Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns all.
Rated M for a reason. Violence in this case.
Chpt 32 Opening Salvo
BPOV
In less than 24 hours we are back in NY State, at a quarry just outside Buffalo to be precise. It's already getting dark as the last of the workforce leave the site, locking the forbidding steel gates behind them.
Davis has, we hope, lured Vladimir here for us. He made calls to his Stefan contacts until one picked up.
"Ambasada Română."
"May I speak with Stefan please?"
Sounds of the phone being passed to someone else.
"Da. Cine este acest lucru?" [Yes. Who is this?]
"This Agent Gerry Davis, US Secret Service. I have news on Stefan."
"Da?"
"Tonight, midnight . . . ."
"In seara asta. Unde?" [Tonight. Where?]
"Buffalo. Quarry outside town . . . ."
"Foarte bine." [Very well]
Poor Davis, he badly wanted to come with us an' as an experienced field agent and old soldier we would have let him. If he'd been a vampire. Instead he's under luxury hotel suite arrest in Buffalo with Carla as his minder.
The rest of us rise up out of the bushes at the side of the road as the last car disappears over the horizon, flitting across the road like wraiths an' clearing the gate with a single leap. Immediately we split up into our assigned pairs, fanning out over the site to ensure it's clear and selecting our hiding places for later.
We meet up again by the gate, Char swinging a length of coax, a tell-tale sign that someone's security system is suddenly on the fritz.
"We want them at the bottom of the quarry." Jasper informs us. "It's well away from the cement works lights an' no one can get in an' out without us seeing. Bella will you be able to keep shieldin' everyone's scents except Gus?"
I nod. "Want me to let him out now?"
"Please. Everybody set?" He asks.
We nod, understanding our roles.
"Gus." Jonathan asks for the umpteenth time. "Are you sure about this?"
Gus an' Jasper exchange a look. "We're both sure Jonathan. It is time to stop hiding from our pasts, whatever happens now we will face up to it as who we are, there can be no more loose ends or uncertainty."
Jonathan nods, clearly still unhappy about Gus's decision. I can sympathise, I'm not too thrilled about The Major coming out of the closet either but they are both adamant.
Now there is nothing to do but hide an' wait while Gus makes his way to the bottom of the quarry.
Kneeling beside Jasper I take a deep breath an' summon up the mental image of him being attacked in that Pennsylvania parking lot. As usual the shutters clang down over my eyes, turning them black, I am ready.
Jasper squeezes my hand gently an' focuses his gaze into the gathering darkness.
A whisper of sound an' a host of new scents announce the presence of other vampires. Spooky, spindly, Vladimir glides into view with a host of guards. After pausing briefly at the edge of the access road they split up, Vladimir an' eleven of his guards heading down an' the eight others fanning out around the edge of the crater to stand guard.
"There are more." Jasper murmurs into my ear. "When we have dealt with these I'll go down an' join Gus you'll need to shield us while the others neutralise as many as they can before you're needed in the quarry."
I nod.
Silently we rise to our feet, Jasper steps up behind the guard nearest him, wrapping one arm around the vampire's neck an' placing his other hand over his mouth.
"Surprise." He whispers flexing his powerful shoulders an' decapitating him neatly before lowering the body carefully to the ground.
Immediately I spring forwards onto my own guard clamping my arms around his head an' over his mouth, gaining me a bite, while my legs wrap around his torso. As I've done before I pull back quickly with all my strength ripping his head from his shoulders an' praying that the noise doesn't alert Vladimir, I've put a sound shield around as many of us I can but nevertheless we're all being as quiet as possible.
I cushion his falling body with mine an' then look around to confirm that the others have been successful.
Satisfied I join them looking down into the natural amphitheatre where Gus stands alone in the center waiting for Vladimir an' his retinue who are making their way down the winding road at human pace.
Jasper rests his hand on my shoulder watching the progress below, when Vladimir is about thirty feet from Gus he pulls away, turning an' taking a flying leap from the rim of the quarry to land silently in a crouch to Gus's left.
Vladimir halts abruptly, his men clattering into him.
