Chapter Forty Six

Sulpicia

Did they really think I was going to sit back and let my husband's murderer go free dictating to the Volturi what it could and could not do? This wasn't the same Volturi my husband and I had formed with Marcus centuries before, this was a joke! I knew Caius felt as I did but I didn't trust him, his motives were clear, he wanted Aro's throne, the problem was that he was not worthy, Caius was a fool who allowed his emotions and his prick to rule him. No, if I was going to get justice and revenge I would need help, reliable help, and there was only one person I trusted in Volterra now Aro was dead, one person with the outside contacts to make revenge possible, I just had to hope she and her friends would be prepared to work with me.

I went to find her relieved that another fishing trip was not planned for a few days, it would give me time to persuade her to help or if that was not necessary then the trip would give her the ideal opportunity to set things in motion, there were too many eyes and ears inside the citadel to make it safe to plan anything. Secrets here were extremely hard to keep.

Luckily I was able to invite Heidi to my suite while Athena was busy scheming to overthrow Marcus with her louse of a husband. We put some music on and spoke very quietly although up here at the top of the tower we were fairly safe from eavesdroppers, Aro had made sure of that, he didn't want anyone overhearing our conversations, even the guards were stationed outside the building.

I explained what I wanted to do and asked her if she was willing to help me.

"I know you still have contacts outside the Volturi, I remember you telling me that Victoria ran with some nomads, do you think she'll help?"

"I think so if we make it worth her while, her mate is a good tracker and the other male in their group is an excellent fighter. What exactly do you want to do?"

"I want everyone involved with The Major dead, but the woman and child he is involved with I want to suffer. Your friends can have the woman but I want the child alive. She's gifted so it's only fair we have her to replace one of the gifts he murdered."

"What will you do with her? It's still a crime to change a child."

"I'll keep her here until she's old enough to change, Chelsea will make her loyal to me, her mother may be a shield but she's not. You might want to warn Victoria about the woman's gift although I doubt it will protect her from physical assault and I do hope they make her suffer. The Cullens won't be much of a problem, they aren't fighters and of course, I'd like it kept quiet until it's all over, let Caius and Athena think they stand a chance at my husband's throne, it will be even more fun to see their disappointment when they learn the truth."

"What about Marcus?"

"What about him? He's a coward, the centuries have diminished his fire, maybe he'll decide to join Didyme in the great beyond but if not I can work with him. We'll keep it to ourselves for now though. Keep me informed Heidi and if this works out there will be something in it for you, I quite like the idea of an all-female ruling council, don't you? The Volturi sisters, it has a certain ring to it."

I'm not the most patient of people so it was a good thing that Heidi managed to speak to her friend while on her fishing trip and came back with Victoria's reply and once dinner was over she joined me in my suite once more. Unfortunately Athena was there when she arrived and for a while I thought she would never go but then Caius appeared and told her he wanted to take a walk which meant he wanted to speak to her in private and that was fine by me, besides I had my own spies in the citadel so I would be informed of their conversation soon enough.

Once we were alone I turned to Heidi,

"Well? Is it good news?"

"It took a little persuasion, Victoria's mate isn't a fan of the Volturi but he does enjoy a challenge and trying to find a human who can hide from vampires is right up his street. They'll help but they want something in return, it seems James has a few black marks against him, he knows the Volturi were watching him because he got sloppy, he started playing games with his victims and there were a couple of awkward situations he had to clean up quickly. He wants his slate wiped clean and $500,000 dollars for an RV he has his eye on."

"An RV?"

"I think Victoria wants a home and James likes to travel so it's a compromise. Are you interested enough?"

"Tell him he can have his clean slate and his money provided he hands the child over and I see visual proof that the woman suffered before her death."

"I'll let him know but he's going to want half up front and a written promise regarding the slate."

"Pass me that writing paper and a pen, I'll do it now and he can have a quarter now, half when I get the child and the remaining quarter when I see the bitch squirming in agony."

Heidi promised to courier the paper and money to James and his friends the next day and I sat back imagining the woman's agony when she saw her child snatched from her arms and heard their fate. Marcus might be prepared to take action eventually but I wanted revenge now and to hell with it being a dish best served cold.

I suppose I expected too much, I waited impatiently for two days and then three but heard nothing so I went to find Heidi only to run into Marcus on my way.

"Sulpicia, how fortuitous, I was coming to speak with you. Come, let's take a walk in the gardens."

He led me out through a set of French doors into the sunlit courtyard and gestured for me to join him as he strolled around the fountain looking at the pink and red water lilies.

"They are so beautiful, I think I like them more than roses or Calla lilies."

Impatient to be gone I sighed,

"Please tell me you didn't come looking for me to discuss the merits of flowers?"

