Chapter Forty Seven
Caius
We made our plan and while Marcus hid himself in the bowels of the archives I took a trip. Aro of course assumed I was going on one of my "little adventures" which suited me. Once free of Volterra there was little he could do even if he found out what the real purpose of my trip was. I had waited centuries to get Aro in this position and I intended making the most of it. To find out that it was Carlisle who had given me a chance to bring Aro down a few pegs would be the sweetest revenge. I had always looked on the Cullens with suspicion and now I had finally been proved right and in the most spectacular way.
Once I arrived in the United States I contacted Marcus to see if there were any developments.
"No Aro is unaware that we know. I have been busy working on cataloging and you know Aro finds any talk of the archive records boring in the extreme so he has taken Sulpicia to the guest villa for a few days."
"And Athenadora?"
"She is happy enough with Chelsea, something you should think on Caius. Now you have another outlet for your energies."
I laughed, Chelsea had gone running to my dear brother to save her from my attentions. Well she could have saved her breath, I had already decided against, she was a little too close to Athena and my wife could be a wildcat when roused, and if Chelsea complained to Corin I thought she might well refrain from keeping my dear wife content long enough for her to tear a few strips off me and that would be most painful.
I had spoken to my contact too although he wasn't happy at having to come and meet me in Boston. I wanted him up north although I knew most of his work took place further south. We had arranged to meet in Boston's public gardens at 2pm and it was a grey day so the gardens were almost empty except for a few humans feeding the ducks on the lake, a strange pastime I never understood and I watched aware of the approach of the men I had come to speak to. I turned as The Major came to a halt a few feet from me his eyes fixed on me while The Captain and the other two looked around warily although they wouldn't be here if they had suspected a trap.
"Caius."
"Major, I have a rather delicate matter I need taking care of."
"Then find someone else, I don't do delicate."
I nodded aware of the aura of barely controlled rage that seemed to emanate from him,
"Not delicate in that way. There is a family who have broken our law on keeping…."
He cut me off,
"I don't give a fuck what they did, all I need is names."
I waited a second but he'd finished talking,
"Very well, the name is Cullen, Carlisle, Esme, Emmett, and Rosalie Cullen and anyone with them except for a girl called Alice. We want her transported back to Volterra."
"I don't do transports Caius, you got the wrong person for the job, send Felix."
"It has to be done quickly and I want a message sent to others that breaking the law has consequences, dire consequences. The girl however has a gift and she is valuable. Perhaps one of your men could take her away from the killing field if it's below you personally."
His eyes never left me but he nodded curtly,
"OK, but you have someone waiting to take the girl once it's over. Is that all?"
"No, I want the Cullens killed first though There is also the human girl Bella Swan, living in Forks Washington. She must disappear, kill her certainly but I don't want the body found, her father is the local Police Chief.."
"You want me to kill him too?
"If he gets in your way. Just make sure it's all done properly."
"You aren't talking to Felix or your guard now Caius, don't insult me by trying to teach me my business. Is that all?"
"Actually no, but the next assignment is a little more tricky. I want you to kill the Denali's bearing in mind they live close to the main guardian tribe. Eleazar, Carmen, Tanya, Irina, and Kate, plus anyone else who is with them at the time."
"A major cull. Does Aro know about this?"
"I am Volturi just like Aro, you can take orders from me."
"So he doesn't. Not that I care I just wondered. Very well, you want all this done immediately?"
"Yes. I'll arrange to have the Volturi jet waiting in Seattle for Alice. The Cullens are in Bellingham or so I understand."
The Major just turned on his heel and strode away as if i were insignificant and I felt my temper rising but I wasn't a fool, I knew I couldn't hope to take him on and win, besides there were too many witnesses around. Even one human was too many and I had no intention of breaking our laws myself, that Aro would jump on I knew. At the moment I had the moral high ground and I intended to keep it. I watched as he disappeared and thought about Marcus words to Aro, words of warning. The Major was dangerous, incredibly so, and we had made him so, we had to hope he never turned on us or it could conceivably mean the end of the Volturi.
I went back to the airport and rang Marcus to tell him I had met with The Major and given him new orders. I needed the Volturi jet to fly here and pick me up and we would then fly on to Seattle and wait for Alice Cullen to be delivered into my hands.
"And Aro?"
"What about Aro? As far as we know he isn't aware of what's happening and even if he is what can he do about it? The Major has gone and I doubt he'll listen to any recall. He enjoys his work too much for that."
"What do I tell him if he asks me? I can't avoid him much longer or he'll know there's something going on."
"Tell him Marcus, it should give you great pleasure to tell him that you know and The Major is already on his way to kill the Cullens. I told The Major I wanted them dealt with first. There's little Aro can do now to stop it, even if he were to warn Carlisle, there's nowhere to run."
Marcus
I had no quarrel with the Cullens or the Denali coven but they had lied and broken our laws and as a result they would be punished. As for the human girl, well she meant nothing, what was one less human? Maybe The Major would feed from her, who knew. Caius was right in one thing though and I picked up my cloak and went to find my dear brother in law, at last I could be avenged, it had taken centuries but it would be worth it. I finally found him in the courtyard sitting with Sulpicia enjoying some music from an old wind up gramophone, Aro had given up trying to bring his mate into the present century. He looked up and smiled but the smile died as he took in my expression.
"Is there something wrong Marcus?"
"On the contrary although I'm not sure you will agree with my feelings on the matter."
Sulpicia rose and kissed her husband's cheek,
"I'll leave you to discuss business Aro. Excuse me Marcus"
I nodded and waited until she was out of earshot before continuing,
"Does this concern Caius? He seems to have mysteriously disappeared without a word."
"He's in the United States at present actually"
"Really? I take it he is not chasing women there?"
"No, he has far more important business to attend to….. We know Aro."
His eyes narrowed suspiciously,
"Know what Marcus?"
"About Carlisle and his flaunting of our law. We also know you allowed him to get away with it and hid the news from us. Deciding someone had to act Caius went to Boston to speak to The Major.
Aro shot to his feet,
"He's sending The Major after Carlisle? Why wasn't I informed?"
"I'm informing you now brother. And it's not only Carlisle, the whole Cullen family are to be punished along with the human girl and the Denali's."
"The Denalis? I don't understand".
"I didn't think you would. It seems Eleazer and Carlisle lied to you about Alice, the human Heidi brought to Volterra. It seems her gift is far more powerful than they led you to believe so you see dear brother, you put your faith in the wrong people. However Caius has instructed The Major to save the girl and bring her to him so she can be returned to us. We just thought you should know."
"How do you know all this? Did Edward ask you for refuge? You know what he'd done do you?"
"Well you can explain when Caius gets back, by that time Edward will be here too. It should be an interesting meeting all round"
I turned and left him, feeling elated for the first time since my poor Didyme died.