.
20. VOLTERRA
The road became steeper as it wound its way up the hill toward the city . . . steeper and more congested. In the distance, I could see the ancient towers of Volterra, the sienna walls thrusting up toward the unforgiving sun. They had stood for centuries, built at a time when high walls were a city's best defense against invaders. I could only hope they would be more welcoming today than they had been back then.
Traffic slowed to a snail's pace, creeping forward a single car length at a time. People were parking along the edges of the road now and traveling up the hill on foot. I wondered, for a moment, if we should do the same—surely we could move faster that way—but the sun was beating down from above, and Alice would never be able to make it to the city without being noticed. Should I go without her, then? Even with a bad ankle, I could move faster than we were moving now, but I needed her. I didn't speak Italian, and I didn't know where to go. Even now I could see the distant expression in her eyes. She was focused on the future, examining details that were becoming clearer with each passing second but could still shift in a heartbeat. It was too risky. I needed to know everything she saw.
As we crept around a sharp turn, a parking lot came into view just outside the city walls. Crowds of people, many of them dressed in red, made their way slowly through a single city gate. No cars were being allowed in. I scanned the parking lot, desperately searching for just one empty spot, but there were none to be found.
"Should I go in on foot?" I asked, reaching for the seat belt release.
"No," Alice answered. Her voice was flat, her expression as hard as stone. "I'm going to try to get us inside."
The cars up ahead were turning around now as they discovered that the parking lot was full. They were moving back down the hill one by one in search of a shoulder to park on. I watched the people standing in line as we crept closer and closer to the city gate.
"Edward." Alice's voice was low and determined. "I can't see what the guard here will decide now. If this doesn't work, you're going to have to go in alone. You're going to have to run. Just keep asking for the Palazzo dei Priori and running in the direction they tell you."
"Palazzo dei Priori?" I asked.
"Or 'the clock tower,' if they speak English. I'll go around and try to find a secluded spot somewhere behind the city where I can go over the wall."
I nodded. "Palazzo dei Priori," I repeated to myself as I stared out through the windshield at the impenetrable city walls. They were draped in red, I realized, from the streamers hanging beside the city gates to the flags that flew from the towers above. Red. Everywhere red. It looked like the city was bleeding.
"Bella will be in a building to the right of the clock tower, to the north of the square. There will be a narrow alley to the right of the tower, and she'll be in the building on the other side of that alley. You'll need to go in the main entrance and up two flights of stairs. Then go through the first door on the right. And make sure you're calling her name. This will be close. If you aren't calling her name . . ."
She didn't finish her sentence. She didn't need to.
We were near the front of the line now. A man in a navy blue uniform was standing at the entrance to the parking lot, his hands making the same gestures over and over again as he directed traffic back down the hill. He must have been bored. He was paying more attention to the people walking past him toward the city gate than to the cars and their disappointed drivers. He barely even acknowledged Alice as the car in front of her made a U-turn at the parking lot entrance. That was when Alice took her chance. She accelerated, edging around him toward the gate. He yelled something in Italian, but it was too late for him to stop us. He could only step in front of the next car in line to prevent them from following.
Up ahead, at the main gate, stood another man in a matching uniform. We moved carefully toward him, inching through the flocks of tourists that crowded the pavement. Some stared at the Porsche in surprise. Most just gave us dirty looks.
The guard at the gate stepped into the middle of the road, blocking our progress. Alice angled the car carefully, positioning the sun on my side as she came to a stop. She reached behind the seat for something, but I couldn't see what.
An angry expression crossed the guard's face as he came around to her side of the car. He tapped her window impatiently, and Alice rolled it halfway down. I saw him blink in surprise, his annoyed expression fading away as his eyes focused on her lovely face.
"I'm sorry," he said in heavily accented English. He was apologetic now. He wished he had better news for the beautiful woman behind the wheel. "Only tour buses allowed in the city today, miss."
"It's a private tour," Alice explained with a smile. She reached out the window—her arm covered in an elbow-length tan glove—and pulled his hand into the car. She placed something in his palm and folded his fingers around it before letting him pull it back out through the window.
The guard stared down at what she'd given him—a thick roll of cash. His eyes widened in surprise.
"Is this a joke?" he asked.
Alice's smile was brilliant. "Only if you think it's funny."
He pulled his eyes away from the money to stare at her in disbelief.
"I'm in a wee bit of a hurry," she hinted, still smiling.
The guard blinked several more times, then shoved the money into an inside pocket on his vest. Stepping away from the car, he waved us on.
Alice breathed a sigh of relief as she drove into the city, but I barely noticed the ancient portcullis as we passed beneath it. I'd just seen the time on the dashboard clock. We had only five minutes left.
