Wayward Son

Chapter 21: Poison

Ok so this isn't exactly what I wanted it to be, but I tried my best. Enjoy!

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He could see the waves of heat rolling across the desert landscape of the remote location outside El Paso where Maria had set up her camp. Temporarily. She never stayed in one place for long. It was noon, and he was staring down about thirty newborns, all flanking Maria, who stood before them with a smug grin. Thirty would be a stretch even for him, and Maria knew it, but not impossible.

He felt like he was in one of Emmett's westerns that he loved to watch. A show down at high noon. In a desert. He rolled his eyes and snorted. She had always been so dramatic. He felt her pride, her excitement, and her lust, both for the power she felt in the moment and for him. He scowled and turned toward the snarling vampires behind her. The newborns were ready, itching for a fight and to prove themselves to Maria. She would come out on top, no matter how this ended, and she knew it. She would get her best general back or she would get her revenge for abandoning her all those years ago.

Honestly, it didn't matter to him either way.

"It's time, mi amor," Maria called across the barren landscape that separated them. "Let us see if you still have what it takes, or if you have gone soft in all your time away."

His lip curled back, revealing his teeth, and he crouched in a ready position. Maria grinned. That was all the confirmation she needed. She moved to the side to watch the skirmish.

He stared them down, his muscles tense and ready, but he wouldn't make the first move. Newborns, even those who were the strongest, were unpredictable and he had learned long ago it was better to react than to attack. So he waited.

In that last, quiet, still moment, a cry traveled across dry, cracked earth and pierced his cold heart.

"Jasper!"

He froze. No. It couldn't be. It wasn't possible. And yet, he found himself looking, searching, for the owner of the voice that he was sure he'd never hear again.

She was there. Standing between Alice and Edward. Her dark hair blew across her face in the hot breeze and her chocolate brown eyes melted into his. She was there. Alive. His Isabella.

Reality came crashing down around him when he saw both Edward and Alice move to take a protective stance in front of Bella, and a horrendous chorus of growls and hisses erupted around him.

The newborns. They had heard her too. The smell of her blood filled and overwhelmed their senses.

The first move had been made, but he wasn't their target anymore. She was.

Oh. Fuck.

He spun around. In one fluid motion he tore the head off the newborn now closet to him, before grabbing the hand of another that had latched onto his arm, flipping the newborn over his shoulder and pulling off both of their arms. He felt his training kick in as though not a day had gone by. Newborns fell at his feet one by one as he fought to get to Bella. He glanced ahead to see not only Edward and Alice, but Rosalie and Emmett fighting off the few newborns that had reached them before he could, with Carlisle and Esme now standing at the ready in front of Bella. His chest swelled with pride and gratefulness, but he knew they'd be little match for Maria's entire army of newborns, who were surely also on their way with a human this close. There was no way they'd be able to dispatch them all before they reached his darling Bella.

He was being pulled back into the hoard of newborns. Away from Bella. Hands grabbed at his arms and legs, his clothes. Sharp teeth tore into flesh that was hard as stone. He ignored it all and closed his eyes, gathering every ounce of his power. Fear. Intimidation. Dread. Panic. Terror.

A scream tore from his throat as he unleashed it all onto the newborns that surrounded them.

And then, darkness.