Chapter Fifty One

Caius

Well they were here but whether they could save us remained to be seen. Aro stood with his guard while Felix was joined by The Cullens and Captain Whitlock and his mate. The Major, Bella and Jamie walked over to me and Jamie smiled,

"Hello Caius"

Then he turned,

"Hello Aro. You wanted to see me, Daddy said"

As he spoke he took my hand in his and squeezed it. I saw Bella holding the other and The Major took her free hand,

"What a touching sight, how heart warming, the Whitlock family tree in person. It's a shame you won't have time to enjoy the reunion. Alec"

I braced myself, knowing there was no way I could stand against Alec's insidious gift but I felt something else, a warmth from Jamie's hand which travelled up my arm and started to envelope my whole body like a second skin, looking down I could see I was shimmering slightly and Aro's brow creased.

"What is this foolery? Alec"

I saw Alec concentrating but nothing seemed to be happening and looking at the others of our party noticed they were all shimmering too as if lightly dusted with a glitter powder.

"It's not working Aro, somehow they are fighting it off."

Aro

This couldn't be happening. I wasn't going to lose to a group of misfits and a child so I called the Guard forward but they too stopped suddenly a few feet from me and I saw Bella shake her head with a smile.

"Sorry Aro but I don't think we'll be fighting today. Jazz"

The Major too smiled and looked at the Guard who sagged and fell to their knees some already unconscious.

"You see Aro we have a weapon that isn't a weapon, it's a protection. We win and you lose that's just in case you hadn't realized."

Looking at my guard I saw they were all now unconscious, laying where they had fallen. This couldn't be happening, how had they done it? I looked over to the others, Peter Whitlock smiling broadly as he stuck his middle finger up at me

"Don't you just hate it when that happens, it's a real fucking bitch."

Bella

As we walked to meet Aro Jamie had told me he could help us by making us stronger, our special magic stronger, so we trusted him holding his hands and he did it. I could feel my shield for the first time and visualised it wrapping our party in a safe impenetrable wall, while I saw Jasper concentrating as he pushed lethargy towards the Guard. How could they fight us when their weapons were useless, worse than useless?

"So Aro. What do we do now? If I were you and I had the upper hand I know what your orders would be. We'd all be dead, a burning pyre."

He opened his mouth to argue but I just smiled,

"Carlisle my friend. Surely you aren't going to let them mock me like this. I am the leader of the Volturi."

Carlisle walked forward to stand in front of Aro, still inside my shield,

"Actually Aro I think being mocked is the least of your worries at the moment, and you got the wrong tense. You were the leader of the Volturi. I rather think they have a new leader now"

Aro glared over at Caius who hadn't spoken but slowly shook his head,

"If not you Caius then who?"

Caius very slowly and deliberately looked at Jamie.

"Him? A young boy in charge of our world? How absurd."

"Well actually not really. There have been plenty of cases in history of Child Rulers. They are supervised by a Regent until they come of age and Caius will be that Regent until Jamie is old enough and wise enough to rule us."

Caius

I looked at Carlisle wide-eyed, me rule for Jamie? It was very tempting but I knew there would be a catch and I was glad, I'd seen how the power had corrupted Aro over the years, corrupted us all in its way.

"There will be Co-Regents of course, one looking out for the other."

I looked at The Major relieved.

"Caius will rule with Marcus if he wishes to stay on, and Carlisle."

Oh they were clever, knowing Carlisle knew us better than anyone and that he was at heart an honest man.

"So you see you are no longer needed or wanted Aro. Now it would be tempting to leave you alive to suffer and watch the others rule in your stead but it would also be folly. You would be a continuing threat to Volterra, to our world, and to the child, so I think it would be best if you were to say goodbye now, along with the other members of the Guard we can't trust, Alec and Chelsea.

At that, Felix, Peter, and the others moved forward almost in unison to dispatch Aro and the others. Charlotte Whitlock went out and dragged in Jane's head and body as Rose took Jamie out of the room by the opposite door.

Jasper

I wasn't sure what to do about Jamie, he had heard what was about to happen but that didn't mean he had to witness it, so I was grateful for Rose's prompt action. There would be time enough for him to see the brutal side of life when he was grown. For now let him have his childhood illusions left intact.

When it was all over Bella and I left the others to clear up while we went to find Rose and Jamie, they were playing chase in the sunlit courtyard, far enough away from the chamber that he hadn't heard anything. He ran over his smile fading as I took him in my arms.

"Daddy, if I'm very naughty will that happen to me?"

I hugged him tightly to my chest,

"Those people weren't just naughty Jamie they were very wicked, they hurt and killed a lot of people and if we hadn't killed them they would have tried to kill you, Me, Mummy, and everyone else here."

"But why? You aren't wicked and neither is Mummy or Grandpa or any of the others"

"They would have done it because they are greedy, they wanted you to do things for them. Make them even stronger so they could hurt more people and we couldn't allow that."

"I think I understand. What about Caius? Is he a wicked man?"

Before I could speak Caius appeared and raised his hand,

"Jamie, I have done wicked things but I hope I'm not a wicked man and finding you and your parents has helped me to see how wicked I was. Did they tell you that we are related?"

"Yes Mummy explained, you are like Grandpa but older."

"Yes much older son. I hope we can be friends in time."

"Well Jamie will be coming to visit Grandpa Carlisle so maybe you can get to know each other"

Caius looked at me,

"I hope so and thank you for giving me a second chance. Perhaps there is something in the saying blood is thicker than water although these veins saw their last blood supply a very long time ago."

"Perhaps Caius. We'll see"