The ancient street was narrow and shaded, little more than an alleyway by modern standards, and paved with faded stones that matched the buildings on either side. Red flags decorated the walls, flapping in the wind that blew between the buildings.
There were people everywhere. Alice could barely move forward. I released the seat belt, ready to run at a second's notice.
"Just a little farther," she said. I nodded and reached for the door handle.
We moved in quick spurts and sudden stops as gaps appeared and disappeared in the crowd. More than one pedestrian turned to shake an angry fist in our direction or yell something in Italian that required no translation. As the crowd parted slightly, Alice turned down a little path that was obviously never intended for cars. People jumped into doorways to get out of our way as she scraped by. I heard more of the same angry Italian hurled in our direction.
At the end of that street, we found another. The buildings were taller now as we moved closer to the center of the city. They blocked more and more of the sun that shone down from above, but the crowd was growing thicker. Eventually, there was nowhere left for us to go.
I threw open the door as Alice pointed toward where the street widened into a bright open area up ahead. "There—we're at the southern end of the square. Run almost straight across, but aim a little to the right. You need to get to the building to the right of the clock tower. I'll find a way around—"
Her breath caught suddenly, ending whatever she was about to say. "They're everywhere!" she hissed, but then she shook her head.
"You have two minutes," she told me as she reached for the handle of her own door. "Go, Edward, go!"
I didn't wait for her to get out of the car. I didn't stop to close the door behind me, either. The half second it took might mean the difference between life and death. I pushed my way rudely past a couple of people standing in the middle of the street, then ran as fast as I could toward the bright light of the plaza up ahead. The cobblestones were uneven and unforgiving. It took only a couple of steps before my ankle was throbbing. But what did it matter, really? This pain was nothing compared to the agony I would suffer if I didn't make it in time, if I couldn't stop Bella before it was too late.
As I came out of the dark alleyway, I was nearly blinded by the sudden brightness of the open plaza. But I didn't have time to stop—or even blink. The city square was filled with people, their bodies pressed tightly against each other. High above their heads I could see the clock tower, the minute hand nearly at the hour. I needed to find a way to move forward through the tightly packed crowd. Just ahead, a slight gap opened between two women in matching red shirts. I dove toward it, squeezing between them as one woman exclaimed something in Italian. But there was no time to look back or offer an apology. I was already past her, forcing my way through the crowd and looking for my next opening.
As I pushed through a group of teenagers wearing plastic vampire fangs, my toe caught on an uneven cobblestone. I nearly went down, and my heart skipped a beat before I regained my footing. If I fell in this throng, I would never get back up in time. It would all be over.
My ankle screamed, but I pushed on, using the clock tower as my reference. How far to the right of that tower did I need to go? Where was the building I needed to find?
I squeezed between a man and a woman in red capes, breaking apart their joined hands.
If I didn't make it, would Alice get out in time? Would she be able to go home to Jasper? Or would we all die here today?
Wait. Alice. What had Alice said? I needed to be calling Bella's name. I wasn't entirely sure how she could possibly hear me above the noise of the crowd, but Alice had told me to call Bella's name. As I slipped behind a tall man with a little girl on his shoulders, I took a deep breath and yelled her name at the top of my lungs. A woman in a red scarf jumped back in surprise, and up ahead, I could suddenly see an opening in the crowd, toward the center of the plaza. I pushed toward it, Bella's name still on my lips, only to discover that I'd come out against a wide, square fountain in the very center of the plaza.
Okay, so I was halfway there.
I jumped into the knee-deep water, sending it splashing in all directions as I ran toward the other side. I could see it now as I looked up—the opening to the right of the clock tower . . . and the building on the other side. Several stone balconies jutted out from the cinnamon brown wall just above the heads of the crowd. I didn't know which balcony was the right one, but something about them seemed familiar. I lowered my gaze, searching for the building's entrance on the street below, but the crowd was too thick. There was something, though, the top of a wide stone arch that looked like it might be the top of a doorway. I reached the other end of the fountain, throwing myself into the crowd in the direction of that archway and screaming Bella's name as I went.
Icy water from my clothes splattered in all directions. People were staring at me now, stepping out of my way as I ran toward the building. The fact that I was yelling at the top of my lungs didn't hurt, either.
There was the archway, and one of the thick wooden doors beneath it was standing wide open. There was a sign, too, something in Italian that I didn't even glance at as I fought my way through the edges of the crowd.
I was almost there when a low, booming chime shook the cobblestones beneath my feet.
The clock was striking noon.
