Chapter Thirty Five
Carlisle
It was over, Bella and Jasper had freed themselves from the threat of the Volturi and now I had to tell Edward that his wife was still alive but lost to him. I hoped he might have stopped the foolishness about having a baby. Esme had to set me free so Edward and I could be together without all the deceit and secrecy which had made things so difficult in the past. My first concern however was getting free of the Volturi if I could but it seemed Aro knew what I was thinking without having to touch me.
"Carlisle I hope you weren't thinking of trying to elude me, that would be most unwise. Edward will be invited to join you in Volterra and I'm sure we can come to some kind of settlement. I will ensure you have everything to make you feel comfortable and at home with us.
I nodded and knew I was defeated but at least Edward and I could be together at last.
"Very well Aro but could I at least speak to Esme first?"
"Of course my friend, after all she needs to know that you won't be going back to her, unless that is you want to invite her to join us?"
I shook my head, no it had to be a clean break.
"Fortunately Esme is close at hand"
I looked at him unsure what he meant then it hit me, Esme had fled to Denali after hearing my secret.
"You will have your opportunity at the airport, I'm reliably informed she will be there when we arrive, how fortuitous for you"
Aro
A slight delay in going back to Italy gave me more time to put the best spin on what had transpired. Caius was not going to be happy with the result, not only had I failed to secure Bella's gift but I'd lost Chelsea too. Chelsea! It suddenly struck me that I had lost my hold over Marcus, without Chelsea to keep him loyal he might well run, but at least he would away from Volterra and his gift wasn't so important these days. I knew the relationships of most of my subjects. It was a pity she was gone, especially as I would have loved to collect Bella but it seemed she was just too powerful and that power might corrupt her, once on Volterra she might have decided that she wanted the crown. As it was she seemed happy enough with the Major and I knew he never thirsted for power, just peace which was the only reason I had allowed him to live as long as he had. He might be a famous and powerful warrior but I could have destroyed him using Jane or Alec's gifts. It was something I could still do if it became necessary. Bella was very powerful but it wouldn't be too difficult to find him away from her at some point in the future once they had slipped into a false sense of security.
Christos
I had melted into the background as the confrontation between Bella and the Volturi began and when Aro and his remaining guard left I followed at a safe distance, sure this wouldn't be the end of the matter. I heard Aro's words to Carlisle and saw as various scenario's played themselves out in his mind. My gift was a secret to everyone except Darius. If I were close enough and concentrated very hard I could visualize the thoughts of my subject but it was hard and it took a lot of my energy leaving me weak and vulnerable which is why I had kept it from everyone. It was accepted I was a good spy purely because I found ways of melting into the background. Waiting until Aro and his guard had settled themselves in a motel room and two of the guard went to hunt for humans to take back for a meal I rang Garrett again and told him what I'd heard.
"So it's not over then?"
"No Aro is afraid of Bella, scared she might decide she likes the power that comes with controlling the Volturi, she's made a deadly enemy there."
"True but she had no choice. We'll keep on our toes and I'll pass the message to The Major."
"OK I'll keep with them until they fly out and if I hear anything else I'll get back to you."
Garrett
I explained what Christos had said to me and Peter cursed,
"Why doesn't the evil fucker just piss off back to Italy and stay there. I just wish we could take him out."
The Major looked thoughtful then he started to smile,
"You know Peter, there might be a way."
"How? He's got Renata and the guard with him and before you ask no I'm not going up against Alec, he scares the shit out of me."
"We wouldn't need to. Aro's given us a way of ensuring his destruction."
"OK I'll buy it, how?"
"Marcus Volturi. Aro only kept him loyal using Chelsea and she's gone now courtesy of Bella's gift. I think if we can get to him before Aro does we might set up a confrontation between the two of them."
"And just how do we do that?"
Jasper
I didn't answer him just took out my phone and rang Darius,
"You again Major? Its getting to be a habit. What do you need this time?"
"A safe way of speaking privately to Marcus Volturi."
"Oh a simple request! How long and when?"
"Now and probably an hour max."
"Give me a couple of hours and I'll see what I can do but if you start a war in Volterra I want a heads up"
"I don't know what you mean"
"Yeah sure, you just want a nice little chat with one of the Volturi brothers"
I put my phone away and looked at the others,
"So now we wait and hope Aro doesn't get in ahead of us."
"Why don't you just ring Volterra and ask to speak to Marcus?"
"Because Peter if I do that Aro will know before Marcus gets a chance to say anything. Aro has plenty of spies in Volterra and I'm sure they are ready to run interference if they feel its needed."
Bella
I needed to hunt again within hours and as Jasper was still waiting to hear back from Darius I went with Garrett and Peter but I wasn't happy leaving Jazz alone with Charlotte. I kept telling myself that she was Peters mate and Jaspers friend, nothing more, but it was hard. My instinct was to watch her closely and protect what was mine so I went reluctantly while she stayed with my mate. If when I got back I smelled him on her I would kill the bitch! I think Jazz caught my emotions because he held me very tight and told me I was the only one for him but it didn't really help. Being a vampire wasn't as easy as the Cullens had made it appear, thirst and jealousy ran very close to the surface in this world.