The heavy, ancient doors of the throne room thudded shut behind them, the sound echoing through the stone corridor like a final verdict. Jane's hand found the small of Reina's back, a cool, possessive point of contact that sent a fresh, silent thrill through Reina's new body. The gesture was a shield and a claim all at once.
"This way," Jane murmured, her voice a low hum that resonated in the quiet hall. Her crimson eyes flickered toward Reina, a question held within their depths. "Are you… well?"
Reina nodded, her movement swift and precise. "I am. I just… I have so many questions. An immortal child? What did he mean? Why are they forbidden?" The words tumbled out, each one crisp and clear in the perfect acoustic space.
Jane guided her through a labyrinth of torch-lit passages, their footsteps silent on the cold stone. "It is the most absolute law of our kind," Jane began, her tone taking on the cadence of a teacher, yet laced with a dark reverence. "An immortal child is a human child who has been turned into one of us. Their minds are too young, too underdeveloped to control the monstrous thirst we are born with. They are… chaos embodied. Unpredictable. A threat to the secrecy of our entire species. They cannot be reasoned with, only destroyed."
Reina absorbed this, the horrific image forming in her mind with unsettling clarity. "So this child in Forks…"
"If it exists, it is an abomination that must be eradicated," Jane stated flatly, though a flicker of something unfamiliar—unease, perhaps—crossed her features. "It is the only way."
They stopped before a door of dark, carved wood. Jane pushed it open, revealing a chamber far different from Jane's own. This one was sparsely furnished but held rows of hanging garments. This was a closet, an armory of sorts. Volturi robes.
Jane moved to a wardrobe and retrieved two bundles of fabric. She handed one to Reina. The material was heavier than it looked, a thick, luxurious black wool. "It is a uniform. A symbol. Put it on."
Reina unfolded the robe. It was simple in design, a long, hooded cloak meant to fall to the floor. She slipped off the simple dress she'd been given after her transformation, the air cool against her marble skin. She felt Jane's gaze on her, a tangible weight that heated her skin despite her lack of blood flow. It was a look of pure, unadulterated ownership, of hunger held meticulously in check. Reina's fingers, now so deft and sure, fastened the silver clasp at her throat. The robe settled around her, its weight both a comfort and a burden.
Jane was already clothed in her identical robe, a vision of deadly elegance. She stepped closer, her movements a whisper of sound. She reached out, not touching Reina, but simply adjusting the fall of the fabric on her shoulder, her fingers hovering a mere inch from Reina's skin. The air between them crackled with suppressed energy.
"There," Jane breathed, her voice barely audible. "Now you are truly one of us."
The journey to the private airstrip was a blur of speed and shadow. They moved through the sleeping streets of Volterra like phantoms, the world a smudge of colors and scents to Reina's heightened senses. The jet awaited them, a sleek, black predator on the tarmac. Inside, the cabin was opulent and silent but for the hum of waiting engines.
Jane took a seat, her posture rigid, her gaze fixed on the window as the plane began its taxi. Reina sat opposite her, the space between their seats feeling like a vast, charged canyon. The tension was no longer just about the mission; it was a cord pulled taut between them, thrumming with everything left unsaid and undone in Jane's chamber.
"What will happen?" Reina asked, breaking the silence. "In Forks?"
Jane's head turned slowly, her crimson eyes capturing Reina's. "We will find the Cullens. We will find the child. And we will see the truth of Irina's claim." Her lips curved into a small, cruel smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "And you, my love, will discover what power you hold within you."
Before Reina could ask another question, a strange sensation prickled at the base of her skull—a feeling of being watched, of time folding in on itself. It was gone as quickly as it came.
*
Across an ocean, in a rain-drenched house surrounded by towering evergreens, a petite vampire with spiked black hair suddenly gasped. Alice Cullen's topaz eyes flew open, wide with shock, the mundane vision of her brother Edward's approach vanishing, replaced by a torrent of searing, unavoidable images.
A private jet cutting through the clouds.
Two figures in hooded black robes, disembarking onto a wet tarmac.
The fierce, beautiful face of Jane Volturi, pale and set with purpose.
And beside her, a new face, devastatingly beautiful, with curious crimson eyes that saw a new world for the first time.
The vision shifted, fracturing into a thousand possibilities—confrontation, flight, violence, a stand-off in the rainy twilight.
"Edward!" Alice cried out, her voice sharp with alarm as she bolted upright from the couch. She clutched the back of it, her knuckles white. "They're coming. The Volturi are coming. And… she's brought someone new."