Before I could react, before anyone could jump between them, before Aro’s bodyguards could tense, Edward was on the ground.

No one had touched him, but he was on the stone floor writhing in obvious agony, while I stared in horror.

Jane was smiling only at him now, and it all clicked together. What Alice had said about formidable gifts, why everyone treated Jane with such deference, and why Edward had thrown himself in her path before she could do that to me.

“Stop!” I shrieked, my voice echoing in the silence, jumping forward to put myself between them. But Alice threw her arms around me in an unbreakable grasp and ignored my struggles. No sound escaped Edward’s lips as he cringed against the stones. It felt like my head would explode from the pain of watching this.

“Jane,” Aro recalled her in a tranquil voice. She looked up quickly, still smiling with pleasure, her eyes questioning. As soon as Jane looked away, Edward was still.

Aro inclined his head toward me.

Jane turned her smile in my direction.

I didn’t even meet her gaze. I watched Edward from the prison of Alice’s arms, still struggling pointlessly.

“He’s fine,” Alice whispered in a tight voice. As she spoke, he sat up, and then sprang lightly to his feet. His eyes met mine, and they were horror-struck. At first I thought the horror was for what he had just suffered. But then he looked quickly at Jane, and back to me—and his face relaxed into relief.

I looked at Jane, too, and she no longer smiled. She glared at me, her jaw clenched with the intensity of her focus. I shrank back, waiting for the pain.

Nothing happened.

Edward was by my side again. He touched Alice’s arm, and she surrendered me to him.

Aro started to laugh. “Ha, ha, ha,” he chuckled. “This is wonderful!”

Jane hissed in frustration, leaning forward like she was preparing to spring.

“Don’t be put out, dear one,” Aro said in a comforting tone, placing a powder-light hand on her shoulder. “She confounds us all.”

Jane’s upper lip curled back over her teeth as she continued to glare at me.

“Ha, ha, ha,” Aro chortled again. “You’re very brave, Edward, to endure in silence. I asked Jane to do that to me once—just out of curiosity.” He shook his head in admiration.

Edward glared, disgusted.

“So what do we do with you now?” Aro sighed.

Edward and Alice stiffened. This was the part they’d been waiting for. I began to tremble.

“I don’t suppose there’s any chance that you’ve changed your mind?” Aro asked Edward hopefully. “Your talent would be an excellent addition to our little company.”

Edward hesitated. From the corner of my eye, I saw both Felix and Jane grimace.

Edward seemed to weigh each word before he spoke it. “I’d…rather…not.”

“Alice?” Aro asked, still hopeful. “Would you perhaps be interested in joining with us?”

“No, thank you,” Alice said.

“And you, Bella?” Aro raised his eyebrows.

Edward hissed, low in my ears. I stared at Aro blankly. Was he joking? Or was he really asking me if I wanted to stay for dinner?

It was the white-haired Caius who broke the silence.

“What?” he demanded of Aro; his voice, though no more than a whisper, was flat.

“Caius, surely you see the potential,” Aro chided him affectionately. “I haven’t seen a prospective talent so promising since we found Jane and Alec. Can you imagine the possibilities when she is one of us?”

Caius looked away with a caustic expression. Jane’s eyes sparked with indignation at the comparison.

Edward fumed beside me. I could hear a rumble in his chest, building toward a growl. I couldn’t let his temper get him hurt.

“No, thank you,” I spoke up in barely more than a whisper, my voice breaking in fright.

Aro sighed. “That’s unfortunate. Such a waste.”

Edward hissed. “Join or die, is that it? I suspected as much when we were brought to this room. So much for your laws.”

The tone of his voice surprised me. He sounded irate, but there was something deliberate about his delivery—as if he’d chosen his words with great care.

“Of course not.” Aro blinked, astonished. “We were already convened here, Edward, awaiting Heidi’s return. Not for you.”

“Aro,” Caius hissed. “The law claims them.”

