Chapter Thirty Five

Peter

The thought of Bella and The Major alone in the barn freaked me out but as Charlotte put it what choice did we have? At least it seemed she could look after herself and that was a shock. I was beginning to like this Bella Swan just a little.

"Say nothing to the others. Charlotte, you and Faith stay here and watch what's happening. Garrett you and I are going to persuade our guests to leave. There are too many fucking people here and its making me nervous."

He and I walked up to the house to find Alice and Edward sitting on the porch watching us.

He stood up looking at me with narrowed eyes,

"Where's Bella?"

"She's fine, with Char and Faith. We have things under control for now and I think it would be better if you left, all of you. Who knows, you might find your good doctor if you look hard enough and its pretty clear Bella doesn't want her here."

I gestured at Alice who scowled,

"We get the message Peter but just remember we got her here safe."

"You just remember you got her in danger to start with, now fuck off before I lose my temper."

They didn't need much persuasion and I wondered if Alice was up to something but Esme and the other two were less eager to go.

"I think I should stay here for Bella. She needs some security in this awful situation."

"Fine I'll buy her a fucking mace spray but I want you out of here. And you..."

I pointed to Emmett,

"Have a fucking great target on your chest. If he gets free he'll go straight for you. Take your mate and get as far as you can away from here. If you're scared stick together with the other two. I have a sneaky suspicion the witch is up to something. Maybe she's seen the Romanians coming."

"Romanians?"

"Yeah, Charlotte's niece has been fucking about with Stefan so things could get really interesting here as soon as he tracks her down. Now do you want a part of that?"

Esme swallowed hard then shook her head,

"No, they're almost as bad as the Volturi."

"Wrong, they're worse. They just don't have the same fucking manpower."

Alice

I'd seen the Romanians coming and that's one reason I wanted to leave the ranch but there was another, just as compelling. I'd seen Carlisle, alive and with Aro Volturi. He had sold us out so Aro would make him whole again and I for one wasn't prepared to pay the price. Edward could come or go as he wished but I was running. Demetri might find me one day but even that was preferable to waiting for Jasper to wake up and kill me. The whole thing was suddenly my fault and I had no idea how that had happened.

Inside I found Edward, Rose, and Emmett ready to leave but Esme was being stubborn, well more fool her although she was probably the only safe one among us. Aro didn't want her, she was no good to the Romanians and she was probably the only one Jasper wouldn't associate with his pain or Bella's.

"Well are we ready? I'm going back to the house. Edward?"

"I'm with you."

I smiled, there was safety in numbers,

"Rose? Em?"

"We'll go with you to the airport but I think we'll stay away from Forks, if Jazz gets loose he'll go looking for me and I'd rather not be torn limb from limb."

"OK. Esme?"

She shook her head,

"I'm staying for now. I need to see Jasper myself. You go and stay safe. If you find Carlisle tell him...well tell him not to come looking for me"

So Esme had turned on Carlisle but it was interesting she knew he was still alive. Did she suspect he might have called on his old friend? I thought she did but she wasn't saying, at least not for now.

Edward and I dropped Rose and Emmett at the airport and although she was more than happy to get her mate away from possible danger he was still feeling guilty for his part in Jaspers downfall which was quite funny really. He had walked blindly into it and now he might end up losing his life for doing what he thought was a good deed. Well I wasn't the only evil one in this little party although everyone else seemed to conveniently forget that. Still I had Edward with me so that made up to a certain extent for the hostility of the others.

"What are you planning on doing Alice?"

"I want my things Edward, I'm not starting over but then you and I need to vanish for a while."

"Vanish? Because of Jasper?"

"No dear brother, because Carlisle is still alive and he's called on his old friend for help."

"You mean Aro?"

"Exactly and Aro will be looking for payback. To save his friend he'll exact a price and you know who he'll be looking for...you and me. He's always wanted us so we have to stay one step ahead."

"How do you stay one step ahead of Demetri Alice?"

"By being spontaneous dear brother, by not making plans and moving as the whim takes us. This isn't over yet. They haven't got Jasper under control, they are just hanging on to him but he'll get loose mark my words and Aro will have something else to occupy his forces, hunting down The Major. We can use the time wisely, now where first after Forks? You choose this time and I'll choose next, it's going to be fun Edward so stop sulking, you were never going to get Bella back surely you knew that?"

"You don't have to rub it in Alice but I can't believe Carlisle would just hand us over to Aro. What did you mean by make him whole again?"

"The Major did a number on him, just the first round I think. He took Carlisle's most necessary tools away. His hands and his eyes. Now come on or we'll miss our flight."

Edward was too shocked to speak for a long time. Had he really not believed how dangerous the situation was? I thought he was living under the illusion that Jasper would knock us around a little, maybe even hurt or change Bella then sit down and make friends again, he really was an ass at times. I knew I would have to watch him, he would try contacting Carlisle which in itself wasn't a problem, it was how he went about it. Phone calls could be traced so I would have to help him there. He wanted reassurance his sire was safe but what he didn't fully understand because he'd never stopped to think about it was the real reason behind all our troubles, the root cause of it all. Carlisle was in love with his son, his first born and he would do anything to help him, to avenge his hurts. I knew my brother would be horrified to learn this because Edward loved Bella and always would, Carlisle was no more than the vampire who had changed him and given him a father figure, poor Carlisle, he would never win his hearts desire.

I let Edward to arrange the hire car in Seattle while I made a few enquiries of my own. Stella, my eyes in Volterra, told me that neither Aro nor his most trusted guard were in residence, so he was here. She had heard rumours of trouble with Carlisle Cullen but couldn't give me any details, so Aro was keeping it quiet, probably hoping not to scare us off. I told Edward what I'd found out as he drove home,

"We have to find Carlisle and speak to Aro. He knows we don't want to live in Italy or join the guard. If he's set on having us work for him we can do it just as well from here."

"Edward, you don't make deals with the devil, you do as he says. If he wants you in Italy you'll end up there. I'm not going so you decide for yourself and by the way we'll contact Carlisle together so there are no slip ups. We do not want Aro to trace the call, understood?"

"Understood. Don't you think its unwise to go back home? Surely Aro will have someone watching the place"

"Oh I don't think so, he only has a certain amount of guard with him and if he senses danger, like The Major, he'll want to keep it close. Besides who would be crazy enough to return to the one place they might be expected to be found? Reverse psychology dear brother, hide in plain view. Now come on put your foot down."