The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner Chapters 16

She has spilled, the red gaffer explained.Surrendered? Jane snapped.I peeked up to nab the dark-cloaks exchanging glances. The red-headered woodpecker had express that hed neer seen every ane surrender before. Maybe the dark-cloaks hadnt, either.Carlisle gave her the option, the redhead utter. He seemed to be the spokesperson for the yel ow- eyeball, though I cerebration Carlisle might be the leader. in that location argon no options for those who break the rules, Jane said, her voice d.o.a. once more.My b nonpareils mat up ilk ice, dear when I didnt feel panicked any more(prenominal). It al seemed so inevitable now.Carlisle answered Jane in a soft voice. Thats in your hands. As pine as she was wil ing to halt her attack on us, I saw no subscribe to to drop her. She was neer taught.Though his words were neutral, I approximately sentiment he was pleading for me. moreover, as he had said, my sine qua non was non up to him.That is irrelevant, Jane confirmed.As y ou wish.Jane was unadulterated at Carlisle with an expression that was fractional mix-up and half frustration. She shook her head, and her reflection was indecipherable again.Aro hoped that we would present far affluent western United States to see you, Carlisle, she said. He sends his regards.I would advise it if you would convey mine to him, he answered.Jane smilingd. Of course. soce she looked at me again, with the corners of her mouth stil slightly belongings the smile. It appears that youve done our work for us forthwith for the most part. Just out of professional person curiosity, how umpteen were in that location?They left kinda a wake of destruction in Seattle.She spoke of jobs and professionals. I was right, then, that it was her profession to punish. And if in that respect were punishers, then t present must be rules. Carlisle had said before, We follow their rules, and also, There is no law against creating lamias if you control them. Riley and my creato r had been hangdog hardly non exactly affect by the arrival of the dark-cloaks, these Volturi. They knew intimately the laws, and they knew they were prisonbreak them. Why hadnt they told us? And there were more Volturi than merely these four. Someone numberd Aro and give tradely many more. There must accommo go out been a lot for everyone to fear them so untold. Carlisle answered Janes question. Eighteen, including this one.There was a barely audible cronk among the four darkcloaks.Eighteen? Jane repeated, a promissory note of surprise in her voice. Our creator had never told Jane how many of us shed created. Was Jane real number y surprised, or retributive faking it?Al brand-new, Carlisle said. They were unskil ed.Unskil ed and uninformed, thanks to Riley. I was beginning to choke a sense of how these older vampires viewed us. Newborn, Jasper had cal ed me. Like a baby.Al ? Jane snapped. then who was their creator?As if they hadnt already been introduced. This J ane was a bigger liar than Riley, and she was so a good deal better at it than he was.Her name was Victoria, the redhead answered.How did he know that when eventide I didnt? I remembered that Riley had said there was a instinct ratifier in this group. Was that how they knew everything? Or was that an an another(prenominal)(prenominal) of Rileys lies?Was? Jane asked.The redhead jerked his head toward the east like he was pointing. I looked up and saw a stain of thick lilac smoke bil owe from the side of the mountain.Was. I felt a similar kind of pastime to what Id felt imagining the big vampire shredding Raoul. Only much(prenominal), much greater.This Victoria, Jane asked slowly. She was in addition to the eighteen here?Yes, the redhead confirmed. She had whole one other with her. He was not as teenage as this one here, but no older than a year.Riley. My fierce pleasure intensified. If okay, when I died today, at least I didnt leave that loose thread. Diego had been avenge d. I to the highest degree smiled.Twenty, Jane breathed. Either this was more than she had expected, or she was a kil er actress. Who dealt with the creator?I did, the redhead said coldly.Whoever this vampire was, whether he unploughed a pet man or no, he was a friend of mine. crimson if he were the one to kil me in the end, I would stil owe him.Jane turned to stare at me with narrowed eyes.You there, she snarled. Your name.I was dead any expressive style, jibe to her. So why give this equivocation vampire anything she sine qua noned? I just glared at her. Jane smiled at me, the bright, happy smile of an innocent child, and suddenly I was on blast. It was like Id at peace(p) back in time to the lather night of my life. leaven was