Carlisle followed the stunning young woman who had been sent to pick him up as she led him toward a shiny, black SUV parked right outside Amerigo Vespucci Airport in Florence, despite the presence of airport traffic officials—the vehicle had blacked-out windows and carried diplomatic plates, which confirmed to Carlisle the Volturi's influence and reach in Italy.
He had been somewhat surprised to discover that the woman, who identified herself as Gianna, was human as he'd expected a member of the Guard to be sent for him. He nodded as she opened the passenger door for him, and then walked around the hood to climb in behind the wheel, doing nothing to stop her very short skirt from sliding up to reveal slim, tanned thighs. She didn't speak at first as she expertly maneuvered the large car through the congested roads from the airport, but as soon as she hit the autostrada, she sped up and began to talk animatedly, trying even Carlisle's patience. He was fluent in Italian, and his innate courtesy meant that he felt compelled to make conversation, but he endeavored to keep his responses to a minimum, especially when it became rather obvious that she was flirting with him.
Little more than an hour later, they threaded their way through the narrow streets of the ancient city of Volterra, stopping only when they came to a twenty-foot-high drawbridge. They were kept waiting mere moments as the portcullis rose swiftly on well-oiled chains, allowing access to the internal quadrangle of the castle.
Coming to a halt, the beautiful brunette released her seatbelt and leaned toward her passenger, placing an elegant hand on his thigh and revealing a copious amount of cleavage. Carlisle stared at her hand, momentarily frozen in place. It wasn't that he hadn't received the romantic attentions of many women—both human and vampire—in the past, but they had rarely been so overt, and his bond with his wife meant that he barely even registered such approaches.
In her soft, husky voice, Gianna told him where he could find her later and that she would be at his disposal for the entirety of his stay should he require anything. Undoubtedly, the Italian language made her words even more flirtatious. Then, before he could react, she climbed out of the car and disappeared through a narrow door into the castle.
Carlisle just sat there for a moment, wondering quite what lay ahead, but his thoughts were swiftly interrupted when his door was opened by a deceptively young-looking vampire.
"Carlisle, welcome back to Volterra. It's good to see you."
"Hello, Dimitri, how are you?" Climbing out, Carlisle shook the other man's hand, genuinely pleased to see the man.
"I'm well, Carlisle. Come on, let's not dillydally; Aro sent me to escort you, and you know how he hates to be kept waiting."
With that, they turned and made their way toward a door opposite the one Gianna had gone through, and before he knew it, Carlisle was heading down familiar passages. At the end of one such passage, he was surprised to see an elevator.
"That's new," he commented.
Dimitri laughed. "Well, it is the twenty-first century, you know, and this was new about forty years ago."
As they reached it, he pressed the single button, and the doors immediately slid open, allowing them to step inside the remarkably spacious car. Dimitri pressed the down button, and the elevator demonstrated its vintage by the sluggishness of its descent.
"I would have thought such a piece of equipment would be unnecessary in a building full of vampires," Carlisle opined.
Dimitri smirked. "Well, it's not really for us, of course. Our human … visitors tend to get put off by all the stairs."
Carlisle grimaced at the way Dimitri paused over his description of those who came into the dark castle, never to leave, but didn't bother to respond At last, the elevator shuddered to a halt, and the doors opened onto the same gloomy passage down which Victoria had passed almost a week earlier. Girding himself mentally, he stopped behind Dimitri as he waited for the smaller man to open the door, but before he did so, Dimitri turned to him, speaking in the fast, soft whisper only vampires could discern. "Be careful, old friend, Aro and Caius are up to something. It's good to see you again after so long, but … well, I wish you hadn't come."
Nodding his understanding, Carlisle recognized the likely truth of Dimitri's words, while at the same time knowing it was far too late to change his mind. As the door now swung smoothly open, he moved into the chamber he hadn't entered in over three-hundred years.
"Carlisle, my dear friend, you're here at last."
He looked up at the dais as the unpleasantly familiar, somewhat effeminate voice of Aro cut across the vast room.
"Look, brothers, our good friend has returned to the fold, and what a joy it is to see him again after so long."
Caius just sneered, which seemed to be his default expression. However, Marcus stood—a rare enough occurrence when visitors arrived—and opened his arms slightly in a welcoming gesture. "Carlisle, it is good to see you. However, I do so wish it hadn't been necessary to drag you away from your home."
Carlisle nodded, grateful for Marcus's covert support, but Aro shot his brother an annoyed glare before turning once again to their visitor.
"Tell me, Carlisle, how is your lovely mate; well, I hope?"
Carlisle nodded, smiling involuntarily at the thought of Esme. "She is, Aro, thank you. And Sulpicia?"
"Ah, my beloved mate is well but seldom leaves our quarters, as you know. But she and Athenodora keep one another company and are content."
Carlisle was well aware that the wives of Aro and Caius were pretty much prisoners in their own home, kept under constant guard and controlled by another vampire whose sole task was to render them satisfied with their lot. Aro had sought out Sulpicia when she had been a teenager recently orphaned by the plague. He had wooed her when she was still human, bending her to his will, and had then changed her so that she would be the perfect mate for him. Carlisle had to wonder if Aro had ever loved his wife. Certainly, he had coveted and desired her, but love? He doubted that was something Aro was capable of. Indeed, had he not arranged for his own sister to be murdered in order to render Marcus impotent?
