With my paint palette and brush in hand, I was moving to look at my painting from different angles, to make sure I had captured the effect I wanted on the different gowns the girls wore in the dance scene I had created. When I felt Edythe enter through my open window. I covered the canvas, put my brush in the cup I reserved for soaking my brushes, and turned to give my full attention to her.
"Why did you cover it up?"
I smiled at her, "Call it an artist's reluctance to show anyone an unfinished product. If you see it and give me any feedback, it could change the perception I have of the idea. Then it would be our painting not mine, love."
I stepped forward to embrace this beautiful woman I had so missed over the last couple of days, but she didn't embrace me back. I held on to her but moved back to arm's length, "What's wrong, Edythe?" She had never not embraced me back during a hug before.
Her eyes were wide, and her body felt completely stiff. "You… You said." Then her body relaxed, and she returned my embrace and added some enthusiastic kisses to it. We stood there for a good 5 minutes, just holding each other. "I missed you, Thomas."
Later that night, we lay in bed together and I asked, "Did your dad tell you about Waylon Forge?"
"He did. This is the first time an outside coven has come through since we moved here. Alice is mad at herself for missing them. But because there was no interaction, she had no visions of any of our kind coming through. We have had some friends come through a few times, but they knew not to hunt here. Emmett and Jasper wanted to hunt them down, but Carlisle said to leave it. He couldn't tell how many there were, but even at three vampires, it makes it an unusually large coven for 'Carnivore' vampires."
That struck me as odd, "But your own coven is seven vampires, so it can't be that unusual."
"Actually, it is. Our coven is the second largest known to exist right now. The largest being the Volturi, and their numbers are constantly changing. They had 28 members last time we visited them, but from what we heard, there are 32 now. Though some come and go every few years."
I was surprised at the large group. "So why do you say the coven of three is so unusual?"
Most natural, or carnivore vampires as we call them, don't band together because they often end up fighting for domination over the others. Their aggressive nature requires a pack mentality of sorts. And seeing as vampires tend to see themselves as the top predator, they don't want competition."
"What about your Coven? You have Carlisle as the leader, but he is not the strongest of your Coven. In fact, I would think he would be one of the weakest in your coven, even with his age."
Edythe smiled, "We believe that our diet helps us all coexist peacefully, we are less aggressive and independent than the vampires that feed on humans. If I had to rate our Coven by their strength, or danger level… Alice would be the most dangerous, next it would be Edward, followed closely by Jasper, and myself. Then it would be Emmett, Esme, Carlisle, and finally Rosalie."
I whistled in amazement, "I didn't think Emmett would rate so low on the power scale."
"He is physically the strongest of us and even stronger than anyone we have seen, minus a newborn, but his attacks are too simple and straightforward. Edward beats Jasper because he is reading your mind and knows what you are doing at the same time you do, and he is exceptionally fast. Jasper has been working on his own reactions, so they can be thoughtless, and that is how he beats me. Even if I'm in his mind, I am too slow to capitalize on his response time. Esme would be a vicious protector but unpracticed, Carlisle would hesitate to hurt anyone, and Rosalie would only fight to protect Emmett. If he died, she would be happy to follow him and give up this half-life, as she calls it."
I thought my way through that and nodded my head. "So, how are the Volturi able to handle a coven as large as 32? Just feeding that many should be throwing up red flags for the whole country, whatever country they live in."
"They are in Italy. Volterra, Italy to be exact, and they are the only vampires in all of Italy. We believe that one of the vampires in the Volturi has the ability to manipulate the relationship between vampires. She makes them feel at home as part of the Volturi, and since they like the feeling, it sticks. However, it is not so strong that she can compel like I can. Members can and do leave at times."
"Do all the Volturi have abilities?" I asked with a yawn.
"Nearly all that I know of do. Caius is the only leader who does not have one, and I think the two remaining wives are also powerless. Marcus can see bonds between people, so he knows when members are becoming discontent, and I already told you about Aro's ability. The most dangerous vampires with abilities that I know of in the Volturi are the twins Jane and Alec. They are the main reason the Volturi are so feared, their offensive power is immeasurable. Jane can cause pain in anyone she wishes to with a simple glance, pain said to be so debilitating that you would wish for death to stop it. Alec is, however, the more dangerous of the two because he can affect a large number of people at the same time. He can take away all your sensory abilities or just the ones he wants to, leaving you helpless and unable to react to anything."
"That's some seriously overpowered abilities." I yawned again as I spoke.
Edythe pulled my arms tighter around herself, "Get some sleep, Thomas. We can talk more tomorrow."
The next morning, I woke up feeling much better than I had the previous couple of days. I spent some extra time just holding Edythe before my bladder demanded that I start my day. As had become the norm, Edythe cooked my 4 eggs and had my backpack hung on a kitchen chair ready for her to take with her this morning.
Jasper was waiting for us today, so we made our goodbyes quickly and then he and I started running. Once we made it to our usual spot, we started sparring as usual. Once we were done, we headed for the station and Jasper brought up a new training exercise he wanted to try.
"I do believe it is time to start using your Tiger form more during our morning workouts, Thomas. You need to train in that shape as much as you do in your normal form. Maybe start with a game of tag or two, get you used to moving through the forest."
"I am down for that. But just in case, the first few times we need to take it slow. I don't want to lose focus and let my instincts take over too much. That British vampire, Henry, didn't get far when he ran from me." I was still a little worried for my friend in the back of my mind.
Since we sparred this morning, we skipped the upper body workout and Jasper jumped on his bike as soon as we got to the police station, while I headed inside. Edythe's car was there, so I figured she was inside talking to Geri while waiting for me. When I saw her, I went straight to her and gave her a kiss as I collected my bag, said hello to Geri, then I went in for my shower. When I started to pull my clothes out of the backpack, I noticed that I had never seen any of them before, and for a second, I was confused.
Thinking maybe some of Emmett's clothes ended up in my bag as a joke, I went ahead and put them on for lack of options. When I realized how well they fit, I knew they were not Emmett's. Figuring out that these must have been bought by Edythe, I just shook my head and made sure to remember to thank her. Being treated this well makes a man self-conscious.