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Aro continued to drift wnh a thoughtful expression. He was quiet for a moment, his eyes flickering between the three of us. Then, abruptly, he shook his head.

 

"A first," he said to himself "I wonder if she is immune to our other talents… Jane, dear?"

 

"No!" Edward snarled the word. Alice grabbed his arm with a restraining hand. He shook her off.

 

Little Jane smiled up happily at Aro. "Yes, Master?"

 

Edward was truly snarling now, the sound ripping and tearing from him, glaring at Aro with baleful eyes. The room had gone still, everyone watching him with amazed disbelief, as if he were committing some embarrassing social faux pas. I saw Felix grin hopefully and move a step forward. Aro glanced at him once, and he froze in place, his grin turning to a sulky expression.

 

Then he spoke to Jane. "I was wondering, my dear one, if Bella is immune to you."

 

I could barely hear Aro over Edward's furious growls. He let go of me, moving to hide me from their view. Caius ghosted in our direction, with his entourage, to watch.

 

Jane turned toward us with a beatific smile.

 

"Don't!" Alice cried as Edward launched himself at the little girl.

 

Before I could react, before anyone could jump between them, before Aro's bodyguards could tense, Edward was on the ground.

 

No one had touched him, but he was on the stone floor writhing in obvious agony, while I stared in horror.

 

Jane was smiling only at him now, and it all clicked together. What Alice had said about formidable gifts, why everyone treated Jane with such deference, and why Edward had thrown himself in her path before she could do that to me.

 

"Stop!" I shrieked, my voice echoing in the silence, jumping forward to put myself between them. But Alice threw her arms around me in an unbreakable grasp and ignored my struggles. No sound escaped Edward's lips as he cringed against the stones. It felt like my head would explode from the pain of watching this.

 

"Jane," Aro recalled her in a tranquil voice. She looked up quickly, still smiling with pleasure, her eyes questioning. As soon as Jane looked away, Edward was still.

 

Aro inclined his head toward me.

 

Jane turned her smile in my direction.

 

I didn't even meet her gaze. I watched Edward from the prison of Alice's arms, still struggling pointlessly.

 

"He's fine," Alice whispered in a tight voice. As she spoke, he sat up, and then sprang lightly to his feet. His eyes met mine, and they were horror-struck. At first I thought the horror was for what he had just suffered. But then he looked quickly at Jane, and back to me—and his face relaxed into relief.

 

I looked at Jane, too, and she no longer smiled. She glared at me, her jaw clenched with the intensity of her focus. I shrank back, waiting for the pain.

 

Nothing happened.

 

Edward was by my side again. He touched Alice's arm, and she surrendered me to him.

 

Aro started to laugh. "Ha, ha. ha," he chuckled. "This is wonderful!"

 

Jane hissed in frustration, leaning forward like she was preparing to spring.

 

"Don't be put out, dear one," Aro said in a comforting tone, placing a powder-light hand on her shoulder. "She confounds us all."

 

Jane's upper lip curled back ever her teeth as she continued to glare at me.

 

"Ha, ha, ha," Aro chortled again. "You're very brave, Edward, to endure in silence. I asked Jane to do that to me once—just out of curiosity." He shook his head in admiration.

 

Edward glared, disgusted.

 

"So what do we do with you now?" Aro sighed.

 

Edward and Alice stiffened. This was the part they'd been waiting for. I began to tremble.

 

"I don't suppose there's any chance that you've changed your mind?" Aro asked Edward hopefully. "Your talent would be an excellent addition to our little company."

 

Edward hesitated. From the corner of my eye, I saw both Felix and Jane grimace.

 

Edward seemed to weigh each word before he spoke it. "I'd… rather… not."

 

"Alice?" Aro asked, still hopeful. "Would you perhaps be interested in joining with us?"

 

"No, thank you," Alice said.

 

"And you, Bella?" Aro raised his eyebrows.

 

Edward hissed, low in my ears. I stared at Aro blankly. Was he joking? Or was he really asking me if I wanted to stay for dinner?

 

It was the white-haired Caius who broke the silence.

 

"What?" he demanded of Aro; his voice, though no more than a whisper, was flat.

 

"Caius, surely you see the potential," Aro chided him affectionately. "I haven't seen a prospective talent so promising since we found Jane and Alec. Can you imagine the possibilities when she is one of us?"

 

Caius looked away with a caustic expression. Jane's eyes sparked with indignation at the comparison.

 

Edward fumed beside me. I could hear a rumble in his chest, building toward a growl. I couldn't let his temper get him hurt.

