Morning Moon

Chapter 24

I unsheathed my sword and took two steps back going directly into a defensive crouch. It took only a eighth of a second to realize what I was about to do. My shield went up around my true family and with one step to my left, I was in striking distance and my right arm swung down with heated force.

'Someone start a fire! Quick!' I mentally gave the order to anyone who would listen. I felt my sword slice through the bone with no resistance. Aro's head fell to the ground and I set my sights on Caius. I held up my sword and flung it in his direction. 'Sam, only go after those who fight back.' The wolves made their way behind the wives. The majority of the witnesses were running away but there were some from the guard that wanted to avenge Aro's dismemberment. Renata and Chelsea were the first that I saw being torn apart. I saw one of the wolves break through the wall that should have protected Caius and Aro and Marcus from any opposition and continue ripping Caius to pieces. Bits of marble were strewn into the fire pit that Alice made. 'Don't throw Aro in just yet. Keep him separated Emmett.'

'Demetri, Jane, Marcus, Alec, Corin, and Felix. If you wish to live, I order you to stand down. Now!' Demetri and Jane held their hands out in surrender and quietly ordered their teams to surrender. The Italian vampires took their cues from the remaining leaders of the Volturi.

"I've deceived you. And I've taken two of your leaders. They wanted to kill the Cullen's for no other reason but for greed. If you wish to follow in their footsteps by all means, step forward and we'll end this quickly."

"And if we back off? What next? Will you come for us then?" Marcus asked.

"You go back to Volterra, never to come for the Cullen's, the wolves, or for any of our witnesses in retaliation. Marcus, I've always trusted you, and I will trust you to restructure the Volturi. There may be an uprising of vampire crimes once the news of Aro's death is heard. You will need to be in place for that. But no, I nor any of us here will come to Volterra with violence towards any of you in regards to today."

"You know I always knew you would be the one that was prophesied, and sort of hoped that this was how this day would end. Aro has caused so much pain since his reign began and I believe it's time he learned his lesson." He was looking at Aro's body that was struggling to get to its head against Emmett's stone body. Rose was holding Aro's head by his long black hair, as if it was a stinky bag of garbage.

"There is something that you should know, Bella before we depart." I looked at the wives and they were grieving for their husbands. I started to feel pangs of guilt of taking their mates from them.

"The day you were changed, it wasn't just Aro who bit you. Myself and Caius also bit you. Combined with our age and the potency of our venom, I believe that was the reason your transformation lasted only one day. And also why you have three gifts." He smiled when I looked back at him with shock.

"You knew?" I looked at Aro's head, he was listening to the conversation, though there was nothing he could do about it.

"I did. Eleazar and I talk frequently. You see, I never intended to stay with the Volturi, and planned on leaving with my wife Didyme, before Aro killed her. We wanted to make a break for it, similar to Eleazar and Carmen. But alas, tragedy happened and Chelsea's gift wouldn't let me leave. When you visited Eleazar in Alaska, he hinted about your third gift being obsolete and that wasn't the case. He knew Aro wouldn't let you out of his sight without one of your guards. After all, you were the one that was prophesied to kill him. He wanted to let you know about it, without arousing suspicion from Aro. The rest was up to you to figure out. And by the looks of today's outcome, you did."

"What does he mean?" Rosalie asked.

"It means I kept vital information about my plan from all of you. I told you the majority of my dream but what I never shared with you was the mechanics of how Aro was defeated. In order for me to get close enough to him to kill him, I needed to betray you. I couldn't risk telling any of you of the plan because of Aro's gift. I wasn't sure where Marcus stood in the matter, so the betrayal you felt would have instantly changed the aura of our relationships. I also used Alice's blindness due to the wolves, with them involved, I knew it was definite that I could keep my true intentions from you without having ot change my mind every three seconds. I needed you all to believe that I hated you enough to kill you in order to kill Aro. I'm so sorry."