All things Twilight belong to the fabulously fabulous Stephenie Meyer.

Chapter 27 - Gambit

Edward was still reeling from the tackle Emmett had thrown at me while I was preoccupied. I had simply laughed it off, but Edward had charged towards us, his eyes confused with his double emotion, concern and anger. Emmett had hit me from the side and driven me into the ground. The wet earth below us had trembled in the blow. Emmett was laughing with his usual booming cachinnatory, he didn't see Edward inches from colliding with him.

The two of them had landed on the ground next to me, sending another quiver through the ground. I immediately split them up, if the attack was for my benefit it was unnecessary. Rosalie had verbalized it better than I ever could have. the words she spat at her brother seemed unusual coming from someone so beautiful. It had stunned us all to the point of laughter, and the feud was forgotten.

Edward, however, was still concerned about my welfare.

"Edward, really, he didn't hurt me." I stated as we entered our bedroom together. We left the door open because there simply was no privacy in this house at the moment.

"That's not the point, Bella."

"I did the same to him. Rosalie distracted him and I took him down."

Edward's scowl softened as he turned to face me. I knew that it really wasn't about the hit I had just taken, it was his reaction to seeing it happen. He saw the vulnerability in me, and it scared him.

"You know, if you hadn't of distracted me, I probably would have taken him down again." I grinned.

Edward shook his head and chuckled. I couldn't possibly understand how frustrating this was to him, he had always been so strong in my eyes.

"That's not true, I believe you insisted I stay with you when Victoria's army was headed for us."

"Actually, if you think about it, that was probably more women's intuition, Victoria did end up finding me."

Edward laughed at the justification, and leant forward kissing my forehead. I wrapped my arms around his waist and pulled myself to him.

"You know, it would be so much more fun if you were teaching me."

"Bella,"

"I know, I know." I pouted.

"Just promise me you'll ask Jasper next time."

Before I could answer our bedroom door swung open. Alice stood looking frantic, her eyes were wide with concern and her mouth was drawn into a tight line. "That next time had better be soon."

Edward's arms tightened around me and I knew that our time was almost up. Aro and the rest of the Volturi would be heading towards us, as far as I knew, they could be halfway here. I watched Edward as Alice replayed the vision for him, his eyes were tight, his jaw set. I waited until his jaw relaxed before asking any questions.

"What is it?" I asked.

"The Volturi have brought all of the guards, every last one of them." Alice mumbled quietly.

"Even the wives?" Garrett asked. I hadn't heard him arrive. His voice caused me to jump a little. I was so absorbed in what was going on in my small little world, I 'd heard nothing. I needed to spread out my concentration a little. If I consistently concentrated on something too long it could mean disaster for evryone else. I had to pay more attention.

"Even the wives." Edward confirmed, his calm exterior told me he'd heard Garrett approaching.

"That's new."

with my new vigilance in tact, I could hear more foot steps approaching the room, but I wasn't too concerned with that, the footsteps were familiar almost. I was more concerned with the fact that the Volturi were coming, and they were bringing our purgatory with them.

"Very new, and it makes it all the more threatening. Aro knows that."

"No, this wasn't Aro." Demetri said from the door. his eyes were directed towards Edward.

"Marcus?" Edward asked after assessing the thoughts in Demetri's mind. "But, why?"

Demetri rose his eyebrows as though it was obvious, and when I thought about it, it was.

"They will avenge the death's of Aro and Caius if they're left alive." I whispered.

Demetri nodded, confirming my supposition. If they were going to do this, they were going to do this right. The thought scared me, but the thought of killing the innocent females had me shying away.

"They're not as innocent as you may think, Bella." Edward said, his eyes still on Demetri.

"Why?"

"They are just as much a part of the decision making as Aro and Caius, they just chose to stay silent in front of an audience. Sulpicia is Aro's driving force, Marcus can see their bond, and he knows how strongly they are bound. She has an evil mind and just as much thirst for domination as Aro himself." Demetri stated.

"How much time?" Edward asked Alice.

"A week at most, they've already started their organization. Aro tried staying away, but Demetri suggested I also watch Sulpicia, she would be making the decisions for him."

"How? you've never met her."

