Amelia & Andrew: the Diamond Legacy

I am sorry about the delay in posting this chapter the holiday season turned out to be more time consumming then expectant.

I would like to thank Phil R. and willieone for all of there help with editing and proof reading the story. With out their help the story would be no where as near polished. I would also like to thank everyone who takes a moment to read my story. Please vote and comment so I know how I am doing.

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"Who did you two, say it was?" Charles asked shakily hoping he had somehow misheard them.

"You heard what we said and I know it is a shock to you," Susan softly responded as she took Charles' hands in hers.

"I am going to rip his fucking head off," Andrew angrily exclaimed as his eyes turned to black orbs.

"Andrew we must be very careful here. I can't believe he would betray me. He had never shown any interest in power. Amelia, are you sure you didn't somehow make a mistake or somehow altered the memory to make it sound like his voice?" Charles quietly said.

"I would never bare false witness against someone," Amelia retorted sternly.

"That isn't what I meant. I have no doubt that you honestly believe that you are being as honest as you can. What I am asking is by you trying so hard to identify the person who voice you heard in his memory did you accidentally misidentify it, and then accidentally alter the memory in your mind to match his voice?" Charles explained.

Amelia pondered what Charles was asking and considered his wisdom carefully before speaking. She didn't understand how she knew the answer to his inquiry but she did. "I do not think I could do it even if I tried. But even if I could why did Susan come up with the same name?" Amelia responded.

Charles listened to not only what she said but how she sad what she said looking for any signs of deception. "Just for argument sake, let's say in your mind you thought it was Amsu then wouldn't your mind alter the memory so that the voice Susan heard was who you wanted it to be. I mean on a subconscious level, where you are not aware of it?" Charles inquired.

"No, I don't think I could alter the memory. The memory I shared with Susan is a direct copy of what I saw in his mind like a picture or a recording of it and I don't have the ability to alter it as far as I know. Can I swear to this beyond all doubt? No, but I can beyond a reasonable doubt. The only reason I say it that way is I don't know how I know what I know," Amelia replied. She went quiet for a minute as if considering what Charles wisdom then continued," If I was going to pick someone ; Why would I pick Amsu? There are far better suspects like Emma or Neil."

"Amelia please don't think that I doubt your integrity, but I have to make sure of my facts before I proceed. If we make one misstep, it could result in a civil war that could very well destroy everything we have worked for as a species. For the record, I do believe that the information you are giving me is truthful and accurate. I hope you understand I am just trying to gauge the extent of your powers," Charles explained earnestly.

"I wish I knew the extent of my abilities but I have no idea, and as I have said before, I can't explain how I know what I know about my powers; I just know. So how do we proceed from here?" Amelia responded conceding that Charles had a right to be concerned about the validity of her information.

Everyone was staring at Charles waiting to hear the answer to that very question. Charles was not sure how to proceed, there was no way the other enforcers would take a parvulus word over Amsu. Charles knew he had to prove that Amsu's plans were a threat to the vampires as a species to get the other enforcers to act and even then, he would be hard pressed with the amount of support Amsu has among the older vampires and other species.

Susan knew what Charles was thinking and understood that no matter what they said none of other enforcer would believe Amelia since she was a parvulus. She cleared her throat to get Charles attention. "I have a suggestion; let me try to break through Uwais' mental barriers. That way I can validate what Amelia said is accurate." Susan suggested.

Charles nodded his agreement. Susan tried to penetrate but his mental shield held and the harder she pushed the stronger the shield became. Finally, she realized he was not going to give and stopped trying. She looked at Charles and shook her head. Susan wondered how Amelia managed to get a past his mental barrier. "How did you get past his mental shield so quickly without damaging his mind?" Susan asked.

"I made him think that I was weaker than I am and when he eased off I took control of his mind and ordered him to lower his mental barriers and then it was easy for me to access his mind. He did try to fight but it was far easier for me to fend his attempts to regain control off then to constantly fight for each individual memory." Amelia replied.

