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Chapter Text

Nimbus Cloud Definition: According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, "A special rain cloud category which combined the three forms cumulo + cirro + stratus.... 'Nimbus,' the Latin word for rain. The vast majority of precipitation occurs from nimbo-form clouds and therefore these clouds are generally the thickest."

The subject of consequences was a fascinating one indeed. Most of the time, consequences are reserved for one’s own actions. Other times, you might be unfortunate enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and end up suffering the consequences of another’s actions. I, on St. Marcus’ Day, found myself in the latter category completely by happenstance. I was not pleased by that fact, to say the very least.

“What the fuck is going on?! Get your fucking hands off me!”

“Please, she isn’t involved! You don’t have to do this, just take us and leave her!” That particular protest came from a brunette teenage girl who was probably the most frantic among us. She had sallow skin, very dark bags under her eyes like she hadn’t slept in months, and was looking in desperation at a guy being manhandled beside me. He must have been her boyfriend, they didn’t look anything like each other.

“I’m afraid that is no longer possible. Anything that happens to her is a direct consequence of your own foolish actions this day. Remember that,” came the response from the very tall, very strong man who wrenched my arm painfully as if to punctuate his point. He had to have been at least seven feet tall if he was an inch, and his gray cloak did nothing to hide his strength and stature.
“We’re the ones you want, I’m sure she didn’t see anything!” urged the boyfriend, who was shirtless on the one day where apparently everyone was supposed to be enrobed in full-length cloaks.

The third one being led away from the St. Marcus’ Day crowds, or I guess fourth if we’re counting me right now, was a girl somehow even shorter than me with a mahogany pixie cut hairstyle. She was the only one not making a commotion as we were hauled by our arms toward the castle in the center of Volterra, Italy, through a side alley. It almost looked like she was having an absence seizure, as she was completely unresponsive aside from her walking and seemed to be in the middle of something akin to a trance as we were yanked and shoved by the four men surrounding us. Leading them was a girl in a cloak so dark it was almost black, who was equally as short as me with cherubic features aside from her scarlet eyes and extremely intimidating, completely uncaring demeanor. Come to think of it, all of these cloaked, horrifying people had the same eyes and the same coldness to them, metaphorically and literally.

With a man holding each one of us, escape seemed impossible, especially since the biggest among them was holding me in what could only be described as a death grip. The one dragging the visibly upset teenage girl had a cloak the same almost-black color as the younger girl who was leading our not-so-merry band, and by his facial features I guessed the two of them were close in age and most likely related. Maybe even siblings, with him being about half a head taller than her and the same round face. The man dragging the boy beside me was the second largest in the group, with skin that had been tan once but was now an unhealthy, pale olive. The last one, who was shoving along the tiny girl on my left, was just as pale as the others with short, sandy blonde hair that was spiked based on how it stuck out of his hood slightly. Either it was just a coincidence that two of them had darker cloaks than the other three, or it was a sign of a hierarchy of some sort.

It was official. I was being abducted by some St. Marcus cult because some idiot boy decided to put on some very bright body glitter and try to walk around topless. Italians, apparently, were not as fun and open-minded as I had been led to believe before embarking on my international vacation.

“Remain calm,” came a soft, tinkling voice to the left of me. I guess she wasn’t having a seizure after all, unless it had simply been an extremely minor one. I looked at her from the corner of my eye and she continued, “No matter what, just remember that we will all be okay in the end.” She smiled sweetly as if to reassure me, but all I felt was even more concern for my wellbeing. In the end could very easily refer to our deaths. Maybe she was in the cult too.

“Alice knows what she’s talking about. We’re all going to make it out of here in one piece,” said the boy quietly on my right as we entered the castle through a dark, narrow hallway. It was quite the contrast from all of us yelling outside only moments ago. But turning my eyes up toward him, I caught his gaze in the dim light, my bright hazel irises clashing with his seemingly bottomless black ones. They shined despite the darkness with a secret I wasn’t privy to, but his small, close-lipped smile told me that he was speaking with sincerity.
I turned my head forward then, offering only a tiny nod to show I had heard him. His girlfriend, to the right of him, had been shaking and crying as we walked. I guess she wasn’t comforted by their positivity, or perhaps she just hadn’t heard what they said over her own choked sobs. I wasn’t doing much better in the shaking department, but I was holding it together enough to not show my fear on my face. Not that I needed to, it was more than obvious to my captor, who seemed to enjoy stoking it.

As the hallway widened into a well-lit, spacious grand hall befitting of such a palace, he would sometimes jerk me forward suddenly, causing me to trip and gasp, my heartbeat pounding in my chest and ears from fright. He would laugh, obviously mocking me, as he tightened his already too-tight grip on my arm to pull me upright again, making me wince every time. I was only a shade or two less pale than my unfortunate companions, so I knew I would have hand shaped bruises for weeks if I really did survive the day. But as the only adult among our group of captives, I felt like it was my duty to keep my outward terror to a minimum.

We passed what appeared to be a reception desk with a well-dressed female employee behind it as we approached a pair of massive, seemingly ancient oak doors. We did not slow down as a group for even a second, the doors were pulled open for us by guards in the same cloaks that the others were wearing. It was disconcerting to say the least how physically strong everyone seemed to be here. Those doors should have been a struggle for anyone, but they seemed weightless to the men guarding them. My best guess was that everyone in this cult were on steroids, ready at any moment for a Waco-esque attack from the government. Unless, of course, the Italian government was already in on it. For some reason, I heard the boy next to me chuckle quietly a second before we entered the room, which I found to be an extremely out of place reaction to our predicament.

Apparently, we had been brought to a throne room, and it was magnificent. Just as ancient looking as the oak doors that hid it from the world, but truly magnificent to behold. I would’ve been in full awe-inspired tourist mode under different circumstances. But we were not under different circumstances unfortunately, so instead of being able to admire the white marble architecture and hand-carved columns at my leisure, I had no choice but to keep my head in the game. From what I could tell, any exits were blocked by more cloaked guards. When the oak doors behind us slammed shut with a resounding clang, I couldn’t stop my heart from pounding even more wildly than before, my cheeks flushing with the realization that I was well and truly trapped. I tried to breathe slowly and deeply, but it did nothing to stop me from quaking in the wake of my unbridled fear.

As we were marched into the center of the room, I kept my head up and my gaze forward. Perhaps I shouldn’t have though, because I ended up making direct eye contact with a man sitting on one of three thrones upon a dais at the other end of the room. His was in the center, with two men on either side of him in their own respective places of authority. All of them had long hair going at least to their shoulders; the one with the shortest hair being on the right and the longest on the left. Based on their legs, which were impeccably clad beneath their pitch-black robes in what was obviously the finest matching dress pants that money could buy, their heights also seemed to follow that pattern.

As my eyes rested on his, which were just as red as the eyes of the others who must have been under his command, he smiled. But based on the wild look in them, it felt much less like a smile and much more like a predator baring his teeth at fresh prey. I audibly gulped without meaning to, my flush spreading up to my hairline where I suddenly broke out in a sweat.

My eyes flashed nervously to the men seated on either side of him. On the right was the only blonde among them, his hair almost white it was so platinum. He had the same tell-tale red eyes, which were glowering at me unblinkingly with an intensity that all but screamed his opinion on my inferiority. His expression was so firmly set in a scowl that it seemed like he had never smiled even once in his entire life.

Looking hurriedly to the left to break free of the blonde man’s unsettling stare, the other brunette was unfortunately also staring directly at me, but his face was far less terrifying to look at in that moment. He, frankly, appeared gob-smacked as we locked eyes. I couldn’t imagine why he would be looking at me in such a manner, but he was, and in light of the circumstances I unquestionably preferred it over the looks I had just received.

After three full seconds passed, I realized he had no plans to look away from me, just as the other two apparently hadn’t. So, I did it for him just as I had with the others, setting my sights firmly on the floor now and observing how my dirty, black Converse high-tops starkly contrasted with the exquisitely polished, white marble floor. I silently prayed that I had imagined being gawked at by those men, but based on the sinking feeling in my heart, I knew it was futile.

The one in the middle suddenly clapped his hands and leapt to his feet, startling me into looking up at him once again. “Edward! You and dear Isabella appear to have been reunited. What a pleasant surprise! Aren’t you glad we did not fulfill your request yesterday?” he started, his disconcerting grin never leaving his face.

“Yes, I am extremely grateful, Aro. The wisdom of the Volturi is infallible, as always,” replied the boy beside me with a bow of his head despite the awkward angle he was being held in. He and his girlfriend must be Edward and Isabella, then.

“And somehow our wisdom has brought unexpected guests as well. What a treat this is! Alice, have you reconsidered our offer?” continued the raven-haired man before us, Aro, addressing the smallest person in the room now.

“I am honored by your hospitality and interest, but again I must decline your most generous offer,” she answered, bowing her head the way Edward had.
“Ah, what a terrible pity. Perhaps another time, then. Now, who might this be? A new plaything of your coven’s, mayhap? I was under the impression that Isabella was the only human among you, but clearly that is no longer the case.”

Did he just say coven? And did he make a distinction between himself and other humans? What kind of an insane god complex did this man have? That all explained the cult thing, at least. I was right, the two on either side of me were part of this.

Edward answered him, saying with his head still bowed, “I can assure you that is still very much the case. This woman is not affiliated with us in any way.”

“Now Edward, you know there is only one way for me to confirm what you are saying to be true. May I?”

Aro outstretched his hand before Edward, left palm facing upward, his grin never budging even once during the entire exchange. Wordlessly, Edward placed his free hand in the man’s, who grabbed onto him suddenly with both hands like a trap snapping on an unsuspecting animal’s paw. I saw the guard holding Edward’s other arm clamp down on him even tighter despite clearly not needing to, as if Edward would somehow find the strength of ten men and shake both of them off at a moment’s notice. After what must have been a short time but felt like an eternity from the tense air in the room, Aro hummed contemplatively and released Edward.
“Well, brother?” asked the blonde behind Aro, speaking for the first time. His voice was smooth and didn’t lilt the way Aro’s did, but was still clearly gruff in a way that matched his outward disdain.

“Edward is telling the truth. He does not even know this lovely young lady’s name,” Aro replied, his eyes now recapturing mine. “Please, do enlighten us all.”

I gulped again. It was like when I looked into his eyes, everything in my brain flew out the window. My tongue felt like a clump of lead in my mouth, heavy and useless when I needed it the most. I had no problem screaming earlier at the man who was still clutching my arm, so why couldn’t I simply introduce myself now? Speak, for Christ’s sake! Speak like your life depends on it, you idiot, because it probably does!

“You will speak when spoken to, insolent human!” spat the guard holding me. His grip on my upper arm became literally bone crushing as he shook me at an inhuman speed for my unintentional impudence. On the final shake, I heard a pop from my shoulder and a sickening snap as lightning shot up and down throughout my arm. I cried out in pain, clenching my watering eyes shut as stars exploded behind my lids. As far as I could tell in that split second, he simultaneously broke my humerus and dislocated my shoulder. My knees had most certainly given out from both shock and horrific pain, but he was holding me up by my broken arm with one hand as if I was a weightless ragdoll, making the pain completely unbearable. If I had been in a sweat before from nerves, I was now in a cold sweat from head to toe as nausea took hold of me. That amount of pain all at once was unlike anything I had ever experienced before in twenty-six years of living. Soon to be twenty-seven, if I survived the day, which was suddenly seeming far less likely at that point.

“FELIX, UNHAND HER AT ONCE!” roared the other brunette man as he suddenly appeared in front of us. The cool breeze that came with him as he somehow crossed the room in record time was just enough to keep me from vomiting up my brunch.

I landed on the floor with a thud and a sharp gasp. My fall had been broken by my unharmed left arm, but that didn’t stop my broken and dislocated appendage from being jostled on the way down. The only thing keeping me somewhat calm was the cold, soothing marble beneath me. I rested my forehead on it and kept my eyes tightly shut, trying to take deep breaths and settle my stomach as much as I could. It briefly crossed my mind that if they were capable of such violence at a moment’s notice, it really was my responsibility as the adult in the group to maintain what little composure I had left, even in this sorry state. I was shocked and horrified by the treatment I had received for seemingly no reason at all, and I couldn’t allow these kids to go through the same, whether they were involved with this cult in some way or not.

Behind me I heard a guttural roar over the blood rushing in my ears and the sound of stone being violently reduced to rubble. I flinched, curling into myself as much as I could without moving my afflicted arm in an act of instinctual self-preservation. I was certain that whatever calamity was now occurring right behind me would befall me next. So much for composure.
But then, just as suddenly as the violence had begun, everything stopped. All that was left was deafening silence as I waited for whatever would happen next. I only had to wait for a moment before I heard the rustling of fabric and the distinct sound of footfalls reverberating off the marble floor as they made their way directly toward me. I braced for impact, but instead of being put in more pain than I was already in, I realized I was being lifted into a sitting position by my good shoulder and the side of my neck. The hands on me this time were just as cold, freezing in fact, but obviously much more caring. Quite the stark contrast from the guard, so I knew it couldn’t have been him lifting me.

When I was righted and the hands left my person, I finally peeked up from beneath my auburn fringe and was met with my savior, whose face was only a breath away from my own as he knelt before me on one knee. It was the man who had stared at me with something akin to awe just a few minutes ago. His garnet eyes were searching mine for something, but apparently he didn’t find whatever it was he had been looking for. He seemed relieved to come up empty handed in this instance. I was in no way calmed, though.

“Please,” I whimpered as the tears I had been holding back escaped me without permission, despising how pathetic I sounded and undoubtedly appeared, “I haven’t done anything wrong. They haven’t either. Let us go.”

For a single second, I thought I saw true, uninhibited heartbreak on his pale but very handsome face. But that couldn’t have been right, because it was nowhere to be found an instant later. His obvious concern remained, though, as he rose to his full height and offered me his hand, never breaking eye contact with me. He was well over six foot, at least a foot taller than me.

“Allow me to assist you, dear lady. You will not be treated in such an uncaring manner ever again. This I swear to you.”

His voice was the deepest and smoothest of all. It was so rich and comforting that combined with the kindness in his eyes, I had no control over my quivering bottom lip and the hot, seemingly endless tears that were now streaming down my flushed cheeks. I would later chalk it up to my brain needing some form of release after all the emotional and physical turmoil I was being put through.

As he stood there waiting for me to take his hand, holding so still it was like he wasn’t even breathing, my mind flashed to what I had witnessed just before. I had seen how the other man, Aro, had taken Edward’s hand. Would this man treat me the same? Could I take him at his word, or would I truly be an idiot to do so after everything so far? But the look in his eyes and the sound of his deep yet gentle timbre made me want to throw caution to the wind. Remembering the position I was in through the haze of blinding pain I was experiencing, I knew that regardless of my better judgement, I truly had no choice but to go along with whatever would happen that day. Shakily, I placed my left hand in his right, and forced all the strength I could into my still-shaking legs in order to stand.
In stark contrast to the interaction between Aro and Edward, his hand held mine as if it was a Fabergé egg. His eyes held my gaze unblinkingly, as if I was the only one in the room. And with his help, I was able to steady myself enough to get my feet back under me properly. He, thus far, was being truly kind to me, and I was grateful.

“Thank you,” I said breathlessly. I told myself it was from the pain I was in, and as another searing wave hit me, my explanation to myself was convincing.

“You are most welcome, il mio tesoro.” If I had been breathless before, I didn’t think I’d ever be able to breathe again when he bowed fully at the waist and kissed the back of my hand with undeniable reverence. What in the world was going on right now?

“Brother, what on earth is the meaning of this?” asked Aro, vocalizing my thoughts as he watched the scene unfolding before him with unabashed curiosity. The predatory smile had finally left his aristocratic features. From behind Aro, Caius was still staring at me, but now his own curiosity was plain to see as he shifted in his throne to get a better look at our interaction.

When the man who had helped me straightened up once again to his full height, he simply reached his other hand out for Aro to take. He had not stopped holding mine yet and I thought my face would melt off from how hot it had become over the course of the last minute. But maybe that was also from the pain of my mangled arm and shoulder. Or was an infection setting in already? Could infections do that?

When Aro clasped his hand in a manner that was far kinder than when he had taken Edward’s before, he gasped. I was confused about all the handholding, but seeing as I was the only one who seemed to feel that way, I kept it to myself and instead bit my lip to stop its completely unwelcome quivering.

After a minute that felt like at least a year, Aro looked up from where he had been staring at their hands and searched his brother’s face in shock. Quietly, almost breathlessly, he finally asked, “Is this really true, Marcus?”

Marcus finally turned his attention away from me to face Aro and answered, “You have now seen as clearly as I do, brother. There is no denying it.”

Aro then locked his eyes with mine again, and I noticed immediately the change in the way he beheld me. While I was no longer prey being purposefully intimidated, I couldn’t quite place the strange look on his face either. I still felt uneasy, to say the least.

“Would someone care to fill me in? And when are we handing down our judgement against the Cullens?” came the unamused voice of the blonde, startling me and causing me to break the staring contest Aro and I were apparently having.

Aro sighed, appearing almost disappointed. “Marcus, please explain to Caius. Then when you are finished, escort our newest… acquaintance to the infirmary. Caius and I shall finish the ruling and then meet you there presently.”

“Gladly,” Marcus replied. He finally let go of my hand, looking remorseful as he did so, before striding quickly with his long legs to the only occupied throne. He and the blonde, Caius, began whispering. The only way I knew that was because I could see them looking at each other intensely while their mouths moved slightly, but I couldn’t hear a single breath. It was as if they were only mouthing the words at each other at breakneck speeds.

“My dear, we still do not know your name. If you would be so kind as to introduce yourself before Marcus escorts you out?” asked Aro, the smile on his face much more genuine than the last one he had given me.

Searching his bright, infinitely curious eyes for just a second and finding no trap, my tongue finally decided that it could function properly again on command. After everything that had happened up to that point, it really was a relief to be able to simply say, even if it was far more watery sounding than I would’ve liked, “I’m Annabel Whitehall. Nice to meet you?”

Chapter Text

The kind man, Marcus, was holding my good hand again as he slowly guided me through the labyrinth of hallways to what was supposedly an infirmary. He wasn’t holding it the way people usually do, though. My left hand was once more clasped gently but securely in his right, being held up instead of at our sides, the way people lead their partners onto the ballroom floor to waltz. I had never experienced anything like this in real life and it had never crossed my mind that I might at some point, but there I was, being led through the halls of an actual castle by someone who could easily pass for a real king. Unfortunately, despite this occurring in a castle with someone who had been sitting on a throne in the last half hour, it felt like no fairytale to me.

My right arm was broken and my shoulder dislocated, which I was acutely reminded of with every excruciating step. I was terrified out of my wits for myself and the kids I had been forced to leave behind in the marble throne room. Alice and Edward had assured me that we would all make it out of here, but was that actually true? No matter what they were involved in and had accidentally dragged me into, I still wanted them to be okay. They were just kids, after all. But I would have no way of confirming their safety while being away from them. For that matter, I would have no real way of assuring my own survival now that we were split up. It was entirely possible I was being led by the hand to a torture chamber instead of the hospital wing of the castle. And yet, even while fully understanding this possibility, I made no struggle or protest against Marcus. Maybe I was just the biggest idiot alive, and if that was the case, I would deserve my unsavory and painful end for my incredibly stupid lack of self-preservation. Sorry for abandoning everything you taught me growing up over the course of just half an hour, Mama.

The further we walked from the throne room, the less populated the halls became. Every now and then there were guards posted by seemingly random doors, and my guess was those doors somehow led to exits. This only made me further resigned to the fact that I had no choice but to trust Marcus, as escaping seemed impossible the longer I was trapped within these walls. Either I could try my luck and likely suffer a painful death, or I could be a good little captive and maybe convince them to have mercy on me. It seemed I was already on the merciful route with how Marcus had been treating me thus far, but something was still definitely off about him.

Now that my brain had some time to process and catch up on things during our silent walk through the castle, something stuck out to me that I just couldn’t let go of. A scene I just couldn’t quite put together for the life of me. Marcus had not just yelled, but boomed in a way I had never heard before when he ordered for me to be let go of by the guard who had taken such pleasure in my suffering. Felix, I remembered. When I hit the ground, there was rage-filled roaring like I hadn’t heard since I saw Gladiator the night it premiered at my local theater. Then there was the unmistakable sound of something crumbling behind me. But when I briefly glanced around as Marcus led me out of the throne room, nothing was broken. No pillars and no walls showed any sign of damage where I had clearly heard it. But here was the part my brain kept replaying on a loop, the part that I truly could not wrap my head around; there was a side door near where I had heard everything happen, and two guards were carrying something out through it when I happened to look. I say something, but my brain seemed fixated on it being someone. Felix was gone by the time I had been allowed to leave with Marcus, but in the millisecond I had to see what was being hauled out of there by the two guards, the image of a dismembered arm balanced on top of the very large lump they were carrying was seared into my neuropathways.

But that couldn’t be right. In a pure white marble room like that, even one drop of blood would have stood out. No one could have their arm sawed or torn off that quickly and silently, and even if it could be, there would be blood absolutely everywhere. And none of that explained the distinct sound of stone being destroyed. Thus, my brain chased itself in circles until I was jolted out of my thoughts by stopping in front of another impossibly large set of oak doors.

There was only one guard manning this entrance unlike the throne room, but he had the same red eyes as every other guard I had seen, and he pulled one of the doors open for us with just as much ease as the others had. My steroids theory was gaining more credibility by the minute.

The infirmary looked very similar to the one I had seen in the Harry Potter movies, but it was much smaller with far fewer beds. There was no fiery but caring Madam Pomfrey here to magically make my arm all better, either. Instead, in the center of the room stood yet another very pale, red-eyed man in a cloak, but this one was stark white unlike the dark cloaks I had seen up to that point. It only made his pallor more noticeable to me in comparison. Apparently, he had been reading the newspaper before we entered the room, as he was straightening after putting it on the desk beside him.

“Doctor,” Marcus quietly greeted with a nod. “You have a rare treat today. We have a guest in need of your attention. This is Miss Annabel Whitehall, and she is to receive the highest quality of care.”

The doctor bowed and replied in a soft British accent, “Of course, Master Marcus. Whatever Annabel may require, it will be my pleasure to aid her. I shall begin her examination immediately.” When he straightened, he continued, “Will you be enjoying the tour with the other masters today? Heidi should be arriving now.”

“No, I will wait for the next one. When Aro is finished he will be joining me here, and perhaps Caius as well. Will that be a problem?” Despite the conversational tone he maintained when he asked that, I distinctly caught the undercurrent of his words: That better not be a problem. It was scary how Marcus’ demeanor could turn on a dime like that. It made me painfully aware of the hand I had willingly given him and was still cushioned in his palm.

“It will be my honor to have you here as I work, Master,” the doctor answered with another bow. “Now, Annabel, please sit on one of the beds so I may have a look.”

Luckily, the beds lined up along both sides of the room were very old fashioned and low, unlike modern examination tables. Being so short, it would have been torture for me to have to climb up on one with my dominant arm in this state. I took the bed closest to me on the right so I wouldn’t have to walk any further than necessary, as every slight movement sent a jolt of searing pain through me. Marcus only let go of my hand when I was seated, and then the doctor finally approached me.

Before I could explain about my arm, Marcus did it for me. “Felix, from the sound of it, broke her arm and dislocated her shoulder. For his sake, I hope she will not need rods.”

From the sound of it? I thought in my confusion. I hadn’t mentioned a thing about it verbally. Had my injury really been so loud that he heard it clear across that giant throne room?

“Yes, the bruising and swelling are already quite severe around the injuries,” said the doctor contemplatively. Thank God I had worn a tank top that day, having to roll up a sleeve or take off my shirt all together for this exam would be brutal. “Under normal circumstances I would pop the shoulder back in and call it a day, but with the broken humerus we will need to do x-rays to ascertain the severity of the damage before anything else can be done.”

“Will it cost less if you pop it in first?” I asked, already panicking over how much the x-rays alone would cost me. I was prepared for an expensive Spring Break/birthday in Italy, but not one involving medical bankruptcy.

Marcus quietly chuckled, which seemed to startle the doctor for some reason. The doctor’s eyes flickered from me to Marcus twice, which did absolutely nothing for my nerves. Marcus’ laughter was more like a rumbling from deep within his chest. His voice was so low and rich that it made sense, but it did nothing to stop my blush of embarrassment at being the butt of a joke I wasn’t in on. If anything, the sound of his voice alone intensified the feeling. Not everyone could be rich enough to moonlight as a monarch in an ancient Italian castle for tourists, you know.

“None of the care you receive will cost you a thing, my dear. Worry not,” smiled Marcus down at me. The sight of his smile and his expressive eyes crinkling slightly at the corners made my breath catch in my throat. He was truly and undeniably glorious to behold. If I had been able to focus on anything other than him in that moment, I might have had a laugh of my own at the sight of the doctor’s jaw dropping the moment Marcus smiled. But who could possibly notice anything other than the beaming face above me?

When my lungs were able to function again, I managed to say, “I had no idea Italian healthcare was so good, even for non-citizens. Are you sure you’ll be able to take American insurance?” Another chuckle came from Marcus, followed by more confusion and embarrassment from me. I hated to imagine what color my face was at that moment.

“There will be no need to bill your insurance. As a private institution, we’re able to absorb any associated costs for your treatment,” explained the doctor after he also regained his composure. He smiled reassuringly at me, and while he was less dazzling than Marcus, I was still struck by how attractive he was. Come to think of it, I hadn’t seen a single unattractive person in the entire castle, including the teens I had been brought in with.

Wait. The way he said private was off. There was some catch here I wasn’t aware of, I could feel it. Would he tell me I needed surgery just so he could remove organs of his choosing to sell on the black market? Were these people mafia or associated with them in some way? In this world, there was no such thing as free, and no amount of seemingly altruistic strangers could convince me otherwise. Especially since they were only being altruistic after one of their personal guards assaulted me. My mother’s meticulous teachings were coming back to the forefront of my mind where they should’ve been this entire time.

I couldn’t allow myself to be distracted out of understanding the danger I was truly in, and I needed to keep my wits about me no matter what. Under no circumstances could I allow myself to be put in a vulnerable position. No eating their food without someone else eating it first; no drinking their drinks, even water, without someone drinking first; and I certainly couldn’t allow myself to go into surgery or take any drugs, even if they claimed they were medications I needed for my arm. This was bad.

Before I could say anything else, though, the infirmary door Marcus and I had entered through was opened again to let in Aro and Caius. Aro’s face was giving nothing away regarding his thoughts as they walked toward us, but once again Caius was scowling. I had observed earlier that Caius was probably the shortest out of the brothers, but that certainly didn’t make him short like me. No, having them here made me realize that everyone in the room except me was six foot and above. At 5’2, I was miniscule compared to everyone and I was now surrounded. Plus, there was that guard outside the door who was most definitely juicing to consider. Just fabulous, there was absolutely no escape for me if this situation went south.

“Marcus, you cannot possibly be serious,” started Caius, spitting out his words through gritted teeth in what I suspected to be an attempt to keep from yelling.

“Caius, don’t be ridiculous. I already explained in full and Aro has seen it too. What objection could you have? This is a most joyous occasion, is it not?” replied Marcus evenly. I really didn’t enjoy having no idea what they were talking about.

“The fact that you say objection as a singular is laughable. Shall I go down the list?” Caius asked sarcastically. “I mean really, her of all people? All it takes is one glance to see how utterly and disgracefully pathetic she is. Weak, certainly woefully uneducated compared to us, not to mention homely—”

“Caius!” said Marcus and Aro in unison, with Aro saying it sternly and Marcus practically barking it. They were also glaring in unison, but then again so was I.

I wanted desperately to shout, Excuse me?! Who exactly do you think you are making judgements like that against me? And for absolutely no reason? I never asked for your opinions, and by the way, you’re certainly no prize. You look like you’re constantly smelling dog shit, or maybe it’s just your own special brand of bullshit you’re getting a whiff of. Either way, fuck right off.

But, of course I didn’t shout that. What kind of idiot would that make me in this kind of situation? No, I stared daggers right into him, but I didn’t say a word. And neither did anyone else.

The room descended into a silence that did nothing to calm the feeling that I was in deep trouble. From the looks of it, Caius was ready to kill me with his bare hands, even though I’d done nothing wrong and was the insulted party here. The pain I was in was excruciating, and instead of being able to relax and get the medical attention I needed, I was stuck like an animal in a trap, being prodded with a stick before I met my inhumane demise.

Caius opened his mouth to finally shatter the disquieting quiet, but it was Aro’s voice I heard instead. His shrill laughter filled the room, slicing through the unsettling silence. Then Marcus started, but instead of his rumbling chuckle from moments ago, he was fully belly laughing. Both of their heads were thrown back and their eyes closed as they expressed their mirth without restraint. I looked between them before turning my eyes to the doctor to gauge his reaction. He was now staring at the floor, but having his head down did nothing to hide his wide-eyed shock since I was sitting directly in front of him. Apparently, this situation was actually as strange as I feared it was.

As Aro finally began to calm down, he said through wheezing giggles, “My word, she truly is a marvel! If that murderous look on her lovely face alone did not prove Marcus right, then nothing will. Really, Caius, you surely see it now, yes? Enough pretending that she is anything less than wondrous, even by the standard of your jaundiced eye.”

In my humble opinion, whatever Caius was apparently supposed to be seeing about me was still not clicking for him. He was glowering at me even harder than he had been in the throne room, with his fists clenched so tight I truly thought he would take a swing at me. And with my dominant arm in such a sorry state, there would be no real way for me to effectively defend myself if he did. There were wheels on the bed I was sitting on, but based on how they didn’t budge when I initially sat, they were definitely locked into place, leaving no chance of me moving out of his way at all if it came to that. Lovely.

Instead of moving toward me or answering Aro, he turned on his heel and left as quickly as he had come. With a hand on each of the door handles, he threw both of the humungous oak doors open with ease and stomped through them as they loudly made impact with the stone walls. So not only were the guards here juicing, but the men at the top were, too. Good to know.

Aro sighed in disappointment and all traces of laughter left Marcus’ face when the doors shut with a bang behind Caius’ enraged form. I, however, sighed in relief. I didn’t realize I had braced for impact until my body reflexively relaxed. Tensing like that only made my arm hurt even worse, so I was thankful for the moment of very slight reprieve.

“I apologize for our brother,” said Marcus sincerely, facing me once again. “He tends to be rather abrasive, but do not take it personally. I will see to it that he also apologizes for the uncouth manner with which he addressed you.”

“Really, I’d prefer it if you wouldn’t.” Aro and Marcus shared a look before they started laughing again, and this time the doctor allowed himself a quiet chuckle as well. I might have joined in if I hadn’t been in excruciating pain still. While Aro and Marcus seemed to like me, and I was warming up to Marcus alarmingly fast, I still didn’t trust a single person in the castle as far as I could throw them. And I couldn’t throw anyone, even tiny Alice, with my mangled arm. It was time to get down to business, I was still too vulnerable like this. “Doctor, I need something to put between my teeth, if you’d be so kind.”

The laughter in the room died immediately at my request. All eyes were back on me, and they all shared the same look of surprise.

“Whatever for?” he asked, looking to Marcus and then Aro seemingly for guidance.

“I’m going to relocate my shoulder and it’s going to hurt like a son-of-a-bitch with this broken arm. Then, I’d appreciate it if you could make me a splint and a sling. I’d prefer it if we could use your newspaper for the splint since it’ll be cheaper. Obviously, I’ll pay you back for the materials.”

“You can’t possibly be serious,” said the doctor in disbelief, his eyes widening as he looked once again to Aro and Marcus.

“My dear, that is not necessary. We already told you that your care here would come free of charge,” Marcus frowned, his brows furrowing with concern and apparent confusion.

“I truly mean no offense, but frankly, I don’t believe you.” At my bluntness his frown deepened, and I thought I saw traces of hurt in his eyes. Aro’s brows were raised but he said nothing. I continued, “So when I do this, and I will be doing this, I’ll pay whatever I owe and be on my way. Now, something to bite, please.”

A beat passed where no one moved and not a sound was made. It was almost like they weren’t even breathing they had gone so still. But then, slowly, Aro unbuckled his belt. Both Marcus and the doctor looked scandalized. I was just surprised he was willing to let me ruin such an expensive accessory. It was clearly the finest Italian leather, as black as the rest of his suit. When he had freed it from his beltloops, he folded it neatly and presented it to me with a small smile.

“If you can manage this without fainting from the pain, I will be truly impressed, little one,” he said.

“I’m not as weak as your brother apparently thinks,” I replied, taking the belt with my left hand and pointedly ignoring the demeaning nickname. The tips of my fingers barely brushed his during the exchange, but even from such little contact I was struck by how cold he was. Just as cold as Marcus. For being in a castle, it wasn’t that drafty and it was a sunny, spring day, so I couldn’t explain it. I wasn’t aware of steroids causing low blood pressure, but then again I couldn’t explain steroids causing their red eyes, either. Maybe Italians made stronger shit than Americans.

“You’re quite right about that,” he breathed in reply, seeming to be in a daze all of a sudden. I might have been taken aback by the change in his tone had my mind not been completely consumed with the pain I was in and the task at hand.

Since the belt was already folded, all I had to do was place it in my mouth. When I was satisfied I wouldn’t break my teeth or bite off my tongue accidentally from the pain I was about to inflict on myself, I rearranged my position on the bed so that my left leg was hanging off the side and my right knee was near my chest with plenty of room to lean backwards. Aro, Marcus, and the doctor each took a step back to give me extra space to get situated, but their intense gazes never left me. Aro was looking at me with obvious interest, Marcus’ face showed extreme worry, and the doctor couldn’t hide his abject horror. It seemed that Aro had given his blessing for this to go forward, though, and the doctor’s oath to do no harm apparently didn’t extend to overriding his employers.

Breathing as deeply and slowly as I could to remain calm, I reached with my left arm around my raised knee to grab my right hand. Any movement was excruciating already, but it was about to get even worse. I tried lacing my fingers together, but with the pain I was in, my right hand didn’t have enough strength to hold on tightly to my left. Quickly realizing this, I grabbed my wrist instead. Slowly and with great care, I pulled my right arm up so that my arms were now on either side of my knee. Just that small movement caused an involuntary whimper and tears to leave me, but I knew I had to simply clamp down on the belt and forge ahead. Better some temporary, white-hot pain than trusting the wrong people and ending up dead.

With my arms now in place, I knew what had to come next. I took three of the deepest breaths I could to prepare myself. Tensing my dislocated shoulder now could result in the relocation failing and even more pain, so I knew I had to be careful with how I proceeded. Finally, while biting down as hard as I possibly could and holding my right wrist in a vice-like grip, I started leaning backward. Millimeter by millimeter I leaned, and suddenly being dead seemed like a far better option. Between my shoulder and my upper arm, I was screaming around the belt in my mouth as tears, snot, and spit poured from me. My body was simultaneously too hot and too cold as I became drenched in sweat, with my arm feeling like there was molten lava where my bones from my shoulder to my elbow should be. I genuinely wasn’t sure if I would throw up or pass out as Aro had said just moments before.

Mercifully, right when I was starting to see black spots in my peripheral, my shoulder lodged itself back in its socket with the most sickening sound I’d ever heard. With a sharp gasp, I released my wrist and collapsed backward onto the bed. Heaving breaths were leaving me as the tears continued to flow down my temples and into my hair. Falling back like that felt horrible on my arm, but my shoulder had gone from blinding to just throbbing in what seemed like a blink of an eye. The black spots were no longer closing in, but I didn’t feel like I was out of the woods yet, so I tried slowing my breaths as much as I could.

I laid there with no concept of time or space. I was just focused on coming back to myself. First the black spots left me, then the nausea. My body settled on just being cold from the rolling sweat I had been left in, and lastly the tears stopped, allowing me to breathe normally again at last. When I finally sat back up, careful of my arm this time, I finally pulled the belt out of my mouth, taking a long string of my saliva with it. An imprint of all my teeth was permanently indented in it, ruining the leather for good. I threw it aside onto the floor to free up my good hand, the clattering of the metal buckle on the stone floor echoing off the walls. I could feel what a disgusting mess my orifices had become, so I pulled the front of my tank top over my nose and roughly wiped it from my nostrils down to my chin, letting it drop back onto my chest rumpled and soiled. I didn’t even bother dealing with the tears that had flowed from my temples into my hair while I had been laying down. I still felt soaked from head to toe in my own sweat.

I was uncomfortable in my position, so I lowered my right leg so my foot could rest on the floor again and finally faced my audience. Looking up into their faces, my eyes widened in surprise. Rapt attention didn’t even begin to describe the expressions on their faces as they stared unblinkingly down at me. The doctor had covered his mouth with his hand at some point and had not yet bothered to remove it. Marcus was slack-jawed with his burgundy eyes practically popping out of his head. But Aro was the one who truly jarred me; he was grinning from ear to ear.

“Magnifico,” Aro whispered in awe. “What an astonishing woman you are, Annabel Whitehall.”

With an unladylike sniff to clear some of the mucus from my airways, I replied, “Sorry about your belt.”

Chapter Text

“I really must insist that you at least take an antibiotic and some pain medication,” grated the doctor, clearly unamused at having to even say such a thing after what had occurred in his infirmary that afternoon.

“And I really must insist that I’m quite alright without them,” came my strained reply, far less full-throated than I had hoped it would be. This particular argument had been going in circles for the past five minutes. My arm was now splinted with newspaper and in a sling made entirely from gauze, as per my request. The doctor had been in a state of simultaneous horror and frustration ever since I fixed my own dislocated shoulder unaided, but now he was reaching a level of exasperation that didn’t match his soft-spoken demeaner. He wanted to provide me with painkillers now that my arm had been at least somewhat treated, and I was unrelenting in my refusal. In fact, I had refused everything I had been offered up to that point; any food or beverage you could think of, a proper medical exam, pain meds or antibiotics, a place to sleep and medical monitoring into the next day as a precaution, the works. They really drove a hard bargain, but even a tiny paper cup of water would not be permitted to pass my lips that day. Mama would’ve been proud. After she stopped lecturing me for being so reckless up to this point, that is.

“What about a prescription you could bring to the pharmacy on the way back to your accommodations?” The doctor was speaking through gritted teeth at that point.

“No, thanks.” These were clearly well-connected people, if I got abducted off the street in broad daylight along with three minors without anyone batting an eye, I wouldn’t be surprised if the entire town was in their pocket to some extent, and that would naturally include the pharmacy. “But speaking of my accommodations, I should be on my way now….” I really hoped that would be a smooth transition to get out of there, but by the surprise on Marcus’ and Aro’s faces, it didn’t have the desired effect. “… How much do I owe you for the splint and sling?” I asked, trying to ignore them and keep what little cool I still had, if I could even really call it that after all the crying and snotting I had done in front of them already. My arm might barely be in traveling condition now, but that didn’t make the pain of a snapped bone magically go away. All I wanted was to get back to my hotel, take too many maximum strength Tylenols I knew were waiting for me in my small bathroom, and call it a day as fast as possible.

The doctor looked to Aro in a silent plea to intervene, but Aro gave him the same look he had been giving since I began tending to my injuries. The doctor was clearly not allowed to interfere where my preferences were concerned, and somewhere in the back of my mind, I wondered idly why Aro seemed so intrigued to see how all of this was unfolding. He seemed like quite the busy man, so surely one tourist getting hurt because of one of his men wouldn’t faze him, right? No less would he be concerned with that tourist’s medical care. Nor would he care what his openly shitty brother thought about that or any other tourist. Something was still very off here, and that only made me want to leave all the more.

On the other hand, there was Marcus. He had been so outraged on my behalf earlier, but whenever he would interact with me, he was the purest definition of a gentleman. Truly like a fairytale, even down to the way he liked to hold hands apparently. I had never experienced anyone like him in my entire life, and against my better judgement, I found him incredibly endearing. Downright charming, even. But again, this was all just in the back of my mind, fleeting thoughts I was only half aware of. At the forefront of my mind was pain and potential danger, and those were what motivated me.

Heeding the look on his employer’s face, the doctor didn’t argue with me, but he did change tactics. “When do you fly home? You should come by for a check-up before then.”

Europeans had no respect for Americans and liked to underestimate our intelligence, right? Especially young, American women, right? I hoped to use that stereotype to my advantage. “You know, I don’t remember when I’m supposed to leave off the top of my head. I have it on my itinerary back in my hotel room. I’ll call before I’m supposed to leave and see if you’re available. Do you have a card or should I look you up in the phone book?”

A classic, ask for their number so they’ll think you actually intend to call so they let you off the hook temporarily, and then use that chance to run for the hills without consequences. My heart was hammering at my attempt to lie, but luckily my face didn’t flush, which would’ve been a dead giveaway based on how intently everyone insisted on watching me. I could do this, get out in one piece and make a clean getaway.

With a sigh, the doctor walked a few feet to his desk and pulled out a very high-quality business card. The cardstock his information was printed on felt like it should be reserved for the wedding invitations of European royalty. In golden calligraphy on a black background were the words, Bernard Clarke, Volturi Head Physician along with the address of the castle and his available numbers. There were only two, his fax number and the number for the cellphone that sat directly above the drawer he kept his business cards in.

“Please do call me as soon as you can, the last thing you want is for the bone to set incorrectly or for an infection to start. And if you change your mind, I’ll be glad to write you a prescription or give you what we have on hand here. Free of charge, of course.”

Despite the sincerity in his voice and face, the words free of charge spurred me to get away and stay away as fast as I possibly could. Nothing in this world was free, and repeating the offer only made my hackles rise even more, especially since he never told me what I owed him for the newspaper and gauze that was now keeping my arm in place.

Instead of plainly showing my discomfort, I gave him a strained smile that could easily be blamed on the state of my arm. “I will, I just need to find my itinerary and get some rest first. Soon enough it’ll be dinner time, too. Come to think of it, are there any times I shouldn’t call during the day?”

“Call day or night, the time doesn’t matter,” he urged with a narrowed gaze, seeing through my attempt to find an excuse to not call him.

“Alright, I will, then,” I assured with another small smile. My flight out of Italy was the day after next, I could lay low that long. Hell, I could even get the next flight out if I really wanted to. And at that point, I really wanted to.

With a clap that made me jump— and in turn made me wince from the sudden movement— Aro stepped forward with his signature disconcerting grin. “I am so very glad we’ll be seeing you again soon. We will want to personally check on your healing, including Caius, I’m sure. Right, Marcus?”

Marcus’ eyes, which I don’t think had left me for even a second since I popped my shoulder back into place, seemed to light up at the mention of seeing me again. To my chagrin, my heart skipped a beat at the sight. “Of course. I will be quite concerned until we meet again, dearest Annabel. And fear not, Caius and Felix both will behave themselves next time. We will see to that.”

The way he practically purred instead of merely speaking not only succeeded in making me blush against my will, but also made me involuntarily clench and throb where it was most dangerous to do so. I could not allow myself to give into baser instincts when I was facing down an organization I still believed to be a cult. Or a form of the mafia. Or both, with my luck.

“I really do appreciate your concern and hospitality. Thank you all so much for everything.” That should be placating enough, right? I certainly hoped so. If I had learned anything, it was that when in doubt, use your manners. If nothing else, manners could buy time and favor, which I hoped was the case here.

Aro offered his hand to me, making me hesitate. Based on what I had seen all afternoon, there was something strange about Aro’s need to hold hands with almost everyone in his vicinity. I didn’t understand how or why, but it seemed like some sort of test he liked putting people through, even his own brothers. What test it might be, I would only find out by taking it myself.

If he noticed my reluctance then he made no indication of that fact, simply waiting as still and patiently as a statue of a saint until I delicately placed my left hand in his. Unlike when he took the hands of others, his free hand did not clamp down to entrap the one I offered him. Instead, his fingers slowly and deliberately closed around mine, reminding me of Marcus’ gentility toward me. Aro then bowed and grazed his lips over the back of my knuckles with a touch that challenged any feather to be lighter. His long hair obstructed my view, so all I could do was helplessly stand there while his lips danced across my skin. I couldn’t contain my gasp, nor could I stop my throat from going bone dry at the contact, nor could I even attempt to prevent the goosebumps that overtook my entire body at the feeling. It had been the last thing I ever expected to occur.

