Chapter Thirty Nine

Aro

Felix had reported in and it seemed my brothers were not in control of The Major after all, at least not when the girl was around. Considering this I suggested that we might hold the upper hand if we had control of the girl but Felix pointed out that gaining control of her might be more difficult than controlling him.

"She has a powerful gift Aro, I'm still monitoring the situation and we aren't the only ones to think of that, she's almost killed Garrett and Peter Whitlock, the only person who seems to be able to get close apart from The Major is her father, Chief Swan."

"But you said she's still changing."

"I know, she's doing it automatically. It's creepy. If you want the girl then we're going to need to control her father."

"Is it possible to reach him?"

"If he moves away from her but at the moment he's surrounded by Carlisle, Edward, Garrett and Peter Whitlock."

"Then I suggest we need The Major to make an appearance, that should move them on."

"As long as he chases them, he could stay with the girl."

"No, so long as she is unconscious I doubt her effect on him is strong enough to overcome his compulsion to obey orders, besides he can see she is protected and doesn't need him. If he appears and I suspect he will, chasing the Cullens then you must take control of her father, you might be able to persuade him that his and his daughters best option would be to have my protection, if Caius and Marcus find him then they will kill him. Make sure he understands that."

"I'll do my best Aro."

I decided to see how much of recent events my brothers were aware and went to find them, as usual, they were closeted together in Caius study and looked surprised and unhappy to see me but Caius soon had his expression under control.

"Aro, it's been a while. Have you come for news of the Cullens?"

"Dear brothers as you are in control of the situation it seemed the sensible thing to do."

They both looked at me suspiciously,

"Are you sure you don't have your own spy on the ground?"

"Why? Should I have? Surely things are going just as you planned them, after all, you have control of The Major so what could possibly go wrong?"

They exchanged an uneasy glance and I pressed on,

"Or is there something wrong?"

Caius sneered but it wasn't entirely convincing,

"Of course not, why should there be? The Major is following orders."

"It seems to be taking longer than I would have expected."

"He has a lot to do, your precious Cullens aren't the only targets on his list dear brother."

"Oh really? Are you using him to clear away up all troublemakers then?"

"Some, Aro, some yes, but as soon as we have word that he has killed the Cullens we will be sure to inform you."

"Thank you, Marcus, I thought perhaps you would although it is such a pity, Carlisle was one of us once and now..."

Caius did not allow me to finish, his hatred for Carlisle flashing in his eyes as he spoke.

"And now he has become a danger, consorting closely with humans not to mention his coven which is much too large to be safe."

"Of course, how silly of me, a coven of six must be terribly threatening to you both."

The hiss of anger from the two of them as I turned my back and left brought a grin to my face, how hard they were struggling to hide the fact they had lost control of The Major. I wondered just how long it would be before they were forced to admit as much to me.

I waited a few moments knowing they wouldn't be able to contain their irritation and sure enough Caius only gave it long enough for me to walk the length of the corridor before the outburst came.

"He knows Marcus, did you see the amusement in his eyes?"

"Calm yourself, Caius, how could he possibly know? All the guards are accounted for, we know Felix is in Paris dealing with the nomads causing trouble there and he is the only one who might have aided Aro. Our dear brother is just trying to wind us up, besides The Major is back on track now, he's killed most of the Vânătoriand the majority of the Quileute pack, next on his list are the Cullens and he only just missed them at the airport."

"I feel better knowing we have eyes on the situation, at least Demetri is one hundred per cent loyal to the Volturi."

So, they had Demetri watching The Major, well that was interesting, Felix hadn't mentioned him but then he wouldn't feel the need to until they met up. Oh yes, brothers, Demetri is loyal to the Volturi but the Volturi as far as he is concerned starts and ends with me not the two pathetic excuses for brothers who tried to plot against me now. It would be easier for Felix to snatch the girl if he had help and Demetri was headed his way. My brothers would have been wiser remembering just who ran the Volturi before launching a coup that would ultimately see them dead or enslaved by Chelsea. She was my next call and then my dear wife and her friend, Athenadora. I wondered what they might think once they knew what Caius and Marcus had planned for their good friend Carlisle!

Felix

I felt The Major's presence long before I saw him, even the wildlife was silent, cowering in the presence of such a predator and Garrett and Peter felt it and looked around warily. That's it little birds I thought fly away before the hawk swoops and tears you to pieces.

"He's here."

