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.Everyone beside meon the crowded airport sidewalk stared."Hurry, Bella!" Alice shouted impatiently through the open passenger window.I ran to the door and threw myself in, feeling as though I might as well bewearing a black stocking over my head."Sheesh, Alice," I complained."Could you pick a more conspicuous car to steal?"The interior was black leather, and the windows were tinted dark.It felt saferinside, like nighttime.Alice was already weaving, too fast, through the thick airport traffic slidingthrough tiny spaces between the cars as I cringed and fumbled for my seat belt."The important question," she corrected, "is whether I could have stolen a fastercar, and I don't think so.I got lucky.""I'm sure that will be very comforting at the roadblock."She trilled a laugh."Trust me, Bella.If anyone sets up a roadblock, it will bebehind us." She hit the gas then, as if to prove her point.I probably should have watched out the window as first the city of Florence andthen the Tuscan landscape flashed past with blurring speed.This was my first tripanywhere, and maybe my last, too.But Alice's driving frightened me, despite thefact that I knew I could trust her behind the wheel.And I was too tortured withanxiety to really see the hills or the walled towns that looked like castles in the distance."Do you see anything more?""There's something going on," Alice muttered."Some kind of festival.The streetsare full of people and red flags.What's the date today?"I wasn't entirely sure."The nineteenth, maybe?""Well, that's ironic.It's Saint Marcus Day.""Which means?"She chuckled darkly."The city holds a celebration every year.As the legendgoes, a Christian missionary, a Father Marcus Marcus of the Voltun, in factdrove all the vampires from Volterra fifteen hundred years ago.The story claimshe was martyred in Romania, still trying to drive away the vampire scourge.Ofcourse that's nonsense he's never left the city.But that's where some of thesuperstitions about things like crosses and garlic come from.Father Marcus usedthem so successfully.And vampires don't trouble Volterra, so they must work."Her smile was sardonic."It's become more of a celebration of the city, andrecognition for the police force after all, Volterra is an amazingly safe city.Thepolice get the credit."I was realizing what she meant when she'd said ironic."They're not going to bevery happy if Edward messes things up for them on St.Marcus Day, are they?"She shook her head, her expression grim."No.They'll act very quickly."I looked away, fighting against my teeth as they tried to break through the skin ofmy lower lip.Bleeding was not the best idea right now.The sun was terrifyingly high in the pale blue sky."He's still planning on noon?" I checked."Yes.He's decided to wait.And they're waiting for him." "Tell me what I have to do."She kept her eyes on the winding road the needle on the speedometer wastouching the far right on the dial."You don't have to do anything.He just has to see you before he moves into thelight.And he has to see you before he sees me.""How are we going to work that?"A small red car seemed to be racing backward as Alice zoomed around it."I'm going to get you as close as possible, and then you're going to run in thedirection I point you."I nodded."Try not to trip," she added."We don't have time for a concussion today."I groaned.That would be just like me ruin everything, destroy the world, in amoment of klutziness.The sun continued to climb in the sky while Alice raced against it.It was toobrigh:, and that had me panicking.Maybe he wouldn't feel the need to wait fornoon after all."There," Alice said abruptly, pointing to the castle city atop the closest hill.I stared at it, feeling the very first hint of a new kind of fear.Every minute sinceyesterday morning it seemed like a week ago when Alice had spoken hisname at the foot of the stairs, there had been only one fear.And yet, now, as Istared at the ancient sienna walls and towers crowning the peak of the steep hill, Ifelt another, more selfish kind of dread thrill through me.I supposed the city was very beautiful.It absolutely terrified me."Volterra," Alice announced in a flat, icy voice. 20.VOLTERRAWE BEGAN THE STEEP CLIMB, AND THE ROAD GREW CONGESTED.As we wound higher, the cars became too close together for Alice to weaveinsanely between them anymore.We slowed to a crawl behind a little tan Peugeot."Alice," I moaned
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