Susan redoubled her efforts but it seemed that Uwais only got stronger the more she tried to force her way through. She couldn't believe that Amelia had walked through Uwais defenses with relative ease when she had not been able to even make a small dent in his defenses." Damn it! I wasn't able to break through his mental shield. Sorry Charles," Susan said frustration evident in her voice.

"I will start the attempt and try to take control of him as I did before and force him to lower his defenses. While you try the direct route to his mind one of us should be able to pierce his mental barrier," Amelia suggested.

Susan nodded her approval. Amelia walked over and looked Uwais in the eyes and began to push into his mind he tried to fight her but she easily pushed in and seizes control of his mind. Uwais eyes went wide then he got a blank look in his eyes and stared straight ahead as Amelia ordered him to lower all of his mental barriers and allow Susan to probe his mind.

Susan had little trouble confirming that Amelia was correct. She even saw a few of the vampires who he worked with and knew that Amsu employed them. Susan pulled out his mind and the two of them walked out of the room that served as his cell.

"She is correct I not only recognized his voice but I saw Layla giving him instructions on this mission. He was to follow them and watch for a chance to not only destroy Amelia and Andrew but you also Charles." Susan sadly said.

Charles was visible shaken. If Layla was giving orders, it left no doubt. There was no way for Amelia to have implanted that memory into the assassin since she didn't even know Layla. The room now vibrated with his power; it was an order of magnitude above even Susan's. The air literally crackled and it felt like a lighting storm was about to appear within the room as arcs of energy danced around Charles. Both Amelia and Andrew could feel every hair on their bodies stand up.

Susan laid a soft hand on Charles' shoulder and just let her calming presence wash over him. After a few minutes, his breathing evened out as the storm in his eyes calmed. Finally, the electrical storm that was bouncing around the room calmed as well.

"This fight is between Amsu and myself. I would appreciate any support that you can give me. I don't want you all directly involved. It is too dangerous." Charles ordered in a tone that let it be known he would broker no argument.

"He tried to kill my mate and injured my friend. When I get my hands on him, I am going to rip his beating heart from his chest and ram it down his throat. I don't care who I have to go through to get it done." Andrew angrily retorted.

Andrew's control shattered and his powers came rushing forward like a freight train. His eyes turned to pure black orbs showing no life in them at all. Everything not nailed down or secured in the room began to float in the air and the temperature began to rise. Within a minute, it was almost ninety-five degrees in the room and climbing rapidly. Andrew pictured Uwais in his mind and his anger turned on him. Uwais felt incredible amount of pressure on the sides of his head. He let out a scream as blood began to pour from his nose and ears. The blood then started to run out of his mouth as his eye bulged from his head. He tried to scream in pain but could not get it out as his mouth was filled with blood. He felt his body getting hotter; from uncomfortable to burning hot. The last thing Uwais saw before his head popped like a balloon was flames erupting from his midsection.

Most of the brains and blood that exploded from his head when it popped caught fire and burned up before it could even reach the walls or the floor. The fire was so hot that it completely consumed the rest of the body. The only remains were a small pile of ashes and a few smears of blood from when his head popped. What was most miraculous to all of those that observed the event was that the sprinkler system never activated.

The temperature was steadily rising in the room it was now over one hundred and thirty degrees. Andrew stood their unaware of anything or anyone around him. He was lost in a war between his two halves and the feral side was winning for the moment, partially because the human half-wanted revenge as much as the baser half did.

Charles couldn't believe the amount of power that Andrew had shown; he was much too young to be able to wield the kind of power. He was concerned that Andrew could lose control of his powers or worse yet he could potentially challenge him and in a few decades be able to usurp him. He was originally worried about Amelia and her powers but now he realized that Andrew was a much larger of a threat and he would have to watch him very carefully.

Amelia wrapped her arms around Andrew's waist and looked into his eyes as she pushed into his mind and tried to calm him. She could sense he was almost to the same state he was in earlier and she worried this time he may not be able to come back.

" Love, you need to lower the temperature in the room. It is getting way too hot in here and we are roasting." Amelia whispered.