When he straightened and released my hand, it had felt like an eternity, but surely was only a matter of seconds in reality. His grin became more of a genuine smile once he was looking into my eyes again, which did nothing to calm my physical reaction to him. “I look forward to when next we meet, dear Annabel. Marcus will see you to the main entrance now. Do take care.”

“Thank you, you too,” was the best I could muster with a returned smile in the midst of such a bizarre situation.

I turned to say goodbye to the doctor, but suddenly I realized he was no longer in the room. As I was about to ask where he went, Marcus said, “Dr. Clarke has another patient to attend to elsewhere. Shall we take our leave?”

He extended his hand to me once more, and I had to acknowledge that the blush I felt creeping into my cheeks meant that I found the prospect of holding his hand again to be quite an agreeable one. I just hoped that he would lead me by the hand to the actual exit instead of a dark cell somewhere in the dungeons that I just knew had to exist in the depths of the castle. As attractive as he and everyone else here were, I still knew that I couldn’t trust them.

Not letting on to my inner monologue, I simply nodded and took his offered hand, just like before. Also just like before, I was taken off-guard by how carefully and… sweetly he handled me. Considering how very intimidating the three kingly brothers could be at the drop of a hat, having two out of three treating me like I was something fragile and valuable seemed like a very good sign in light of the circumstances. It really seemed like everything was going to be okay for me despite the current state of my arm.

Marcus opened one of the doors and led me through it, nodding to the guard as we passed. I could feel Aro’s eyes on me with every step we took, and even when the door audibly shut behind us, the hair on the back of my neck only continued to stand on end, as if he could still see me. I only relaxed after we turned the corner to exit the hospital wing of the castle.

“Annabel?” Marcus asked softly by my side.

I was a little startled that he was speaking to me since our previous walk to the infirmary had been completely silent. “Yes?”

“Why did you distrust Dr. Clarke? He was only trying to help you.”

Of course, as soon as I get just a tiny bit comfortable, something had to come up and rip the rug out from under me once again. I needed a response that would please him, I couldn’t jeopardize my chances of getting out safely when I was so close. “I do trust him, that’s why I’m coming back for a check-up soon.”

“You need not lie to me,” he smiled down at me sadly.

My shoulders tensed in response, making me wince from both the pain the movement caused and the fear that immediately doused me upon being called out like that. “I had a bad experience with a doctor once.”

“You are still lying, dear. Why?” His voice became pleading, which took me completely by surprise. “I want to understand you,” he said so softly that it was verging on a melancholic whisper. Looking up into his soulful, sorrowful eyes was a huge mistake on my part. I wanted to spill my guts on the matter uncontrollably, and I wasn’t sure if it was from stress or because, incredibly stupidly, I had come to trust him at some point between him defending me in the throne room and now. But it only took my brief faltering for him to drive the final nail into my coffin. “Please, il mio tesoro.”

I was shaken to my very core in that moment. How did he know I was lying? Was that what all the hand holding was for? Being able to feel pulses and figure out if anyone was lying to them didn’t seem like a stretch for the situation. But everything he did with me, every syllable he uttered, was just so damn sensual. I was now in a very precarious position. I couldn’t lie. Between him making it very clear that he would know if I continued to do so, and also making it very clear that my lying was hurtful to him, I was now forced to tell only the truth if I wanted a shot at this ending well for me in any capacity.

“I… I’m afraid.” Fuck, that might’ve been a little too truthful. It is never wise to show weakness like that in front of someone with the power to wield it against you. “It’s been a very difficult, strange day.” Well, it wasn’t a lie. But would he accept it as the whole truth?

Marcus didn’t respond right away. The pause of silence stretched on for so long that I thought I was in the clear when he finally did speak. Just my luck.

“You have absolutely nothing to fear, especially not from a medical professional. So, explain it to me, why did you go to such extremes to not accept help from the good doctor?”

Either he was being completely genuine, or he was baiting me. Was I supposed to agree with him? Did I need to push back and refute him since I had obviously been in terror and agony all day? I had no idea how to read him and my next answer felt critical. Down the hall, I could see the magnificent palace foyer opening up before us from beneath a grand stone archway as we approached the home stretch at a snail’s pace.

With my freedom and safety almost secured, I tried to respond as diplomatically as possible without lying. “I have no doubt that Dr. Clarke is wonderful at what he does. Clearly, he wouldn’t be in your employ if he wasn’t. I just want to get back to my hotel as quickly and inexpensively as possible.”

Marcus sighed, making my entire body tense instinctively despite the pain it caused me. I had answered wrong. “I will not force you to tell me what you’re truly thinking. You must be very afraid indeed to be so careful with your words. But I meant what I said, Annabel. You have nothing to fear and with time you will see that.”

I chanced a glance up at him through my fringe and was deeply surprised by what I found. True, genuine sadness was written clearly all over his face. My immediate reaction was to feel completely horrible. Damn my people-pleasing instincts.

“Marcus….” Before I was even fully aware of what I was doing, I gently brought us to a stand-still only five feet away from the foyer. I faced him fully and looked up into his eyes as I continued, “Before I go, I just want to say thank you. You’ve been nothing but kind and courteous to me this whole time. Yes, I’m very afraid considering everything that’s happened today, but you’ve done nothing to contribute to that. I truly appreciate you and I wish we could’ve met under better circumstances.”

Marcus’ lips parted in surprise at my words and my gaze was immediately drawn to them. I must have let my eyes linger just a second too long because suddenly his lips curled into a pleased smile. Quickly looking back into his eyes, I found him staring back at me with irises that were now black as coal. They had been a deep burgundy just a moment ago, so the change was startling to say the least.

“I can tell that you mean every word, il mio tesoro. To me, though, any circumstance that brings us together is one to be cherished.”

I couldn’t stop myself from gasping and blushing intensely at that admission. It was the absolute last thing I expected him to say. Trying to regain some footing in this conversation, I answered, trying to brush it off, “I bet you say that to every girl who stumbles into your midst.”

His smile softened into a small, unreadable one as he said, “If I ever say that to another woman, under any circumstances, you have my full permission to rip my tongue out and burn it for daring to commit such an injustice against you.”

I knew I must’ve looked like a complete idiot in that moment, staring mouth agape at him as all the air left my lungs. Never had I heard anyone, no less a complete stranger, speak that way. Especially not to me. Sure, I’ve flirted and had my fair share of boyfriends, I’ve even been around plenty of deeply in love couples of all ages, but none of them had ever said anything even in the same stratosphere of what had just left Marcus’ beautiful lips.

Five feet from freedom, and here I was suddenly questioning everything. The castle doors would easily be in my view if I could only convince myself to turn away from him and look. But I couldn’t. I was too absorbed in the bottomless depths of his eyes. Not even fifteen minutes ago I was planning to run, not walk, back to my hotel while thanking my lucky stars that I got out alive. But that five feet might as well have been an entire continent away for all I cared in that moment. Then and there, it was just us. Some strange spell had befallen us and every part of me longed to let it stretch on for eternity.

That thought snapped me back into reality, and my jaw snapped shut just as quickly. No. This was utterly moronic. My arm was screaming in untreated pain and I was still actively in danger. Spending eternity with a complete stranger and actually having it work out well was not something that could exist outside of a fairytale. Especially when this stranger happened to be overtly dangerous and was most likely attempting to lull me into a false sense of security with his good looks, some flowery declarations, and a little handholding for good measure. I could kick myself for being so ridiculously stupid.

I had to think fast. I needed to say something to placate him and get out. “Well, if I catch you in the act next time I’m here, I’ll just have to remind you of that promise.” There, that felt good. A little teasing but not too much, with a hypothetical that couldn’t get me caught for telling a lie. Hypotheticals are neither truth nor lie, after all.

He hummed in acknowledgement, but his eyes were now searching mine. He could obviously tell there was a sudden change in my demeanor toward him, and if the look on his face was any indication, he didn’t like it. But then, something happened that I could only chalk up to divine intervention. A guard interrupted us just as Marcus opened his mouth to speak.

“Apologies, my king, I have been sent by Masters Aro and Caius to urgently request your presence in the Throne Room.” This guard wasn’t anyone I had seen yet. In fact, I hadn’t even heard his approach. Just how many people worked here exactly? And seeing as this wasn’t Buckingham Palace, I couldn’t imagine the need to have the equivalent of a standing army on the premises like this. Yet another indication that there was something very wrong happening here.

Marcus was visibly disappointed, his eyes seeming to glaze over in resignation. When I had first set foot in the aforementioned Throne Room, before I really got a good look at him, I remember his expression being purely apathetic. Not sad or anything like that, but truly devoid of all feeling. Since then, though, I had seen seemingly every emotion possible cross his face at some point just in the space of our very brief acquaintance. Witnessing his emotional recession play out on his face in real time made my heart twinge with guilt that I couldn’t explain.

“I suppose I should be getting out of your hair, then. Thank you again for everything, Marcus. I’d shake your hand, but as you can see it’s a little tied up at the moment,” I joked with a small smile, hoping to ease his pain. Why I was trying to cheer him up, I truly couldn’t tell you. But when it worked and the spark came back into his eyes, I could only feel pride in having inspired it, even if it was over a silly little pun.

Slowly, he raised the hand he still held to his lips. He closed his eyes as he kissed my knuckles for a beat longer than he had previously dared to. The difference was not lost on me, though, and it only made the guilt in my heart flare up with a vengeance.

When he removed his cool lips from my skin and finally had no choice but to let go, the longing in his eyes was palpable. Longing for me.

But that wasn’t possible. We had just met, and I was anything but blind to the circumstances under which our meeting took place. There was no possible way his reaction could be genuine after such a short amount of time. Maybe since he was the gentler seeming one, it was his job to keep their potential victims from leaving. For a good few minutes there, his charms had almost fooled me, but he just clearly overplayed his hand in an attempt to detain me. That was the only explanation that made any sense to me, and that only solidified my determination to get the fuck out of dodge, irrational guilt be damned.

As soon as I was sure they were gone, really gone, I crossed that last five feet and didn’t look back.

Chapter Text

My pulse was racing as my left leg bounced in frantic anticipation. My carry-on bag, a beat up black Prada travel bag I had borrowed from Mama for my vacation, was laid at my feet while I waited to board the plane home. After leaving the castle, I had calmly rejoined the St. Marcus’ Day crowd, but once I had turned the corner down the street, I grit my teeth and bolted to my hotel as fast as my legs could carry me. My arm shot blinding pain through my entire being with every heavy footfall, but it was worth it to be so close to escaping mostly unscathed.

After breathlessly asking the concierge at the front desk to call a cab for me, which he did not question considering the physical state I was in, I impatiently waited for the elevator to reach my floor. Once there, I ran to my room, threw two Tylenol down my throat with hardly a pause, packed everything I had brought into my suitcase and carry-on in record time, and was back in the lobby within ten minutes. The taxi pulled up right on cue, and now I was here, counting the minutes until boarding would start. Under any other circumstances, I would’ve been outraged by what the hotel charged to check out two days early and what the airline was charging me to change my flight on such short notice. But today, I was grateful for those very expensive privileges.

I looked through the window at the picturesque scenery outside of the airport to try and distract myself while I waited. It was early afternoon and the Tuscan sun was shining down on Volterra just right. Everything and everyone seemed to shine from the inside out simply by virtue of feeling the ethereal warmth from the heavens. Everything I was told while planning this trip had been true, springtime in Italy really was unbeatable. Sunny and warm, but not sweltering like it would be in the summer. It was such a stark contrast from the Alaskan winter I would be returning to that it made my heart ache. The snow wouldn’t melt away into spring until at least April, but April snowstorms weren’t uncommon. If my afternoon hadn’t been hijacked in such a strange, violent manner, I would be out in the sunshine, basking for another two days in utter bliss. But instead, there I sat, essentially fleeing for my life and feeling cold down to my very bones from fear. No matter how pleasant the weather outside was, I doubted it could bring me any warmth at that point. So much for distracting myself.

Checking the time on my phone, and then double checking the nearest clock, I was disappointed to see that there was still plenty of waiting left to do. I wouldn’t be boarding for at least another half hour, and that was assuming that everything would be running perfectly on time. At least it wouldn’t be a packed flight seeing as the other tourists were here to celebrate St. Marcus’ Day.

With my phone in my hand, I considered calling Mama to let her know the change in my plans, especially since I would be home the next day in time for my birthday. But in the end, I decided not to. It would lead to too many questions I didn’t feel like answering in my current state. Besides, it would be the middle of the night in Alaska, and the last thing I wanted was to scare her. I was already afraid enough without her usual catastrophizing. Promising myself that I would call her as soon as I made it to my first layover, I went back to my original goal of distracting myself with the surrounding scenery.

Or, at least, I meant to go back to my goal. But when I looked up from my phone, sitting directly across from me in one of the uncomfortable airport seats, was none other than Marcus. And he was staring at me with utter anguish written all over his beautiful face as he tightly clutched… a huge, black umbrella. Strange choice for such a beautiful day, but that was beside the point.

I gasped and jumped at the sight of him before wincing at the pain it caused my arm. This reaction only seemed to deepen his melancholy.

“Annabel….”

Oh, dear God. His velvet voice was nothing short of agonized as he uttered my name. My chest tightened with regret that I had no way to explain. “Marcus….”

“Aro said you would leave. I did not want to believe him, but here we are, I suppose.” I audibly gulped at the mention of Aro and his apparent clairvoyance. It was jarring to find out that I hadn’t been as convincing back at the castle as I had hoped. Before I could say anything, though, he continued softly, “Please, tell me why you are doing this.”

Once again, I found myself dying to explain. To confess everything I had thought and felt this entire day. But I knew better. I remembered how we had left things in the castle foyer, when he had said things that couldn’t possibly be true to try and manipulate me. Clearly, he was giving it one last shot for the road. Only this time, he was across from me. He wasn’t holding my hand, so he wouldn’t be able to feel my pulse and know if I was telling the truth or not. If he wanted to lie and manipulate to put me in a precarious position, then I would gladly do the same to keep myself from said precariousness.

Taking a deep breath to steady myself, I replied, “My mother had an accident at home. I didn’t see her text until after I got back to my hotel, but it’s an emergency and I need to go be with her. She’s expecting me.”

“Il mio tesoro, again you lie to me out of fear. You trusted me somewhat before, but you do not now. What could have possibly changed in such a short amount of time? What did I do to offend you, dearest? I swear on my life, I will do anything to correct any wrong I have committed against you. You need only name it.”

His words simultaneously made me bristle and softened my heart. The latter feeling made me absolutely furious at myself, though. How could I be so easily manipulated with just a few words from this complete stranger? And how did he know I was lying when he wasn’t anywhere near me? Or that I had trusted him before? Was I really that much of a pathetic, transparent sap?

I weighed my options carefully. Scattered around the airport were security guards and travelers, but all of them were just out of earshot for this conversation, giving us some level of privacy. Even if it wasn’t a busy day at the airport, causing a scene would still result in immediate attention and intervention. Best of all, most of the people in the vicinity were not locals, so they couldn’t possibly be paid off by him and his… what? Organization? Mob? Cult? Whatever. The point was, I had far better chances of making it out in one piece here than I did at the castle thanks to the principle of strength in numbers, and I was in a position to take advantage of it.

“Alright, so we’re both lying. Let’s just cut the bullshit and get down to brass tacks, then, shall we?” Marcus’ eyes widened at my sudden shift to bluntness. His mouth opened, but whether it was from shock or an attempt to refute me didn’t matter, because I viciously continued, “If you seriously thought that I wouldn’t pick up on the fact that there’s something majorly fucked up going on with you and everyone else in that castle, then you should see a professional to deal with whatever narcissistic disorder you must have. God knows you can afford to. But no, of course I don’t fucking trust you. Sorry, slick, but you gave yourself away back there. Laying it on thick might work with all the other simpleton tourists you usually encounter, but not with me. How dare you insult my intelligence by treating me like some impressionable, airheaded child? Speaking of, did those kids even make it out of there after I left? Kidnapping them just wasn’t enough for you, so you decided to come all the way here and try to convince me to go back to town with you through even more manipulation. You’re either worried I’ll come forward as a witness when they’re reported missing, or you simply can’t resist a clean sweep of human trafficking. Either way, fuck you. I’m the one who will get away and there’s nothing you can do to stop me now, so help me God.”

By the end of my little speech, my chest was heaving and I was glaring daggers into his eyes with such intensity I felt like I could blind him through sheer force of will alone. Hell, I wanted to blind him by that point, I was so worked up over everything that had happened in just that one afternoon. But what only served to make me angrier was that his face had gone from shock to ever-increasing levels of horror as I was raging at him. Clearly, he had genuinely thought he could get the better of me in this situation, and it made me want to tear him a new asshole for his audacity. You only need one hand to accomplish that task, after all.

“Dear one—”

“Call me one more fucking pet name and I’ll take you up on that offer of cutting out and burning your tongue,” I snarled.

His mouth shut so quickly at my threat that I heard his teeth click together from the impact. The look in his eyes was verging on panic-stricken now. Good.

I glanced around and saw that no one was paying us any mind. People were coming and going, but no one bothered to look twice at the two of us. Perfect, I was still safe. Just a little while longer and I would be on the plane. I was going to make it.

When I focused on Marcus’ again, his demeanor had changed in just that miniscule moment of distraction. His face was unreadable and it looked like every muscle in his body was tensed at once. Then, he abruptly stood from his seat, crossed the short distance between us, and claimed the one on my left.

My immediate instinct was to use my foot to slide the carry-on as far to the right as I could, in case he thought robbing me would be the way to get me to follow him. Because, frankly, it would work. But my reaction to his presence made him sigh heavily as he seemed to slump in defeat. Seeing such a huge, stunning man look like that was disconcerting to say the least. And I say stunning as an objective fact, not as a compliment.

“Annabel, before you left the castle, there was a distinct moment when you lost your trust in me. First, our bond glowed with mutual respect and curiosity, and was even quickly heading toward fondness. Suddenly, though, it was severed, and I could not understand why for the life of me. You have made me see now, and I thank you for your honesty, truly. It is all I have wanted from you this entire time.”

I reared back in my seat as if he had slapped me. First, he laid bare everything I had felt toward him, and now he was thanking me for the tongue lashing I had just mercilessly delivered him. In public, no less. Was this reverse psychology? Was he still trying to manipulate me?

An announcement crackled through the speaker system, saying in multiple languages that first class passengers and anyone with an early boarding pass could proceed onto the plane. I fell into neither category, but that still meant the time for me to board and get the hell out of dodge was drawing nearer. Marcus seemed to realize this at the same time I did, causing him to sigh heavily once again.

After a beat, Marcus turned in his seat to face me as fully as he could, his jaw set in determination. I was still leaned away from him as he brushed the back of his hand almost imperceptibly against mine. Almost being the operative word. It seemed like no matter what he did, no matter how subtle any action or word was, I was hyperaware of everything having to do with him. I chalked it up to the obvious combination of his good looks and my fear, nothing more.

Despite my thoughts, I didn’t pull my hand away from his. After a moment of thought, he finally said, his black eyes boring intensely into my hazel ones, “If you allow me to fully explain and provide you with proof of the truth, will you reconsider leaving?”

That was when I pulled my hand back. “You sick son of a bitch, you’re seriously still trying to manipulate me?” I hissed, enraged all over again faster than a flip of a switch.

“No! Never! I swear to you, not once have I attempted to manipulate you and I never would. I would never allow anyone else to, either, not even my brothers. You have not denied what you felt before toward me and I cannot allow you to leave here thinking your feelings were one-sided, no less a product of deceit on my part. No, when I call you my dear, my treasure, I mean it. Every word I have ever uttered in your presence, I have meant wholeheartedly, and I will stand by them until the end of my days.

“If you tell me to beg you to stay, I will beg prostrate at your feet from sundown to sunup. If you tell me that I am nothing but a filthy, worthless dog in your eyes, I will accept it without question and I will never burden you with my presence again, no matter how it destroys me to even fathom such a future. If I must spend the rest of my life proving my sincerity to you, even from afar, then it will be the greatest privilege to do so.” Slowly, gently, he leaned closer and enfolded my hand in his before he continued, “Please, Annabel Whitehall, I beseech you with every ounce of my being; allow me the chance to redeem myself in your eyes. Whatever you ask of me, it shall be done. I only wish for the chance to know you.”

His impassioned profession of devotion made my throat go bone dry while my panties became soaked. Yet again that afternoon, I was completely blown away by him. I felt like the world had stopped spinning completely and there was just us, suspended in time indefinitely as we took each other in. By the slight quirking at the corners of his mouth, he could tell his words had a profound impact on me and there was no way for me to deny it.

As I opened my mouth to respond, another announcement crackled through the airport speakers. It was time for my group to board. Here I was worrying that things might run late, but instead they were running early. I had to go now.

Simultaneously, our faces dropped and our shoulders slumped. We weren’t alone, suspended outside of time and space. We were in an airport where I was supposed to be hightailing it back home, far, far away from the man who was still holding my hand and staring longingly into my eyes. And as I searched his, really looked with everything I had, I found no hint of a lie. Not even a drop of insincerity could be detected in his voice or manner when it came to everything he had just told me. All I found was vulnerability and the smallest twinkle in his eye, like a star trying to make itself known from the farthest reaches of the galaxy.

It was hope.

I had to think fast and make a decision. A line had formed for everyone else to get their tickets and passports checked before boarding the plane. Could I really leave like this? Would I regret it? Or would I regret not taking my chance to run even more?

“Prove to me those kids are okay and I’ll stay a little longer,” I blurted.

“What?” he breathed, his posture straightening up again. I could be mistaken, but the twinkle in his eye seemed infinitesimally brighter as he processed my statement.

“Alice, Edward, and Isabella. Prove to me beyond a shadow of a doubt that they are free and unharmed, and I’ll stay. But just for a little while.”

“Oh, thank goodness, we made it just in time!” a high, feminine voice shouted with glee from behind us.

Turning in my seat just enough to see without disturbing my arm, my jaw might as well have hit the floor as my eyebrows disappeared behind my auburn bangs in disbelief. There, as if by magic, stood Alice, Edward, and Isabella, all with carry-ons and necessary accoutrements in-hand. When they saw me looking at them, Alice and Edward smiled while Isabella leaned her head on Edward’s shoulder.

Without a second thought, I let go of Marcus’ hand and approached the trio. “Oh, my God, you’re alright! I was so worried about you guys!”

Edward and Alice shared a glance and a secretive smirk between them before Alice said, “I told you we would be fine. I’m never wrong about these things.”

“Well, do forgive me for doubting you. You’ve made a believer out of me,” I chuckled in relief.

“Thank you for your concern back there, really,” Edward said with a nod. “I’m sorry about your arm, though. It must be painful.”

“You’re not the one who broke it, so no need to apologize,” I waved him off playfully with my free hand. I took a step closer and asked softly, “Are you all really okay? Nobody got hurt or anything?”

Alice smiled brightly and nodded, with Edward and Isabella following suit. “I bruise like a banana, you’d be able to tell if I was hurt,” said Isabella with a slight quirk to her mouth that wasn’t quite a smile, but seemed to be the best she could muster. At least she wasn’t sobbing like earlier, so she must’ve been telling the truth.

After one last narrow-eyed perusal of their faces to make sure they were being honest, I finally nodded in satisfaction. With a step backward I said, “Fair enough. Since your promises seem to always come to fruition, can you guys promise me you’ll get back home safe so I can officially stop worrying about you?”

At my words, Alice’s eyes glazed over. It was just like earlier when we were being taken into the castle by those awful guards. I was about to voice my concern for her when her eyes refocused and she smiled at me again.

“I can promise you with one hundred percent certainty.”

Before I could say anything else, she patted my good shoulder gently and proceeded to get in line with the stragglers who hadn’t boarded yet. Turning back to Edward and Isabella, Edward also had a smile on his face.

“As per usual, Alice is right. Take care.”

He steered Isabella so that they stood behind Alice, and that officially ended our conversation. When I looked back to where I had left Marcus, he was standing instead of sitting now, and he was wringing his black umbrella between his hands in apparent nervous anticipation while he waited for me.

Just as I had asked, I now knew for absolutely certain that the kids were, in fact, free and unscathed. Definitely not victims of human trafficking or any other crimes.

Suddenly, I felt my face heating with embarrassment. Dear God, Marcus had said all those beautiful, heartfelt things to me after I directly accused him of being a human trafficker, among all the other horrible things I said to and about him. But there he was, nervous and waiting to hear my verdict if I would accept him, not the other way around.

I had known him for a singular afternoon. A terrifying, violent, painful afternoon. But over the course of that short time, he was nothing less than a true gentleman toward me. He protected me from Felix and helped me off the ground while never overstepping. He escorted me with such unbelievable care and grace through the castle and oversaw my checkup with Dr. Clarke, never once leaving me and always trying to be a reassuring presence. He then escorted me out with just as much care, if not more, considering the conversation we had as we made our way through the halls. And now, he had come to convince me to give him a chance to prove himself even more, because according to him, the thought of letting me go on bad terms destroyed him. He shared his feelings for me with the most ardent sincerity I had ever encountered, even after I chewed him out and threw horrifying accusations in his face.

But there he was, waiting for me. Almost as if he always had been.

Tears pricked my eyes in that moment and I had no idea why. Was I embarrassed? Was I sad about leaving? Most important of all, was I still scared? There was only one way to truly answer my questions once and for all. I crossed the distance back to Marcus and stood before him. Against all reason and common sense, the proximity to the strange, fascinating man in front of me didn’t make me afraid for my safety, only nervous for my dignity.

“Marcus, I’ve clearly been mistaken about some things. I take all the human trafficking stuff back.” I hated how watery my voice sounded, but I couldn’t control it.

He was so still for a moment that I couldn’t even tell if he was breathing. “Do you also take back the other things you accused me of?” he rumbled quietly.

“… That all remains to be seen,” I sniffed.

His shoulders shook with his deep, quiet laughter at my unwillingness to give in any more than was strictly necessary. The sight filled me with an odd comfort.

Chapter Text

Marcus, with one hand in mine and the other holding his umbrella over our heads, guided me to a black Bugatti Veyron that was parked in what appeared to be a private lot toward the back of the airport. I still didn’t understand the umbrella thing considering it was currently one of the most beautiful days I had ever personally experienced, but I didn’t question him aloud.

Behind us, an airport employee had my carry-on over his shoulder and was wheeling my suitcase for me. I had thought getting my suitcase off an already loaded plane would be impossible, but one whispered sentence from Marcus in the correct ear achieved miraculous results. It confirmed my suspicion that everyone in Volterra was in his pocket to some extent. At least it was benefitting me at the moment.

Once the employee secured my luggage in the trunk of the sportscar and we were settled in our seats, with me being extra careful not to even breathe wrong on the luxurious, black leather interior, Marcus turned his attention back to me eagerly and asked, “Shall we return to the castle now, dearest?” Truthfully, the last place I wanted to go to in that moment was the castle. I had just been about to leave Italy after escaping from a harrowing experience there, and the prospect of going back so soon made my stomach turn. Actually, that wasn’t my stomach turning. More embarrassing than that, it was growling. Loudly. Before I could verbally answer him, a look of understanding crossed his face. “It seems we have some other business to attend to first. Is there anywhere in particular you enjoy taking your luncheon?”

I blushed a little at my body’s betrayal of my famished state as I answered, “I’ve been sticking to the café next to my hotel, it’s the cheapest place to eat in the whole town. We could go there and I’ll see about getting a room again once we’re done.”

His brow furrowed in confusion at my explanation. “You select where to eat based on what is most frugal? Is that how you choose all your meals?”

I couldn’t control it as a snort of surprised laughter left my nose. Dear Christ, as if the castle and car weren’t proof enough of his immense wealth, the fact he was looking at me with such puzzlement over my thought process sealed it. Rich people apparently really did live in their own little worlds while the rest of us peasants were left to fight over their scraps in the harsh light of reality. Instead of voicing those thoughts, I simply replied, “Yes,” because I couldn’t trust myself to say anything more without openly laughing at his ignorance.

“But that could not possibly nourish you properly, nor could it taste the best for you. Could it?”

At this point, I realized that he had definitely never spoken to someone in his entire life who wasn’t also filthy rich like him. He was truly, genuinely astounded by the revelation that for the vast majority of my life, I was eating food that wasn’t the best of the best that the world had to offer. He was so painfully handsome and could be so incredibly tender when he wanted to be, but my God, he was completely out of touch with the world outside of his private courtyard.

“As long as I get enough calories not to pass out and whatever I eat tastes decent for as cheap as possible, I consider it the best option. Besides, it’s not like you can really go wrong with any café in Italy. It’s better than going to McDonald’s, at least, right?”

His face went from confused to disbelieving. “Surely, that cannot truly be your criteria for even a decent meal, no less the best meal, tesoro. Besides that, though, who is this McDonald and why do they foist unfavorable meals upon you? I will have a word with them for you if that would help secure better options for your sustenance. Say it and it shall be done.”

This time there was no controlling the shout of laughter that burst out of me, which I instantly regretted because it jostled my arm in its makeshift sling. My reaction did nothing but bewilder him further.

“Be honest with me,” I began, unable to hide my amused grin. “When was the last time you spoke to anyone who makes minimum wage?”

He blinked at me in surprise and hesitated before asking, “What is minimum wage, my sweet?”

At that, my jaw might as well have gone through the floor of the car and cracked the asphalt below. “You can’t be serious. You cannot be serious. You have employees!”

“Yes, and they are paid well by any standard. They are paid as stipulated by Italian law, though, and there are no laws here that I am aware of that make mention of a minimum wage.”

“Okay, well, in the United States we have minimum wage laws because without them, employers would give their workers nothing. There’s the federal minimum wage that sets the level of hourly pay that states cannot fall below, and then every state has their own minimum wage laws based on that. For instance, the federal minimum wage is $5.15 an hour, but in my state the minimum wage is $7.15.”

The same look of outright horror I had seen on his face in the infirmary took over his features once more. “My darling, that is nothing. How do you survive?”

I elected to ignore his question and stated, “If you think that’s nothing, imagine what I’d be paid if there weren’t laws like that in place to protect what little I do get. And that’s before taxes. Look up the labor movement of the Industrial Revolution sometime, it’s sadly still relevant.”

Suddenly, Marcus’ face could only be described as haunted. After a long pause, he said softly as he looked deep into my eyes, “Il mio tesoro, you have been made to suffer inexcusably in this life. You are so vibrant, so deserving of all the pleasures this world has to offer, and yet you have been cruelly deprived of them.” Then, his jaw set in determination as he finished, “I will remedy this immediately.”

With a small smile at his reaction to the simple truths of my life, I replied, “I don’t think I suffer. Not where food is concerned, at least. Most of my favorite foods are dirt cheap to make. I was just taught from a young age to squeeze a nickel ‘til the buffalo shits.”

“… You own buffalo? Is that how you subsist on so little money, dear one? And why does squeezing nickels cause them to defecate?”

My resulting guffaw and the immediate wincing from pain that followed it decided our next plans for us. First, we would have a fast lunch, ‘One that is actually worthy of you,’ as Marcus had so sweetly put it before taking my hand and speeding off, followed immediately by going to the local hospital to get my arm properly set. I had insisted upon going to the hospital instead of the castle, and after having seen the lengths I was willing to go to in order to avoid unwanted medical treatments only a few hours ago, he did not even attempt to argue.

Despite my protests, or perhaps in spite of them, I was treated to a lunch that was as expedient as promised but was absolutely the most expensive I’d ever had. He took us just outside of town to avoid the St. Marcus’ Day festivities that were still going strong, and insisted that I try anything and everything I wanted to from the menu. You know it’s going to be painfully expensive when there are no prices listed anywhere, and I stuck out like a sore thumb in the restaurant thanks to my rumpled tank top and shorts, complete with dirt encrusted Converse and a sling made of gauze and that day’s newspaper. But one look at Marcus kept anyone from saying a word about me.

The meal was exquisite. The explosion of flavors and beautiful textures I experienced during that short time would live in my memory forever, not just because they were all so new to me, but because Marcus was too. I had insisted repeatedly that he try everything I was having because every single dish and side were just that good, but he would always politely decline. He didn’t even order anything for himself, saying he simply wasn’t hungry.

I didn’t even realize he had tricked me into our first date until we were on the way to the hospital. The realization had made me blush scarlet from my chest to the top of my head, which was only made worse by Marcus’ pleased grin in my direction.

The royal treatment didn’t stop with lunch, either. As I had feared back at the castle, Italian medical providers could not accept my piddly insurance. So, Marcus paid for everything on the spot for me and served as an invaluable translator when necessary. I was put on an IV with a low dose of morphine first thing to manage my pain, then my arm had been x-rayed and set in a bulky plaster cast with a proper sling. Before we left the emergency room, I was prescribed both a high-dosage painkiller and an antibiotic, just to be safe. There was a pharmacy on the premises where we immediately picked up my medications and Marcus handled everything for me, not even letting me carry the paper bag they put the meds in.

“But Marcus,” I had said, hoping to convince him to let me do something at least a little useful, “you can’t hold my hand if you’re holding the bag. You have your umbrella, after all.”

He had held my hand the entire afternoon, not even letting it go to shift gears while driving. And it wasn’t like the handholding he had done with me earlier in the halls of his castle; all propriety and gentility. He had tried to do that before we left the airport, but I intertwined our fingers while I lightly swung our arms between us instead. His eyes had widened in shock as I began leading him like that, but he quickly recovered and even gave my hand a hesitant squeeze. Since then, it seemed like he had been experimenting with all the different ways he could touch and hold me in every situation. From the lightest tracing of his fingertips to tightly gripping my palm as he laid kisses anywhere he could, I was left in a heart-pounding swoon every time.

With a small smirk, he opened his suit jacket and placed the crinkling bag in a spacious inner breast pocket. “Problem solved, my dear.”

All told, my adventure at the hospital would have most certainly broken the bank for me after the hotel and flight debacle earlier. So, I decided to thank him like my life depended on it the entire way from the pharmacy to his car.

He had rumbled out a deep chuckle at the frantic nature of my gratitude and simply answered, “You are always most welcome.”

Now we were back in his car, debating what to do next before we left the hospital parking lot. He suggested going back to the castle again, but I still didn’t want to. Part of me felt like I had to savor this time alone with him, and that it would swiftly come to an end once we were back in that strange, tense fortress.

It was jarring to admit, but somewhere along the line I had started craving his presence and his touch. His voice was addictive to listen to, but his attention was even more so. When I spoke, he acted as if nothing else in the world could possibly be more important, even if it was just some silly story or a saying he’d never heard before. Everything about him combined into a man who was quickly becoming irresistible to me. I had never felt this connected to anyone so immediately before.

When I noticed the amber glow outside of the heavily tinted windows of Marcus’ car, I blurted, “Let’s go watch the sunset.”

“Whatever for, dear one?”

“You don’t ever watch the sunset just because? Don’t tell me you’re a sunrise kind of man,” I teased, amused he would even have to ask why.

With a chuckle that sounded darker than all his previous ones, he said sardonically, “I am simply not a sun kind of man at all.”

“Oh, is that why you have the umbrella?”

“Yes, my brothers and I are all alike in that respect.”

“Not to be invasive, and feel free to tell me if I’m overstepping here, but do you all have some form of albinism?” That certainly would explain their red eyes, their pale, cold skin, and their inability to be in direct sunlight. Not to mention Caius’ hair.

Suddenly, the air around us was thick with tension. He was clearly hesitating in answering me and I assumed it was because I had brought up a medical condition he was sensitive about. I opened my mouth to apologize when he said, “It is not albinism, but I understand why you would draw that conclusion. You’re always so astute, always trying to get to the bottom of what is happening around you, and I truly admire that in you, my sweet. But this is not something I can freely speak of without my brothers. It is deeply personal and impacts us all. Please, forgive me.”

“No, I’m the one who should ask for forgiveness. That was rude of me, especially after everything you’ve done for me today. I’m sorry for making you uncomfortable.”

With a small smile and a shake of his head that made the intoxicating scent of his cologne waft toward me, he said, “Nothing you could ever say or do will make me uncomfortable. It is not discomfort around the subject that stills my tongue, I can assure you of that.” Gently, he lifted the back of my hand to his lips before using our entwined hands to hold the stick shift. “Let’s go chase the sunset, il mio tesoro.”

“No, really, we don’t—”

“Annabel.” The way he purred my name gave me shivers that I know he felt from holding my hand. “If you swear that you will not open any doors or windows while we watch, we will go right now. The tint on the windows will protect me from the light. I have somewhere in mind that I believe will please you.”

I couldn’t contain the ear-to-ear grin that overtook my face in that moment. I loved sunsets. I never missed an opportunity to enjoy one, especially if it would lead to a clear night with the moon and stars on display. Without thinking, I swiftly closed the distance between us and kissed him square on the lips. The kiss only lasted all of three seconds, but when our mouths connected in that sacred, ancient dance for the very first time, it felt less like fireworks and more like an atomic bomb; all-consuming, earth-shattering, powerful enough to light up our very bones from the inside out.

When I dropped back into my seat, I pulled my hand away from his to swiftly draw my seatbelt across my body. With the same grin and my eyes alight from sheer glee, I breathed, “Let’s hit the road then, handsome.”

For a beat, Marcus simply stared at me with his lips parted, not even breathing. Then it was like I was watching a balloon inflate. His back and shoulders straightened and his face went from slack-jawed to a grin that was even bigger and brighter than my own. That little light in his eye I had been watching grow brighter as the day progressed seemed to shine out from the depths of his very soul in that moment.

Then, he quickly turned the car on and reversed out of our parking spot so fast that the tires squealed. Hearing the roar of the engine as we got onto the main road at top speed made me laugh with pure excitement and delight from his eagerness. I guess he liked that kiss as much as I had.

When we got on the highway outside of Volterra, he reached for my hand once again and brought it to his lips. He placed kiss, after kiss, after kiss upon every millimeter of me that he could reach, only ever stopping to shift gears, and even then, he still refused to return my hand to me. The first time I had tried to pull it away to let him shift, he shot me a glance that bordered on offense. Before long he ran out of room for kisses on the back of my hand, but instead of stopping, he turned it over and began the process all over again with my palm and wrist. When he kissed where I had dabbed on my Shalimar perfume that morning, he took an extra deep breath and sighed blissfully. My giggling the whole ride to our mystery location was incessant even in my own ears, but it didn’t seem to annoy him, it only seemed to egg him on further with every passing minute.

As the sky was changing from its golden hue to bleeding pink and red, Marcus turned off the highway down a road I would have never noticed even if we had been driving at a normal speed. After a few minutes without slowing down, the road became a winding incline with foliage all around. His car took every bump and curve with ease despite driving so fast we were practically flying.

When the road beneath us leveled out again and Marcus parked, we were at the edge of a high cliff with a perfect view of both the sunset and all of Volterra. From so high up, we were able to see the scarlet-clad throngs of St. Marcus’ Day revelers moving about the ancient streets and buildings like fire ants. But, as beautiful as it was to behold from afar, that wasn’t what we had gone there for. Stretched out before us as far as the eye could see was the most spectacular sunset I’d ever had the privilege to witness.

I couldn’t help but gasp at the glorious, breathtaking beauty of it all. The sky was becoming lavender behind the blazing pink and red clouds, and the last rays of the golden sun were ushering in the light from the silver stars above. It was a cotton candy sky, as I liked to call it. Far below the heavens, the Tuscan sun was bathing everything in its path in pure glowing warmth before the cool springtime air would take over the land for the night. I squeezed Marcus’ hand as I gazed out of the windshield at nature’s majesty in its purest form.

“Are you indeed pleased, my sweet?” murmured Marcus, placing a gentle peck in the center of my palm for good measure.

Peeling my eyes away from the scene unfolding outside of the car, I met his with a serene smile. “Pleased is an understatement. I truly can’t thank you enough for showing me this. It’s the most magnificent sunset I’ve ever gotten to see, and I never would have without you.”

There we sat, smiling at each other like teenagers as the dying light played off our features. By God, Marcus was impossibly handsome, but the light filtering through the windshield only heightened the effect he had on me further.

As my eyes wandered his face, drinking in every detail, I couldn’t stop them from inevitably landing on his lips. But when I brought my eyes back up to his, he was staring at my mouth with just as much intensity.

When he realized he had been caught, his smile faded into an expression that could only be described as longing. With the most delicate touch, he went from holding my hand to cupping my cheek. Slowly, inch by agonizing inch, he brought his lips to mine right as the sun fully set below the horizon. This kiss, unlike the first one, did not last all of three seconds. No, it felt like it lasted three years. And they were years I wished would never end.

For a moment he was hesitant, searching, giving me every opportunity to stop if I wanted to. Only I didn’t want it to, so I pressed my lips to his a little more firmly to encourage him. I started showing him how I liked to be kissed, moving my lips against his as they met time and time again. This seemed to awaken all of Marcus at once, as his other hand moved to hold the back of my neck while he deepened the kiss. When I parted my lips to swipe my tongue against his, he pulled back slightly with a gasp but didn’t let go of me.

“Il mio tesoro, cara mia, you must not do such things to me,” he groaned. “My control over myself has never been more tenuous than on this day, with you, and I do not wish to overstep.”

A flirtatious smile overtook my lips. “I don’t seem to remember asking you to stay in control. Do you?”

I watched his Adam’s apple bob nervously beneath his pale skin as the weight of my words hit him. “No, but that is not something you should have to ask from a gentleman.”

Leaning in, I whispered, brushing my lips just slightly against his as I breathed, “Then, since you’re a gentleman, I’m asking you to lose control. Please, Marcus.”

The last sentence unraveled him in an instant. He went from not moving an inch to pulling my face back to his with such force that it made me moan into his mouth. The responding rumble from deep within his chest was akin to a growl. The sound sent a pleasant shiver up and down my spine that drove him even more wild.

This time, it was his cool tongue that asked for permission to pass my lips, and lost in sensation, I was all too happy to warm it with my own as they danced. I tried not to seem too eager, but with the unbridled passion Marcus was exuding with every movement and sound, I couldn’t help but be pulled in by the feeling even further. If our first kiss had been an atomic bomb, this one was a volcanic eruption. There would be no end in sight until we were satisfied that we had consumed one another to the point there was naught but ash remaining.

Just when I thought things couldn’t get any more intense, I took an experimental nibble at his bottom lip and soothed it with a swipe of my tongue. At that, he slammed his back into his car door with the force he used to pull away from me, making the whole car rock in the process.

“Annabel….” he snarled, but it didn’t sound like a threat. No, it was a promise of what was to come if we didn’t stop there. All the making out had made me wet for him, but those three syllables in that animalistic tone made me gush and clench in anticipation.

“If you want to stop, then we’ll stop,” I panted, my hazel eyes almost glowing in the dim light with lust. “But you have to see that I want you, Marcus.”

His eyes shut as another growl escaped him. His face plainly told of the private war he was waging with himself, but when his eyes opened again, they seemed to search mine for something like when we had met in the Throne Room. And just like then, whatever he found reflected back at him seemed to satisfy his curiosity enough to proceed.

“I would be remise to allow any… vigorous activity to take place considering the state of your arm at this time,” he began. I had all but forgotten I even had a right arm, no less that it was broken and encased in thick plaster with a sling. I prepared to argue that whatever we wanted to do would be fine, but he cut me off, “However, I would be even more remise to deny you completely, my sweet. You are a temptation I am utterly powerless to resist.”

My face had already been heated at that point, but by the time he was finished speaking, I felt like my head had been dunked in gasoline and set ablaze. We weren’t even dating, we had met that very day in horrendous circumstances, but he already far surpassed every boyfriend I’d ever had in every way. He did it as naturally and easily as breathing. When he wasn’t using his tongue to passionately claim my mouth for his own, he was using it just as passionately through his poetic declarations. I had never encountered anyone so expressive, so suave, and in that moment, I couldn’t get enough of him.

