Redshift, Ashlynn Chantrea [early reader books .TXT] 📗

and held my jaw with both hands.

“No one thinks you acted unfairly or did anything wrong.” She said.

“It shouldn’t have been necessary!” I growled, “I never should have had to kill an innocent man.”

Alice glared at the Volturi soldiers. “Monsters!” She snarled, feeling the same rage I was feeling.

“There’s still another to blame for this.” Tanya said.

We formed a circle around Caius.

“Tell me, Caius, was this your idea?” I asked, holding back my anger as best as I could. “Did you think of using Pim to create an army?”

He only stared at us.

“Hector, let him speak.” I barked.

Hector let go of his face but kept the rest of him frozen. A sneer formed on Caius’s loathsome face.

“Yes,” Caius snapped angrily at us, “I am the one that told Felix he should build an army.”

“Why?!” Pim shouted, his rage bursting through to the surface.

“My brother had lost his way. He cared entirely too much for his reputation. We were humiliated by the Cullens and he refused to act. It showed weakness. He made the Volturi appear weak.” He told us, his tone biting.

“Conquest.” I sighed, “That’s all you and Aro ever cared about. It never mattered to you the destruction you left in your wake. The lives you ruined.”

“Pim,” Edward said, “Do you want to take this one?”

He stared at Caius for a moment. I thought he would say yes. This was the vampire that had set his fate. But he surprised me.

“No,” Pim answered quietly, “There are others who deserve this more than me.” He looked over at her, “Tanya?”

She seemed surprised too but it faded to a look of appreciation. She called her sister Kate. Kate took hold of him.

“You can release him, Hector.” I said.

Caius screamed in pain. Kate kept him that way for a minute. I figured he had it coming but Carlisle was deeply distressed by it. After the minute passed, Tanya took his arm and threw it into the fire. They tore him to pieces, burning his head last. I wondered if that made the pain last longer. Were you aware while you were decapitated? Could you feel the pieces burning even after they were detached? Again, I hoped I’d never find out.

Pim did the same to Jane. I was more merciful to Alec, taking his head first thing and making sure it was incinerated before I threw the rest of him in the fire. One by one, the old regime of the Volturi were destroyed. The Romanians took a little too much pleasure in the executions for my taste.

The wives had been so quiet, I thought they wouldn’t be a problem for us, that we might be able to set them free. But Edward could read the vengeance in their thoughts. They truly loved their husbands, despite the atrocities they committed. They ended up in the burn pile as well.

We made it to the new recruits. Most of them were terrified of us. Tess was the first to go free. There were only a few that had really bought in to the Volturi lifestyle. Edward spotted them and they joined the rest of the Volturi smoldering in the ashes. It was too hard to watch. I couldn’t do it. Neither could the rest of my family. We turned away as those that had been dragged into this without permission or warning, were destroyed.

Those that were left alive, we reminded that the same rules applied as before. No conspicuous killing, no forming armies. I added the rule that no one changes a human into a vampire unless they agree to it first. I figured for the ones that fell in love or couldn’t stand to let someone die before their time, it was an option they could use but only if the human agreed to it first. I told them I’d be watching and anyone that broke the rules, would answer for their crimes.

We also brought up the alternatives to killing humans. I laid out my plans to open blood banks around the world, where vampires could come when they needed to feed.

“Is this also a new law?” One of them asked hesitantly, “Are we required not to hunt humans anymore?”

“No, the only requirement is subtlety.” I answered.

“Why not force us to do things your way?” Another asked, sounding suspicious.

“I have no desire to rule.” I replied, “None of us do. What we want is for everyone to know all their options. Some of us can’t live with killing humans. For those that can, I say do what feels right.”

“But you are like the Volturi now.” Veronica said.

“No,” I protested vehemently, “We’re not.”

“We’re more like the Justice League.” Laney offered.

“Yeah,” Pim said, “We show up when trouble is around but we aren’t interested in recruiting.”

“And we won’t stick around after we’re done.” Hector added.

“With any luck, one day, we won’t need to enforce these laws.” I said.

The former Volturi soldiers were the first to leave. After they disbanded, we moved outside the gates of Voltura.

“Light it up.” I said to Benjamin, “Burn this place to the ground.”

He obliged, sending a huge fireball hurling into the city. We watched from a distance as the buildings crumbled and the smoke blocked out the sky. This was the end of an era and all the vampires around the world would know the time of the Volturi had ended. This was our warning to any that thought like Aro. Try to take us on and you’ll get burned.

“You were right,” Garrett commented as we watched the flames cascading, engulfing everything, “It wasn’t much of a fight.”

“You doubted me?” I asked jokingly.

