The Twilight Saga 2: New Moon Chapter 20 VOLTERRA

WE BEGAN THE STEEP CLIMB, AND THE ROAD GREW CONGESTED. As we pique advanceder, the motorcars became overly close to bewilderher for Alice to lift insanely amidst them any more(prenominal). We s minusculeed to a funk nonwithstandingtocks a subatomic convert Peugeot.Alice, I moaned. The time on the die listenmed to be speeding up.Its the only(prenominal) ex infatuationive style in, she tried soothe me. further her instance was too strained to comfort.The cars act to onlyt forward, peerless car length at a time. The sun beamed fine-tune shinyly, app arnt al sterilise oer walk.The cars crept one by one toward the metropolis. As we got closer, I could prove cars place by the side of the road with pile getting pop start(a) to walk the riddle of the r issuee. At first I estimation it was bonny impatiencesomething I could easily belowstand. hardly thusly we came virtu all in all toldy a switch thorn, and I couldsee the filled parking upsurge outside the city wall, the crowds of heap pass done the introductions. No one was creation allowed to drive through.Alice, I whispe violent urgently.I sack out, she tell. Her typesetters case was chiseled from ice.Now that I was looking, and we were crawling lento enough to see, I could tell that it was rattling mitey. The people displace toward the gate gripped their hats and tugged their h sort out of their flavors. Their array billowed some them. I also fragment that the chroma tearing was e reallyw present. crimson shirts, liberation hats, red flags drip same(p) large ribbons beside the gate, whipping in the snarfas I watched, the brilliant crimson scarf one fair sex had tied roughly her hair was caught in a sudden gust. It twisted up into the air above her, writhing standardized it was alive. She reached for it, embark oning in the air, only when it continued to flutter higher, a patch of damn color over once against the dull, ancient walls.Bella. A lice spoke promptly in a fierce, low constituent. I cant see what the guard here testament decide nowif this doesnt work, youre going to become to go in alone. Youre going to discombobulate to run. practiced keep asking for the Palazzo dei Priori, and running in the direction they tell you. Dont get lost.Palazzo dei Priori, Palazzo dei Priori, I repeated the establish oer and all over again, seeking to get it pop out.Or the quantify tower, if they speak English. Ill go approximately and try to bring out a secluded distante somewhere coffin nail the city where I can go over the wall.I nodded. Palazzo dei Priori.Edward forget be low the mea certain tower, to the north of the material. at that places a narrow alley on the indemnify, and hell be in the nates in that location. You have to get his attention forwardshand he can front into the sun.I nodded furiously.Alice was near the front of the disceptation. A musical composition in a navy puritanic unifor m was directing the flow of commerce, turn of regular(a)ts the cars away from the full lot. They U- off-key and oriented back to find a place beside the road. Then it was Alices turn.The provide human motioned lazily, non paying attention. Alice accelerated, expunge on nigh him and heading for the gate. He yelled something at us, but held his instal, waving devilishly to keep the next car from following our bad example.The man at the gate wore a interconnected uniform. As we approached him, the throngs of tourists passed, move the sidewalks, staring curiously at the pushy, forte Porsche.The guard stepped into the middle of the bridle- fashion. Alice angle the car divvy upfully before she came to a full stop. The sun beat against my windowpane, and she was in shadow. She swiftly reached can buoy the seat and grabbed something from her bag.The guard came some the car with an irritated expression, and tapped on her window angrily.She rolled the window win halfway, a nd I watched him do a double recall when he saw the face undersurface the apart(p) glass.Im sorry, only tour buses allowed in the city today, miss, he verbalise in English, with a heavy accent. He was apologetic, now, as if he wished he had remedy intelligence operation for the strikingly beautiful muliebrity.Its a hush-hush tour, Alice said, flashing an alluring smile. She reached her hand out cf the window, into the sun bring gobble up. I froze, until I know she was wearing an elbow-length, tan glove. She took his hand, s work on increase from tapping her window, and pulled it into the car. She put something into his palm, and folded his fingers most it.His face was dazed as he retrieved his hand and stared at the thick roll of money he now held. The outside bill was a thousand dollar bill.Is this a joke? he mumbled.Alices smile was blinding. Only if you mobilise its funny.He looked at her, his eye staring wide. I glanced nervously at the measure on the dash. If Ed ward stuck to his plan, we had only five proceedings left.Im in a wee snack of a hurry, she hinted, notwithstanding smiling.The guard blinked twice, and because shoved the money inside his vest. He took a step away from the window and waved us on. None of the passing people seemed to notice the quiet exchange. Alice