 hair, and her skin was snow white. 

"The other was blonder still, her skin just as chalky. Her face was like an angel's. She leaned 
toward me with half-closed eyes and inhaled deeply. 

"'Mmm,' she sighed. 'Lovely.' 

"The small one, the tiny brunette, put her hand on the girl's arm and spoke quickly. Her voice 
was too soft and musical to be sharp, but that seemed to be the way she intended it. 

"'Concentrate, Nettie,' she said. 

"I'd always had a good sense of how people related to each other, and it was immediately 
clear that the brunette was somehow in charge of the others. If they'd been military, I would 
have said that she outranked them. 

"'He looks right - young, strong, an officer. . . . ' The brunette paused, and I tried 
unsuccessfully to speak. 'And there's something more . . . do you sense it?' she asked the 
other two. 'He's . . . compelling.' 

"'Oh, yes,' Nettie quickly agreed, leaning toward me again. 

 

"'Patience,' the brunette cautioned her. 'I want to keep this one.' 

"Nettie frowned; she seemed annoyed. 

"'You'd better do it, Maria,' the taller blonde spoke again. 'If he's important to you. I kill them 
twice as often as I keep them.' 

"'Yes, I'll do it,' Maria agreed. 'I really do like this one. Take Nettie away, will you? I don't 
want to have to protect my back while I'm trying to focus.' 

"My hair was standing up on the back of my neck, though I didn't understand the meaning of 
anything the beautiful creatures were saying. My instincts told me that there was danger, that 
the angel had meant it when she spoke of killing, but my judgment overruled my instincts. I 
had not been taught to fear women, but to protect them. 

"'Let's hunt,' Nettie agreed enthusiastically, reaching for the tall girl's hand. They wheeled - 
they were so graceful! - and sprinted toward the city. They seemed to almost take flight, they 
were so fast - their white dresses blew out behind them like wings. I blinked in amazement, 
and they were gone. 

"I turned to stare at Maria, who was watching me curiously. 

"I'd never been superstitious in my life. Until that second, I'd never believed in ghosts or any 
other such nonsense. Suddenly, I was unsure. 

"'What is your name, soldier?' Maria asked me. 

"'Major Jasper Whitlock, ma'am,' I stammered, unable to be impolite to a female, even if she 
was a ghost. 

"'I truly hope you survive, Jasper,' she said in her gentle voice. 'I have a good feeling about 
you.' 

"She took a step closer, and inclined her head as if she were going to kiss me. I stood frozen 
in place, though my instincts were screaming at me to run." 

Jasper paused, his face thoughtful. "A few days later," he finally said, and I wasn't sure if he 
had edited his story for my sake or because he was responding to the tension that even I 
could feel exuding from Edward, "I was introduced to my new life. 

"Their names were Maria, Nettie, and Lucy. They hadn't been together long - Maria had 
rounded up the other two - all three were survivors of recently lost battles. Theirs was a 
partnership of convenience. Maria wanted revenge, and she wanted her territories back. The 
others were eager to increase their . . . herd lands, I suppose you could say. They were 
putting together an army, and going about it more carefully than was usual. It was Maria's 
idea. She wanted a superior army, so she sought out specific humans who had potential. 
Then she gave us much more attention, more training than anyone else had bothered with. 

 

She taught us to fight, and she taught us to be invisible to the humans. When we did well, 
we were rewarded. . . ." 

He paused, editing again. 

"She was in a hurry, though. Maria knew that the massive strength of the newborn began to 
wane around the year mark, and she wanted to act while we were strong. 

"There were six of us when I joined Maria's band. She added four more within a fortnight. 
We were all male - Maria wanted soldiers - and that made it slightly more difficult to keep 
from fighting amongst ourselves. I fought my first battles against my new comrades in arms. I 
was quicker than the others, better at combat. Maria was pleased with me, though put out 
that she had to keep replacing the ones I destroyed. I was rewarded often, and that made me 
stronger. 

"Maria was a good judge of character. She decided to put me in charge of the others - as if I 
were being promoted. It suited my nature exactly. The casualties went down dramatically, 
and our numbers swelled to hover around twenty. 

"This was considerable for the cautious times we lived in. My ability, as yet undefined, to 
control the emotional atmosphere around me was vitally effective. We soon began to work 
together in a way that newborn vampires had never cooperated before. Even Maria, Nettie, 
and Lucy were able to work together more easily. 

