Edward's POV:
Alice called to warn us of the Volturi, because they had decided to pay us a visit. Caius would send two parties: Jane, Alec, Heidi, and Demetri to check on Carlisle's Coven, and Felix, Santiago, and Bastien to check on the Denali Coven. It was clear from their actions that they knew Bella was with the Denalis. Why else would they send the three Bella was immune to after Carlisle? And why would they send Heidi anywhere, period?
Alice assured me that everything would be fine, just as long as we all stuck to the plan. Zikare and Zakaira lived next door to Carlisle's Coven, so the Volturi would not notice that we were keeping pets. We would go about our lives as normal, except that we would refrain from interacting with the humans. Esme was even having the house cleaned to eliminate the stench of human.
Alice could see the Volturi Guard's arrival. She knew which paths they would take and which humans they would question. Jane and Alec would pay a visit to Carlisle's teaching hospital and question the Dean of Medicine. Demetri would go door to door, questioning the neighbors. Alice arranged for Zikare and Zakaira to be away on holiday during the visit and luckily, the Dean and the neighbors were not aware of the human pets, and so there would be no danger in their questioning.
I was worried that Jane might use her gift against Carlisle's Coven, given that Bella was not there to protect them. I even suggested sending Bella over for a visit to coincide with Jane's arrival. But, Alice assured me that Aro had specifically ordered Jane not to use her gift against any of the vampires with Carlisle, unless provoked first. This was because Carlisle and Aro were old friends, and also because Carlisle had reduced his coven size and was therefore a reduced threat to the Volturi. It was Aro's way of showing his appreciation for his friend.
The biggest danger was on our side. The Denali Coven was already large, with six members. Bella, Rosalie, Emmett, Nessie, Jacob, and myself added another six, for a total of twelve. That was far too many vampires in one place to be tolerated. Alice instructed us that it was vital we appear as two neighboring covens, not one united one.
So, in preparation for the arrival of Felix and his ilk, we made sure to visit and interact with our vampiric neighbors as little as possible. The Guard would find our scent trails, notice the age, and conclude that we rarely interact. They would go first to Tanya's house to question the Denalis. The Denalis would claim to be friendly with us, but that we were a separate coven, just as Alice insisted. Alice saw the interview going quite well.
After the Guard finished with Tanya's family, they came to our house. I could hear their thoughts from miles away. I really dislike Felix, who was remembering how tasty Bella smelled as a human. When the three vampires emerged from the woods, the six of us were waiting on our porch. They emerged in formation, with Felix's hulking figure taking point and Santiago and Bastien on his flanks.
Bastien, Santiago, and Felix were clad in the signature dark gray capes typical of the Guard. Heidi, however, was dressed in a sex suit, just as she had been the last time we had seen her in Volterra. It was quite inappropriate for the given location, as it was freezing and she was practically naked. She would draw the attention of any human she crossed.
I raised my eyebrow at her trying to convey my concern regarding her inappropriate attire. Heidi noticed my look, but misinterpreted it.
'I know, not your type. Would you be more turned on if I came in a piano costume music boy?' Aro had obviously shared some of my past with his guard. I wonder what else he told them about me? I shook my head, and her thoughts continued, 'No? Not into pianos anymore now that you've found your Bella? Hmm, I wonder if she knows about the piano?' Here I shook my head again. 'You haven't told her? What are you waiting for, one of us to tell her? I wonder if she'll be jealous of the piano. Tell me, piano lover, how does the piano feel about you cheating on it with Bella?'
I turned my attention from Heidi to Santiago and Bastien, hoping the former would drop the subject without spilling the beans. Santiago was a lesser Guard member who had been present both when Bella, Alice, and I had journeyed to Volterra, as well as after Nessie's birth when the Volturi came to us. He had no special talent, but was just another large bulky vampire, not unlike Felix.
Bastien, however, was a new recruit and I had a feeling that he was searched out among the humans specifically because he had an offensive talent immune to Bella's shield. All three of them were trying not to think about Bastien's talent, but Bastien could not help but let slip his thoughts. I raised my eyebrow at him to acknowledge that I knew all about his bone breaking skill.
As soon as Bastien realize he had blown his secret, he gave up on the not thinking about it endeavor completely. And then I was able to discern just how correct my earlier hunch had been. Not only had Aro specifically sent his Guard out to search humans for a new talent, but he was hoping that his Guard would find some fault with our family on this expedition in order to test out Bastien's abilities on my wife.
I scowled at Bastien's thoughts, barring my teeth to show that no attack upon my wife would be tolerated. "Greetings Felix, Bastien, Santiago, and Heidi! What brings you this way?" I asked out loud, ending my silent conversation with Santiago before his unspoken thoughts triggered a fight before the talking even began.
"Oh, you know how paranoid Caius is. He seemed to think there was a coven of twelve 'round these parts."
"Not that I am aware of. Just my coven of six, and Tanya's coven of six down the way."
"So you and Tanya aren't joined in a plot to overthrow the Volturi?" Felix asked.