There was no backseat, so we would have to get creative. But I had an idea that put a sultry smile on my face. At the sight of it, Marcus’ eyes widened. Slowly, I leaned toward where he had concerned himself in his seat and stopped just short of closing the gap.

Cupping his strong jaw so my next words were inescapable, I continued in a growl of my own, “Put me on the hood right goddamn now.”

I could swear that in just the time it took me to blink, suddenly both of our doors were open and he was hauling me into his arms. As I slammed into his solid chest, I gasped in excitement, instantly winding my good arm around his neck as my legs wrapped themselves around his narrow waist of their own accord. His hungry mouth sought out mine with another growl, the loudest he had produced that evening. His kiss was rough as his tongue joined mine once again. I subconsciously ground my hips against him, desperately seeking out the stimulation my sex demanded from him in that moment.

My ass suddenly landed on the hood as I had requested, but he didn’t let up at all. He was so tall that he had to almost fully bend at the waist to reach my eager lips from that position. After another minute of passion, he didn’t make any move to go further despite the almost violent way his mouth took mine. Knowing that leaning down the way he was had to be uncomfortable, I broke our kiss with a gasping breath and laid back fully on top of his car.

For one moment, everything was completely still except us. No breeze rustled the trees and bushes, no animals could be heard moving or making their nightly calls. Not even one insect dared to make itself known with a buzz or a chirp in our presence. There was just us as we gazed at each other, chests heaving, lips raw, and eyes blazing with hunger for more.

“Now that we have seen the sunset, how shall I please you further, il mio tesoro?” he asked, his eyes raking down every inch of me from where he stood towering over me and the car.

Ever the gentleman, even while in a feral haze of sheer lust. Now it was time to see what he would think of my little idea. “You are quite generous with your time and attention. But are you patient too?”

“Immensely patient, especially for you,” he purred in reply.

“Interesting. I’ll have to remind you of that later, then.”

“Why—?”

Marcus was cut off by the sound of the zipper on my shorts being lowered. I popped the button next, giving him a perfect vantage point to see the top of my black panties. Whatever he was going to ask died on his lips in an instant.

A catlike grin spread across my cheeks as I slowly, painstakingly, slid my hand over the smooth skin of my stomach and under the band keeping my panties in place. When my fingers found my clit, I gasped in pleasure as I rolled small circles over it. Through heavy lids I looked up at him, but his eyes were locked on the rotations of my wrist. He was clenching his fists and biting his lip hard enough to bleed while he watched.

Even though his face made it perfectly clear how delicious this torture was for him, it was the impressive tenting in his slacks that spurred me on to be even bolder. I made a show of bringing my hand even lower, which dragged my panties and shorts down a bit more in the process. I dipped my middle finger into my dripping opening and made sure it was fully coated in my arousal before bringing it to my lips. I licked it from knuckle to nail with just the tip of my tongue, swirling it around my fingertip a couple of times before taking the digit into my mouth fully, moaning and closing my eyes as I did so, not needing to see him to know this would drive him wild.

I heard the gasping breath he inhaled and the deep moan that came with his exhale. Opening my eyes again, his were now frantically searching my face. “Why are you doing this?” came his strangled query as his Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat.

This was the part I had been waiting for. With a slurp and a pop, I pulled my finger from my mouth but didn’t answer him yet. Instead, I arched my back while lifting my hips to pull my shorts and panties down at the same time so they rested at my knees. His eyes bulged when he beheld my glistening sex. I could feel my arousal dripping down from where it spilled out of me, but what I didn’t know was that it was catching the far-away lights of Volterra while he watched.

“I noticed that you haven’t eaten all day, handsome. You must be positively famished by now, aren’t you?” I cooed teasingly. He groaned and nodded, his pitch-black eyes never straying from my pussy. “Then eat me.”

His head shot up at my words, alarm now present in his eyes. “Annabel, you do not understand what you’re—”

“I know exactly what I’m asking for,” I purred, licking my lips and opening my legs to him as much as I could with my clothes still on. I could still taste myself. “But you’ll eat when I say you’re ready to. Do you understand?”

He was on his knees before me in an instant. “Tell me what to do. Make me ready,” he gasped, taking deep breaths of my scent and vibrating with anticipation now that he was so close to me.

“Finger me. Hard. But don’t you dare touch yourself.”

With another strangled groan, he pulled my shorts and panties off of my legs completely for better access and threw them onto the roof of the car. I laughed as I watched my clothes go flying over my head, but that quickly became breathy moans as his finger entered me. He started with one, just like I had done, but his fingers were much longer and thicker than mine. I was in heaven already, and then he added a second finger and used his other hand to play with my clit. I had been told before that I was a vocal lover, but the sounds he was ripping from my throat could have woken the dead.

Marcus was quickly bringing me right to the edge of an orgasm. Just fingering me and watching was making him crazy in a way I had never seen from anyone before. But right as my pussy clenched around his digits, trying to draw them in even deeper for the grand finale, I clamped my hand down on his wrist to stop him.

He removed his fingers and I gasped at the feeling of emptiness he left in his wake. Then, he was standing over me again, his eyes blown wide with both unrestrained desire and concern. “Why did you make me stop?” he asked.

I breathed, “Because it’s time to eat, handsome.”

Without another word, he was back on his knees and had pulled me so that my ass sat on the very edge of his car. With my legs over his shoulders, he buried his face in my waiting cunt. The sound he made on contact was the most arousing mix of a moan and a growl that I’d ever heard. I felt like all the air had left my lungs with the resulting moan I let out. All I could do was grip his hair with my good hand and hold on for the ride.

Before I knew it, I was screaming my pleasure into the night with abandon. There was no one and nothing for miles around, and nothing short of screaming could possibly convey the hot spikes of sheer euphoria that were shooting through me with every lap of his tongue, every sucking kiss on my clit, every touch of his fingers. He created a complex rhythm of delicious sensation that I had never known was possible to experience.

Lights were exploding behind my lids and my thighs were quaking around him as I cried wantonly, “Marcus! I’m gonna cum so hard! Please, Marcus!”

Not five seconds later, I was shaking and screaming my way through the greatest orgasm I had ever felt. Marcus didn’t stop until he was certain I’d taken all the pleasure from him that he could give me. When the electrical current that ran through every inch of me had finally calmed and my back was no longer arching from reaching Nirvana, I released my death-grip on his brunette locks and rubbed soothingly at his scalp to ease any pain I might’ve caused. He responded by laying the side of his head on my inner thigh as he sighed in contentment, smiling dreamily up at me from his position on the ground. His arms were still wound around my legs, keeping them in place over his shoulders.

He let me catch my breath completely before standing from his kneeling position. My legs dropped lifelessly with no hope of holding my weight yet. He climbed over me and laid a gentle kiss on my lips. His face was covered in my essence and he was smearing it all over me as we kissed. It drove me absolutely wild with want for him all over again. When we parted, he kept his face only an inch from mine.

“Your turn?” I asked hopefully.

The smile he gave me was so broad it crinkled his eyes in the corners. “Not tonight, cara mia. Although your willingness is certainly appreciated and desired, you are to serve no one other than yourself.”

The sincerity with which he said that only made me want to please him all the more. “What if I’m selfish and would be serving myself in the process? Would that change your mind?”

He chuckled and placed another kiss on my waiting mouth before lifting off of me completely. When he was beside the car to my left, I took a chance and darted my hand out to brush over where his cock was still obviously standing at attention under his slacks. He stilled and groaned from deep within his throat.

“Annabel….”

“I love when you say my name like that,” I smiled, feigning innocence as I batted my eyes up at him. I was still bare from the waist down as I laid sprawled out on the hood of his car, creating as inviting of an image as I could with one arm in a sling.

He took a deep breath as he searched my eyes, looking for any sign of hesitation or obligation. When he found neither, he moved further into my waiting palm, eliciting another moan from him.

I stroked him through his pants a couple of times, testing the waters. When he responded enthusiastically, I unbuttoned and unzipped his slacks and let my hand find its way beneath his trousers and over his underwear. When he seemed ready for me to proceed further, I sat up from my position and scooched toward him to get a better angle. Slipping my hand into his boxer-briefs next to release his manhood from its confines, I gasped and felt a pleased grin curl my lips at the sight of it. Not only was his cock the largest I’d ever personally encountered, but it was also uncircumcised, a first for me. My fingers wrapped around him firmly and gave a couple of slow, experimental pumps. In answer, his hips jerked toward me with a gasp.

I pulled my hand back for only a moment to slicken my palm with a broad swipe of my tongue. I could taste his musk on my hand and hummed, pleased by the flavor. Then I went to work in earnest. I worked his shaft steadily while also making sure to give plenty of attention to his sensitive head. Now it was his turn to make unearthly shouts and desperate calls into the abandoned wilderness around us.

His hips undulated in time with my hand, making each stroke more powerful for him. He was loudly moaning and grunting in multiple languages as his pleasure mounted. I would have a good laugh about that to myself later, but right now I felt like that cat who ate the canary.

“Tesoro,” he choked out a couple of minutes later, “I’m… I’m going to… I shouldn’t…!”

“Let me see just how good I make you feel, Marcus. Cum for me, don’t fight it,” I answered with a reassuring smile.

“Where do I…?”

Oh, that was a good question I hadn’t thought of. Where should he cum? Thinking fast, I remembered where he had thrown my clothes and said with a nod toward the roof, “Grab my panties.”

His eyes grew wide and wild like an animal’s at the suggestion. With lightning speed, he swiped my black panties and held them at the ready. I redoubled my efforts then, excited to witness his orgasm. At the increased speed and pressure, he roared before slamming his lips down on mine. I moaned into him as I parted his lips with my tongue. After a couple more hard thrusts into my hand, he ejaculated explosively into the soft fabric, moaning into my mouth with the power of his pleasure.

When we pulled away from each other, I caught sight of my panties and couldn’t help but gasp with awe written clearly on my face. I had never seen anyone cum that much at one time before. Apparently, his cock was truly impressive in every possible way, even when finishing. My pussy clenched in need at the sight of him, standing there in all his glory.

When he finished rearranging himself, he sat on the hood to my left heavily. “My apologies for ruining your garment, dear one.” Tossing it away from us while being careful not to get his cum on either of us, he continued, “I will buy you new ones, as many as you wish. I am quite fond of the look of them.”

I couldn’t help but laugh, causing him to smile back at me. “I have plenty at home, don’t worry about it.”

At the mention of my home, the smile slid right off his face. “Ah. Yes, of course,” he murmured.

“What?” I asked, not understanding his sudden shift in mood. Everything had just been so wonderful between us and seeing that look made my heart twinge.

“You will be leaving so soon after we only just found one another. It is… crushing to even think of.”

“But what do you mean?” I was only becoming more confused. He certainly sounded sincere in what he was saying, but surely, he had to be exaggerating.

Marcus took my hand with reverence, just like he had when we first met, and used his soulful eyes to pull me right back into the seemingly endless darkness of his gaze. “I mean that I have been waiting to find you. You, Annabel Whitehall, and only you. All who dwell on this earth seek love and companionship, but few have the determination to wait for the one they are truly destined for. Even I am guilty of this,” he winced. “Now that we have been brought together after this lifetime of waiting and pining, the prospect of your inevitable departure already breaks my heart. I know that I am here with you now only by the grace of your own mercy upon me. Living on borrowed time as we are, it both thrills and terrifies me. I wish it never had to end.”

He always managed to find a way to leave me reeling, it seemed. Yes, he had made it quite clear all day that he was fond of me, but this was much more concrete. This was a confession of true feelings. For me of all people. And perhaps it was a testament to the validity of everything he was saying, but I fully believed him. There was no way to look at his face in that moment and not believe him.

This was crucial. My response would determine absolutely everything going forward. He was so respectful, such a gentleman in every way, that I knew I could send him away that very second and he would accept it. But even imagining myself in such a scenario felt impossible. Silly, really, to even consider it.

I had always heard the legend of women going on European vacations and ending up in whirlwind romances. I had just never considered that it could happen to me. Now that it was staring me in the face in the perfect form of Marcus, how could I possibly say no? I knew in that moment I had to see this to its end or I would regret it for the rest of my life. But my own paranoia drove me to make absolutely certain of his intentions before I could allow myself to dive in deeper with him.

“If you really feel that way, does that mean you don’t think of this, of me, as a hookup? You actually want to try dating?”

“… Dearest, in the interest of full transparency, I have no idea what hooks or estimating the age of artifacts have to do with our feelings for one another. If they are important to you, though, I will endeavor to understand. To make myself clear, though, it would be the single greatest honor of my entire life if you would allow me to court you. I know we have not done things properly, and if you regret—”

With a giggle I couldn’t help from how endearingly out of touch he was, I threw myself at him and slammed my lips into his, swallowing whatever rambling he was about to do. We melted into each other as he drew me in close to his side. After a moment though, a cold wind blew across the clifftop, causing me to shiver violently. I was still only in my tank top, after all.

Pulling back slowly, I smiled despite the cold. “Consider us courting then, handsome, for as long as I’m here. But for the record, the dating I was referring to means the exact same thing. So, I’m glad we’re on the same page with how we feel, at least.”

I hated pulling away from him, but I had to so that I could grab my shorts. Standing, I carefully balanced on one leg at a time as I worked to get them on with my non-dominant hand. It was harder than one might think, and my efforts made Marcus chuckle from where he sat and watched me. When they were zipped and buttoned, he removed his suit jacket and put it over my shoulders.

“If you just put the heat on during the drive back to the castle, I’ll be fine. You don’t have to give me your jacket.”

“Ah, but we are not returning to the castle. Not yet, at least. You must have a proper supper before you may take your medications, as per the good doctor’s instructions. Then we will make our return and get you settled in. Is this agreeable to you?”

“Most agreeable,” I beamed.

And so, that is exactly what happened. It was late in the evening by the time we got to the restaurant Marcus had in mind. Once again, I was the only one who ate or drank, but he waved off my concerns over his appetite and said, ‘With so many butterflies fluttering within me when you are near, there is no room for anything else.’ We didn’t make it back to the castle until after midnight, which suited me just fine because it allowed me a full view of the stars and the crescent moon before we had to say goodnight.

When he parked in an underground garage near the alley where I had been abducted by his guards mere hours before, dark robed attendants descended upon him immediately. He instructed them in Italian to bring my luggage to the grandest suite in the castle, which he explained to me after the fact. Then, we made the winding trek to where I would be staying with his arm around my shoulders and his jacket still keeping me warm.

I truly didn’t want to say goodnight to him, but I knew I needed the rest. My painkillers made me tired and there was so much to process after this long, incredibly wild day. When I fell asleep that night, it was in the most luxurious, gigantic fourposter bed I had ever seen. It was like a prop from a BBC period drama, complete with canopy and privacy drapes.

I dreamt of Marcus all night.

Chapter Text

Volturi Castle, 12:23pm.

Marcus burst into the Throne Room at top speed, a scowl that could rival Caius’ marring his typically emotionless face. “This had better be a matter of life and death, because if you just cut my time with our mate short for some triviality—”

Aro raised a hand to cut off the oncoming tirade. After thousands of years of complete apathy, Marcus’ sudden liveliness would be quite the change to get used to for the entire Volturi. Now was not the time to explore his pent-up feelings, though. “Brother, you have my sympathies and most sincere regret for the inconvenient interruption. I can assure you, though, that this is most urgent.”

At Aro’s words, Caius scoffed. “You insult our station in this world with such hyperbole, brother,” he spat.

Aro’s hand went from being held up in Marcus’ direction to pointing directly at Caius so quickly that no human would have been able to perceive the movement. “You insult her station in this world with your petulant insolence, brother. Forget not that this will impact you just as much as everyone else within these walls.” Caius sneered from his place on his personal throne but held his tongue. When Aro was certain he would not be interrupted, he faced Marcus again and continued, “Among the many titillating facts I learned about our dear Annabel today, the most pressing of all at this time is that she intends to flee Volterra as soon as, pardon the pun, humanly possible. She is most likely attempting her escape as we speak.”

Caius remained outwardly unmoved by the statement, but Marcus was immediately devastated, and his face showed his emotional state plainly. He had watched the strands of their bond almost solidify, certain that all was going well between them, before hers snapped back and away from him. It was so sudden and final despite there being no obvious cause for it, which only served to make it even more troubling and hurtful for him to witness.

Now, because he possibly pushed her too far, she was leaving them. Not just leaving, but fleeing. His eternity had been nothing but suffering without his wife, Didyme. That suffering would be naught but a mild ache compared to eternity without their true mate.

When Marcus said nothing, too embroiled in his own thoughts to communicate them, Aro continued, “I would like to see what you have seen, brother. You were the last one with her and there may be some clue in your bond as to what we can do to convince her to stay.”

At that, Marcus sighed in defeat. “Just before we were disturbed, there was a moment between us. Everything was going well, it all felt so right… but then, it was as if her end of the bond had been burned, it retracted so quickly away from me. What was once shimmering and warm that we had been building the entire time became blackened and frayed in an instant. She lost all trust and affection for me, and I truly cannot fathom why.”

Aro reached his hand out to Marcus, who approached and took it without hesitation. After a moment, Aro murmured thoughtfully, “Yes, I see exactly what you mean by that. From this and all that I gathered from her memories, Annabel is extremely distrustful. Our flower has been made delicate through heartbreak and betrayal, and even one wrong move or word easily offends her. The fact that your bond was that strong at all, no less in such a short amount of time, is practically a miracle where she is concerned. For that reason, I am leaving her safe return to you, brother. She trusted you today when she has not trusted anyone new entering her life in quite some time. You are the only one who will be able to earn that trust back before it is too late to recover her.”

“Yes, Marcus, go to the pathetic little human straight away. Make all haste and bring our finest guards with you to seal the exits. Terrify her right onto the plane so I need not be bothered with this tripe again,” snarked Caius with a cruel smirk twisting his lips.

Aro, who still held Marcus’ hand, had to grip him tightly enough to leave cracks in his skin just to prevent Marcus from literally ripping Caius’ head off in retaliation for throwing the possibility of Annabel’s escape in his face. Marcus was snarling with bared teeth, something they had not seen for thousands of years until that afternoon. Not since the war.

“You’re jealous that she wanted me and reviled you,” growled Marcus. “You should have seen how her bond reacted to you in the infirmary. You repulsed her with your vile manner and spiteful words.” At the scowl that took over Caius’ face, it was Marcus’ turn to smirk. “We assured her that you would apologize for your actions. She insisted that we not bother forcing you, because not only does she not have a single care for you in this world, but she did not want the obligation of having to also apologize when you were the aggressor to begin with. She preferred the thought of never seeing you again.

“Admit it to yourself, Caius, for you are as transparent as the windows in this room and always have been. It infuriated you how entirely unimpressed she was by your very existence because you instinctively want her approval just as much as we do. You have become so used to the mortals you feed upon being awestruck by you that when her pulse only raced from pain and fear due to her injuries in your presence, never lust for you, you could not stand it. So, to make her acknowledge you, you lashed out, hoping to get any attention from her at all. But she still was not afraid of or impressed by you. In fact, she, a human who you claimed to be so very lowly and weak before you, beat you at your own childish game without so much as batting an eye. You know as well as I that the opposite of love is not hate, but indifference, and her indifference toward you despite your efforts rattled you to your very core. Which is exactly why you left in such an undignified display of undeserved outrage. You wreaked of humiliation then, and you wreak of it still, brother.”

With a guttural roar, Caius launched himself at Marcus, sending his throne crashing into the wall behind the dais with the force of his sudden movement. Before he could make contact with his still-smirking target, though, Aro intercepted him and had him pinned against the opposite wall in an instant.

“ENOUGH, BOTH OF YOU!” Aro boomed. Turning to look over his shoulder at Marcus while still pinning Caius, he seethed, “You make a fool and a hypocrite of yourself when you call Caius childish while directly goading him into an altercation.” Turning his attention back to Caius, he continued, “And you should have more control over yourself than to take the bait. You could not control your mouth around Annabel, either, and that was a contributing factor in her decision to run when I read her thoughts.” This information made Caius tense, ceasing his struggling. When Aro was satisfied that neither of his brothers would be making any more attempts on the other’s life in the next few minutes, he released his hold on Caius and stepped back with a sigh. “All three of us, and everything else she experienced under our roof this day, made her mind up for her. Seeing myself through her eyes, how unnerving I and everything I have built appeared to her, was humbling to say the very least. I never wish to hear such frightened, confused thoughts from her ever again. This cannot only be my ambition, though. It must be our ambition if we ever hope to keep her. Otherwise, if we are truly unable to put our selfish natures aside for her sake, then we might as well do her the kindness of letting her go. I will not allow us to be a source of pain for her any more than we already have been. She has suffered quite enough, and as her mates, we owe her a peaceful life, even if it excludes us and ends in her inevitable mortal death.”

Now that got their attention, just as Aro had sneakily hoped. In the heat of finally finding their mate, trying to address her very human injuries despite her fears and protests, and all the tit for tat between Marcus and Caius, the fact that she was an ordinary mortal had somehow escaped their conscious understanding of the situation at hand. She, the mate they had waited innumerable lifetimes for, was vulnerable.

The car taking her to the airport could crash and she would perish in a fiery wreck. If she safely made it there, the plane could still crash for any number of reasons, and she would go down with it. She could accidentally eat something on the flight that would kill her. Even if the food itself wasn’t harmful, she could still potentially choke to death any time she ate or drank. And, if she successfully made it all the way home, what about the next day? Or all the ones after that in her precarious, finite existence? No, leaving her life and safety up to wherever the four winds blew her was simply not an option, not for the three most powerful men to ever walk the earth.

Silently, their eyes all shifted between each other, and they could tell that the air around them had shifted. They were back to being an aligned, unstoppable front, if only for now. Their course of action was decided.

“If you end up scaring her onto that plane, brother, I will finish what I started here. Do not fail,” Caius threatened before leaving the Throne Room in a speeding blur of black and white.

Equipping himself quickly with a cellphone and a black umbrella, Marcus left the castle in one of their fastest cars. He hoped against hope that he would not be too late.

Volturi Castle, 4:58pm.

Aro and Caius sat upon their individual thrones, completely unmoving. They stared unblinkingly at the Throne Room doors, not even daring to breathe so that they would be able to hear the second a heartbeat entered the castle. Her heartbeat.

Marcus had been gone for hours and there was still no word from him. After the first hour, they had both reconvened in the Throne Room to leave dozens of texts and voicemails for Marcus, demanding an update. But none were answered, and so there they waited. Just because they waited, though, did not mean they were doing so patiently.

Aro was seriously considering using the phone number he had found in Annabel’s memories to begin a new texting and calling offensive. Knowing her as only he uniquely could, though, he could safely bet that such a tactic would not be well received. Especially considering that he should have no way of knowing her phone number in the first place.

Caius, on the other hand, was still reeling after the day’s events behind his blank façade. Over three thousand years had passed without Marcus so much as smiling, no less showing any other emotions. He and Aro knew that Marcus was in a constant state of mind-numbing misery after the tragic death of Didyme. But all it took was one human getting mistakenly dragged into their midst for everything Caius had ever known about his brothers to change.

Marcus was practically a new man just from having briefly been in Annabel’s presence. Aro, in all the years they had been together, never once showed any concern for how others perceived him, including his own wife. Really, the more afraid of him everyone was, the more he and the entire Volturi thrived. But when it came to Annabel’s opinion of him, suddenly Aro wanted to improve himself to her standards instead of his own.

While Caius had no gift, a true oddity among the Volturi, he did have an inner voice. One that he trusted to guide him because it had never once failed, even when he was still human. And that voice was now whispering that he was not just noticing these sudden, drastic changes in his brothers. He was jealous of them.

It had been Caius’ choice to treat Annabel poorly, and at the time it had made sense to him. He justified it then because she was a mortal, a lesser who was so blatantly and utterly insignificant compared to him. However, everything Marcus had taunted him with was true, and he hated that fact so deeply that for the first time in his long life, the truth felt to him like an enemy.

He had gone out of his way to illicit any reaction from her, even if it meant hurting her, and it was because a reaction would have meant something to him. He was not one to play with his food, no less play with a mortal who would never be on the menu. That was why it stung so terribly when she unflinchingly stared him down despite his efforts. No, that was putting it too neutrally. She unflinchingly glared at him. No one, especially no mortal, had ever done such a thing before. Without even one word from her, she had made Caius feel insignificant and raw in ways he had never experienced since becoming a king. She was supposed to be the insignificant one, not him. She was supposed to be hurt by his insults, not sit in silence while her haunting eyes burned straight through him. By all the gods who had ever been in his lifetime and all the ones who would one day be, Caius had never seen such beauty as when Annabel Whitehall scowled at him with everything she had. His fingers ached to capture her expression on canvas as soon as he was certain of her fate.

That small, wise voice in the back of his mind whispered, cutting through his thoughts, It was nothing for her to look at you so unkindly because you are nothing to her. You wanted that, and now it is so.

Yes, he had wanted that. Until he had seen the differences in his oldest companions after just one afternoon of barely knowing her. Now, he had no choice but to admit to himself that Aro was right, she held a position of great importance in their lives. The greatest importance. However, no one would catch him making that argument and live to tell the tale.

As the kings of the entire vampiric world, they had always worked and lived together as equals. For all the thousands of years they had spent together, they operated as one body, one mind, always in tandem. It was how they had maintained their power no matter who or what had tried to stand against them. Now, though, for the first time, it was no secret that they were no longer on equal footing with each other. Annabel did not have the same perception of all of them as individuals and she was definitely not easily won if the events of the day were anything to go by. Marcus had been steadily nurturing their bond with his every word and action toward her since the moment he laid eyes on her. And Aro, despite her current negative opinion toward him, knew her better than anyone because of his gift. He would easily make up for lost time just by virtue of already knowing all of her preferences. Caius had thoughtlessly put himself at an extreme disadvantage with her compared to his brothers, and it only served to fuel his jealousy further.

Volturi Castle, 12:21am.

Aro and Caius had been wordlessly pacing the Throne Room for hours. They were still waiting on any response whatsoever from Marcus.

“At what point do we send Demetri?” asked Caius, finally breaking the long silence only after he truly could take no more of it.

“Suddenly worried for the homely human, brother?” Aro fired back with a sly grin.

Caius growled and rolled his eyes. Aro’s teasing was the last thing he felt like enduring in that moment. “Not to track her, to track Marcus, obviously. If he has not returned, she must be on the plane.”

That thought was an especially difficult one for the both of them to face, although neither would voice their feelings on the matter. They had agreed to put her peace first before Marcus left, after all.

Then, they heard it. Midstride they both come to a complete standstill. There was a heartbeat and two sets of footsteps approaching the castle. Her heartbeat.

They rushed to their thrones and straightened out the nonexistent wrinkles in their suits. Caius even ran his hands through his hair to make sure his appearance was impeccable. Every impression had to count now. When they felt sufficiently prepared, they arranged themselves in poses to appear as regal yet inviting as possible.

But when Marcus should have steered her to the right, which would lead to the Throne Room, he directed her left instead. As their footsteps grew farther and farther away in the opposite direction, Aro and Caius could hear the deep rumble of Marcus’ voice. The Throne Room was too far away for Aro and Caius to discern what had been said, but whatever it was, it caused Annabel to giggle.

At the sound of her tinkling laughter growing more distant by the second, Caius’ jaw clenched in irritation while Aro’s dark brows rose in shock. They shared a look, as neither had anticipated that Marcus might intentionally avoid them upon his return, before racing out of the room. Clearly some spying was in order and reports from the guards on duty would not be enough to satisfy them.

Marcus, under normal circumstances, would have brough Annabel straight to the Throne Room as Aro and Caius had expected him to. But these were anything but normal circumstances, and Marcus was positively giddy over that fact.

He felt like the smile he wore would split his face open. As they passed the Volturi guards who were stationed throughout the castle, the astounded faces of his subordinates were not lost on him, even though no human would be able to tell anything was amiss just by looking at them. None of the guards, not even the oldest, had ever seen Marcus smile, so his grin of pure elation was nothing short of jarring for all who bore witness to it. He couldn’t care less about their reactions, though, when he had Annabel Whitehall, his mate, tucked securely under his arm while wearing his suit jacket and returning his smile with a broad one of her own.

Aro and Caius followed at a distance. They were certain Marcus could hear them and was purposefully making no indication of that to Annabel so that he might continue to monopolize her time. It was nothing short of infuriating for them both. Aro was the only one willing to conceal that feeling, however, as Caius’ murderous glare served as the antithesis to Marcus’ joyous beaming.

Finally, Marcus stopped them outside of the most extravagant guest suite in the entire castle. It was only used by visitors of the highest esteem, and while Marcus hoped she would no longer qualify as a visitor soon, there was no one who garnered more esteem from him than she, not even his brothers. He would have much preferred escorting her straight to his own rooms, of course, but that would have to wait until her arm was healed and she could share a bed for a whole night without risking further injury to herself.

Unlocking the room that he had instructed their staff to prepare in time for her arrival, he couldn’t help the self-satisfied smile that crept across his face as her eyes bulged and her jaw practically hit the floor.

Annabel whispered, hesitant to even cross the threshold of the grand apartments, “Marcus, this is way too much….”

“Nonsense. I am part of the reason you are without a hotel for the rest of your stay, so naturally it is my responsibility to compensate you for your trouble accordingly. This is the least I should be doing for you.” Marcus then stepped into the room, took her left hand, and reverently placed half a dozen kisses on the back of it while in a deep bow. When he straightened, he used her bashful state to gently pull her into the room with him.

“You’ve already gone above and beyond for me today. Really, you don’t have to put me up like I’m the Queen of England or something,” she giggled, blushing prettily.

Marcus adored the contrast between her pink cheeks, her fair skin, and her long auburn hair. Combined with the soothing earth tones that dotted her irises, she radiated all the beauty and warmth of the earth itself from her very being, and that was something that could never be taught or artificially obtained. Overcome by his feelings just by looking at her, he gently took her face in his large hands and directed her lips up to his.

When he released her from their chaste kiss, her blush had only become more pronounced. The sensation of breathing in the scent of her blood beneath the surface of her smooth skin while they kissed only served to heighten the experience for him every time. And then there was the smile she would get on her face whenever she pulled back to look up at him after a kiss. Everything about her intoxicated him in ways he never knew were possible before. Ways he had never gotten to experience before, not even with Didyme.

“Even if the Queen of England decided to visit right now, this all would still be yours and more besides. Nothing and no one comes before your comfort,” he murmured, staring down at her adoringly as he gently placed a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

“This place is the size of an actual house. You could fit a dozen guests here easily and I’m just one person.”

“Are you saying you would feel better if you weren’t the only one here? Because you know I am more than happy to keep you company for as long as you would have me,” said Marcus with a wolfish grin.

Annabel replied with a teasing grin of her own, “Weren’t you the one who was worried about me getting sufficient rest? For my healing process and all that?”

“If you let me wear you out again, I can assure you beyond a shadow of a doubt that you will rest most sufficiently tonight.” Marcus’ hands moved to her waist and pulled her hips toward him.

Annabel giggled again and swatted his chest playfully. “Something tells me that despite your best efforts, we would just end up staying awake all night. But I’ll take a raincheck.”

“Then a raincheck you shall have, il mio tesoro,” He purred. Bending down so she wouldn’t have to risk jostling her arm, he kissed her again. While it was brief, it was more than enough to convey his passion for her.

When their lips separated, she took a step back and reclaimed his right hand with her left. “Before you go, I feel like I should at least get your phone number. I don’t know my way around and I’m already concerned about getting lost in my own rooms, no less the rest of the castle.”

“Right you are, my sweet. Allow me to be your guide during your stay in my beloved home.” He took the phone she had pulled out of her pocket and used his vampiric speed to enter his information while she was distracted with looking around the room for her bags.

When he handed her phone back to her, she asked, “Any idea where your… associates might’ve stashed my stuff?”

“Yes, they were instructed to leave everything in the sitting room. Come, I’ll show you, dear.” Taking her hand again, he closed the door behind them and led her throughout the apartments, giving her the full tour and helping her familiarize herself with her new opulent surroundings.

When he was certain she was settled and they had exchanged a heated goodnight kiss, he finally exited her suite only to find Aro and Caius waiting in the hall for him. But, of course, that was no surprise to him. He had known they were listening the entire time.

For once, Aro and Caius wore matching scowls. “Throne Room. Now,” snarled Aro before speeding off.

Caius did not immediately follow and neither did Marcus. After a silent moment of intense glaring, Caius hissed, “You were supposed to keep her from leaving and bring her back, not go gallivanting off during the sunniest day in a week. You risked exposing us all immediately after we narrowly avoided that moronic Cullen boy doing so himself, and for what purpose exactly?”

Marcus smirked, much like he had as he laid Caius’ feelings for Annabel bare in the Throne Room earlier. Caius wanted to kill him on the spot for his insolence.

“You told me that you would have my head if I failed to prevent her departure. It isn’t an easy thing, convincing a woman as extraordinary as her to change her mind about something like that. I had to be… persuasive. You understand, do you not, brother?” With that, Marcus ran to the Throne Room, anticipating a similar reaction from Aro and smugly loving every minute of it.

Alone in the massive hall now, Caius wanted to destroy everything in sight. Until he caught Annabel’s scent.

It was being wafted toward him through the cracks of the door separating them. There was a substantial balcony that overlooked the garden, and if he had to guess, he would say she was standing out there with the French doors wide open. His eyes had been a bright red since he had fed only that very afternoon, but just one accidental whiff of her made his irises darken uncontrollably. He wanted to be angry about that fact, but her scent was so calming that he couldn’t bring himself to be. He was still abundantly enraged by Marcus, however.

Speaking of, he really needed to return to the Throne Room. The last thing he wanted was to miss Aro discovering what had kept Marcus and Annabel out for the entire day and half the night. But he needed to do one thing first.

Silently, the doorknob to the suite turned. Caius pushed the door open just a crack, not wanting to risk being caught. There, down the hall toward the back of the apartments, he could see the swishing of the gossamer curtains in the gentle breeze. That breeze carried Annabel’s scent in waves that awakened all of Caius’ senses at once. It was the same feeling he had gotten when he first smelled her in the Throne Room. The feeling that had unnerved him enough to drive him to open cruelty.

Closing the door before he lost control of himself yet again that day, he leaned his back against it for a moment to collect himself, something he had not felt the need to do in quite some time. Then he proceeded to the Throne Room only to find Aro holding Marcus’ hand, staring intently at it.

Aro’s jaw suddenly dropped as he released Marcus’ hand with a gasp, stumbling slightly as he stepped back.

“What happened?!” demanded Caius, who had never seen such an undignified reaction from Aro while reading another person.

“Marcus… was the first to taste our mate,” came Aro’s soft, disbelieving reply.

“I smell none of her blood on him and she is not currently transforming, so how is that even possible?”

“What do you smell on our brother, Caius?”

With a suspicious furrow in his platinum brow, Caius approached Marcus and breathed deep to decipher what Aro was trying to convey. Marcus’ all too pleased smirk remained firmly in place as Caius suddenly placed the source of the scent on him.

“I will have your head for this!” shouted Caius, shaking with the effort to not lunge at Marcus and rip his throat out then and there.

“I am terribly sorry, Caius, but that will not be possible. You see, I gave Annabel my head already today. As I am sure you can smell, she was rather fond of it. You would not want to disappoint her even further, now, would you?”

Caius was on Marcus so quickly, so viciously, that even Aro could not separate them.

Chapter Text

The morning arrived all too soon. In the middle of a very sweet dream starring Marcus, my phone rang and startled me awake.

At first, I was completely disoriented. I was in what had to be an Alaska king-sized canopy bed with the curtains drawn. But as the unceasing ring of my phone drove me to retrieve it as quickly as possible and my arm throbbed with every beat of my pulse, the previous day’s events flooded back to me in seconds.

I made the mistake of throwing open the heavy curtains in my rush to get to the bedside table. All the light in the room flooded into my unsuspecting pupils at once, making me clench my eyes shut and hiss at the offending sunshine. Blindly, I slapped my hand down on the antique wooden nightstand until I connected with my phone.

“Hello?”

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” shouted my mother through the speaker directly into my eardrum.

I hissed again at the noise and held my cell as far away from myself as I could. Hitting speaker phone so I wouldn’t have to endure her volume up close, I let my phone drop to my lap as I replied groggily, “Aw, thank you, Mama.”

Truthfully, I had almost forgotten about my own birthday. Oh, yeah, I have a dinner reservation tonight, I thought as I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and started waking up enough to fully engage in the conversation.

“If you hadn’t answered your phone I was going to call the police. You didn’t check in at all yesterday! What’s gotten into you?”

Her question immediately brought Marcus to mind and made me smile. “Sorry, yesterday got a little crazy. I’ll be in touch more, don’t worry.”

“Is everything okay?” When she was concerned, her southern accent would become more pronounced.

“Well… it’s a long story, but I broke my arm and started dating someone.” She gasped sharply on her end, and I knew I needed to cut her off at the pass before she could turn this conversation into a lecture. “I’m fine, it was a clean break. You’re actually keeping me from eating and taking my meds right now. And the guy’s Marcus, I’ll tell you more later when I have some time. Call me this afternoon, I can’t text well with this cast. And remember not to call tonight because I’ll be at dinner.”

“Annabel, if you think I’ll accept that flimsy answer then you have another thing coming! Who is this strange man? How old is he? What’s his last name? What’s his number and address? How do you know he isn’t a serial killer? And how did you break your arm?!”

I winced at her rapid-fire questions. Time to play the old in-another-country-so-the-call-dropped card. “Mama? You still there?”

“Annabel? Did you hear me?”

“Mama? Listen, I don’t know if you can hear me, but I can’t hear you. Just call me later, or I’ll call you, whichever. Love you!”

“Anna—” Click.

With a heavy sigh, I placed my phone back on the nightstand now that I was used to the light. I really did love my mother more than anything in the world, but being an only child to an over-protective single parent of her caliber was practically a full-time job by itself. As a grown woman, I needed my space, and that was exactly what drove me to use my savings on a trip by myself to Tuscany for my birthday. It was an especially nice perk that my birthday almost always coincided with Spring Break, so I wouldn’t have to use PTO from work.

Getting out of bed was torture. How could anyone have a bed like this and not live in it? I was ready to give up my life and be like Grandpa Joe from Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, but alas, the throbbing in my arm demanded attention that required prying myself from the luxurious comfort of my goose down comforter and featherbed.

Remembering that I left my bag of medications in Marcus’ suit jacket made me smile softly to myself, though. Everything that had happened in the prior twenty-four hours felt like a dream, but where I was standing forced me to accept that it wasn’t, miraculously. Marcus hadn’t said when I would see him next as we had said goodnight, but considering that I was in the middle of his castle, I figured it wouldn’t be long before we crossed paths. Just the thought of seeing him had me excited to start the day, and I hadn’t felt like that about someone in a very long time. It felt so good.

I had placed Marcus’ jacket over the back of a chair in the sitting area, so I quickly nabbed the crinkling paper bag from the inner pocket and threw the pills back dry. The pharmacist had warned me that they would upset my stomach if I took them without food, but I was already late on my doses and I didn’t exactly know if I had free access to any food here, so I simply took my chances. Any stomachache I’d have now would surely be gone well before I would get to the restaurant tonight.

The reason I had chosen to only eat at the cheapest place in Volterra up to that point was so that I could afford to treat myself to a special birthday dinner. It wasn’t the most expensive place in the region by any means, but it still required a reservation, and I was very excited for my little solo date. I had scheduled it so it would be the last thing I would experience in Volterra before flying home the next day.

Oh, shit. I no longer had a flight booked, and ticket prices would be astronomical for a next-day international flight. Maybe I could catch a red-eye….

But that would mean leaving tonight and having even less time with Marcus, I reminded myself. I needed to weigh my options carefully. There was someone else’s feelings to consider now, too.

Today was Tuesday. I left Anchorage on Thursday night and arrived in Volterra on Friday, with the plan being that I would leave on Wednesday night, giving me almost a full week in Italy. It had been the cheapest way for me to afford the tickets and everything else my trip entailed, and I was glad I went the cheap route because otherwise I would have been bankrupt after buying a plane ticket I didn’t even end up using the previous afternoon. With the little money I had left, I needed to figure out how and when to get home. The last thing I wanted was to ask my mom to wire me money or something. I’d never live it down, especially now that she was worried about my safety.

An idea came to me that made my stomach drop in disappointment. If I cancelled my dinner reservation, I could probably scrounge up enough to fly out on Thursday. Weekend plane tickets were always more expensive, and with Spring Break ending the prices would be through the roof. I had to be back in time for work on Monday or I would be in even worse financial trouble. But there was at least one up-side to that plan, and it was that I’d get an extra day with Marcus.

I wasn’t particularly attached to the restaurant I had chosen, it was just what I knew I could afford with some careful budgeting. I was disappointed in that I had wanted to do something special for myself on my birthday, but the more I thought about it, the more I just wanted to make this time with Marcus count. Besides, my cast and sling would clash terribly with the dress I had packed for the occasion.

It was decided, then. The restaurant wouldn’t be open until 5pm and my reservation was for 8pm, so if I called right at opening I would be able to cancel without any problems. Marcus had already treated me to not one, but two incredible meals yesterday, so I would just think of it as having already celebrated my birthday and carry on. Two meals with Marcus would always be better than one without him.

Yikes, that was quite the overly attached thought. I needed to be careful going forward. Yes, we were courting, as he had adorably put it, but that was decided only twelve hours prior. This was too new to be getting attached like that, no matter how wonderful he seemed to be in every way. I did have to leave soon, after all.

Shaking my head at myself, I decided a shower was in order. I always thought clearest under the soothing, hot water. But first, I would need to wrap my entire arm in a bag. With one hand. And the only bag big enough was the one my dress was currently sheathed in. Just fabulous.

I went to my suitcase and carefully removed the dress from the drycleaner plastic. If I was fast and mindful of the water, I could reuse the bag for future showers. It took some wrangling, but after finally securing it with a large knot, I also pulled a belt tightly around it for good measure. I defied even one drop of water to try and penetrate my makeshift defenses. I snickered quietly to myself as Gandalf the Grey’s voice shouted fiercely in my mind, ‘You shall not pass!’

Grabbing my toiletry bag and disrobing in the bathroom, I took a moment to contemplate my reflection in the wall-length mirror above the marble double sink. It was a little annual ritual of mine to take a full once-over of myself on my birthday to see if I looked another year older. I never did, and yet I still kept up the tradition without fail. I guess it just felt reassuring to remind myself that I was still me, that the sands of time couldn’t take that from me no matter what might happen.

Dear God, so much had happened. So much had been taken from me in my life. I worked so hard all day, every day to keep those facts off my face for the sake of everyone else. But as I looked back at myself, I saw the weight I carried, even if no one else could. I acknowledged the bags under my eyes that were not born from sleepless nights, but sleepless years. There were days when I almost wished my emotional scars could manifest as physical ones across my body. It would be easier, in a way. Physical pain was something that everyone could relate to, and scars were tangible reminders for all to see. If someone had an interesting scar, it could be a conversation starter, maybe it would even lead to a good laugh someday.

Emotional scars were different. They couldn’t just manifest on my skin because they were always swirling, always moving, always seeking the weaknesses in my defenses. To settle in one place, like a physical scar, would mean giving me some form of peace, and God knew that was too much to ask for. Yes, I knew what it was to be wholeheartedly happy. Yes, I was very lucky to be where I was in my life and I had so many things to be grateful for. But that was the tricky thing about emotional scars. They never settled in just one place, and they always found ways of popping up just when things seemed to be finally, truly good.

So, once a year, I would take the time to look at myself. Really look at myself. And every year, without fail, I would not look physically different in any way in my own eyes. But I always felt ancient from the weight I carried within me.

