Chapter Seventy

Darius

I finally pinpointed the position of The Major and the army of newborns he was supposed to be training. The compound was cleverly disguised and in a very remote area of Death Valley but watching for a couple of days I saw humans being snatched from the campsites dotted around the edges of the valley. They were being put down to the work of a serial killer and as no bodies were found in the area the search was widening out from the valley. After all what crazy serial killer would take his victims into the valley with such temperatures and no sign of transport?

It wouldn't be long before the sites would be closed down and then what would Caius do to feed his troops? I was sure he either had contingency plans or he didn't plan on being here much longer which was slightly worrying.

We moved out and made camp about forty miles from the compound and Hunter set up surveillance capturing a weather station and sending it on a new trajectory which passed over the compound three times a day. The first day we saw little, some figures working out inside the compound but no sign of The Major or Caius.

Peter was brooding, he hated being out of contact with his friend, especially when he knew The Major was in hostile territory. Then we got our break, the following morning at dawn a large group of men marched out of the compound and we tracked them to an area ripe for combat training, a ready made amphitheater in the natural rock formations.

"Right. The wind is in our favor so Peter, Hunter, Edward, get as close as you safely can and find out what's going on but no risks. Remember its The Major's life we're playing with here."

"You think I don't fucking know that?"

That was the extent of Peter's outburst and he said nothing more before they disappeared and I continued to watch as long as the satellite was in range then I could only wait for its next orbit and hope they could find a way of contacting The Major without being discovered themselves. We really needed to know what the hell was going on with Caius.

Peter

I led our group to a cluster of boulders about a half mile out and downwind from where The Major and his men were training and I could tell straight off by his demeanor that he was worried, and angry too. He must have felt Bella's pain and transformation and that would be hard on him, real fucking hard!

"Right Cullen, do your thing."

"He's too far away, I need to get a bit closer."

"Fuck me! You never said there was a limit to your Mojo before."

"You never asked before. I need to halve the distance if you want me to read his mind but how do we leave him a message? So he knows we're here and we know what's happening?"

"Leave that to me, you get as close as you have to but don't get fucking spotted, Hunter watch his back."

I waited until they wriggled away hoping the rock fall would take him close enough without giving him, or me, away while I sat on a rock and started scratching symbols on it hoping The Major hadn't forgotten the time we spent with a couple of Native American vampires.

Ironic really since most of the tribes had their own guardians to protect them from vampires in the first place. These two had been seized by a nomad with a sense of humor, he'd bitten them and then left them hidden away to transform alone.

It was several hours before I was done, I had to be careful to ensure he would understand what I was trying to say in just a few symbols but when I was finally satisfied I put the rock into my pocket and started forward to join Cullen and Hunter.

When I reached them I could see the problem. The group were training in the open too far from our position so I joined them to wait smiling as I saw many of the old training techniques I'd been taught by The Major and by the look of things he hadn't lost his edge at all. In fact he was even more like The Major of old and that concerned me, he was taking out his anger and frustration on his soldiers in a way he would never have got away with if Maria had seen. Yet thinking about it here he wasn't bothered if they learned or died, just that they were there, a convenient punchbag for him.

I just hoped Caius didn't see this or he might be wondering why his army was being decimated by its own commander. I really needed to get that message to him and fast before he exploded so I waited until he sent them to the furthest edge of the space and taking a chance lobbed the stone from my pocket praying no one else would see it land. I didn't think the symbols would mean anything to them but a stone suddenly appearing from nowhere might seem a tad suspicious even to these morons!

Jasper

I knew I was riding them far too hard and expecting more than I had any right to but I couldn't stop myself. My fear and anger were boiling up again and I had to find a way to release some of the frustration. Maria would have gone crazy if she'd seen me act this way and Caius wasn't going to be very happy if I killed half his force so I tried to calm myself sending them as far away as possible.

As I watched, some limping from injuries I'd inflicted I felt something flying through the air and turned putting up a hand and catching….. a stone. What the hell was going on here? As they started back I took a quick look at the stone and stopped dead. I recognized the symbols scratched in it and a weight was lifted off my chest as I took in their meanings, the butterfly, the Raven and the crossed arrows. Peter was somewhere close by and had risked exposure to send me this message, a message that would save some lives and allow me to take control of my emotions once again.

As the group started single combat training only too relieved that I seemed to have had enough of trying to kill them myself I thought about those three symbols, the most important of all being the butterfly because it told me what I was desperate to know. Bella was alive, she may be transforming into a vampire like me but she was safe. The crossed arrows told me my friends were close by so I was no longer operating alone and the raven…..now that was interesting because I now had no problem passing on any information. Peter had told me Edward was here to read my thoughts. The raven transports the energy of messages and could only refer to him. I wondered if he were close enough? Thinking of that I wandered as close to the rocks from the direction of which the stone had come without causing any curious looks and lingered a few minutes thinking about the Romanians and the fact I still needed to find out what Caius had planned. I also sent Bella a message for when she woke, that I loved her with all my being and I would be back with her as soon as I possibly could.

I trusted Edward to pass that along, he and I hadn't always seen eye to eye but we still trusted and had regard for each other. Now I could concentrate on the job at hand and wait for more messages to come my way making sure on my way back to the compound that I crushed the rock with the symbols on it and scattered the dust.