"Of course not! We are a peace-loving coven. We would not wish to rule, even if we disliked the Volturi, which we do not. We greatly appreciate that Aro, Caius, and Marcus keep us safe; not to mention their lovely Guard. If it were not for all of you, vampires would run wild and expose us all. Or, form newborn armies and attack. Either way, we would not be able to live our simple life hiding amongst the live-stock."
"Your words and actions disagree. Why have you moved in with Denali Coven then?" Bastien asked.
"We have not moved in with them. We moved back to our old house. We lived here once last century, and thought to return. There were too many of us living with Carlisle and we could not keep the peace with such a large number. So, we broke into two groups. Three stayed with Carlisle to blend in with the humans and the other six of us came here.
"Jasper, who has no self-control, stayed, so that Carlisle could help him stick to the diet. And of course, their mates are with them. The rest of us split off, but as the others have never lived on their own, Carlisle has asked that I stay with them," I said indicating Emmett and Rosalie. This statement was mostly true. Although Rosalie and Emmett had moved out of the house and gone on extensive honeymoons, they had never broken away from our coven. And Jasper's control, although far from perfect, had improved as of late, but Aro was not aware of that.
"My daughter and her mate are with us temporally, to spend time with us for a few years. We are really just a coven of four with visiting adult children. We chose Alaska and to be neighbors with the Denalis, so that they could help us with the transition to independence. They are much older than ourselves and are an excellent source of wisdom.
"Let me assure you, that although we live near the Denali Coven, and are allied with them, we are not one coven. That is just too many vampires to co-exist. In fact, we have been here too long already. Nessie and Jacob are planning on traveling south soon. Rosalie, Emmett, Bella, and myself will head east, to the continental United States. We will very shortly be a coven of four. You need not worry about us," I reiterated.
"We believe your story, for now, so we'll leave you in peace. Be that as it may, we'll come back to check on you. If you haven't been truthful, and we find that all sixteen of you have joined up in opposition to us, we'll eliminate you," Felix warned.
"Sixteen would never work. However, I must tell you that we are still friendly with Carlisle's Coven as well. We plan on visiting them from time to time. You may even find the four of us living with them for a few years at a time, before we break up again. You will not find all sixteen of us living in the same town, as I have said. But, you should not take our large numbers as a sign of aggression, because we mean the Volturi no harm," I replied.
"We'll allow your coven to rejoin Carlisle's from time to time. Just as long as it's like you said, and the Denali Coven doesn't join you," Felix said, turning to leave.
"Don't forget Felix, the lawn-mower we ran into?" Santiago reminded his leader.
"Oh yes. We came in from the south and weren't expecting to cross paths with any humans. I know you prefer if we don't slake our thirst in your territory, but it was a complete accident," Felix began.
"What was an accident?" Rosalie hissed ready to pounce. Emmett stepped up and grabbed her arm, preparing to hold her back if she lost her temper.
"When we crossed the baseball diamond south of this place, we came across a human mowing the grass. Bastien drank him. He's still fairly young and all. No harm intended. Don't worry, no one saw us and we disposed of the body properly."
"Bastien! You. Drank. Julio? Do you know how hard it is to convince Mexican laborers to come this far north just to mow our grass?" Rosalie asked outraged. "They hate snow!" Rosalie always was melodramatic and she always could come across as insensitive when thinking about how something affected her, but from her thoughts I could tell that she was devastated for the loss of our human grounds keeper.
"Calm down babe. We'll get another Julio," Emmett soothed.
"Oh, he was yours? So sorry about that. Well, farewell my friends," Felix said, turning once more.
Bastien gave a little wave, Santiago nodded, and Heidi winked and thought, 'Later piano boy.' And with that, the three members of the Volturi Guard disappeared back into the forest from which they came.
"Well, we better start spreading the rumor that Julio was sick of the cold and went back to the land of eternal sun-shine to look for work picking grapes," Emmett broke the silence that ensued after The Guard left.
"He had a family back in Mexico," Rosalie added with a hint of sadness, her previous anger almost evaporated. Out of our entire family, Rosalie was the one with the bleeding heart for humans. Sure we all respected and valued human life, but Rosalie took her human worship to a whole new level.
"We can notify them that he suffered a snow related accident and send some money," Bella tried to comfort Rosalie.
"And I can start looking for a new Gardener," Jacob added and Nessie smacked him on the head.
"Not helping, Jake," Nessie replied. "Come on, Auntie, let's go inside and make funeral arrangements." Rosalie complied and allowed herself to be led back inside.
"Emmett, I'm going to check out the scene of the crime and make sure nothing looks suspicious. From what I saw in their thoughts, they left the mower out. I should put it away," I told my brother preparing to wrap up loose ends.
"Sure. Go ahead, Rose will calm down in a few minutes and be fine," my favorite brother reassured me.
"I'll be right back, Bella," I said giving my mate a farewell kiss. She nodded and I took off to investigate the damage.