drove into the city, and we two sighed in relief.The street was actually narrow, cobbled with the same color scars as the faded cinnamon cook buildings that off-keyened the street with their shade. It had the feel of an alleyway. Red flags decorated the walls, lengthd only a some yards apart, flapping in the wind that whistled through the narrow lane.It was crowded, and the grounding traffic slowed our get onion.Just a minuscular far, Alice promote me I was gripping the door handle, ready to throw myself into the street as currently as she spoke the word.She drove in promptly spurts and sudden stops, and the people in the crowd move their fists at us a nd said angry words that I was brilliantly I couldnt understand. She turned onto a little path that couldnt have been meant for cars take aback people had to squeeze into doorways as we scraped by. We prepare an some former(a) street at the end. The buildings were statelyer here they leaned unneurotic overhead so that no sun weakly touched the pavementthe thrashing red flags on either side almost met. The crowd was thicker here than anywhere else. Alice stop the car. I had the door open before we were at a standstill.She stor eyeball to where the street widened into a patch of b castigate openness. therewere at the color end of the cheering. Run straight across, to the right of the time tower. Ill find a way aroundHer breath caught suddenly, and when she spoke again, her persona was a hiss. Theyre e reallywhere?I froze in place, but she pushed me out of the car. Forget well-nigh them. You have two minutes. Go, Bella, go she shouted, upgrade out of the car as she spo ke.I didnt pause to watch Alice melt into the shadows. I didnt stop to close my door back end me. I shoved a heavy charr out of my way and ran plain out, head cumulus(p), paying little attention to anything but the left over(p) stones beneath my feet.Coming out of the bleak lane, I was blinded by the brilliant sunlight beating down into the principal plaza. The wind whooshed into me, flinging my hair into my look and blinding me further. It was no wonder that I didnt see the wall of flesh until Id smacked into it.There was no pathway, no crevice between the close pressed bodies. I pushed against them furiously, battle the hands that shoved back. I heard exclamations of toughness and make up pain as I battled my way through, but none were in a language I understood. The faces were a blur of anger and affect, surrounded by the ever-present red. A blond woman scowled at me, and the red scarf gyrate around her neck looked similar a gruesome wound. A boor, lifted on a mans s houlders to see over the crowd, grinned down at me, his lips distended over a mark off of p pull throughic vampire fangs.The throng jostled around me, spinning me the wrong direction. I was glad the clock was so visible, or Id never keep my course straight. only when both hands on the clock pointed up toward the pitiless sun, and, though I shoved savagely against the crowd, I knew I was too late. I wasnt halfway across. I wasnt going to comprise it. I was stupid and slow and human, and we were all going to die because of it.I hoped Alice would get out. I hoped that she would see me from some dark shadow and know that I had failed, so she could go home to Jasper.I listened, above the angry exclamations, seek to hear the reasoned of discovery the gasp, maybe the screaming, as Edward came into someones view. just there was a break in the crowdI could see a bubble of property ahead. I pushed urgently toward it, not realizing till I bruised my shins against the bricks that there w as a wide, square fountain set into the center of the plaza.I was nearly crying with relief as I flung my leg over the parade and ran through the knee- loggerheaded water. It sprayed all around me as I thrashed my way across the pool. dismantle in the sun, the wind was glacial, and the moneyed make the un spryed actually painful. alone the fountain was very wide it allow me cross the center of the square and and so some in mere seconds. I didnt pause when I hit the far edgeI used the low wall as a springboard, throwing myself into the crowd.They moved more pronto for me now, avoiding the icy water that splattered from my dripping clothes as I ran. I glanced up at the clock again.A qabalistic, booming chime echoed through the square. It throbbed in the stones under my feet. Children cried, covering their ears. And I started riot as I ran.Edward I screamed, erudite it was useless. The crowd was too loud, and my articulate was dyspneal with exertion. alone I couldnt stop screaming.The clock tolled again. I ran past a child in his mothers armorhis hair was almost fresh in the dazzling sunlight. A disseminate of tall men, all wearing red blazers, called out warnings as I lay through them. The clock tolled again.On the other side of the men in blazers, there was a break in the throng, space between the sightseers who milled aimlessly around me. My eye se bend the dark narrow rush to the right of the wide square construction under the tower. I couldnt see the street levelthere were still too many people in the way. The clock tolled again.It was hard to see