’s face. I loved him but he could be pretty annoying at times. This was one of them.
“Because we’re together, Alice. As long as this family is united, we will always win. They fight for power, for control, even for fun. We fight for love, for each other. Which of those reasons is stronger?”
I blinked in surprise; it wasn’t often that Jasper spoke of love. He showed it to me every single day, with every touch and every glance. I knew he loved me and our family and would fight for us. Still, to hear him say it like that warmed me. Though, I would contend that we weren’t all together right now.
I didn’t vocalize it but Jasper responded as if I’d spoken. “We are together, or we soon will be. Watch Carlisle the instant he gets near her. She’ll bring him to life, just like you did me when we met.” I longed to be anywhere but here so that I could tackle him to the ground and show him just what his words meant to me. He chuckled as he no doubt picked up on my response. “Soon,” he promised, giving me a sexy smile and a wink.
We continued into the darkness and I fought to keep my impatience from rising. How far away had they taken her? I wanted to be able to get back to Bella and Edward as quickly as possible. Of course, we’d probably only been running for about ten minutes, it only felt like hours because I wanted this to be over so badly.
Jasper let out a quiet oath. “We’re close, no more talking.” I knew that his power must have cut off. It felt strange, knowing that he couldn’t feel my emotions anymore. He squeezed my hand again, though, showing that even if his gift wasn’t working, he still knew me.
Just ahead of us, I saw Carlisle’s slumped shoulders suddenly straighten. His eyes, which had been completely vacant, focused in and brightened. He looked alive again. He felt her. I knew he did. I couldn’t smell her yet but I knew they were fairly close, since Jasper’s gift was gone. Haides had to be near and so did Esme. And I doubted Carlisle would feel her if she wasn’t still in one piece, thank God.
Emmett glanced back at us and Jasper gave him a nod. He looped his arm through Carlisle’s and Rose followed suit on the other side. I had no doubt it would take both of them to hold him once he knew exactly where Esme was. Not that he was likely to be quiet once we got within range either. I hated not being able to see what was going to happen. Would Carlisle charge in and cause something terrible happen to Esme or himself? Would he expose us all too early? What if it was more than just Caius and Haides there? Only four of us were ready to fight, I knew that Carlisle would be pretty much useless until he reunited with his wife. What if we were outnumbered?
Jasper squeezed my hand in silent support yet again as we climbed a gentle slope. I could smell something now, a minty smell along with a hint of jasmine. I closed my eyes because that hint of jasmine was pure Esme. I could almost feel her arms wrapped around me as the scent washed over me. I also smelled a woodsier scent. There were three distinct vampire scents that didn’t belong to us or Felix, one being Esme’s. So it seemed we were correct, there were only two vampires guarding her.
Carlisle let out a little gasp and strained against Emmett and Rose’s restraining arms. Rose leaned over and whispered in his ear. “You must be patient. We’ll be with her in a minute. Don’t rush in and ruin everything.” He started to struggle, shaking his head but still not saying anything thankfully. “You don’t want her to get hurt, do you?” He immediately stilled and glared at her as if she were foolish for asking such a question. “Then go with us, quietly. Please, Carlisle.”
Felix continued blithely ahead, still unaware of our presence just a few yards behind him. He reached the top of the hill and cut to the right. There was a small cabin up ahead, light illuminating the windows. It was tucked into the landscape perfectly; no doubt it was nearly impossible to see except when you were nearly on top of it. A barrier of trees stretched atop the cabin, shading even the small amount of light from view from the air. It would have been nearly impossible to find without Bella’s manipulation of Felix.
Jasper pulled me behind the cover of a large tree to the left of the cabin. Emmett, Rose and Carlisle also hid, although Carlisle was clearly not happy about it. The cabin door was thrown open abruptly, letting some dim light filter into the forest. “What are you doing here?” a gruff voice intoned. I knew that voice. It was Caius; I remembered that hostility as he’d told Aro to have Bella destroyed for knowing too much about our kind.
