Thanks to Belindella for the pre-read on this chapter. I made a few small changes after she read, so any mistakes are mine.

"I'm not going in there."

Ginnie stayed seated in the driver's side of the little yellow car that had brought them from Florence to this cobblestone alley where they were now stopped. The windows had fogged and there was a constant tapping that sounded like pebbles into a pan. It was raining in dull, steady sheets, and Bella could hear thunder in the distance.

"You came all this way, but you won't go a little farther? Your grandfather led me to believe that you were going to be useful."

Ginnie's grip on the wheel tightened. "I was – I did – I got you this far. I know it's only been a century since you paid attention, but a lot's happened in the world, in case you hadn't noticed. Or did you think you were just going to walk up to a counter with no money and say, 'Hello, I want to ride in your air flying machine to the land of Caesars'? For God's sake, Isabella! Not helpful? Give me a break."

"Anyone could have accompanied me here. What I need now is something only you can do."

"And again, I can hear you lying."

"Your talent is too literal," Bella said. "Obviously, you're not the only one on this earth who could help me discover what the Volturi intend, but you're the only one who's here with me." She opened the car door, and the rain blew in and spotted her jeans. "You're stalling. Or you're waiting to find out if I'm going to force you to go in."

"Are you?" Ginnie's voice was barely a whisper.

"I'm not."

Ginnie leaned forward and rested her forehead on the wheel, choking out a breath that sounded like a sob.

"Why are you afraid of this place?" Bella asked.

"Why wouldn't I be? They're the goddamned Volturi."

Bella shrugged. "Before them it was the Romanians, and further back it was a handful of Egyptians who called themselves the Daughters of Set. Eventually it will be someone else."

"You just don't get it," Ginnie said. "Except for my grandfather, everyone I was close to is dead because of them. Nikolai, Joseph, Sal, Anko…" She stopped to catch her breath. "Nikolai." The name came out like a prayer. "He was supposed to live forever, but they're all gone with nothing to mark the place where they were burned. Killed in one night, because the Volturi decided that we pushed too hard, showed our hand too much in Santa Fe."

"You must have known the Volturi might come," Bella said. "They had already ended the fighting in Texas."

"My people were warriors. It's a gift to die on the field. And Nikolai… he was a determined bloody Bolshevik, a gorgeous fucking fighting machine, and nothing could stop him when he felt he was in the right. We would have taken the Volturi on in a fair fight. But they had their freaks that render everyone helpless, and they massacred Nikolai and the rest for something that wasn't our fault. It was the other side that got careless, letting their newborns raid the city like it was a snack bar. But it didn't matter. When the Volturi decide it's time for you to die, then you die.

"So, you want to know what I'm afraid of? I'm afraid they know I was in New Mexico, and they'll decide I've gone too long without paying for it. I'm afraid they'll resent my helping you. Most of all I'm afraid that they'll want me stuck in the guard interrogating the truth out of prisoners." She leaned back and hit her head against the seat a few times and closed her eyes. "Don't make me go in there."

"Ginnie." No response. The girl was almost hyperventilating. "Ginnlaug, look at me."

She opened her eyes, but still faced forward while her breathing slowed.

"I'm going in now. Try to settle yourself. I'll be back with the tracker, and then we'll leave."

Bella stepped out into the downpour. The air smelled of moss and stone, and the lights in the windows were steady, not flickering with firelight as she remembered. She headed east for the Rocca Vecchia, the 'old fortress'. It wasn't that much older than the western side, but since it came first, it was considered more historic, and Carlisle had said that it was through the large wooden door on the east that tourists were herded in and then up to the second floor.

She rapped on the red door with the cast iron ring nailed to the center, but other than a dull buzzing sound, nothing happened. She waited and then knocked again.

The young woman who eventually let her in was human. She took one look at Bella and opened the door fully to reveal a bright room with beige carpet and wallpaper.

"Buonasera. Posso prendere il cappotto?"

"Buonasera. Do you speak English?" Bella asked.

"Of course. I'm sorry about the door." The girl moved quickly to put a huge desk between herself and Bella. "I tried to buzz you in," she continued, "but perhaps it isn't working. Do you have an appointment?"