Maybe I wanted physical scars just for an excuse to talk about what had happened to and around me. It would be nice for someone to think my scars were interesting, even beautiful in a way, and want to know about them in detail. That was a level of attention-seeking I would never admit to, though. It was never wise to admit one’s weaknesses, and having a weakness like neediness was practically asking to be hurt. I had found that out the hard way and it was a lesson I would never forget, not for as long as I lived.

Shaking the thoughts from my head, I returned to the task at hand. The shower was the size of Mama’s walk-in closet and had showerheads on either end. After some experimenting with the knobs, I decided that using both at the same time would be putting my cast at risk, so I adjusted the water to the perfect steamy temperature and stepped under the singular spray. The water pressure and heat were heavenly as they worked together to wash my previous negative thoughts right down the drain.

I emerged smelling like cucumber and eucalyptus after twenty minutes— shaving without being able to use my dominant hand was tricky— and wrapped the fluffiest towel I had ever felt around my short frame. The towel reached past my knees, it was so big. I turned this way and that in front of the mirror, admiring my curves as they were accentuated by the tightly wrapped fabric. Pleased enough with my appearance, I proceeded to remove the bag from my arm, brush my teeth, moisturize my face, and style my hair for the day. Then I removed my towel and used it to carefully wipe away the remaining droplets that had collected on my protective bag and belt. When I was sure no moisture had gotten to my cast, I set the bag aside on the counter for my next shower.

I quickly changed into my clothes for the day when I reached my suitcase in the opulent sitting room. For the sake of ease, I went with a green tank top and another pair of shorts. You could see my cherry patterned bra straps, but since the stems matched the green of my top, I didn’t think it would be a problem. The only other pair of shoes I packed besides my Converse were heels to match my dress, so naturally I went with my high-tops and called it a day. I considered trying to put on some makeup for all of half a second, but no one should even think of attempting such a thing with their non-dominant hand. Better to look tired on my birthday than like a party clown.

Just as I secured my sling back into place for the day, my stomach let out an uncomfortable gurgle. It was from a combination of being hungry and my meds taking their revenge for not having eaten before taking them. At least my arm wasn’t pulsating with pain anymore.

Grabbing my phone off the nightstand, I checked the time and saw it was 9:39am. I had Marcus’ number thanks to last night, but I hesitated to text or call him to see if he wanted to join me for breakfast. I still felt bad that he treated me to lunch and dinner while ordering nothing for himself, so I initially thought it would be fun to treat him in return; until I remembered just how high his standards were for a meal. If I could no longer afford my birthday dinner, there was no way I could afford a breakfast for the two of us that he would actually like. He also hadn’t told me where the kitchen was, so I couldn’t offer to make something for us instead.

Finally, I decided I’d start the day by checking the Throne Room. If he was there, then great, we could discuss breakfast together. If he wasn’t there, I’d just have to go into town for a cheap breakfast without him and see if I could catch him for lunch instead.

I made sure to grab my purse and put my phone inside before leaving my room. As I closed the ornately carved door behind me, I considered locking it, but then realized Marcus had taken the key with him when he left the night before. Shrugging with my good shoulder, I figured if someone wanted to rob me in this of all places, they really must need my things more than I did.

As I made my way down the hall, I tried to retrace my steps from the day before, but it was difficult. I got to the main foyer after a couple of wrong turns, but figuring out which turns would bring me back to the Throne Room was getting more and more confusing as I went. It also didn’t help that my every move was followed by multiple pairs of red eyes set into unwelcoming, completely unmoving faces. I didn’t want anyone to think I was intimidated by them, though, so I kept my head held high and walked in silence.

Turning down another hallway I thought had been familiar, but turned out not to be, I found Caius standing at the other end, in conversation with the guard who had snapped my arm like a twig yesterday. I’d never forget Felix, not after the way he manhandled me for no reason and how Marcus had yelled his name loud enough to shake the foundations of the castle. This hallway was shorter than the others, too, so there was less space between the three of us than I would have liked. Although, really, I would’ve liked Caius to be on the other side of the planet after our exchange in the infirmary. His guard could go with him, for all I cared. Breaking my arm as a hired guard was one thing, but insulting me in such a manner, in such a time and place, was not to be borne.

Their heads snapped in my direction at the same time, which made them even more disconcerting than they already were. I met Caius’ ruby eyes for only a second before turning on my heel and leaving the way I came. I waited to turn the corner before picking up my pace, not wanting to seem overtly uncomfortable while still making a quick getaway. However, I could hear Caius’ heavy footfalls following in my direction. I hoped it was just a coincidence.

“Miss Whitehall,” called Caius, stopping me in my tracks.

God fucking damnit.

Straightening my back with a deep breath, I looked over my good shoulder at him and answered, “Yes?”

From where I stood, I watched as his carefully schooled features almost immediately melted into irritation. “When a king addresses you, you are to face them fully and curtsy. Have you no sense of decorum whatsoever?”

I had been willing to hear him out for a split second there, really I had been, but he had an attitude that needed some serious adjusting. How he and Marcus could be brothers was baffling to me. Calling them polar opposites was putting it mildly.

“Is that seriously all you have to say?” I asked in a monotone that was very out of character for me, making sure my face and voice conveyed nothing but pure boredom. He didn’t get a rise out of me even when I was in excruciating pain, and he certainly wasn’t about to get one out of me now.

His jaw noticeably twitched in outrage before he replied, “I will say my piece when you show me the respect I am due. Do not forget in whose halls you currently reside.”

The last sentence immediately got my hackles up, but I was careful not to let my reaction show. It was statements like that which drove me to always have my own place to stay, even on vacation with a group. Depending on others for a roof was always risky, and this was exactly why. It allowed them to pull the rug out from under you whenever they pleased. I shouldn’t have assumed that my accommodations were secure just because Marcus had made the offer, even if he'd done so in good faith. I made a mistake.

Turning to face away from Caius again specifically just to bother him, I said, “Respect is earned through trust, not money or titles. I’ll pack my things and go.” There was absolute silence for a beat before I drawled sarcastically, “Thank you ever so much for allowing me the use of your halls, your majesty.”

With that, I proceeded back from whence I came without a second glance or thought, determined now to pack my bags and get the hell out of the castle for the second time in twenty-four hours. The eyes that followed me down every hallway felt even more intense on me now, and I was sure it was because of how I had publicly treated their ever-scowling sovereign.

Tough fucking shit, I thought angrily. How none of his guards have killed him and made it look like an accident is beyond me. No amount of money could be worth putting up with his bullshit day in and day out.

Luckily, I managed to return to the suite without any wrong turns. I burst into the room and slammed the door behind me, the only indication of my frustration that I would allow myself. I swept through all the rooms like a tornado, collecting up everything I had and securing them back in my luggage with just as much haste as I had in my hotel room yesterday. I hadn’t made myself at home here the way I had there, though, so the packing process was complete in under five minutes.

I slung my carry-on over my shoulder to rest beside my purse before grabbing the handle of my suitcase and wheeling it to the door. When I tried to turn the handle, though, it was locked. I tried to unlock it from my side, but it still wouldn’t budge.

A cold shiver ran down my spine in realization. Slowly, I crouched down to look through the old-fashioned keyhole. No light passed through it, meaning the key was in the lock. FUCK!

“Let me out, this isn’t fucking funny!”

“Neither is your disrespect,” spat Caius from the other side of the door.

“Oh, fuck you and your pathetic little ego! I already said I’ll leave, so let me go!”

“Not until you apologize for your insolence!”

“Go to fucking hell!”

I heard growling from the other side of the door, but it wasn’t like Marcus’. This was the growl of a dangerous animal. A predator. But I’d be goddamned before I was someone’s prey again.

I had to act fast and I could only take what I could easily carry with one good arm. My purse had all my essentials, including my passport, my driver’s license, and even my employee ID. I hated the thought of leaving that lovely dress and heels behind, not to mention my toiletries and the few souvenirs I had picked up, but nothing was worth being a hostage to this maniac. I slid my carry-on bag off of my shoulder and rested it gently on top of my suitcase. I backed up as quietly as I physically could to the balcony on the other end of the suite. I had left the door cracked the night before to let in the breeze and keep the place cool while I slept, and thank God I had. Without a sound, I opened the door just enough to slip through to the other side.

It was always my policy to have an escape route for every situation when possible, and this was no exception, despite how much I liked Marcus. When I had taken in the view of the garden below last night, I had planned exactly what to do if worst came to worst. I was on the second floor, which meant any jumping needed to be carefully calculated, but I still had a good chance of escaping unscathed. To my left, there was a lilac tree in full bloom that twisted upwards and stopped just a few feet from the balcony railing. Not only did it smell heavenly, but it would help cushion me if I missed my target or didn’t wrap my arm around a branch tightly enough. The lilac tree stood beside the garden path, so it would provide shade and some potential cover as I made my way through the garden to escape.

The entire back half of the castle was surrounded by a massive hedge. I would have to climb over it to get to the other side and off the property, it was definitely too dense to push through. Behind the hedge was the tree line, and that’s where I planned to sprint as soon as I was out. Now I just had to execute the plan perfectly.

“Miss Whitehall?” Caius’ muffled voice questioned from behind the door. It was now or never.

With a slow, deep breath, I clenched the strap of my purse between my teeth and placed my hand on a protruding stone from the outside wall to use it as leverage to climb onto the narrow railing. With both feet firmly planted, I went over the mental calculation of how much force to put into my leap one more time. Feeling assured, I propelled myself forward and put my hand out to catch a branch. I succeeded, but it wasn’t the branch I had hoped for. This one was stuck out the farthest from the tree and the ground below. I swung my left leg up and managed to get my ankle around it. With all my might, I pulled myself to straddle the branch and slowly shimmied down toward the trunk. Once there, it was an easy jump down to the base of the tree.

I literally hit the ground running. I tried to keep low to remain in the shadows of the fragrant trees and flowering bushes while pushing myself as fast as my legs would carry me. It felt like an eternity from all the adrenaline pumping through my veins, as if time decided right at that moment to slow to a snail’s pace just to make me sweat, but I finally reached the back wall of the garden. I had known that it would be too thick to climb through the hedge. What I had not accounted for was that the hedge had grown around a stone wall. But I could still use it to my advantage.

I quickly tore my sling off, knowing that despite my cast, I’d need to use what little grip I had in my right hand to help me climb up. I would let my shoulder properly heal from its injury after I got the fuck out of dodge. I found a foothold and began my ascent.

Thank God I had already taken my meds because climbing so hard and fast was torture on my shoulder. It would’ve been impossible to push through it without the painkillers. On top of the complications from my bum arm, I also managed to cut my hands on thorny vines and the sharp stones in the wall several times, but the adrenaline kept me moving steadily upward.

I had reached the top and slung my right leg over the wall when I heard Caius roar from my balcony, “ANNABEL!”

With singular focus on my survival, I swung the other leg over and used my good hand to push myself off of the top of the wall with all the force I had. Once again, I hit the ground running, although the landing sent a shot of pain through my right ankle. I could deal with that after I was long gone, though.

With a grunt, I raced to the tree line. It was my only hope. I had no idea where to go from there, but I’d rather cross that bridge when I came to it than stay and face my captor.

Except when I blinked, suddenly I was facing my captor. And his face and hands were sparkling in the bright sunshine like he was made of nothing but the most exquisitely cut Tiffany diamonds. I skid to a stop so fast that I slipped and landed painfully on my ass in the dirt.

No matter what was about to happen to me next, as I stared at Caius, I knew it would be my end. There was simply no other conclusion to come to when looking directly at a snarling, shining beast. I was right, he was a predator hunting prey, and despite all my best efforts, I was about to become his victim. I immediately thought of Mama. I had promised we’d talk later. I cut her off so rudely during our final conversation. Would she ever forgive me? Would she have the strength to go on without me? And then there was Marcus. As he had put it the night before, we only just found each other. I wanted so much more time with him.

I didn’t even realize I was crying until a tear blazed a burning trail down my cheek and landed on my heaving chest. Then another followed, and another. I didn’t make a sound, but the tears fell heavily as I prepared to die.

Caius’ face had been twisted in unadulterated fury when he appeared before me, his teeth bared in a snarl that belonged to only the most vicious animals, not a man. But as I met his eyes and raised my chin, trying to be brave in my last moments despite the unceasing tears, his face relaxed little by little until it almost seemed that all the fight had left him. I didn’t dare to believe it could be that easy, though. He still had me trapped and at his mercy, after all.

At that thought, I considered my purse. I had released it from my teeth when I fell. It had fallen right beside me, and in the outer pocket there was a Swiss army knife. It certainly wouldn’t be enough to do any significant damage to Caius in a fight in my position, and it would be too obvious of me to try anything with him anyway. But, it would be enough to end me if I could just move quickly and precisely. If I had to choose between letting him kill me how he wanted and doing it myself, then my next course of action was obvious. There was no possible way to see Caius as anything other than certain death at this point, but I refused to give him that satisfaction. My death would be on my terms and mine alone. Part of me thought Mama would be proud, or at the very least understanding, if she knew what was going on. God, my poor, sweet Mama. I didn’t want to leave her, not when things were finally starting to turn out alright for us.

Caius was still staring at me unblinkingly, his face slack and emotionless. I inched my bloodied hand toward my purse. His eyes flickered to my hand and then back to my eyes. His pupils were blown wide despite all the light around us, but that was hardly noticeable with how black his irises had become.

I reached inside and pulled out the knife by its keychain. No recognition came to his face when he saw the handle. He didn’t know what I was going to do yet. Good. I just wished my birthday wouldn’t also end up being my dying day. Beggars can’t be choosers, though.

As fast as my non-dominant hand allowed, I flicked open the largest blade and brought it with all the force I had straight toward my jugular. Except it didn’t make contact.

Before I knew what was happening, my knife was bent at the blade and embedded in a nearby tree trunk while Caius had a death grip on my wrist. “Are you out of your mind, woman?! You would truly kill yourself rather than face me?!” His face was all of two inches from mine as he shouted at me. The light refracting off his skin was nearly blinding from this close. I whimpered and tried to struggle out of his grip, but his strength matched that of diamonds too. “Never has there been a more stupid, reckless, troublesome human in all the world! All you had to do was apologize! Is a painful death truly preferable to you?!” He was shaking me now similar to how Felix had. I sobbed in both fear and pain, completely unable to hold it together anymore in the face of his rage. “Answer me now!”

“I don’t want to die! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” I was crying so hard and loud that I was beginning to hyperventilate.

Suddenly, there was no more pain in my wrist or violent shaking or blinding prisms in my eyes. When I looked up, Caius was in the shade of the tree line. I had seen horror cross Marcus’ face the day before, but now it was on Caius’. I didn’t care, though. I sat there, doubled over, and desperately gasped for air through my crying.

I couldn’t catch my breath. I was wheezing frantically. My left hand clutched at my chest while my right arm tried to clutch my stomach despite the cast, trying desperately to find some way to regulate my airflow before I’d faint. My tears felt like they might actually drown me.

The next thing I knew, I was being held against a lean, solid chest. One cold hand cradled the back of my head while the other rested between my shoulder blades. It did nothing to calm me.

“Please, little warrior,” Caius murmured in my ear. “I know not how to right my wrong. I did not intend to frighten you, nor hurt you. Anyone else, but never you. You must calm now, I fear what may happen if you do not.”

I feared what would happen too. Now matter how I tried, I couldn’t catch my breath on my own. I needed someone to model calm breathing for me so I could follow along, but I had no way to communicate that through my gasps for air. Not that I would ask him for help of all people even if I had the capability to.

Both hesitant and stiff, the hand on my back began moving up and down. He was trying to rub my back to soothe me. That wasn’t what would help me, though. I tried to take a deep breath but just ended up coughing and wheezing more. It seemed to get the message across somehow, because he kept rubbing my back but began taking deep breaths in and out. I could feel the rise and fall of his chest under my cheek.

I hated that he was trying to help me after everything he had said and done up to that point, but I hated hyperventilating and what could result from it even more in that moment, so I did my best to match him. It took a few tries, but my breathing slowed enough that I could at least gasp along with him. Then it progressively slowed until I was hiccupping and coughing, but at least I was breathing well enough to chase away the dizziness that had begun to overtake me. Finally, after what felt like a lifetime, I was able to match each of his breaths without any more problems. My tears had even dried by then, too.

He pulled away from me just enough to use the hand that had been on the back of my head to place a finger under my chin. Slowly, he lifted my face to look at him. Now that he was back in direct sunlight, he was sparkling again. But I was more focused on his eyes. His remorseful, searching, but still black eyes.

“Will you only ever hold fear in your heart for me now, little one?” he whispered, his tone verging on brokenness.

Before I could even attempt an answer, though, two voices boomed from behind us, “CAIUS!”

Chapter Text

I was completely unprepared for the sight that met me. Lined along the hedge were Marcus, Aro, and a dozen guards, including all the ones I had encountered the day before. Every inch of their exposed skin shone dazzlingly. Every eye was candy apple red and staring unblinkingly down at us. Only Marcus and Aro showed any emotion, and it was pure, unadulterated rage.

I realized that I was surrounded and tensed instinctively. My mind could not fathom what I was seeing or why I was seeing it, but it knew that I was still very much in danger. I scrambled away from Caius and tried to put enough distance between us to get my feet back under me and run, but in a millisecond I was back in Caius’ arms, trapped like an animal with no hope of escape. Desperately, I looked over his shoulder at where my Swiss army knife was, still embedded in a tree. There was no way I could reach it, and even if I could, it would be impossible for me to dislodge it. I was out of options. Out of time.

Caius knew exactly what I was looking at, but before he could say anything, Marcus snarled, “Release her at once!”

Any other time and Marcus defending me from Caius would have been greatly appreciated. But when last I had seen him during our perfect goodnight, his eyes had been pitch-black as they looked into mine with all the tenderness in the world. Earlier in the day, when we had met, they’d been a dark burgundy. Now, as they stared down at me from his diamond face, they were just as red as all the others. I had been a fool to trust him so easily.

“I cannot, brother,” responded Caius softly. I was disconcerted by his sudden lack of aggression. “Aro, see for yourself why the last thing in the world I should do in this moment is release her.”

Aro approached in long, purposeful strides. Against my will, my body began trembling. Caius tensed at my reaction and I was terrified that he would go from gentle toward me to screaming in my face again.

When Aro reached us and lifted his hand, I involuntarily flinched and squeezed my eyes shut as hard as I could. With my eyes closed, I waited for whatever would happen to me next, but heard absolute silence. Not a rustle of the trees, the hedge, or the grass. No swishing of fabric with even the slightest movement. Not even breathing.

It was as silent as the grave.

After a moment, I dared to crack one eye and peek through my auburn curls at Aro. He had gone from fire and fury to stricken as he stood stock-still above me. I met his eye, and when still nothing happened, I let my other open once again. I hadn’t stopped shaking, though, and nothing in his expression changed. His hand was still frozen in the air, partially outstretched toward Caius. Caius lifted his own hand so slowly it felt like time itself had become sluggish. As soon as he gripped Aro’s hand, though, they seemed to share something that I couldn’t for the life of me understand. Aro gasped, and even through the near-blinding glittering of his face, I was able to see his eyes take on a strange mistiness. Almost like he was starting to cry, but no tears fell.

Their hands dropped to their sides simultaneously. Even with only one arm holding me now, I knew I couldn’t escape Caius unarmed. He was too fast, too strong, too impenetrably solid. Not to mention that he now had a lot of backup if I did somehow get away from him. All I could do was sit and wait for something, anything to make sense in my racing mind.

“Marcus,” croaked Aro as he met my eyes with utter sorrow in his own, “we owe Caius our eternal gratitude. He just saved Annabel’s life.”

“What?! What is the meaning of—”

Aro held his hand up fully and silence reigned once more. Thankfully I didn’t flinch that time, but I was still quaking and so tense I felt like my entire body had become one giant knot. Then, just as slowly as Caius had moved only a moment ago, Aro knelt before me on one knee.

“Annabel,” he whispered, reverence slipping into his tone as he drew out the last syllable of my name, “I know you are frightened, little one. There is so much you do not yet understand. I swear to you, though, that you will. I swear that you are safe here, with all of us. I swear we are not going to harm you, or trap you, or use you. I swear that Caius did not mean to frighten or hurt you,” At that statement, Marcus growled from behind Aro and I flinched again. With a defeated sigh at my obvious bone-deep terror, he continued, “And I personally swear on my life that even if you cannot see it now, we only want to care for you in every way imaginable. All of this, I swear not only for myself, but for my brothers and every other member of the Volturi as well. You need not fear us or anyone else in this world ever again, preziosa.” When I did nothing but stare back at him, he sighed heavily again. “I know you are afraid, but I beg you, say something. Anything at all.”

I swallowed thickly, trying to recover my bravery and my voice. My throat felt constricted with fear. “What are you?” I hoarsely whispered.

Even if he was lying and I was in exactly as much danger as I thought, I needed to understand what I had seen and experienced before they proceeded with brutally murdering me in the nearby forest. At least then I would have some small piece of closure.

He met my eyes with trepidation in his own. “We, everyone who dwells within the castle except a very select few, are vampires. But more importantly… Marcus, Caius, and I are your mates. I know how difficult….”

I couldn’t hear the rest of what he was saying to me. My hearing faded away into white noise that only existed in my mind. All I could think about were two words: vampires and mates.

Vampire was the only possible word that could describe all of them. Absolutely everything made sense at once. I’m simply not a sun kind of man at all, Marcus had told me.

Marcus. He was one of them. He didn’t tell me and he wouldn’t have told me had none of this happened. Aro was still talking, but my hearing had not bothered to return. I looked past his shoulder and found Marcus already staring at me with the same intensity he always did. But there was no comfort in those eyes left for me anymore. They were red. Blood red.

Before my mind could begin fully panicking at the implications of that errant thought, I switched gears to the term mate. Aro had said that he and his brothers were my mates. That was the general word for being friends in Europe. Was he trying to tell me they were my friends? I would have believed Marcus was my friend up until now. We had agreed we were courting, after all. We had spent one of the best days of my life together, despite the circumstances that set it in motion. But friends wouldn’t omit critically important personal details, like being a mythological creature known for bringing death upon mortals wherever they go, for instance. Neither would a trustworthy lover for that matter. I had let my guard down with him twice in twenty-four hours, and twice now I had come to regret it. Mates my sweet ass.

Suddenly, Marcus was kneeling beside Aro in the same position and taking my hands in both of his gigantic ones. The way he handled me with such care would have moved me only half an hour ago, but now, all I could do was focus on the cold sparkling of his skin and the carnelian irises that so deeply disconcerted me.

“Cara mia,” he whispered heartbrokenly, cutting through the static in my ears no matter how badly I wished not to listen, “please, please, do not shut me out. You cannot know how it kills me inside when you sever our bond. We have become so close, surely yesterday still means something to you?”

“How can it kill you when you’re already dead?” I asked blankly. All three of the men surrounding me wheeled back as if I struck them at the same time, and a few of the guards even audibly gasped at my harsh words. “Yesterday didn’t just mean something to me. It meant everything to me. And it was all a lie.”

“No—”

“Lies of omission are still lies.”

“I never lied to you about how I felt,” he whispered, squeezing my hands gently.

Snatching them back, I replied, “But you did lie about why you wouldn’t eat. About why you couldn’t go in the sun. And clearly you lied about not being a human trafficker too, seeing as everyone knows what vampires actually do eat.” Marcus looked like he wanted to cry, his eyes misting over the same way Aro’s had. His lips tremulously parted to respond, but I cut him off and whispered with a glare, “Go ahead. Look me in my eyes and lie to my face again. I’d expect nothing less from you at this point.”

His eyes squeezed shut and he clutched at his chest like my words caused him physical pain. I didn’t care.

Aro tried to regain control of the situation by saying, “Annabel, you have every right and reason to feel betrayed. You must understand, though—”

“What’s the handholding thing about? And don’t you dare insult my intelligence and play it off like it’s nothing.”

Whatever he had planned to say died on his lips immediately. The air around us grew thick with tension you could cut with a wooden spoon.

“It is a rare and spectacular thing for some vampires to be reborn with… abilities. Gifts, as I prefer to call them, for that is exactly what they are. My gift is that I am able to see every thought and moment of someone’s life merely by touching them with my hands.”

If I was already tense, Aro’s words had me bristling as every hair on my head and body stood on end simultaneously and goosebumps overtook me with a cold shiver. He had touched me in the infirmary. He had taken my hand and kissed it, even. He knew me inside and out. Every thought, every memory, every everything that was supposed to be mine was no longer mine alone.

So much had already been taken from me in my life. And Aro had somehow found a way to snatch everything that was left in a single instant with his greedy, glimmering hands without me being any the wiser. Even when I had thought Caius would kill me, or when I was about to kill myself, I hadn’t wanted to throw up the way I did in that second. No, wait, I needed to throw up.

They all must have seen how quickly all the blood drained from my face— how appropriate for vampires— because this time when I flung myself out of Caius’ lap, no one tried to stop me. I made it behind the closest tree before retching. Anything that had been left in my stomach from the night before now covered the roots of the tree at my feet. Thankfully I missed my shoes.

After a little more coughing and dry heaving, I limped out from behind the tree and went straight to my purse. I took out two sticks of gum and chewed like my life depended on it. I hated vomiting, but I hated the state of my mouth afterward even more.

No one moved or spoke, but I could feel every eye following even my most minute movements. It was in that moment I remembered my left palm was still bleeding from climbing the hedge. I hadn’t caused a feeding frenzy, so vampires must have more control than the movies led me to believe. For now, at least.

Apparently, they were waiting for me to break the silence. I obliged, asking croakily while still looking down at my purse on the ground, “Have you touched Marcus since last I saw him?” The pregnant pause that overtook the little space between us said far more than Aro ever could have. He knew every second of my time spent with Marcus. Every sight, sound, and touch had been exposed without my knowledge or permission. “Better question: Did you have to force Marcus, or did he let you see willingly?” More silence. I hated the silence. Allowing it to speak for them rather than having the decency to admit their wrongs against me aloud only made hot, roiling fury spread from the tips of my toes to the top of my head. “So, you’re all brazen enough to knowingly violate me, but not one of you has the balls to own up to it now that you’ve been caught.” I glared down at them where they were still kneeling, not even remotely satisfied seeing them in the dirt at my feet. “You’re nothing but a bunch of worthless fucking cowards.”

Only when I snatched my bag up and began walking away, intending to circle the parameter of the castle and get a taxi to the airport, did one of them finally find their voice. I was almost angrier that it was Marcus. “Annabel, please, we did not—”

I took out my wallet and passport, the only things in my purse that I actually needed, so that I could turn and throw the now-useless purse straight at Marcus’ head with my good arm. He was so visibly shocked by the action that he didn’t even try to dodge it. Watching it make perfect impact squarely with his dumbstruck face exactly as I had intended was the first thing to bring me any real satisfaction all morning. Then I kept walking. Well, limping.

Just as I was about to circumvent the line of guards who had been watching the scene unfold in poorly concealed shock, Felix blocked my path faster than my eyes could track him. I stopped and tensed at his proximity, but it was that very reaction that brought back my loathing with a vengeance. I knew firsthand the kind of pain he could cause me if he so chose, but I was well beyond knowing fear at that point. I was still ready to die rather than be held hostage.

“Either finish what you started yesterday or fucking move.”

He sneered down at me, his teeth catching the light from his sparkling skin. He had hardly raised his hand an inch before all three of the men behind me roared, “FELIX!”

His move was enough for his robe sleeve to pull back slightly, and that was when I noticed his wrist. There were many cracks that spiderwebbed up his forearm and a distinct fissure that encircled his wrist. As if he was made of stone and had reattached his hand after it had been sloppily broken off.

My mind flashed to leaving the Throne Room with Marcus the previous day. There had been the unmistakable sound of crumbling so nearby, but nothing in the room was broken. Felix was missing when the ruckus had finally stopped. And atop the heap being carried out of the room had been a hand.

He had gone completely motionless at the rebuke of his masters, and I couldn’t stop myself from indulging in a sneer of my own. “So glad to see that your arm is healing nicely,” I spat sarcastically before side-stepping him and continuing in my intention to leave.

It was a long walk from where I was to the main square. The opportunities to prevent my escape were endless, especially now that I knew what I was really up against. But no one followed. Not another syllable was uttered. There were none needed— not anymore.

I made it to the square at the center of Volterra unfollowed. I located a cab and made it to the airport unscathed. Only in the privacy of the payphone booth inside the airport did I break down.

I called Mama sobbing, asking her to wire me enough money for the next flight home and promising her I’d pay her back. She didn’t even question me, knowing that if I was in such a state while using a payphone instead of my cell, that something had gone horribly wrong in the short time since last we spoke. I must have told her I loved her a dozen times before I finally ended the call. After just narrowly escaping with my life for apparently the second time in twenty-four hours, I couldn’t let her go without making sure she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt how much she meant to me. If she had been worried about me when the call began, my desperation by the time we said goodbye had her terrified for my safety.

I waited an hour before booking my flight just to make sure that the money made it to my account. My flight wouldn’t be boarding for another five hours after that, and I spent that time sitting with my back to the wall, my eyes frantically flickering between every possible exit. I didn’t even dare get up to use the restroom. The last time I had thought I was safely headed home, Marcus had arrived to convince me to stay and had succeeded in tricking me. I idly wondered if he had brought those kids from the castle with him, setting it up perfectly so that I would have to trust him again. It wouldn’t surprise me at all, considering everything else I had learned about him and his brothers that morning.

But nothing strange happened at all. I made it on the plane this time without any intervention whatsoever. When the tires left the tarmac, I finally allowed myself to fully relax in my seat. This time, I was really going to make it.

Volturi Castle, Noon.

Annabel Whitehall left utter chaos in her wake.

Marcus was inconsolable. In his wildest imaginings, he never once thought that everything could go so horribly wrong so suddenly. After the day they had shared, and especially the night that followed, his heart had soared to heights he had never known before on the wings of hope and devotion. It was all because of his short time with her, and it had only made spending every second he could with her all the more important of a priority. Now, he may never get that chance. He could have sworn that his chest had been ripped open into an excruciating, gaping wound at Annabel’s parting and the resulting severing of their bond. The ache that remained was a constant reminder of all the ways he had failed her in their criminally brief acquaintance. He deserved far worse than a purse to the face.

He could have ripped his own arm off after seeing the pain he had directly inflicted upon her by betraying her trust in him, but he settled for ripping off Felix’s instead for daring to raise it toward his beloved in malice. Again.

Caius was fairing no better. He knew he was entirely to blame for that morning’s catastrophe and was brooding worse than anyone had ever seen from him. He could not simply be nice to her, could he? No, he just had to insult her yet again and then was moronic enough to make her feel like a desperate animal with her leg clamped in a trap that would lead to only suffering and death. So, like a warrior, she had bravely done everything she could think of to survive. And when he still would not leave her be and broke the law he had written himself by exposing his true nature to her, she had logically believed it would be her end. Then, she chose a warrior’s death as she had chosen a warrior’s life, and overcame all her natural survival instincts to claim her own passing before he could. She attempted to snatch victory from his very jaws and in a way, she succeeded. Never in his entire existence had he encountered a more courageous human, and she was just a tiny, utterly fragile thing, no less. Not even the greatest, manliest warriors of history could have claimed to stand their ground so valiantly against him even in far better circumstances. The comparison he was forced to draw between Annabel and those heroes of the old world would have been comical had she not been his mate and had she not come barely a second from suicide.

Seeing the blade that was clutched in her small, bloodied hand hurtling toward her frantically pulsing jugular, he had lost all control of himself. And once again, as he had been grappling with already, it was from fear. In his entire immortal life, Caius had never once felt such bone-chilling terror as when he had thought he could lose her. But that loss of control cost them all dearly in the end. Her tears streaming from her kaleidoscopic eyes down her frightened face, her begging, her screams still echoed in his mind. He suspected they would for years to come. They were entirely his fault, after all. Even then, though, she still tried to find ways to fight. When she felt perilously enclosed by the appearance of his brothers and the guard, she had prepared to run for her knife. As he realized her intention, he admired her seemingly endless fighting spirit more than anyone else he had ever known.

She had been right when she called them all cowards. Compared to her, who had everything to lose and still fought tooth and nail at every turn against impossible odds, they were positively pusillanimous. They were supposed to be the most powerful vampires to ever exist, yet quite literally, Annabel Whitehall had brought them all to their knees in only a day.

It had all fallen into place for Caius at once. Of course he would only realize how deeply he had come to love her when it was already far too late to salvage anything between them. Her constant fierceness, her tenacity in the face of any adversary, the many ways her tone of voice would change in a single conversation to convey the depths of her feelings, her crass language and biting spite when she was infuriated with him, her effortless beauty even in her darkest moments, her mouthwatering scent that belonged to her and only her… all of it combined to form the only woman in all of existence who could possibly be his true equal. He had not lived up to being her equal, though, and rightly, she was gone. But he had to admit, he preferred her to be absent and alive than absent after having suffered an excruciating, unnecessary death. If she had succeeded, he could not say for certain if he would have had the control to deliver her to immortality without draining her in the process. At the very least, he had ensured her survival that day, even if he was the one at fault for making her think it had been threatened in the first place.

So, while Marcus channeled his heartbreak into punishing Felix, Caius sat in the depths of his private wing and, for the first time in all of his many years as a ruler, did not engage in gratuitous violence to distract from his pain. Instead, he painted in stony silence, his eyes unblinking with single-minded focus.

Aro did a better job of hiding his turmoil, but he was just as distraught as his brothers. Too many thousands of years of using his gift to keep their world in line through fear had allowed power to go to his head and corrupt his judgement. He had thought absolutely nothing of it when he had read her mind and seen her short life laid bare before his mind’s eye. He never once even considered waiting to touch her so that he could explain his gift and gain her consent. He had wanted to satiate his curiosity regarding his mate and took the first opportunity he found. There was no hesitation, not one thought of how she might feel about such an extreme invasion of her privacy. Privacy which, as he had quickly come to find out, was dearly important to her and not something she was at all willing to compromise on.

This foolish oversight left him questioning himself in ways he never had before. Even when he had murdered his own sister in the name of solidifying his hold over the world and irradicating the Children of the Moon— his sweet, innocent Didyme who had never trespassed against anyone— it had not been enough to give him pause or change his course. Annabel Whitehall, his mate, had changed everything for all of them, it would seem.

There had never been a singular mate for three vampires before, no less had such an unheard of dynamic involved a human. Aro, his mind always straying toward thoughts of power, wondered briefly if this was some indication of the gift she would have as a vampire. But he shook that thought out of his head in disgust at himself. Even now, when he should be focusing on how he could repair what was now broken between them, he was thinking only of his own gain. He deserved every ounce of her ire.

According to Annabel’s own thoughts, love in its purest form was the willingness to do anything for another. Aro knew exactly how deeply and fiercely she could love, and it made him covetous for it. Selfishly, gnawingly, he craved her for his own. He would never tell a soul, not even his brothers, but he was desperate to possess her protectiveness, her care, her undying loyalty all for his own, as she was capable of all that and so much more when she dedicated herself to someone. He wanted that someone to be him.

He had not needed to read her thoughts to know how much she reviled him now, though. He and the entire Volturi, which she had no idea she could be the queen of if only she said the word. Just as he knew how all-consuming her passion was, he knew just as well that because of her passionate nature, once betrayed, it was nearly impossible to truly make amends and regain her trust. It was the nearly part that kept hope metaphorically alive and fluttering in his chest. She was a creature of extremes, fast-spreading lava over a frozen tundra, and that was exactly what made her so completely perfect to be their mate. There was no one else he wanted to spend the ages with, to be kept on his toes by, until the world was naught but dust at their eternally dancing feet.

It was not only the kings of the Volturi who were in respective lathers over the brash human, however. Every member of the coven was now in an uproar. The guards who had borne witness to their kings groveling and fretting over the miniscule woman quickly spread the news in whispers to everyone who would listen, disbelieving of what had transpired before their very eyes that morning. Their kings had broken their own laws, including allowing her to escape without consequence to freely tell the world of their existence, and had pleaded on their knees for her. Such a shameful display was unlike anything they had ever dreamed of seeing from their ruthless sovereigns, and at first, half the coven could not even bring themselves to believe that such a thing had transpired at all. Not until they heard Felix’s deep screams ringing out from the dungeons for the second day in a row, that is.

It was laughable to anyone in the world of vampires to even entertain the thought of their kings bending in any way for any reason at all, no less literally. And for a spiteful, ungrateful scrap of food like her, at that. But their kings had done so publicly. There was no denying any of it. The Volturi guard quickly descended into chaos.

Aro sat in the Throne Room alone. He had ordered every guard out of that wing of the castle entirely, ignoring their questions and, in some cases, vicious glares. There was much to be done and very little time with which to do it. Between the debacle with the Cullens and now Annabel, this was no time to have a weak, disorganized front.

The Cullens knew of Annabel and her significance. That was a given after Alice had interacted with her. If word reached them or any other coven that Isabella Swan had been sentenced to eternal life for the mere knowledge of vampiric existence while Annabel Whitehall was allowed to leave free and clear only twenty-four hours later, that in itself would be enough to spark an all-out uprising against the Volturi. In their world, even one crack in the façade of power was a death sentence. Aro had worked his entire existence to avoid such a situation as this, and now with their vulnerable mate on the line as well, there could be no mistakes from that moment forward. It had been a full millennium at least since Aro had to put so much effort into strategizing their next move, but he was happy to take on the challenge, if only for Annabel’s sake. This time, there could be no shortsightedness, no lapses in judgement to exploit. He would not fail his mate, even at the cost of his own life. It was the first time in his existence that he had ever considered sacrificing himself for another.

“Demetri,” said Aro softly into the silence. Instantly, Demetri was kneeling before his throne.

“Yes, Master,” he replied in his heavy Russian accent, eyes trained firmly on the floor out of respect.

“I am assigning you to track Annabel Whitehall until further notice. You are to ensure her safe return home, and once there, keep me informed on her every movement. Should anything threaten her safety, you will intervene even if it as at the cost of your own life. Do not allow the Denali coven to detect you, or anyone else for that matter. If anything unforeseen should arise, follow protocol to the letter. Am I understood?”

“Yes, Master. I have only one question.” Demetri presented his hand to Aro, his eyes never leaving the same spot on the marble floor beneath him.

Aro took his hand for a moment and hummed contemplatively. “This is not a retrieval mission. Yet. Although, if disaster should strike and it is no longer safe for her to remain at home, it would greatly please me if your creative handling of the situation might include returning her here.”

It was then that Demetri met the eyes of his king. They shared a smirk between them as he said, “Understood, Master.” At Aro’s signal, he then stood to leave, knowing that his orders were to be carried out immediately. But before he embarked on one of the most important missions of his life, he continued, “If I might be so bold, I would like to offer you my sincerest congratulations, Master. Miss Whitehall will be a marvelous queen one day and it is truly an honor to be her first private guard. I shall not fail in my duties.”

“Thank you, Demetri. I will share your sentiments with the other masters as well. Text or call every half hour, no other matter is more important than this.”

With a bow, Demetri was off, already using his gift to lock on to the trail Annabel had left behind. He had been surprised and even offended by her gumption that morning, but by the time she had made it past Felix, Demetri had understood why that seemingly random human was born to be their queen. If her bark was any indication of what her bite would be once reborn, he felt certain that no creature in existence would dare challenge their might while she sat the throne.

With Annabel’s safety now resting in some of the most capable hands in the world, Aro felt ready to move on to the next matter at hand: Getting the rest of his coven back in line. And for that, he needed his brothers.

First, he went to Marcus, who was still torturing Felix in the dungeons. It seemed that the millennia he had spent practically dormant had not dulled his streak for vengeance. By the time Aro had reached them, Felix was limbless and bellowing in agony as if Jane was the one punishing him. Perhaps in comparison, Jane’s gift would have been a mercy.

“Brother,” echoed Aro’s voice off of the damp stone walls, “Felix is not the only one who requires correcting. Bring him to the Throne Room, I am gathering the coven. We shall make an example of him.”

Marcus looked up long enough to nod before turning back to Felix and shoving a gag deep down his shouting throat. An example he would be, indeed. Such a reminder for their coven had not been required in ages. It was time to sbow them that he was still their king and his power was in no way diminished, whether from the passage of time or from grief.

Satisfied, Aro then went to Caius. It had been quite a long time since Caius had locked himself away in the studio in his wing of the castle, but that was where Aro found him. He had not been expecting the sight that met him, though.

“Caius, you have truly outdone yourself this time,” he breathed, a broad grin overtaking his features for the first time that day. “Annabel will be delighted. How did you choose the dress? That does not seem like your usual taste.”

Taking up the entire back wall of the dimly lit room was a portrait of their mate. A forest green velvet wrap dress covered her frame temptingly and only reached to above her knees. Every detail, down to each individual auburn curl, was perfectly and painstakingly recreated in oil paints. It made Aro pine for her all the more.

“It was the dress she left in her rooms,” Caius replied from his place directly in front of the portrait. When he had finished it, he could not bring himself to step away from it. Losing sight of her, even a painted form that paled painfully in comparison to the real thing, felt like it would make her absence from their lives permanent. Caius could not bear the thought of such an eventuality, despite how likely he knew it to be.

The fresh, delicate scent of cucumbers and eucalyptus could be detected beneath the heavy odor of the oil paints in the air. Aro caught sight of the dress in question in the corner of the room, covering a mannequin to properly capture the pose Caius had decided on. Aro longed to see the dress on her in person, even if it was hardly befitting of their queen.

“I am gathering everyone in the Throne Room. There is far too much dissent among the guard over Annabel. We must correct them before things get out of hand. I trust I can count upon your brutality if necessary?”

At that, Caius finally looked over his shoulder at his waiting brother. “Anyone who so much as whispers an unkind word about her will lose their tongues permanently. As a warning.”

Aro smiled wickedly at the thought. Caius did so enjoy corporal punishment. “I dare say that will not be enough to satisfy Marcus. I think even you will be impressed once you see the state of Felix.”

When Aro turned to leave, Caius blurred across the room to block the door. “We must discuss something before we proceed.” With a quirked black brow, Aro indicated for Caius to continue. “We are now very well aware of exactly how far Annabel is willing to go in situations she considers to be untenable. Before we get her back— If we get her back— we need to deal with our wives well in advance. It would not do to lose her again over them, as I believe she shares our distaste for sharing.”

Aro sighed, having entirely overlooked their wives. Caius was right, Annabel would most certainly not react well if she knew they were married and that their wives remained in the castle with them. It was just so easy to ignore them when they were conveniently locked away and perfectly content to remain that way.

“What do you suggest, brother?”

“We have countless properties we could move them to. Send Corin and Chelsea with them, we can always call them back should the need arise. Give them a chateau they can roam without discovery and never let Annabel cross paths with them.”

“Never is a very long time, Caius. I truly cannot decide which Annabel would be more upset by, finding out we are married while we pursue her or finding out we are married after we have finally won her.”

“Why would she be upset if we have no romantic ties with them and they are nowhere to be found?” The innerworkings of Annabel’s mind never ceased baffling Caius. He was proposing the most magnanimous solution he could think of. It very well may have been the most magnanimous proposition he had made in the entirety of his reign.

Aro sighed again, this time at having to reveal information about their mate that he knew she would rather be kept private. Forgive me, amore mio. “For her entire life, her father was also married and carrying on affairs behind her mother’s back,” he began. “Her mother tried to hide it from her so as not to make her already tumultuous relationship with her father worse, but she found out when she was only ten years old. On Christmas, no less, which is her favorite holiday. She was never the same after that, and cheating, as they call it today, is something she would never tolerate or be a party to. She even cut off all contact with her father on her eighteenth birthday for all the harm he caused them. That is part of the reason why she is so slow to trust, and with men especially. Even with people she is already familiar with and supposedly close to, she is always waiting for when she will next be betrayed, and unfortunately, she has always been right to do so. The only person she trusts completely is her mother. And, in our case, she admittedly has every right to feel as she does.”