Felix paused a couple of feet away from Caius. I couldn’t see his face from our hiding spot. “I don’t know,” he answered, confusion clear in his tone.
“What do you mean you don’t know?” Caius demanded imperiously. “Did Aro send you? Have the Cullen’s arrived yet?”
“Not that I know of,” the large vampire responded.
“Then why are you here?” Caius asked again, his irritation clear in his tone. Jasper’s muscles were taut under my hand; he was ready to act should the wrong thing be said.
Felix shrugged. “I don’t know; I just came here. Maybe I subconsciously thought that I could be of some help with the woman,” his voice was positively lecherous then and I heard a light growl rumbling in Jasper’s chest. I put a calming hand on him and prayed fervently that Rose would be able to reign in both Emmett and Carlisle. Then again, this was Rose we were talking about. She was probably more likely to wade in and attack without stopping to think about her actions first than they were.
Caius stepped out of the doorway and closed the door. I still hadn’t seen Esme but I knew she was in there along with the mysterious Haides. What was he like? Was he huge like Felix? Was he ancient and experienced like Caius? “Aro says we’re not to lay a hand on her,” he reminded him, his voice sounding completely disinterested.
“And what do you say?” Felix asked, sounding almost gleeful. I felt sick to my stomach…having him lead us might have been a huge miscalculation. He had a disgusting, perverted mind.
“I don’t really care what you do with her. We have to keep her alive until Aro has Bella in the fold. No doubt we’ll have to bring her mind reader husband in with us as well. Aro still wants Alice, though he considers everyone superfluous to his precious Isabella,” he spat the words with disgust. It was clear to me that Caius was still not on board with bringing Bella into the Volturi. “As far as I’m concerned, the rest of them can die, old friendships be damned.” Jasper’s hands tightened on the tree trunk, I knew he was close to snapping it in half. I really wished I could see Carlisle in this moment. I knew, even without my visions; that we didn’t have long before he erupted.
“Well then, I think I’ll go pay the lovely Esme a visit.” Felix squared his shoulders and prepared to enter the home. I knew it was time to act but before I could even start to move, I made out a quick flash of movement followed by a thunderous crash. Felix and Carlisle rolled over the forest floor, they were moving so quickly they were nothing but a blur.
“So much for a sneak attack,” Jasper muttered. He turned to me, a lethal light in his eyes. “Get in the cabin with Rose, free Esme and the two of you try to deal with Haides on your own. If he’s too much for you, get them all out of there as quickly as you can.” He didn’t let me respond, just gave me one look that was filled with all of his love and passion before running out to help Carlisle, who was more than overmatched by the much larger, younger vampire.
Emmett got there first and yanked Carlisle out of the way just as Felix aimed a devastating blow at his head. Emmett took the hit in his thigh and grunted but didn’t go down. He kicked Felix hard in the shoulder as he attempted to roll into a standing position. The forest rocked with noise, almost like a thunderstorm in the middle of the woods. Trees were shaking and no doubt soon to topple as hard bodies flew around the clearing.
I saw Jasper reach Caius just as he was about to flee the area, he’d run about twenty yards before Jasper caught up and slammed him into a tree. Part of me wanted to stay, to keep my eyes on my love but I knew that I had a job to do as well. I darted past Emmett and Felix, currently locked in some kind of wrestling strength hold, both of them straining against one another’s tree trunk sized arms. Rose was a hair ahead of me and we entered the room together.
Esme was sitting on a threadbare green sofa, her eyes a little wild, darting to and fro, but her face was placid all things considered. She gave us a tentative smile but her eyes flew past us looking for Carlisle. A lean, raven haired vampire stood near her, eyeing us warily. His eyes were a deep crimson red and his skin looked even paler than mine did. He was skinny, much thinner than Jasper and Edward. He was the most nondescript looking vampire I’d ever seen. Nothing stood out about him, he just blended. I guess that was fitting with his power though. He was about 5’10”, not much taller than Rose when it all came down to it. How could such an innocuous vampire render all of us powerless?
