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ALEC VOLTURI WATCHED FROM THE SHADOWS AS THE MASTERS SPOKE TO THE BLONDE VAMPIRE. He silently stood beside Jane, listening with an apathetic expression. He didn't care for much these days, it seemed like any other nuisance that plagued the common vampire who asked the Volturi for an audience dragged on incessantly. He'd much rather be elsewhere, but he didn't have a choice. He had a duty to his coven and to his sister, who was more sadistic than ever. Ever since Aurora left, Jane was back as the top dog and she was making sure no one else forgot it.
When the whiney-looking girl began droning on and on about it being her duty as a vampire to report crime even if it betrays her friends and blah, blah, blah—Alec tuned out of the conversation. He wondered how the nightlife was in Dubai this time of year. However, his interest was piqued the second the blonde vampire said, "Cullen." The witch twin looked up in attention immediately as if his own name had been called.
"What crime has been allegedly committed?" Caius raised his brow, staring at the callous woman. In his personal opinion, it was quite annoying how much advantage the animal-drinkers took of the Volturi's leniency, only now just changing Isabella Swan even though they had been ordered to do so on St. Marcus's festival. But the matter was over, sealed with Carlisle Cullen's letter of confirmation. What have they done now?
Irina swallowed before lifting her chin up. "The Cullens harbor an immortal child."
Every vampire in the room let out a collective gasp. For the Cullens, the sanctimonious, animal-drinking, human-sympathizing good-doers, to have created and protected an immortal child, the most-grievous of offenses one could make as a vampire, was hearsay.
Aro flashed directly in front of Irina, his hand already extended in the space between them. "May I?" he asked politely. His eyes sparkled not with concern at the danger the crime projects, but at the mere prospect of dismantling the coven that was amassing much more power than the Volturi master was happy with.
She nodded, offering her hand for him to take, while her expression still conveyed how difficult it was for her to make the decision to report those she viewed as family.
As soon as she consented, Aro clasped his hands over hers, his eyes closing as he sorted through her thoughts. He had honed his gift to ignore the irrelevant details and search for the big ideas, zooming through miscellaneous memories and conversations in a fraction of a second. His grasp tightened slightly as he read Irina's thoughts pertaining to the child in the snow.
To the Volturi members watching, it had only been a minute or two until Aro suddenly pulled back from Irina, holding a wide, slightly maniacal smile on his face. They waited for their leader to announce the confirmation of the sin.
"Brother?" Caius urged Aro back into reality.
"Regretfully, my dear ones, Miss Denali has witnessed the crime indeed," Aro said sorrowfully, stepping back onto the dais to address the rest of the room. "The Cullens harbor not only an immortal child, but our long-not-so-lost, Aurora." Aro glanced at Alec momentarily, as if he had learned something from Irina.