Aro stepped down from the dais and approached his visitor. "And sweet little Alice, is she still with you? Her mate is an empath, I seem to recall."
Carlisle nodded, resisting the urge to call out Aro on his disingenuous enquiry. "Jasper, yes. They are both well, although no thanks to a recent visit by a vampire who claimed to be her maker and tried to force her to go with him as his own mate."
Aro's eyes widened in faux surprise. "How traumatic and distressing for her. But tell me, Carlisle, do you continue with your extraordinary work, providing medical services to humans?"
"I do, Aro. I'm a surgeon."
Aro's shrieking, maniacal laughter echoed around the chamber, and he clapped his hands with apparent delight. He turned to the occupants of the dais, his eyes glittering. "Do you hear that, brothers, our friend is a surgeon, cutting open humans, spilling their blood and repairing them. Isn't that the most deliciously ironic occupation for one of our kind?"
Marcus stirred, shaking his head. "Aro—"
Caius stood suddenly. "He's an anomaly, just as I said. Get to the point, Aro. We know he's been plotting against us, so why do you continue with this pretense?"
"That's just not tru—"
"Enough!" Aro spun back to face Carlisle, his hand coming up to halt further denials. "Caius speaks out of turn perhaps. I'm sure our old friend wouldn't conspire to harm us or take up arms against us."
Carlisle wasn't fooled by Aro's conciliatory words but nevertheless felt he must again try to protest his innocence. "Of course, I wouldn't, Aro. I just want to live in peace with my family."
Over Aro's shoulder, he watched Caius drop back onto his throne like a sulky schoolboy.
Again, Marcus stirred, leaning forward. "Now, Aro, let that be an end to it."
Ignoring him, Aro took another step forward. "Come, old friend, let us shake hands, and we'll see what mischief you've been up to, eh?"
Aro's cackling chuckle did nothing to alleviate Carlisle's apprehension. He'd known this moment would come all too soon and he also knew there was no way to avoid it. He'd hoped to have more time, although he'd already come to terms with the fact that he needed to be scrupulously honest because Aro would know the truth of it all as soon as he took Carlisle's hand. He had no qualms about Aro being privy to his day-to-day life—certainly, he had nothing to hide in that respect—but he was more than a little anxious about how he would react when he learned about Edward and, even more so, Bella, whom he was certain Aro would covet greatly.
However, there was nothing to be done by procrastinating. With a tentative smile that he hoped made him look more confident than he felt, Carlisle approached the ancient vampire king and held his hand out as if to offer a greeting. Aro, though, simply plucked at it, capturing it between his own and clasping it tightly. With a strange sort of sucking of air through his teeth, Aro's delight was clear to see as his old friend's thoughts flowed like the sweetest nectar into his memory depository. Carlisle watched with mild distaste as Aro took on the look of a man in a high state of sexual arousal, his expression morphing from pleasure to fascination to outright shock. When he was done, he locked eyes with Carlisle, his face a mask of guileless curiosity, which he knew to be exactly that—a mask.
An uncomfortable minute passed before Aro released the hand he held. "Well, well, old friend, you have been busy, and so many new additions to your remarkable coven." Aro's voice was deceptively silky and seemingly lacking in any kind of censure.
"Now, Aro, you know I prefer the term 'family'. These people are very dear to my heart. Indeed, I consider them to be my adopted children, and you've known about them for some time."
"Hmm, yes, that's as may be. But what of these two new vampires, Edward and Bella? They are very new additions. It seems they have very particular—and exceptional—talents. Someone less trusting might construe this development as evidence that you're assembling an army, Carlisle," Aro remarked sardonically, although one could hardly miss the edge in his voice.
Carlisle resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He couldn't afford to offend Aro's paper-thin ego. "Come now, Aro, you surely don't believe that. You know for a fact that such thoughts have never occurred to me. Besides, Edward and Bella are just friends who visit from time to time. They live much of the year in Chicago and have merely been spending the Christmas period with us in Wisconsin."
"But you will concede they have powerful gifts—a telepath and a shield, no less."
"Well, yes, of course, but Edward thinks of his as more of a curse than a gift, and Bella didn't even know she was a shield until this most recent visit."
"Ah, yes, I saw that Eleazar and his … companions were there and that it was he who recognized the newborn's talent. Tell me, Carlisle, how is Eleazar these days? We have so little contact with him since he chose to … abandon his position and break our trust."
At this, Caius, impatient as ever, sat forward. "Enough, brother. I have no interest in the traitor and his whores. What of these new vampires? What are you planning, Carlisle? I will know what you are about!" His voice rose to a shout as he slammed a fist down on the arm of his chair, causing the metal to bend out of shape and the covering velvet to split and shred.
Sighing, Carlisle was about to speak when Aro held up a hand to silence him again before turning to his so-called sibling.