“When you’ve lived long enough with one power always ruling, it’s difficult to believe they could fall.”

“We are the revolution. And this is our new government. Let’s hope we don’t screw it up.”

The nomads slowly dispersed, saying their goodbyes and promising to spread the news along the way. Soon everyone would know what we had done, what we had achieved. We would be as feared and revered as the Volturi had been. But it wouldn’t mean to us what it had to them. Conquest wasn’t in our nature.

“Come on, Adam.” Rain said, placing a hand on my shoulder, “Let’s go home.”

“Home,” I sighed and looked over my shoulder at her, “Where is that?”

Chapter 14

I stood staring at two dozen TV’s, each tuned to a different station, all news related. I had set up the living room so each thirty inch flat screen was mounted to the south facing wall, stacked four high, six in each row. This was the only way I could stay interested enough to actually watch the news. Gone were the days of watching one news report. I also perused the internet on my laptop while I scanned the news on TV, looking for any signs of trouble.

Laney nudged my shoulder with hers, “You worry too much. Anyone ever tell you that?” She said with an amused smile.

“Once or twice.” I replied.

“You’re a workaholic, Adam.” She complained, “If you’re not watching every news station on earth, you’re working in your lab. All work and no play makes Adam a dull boy.”

“I haven’t been able to work in my lab for days now.” I grumbled.

“And why is that?” She asked although she already knew the answer.

“Because the human shipping industry works at a torturously slow rate.” I retorted.

“She’s right,” Rain said, stopping right in the way of my view of the lower left quadrant of TVs. “It’s time for a break.” Zephyr added, showing up next to her sister, further obstructing my view. “Come on, we haven’t seen our friends in such a long time.” Meadow whined, blocking the rest of the TVs as she stood next to her sisters.

“It’s only been four years.” I said, trying to look around them. They moved in my way each time I moved, forming a wall between me and the news. “You have no patience.”

“It doesn’t help that it is mind-numbingly boring here.” Hector complained. He had come into the kitchen from his room down the hall, sitting on the counter as he griped.

Bianca ran at top speed, joining him in the kitchen that over looked the living room where the triplets and I were having our standoff. She leaned against the wall, watching us with amusement in her eyes.

“Don’t you miss Pim as much as the rest of us?” Bianca chided.

Pim and Tanya had bonded in the time after we returned to the Cullen’s after destroying Voltura. He had opted to go live with them. Part of me wondered if he still harbored some guilt for leading the Volturi to us and condemning us to this life. Was it easier for him to be happy with Tanya and her family? I hoped so. I was glad he found someone that he connected to. Tanya was nice. She had spent quite a bit of time helping us return our families to their homes after it was all over.

Bianca had erased the memories for some of our human family members, making it all just a dream for them. The rest did okay coping, although we never really told them the truth. The word vampire never came up. I had Bianca wipe my parents’ memories of me. They needed to grieve and move on.

After that ordeal, we stayed with the Cullens for a while. They were nice, very hospitable even in such tight quarters. But I knew we’d need to find a place of our own. Luckily, with my above average intelligence and a friend that wasn’t morally opposed to a little ‘insider trading’, we were able to save up enough to buy the materials to build a house. I built a lab in the basement, six bedrooms, I even included a kitchen and dining room in the designs. For the occasional human that might happen upon us, they could enter and not think anything was unusual…about the house anyway. Here we had stayed in the northern most region of Canada. Barely anyone lived out this far. The seclusion was nice…for a while.

But the kids tend to get stir crazy. Doesn’t matter that we’re only a hop, skip and a jump away from polar bears and orcas.

“Pim wants a little distance, remember?” Laney said softly. None of us liked that Pim wasn’t with us. And we all thought we were part of the reason why.

“It’s been years.” Rain whispered. “Do you really think he’d mind seeing us?” Zephyr asked. “Doesn’t he miss us too?” Meadow sighed.

“Of course he does,” I said, “You’re his sisters. I’m sure he misses all of us.”

“So, can we visit?” Rain asked. “We should call the Cullens.” Zephyr said excitedly. “Yeah, then we’ll get to see Seth and Jacob too!” Meadow cheered.

My brow furrowed. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to see our friends. It was just that there was always so much to do.

“We have a responsibility.” I said, “We took out the ones that maintained order. It’s our job to watch out for those that might hurt us or our way of life.”

“We have friends all around the globe.” Laney said, “They’re watching out the same as we are. If anything happens, they’ll let us know.”

“Or the Cullens. Or the Denali’s.” Bianca added.

I sighed. It was no use fighting them. They always got their way.

I picked up my phone and dialed the number I knew by heart.

“Hello?” Pim answered.

“Hey,” I said, unable to hold back the joy and relief I felt at hearing