chapter 24 : Knock knock
Olivia's pov
A little more than an hour after meeting up with the wolves, we had Volterra in sight. I have to admit, it was a gorgeous place. I mean if the sun hadn't been an issue for the rest of my family, I could have seen myself living in a place like that. I'm not complaining, I have lived in beautiful houses so far, but this was different. It was ancient, massive, and yet elegant, a timeless beauty radiating from it, the kind that forces you to whisper from fear that making yourself heard would be a show of disrespect. I could easily imagine it knocking the breath out of tourists a few centuries in the future. On the other hand, living here and not being able to go out and mix with the population would feel like living in a very beautiful prison, but a prison nonetheless.
No matter which way it went, people were going to die. Our strategy was simple enough, well if you compare it to the ”wait for them to come kill us, and hope for the best” of last time, then it was extremely elaborate. As odd as it may seem, our first move was to split. The wolves went to establish a perimeter around the city. They positioned themselves in groups of two equally spaced on the outskirts of town. Considering that Michael was to go in with the other group that made 11 teams. Each team of wolves was joined by a vampire, mostly those who were unsure whether they were going to fight 27 years ago, plus a few others who weren't absolutely necessary for the main event that was going to take place inside. Basically, the ones going in were my family (Cullens and Denali), Zafrina, Maggie, Benjamin, Tia and Stefan. My role was to fly over the area in order for the ones in the perimeter to be able to anticipate any sortie from some of the Volturi soldiers. Alice wasn't able to tell us much due to what she called hybrid interference, but she did see that they were here. All of them, or at least all those known to us. Now all we had to do was outsmart them, and make no mistake ... piece of cake.
Marcus's pov
'Knock Knock'
”What is it?”
”Your presence has been requested in the throne room Master.” Santiago told me.
”I thought we were not giving any more audiences today. Why would I be needed in the throne room?”
”I couldn't say Master, but it would seem that something is happening. All the guards have been asked to report to the throne room, it would appear that your wisdom is required as well.”
”I'm on my way.”
The entire guard in the throne room ... something was happening indeed, but what? When we made it to the throne room, as Santiago had said, everyone was here, and Demetri was in animated, but very quiet, discussion with my two brothers. While I got closer I heard Demetri say ”They are only 11, and with no gifted among them. It doesn't make sense, it has to be a trick.”
As I sat down I asked ”What is the matter?”
”11 of those who stood with the Cullens 27 years ago just appeared on my radar. And they are forming a perimeter around the town. But none of them have powers, and some are without part of their coven. Add to that the fact that they are just standing there, as if they were waiting for something. This is a very peculiar situation.” Demetri explained.
”And you say they just appeared on your radar ... Then Bella has to be with them, which means the Cullens are here, and if I'm not mistaken, the rest of the band as well. Otherwise you would be able to tell where they are. Get ready to welcome our guests will you dear ones. It would appear we have an entertaining evening ahead of us.” A few minutes later, the doors to the throne room opened, and they walked in.
Edward's pov
The throne room looked much the same as the last time we saw it, a big circular dome with a glass opening at the top to allow some light in during the day. There were also torches placed evenly around the room, more for decoration than necessity, but they did provide a soft glow which only amplified the eerie feeling intrinsic to this place. We entered the room in a three layered circular formation. Zafrina, Benjamin, Bella and Nessie were standing in the middle, forming a square, with two circles of protection around them, each circle comprised of 8 comrades. We had chosen this configuration because they were crucial to our success, and it therefore fell to the rest of us to provide them a certain level of safety while they each ”did their thing”. The outer circle was mostly those of us with a gift that would help them in hand to hand combat, or mad skills, or just a ginormous lust for the fight. Add to that the mates of those already selected for the previously named reasons, and you had the Cullen vampires minus Carlisle and Esmee plus Kate and Garett. Obviously the 4 in the middle were separated from their mates, but Rose and Garett would only tolerate for Em and Kate to be in the first line if they were as well, and anyway they were not exactly inexperienced fighters. Once we were in the middle of the room, under the protection of Bella's shield, Aro stood up and glided forward, closely followed by his shadow, Renata.
