Chapter Twenty Seven
Jasper
We stood watching the RV from our vantage point and it felt comfortable. Like having Peter by my side. Felix understood what needed doing and got on with it. He didn't need any orders from me.
As we waited he reached into a pocket and took something from it, studying it closely.
"What's that?"
He grinned and held out a small plastic case containing several silver balls. The base of the case had indentations in it.
"I found it years ago. It helps my concentration. It's not as easy as it looks. Care to try?"
I took the disc from him and looked. In theory, it seemed easy enough. Get all the balls into the indentations. It didn't take long to realize that while it was easy enough to get some in, as soon as you tipped the disc to move the remainder some captured balls then escaped from their indentations.
Handing it back I explained, "I see what you mean. Now, I usually read."
I took my phone out and showed him the book I was reading at the moment.
He smiled, "The Art of War by Sun Tzu. I would have thought you could write your own book on the arts of war."
I shrugged, "I've read it a few times but I always find something I missed before."
He grinned, "I would have thought Goldilocks or Sleeping Beauty was more your level these days."
I smiled at the reference to the kids.
"Hey, no bad-mouthing the classics. Those bears were putty in Goldilock's hands and that Wicked witch was one mean mother."
"I never thought of it like that."
He stared into the distance then added pensively, "I had a family once."
I stared at him in surprise, then wondered why his admission should surprise me. He was a man who had once lived a human life and loved, just like me.
"How many children did you have?"
"Three. Two girls and a boy. One of my daughters was married, the other was only eight but already a fearsome warrior, and my son was two. They were massacred."
"I'm sorry, Felix."
He turned his attention to my face and shrugged.
"Don't be, Major. It all happened such a long time ago. I was away fighting at the time and thought they would be safe at home. Instead, Athenian warriors crept up on my village and killed every living being. They were thrown alive into a chasm and the houses burned to the ground. We discovered their broken rotting corpses when we returned home.
His voice was soft but full of pain. It may be ancient history, but it had scarred his very soul.
"So you lost your wife too?"
He shook his head, "Not at the same time. My wife died giving birth to our son. The children were being looked after by my mother. I lost everyone I loved. It's not something you ever recover from.
You're a lucky man, Major. Keep your loved ones close, that's the only way you can protect them."
The ensuing silence was sad as we kept our own counsel. I'd never really thought of the Volturi as humans with lives and loves but they were no different to me when it came down to it. I couldn't imagine what Felix had gone through when he discovered that he had lost everyone he loved but I was determined not to experience that same tragedy.
"Major we have movement."
My reverie broken. I glanced over to see three men leave the RV.
"Follow them. If you can take any out without a fight go ahead. I'll wait and see if I can see how many are left behind with Edward."
"Do you want me to have a little chat with them first?"
I smiled coldly, "I'll leave it up to you, but I want them dead."
He nodded, "Understood, Major."
He slipped silently away and I risked moving closer to the vehicle under cover of some new arrivals in a camper with a broken muffler. Now I could hear what was going on inside.
At first, there was nothing. Just the sounds of movement from inside but then a phone rang.
"Yes?"
"Get out, it's a trap."
Cursing, I realized that they had eyes watching for trouble, either that or Felix had been sloppy although I doubted that.
I now had a choice. Did I rush the RV or let it go in the hopes it would take me to the rest of the Romanian contingent?
The engine burst into life and the RV screeched out of the campground almost hitting another vehicle that was entering.
There were just too many potential witnesses here so I let the RV get well ahead and then began to follow.
A movement from my left made me glance over only to see Angie trying to catch up with me. She was fast but not as fast as me so I slowed a little to allow her to join me.
"Jasper, I was beginning to think you'd left Edward hanging."
I shook my head, "No. he's still Maggie's father. Besides, I wouldn't leave him in enemy hands. Are you sure that he's in the RV?"
She nodded, "I saw them bundle him in there from the motel room. He didn't look good. The bastards tried to burn him."
Her voice was choked, she was filled with concern for her mate and hatred for those who had harmed him.
"We thought as much. I found the evidence in the motel room. So, you were there too? Why didn't you join us?"
She narrowed her eyes, "I didn't like your company. Do you think that you can trust the Volturi?"
"It would appear so."
"Well, I don't. They killed my sire because he broke their rules."
"They obviously thought that he deserved it."
It felt strange defending the Volturi but they had done nothing to lead me to believe they would betray us.
"Really? He saved my little sister and took me. They said he'd put our existence in peril by leaving Shanna alive when she'd seen what he was. A six-year-old girl? I ask you, who was going to believe her even if she did say something?"
I didn't have time for soul-searching right now.
"I'm sorry about that but right now the Volturi are keeping my family safe and that's all that matters. What do you know about these people?"
She shrugged, "Not much. The first time I saw them was when Edward gave me Maggie and told me to run. I guess something he heard in their thoughts put him on his guard. I saw two figures attacking him as I left and I'll tell you it was touch and go whether I did as he said and protected Maggie or tried to save him."
"So why did you?"
"Because that little girl means more to Edward than life itself. If I'd left her it would have been over between us and I love him."
"Well, thank you for keeping her safe."
She nodded a curt acknowledgment of my thanks, "So, who are they and what do they want?"
I explained the situation as concisely as possible and watched her expression become more grave.
"Do you think they'll kill Edward?"
"Not if I can prevent it but I want the leader, Stefan, and the rest of his mercenaries."
"What's the plan then? I take it you do have one."
