The only noise Via could hear was the sound of her own feet.
Usually, she moved too lightly to be heard, even with her enhanced vampire hearing.
But in this huge chamber, where the floors were some kind of cold stone and the walls were made from a material that caused echoes to bound and multiply across the room, and nobody was either moving or breathing, Via's footfalls sounded like cannonfire to her own ears.
For a moment, she actually wished she was still a weak human. A human Via would have been able to shake and tremble. She'd never thought about it much before she was a vampire, but shaking and trembling helped you deal with fear. Without them she always seemed much more afraid. She wished she was human.
Of course, if she was human right now Via would have a lot more reason to tremble than she in fact did have. Because the room she was in belonged to the Volturi. It was one of several chambers they used to speak with vampires who weren't coven members.
And to decide whether said vampires should become coven members.
Via had hoped the entire Volturi clan would be here, but she supposed it didn't really matter. If she became a member they'd all have centuries to get to know each other. Via's presence hadn't even been enough to summon all three leaders, apparently. Marcus, who supposedly spent most of his life in a depressed haze since the death of his mate Didyme, was still in his bedroom. Alec wasn't there either, though he would have gone a long way to calming her. It was difficult to be frightened when those steady kind eyes were on her and warming her.
Nope, the three vampires Via faced right now were the leaders Aro and Caius and a female vampire whose face was hidden behind her long light brown hair. Via got the impression the hiding of the vampire's face was deliberate.
"Via", Aro greeted her, and even the sound of her own name on the Volturi leader's lips sent a tingle of anticipation running down her spine. Surely the fact he had learned it in advance had to be a promising sign? When Via looked at Aro she was afraid. But not just for the obvious reasons – he was powerful and he held her fate in his cold hands – but because of his power. If Aro was considering accepting her into the coven, he might want to read her mind. And if he read her mind he'd know her secret, that one deadly secret she had never told to anybody, and he'd realise how weak she really was.
She was a fool to even be here. Via knew that. But when Alec had found her and said Aro had read his mind and knew all about her and was interested in talking to her, she just hadn't been able to resist. It was the belonging, she supposed, that was so enticing to her. Somewhere deep down, even though she knew it was weak, Via longed to belong. And obviously also the fact that being in the Volturi would take her one step closer to being Alec's mate.
"I believe that you met our Alec when he was investigating the Lisedale coven?" Aro asked.
Unable to speak, Via nodded her head.
"She provided vital information to Alec on their activities", Caius told Aro. Aro, who clearly already knew this, shot him an irritated look.
"Friends of yours, the vampires at Lisedale?" he asked her.
"Not any more", she answered ruefully.
"Practical, I see. And your ability is that you can change your appearance?"
"Artificially. It doesn't actually change but I can trick people into thinking I look different to how I actually do."
"An interesting gift", Caius murmured when Aro was silent. "Could you show us?"
Via closed her eyes and pictured her nose being longer. She thought, over and over again, of having a longer nose. She traced the end of her real nose with a finger. Then, with the same finger she touched the space she wanted her nose to extend to. When she raised her lids again her nose resembled a cartoon villain's and she smiled, happy to see it had worked out so well. But the three Volturi all still had unreadable expressions.
"Come here girl", Aro said, extending his hand. And her stomach lurched because now, she realised, now he was going to read her mind. Reluctantly she stepped forward. Reluctantly she let him touch her hand. She felt nothing as her thoughts hit Aro in a rush. It was as if they had detached themselves from her. How odd. When Aro released her he was smiling.
"Welcome to the Volturi guard, Via", he said. "I am afraid you'll have only a day to get to know us. Caius has been pressurising me to deal with the children of the moon for a while now and we have news some of them have left northern Europe and Asia and travelled to the Seattle area in North America. We're not aware of why that might be yet. Your gift, however, may be just the thing for fighting them. Tomorrow I want you to fly to America, find these werewolves and convince them you're a friend. Then we will see."
Via just stared at Aro. He was letting her in? After he'd seen her thoughts and knew how weak she was? And now she had a mission as well? She was utterly overwhelmed.
"Chelsea", Aro murmured, and the brown haired girl fixed her eyes on Via. As she did, Via's warm feelings of gratitude to the Volturi seemed to increase until she suddenly knew she'd do anything for them. Anything, anything. Just so long as she was of service.