Caius’ eyes bored into Aro’s, his jaw set in a hard line of anger that Aro knew all too well. “Who else has hurt her? What else should we be considering to win her back? We must have a flawless, united front, and if she requires vengeance we must act. No one is permitted to hurt her.”

Aro met Caius’ intensity with a rare show of melancholy that unsettled Caius to his core. “It is not for me to tell, but suffice it to say that she has been hurt by those around her far too many times in far too many ways.” Caius’ nostrils flared as he clenched his fists at his sides. “It is a testament to what a warrior she truly is that she has come out of all her trials even stronger and wiser than she was before, all without becoming bitter from the pain. That does not mean she is impervious to that pain, however. As I said, this life has made our flower delicate in some ways. In others, though, she is no flower, but a mighty oak that refuses to succumb to the woodman’s axe. Her bark regrows thicker with every attempt to fell her body and spirit, and it will be quite the challenge to reach her beneath her defenses, especially now. A challenge that I am certain we are equipped to overcome with time. We will start… by getting divorced.”

Caius’ eyes widened almost comically at Aro’s declaration. Despite having witnessed every social advancement in the last three thousand years, they were still men of a certain time. Vampires adapted but only very rarely changed, and when they had been alive, divorce was thousands of years from even being conceptualized. Killing wives was much easier for men like them to conceive of, so the fact that Aro was willing to go through with such a modern and complex action for Annabel’s sake spoke volumes of the impact her words that day had had on him.

“Why is that the option that would best please our mate?”

“Because her parents waited to divorce until only a few months ago. While she has not had direct contact with her father in almost a decade, she was still in the sphere of their horrid relationship up until recently, and it all still affects her daily. She begged her mother since she was a child to divorce him, but her mother could not due to their circumstances, and Annabel’s suffering was immense for it. I will not put her through any more unnecessary anguish and neither will you. Believe me, the concept of divorce is as foreign to me as it is you. I never would have suggested it had it not been the only option that would appease her. We must do this by her standards, not our own. She will never forgive or accept us otherwise.”

Caius nodded contemplatively as he mulled over Aro’s explanation. “We will take this matter under legal advisement, then,” he decided. “If it is divorce she would want, divorce she shall have. It is much cleaner than the alternative, at least.”

A dark look of understanding passed between them. With that, they let the topic lie and proceeded to the Throne Room together. Marcus had already gathered the coven when they arrived. A large black trash bag lay at the bottom of the white marble steps that led up to their thrones, and Marcus was seated upon his throne, his eyes alight with the flames of his fury despite his calm exterior.

When Aro and Caius perched upon their own respective thrones, Aro addressed the room, “It has come to our attention that there is some… dissatisfaction among you after the events of this morning. In the unlikely case that this dissatisfaction has put some ideas in any of your heads, keep in mind that this is the least of what you can expect should you make the mistake of acting upon any of those imaginings.” Aro gestured casually to the trash bag before Marcus stood and roughly shook its contents onto the ground at the feet of the guards. At the sight of Felix and his mangled, savagely detached limbs, some guards visibly straightened in discomfort, which was unusual behavior indeed for the most elite force of vampires to ever be assembled. Their fear was palpable, which was exactly what Aro wanted for their insubordination.

“We will make this clear once and only once,” Aro continued. “All of you, no matter what your gifts may be, are replaceable. Our mate and your future queen, who you have dared to judge this day, is not. We would rip every last one of you to shreds and put you to the cleansing fires before you would even have time to scream if any harm befell her because of you, whether it be physical or emotional. Nothing comes before her in this world. Just as all of you consider it your honor and duty to serve us in all ways, so shall you serve Annabel Whitehall, from this day until your last day. Some of you feel outraged that she is above the laws of humans in our eyes. Since it is we who make the laws of our world, not any of you, I suggest you reconsider your current stances on this matter immediately. When Demetri returns with her,” Marcus and Caius’ curiosities were piqued by this tidbit as they had not been informed of Demetri’s assignment, “you will be at her beck and call with gladness in your hearts for the privilege. You will offer her your immortal fealty, your protection, your council, and even your companionship should she require it of you. In short, whatever she says goes, and that is simply the fact of the matter from now on. To all of you who disagree with these orders, and they most certainly are direct orders, you may consider your eternal lives forfeit. Now,” Aro clapped his hands together loudly with an unnerving grin, “let’s see if we are all on the same page, as our darling likes to put it.”

One by one, Aro took the hand of every single member of the coven. Much to his relief, no one else would require being maimed or murdered that day. Yes, there had been plenty of dissent as he had imagined, but all had instantly taken his words to heart and committed themselves to their orders, as was expected of them. Once satisfied, he sent them all back to their posts and had Bernard Clarke, the only doctor among the Volturi, take Felix back to the infirmary with him to begin the healing process for his extensive injuries.

When the kings were alone, Caius asked, his excitement leaking into his tone despite his desire to seem unaffected, “Demetri is bringing her home?”

Aro smiled genuinely at his brother, pleased with the turn-around in Caius in such little time. He had gone from resenting their mate to eagerly referring to their castle, to them, as her true home in just a day’s time. “Yes, eventually. His current orders are to ensure her safe return to Alaska and keep constant watch over her without alerting the Denali coven. The last thing we need is outside interference on our mate during such a precarious juncture. Once she has calmed and the time is right, we will decide whether to go to her or to have Demetri escort her back. Regardless, we will be reunited. It is only a matter of time, and that is a resource we luckily have an abundance of.”

The brothers shared a chuckle between them. Hearing Marcus’ laughter was still a foreign but very welcome sound in the hallowed halls of their castle. It would go unsaid, but his brothers were glad to have him back. For too long he had been mired in his own black thoughts, entirely disinterested in the outside world that had held nothing but bleak anguish after the loss of his wife. The three of them appeared to be in simpatico once more, something that had not occurred in millennia, and it was all because they were coming together for their mate. In time, even the guard would be stronger for her influence. Now she just needed to return so they could show her properly how much she truly meant to them.

What each king kept to himself, though, was a growing greed born from their mate’s blood. She had cut her hand while attempting her escape. Marcus and Caius both had direct contact with her bleeding hand, and in secret behind secured doors as soon as they had reentered the castle, they tasted what little of her essence as they had gotten purely by chance. They had lapped at their palms and fingers like dogs, not allowing even one smear of Annabel’s blood to escape their ravenous tongues. Her blood was what fueled Marcus to new heights of ferocity as he saw to Felix’s punishment, and fueled Caius’ need to search her rooms for anything left of her and preserve her on canvas forever.

It did not escape Aro’s notice when her blood landed in the palms of his inferior brothers’ hands but not his own. The thought of them receiving such blessings while he was denied caused his envy to overflow into the throws of madness. Before he had taken his place in the Throne Room that morning to begin sorting out the debacles he now faced, he had taken to the castle gardens like a bloodhound on the hunt. It was only a matter of moments before he found the exact spot on the climbing vines of the garden wall where Annabel sliced her hand open, but in the fever of the hunt, it had felt like hours and drove him to a level of starved desire he had not experienced since waking as a newborn. Her scent radiated out in all directions from the exact point of the thorn that cut her. There was hardly any blood to speak of on it, but that did not stop Aro from wrapping his lips around the thorn and tracing his tongue over it rapturously. When not a speck remained, Aro knew no greater devastation. He desperately needed more of her. His brothers felt the same.

Of her blood they had all shared. By her blood they would either rise or fall. They outwardly celebrated the reformation and reclamation of their triarchy, though all three yearned and plotted for only one.

Chapter Text

My mother, Penelope Whitehall, picked me up from the airport and took me straight to her house since that was where I had left my car before my vacation. I cried the whole way. I was scared absolutely shitless.

Once we were home, Mama did everything she could think of for me: holding me, rubbing my back like when I was a little girl, wrapping me in my favorite blanket I always used while I was there… but the tears just wouldn’t stop flowing. All I could do was sob and hiccup my heart out while Mama could only stand by and watch. It was so unlike me. Even through my seemingly endless tears I could tell how alarmed she was by it all.

Finally, when the last of my tearstains had been roughly rubbed off my face by my own impatient hands, I sighed deeply. I felt like my body could collapse in on itself at any moment. But I had to tell her everything. We were in danger now and I had already wasted too much time.

“Mama…” I croaked, “you need to suspend any and all disbelief you might have at what I’m about to say. You know me. You know how rational and responsible you raised me to be. Everything, and I mean everything, I’m about to tell you is the complete truth. And no matter what, I need you to believe me.”

Placing her right hand comfortingly on top of my left, she nodded her blonde head in understanding. “Of course, baby. I trust you and I’m here for you. Take your time, we can always talk about it later if now is too soon.”

“We don’t have time anymore. We’re in deep shit.” At that, her back straightened and her eyes locked with mine, giving me her complete attention. I always used to take comfort seeing my own eyes looking back at me from her sweet face, but there could be no comfort for me then. Not with so much at stake she had no idea about yet.

I spilled my guts like my life depended on it, because I truly believed it did. That both of our lives did. I left out some details about my time with Marcus for obvious reasons, but everything else poured out of me so quickly that there were times Mama had to have me repeat myself more slowly. When I would tear up at different parts, especially toward the end of my explanation, she would squeeze my hand in solidarity but continued to just listen as I had asked her to. Finally, after all was laid bare, silence descended over the house. She looked like she was collecting her thoughts, sorting through every syllable I had uttered as her eyes scanned back and forth unseeingly with her own racing thoughts.

When she broke the silence, Mama said softly, “My poor, brave little darlin’. I truly have no other explanation than them really being a coven of vampires. I believe you, so don’t worry about that. We’re big horror fans, after all,” I smiled weakly at her attempt to lighten the mood. “But if they’re as wealthy and powerful as you say, we can’t stay here. I don’t think they wanted you dead or you would’ve been. At that time, though, you hadn’t told anyone else their secrets. It’s likely that they’ll come after you now or some point soon, and me by association. We have to assume they already are acting fast since one of them literally read your mind, just to be safe. We don’t have a lot of options, but I’ll get my contacts at the Pentagon on the horn. They should be able to get us relocated fast enough if we act now. Grab the essentials, call your landlord, and email your boss that you aren’t coming back. I want us wheels up in fifteen minutes tops. We’re gonna get through this, baby, don’t worry about a thing. We have daylight on our side, after all.”

With that, the race was on. I balled up my blanket, intending to pack it, and limped as fast as I could down the hall to my old bedroom. Everything that was really important to me, I kept in a go-bag in the back corner of my closet. Apartments in the Anchorage area weren’t exactly known for their safety, so I kept anything meaningful to me here when I originally moved out. I stuffed my blanket, my wallet, and my passport into the duffel bag and slung it over my good shoulder, ignoring the searing pain it caused in my sliced palm. My right shoulder and arm were terribly painful too, thanks to my distinct lack of a sling and medications, but adrenaline kept me focused and moving steadily. I could deal with a little pain until we got to a safehouse.

Without my cellphone, I had to load up my laptop, Google my apartment building, and use the number on the website to call my landlord with my mother’s landline. Mr. Greene, my landlord, was not at all pleased that I was suddenly leaving never to return, not even to give back the key to my apartment, and assured me in no uncertain terms that I would not be getting my deposit back.

With my laptop still open, I emailed the Office of the Registrar at the University of Alaska Anchorage to inform them of my immediate departure from my position. It wasn’t anything glamorous or even academic, just checking people in for their appointments and handing out diplomas to the people who couldn’t attend their graduations in person, so I wouldn’t miss it and I highly doubted anyone there would miss me. Luckily, I had gotten my last paycheck before Spring Break began, so there would be no need for them to do anything other than process the annoying paperwork and find someone else to man the front desk in my absence.

With two minutes to spare, I took one last appraising glance at the bedroom where I had stayed from my senior year of high school until I graduated from college. It made me misty-eyed, knowing that I was looking for the very last time at the one place in the entire world that had made me feel safe and secure. This was where I healed from my father. This was where I grew from every horrible boyfriend I ever had. This was where I danced with Mama to all of our favorite songs and laughed with my old friends late at night. This was the only real home I had ever known. I already missed it dearly.

I trapsed down the hallway, trying to take in every inch of it as I went, and met Mama down in the garage. While I had been busy, she gathered her own belongings, made her calls to her most trusted contacts, and had changed the license plates on her slate gray Mazda Tribute. We settled into our respective seats after she hauled my duffle into the back hatch with her own, and with no fanfare whatsoever, we fled the beloved home we had created together over the last decade.

Leaving my car parked in the driveway hadn’t seemed like a mistake at the time. Then again, most mistakes don’t seem like mistakes when you’re making them. The last time the subject of consequences came up, it was because I had innocently been in the wrong place at the wrong time and got dragged into a situation I had nothing to do with. However, this oversight was mine and mine alone. And there would most certainly be consequences.

* * *

The safehouse we were told to use was a secluded cabin in the mountains of Girdwood, an hour or so away from Anchorage. It was dingy and only had the bare necessities, but it did have running water and no one else knew about it, so it would more than do for our purposes. Once the impressive number of locks on every door and window were firmly set in place and triple checked, we were finally able to breathe a little easier. With one small mattress in the lone bedroom and a single couch in the cramped living room, we agreed that I would take the mattress for a nap but Mama would get it for bed that night. In the light of the early afternoon, I slept like a rock until dinner.

We ate MREs in silence, which was extremely unusual for us. We always talked at mealtimes. We always laughed long and loud together. But not that night. The silence wasn’t broken until the remnants of our meal had been discarded.

“You know we need to talk about the whole vampire thing, right?” asked Mama.

“Is this the part where you admit you don’t believe me?”

“No! I meant it when I said I believe you. We wouldn’t be here if I didn’t.”

With a dubious glance, I asked, “Then what’s there to talk about?”

“Well, just about everything, I’d say. You know me well enough by now that you had to see an interrogation coming,” With my first chuckle of the day and a small nod, I waited for her to continue. “So, it really is a lot like in the movies? They’re almost invincible, immortal, superhuman speed and strength, and they even have powers?”

“The big deviation from the movies, as far as I can tell, is the sunlight thing. They don’t burn up, they shine. My God, Mama, you should’ve seen ‘em all. It’s like their skin is made of actual diamonds, but the only way to know it is when they’re in direct sun. Oh, and I don’t think they’re afraid of crosses or garlic, either. They would’ve been long dead seeing as they’re in Italy.” We both laughed softly at that, and I was grateful for the small taste of normalcy between us.

“Okay, so all of a sudden, after kidnapping you right off the street in broad daylight, this big bad coven wants to… what? Make friends with a random American girl and show her a good time on vacation? That makes absolutely no sense. And while I’m praising God every minute that you made it back here safely, the fact that they didn’t stop you makes no sense either. Especially after one of them broke your arm and dislocated your shoulder like it was nothing. What am I missing here?”

Well, I guess I couldn’t keep my date with Marcus a secret anymore. It was embarrassing having to admit that I had been taken in by yet another manipulator. “The one I told you about who was so nice to me at first, Marcus, seemed interested in me. Well, you knew that since I mentioned him before I got the hell out of there. He took me to lunch and dinner, and he paid for my medical bills too. If he doesn’t send for someone to kill us, then I’ll assume that those gestures were at least somewhat genuine. All I can think, though, is that they wanted me for some specific reason, but maybe Aro felt like they couldn’t get away with me disappearing if you’d be coming after them for answers with the full force of the federal government on your side. He read everything in my mind, after all. I’d imagine that one insignificant human escaping is better than having an international incident on their hands. Not exactly inconspicuous at that point.”

“That still makes no sense.”

“How?”

“Well, no offense, but why would a vampire go on a date with a human? This isn’t Bram Stoker’s Dracula, reincarnated look-alikes don’t actually happen. So, what possible reason is there for his interest?”

“I really have no clue, Mama. By the time I was escaping, even his brothers were acting weird. Caius had been just… horrifying the whole time I was there. And Aro’s smile could either light up a room or make your skin crawl. But all three of them were, for lack of a better term, groveling at my feet in the end, right there on their knees in the dirt. They could’ve done anything to me, or just let me die when I tried to—” Mama squeezed my hand, making me stop mid-sentence. I knew she hated hearing about that, so I redirected. “But they didn’t. And when Felix tried to hurt me again, they wouldn’t let him touch me. None of the last seventy-two hours make any sense at all, but here we are.”

She took a moment to process my words, then asked hesitantly, “Do you think they wanted to make you… one of them?”

That possibility hadn’t crossed my mind for even a single second, but it was the only theory that worked in light of the circumstances. They had kept me from being mortally wounded and had made an effort to get me to stay, even if it all was only for show. Wanting to make me a vampire for some unknowable reason was the only explanation that seemed to click for my addled brain.

“I… it hadn’t occurred to me before, but that could be exactly it. I have no idea why they’d want to recruit me of all people, but they definitely made it clear that they didn’t want me getting any more hurt than I already am and intended for me to stay a while at least. The ways they intimidated their guards and the doctor who supposedly wanted to help me were unmistakable.”

“Were they nice to you before or after your mind was read?”

“Before. Marcus defended me right from the start.” I turned the scene from the Throne Room over in my mind, trying to figure out if I had missed some early indication of their intentions, before continuing slowly, “Aro and Caius were both confused by Marcus helping me at first. Then Marcus gave Aro his hand to read his mind, and Aro started questioning him to make sure whatever he saw was true.” After a silent moment of processing, I burst, “Marcus must have some power he didn’t tell me about! Whatever it is, that has to be why he targeted me so immediately! After that, Aro was totally different toward me. He went from antagonistic to… kind. Awestruck, even, for a minute there. But Aro didn’t read my mind until a little while after that. Whatever he was looking for in my brain, he must’ve found it if they were considering turning me into a vampire.”

Mama sat in stunned silence for a few minutes, trying to take it all in and put together the few pieces of the puzzle we had. When she finally spoke, it was the last thing I had ever expected her to ask me. “So, if they come back for you, will you let them make you into a vampire?”

My head snapped in her direction so fast I actually felt my neck pop. “Dear God, of course not! Why would I even consider doing something like that?! I’d be dead!”

“It doesn’t seem so bad, dying once to live forever. When you were growing up and we’d watch vampire movies while your dad was away, you always wanted the handsome vampires to sweep you off your feet and make you one of them. You’d get so upset when they’d fail and die in the end. Maybe this is the chance my little Anna always asked for, hm?”

“Mama, you sound completely out of your mind right now. You realize that, right?” I asked, staring at her with wide, startled eyes.

“Honey, we both sound out of our minds right now. All I know is, though, if I had a shot at immortality, I’d take it. Even if you ended up having to run later, it’s a lot easier running when you have supernatural powers to help you.”

“What if they only want me because of what I know about you? What if I’d end up having to use my supernatural powers against you? What then?”

“Well, that would be my own fault for pushing you toward them, wouldn’t it? I’d have my demise coming at that point. But at least I’d die knowing you wouldn’t.” Now that answer stunned me. “Oh, don’t look so surprised. There is no worse fear on this earth for a mother than losing a child. When you called me at the airport, all I could think was the absolute worst. I counted the minutes until your last plane was supposed to land. Then I counted the seconds until I saw you at the baggage claim. For me, I’d die a thousand times before letting something happen to you. I was frantic, Anna, frantic over you. You were so far away and all I could do was wait. It’s agony, not knowing if your baby is going to be okay. If I knew you were immortal and virtually indestructible, I’d finally be able to sleep soundly at night. I’d still worry, I’ll always worry about you, but the promise of your immortality would be a gift I could never repay.”

I leaned over and hugged her with my good arm, trying not to cry even more after all the tears I’d shed that day already. She gently encircled me and ran her hand from my scalp to the ends of my unruly curls. I always knew how fiercely my mother loved me, and I loved her just as intensely. I could easily imagine exactly how terrified she had been while awaiting my safe return because I would’ve felt the same way for her.

“I love you so much, Mama. I could never run off to become a vampire and leave you all alone.”

I felt her cheek lift in a small smile from where it rested against my head. “Love you too, my precious darlin’. More than life itself.”

After that, we decided to call it a night. Mama, though she was loath to admit it, was visibly exhausted from all the events of the day. She retired to the bedroom while I sprawled out on the musty couch with the blanket I had brought with me. I wished I could sleep, but after the nap earlier and finally figuring out that I had narrowly escaped becoming a vampire, I was far too wired to even consider shutting my eyes. I got comfortable enough for my heartbeat to finally slow down and for my breathing to become more relaxed, which was a nice change after all the adrenaline that had coursed through my veins for far too long.

With nothing else to do at the moment and having no motivation to move, I laid on my good side and stared out the window. I was glad I did, too, because otherwise I never would’ve noticed the black and white blur that sped past the glass. Just a few days ago, I would’ve assumed it was an owl and thought nothing more of it. I knew better now, though. We hadn’t run far or fast enough to escape. At least one vampire was here, so they must be trying to finish the job.

And Mama was alone.

I sprang from the couch, only barely noticing the pain that shot through my shoulder and ankle at the action, and sprinted with everything I had to the other end of the cabin where the bedroom door was shut. Throwing open the door with a bang that reverberated throughout the tiny space, I arrived just in time to find a guard I recognized standing between the mattress and the open window, staring down the barrel of the handgun Mama had trained directly at his forehead from where she sat.

Time and space seemed frozen in that instant. No one moved and not a sound could be heard from within or without. None of us were even breathing, I realized in the back of my mind.

Letting out the air in my lungs all at once, I gasped out, “Don’t hurt her. You want me, so take me.”

The guard turned to meet my hazel eyes with his ruby red ones. As soon as he moved, though, Mama cocked the gun.

“If you want my baby, you go through me.”

His head remained turned in my direction, but his eyes returned to Mama’s. “There seems to be some misunderstanding here,” he finally said, his voice laced heavily with a Russian accent.

Mama scoffed and replied, “Oh, there’s no misunderstanding. You won’t be the first Russian I’ve killed to protect her. I’m only sorry you’re so cute. What a waste of a pretty face.”

At that, a broad grin slowly spread across his pale features, making deep dimples appear on both of his cheeks. “Madam, even if you could kill me, there would be no need for such an extreme reaction. On my honor, I mean neither of you any harm. In fact, I am under strict orders to protect your daughter with my life. Although, I do appreciate the compliments, regardless of the threat that accompanied them.” He had the audacity to wink at her when he finished.

“Then state your name, your business, and whose orders you’re under, because breaking into a safehouse you shouldn’t have any idea about ain’t exactly friendly in my book.” Mama’s eye contact with him was as unwavering as her grip on her gun.

“I’m Demetri, Volturi guard and the greatest tracker in all the world. I am under the direct orders of Master Aro, although anything he orders is also an order by extension of Masters Caius and Marcus.”

“And what, specifically, are your orders?”

“I’m not at liberty to say.”

I interjected, “If you don’t do some fast talking, she absolutely will shoot you. We can only assume you’re lying if you won’t say why you’re here in full.”

With a sigh of exasperation, he elaborated, “My orders, specifically, are to protect Annabel Whitehall at all costs, to ensure her safe return home, and to track her no matter where she goes. Every half hour I must also check in to report her status.”

“Who do you report to?” asked Mama, her voice low and glaring eyes glinting dangerously in what little light the window provided.

“Master Aro, unless he directs me otherwise, of course. In that case, I would report to either Master Caius or Master Marcus, whoever would be available at that time.”

“So, they already know exactly where we are?” I asked, feeling the blood drain from my face.

“They have known your whereabouts since before you left Volterra.”

“Why are they doing all of this? I’m not special! I don’t know anything of great import and I have nothing to offer them.”

“On the contrary, you are the most special. No, you don’t know anything they intend to use or even care about as far as I’m aware, but you do have everything to offer them, and they you in return. If only you would let them, you’ll see what I mean.”

“You aren’t making any sense and it isn’t helping your case for not getting shot,” Mama said icily.

Demetri sighed again before asking, “You remember that Master Aro said he and the other masters are your mates, correct?”

Now it was my turn to scoff, which sounded very much like my mother’s. “If you’re about to give me the spiel on how they’re trying to be my friends, you can shove it up your ass and just give me the facts here. Friends don’t send their guards to break into friends’ safehouses in the middle of the night.”

He had the unmitigated gall to smirk at me and chuckle. He was the only one amused by this situation.

“No, not your friends, your mates. Biological mates, not social ones. You, Annabel Whitehall, somehow managed to win nature’s lottery when no one even knew it was possible. You were born to spend eternity with Masters Aro, Caius, and Marcus as their immortal mate. One day, when you are ready, you will be the queen of the entire vampiric world with your three kings at your side and the entire Volturi guard, including me, at your back. You are destined for greatness beyond your wildest imaginings. Friends, indeed,” he finished with another deep chuckle.

I glanced at Mama with my brows deeply furrowed, completely shocked by what Demetri was saying. Her eyes and gun remained fixed on him, though, still ready to pull the trigger at any second. “You said that you have to check in every half hour, right?” she asked.

“Correct.”

“When did you last check in?”

He slowly raised his hand so as not to instigate Mama and revealed what was clearly a burner phone. Glancing at the time, he answered, “Twenty-six minutes ago.”

“What happens if you don’t contact them on time?”

“I will receive a very angry call from Master Aro. Or, if he’s busy, one of the other masters.”

“And if you still don’t answer?”

“I’m not certain. No one has ever failed to check in on time before. But my best guess is that the strongest members of the guard would descend upon your last known location and eliminate whatever threat has kept me preoccupied.”

“You’re gonna give me your phone,” I broke in.

At that, Demetri raised a sandy blonde brow at me. “I’m not permitted to do such a thing.”

“I’m supposed to be your queen, right? If that’s at all true, you’ll give me that phone right now. Clock’s tickin’.” I reached my hand out with my slashed palm up, clearly expectant.

He smirked again and glanced at Mama. “May I have your permission to approach my queen?”

“You may,” she answered, “but try anything funny and it’ll be the last thing you ever do.”

“It’s truly adorable that you still think you could somehow hurt me.” With another irritating chuckle following his infuriating comment, he slowly stepped toward me and placed the phone in the center of my palm. The time on the screen showed that Aro would be calling in approximately two minutes.

Two minutes in dead silence felt like hours, but no one moved or made a sound. All we could do was shift our eyes between each other and wait for the time to pass. Despite the anticipation, when the call finally came through, the vibration of it made me almost jump out of my skin. Demetri’s seemingly permanent smirk widened, which made Mama’s jaw clench in annoyance. We mere mortals weren’t interested in fun and games at the moment.

Flipping the phone open, I didn’t even get the chance to open my mouth before Aro barked, “You had better be dying, because if you made me wait for any other reason—"

“Well, hello to you too, Aro.”

The startled gasp I heard from the other end of the line forced a small smirk of satisfaction to curl my lips. “Annabel….” Apparently, Aro was with his brothers, because I heard hushed, male voices and the rustling of fabric as they gathered closer to the phone.

“If you’d rather I be dying, I’m sure Demetri will be able to get the job done for you. He’s already here on your orders, so just say the word.”

“No! Annabel, darling, please, I—”

“You better have a good goddamn explanation for this.” Now wasn’t the time for pleading and groveling, and I wouldn’t stand for it if any of them tried. I was still a precarious mixture of terrified and utterly furious. “I’m glad you’re all together, we have a lot to discuss.” Pressing the speaker into my shoulder to cover it, I whispered to Mama, “Will you be okay by yourself or do you want me to stay?” She jerked her head toward the living room behind me, her eyes never leaving her target as she held her handgun steady. Turning my attention to Demetri, I continued softly, “If I come back and you’ve touched even one hair on her head, I swear to God, I’ll find a way to kill you. I don’t care what it takes.”

Demetri bowed with a wolfish grin and a hand over where his heart should’ve been beating, but said nothing in return. It was as much of a reassurance as I could expect, I supposed. With that, I left the bedroom door cracked so I could hear if things took a turn for the worst in my absence and limped back to the couch.

They must have been able to hear when I was settled comfortably, because there was silence on their end of the call until that point. “If I might be so bold, it is rather refreshing hearing you threaten your own guard. It pleases me that the flame which burns so brightly within you has not been snuffed since our unfortunate parting,” purred Aro charmingly. I supposed, with a roll of my eyes, that any future attempts at keeping them from hearing everything on my side of the conversation would be futile.

“Refreshing isn’t the word I’d choose for this situation. Alarming would be more accurate, I think.”

“Yes, my apologies. Of course you would be alarmed, and your mother as well. I am impressed that you caught Demetri on the very first night, though. He has never made a mistake of this magnitude before. However did you manage it?”

“It wasn’t hard, he ran right past the window and broke into the bedroom immediately after. You’re lucky my mother hasn’t shot him yet, by the way.”

“Oh, dear, I would not recommend such a course of action. A bullet would ricochet and potentially hit one of you.”

“Even if she shot him in the eye?”

There was a brief pause before Aro answered, “Actually, I have no idea. We never thought to test it since humans typically shoot everywhere else first.”

“I’ll let you know how the experiment goes if it escalates that far, then. Mama’s got an itchy trigger finger and I’m not particularly inclined to stop her if she decides to use it considering the circumstances. But for now, let’s get down to brass tacks. Marcus, you’re there, right?”

There was another beat of silence before a rumbling, hesitant, “Yes?” crackled through the speaker.

“Good, because you’re going to explain your… gift to me. In full. And then after you, Caius will too.”

Caius interjected, “I have no gift.”

“Oh good, this’ll go quicker than I thought. Marcus, the floor is yours.”

I could’ve sworn I heard a gulp before he asked, “Do you remember that I referenced our bond several times?” When I hummed in the affirmative, he continued, “My gift is that I can see the bonds between people. The ties that bind, you might say. I see how people feel about one another and the potential they share, which is how I knew you were our mate from the start.”

“Ah, yes, the whole mate thing. We’re going to need to talk about that in a lot more depth. Having Demetri here has been quite enlightening.”

“What has he told you?” Marcus sounded dubious. I was in the mood to make him proverbially sweat.

“We’ll get to all of that. Have you explained everything about your gift or is there more?”

“That is all there is to know. But Annabel….”

“Yes?”

“I only see bonds, I have no way of manipulating them through any trickery. I just… I need you to understand that.” His voice, which was already so deep and smooth, always got deeper when he was being vulnerable like this. Every braincell I had screamed at me for it, but I couldn’t help but find it to be endearing, like I did about everything having to do with Marcus. My heart wanted to take him at his word. I hadn’t forgotten how he had made me feel on our date, after all. My mind wouldn’t allow it without extensive proof, though, and as usual my mind won out. That didn’t mean I was unaffected, however. I could feel my all-business demeanor softening toward him against my better judgement.

“Thank you for clarifying that, Marcus,” I replied, my voice wavering in its clipped tone. “But I really don’t appreciate being hunted down by your guards in the dark of the night after everything that has already happened. If he isn’t here to kill us, I want him gone.”

Aro answered instead of Marcus this time. “He is your guard, though. He cannot guard you if he is away from you.”

“I never asked for a guard. I want. Him. Gone.”

“I can only agree to such a thing if you will return here with him. How else can your safety be assured?”

Like lightning, an idea came to me so suddenly that it could’ve knocked me over if I hadn’t already been sitting. I had to play it cool no matter what, though, or else it wouldn’t work. “If you’re the one assuring me, then I definitely don’t want him here. And I most certainly will not be going anywhere with him. You can tell him to go or I will, but either way he’s leaving by morning.” When no one interjected, I continued, “Now, to answer Marcus’ previous question, Demetri dropped a lot on me all at once and it’s all extremely farfetched, so you’ll have to explain and fill in some gaps for me as we go. Long story short, though, he said that I’m destined to be a queen with you three one day because I’m your mate. How that’s supposed to work, I have no idea, but that’s the gist.”

“I see that in addition to failing miserably in his mission to remain discrete, he also failed at holding his tongue until an appropriate time and place could be arranged for such revelations,” said Aro, whose tone could have easily been mistaken for pleasantness or even mild amusement if I wasn’t certain that he was wearing a bone-chilling grin on the other end of the line.

“So, everything he said was true?”

“Indeed.”

“How can you be certain? You could just pick someone else and not go to so much trouble.”

The three brothers shared a chuckle at that before Aro replied, “It is as Marcus explained. Our bond is unmistakable. No one else in all the world, throughout all time, could replace you. Not under any circumstance, not for any reason. You are our one true mate, now and forever more. You are our only mate, and that will always be the case. We are, as you would put it, soulmates. We are bound to you by fate, just as you are bound to us.”

“I find that a little hard to believe. Why would your mate be from a completely different time than y’all? And don’t pretend you’re from anywhere near this century, it’s obvious none of you are. And why a human at all when there’s apparently an entire world of vampires out there to choose from? You’re the kings, after all. You could have literally anyone else.”

“I am glad you asked, preziosa, as I have also been contemplating this matter deeply, and I may have a satisfactory explanation for you. To address your first point, over the course of our lifespans, much has changed for women in this world. Never before have they been so empowered, so bold, and so educated. It is my belief that had you been born at any other time in history, you would not have had the traits that make you so perfect to rule as our equal. You will learn all that can be known about our world with time, but something you must understand is that vampires spend their lives longing for their true mates to find them. The vast majority of the time, though, they never cross paths. It is hardly a life at all, living incompletely without a mate. And should mates come together only to be lost once more, whether through death or separation, the grief is enough to drive even the most logical vampires to everlasting insanity.

“Now to your second point: You worry that your mortality equates to insufficiency, all the while not realizing that it is your very mortality that solidifies your place as our ideal match. Had anyone else been the one to give you eternal life before we met, we three would spend the rest of our lives mad with jealousy at the bond you would innately share with another. You would have also been our subject and bound to us by law, not by choice. So, you see, it took three thousand years for every element to perfectly align and bring you to us, but now that they have, there will be no one else for the rest of our endless days. It is simply impossible for anyone to replace you. You are free to decide how to proceed, of course, though you must understand that our individual bonds with you are permanent. Nothing and no one will dissuade us from your side. We mate for life, as they say in those nature documentaries you are so very fond of.”

My mind was racing at such a rapid pace that I could hardly keep up. In any other scenario, everything I had just heard would be utterly absurd. Laughable, even. But I was acutely aware of the fact that I wasn’t in any other scenario. Obviously, Aro had meant this to be a positive way for me to understand his reasoning, but all I could think of were the potential dangers.

Mama was right, as per usual. They intended to make me one of them. A vampire. Even if he was lying about me ruling as an equal with them, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he was, the intention to recreate me in their image was crystal clear. He said I had a choice, though.

“And what, exactly, will happen to me and my mother if I refuse my supposed destiny?”

“My dear, do not concern yourself. I understand that I have breached your trust by accessing your mind without permission, and for that I will apologize a thousand times if you would allow me, but doing so has given me extensive insight into what you value most. No matter what you choose for your future, we will respect it to the letter. If you wish to remain human and continue with your life as if we never met, then so be it. We will ensure your safety and the safety of your mother through the guard, but we would never directly interfere if that is your wish. I know your mother and your freedom are the most important things to you in all the world, and I would never see you parted from them for as long as you live. I ask that you do not allow Demetri’s lapse in professional judgement to color your opinion on the capabilities of the guard as a whole. They are the most proficient standing army in the world, and a mistake of such magnitude will never occur again.”

I definitely still wasn’t over him reading my mind without my knowledge or consent, no less using the information he obtained to none too subtly sweeten the pot for me, but I had to admit that he was being exceptionally convincing. “So, if I refuse it all right now, Demetri won’t kill us in retaliation? He’s really here for protection?”

Another chuckle was shared among the brothers before Aro replied, “Had Demetri been sent to kill either of you, he would have done so long before now. And he most certainly would not have allowed you to take his phone or threaten him. We have lived a very long time, Annabel. We did not get this far by wasting even a second of it.”

While Aro had chosen a disconcerting way to go about reassuring me, I was reassured nonetheless. He was particularly compelling, damn him. “And what happens if I agree to being your mate? What happens to us then?” Even saying it was insane. Sure, polyamory was a thing, but this seemed different. From the sound of it, I was going to be shared by them. Just the thought made me blush, embarrassingly enough.

I could hear the smile in Aro’s voice as he said, “Both you and your mother would be escorted back to Volterra at once, in that case. We were informed that you made the necessary arrangements to never return home, so there would be no complications to worry about. The belongings you left here have been neatly arranged in your suite already.”

Ah, so this had been meticulously planned. I was not a fan of others making plans for me without my knowing. Instantly I was compelled to thwart them, if only to drive home the fact that I was the singular master of my own destiny, regardless of how many mates I allegedly had. Frankly, I was insulted that they assumed me to be so predictable. And as a little bonus for myself, this would all play in nicely to my earlier idea. “Well, thank you for taking care of my things, but I won’t be needing them. I’m going to stay, and if you’re going to force me to have a guard whether I know about them or not, I want one who will actually do their job correctly. Should I send Demetri back to you now or tomorrow?”

The smile I had heard in his voice only a moment ago had apparently disappeared in an instant, because he sounded downtrodden when he answered, “A guard will relieve him on the morrow. They will remain out of sight as you wish, but you will be constantly protected from now on.”

“My mother too?”

“Of course. If you would prefer her to have her own assigned guard, it will be arranged at once.”

“I’d feel much better knowing that if we’re apart, she’ll still have someone watching her back. Thank you, Aro. Marcus and Caius, too. Your understanding means a lot to me.”

“Never thank us for simply doing our duties as your mates, preziosa.”

Marcus intoned sadly, “We truly only want what is best for you, tesoro. I will remain eternally ashamed for my part in losing your trust. I only hope that one day, you can forgive me for my deception and the pain I caused you.”

“… I will never be able to make things right between us, will I?” Caius asked rhetorically, his own disappointment evident.

Hearing their responses almost made me feel bad for what I was doing. Almost. But they needed to learn a hard lesson on how unwelcome hidden motives were to me, and this was the best way I could come up with. If they couldn’t even handle a taste of their own medicine, then there wasn’t a snowball’s chance in hell they’d be able to handle me.

“Aro is right. My freedom means too much to me to give it up. Not for anything. I have to go now.”

“Wait—!” burst Caius.

“There’s nothing you can say to change my mind.”

“I will not try to change your mind, but I cannot let you go without apologizing first.” Well, that shut me right up. He was audibly on edge, and I couldn’t help but be intrigued. With a sigh, he continued, “I have much to make amends for. I am… sorry that I frightened you. That I made you feel that your very life was in peril. I swear to you, it was not my intention and I never wanted to see you harmed in any way. I am also sorry for rejecting you out of hand. My every action toward you was uncalled for and I… I am asking for your forgiveness. I have not forgotten what you said to me in the hall. I must earn your respect through trust, and if given the chance, I will do everything within my power to make it so.”

This was where the rubber would meet the road, as they say. Just the same as my heart had yet to erase the tenderness I had grown to feel toward Marcus, it also hadn’t erased the traumatic terror I had felt when facing down Caius, either. Yes, he had made a small attempt afterward to soothe me, but it was far too little, far too late by that point. If he was claiming that he was committed to rectifying what he had done, he would have to prove it beyond a shadow of a doubt.

After taking a moment to digest his words, I asked, “And how, exactly, do you intend to make this right? Why do you even care? If Aro and Marcus put you up to this, or you’re just trying to manipulate me, then I won’t stand for it.”

He paused, which made me instantly uneasy. Either he was considering his next words of his own accord, or his brothers were coaching him on what to say at a decibel my human hearing couldn’t detect.

“… I care because… I… I respect you.” He sounded stunned by his own admission as he breathlessly finished that sentence. I was glad he couldn’t see the shock on my face at that moment. “Admittedly, I have never respected a human before in my long life, not even when I walked this earth as a mortal myself. I respect you, though, for your bravery and your fury. And I dearly wish for you to equally respect me in return. Set your terms, any terms, and reparations will be made in full. This is my solemn vow to you.”

“Before I say anything else, explain why you locked me in my room. And why you chased me, too.” That had especially bothered me. He could’ve easily just left me alone, but instead, he had trapped me and set in motion the events that drove me from Volterra. It was baffling to me why he would ever think to do such a thing.

“The way you so easily dismissed me in the hallway… it infuriated me. What incensed me further, though, was how easily you chose to leave when I rebuked you. You would not be coerced or intimidated. You are a willful little thing, and I tolerate cheek from no one. So, I followed you to your accommodations with the intention to argue further. However, I knew you would not hear me willingly, so I… rather impulsively and shortsightedly locked you inside to force your attention. Never did I imagine what would transpire next, though. You must believe me when I tell you that I meant no harm.”

Well, that was quite the revelation. I glanced at the bruises that encircled my left wrist. He had shaken me so hard when I saw him last that purple and blue splotches in the shape of a large hand spread from the heel of my palm to halfway up my forearm. I could accept that he had initially meant no harm, but that didn’t mean that no harm had been done.

“Okay, I believe you. But what did you want to say while I was your captive that you couldn’t just say to my face? You aren’t exactly shy about yelling at me and insulting me whenever you feel like it.”

“That is just exactly it, you see. I am never shy about yelling and insulting, as you put it, and you have made me come to regret that fact. I had thought that perhaps, with you being kept in place, we might eventually find a course to civility.”

“But that doesn’t let me know what you actually wanted to say. You wanted my attention, so now you have it. Tell me whatever it was.”

Caius sighed deeply before admitting, “I was going to express my regret for what I said about you in the infirmary. I was hasty and thoughtless. You did nothing to incur my ire and… I had wished to intercept you and make amends over breakfast. When you found me speaking with Felix in the hall, I was preparing to send him out to fetch an assortment of pastries for you. I thought it may be prudent for both he and I to apologize at the same time.” Once again, I was glad this conversation wasn’t taking place in person, because my jaw had dropped at that information. There wasn’t a hint of deception in his voice, just complete sincerity and remorse. “Then, of course, my infamous temper got the better of me. Seeing the look on your face in the corridor before you fled so quickly… it all wounded me. I was responsible for that look, for your hasty exit, but still they wounded me. And when you could not even bring yourself to fully face me while you told me off, it was a rejection the likes of which I have never known. A rejection I deserved after rejecting you first and far more harshly for no reason only the day before, but I am not accustomed to such. Thus, I was cruel once more, and the fact that you took it in stride irked me beyond reason. We all know what occurred shortly thereafter.”

Silence fell over the call as I gathered my thoughts. From the very brief time spent in his presence, I got the distinct impression that no one on the face of the earth had ever received such a contrite confession from Caius. If he had wanted to manipulate me, he could have done so in a million other ways that would not have involved humbling himself like this. Especially in front of his brothers.

The sight of him as he shook me and raged was still fresh in my mind, however. The blinding light of his face, which had been so terrifyingly close to mine in what I thought might be my last moments alive, still left a phantom sting in my eyes when I thought about it. The bruises he had left on me were ugly and aching reminders of what would happen to me if I stepped out of line. When I conjured his face in my mind’s eye, all I saw staring back at me was my own death, his eyes wild and his teeth bared. Despite his earnestness now, all I had to tangibly hold on to was the wrath I faced then.

I knew the silence had stretched on too long, so I fought down the lump in my throat to respond, “I appreciate you saying all of that. I can imagine this conversation hasn’t been easy for you.”

Caius heaved another great sigh and bluntly stated, “You do not forgive me.”

“I… no. No, I don’t. I accept your apologies, but I can’t just forgive you like that. Forgiveness, like respect, is earned through trust.”

“As I said, name your terms. Whatever you require shall be done, you need only ask.”

“I get that you’re used to throwing your money and status at your messes to clean them up quickly, but this isn’t one of those situations,” I said, irritation leaking into my tone. “I don’t have a list prepared at all times of all the things someone can do to earn my forgiveness. It’s just one of those things that happens with time and effort. Real effort.”

“Well, how much time? What sort of effort?”