"Bella!" I screamed as I pushed past three women coming out of the building. "Bella, stop!" Inside the door, I paused only long enough to find the stairs, then stumbled up them as fast as I could.
"Bella, don't do it!" The clock struck again.
There were too many steps. Why did old buildings always have such short steps?
"Bella, stop!" I yelled. I used the railing to pivot at the landing and then fumbled up the second flight of stairs as the bell tolled a third time.
"Bella! Bella, don't—"
And then I was on the next floor, and there was an open doorway on my right. Inside, I could see some sort of a sitting room, the waiting area for some municipal office, I supposed. On the opposite side of the room, there was an opening, an ancient stone flanked archway inset with a pair of modern glass doors that provided access to one of the balconies I'd seen from the fountain below. And just inside those glass doors, her hand paused in mid-air as she reached for the door handle, stood the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen.
I barely made it into the room, falling against the door frame as I struggled to catch my breath, but the sight of her made it even harder to breathe. I knew every perfect curve of her heart-shaped face. Chestnut waves of hair tumbled down over shoulders left bare by the thin strapped top she wore, and a round locket rested at the base of her throat.
All those months of dreaming, all those unconscious visions of her had been nothing. They hadn't even begun to do her justice.
She was staring at me now, as still as a statue, a bewildered expression in her coal black eyes. And then a dry sob escaped from between her lips, and she wrapped her arms around her torso. She looked like she was trying to hold the pieces of herself together.
"And now I'm seeing you, too?" she cried, curling in on herself.
It took me a few more seconds to draw enough air into my lungs to speak.
"What?" What was she talking about? I shook my head to clear it, but Bella didn't answer. She only stared at me, pure agony in her eyes.
"I'm so sorry, Edward," she whispered. "I'm so sorry."
I staggered toward her, willing my legs to hold me up as I reached out toward her.
"It's okay, Bella. I'm here. I'm here." I felt the jolt as my fingertips brushed against the curve of her face. I cupped her cheek in my hand.
I wasn't sure what she thought I was—a ghost, perhaps?—but I could see the moment she realized I was really there. Her lips parted slightly, and she raised her palm to cradle the back of my hand where it rested against her cheek. Her eyes went soft.
"How long do we have?" she whispered.
"How long . . . what do you mean?" I asked.
"I thought . . . I'd hoped . . . maybe they would let me see you before they sent me to hell. How long do we have?"
Hell? Of course. Bella thought I was dead. She thought she was dead now, too, that the Volturi had already killed her and that this was her last chance to see me before . . . . Hell? Really? Bella thought she was destined for that?
"No, no, Bella. I'm alive. You're alive." I reached down for her right hand, laying it against my chest, just above my still-pounding heart. She seemed confused for a few seconds, then her hands flew to my face, cupping my cheeks in her palms, and before I had time to take in the new light in her dark eyes, Bella had crushed herself against me, rising up on her toes and pulling me down toward her.
It was like being kissed by a hurricane, by a force of nature. All the times we'd kissed in the past had been so cautious, so carefully controlled for my own safety, but there was a wildness to this kiss, a desperation that I couldn't have fought even if I'd wanted to—and I definitely didn't want to. I was still a bit short of breath from my desperate sprint across the plaza, but all I could do was curl my fingers against the back of her tank top and hold on for dear life as I kissed her back. I lost all sense of time, all sense of reason . . .
I was out of breath again when Bella finally pulled away, but she didn't let me go. We stood together in the empty room, foreheads pressed together, noses brushing as we waited for me to catch my breath again. I traced my hands down her arms, my fingertips seeking hers—
And suddenly I found myself pressed back against the stone wall beside the balcony. Bella stood in front of me, a protective shield, as the fireplace on the wall to our right began to move.
I wasn't thinking clearly, not after that, so it took several seconds for me to understand that the ornate fireplace was no more than a decoration, that what I was actually seeing was the opening of a hidden doorway in the wall. I watched as the opening widened to reveal a passageway beyond. Two figures stepped forward, carefully remaining in the shadow created by the false fireplace.
I could see very little of them. The smoky gray cloaks they wore stretched down to the ground, blending into the darkness behind them and covering them from head to toe. But I didn't need to see them to know what they were.
"Bella," one of the figures spoke. His voice was soft and low, but menacing, nonetheless.
"Felix," Bella answered cautiously.
He seemed to study Bella for a moment, then moved on to me. I couldn't see very much of his face beneath the hood of his cloak, but I could feel him watching me, measuring me. How red were those eyes? I held back a shudder.
"Are we to assume from this little display that your . . . previous situation has been resolved?" the shadowy figure asked.