"Demetri and I have spoken about her excessively, it's helped me build a connection with her mind."

Edward's eyebrows rose as he appraised his sister. I was sure this meant that this was a new development. One that would be most helpful to us in the future, should something like this arise again.

"I've also been watching Marcus' decisions. It's his only form of communication with Demetri."

"Has Aro contacted you?" Edward asked Demetri.

"No, not in any depth. I checked in regularly as he requested, but cut all forms of communication once your family returned. I'm sure he is suspicious of my silence which is more than likely the reason he is making his move."

"We should get a meeting organized with the assembled vampires so they know their parts. I also want Bella to start integrating them into the protective barrier, it takes a lot of her strength adding new minds."

Demetri nodded in agreement. He turned and strode from the room, leaving Edward, Alice, Garrett and I staring after him. I could see that Garrett was still a little skeptical of his involvement. I couldn't blame him, Demetri was our lifeline, not Garrett's or any of the others, they was here as a favor to us. Although if Demetri did betray us, it would kill us all, we would be responsible for this slaughter.

"I'm going to let Kate and the others know what's going on." Garrett said before following Demetri from the room. Alice grinned after him briefly before returning her gaze to us.

"Bella, you were right in your assumptions, Aro will come after you, they have already discussed their strategy. They don't want to hurt you, but they will if it depends on their survival. I think you should stay to the back of the group."

"No," my spine straightened with my defiance. "I stand with my family, if it becomes necessary I will back away, but until then, we stand together."

Alice assessed my decision before nodding I hoped that meant I would be safe. I knew she would never leave me in harms way, but she also knew just how strong my stubborn streak was.

"We have so much to do, we should get cracking." Alice said spinning on her heel and heading towards the door. "Oh, and Bella, I wouldn't worry too much about learning how to fight. You and Edward get super blurry, and I have a good idea why."

With that, she disappeared. The wolves were planning to protect me, that much was obvious, but also I knew that they had seen the other vampires that had murdered Sam. I knew that they would need that opportunity to finalize their vindication. I wouldn't want to stand in the way of that. I would keep my training up as long as I could, just because I was blurry, it didn't mean that there was no penetration of their defenses.

Edward's frown and silence told me that he agreed with me. Though I knew he would never say it aloud, it would be admitting that there was a strong chance we would have to fight, and an even stronger chance that I would have to fight. Something i knew he didn't want to think about. Edward picked up my hand and headed towards the door solemnly, I could hear all of the vampires being called to order downstairs . . . this would be interesting.

When we arrived in the dining room, the family had taken up their usual seats, but Edward and I were left standing and lining the walls with the rest of the vampires circling the table. All of our guests looked skeptical about what was coming, they were here for various reasons and we knew that some where here simply as a favor, others for personal vendetta's against the Volturi. No matter what the reason, their silence now was poignant. Carlisle and Demetri stood from their seats at the head of the table. Silence fell upon the room.

"I would like to thank you all for coming." Carlisle started, his eyes wandering around the group. "I know that this is a lot to ask, but we're hoping that violence on our parts will not be necessary. Those of you who know me are aware that I would never ask this of you, it's only our desperation that has me going against my better judgment. As Bella, Alice and Demetri have already explained, the Volturi have threatened my family because we possess something they want. If I am being completely honest, most of have noticed their tyrannical rule as they have conquered over the centuries and yet we have turned a blind eye to it, believing in some way it will never effect us."

There was a light murmur moving around the large group as they too admitted that they had ignored the every growing dictatorship. I was amazed at the guilt some of them wore, it was their job to defend covens, if they had attempted this without the mutiny of Marcus, Demetri and their men, they would have been obliterated. whereas I understood their guilt, I believed it was unnecessary.

"I know many of you have, like us, abided by the rules of their leadership, and have believed the propaganda they consistently feed us. I would never have involved myself with them intentionally, but I would like to believe if any of you had called on us to ask what we are asking of you, I would have agreed."

Edward's arm tightened around me, and I looked up at him briefly. His eyes were on our father at the head of the table.

"Bella, the newest member of our family still has living relatives, relatives that knew nothing of our existence, and would have never known about it had it not been for the Volturi. They deliberately told her father and murdered a good friend of ours to provoke us, they kidnapped Bella's father and took him to Volterra so we would follow. They told him what they were and then threw their rules in our faces, yet they were the ones who had broken them."