He growled at us and I nearly laughed at Rose’s expression. She raised her eyebrows as if to say “oh really” but before she could utter a word Carlisle ran into the room and knocked her into me in his hurry to get to Esme. He shoved Haides away from Esme and folded her into his arms. They clutched onto one another as if they were one another’s life raft, which I suppose in a way they were. Haides moved to grab Carlisle but Rose and I were on him before he could strike, simultaneously slamming him into the stone wall of the cabin. Rock shards fell but the wall managed to hold despite the force we’d exerted.
He thrashed against us but was not strong enough to break our hold. I almost felt bad that he was so outnumbered because I had a feeling any of us could take him one on one. It didn’t seem like he had ever fought before. I exchanged a glance with Rose and she shrugged back at me.
“Why are you working with Aro?” I asked quietly, beyond curious as to what would make this vampire that had apparently eluded him for decades side with Aro now.
“He promised me power and a mate of my own,” he hissed, his voice heavy with his Greek accent. It figured; another typical power hungry vampire in the Volturi.
“So you abducted an innocent woman?” Rose asked, her face and voice filled with rage and disbelief.
“She’s nothing to me and I have been alone a very long time,” he responded, eliciting a loud growl from Carlisle, though he wasn’t about to release his hold on Esme to take care of the threat. I felt a little pang at his loneliness but it didn’t justify his actions.
“Well, she’s something to us,” Rose informed him in a dangerous tone, and without further ado she snapped off the left arm she had been holding, a loud metallic ripping sound accompanying her action. Haides let out an unearthly scream and nearly jerked out of my hold. I tightened my grip on him as Rosalie bent and snapped his left leg off as well. His shriek pierced the air. “Carlisle, light a fire,” Rose ordered. She yanked off his other leg with an earsplitting crack and his torso slid to the floor, my grip on his right arm the only thing holding him up.
Rose put her foot on his chest, pinning him to the wall, and looked at me. “Well?” I tightened my grip on his arm and wrenched with all my strength. It came off as the rest of his limbs had, with a loud pop and a scream of pain. “Finish it,” Rose told me, going over to help Carlisle with the fire.
I looked into the glaring red eyes of the vampire in front of me and though I felt a twinge of sadness at ending his life, I knew it had to be done. He rendered me, us, useless. He’d be a threat as long as he was alive. I placed my hands on each side of his head, trying to ignore his twitching limbs at my feet. He managed one last growl as I twisted his head, removing it from his body with one final rip. This time he was blessedly silent.
“Forget about the fireplace, we need a bigger fire anyway. We’re torching the room,” Rose said, breaking apart wooden chairs while Carlisle and Esme ripped the sofa cushions open. She pulled a lighter from her pants pocket and lit one end of the couch. “Get Esme out of here,” she told Carlisle. They both ran out the door as Rose and I gathered up the pieces of Haides and threw them on the slow burning sofa. His black slacks and red shirt caught on fire quickly, engulfing the couch and his remains in flames. The instant his whole body began to burn I got a vision of Emmett and Felix grappling. It was an even match. My Jasper and Caius were taunting one another, landing blow after blow but neither getting the deciding hit yet.
“They need us,” I told Rose, allowing myself one second to rejoice in the return of my gift as we raced to join our husbands in their own battles. I would never resent my visions again; good or bad, at least I had them.
I came upon Jasper and Caius right where Jasper had tackled him to keep him from escaping. Carlisle and Esme were standing nearby and the action seemed to have stopped for a moment as Carlisle laid into Caius.
“Why won’t you leave my family alone?” he demanded, looking very much like he just might take Caius apart himself. If he didn’t have to release Esme’s hand to do it, I thought he just might.
“I have no interest in your family,” Caius intoned in a bored voice. “It’s my brother who has an unnatural obsession with you Cullens. I would rather just rid the world of you all and forget you ever existed.” I nearly laughed at his choice of words. If Bella was successful, the last part of his wish would come true.
