"Al ?" Jane snapped. "Then who was their creator?"
As if they hadn't already been introduced. This Jane was a bigger liar than Riley, and she was so much better at it than he was.
"Her name was Victoria," the redhead answered.
How did he know that when even I didn't? I remembered that Riley had said there was a mind reader in this group. Was that how they knew everything? Or was that another of Riley's lies?
"Was?" Jane asked.
The redhead jerked his head toward the east like he was pointing. I looked up and saw a cloud of thick lilac smoke bil owing from the side of the mountain.
Was. I felt a similar kind of pleasure to what I'd felt imagining the big vampire shredding Raoul. Only much, much greater.
"This Victoria," Jane asked slowly. "She was in addition to the eighteen here?"
"Yes," the redhead confirmed. "She had only one other with her. He was not as young as this one here, but no older than a year."
Riley. My fierce pleasure intensified. If - okay, when - I died today, at least I didn't leave that loose thread. Diego had been avenged. I almost smiled.
"Twenty," Jane breathed. Either this was more than she had expected, or she was a kil er actress. "Who dealt with the creator?"
"I did," the redhead said coldly.
Whoever this vampire was, whether he kept a pet human or no, he was a friend of mine. Even if he were the one to kil me in the end, I would stil owe him.
Jane turned to stare at me with narrowed eyes.
"You there," she snarled. "Your name."
I was dead anyway, according to her. So why give this lying vampire anything she wanted? I just glared at her. Jane smiled at me, the bright, happy smile of an innocent child, and suddenly I was on fire. It was like I'd gone back in time to the worst night of my life. Fire was in every vein of my body, covering every inch of my skin, gnawing through the marrow of every bone. It felt like I was buried in the middle of my coven's funeral bonfire, with the flames on every side. There wasn't a single cel in my body that wasn't blazing with the worst agony imaginable. I could barely hear myself scream over the pain in my ears.
"Your name," Jane said again, and as she spoke the fire disappeared. Gone like that, as if I'd only been imagining it.
"Bree," I said as fast as I could, stil gasping though the pain wasn't there anymore.
Jane smiled again and the fire was everywhere. How much pain would it take before I would die of it? The screams didn't even feel like they were coming from me anymore. Why wouldn't someone rip my head off? Carlisle was kind enough for that, wasn't he? Or whoever their mind reader was. Couldn't he or she understand and make this stop?
"She'l tel you anything you want to know," the redhead growled. "You don't have to do that."
The pain vanished again, like Jane had turned off a light switch. I found myself facedown on the ground, panting as if I needed air.
"Oh, I know," I heard Jane say cheerful y. "Bree?"
I shuddered when she cal ed my name, but the pain didn't start again.
"Is his story true?" she asked me. "Were there twenty of you?"
The words flew out of my mouth. "Nineteen or twenty, maybe more, I don't know! Sara and the one whose name I don't know got in a fight on the way...."
I waited for the pain to punish me for not having a better answer, but instead Jane spoke again.
"And this Victoria - did she create you?"
"I don't know," I admitted fearful y. "Riley never said her name. I didn't see that night... it was so dark, and it hurt!" I flinched. "He didn't want us to be able to think of her. He said that our thoughts weren't safe."
Jane shot a glance at the redhead, then looked at me again.
"Tel me about Riley," Jane said. "Why did he bring you here?"
I recited Riley's lies as quickly as I could. "Riley told us that we had to destroy the strange yel ow-eyes here. 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, al the blood would be ours. He gave us her scent." I pointed in the human's 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."
"It looks like Riley was wrong about the easy part," Jane said, a hint of teasing in her tone.
It seemed like Jane was pleased with my story. In a flash of insight, I understood that she was relieved Riley hadn't told me or the others about her little visit to our creator. Victoria. This was the story she wanted the yel ow-eyes to know - the story that didn't implicate Jane or the dark-cloaked Volturi. Wel, I could play along. Hopeful y the mind reader was already in the know.
I couldn't physical y take revenge on this monster, but I could tel the yel ow-eyes everything with my thoughts. I hoped. I nodded, agreeing with Jane's little joke, and sat up because I wanted the mind reader's attention, whoever that was. I continued with the version of the story that any other member of my coven would have been able to give. I pretended I was Kevin. Dumb as a bag of rocks and total y ignorant.
"I don't know what happened." That part was true. The mess on the battlefield was stil a mystery. I'd never seen any of Kristie's group. Did the secret howler vampires get them? I would keep that secret for the yel ow-eyes. "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." I flinched at the memory of the torso I'd hurdled.
"I was afraid. I wanted to run away." I nodded at Carlisle. "That one said they wouldn't hurt me if I stopped fighting."