Chapter Seventy Eight

Aro

When the call came through I was pleased, it had been too long without any updates and from Stuarts silence I knew he was dead. That was a pity because he was a very good fighter and an equally loyal one but then that's what the guard and our mercenaries were for, they were disposable assets. I assumed that the guardians had made several demands or the war would have started already. I wasn't sure if I wanted war with them or not.

It would be good to see the destruction of the last guardian tribes but they had their uses, the most important being their ability to keep the spirit warriors in check. Many centuries ago they had almost wiped the vampire world out. The Romanians didn't see the danger until almost too late and it cost them dearly. That was the main reason we were able to step into their shoes so easily.

I had spent the intervening years trying to discover a way to wipe the spirit warriors out but with no success. The bitter truth was that we needed the guardians to ensure our own survival but just a few of them and Johnny H was the one who ruled their kind so he had to survive which meant the Quileutes were expendable. The plan had almost blown up in our faces but now...I needed to know what Major Whitlock and Johnny H had decided between them. This call should tell me,

"You took your time."

"This is the first chance I've had."

"What was the conclusion of the meeting?"

"Johnny H set down three stipulations for a new treaty."

"He did? Let me guess, the wolf girl, a new treaty...now what else would he ask for?"

"You."

"He wants me?"

"He wants you there at the next meeting and I think Major Whitlock and his supporters are considering the best way to abduct you."

"I rather doubt that but thank you for the warning. Where are they?"

"Eleazers for now."

"And the Cullens?"

"Forks."

"If anything changes I want to know, do you understand?"

"I understand and Mary Anne?"

"She's fine, for now."

I put the phone down and smiled,

"So Johnny H wanted me there did he? I wonder how they intended to approach me?"

Caius

I'd heard Aro's conversation from outside where I was about to knock when I heard him on the phone. So the guardians were willing to make a new treaty were they? And it sounded like Carlisle might be wiling to give them one, well he might but I certainly wasn't. I'd heard enough scaremongering about the spirit warriors and I still believed they were a myth. No one had heard anything of them or seen anything in centuries. There may have been spirit warriors in the dim and distant past but they were long gone and only their myth remained to scare us. If Aro was going to Alaska to meet with Johnny H and his troupe of performing bears then so was I, with or without his company. I knocked quietly on his door and he called for me to come in.

"So Caius what do you think I should do?"

"Do?"

"Don't act coy, you heard what the guardians want."

"I don't think we should be making treaties with an almost extinct race of beings."

"No but then you don't believe in the spirit warriors either do you? I saw them in action once, or at least what they left behind, it wasn't pretty Caius."

"Even if I accept that they existed I doubt they still do. Its been centuries since you last heard of them or heard anything about them Aro. Let's go by all means. It's good to show our faces but you should throw his treaty back in his face and send the guard forward to destroy them. We have the numbers and the gifts, it would be child's play. Or better still let The Major and his friends, with luck some of them will get destroyed too. Two irritating problems solved with one act."

Darius

I finally got through to Aro and handed the phone to The Major as the rest of us crowded around to listen, Bella with her ear to the receiver.

"Major Whitlock, how thoughtful of you to ring, I've been trying to get hold of you. I take it you have rung to tell me of your meeting with the guardians. It seems you have caused quite a lot of trouble with your insistence on taking a human as your mate."

So he knew just about everything!

"I thought you might like to arrange the new treaty personally Aro."

"Yes, as leader of our world it would probably be best if I were in attendance. Will the girl be there Major? I would very much like to meet her."

"No I don't think so Aro, but I will be changing her soon so don't worry about the law being broken."

"Oh I'm not. I think we should be in attendance but I'm afraid I must insist that Isabella Swan be present as it was she who started this whole problem along with her father."

"I think you'll find it was you sending the Changeling and fighter that caused the problems. Don't forget we refused an offer from the Romanians to fight with them against the Volturi."

"I haven't forgotten your loyalty Major which is why I've been so lenient with your mate up to now. We will be there for the meeting, make sure you are all there too...all of you, or we will be sending the guard to round you up and they do get rather enthusiastic at times. Id hate for your mate to get injured or, God forbid, killed by an over zealous guard such as Felix.

Jasper

When I put the phone down I wasn't sure whether to be pleased or worried by his acceptance of Johnny H's invitation but I understood the threat to Bella and I had no way to keep her safe except to change her now but if I did so she would be vulnerable when the took place and I had no one I trusted to keep her safe while I was away. We needed the numbers."

"So they're coming, what are you going to do about Bella? That sounded remarkably like a threat."

"Find a way to keep her safe Darius."

"Change me, then I'll be safe"

"No you wont. As a newborn you'll be more trouble than the guardians and if you think I'm gonna be watching my back as well as the front you're very much mistaken Bella."

She understood what Peter meant but I wasn't so sure, Bella was a remarkable woman and with her gift she might be a great help to us. "We've got three weeks so she'll be awake and I'm sure Peter you and I can keep her under control. Help keep her calm and target her shield."

"You're asking a lot of yourself Major and Peter."

I looked at my friend,

"You willing to give it a try Peter?"

He looked at Bella then grinned,

"Why the hell not. May as well be killed by our own side as the opposition."

"