"I don't. Please tell them that Isabella has come from the United States of America."

The girl chewed on the tip of her pen and looked doubtful, but she made the call. After several minutes, a tall woman in Volturi robes came to collect Bella and lead her to an elevator. She had auburn hair - almost the shade of her eyes - pulled into a sleek chignon. "I'm sorry for the delay in the lobby," she said. "Aro wasn't expecting you."

"I'm here to speak with Caius, actually."

The woman looked startled, but perhaps it was only the effect of being in the enclosed space of an elevator with Bella. Then again, anyone who drank human blood tended to be less than stable in Bella's experience; it was possible that her behavior had little to do with Bella's gift.

"They're both in the main hall, so you will have an audience with Caius as well."

"Fine." Already Bella felt weary at the thought of dealing with Aro. Caius was, if possible, even more of a bastard, but at least he didn't pretend to be anything else.

After they slipped through a side panel along one of the institutional looking halls, the castle revealed its true self – stone and dark and the hint of damp. The main hall was exactly as Bella remembered. There were the thrones: three imposing lacquered chairs, designed to reinforce a sense that the Volturi had always had some rightful claim to power. The room smelled of blood and of rain. The damp slipped in through the slit windows high on the wall. It trickled down the stone in darkened tracks and wetted the dried blood on the floor. Bella had the urge to stop breathing, less from bloodlust than from the stale smell of old blood in layer upon layer. The place reeked of fear and murder.

"Welcome, Isabella," Aro said. He'd come forward, casting a quick glance at the woman who'd brought her here, and immediately Bella felt an unnatural feeling of camaraderie drift over her.

"Whatever you're doing to me, you will stop," Bella said. She let her anger go a little, enough to change the mood in the room.

Aro looked decidedly less pleased than he had a moment before. "That will be all, Chelsea," he told her, and the woman gave him a curt nod before backing away.

"I apologize," Aro said. "Chelsea hasn't gained full control of her talent yet. She sometimes influences others toward friendship without intending to."

If Ginnie had come inside, she probably would have been rolling her eyes at the lie, but Aro's attempts at manipulation were so blatant and expected that Bella could only have been surprised if he hadn't tried to influence her.

"You are a long way from your roots, Villanovan," she said.

Nothing closed Aro's mouth faster than a reference to his humble beginnings. The Volturi liked to style themselves as emperors, though from what she'd heard, Aro came from a stilt house in an Iron Age village on the muddy bank of a river north of here. He'd seen his Villanovan culture replaced by that of the Etruscans long before Romulus and Remus were supposed to have founded a great city on the mythical seven hills that would be Rome.

She looked past his shoulder at Caius, still seated on a throne, slouched and sullen, just as she remembered him. He had the lithe body of a youth dressed in grown men's robes, but nothing about him signified innocence.

"I'd like to speak with Caius," she said.

"Of course." Aro held out his hand as though to take her elbow.

"Touch me, and Sulpicia will find herself a widow."

"My only intent was to escort you to him," Aro said.

"I'd prefer to speak to Caius alone."

"Anything you need to say to –"

"Alone," she repeated, and she didn't need to force her animosity. She knew he could feel it as fear in his bones.

That ridiculous grin of his faded at last, and Aro turned to Marcus, who had to be roused from what looked, despite the impossibility of it, like heavy sleep. She knew why he stumbled, lifeless and bitter after Aro; his mate had been murdered, purportedly by Aro himself, though she doubted Marcus was aware of that fact. Then again, who else but Aro would kill a sister whose talent was to make everyone blissfully happy? Most had apparently craved her presence like a drug. Bella wished she could have met the woman whose effect on those around her had been the opposite of her own.

Finally Aro touched hands with Caius and withdrew from the room.

The blonde Volturi could have been Ginnie's brother; both were fair and restless, but unlike Ginnie, he could hold his face rigid with disinterest through most anything if it would hide his motives. No matter. His motives almost always had something to do with brutality. It made him predictable.

"Where is Edward?" Bella asked.