Amused by the reaction to his unconventional arrival The Major straightens slowly to his full height an' settles his hat low over his obsidian eyes, lips drawing into a cruel smile.
I close my eyes an' shiver.
"Not now Bella." Jonathan chuckles quietly, poking me in the side with his index finger.
"I'm going to shield them." I whisper. "The Major wants you to get the others an' search the site, he thinks there are more here."
He nods an' they flit away.
"Caius Volturi." Vladimir hisses, sounding like a nest of vipers. "I thought I caught your noxious stench in the city."
"It is a pleasure to see you too, Vladimir." Gus responds dryly. "So far from home too. I thought Stefan was the traveller in the family?"
"Where is my brother?" He growls, a surprising deep guttural sound. "If you and that scum sucking son of a whore Aro have harmed him there will be consequences."
"I do not have your brother Vladimir." Gus answers truthfully. "And I am fairly certain Aro does not either."
Instead of responding Vladimir nods at The Major. "He is new. How many members of the Guard have you brought with you?"
"Oh." Gus waves his hand airily. "He is not a member of the Guard, he is The Major."
Vladimir recoils slightly. "What fresh treachery is this Caius?" He demands. "How long have you been plotting to entrap my brother and I?"
"As much as I would like to take credit for such an idea I am afraid I cannot." Gus laughs. "The Major and I have only recently come to be working together. A circumstance I believe your late brother inadvertently brought about."
The word 'late' has barely left Gus's lips before Vladimir launches himself at him, bony white fingers outstretched, pale face twisted with loathing.
Encountering my shield it is only the swift actions of his guards which prevent him from falling on his formerly royal ass.
"Still hiding behind Aro's skirts and tricks Caius?" He sneers recovering his composure quickly.
"No." Gus answers coldly. "This particular one is courtesy of The Major's Mate."
Great. Now I'm getting outed too.
"It is true then?" Vladimir asks looking around thoughtfully. "I had assumed Stefan was creating another one of his fanciful personas."
Gus raises his eyebrow in question an' to all our surprise Vladimir explains.
"Our plan required a recognisable powerbase amongst our kind. Stefan's concept was to either convince suitably powerful figures to join us or to create them by spreading rumours and stories over time."
I stifle a hiss of my own. So that's how The Major came into being, why Stefan started those legends. He ruined Jasper's life as surely as Maria did. Motherfuckers!
Before my agitation can get the better of me Jonathan materialises beside me an' lays his hand gently on my shoulder while placing his finger to his smiling lips.
"We've found four more." He murmurs. "There are several other scents too but they seem to be waiting outside. The others are staying on the move until we need them."
I nod.
"It was a very clever idea." Gus's calm voice floats up from the depths of the quarry. "Unfortunately we believe it has been hijacked by one of your allies."
"Hijacked?" Vladimir frowns.
"By Rutilio Asturias."
"Asturias?" Vladimir laughs, a sibilant hiss. "You really are going senile Caius. That little weasel can barely manage his own affairs never mind anyone else's. Do you know he is an animal drinker now?"
"I had heard."
"Laughable Caius. Why would you want me to believe such drivel? Can The Volturi not afford to do their own dirty work anymore? Are you making wild accusations so the rest of us will do it for you? I have already been informed that a large coven from the south has betrayed Stefan to you, Prince of Volterra."
"And therein lays the deception." Gus asserts. "I am no longer a prince of Volterra and I have not been for some considerable time. But I am the head of the coven accused of betraying you."
Vladimir's confusion is evident on his face sallow face.
"Vladimir. I left The Volturi centuries ago and I have lived here in the new world as Gus Jones for many more."
Vladimir snorts in disbelief, which I appreciate, so many layers of deceit an' loose ends makes it impossible for anyone to believe anything.
"Caius, even I have a spy in Volterra. I would know if you had defected. Everyone would know." Vladimir scoffs.
Gus sighs in exasperation, then proceeds to explain Rutilio's plot to use the Romanians an' The Volturi to destroy us, the only ones who know the truth, an' then each other leaving the way clear for him to assume power. He recounts his own exit from Volterra and ends by urging Vladimir to join us in exposing Rutilio.