Edward glared at Caius. “How so?” he demanded. He must have known what Caius was thinking, but he seemed determined to make him speak it aloud.

Caius pointed a skeletal finger at me. “She knows too much. You have exposed our secrets.” His voice was papery thin, just like his skin.

“There are a few humans in on your charade here, as well,” Edward reminded him, and I thought of the pretty receptionist below.

Caius’s face twisted into a new expression. Was it supposed to be a smile?

“Yes,” he agreed. “But when they are no longer useful to us, they will serve to sustain us. That is not your plan for this one. If she betrays our secrets, are you prepared to destroy her? I think not,” he scoffed.

“I wouldn’t—,” I began, still whispering. Caius silenced me with an icy look.

“Nor do you intend to make her one of us,” Caius continued. “Therefore, she is a vulnerability. Though it is true, for this, only her life is forfeit. You may leave if you wish.”

Edward bared his teeth.

“That’s what I thought,” Caius said, with something akin to pleasure. Felix leaned forward, eager.

“Unless…,” Aro interrupted. He looked unhappy with the way the conversation had gone. “Unless you do intend to give her immortality?”

Edward pursed his lips, hesitating for a moment before he answered. “And if I do?”

Aro smiled, happy again. “Why, then you would be free to go home and give my regards to my friend Carlisle.” His expression turned more hesitant. “But I’m afraid you would have to mean it.”

Aro raised his hand in front of him.

Caius, who had begun to scowl furiously, relaxed.

Edward’s lips tightened into a fierce line. He stared into my eyes, and I stared back.

“Mean it,” I whispered. “Please.”

Was it really such a loathsome idea? Would he rather die than change me? I felt like I’d been kicked in the stomach.

Edward stared down at me with a tortured expression.

And then Alice stepped away from us, forward toward Aro. We turned to watch her. Her hand was raised like his.

She didn’t say anything, and Aro waved off his anxious guard as they moved to block her approach. Aro met her halfway, and took her hand with an eager, acquisitive glint in his eyes.

He bent his head over their touching hands, his eyes closing as he concentrated. Alice was motionless, her face blank. I heard Edward’s teeth snap together.

No one moved. Aro seemed frozen over Alice’s hand. The seconds passed and I grew more and more stressed, wondering how much time would pass before it was too much time. Before it meant something was wrong—more wrong than it already was.

Another agonizing moment passed, and then Aro’s voice broke the silence.

“Ha, ha, ha,” he laughed, his head still bent forward. He looked up slowly, his eyes bright with excitement. “That was fascinating!”

Alice smiled dryly. “I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

“To see the things you’ve seen—especially the ones that haven’t happened yet!” He shook his head in wonder.

“But that will,” she reminded him, voice calm.

“Yes, yes, it’s quite determined. Certainly there’s no problem.”

Caius looked bitterly disappointed—a feeling he seemed to share with Felix and Jane.

“Aro,” Caius complained.

“Dear Caius,” Aro smiled. “Do not fret. Think of the possibilities! They do not join us today, but we can always hope for the future. Imagine the joy young Alice alone would bring to our little household….Besides, I’m so terribly curious to see how Bella turns out!”

Aro seemed convinced. Did he not realize how subjective Alice’s visions were? That she could make up her mind to transform me today, and then change it tomorrow? A million tiny decisions, her decisions and so many others’, too—Edward’s—could alter her path, and with that, the future.

And would it really matter that Alice was willing, would it make any difference if I did become a vampire, when the idea was so repulsive to Edward? If death was, to him, a better alternative than having me around forever, an immortal annoyance? Terrified as I was, I felt myself sinking down into depression, drowning in it….

“Then we are free to go now?” Edward asked in an even voice.

“Yes, yes,” Aro said pleasantly. “But please visit again. It’s been absolutely enthralling!”

“And we will visit you as well,” Caius promised, his eyes suddenly half-closed like the heavy-lidded gaze of a lizard. “To be sure that you follow through on your side. Were I you, I would not delay too long. We do not offer second chances.”