"They gave us a choice, join them, or murder Bella's father. They would not accept responsibility for their actions, and with the help of Demetri, were able to escape they confines of Volterra. They gave us a month, it has only been two weeks and once again they have broken their word, they will be here in a week."

"I know that we have been vague or our plans until now, but we needed to make sure that you all understood, we needed to know that we could trust you, we have been betrayed before and that was not something we wished to be repeated."

"Is it true that some of the guard will be turning mutinous?" asked a tall vampire at the back of the room.

"Yes, not just some of the guard, but Marcus himself. There was a revelation that shifted the tenuous bond he had with Aro and Caius. He is not as power hunger as the rest of the Volturi, he just wants order." Demetri explained.

"What do you need us to do?" asked Daiki, his strong accent making his words annunciated.

"You will not need to fight, I have confidence, that with Bella's ability it will not be necessary. You may, however, feel the need to protect yourselves, you will be targets because of your allegiance with us. Marcus and those who have joined him, will deflect as many attacks as we can, but there may be some who slip through the cracks. We are convinced that those who will break through, will go after Bella."

There was a low chatter that filled the room, to my surprise it was Tanya who spoke. "What are you doing to protect her?"

"I will be by her side the entire time, and the wolves have taken it upon themselves to act as her bodyguards." Edward answered, squeezing me lightly.

"She's also been taking some self defense classes." Emmett chuckled, winking at me.

Edward growled quietly.

"They can't touch me with their abilities, so it's only the physical attacks." I explained to those who looked confused.

"We have a little less than a week to be as prepared as we can be. This could be dangerous, so I understand if any of you would like to leave." Carlisle finished.

"I have but one question, Carlisle." Amun asked, pulling his wife tighter to his side.

"Go ahead, old friend."

"What if this goes wrong? What will happen to us if Marcus and his men lose?"

"We won't lose," Alice said confidently, "I've seen it. The only thing I'm unsure about is Bella, and that's only because she'll be protected by the wolves."

"Aren't your visions subjected to decisions?" Alistair asked in a monotonous voice.

"Yes, but they won't have time to make a collective decision, we have the element of surprise, they never have and never will suspect mutiny amongst their ranks."

"Where will this take place?" asked Garrett, he was stood next to Kate.

"It will have to be here, if we meet them somewhere they will know we've had help." Carlisle answered.

"Of course you have help, you have Alice."

"Aro is being smart, he's been in Alice's mind and has seen how her gift works, he's made no decisions personally. If he realizes we've started watching Sulpicia, he will know immediately that Demetri has betrayed him. He know Alice will be watching him, that is why he gave Sulpicia the power to make decisions." Carlisle voiced.

"So we really shouldn't know that they are heading in this direction, we should be waiting for Aro or Caius to make the decision to come." Edward finished.

"We have discussed this, Carlisle. All of us are willing to stand with you. They used us against you and this is not something that we appreciate. No matter what the outcome is, we will be by your side." Tanya said confidently.

"I too, shall stand with you and your family." Garrett said squeezing Kate's shoulder gently.

Each of the vampires pledged their allegiance to us, some were more hesitant than others, but I could see that each of them were tired of living in fear. Even if they had not been threatened, if they had not been subjected to the unjustified hand of the Volturi, they saw our situation. We had done nothing wrong, nothing to provoke them, we abided by the rules. We, possibly more than the others, were even more inconspicuous because of our diets. Yet we had been targeted because we held something they wanted, they saw us as a tool for domination.

"What should we do until they arrive?" Garrett asked, his hand still on Kate's shoulder.

"We need to build this location to our advantage, we need to find a way to block the South and West routes. The river will need to be inaccessible somehow. We need to pull all of our resources together so we can filter them through to this location like a funnel." Carlisle's finger touched his temple as he thought about our options.

"What about the wolves?" Jasper asked. My head jerked in his direction. "I'm not saying leave them out there, but if they run the perimeter before the Volturi get here, perhaps it will deter them from passing through. They're bound to look for a hole in their defenses."

