Eclipse Page 0,175

you want to know," Edward said through his teeth. "You don't have to do that."

Jane looked up, sudden humor in her usually dead eyes. "Oh, I know," she said to Edward, grinning at him before she turned back to the young vampire, Bree.

"Bree," Jane said, her voice cold again. "Is his story true? Were there twenty of you?"
The girl lay panting, the side of her face pressed against the earth. She spoke quickly. "Nineteen or twenty, maybe more, I don't know!" She cringed, terrified that her ignorance might bring on another round of torture. "Sara and the one whose name I don't know got in a fight on the way. . . ."

"And this Victoria - did she create you?"

"I don't know," she said, flinching again. "Riley never said her name. I didn't see that night . . . it was so dark, and it hurt. . . ." Bree shuddered. "He didn't want us to be able to think of her. He said that our thoughts weren't safe. . . ."

Jane's eyes flickered to Edward, and then back to the girl.

Victoria had planned this well. If she hadn't followed Edward, there would have been no way to know for certain that she was involved. . . .

"Tell me about Riley," Jane said. "Why did he bring you here?"

"Riley told us that we had to destroy the strange yellow-eyes here," Bree babbled quickly and willingly.

"He said it would be easy. He said that the city was theirs, and they were coming to get us. He said once they were gone, all the blood would be ours. He gave us her scent." Bree lifted one hand and stabbed a finger in my 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 have her."

I heard Edward's jaw flex beside me.

"It looks like Riley was wrong about the easy part," Jane noted.

Bree nodded, seeming relieved that the conversation had taken this non-painful course. She sat up carefully. "I don't know what happened. We split up, but the others never came. And Riley left us, and he didn't come to help like he promised. And then it was so confusing, and everybody was in pieces." She shuddered again. "I was afraid. I wanted to run away. That one" - she looked at Carlisle - "said they wouldn't hurt me if I stopped fighting."

"Ah, but that wasn't his gift to offer, young one," Jane murmured, her voice oddly gentle now. "Broken rules demand a consequence."

Bree stared at her, not comprehending.

Jane looked at Carlisle. "Are you sure you got all of them? The other half that split off?"

Carlisle's face was very smooth as he nodded. "We split up, too."

Jane half-smiled. "I can't deny that I'm impressed." The big shadows behind her murmured in agreement. "I've never seen a coven escape this magnitude of offensive intact. Do you know what was behind it? It seems like extreme behavior, considering the way you live here. And why was the girl the key?" Her eyes rested unwilling on me for one short second.

I shivered.

"Victoria held a grudge against Bella," Edward told her, his voice impassive.

Jane laughed - the sound was golden, the bubbling laugh of a happy child. "This one seems to bring out bizarrely strong reactions in our kind," she observed, smiling directly at me, her face beatific.

Edward stiffened. I looked at him in time to see his face turning away, back to Jane.

"Would you please not do that?" he asked in a tight voice.

Jane laughed again lightly. "Just checking. No harm done, apparently."

I shivered, deeply grateful that the strange glitch in my system - which had protected me from Jane the last time we'd met - was still in effect. Edward's arm tightened around me.

"Well, it appears that there's not much left for us to do. Odd," Jane said, apathy creeping back into her voice. "We're not used to being rendered unnecessary. It's too bad we missed the fight. It sounds like it would have been entertaining to watch."

"Yes," Edward answered her quickly, his voice sharp. "And you were so close. It's a shame you didn't arrive just a half hour earlier. Perhaps then you could have fulfilled your purpose here."

Jane met Edward's glare with unwavering eyes. "Yes. Quite a pity how things turned out, isn't it?"

Edward nodded once to himself, his suspicions confirmed.

Jane turned to look at the newborn Bree again, her face completely bored. "Felix?" she drawled.

"Wait," Edward