"Maria grew quite fond of me - she began to depend upon me. And, in some ways, I 
worshipped the ground she walked on. I had no idea that any other life was possible. Maria 
told us this was the way things were, and we believed. 

"She asked me to tell her when my brothers and I were ready to fight, and I was eager to 
prove myself. I pulled together an army of twenty-three in the end - twenty-three 
unbelievably strong new vampires, organized and skilled as no others before. Maria was 
ecstatic. 

"We crept down toward Monterrey, her former home, and she unleashed us on her enemies. 
They had only nine newborns at the time, and a pair of older vampires controlling them. We 
took them down more easily than Maria could believe, losing only four in the process. It was 
an unheard-of margin of victory. 

"And we were well trained. We did it without attracting notice. The city changed hands 
without any human being aware. 

"Success made Maria greedy. It wasn't long before she began to eye other cities. That first 
year, she extended her control to cover most of Texas and northern Mexico. Then the others 
came from the South to dislodge her." 

He brushed two fingers along the faint pattern of scars on his arm. 

 

"The fighting was intense. Many began to worry that the Volturi would return. Of the 
original twenty-three, I was the only one to survive the first eighteen months. We both won 
and lost. Nettie and Lucy turned on Maria eventually - but that one we won. 

"Maria and I were able to hold on to Monterrey. It quieted a little, though the wars 
continued. The idea of conquest was dying out; it was mostly vengeance and feuding now. 
So many had lost their partners, and that is something our kind does not forgive. . . . 

"Maria and I always kept a dozen or so newborns ready. They meant little to us - they were 
pawns, they were disposable. When they outgrew their usefulness, wedid dispose of them. 
My life continued in the same violent pattern and the years passed. I was sick of it all for a 
very long time before anything changed . . . 

"Decades later, I developed a friendship with a newborn who'd remained useful and survived 
his first three years, against the odds. His name was Peter. I liked Peter; he was . . . civilized - 
I suppose that's the right word. He didn't enjoy the fight, though he was good at it. 

"He was assigned to deal with the newborns - babysit them, you could say. It was a full-time 
job. 

"And then it was time to purge again. The newborns were outgrowing their strength; they 
were due to be replaced. Peter was supposed to help me dispose of them. We took them 
aside individually, you see, one by one . . . It was always a very long night. This time, he tried 
to convince me that a few had potential, but Maria had instructed that we get rid of them all. 
I told him no. 

"We were about halfway through, and I could feel that it was taking a great toll on Peter. I 
was trying to decide whether or not I should send him away and finish up myself as I called 
out the next victim. To my surprise, he was suddenly angry, furious. I braced for whatever his 
mood might foreshadow - he was a good fighter, but he was never a match for me. 

"The newborn I'd summoned was a female, just past her year mark. Her name was Charlotte. 
His feelings changed when she came into view; they gave him away. He yelled for her to run, 
and he bolted after her. I could have pursued them, but I didn't. I felt . . . averse to destroying 
him. 

"Maria was irritated with me for that . . . 

"Five years later, Peter snuck back for me. He picked a good day to arrive. 

"Maria was mystified by my ever-deteriorating frame of mind. She'd never felt a moment's 
depression, and I wondered why I was different. I began to notice a change in her emotions 
when she was near me - sometimes there was fear . . . and malice - the same feelings that had 
given me advance warning when Nettie and Lucy struck. I was preparing myself to destroy 
my only ally, the core of my existence, when Peter returned. 

 

"Peter told me about his new life with Charlotte, told me about options I'd never dreamed I 
had. In five years, they'd never had a fight, though they'd met many others in the north. 
Others who could co-exist without the constant mayhem. 

"In one conversation, he had me convinced. I was ready to go, and somewhat relieved I 
wouldn't have to kill Maria. I'd been her companion for as many years as Carlisle and Edward 
have been together, yet the bond between us was nowhere near as strong. When you live for 
the fight, for the blood, the relationships you form are tenuous and easily broken. I walked 
away without a backward glance. 

"I traveled with Peter and Charlotte for a few years, getting the feel of this new, more 
peaceful world. But the depression didn't fade. I didn't understand what was wrong with me, 
until Peter noticed that it was always worse after I'd hunted. 

"I con