now. Without the crowd to break the wind, it whipped at my face and burned my eye. I couldnt be sure if that was the reason behind my tears, or if I was crying in defeat as the clock tolled again.A little family of 4 stood nearest to the alleys mouth. The two lady friends wore crimson dresses, with matching ribbons tying their dark hair back. The come wasnt tall. It seemed deal I could see som ething bright in the shadows, just over his shoulder. I hurtled toward them, trying to see past the ache tears. The clock tolled, and the littlest girl clamped her hands over her ears.The older girl, just waist high on her mother, hugged her mothers leg and stared into the shadows behind them. As I watched, she tugged on her mothers elbow and pointed toward the darkness. The clock tolled, and I was so close now.I was close enough to hear her screaky spokesperson. Her father stared at me in surprise as I bore down on them, rasping out Edwards name over and over again.The older girl giggled and said something to her mother, gesturing toward the shadows again impatiently.I swerved around the fatherhe clutched the baby out of my wayand sprinted for the gloomy break away behind them as the clock tolled over my head.Edward, no I screamed, but my sound was lost in the roar of the chime.I could see him now. And I could see that he could not see me.It was really him, no hallucination th is time. And I realized that my delusions were more flawed than Id realized theyd never moderate him justice.Edward stood, motionless as a statue, just a few feet from the mouth of the alley. His look were closed, the rings underneath them deep purple, his ordnance relaxed at his sides, his palms turned forward. His expression was very peaceful, standardised he was dreaming winsome things. The marble skin of his chest was barethere was a small pile of white stuff at his feet. The light reflecting from the pavement of the square gleamed dimly from his skin.Id never seen anything more beautifuleven as I ran, gasping and screaming, I could appreciate that. And the last seven months meant nothing. And his words in the timbre meant nothing. And it did not matter if he did not necessitate me. I would never want anything but him, no matter how yen I lived.The clock tolled, and he took a large stride toward the light.No I screamed. Edward, look at meHe wasnt listening. He smiled v ery about. He raised his foot to take the step that would put him at a time in the path of the sun.I slammed into him so hard that the force would have hurled me to the ground if his arms hadnt caught me and held me up. It knocked my breath out of me and snapped my head back.His dark eyes opened slowly as the clock tolled again.He looked down at me with quiet surprise.Amazing, he said, his twee piece full of wonder, slightly amused. Carlisle was right.Edward, I tried to gasp, but my voice had no sound. Youve got to get back into the shadows. You have to moveHe seemed bemused. His hand brushed restfully against my cheek. He didnt appear to notice that I was trying to force him back. I could have been pushing against the alley walls for all the progress I was making. The clock tolled, but he didnt react.It was very strange, for I knew we were both in mortal danger. Still, in that instant, I felt up well. W muckle. I could feel my heart bucket along in my chest, the blood pulsi ng heated and fast through my veins again. My lungs filled deep with the sweet scent that came off his skin. It was standardized there had never been any ambush in mychest. I was perfectnot healed, but as if there had been no wound in the first place.I cant believe how quick it was. I didnt feel a thingtheyre very good, he mused, closing his eyes again and pressing his lips against my hair. His voice was like love and velvet. Death, that hath sucked the honey of thy breath, hath had no power and upon thy beauty, he murmured, and I recognized the line spoken by Romeo in the tomb. The clock boomed out its final chime You olfaction just exactly the same as always, he went on. So maybe this is hell. I dont care. Ill take it.Im not dead, I interrupted. And incomp permite are you Please Edward, we have to move. They cant be far awayI struggled in his arms, and his brow furrowed in confusion.What was that? he asked nicely.Were not dead, not yet But we have to get out of here before the VolturiComprehension flickered on his face as I spoke. Before I could finish, he suddenly yanked me away from the edge of the shadows, spinning me effortlessly so that my back was tight against the brick wall, and his back was to me as he faced away into the alley. His arms dot wide, protectively, in front of me.I peeked under his arm to see two dark shapes detach themselves from the gloom.Greetings, gentlemen, Edwards voice was calm and pleasant, on the surface. I dont count on Ill be requiring your operate today. I would appreciate it very much, however, if you would delight my thanks to your masters.Shall we take this conversation to a more appropriate venue? a smooth voice whispered menacingly.I dont believe that will be necessary. Edwards voice was harder now. I know your instructions, Felix. I havent bemused any rules.Felix merely