Chapter Sixty Three

Aro

"This Bella Swan is quite the enigma brothers, I can't read her thoughts. I wonder if she really is a shield? Perhaps a very powerful one"

Caius interrupted my flow

"What does it matter, She's a human who knows too much about us she had to die. That's the law"

"Patience my brother. Would you have me destroy a possible member of the guard?"

"You're thinking of changing her? Of keeping her here? What about the Major? You know he won't be far behind"

"Only if he really is smitten with her, and that we don't yet know, but yes I was thinking of possibly keeping her. Why, do you object Caius?"

Caius looked at Marcus who wore his usual bored air.

"Caius, if Aro is interested in this human why not let him get on with it. What's it to us?"

"You do know that keeping her here will mean The Major turning up don't you? And you should never underestimate him. I've seen him in action and we really don't need his kind of trouble in Volterra."

I smiled condescendingly at him,

"Caius if The Major scares you so much I'm sure we can arrange for him to disappear."

Caius whirled round to face me,

"Don't play games with him Aro because he's better at them than we are. You go looking for him and before you know it he'll be toe to toe with you and it wont be pretty. This girl has a talent, she can block you from her thoughts. It's hardly world shattering. One day we might need The Major so I suggest we don't alienate him unless it's absolutely necessary."

This wasn't going as I planned, Marcus was looking concerned too, now.

"I have heard of The Majors abilities but they are talked up, as are all hero's or anti heroes however you view him. I think that Felix is more than capable of taking on The Major."

Caius laughed in scorn

"Aro I've seen him in battle and its something to behold let me tell you. If he considers this human his then I suggest we give her to him with the proviso that he changes her. If he doesn't turn up within two days we can safely assume she means nothing and then you can do as you wish Aro."

I wasn't happy so I turned to Marcus who usually voted my way but I saw in his eyes that he had concerns of his own.

"Well Marcus, what do you have to say about the human girl?"

He stood deep in thought for a long while before answering,

"Aro I know you itch to acquire the human girl for your collection but I feel it shouldn't be at the risk of causing a rift in our world. If Caius is right, and I only say if, then to kill or change her would be tantamount to declaring war on The Major. Now I have never seen him in action as Caius has but I have spoken to others who have been fortunate enough to not only see him fight but live to tell the tale, and they are very few unless they were fighting on the same side. Not only that but if he comes accompanied by his Captain then we may have a full-scale war on our hands and unlike you I'm not sure that Felix is good enough to take him out. So, I am with Caius, I feel we should wait just two days and if he isn't here then you may do whatever you wish with the girl. Her talent is hardly so powerful we need it when we have all the others."

Bella

I was alone here in the middle of a nightmare populated by red-eyed vampires and with only the hope of Jasper coming to rescue me. While I never doubted that he would come I did doubt his ability to take on a whole community of them, after all he was only one man. I wondered how long it would be before the brothers decided what to do about me and their broken law. I was just glad they hadn't picked Charlie up too. I sat in the deep luxurious arm-chair and closed my eyes. My headache was still there although it was less painful in the quiet room. I wondered if they would feed me, my stomach was rumbling loudly and I was thirsty too. I rummaged in my pocket and came up with a creased up tissue, some change and a fluff covered mint. It was gold to me and I put it in my mouth after picking off as much of the fluff as I could.

Felix

The girl intrigued me almost as much as Aro, there was something about her, some inner strength that I knew The Major had also seen. She would be a striking vampire and a worthwhile partner although not for me. I wouldn't go up against him if she was claimed by him already. I knew they weren't joined as one yet but it was only a matter of time. I saw it in her eyes, she knew without a shadow of a doubt that he would come for her and I wouldn't bet against her surety. If he did come I wondered if Aro would ask me to fight him. It wasn't something I anticipated with any great joy. I knew I was stronger and more cunning than most other vampires I'd proved that over and over again but he was in a whole other league. He'd fought for so long for the sheer exhilaration of winning. To me a fight was a means to an end but for him sometimes the fight itself was the important thing. Pitting his strength and cunning against a worthy opponent was the whole point of it all.

Aro

I had been slowed in my purpose but not stopped, I would have Bella Swan one way or another. Caius might be right about The Major but I knew Felix was unbeatable, he'd proved it often enough so I called him in for a talk. He looked disturbed when he entered, not his usual cocky self at all.

"Felix, if The major turns up I want you to kill him."

"I'm not sure that will be possible Aro. He has earned his reputation honestly."

"So have you and don't forget you will have the backing of any of the others that you need."

"You mean I can use Jane or Alec to give me an unfair advantage?"

"Unfair? What's unfair in battle?"

"This isn't a battle though Aro. It's a man coming for his mate. Do we have the right to stop him?"

"I have the right to do anything I wish. Now will you fight him or not?"

Felix stood shoulders tense and looked directly into my eyes,

"If he claims her as his mate then no I will not fight him. It would be wrong."

"And if he doesn't?"

"Then yes I will fight him, but alone. If I can't beat him in a fair fight then the better man wins"