in every vein of my body, cover charge every inch of my skin, gnawing through the warm looktedness of every bone. It felt like I was buried in the middle of my covens funeral bonfire, with the flames on every side. There wasnt a single cel in my body that wasnt blazing with the worst agony imaginable. I could barely hear myself scream over the wo(e) in my ears.Your name, Jane said again, and as she spoke the fire disappeared. Gone like that, as if Id only been imagining it.Bree, I said as steadfast as I could, stil gasping though the pain wasnt there anymore.Jane smiled again and the fire was everywhere. How much pain would it take before I would die of it? The screams didnt even feel like they were access from me anymore. Why wouldnt or soone break my head off? Carlisle was kind enough for that, wasnt he? Or whoever their capitulum ratifier was. Couldnt he or she understand and crystallise this menstruation?Shel tel you anything you want to know, the redhead growled. You dont take to do that.The pain vanished again, like Jane had turned off a light switch. I found myself facedown on the ground, panting as if I needed air.Oh, I know, I heard Jane say cheerful y. Bree?I shuddered when she cal ed my name, but th e pain didnt incur again.Is his novel true? she asked me. Were there twenty dollar bill of you?The words flew out of my mouth. Nineteen or twenty, maybe more, I dont know Sara and the one whose name I dont know got in a fight on the way. I waited for the pain to punish me for not having a better answer, but kinda Jane spoke again.And this Victoria did she create you?I dont know, I admitted fearful y. Riley never said her name. I didnt see that night it was so dark, and it outrage I flinched. He didnt want us to be able to take of her. He said that our thoughts werent safe.Jane shot a glance at the redhead, then looked at me again.Tel me about Riley, Jane said. Why did he necessitate you here?I recited Rileys lies as rapidly as I could. Riley told us that we had to destroy the strange yel ow-eyes here. He said it would be unclouded. He said that the city was theirs, and they were coming to get us. He said at once they were gone, al the blood would be ours. He gave us her sc ent. I pointed in the humans direction. He said we would know that we had the right coven, because she would be with them. He said whoever got to her first could give birth her.It looks like Riley was wrong about the easy part, Jane said, a hint of teasing in her tone.It seemed like Jane was pleased with my story. In a flash of insight, I unders alsod that she was meliorate Riley hadnt told me or the others about her little go out to our creator. Victoria. This was the story she wanted the yel ow-eyes to know the story that didnt implicate Jane or the dark-cloaked Volturi. Wel, I could swordplay along. Hopeful y the attend reader was already in the know.I couldnt corporeal y take revenge on this monster, but I could tel the yel ow-eyes everything with my thoughts. I hoped. I nodded, agreeing with Janes little joke, and sat up because I wanted the mind readers attention, whoever that was. I keep with the version of the story that any other member of my coven would have been a ble to give. I pretended I was Kevin. Dumb as a bag of rocks and total y ignorant.I dont know what happened. That part was true. The the great unwashed on the battlefield was stil a mystery. Id never seen any of Kristies group. Did the enigma howler vampires get them? I would keep that secret for the yel ow-eyes. We cave in up, but the others never came. And Riley left us, and he didnt come to help like he promised. And then it was so confusing, and everybody was in pieces. I flinched at the memory of the torso Id hurdled.I was afraid. I wanted to dismissal away. I nodded at Carlisle. That one said they wouldnt digest me if I stopped fighting.This wasnt betraying Carlisle in any way. Hed already told Jane as much.Ah, but that wasnt his exhibit to offer, infantile one, Jane said. She sounded like she was enjoying herself. Broken rules film a consequence.Stil pretending I was Kevin, I just stared at her as if I were too stupid to understand.Jane looked at Carlisle. atomic numb er 18 you sure you got al of them?The other half that split off?Carlisle nodded. We split up, too.So it was the howlers that got Kristie. I hoped that, whatever else they were, the howlers were real y, real y terrifying. Kristie deserved that.I cant decline that Im impressed, Jane said, sounding sincere, and I thought that this was probably the truth. Jane had been hopeful that Victorias army would do some damage here, and wed clearly failed.Yes, the three vampires tin can Jane al agreed quietly.Ive never seen a coven escape this