“We’ve done nothing to you, why would you want us gone?” Carlisle’s voice shook in his anger.
“You’re aberrations.” Caius made a sound of disgust. “The way you live, rejecting who and what we are, it’s a disgrace. I have no respect for people like you.” The way he said the word “people” made it sound like we were lower than dirt. “I’ll enjoy having you all destroyed after Aro brings Bella into the fold.”
Jasper laughed derisively. “Even if he were successful, which is highly unlikely, Bella would not agree to join you if we were killed.”
“Perhaps. Chelsea’s never tried to work her wiles on Bella before. If she bonded her and Edward to us, Bella might not care.” He truly couldn’t conceive of the fact that we were a family that loved one another. I don’t know why this surprised me though, the Volturi were loyal to one another but love certainly didn’t keep them together. Power, hunger, pride…those were emotions they could recognize. They would never understand the bonds we shared.
I glanced back and saw that Rose and Emmett seemed to have Felix reeling. Rosalie struck at his lower body time and again while Emmett pummeled the upper torso. Crack after crack resounded through the trees. It’s a good thing nobody lived around here because it was extremely loud.
“You clearly don’t understand what it is to be a part of a family,” Carlisle told him. “We won’t ever turn our backs on one another. That’s why Aro came after one of us, he knew we’d come.”
Caius sneered derisively. “You’re weak, that’s why Aro knew you’d come. You’d have been better off staying home, where we’d be unlikely to send the whole guard after you. But you’re sentimental and predictable and you came running, just like we planned. You’re pathetic. My family is far more powerful than yours.”
“Family is not built on power and intimidation, Caius. It’s built on love.” Carlisle’s eyes moved to Esme and his whole face lit up.
“You can remind yourself of that as your limbs are being thrown into the fire,” Caius said with a laugh.
“The only limbs that have been thrown on the fire are those of Aro’s newest toy. You’ll be joining him momentarily,” Jasper said, his voice barely above a whisper but full of threat.
“Jasper,” Carlisle’s voice was tentative.
Jasper’s coal black eyes cut to him. “No, Carlisle. We are not going to spare him and make even more work for Bella. You can hear his poisonous words but I can feel it. He’s rotten to the core and I will not let him live.” A shiver ran through me at the barely controlled rage in his voice. He was intimidating, frightening and incredibly sexy all at the same time. I had seen this side of him when he battled the newborns and when we destroyed James. Both times, as soon as the opportunity presented itself, I had gotten him alone and attacked him passionately. I loved all sides of my Jasper, even the violent and scary ones.
Carlisle glanced between Jasper and Caius as the two vampires took each other’s measure. I knew Jasper didn’t need our help. Caius was ancient but he was also out of practice when it came to fighting. He was used to sitting back on his throne and ordering people destroyed, not doing the killing himself. He opened his mouth to speak but Esme held up her hand.
“Carlisle, Jasper is right.” She shivered and Carlisle wrapped both his arms around her waist. “I was around him for just a couple of hours and he was truly horrible to me. The things he said about me, about our family,” she broke off and shook her head. “It was vile.”
“Did he touch you?” Jasper asked, his voice even more threatening than before.
“No!” she exclaimed. I breathed a sigh of relief at her words, closing my eyes in thanks that she hadn’t been physically harmed. “But he enjoyed tormenting me with the threat of doing so,” she continued. I felt rage boiling up in me, both mine and Jasper’s.
“You see?” Jasper asked Carlisle.
Carlisle looked at his wife and nodded reluctantly. “Yes.” He turned his back and walked away, his arm looped tightly around Esme’s waist.
“Pathetic,” Caius hissed. “Ever the peacemaker. Is he going to let his son and daughter fight his battles for him?” Carlisle’s back muscles bunched and I thought for a second that he was going to attack Caius himself. Esme touched his cheek and his entire countenance relaxed again as they continued to walk away.
