Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns all.
Rated M for a reason.
Chpt 40 The Entrée Turns
BPOV
It is my job to answer but I find myself reluctant to speak.
The vampire before me exudes a sense of power an' entitlement, he expects to be obeyed, I can almost feel that as a physical sensation rolling off him in waves. There is no doubt in his mind that ultimately he will get what he wants.
An' there is no doubt in mine either. My brilliant plan suddenly seems childish an' unrealistic. I had thought we would negotiate a truce, that I would leave here with my family an' friends. What a naïve fool I was to believe that The Volturi would follow any reasonable course of action, that my family would simply be sat here waiting for me, like the Cullens. That Aro would be civil an' willing to hear me out and negotiate. We are nothing to him, little better than humans, we might not be food but I can see on his face that he believes we are all his to do with as he wishes. He is indulging us in a little game, like a cat toying with a mouse.
Of course we kind of knew we were going to come here an' end up dead, we'd even made a certain peace with it, or so I thought. An' yet now I suddenly realise that I don't want to die an' I really, really don't want anything to happen to Jasper.
The Major squeezes my hand gently letting me know that the silence has gone on too long.
"We came to get our family back." I tell Aro finally, my voice sounding small an' weak. "We are innocent of any crime, none of us have done anythin' wrong. It was Stefan an' then Rutilio who plotted against you. We wanted to have a chance to explain everythin' an' leave with our covens, we only want to live in peace."
"Interesting." Aro muses. "I am afraid I cannot agree that any of you are innocent. I have seen clearly already that each and every one of you has exposed yourselves to humans, a crime usually punishable by death.
On the subject of treason, I am pleased that you have dealt with Vladimir for us. At this very moment Demetri is leading a cadre of the Guard in search of Asturias, although I should warn you that guilt or innocence in this matter is hardly proved so far. Evidence will be required for innocence to be believed.
As to living in peace. An admirable sentiment but sadly not something that can always be attained for those without power. And you are without power. So now I am even more curious, how do you propose to obtain your desired goal Miss Swan?"
What he's basically saying is that everyone will be presumed guilty an' treated accordingly. My brother and my friends have been tortured an' killed. Poor Edward, my first love, was abused and broken. The injustice of it causes the mass in my chest to shiver an' groan. 'It isn't fair!' my mind screams.
I am not a weak an' helpless human girl any more. I am a strong vampire in my own right, mated to a legendary warrior an' still it isn't enough.
Beside me I can feel that mate practically trembling with rage. An' surprisingly it calms the downward spiral of doubt an' despair inside me. He has every right to be angry an' so do I, Pete's gone an' Char will understand. If Aro ends up killin' me an' mine I don't have to be fuckin' polite about it an' I don't have to hand him my spine first.
The Major squeezes my hand again, he loves what he calls my 'mean ass temper'.
"Actually, Aro, I'd appreciate it if you'd address me as Ma'am. An' I think you'll find we're neither powerless nor stupid." My voice sounds calm an' level, commanding even, and he blinks rapidly in surprise. "You're all trapped in this buildin', nobody leaves unless I will it an' that is somethin' I can keep up until the cows come home. Everythin' that happens here is being recorded by the US Secret Service, humans Aro, an' is bein' beamed live to several locations around the world to be recorded there. We are also surrounded by two cordons of humans, thousands of them to be exact, each an' every one bein' filmed usin' the latest technology an' each an' every one ready to draw as much attention as possible. Basically, unless we walked out of here with our family you were gonna be famous."
"Are you insane?" He roars leaping to his feet.
"No." I answer simply. "Just pissed."
Several members of the Guard growl at my audacity but I keep my eyes focussed on Aro. His face goes blank for a moment, deep in thought.
As if orchestrated to demonstrate the truth of my words the radio at my ear crackles into life.
"Ma'am." The disembodied voice reports. "The other vampires have returned, with two additions, a man and a woman. They are currently circling around looking for a way through the cordon and shield."
"Evans." I key my mike. "Please go ahead an' inform them that we are holdin' Aro an' they should make themselves known an' await further instructions."
"Yes Ma'am."
Almost immediately we hear him make the announcement over the tannoy system set up outside.
Aro's eyes meet mine and an unidentifiable expression forms on his face.
Time ticks by.
"Ma'am." Evans's voice interrupts my stare down with the leader of The Volturi. "There has been an incident. The two newcomers have left and there is a small pile of body parts being fed into a hastily created fire. The leader of the remainder of the group wishes to know if you require any assistance 'taking out the trash'?"
Beside me The Major chuckles an' I spare a look to see that evil grin forming on his perfect lips.
"Ask him to wait please." I order.
"Yes Ma'am."
I turn my attention back to Aro.
"I take it Caius was Demetri's sire?" I ask, managing not to smirk.
Aro nods briefly his expression becoming dark an' dangerous.
"Jane!" He snaps.
A tremor runs through me, Jonathan told me all about this Jane's gift.
Upstairs Char's venom curdling scream rends the air.
Desperately I grapple with my mental shield, the one that fits so easily around my mate, for everyone else it's like trying to stuff an octopus into a string bag. Even though I know Aro is baiting me to use up my strength there's no way I'm going to let my sister suffer whatever the hell this is.
Char's screaming scours my soul as I struggle to protect her, my eyes frantically scanning the assembled Guard in search of Jane. A tiny blonde vampire swathed in a cloak catches my attention, there is a nasty little smile on her face an' her red eyes are literally glowing with satisfaction, instinctively I know it is her.
Acknowledging my scrutiny her smile widens as if she is enjoying my recognition an' presumably my fruitless attempts to protect Char's pain filled mind.
I shut my eyes as panic wells within me. Jesus, Char. I have to help her and yet the sound of her screams is filling my useless head an' interfering with my ability to concentrate.
The lead weight in my chest gathers mass, further tugging at my consciousness. What fuckin' use is my gift, why can't I get it to work when I need it most?
My eyes snap open locking on Jane's glinting red ones, she lets out a happy little laugh.
Fuckin' bitch!
Intuitively I throw my physical shield around her an' start to shrink it, she gasps an' the smile slips from her face. Furious I squeeze harder, making it smaller an' smaller. There is a brief moment of resistance an' then my shield suddenly deflates rapidly until it's so small it winks out of existence with a pleasant pop.
Char stops screaming an' a plume of dust floats down to the floor.
"Nasty." The Major mutters with satisfaction.
Panting heavily into the total silence I watch the dust settle into a pile with utter fascination. Holy shit, I just crushed a vampire. Suddenly I start to laugh. I just crushed a fuckin' vampire. With my mind. An' it was easy.
Slowly I track my eyes away from the dust pile an' across the warehouse floor to the shiny Italian loafers of one Aro Volturi. They work their way almost lazily up his expensive slacks an' couture shirt before meeting his flat black eyes.
"What do you want?" He asks quietly.
"Ultionis." The Major growls.