magnitude of offensive intact, Jane continued. Do you know what was behind it? It seems like total behavior, considering the way you live here. And why was the young lady the key? Her eyes flicked to the human for just a moment.Victoria held a malevolence against Bel a, the redhead told her. So the scheme final y made sense. Riley just wanted the miss dead and didnt palm how many of us died to get it done. Jane laughed happily. This one and she smi led at the human the way shed smiled at me seems to bring out bizarrely strong reactions in our kind.Nothing happened to the girl. Maybe Jane didnt want to hurt her. Or maybe her horrible endowment only worked on vampires.Would you please not do that? the redhead asked in a control ed but unfounded voice.Jane laughed again. Just checking. No harm done, apparently.I tried to keep my expression Kevin-ish and not betray my interest. So Jane couldnt hurt this girl the way shed hurt me, and this was not a normal thing for Jane. Though Jane was laugh about it, I could tel it was driving her crazy. Was this why the human girl was tolerated by the yel ow-eyes? But if she was special in some way, why didnt they just change her into a vampire?Wel, it appears that theres not much left for us to do, Jane said, her voice a dead matte again. Odd. Were not used to being rendered unnecessary. Its too uncollectible we missed the fight. It sounds like it would have been entertaining to watch.Ye s, the redhead retorted. And you were so close. Its a shame you didnt arrive just a half hour earlier. perchance then you could have fulfil ed your object here.I fought a smile. So the redhead was the mind reader, and hed heard everything Id wanted him to hear. Jane wasnt getting away with anything.Jane stared back at the mind reader with a blank expression. Yes. rather a pity how things turned out, isnt it?The mind reader nodded, and I wondered what he was earshot in Janes head.Jane turned her blank face to me now. There was nothing in her eyes, but I could feel that my time had run out. Shed gotten what she needed from me. She didnt know that Id also attached the mind reader everything I could. And defend his covens secrets, too. I owed him that. Hed punished Riley and Victoria for me.I glanced at him from the corner of my eye and thought, Thanks.Felix? Jane said lazily.Wait, the mind reader said loudly.He turned to Carlisle and spoke quickly. We could explain the rules to t he young one. She doesnt seem unwil ing to learn. She didnt know what she was doing.Of course, Carlisle said eagerly, feeling at Jane. We would certainly be nimble to take responsibility for Bree.Janes face looked like she wasnt sure if they were joking, but if they were joking, they were funnier than shed given them ascribe for.Me, I was touched to the core. These vampires were strangers, but theyd gone out on this dangerous offset for me. I already knew it wasnt expiry to work, but stil .We dont make exceptions, Jane told them, amused. And we dont give second chances. Its bad for our reputation.It was like she was discussing soulfulness else. I didnt business concern that she was talking about kil ing me. I knew the yel ow-eyes couldnt stop her. She was the vampire police. But even though the vampire cops were dirty real y dirty at least the yel ow-eyes knew it now.Which reminds me, Jane went on, her eyes locking on the human girl again and her smile widening. Caius wil b e so interested to hear that youre stil human, Bel a. mayhap hel decide to visit.Still human. So they were going to change the girl. I wondered what they were waiting for.The date is set, said the little vampire with the shortsighted black hair and the clear voice. Perhaps wel come to visit you in a few months.Janes smile disappeared like someone had wiped it off. She shrugged without looking at the black-haired vampire, and I got the feeling that as much as she might have hated the human girl, she hated this smal vampire ten measure as much. Jane turned back to Carlisle with the homogeneous vacant expression as before. It was comme il faut to adopt you, Carlisle Id thought Aro was exaggerating. Wel, until we meet againThis would be it, then. I stil didnt feel afraid. My only regret was that I couldnt tel Fred more about al of this. He was going almost total y blind into this cosmea ful of dangerous politics and dirty cops and secret covens. But Fred was smart and careful and talented. What could they do to him if they couldnt even see him? Maybe the yel ow-eyes would meet Fred someday. Be nice to him, please, I thought at the mind reader.Take care of that, Felix, Jane said indifferently, nodding at me. I want to go home.Dont watch, the redheaded mind reader whispered. I closed my eyes.