Chapter Thirty Four

Peter

The drive to Volterra was done in near silence, Bella dozing in The Majors arms while I explained the hierarchy of the Volturi to Emmett who had never visited Volterra before.

"Best thing to do is keep your mouth shut and let The Major do the talking. We are merely there to stand behind him and look tough."

He looked at me unsure if I were joking or not.

"Em, ignore Peter, his mouth is frequently connected to his ass without passing through his brain at all"

Em snorted with laughter at this, we were doing a good job of keeping him from getting too nervous, The Major and I had plenty of that for all of us. I pulled up in the main square close to The Clock Tower although it was evening and the sun set for the day.

"Ready Folks. The fun is about to commence"

Emmett

The place gave me the shudders, the reception area had been like most others, brightly lit with modern colourful furnishings and glossy posters of Italian landmarks on the walls. There was even a beautiful Italian girl behind the desk, a human at that! We waited while she rang through to let Aro Volturi know we were here then a young man, introducing himself as Alec, took us through the highly polished chrome handled doors and we seemed to step back at least a century. The corridors were rough-hewn stone and the floors worn flagstone, light came from windows high in the walls or was absent altogether and I heard Bella stumble a couple of times before Alec stopped and flicked a switch illuminating the corridors with an unearthly orange glow. There seemed to be a lot of these corridors, either that or we were going round in a circle. Suddenly we stopped, a huge guy stood in the center of the corridor blocking our path.

"I'll take them from here Alec"

The young man glared but seemed to decide he couldn't win an argument so didn't try, instead he nodded to us and walked back the way he had come.

Peter

I wondered what message Felix would have for us this time and I wasn't kept waiting long. He ushered us in to a side room and shut the door after looking both ways to make sure we hadn't been observed.

"Felix?"

He looked at The Major and smiled with a nod of the head,

"Caius understands you are here to claim back your son"

Bella walked to stand in front of Felix, not intimidated by his size at all,

"You listen to me, I want my son and I'm not leaving without him"

"He isn't here"

She was about to say something further when The Major touched her arm and shook his head,

"Let me darlin'"

She stepped back reluctantly and I saw her grimace and put a hand to her stomach, The Major missed it only because he was busy talking with Felix,

"I take it that Caius intercepted Esme Cullen"

"That would be a fair assumption."

"And Aro isn't aware of this"

"Not yet"

"What does Caius want from us?"

"Caius would very much like your good will and an assurance that the child will be of no interest to the Volturi."

"I see, and if I agree to his terms?"

"Then both baby and Esme Cullen would be back with you very quickly"

"Who asked Esme to kidnap my boy?"

"Ah, now Caius thought you might ask that question, unfortunately it's not in his power to hand over Alice Cullen so if it is a requisite of your agreement, then we have an impasse"

"But it was Alice who told Aro about Bella and the baby and asked Esme to take him?"

"I would have thought the answer to that was obvious but since you seem to need to hear it then yes."

"Did she have my father killed?"

He turned to Bella with a sad nod,

"I'm afraid it was her idea to set a fire, that way you wouldn't be missed by anyone, at least long enough for your baby to be born and tested."

"Tested?"

"Aro is only interested in his potential, if it's there, it will manifest straight away."

"And if Jamie wasn't talented as she thought he would be?"

He shrugged,

"Then he would have been disposed of"

"Not changed?"

"No. The creating of immortal children is one law even Aro wouldn't break.

"But he'd murder my son for not having a talent he wanted?"

"Yes."

Felix

This young woman standing up to me was in trouble, nothing to do with getting her son back, yet still she snapped her questions out like her mate. After answering all their questions I waited for a response.

"All Caius wants is for us to ensure our son has no talent?"

"Yes. He doesn't want Aro to have such a talent in his arsenal. If the Cullen girl got it wrong then he will lose interest, in the boy and in her."

I looked at The Major hoping he got my unspoken message. He nodded and I knew he had received it loud and clear.

"We have a deal."

"There was one other thing that Caius asked me to do."

"Oh?"

I turned back to the young woman standing beside The Major,

"Caius would very much like to meet with you briefly, alone or with your mate if that's not possible. It would only be for a minute, our time is limited, I have delayed the message of your arrival for half an hour, that's the most I could do."

She looked at The Major and nodded her head while he spoke quickly to her.

"We'll see Caius for a moment but then I want to know where my son is."

"I can tell you that now, perhaps your friends could arrange to pick them up. They are in Pisa at a small hotel."

I gave The Majors friends the address,

"You have about an hour before Aro will have to be told that Esme is here. Make sure you are gone in that time."

The Captain and the other man went, promising the girl they would take care of her boy until she got there.

Bella

I didn't have much time left, I knew that but I wanted to see this strange man who had helped me both before and this time, I was curious. Jazz took my arm and I did my best to keep my pain to myself. Somehow it was working, he didn't appear to feel anything, but the huge Felix kept looking at me concerned, did he see more? We only had to walk a little further and through a huge wooden door into another smaller room. A man sat with his head down reading, his long blond hair falling like a curtain over his features but as Felix closed the door he stood and smiled,

"How very nice to finally see you Bella. Thank you for agreeing to meet with me."

"Was there something you wanted to ask me? Or tell me?"

His face looked strangely familiar and I racked my brain but it wouldn't come.

"I wanted to tell you why I helped you, because I know you are curious and it may help to know you have a friend in the Volturi in the future. For many years I have been tracing my descendants throughout the world and I finally found one still alive. That was a great find for me, a family member, albeit many times removed."

"Me?"

"Well, you now, but I traced your fathers maternal side originally, but in essence yes."

I stood looking at him and unable to say anything so I just nodded,

"Now you need to go. Get out of Volterra before Aro catches up with you. Felix will lay the blame elsewhere. Take care of my great so many times it is stupid to continue, grandson. Jamie you said?"

"Jamie Caius Whitlock" I replied and he smiled.

"Thank you Bella for that. Major get your mate out of here and change her soon, before you lose her"

Felix

I ushered them out and through a little used exit close to the city gates,

"There's a car waiting for you just down the hill. Get out of Italy as soon as you can and Major"

"Yes?"

"I think you might need to speak to your mate as you drive. There's something she needs to tell you."

He looked at Bella and I saw concern cross his features.

"But first go, get away quickly. Oh yes, in case you are interested there will be a small announcement in the Pisa paper letting anyone who wants to know when a certain young lady is no longer resident in Volterra."

I shut the exit gate and relocked it before walking slowly back to headquarters anticipating trouble all round but knowing none of it would implicate me, I was too valuable to influential people.