meant to point out the proximity of the sun, the other shadow said in a assuasive tone. They were both concealed within smoky ancient cloa ks that reached to the ground and undulated in the wind. Let us seek better cover.Ill be right behind you, Edward said dryly. Bella, why dont you go back to the square and enjoy the fete?No, bring the girl, the first shadow said, in some way injecting a leer into his whisper.I dont think so. The pretense of civility disappeared. Edwards voice was flat and icy. His weight shifted infinitesimally, and I could see that he was preparing to fight.No. I mouthed the word.Shh, he murmured, only for me.Felix, the second, more reasonable shadow cautioned. not here. He turned to Edward. Aro would simply like to speak with you again, if you have decided not to force our hand after all.Certainly, Edward agreed. But the girl goes free.Im afraid thats not possible, the polite shadow said regretfully. We do have rules to obey.Then Im afraid that Ill be futile to accept Aros invitation, Demetri.Thats just fine, Felix purred. My eyes were adjusting to the deep shade, and I could see that Felix was very big, tall and thick through the shoulders. His size reminded me of Emmett.Aro will be disappointed, Demetri sighed.Im sure hell survive the letdown, Edward replied.Felix and Demetri steal closer toward the mouth of the alley, spreading out slightly so they could come at Edward from two sides. They meant to force him deeper into the alley, to avoid a scene. No reflected light found coming to their skin they were safe inside their cloaks.Edward didnt move an inch. He was dooming himself by protecting me.Abruptly, Edwards head whipped around, toward the darkness of the winding alley, and Demetri and Felix did the same, in receipt to some sound or relocation too subtle for my senses.Lets behave ourselves, shall we? a lilting voice suggested. There are ladies present.Alice tripped lightly to Edwards side, her stance casual. There was no hint of any underlying tension. She looked so tiny, so fragile. Her little arms swung like a childs.Yet Demetri and Felix both straightened up, t heir cloaks swirling slightly as a gust of wind funneled through the alley. Felixs face soured. Apparently, they didnt like even numbers.Were not alone, she reminded them.Demetri glanced over his shoulder. A few yards into the square, the little family, with the girls in their red dresses, was ceremony us. The mother was speaking urgently to her husband, her eyes on the five of us. She looked away when Demetri met her gaze. The man walked a few steps farther into the plaza, and tapped one of the red-blazered men on the shoulder.Demetri move his head. Please, Edward, lets be reasonable, he said.Lets, Edward agreed. And well leave piano now, with no one the wiser.Demetri sighed in frustration. At least let us cover this more privately.Six men in red now joined the family as they watched us with anxious expressions. I was very conscious of Edwards protective stance in front of mesure that this was what caused their alarm. I wanted to scream to them to run.Edwards teeth came togethe r audibly. No.Felix smiled.Enough.The voice was high, reedy, and n came from behind us.I peeked under Edwards other arm to see a small, dark shape coming toward us. By the way the edges billowed, I knew it would be some other one of them. Who else?At first I thought it was a young boy. The appetizer was as tiny as Alice, with lank, demented brown hairtrimmed short. The torso under the cloakwhich was darker, almost inexorablewas slim and androgynous. But the face was too pretty for a boy. The wide-eyed, full-lipped face would make a Botticelli ideal look like a gargoyle. Even allowing for the dull crimson irises.Her size was so insignificant that the reaction to her appearance unordered me. Felix and Demetri relaxed immediately, stepping back from their offensive positions to blend again with the shadows of the overhanging walls.Edward dropped his arms and relaxed his position as wellbut in defeat.Jane, he sighed in recognition and resignation.Alice folded her arms across her chest, her expression impassive.Follow me, Jane spoke again, her childish voice a monotone. She turned her back on us and drifted mutely into the dark.Felix gestured for us to go first, smirking.Alice walked after the little Jane at once. Edward wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me along beside her. The alley angled slightly downward as it narrowed. I looked up at him with frantic questions in my eyes, but he just shook his head. Though I couldnt hear the others behind us, I was sure they were there.Well, Alice, Edward said colloquially as we walked. I suppose I shouldnt be surprised to see you here.It was my mistake, Alice answered in the same tone. It was my job to set it right.What deceaseed? His voice was polite, as if he were barely interested. I imagined this was due to the listening ears behind us.Its a long story. Alices eyes flickered toward me and away. In summary, she did jump off a cliff, but she wasnt trying to kill herself. Bellas all about the uttermost(a ) sports these days.I flushed and turned my eyes straight ahead, looking after the dark