I leaned closer to Alice. Her lips were at my ears as she breathed the story.

"I was surprised that you recognized the name," she said. "That you understood so immediately what it meant –

"Yeah, who knew that Eddy would have been such an idiot, to explain his suicide plan to his girlfriend," Emmett said.

when I said he was going to Italy. I thought I would have to explain. How much did Edward tell you?"

"He just said they were an old, powerful family – like royalty. That you didn't antagonize them unless you wanted to…die," I whispered. The last word was hard to choke out.

"You have to understand," she said, her voice slower, more measured now. "We Cullens are unique in more ways than you know. It's…abnormal for so many of us to live together in peace. It's the same for Tanya's family in the north, and Carlisle speculates that abstaining makes it easier for us to be civilized, to form bonds based on love rather than survival or convenience. Even James' little coven of three was unusually large – and you saw how easily Laurent left them. Our kind travel alone, or in pairs, as a general rule. Carlisle's family is the biggest in existence, as far as I know, with the one exception. The Volturi.

"Actually, if you're just talking about the family, we're bigger," Emmett said.

"Yeah, but you really have to count the guard when you're talking about the Volturi," Jasper said.

"There were three of them originally, Aro, Caius, and Marcus."

"I've seen them," I mumbled. "In the picture in Carlisle's study."

Alice nodded. "Two females joined them over time, and the five of them make up the family. I'm not sure, but I suspect that their age is what gives them the ability to live peacefully together.

"I have a feeling it's a little more than that," Carlisle mused. "I expect that there's someone there that helps everyone get along better. I don't know how else all those vampires could go that long without fighting."

They are well over three thousand years old. Or maybe it's their gifts that give them extra tolerance. Like Edward and I, Aro and Marcus are…talented."

She continued before I could ask. "Or maybe it's just their love of power that binds them together. Royalty is an apt description."

"But if there are only five –"

"Five that make up the family," she corrected. "That doesn't include their guard."

I took a deep breath. "That sounds…serious."

"Oh, it is," she assured me. "There were nine members of the guard that were permanent, the last time we heard. Others are more…transitory. It changes. And many of them are gifted as well – with formidable gifts, gifts that make what I can do look like a parlor trick.

"I don't know about that," Carlisle said sadly, eying Alice cautiously. "I would imagine that Aro would want you...it's a very useful thing knowing the future after all."

The Volturi chose them for their abilities, physical or otherwise."

I opened my mouth, and then closed it. I didn't think I wanted to know how bad the odds were.

"No, you really don't," Edward muttered. "There's no fighting them."

She nodded again, as if she understood exactly what I was thinking. "They don't get into too many confrontations. No one is stupid enough to mess with them. They stay in their city, leaving only as duty calls."

"Duty?" I wondered.

"Didn't Edward tell you what they do?"

"No," I said, feeling the blank expression on my face.

Alice looked over my head again, toward the businessman, and put her wintry lips back to my ear.

"There's a reason he called them royalty…the ruling class. Over the millenia, they have assumed the position of enforcing our rules – which actually translates to punishing transgressors. They fulfill that duty decisively."

My eyes popped wide with shock. "There are rules?" I asked in a voice that was too loud.

"Shh!"

"Shouldn't somebody have mentioned this to me earlier?" I whispered angrily. "I mean, I wanted to be a…to be one of you! Shouldn't somebody have explained the rules to me?"

"Ssssffff," Edward hissed. "There's no need for you to know any of the rules."

Alice chuckled once at my reaction. "It's not that complicated, Bella. There's only one core restriction – and if you think about it, you can probably figure it out for yourself."