 

"No, thank you," I spoke up in barely more than a whisper, my voice breaking in fright.

 

Aro sighed. "That's unfortunate. Such a waste."

 

Edward hissed. "Join or die, is that it? I suspected as much when we were brought to this room. So much for your laws."

 

The tone of his voice surprised me. He sounded irate, but there was something deliberate about his delivery—as if he'd chosen his words with great care.

 

"Of course not." Aro blinked, astonished. "We were already convened here, Edward, awaiting Heidi's return. Not for you."

 

"Aro," Caius hissed. "The law claims them."

 

Edward glared at Caius. "How so?" he demanded. He must have known what Caius was thinking, but he seemed determined to make him speak it aloud.

 

Caius pointed a skeletal finger at me. "She knows too much. You have exposed our secrets." His voice was papery thin, just like his skin.

 

"There are a few humans in on your charade here, as well," Edward reminded him, and I thought of the pretty receptionist below.

 

Caius's face twisted into a new expression. Was it supposed to be a smiled.

 

"Yes," he agreed. "But when they are no longer useful to us, they will serve to sustain us. That is not your plan for this one. If she betrays our secrets, are you prepared to destroy her? I think not," he scoffed.

 

"I wouldn't—," I began, still whispering. Caius silenced me with an icy look.

 

"Nor do you intend to make her one of us," Caius continued. "Therefore, she is a vulnerability. Though it is true, for this, only her life is forfeit. You may leave if you wish."

 

Edward bared his teeth.

 

"That's what I thought," Caius said, with something akin to pleasure. Felix leaned forward, eager.

 

"Unless…" Aro interrupted. He looked unhappy with the way the conversation had gone. "Unless you do intend to give her immortality?"

 

Edward pursed his lips, hesitating for a moment before he answered. "And if I do?"

 

Aro smiled, happy again. "Why, then you would be free to go home and give my regards to my friend Carlisle." His expression turned more hesitant. "But I'm afraid you would have to mean it."

 

Aro raised his hand in front of him.

 

Caius, who had begun to scowl furiously, relaxed.

 

Edward's lips tightened into a fierce line. He stared into my eyes, and I stared back.

 

"Mean it," I whispered. "Please."

 

Was it really such a loathsome idea? Would he rather die than change me? I felt like I'd been kicked in the stomach.

 

Edward stared down at me with a tortured expression.

 

And then Alice stepped away from us, forward toward Aro. We turned to watch her. Her hand was raised like his.

 

She didn't say anything, and Aro waved off his anxious guard as they moved to block her approach. Aro met her halfway, and took her hand with an eager, acquisitive glint in his eyes.

 

He bent his head over their touching hands, his eyes closing as he concentrated. Alice was motionless, her face blank. I heard Edward's teeth snap together.

 

No one moved. Aro seemed frozen over Alice's hand. The seconds passed and I grew more and more stressed, wondering how much time would pass before it was too much time. Before it meant something was wrong—more wrong than it already was.

 

Another agonizing moment passed, and then Aro's voice broke the silence.

 

"Ha, ha, ha," he laughed, his head still bent forward. He looked up slowly, his eyes bright with excitement. "That was fascinating!"

 

Alice smiled dryly. "I'm glad you enjoyed it."

 

"To see the things you've seen—especially the ones that haven't happened yet!" He shook his head in wonder.

 

"But that will," she reminded him, voice calm.

 

"Yes, yes, it's quite determined. Certainly there's no problem."

 

Caius looked bitterly disappointed—a feeling he seemed to share with Felix and Jane.

 

"Aro," Caius complained.

 

"Dear Caius," Aro smiled. "Do not fret. Think of the possibilities! They do not join us today, but we can always hope for the future. Imagine the joy young Alice alone would bring to our little household… Besides, I'm so terribly curious to see how Bella turns out!"

 

Aro seemed convinced. Did he not realize how subjective Alice's visions were.' That she could make up her mind to transform me today, and then change it tomorrow? A million tiny decisions, her decisions and so many others', too—Edward's—could alter her path, and with that, the future.

 

And would it really matter that Alice was willing, would it make any difference if I did become a vampire, when the idea was so repulsive to Edward? If death was, to him, a better alternative than having me around forever, an immortal annoyance? Terrified as I was, I felt myself sinking down into depression, drowning in it…

 

"Then we are free to go now?" Edward asked in an even voice.

 

"Yes, yes," Aro said pleasantly. "But please visit again. It's been absolutely enthralling!"