"It has," Bella answered. "I thank you for your consideration, but it appears that I won't be needing any assistance today after all."
"Perhaps, but we should take this conversation to a more appropriate venue," came the smooth reply.
"No rules have been broken," Bella pointed out, her tone carefully measured.
"No," came a voice from the second shadow. "But we should find a more private setting. We will not be alone for long. Your presence was . . . rather loudly announced." I could feel both sets of their eyes on me now.
"Of course," Bella answered. She turned her head slightly to the side. "Edward, why don't you—"
"No, bring the boy," the first shadow—Felix—said. Something even more menacing crept into his tone.
Bella shifted her weight slightly. Felix did the same. I could see that Bella had no intention of letting them take me anywhere, but I could also see that Felix was big. Even beneath the long cloak, I could see how tall he was, how wide his shoulders were. He reminded me of Emmett.
"Bella, don't," I whispered, reaching out for her arm.
"Felix," the second figure spoke, his voice taking on a reasonable tone, "not here." He turned toward Bella. "Aro would simply like to speak with you again, if you have decided not to force our hand."
"Very well, but Edward has nothing to do with this. He should be allowed to leave."
"I'm afraid that's not possible," the second shadow answered. "We do have rules to obey."
No one moved. Bella stood her ground, but I could see that this was a fight she couldn't win. I was worse than useless. I was a liability, and if these were members of the guard Alice had told me about on the plane, who knew what they were capable of?
"Bella, maybe we should—"
But I never had a chance to finish. Something, some movement or some barely discernible sound, made us all turn toward the doorway that led out of the sitting room and into the inner office. The door opened, and Alice appeared from within.
"Let's behave ourselves, shall we?" she suggested in a musical tone. "There are ladies present."
She stepped lightly to our side, as if oblivious to the tension in the room. She seemed so small, so helpless. There was no way the shadows would see her as a threat, even if the numbers were more even now. Still, both figures straightened. Felix's face grew sour. Apparently even a vampire as petite as Alice shifted the odds too much for their comfort.
"Let's be reasonable," the second figure spoke again.
"Of course, Demetri," Bella responded. "We could leave quietly now and forget any of this ever happened. There's no need to trouble anyone any further. That would be reasonable, wouldn't it?"
Demetri sighed. "At least let us discuss this more privately."
I could hear voices downstairs. Faint strings of Italian floated up the staircase and in through the open doorway of the sitting room. I hadn't seen anyone on my way in—not that I'd been looking—but Demetri was right. I'd made quite a spectacle in the plaza outside. People had seen me running into this building. Someone must have come looking for the crazy person who'd splashed through the fountain and nearly trampled dozens of people while yelling at the top of his lungs.
And then a smile crept across Felix's face.
Behind them, through the opening in the wall, appeared a third figure. At first, I thought it must be a child, a young girl who'd wandered away from the crowd outside and found herself in the wrong place at the wrong time, but as she stepped into view I could see that she, too, wore a long cloak, although her cloak was much darker than the others, almost black. Her hood was pulled back, revealing an angelic face framed with short, pale brown hair. She seemed so young, so innocent that it was hard to imagine she could be one of them, but then my eyes took in the dull crimson of her irises.
Still, even if she had appeared small and nonthreatening at first glance, Felix's smile told me this was not the case. Something about this newcomer's arrival had shifted the power in their favor . . . and by a considerable margin.
Bella glanced back at me, then toward Alice before fixing her eyes on the tiny vampire.
"Jane."
Jane returned Bella's gaze, but not her greeting. Something flashed in her eyes—anger . . . or maybe disgust—and then she turned away. "Follow me," she said, her high, childish voice coming out as a monotone. Not even waiting to see if we would obey, she turned and disappeared into the dark passageway.
Felix gestured for us to go first. He was still smirking.
Alice followed without hesitation, disappearing into the darkness. Bella reached down for my hand, and after giving my fingers a gentle squeeze, she led me into the shadows.
I hadn't been able to see much from the waiting room, so I was surprised to find that the passageway wasn't completely dark. It was faintly illuminated by sconces spaced evenly along the walls just above our heads. There wasn't a spider or a cobweb to be seen, either. Behind us, the light dimmed slightly as the false fireplace was pulled back into position. It didn't make a sound. There was no indication of shuffling feet behind us, either, but I knew Felix and Demetri must be following.
I didn't know where we were going, but I was fairly certain I knew what we would find when we got there. Maybe I'd stopped Bella from revealing herself to the crowd outside, but I was still a human who knew far too much, and Bella and Alice obviously had something to do with that knowledge. Would the Volturi kill me for knowing the secret? Would they kill Alice and Bella for revealing it?
