Chapter Forty Four

Aro

It was time to take that final step but first I needed to speak to Marcus. He had to be in on the plan if it had any chance of success.

I found him, as usual, down in the archives bent over a document which he was studying intently but he put it aside as I approached and stood up.

"Aro, it's not often that I am graced by your presence down here. To what do I owe this pleasure?"

I waved him back down and sat opposite, lifting the document unthinkingly and glancing at it. It was a historical document about the children of the moon.

Puzzled I looked up, "They are almost all destroyed. Why would you bother to study them?"

"While a single child of the moon survives it pays to know them. And of course, I have the time for such things. But you didn't come down here to discuss my studies, or did you?"

"In a manner of speaking, Marcus. I need to speak to you, but it must be in strict secrecy."

He leaned back frowning, "I see. If it is something secret then shouldn't Caius be here? I thought we had no secrets from one another?"

"This is something that needs to stay between the two of us. It is very sensitive."

He stood up suddenly and began to pace the area from bookcase to bookcase.

"I don't like the sound of this. We have never kept secrets from one another and it concerns me that we should begin now."

I sighed, I'd wondered if Marcus would prove difficult and it seemed he was.

"Marcus, do you remember Sara and Darius?"

He stopped dead, staring at me as if I were mad.

"Of course I do. How could I forget? How could any of us forget what happened? Caius should have been executed as a murderer and rapist but he always managed to slip between the cracks. If Didyme had still been alive she would never have allowed you to protect him as you did."

Marcus was right, my dear departed sister would have killed him herself rather than allowing him to get away with his crimes. That, of course, was the other event that I regretted but it was one I would carry with me until the end of time. Unable to put it right and aware of all the terrible things I had been forced to do in order to keep it's secret. But for now, I had more important things I needed to think about.

"You've gone very quiet, Aro."

"I'm sorry Marcus. For a moment I was reliving the past."

"Then I'm glad I do not have to live inside your head."

We exchanged a glance and not for the first time I wondered if my brother held any suspicions about who had ordered his wife's, my sister's, death.

I explained my visit to the Cullens briefly and although Marcus was a very solitary and insular figure he did seem interested in Megan.

"She must be a very remarkable child to have persuaded Sulpicia to help her."

"She is, and perhaps one day you will meet her. I issued an open invitation to her and her parents to visit when they feel able."

"So what exactly is it that you want me to do? I take it I do have some part in this plan of yours?"

"Of course, it could not go ahead with any chance of success without your input."

"I see. You want me to plant false evidence for Caius to find?"

"It would help if you would."

"With anyone else, I would say impossible but with Darius… Well, he is a most elusive man and I am not of a mind to track him for Caius. He does have his own spies of course, but they are hardly the best."

"So, you think it is possible?"

"It is, although if anyone but you had asked me and if it had been anyone but Caius I would have refused point-blank."

Relief flooded through me as I thanked Marcus. I then informed him of the plan the Major had laid out and waited for his reaction.

"It's actually very good. Caius knows the two are friends. He knows Darius would probably not help anyone else and the Quileute guardians are a powerful and dangerous pack. Yes, I think it might work. Caius hasn't inquired after Darius for a long time. I think he more or less gave up hoping that he would ever be free to leave Volterra. Also, although Darius sends our brother timely reminders there has not been one for about a decade so he is overdue. This might be explained by his sudden death, but how did we discover the details? I can hardly come up with such a story without a credible source."

"How about Johnny H himself? You know we've been in negotiations with the guardians regarding the fate of the last of the children of the moon. He wants them under his protection and, in exchange, he is offering a truce regarding nomads so long as they do not hunt on or near native American reservations. Maybe he told me in a gesture of peace and goodwill for the talks."

Marcus considered that.

"I guess if you were to bring it up at our next council meeting that might work. I could conjure up a few reports of rumors from scouts. Nothing definite of course. Even snatches of conversation overheard between the Quileutes from a spy of ours. Caius wouldn't question why I never told him anything or why he didn't hear it from his own people. Not when he discovered the original source."

He sat back down and idly picked up a quill, tapping it on the desk before him.

Then he looked up once more.

"Of course, none of this will work if anyone sees Darius. Caius only needs to hear a whisper of a sighting and he'll stick his head in his hole and not listen to anyone. Had you thought of that? It's not easy to vanish completely if someone is really looking for you. He might well ask Demetri for help in tracking his enemy and if Demetri senses Darius is alive, it's over."

I looked at him for a long time. I'd almost forgotten how good it was to be planning an important manoeuvre with my brother. I saw so little of him these days. Since he took control of the archives he spent almost all his time down here making only a cursory appearance at council meetings because it was expected and necessary. Was it really Didyme's death that had brought him to this or was part of it my fault for forcing him to accept my decision regarding Darius?

He had spoken vehemently against it at the time and almost come to blows with Caius. Marcus swum in very deep waters and there was much I still did not understand about him even now after all these centuries together.

It made me yearn for the old days when the three of us had been so close, with one goal, to destroy the Romanians, seize control and show them how our kind should really be ruled.

Marcus had drive and vision and I had needed him, even more than Caius, the young upstart who had impressed me with his zeal and determination. Perhaps Marcus had been right all along. He had once told me that Caius was a dangerous liability who needed watching, but I had brushed aside the warnings. Only when it was too late did I discover Marcus was right and then I was forced to protect him. Now, however, Caius would learn the true consequences of his actions and God help him when he did.