"It might work," Demetri said thoughtfully. "Caius has a deep fear of the children of the moon. He will immediately associate your friends with them."

"Children of the moon?" I asked, feeling ignorant.

"They're more . . . traditional werewolves. The ones the legends are based on. They are men and women that transform only during the full moon, if they bite you, they will infect you."

"So what are Jacob and his friends?"

"Wolves," Demetri answered, his tone creating the blank feeling that filled the answer. "Each of us should also try and feed, we need all the strength we can get."

All of the vampires nodded in agreement, it seemed as though this was the final word in the meeting, some stood around taking a while, but most dispersed slowly. it took only ten minutes until it was only our family, Tanya's, Garrett and Demetri.

"We should talk to the wolves and let them know what's going on." Edward said quietly, rubbing my arm. "Bella, would you mind calling Jacob? If you could invite him over, it would make it easier to explain."

I nodded, kissed his cheek gently and left the room to retrieve my cell phone. I could still hear them talking when I reached our bedroom where I had left my phone. Edward was concerned because Alice couldn't see my future. The wolves, in such large numbers would be blocking me from her vision. We all knew that, but Edward hated not knowing I would be safe. It was the one major flaw in the entire plan. I was invisible, it was a good and bad thing and my family and new friends had no idea what to do about it.

I let myself fall onto the bed as I dialed Jacob's number, I was tired of analyzing this over and over in my head. I hummed to myself as I listened to the phone ring. I wasn't even sure if he would be home, but it was the only number I had for him.

"Hello?" Billy's gruff voice replaced the ringing in the receiver.

"Hey Billy, it's Bella. Is Jacob around?"

"Sure, Bella."

Billy's hand covered the mic but I could still hear him shouting for Jacob as clearly as he would have if he was stood next to me. I could hear Jacob's heavy foot steps as he approached.

"Hello?" Jacob's deep voice filled the receiver.

"Hey, Jake."

"Hey, Bells. What's going on?"

"Alice saw something . . ." I paused dramatically. "They're coming. We need to go over some things with you, we're letting them come to us and I know Carlisle wanted to talk with you about how to get them cornered. We don't have much time, they'll be here in less than a week. I know it's really short notice, but could you come over today?"

"Sure. Is everyone back?"

"Yeah, I think we got all the people we could." I said knowing how uncomfortable it would be for him with this many vampires hanging around.

"Okay, let me organize some patrols and we'll be right over."

"Thanks, Jake."

"Sure, Sure." He chuckled.

I snapped the phone shut and lay back on the bed, trying, as I hard as I could, to block out any noise coming from the dining room. I didn't want to hear them discussing my safety, I didn't want to put any of them in more danger than they already were. If I could just protect myself . . . I knew I couldn't just yet, I still had so much to learn, I just needed to learn tactics, I would have asked Jake had it not been for all of the mortal enemy crap I had been listening to for the last couple of years. I just knew I had to do something to ease the worry of my safety.

Even if I never used the skills I learnt, it would make this a little easier knowing I could defend myself if it became a necessity. I would have to ask Jasper and Emmett for help. I didn't mind that I had been floored by Emmett this morning, it was actually kind of fun fighting him, knowing that my size was an advantage because I was able to dart around him and escape him, at least I should when I wasn't gaping at my husband like an entranced, love sick puppy.

I decided I would use the expertise available to me, and slid off the bed. We were running out of time and I needed to learn all I could before it ran out completely. I knew Edward had already heard my decision. He had heard every decision I had made over the last couple of months.

I still hadn't relinquished the shield I held over my family, and I was beginning to integrate more of the visitors everyday. It was easier that way, adding one by one it wasn't so draining and it gave me a chance to acclimatize to the expansion.

As I reached the bottom of the stairs Emmett and Jasper were waiting for me and I knew this was courtesy of Edward. He had saved me the trouble of asking them myself. Emmett was wearing his signature grin, whereas Jasper wore a look that expressed hesitance as well as concentration. I imagined he was trying to decipher my emotions.

"Okay, let's get this show on the road." Emmett said, smacking his hand together and rubbing them.

