Chapter Twenty One

Bella

Lucky, or Adam as I should be careful to think of him now, had been right, Aro had sent a car and driver for us, a somber dark clad vampire with wrap around shades who didn't speak after welcoming us to Italy and taking our bags.

"Volturi"

Jasper explained who our driver was as we slid into the back of the black sedan with darkly tinted windows.

The drive was a pleasant one, or at least it would have been if not for the almost unbearable tension in the car. Jasper sat very quietly although I could feel how wound up he was and couldn't decide whether it was Lucky or the Volturi that concerned him most. The only person totally oblivious to it all was Adam2 who sat back and closed his eyes as if he were sleeping just like a child worn out by a long journey might do.

The car drove out of the airport and through the Italian countryside along a winding road that eventually headed uphill until it entered a walled town which must be Volterra and drew up at the opening of a dark alley. The driver waited while we got out with before speeding away down the steep winding road

"I hope he's coming back with our bags."

Jasper shot me a glance but Adam2 giggled just like a little boy and took my hand. I glanced down at him before remembering his words earlier. I had to act as if this was our son, we both did, I just hoped Jasper would remember that too.

Jasper

I heard the swish of their cloaks before I saw them, two Volturi appeared at the entrance to the alley and beckoned us forward.

"Follow us please"

The larger of the two seemed to be the one in command and as we followed them away from the evening light I knew this might be our last walk, we could be following the Volturi to our death. I took Bella's hand in mine and made sure she was calm, but I needn't have bothered, she didn't feel stressed out at all and as I watched she gripped Adam2's hand and smiled down at him,

"Don't be frightened darling, these people are friends."

How she did it I didn't know, but she was right, if we didn't treat this shapeshifter as our son then it was all over, so I took his other hand and felt a connection at once, it was as if Adam were really there.

"Don't worry Daddy, Lucky is our friend you can trust him."

I saw by Bella's expression that she heard it too even though he hadn't spoken. He had somehow projected Adam's words into our minds just when he knew we needed to hear them and Bella looked at me with a smile, she believed we would walk out of here and back to our son and I must too.

Bella

I guessed this wasn't the entrance to the Volturi citadel that the humans saw as we walked through a small stone archway and along endless stone corridors following the two silent cloaked figures. I looked at Jasper in question and he spoke quietly,

"Demetri and Jane"

I'd heard of Jane, her gift was one of pain, she could make you feel pain just by looking at you which was very impressive but useless against my shield.

"Demetri?"

I'd not heard of him before.

"He's a tracker, a very good one"

The larger cloaked figure turned to look at me with a confident smile, "The best actually Isabella, I've never lost my quarry."

His ruby eyes were piercing in his pale face.

"Nice to meet you."

The smaller figure, Jane, laughed coldly and I immediately took her for an arrogant bitch. Maybe I would get an opportunity to take her down a peg or two later.

Eventually, we reached a pair of huge carved wooden doors which Demetri threw open as if they weighed nothing and ushered us into a huge circular room. It was vast but there were only a few people, all seated on what resembled carved thrones present to meet us. So, these were the kings of the vampires, the Volturi I had heard so much about and whom all other vampires feared.

Aro

I turned eagerly as the doors opened to see the family whose son interested me so much then smiled and walked forward to greet them, "Ah, at last. The Whitlock family. Major"

I nodded in acknowledgment, I liked to preserve the niceties. Then I turned my attention to the focus of my interest,

"Bella and Adam."

The boy was watching me closely and she moved forward to protect him from my gaze.

"Aro. I've heard a lot about you from Carlisle."

She held out her hand, knowing, I suppose, that I could see her thoughts and I took it with a smile and bent over it expectantly but saw nothing, her mind was a blank to me and as I looked up I saw she knew this and found it amusing.

"Sorry Aro, but Edward Cullen couldn't read my thoughts either but I'll gladly answer any questions I can."

I shot a look at Jane and she nodded slightly, ready to act on my command. The Major noticed the look but he didn't seem perturbed, could she be impervious to Jane's gift too? I'd heard rumors but I had found them difficult to believe.

Bella

I'd seen the look Aro gave Jane and braced myself was he really going to chance such a move this early in our acquaintance? It certainly seemed so as I watched Jane get more and more frustrated. Well, bitch, see how it feels to be useless for a change. I had expected Aro to react but not in the way he did, his smile simply widened and he shook his head slightly. Jane's eyes lost focus and she stepped back, still glaring at me but I decided to ignore her and focused on Aro again, looking innocently into his face as if I hadn't even been aware of the test he had just performed.

"It seems your shield is quite powerful Isabella."

I opened my eyes wider as if in surprise,

"Really Aro, what do you base that on? Oh, and I prefer Bella if you don't mind"

He looked confused for a second, not sure if I'd seen Jane's effort or not.

"Bella, would you introduce me to your son Adam, I hear he is a most unusual hybrid."

"Really? Where did you hear that?"

He ignored the question, well it could wait for now, and I guided Adam2 forward to stand against me noting that Aro's eyes burned with curiosity,

"Adam, how wonderful to meet you. I've heard so much about you."

