Chapter 40: Ready the Troops

Caverns near the Ranch TX

[Damon's POV]

Charlie called an all hands meeting. Everyone; including the babies are here. Charlie looks over at me to start off. "We will need the team that went to New Orleans to neutralize the dark shard; to port together to the newly discovered 'dark' shards as our first priority. We have located them in: New Mexico, Arizona, California and the tip end of Nevada. They have to be neutralized before attempting to take on Maria's army. Please wear your protection amulets for this task."

"Elżbieta has been tracking the casualties and missing person cases in in these states and Texas also. The numbers of missing people are staggering. I will let her explain her findings."

"The press has gone nuts over the numbers of missing people in the southwestern states. Maria has several camps of 'Cold Ones' in these states. She has moved most of her camps to along the Mexican border. She can raid both Mexico and the US for recruits and to feed her growing army."

"I checked on the information Niklaus sent me from Stefan and Valdimir's sources, Maria teamed with Joham and is creating hybrid 'Cold Ones' by using donated 'Cold One' sperm to impregnate ovulating female captives. Their success rate is very low due to most of the women dying before giving birth. The fetuses cannot develop fully by killing the mother at the early stages of development. The bodies of the mothers have been found by the authorities in all of the Southwestern states and a mass murder investigation is ongoing. Maria must be stopped."

"There is a hurricane brewing in the Gulf of Mexico is there any way we can use its' energy to take out some of Maria's pockets of 'Cold Ones'?" She asks. I glance over to Charlie.

He nods. "After we finish neutralizing the dark shards, we can develop as strategy to use natural resources to help neutralize her Army. We can't take on that army by ourselves. The Volturi, Stefan and Vladimir: all need to be involved in Maria's take down. We will need help from the rest of the supernatural community to stop her."

Charlotte adds, "The rest of the supernatural community is aware of what is going on they will support us through the power in our amulets. One good thing about 'Cold Ones' is their venom is flammable."

Pete chimes in "Lightning lights them up really fast."

Charlotte announces: "Damon a hybrid named Nahuel will contact you soon. He is leading a faction against Joham and Maria. Joham is the 'Cold One' that got his mother pregnant with him. Joham is heading up the creation of 'Cold One' human hybrids for Maria's army. Nahuel hates his sire. He will help us bring down Maria, Joham and the mutant hybrids they created."

Angela asks, "Will we be safe with the babies at the Hacienda? Maria has sent scouts there before."

Jasper responds. "I don't think Maria is looking for us there. She expects me to show up to join her at some point. She doesn't know I have changed and have another family. She is probably tracking the Cullens. We can port back to the Boarding House if she sends out more scouts to the Hacienda."

Charlotte looks at me. "We would need to have Jasper, the Volturi, the Cullen's, the Denali's, Stefan and Vladimir all in one place to draw her to that location." I look over at her, "End Game?" She nods.

"We should concentrate on the 'dark' shards first. The group not dealing with the shards can work on gathering more information and planning strategy."

Jasper, Peter, Charlotte, Silas, Amara, Bonnie, Charlie, Rebekah, Henrik, Freya, Jacob, and Kol all port to the furthest 'dark' shard working their way back to us.

I really despise having to call Aro about the situation with Maria's army. They should have been monitoring her activities all along. I get the receptionist in Volterra. "Please tell Aro, Angelo Tenebrae would like to speak with him about an urgent matter."

She patches me through to Aro. "Aro, I am in Texas and Maria is building an Army to overthrow the Volturi using Joham's hybrids. You should have the file in a few minutes with all the information we have gathered thus far, along with the recommendations from Stefan and Vladimir. They are closely monitoring the situation also." Hopefully that will light a fire under his butt, to get here with all of the guard. "The file contains satellite photos showing the buildup and damage her army is capable of producing. I am working with others to help nullify Maria's army behind the scenes. From the data you can tell she plans to overthrow your authority very soon."

"I have sent the same data to Caius, and Marcus. I will be waiting to hear from you." I hang up. Aro if he knows what is good for him will gather the Guard and Arrive here soon. I am so done with his posturing. Maybe we can link him to the 'Other Side' too, let Mikael, Esther and Dahlia deal with him for eternity.

[Charlotte's POV]

Since we have neutralized other 'dark' shards we are able to accomplish our task quickly. We need to get back to the ranch. Marcus has taken charge and the Volturi are on their way to Texas. We need to find a secure place to meet with them. Maria has her spies and she knows that they have left Volterra for Texas. Damon managed to get their attention. Aro is royally pissed at the fact Damon hung up on him. Aro doesn't have a clue who Damon really is or how powerful our family is. I like Damon's idea about linking him to the 'Other Side'. That option would be a good threat. But we need to keep the knowledge about our magic away from megalomaniacs like Aro.

[Bella's POV]

"Angela, we are better protected staying here with everyone. I'm not comfortable transferring back to the Salvatore Boarding House. We are safer here in Texas. I wouldn't put it past the Cullen's to come looking for us there. You know Aro would have demanded their attendance here in Texas to deal with Maria. I'm not looking forward to meeting up with Edward again or any of the rest of them."

She nods. "I just have the feeling that Maria has something really nasty planned. I don't want to be anywhere near her confrontation with the Volturi."

"I can understand that. We do have an advantage we all have the ability to port using Leylines. I'm fairly sure Maria has no knowledge of our family and what we can do. The magic that protects the other schools of magic is as strong as ours. 'Keep the secret' is working towards our advantage."

"I agree with you Maria is a sneaky bitch. But she doesn't know what kind of hornets' nest she kicked over with her plans for 'Cold One' hybrids. The other magic schools have joined in to defeat her. So hopefully some good will come out of this nasty situation."