Disclaimer: Not mine. Go figure.

Chapter 12
Not So Warm Welcome

I can't believe he sent Jane to greet me. I mean… I seriously don't believe he would do this. This is more something Marcus would do. Marcus never did like me.

"Stop pouting," Demetri scolded me as I watched the Cullens load into the back of the limo.

"I didn't want her around them," I told him tersely.

"Isabella, she's not stupid enough to do anything with you here."

"That's not the point," I argued. "I don't even want to be here. The only members of the Volturi I like are Aro, you, Vanni, and on occasion Heidi."

"Speaking of, Vanni is not here," Jane cut in.

"What?" I asked sharply. "Why the hell not?"

"I'm not at liberty to say," Jane returned. "Aro is waiting to discuss it with you when we arrive."

"Is Vanni alright?"

"Aro will explain everything when we return to the city," she replied. She looked positively gleeful, so whatever it was, it wasn't good.

An explanation, perhaps? Vanni Monacelli is… well, I made her. I befriended her in Italy while she was a human, and then she had been taken by Heidi for feeding. I'd managed to get to her before anyone fed off her. However, by order of the Volturi, any human that is aware of the existence of vampires, must either die or be changed. So I changed her.

If something happened to Vanni, I'm going to be furious. And I'm taking out my anger on Jane. Bitch.

Jane, displaying absolutely none of her required Volturi manners, got in the passenger seat of the limo. Demetri and I simultaneously rolled our eyes and he walked forward to hold open the back door for us.

The Cullen's all filed in, then me, and Demetri followed, pulling the door closed behind him.

"Her lack of respect for you is upsetting," Demetri murmured as he took a seat on my left side; Edward was on my right.

I shrugged, hoping he wouldn't make a big deal about it. Not here. "I'm used to it. It doesn't bother me. Besides, I don't care whether or not she likes me – I don't generally spend a lot of time in Italy anyway. And Aro is usually smart enough to keep us separated."

"Something's going down," Demetri whispered in my ear, so quietly that only Edward and I could hear. I squeezed Edward's hand as a sign to not say anything. I didn't want to worry the rest of the Cullen's until I knew what was going on. I nodded at Demetri in agreement – something bad was on the horizon. Maybe there was a bigger reason that Aro wanted me in Volterra.

The car ride was short and awkward. The barrier was down between the driver's seat and the back, and Jane was constantly turning around in her seat and glaring at me.

I raised my eyebrows at her as she so blatantly stared. Seriously, the girl had no manners whatsoever. It was really starting to annoy me. Honestly, she had absolutely no respect for her superiors.

.xoxo.

Edward

As soon as we arrived, the limo door was pulled open and there was a hand reaching in to help Bella out of the limo. She grasped the hand firmly and used it as leverage to pull herself up. We all followed her out, without the wonderful help she got. As I was stepping out, I watched as one of the vampires – I couldn't see the face, it was covered by his cloak – held out a black cloak with deep purple stitching. I didn't know much about the ranking system among the Volturi, but according to Carlisle's thoughts, the color of her cloak was pretty significant.

How on Earth did Bella advance so quickly? It took Jane decades to reach where she is, and Bella is her superior.

Hmm, superior, that's interesting. Another cloak was handed to Demetri, the same color as the cloak that Jane was putting on. It was dark green, signifying a member of the guard. Interesting, so Bella was also higher ranked than Demetri.

Jasper's thoughts were focused on the way Bella was flanked.

Demetri takes position on her right side, meaning he's her main protection. That doesn't surprise me, considering the way he watched over her in Forks. The other two guards take their places – one on the left and one in front – Jane lags behind; she clearly doesn't want to be here.

"These are for all of you," Demetri said, handing us the cloaks. They were golden – much like the color of our eyes after a hunt. "They're for visitors and they will allow you to roam most of the castle freely."

"Most?" Alice piped up.

"There are, of course, restricted areas," Bella mentioned. "But don't worry, there are area's they aren't allowed in either," she continued, motioning to her 'guard'.

"Isabella," one of them murmured to her, "we should really be going. Aro has requested your presence."

She nodded at him. "Of course, Ehno. Andremo ora."

Bella can speak Italian, now. Alice sounded impressed.

We followed them through what I'm assuming were underground tunnels. It was eerily silent, but their thoughts were not.

I so wish they would tell us what was going on. This is really getting tiring. The one Bella called Ehno was irritated at being left in the dark, and Demetri's thoughts were occupied with worrying about Bella and Nathan.

"I don't suppose you could tell me anything about Vanni, could you Ehno?" Bella questioned as we reached the castle.

"I'm terribly sorry, Isabella, but you should know as well as I that we are never informed of anything going on unless you tell us. Jane knows, but she likes to pretend she's above all of us so she won't tell us anything."

"Obviously I am if I know and you don't," Jane replied.

"Amazing how you can walk straight with your nose so far up in the air like that, Jane. And the only reason you know what's going on before everyone else is because you listen in on private meetings through the air vents."

It amazed me that anyone, let alone Bella, had the nerve to speak with Jane like that. Surely she knew of Jane's deadly powers. I glanced at Jane and noticed her glaring intensely at the back of Bella's head. I was worried immediately – that was the look she wore when inflicting her pain. But Bella seemed completely unaffected. In fact…

"I can feel your eyes glaring holes into the back of my head. How's that going for you, Jane? Still completely useless on me?"

I heard Jane hiss for a moment, and before I knew what hit me, I was writhing on the ground in excruciating pain.


Translations:

Italian – Andremo ora – We'll be going now.

Hope you liked it. Next chapter should be exciting.

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