Bella leaned against me. The passageway wasn't so narrow that she needed to—she just seemed like she wanted to be closer. Did she know we were doomed, then? Would this version of Romeo and Juliet be no less tragic than the original? Had Romeo arrived just in time to save Juliet, only for them to die by some hand other than their own?
I tightened my grip on her fingers.
Up ahead, I could see Alice making her way through the dim corridor. Surely she must have known this was a possibility all along. Had she seen this future, or had she been too focused on saving Bella? She'd seemed so confident when she'd appeared in the sitting room only moments ago. Did she know something no one else knew? Was she already working on a way to get us through this mess so that we would all come out safely on the other side? I had to believe she was.
"I was hoping you wouldn't come, Alice," Bella said, breaking through the silence. She kept her voice light, like she was starting a casual conversation, like we weren't on our way to meet the most powerful vampires in the world.
"Did you honestly think I wouldn't?" Alice answered in the same casual tone.
"What happened, exactly?" Bella asked as we started down a flight of stone stairs. Her tone was polite, careful. She was no less conscious of the curious ears around us than I was.
"It's a long story. In summary, Edward did jump off a cliff, but he wasn't trying to kill himself. He's picked up some interesting new hobbies lately."
The stairs turned at a landing, and Alice looked back over her shoulder, her gaze meeting Bella's for the briefest of glances. There was more to the story, her eyes said, but the rest would have to wait until later . . . if there was a later.
Trust Alice, I reminded myself.
The passageway turned again at the bottom of the stairs, and then another door stood open, leading out into a dark, abandoned alley. Jane was nowhere to be seen, but there was a hole in the middle of the cobblestones at the lowest point of the street—a drain, I assumed, judging by the grate that had been pushed aside. Alice didn't hesitate. She simply stepped out into the middle of the alley and disappeared through the small, black hole.
I limped forward to peer down after her, but I could see only darkness below. Was there a ladder? It hadn't looked like it. Alice had simply stepped off into nothing. How long was the drop? Was it only a few feet? Or was it farther?
"Alice will catch you," Bella whispered in my ear. "Don't worry." And then she gave my fingers one last squeeze before letting go of my hand and nudging me toward the opening.
I sat down on the cobblestones, swinging my legs over the edge of the hole. I still couldn't see anything.
"Alice?" I called down quietly.
"I'm here," she answered. Her voice seemed to be some distance away. Not exactly reassuring.
"Here goes nothing," I muttered, my eyes catching Bella's one last time before I pushed myself over the edge.
The fall was blessedly short, but I could still feel the height of it as the air whipped past me before Alice caught me and set me back on my feet. It wasn't the softest of landings.
I rubbed the spots on my arms where Alice had caught me as I studied the darkness. I could see very little. The light from the street above reflected dully on the wet stones beneath our feet, but it didn't penetrate any farther into the gloom. Then came the sound of something falling through the air, and Bella was beside me again, her arm around my waist as she tucked herself against me. I heard the metallic clang as the heavy grate was pulled back into position. And then there was no light at all.
Bella nudged me forward into the darkness, guiding me, though I could not see. Jane and Alice were somewhere up ahead, and Felix and Demetri followed behind, but the only sounds I could hear were the shuffles of my own limping footsteps on the wet stones. They echoed off the walls, leaving me with the impression that the passageway was very wide, but I couldn't be sure. I couldn't even tell where my feet were falling as I took each careful, uneven step. I had to trust Bella's subtle nudges as she pushed me gently forward.
Behind me, I heard Felix sigh impatiently. At least Demetri was keeping his opinions to himself.
We continued on for what seemed like forever, the path beneath our feet sloping steadily downward as it led us toward something I didn't want to think about. I imagined all sorts of demons reaching out for me in the darkness, but Bella kept one arm around me. Guiding me, guarding me. Keeping me close.
Slowly, the blackness around us started to turn to gray, and I began to make out the shape of the low, arched tunnel we were in. As the light grew gradually brighter, I could see the stone floor of the tunnel beneath my feet and the trails of moisture seeping down the gray stone walls. Eventually, we came to the end of the tunnel, to a grate made of thick iron bars that were covered in rust. A small door made of thinner, interlaced bars stood open at the center of the grate. Bella slipped out from under my arm, her hand grasping mine as she stepped through the little door. I ducked my head as I followed her through.
Behind us, the iron door closed with a clang, followed by the snap of a lock.
Bella led me across the long, stone room toward a heavy wooden door that stood open for us. I felt her stiffen, and then we stepped through the open door.