It was still dark when I heard the sound of battle outside of our bedroom. I was surprised to see Jasper sleeping through it. It was loud enough to wake the dead.  I vigorously shook him while calling his name, but he made no move toward waking. He felt cool, but he was sleeping without covers over his torso and the body temperature of a vampire was low to begin with.  His muscles felt limp and lifeless. Was he even breathing? I placed my ear to his chest, but I was suddenly distracted by a horrific thud against my bedroom door.I worried about his seemingly lifeless condition in the back of my mind as I hopped out of bed and threw on a robe that I found hanging in the closet.  It was several sizes too big for me, but it was the quickest thing I could find to cover my nakedness so that I could open the door to see what was happening.Megan’s body lay limp and inert on the floor just outside of my room.  I gasped with shock and dismay as I knel

We parted company with Edmund with the promise that we would report to him after the required mourning period ended.  When we returned to the cabin, we found Jasper’s lifeless body just as I’d left it.Thomas took us to their family cemetery and we buried Jasper next to his sister.  Then, he and Peter escorted Megan and me back to my house. I needed time to mourn over my losses.  I didn’t need to express this to Peter. He instinctively knew and was very good about giving it to me.He spent his time nurturing Megan back to health; both physically and emotionally.  As I’d suspected, once the ordeal was over and she was placed in a position of facing and dealing with what had happened, she suffered a severe case of emotional trauma.  As a result, she withdrew into herself.Thomas visited often. He’d been close with Jasper and my marriage to Jasper made him my cousin by law and he took that connecti