This Is How You Remind Me

Chapter 6

  "How do I look?"
  "Great, now let's get this show on the road." Emmet's voice easily carried through the house, he was always commenting on Rose's and my private conversations. "My Rose and Thorn never look less than perfect, now come on. We're all waiting on you."
  Rosalie smiled at me. Some may have been jealous of the friendship, but Rosalie had adopted me as  little sister more so than any other member of the Coven, with Emmet being a close second.
  "If we don't go down now, he'll come up and throw us over his shoulder again."
  I laughed at the memory. "Let him try." We both knew I'd enjoy the free ride.
  With all the bags packed, cars loaded and jackets zipped, Rose and I really were the only one holding up the departure. But I couldn't help it. This house had been my first home in five years, and if anything happened at the conference I'd never see it again.
  "Mary," I looked up, Jasper. "come on. You'll be back one day." His smile was sure.
   "Alice?" Hope filled my voice and Rose took my hand.
  "Yep. Sometimes it's a few weeks, other times decades. But you will be back." His voice soothed me as my emotions turned towards excitement.
  I looked around the room, and shook my head. "Well then, what are we waiting for. You numb skulls would be lost without me."
  Jasper laughed and Emmet ruffled my hair. It wasn't until we were back on the private jet that I realized I had forgotten to check on Lissa for two weeks.
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  "I definitely look good?" Her nerves boarded on terror.
  "Stunning. Like a true Queen." Christin still annoyed me, but he was Lissa's rock, and I'd never be able to thank him enough.
  "Your my husband, you have to say that." Lissa smiled and pressed a kiss to his lips. "Get Mia or Sydney, they'll be honest."
  For a split second her thoughts turned to me, wishing for my opion, but it was quickly banished, she believed me to be gone, if not dead.
  "Of course, my Queen. Anything else?"
  "Yes, a cup of liquid gold tea and a foot bath." Lissa's voice dripped with sarcasm. 
  "As you wish." Christin replied, keeping up the game. He bowed out, shutting the door silently behind him.
  Lissa turned back to the mirror, her black and white pants suit was a one piece and gave the illusion of being a dress, but gave her enough freedom to fight if need be. Raktapas and Warriors of Light respected strength and skill in arms. Lissa had little of either, but enough to hold her own until help arrived.
  A knock on the door brought her out of her revelry. "Come in."
  "Your Majesty." My heart stopped.
  "Dimitri, how goes my security detail?"
  "Fair enough, my Queen. Though I am not certain that we have covered every possibility." His accent still made my mind go fuzzy.
  "I have every confidence in the Guardians' abilities and preparedness."
  "I was not refuring to the Guardian detail. I was refuring to what we and our friends will do in one particular, potentially hazardous situation."
  "Which one?" Lissa was truly dumbfounded, I however saw where this was going.
  "You know of my suspicions. Rouges had never been affective, until three years ago, when they all of a sudden became the ultimate killing force. Some one trained them. Someone who was respected amoung them, who knew how they thought, who'd lived with them previously."
   "Well, um, I think we can, ah, we both know of at least one person who fits that description."
  "That is the situation we can't have. If she makes an appearance, then you need to be indifferent, if not astonished and slightly outraged. She is the convinced killer of Queen Tatiana, wanted by all Mori and Guardians throughout the world."
  "Not all Mori and Guardians." Lissa said with a half smile.
  "Those are fighting words, Vasilisa. You would do well not to say that again." Dimitri's Guardian mask was still up, but his voice was concerned.
  Lissa slumped into a chair in the corner. "I miss her still, Dimitri. I don't think I'll ever stop."
  "You must." His voice screamed finality.
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  I pulled out of Lissa's head. Our plane was about to land. Middle of nowhere Alaska, USA. Great. Emmet, Emse, Bella, Ness and Edward had already been dropped of with the Denali Coven for the next two days. The rest of us would be checking out the meeting center. A ridiculously large lodge in the middle of the woods.
  Funny, but I found staying with a house full of unfamiliar Elders quite a bit more disgusting then spending an extra night in that lodge, which was stuffed with unfamiliar members of every other kind of Vampire there was.
   I'd checked on the arrival schedule the day before. The Mori queen, guard and representatives of every royal family would arrive the next day and it was unlikely I'd see them until the welcoming ball.
  Ball, bleh, Ness would be socializing so I would have to be as well, though on a much lower scale.
  "Mary?" I glanced up. "Can I talk to you?"
  "Sure thing, Carlise."
  "About this trip. I can't thank you enough for coming."
  "No trouble, Mr. Cullen."
  "But the personal risks.."
  "You already spoke with Alice?" He didnt reply, just stared at me with large loving golden eyes.
  "Her visions aren't all ways right, and we don't really know what it means."
  "Carlise, I'm a blank spot to her, so is Ness. And the blank spots in Alice's vision are cut in half after next month. One of us is leaving and Bella and Edward don't look as sad as they would if Ness was gone."
  "So you really don't think you'll stay with us?"
  "I want to, but you've noticed how it is. I can live with you, eat your food, take your money, but you still can't touch me. I have a panic attack every time I brush up against one of you."
  "You can touch Emmet and Jasper."
  "In training. The thing I've been doing all my life. And those are glancing blows, not real touches."
  He looked at me, unblinking for several minutes before saying one last thing. "You will always have a home with us. Alice isn't always right. Don't give up just because you can't find a door, sometimes you have to make one."
  "Thank you for you for that brilliant moment of inspiration, but I've been getting edgy lately. I need something new."
  He was about to answer when Rose yelled from up front about being our descent.
  "Well," I muttered looking out the window. "Time to get busy."
  The sprawling, snow covered lawns and enormous building complexes should have been impressive, but just served to remind me of a Christmas vacation that had ended with my friend's murder.
  The plane was down in no time, and I was having serious deja vu. Victorian era architecture mixed with a log cabin design meant I felt like I was back in high school and at that awful lodge again.
  It was staffed by humans, Alchemists and people who were simply "in the know".
  A very attractive bellboy/servant dude lead Rose, Carlisle, Alice, Jasper and I to our rooms in the west wing of a side building.
  He explained that all VIPs were in the same building, to maximize security for them and what not. All I heard was a chance for late night meetings with old friends. Crap.
  "Well, Mary? Any plans to ditch us yet?" Ness's playful tone rang across the main room of our suite.
  "No, not yet. I'm holding off til I know just how risky a skinny dip in the lake will be."
  "Not funny." Carlisle's disapproving voice carried better then Nessie's laugh.
  My charge struted out from her room in a pair of brand new heels. "Well? How do I look?" She asked, striking a pose.
  I thought she was over doing it. The heels were six inches and covered in bright gold glitter. But when Alice agreed, so did I.
  "Yay!" She shrieked and dove back into her room to find a matching dress.
  "Well, would you look are the time? Mary, shouldn't we be doing a patrol by now?" Sometimes, I loved Jasper.