"We follow the RV while Felix has a little chat with the guys who left it earlier."
"And then what? They could kill Edward at any time. Especially if they feel threatened and think he will slow them down."
"If I think there's a possibility of that we'll move in but I need all of them."
We ran on in silence after that and I prayed Jane and Alec were powerful enough to keep my family safe. Marcus had told me that the Romanians spurned gifted vampires but that was centuries ago. They might well have learned from their earlier mistakes and collected a few of their own.
Felix called about half an hour later with news. The RV was still on the highway and I assumed they were either headed to meet up with Stefan or deciding if they were still being followed.
"Major, the Romanians had about twenty followers plus a crazy called Angus. He's the one who tried to torch Edward. So we now have three less to worry about."
"That still leaves about nineteen including Stefan. They are not the best odds. Do we know what they plan on doing next? Or where the RV is headed?"
"They didn't know much. It appears that Stefan keeps his cards very close to his chest. His followers were promised a place in the Romanian guard once the Volturi are defeated and as many humans as they want."
"What about Vladimir?"
"They knew even less about him except that he's still in Romania. If you ask me I'd say that he opted to stay there because he doesn't fancy Stefan's chances. Vladimir was always the more cautious of the two."
"Are they equal partners?"
"They were, but Stefan blamed Vladimir for their downfall. He refused to attack the brothers when they first formed the Volturi because he didn't think they were ambitious enough to stage a coup. He was wrong of course, but by the time he realized his mistake, it was too late. He and Stefan were history."
"Why didn't the Volturi hunt them down and destroy them at the time?"
"It wasn't quite that easy. The Volturi eventually defeated the Romanians but it took time to establish their dominance and by that time Vladimir and Stefan had gone into hiding. They had no followers left because the humans realized they were no longer a threat and hunted them down. A toothless tiger is no danger to anyone."
"Well, this toothless tiger just got a new set and wants to tear chunks out of the Volturi."
"Not quite. They are trying to buy a set, Major and they chose the sharpest ones. The Volturi want nothing to do with a fight with you hence their help to protect your family."
"And by doing that they expect me to do their dirty work for them. I get it. I still appreciate the help."
Why was it that the Volturi would rather help me than kill the Romanians themselves? Were they really so afraid of taking me on?
"So, you've disposed of your informants?"
"I have."
"Then join us. I'll send you our coordinates."
"Us?"
"Yes, it seems while we were watching the Romanians, Angie was watching us. She's not keen on the Volturi hence she waited until you were gone before coming into the open."
He grunted, "We get a lot of that. She has her reasons. Can she be trusted?"
"Funny, she asked the same question about you and I'll give you the same answer I gave her. Yes."
"OK. I'll catch you up as soon as I can. Oh, I just had an update from the farm. Jane and Alec are patrolling the perimeter. She senses trouble coming but they can't see anything yet."
"Then I guess we should probably stop our 'friends' and find out just what they have planned."
I didn't like the thought that the farm might soon be under attack so I decided to stop the RV and rescue Edward. Kill the others and get back to my family.
As I decided my strategy Angie called out, "They're slowing down, Jasper."
We watched as the RV pulled into a rest stop and came to a halt in the far corner of the parking area.
I wanted to wait for Felix because I didn't know Angie's capabilities but she had other ideas.
"They could be torturing Edward or even killing him, We can't afford to wait around. You do what you want, I'm going in, Jasper."
I grabbed her arm, "If you go in without a plan you could get yourself and Edward killed. Don't forget you have no value to Stefan and Edward's is limited. Felix will be here soon."
She pulled free but didn't attempt to move on the RV and I strained to hear what was going on inside the vehicle but it was too far away.
"Let's move in a little so we can hear what's being said."
I suppose I should have realized that Angie wasn't a professional. She must have been lucky up to now. She moved too quickly and something alerted those remaining in the RV that they had company because it took off leaving the electric hook-up cable dangling from its post and sparking violently.
Angie turned to me, "I'm sorry, Jasper."
Ignoring her I took off after the RV only to hear my phone ringing insistently.
I answered it as I ran, "Speak."
"Major, it's Felix. We have a problem. Alec just called. The farm is surrounded. They seem to be waiting for something. They began to move in then stopped suddenly.
"Yeah, Angie spooked the RV. They are probably waiting for Stefan. We'll meet you there."
Angie looked stricken although it wasn't her fault, she just wasn't a trained soldier. I should have left her behind although she was pretty insistent that she wanted to be there to rescue Edward.
I suspected that the RV was headed to the farm too. They would try to use Edward as a bargaining chip. They wanted our help to overthrow the Volturi and Stefan seemed to think that he could force us to help by threatening Edward. What lengths was he prepared to go to achieve his goal? Would he kill Edward in front of Maggie? If he did then he would lose the only bargaining chip that he had. What would he do then? Did he think he could overwhelm us? If so then he must have a gift of some kind. I didn't care how good a warrior he thought he was or how many fighters he had with him. He could never beat me with the Volturi at my back. He must know that.
I called the farm but the phone just rang, no one picked up and I wondered what was happening. Had Jane and Alec hidden my family as the danger approached? With their gifts, powerful as they were, what did Stefan have to confront them with? I didn't like it. There were just too many unknowns.
I ran faster leaving Angie in my wake. I didn't have time to wait for her. I wanted to get back ahead of the RV and scope out the situation. I needed to see that my family was safe and intended to keep them that way.