His impatience was becoming obvious, and I couldn’t contain my scoff at that point. “You’re seriously badgering me for specifics while I’m on the run from you as we speak? There’s no magic number here. If you’re serious about being forgiven, then you’ll do whatever it takes for as long as it takes, and on my terms. That’s how making amends works in the real world. If I say jump, the only question I should hear is, ‘How high?’ It wouldn’t kill you to put some thought into this on your own instead of expecting me to make it easy for you. You’re the last person who should be trying to rush this process, unless this was all just lip service and you really were forced into apologizing, that is.”

“No! I told you, I’m prepared to do what it takes. No one is forcing me. This is truly my own desire.”

“Then act like it. And if you go to anyone else for your ideas, then it doesn’t count. You can’t be thoughtful if you use thoughts that aren’t your own.”

That gave Caius pause. After a moment, he said softly, “I accept your terms.”

After a beat passed without him saying anything else, I sighed, but this time it was from minor relief. Somehow, hearing that lifted a little of the weight I carried from my shoulders. “Alright. And again, I do appreciate what you’ve said. It isn’t lost on me that apologies are rare coming from you and I don’t want you to think that it was a wasted effort.”

“… It shall not be my final effort. Rest assured of that.”

Before I could fight it, my lips turned up just slightly at the corners. “Duly noted.” When no one tried to speak again, I knew the end of the call and the beginning of my new plan had come. I went on as casually as I could, “Well, that should cover just about everything. Demetri will get his phone back and he’ll switch with the new guard in the morning like you said. Make sure this one keeps their distance. Bye now.”

I flipped the phone closed and ended the call without waiting for a response. When I fully realized what I intended to do next, my heart immediately started pounding. I slowly stood and made my way back to the bedroom. The door was still cracked, allowing me to hear… pleading?

I didn’t have to throw the door open this time; it opened with a bang as Demetri knelt before me right there in the doorway. He said hurriedly, “My queen, I beg you, do not have me replaced. Or, if you must replace me, grant me leave to be Penelope’s private guard. I will do anything you ask, but please, do not separate us.”

I stood over him with my mouth agape and brow furrowed, completely flabbergasted. I looked to Mama for any indication of what I had missed while on the phone for so long. She met my eye sheepishly. My mother was not the sheepish type. Only then did I realize the gun was no longer in her hands.

“What in the ever-living fuck did I miss here?”

“Annabel, language!”

“Penelope is my mate.”

Chapter Text

Demetri’s words permeated my brain as slowly as molasses on a cold day. I was already overwhelmed, but this was just too much to fathom on top of everything else going on. All I could do for a moment was simply stare in disbelief between them, trying to see if this was some sort of ridiculous joke. No one laughed.

Before speaking, I took as deep a breath as I could to get my mind running at full capacity once again. This was no time to be slow on the uptake. “And how, exactly, do you know that, Demetri?”

He briefly met my eyes from his kneeling position before lowering his head again. “My gift is tracking the brainwaves of anyone I have been in close proximity with. Once I have sensed someone, I can track them anywhere, it doesn’t matter how far. But I am not exaggerating when I say that I sensed Penelope from miles away without ever previously being near her. While she waited for you in the airport, her mind called out to me more clearly than any other I have ever encountered. I knew I had found my mate. There is simply no mistaking it.”

Vampires seemed to rely a lot, if not solely, on what was apparently unmistakable. To a human, however, there were many mistakes to be made in any situation involving love, no less an apparent mate.

Turning my attention to my mother, I asked, “And you’re on board with this? Just like that? You aren’t even threatening him anymore.”

She shrugged from her place on the cramped bed. “He drives a hard bargain, seeing as we couldn’t escape him even if we wanted to. I wouldn’t say I’m on board, but I can’t deny that I’m intrigued. Even in my prime I never had any run-ins with vampires.”

“Well, how would you like a run-in with a lot more of them?”

“My queen?” asked Demetri in confusion.

“I’m not having you removed, Demetri. In fact, before anyone can come here and relieve you, we’re all gonna be long gone. You’re taking us to Volterra.”

“What?” Demetri and Mama questioned in unison. Demetri sounded hopeful while Mama sounded dubious at best.

“You always said you loved Tuscany, Mama. Did you ever get to visit Volterra in your travels?”

“No, I didn’t have the time to.”

“Then you’re in luck, it’s beautiful there this time of year and all the tourists for St. Marcus’ Day will be gone by now. Demetri, you’re crucial for making this work. You’re gonna cover for us no matter what it takes. Keep checking in every half hour like normal and don’t you dare even hint that anything is amiss.”

“Where’s all this coming from, baby? What happened on the phone?” asked Mama, concern plainly written on her face.

“They had already decided I was going to return to them. They set up my suite and everything. You know I hate feeling out of control.”

“Don’t we all,” she nodded.

“So, I had to make them think the opposite of what they were expecting. They’re basing everything on the glimpses of my mind they got unfairly, but that means they’re dependent on old information and whatever Demetri feeds them at this point. We now have the element of surprise on our side.”

“But why do you want to go back all of a sudden? You don’t wanna be a vampire. No offense,” she directed her last statement at Demetri, who had not moved from his position of submission yet.

“Right now, I have no plans of becoming a vampire anytime soon. But you did make a good point. Immortality is invaluable, especially if there ever comes a time to run. Right now, we’re entirely under the thumbs of beings that are stronger than us with infinite resources. Realistically, we’d end up back there sometime down the line anyway. This way, we can get the upper hand and they’ll be on their best behavior while we figure things out.”

“What if they won’t let us go?”

“They’re not letting us go either way. We know too much and we’re to be constantly monitored for the rest of our lives, according to them. They said they wouldn’t interfere, but I think we all know that’s bullshit at this point, even if they meant it in the moment. No, this is the only course of action if we want any leverage over our own lives in the future. Besides, weren’t you the one who said you’d be a vampire in a heartbeat if you had the chance?”

At that, Demetri’s head snapped in Mama’s direction. Excitement shined brightly in his disconcerting red eyes.

“Well, it is a rather appealing prospect in theory….”

“Then you can decide if it’s as appealing in practice once we get there. The castle is full of almost nothing but vampires. It’s not like we can go home at this point, anyway. The only way is—”

“Through. You’re right. Either we can be cornered with no power at all, or cornered with a little power and some good graces while we figure out our next moves. Over the river and through the woods, to Volterra we go, then. As long as no one plans to eat us while we’re there, that is.” With her last sentence, she turned her attention back to Demetri with a raised eyebrow.

“The guard is already under strict orders to not allow any harm to come to Mistress Annabel. She need only command it and the same protection will extend to you.”

“Consider it commanded, then,” I said with a decisive nod. “As for whoever is supposed to relieve you, figure out how to stall them for as long as possible. Mama, call your contacts and tell them it was a false alarm. We’re leaving ASAP, time is of the essence here.”

With that, Demetri nodded and finally stood again. I gave him back his phone while Mama grabbed her own burner to get started making the necessary calls. Ten minutes later, we were on the road without incident. Well, Demetri hadn’t wanted to sit in the backseat away from Mama and made his displeasure at the seating arrangement very well known before we left, but that hardly counted as an incident by our standards.

On the way, Demetri called the airport and secured our plane tickets. He insisted upon first class, and when he assured us for the dozenth time we wouldn’t have to pay him back, I allowed myself to feel some satisfaction in the situation. I had never flown first class before, and certainly never to surprise an entire castle full of vampires who were allegedly at my beck and call.

“Only the best for our queen, or I would surely lose my head for allowing you to travel in second-rate conditions,” Demetri said, flashing a grin into the rearview mirror.

I turned around in the passenger seat of Mama’s Mazda Tribute to face Demetri as I asked, “What happens if you do lose your head, by the way? I noticed how fast vampires recover thanks to Felix’s little slip-up.”

“If the head is removed but not burned, it will eventually reattach itself. It must be in the proximity of the body, though.”

“So, fire is the secret, huh?” I asked with interest. I had assumed that beheading any living thing would surely kill it, but I supposed the movies were wrong about that too.

“Even we are not immune to true death if we are properly dismantled and burned before regeneration can occur. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, as they say.”

“Okay, so sunlight doesn’t hurt you because it isn’t hot enough. But what if someone used a magnifying glass? Would that cause any damage?”

“If my queen commands it, we could test that theory once we reach the castle. Along with shooting me in the eye, if you wish. Remember though that just because I am immortal does not mean I feel no pain.”

“We’ll save the shooting experiment for a rainy day, then,” I answered casually before facing the road again.

From there, it felt like I blinked when suddenly we were seated on the plane and awaiting takeoff. We made for quite the sight. I had not changed or showered since returning from Italy, so I was nothing short of a mangled mess. Mama looked more put together than I, her mussed blonde hair the only indication that anything was amiss. Then there was Demetri, who was unnaturally handsome but was wearing robes fit for a Gregorian monk. He kept his hood up to obscure his unnatural eyes, which did not help make him blend in with the yuppies seated all around us.

We ignored the stares and traveled in silence. Anything that needed to be said was texted between us. Demetri kept Aro updated with falsehoods as I had ordered, and Aro was none the wiser that we were on the move. Between leaving the safehouse and reaching the skies, only three hours had passed. Demetri was supposed to be relieved by a guard named Afton at daybreak, which was still hours away. We would hopefully reach the Seattle airport by then and be on our next connecting flight before Afton could alert anyone.

All was going according to plan until Afton called just as we had gotten settled on the next flight. “Demetri, now is not the time for pranks. Where are you and where are the Whitehalls? Your scents have faded from the area already! I will not be maimed like Felix for your incompetence!”

“Afton, my brother, it is a funny story, truly! You see, our queen and her mother have decided to come to Volterra after all. Our queen commands absolute discretion, though, even from the kings. So, I am afraid I must swear you to secrecy now under threat of being maimed as you feared. I am so glad we agree you do not wish for such a fate, so it will be easy for you to not mention this to anyone else.” The conversation was quickly gaining unwanted attention from the other passengers. I cleared my throat and gave him a pointed look. “I must be going now, but return to Volterra with whoever has accompanied you and do not ruin the surprise.”

“Demetri! Don’t you dare—”

With a flick of his wrist and a snap, the phone shut and the call was cut off. I gave him a thumbs up with my plaster-encased right hand since it was closest to him.

Twelve hours later, we were driving at ridiculous speeds as the sun set over Volterra. While I had felt exhilarated when Marcus drove like this on our date, with Demetri at the wheel, I was mortified. Mama, on the other hand, was in the passenger seat this time and had reclined comfortably with one bare foot hanging out the window. It was like she didn’t have a care in the world, despite the completely insane circumstances.

“Penelope, my dear, I could get very used to seeing you like this,” Demetri grinned wolfishly at Mama, waggling his brows suggestively.

“Eyes on the road, bub!” I admonished before Mama could respond.

“Of course, my queen.” Without looking away from the road again, he lifted Mama’s hand to his lips and began kissing her repeatedly.

When she realized after half a dozen kisses that he had no intention of stopping anytime soon, Mama pulled her hand away and tutted, “Bless your little heart.”

Now that made me smile. Mama was relaxed, but she wasn’t impressed. Whenever a southern belle busted out a bless your little heart, she might as well have been driving a knife between the unsuspecting ribs of her victim. Demetri had a lot to learn.

By the time we were parked in the underground garage, night had fully blanketed the castle. There were only a few guards milling about, and they were mostly preoccupied with working on the vehicles all around us. When we all exited Demetri’s cherry red Ford Mustang, though, I could hear the gasps of shock that escaped those present.

I raised a hand immediately and called out, “Nobody move!” One vampire at the other end of the garage stopped midstride, clearly readying to take off and inform everyone of our sudden arrival. “This is meant to be a surprise. Don’t ruin it. Where are Marcus, Aro, and Caius right now?”

The one who had been about to leave ended up answering me, as everyone else had apparently taken my order literally and didn’t dare to move a single muscle, not even to speak. “They are attending to business in the Throne Room.”

“Is it important?”

“Well—”

“Good, then we’ll go straight there. Thanks for your help.”

Demetri retrieved our duffle bags from his trunk and slung them over both of his shoulders. Without a second glance at the guards, I led the way for our odd trio, remembering where to go thanks to Marcus showing me around only a couple of days ago. Making a few turns down the lengthy corridors, we only needed to make one more right at the end of the hall before we would be faced with the last stretch that led directly to the reception desk and the Throne Room. However, there was suddenly an echoing BANG that reverberated from the direction of our destination. Then, in a blur, the men I had been looking for stood at the opposite end of the hall, varying degrees of astonishment overtaking their otherworldly handsome features.

As terribly cliché as this may sound, it really did feel like time completely stopped in that single second. No one moved as we took each other in. They had pure black robes on that covered what I was certain to be designer suits underneath. Black dress shoes that were polished to perfection peaked out from beneath the hems of their robes and contrasted intensely with the white marble floor. Not one hair or thread was out of place on any of them, which was entirely opposite to my disheveled form. Despite my outward appearance, though, they were looking at me like Christmas had come early.

When another moment passed and I came back to reality, I decided some teasing was in order, if only for my own amusement. Their frozen, gob-smacked expressions were just too good not to capitalize on. “Am I interrupting? If now’s a bad time I can come back another day.”

That got them moving in a millisecond. Like lightning, they were suddenly standing only a foot away, their robes swishing around them from the speed of their movements.

“Annabel…. You changed your mind?” asked Aro tentatively, a small smile forming as he spoke.

“No,” I replied simply, watching with great satisfaction as their faces sagged in defeat simultaneously. “I intended to come back in the first place. There’s nothing to change my mind about.” At that, they went from despair to surprise, all three sets of their red eyes gleaming. “It royally pissed me off that you were so presumptuous about my return, though, so I decided not to make it easy on you. Just because you’ve seen my mind and my bonds doesn’t mean you know me, or have any right to make decisions for me, for that matter. Not even small ones, like where to put my things while I’m gone. Next time you want to make a plan about me, it better include my input from start to finish.”

When I was done saying my piece, Marcus was smiling wide enough to make the corners of his eyes crinkle, Aro was positively beaming with delight, and Caius was wearing a broad smirk. I hadn’t expected them to take my scolding so well.

“Consider the lesson learned, amore mio,” purred Aro charmingly.

“If there is one thing we ought to well and truly know about you by this time, it is that you are completely unpredictable and amazingly resourceful. We will not make such mistakes again,” assured Caius as he took a step toward me and reached for my left hand. I let him, fighting every urge within me to tense. He inspected the hand-shaped bruises that littered my wrist and forearm, turning it gently to see every angle. Then, he left me stunned as he bent at the waist and laid a delicate kiss where the bruising was the worst, just above the back of my hand. “I am so terribly sorry for causing you harm, little warrior. I will never handle you so thoughtlessly again.”

With my cheeks beet red and my heart suddenly pounding against my will, I said as nonchalantly as I could, “It’s okay.” Being angry and playing hard to get was much easier to maintain over the phone.

“No, it is most certainly not okay. None of what has transpired between us has been acceptable. So, I hope you will do me the honor of planning breakfast with me tomorrow. I am not trying to rush the process, as you said, but I would like to begin the process as quickly as you will allow. If it pleases you, of course.”

He was still holding my hand as he spoke, and for good measure, he lifted my wrist to his lips once more before releasing me. By the time he was through, I was blushing from my chest to the top of my head. Most unfortunately, I was a complete sucker for romantic gestures involving respect and difficult lessons learned.

Clearing my throat to try and regain some control over myself, I answered, “I’m extremely jetlagged after all the flying I’ve done over the last couple of days, but if I’m awake for breakfast, I’ll come find you. If not, then we’ll have lunch for sure.”

Caius, for the first time, did not smirk. He smiled. Bright, big, and warm, beaming right down at me. I couldn’t stop myself from smiling back.

“Our bonds are healing,” breathed Marcus happily, looking at the space between us. I wished in that moment that I could see what he was seeing.

Without hesitation, I walked straight into him and carefully wrapped my arms around his broad midsection as best I could, mindful of my healing shoulder and cast. “I… I won’t say I’m sorry for overreacting because I don’t think I did overreact. But I’m sorry for hurting your feelings. I was just so scared. I thought the worst of you when you didn’t deserve it and I’m sorry.”

He gently pulled me closer, one hand smoothing down my wild curls and the other rubbing circles into my back comfortingly. “Everything is alright now, il mio tesoro. I told you when we first parted that any circumstance which brings us together is one to be cherished, and I will always mean that. You cannot know the joy I feel in my heart just at the sight of you here.”

I let the hug go on for another moment before disentangling myself and stepping back again. Aro was waiting patiently but expectantly for his turn.

“You said that you can only read people’s minds if you touch them with your hands, right?” I clarified.

“That is correct.”

“And it has to be skin-to-skin contact?”

“Indeed.”

“Then you have permission to touch me where I’m clothed. But only where I’m clothed. If you want to see my brain, you have to ask. And if I catch you reading me without permission, I will never give you another chance again. I’ll leave and never come back without a second thought.”

“I would expect nothing less, preziosa. You have my word, I will not overstep my bounds. I am immensely grateful for and honored by the privileges you have permitted me,” Aro replied, grinning with pure elation.

“Make no mistake; I don’t trust you as far as I can throw you. You have just as much ground to make up with me as Caius does, maybe even more. But I am a firm believer in second chances. Don’t waste it.”

“Might I be so bold as to say that I positively adore it when you assert yourself?”

“We’ll just see how much you like it down the line,” I replied with a good-natured eyeroll, feeling my blush creeping back into my cheeks after having only just cooled.

After hanging back and observing our interaction, that was when Mama decided to insert herself into the conversation. “Now that we have all that settled, I’m Penelope, Annabel’s mom,” she said, wearing the smile she would always get when meeting my school friends for the first time. Then, her smile dropped into a glare fit to kill. “And you bastards have a lot to answer for,” she snarled through gritted teeth. She marched her way from standing behind me with Demetri to putting herself protectively between me and the kings. Their faces had gone from pleased to stunned in an instant at her boldness. “You see my beautiful, brilliant baby here? Well, she’s my only baby. And you slack-jawed sons of bitches hurt her. I don’t care who did what. As far as I’m concerned, all y’all are directly and equally responsible for what she’s been through. If this is how you treat your queen,” she gestured back at me with her thumb as she mocked, “then I’d really hate to see how you treat your peasants. If you think for one goddamn second that any of you are getting away with what you did to her, then you’re even more stupid than I gave you credit for. I don’t give a flying rat’s ass whoever or whatever the hell you might be; when it comes to my daughter, you answer to me.”

Ever the leader, Aro tried to be diplomatic in the face of her unbridled rage and began, “Mrs. Whitehall—”

“Did I say I was finished? No? Then shut the fuck up.” That did, in fact, immediately shut him the fuck up. I hadn’t heard my mother swear like this since the day her divorce was finalized. “Now, my sweet baby is much kinder and more trusting than she ought to be. She says she believes in second chances and she means it. Well, I don’t. You had one opportunity to be decent to her and you squandered it. She came home to me, mangled and traumatized, and on her birthday no less. We both almost died twenty-seven years ago when I brought her into this world, and the closest she’s come to dying since then was because of you three. She promised you second chances and I have no doubt she’ll even forgive your dumb asses at some point, because that’s just the kind of person she is. But. I’m. Not. And if you thought throwing some boy toy my way,” she then pointed behind her to where Demetri stood, “talking nonsense about being my mate would be enough to distract me so you can get to her, then y’all are just pathetic. With God as my witness, I’ll never allow any of you worthless sacks of shit to hurt her again.” By the time she was truly finished, she was shaking with fury, her usually full lips set in a grim line on her face while her fists balled so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

I sighed and laid my hand gently on her shoulder. “Mama, it’s okay. I’m okay.”

She whipped around so fast it sent her straight blonde hair flying. “Like hell it’s okay, Annabel Marie! You had to go to the hospital! You could have died here and I never would have known what happened to you! I would have spent the rest of my life looking! Don’t you dare try to tell me that’s okay!” A hot tear blazed a trail down her flushed cheek. She roughly swiped it away with a sniff before continuing, “Honestly, I can’t believe the things you’ve said here. After everything you’ve been put through, you still haven’t had enough? You still want to give them a chance? Well, fine. You’re a big girl and you get to make your own decisions, but so do I. I’m not leaving here until you do. I’ll be goddamned before I let you out of my sight again in the hands of these thugs. While there is breath in my body, you will be protected, and that’s the end of it!”

By then, we were both crying. I hadn’t thought about what all of this was doing to her. I hadn’t had time to even consider it, with everything happening so fast. But that didn’t mean she wasn’t deeply affected, and this outburst was proof of that.

“Oh, Mama, come here,” I said, pulling her close with my good arm around her thin shoulders. She clutched my smaller frame like her life depended on it.

“I love you more than anything, Anna. You know I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you safe.”

“I know. Of course, I know. I love you too, Mama.”

“You aren’t ever allowed to scare me like that again, do you hear me?”

“I hear you,” I sniffed, holding her tighter.

We stayed that way for a moment more before she patted my back three times and let me go. She always ended our hugs like that, with a silent I love you.

I wiped my eyes with my good hand before she pulled a travel pack of tissues from her purse and handed me one. She truly was a mom twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, regardless of the circumstances. I loved her all the more for it.

Thanking her, I dabbed beneath my eyes and nose before returning my attention to the vampires surrounding us. Demetri looked distinctly hurt, but the kings were watching us with palpable remorse, their crimson eyes misty as they took in the scene that had unfolded. It occurred to me in the back of my mind that vampires probably couldn’t cry.

When we had sufficiently collected ourselves, I said to her, “If you aren’t comfortable with staying here, we can find a hotel.”

“If they wanted us dead, we would be. They wouldn’t put on a song and dance like this when killing us is so much easier. Your room is already set up here apparently, so we’ll just stay.”

With a nod, I turned my attention back to the vampires who were uncomfortably listening to Mama talk about them as if they weren’t presently surrounding us. “It’s been a long couple days. We’re gonna call it a night. I’ll see y’all sometime tomorrow, though. Demetri, we’ll take our bags now, please.”

“I can carry them for you,” he offered softly, his eyes finding Mama’s.

“Hell no. If you think I’d trust a Russian with my things where I’m supposed to sleep, then you’re out of your goddamn mind. Give me the bags,” she answered harshly, holding her hand out in no-nonsense expectation.

Demetri was the definition of looking like a kicked puppy when he placed the strap of each bag into her waiting palm one at a time. She hefted each one over her own shoulders without complaint, insisting that I not carry mine since it was heavier and it would surely exacerbate my already severe injuries.

With a sheepish wave and a tense, close-lipped smile, I left the group of men standing there in stunned silence to guide Mama down the winding hallways to our accommodations. I was worried what else she might say if we stayed any longer. I was acutely aware that with guards posted everywhere, there was no way we hadn’t been heard by many, many people, if not the entire castle. It worried me, thinking of how they were probably reacting to the scene we had caused as soon as we arrived. But as we passed guard after guard during our trek, they all kept their eyes firmly above our heads. It was a stark contrast from feeling those same eyes following my every move the last time I had walked these halls.

When we arrived, the door to the suite was unlocked. Just as I had been told, the things I’d left behind were all neatly arranged where I would have wanted them had I gotten far enough to unpack my suitcase last time. Speaking of, my suitcase was in the back of the walk-in closet, ready for whenever it would be time to leave again. But, for the time being, I didn’t feel like thinking that far down the line. I was desperate for a shower, a snack, and the featherbed that was waiting for me.

“I’m gonna shower, hon. I won’t be long,” Mama called from the bathroom before closing the door behind her.

Looks like it would be a snack first, shower second, then. Except when I looked in her bag where she usually kept some protein bars, it was empty aside from a discarded wrapper. I had forgotten she ate the last one after we ditched her car a block away from the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport. There was no fridge anywhere, either. It made sense seeing as vampires had no realistic need to refrigerate things. Apparently, I would have to go looking for food.

I questioned if I should wait for Mama. She said she wouldn’t be long and she didn’t want me going anywhere without her. But I was still worried about what she might say if she left the room. She wasn’t the type to calm down after a soothing shower. If anything, she was probably using that time to outline her next tirade. And I knew firsthand, pun intended, how upset vampires could get over even the slightest provocation. It was best that no one got the chance to provoke one another anymore for tonight.

There was a notepad next to an antique rotary phone, which resided on a beautifully ornate desk in the corner of the sitting room. I quickly scribbled a note explaining that I would be back soon with food and slid it under the bathroom door. She was humming distractedly to herself like she always did when she was performing a task. It never failed to make me smile, even now.

When I opened the door to the suite, I gasped and brought my hand up to my rapidly beating heart. Marcus had surprised me, standing on the other side with his fist raised in the air to knock.

“Marcus! You scared the dickens out of me! What’s the matter?”

“It was your birthday?”

He was staring down at me with such sadness that it took me completely off guard. I half-shrugged with my good shoulder and answered, “Yeah, that’s part of the reason I was vacationing here. It was a birthday present to myself. I was going to have time off from work anyway, so I decided to make the most of it.” With a small smile to try and make him feel better, I joked, “It seems I might’ve overdone it where making the most of things is concerned. As far as birthday trips go, mine was wild by any standard.”

There was no sign of amusement to be found from Marcus. If anything, he looked more stricken with every sentence. “We ruined everything for you on a day that should have been filled with only pure joy. Please, let us make it right somehow. Let me make it right. I cannot rest until it is so. Whatever you may want, it will be yours, cara mia.”

For once, I was grateful for the volume of my stomach. It answered for me with a low rumble, but with his supernatural hearing, my organs might as well have been attached to a megaphone. “If you’re offering, may I have directions to the kitchen? Or the staff room? Wherever the food here is kept, please. I can pay, just let me grab my wallet.”

He had gone from concerned to visibly affronted in an instant. “What sort of a mate would I be if I made my love scavenge for her meals? And then made you pay for the indignity, no less? Nonsense.” He turned his head and snapped his fingers at the nearest guard. They took off without a second’s hesitation.

Once again that evening, I was blushing scarlet. He actually called me his love. Sure, there had been plenty of Italian endearments thrown my way over the last few days, but it was different hearing it from him that way. It fell from his tongue naturally, effortlessly. Usually, this would be the moment where he would realize his slip-up and try to walk it back. But Marcus was a most unusual man indeed. He simply stared down at me, waiting patiently for a response.

“Well, thank you,” I said lamely, now looking at my socked feet in embarrassment. My mind always picked the worst times to lock up on me.

Then, a cold finger was lifting my chin to meet Marcus’ eyes again. “Now, what can I really do to right the wrong of your ruined birthday? I must admit to you that I am not up on all of the modern customs, but I will happily fulfil your every desire to the fullest extent of my abilities.”

At that moment, the guard Marcus had sent was suddenly standing beside us with a cloche-covered silver tray that could have easily accommodated an entire roasted pig. It suddenly occurred to me that I hadn’t specified what I wanted, so it was entirely possible there was a roasted pig hiding beneath the highly polished silver.

“Oh! Wow, you were like lightning! Would you please put that on the coffee table in the sitting room?” Stepping back and out of the way so the guard could move past me, I blinked and they were already back in the hallway, cloche in hand. The only indication that anyone had moved at all were the two distinct rushes of air that sent my curls flying in all directions around my head and the slight movement of their robes. “Thank you so much!”

With a deep bow, they moved in a blur back to their post. The exchange had ended so quickly and silently on their part that I had no idea if they were even a man or a woman. When everyone was so chiseled and beautiful while wearing shapeless robes, it made it much harder to tell just from brief glances.

Marcus’ deep chuckle brought me out of my thoughts. “Tesoro,” he began with a fond smile, “you need not be so polite. He was only doing his duty.”

Ah, that answered one question at least. “Well, it’s my duty to use my manners and appropriately reciprocate kindness when it’s shown to me. So, we both were only doing our duties.”

Marcus hummed thoughtfully as he took in my statement. “You are a rare woman indeed, Annabel. Now, back to the matter at hand. What may I do to please you? Or, at the very least, what may I do to apologize for yet another unintended trespass against you?”

From the bathroom, the sound of a hairdryer suddenly revved to life. It would take Mama ten, maybe fifteen minutes to dry her hair. She would not be happy to see Marcus and I alone together, even though he was part of the reason we had a veritable feast waiting for us in the other room.

“Can I sleep on it and get back to you? I honestly don’t think you have anything to make up for. You didn’t know it was my birthday, and realistically, you had very little to do with how things turned out. We can just call it a wash and move on.”

“If you had encountered me first instead of Caius that day, what would have been different? How would you have wanted to celebrate?”

“I….” With a sigh, I conceded, “I would’ve kissed you senseless as soon as I saw you, for starters. I’d wanted to get breakfast with you when I found Caius, so we probably would’ve gotten food and headed back here, or maybe we would’ve gone out somewhere for the day. After that, I had a dinner reservation for the evening, so I would’ve gone and celebrated my birthday by myself and just called it a night afterwards. Honestly, I hadn’t planned to tell you it was my birthday at all. I think it’s really cheap when people use that as an excuse to get special treatment, and I didn’t want you to think I was like that. I still don’t want you to think I’m like that. So, really, don’t worry about it.”

Marcus took a step forward and slowly raised his hand to be level with my face. When I didn’t make any move to stop him, he delicately brushed a lock of hair behind my ear, then completed the motion by stroking his thumb along my jaw and cupping where it met my neck. I was certain he immediately felt the change in my pulse from the action.

He whispered, “I cannot, unfortunately, force the sands of time to fall in reverse so that you might make it to your reservation. And as much as I would like to, I cannot abscond with you for breakfast tomorrow, as you promised your attention to Caius first and he would not take kindly to being deprived of you. There is one thing I can make right, however….”

As he leaned toward me inch by inch, always giving me time to stop him if I wanted to, his hair made a privacy curtain between us and the rest of the world. The silky, brunette strands gently brushed against my cheeks as he came ever closer. The scent of his cologne filled my lungs and made my eyes close of their own accord. Then, with only the slightest hesitation to be sure I wanted it, he finally brought his cool, soft lips to mine.

My body instinctively began reacting to the contact in an instant. Even with this kiss being so chaste and slow, it was like the memory of our previous kisses hadn’t left my cells. I knew I could have so much more from him, and I wanted so much more.

He brushed my lips once, twice, thrice more, before I pulled away slightly and looked up into his now midnight eyes. “That was wonderful, Marcus,” I smiled softly. “But I wouldn’t call that kissing me senseless.”

His eyes flashed between mine and my lips as he caressed my jaw again. “Is that truly what you want? Even after all that has happened between us?”

“It is. And I can see in your eyes that’s what you want, too. They go from red to black when you want me.”

A purr rumbled through his chest before he answered, “Always so observant, tesoro. Your mother is near, though. I do not wish to risk her wrath.”

“Then you better keep your ears open for whenever that hairdryer stops and use our little bit of time wisely.”

I caught the briefest sight of his pleased smirk before his lips crashed back into mine. There was no hesitation, no further prologue of soft caresses, just pure need between us. His tongue parted my lips expertly and mine welcomed him gladly. My left hand snaked into his hair at the nape of his neck and pulled him even more firmly to me. He answered in kind as his hands found my hips and he used his large hands to press me into his solid body. Even a single layer of tissue paper couldn’t have fit between us.

I moaned into his mouth at the contact and he growled sensually in return, his grip on my hips tightening. Everything about him made me absolutely wild with desire. I decided to up the ante by disentangling our tongues long enough to bite his bottom lip. Obviously it couldn’t hurt him, but it certainly got his attention based on the gasp that left him from the sensation.

When my teeth released him, it was like he had suddenly become a feral beast. The only way to describe it is that he attacked my mouth. Lips, tongues, and teeth clashed as each of us put everything we had into the kiss. I loved every second of his intensity, but even that felt like it wasn’t enough since we had to be mindful of the time we had left. I could have stayed like that with him all night if he’d let me, and I had the feeling it wouldn’t have taken much convincing.

All too soon, he pulled away, leaving me gasping for air in his wake. Resting his forehead against mine as his chest heaved against me, he whispered hurriedly, “The hairdryer has stopped. Collect yourself before she comes out. Find me when you have finished with Caius tomorrow. This is not over.”

With a flushed, cheeky grin, I quickly nipped his lip again and replied, “Can’t wait, handsome. Goodnight.”

With another growl and a kiss that could have broken a world record for its brevity, he was gone with only a gust of air as proof that he had been there at all. Somehow, he even managed to close the door silently behind him despite moving so fast. I struggled to wipe the grin off my face as I quickly rearranged my rumpled clothes and mussed hair. Less than a minute later, Mama stepped out of the bathroom, still humming.

“What are you doing over there still?” she asked.

“Didn’t you see my note? I just had room service delivered, your timing was perfect!”

My enthusiastic response seemed to be enough to convince her. “Did a vampire deliver it or a human?”

“There are some humans on staff. It took two men just to get the platter in here, but they did it. Just look at the coffee table!”

Technically, nothing I said was a lie. Humans were employed in the castle. Marcus and a male guard were responsible for the platter. And once again, my excitement paid off, because she immediately turned and balked at the sight of the silver platter laden with more food than we could possibly eat in one night.

“My good Lord! What in the world did you order, Anna?”

“I just said we were hungry but I didn’t know what was available. They told me not to worry about it and showed up with all this.” Still, technically, not a lie. Just a paraphrase, really.

“And you don’t think they’d poison any of this?”

“I don’t see why they’d waste good poison on people they could kill instantly with far less effort. Besides, these are vampires we’re talking about. They probably can’t eat us if we’re full of poison.”

“That’s a fair point,” she conceded with a shrug.

With that, she picked up a plate full of grapes and strawberries before perching on the high-back chair closest to the fireplace. I sat on the nearby loveseat and dug into my own plate of prosciutto-wrapped honeydew melon. It was nothing short of heavenly.

I finished quickly so I could finally shower. Mama helped me wrap my cast in a plastic bag. It was the same drycleaning bag I’d used last time, but for some reason I couldn’t find the dress that it was supposed to be protecting from lint and dust. I noted to myself how odd that was since all my other things were accounted for.

Once I was in the shower stall, I was glad to have some time alone with my thoughts, as I always thought more clearly under the hot, soothing spray of the water. I clearly knew where Mama stood on the matter of the vampiric kings who were apparently all vying for my attention, but what I didn’t know was where I stood.

Things between me and Marcus seemed to get clearer every time we were alone. Realistically, though, we were never actually alone. We made out with my door wide open just a short while ago. Everyone in the castle except Mama had likely heard us. And even if Aro somehow missed it, all he would have to do was touch someone who had heard to get caught up. Going forward, that would always be the way of things in the castle. As someone who very much enjoyed privacy, that was a mortifying thought to be sure. But at the very least, I was becoming more and more certain of how genuine Marcus was. That was what mattered the most to me in any relationship, whether platonic or romantic: Sincerity.

That left the problem of Aro and Caius. I would be able to figure out very quickly over our meal the next day if Caius actually meant anything he said to me. His manner had spoken of his vulnerability, but I knew better than to count on it lasting. No man, in my experience, could stand to humble themselves like that for long. If he was going to slip, it would likely be pretty early on in the meal. I wouldn’t have to wait long to see where things could progress between us down the road. But then there was Aro, who made everything ten times more complicated thanks to his gift. I had absolutely no idea what to do about him. If things became romantic, I would have to accept him knowing my every thought and experience all day, every day. That was a level of trust I had never achieved with anyone, and it was frankly impossible for me to even imagine it currently.

Aro had readily agreed to my terms, as had everyone. But really, how long would he mind my boundaries until the temptation would become too great? Trying to pin down the endless possibilities of what Aro might do was like trying to keep my footing in constantly shifting sand. He had not become the terror and enforcer of the entire vampiric world out of dumb luck. He was capable of absolutely anything while having his gift and endless resources to back him up. Marcus’ gift could give him information, sure, but not nearly on the level of Aro’s. And if Caius really had no gift, that meant he maintained his status purely through strategy and brutality. With Marcus and Caius, I could still potentially find ways to level the playing field if romance really was in the cards for us in the long run. But not with Aro.

I took comfort in the fact that I likely wouldn’t even see Aro the next day. Caius had wanted a meal with me, but I could easily cut it short and find Marcus instead if things take a turn for the worst. Or, on the other hand, if all went well, I could extend our time and then see Marcus. Either way, knowing Marcus and his parting promise, I was going to be indefinitely preoccupied, which would successfully keep Aro out of the picture and out of my head.

Oh, no. I had forgotten an extremely important detail. Mama had sworn that I would not leave her sight. She was not one for idle threats. And she wasn’t the type to sit at a distance, either. That would leave too much opportunity for me to get hurt if things went south for any reason. No, Mama was going to insist on breaking her fast with me and Caius for certain. I loved Mama more than anything else under the sun, but dear God, there was nothing more humiliating than a grown woman being accompanied by her hostile mother on a date. I didn’t even want to consider yet how she would react to a rendezvous with Marcus.

Maybe I was thinking about it all wrong where Caius was concerned. This was probably not a date, just an apology. Like when an employer might make the whole office stay to do overtime all week and then would buy everyone pizza on Friday. That seemed to be more of Caius’ speed. If that was the case, having Mama there wouldn’t be so bad. It would at least ensure that Caius would be on his best behavior. And if he did end up snapping, at least we’d die together after a nice last meal.

It occurred to me then just how absurd my thoughts sounded it my own mind. I was seriously weighing the pros and cons of dating three men at the same time, which had never even come close to happening before in my comparatively very short life. Not only that, but they were vampire royalty who all wanted to share me as their queen. I wasn’t sure whether to be mortified at myself or impressed, and the rest of the night brought no further answers.

It took a lot of convincing to get Mama to sleep. I could tell she was just as exhausted as me from all the traveling, but she still tried to refuse, saying she wanted to keep watch just in case. I compromised by giving her the bedroom closest to the main door. It seemed to placate her enough.

We each went around and made sure the door and all the windows were locked before settling into our respective accommodations for the evening. I waited to sleep until her fake snores became real snores, because of course she still tried to keep watch but didn’t want me to know. The siren song of the featherbed and goose down blanket were too much for her, though, and I was finally able to get some shuteye without worrying anymore for the night.

Chapter Text

When I awoke the next day, I felt like the right half of my body had been hit by a bus. I had ended up in an awkward position while sleeping and it was the very last thing my healing injuries needed.

Luckily, with the cast, my broken arm was protected. But I was still short a sling and my meds, thus leaving me in my current state of misery from my shoulder down. It didn’t help my mood that the gossamer curtains covering every window were letting the bright sunlight pour into the room, and more specifically, directly into my unsuspecting pupils.

With a groan, I moved to sit up, which only made me groan louder. Before I could even say anything, Mama bolted into the room.

“What’s the matter, baby?”

“I’m dying,” I moaned dramatically.

With a huff and a small smile, she replied, “You can’t be dead if you have enough life in you to whine like that. There’s some gauze and extra strength Aspirin in my bag, hang tight.” She crossed the hall into the sitting room and scooped up a handful of uneaten crackers. “Eat these real quick so the Aspirin doesn’t tear you up. We wouldn’t want you to be unwell for your little date with Caius.” The way she spat his name did not bode well for me. She hadn’t forgotten about anything from yesterday, clearly.

“No cheese to go with my whine? What kind of service is this?” I smiled, trying to lighten the mood.

She chuckled good-naturedly, but there was a distinct edge to her demeanor. When she turned and left, I sighed deeply. None of this was how I wanted to start my day. I dutifully ate the crackers while I waited for Mama to return.

She came back quickly and went straight to work, pressing two Aspirins and a glass of water into my useable hand, respectively. Then she started winding the gauze meticulously around my arm to form a sling. When she was pleased with how tight the knot holding it all together was, she gently helped me into a sitting position with my feet on the floor. The meds couldn’t kick in fast enough.

“You know,” Mama began, “if you feel this crappy, I’m sure Caius would understand if you wanted to reschedule. Or just call the whole thing off entirely.”

“Mama, you’re not being slick. And usually, you’re pretty damn slick. This all really has you rattled, doesn’t it?”

“Well, my God, Anna. If this didn’t have me rattled, what would that make me? I pride myself on being unflappable under normal circumstances, but none of my training involved vampire preparedness. I’m completely out of my depth, and if I am, then so are you. The possibilities are terrifying.”

I pointed out, “You’re the one who initially said you’d jump at any chance to be immortal and that I should too. You can think of this as immortality headquarters. What better place to learn all about it than from some of the oldest vampires ever? Come on now, you’re too much of an Anne Rice fan to pass all this up.”

“I’m a fan of Anne Rice, not serving my Anna over rice. One wrong move and we could be dead.”

“Then you should put some effort into not insulting anyone today,” I answered. “From what I can tell, we both got away with a lot that no one else ever does over the last few days, but we need to assume that luck will run out for us sooner than later. We need to use every ounce of southern charm we have to our advantage. The more comfortable with us they are, the more they’ll reveal their true selves, and then we can respond accordingly. We catch more flies—”

“— With honey than with vinegar, I know. But we aren’t talking about flies here, baby. We’re talking about mosquitoes. The big hungry kind, too,” she replied pointedly.

“Then it’s a good thing that between Louisiana and Alaska, we know all about mosquitoes. We’ll just have to put on some extra bug spray, that’s all. We’re already in this. We both agreed to see this through. It’s not like we can escape when Demetri has a tractor beam connected directly to you, anyway,” Mama rolled her eyes at that. “Isn’t it better to enjoy ourselves a little while figuring things out based on the truth? You always told me it’s better to be able to look the enemy in the eye than to have them monitoring you from unknown locations. That would be how we’d spend the rest of our lives if we left right now. If you’ve changed your mind and think that’s a better alternative, then just say so and we’ll go.”

We both knew I had her at that. The last thing any mother enjoyed was having years of her own advice thrown back in her face at inconvenient times. Her eyes narrowed at me, but I met her gaze with a raised eyebrow in challenge.

“Fine,” she said with another eyeroll and her arms crossed in distaste over her chest. “Our options are severely limited, and the best one is to play nice, as per usual. I get it. But that doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

“As long as you’re nice on the outside, you can feel whatever you want on the inside. But just so you know, you can’t lie around any of them. On top of Aro’s invasive gift, all of them can hear vitals. I found out the hard way that vampires know the second you’re dishonest about something. They can also tell when you’re being careful with your words, so keep that in mind while you’re measuring your responses to things.”

Mama nodded, thoughtfully taking in the new tidbit I offered her. “So, being anywhere near them is like a constant lie detector test. That’s very good to know. And aside from what Aro can do, Marcus can see how people feel about each other, right?”

“Right, so he’ll know in real time how much you hate their guts. Pretending otherwise won’t work since Aro has direct access to his head on a daily basis. Remember, what anyone here finds out, Aro will too. It’s almost like a hivemind. So, be careful but honest. It’s the safest bet.” With another nod from her, I could tell we were back on track. “What time is it, anyway?”

“Just past 12:30. Breakfast with Caius will have to be lunch instead.”

“I hope to Christ that Aspirin takes the edge off by the time I’m done getting ready. Sitting through a whole meal like this would be brutal.”

Thankfully, the Aspirin did, in fact, begin taking effect while I prepared for the day ahead. Half an hour later, we were making our way down the hall toward the Throne Room. Mama had even helped me with my makeup since my dominant hand was out of commission and my remaining hand was still healing from the cut I got while climbing out of the garden. Believe it or not, it was the most myself I’d felt in days.

When we reached the Throne Room doors, they were opened immediately for us by the guards manning them. “Thank you,” Mama and I ended up saying in unison. We shared a glance and a small smile before stepping across the threshold. We were so alike at times that it could be scary.

Marcus, Aro, and Caius immediately stood from their thrones to greet us. I noticed Demetri straighten up even more where he stood with some other guards along the wall at the sight of Mama, but he didn’t leave his post to approach. The three brothers stopped two feet away from us, not wanting to literally overstep with Mama keeping a watchful eye on their every move.

“Annabel! How wonderful that you could join us,” cried Aro enthusiastically.

“Good afternoon,” smiled Marcus, warmth shining in his eyes as he gazed down at me.