"Who?" He sat up in his throne and straightened his robes.

"The newborn taken from my home. Taken four days after I told Demetri that I wasn't coming to India."

"The boy no one else could take care of in your absence? Has he left your care?"

"He's been taken. I was under the impression you might have had something to do with it."

"Perhaps it was Enkidu."

"Or perhaps it was you."

"You think I took him to gain your help." He shook his head. "I'm not a fool. I'd rather have you on our side than angry. You're the only one Enkidu will heed, and I'm still hoping you'll agree to intervene."

"It's been a very long time since I could convince Enkidu of anything."

"But you're important to him. More important than you care to admit, I'd wager, and you did come looking for him not so long ago."

"I have no desire to see him dead, which is where you and I part ways," Bella said. "He wasn't good to me, but I exist because he decided I should live."

Caius tightened his hold on the arm of his throne. "He's out of control now, and he's stronger."

"Stronger in what way?"

"He's not just shielding; now he can reflect damage back on his attacker. Jane managed to come across him, and he brought her to her knees."

"She's dead?" Bella reflected that it wouldn't be an entirely unwelcome piece of news.

"He didn't kill her. Perhaps he let her live so that she could tell us how powerful he's become. And now he has a small army of werewolves."

"A dozen is hardly an army."

"It is when they're werewolves."

"That's your problem. I came for Edward. If you don't have him here, then I'm taking Demetri with me."

Caius sneered then, unwilling or unable to hold it back. "Werewolves are a problem for all of us. If this gets out of hand –"

Before he could finish, Chelsea cleared her throat from the far door and waited for someone to acknowledge her.

"What is it?" Caius asked.

"It's just – I'm sorry to intrude, but there is a woman downstairs who says she's with Isabella."

"Bring her," Bella said.

Chelsea looked to Caius, and at his nod she turned and left.

Bella moved closer until she was leaning directly over Caius. "Keep wasting my time with your troubles. I can guarantee you it will be more unpleasant for you than for me."

He couldn't hide the shudder that passed through him, but he held himself together even as he slid from the chair and took a step back to put the throne between himself and her.

"Perhaps if I had more information about Edward's disappearance, I could be of some help to you," he said.

There was the smallest possibility that Caius wasn't involved, so she told him what had happened, leaving out the scent in the woods that may or may not have belonged to a werewolf.

Ginnie had just been ushered into the room, and she came to Bella's side, trembling and giving her an odd, frustrated look that was probably meant to convey something, though Bella had no idea what.

"Do you know where Edward is?" Bella asked Caius, pressing the advantage of having Ginnie at her side.

"I've already indicated that I don't."

Unfortunately that statement in itself was true, and Ginnie's literal gift would probably read it as truth, regardless of what Caius knew. She wondered if the Volturi were aware of Ginnie's talent. Given Aro's obsession with collecting powerful guards, and Ginnie's inability to stay out of trouble, it was entirely possible.

"Did you send someone to take him?" Bella asked.

"I gave no such order." He looked at Ginnie when he answered, as if daring her to comment.

Aro could have given the order, or perhaps Demetri had been told to secure Bella's help however he thought best. She could have pressed the issue, but every moment she wasted here was keeping her from Edward. The very thought of his name made her angrier, and she felt Ginnie move away.

"I'm leaving with Demetri," Bella said. She turned toward the door. "Send him down."

"I'm not sure we can spare him while –"

"I'll return him when I have Edward." Bella headed for the hallway and heard Ginnie follow. "If I find out that you took him, I'll be back," she called.

Caius didn't answer, but she hadn't waited for a reply.

She swept through the lobby and out the door. The rain had stopped, and instead of going to the car, she waited by the fortress for Demetri to appear. Ginnie was still visibly upset, and Bella gave her some space, concentrating instead on the feel of the small stones beneath her boots. It felt strange to wear shoes all the time; she missed the close connection with the earth, but she must have calmed enough that Ginnie could relax a little, because after a while, she stopped shaking.

"What made you change your mind about coming in?" Bella asked her.