“We’ll be at the bottom of the hill,” Carlisle murmured. I knew they wanted to be alone for a few minutes and just bask in their reunion. They needed to touch one another and I could see that their time alone would be very therapeutic for both of them.
“So I guess it’s just two on one, is it? That’s okay, I can handle being outnumbered.” I giggled at Caius’ smugness. I could see that I was unnecessary in this fight and had no intention of ruining Jasper’s fun.
“Why are you so confident?” I asked, curious as to Caius’ attitude.
“It’s only a matter of time before the guard gets here. I’m sure Aro dispatched them as soon as he knew you were in town.” A wicked grin flashed across Jasper’s face.
“Are you sure? Should we sit back and wait for them?” I knew Jasper was amused but I shook my head slightly. I wanted to get back to Edward and Bella. Thus far, I could see that they were fine but I couldn’t see much of what was going on because so much of it was mental. Bella’s orders, Edward’s mind reading, Aro’s thoughts, none of them were clear to me. I could see that none of the guard had left though. “No, I don’t want to wait,” Jasper decided and lunged at Caius.
Their hands and feet whirled in a deadly dance. I backed about twenty feet out of the way because I could see that they would need their room. Plus, this way I could focus on Rosalie and Emmett as well. I knew Emmett was none too pleased about having assistance but Felix was slightly larger than him and it was clear that he still fought on occasion.
Rosalie spun an impressive scissor kick that landed in Felix’s stomach, knocking him into a tree and causing it to break in half and fall backwards with an impressive crash. He leapt at her but Emmett caught his right arm as he flew through the air and yanked him to the ground. Emmett put his right leg on top of Felix to hold him down and pulled off the arm he gripped. Felix screamed in pain but rolled away and got to his feet. Emmett chucked his arm in my direction. “Throw that on the fire, will you?” Felix shrieked in outrage and tried to run toward me but Rose kicked the back of his knees and he fell to the ground.
“That’s what you get for having sexual fantasies about me and my sister,” she hissed, kicking him continuously as Emmett looked on proudly. I knew if we had time those two would be going at each other again; Rose and Emmett liked wrestling out all that energy just as much as Jasper and I did.
I ran back into the cabin and threw Felix’s arm into the fire, which had spread rapidly. The furniture was covered in flames and the heat would have been too much for a human. It felt good on my skin, as long as I didn’t let the flames touch me. I hurried back to my perfect vantage spot.
Jasper and Caius were toying with each other, landing blows and then stepping back to study one another, plotting their next moves. I knew that we didn’t have that long to go and I had to fight back the urge to tell them all to hurry. Bella and Edward were fine for now but anything could change in the blink of an eye. I felt an urgency to get to them and it was rising in me by the second.
Caius lunged at Jasper, who moved out of the way gracefully. He was gorgeous to watch, moving like a viper, striking and retreating strategically. I hadn’t been able to truly appreciate the sight of him when we fought the newborns, as I’d been busy doing my own fighting. Here and now, though, I could watch his deadly beauty and admire the sight of him locked in battle, purely in control. A warrior inside and out; fighting for me, our family, and our freedom. I’d never wanted him more. And now I sounded like Emmett and Rosalie, who were looking at one another as hungrily as I was Jasper. We were one twisted group; that much was for sure. I chuckled quietly as I remembered a similar look on Bella’s face when Edward took apart Victoria; she definitely belonged with our family.
Felix wasn’t letting his lack of one arm inhibit him; he was swinging his left and kicking at the same time, striking out at Emmett with deadly force. Emmett dodged most of the blows, though, and those that did land didn’t slow him down in the least. Rosalie ducked under Felix’s swinging arm and reached up and grabbed it as it went over her head. One solid yank and off it came, with another thunderous ripping noise and scream of pain. Rose grinned at me and tossed the arm my way. I felt a little left out, being nothing but the disposal girl, but they had it under control and I had been the one to finish off Haides, after all.