Caius Volturi

There was something going on. I knew it as soon as I walked into the council chamber and saw Marcus there ahead of me. Marcus rarely dragged himself in before the meeting started and then he would take his seat, lean back and look both bored and depressed at being away from his beloved archives.

Both watched me as I walked across the room to join them at the table and as I sat down I noticed that there was a large file in front of Aro but nothing before Marcus or myself.

"Have I missed something? No notes, no agenda? I thought we were here to discuss the current problem with nomads in Mexico and if we were going to ask Maria to step in."

Aro smiled coldly,

"We are dear brother but something had come up which supersede that. Something I know you will be especially interested in."

"Oh? If it's something important shouldn't Sulpicia and Athena be here?"

"Well, we could invite them, but Marcus and I thought this business would be best conducted without the women present bearing in mind it's sensitivity."

I frowned, my brothers were being very cryptic.

"Very well, I'm now intrigued. Shall we begin?"

I listened as Aro explained that he had been in contact with Johnny H. Personally I thought we should never have begun talks with the guardians. Who held talks with their deadliest enemies? They were no better than the children of the moon. The mutants they were trying to save, or at least those I hadn't already hunted to extinction.

I was becoming bored knowing that neither of my brothers were willing to see my side of things, but then I heard a name that snapped my attention back to the present.

"Darius? What the hell has he got to do with anything?"

Aro nodded, "Yes, I thought that might catch your attention, Caius."

I listened intently as he explained what Johnny H had told him.

"And you believed him? The guardians are liars. He'd say anything he thought might give him an advantage."

"Yes, he might well do so. In order to rule out that possibility, I asked Marcus to check with all his sources and use his computer skills to look for any cyber footprints."

I turned my attention to Marcus, "And what did you discover dear brother?"

Marcus leaned forward directing my attention to the pile of files on the desk.

"That is the result of my searches including reports from Volturi spies, nomads, and my own computer work."

I waved them away impatiently, this could mean the end of my enforced imprisonment in this accursed citadel and I had no intention of spending hours wading through paperwork.

"Just give me the short version."

"No one has heard from or seen Darius in over three years. I have scoured the internet, including the dark web where Darius conducts most of his work and found no sign of him for over three years."

"Three years? Why did nobody notice this sooner?"

Had I been stuck here three years too long already?

"No one was actively looking for him, not even your spies it would appear."

I pushed the files to the center of the desk.

"And you both believe this story? I've seen Darius in action, I'm not sure I believe that a pack of guardians could take out him, especially not if he was with the Major."

"I admit, Marcus and I thought the same until we received this."

Aro slipped a sheet of paper out of his pocket and slipped it across the table towards me.

I snatched it up, unfolded it and discovered it was a fax from a Mexican nomad called Josue. I had heard of him, he had given us reliable information on other occasions.

It said that he had been in Washington state, hunting in the Olympic range and had come across a group of young Native Americans. As he knew he was close to a guardian reservation he hid and waited for them to leave.

Whilst in hiding he heard part of a conversation which concerned something that had happened a couple of years earlier involving the Cullens and the wolf pack.

Written down was a report of what he had heard. That the Major and Darius had gone to the Cullen house and while there had run into one of the pack looking for someone called Bella. There was a stand off because of some treaty but the rest of the pack arrived and while the Major was doing something that stopped him from defending himself the majority of the pack focused on Darius and overwhelmed him by sheer weight of numbers. The Major got away although he had been badly injured. Not that it meant anything, he recovered but they burned Darius.

I noticed my hands were shaking. Everything pointed to the veracity of the story. Darius was dead. I was finally free after all these years. I could get out of this Godforsaken hole and see the world again. Be the man I was always meant to be. I could even take Athena for a holiday, but then again would I want to? There were so many other delights to savor that it would be a waste taking my wife with me. She would understand that I wanted to make sure it was safe before taking her anywhere and it would take some time to be absolutely sure.

I looked over at Aro, then at Marcus, wanting this to be true so much that I could taste it.

"Do you believe this?"

"Yes, we do. Marcus has spent much time checking its veracity and we have talked it over. It would seem you are finally free Caius. How does that feel?"

What a stupid fucking question!

"How do I feel? I've been stuck here for centuries. How do you think I feel?"

"So, what do you plan on doing?"

I stood up smiling broadly, "Doing? Getting the hell out of here."

Even as I walked out of the room a small voice nagged at me, was I sure about this? Could I gamble my life on it? Darius had tried things over the centuries to fool me, would he go this far?

There was one last check I could make. It meant a short trip with that's attendant risk but it was a risk worth taking. I would visit the oracle, if Darius was still alive she would know. He couldn't hide from her, no one could.

Athena was shocked when I told her that I was taking a short trip and annoyed that I refused to tell her where I was going or why I refused to take her with me. Ignoring her tirade I rang down to the garage for a car and driver then called Felix to furnish me with three of the guard for security.

Again, I was met by amazement and why not? I haven't stepped foot outside this accursed place for centuries. Even a car journey was a novelty, Oh I intended to make up for my endless imprisonment now I was finally free. No, make that IF I were finally free.

The oracle was only a short drive away but the bitch refused or said she could not do a reading without having the subject physically present. She would have me there in the flesh very shortly. Let's hope she had good news for me. Oh God, let this news be correct.