He smiled and chuckled,

"So unlike my own sweet Didyme who loved flowers and walking in the sunshine. You should relax Sulpicia, learn to appreciate nature."

"I do appreciate it, Marcus, just not at the moment. I'm still grieving for my dead husband, remember him?"

"Of course, Aro was my closest friend, I too am grieving but I think you do more than grieve. What are you planning Sulpicia?"

I tried to look and sound innocent as I answered him,

"Me? Nothing, why? Has someone accused me of planning something?"

"Should they? Perhaps I should ask Heidi, the two of you seem very close these days."

"Heidi is a friend, one who understands the way I feel."

"Unlike me I suppose? You think I was wrong to veto action against The Major even though I only deferred it."

"I believe in an eye for an eye Marcus. That beast killed my husband and destroyed our best gifts yet you seem happy to allow him to call the shots."

"I believe in revenge too but I think we should be cautious, as you say we have lost some valuable gifts, do you want to put more at risk? Or are you thinking of sending your very own army to kill him?"

"Army? You make him sound like it would take an army to destroy him and no, I do not have a secret army hidden away Marcus."

"No, neither does Caius but you both have contacts in the world and so, I believe, does Heidi. Oh don't look so shocked, I was there when Heidi was recruited and I make it my business to keep an eye on anyone we allow to live and go free. Heidi's coven sister Victoria has interested me, she was so determined not to join us yet she joins forces with a man even more ruthless than the Volturi, curious don't you think? Of course, such a gifted man as James could be very useful if you were looking for someone who can hide themselves from vampires."

"I have no idea where you got such an outlandish idea, Marcus."

"From Heidi of course, you really should be more careful when picking your spies, Heidi keeps nothing from me just as she kept nothing from Aro, you should have known that however, as it turns out I am perfectly happy for you to continue with your scheming, who knows Victoria and James might just pull it off, I assume there is more to your plan than simply killing The Major? Be careful Sulpicia, you could find yourself raising a sleeping tiger."

"I will, Marcus, but thank you for your concern. If I need your help I will be sure to give you a call but if you'll excuse me I have things to do."

Having Marcus watching everything I did was annoying but he wasn't going to stop me or tell the rest of the council so I was going ahead and gave Heidi the OK to set Victoria and her friends on the trail of the humans and The Major although my main concern was the woman and her child, if I got my hands on them I could bring The Major to me or make him suffer as I had suffered as Aro had suffered and I would bring him to an understanding of just how dangerous it was to stand against the Volturi, monster or no monster.

Victoria

James was bored and when he was bored he became reckless putting all three of us in danger so I was relieved to hear from Heidi and took the mission straight to the others. Laurent disliked the idea of working for the Volturi but he would go along because James wanted to and I owed Heidi, my old coven mate. She had covered for us in the past keeping us below the Volturi radar and now I had the opportunity to pay her back. I explained the problem to James but he was so sure of his own gift as a tracker he was convinced he could find the woman and child especially as Demetri had been able to give Heidi some information about them and where to begin the search.

It proved ridiculously simple to find them in the end, all we had to do was travel to Minnesota and there she was, the woman, looking sad and beautiful standing over her husband's grave. The only problem was that there was no sign of the child and it had been stressed that the child was the most important part of the deal. No child, the pay was cut by half and I wanted that money. I was sick and tired of forever moving around and having to find places to stay, I wanted a bed and a shower of my own. Somewhere I could kick off my boots and lie stretched out to watch TV for a while or make love to my mate in a really comfortable and clean bed.

James wanted to go ahead and take the woman but I talked him out of it, wait until the child showed up, watch what was going on, check out the vampires around her, the Cullen's, and if possible discover where The Major was as he hadn't shown his face so far. We knew he was sick or out of control or both and I wanted to know where he was and what condition he was in. If he was sick it would make our task much safer and easier and I was happy to lower the odds against us as much as possible. Luckily Laurent was on my side, he didn't want to fight the monster he had heard so many scary stories about any more than I did, The idea was to live to enjoy our fee.

So, I went after the funeral party making sure to stay well back and spoke to a couple of the townsfolk who were hanging around outside the cemetery making out I was a friend of the dead man that his wife hadn't known about and had wanted to pay my respects in secret. There were always those who love to gossip especially if there was any scandal involved and I soon found out about Bella's boyfriend and his mother and the arguments over the daughter's absence from the service.

"She's off with more of his family, really upset the older folks on both stayed at a hotel out of town when they found out Steven's mother and Bella's parents, well stepmom actually, were staying in town."

It was all I needed to know and I melted back into the shadows leaving the gossips to tell Bella or someone in her party about a stranger asking questions. She might be curious but if her husband had been playing around she probably wouldn't come looking for me and if she did, well we'd take her before she realized she was in danger and find the kid later.