Be Careful What You Wish For

Chapter Twenty-One

1 Of course, vampires being swanky show-offs, Maria didn't sensibly hide out where finding her would be nigh-on impossible, i.e. in the slums. Instead, she opted for a huge tacky house one block away from the beach, located in the Playas de Tijuana borough. Thankfully, the house was otherwise unoccupied, meaning Leah didn't have to deal with a bunch of black-eyed zombie-humans lurching about. She did have to deal with the three leech bodyguards that accompanied the woman at all times, though. Luckily, once they reached the house, those three positioned themselves strategically around it, instead of clogging up the area with their sugary stench.

The ragtag little band settled down in the duplex's huge living room, as if Leah hadn't had enough lounging about in ritzy living rooms to last her a lifetime or two. Before that, though, they'd picked up Sue's car, and she had changed back into her comfy clothes. It was better ripping those apart in an emergency wolf-out than the new dress. There was no replacement for that one.

"So, how exactly does your power work?" she said to Maria, who was occupying the white leather couch with Bella and Jasper. Leah and Demetri were on the other leather couch, this one terracotta. She was nursing a cup of coffee.

Maria rearranged her femme-fatale pose she'd no doubt been practicing since the nineteenth century and shook back a few locks of her dark hair. "I can charm individual people to be inclined to do what I want. In the case of humans, it's basic mind-control activated by my voice." There must have been some measure of the horror Leah felt reflected on her face, because Maria cracked a radiant smile and waved off. "Don't worry. It only ever lasts for about twenty-four hours, the extent of the control is limited, and it has no side-effects."

"Apart from the fact that you turn them into drones," Leah said, giving her a black look. Maybe she was being unfair toward this vamp, but the vamp was an old friend of Jasper's – hell, she'd turned him – and Leah was not inclined to give her the benefit of the doubt. Also, she had no reason to believe a single word coming out of that woman's mouth. She briefly wondered if that truly creepy power would work on her. "Supernatural charm, huh? So why are you here, ruling a city, instead of being safely tucked away in Volterra?"

"Because, as your friend has assured me the last time he was here, the Volturi are not about eradicating other covens, but about keeping the peace and the secrecy of the vampire world. It serves the balance of power, too," Maria said, sort-of solemn now. Like Jasper, she probably had issues with taking anything completely seriously. At least it seemed that way. "Having a law-abiding coven in power in these parts makes their job much easier, isn't that right?"

"It is," Demetri said, not overly enthusiastic. This was probably due to two main reasons: a) he must be getting painfully thirsty at this point, and b) he wasn't even trying to disguise the fact that he didn't particularly like any of these people. Again, good on him.

"You have a pretty impressive ability, though – an ability that might give you ideas," Leah pressed on, and sipped her coffee. It tasted different from the stuff she was used to: richer, spicier, better. Only the best of the best for the owners of this palace. In her mind, Leah toasted them. Their house was butt-ugly, but their coffee was awesome. "Or, alternatively, an ability that they might want." She wasn't even sure what she was doing, but after the funny-fuse blowing moment at that club, getting some general answers to practical questions couldn't hurt. The more she knew about how vampire politics worked, the better she'd get at doing her job.

Maria laughed softly. "I wouldn't get any ideas because I don't want to die," she said, giving Demetri a pointed look. "The players they have are much more powerful than I am. Also, they don't need another charmer. They already have the best one."