“Well, well, well, at last she awakens. I was almost certain you would miss the afternoon altogether,” said Caius. His smirk, for the first time, was playful. As I met his eyes, there was an excitement there that I had yet to see from him.

Smiling, I answered them, “Hi! Sorry for taking so long. The suite is just so nice that I couldn’t help but sleep in! You’re lucky I didn’t go straight back to bed when I woke up.” The last part I directed at Caius with a wink.

While his eyes seemed to blaze with new purpose upon my returning his banter, Mama was less pleased by my friendliness based on the delicate clearing of her throat beside me. Leave it to her to make such an innocuous gesture passive aggressive.

“Ah, and of course we are most delighted to have you here as well, Mrs. Whitehall,” said Aro while bowing his head. Marcus and Caius quickly copied the gesture. “Are your accommodations to your liking? Is there anything we may provide that would make you more comfortable?”

“Good afternoon, gentlemen,” she responded politely in her southern twang, “The rooms are just marvelous, thank you for asking. I’ll let you know if we end up needing something.”

Aro smiled charmingly and answered, “Whatever you may require, day or night, do not hesitate to come to us or anyone within the castle walls. Your ease is our priority.”

“Thank you, I appreciate that. Just don’t trouble yourselves on our behalf.”

“It is never any trouble, only a pleasure, Mrs. Whitehall.”

Directing her attention to Caius, Mama asked, “And it won’t be a problem that I’ll be joining in on the fun today?”

“Not at all. It will be an honor to host the woman who made Annabel so fierce,” Caius replied with another bow of his head.

“Oh, good. I’m glad.” From the very subtle shift in her tone, I could tell that she had expected some level of resistance after everything I had told her about my experiences with him. If there had been even a hint of hesitation or inconvenience from Caius, she would have latched onto it immediately. But he was on his best behavior, clearly, and was making it obvious that he didn’t want a fight that day. I wasn’t sure if saying and doing all the right things would relax Mama or make her even more suspicious.

Maintaining our unified charm offensive, I then asked, “So, is now a good time? Or are we interrupting?”

“Now is perfect, the veranda is already prepared. May I?” While Marcus always offered me his hand, Caius came to stand beside me and offered his right arm for me to take. I slipped my hand into the crook of his elbow without hesitation, which pleased him based on the way his smirk returned with a vengeance.

“Pardon my impertinence,” Mama began delicately, “but isn’t the proper gesture to offer your hand if you can’t offer the appropriate arm?”

Oh, God, here we go. Her finishing school background was already rearing its ugly head. She was referring to the origins of where leading a lady by the arm came from. It was traditional for men to offer their left arm so that their right would be free to reach for their sword or pistol if a violence should break out. It also allowed them to use their left arm to move their lady behind them for protection. Of course she’d immediately find fault with him.

“You have a keen eye, Mrs. Whitehall. While you would typically be correct, I happen to be lefthanded. So, this is still considered proper,” he said patiently. There wasn’t a hint of annoyance or aggression in his tone, despite being a king who no one in their right mind would dare to correct. I was genuinely impressed by his restraint.

“My mistake,” Mama answered simply, turning to face the door to signal she was ready to go. It was the closest to an apology he could expect from her.

I seriously hoped this wouldn’t be how the rest of the afternoon would go. If Mama kept this up, she’d basically be asking for a confrontation. As Caius dutifully began leading us out of the room, I shot a smile over my shoulder at Marcus and Aro in farewell. They returned it in kind, reassuring me slightly.

We walked in silence toward a section of the castle I had yet to be shown. The area was distinct from the rest of the corridors I had been in because the windows were hidden behind thick, red velvet curtains, with the largest tapestries and oil paintings I’d ever had the pleasure to see taking up the expansive walls wherever there was room. No amount of light could penetrate the curtains, so lit torches lined the hall. I felt like I had stepped right into a scene from The Phantom of the Opera.

At the end of the long hallway were two doors. The one on the right was large and on the same wall as all the windows with a guard posted just beside it, while the other was smaller and much older looking on my left. It was the first door I had seen in the whole castle that just didn’t seem to fit. I wondered what was inside, but I was led through the other door before I could ask as the guard opened it for us.

There, in all its glory, was the veranda. Unlike the garden outside of my suite, the veranda had an unbeatable view of the hills that made Volterra such a desirable tourist destination. The roof of the veranda itself should have been made from shingles or tiles of some kind, but instead it was a canopy of thick foliage, which cast a soothing green glow over everything resting beneath its shade. Right in the center stood a table laden with a feast fit for a king. Except the king wouldn’t be having any of it, if Marcus’ aversion to food during our date was anything for me to go off of.

Caius guided me to one end of the table before pulling my chair out for me. When I was seated, he pushed it back in gently before doing the same for Mama, seating her to my right. Then he sat at the opposite end of the table, his expression clearly gauging my reaction to the lunch we had been served.

“Oh, Caius,” I breathed, my eyes flickering from one dish to another. “This is just amazing! But it’s too much. We won’t be able to eat all of this.” I met his eyes again as I asked, “What will happen to the leftovers?”

“The staff will remove what is left when you are finished,” he answered with a quirked brow, confused by my line of questioning.

“But then what? Will it get stored for later?”

“Of course not. You will never be subjected to meals that are anything less than fresh, made with the finest ingredients that money can buy.” By the smirk that grew across his lips, he clearly thought that was the right answer. Or at least the most impressive one.

“Oh, no, don’t let them waste all this food! We won’t even be able to eat a quarter of it! Your human staff are more than welcome to it, but if they won’t want it, can’t you give it to the poor? There are hungry people out there who desperately need fresh, nutritious foods like these. Isn’t there a foodbank or a place where homeless people gather where the leftovers could be given out? I can’t stand food waste.” I shook my head, the very thought of anything in front of me going to waste making me feel immensely guilty. “Or, if you can’t do that— I know most foodbanks only accept unopened shelf-stable foods— could you have the staff pack it up for us and we’ll eat it over the next week? I don’t mind leftovers at all. Please, anything not to waste it.”

By the end I was outright pleading with him, and Caius was visibly taken aback by my sudden emotional appeal. Maybe things were still too rocky between us for me to say such things, but I couldn’t stop myself from at least making my case. I bet I could find the kitchen and keep it from getting thrown away if I had to, I conspired privately. Shooting a sidelong glance at Mama, she met my eyes before quickly looking away, and I could tell immediately that we were having the same thought at that moment. I had learned not to waste anything from her, after all.

Caius, despite his bewilderment, seemed to be considering his next words very carefully. His pouty lips had pursed and his brow had furrowed as he took in my expression. “You truly feel that strongly about this matter? Do you always?”

My brows disappeared behind my auburn fringe with my own surprise. “Well, yes,” I nodded. “To tell you the truth, it kills me inside seeing anything go to waste when there are so many people in need around the world for so many preventable reasons. I won’t even let old clothes be wasted, I always donate them if they’re still useable. Imagine how you’d feel, not having clothes you desperately need to survive and no idea where or when you’ll find your next meal. I’ve seen children eating garbage from dumpsters. I’ve seen veterans missing limbs begging for spare change on far too many street corners. Once, a man in his wheelchair got stuck on the sidewalk during a snowstorm, so I got him out and pushed him uphill for a mile to make sure he got to his shelter for the night safely. I can’t bear seeing anyone in need, especially if there’s something I can do to help them.”

“So, every time someone asks you for money or the like, you just give it to them? Every time you see someone who is hungry, you give them your own meal? How do you have anything left for yourself at the end of the day?” Caius had gone from bewildered to openly aghast. Apparently, such altruistic concepts had never occurred to him before.

“Absolutely,” I replied without hesitation. “I always carry cash just for that very reason, in fact. And I’ve given my lunch or dinner away plenty of times. Did you not hear what I just said? We’re talking about children. About men and women who made the ultimate sacrifices for their country only to be turned onto the street for their trouble. We’re talking about people. People who suffer and struggle to survive every single day for no good reason. I was fortunate enough to have a job that paid enough so I had a little extra to spare. Far too many people can’t say the same because no one will give them a chance. It makes me absolutely sick how they’re treated and I refuse to contribute to injustice.” My rant gave me an idea. Lifting my chin confidently, I continued, “I won’t start eating until you promise me on your honor that this food won’t go to waste when I’m done. I don’t care how it gets divvied up, but if even one plate gets dumped, I’ll be outraged.”

Caius smirked, which at that point could mean anything coming from him. “Not even one measly plate?” he asked.

“Not even one. None of these could be considered measly, anyway. And even if they were, they certainly wouldn’t be measly to someone who hasn’t eaten all day, or even in more than a day. All of this beautiful food should be enjoyed, and I mean all of it.”

Caius chuckled in amusement and shook his platinum blonde head ruefully. “Not only are you a fearsome thing to behold when it is on your own behalf, but you are on the behalf of others, as well. I admire that about you, Annabel Whitehall.” Placing a hand over his heart, he proclaimed, “I, Caius, Master of the Volturi, King of the Vampires, Author and Enforcer of the Great Laws, hereby swear to you upon my honor that human food shall never again go to waste on these castle grounds. I will personally see to it that whatever remains of this meal and all future ones shall be appropriately distributed according to your previous specifications.”

“I have one more specification.”

“Oh? Do tell. It shall also be done.” Caius leaned forward and placed his elbows on the table in a show of interest, having not expected any additional conditions.

“Obviously, sometimes things actually do need to be disposed of. It’s just the way of things. But, if it’s at all possible, I’d like for those things to be composted and used in that lovely garden outside my window. If people can’t be fed despite my best efforts, at least we can still feed the plants and support the birds and pollinators.”

For the second time since I had met Caius, he was fully smiling at me. His eyes practically danced as he replied, “You truly, deeply care about all living things, don’t you? Well, little warrior, consider it done.” Leaning back in his chair, he gestured to the table and asked, “Now, you must hold up your end of our agreement. Commence with the meal.”

I returned his smile before looking at Mama again. She was smiling at me too, but her beam was filled with pride. She had taught me well.

“I guess that’s our cue, huh?” I asked, nodding toward the untouched multitude of dishes before us.

“Nobody has to tell me twice,” she said excitedly as she reached for a serving spoon.

After that, lunch was nothing short of delightful. If I had thought eating out with Marcus was lavish, it didn’t even begin to hold a candle to everything I tasted that day. I idly wondered if Caius had caught wind of the date and done his damnedest to one-up his brother. If that had been his intention, he could consider it successfully done. Not only was every bite and sip the height of perfection, but the conversation was just right, too. Caius even got Mama to laugh until she had tears in her eyes at a story about his misadventure when he met the pirate Jean Lafitte in New Orleans.

I didn’t even realize how much time had passed until the sunset blazed across the rolling hills before us. The sun was low enough then that the canopy above couldn’t obscure it, so it made Caius glitter brightly in the golden light. While Mama openly gawked at the sight of him, he looked at me suddenly with trepidation. We both remembered the last time I had seen him that way and how it had ended.

He had spent the entire afternoon entertaining us while being not just pleasant, but utterly charming the whole time without fail. He took my concerns seriously and made a point to get to know me. He even managed to win some points with Mama from what I could tell. I couldn’t let him think that those efforts were for nothing just because I was currently being faced with the physical proof of what he was. I believed in second chances, after all, and he had used his wisely so far.

Slowly, I rose from the table for the first time since he had brought me to my chair in the early afternoon. I approached him with caution, but not hesitation. While his body was perfectly still, his eyes followed every minute move I made. The look he was giving me only made me want to reassure him more. Maybe I was a fool, but I really hadn’t caught even a hint of insincerity from him all day. In my estimation, he deserved to know that his efforts hadn’t been wasted.

Mindful of my right half, I carefully leaned down to where he remained frozen in his seat and wrapped my left arm around his neck. His cologne was fresh like a sea breeze, but it had hints of black pepper that tickled my nose pleasantly. With my mouth beside his ear, I whispered, “Thank you so much for this wonderful meal, Caius. Everything was perfect.”

He kept his hands firmly on the arms of his chair, but he whispered back, “It need not end yet. If you would like, I can have candles brought out and we shall make a perfect night out of a perfect day.”

I couldn’t help but giggle quietly at the suggestion. It was both sweet and very romantic. Truthfully, though, I was stuffed after all the eating I had done with Mama that afternoon and I needed more Aspirin. There was also Marcus waiting for me to consider.

“Another time. I’m not exactly in the best condition to pull an all-nighter,” I answered, gesturing to my sling as I straightened up again. “Raincheck?”

“I shall hold you to that,” he smiled, any trace of nervousness gone from his ruby irises.

With that, he stood and pulled Mama’s chair out for her. She thanked him for the gesture and the meal, to which he assured her that she was most welcome. Then he offered me his arm once again and led us back into the castle. Attendants sped past us and began removing all traces of our meal, and to my great relief, none of them were holding garbage bags.

Caius walked us back to the suite, making small talk and telling us about any tapestries or pieces of art we passed on the way. Mama and I were both happy to listen, as she had degrees in both art and psychology while mine was in history. When we reached our destination, the conversation died down, creating the first awkward moment I had experienced with him that whole day.

After a moment of silence, Mama broke it with, “Well, thank you once again. It really was a lovely time.”

“I am most pleased you feel that way, Mrs. Whitehall,” he answered with a bow of his head. “Should you wish for my company over luncheon again, all you need do is ask and I shall be at your disposal.”

“We’ll have to take you up on that,” she said with a nod.

At Mama’s look that obviously meant, Wrap this up, I asked, “Give us a minute?”

“Absolutely not.”

With a sigh, I said, “Well, don’t say I didn’t try to spare you.”

I unwound my arm from the crook of Caius’ elbow and moved from his side to stand directly in front of him. On tiptoe, I wrapped my good arm around his neck again and kissed him. Just like with Marcus, my body responded to his intimate proximity instantaneously. I flushed from my chest to the top of my head, but the heat only spurred me on. This time, Caius didn’t keep his hands to himself at my contact. He kissed me back in kind and wrapped his arms around me fully, pulling me into his lean chest with the motion.

“Annabel Marie!” Mama exclaimed in alarm from behind me.

I didn’t break the kiss with Caius as I pulled my arm back and made a shooing motion with my hand toward the door. With a scoff followed by a frustrated huff, Mama entered the suite and slammed the door behind her. It only made me giggle against his lips, which in turn made him smile against mine. When we pulled away seconds later, we were both wearing broad grins as we beheld each other.

“You kissed me,” he beathed.

“You kissed me back,” I teased with a raised brow.

“Mmm, yes, indeed I did. I just might do it again if you are not careful.”

“Don’t threaten me with a good time, sugar,” I whispered conspiratorially, brushing a lock of his almost white hair behind his ear.

With a chuckle, he bent his head to brush his lips against mine one more time, but didn’t take the action any further than a light caress. “Your mother’s heart is beating faster with every second you leave her waiting. I cannot be certain if it’s from concern or anger, though in either case you had best not tarry.”

“I suppose you’re right,” I sighed. “But I’ll see you soon. Really, thank you for today. It was incredibly thoughtful of you.”

I could feel Caius’ chest puff up with pride against me at the sentiment. He was right back to beaming down at me, even as he released me from the circle of his arms. “I meant it when I said that hosting you and your mother was an honor. I very much look forward to when next we meet.” As he finished speaking, he lifted my hand to his face. Instead of kissing my knuckles, though, he kissed my bruise like he had the night before as he stared intensely into my eyes.

The meaning of his gesture certainly wasn’t lost on me as I blushed all over again. He really did want to correct his past actions and heal our connection, just as my bruise was slowly but surely healing.

“Goodnight, Caius,” I breathed, smiling dreamily.

“Goodnight, Annabel,” he answered as he bowed over my hand.

As soon as I shut the door, Mama bombarded me. “What in Christ’s name has gotten into you?! Are you out of your mind?!” she hissed after marching straight to me as fast as she could from the center of the room.

“I don’t think that’s a fair question considering where we’re standing right now.”

“Oh, don’t you be smart with me! What you just did was downright stupid and reckless!”

“As if you’ve never kissed a guy on the first date,” I rolled my eyes and maneuvered around her, heading for the short hall that led to the sitting room where my Aspirin awaited.

Hot on my heels, Mama would not be brushed off so easily. “You’ve never acted like this before. It’s like you don’t have a brain between your ears anymore! Did you leave it at the table during lunch? Or did it fall out of your ass on the walk back?”

Whirling around, I said through clenched teeth, “That’s goddamn enough. Your track record with men isn’t exactly pristine either. I did nothing wrong, now get over it.”

“Don’t you dare speak to me—”

“—The way you’re speaking to me? Then think very carefully about whatever you’re gonna say next. What’s the matter, someone piss in your rice pilaf today? Or was the imported rose tea just not up to snuff? We just had a wonderful time the whole afternoon and you’re acting like we were caged and beaten!”

Grabbing my left forearm, she raised it to eyelevel between us and seethed, “There’s still time to be beaten, we’re already caged! You know exactly what he’s capable of and you’re talking about him like he’s just some normal Joe Schmo off the street! He’s a vampire and he has hurt you! His lackies have hurt you! That doesn’t just magically stop being true after one good lunch. Or are you really that desperate after what happened with Carson?”

Even with my black and blue wrist being held in front of my face and my entire right arm aching, nothing hurt worse than her using my ex-boyfriend against me. I gasped sharply from sheer shock that she would weaponize my pain like that. It was a line she knew better than to cross.

Painfully wrenching my arm out of her grip, I answered, “After all the shit you put me through out of desperation over Dad, who never once gave a flying fuck about either of us and you knew it, how fucking dare you try to use Carson against me. Caius was a perfect gentleman by any standard— even when you were so obviously passive aggressive toward him— and this is how you’re acting? You’re seriously going to stand there and take your lovely afternoon out on me the second you get the chance? Fuck that, you don’t ever talk like that to me.”

“Is one decent meal seriously enough to make you forget that he almost drove you to kill yourself?! Who’s to say he won’t snap again tomorrow? Or the next day?”

“He’s not some rabid wild animal! I made a mistake! I didn’t understand what was going on then, but I do now! Why can’t that be enough for you?!”

Turning on my heel, I stomped the rest of the way into the sitting room and snatched up the bottle of Aspirin. I slid it into my pants pocket so my good hand would be free and immediately turned to leave. Mama stood in the doorway of the room, her arms crossed as she tried to block my path, but I brushed past her anyway.

“You need to face facts, Annabel,” she said as she followed me. “I can’t just stand by and watch you get hurt again.”

“Then stop hurting me!” I shouted over my shoulder, not slowing until I reached the door to the hallway. Turning toward her with my hand on the ornate copper doorknob, I continued to rage, “If your idea of keeping me safe is to insult and manipulate me, then you’re no better than the people you’re trying to keep me from! There’s absolutely no excuse for the way you’re acting right now. This isn’t concern, this is something else entirely, and it stops here and now. Don’t talk to me for the rest of the goddamn night.”

“You’re not going alone—”

Slamming the door in her face was my only reply. As I speed walked down the corridor, my shoulder protesting from the jostling movement, I could hear Mama shouting at me to come back. I turned the corner without a backward glance.

After turning down three more hallways just to be sure she hadn’t followed me, I finally stopped to take my Aspirin. I hated dry-swallowing pills, I really did, but I’d be damned before I went back to the suite even for a sip of water. I took three, tossing them into my mouth one at a time, before putting them back in my pocket and continuing on my way. Where I was headed, I wasn’t exactly sure, but I desperately needed to walk off my hurt feelings at the very least.

As my stomping eventually slowed to a defeated shuffle, tears pricked the backs of my eyes. I’d been so excited about how the day went. I was so sure that Mama had softened toward Caius, if only a little bit. But quite apparently, I was wrong. Her angry, cutting words echoed in my ears unceasingly.

I absolutely despised crying and I was doing far too much of it lately. It always made me feel so utterly weak and pathetic. As a tear dared to fall against my will, I swiped it away quickly with a quiet sniff, trying to regain control before I completely broke down right there in the hallway. I hadn’t forgotten about the eyes and ears that were constantly all around me, even if I couldn’t see or hear them myself. I had to be as strong as possible when I was one of the only human guests of the world’s most powerful vampires.

Disbelief was an understatement for how I felt about my fight with Mama. So was disappointment. Sure, we were mother and daughter, and naturally arguments happened sometimes. But she had never been so hurtful before, and it was all so sudden that I knew it wasn’t just because I kissed Caius goodnight. There was no reason to call me desperate other than that being her true opinion of me. She really thought I was taking risks to have a high-profile rebound after suffering through what I called, The Carson Incident.

Apparently, waiting two years after having my soul crushed by that bastard to start dating again just wasn’t good enough for her. Apparently, my every action reeked of desperation in her estimation, even when I bothered to discuss everything with her beforehand and stuck to our plan without complaint. No wonder she had insisted on coming with me and monitoring my every move. This wasn’t just for my safety as a caring mother, this was directly because she thought I was acting stupid, reckless, and desperate, exactly like she told me. After trusting her and telling her everything faithfully, even believing her when she said she thought becoming a vampire if given the option was the obvious choice; in her mind, I was still somehow the one in the wrong here. As someone who prided myself on my level-headedness and sense of responsibility, I was truly wounded.

Well, fine. If playing by her rules would only lead to ridicule and coercion despite my best efforts, then I was done playing by any rules other than my own. She raised me to be smart enough and resourceful enough to handle things by myself. If she was doubting that now, after everything we’d been through in this crazy life together, then that was just her projecting her own insecurity in her parenting onto me. She could take that Freudian bullshit and choke on it.

“Annabel?”

The soft, lilting voice of Aro behind me stopped me in my tracks. I plastered a smile on before turning to greet him. “Oh, hey! Sorry, am I someplace I shouldn’t be?”

“Not at all, the castle and the surrounding grounds are yours to explore at your leisure whenever you so please.” He closed the distance between us in only a few long strides. “I must confess that I heard you crying from my study.”

“Oh,” I answered awkwardly as my smile dropped. There was no point in denying it.

“I… I hoped you might confide in me regarding what has upset you. From my understanding, all was well only a short while ago.”

“It’s not Caius,” I answered quickly. “I really did have a great time with him. I’ve never had such amazing food before in my whole life.”

“I did not suspect him, but he will pleased to know how quick you are to defend him,” he smiled reassuringly. “What is the true cause of your pain? Is there anything I can do for you?”

I hesitated to respond. There was now a crack in the united front Mama and I had meticulously built, and it could make us both vulnerable when we needed to cooperate the most. It was a very real possibility that Aro already knew about the fight and hoped to exploit it.

“Thank you for offering, but it’s not something that can be fixed easily. I’d rather not talk about it if you don’t mind.”

With a nod, he said, “Of course, I understand. I only wanted to offer my assistance if it would benefit you. I often find that in times of emotional distress, strolling is the best way to clear my mind and get to the heart of the matter. Might I join you?”

He offered his right hand to me, which was when I finally noticed his new accessories. He was now wearing black leather gloves that matched his shoes and belt. I had told him explicitly the night before that he could only touch me where I was covered and that he needed permission first. He not only heard me, but also found a solution to ensure that he couldn’t read my mind against my wishes, even by accident. I couldn’t stop my eyes from widening as the weight of his thoughtful gesture fully resonated.

Lifting my eyes to meet his hopeful ones again, I breathed, “Aro, that’s so truly sweet of you.” Slowly I laid my hand in his, and with a small, genuine smile, continued, “Lead the way.”

He grinned like a kid in a candy store at my reaction. Happily, Aro squeezed my hand in his far larger one before guiding us down the hallway in the direction I had been walking in.

After making our way in comfortable silence long enough down the lengthy corridors to make two left turns and a right, he asked, “Now, do you truly prefer not to voice your troubles, or were you only saying that because you were worried I was trying to overstep my bounds? I shan’t pry, though if you need a sympathetic ear, mine is at your service.”

I sighed as I considered my options. As inconvenient of a trait as it was, I really did feel better whenever I had someone to vent to. Speaking my thoughts aloud always helped me find resolutions faster than stewing silently. The problem was, usually it was Mama I’d vent to. But I supposed it couldn’t hurt to talk about it just a little bit.

After a moment, I answered, “I’m in the middle of a tiff with my mother. She said some hurtful things that I felt were uncalled for. It happens to the best of us, you know?”

“Ah, I do indeed know. I could tell countless stories of the less than kind things Caius has said to me over the years.” He chuckled at the thought before continuing, “Sadly, family matters cannot always be harmonious. I am truly sorry that you were hurt by the altercation, however. I am certain that no matter what was exchanged between the two of you, she did not mean it.”

“That’s the hurtful part. I think she meant every word.”

At that, Aro looked down at me with a quirked brow and questioned, “Was what she said particularly heinous or blasphemous against you?”

His query brought everything Mama had said right back to the forefront of my mind. I squeezed his hand just to give myself something tangible to focus on instead of being dragged back down into my pain.

“Yeah, I’d say so,” I whispered, looking down at my makeshift sling so as not to meet his focused gaze. Just the simple act of admitting it made me feel embarrassed.

Aro brought us to a gentle halt in the middle of the hallway and used a gloved finger to lift my chin back up. “Well, regardless of her reason for doing so, speaking in such a way to you is unreasonable and unacceptable. While my knowledge of you was ill-gotten, I can assure you that I know you well enough to refute anything she might have said against you.”

Something about looking into his intense eyes as he spoke, filled to the brim with ages upon ages of knowledge from everyone he had ever met, made a realization click in my mind that I hadn’t considered before. “Your gift must be such a burden on you.”

He reared back and his dark eyebrows rose in surprise at my sudden assertion. “Whatever gave you that impression, little one?”

“You don’t have the human luxury of info-dumping when you’ve finished utilizing something you needed to learn. Everything about every person you read, including me, lives in your head forever. It has to, even if you don’t want it to, so you’re never caught off guard by even the most minute details. It must be so exhausting, so haunting. I couldn’t imagine the weight you carry from your gift alone, no less having to use it so often to keep your status.”

“No one has ever said that to me before,” Aro whispered in awe, his eyes wider than I had ever seen them as they held mine.

“I’m sure most people just focus on how powerful your gift is instead of thinking of the potential drawbacks. But you still deserve recognition for your struggles, just like anyone else would.”

“Just like how you deserve recognition, Annabel,” he smiled softly after a moment. “You need not tell me all of it, but tell me the most hurtful thing your mother said. I am certain I can make you see the error in her judgement.”

“You really don’t have to do that.”

“What kind of a mate would I be if I allowed self-doubt to fester in your heart when there is something I could do to prevent it?”

His casual way of talking about being my mate made me blush involuntarily. “Just… fine. But I don’t want you to sugarcoat anything. I want your genuine opinion based on everything you’ve seen in my brain and I’m trusting you to be truthful.” At the upturn of his lips and his encouraging nod, I sighed and continued, “She called me stupid and desperate. That’s what hurt the most out of everything. And, obviously, I can’t compare to the intellect of the most powerful vampire to ever live, but at least by human standards I’ve always considered myself a pretty smart cookie—"

“Stop right there,” Aro interrupted, lifting his free hand to quiet me. His eyes were now fixed on me with a seriousness that surprised me. “You, Annabel Marie Whitehall, are anything but stupid, even by vampiric standards. Nor are you desperate. Such baseless insults would be laughable if I could not see exactly how deeply they have affected you.

“You are the antithesis of both stupidity and desperation, I can assure you. Only moments ago did you use your keen insight to cut to the quick of my very being in a way no one else ever has without even batting an eye. Perhaps you do not fully realize what I meant before, but that is hardly any fault of yours. When I say that no one had ever considered my gift the way you so thoughtfully have, I meant it. Not once in all the millennia I have walked this earth has even one person spent a single second thinking what you just did, whether human or vampire. Not even Caius or Marcus. If I dared to put words to how much hearing you say that meant to me, we would end up standing here for days on end. No, amore mio, you are wise far beyond your years. And your wisdom only empowers the strength of your warrior’s spirit further. Stupid and desperate could never apply to you; not now, not ever. All of this is the truth, I swear to you on all that I hold dear.”

Aro’s impassioned profession of his thoughts brought tears to my eyes all over again. I could tell that he was doing everything he could with every ounce of his being to convey how he really felt about me. “Aro….”

“There is one last thing I must say. I am certain that this is far beyond the bounds of propriety between us, however, it has driven me mad since the moment I touched your fingers for the first time when I gave you my belt in the infirmary. I cannot, as your mate, stand aside and watch you needlessly suffer the cruelty you have faced up to this point alone anymore. Carson Henderson, that loathsome, conniving, worthless, bloody cur, never deserved you. I would gut him myself for the torture he subjected you to. Nor did your sniveling ingrate of a father deserve such a devoted family, such a precious treasure of a daughter. I will personally see to it that every day, for as long as I live, you will be revered and tended to as is befitting of your station. You will want for nothing, including requited love and loyalty that should have been yours all along.”

By then, I was far too overcome to speak. Fully crying with no end in sight, I threw myself into his solid chest and wrapped my arm around his waist as tightly as I could, clutching his pitch-black robe in my white-knuckled grip. Just as I had apparently cut to the quick of his being, he had just cut to the quick of mine.

Aro wound his arms around my shuddering form and rested his chin on the top of my head as he held me close. His scent was amber musk, leather, and a hint of old books. Having him surrounding me only made his words that much more real. He had essentially offered me everything I had ever yearned for on a silver platter. He knew all of my darkest moments, my lowest lows, and had not only validated me, but wanted to correct them. He had been bothered by my pain for days but held himself back to respect my space and independence. I had never experienced anything like that moment with him before, and while it was overwhelming, it was also a weight off my shoulders that I’d become so used to carrying that I had stopped noticing it was there until he took it from me.

This wasn’t Aro exploiting the fight I had with Mama. He was trying to do whatever he could to be there for me while maintaining the boundaries I’d set at the same time. The moments we were sharing in that abandoned hallway were some of the most impactful moments I’d ever spent with any man.

“Annabel? Aro? What happened?”

Well, the hallway was no longer abandoned, it would seem. I peeked around Aro’s arm and found Marcus standing by an open door at the opposite end.

“Annabel is rather distressed by an argument with her mother, and I knew you intended to meet with her this evening, so I thought I might bring her to you to make things easier on your both,” Aro answered simply. That explained him offering to lead me.

I was honestly relieved by Aro’s forethought even if he hadn’t filled me in on his full plan for our little stroll. Between him and having Marcus there, I was already feeling a little better about everything.

“Thanks, Aro. For everything,” I said with a sniff as I rubbed the tears from my eyes with the back of my hand.

“Anything for you, amore mio.”

I couldn’t hold back my watery smile at that. Without a second thought, I raised myself up to kiss him lightly on the cheek before disentangling myself from his arms. With dazed eyes and a broad grin, he raised a gloved hand to his cheek in delighted surprise.

“Goodnight, Aro.”

“Goodnight, Annabel,” he answered with a giggle, his hand never leaving his cheek.

As I approached Marcus, his eyes flickered between me and Aro. His expression was suddenly unreadable, which was odd from my experience with him. His intense gaze finally stayed on me when I stood directly in front of him, but his face didn’t change at all. It was disconcerting.

He silently gestured with one hand for me to enter the room while the other held the door wide open for me. I did so and found myself in what must have been Marcus’ study. I heard the door close, and when I turned, Marcus was on me in an instant.

Chapter Text

Marcus crushed his lips to mine with a ferocity I had never expected from him. His large, cold hands held my heated face in place so I couldn’t escape. Not that I ever wanted to.

I gasped, trying to breathe between each forceful molding of his mouth against me, but it only served to give him full access to my waiting warmth. I moaned and he answered with a growl that vibrated straight out of his chest and into mine. Before I knew it, I was being backed up against his antique desk. He only took his hands off of me for a literal second in order to send everything on the desk to the ground in one sweep of his arm. The resulting clatter made me jump away in surprise, but in a blink, he lifted me by the waist to sit on the cold wood.

With his hands now firmly clutching my hips, he pressed between my legs easily, leaving no space between us at all. The intimate contact made me moan into his mouth again, and he answered by plundering me with his tongue even more frantically. I could hardly tell which way was up anymore.

No, really, I couldn’t, which was how I ended up on my back before I even fully realized it. When my brain finally caught up, I broke the kiss with a gasp, my chest now heaving with my panting breaths. It felt like I’d gone scuba diving in the Mariana Trench without any equipment.

Marcus moved to draw me back in, but I put my hand on his chest and breathed, “Wait… need a minute….” He hovered silently only inches from my face, his black eyes studying me intently. When I recovered enough to speak in full sentences again, I asked, “What in the world’s gotten into you?”

“Did you truly think that seeing you kiss another man would have no affect me?” At that, I could only blink up at him in confusion. “Seeing you with Aro makes me burn with envy. Your lips were mine first. They belong to me.”

It had never occurred to me that a peck on the wrong cheek could turn Marcus into a wild animal with lustful jealousy. Clearly that was exactly what happened, though. His hard length pressing into my center was all the proof I needed of that. It gave me an idea.

With a coy smile making its way slowly across my face, I replied, “Well, if that’s how you feel about a little kiss on the cheek, you should probably know that I kissed Caius too. And it wasn’t on his cheek.”

“I knew he was too smug by half when he returned this evening,” he growled before somehow kissing me with even more intensity than only a moment ago.

One hand gripped my hip tight enough that it would certainly bruise while the other found its way to the roots of my hair and pulled, forcing me into an arch against his muscled chest in the process. I moaned breathlessly and returned his kiss with my own fervor. I loved having my hair pulled.

As the kiss progressed, reaching new heights of animalistic pleasure, I had no control over myself as I bucked my hips to create friction where I needed it most. He thrust back, growling into my mouth as he did so, before suddenly I was alone on the desk. Blinking dazedly, I propped myself up on my good elbow only to find Marcus with his back pressed completely against the door.

“We must stop,” he explained with reluctance.

“But why?” I panted.

“I fear I may lose control.”

“We’ve gone a lot further than this already and now you’re worried?” I couldn’t help but giggle at the thought of our date together.

“I was not compromised then as I am currently. I am driven to madness by you.”

That statement had me grinning wickedly from ear to ear. “Would another fun little show change your mind?”

“If I see any more of your glorious form, I will take you on that desk.”

“Isn’t that the whole point?”

With a growl of frustration this time, Marcus clenched his eyes shut and pressed himself even harder into the wood behind him. “No. You are my mate— my queen— and you will not be claimed upon my desk and sent back to your rooms like a common floozy. It must be proper, when we both are in the correct state of mind and under the correct circumstances.”

“I’d say you’ve done a fine job of putting me in the right state of mind,” I smirked suggestively.

“Tesoro—”

“Look, I won’t pressure you, but it seems to me that you brought me in here for that exact purpose. You pretty much said so last night before you left. It’s fine if you want to stop and call it a night, I’m just letting you know we don’t have to, though.”

Marcus sighed heavily and shook his head. “When I am with you, it is as if I become a completely new man. You set my every sense alight effortlessly and it clouds my judgement. Absolutely everything about you, down to the last freckle, tempts me. I cannot be reckless with you, and by the gods, it is all too easy to be reckless just at the sight of you.”

“Why can’t we be reckless? What harm could it possibly do?”

Marcus met my gaze with nothing but stoicism in his own. “As easily as I forget myself in these moments with you, you forget yourself also, tesoro. One wrong move, one miscalculation on my part, could kill you instantly. It is simply our individual natures as human and vampire. Even as an ancient, my willpower is not infallible. Never have I heard of a human surviving sex with a vampire, and if I ever hurt you or worse… I could never forgive myself.”

Well, that was a horse of a different color entirely. “But we’ve been intimate and you were totally in control. I didn’t even know you could hurt me like that at the time, you’ve never done anything to me that seemed too forceful or dangerous.”

“Tasting you that way was the most reckless thing I have done in ages. Even touching you with my teeth incorrectly could have cut you. In the best case scenario, you would have become a vampire. In the worst case, the taste of your blood would have sent me into a frenzy and you would be dead. I had to feed as soon as we returned to even begin to think clearly again. As ashamed as I am to admit this, it was sheer luck that I managed to keep control that night.”

I knew that what he was saying should have frightened me. I knew he was warning me for my own good and I should listen. But everything he was saying was just so goddamn hot. My jean shorts did nothing to cool the heat building within me at every word he uttered.

“Marcus,” I breathed as I stood and approached him with slow, deliberate steps. “Is your only concern for my safety? In a perfect scenario, would you still want to stop or would you want to keep going?”

I came to a halt only inches from him. His nostrils flared as he took a deep breath in, but that actions seemed to only undo him further if his snarling exhale was any indication. “Annabel, the scent of you….”

Closing what little distance remained between us, I whispered, holding his eyes unflinchingly, “Answer the question.”

“I would not hesitate for even a single second.”

“Then don’t,” came my breathless response. “You said that my lips belonged to you first. That they’re yours. But something else belonged to you first too….” Taking hold of Marcus’ right hand in my left, I guided it to the front of my shorts and curled our fingers to cup my sex together. He gasped at the contact while I bit my lip in pleasure from the gentle pressure against me. “Please, Marcus, I know you wouldn’t hurt me. You couldn’t hurt me. I want you and you want me. If there’s anyone I trust to be gentle enough with me, it’s you.”

Marcus was as still as stone while we stared at each other. After one beat of silence became two, I suddenly was awash in self-consciousness. I had just said I wouldn’t pressure him, and there I was pressuring him to the point of making him uncomfortable. Silence was just as much of a refusal as any other and I needed to respect that. It didn’t stop me from feeling the keen sting of my pride being wounded, though.

Releasing his hand and taking a couple steps back, I said, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have—”

Marcus’ searing kiss cut me off before I could get any further. “Never apologize. Especially not when you are in the right. We want each other. I yearn for you endlessly and have since the moment I saw you, Annabel. You must understand, though, that if I claim you, there is absolutely no going back. For as long as we both remain on this earth, we will belong to each other wholly and completely. Neither mortal nor vampire will ever come between us. As your mate, I would forsake all others for you, even my brothers.” At that, I gasped, shocked by his admission. He paused before continuing steadfastly, “I will never ask the same of you, as they are equally your mates. However, you have to know the depths of my devotion before we agree to proceed. This is no thoughtless tryst and never will be. Are you truly prepared to spend eternity intertwined together? Are you prepared to accept me as I am and rule by my side as my only true mate? If there is even an ounce of hesitation in your heart and mind, now is the time to voice it.”

When I searched myself for my answer, really searched, I was stunned to find no hesitation whatsoever on my part, despite the seriousness of his proclamation and everything Mama had warned me about. I had never bonded so quickly with a man in my entire life. Realistically, I knew too little about him to say I was in love with him, but deep down I knew that I could quickly grow to love him. He was so extraordinary in so many ways, I just had to decide when I was ready to start letting myself fall. Tonight seemed like the perfect time.

“I understand,” I replied. “If this is the beginning of our forever, you’ll hear no complaints from me. I don’t want anyone else the way I want you and I never have. Please, Marcus, make love to me. Make me yours.”

My words seemed to flip a switch in him. He had been so tense, so tightly wound from the confliction of his own desires, but he visibly relaxed when I finished. The endless black depths of his eyes gained both a fire and a whole new softness that took my breath away.

Once again he held my face in both of his hands and kissed me, but it was like comparing night and day from the last kiss in this position. Before he had been all feral desire, and while his desire was still perfectly clear, this kiss was the epitome of tenderness. He was no longer in a rush as he tasted me, the jealousy having left him at my acceptance of my place in his life and his in mine. It seemed that somehow every union of our lips was even better than the last.

“Cara mia,” whispered Marcus as we parted, “I do not wish to take you here, but if we leave this room, news will spread like wildfire. Aro and Caius very well may take it upon themselves to interrupt us if word should reach them. My jealousy for you is nothing compared to theirs, and make no mistake, Aro brought you here in the hopes that meeting in my study would prevent us from solidifying our bond. If he knew what was transpiring, I have no doubt that he would break down the door himself to try and stop us.”

Well, that was certainly an interesting tidbit of information. I filed it away to contemplate at another time while I scanned the room for a solution. He had been clearly opposed to the desk as an option and I didn’t want to press my luck now that we were so close to moving forward. The walls on all sides were either taken up by floor-to-ceiling bookcases or floor-to-ceiling windows, and aside from the aforementioned desk and matching chair behind it, the only piece of furniture in the entire spacious office was a leather armchair facing the unlit fireplace. Between that armchair and the fireplace, though, was a polar bear skin rug.

Bingo, I thought as all the possibilities flashed through my mind at once. “You seriously need to buy a couch. But the rug will do as long as you light the fireplace first,” I smiled up at him.

His eyes widened in surprise at the suggestion, but the fire within them only grew stronger. “As you wish, beloved.”

In a blur, he lifted me from where I stood, laid me down on the rug, and had the fireplace kindling to life in mere seconds. It made my head spin in the best possible way. Then, he was hovering over me just like he had on the desk.

“Perfect. Now help me get undressed,” I smiled invitingly.

As his gazed raked over my body hungrily, he asked while glancing at my cast and makeshift sling, “You are certain this will not harm you further?”

“I’m certain you won’t harm me in any way, shape, or form.”

It was only a flash as it passed over his face, but I still saw it: anxiety. I needed to take the lead here and set the pace for how to proceed. For a man like Marcus, admitting anything of that nature would have probably been embarrassing, especially during our first time. I didn’t mind in the least, though, and was more than happy to guide him.

I pushed myself into a seated position and he adjusted to give me enough room, but he didn’t stop hovering. He diligently took in every minute movement I made, which from anyone else would be unnerving, but with him it was like the most sincere form of flattery. I picked apart the knot holding my gauze sling together before pulling up the hem of my tank top, my eyes never leaving Marcus’ entranced face.

“Allow me to do the honor,” he murmured, his cold fingers tracing along my exposed mid-drift and making me shiver in delight.

“Whatever you want, handsome,” I grinned eagerly.

Finally, any hints of trepidation from him melted away as he smiled softly down at me. He laid a gentle kiss on my lips before his hands replaced mine completely. Slowly, almost painstakingly, he drew the thin fabric up my pale stomach, over my breasts, and carefully maneuvered it off of my arms and head without disturbing my healing injuries. His whisper-soft touches and incredible care only made me want him more.

Reaching up and cupping his jaw, I pulled Marcus down for a deeper kiss. I wanted to show him that I truly wanted this every step of the way. He responded in kind, which spurred me on to be bolder. He was still wearing a full suit and I intended to remedy that immediately.

As I brought my hand down his face, across his smooth, thick neck, and grasped the shoulder of his suit jacket, he laid his own hand over mine to stop me. “I will take care of everything tonight,” he murmured against my lips. “Do not strain yourself.”

His choice of words gave me a devilish idea. I smirked against him as I slid my hand out from beneath his and trailed it slowly down his body, coming to a halt only so I could grasp his erection through his slacks. His shuddering gasp at the contact was all too satisfying.

“I wouldn’t want you to do all the straining by yourself, handsome. You’ll break your zipper at this rate.”

I was on my back again in a blink. He was fast, but never anything less than gentle with me. The mischievous giggle that escaped me only made the fire in his eyes blaze hotter as he stared at me. “Perhaps you are right, tesoro. If you wish to share in the strain, then so be it.” His hands creeped toward the zipper of my shorts. Just as I thought he would tease me the same way I had him, though, he took me completely by surprise and discarded my shorts, panties, shoes, and socks in one fluid blur of motion. My gasp made him smile wickedly from his new position between my parted thighs. “You screamed for me so beautifully the last time you reached your peak. I wonder… now that we are properly alone with no constraints of any kind, how many times will you peak for me tonight? Will you cry out to the heavens in thanks or for mercy?”

I licked my suddenly dry lips as I parted my legs further for him. “There’s only one way to find out. But get this bra off me first, it’s insufferable.”

His smile was downright devious while he replied, “As my queen commands.”

And just like that, my bra was being flung across the room to join the rest of my clothes before I was even aware he had taken it off. My back fell flat on the rug once again, making my breasts bounce and subsequently catching Marcus’ hungry eye. He had moved so quickly over the last few minutes that I was taken off guard when he slowly, deliberately lowered himself to suck my left nipple into his mouth.