She was right; the temperature in the room was pushing one hundred and fifty degrees now. She grabbed the sides of his face and started sharing memories of them being together. Slowly she managed to break through his feral state and bring him back to a more centered state of mind. Everything gently settled back down to the ground, Andrew's eyes went back to his normal color of hazel, and the temperature in the room slowly began to drop back to normal. Andrew looked into Amelia's eyes and smiled slightly just before he collapsed. Amelia scooped his limp form up in her arms and gentle laid him down on the couch. Gloria quickly retrieved a wet cloth for Amelia to lie across the top of his forehead.

Susan felt Andrew's powers explode forth and watched in amazement as everything in the room not nailed down began to float into the air. She could feel the temperature rapidly rise. She heard Uwais scream she then watched as the blood began pouring from his nose and ears. Susan watched in both fascination and horror as the top of Uwais' head exploded just before he was consumed by flames. She had never seen anything like that in her long life and it called to her baser side; the raw power Andrew had just shown was like an aphrodisiac. The sudden arousal surprised Susan; it had been centuries since a parvulus had caused such a reaction in her. Susan realized that she would have to be careful around Andrew so she didn't upset his mate, whom she dearly liked. She realized why she felt such a kinship with Andrew and Amelia as they reminded her of Lenard and Gabriel. Susan fought with her sadness as she thought about the two of them.

Lenard had been with Charles off and on for over eight hundred years. Once Lenard had met Gabriel, the four of them had traveled the world and seen the sights. They had decided to spend the turning of the new century in Spain. Gabriel had only been mated with Lenard for little over five years but everyone could tell those two had that magical union and their two souls had become one. All it took was a glance to see how deeply they loved each other. When the bell tolled signaling that seventeen hundred had arrived, the streets erupted in a party and during the wild, dancing Gabriel had been separated from the three of them. Archibald, who had claimed Gabriel was his mate, was embarrassed when Gabriel mated with Lenard and took the opportunity to take his revenge and murdered Gabriel. He claimed that Lenard had stolen her from him. Lenard knew the second she died and started attacking everyone in sight while screaming for Gabriel. Charles had no choice but to put his friend down. The four of them had been so close they decided to form their own coven and it had scarred the two of them so deeply that they had never formed another coven with anyone.

It had only taken six hours for Susan to track Archibald down. Susan had taken great pleasure in beating and torturing him for hours causing as much pain as she possibly could. By the time Archibald was turned over to Charles, Susan had broken nearly every bone in his body.

Charles had taken great pleasure in announcing Archibald's fate. He personally removed Archibald's fangs and buried him alive in a steel coffin. Charles knew it would take months for him to starve and before he did, he would go mad. It may well be the cruelest punishment that could be inflicted on a vampire. It had been the first, and only, time Charles had ordered that punishment.

Susan pulled herself back to the present and wiped the tears from her eyes. She looked around the room and was surprised that everything was set back in place with no apparent damage to it. She watched as Amelia took care of Andrew unconscious form worrying over him. Susan looked at Charles and he smiled at her shaking his head. She could see the concern he was hiding behind his smile.

She knew that Andrew could become a threat but she doubted that he ever would she knew that by nature he is a protector hence his choice to be a cop. He was a natural leader but he wasn't a politician and she doubted that he ever would be. Amelia was the politically minded one of the two but she had no desire to be a leader. She would do it when her job called for it, but she was happiest when someone else was in charge and she could do her job. Susan was sure the two of them would be an asset to Charles and given the chance, they would most likely become close friends. Susan decided that she would do everything with in her power to help the two of them except to attack Charles, and she hoped that Charles wouldn't jump the gun and order them destroyed. If he did, Susan decided she would, for the first time in their long relationship, refuse to carry out his order. She would never forgive him if he did it, but she couldn't attack him.