Carlisle's head snapped up eyes wide with apprehension,

"Are you sure?"

Garrett nodded while Peter took a few steps backward,

"You need to get out of here fast Carlisle, if he finds you with her he'll see you as a threat and kill you even more quickly. Come on."

Carlisle turned to look at the human,

"What about Charlie, come on, you have to leave with us."

He shook his head still holding the weed burner,

"I'm not leaving my daughter, besides I'm safe enough, she's protecting me."

"You don't know how long that will last Charlie. Please."

Her father was stubborn and in the end, Garrett grabbed Carlisle by the arm and wrenched him backward headed for the track out and Edward followed almost running in fear before they were out of sight. Peter hesitated to look at the girl but in the end, even he understood he would die if he stayed and he followed the others leaving the human and her father alone in the clearing.

I had a few minutes at most so I ran from my hiding place to the clearing to face the father with his weapon raised ready to defend himself.

"Who the hell are you?"

He was intimidated by my size, all humans were, but he stood his ground which was something I needed to change.

"The Major will kill you if he finds you here and I promise you that your weapons will not deter him, he's faced worse over the centuries."

"What about you? Have you come for my daughter too?"

"No, actually..."

He had moved a few feet forward to pick up the grenade that Carlisle had left on the ground giving me my opening,

"I came for you"

I snatched him up and ran as fast as I could away from the girl but in the opposite direction to the others knowing they would be The Majors' first concern. He would smell their scent and recognize them as quarry while I would hopefully be recognized merely as a Volturi observer, after all, he must know his actions would be monitored.

Charlie

I cursed my own stupidity in moving beyond Bella's protection, now I was a prisoner and I had no idea who this man mountain was, could he be Volturi? He was a vampire, so not a hunter, and if he'd been a nomad surely he would have attacked on sight not held back until we were alone. I had given him a weapon to use against Bella if he was Volturi although didn't they want her dead?

Of course, killing her wasn't going to be easy, not with her gift, so they would use me to get to her. I had to think of a way out of this situation before they could do so, I refused to be the one responsible for her death even if I had to sacrifice my own to ensure she lived.

We ran at blinding speed for a good ten minutes before this giant of a man slowed and put me down holding me in place with one huge hand on my shoulder as he listened carefully. Was he afraid we might have been followed? Was he also afraid of The Major? If so that guy must really be something.

When he relaxed I knew we were on our own,

"He's not coming after us then?"

He turned his head slowly to look at me,

"If he was I'd rip your arms off and leave you as a distraction."

That brought back an image of Richard, mutilated and left as a distraction for The Major when we caught up with Bella and The Major before. Had this vampire been there? Was he the one responsible for Richard's death?

"What are you going to do with me? Who are you?"

"Felix Volturi and I intend using you to persuade your daughter to help Aro save the Cullens and show the brothers for the imbeciles they really are."

"But it was the Volturi who sent The Major after the Cullens and my daughter in the first place, wasn't it?"

"Two of the brothers did, not the third, not Aro. He wants to save the Cullens and Bella."

"Why? So he can use her like you use The Major?"

"Not exactly, The Major is a special case and only used in this way when there is no other alternative. Your daughter protected you back there and I'm sure she will be willing to do so again."

"And you think I'd allow that? I don't think so."

I pulled out the hunting knife I carried in my pocket and drew it swiftly across my wrist before he realized my intentions and stopped me. I knew spilling my blood in the presence of this vampire was a death sentence, in fact, I was banking on it.

However, I was to be disappointed, he merely cursed and grabbed my wrist squeezing it tightly enough to stop the flow of blood.

"That was a stupid move, stupid but brave."

He ripped the sleeve off my jacket without any effort at all and bound up my wrist.

"That'll have to hold for a little while but it means we need to leave the area quickly. The Major isn't the only animal to be drawn to the scent of blood. You could find yourself looking up into the eyes of a hungry wolf or grizzly bear if you were alone but as it is you just have a very angry vampire to concern yourself with."

"How can you resist the scent of fresh blood?"

I smiled down at him,

"I've been a vampire for centuries, I can resist anything and that my friend is what makes me so dangerous, come on."

He slung me over his shoulder keeping a grip on my bandaged wrist and began to run again. I realized I had no idea where he was taking me only that I would be leverage against Bella if I couldn't find another way to kill myself first.

Sorry there have been no updates for two weeks. I hope to get back to normal by next weekend. Love Jules xx