Chapter Sixty One

Jasper

I stayed away from Caius as much as possible which wasn't easy, he wanted to know how much of my human life I remembered and what Maria had told me.

"How exactly are you related to The Major?"

"I don't remember."

"You wrote a paper calling him a coward."

"So Maria told me."

"Its a good job he's dead or you wouldn't last long in our world."

"And you wouldn't be able to pull off whatever it is you are planning. So when are you going to tell me what I've got to do?"

"Soon enough. For now you have enough to be getting on with. A group of newborns will be arriving and it's your job to train them into an army able to fight and win a war."

"Against who?"

"That's not important."

"It is to me. I need to know what I'm training these soldiers for."

"You sound like your namesake."

"I am my namesake to all intents and purposes."

He glared at me but he couldn't argue with the truth, I just had to be careful not to overstep the mark but arrogance seemed right under the circumstances besides I felt tense being away from Bella and baiting Caius was as good a way as any of relieving some frustration.

"Lets hope you are as good as your arrogance makes you out to be."

"I still need to know who I'm training these soldiers to fight."

He made an angry noise in his throat then snapped at me.

"Other vampires, well trained ones and that's all you need to know so I suggest you start planning your training program."

"How long do I have?"

"What?"

"I need to know how long I have to train them."

"A month, less if possible."

"Can't be done, not in so short a time."

"Well that's all you have so lets see just how good you are. Besides these aren't raw recruits, they have some training and you won't be working alone. Their own commander will be working with you."

This was bad news, I didn't want anyone working with me and watching my every move.

"Who is it?"

"Why?"

"I'd like to know who I'm supposed to work with."

"Well you'll be meeting her soon."

"Her?"

"Yes Major, in our world there is no weaker sex, now enough questions.

So whoever his allies were they had their own newborn army and a commander, I wondered if she were as keen as me to work with someone unknown.

"Does she know about me?"

He glared ferociously

"She knows nothing, neither do they except you are who you seem, Major Whitlock, The Major and that's the way it's going to stay if you want to keep your head."

He stalked off then leaving me to my thoughts which again strayed to my mate. I wondered if she were thinking of me now, looking into the star filled sky and hoping I was doing the same. The ache in my chest was getting stronger the longer we were parted and it made me edgy, tense, and bad tempered. I wanted to rip something apart, to feed and try to erase the longing but I knew that was im possible. Part of my unsettled feeling and tension came from Caius and I realized he was apprehensive.

He was worried his allies might not accept me although there was no reason for them to suspect anything. Or was he worried about what his brothers in the Volturi would think if they found out he was creating his own army to take them on? That was his plan, the overthrow of Aro I just wanted to know the plan and his allies although if I didn't see Stefan and Vladimir with the army of newborns I would be extremely surprised.

When we heard the others approaching Caius' apprehension and excitement peaked and I understood just how much this meant to him, his one chance to wrest power from Aro. If he succeeded he would be ruler of the vampire race but if he failed….only death awaited him. Now we had killed Felix, Santiago, Demetri, and Jane which took care of the Volturi's two strongest fighters and one of their most valuable gifts but there was still Alec to contend with, not to mention Chelsea and Corin.

Chelsea's like Alec's gift took time to build up so they could be eliminated provided we could take them by surprise but how Caius planned on surprising Aro I had no idea and I needed to find out.

I stood a little behind him, Caius was always conscious of his position as a leader and made sure everyone around him knew it, and watched as a sizable group of newborns marched into the compound led by a woman who turned her attention to me only slowly. She was beautiful, voluptuous with large breasts almost bursting out of her shirt. She had long blonde hair flowing down her back, much paler than Rosalie's, in fact almost white and her red eyes gazed at me with a mixture of interest and skepticism.

Caius called and she strode over, arrogance in every footstep, to stand before him ignoring me for the moment.

"This is Anamarie Major. She will be your second in command from now on, think of her as your Peter."

"But these are my men, I trained them and they answer to me and me alone."

"They did, now you and your men answer to The Major."

She finally turned her attention to me,

"So, you're the infamous Major. You don't look that dangerous to me."

"Looks can be deceiving."

"So it would seem. I'll reserve judgment but I take orders from no one, not even The Major."

She said it with such contempt I couldn't help smiling, I could see trouble ahead which would give me an outlet for my frustration and pain.

"Anamarie, I thought you were given your orders. The Major is in command here and you are to cooperate with him."

"Oh don't worry Caius, I'm sure we'll work things out between us, all he has to do is watch me and he might learn a few things after all he must be a little rusty after so long out of the game."

He gave me a questioning look but seeing my impassive face decided to leave things lay.

"Very well. Major I want the soldiers ready in a month, less perhaps."

"They are ready now."

Anamarie was annoyed to think her men weren't ready for action but I just ran a critical eye over them,

"You think so? Well let's see shall we."

"For now I think you should take your soldiers to feed. Split into two groups, you have one day to feed your men and be back here, let's see just how good you are."

I had spent some time checking out the area which gave me the advantage and I made full use of it taking my group east to a small campsite on the very edge of the valley a good six hours run. My group consisted of fifteen men and ten females who at first sight looked pretty well disciplined but they hadn't done any long distance running and after three hours they slowed and started complaining about their thirst. I picked out the ringleader suspicious she had been planted to cause trouble for me and killed her in front of the others with no warning.

"That's what happens to anyone who questions my orders or tries to undermine my command now keep running."

It was harsh but effective and I needed to instill discipline fast.

There wasn't a sound from anyone and as they ran on I noticed they sped up and eyed me warily as I ran beside the column dropping back and then speeding up to watch all of them for any weaknesses. In all they were a good group and if they had been under my command in Maria's time I would have spoken up to keep them but I wasn't and they weren't. Once close to the campsite I sent a scouting party ahead and they came back with news there was only one group camping there, a biker gang of about twenty five. It sounded perfect and I let them go hunt, my only stipulation that they disposed of the bodies discreetly. They could take them deeper into the valley and hide them. By the time the predators and heat were done with them no one would be able to tell how they died. For once I didn't feel too guilty, my prey were hardly the better element in society.