Charles could see that Susan was worrying over if he would order Andrew death because of his potential threat, and he knew that it was the prudent thing to do, but he would wait for the time being. Unbeknownst to him Amelia had picked up on his line of thought and was watching him while preparing to defend herself and, more importantly, her mate. She slammed her mind closed preventing anyone from gaining access and closing all bonds but Andrew's with her. Gloria immediately went on alert once she sensed what Amelia had done, wondering what had set her off.

Across town, Catherine felt Amelia slam close her link to her and immediately panicked. She thought that something had happened to Amelia. She begged to be taken to her sire but Emma explained that she had no idea where they were and that if they called her it may endanger their lives. Scott finally demanded that they contact them somehow; he was worried that the stress would hurt Catherine or the baby. Emma promised to try to get in touch with her parents and see if she could get some information.

Andrew slowly came back to consciousness. He couldn't recall what had happened and he had a pounding headache. When he looked into Amelia's eyes, he gave her a weak smile. He felt as if he had just ran a marathon while having the flu.

"This should fix you right up." Gloria said as she handed him a bottle of blood. She sat a second bottle of blood on the table in front of Andrew encase he needed it.

"Andrew you need to regain your strength as quickly as possible. Charles thinks you may be a threat to him and is trying to decide if he should attack you. Please don't react to this we need to bide our time until we can even the odds love. Block your mind off to everyone but me," Amelia telepathically said.

Andrew sat there for a few moments trying to recall what had happened then he quickly drained the bottle of blood and closed off his mind to everyone but Amelia. As soon as he finished the bottle, his headache subsided and the memories of what he had done came flooding back in. Andrew looked over to the cell where Uwais had been housed and realized what he had done. He couldn't help but smile in satisfaction. "Why the hell does he think that?" Andrew asked mentally.

"He saw how strong you already are and he thinks in the very near future you could usurp him and take over his precious empire," Amelia responded through their mental link.

"Is he fucking nuts?! I do not want his fucking empire; I would kill someone. What an egotistical bastard." Andrew responded the same way.

Amelia started to chuckle then quickly covered it up with a cough. Damn it Andrew be careful, I don't want to tip him off. "Amelia admonished him through their link.

Andrew chuckled softly as he pulled Amelia into a hug. All of a sudden, his senses sharpened dramatically. He could sense everything around him, not only in the room but also outside of the building. It was a surreal experience when someone walked past the front of the building and Andrew could tell that it was a vampire. His sense of smell also dramatically increased. Before, he could smell blood flowing beneath a person skin if he was close to them but now he could smell Susan and Charles' blood from across the room and tell the difference between them. He also smelled the remnants of the coffee they had earlier and even the cleaning products that had been used in here. Andrew was a bit overwhelmed and staggered for a second.

He closed his eyes to bring the overwhelming sensations under control. He slowly managed to tune his senses down a bit. He was still hyper-sensitive to everything but at least now, it was at a level where he could function. He sensed Charles start to move and spun around on him suddenly. Andrew was clearly startled and took a defensive posture

Charles was about to get up to go get more coffee, unaware of Andrew's heightened senses, when Andrew spun on him. He knew that the two of them were on alert but decided that it was just from the events from this morning. He would have never believed that Amelia had not only been able to read his thoughts but also Susan's thoughts. Charles was surprised by Andrew's sudden movement.

" I sensed him starting to move. I felt his muscles tense and it surprised me. How did I do that?" Andrew asked clearly confused.

"I would say that you have tapped into more of your abilities Andrew and if what I suspect is true, it will be very hard for someone to sneak up on you. What else do you sense?" Susan calmly explained with a smile.

Andrew opened up his senses to see what all he could pick up. "I can sense everyone and everything around the building and I can tell if they are human, vampire or something else. It is almost like radar but I am not sure how far I can sense."

"May I ask why you and Amelia are blocking yourselves off?" Susan inquired.

Andrew considered lying but decided it was far better to confront Charles here and now. This way, they have somewhat of a chance to defend themselves. He locked eyes with Charles and prepared himself to attack if necessary." To protect ourselves; it would seem someone in this room thinks I may be a threat." Andrew responded in a measured tone.