"Nothing." Ginnie flinched, as though offended by her own lie, and then she sighed. "I called my grandfather to check in. No one's called or come by the cabin. Anyway, I might have mentioned that I was waiting for you in the car, and he made me an offer, something I want in exchange for staying by your side until you have Edward back."

"That must have been quite an offer."

"It was." She looked away. "Why does he still owe you so much anyway? There must be more to it than you getting me out of Santa Fe."

"There's nothing more."

"But you didn't even– Oh never mind. He already paid you back for keeping me alive."

"If you believe that, then you don't know what you're worth. For me, it was a just a favor, over and settled, but to Bat, it's a debt that never ends. Nothing he can do for me will come close to the value he places on your life."

"You take advantage of that."

"If I took advantage, you'd know it," Bella said, her temper flaring for only a moment, but Ginnie let out a hiss and dropped into a defensive crouch. It was so far from the modern, civilized persona she worked to cultivate, that for a moment Bella was startled. She took a deep breath and let go of everything that wasn't the feel of wind and damp.

"Your grandfather's pride would be offended if I didn't let him help me. You know it, and I know it. Let's leave it at that."

The door swung open, and Demetri stepped out with a leather bag in his hand. He looked surprised and uncomfortable, and Bella couldn't bring herself to care.

"You remember Edward," she told him. "Where are we going?"

Demetri had gone quite still, though his eyes looked to Ginnie and back to Bella several times. He had gloves on and robes with the collar buttoned up to his chin. Maybe he drew some self confidence from looking official. Ginnie, in her heels, her jean skirt and a wraparound blouse, was looking him up and down like he was a museum piece.

"Caius has asked me to be sure that you understand–"

"I don't care what Caius said," Bella told him.

Demetri brought himself to his full height and opened his mouth as if to argue, but she wasn't going to give him the opportunity.

"You're a tracker," she said. "So track. I'd like to have my newborn back within a day."

"He's somewhere to the southeast. A long way off. I can't be specific until we get closer, but I think he's far enough that we should take a plane."

Bella looked over to Ginnie, who dipped her head in a barely discernible nod. It was true then. She let her breath move in and out and matched the pace to the sound of the wind moving through nearby trees. She was not going to give away the depth of her relief that Demetri could sense him at all. If Edward could be tracked, then he was alive, somewhere a long way off, but alive and waiting for her to come. I'm on my way now. It won't be long, Edward.

"Where are we flying?" Ginnie asked.

Demetri had the good sense not to meet Bella's eyes. "I don't know exactly," he said. "Maybe he's in Asia. I can tell it's a long distance. We should head to China, India or Pakistan to start, and once there I'll be able to tell you more."

"I think we both know where we're going," Bella said.

"I really won't know for sure until we're closer to the newborn." He looked back toward the castle. "I already had your entrance visa for India prepared from before, but I'll need to get a visa for your companion. If you'd like to wait inside, it shouldn't be long. We have someone on site who handles it."

"We'll wait in the yellow car west of here," Bella said.

Ginnie followed her back, and for a long time the two of them sat unmoving in the front seat. Though Bella started to grow impatient, she worked to keep her self control so that Ginnie would relax enough to focus on the drive to the airport. The blonde was drumming her fingernails on the wheel.

"What did your grandfather offer you that was enough to overcome your fear of the Volturi?" Bella asked.

Ginnie smiled for the first time since they'd left the cabin. "He told me if I did this, he would never ask me to go anywhere near you again."

"A good trade then," Bella said, once again reminded of why she'd retired to the woods in the first place.

Through the window she could see Demetri plodding toward the car as though he were a condemned man heading for the axe. He managed to fold himself into the tiny back seat, and Ginnie navigated through the narrow streets to the highway. Bella just stared out the window at a river overflowing its banks and the dark clouds rolling out with the wind.

Closer now, Edward, she thought. He couldn't hear her, but the words were for her own comfort anyway.

I put the Bronze prequel one shot up – Bella and Carlisle's first meeting, 1752.

All the usual characters, settings, etc. are the property of S. Meyer. Original characters and plot are mine. No copyright infringement is intended. May not be reprinted without express written permission.