I held the arm this time, figuring I’d wait until I had other pieces. It was rather macabre; to be holding a wriggling dismembered arm, but it wasn’t like it was bloody or anything, venom was clear. Emmett hit Felix with a well placed punch to his upper pectoral area and he tumbled to the ground. Rose and Emmett got to work then, each grabbing a leg and popping them off at the same time, like some kind of gruesome coordinated ballet. Felix let out a roar that shook the nearby trees but that’s all he could do. Emmett bowed at Rose and she laughed at his attempt at chivalry as she took position near Felix’s head. She gripped it tightly and grimaced as she decapitated him.
Rosalie and Emmett hurriedly gathered up Felix and tossed them in the cabin. I followed behind quickly with the arm I still held. It joined the fire and we all went to watch Jasper finish off Caius. I knew he could have done it awhile ago but he wanted to draw out the battle. Hopefully it would be his last, our last. I think we’d all endured enough fear and fighting to last several lifetimes.
Jasper waggled his eyebrows at me and shot a grin our way. “All finished?” he asked, having not paid any attention to the happenings around him.
“Yeah, my girl took down Felix. I barely had to do a thing,” Emmett announced proudly, wrapping an arm around Rose. “Are you doing to stop dilly dallying and finish him or do you need some help?”
Jasper grunted as he took a glancing blow to his jaw from Caius. “I just wanted to wait so you could see how it’s really done,” he informed Emmett, who let out a raucous laugh.
“Well, here I am, brother. School me.”
Jasper flashed a smile again and then unleashed a flurry of kicks and hits on Caius that almost were too fast for even our eyes. The thunderous cracking sound each time he struck Caius rang through my ears. The elder vampire stumbled back as each blow landed. He was unable even to move to strike back as the hits came one after the other.
“He looks like Bruce Lee,” Emmett said gleefully. The comparison wasn’t that far off the mark, actually. Jasper’s kicks and hits were almost like Hollywood choreography. Caius’ brittle body, ancient and so rarely even touched, could not hold up under the pressure and he collapsed to his knees. Jasper seized his advantage and drove him to the ground with one boot to the chest.
“Everyone take a limb,” he told us. “We don’t have any more time to waste.” We all hurried into position, Jasper at the right arm, Emmett the right leg, Rose the left leg and me at the left arm.
“Wait,” Caius gasped, his voice sounding pained. “I’ll give you anything you want if you spare me.”
“You don’t have the power to give us what we want,” Jasper told him.
“I can grant you anything. I have the world at my disposal. Ask and it’s yours.”
“We want to be left alone and as long as you and your brother are alive and in power, that will not happen,” Jasper told him. “You would continue to come after us, time and again. It’s not a chance I’m willing to take.” With that, he pulled and Caius screamed as his right arm popped off. Emmett, Rose and I all yanked simultaneously and ripped the rest of his limbs from his body. Jasper grasped his neck and gave it a twist, removing his head effortlessly. We carried Caius to the fire and added him to the remains of Felix and Haides.
“Alice, how are they?” Jasper asked as we exited the burning cabin.
“Fine, so far. I really want to get back to them though,” I told him anxiously. I was incredibly glad he hadn’t toyed with Caius any longer than he had.
The four of us ran down the hill, where we found Carlisle and Esme holding one another, oblivious to the macabre scene that had taken place just above them. The sight brought a smile to my face. It was good to see something lovely after being part of all that death and destruction moments ago. It was worth it, though. This is what we were doing it for.
“Is everything okay?” Carlisle asked, though he really didn’t need to since the four of us were standing safely next to him.
“Yes, we need to get back to Volterra now,” Jasper responded, his face tight and his eyes a little anxious, but all I felt from him was confidence.
“Let’s go,” Carlisle said, taking Esme’s hand and breaking into a run, back the way we came. Even though I knew they couldn’t hear me yet, I sent a silent thought to Edward and Bella. We’ll be there soon. Just hold on a little longer. Everything’s going to be fine, I can see it.
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