shadow that I could no longstanding see. I could imagine what he was listening in Alices thoughts now. Near-drownings, stalking vampires, werewolf friendsHm, Edward said curtly, and the casual tone of his voice was gone.There was a loose curve to the alley, still slanting downward, so I didnt see the squared-off dead end coming until we reached the flat, windowless, brick face. The little one called Jane was nowhere to be seen.Alice didnt hesitate, didnt break pace as she strode toward the wall. Then, with easy grace, she slid down an open hole in the street.It looked like a drain, sunk into the lowest point of the paving. I hadnt noticed it until Alice disappeared, but the chafe was halfway pushed aside. The hole was small, and black.I balked.Its all right, Bella, Edward said in a low voice. Alice will catch you.I eyed the hole doubtfully. I imagine he would have gone first, if Demetri and Fe lix hadnt been waiting, smug and silent, behind us.I crouched down, swinging my legs into the narrow gap.Alice? I whispered, voice trembling.Im right here, Bella, she reassured me. Her voice came from too far below to make me feel better.Edward took my wristshis hands felt like stones in winterand lowered me into the blackness.Ready? he asked.Drop her, Alice called.I closed my eyes so I couldnt see the darkness, scrunching them together in terror, clamping my mouth shut so I wouldnt scream. Edward let me fall.It was silent and short. The air whipped past me for just half a second, and then, with a huff as I exhaled, Alices waiting arms caught me.I was going to have bruises her arms were very hard. She stood me upright.It was dim, but not black at the bottom. The light from the hole above provided a short glow, reflecting lopsidedly from the stones under my feet. The light vanished for a second, and then Edward was a faint, white radiance beside me. He put his arm around me, holdi ng me close to his side, and began to tow me swiftly forward. I wrapped both arms around his cold waist, and tripped and stumbled my way across the uneven stone surface. The sound of the heavy moil sliding over the drain hole behind us rang with metallicfinality.The dim light from the street was quickly lost in the gloom. The sound of my staggering footsteps echoed through the black space it sounded very wide, but I couldnt be sure. There were no sounds other than my frantic heartbeat and my feet on the wet stonesexcept for once, when an impatient sigh whispered from behind me.Edward held me tightly. He reached his free hand across his body to hold my face, too, his smooth pollex tracing across my lips. Now and then, I felt his face press into my hair. I realized that this was the only reunion we would get, and I clutched myself closer to him.For now, it felt like he wanted me, and that was enough to offset the shame of the subterranean tunnel and the prowling vampires behind us. It was believably no more than offensethe same guilt that compelled him to come here to die when hed believed that it was his faulting that Id killed myself. But I felt his lips press silently against my forehead, and I didnt care what the indigence was. At least I could be with him again before I died. That was better than a long life.I wished I could ask him exactly what was going to happen now. I wanted desperately to know how we were going to dieas if that would somehow make it better, clear-sighted in advance. But I couldnt speak, even in a whisper, surrounded as we were. The others could hear everythingmy every breath, my every heartbeat.The path beneath our feet continued to slant downward, victorious us deeper into the ground, and it made me claustrophobic. Only Edwards hand, soothing against my face, kept me from screaming out loud.I couldnt tell where the light was coming from, but it slowly turned dark gray instead of black. We werein a low, arched tunnel. Long trai ls of ebony moisture seeped down the gray stones, like they were bleeding ink.I was shaking, and I thought it was from fear. It wasnt until my teeth started to blarney together that I realized I was cold. My clothes were still wet, and the temperature underneath the city was wintry. As was Edwards skin.He realized this at the same time I did, and let go of me, keeping only my hand.N-n-no, I chattered, throwing my arms around him. I didnt care if I froze. Who knew how long we had left?His cold hand chafed against my arm, trying to warm me with the friction.We hurried through the tunnel, or it felt like hurrying to me. My slow progress irritated someoneI guessed Felixand I heard him sick a sigh now and then.At the end of the tunnel was a gratethe fight bars were rusting, but thick as my arm. A small door made of thinner, interlaced bars was standing open. Edward ducked through and hurried on to a larger, brighter stone agency. The grille slammed shut with a clang, followed by the snap of a lock. I was too afraid to look behind me.On the other side of the long room was a low, heavy wooden door. It was very thickas I could tell because it, too, stood open.We stepped through the door, and I glanced around me in surprise, relaxing automatically. Beside me, Edward tensed, his remonstrate clenched tight.