Edward’s jaw clenched tight, but he nodded once.

Caius smirked and drifted back to where Marcus still sat, unmoving and uninterested.

Felix groaned.

“Ah, Felix.” Aro smiled, amused. “Heidi will be here at any moment. Patience.”

“Hmm.” Edward’s voice had a new edge to it. “In that case, perhaps we’d better leave sooner rather than later.”

“Yes,” Aro agreed. “That’s a good idea. Accidents do happen. Please wait below until after dark, though, if you don’t mind.”

“Of course,” Edward agreed, while I cringed at the thought of waiting out the day before we could escape.

“And here,” Aro added, motioning to Felix with one finger. Felix came forward at once, and Aro unfastened the gray cloak the huge vampire wore, pulling from his shoulders. He tossed it to Edward. “Take this. You’re a little conspicuous.”

Edward put the long cloak on, leaving the hood down.

Aro sighed. “It suits you.”

Edward chuckled, but broke off suddenly, glancing over his shoulder. “Thank you, Aro. We’ll wait below.”

“Goodbye, young friends,” Aro said, his eyes bright as he stared in the same direction.

“Let’s go,” Edward said, urgent now.

Demetri gestured that we should follow, and then set off the way we’d come in, the only exit by the look of things.

Edward pulled me swiftly along beside him. Alice was close by my other side, her face hard.

“Not fast enough,” she muttered.

I stared up at her, frightened, but she only seemed chagrined. It was then that I first heard the babble of voices—loud, rough voices—coming from the antechamber.

“Well this is unusual,” a man’s coarse voice boomed.

“So medieval,” an unpleasantly shrill, female voice gushed back.

A large crowd was coming through the little door, filling the smaller stone chamber. Demetri motioned for us to make room. We pressed back against the cold wall to let them pass.

The couple in front, Americans from the sound of them, glanced around themselves with appraising eyes.

“Welcome, guests! Welcome to Volterra!” I could hear Aro sing from the big turret room.

The rest of them, maybe forty or more, filed in after the couple. Some studied the setting like tourists. A few even snapped pictures. Others looked confused, as if the story that had led them to this room was not making sense anymore. I noticed one small, dark woman in particular. Around her neck was a rosary, and she gripped the cross tightly in one hand. She walked more slowly than the others, touching someone now and then and asking a question in an unfamiliar language. No one seemed to understand her, and her voice grew more panicked.

Edward pulled my face against his chest, but it was too late. I already understood.

As soon as the smallest break appeared, Edward pushed me quickly toward the door. I could feel the horrified expression on my face, and the tears beginning to pool in my eyes.

The ornate golden hallway was quiet, empty except for one gorgeous, statuesque woman. She stared at us curiously, me in particular.

“Welcome home, Heidi,” Demetri greeted her from behind us.

Heidi smiled absently. She reminded me of Rosalie, though they looked nothing alike—it was just that her beauty, too, was exceptional, unforgettable. I couldn’t seem to look away.

She was dressed to emphasize that beauty. Her amazingly long legs, darkened with tights, were exposed by the shortest of miniskirts. Her top was long-sleeved and high-necked, but extremely close-fitting, and constructed of red vinyl. Her long mahogany hair was lustrous, and her eyes were the strangest shade of violet—a color that might result from blue-tinted contacts over red irises.

“Demetri,” she responded in a silky voice, her eyes flickering between my face and Edward’s gray cloak.

“Nice fishing,” Demetri complimented her, and I suddenly understood the attention-grabbing outfit she wore…she was not only the fisherman, but also the bait.

“Thanks.” She flashed a stunning smile. “Aren’t you coming?”

“In a minute. Save a few for me.”

Heidi nodded and ducked through the door with one last curious look at me.

Edward set a pace that had me running to keep up. But we still couldn’t get through the ornate door at the end of the hallway before the screaming started.