"Hush now, Caius. There is no need for that sort of language. Still, perhaps you are right. We haven't invited our friend all this way to discuss Eleazar."
Turning back to Carlisle, he cocked his head to one side in a curiously creepy way, his eyes flashing. "So, what say you, Carlisle? It seems your new 'daughter' has been practicing using her shield, and we want to know to what end she's been doing so. We have it on good authority that you killed a vampire in order to stop him informing on your plans."
Carlisle closed his eyes for a moment, trying desperately to rein in his frustration. "And now we get to the crux of it, don't we, Aro? Victoria has been here spinning her tales and lies in an act of revenge. But you must know the truth; you will have seen it in her memories as well as mine. Besides, it makes no sense. James didn't even know about Bella's gift, or Edward's come to that, so why would he inform on us? I ask you, in all good conscience, what is your purpose in summoning me? You absolutely know that I have no interest in challenging you—"
Caius stood suddenly, moving to the edge of the dais. "How do we know that anything you say is real, Carlisle? Like Eleazar, you abandoned us, and over the last century, you have amassed the largest coven outside of Volterra. Who's to say you haven't found a way to hide your true thoughts from Aro?"
At this startling accusation, Aro's eyes widened. At last, here was the pretext he'd been looking for. "You make a valid point, brother; how, indeed?"
"Oh, Aro, this is nonsense, you know it is. I beg of you, let me return to my family in peace. We are no threat to you."
Aro's eyes narrowed, and Carlisle realized in an instant that he had made a fatal error. "I mean no offence—"
"And yet you have offended us."
For the first time, all pretense of friendship and bonhomie dropped from Aro's mien as he speared Carlisle with his furious gaze.
Desperately trying to backpedal, Carlisle held his hands up in a calming gesture. "Aro—"
"No!" Caius now shot to his brother's side, keen to exploit this opening. "Do not let him manipulate you with his empty platitudes and false charm. We must be alert to the fact that Eleazar and Carlisle have both shown that they cannot be trusted, and we cannot ignore this threat. Think of it, Aro. If they join forces, there are thirteen of them—at least half with powerful gifts. And what of the Frenchman? If he joins them, that will make fourteen. It is unconscionable, Aro."
"Caius, you're being irrational—"
Again, the vampire prince silenced him, this time by the simple expedient of screaming right in his face. "Silence, traitor!"
Stepping back in the face of such unmitigated animosity, Carlisle could only look on in shock and dismay.
Meanwhile, Aro had turned to Felix, who stood guard by the door. "Take him, Felix," he barked.
In a flash, the giant vampire had Carlisle in a vice-like, unbreakable grip.
"What … where—?"
With a sly, triumphant smile, Aro moved closer to him. "Did I not say in my letter that a private room would be prepared for your stay?"
As Felix began to manhandle him toward the door, Carlisle fought to look back at his former friend. "Why are you doing this, Aro? I thought we were friends. I've done nothing to deserve such treatment."
A dismissive wave was the only answer he received before being dragged from the chamber. The last thing he saw before the heavy door swung shut was Marcus as he twisted in his chair. "Aro, this is not the way."
Any response was lost to him as the door clanged behind him and he was forced by the much stronger vampire to move towards the dark staircase.
~o0o~
The "private room" was even worse than Carlisle could have imagined—a grim, windowless cell with dripping walls and an overwhelming stench of dried blood and death. He had never ventured into this part of the castle when he'd lived here, and he had to wonder if he might have departed even sooner had he known what horrors existed down here. From time to time, he was sure he could hear the sound of some sort of large bird coming from somewhere nearby but couldn't for the life of him imagine what it might be.
Sitting on the floor in one corner, he had plenty of time to ruminate on his grave errors of judgement. He knew now that he had been remarkably naïve in thinking he could have a rational discussion with Aro, especially when he was being egged on by a clearly psychopathic Caius. The youngest of the three ruling vampires had always been cruel and quixotic, but it was obvious to Carlisle that he had become far more unstable since he had last seen him.
Still, foolhardy as his decision to travel here alone had been, he couldn't be sorry that he had kept his family safe from the clutches of the Volturi. His greatest regret was that he suspected he would never see his beloved Esme again and that she would grieve her loss for as long as she lived. He couldn't help but wonder if she would do as she had implied and find a way to end her existence. The mere idea of it broke his heart, and he fought hard to put it out of his mind. He wished there was a way to hear her lovely voice one more time, but he had been divested of his phone by Felix and a second vampire before being thrust into this hellhole.
He let his head fall back against the damp stonework and prayed that Aro and Caius wouldn't make plans to attack his family in America. An even greater wish was for that very same family not to attempt a rescue mission. Absolutely the last thing he wanted was for any one of them to come to harm in the forlorn hope of saving his foolish and undeserving ass.
No, he would pray for a swift decapitation so that everyone could just move on without him, perhaps even Esme.
A/N: So, has Carlisle been unbelievably foolhardy? Probably, yes. But it's been centuries since he last saw Aro and was unaware of quite how unbalanced he's become. But hit me with your thoughts. Your reviews are brilliant and I love all the speculation - thank you so much for your support.