I bit my bottom lip lightly, looked at Jasper and nodded, it seemed he needed more encouragement than Emmett did. Emmett led the way out of the house, I followed and Jasper was behind me, he seemed to be fighting an internal battle, and I was sure I knew why. he was afraid I was doing this for all the reasons and that I would get myself hurt. maybe I was, maybe I wasn't, but it couldn't hurt to learn a few things.

"Are you sure about this, Bella? You're nervous." Jasper asked quietly.

I let out a small laugh before answering him. Hoping to relieve some of the tension. "I'm sure, I think it would be crazy of me not to be nervous. You have seen how intimidating the two of you are, right?"

Jasper laughed at my admission and patted me on the arm gently. "I see your point, especially with being so young to this life."

I grinned and let my eyes travel back to Emmett, he was stood in the middle of the field flexing his muscles. I shook my head and picked up my pace. Jasper kept his speed even with mine.

"Alright Emmett, seeing as you gave her a crash course, in the literal sense, earlier this morning. I think I should start this round, if we make enough progress perhaps we can teach her the finer points of a multiple attack."

"Multiple?"

"It could happen, the Volturi know their strengths and weaknesses, Aro will consider sending his guards in two's to attack you."

I took a deep breath and nodded, the facts were beginning to scare me. I hadn't thought that far ahead, I hadn't looked for the things Aro would or wouldn't do to me, other than the fact that I would be a target because of my gift. I now felt the benefits of having a brother who would look at this in the same terms as the Volturi, he would cover anything I hadn't considered. I watched him as he moved into his position.

"Okay, Bella, take up your stance. Watch everything I do."

I let my body slink into a crouch low to the ground and focused my mind on Jasper. His eyes narrowed as he readied himself for the attack. If I'd had better vision as a human I would have been prepared, but those nights in the field before the newborns tried to attack us, my eyes were weak, it was dark, and I hated watching them training to defend themselves from a situation I had placed them in.

As it was I hadn't seen the ferocity of Jasper, he was lethal looking as he crouched and moved, his amber eyes never left me as he prowled to the right. I watched every movement his body made. Looking for some indication of what direction he would spring in and when he would make his move.

He gave away nothing as he stalked me, His muscles were perfectly still as he watched me, his sudden movement caught me off guard. His body was in the air before I saw a muscle bunch up, I had to shake off the shock of the stealthy attack quickly, he was faster than Emmett and hurtled through the air like a cannonball.

I did the only thing I could do and dropped to the ground, I rolled and followed him with my eyes as he sailed over me with mere inches to spare. I leapt up on to all fours and sprang at him before he had even landed, but he was upright as I came closer, I changed directions but he followed me mid stride. I was over thinking it all. I tried to look at him as my prey and let my body work in it's own primeval method.

Jasper's eyes widened as I made contact, he wrestled me away from him before I could get my teeth close to him, but I had gotten close enough. I imagine with as many bites as he had incurred, he was apt at deferring bites better than most.

I backed away furtively, never taking my eyes from my brother. I could see a small smile dancing playfully on his lips. I didn't want to distract myself enough to ask him why, I just let my body take control. Jasper nodded once, never taking his eyes from me. He was signaling Emmett to join in. Was I ready for that?

I could hear Emmett's movements behind me and I closed my eyes. I could hear Jasper's slight figure as he launched forwards, I could hear Emmett's large feet hitting the ground lightly behind me. There were at almost precise distances from me I was directly central to their attacks.

I could think of only one thing to do, and I had no idea whether it would work, math was never my strong point in school, and I had seconds alone to figure the moment of arrival, and calculate the extended arms into the equation. I could hear the pounding of their feet as the approached quickly, closer, closer, closer.

Then there was a third set of feet, and a ragged heartbeat, someone else was here and they were approaching a lot quicker than Jasper and Emmett. My eyes fluttered open and I saw the large Russet beast launch into the air. I cringed and waited for contact. What the hell was Jacob doing?

A/N: Sorry Brick Wall Emmett Cullen ;D . . . Okay so in the words of muse 'Time is Running Out' The Volturi are on their way. Things are getting exciting, I am trying to get the chapters ahead like I had been doing but to be honest, I am barely half a chapter ahead at the moment, but everything is still planned out in the head.

Wasn't the new Twilight trailer awesome, I cannot wait.

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