Chapter 10

Assignments

Nessie's POV

"Oh. I hadn't thought of it like that! But that makes sense. Even more so because Aro does something like what you can dad, he can read the thoughts of the people he touches. It would stand to reason that his offspring would have some talent, right?"

"I'm not sure. There's not exactly a textbook for this sort of thing Renesmee." Dad sounds skeptical, typical behavior for him.

"But let's say that is the case, what do we do?" I am curious as to how Carlisle will address such a situation, because it's not a straightforward yes or no response. His choice would impact the life of someone, and possibly ourselves, forever.

"I can't say I know for sure," Carlisle begins cautiously. "However, I can safely say that I will not hesitate to welcome anyone who-in good faith-wishes to attempt our way of life. Unfortunately, at this point we have too little information and I can't say that this isn't some kind of a set up by the Volturi, as unlikely as that is. I would have to wait and see, and also rely on Edwards talent." He says, gesturing at my father.

"Then I suppose there isn't any reason for a fight." I smile broadly, because I'm feeling confident that us Cullen's will be safe for some time now.

"Perhaps." Carlisle seems hopeful, and he appears to agree with me, but unfortunately he doesn't fail to see the danger in the situation. "Regardless of the Volturi's intentions, I would feel better knowing we stood a chance. Alice, who do you see helping us?"

Alice searches the future for a few silent moments. "I see the Denali's, the Amazon's, Nahuel and Hulien, also the Irish Coven. I see Benjamin and Tia, but not Amun and Kebi, or Alistair." She finishes looking quite satisfied with her list. "Peter and Charlotte will come, but I cannot see if they will fight, if it comes to that. Also we can probably expect Vladimir and Stephan, they got wind of this last time. They will fight with us, though not for our shared morals-that's for sure." She says with a trilling laugh.

"So," Esme tends to look at the positive, and accentuates this by saying, "that would mean we'd have 28 witnesses?"

"Yes, and if I'm counting right, we'd have 26 dedicated fighters. With Garrett part of the Denali coven that brings their total to 5. Then you factor in the 3 Amazon coven women, who will most certainly fight in Renesmee's defense, or our defense-for Carlisle-if required.

"Benjamin and Tia will fight with us, and they have left Amun and Kebi for a brief time, so they'll never know-if we make it out alive. That's 2 more. And you can't forget Siobhan's coven, which includes 3 more fighters, as they are all fond of Nessie.

"There's also the Romanian's so we add another 2. And I am certain Nahuel and Hulien will fight in defense of not only Nessie but also the hybrid kind as a whole. And finally there's us, which means 9 more! And that's not even counting the horse sized wolves."

Jacob adds his commentary on the number of wolves. "There are still sixteen of us, and we're not all children anymore." There's a fierce determination on his face that I rarely see. "That brings up the total to 42. We've got to at least have a shot."

"I'd say we have more than 'a shot', the odds are quite good," Rosalie says confidently, "that our 42 will easily take out their 10 Volturi guard members. Especially if Bella can render all the guard's powers useless again."

"I can." My mother is confident about her ability with her shield. "When it gets to hand to hand combat I will need to really focus on each person's… 'light', I suppose is the best way to word it, so that I know I'm shielding the right person. I won't be able to actually fight at all, though I'm of no real use with that."

"Of course, we can have Zafrina keep you safe, just as last time." My father is quick to promise my mother safety.

"Before we get into anything too technical, we actually need to get these people here." I interrupt everyone's planning with my practical solution. "Who's getting who?"

"Alice?" Carlisle turns to my aunt for her knowledge.

"Jasper and I will find Nahuel and Hulien, it's hardest because they move so often, and I can use the same method as last time."

Emmet interrupts his sister, "Someone should just give these vampires cell phones. It'd save us a lot of trouble every few decades." I can't help but agree with them.

"Rosalie and Emmet you have to get Benjamin and Tia, as well as Peter and Charlotte. Carlisle and Esme you must get the Amazons. Edward and Bella you two have to go find the Irish coven." She doesn't pause, but I get the feeling the choice to send my parents after the Irish coven isn't a random selection. "Jake and Nessie you two are staying here to welcome the guests as they arrive. The Denali's will be here tomorrow, as long as you call them Carlisle."

"How long do we have Alice?"

"Two weeks."

"Now, hold up for one minute," Jacob's voice is loud, and incredulous. "What exactly are we going to tell these vampires? That the Volturi is paying us a visit with their homemade hybrid and we have no idea whet we're getting ourselves into."

"We'll know more later." Alice promises not seeming concerned about our lack of information at the moment. "I am going to book flights, and get cash out of bank accounts. It will take precisely 17 minutes and 46 seconds for me to finish. I need you all to pack, and be ready to go. You'll be flying out as soon as humanly possible."

No one doubts Alice and the vampires in the room quickly disperse.

A few minutes later everyone has returned with small bags, most likely only clothing, multiple passports, and IDs in them. My whole family wears expressions of determination and fear. I'm not particularly scared, despite everyone else's concern, because somehow I just know that Aro doesn't have a strong enough charge to press on us. And, if he doesn't have a cover story I doubt he'll risk taking on an opposing force outnumbered.

Guard or no guard, the Volturi isn't stupid and something tells me they don't start fights they can't win.

While the rest of the family fluttered about packing things I thought about all the details we had on the situation at the moment. I am nearly certain that Aro was warning Alice of his impending appearance, and the appearance of his hybrid. I can only think of a few logical reasons as to why he'd do that, especially if having the hybrid vampire made him invisible to Alice.

He could have caught us by surprise, but he didn't. Which makes absolutely no sense, in terms of strategy. He's giving us time to assemble; he's giving us the chance to strengthen our forces.

And, when I boil it down that's what's bothering me. The simple fact that Aro would have only warned Alice if one of these things applied: 1) he was absolutely he could win or 2) he needs something from us.

And the scary part of this is that I'm not sure which I'd prefer. Because somehow I knew that if Aro needed our help, it would be almost as bad-if not worse than-the Volturi just wiping us out on the spot.

Just the thought makes a shiver run up my spine-icy, slow moving liquid seems to move in my veins as opposed to blood. I can no longer ignore the sinking feeling I have about this when my stomach twists nervously, and a second shudder runs through my body.

Suddenly, I'm terrified.

Hey guys! I have been dying to update, so here it is. Hope you love it :) and I hope you leave me a reivew on what you think is good, bad, or ugly (hehehe), or what you think should happen next. Though my brain holds the main plot I could still appreciate your ideas. Feel free to supply them for me.

Thanks,

R&R