 

"And we will visit you as well," Caius promised, his eyes suddenly half-closed like the heavy-lidded gaze of a lizard. "To be sure that you follow through on your side. Were I you, I would not delay too long. We do not offer second chances."

 

Edward's jaw clenched tight, but he nodded once.

 

Caius smirked and drifted back to where Marcus still sat, unmoving and uninterested.

 

Felix groaned.

 

"Ah, Felix." Aro smiled, amused. "Heidi will be here at any moment. Patience."

 

"Hmm." Edward's voice had a new edge to it. "In that case, perhaps we'd better leave sooner rather than later."

 

"Yes," Aro agreed. "That's a good idea. Accidents do happen. Please wait below until after dark, though, if you don't mind."

 

"Of course," Edward agreed, while I cringed at the thought of waiting out the day before we could escape.

 

"And here," Aro added, motioning to Felix with one finger. Felix came forward at once, and Aro unfastened the gray cloak the huge vampire wore, pulling from his shoulders. He tossed it to Edward. "Take this. You're a little conspicuous."

 

Edward put the long cloak on, leaving the hood down.

 

Aro sighed. "It suits you."

 

Edward chuckled, but broke off suddenly, glancing over his shoulder. "Thank you, Aro. We'll wait below."

 

"Goodbye, young friends," Aro said, his eyes bright as he stared in the same direction.

 

"Let's go," Edward said, urgent now.

 

Demetri gestured that we should follow, and then set off the way we'd come in, the only exit by the look of things.

 

Edward pulled me swiftly along beside him. Alice was close by my other side, her face hard.

 

"Not fast enough," she muttered.

 

I stared up at her, frightened, but she only seemed chagrined. It was then that I first heard the babble of voices—loud, rough voices—coming from the antechamber.

 

"Well this is unusual," a man's coarse voice boomed.

 

"So medieval," an unpleasantly shrill, female voice gushed back.

 

A large crowd was coming through the little door, filling the smaller stone chamber. Demetri motioned for us to make room. We pressed back against the cold wall to let them pass.

 

The couple in front, Americans from the sound of them, glanced around themselves with appraising eyes.

 

"Welcome, guests! Welcome to Volterra!" I could hear Aro sing from the big turret room.

 

The rest of them, maybe forty or more, filed in after the couple. Some studied the setting like tourists. A few even snapped pictures. Others looked confused, as if the story that had led them to this room was not making sense anymore. I noticed one small, dark woman in particular. Around her neck was a rosary, and she gripped the cross tightly in one hand. She walked more slowly than the others, touching someone now and then and asking a question in an unfamiliar language. No one seemed to understand her, and her voice grew more panicked.

 

Edward pulled my face against his chest, but it was too late. I already understood.

 

As soon as the smallest break appeared, Edward pushed me quickly toward the door. I could feel the horrified expression on my face, and the tears beginning to pool in my eyes.

 

The ornate golden hallway was quiet, empty except for one gorgeous, statuesque woman. She stared at us curiously, me in particular.

 

"Welcome home, Heidi," Demetri greeted her from behind us.

 

Heidi smiled absently. She reminded me of Rosalie, though they looked nothing alike—it was just that her beauty, too, was exceptional, unforgettable. I couldn't seem to look away.

 

She was dressed to emphasize that beauty. Her amazingly long legs, darkened with tights, were exposed by the shortest of miniskirts. Her top was long-sleeved and high-necked, but extremely close-fitting, and constructed of red vinyl. Her long mahogany hair was lustrous, and her eyes were the strangest shade of violet—a color that might result from blue-tinted contacts over red irises.

 

"Demetri," she responded in a silky voice, her eyes flickering between my face and Edward's gray cloak.

 

"Nice fishing," Demetri complimented her, and I suddenly understood the attention-grabbing outfit she wore… she was not only the fisherman, but also the bait.

 

"Thanks." She flashed a stunning smile. "Aren't you coming?"

 

"In a minute. Save a few for me."

 

Heidi nodded and ducked through the door with one last curious look at me.

 

Edward set a pace that had me running to keep up. But we still couldn't get through the ornate door at the end of the hallway before the screaming started.

22 FLIGHT

 

 

DEMETRI LEFT US IN THE CHEERFULLY OPULENT RECEPTION area, where the woman Gianna was still at her post behind the polished counter. Bright, harmless music tinkled from hidden speakers.

 

"Do not leave until dark," he warned us.

 

Edward nodded, and Demetri hurried away.