He bent forward and held his hand out to Adam2 and I braced myself. If we were going to be betrayed then now would be the time but Adam2 hesitated just as my little one would have done, then tentatively put his tiny hand in Aro's claw-like talon which folded over it like a trap.

Jasper

I watched apprehensively as Adam2 put his hand out to Aro, this would be the telling time. As Aro took it eagerly I noticed Marcus step forward, his brow creased in confusion, had he realized there wasn't the bond there between Bella, Adam2 and myself that he had surely expected? He watched closely as Aro closed his eyes concentrating his gift on our "son" then looked from Aro to Lucky then to Bella and me before shaking his head.

"Brother"

He was trying to get Aro's attention but was hushed by Caius who had also drifted over. If they saw through our deception then we were all dead.

Aro

It was most frustrating, I could see memories but they were indistinct and made no sense to me, a boy and his dog, that was all I saw. Was it true that Adam had no special gifts except perhaps a weak version of his mother's shield?

I pulled my hand away and saw that my brothers had come to join our party and Marcus was looking confused while Caius was angry.

"Caius, what is it that upsets you so?"

He glared at The Major before he answered,

"This child could cause us problems. Who knows what powers he possesses with parents like his?"

I lifted a hand to stop him.

"I can tell you that the boy possesses no special or powerful gifts. He is what you see, a little boy, an unusual one I'll grant you, but not a threat to us."

Marcus stepped forward with a frown on his face.

"Aro, are you sure?"

"Of course, why? Do you see something?"

I glanced from him to The Major,

"Is this your son Major? Bella's son?"

The warrior merely nodded watching us all in turn and I glanced at my brother again,

"Well, Marcus? Do you have something to say?"

"No, I was mistaken, after all the relationships here are very different, there's a hybrid to take into account."

I knew what was going on, my brothers saw monsters where there were none.

Caius turned to me,

"Why don't you read the warrior's thoughts? That should tell us if there is anything going on here we should know about."

I turned,

"If you think it is necessary Caius and The Major is willing."

I turned to The Major,

"Are you willing to put my brother's minds at rest?"

I held out my hand and waited although we both knew it wasn't a request.

He hesitated at first but I took that merely as a token of his hostility to us.

"Is there a problem?"

He shook his head and moved forward stretching his hand out to me as Bella moved to his side and the boy took his other hand.

"Go on Daddy, it doesn't hurt."

He looked down at his son with a strange expression on his face then grasped my hand firmly in his own.

Jasper

Well, this was it, so far Lucky had shown he could fool Aro but could he continue to do so when he wasn't in physical contact with the Volturi leader? As I put my hand into Aro's Adam2 took my other hand and suddenly I had no control over my mind, it was filled with pictures I didn't recognize, my memories but slightly distorted and changed at key points. The memories of Bella, our most private moments, flickered into view and Aro smiled at these. The memories of Adam's birth were unchanged too and I felt his interest spike. Then things became twisted, Adam was a boy, just a boy who drank blood and was intelligent beyond his years but there was nothing unusual or interesting about him and I felt Aro's interest fading.

Aro

I was disappointed in the warrior's memories. His early days were of no interest to me, after all, we already knew he was a skilled fighter and I had hoped perhaps some of his skills might come out in his son, or perhaps Bella's weak shield but there was nothing to interest us. The boy was just that, a boy. A hybrid certainly but more human than vampire it seemed our informant had been mistaken.

I sighed and released The Major's hand,

"It seems we are to be disappointed brothers, we had high hopes of this hybrid child but it was not to be. Thank you for bringing him here and we hope you will stay a while. I know our wives are most eager to meet young Adam. Jane will escort you to your suite and later we will meet up with Sulpicia and Athenadora. Perhaps Adam would like to see a little of the citadel while he is here, please feel free to explore."

Caius was as angry as usual when things did not go his way and turned to stride out of the chamber without the usual courtesies while Marcus studied the little family group a moment longer before bowing his head and making his way slowly out in Caius wake.

Bella

I couldn't believe it was really over that we had fooled the Volturi and all I wanted to do was get out of here as quickly as possible but that was impossible. If we seemed too eager to leave they might become suspicious so we would have to remain, meet the wives and pretend an interest in the citadel that we didn't feel. I wondered how Adam2 was feeling right now, after all, he was in the very heart of enemy territory and extremely vulnerable but he has kept his word and saved our son from being taken from us.

When Marcus had bowed his head in farewell I thought I saw a glimmer of a smile play around his lips but I could have been mistaken. Then Aro spoke to Jane,

"See our guests to their suite Jane, dear. I'm sure Adam would like to rest and arrange for a meal for him, whatever his parents request. I look forward to seeing you again later."

Then he too swept from the room leaving us with a sour-faced Jane who clearly objected to the task assigned her but I didn't care, I just wanted a chance to relax and take a few minutes to pull myself together so we followed her stiff-backed figure out into the corridor and along to a suite of rooms that had been made ready for us.

.