Sanguine - Aro Volturi

Chapter twenty one

"It's a matter of practicality," Demetri says.

We were driving to Pisa, Demetri, myself, Felix and Alec who I had been introduced to this morning by Aro. Demetri accompanied me in the rear seats of the large Range Rover while Felix drove and Alec sat quietly in the front. My question had been about the tinting of the windows, they were extremely dark in the rear, I struggled to make out anything of the outside world.

"The windscreen has a UV filter, so we can drive comfortably during the day without risk of causing a scene, the tinting in the back is more for privacy." Demetri continues to explain.

"I guess driving around in fancy cars does draw attention," I mutter, still trying to watch out the window to no avail.

"Alec is quite the automobile fan," Felix pipes up from the front.

"Anything with wheels," Alec says in agreement.

"Are you faster than the average car?" I ask.

"If we consider the average speed of vehicles on the motorways being around 70mph then yes, the average speed of the Volturi is approximately 168mph, Demetri and Caius topped close to 200 though," Alec says.

I look across at Demetri and he's smiling. "You must be pretty good at tag then," I say and his smile becomes a grin.

"Are you attempting to be funny Cygnet?" He chuckles.

"Is there a market for undead comedians?"

"I'm afraid I have that position filled," Felix calls over his shoulder. "You're going to have to set up your game if you're looking to overthrow me in the joke department."

"Some fresh and modern wit would be a blessing, I am in full support of Cygnet," Alec says.

"I'm not sure the new nickname is that great," I frown.

"I love it, definitely one of Dem's finer moments!" Felix says.

"I am rather proud of it too," Demetri nods.

We drove for several minutes in silence before Felix asked if I wanted to listen to any music. The car was flooded with Justin Timberlake's, Mirrors.

"Who took this out last?" Demetri questioned as Felix lowered the volume and started flicking through a variety of different songs.

"Heidi," Alec answers as Felix settles on a smooth Indie song I was unfamiliar with.

Demetri makes a face. "Hadn't realised she'd developed such a poor taste in modern pop music."

"Admittedly, I am not a huge fan, but Justin Timberlake is better than quite a lot of current pop artists," Felix says. "Is this okay Cygnet?"

I let out a breathy laugh at the continued use of the nickname. "Yeh it's rather nice," I say and I see Felix's head bob slightly as he nods in confirmation.

"What music are you guys into?" I ask.

"Varies, obviously Heidi is more of a classic pop fan, I rather enjoy the seventies and eighties rock genre," Demetri responds.

"I like Indie," Felix sings his reply in tune with the current music. "But some of those European techno groups are pretty cool too."

"British punk bands," Alec says. "Conveniently with the punk fashion scene during that era I could pass as eighteen in most clubs."

"You went to clubs in the 1970's?" I tried not to sound too shocked, I knew Alec was much older than his youthful mid-teen appearance.

"Yes, the underground punk cults were a highlight of the Twentieth century, significant political movements tend to spur rebellion in humans and vampires alike, subsequently we ended up visiting New York and London rather frequently. Afton and I went to the Roundhouse concert on July 4th 1976 in London."