 

Gianna did not seem at all surprised by the exchange, though she did eye Edward's borrowed cloak with shrewd speculation.

 

"Are you all right?" Edward asked under his breath, to low for the human woman to hear. His voice was rough—if velvet can be rough—with anxiety. Still stressed by our situation, I imagined.

 

"You'd better make her sit before she falls," Alice said. "She's going to pieces."

 

It was only then that I realize I was shaking, shaking hard, my entire frame vibrating until my teeth chattered and the room around me seemed to wobble and blur in my eyes. For one wild second, I wondered if this was how Jacob felt just before exploding into a werewolf.

 

I heard a sound that didn't make sense, a strange, ripping counterpart to the otherwise cheery background music. Distracted by the shaking, I couldn't tell where it was coming from.

 

"Shh, Bella, shh," Edward said as he pulled me to the sofa farthest away from the curious human at the desk.

 

"I think she's having hysterics. Maybe you should slap her," Alice suggested.

 

Edward threw a frantic glance at her.

 

Then I understood. Oh. The noise was me. The ripping sound was the sobs coming from my chest. That's what was shaking me.

 

"It's all right, you're safe, it's all right," he chanted again and again. He pulled ne onto his lap and tucked the thick wool cloak around me, protecting me from his cold skin.

 

I knew it was stupid to react like this. Who knew how much time I had to look at his race? He was saved, and I was saved, and he could leave me as soon as we were free. To have my eyes so filled with tears that I could not see his features clearly was wasteful—insanity.

 

But, behind my eyes where the tears could not wash the image away, I could still see the panicked face of the tiny woman with the rosary.

 

"All those people," I sobbed.

 

"I know," he whispered.

 

"It's so horrible."

 

"Yes, it is. I wish you hadn't had to see that."

 

I rested my head against his cold chest, using the thick cloak to wipe my eyes. I took a few deep breaths, trying to calm myself.

 

"Is there anything I can get you?" a voice asked politely. It was Gianna, leaning over Edward's shoulder with a look that was both concerned and yet still professional and detached at the same time. It didn't seem to bother her that her face was inches from a hostile vampire. She was either totally oblivious, or very good at her job.

 

"No," Edward answered coldly.

 

She nodded, smiled at me, and then disappeared.

 

I waited until she was out of hearing range. "Does she know what's going on here?" I demanded, my voice low and hoarse. I was getting control of myself, my breathing evening out.

 

"Yes. She knows everything," Edward told me.

 

"Does she know they're going to kill her someday?"

 

"She's knows it's a possibility," he said.

 

That surprised me.

 

Edward's face was hard to read. "She's hoping they'll decide to keep her."

 

I felt the blood leave my face. "She wants to be one of them?"

 

He nodded once, his eyes sharp on my face, watching my reaction.

 

I shuddered. "How can she want that?" I whispered, more to myself than really looking for an answer. "How can she watch those people file through to that hideous room and want to be a part of that?"

 

Edward didn't answer. His expression twisted in response to something I'd said.

 

As I stared at his too beautiful face, trying to understand the change, it suddenly struck me that I was really here, in Edward's arms, however fleetingly, and that we were not—at this exact moment—about to be killed.

 

"Oh, Edward," I cried, and I was sobbing again. It was such a stupid reaction. The tears were too thick for me to see his face again, and that was inexcusable. I only had until sunset for sure. Like a fairy tale again, with deadlines that ended the magic.

 

 

"What's wrong?" he asked, still anxious, rubbing my back with gentle pats.

 

I wrapped my arms around his neck—what was the worst he could do? Just push me away—and hugged myself closer to him. "Is it really sick for me to be happy right now?" I asked. My voice broke twice.

 

He didn't push me away. He pulled me tight against his ice-hard chest, so tight it was hard to breathe, even with my lungs securely intact. "I know exactly what you mean," he whispered. "But we have lots of reasons to be happy. For one, we're alive."

 

"Yes," I agreed. "That's a good one."

 

"And together," he breathed. His breath was so sweet it made my head swim.

 

I just nodded, sure that he did not place the same weight on that consideration as I did.

 

"And, with any luck, we'll still be alive tomorrow."

 

"Hopefully," I said uneasily.

 

"The outlook is quite good," Alice assured me. She'd been so quiet, I'd almost forgotten her presence. "I'll see Jasper in less than twenty-four hours," she added in a satisfied tone.

 

Lucky Alice. She could trust her future.