The Romanian's face goes from sceptical, to shocked, through suspicious and infuriated to resigned before finally settling on amused.
"Oh Caius, Copil." He laughs heartily, a spine chilling sound. "How you amuse me! All these years of Stefan's plotting an' we could have taken the Roman scum years ago if only we'd known! Such a perfect irony!"
"Hence the deception." Gus smiles coldly. "So you believe me? Will you not assist us in settling this matter once and for all?"
Vladimir falls silent, deep in thought, an' his guards draw closer to him unconsciously.
"It seems to me, Copil, that Rutilio is not the only one who could take advantage of this situation." He says eventually a hard gleam in his ancient eyes. "And as to whether or not I believe you it seems to me that the alternative is that your power mad Roman coven have finally found an excuse to end myself and Stefan for good. I have been stung by you and your brothers too many times over the millennia to ever be able to trust you Caius."
"I was afraid you would say that." Gus responds almost sadly. "You know of course that I cannot afford to have you running around getting in my way?"
"Yes, I realise." Vladimir shrugs.
"And yet you still choose not to trust me, us? You would rather waste yourself on an old revenge?" Gus asks again, shaking his head slightly. "What of your brother's killer?"
Unexpectedly Vladimir laughs again. "How very like you, vechi inamic, [old enemy] to assume that the outcome of what must happen next will go in your favour."
"Very well." Gus sighs, motioning to us on the crater rim. "Let us end this."
Silently, but with a lot less grace an' power than The Major, the rest of us drop down into the quarry arranging ourselves in pairs. Eight against their twelve.
Vladimir an' his men sink into a fighting stance.
"Bella." The Major orders.
My shield blasts out, sending Vladimir an' his guards crashing into the rock wall on the far side of the crater with a boom that shakes the quarry floor.
Before the sound wave hits the opposite wall we charge forwards, The Major an' Gus easily out pacing us, heading straight for Vladimir an' the giant who is obviously his bodyguard, just as we had previously agreed.
Gus an' Vladimir are already dancing around each other when The Major takes the direct approach an' makes a flying leap for the giant's head. The thundering crack of their bodies meeting is the opening salvo in the cacophony of sound signalling the start of the battle.
I snap my focus back to my first target, a tall blonde with a well-developed physique an' absurdly attractive blood red eyes. Such a shame I think idly as we crash together grappling for a superior hold. Our momentum carries us past each other, neither of us able to get a good grip, however he does make the mistake of not tucking his limbs in so I punish him by ripping off his right hand.
My confidence surges when I realise he is nowhere near as skilled as Cheese Face. A grin to match my mate's appears on my face as I spin back to him, waving his hand at him cheekily.
Howling with rage he charges at me again, this time I dodge him easily dropping his hand an' aiming a kick at his knee as blunders past. With a sound like a rifle retort it breaks an' he stumbles to the ground, before he can regain his feet I leap onto this back tearing his head from his neck an' closing my ears to the nerve jangling screech.
Upright again I toss his head away an' search for my next target.
Jonathan has also made short work of his first opponent an' is circling warily as two more descend on him. Pete an' Char are fighting close together as are Harry an' Matthew. With a groan I realise that more vampires are descending to the quarry floor, intent on protecting Vladimir.
Without the time to search for Gus an' The Major I break through the heaving mass of fighters an' blindside one of Jonathan's attackers, knocking him to the ground an' following him down with my teeth already bared.
Unfortunately he manages to get his legs up to kick me away. I fly into Matthew bearing him down to the ground with me an' way from the guy whose throat he was about to rip out.
"Fuck." He snarls, pushing me off him none too gently an' charging away without a backward glance.
Jonathan is struggling with his attacker unaware of my guy stalking him from behind. Desperately I throw myself at him just managing to catch hold of his legs as he closes his hands around Jonathan's head. Without his footing he doesn't have enough leverage to damage Jonathan himself but his weight is enough to stretch Jonathan's head back exposing his neck to the attacker in front.
Everything slows down an' I scream in horror as his teeth make contact with Jonathan's exposed skin.