Chapter 9
Jasper POV
Madeline's confused expression changed to one of shock, and Ciel frowned thoughtfully. Carlisle, Rosalie and Esme scowled and Emmett cracked his knuckles threateningly.
"Bastards." He muttered. Everyone else had gathered by now, and Hanna gasped loudly, quickly hushed by Vanamo, Grigory, Mariya, Juhan, Emilia and Adrik. I set my jaw firmly, betraying no emotions to the news. Honestly, I wasn't so surprised. What I was so surprised about is how they were the only two that had left, no one else, no one with any powers.
"The Volturi will probably kill them as soon as they get near." A soft voice came from the doorway behind me. I spun my head around to see who it was. It was Kerli, her eyes alert but worried, dragging Misha by the hand. Hanna's lips were set downward unhappily as she said it, but she said nothing.
Kerli POV
I followed Misha back out of the garden to the waterfall. He pulled me close to him and kissed me powerfully as the water bucketed over us.
"Oi! Lovebirds!" A slightly amused voice yelled from the other side of the lake. Misha and I broke apart and spun to look at the newcomer. It was Maggie, from the Irish coven. From her expression, which was a mixture of fear and amusement, I instinctively scanned the area for threats. When I couldn't find anything, I looked at her questioningly.
"Not here. Back at the Cullen house. Something's happened." With that, she turned and sprinted back through the forest.
Grabbing Misha's hand, I pulled him behind me as I ran as fast as possible back to the house.
Skidding to a stop at the back door, we could see the masses of gathered vampires surrounding Alice. I went silent and waited to hear what was happening, not wanting to open the door in case it made a noise and stopped me from hearing what was being said.
"It's Dawn and Sebastian. They've decided to leave us and join the Volturi." I heard Alice's voice sound, muffled through the glass. Beside me, I felt Misha tense. With that news over, I quietly opened the door and slipped inside.
"Bastards." Emmett spat, and I felt the soft rumble of a growl sound in Misha's chest. Warningly, I placed a hand on his arm. I heard Hanna gasp at the news. I wasn't sure whether to be cynically happy at Hanna's dismay, or to be annoyed at the fact they had left us. Left their coven. Flicking my still-damp hair back, I decided to make myself known.
"The Volturi will probably kill them as soon as they get near." I said quietly, pulling myself and Misha forward to join the crowd. Jasper turned his head slightly to look at me and I smiled at him softly. Madeline's face was impassive, but I could see sadness and fear in her eyes. Ciel was muttering in her ear, so softly that no one else could hear. Hanna's face was similar. Misha sighed sadly, shaking his head. He let go of my hand and walked outside. I hesitated, thinking about going after him, but then decided against it.
A lot of things have happened today, he just needs to clear his head, I reasoned with myself.
The crunch of tyres skidding to a stop on gravel caused every single vampire in the room to turn almost simultaneously. Edward relaxed a little, and Alice smiled slightly.
"It's the Australians. And they've bought a few more, too." Everyone trickled outside as quickly as possible. The car in question was a minivan, one that could hold about fifteen people. I knew all of them - Grace, Meghan, Samuel, Dimity, Lily, Amber, Connor, Taiko, Kim and Mark. Meghan, Connor, Taiko, Kim and Dimity were the ones with powers. Carlisle stepped forward to greet them.
"Thank you for your covens support, Grace. It's greatly appreciated. May I ask who is representing the nomads?" He questioned, his eyebrows raised cautiously. Nomads weren't known for wanting someone to represent them.
"I am." Dimity, a petite red-haired vampire stepped forward. Amber pursed her lips slightly as if she didn't like it. I didn't really care - from what I had observed in the few times I had met with Dimity, she was as strong-willed as me and had a power, whereas Amber didn't. I had a hunch Amber knew this, because she didn't contest it.
Carlisle and Dimity spoke for a while, probably about the other nomads and their respective powers among them. Taiko strode over to talk to Vanamo and Grigory. Being from Asia, we had regular run-ins throughout Russia. Misha eventually joined me again and introduced me to Lily and Connor. Lily was a disturbingly happy person, but not as bubbly as Alice. Connor was more serious, but still easy to laugh. I think their easy-going nature was due to being Australian, but I didn't really know. They were shocked to hear of Sebastian and Dawns departure, as they had known Sebastian from when they had lived in a part of Australia called Tasmania. They took it well, and quickly settled back into ordinary conversation.
Connor later revealed his power: anti-gravity. He had thought it funny to scare Renesmee by walking on the roof, coming up behind her and say "Whatcha reading?" while she was flipping through a book called 'Entangled'. Taiko had the power of hovering a few inches off the ground - with his pale skin, light orange hair and tall frame, he hovered all around the house acting like a ghost. Kim and Benjamin sparred out in the backyard using their powers: Benjamin had the elements, Kim had all the power of the weather. Dimity was an old friend, and, while she was Australian, came up to Russia through Asia sometimes. She could talk to animals, although she considered it a useless power as animals rarely stayed near her for long periods of time.
I was feeling very confident about the upcoming battle.