 

I couldn't keep my eyes off of Edward's face for long. I stared at him, wishing more than anything that the future would never happen. That this moment would last forever, or, if it couldn't, that I would stop existing when it did.

 

Edward stared right back at me, his dark eyes soft, and it was easy to pretend that he felt the same way. So that's what I did. I pretended, to make the moment sweeter.

 

His fingertips traced the circles under my eyes. "You look so tired."

 

"And you look thirsty," I whispered back, studying the purple bruises under his black irises.

 

He shrugged. "It's nothing."

 

"Are you sure? I could sit with Alice," I offered, unwilling; I'd rather he killed me now than move one inch from where I was.

 

"Don't be ridiculous." He sighed; his sweet breath caressed my face. "I've never been in better control of that side of my nature than right now."

 

I had a million questions for him. One of them bubbled to my lips now, but I held my tongue. I didn't want to ruin the moment, as imperfect as it was, here in this room that made me sick, under the eyes of the would-be monster.

 

Here in his arms, it was so easy to fantasize that he wanted me. I didn't want to think about his motivations now—about whether he acted this way to keep me calm while we were still in danger, or if he just felt guilty for where we were and relieved that he wasn't responsible for my death. Maybe the time apart had been enough that I didn't bore him for the moment. But it didn't matter. I was so much happier pretending.

 

I lay quiet in his arms, re-memorizing his face, pretending…

 

He stared at my face like he was doing the same, while he and Alice discussed how to get home. Their voices were so quick and low that I knew Gianna couldn't understand. I missed half of it myself. It sounded like more theft would be involved, though. I wondered idly if the yellow Porsche had made it back to its owner yet.

 

"What was all that talk about singers?" Alice asked at one point.

 

"La tua cantante," Edward said. His voice made the words into music.

 

"Yes, that," Alice said, and I concentrated for a moment. I'd wondered about that, too, at the time.

 

I felt Edward shrug around me. "They have a name for someone who smells the way Bella does to me. They call her my singer—because her blood sings for me."

 

Alice laughed.

 

I was tired enough to sleep, but I fought against the weariness. I wasn't going to miss a second of the time I had with him. Now and then, as he talked with Alice, he would lean down suddenly and kiss me—his glass-smooth lips brushing against my hair, my forehead, the tip of my nose. Each time it was like an electric shock to my long dormant heart. The sound of its beating seemed to fill the entire room.

 

It was heaven—right smack in the middle of hell.

 

I lost track of the time completely. So when Edward's arms tightened around me, and both he and Alice looked to the back of the room with wary eyes, I panicked. I cringed into Edward's chest as Alec—his eyes now a vivid ruby, but still spotless in his light gray suit despite the afternoon meal—walked through the double doors.

 

It was good news.

 

"You're free to leave now," Alec told us, his tone so warm you'd think we were all lifelong friends. "We ask that you don't linger in the city."

 

Edward made no answering pretence; his voice was ice cold. "That won't be a problem."

 

Alec smiled, nodded, and disappeared again.

 

"Follow the right hallway around the corner to the first set of elevators," Gianna told us as Edward helped me to my feet. "The lobby is two floors down, and exits to the street. Goodbye, now," she added pleasantly. I wondered if her competence would be enough to save her.

 

Alice shot her a dark look.

 

I was relieved there was another way out; I wasn't sure if I could handle another tour through the underground.

 

We left through a tastefully luxurious lobby. I was the only one who glanced back at the medieval castle that housed the elaborate business facade I couldn't see the turret from here, for which I was grateful.

 

The party was still in full swing in the streets. The street lamps were just coming on as we walked swiftly through the narrow, cobbled lanes. The sky was a dull, fading gray overhead, but the buildings crowded the streets so closely that it felt darker.

 

The party was darker, too. Edward's long, trailing cloak did not stand out in the way it might have on a normal evening in Volterra. There were others in black satin cloaks now, and the plastic fangs I'd seen on the child in the square today seemed to be very popular with the adults.

 

"Ridiculous," Edward muttered once.

 

I didn't notice when Alice disappeared from beside me. I looked over to ask her a question, and she was gone.

 

"Where's Alice?" I whispered in a panic.

 

"She went to retrieve your bags from where she stashed them this morning."

 

I'd forgotten that I had access to a toothbrush. It brightened my outlook considerably.

 

"She's stealing a car, too, isn't she?" I guessed.

 

He grinned. "Not till we're outside."

 

It seemed like a very long way to the entryway. Edward could see that I was spent; he wound his arm around my waist and supported most of my weight as we walked.