I moaned immediately from the sensation and brought my hand up to thread through his hair, holding him in place as the sudden pleasure washed over me. At my encouragement, his hand started toying with my right breast, only making me moan more as pleasure overtook me. The contrast of the external heat of the building fire beside us, the internal heat of my arousal, and his cold body manipulating mine heightened the experience ten-fold.

He switched positions, sucking and kneading harder now. I gasped and keened, loving every second of it. With one last flick of his tongue against my hypersensitive nipple that made my back arch, he kissed his way between my breasts and down my stomach until his face was level with my mound. My legs spread wider for him of their own accord, and it was all the invitation he needed to proceed.

My back arched even more this time when he suddenly switched from slow and meticulous to ravenous. It was easy to ignore the painful protesting of my shoulder when Marcus was overwhelming my entire being with sudden pleasure. The way he would go between lavishing my clit with attention to feasting on my soaking wet pussy brought me to an earthshattering orgasm faster than I’d ever thought was possible.

“MARCUS! Oh, fuck, yes, Marcus! Don’t stop!”

I could feel the curve of his smirk pressed against me, but I hardly had the mental capacity to care about anything other than the feeling of him flooding my entire body with ecstasy. The next climax was just as sudden and vicious as the last. Apparently, he took notes the first time he ate me out on the hood of his car, and they were paying off in ways that made me shake uncontrollably while seeing stars. My blood was pounding in my ears so loudly I couldn’t even tell that I was screaming again already. Had I even stopped screaming?

The third orgasm had tears streaking down the sides of my face while I called his name out over and over again with wanton abandon. The fourth was when I finally couldn’t take it anymore. “Marcus! Please, baby, stop!”

With a wet slurp, he raised his head enough to say, “But beloved, you explicitly told me not to stop.”

Never before had I heard the crazed snarl that left me as I ground out between clenched teeth, “Take that fucking suit off and give me your cock now.”

Raising himself up into a kneeling position, he observed, “I have never seen such a wild look in your eyes.”

“I guess that makes one more thing that belongs to you.”

At that, he produced a sound that was somewhere between a growl and a purr from deep within his broad chest. Marcus had a possessive streak I absolutely loved. It matched mine perfectly.

He then stood and finally began shedding his godforsaken clothes. Unlike with me, though, he didn’t use his supernatural speed to accomplish the task. That would be far too easy. He wanted me to feel the strain that came with his level of arousal, and I could confirm that it was nothing short of torture. I was made to lay there, stark naked, and watch as he removed every article at a snail’s pace, down to his gold cufflinks. By the time he was inching back over me, the only thing keeping me from launching myself at him was how stunned I was by his ethereal beauty.

I had seen his exceptional cock only a few days ago, but it might as well have been an eternity with how badly I needed him in that moment. I had yet to see the rest of him, though, and without even an ounce of hyperbole, he was utter perfection from head to toe. His glossy brunette locks danced across his broad, pale shoulders as he moved. His chest and arms were heavily muscled and covered in thick hair, as were his legs. He was a modern Adonis and I was burning with the desire to feel every inch of him pressed against every inch of me.

Something primal silently passed between us in that moment. The teasing melted away into pure adoration for one another. There would be no more tricks, no more stalling, no more sweet torture. We were about to make love as mates for the very first time. On a polar bear skin by the fire, no less. A bond was about to be created between us that was ancient, that was sacred. Permanent.

Even still, no part of me protested. I felt truly ready for this, and based on the reverence in his night-sky gaze, so was Marcus. I reached my hand toward him with a soft smile from where I lay. He took it and returned my smile almost dazedly.

When he was settled over me and we were face-to-face again, I leaned up to kiss him. After a moment to make sure he was settled, I brushed his hair aside to kiss my way across his jaw and down to where his neck met his shoulder. His moan in my ear made me shiver happily.

He then returned the gesture, kissing my neck as he positioned himself against my entrance. I wrapped my good arm around his bulky shoulders just as he sucked a love bite onto my pulse point and slowly slid the head of his cock inside me. Every sensation combined was utter bliss.

Overcome with desire, I wrapped my legs around his waist, drawing him in further. We gasped sharply in unison at the feeling. His eyes searched mine for a second to make sure my gasp was from the same pleasure he was experiencing, and when he was met with unbridled want staring back at him, he proceeded to inch the rest of the way into me until he was completely sheathed. My back arched into his chest as we both cried out.

He set a pace that was all gentility and slow, fluid strokes. Our eyes never left each other’s as we moaned and writhed in tandem for what seemed like hours. With his left hand cradling the back of my head and his right guiding my hips, he kept meticulous control over himself, just like I knew he would.

I truly could have listened to his grunts and moans in my ear all night long. Everything about him was just so manly, it drove me wild. He picked up the pace but never lost his careful touch while he chased his release, his muscles all flexing with the effort, and it was enough to break me in the most perfect way after he’d made me so unbearably sensitive with his mouth.

“Marcus, I need you, please!”

“Annabel, my beloved, my everything…!”

I couldn’t control my shouted moans as my fifth and final orgasm took complete hold over every fiber of my being. My back bowed, every muscle in my body tensed, and I held Marcus as close as physically possible while he rode out his own intense waves of pleasure. His moans and praises overlapping with mine were like a siren song, addictive and oh so alluring to listen to. I was all too happy to drown for him as I broke against the rocky shore of his body.

As we began to return to ourselves after reaching heights of pleasure that had to be in the stratosphere, I ran my hand up and down his cool back soothingly. He nuzzled his face into the love bite he left on my neck and wrapped his arms around my back, pulling me even tighter against his cold chest. He felt wonderful against my sweat-slicked skin.

After another moment, he finally pulled out of me, making me whimper from the loss of him. “Are you well? Did that hurt?” he asked, his eyes now searching mine.

“No, it didn’t hurt at all. I’m amazing. You’re amazing,” I smiled dreamily.

Relief filled his gaze as he chuckled at my response. Without another word, he settled down beside me, his back to the fire, and brought me to rest against him. I only meant to blink, but my eyes just couldn’t bring themselves to open again. I fell asleep to the feeling of his fingers gliding up and down the length of my spine.

* * *

Once again, I woke up in pain. Only half of it was unwelcomed, though.

Both my shoulder and my pussy were aching. And both of them reminded me of exactly where I was at that moment. I peeked one eye open from beneath my auburn bangs and found Marcus smiling lovingly down at me. His arms were still cradling me closely to his chest, which was definitely contributing to my sore shoulder. Despite that, I didn’t even think of moving away from him.

Opening my other eye, I returned his smile and whispered sleepily, “Hey, there.”

Marcus chuckled, the sound reverberating through me as he did so, and replied, “Hello, cara mia. Did you sleep well?”

“A little too well, almost. Did you get any sleep?”

He chuckled again as he said, “No, dear one. Vampires never sleep.”

“Really? Not even for fun?” It was such a strange concept to me. I was a big fan of cat naps and sleeping in as often as possible.

“It is not possible for us under any circumstances. We are invulnerable creatures by nature, and requiring sleep would undermine that fact.”

“But how do you dream? Don’t people go crazy if they can’t sleep and dream enough?”

At that, Marcus’ smile widened and he brushed a hand over my tangled hair. “Why would I have need for dreams when my greatest dream is now here beside me?”

I blushed and glanced away as I mumbled, “Sweet-talker.”

Marcus surprised me by rolling us over so that he was on top of me again. I gasped half from being taken off guard and half from the pain it caused my shoulder. But I still couldn’t take my focus away from him, especially with his face only an inch from mine now.

“I speak only the truth to you, my dearest Annabel. I am grateful that I will never have to sleep and miss even a single moment spent with you. I have pined far too long for you to waste precious time on frivolous dreams whilst being forced away from you. Days and nights without end only have meaning when spent with a mate, and now here you are. My only dream has come true. I have no need for any others, dreaming or waking, as long as I live.”

The intensity in his eyes as he held mine and made such a beautiful proclamation was overwhelming. No matter how many times he said things like that, it never failed to astound and delight me. I had never met such an expressive, doting man, and I felt like the luckiest woman on earth. Demetri had been right; somehow, I managed to win nature’s lottery even when I didn’t know there was a prize to be won.

“I’m almost convinced you’re the mind reader instead of Aro. You always know exactly what to say to make me feel the most cherished I’ve ever been.”

I loved how his smiles always lit up his whole face from the inside out. I loved the way his hair fell around us and blocked out the rest of the world. I loved the feeling of him resting on top of me, like he belonged there. His arms were a new favorite of mine after being held in them so much that night. Everything about him seemed to entrance me more and more with every moment spent in his presence.

Wait… how long had I spent with him?

Marcus caught the change in my thoughts instantly. “What troubles you, tesoro?”

“What time is it?”

“Half past midnight.”

“Oh shit! Let me up!” In my mad scramble to sit upright, my shoulder protested too much to be ignored any longer, causing me to hiss and wince from the pain. I then doubly regretted sitting up when the change in position allowed Marcus’ cum to start leaking down my thighs. To stop it from reaching the rug beneath me, I clamped my legs tightly shut and laid on my good side as quickly as I could, which made the pain in my shoulder start radiating up my neck and down my arm. “Oh, no,” I whimpered. “Marcus, please, help me!”

He had never left my side and was clearly startled by the sudden change in atmosphere. “Of course, whatever you may need. What can I do for you?”

“I need a rag, preferably damp, a glass of water, and the Aspirin in my shorts pocket. Quick!”

Understanding dawned on his features at once. With a nod, he blurred away, the sound of his study door shutting the only indication that he had ever been in the room with me at all. In less than a minute he returned, dressed again in his black dress shirt and slacks, with a glass of ice water in one hand and a damp washcloth in the other. When he transferred them one at a time to me, he then went straight for my shorts and produced the bottle of pills in seconds. He kindly opened the bottle for me and dispensed two pills into my waiting palm.

“I’m gonna need two more,” I said.

“The prescribed dosage is only two, dearest.”

“That’s for normal pains like headaches and cramps. I need a little more to deal with this.”

“Did I hurt you that badly?” he asked, his voice low and his eyes sad.

I gasped, having not realized he would take my statement personally. “No! Sure, I’m a little sore ‘cause you’re a whole lotta man,” Marcus looked like he would’ve blushed if he’d been able to, “but you didn’t do anything to hurt me. You only ever made me feel amazing and that’s why I said it earlier. I was just dumb enough to fall asleep without cleaning up and rewrapping my sling, that’s all.”

“You were not dumb and I will never allow you to degrade yourself in my presence. I should have anticipated these needs and prepared accordingly. Forgive me.”

“There’s nothing to forgive,” I smiled reassuringly. “Now, two more, please. I’m dangerously close to ruining your rug so time is of the essence here.”

I hadn’t expected Marcus’ loud bark of laughter, but it only made me smile more. He quickly shook two more Aspirin into my palm, and I threw them all back at once with a quick gulp of water. With that handled and sweet relief on its way, I carefully spread my legs and got to work meticulously cleaning myself. It was a lot harder to do with my left hand, but I managed to avoid making a mess. Marcus watched my every move in fascination.

“Next time, may I clean you?”

At that, I stared at him in shock. “Seriously?”

“Of course.”

“But why would you want to?”

“It is both my duty and my pleasure as your mate to provide for you in all ways. I gave you cause to cleanse yourself, so I should be the one to do the cleansing. I want to do it. Unless you prefer doing it yourself, that is. I will not interfere if that is the case.”

My good God. A man who valued and wanted to participate in aftercare. I was outright swooning by the time he was finished talking.

“You can if you want to,” I acquiesced, shyly looking up at him from beneath my eyelashes. I took a moment to consider if I should ask the question on my mind before deciding just to go for it. “How would you feel about taking a shower or a bath together sometime?”

Whereas his last smile had been full of joy, the one curling Marcus’ face in that moment was nothing short of wolfish. “We could right now. Whichever you would like, or both. I would love nothing more, tesoro.”

“I’d honestly love to right now if I could, but I’ve been gone for hours. My mother must be frantic. Raincheck?”

“I shall combine it with the last raincheck you promised me. I can think of no better way to spend our first full night together than showing you all the possibilities of my private spa.”

I grinned, positively thrilled by the sound of that. “Raincheck it is, then. Now, I need to find my clothes. You should probably clean up your desk, too. We made quite the mess of your lovely study.”

“Allow me, beloved.”

In a flash, Marcus had gathered every scrap of clothing I’d been divested of in one arm and was offering me his free hand to help me to my feet. I took it gratefully, my legs still being wobbly from our prior activities. When my feet were firmly planted on the floor, he knelt, which confused me.

“What are you doing?”

“Assisting you, of course. I shan’t have you struggling with only one arm in use.” He began with my socks, carefully rolling them up each bare foot while I leaned on his shoulder for support. I half expected him to put my clothes on as quickly as he had removed them, but he took his time, seemingly enjoying it.

“Your love language must be acts of service,” I idly observed.

“Love language?”

“There’s this book about how people best express and receive love. The theory is that there are five love languages total, and one of them is acts of service. It means you most often show that you care by doing things for people and being helpful.”

“Hm, intriguing. That would certainly seem to be the case when it comes to you. Others would likely disagree, though.”

“Why’s that?” I asked, my curiosity piqued.

Marcus had finished dressing me and was carefully tying my arm up with the gauze we’d left on the floor when he answered, “I have done absolutely nothing for anyone else in thousands of years, tesoro. No one, not even Aro or Caius, has seen this side of me since….”

I waited patiently for him to finish his sentence, but it seemed that his mind had been transported someplace else. And it wasn’t pleasant, wherever he’d gone.

“Since when?” I asked gently, not wanting to be too pushy during a vulnerable moment.

He cleared his throat when my words brought him back to himself. With the sling now expertly tied together, he stood, towering over me once again. “Since the war. Since I lost Didyme.”

I was very clearly in the midst of a sore subject, but my curiosity knew no bounds. “What war? And who’s Didyme?”

Marcus sighed and folded my left hand between both of his. “That is a discussion for another time. One where you need not rush back to your mother. Suffice it to say, though, that there are more than just humans and vampires in this world. Occasionally, factions will clash violently. But as you can see, the Volturi has never been defeated in any such conflict. Do not let it trouble you, beloved.”

It was him I was troubled about. Whatever or whoever he had fought in the past obviously haunted him. Whoever Didyme was had meant a lot to him if he couldn’t even bring himself to do anything for others after losing them. A pang of sympathy ached in my chest just at the look on his face.

I pulled my hand from his and placed it on his shoulder. Using it for leverage, I pulled us together into a soft kiss. “We can talk about it whenever you’re ready,” I assured him as our lips parted. “Thank you for always being so sweet and thoughtful with me. I don’t take it for granted. And I’m so sorry for your loss, darlin’.”

His smile was sad, but it was a smile, nonetheless. “Thank you. That means more to me than you can know. Although, you need not thank me for treating you as you deserve, tesoro.”

“You can try and deny it all you want, but you really are a sweet-talker. The evidence is irrefutable at this point,” I replied, hoping to lighten the mood before we had to depart. I didn’t want our first time together to end on a sad note.

He placed his right hand over mine where it laid on his shoulder and gave it an affectionate squeeze. “It would seem I’m guilty as charged, then. Will I receive a life sentence?”

I grinned as I answered, pleased that he was playing along, “Only if you’re lucky.”

Marcus chuckled and lifted my hand to his lips. He placed three kisses across my knuckles before intertwining our hands at his side. “Come, we must not tarry any longer and risk giving your dear mother yet another reason to despise me.”

With a sigh I nodded, not even bothering to deny it. Thus, we left the sanctity of Marcus’ office hand-in-hand.

I read once that psychologically, it was a real phenomenon that making the trip to a new place always felt longer than returning from that place. The reason being that the first time around, the brain was focused on mapping out the new path it was being presented with, making your conscious perception of time slow down while the brain was otherwise engaged. So, when making the return trip, time would seem to be moving faster, but really your brain would just be accurately perceiving the passing time since it already mapped out the path before. Unfortunately, Marcus walking me back to my suite was a perfect example of that phenomenon. It had felt like an eternity strolling around by myself and with Aro, but returning with Marcus made the winding journey feel like it was over in a matter of moments. It just wasn’t fair.

When we reached my door, Marcus did the gentlemanly thing and opened it for me, gesturing for me to enter first. I was startled to find it unlocked. Mama would never leave an unlocked door or window, especially if she felt like she was surrounded by potential threats. Panic took hold of my every sense immediately.

I pulled Marcus into the main room behind me, my head swiveling from side to side trying to catch any glimpse or sound from Mama. She wouldn’t have left the door unlocked if she had left of her own free will. Finally, after finding the bathroom and sitting room empty but with nothing out of place, I heard it. Mama’s tinkling laughter floated through the air from her bedroom. I sighed in relief as I went straight for the door.

I let go of Marcus’ hand so I could rap my knuckles against the doorframe. When I knocked, I heard Mama whisper shit and the rustling of fabric. A lot of rustling fabric, actually.

“Mama?” I called.

“Don’t come in!” she yelled back. That was certainly a surprising response from her.

“Are you okay? Is this about earlier?”

“Everything’s fine! You just get ready for bed and I’ll be out in a little bit!”

Okay, this was absolutely bizarre behavior from her. Something was definitely up. I looked over my shoulder at Marcus in confusion, but his face betrayed that he could hear whatever was going on behind the door in front of us. And whatever it was, it was shocking to him.

“Is she actually alright? What’s going on in there?” I asked in a whisper.

“I… I do not think I should say. Not until we confirm something first.”

That cryptic response had me raising an eyebrow at him, but he only shook his head, unwilling to elaborate further for the time being. I got an idea, though. Clearly, she wanted me to get ready for bed so that I’d be too distracted to see whatever was happening with her. So, I would just have to make her think I was doing exactly what she wanted.

“I’m gonna start the shower. You wait outside in the corridor but leave the door open, I might need backup,” I whispered as low as I could, nodding behind him toward the entryway.

When Marcus returned my nod with one of understanding, we went to our designated places. After I started the shower, I tiptoed as silently as possible back to where Marcus stood waiting. It only took a couple of minutes for Mama’s door to open, but it wasn’t she who exited. It was, of all people, Dr. Bernard Clarke. And his dress shirt was completely unbuttoned, exposing his pale chest and a smattering of blonde hair across his pecks and torso.

Just when I thought my jaw couldn’t drop any further, after Dr. Clarke came Demetri in a similar state of undress with his gelled hair sticking up in untidy spikes and clumps all around his head. When they both stopped dead in their tracks at the sight of me and Marcus blocking their exit, Mama’s head peaked out around the doorway to see what had stalled them. Her hazel eyes almost popping out of her head at the sight of me would’ve been hilarious under different circumstances.

“Would anyone care to explain what in the ever-living fuck is going on here?” I demanded, placing my good hand on my hip.

Before any member of the obviously guilt-ridden trio could respond, Marcus sighed from behind me and laid a hand on my good shoulder. “Tesoro,” he began, “do not be too upset. They are mates.”

Meeting his gaze over my shoulder, I asked, “That’s what you were waiting to confirm?” Marcus only nodded sheepishly, giving my shoulder a slight squeeze as if to say, Please don’t shoot the messenger. Turning to face them again, I gritted out between clenched teeth, “I need a word with my mother. Alone.”

The men all used their vampiric speed to their advantage and left immediately, leaving my hair blowing all around me as the door closed with their departure. I took a second to collect myself while I locked it. This could get very ugly very quickly.

Chapter Text

Mama, with her hands up in surrender, began with the classic, “I can explain.”

“The situation is pretty self-explanatory, wouldn’t you say?”

“Just listen. When you left, I was sure you’d come back soon. After half an hour, I was worried. After a full hour, I was furious and frantic at the same time. I knew I had to do something, but I didn’t know where you went, and I had no clue who to go to for help tracking you down. Aside from Demetri, of course, but I didn’t want to see him at that point unless it was absolutely necessary.” Rolling my eyes, I internally snarked about how quickly that logic had changed on her part. “I searched around the room for any clues on where you might’ve gone, and I ended up knocking your purse over by accident. Bernard’s business card fell out of it, and since it had a direct phone line, I decided to take a chance and call. I knew at the very least he’s seen you before and could maybe give me a place to start. He arrived right away and we just… started talking. He’s so calming. When we decided to go find you, we ran into Demetri. He said he knew where you were and that you were fine, but that we weren’t allowed in any of the private wings of the castle. I gave him an earful, but he wouldn’t budge.”

“So you slept with them to gain access to the wing? Killing two undead birds with one stone?”

“It’s not like that,” she snapped. “I wouldn’t leave, so Demetri physically carried me back here. He moved so fast it made me sick, so Bernard tended to me while Demetri apologized. Bernard’s gift really is something, you should get him to fix your arm up.”

“For the love of God, get to the point! I haven’t forgotten all the horrible things you said to me and none of this is helping,” I glared.

“By the time I was feeling better we had all gotten to talking and it just… happened. I don’t have any good excuses for it. You know I haven’t even gone on a date since your father left, but with them, everything just fell into place so naturally. More naturally than I’ve ever felt. What one lacks, the other makes up for, and they’re both just too damn good looking to pass up.” Mama paused as she gauged my reaction. “I’m sorry for what I said earlier. It wasn’t right and none of it was true. I was scared and I took it out on you.”

At that, the puzzle pieces locked together in my mind. “You said those things about me because you felt that way towards yourself. I knew Caius charmed you!”

“Apparently vampires are just as spellbinding in real life as they are in books and movies,” she admitted reluctantly.

“Since you now have zero high horses to sit on, we need to set some ground rules,” I began, placing my hand on my hip. “Don’t ever talk to me like that again. I accept your apology, but it was seriously shitty of you, especially under these circumstances. We are equally invested in seeing this through now, so we need to be on each other’s side like always. I’m an unofficial superior to your boy toys right now, but I have no idea how long things’ll stay unofficial. That’s going to make things very complicated as we go along, so you can’t insult or undermine me. If you have a genuine opinion or advice, that’s great. But if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all. At least, not out loud anymore. It’s the only way we can have a united front and still stay on good terms with everyone around us.”

Mama nodded contemplatively before saying, “Alright, I understand. You know I’m usually not like that, though. Everything got to me, and I could feel my defenses going down, which has never happened before. I responded irrationally and you didn’t deserve to take the brunt of it. Really, I’m sorry for everything.”

“I appreciate you saying that,” I nodded back. “Now, what are we going to do about Aro? If he doesn’t already know everything that’s happened tonight, it’s only a matter of time until he does. By my count, it’s his turn next for a date with me and I’m not sure how you being actively involved with his employees will impact things.”

“You could just not give him a turn yet?”

We made our way to the sitting room, knowing that we would want to make ourselves comfortable while we strategized. Once we were settled on the largest antique couch, I replied, “No, playing favorites is a terrible idea. If he thought I was purposefully avoiding spending time with him, but I still continued spending time with his brothers willingly, I’m not sure what he’d do but it wouldn’t be good for any of us.”

“Do you think he’d become violent?” Mama asked seriously, her eyes already lighting with preemptive visions of how she would maim Aro if he dared to lay a finger on me.

I waved off her concerns with my good hand. “Genuinely, no. At least not toward me. Toward his brothers or his guards, I really can’t say, which might then affect you and your beaus. I don’t know the ins and outs of the whole hierarchy yet, so I can’t advise you there. But I usually end up being with only one of them at a time, and I think that’s by design since things haven’t exactly gone well when we’ve all been together up to this point.”

Mama nodded, taking in my explanation before asking, “Well, what do you think of him exactly?”

That question required some careful consideration. What did I really, genuinely think of Aro? The previous days had been such a whirlwind that I had to go over all of my interactions with him before explaining, “I think… I think he’s trying. I ran into him after I left, and we walked together for a while. He wore gloves so he couldn’t read my mind. It was a really thoughtful gesture and our talk was pretty enlightening. He wants me, but he’s holding back to do things at my pace. I appreciate that about him. But after he left, at one point Marcus mentioned that Aro can be very jealous and is all too willing to act on it. I don’t want to test the waters of his good graces so soon.”

It was quite the skill, giving enough information to keep Mama’s attention on the topic at hand without giving too many details to tip her off that I also had sex with a vampire that evening. That was a road no daughter should ever go down with her mother.

“And what about Caius? Do you really like him as much as you seemed to during lunch?” she asked.

“I was really glad to see that side of him today. Well, yesterday, I guess. I do like him. There’s a lot of depth to him that’s hidden behind his hard demeanor. I know you saw that too.”

“I’ll admit that he’s an exemplary host and conversationalist,” she agreed carefully. “But I’m not over the fact that he hurt you. I don’t care that he apologized, I don’t care that lunch was nice and he’s a good storyteller, that fact will always remain in the forefront of my mind. We know all too well what it’s like toeing the line of good graces with abusers, and I don’t want that for you ever again.”

“I know,” I nodded. “Truth be told, I was waiting the whole time for the other shoe to drop with him. I did get more comfortable when I realized things would be alright, but the possibility hasn’t left my mind completely.”

“Then why’d you kiss him?”

It was impossible to miss the edge in Mama’s tone. I had to answer honestly, though, whether she’d like the truth of the matter or not. “I couldn’t help myself. It’s like how you feel about Dr. Clarke and Demetri. There’s just no controlling it.”

Mama let out a humph at my explanation but knew she had no room to argue. “So, this is our life now? We’re really sticking this out?”

“For the time being, at least. Like you said, it’s easier to escape vampires down the line if we become them ourselves. It never hurts to have an exit strategy.”

“Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it,” Mama nodded. “You’re planning to become a vampire, then?”

“Well, frankly, I don’t see any other way for this to end for us. We’ll never be rid of them now that we know all about vampires and our mates. Whether we know they’re around or not, they’ll always be there, even if it’s from the shadows. I don’t plan on being changed anytime soon, but I know that every day we’re here is another day we become more permanently entrenched. What do you think?”

“I’m on the same page. But time’s ticking faster for me than you, so I’ll likely be turned first.”

“How do you feel about that possibility?” While Mama was a lifelong horror fan, actually becoming a creature of the night was another matter entirely. Nothing in real life was ever as glamorous as it seemed on the big screen.

“The only part that bothers me is how a vampire’s… food is sourced. I’m an ethical person and I don’t make a habit out of killing innocents. We don’t know yet where these Volturi get their meals from and I don’t like that.”

I took a moment to think on that before saying, “Maybe you could just get donated blood from the hospital? Or only eat bad people? Eternity is a long time involving a lot of meals.”

“Boy, do I feel it, too,” she answered, self-consciously touching the corners of her eyes where crow’s feet had made themselves at home in the last few years.

“Oh, my God, Mama. You’re not even 50 yet.”

“Yet at 48 I already look like the Crypt-Keeper.”

“No, you don’t!” I laughed.

“You’re such a good daughter,” she smiled fondly.

“I’m an honest daughter. So, does that mean you want to be changed soon?”

“I’d rather not be 50 for the rest of my days, if I’m honest. But I’m also not ready to be anything other than human yet. I’ll think about it as things progress, we still have a couple months until my birthday and crushing reality sets in. Who knows, maybe I’ll get sick of those two hunks in the next week and have to make a run for it.”

“If you’re calling them hunks, I highly doubt it.”

We shared a knowing smile, and that was the moment I knew we were really okay again. It was such a relief. We rarely sniped or fought and doing so here had felt like a potential nail in the coffin, pardon the phrase.

“So, what shenanigans did you get into while you were gone?” asked Mama.

I shrugged nonchalantly with my good shoulder and answered, “No shenanigans, really. Aro walked me to Marcus’ study, and we just lost track of time.”

“Your sex hair tells a very different story.”

I blushed scarlet as I remembered that I neglected to fix my hair in my haste to make it back here. Squaring my shoulders, I lifted my chin and replied, “You’re one to talk with that rat’s nest on your head.”

Mama attempted to smooth down her own tangled hair. With an indignant sniff she reluctantly conceded, “Fair point. We’ll call it a draw.”

“So, what’s this about Dr. Clarke fixing my arm?”

“Oh, right. He has a healing gift. He was telling me all about it and he’d be happy to fix you up whenever you want.”

“Then let’s do it right now. I’d love to not need a plastic bag wrapped around my arm while I shower tonight, and this cast itches somethin’ awful.”

“Do you remember how to get to the infirmary from here?”

“Nope, so you’re gonna use the card you swiped from my purse and get him to make a house call.”

“I did no such thing!”

“As if I’d buy your bogus story. I don’t think you’ve ever accidentally knocked something over in your life.”

Mama shrugged, producing the business card in question from her pocket, and said, “A mother should always know what’s in her daughter’s purse.”

“And that is exactly why I never bothered keeping a diary.”

It took Dr. Clarke less than a minute to knock softly on our door after Mama hung up with him. She let him in and greeted him with a kiss, and it took everything in me not to scrunch my nose in distaste at the display. This little arrangement would take a lot of getting used to, and if this was how Mama had felt earlier when I kissed Caius, I almost couldn’t blame her for being upset with me.

Dr. Clarke, just as Mama had said, really did have a comforting bedside manner. It hurt like a motherfucker, but with his gift, I completed approximately six months of healing in just under an hour. He made small talk with Mama while she hovered over his shoulder, overseeing the process intently with worry furrowing her brow.

When he was certain I was completely recovered, Dr. Clarke said, “There, right as rain now. If you’ll follow me back to the infirmary, I can saw the cast off and you’ll be able to put all this bother behind you once and for all.”

“Ugh, yes please. That was fucking brutal,” I answered.

“Language, Annabel,” Mama chimed in.

“Go through what I just did and see how well you mind your language,” I griped with a huff.

The trek to the infirmary was mercifully uneventful. I trudged along behind Mama and Dr. Clarke to observe them. As soon as we had entered the hallway, she linked her arm through his, and the way he preened in response was… well, it was endearing, I hated to admit. He certainly wasn’t full of himself the way Demetri seemed to be, and his manner was that of a perfect British gentleman. Mama did always have a thing for Jane Austen’s leading men, and Dr. Clarke fit the bill to a tee. She was quite obviously smitten based on the gleam in her eye and the way she’d giggle at almost everything he whispered to her along the way. I’d never once seen her like this before.

When we reached the infirmary, Dr. Clarke guided me to a bed and made quick work of my cast. The whirring of the saw kept conversation to a minimum, and soon enough my cast was laying beside me on the bed, cut perfectly in half.

“Thank you, it’s already a huge relief to have that thing off,” I started. “I really appreciate you taking the time to do all this for me.” Finally able to move my dominant side freely and without any pain, I put my hand out to shake Dr. Clarke’s.

He took my hand and shook it gently, saying, “Truly, it was no trouble at all. I would’ve healed you when we met, had you been in the know about the Volturi then. Getting to know Penny has been very enlightening as to your distrust when you arrived here, but if you’re ever injured again, please don’t hesitate to call upon me now that we’re better acquainted. Day or night, I’ll be glad to help.”

Penny? Penny? Mama was already letting Dr. Clarke use her nickname? This was getting very serious very quickly. Inwardly, I instantly disliked hearing him speak so familiarly about her, but outwardly I smiled and thanked him for his kindness. He seemed none the wiser regarding my internal reactions, as he immediately turned to Mama with an eager look that clearly said, We’re bonding! Gross.

I excused myself after that, saying I wanted a shower before bed and that I’d find my way back just fine by myself. The pair accepted my exit happily. I had mixed feelings about that. On the one hand, I wouldn’t have to worry about Mama tagging along with me as much anymore, if she’d even bother at all now that she was thoroughly distracted. On the other hand, it was now my turn to be concerned at the speed she was bonding with her mate. While she still seemed emotionally distant when it came to Demetri as far as I could tell, she was the exact opposite with Dr. Clarke. She was right, whatever one lacked the other made up for. I wanted to be happy that she was happy, but I needed some time to get there.

As I walked, I decided not to dwell too much on the situation for the moment. I had my own mates to think about, after all. And as I showered, relief overtaking my senses at the feeling of the soothing water pelting my freshly healed arm and shoulder, how could I help but think about the heavenly time I’d spent with Marcus that night. I could still practically feel his hands, his lips, his….

My fingers found my clit. Now that my dominant hand was alright and I had the suite to myself, there was nothing stopping me from spending some personal time in the delicious steam surrounding me. But then I thought, It won’t be nearly as much fun doing this alone now that I’ve had a taste of the real thing.

I needed to find Marcus.

Volturi Castle, 1:37am.

To say that Aro was shocked would be a laughable understatement if he wasn’t currently on the warpath. Caius was fairing no better.

“YOU COULD HAVE KILLED HER!” Aro’s bellowing echoed off the walls of the Throne Room.

“You claimed her without us! After my day with her! You did this purely out of spite, you malicious, envious, craven bastard!” Caius gripped Marcus by his lapels and violently shook him to punctuate every shouted word.

Marcus remained infuriatingly silent, only smirking as he glanced between his enraged brothers. He was visibly unapologetic and had been since Aro insisted on seeing what had transpired after he left Annabel in Marcus’ study.

Aro had had quite enough of Marcus’ smug attitude. His eyes were wide and wild as he demanded, “You will answer for this! Have you truly nothing to say after you mortally endangered our mate?!”

“All I have to say is this: I have no regrets whatsoever,” Marcus’ smirk broadened into a grin that could have rivaled the Cheshire Cat’s as he continued, “and neither does Annabel, as you clearly saw.”

Caius produced a guttural roar the likes of which his brothers’ hadn’t heard since the war against the Children of the Moon as he threw Marcus into the opposite wall with all of his strength. Debris was shaken from the ceiling with the force of the impact and cracks formed like spiderwebs up the wall.

“Caius, enough!” barked Aro.

“This is not nearly enough! I will exact vengeance as I see fit!”

“Careful, Caius,” Marcus cautioned casually as he stood and straightened his now dust covered suit jacket. “You would not like it if I happened to slip and mention Athenodora to precious Annabel. And you, Aro, would surely be displeased if she were to ever find out about Sulpicia. Consider your next course of action in this matter carefully.”

“You would not dare,” hissed Caius, unbridled rage clear in his glare.

“Would I not?”

The entire Volturi had never known Marcus to make an idle threat. While they were rare coming from him, even when Didyme was still with them and he was heavily involved in vampiric politics, any threats made were always carried out swiftly and without mercy on his part. Aro and Caius knew that he was completely serious.

Aro, with fists clenched, asked, “Why are you doing this? Should you not be in better spirits after everything that has transpired tonight? This is most unlike you, brother.”

“Why? You have the temerity to look me in the eye and ask why I do this? Because, brother, you unknowingly did me a service when you murdered my wife to solidify your hold over this world.” Aro could not contain his stunned affect as his eyebrows shot up and he gasped with a tremble. Caius’ face also reflected his surprise, but the rage behind his eyes did not dim, only flared hotter and brighter. “I had never guessed that after all these years of mourning I would be forced to share a mate with the architect of my suffering,” Marcus continued. “However, fortune has smiled down upon me despite the circumstances. Your unquenchable lust for everlasting control over our kind has inadvertently provided me the freedom to pursue Annabel while you two remain tethered in matrimony to women you cannot even bear the sight of. I have spent these many long, lonely years dreaming of this day. Simply put, I claimed my mate tonight because I am the only one here who can. I know based on her bonds with you both that discovering there are other women involved would drive her into my arms while permanently parting her from yours.”

Caius turned slowly to face Aro. “Marcus has never once lied to us. But you most certainly have. Are his claims true? Were you the one who murdered Didyme?”

“Yes,” answered Aro without hesitation, knowing it was pointless to deny it.

In an instant, Caius slammed all his weight into Aro, holding him against the wall behind their thrones by his shoulders. “How could you do such a thing?! She was your own sister! She was beloved by all who knew her, even me! She died in agony because of YOU!” By the end of his tirade, Caius was gripping Aro so tightly that they could both feel fissures forming in his stoney skin beneath the fabric of his suit.

“The Children of the Moon were a threat to vampires and humans alike. We could not allow their existence to continue unchecked and there was no way for us to control them. You know as well as I that in those days, we could not have gathered our allies for war without just cause,” Aro replied stonily, all emotion gone from his face. “Our existence remains a secret to the masses thanks to us, brother, not solely me. I have never acted alone. Or have you forgotten how you relished tearing babes limb from limb before their mothers’ eyes? Have you forgotten the screams of a thousand men as they died at your feet? Do not allow your outrage to blind you to the reality of your own nature. You sought a reason, any reason at all to go after them, and you relished in it once I gave you one.” Looking over Caius’ shoulder to meet Marcus’ gaze, Aro asked, “How long have you known?”

Marcus answered, “Since before you even opened your mouth to speak that day. You were so consumed by your scheming that you believed I would be ignorant as to the change in your bonds with everyone around you, that I would believe it to be due to your grief. You murdered my wife and insulted my intelligence to my face every moment afterward, but it taught me much about you in the process, brother. Your gift is not infallible. Yes, you have the ability to delve as deeply as you please into the thoughts and memories of anyone, but only if you choose to. My heartbroken thoughts of Didyme have been enough to satisfy you all these years. You never once suspected that you should look deeper, which only confirmed to me repeatedly that you are driven exclusively by your own hubris now. You robbed me of my bride for your own gain, but I know that you cannot possibly rob me of my mate. The bonds of mates are sacred above all others, and due to the unique nature of Annabel’s bond with us individually, if you attempt to kill her, none of us will recover from it. Your empire will crumble to dust then, as we would wish to do for the loss of her.”

Aro’s voice was small and crestfallen as he asked, “You truly believe I would ever think of harming Annabel?”

“If your own kith and kin are not safe in your care, why would I believe Annabel to be? You have lied with a smile upon your lips for thousands of years about thousands of matters, whether trivial or monumental. She is the most monumental of all matters, so naturally, you will lie about your intentions with her too.”

“It is as you said, brother. The bond prevents me from even considering allowing harm to come to her, no matter the reason. Surely you know that.”

“I thought once that I knew all you were capable of. You proved me most egregiously wrong when you tore your sister to pieces and burned her before any of us could say goodbye, solely to gain power for the sake of power. Only then did I truly know you, and the knowledge came far too late to save Didyme. But I will use that knowledge now to protect the most important person to ever live. Your greed knew no bounds until you became bound to Annabel, and you will remain bound within the web you so callously wove. To end her will be the end of yourself, thus ending everything else you have dedicated your life to in the process. You will keep her alive if only to ensure your own survival. Most fitting for a parasite.”

Aro flinched at the cruelty in Marcus’ words. “You have hated me all this time, then?”

“Certainly not. Hatred would appear loudly in my thoughts and gain your attention. No, the opposite of love is not hate; it is indifference. I have been indifferent to you and all that you have cared about since the end of the war. You grew so narcissistic and so used to my apathy that you assumed it was nothing personal. You assumed wrongly.”

Caius interjected, looking over his shoulder to Marcus, “Then what is the endgame here? We are all still bound equally to the same woman and we are all bound equally as rulers of our world. Neither of those facts can be changed.”

“You are incorrect in one aspect, Caius. We are equally bound as rulers, yes, but the same cannot be said where Annabel is concerned. As it currently stands, she is quite nearly in love with me. Our bond grows stronger by the day. By the hour, in fact. You both made good showings today with her, that is undeniable based on her feelings toward you, but those feelings cannot even begin to compare to what she and I already have. Tonight only sealed your fates. And as long as your wives remain sequestered here, your fates shall remain sealed.”

“Then in the interest of this newfound transparency between us, you would be interested to know that we have already agreed to divorce our wives posthaste,” responded Aro, finally shaking off Caius’ grip. Even under such direct pressure from his own trusted brothers, Aro’s cunning would never fail him.

This revelation gave Marcus pause. After a moment, he said, “What a surprisingly modern solution.”

Aro moved to stand in the center of the room between Caius and Marcus. “Your gift gives you an edge with Annabel, but so does mine. Modern women are full of modern solutions. It is undeniable that you have an early lead regarding her affections, but that is all you really have: an early lead. Premature, one might even say. Caius and I have all eternity to overtake you.”

“Speak only for yourself in this matter, brother,” spat Caius. “Do not for a moment delude yourself into thinking I will be allied with you just to spite Marcus. You have betrayed my trust in all that you stand for and it will not go unanswered. My bond with Annabel is my own, and that is how it shall remain. If you plan to surpass her feelings for me and Marcus, you will do so by your own merit.”

“So,” started Aro, looking back and forth between the two, “it is to be every man for himself, then. Are we to go to war for the fair Annabel’s hand?”

Marcus answered, “Only a war of hearts and minds, as Annabel would surely disapprove of overt violence. With that said, however, we must remain perfectly aligned where matters of the realm are concerned. No one else may know the truth of Didyme, and no one else may know that we are in competition for Annabel. It would only serve to make her vulnerable, which thereby makes us all vulnerable. The Volturi and the order of our world depend on complete discretion. Besides, if we cannot resolve this as gentlemen, then none of us will be deserving of her in the end.”

“Very well,” said Aro, his ruby eyes narrowed upon Marcus.

“I accept these terms,” Caius huffed. “May the best man win, I suppose.”

At that moment, all three of the kings’ attentions were diverted by the tinkling voice on the other side of the Throne Room door. “Marcus? You in there?”

The smirk returned to Marcus’ face immediately. “Si, cara mia, un momento,” he called in return. He strode confidently to the door, but before opening it, he looked back at his brothers and said smugly, “May the best man win, indeed.”

The door was swiftly opened and shut. Aro and Caius wasted no time in rushing toward it so they could hear everything being said.

“Uh oh, am I interrupting something?” Annabel asked.

“No, we just finished, in fact. Your timing is impeccable,” came Marcus’ smooth response.

Aro and Caius shared a glance. Aro did not need to read Caius’ thoughts to know they both wanted to maim Marcus in that moment.

“Oh, good. If you aren’t busy, could we go someplace private?”

“I will never be too busy to steal you away, tesoro. Your every wish is my command.”

When the sounds of Marcus and Annabel’s footsteps faded, Aro turned to Caius and asked hopefully, “Now that he is gone, shall we discuss the true terms of our alliance? Very nicely done misleading him, you almost had me fooled as well.”

Caius scoffed and leaned his back against the door, crossing his arms over his chest. “Of course not. I said your treachery would be punished and I meant it. You will not be forgiven so easily, brother. I loved Didyme.”

“I am not asking for forgiveness, only an alliance based on a temporary truce. We both are at a clear disadvantage here, but that can be easily remedied if we work together.”

“Despite your gift, you are at the greatest disadvantage of us all. You only want a truce to benefit yourself. You are as transparent as you are pathetic.”

“Mind your tongue, brother,” Aro warned, his eyes narrowed. “There is only so much abuse I am willing to take for my transgressions. Not a day passes without mourning Didyme. She was my sister in life and death. I loved her more than you ever possibly could.”

“You are defensive because you know what Marcus said to be true. If you could kill Didyme, then no one is truly safe from your insatiable ambition.”

“No one except Annabel. If we both recognize the truth in Marcus’ words, then you must also recognize that the bond will keep me from ever doing her harm. He said so himself, we are all bound to her. Which is exactly why we should work together.”

“Do you seriously have such a lowly opinion of me and my lack of a gift that you believe I would fall for this imbecilic ruse of yours?”

“No, quite the opposite. I have such a high opinion of your desire to succeed that I believe in your ability to see reason. Yes, your lack of a gift puts you at a direct disadvantage compared to Marcus and myself, but you have apparently made great strides in your relationship with Annabel in just a single afternoon, if Marcus is still to be believed. We can help one another, if only to undercut him.”

Glaring, Caius said, “Give me a single example of how you can help me. Last I checked, you have taken to carrying gloves on your person in case Annabel is near to gain her trust, so you will have no fresh information coming from her anytime soon. Or did you think I would not notice?”

Aro smiled conspiratorially, knowing he had found a possible in with Caius. “No one would ever accuse you of being unobservant, brother, least of all me. And just to prove how serious I am about this offer, I shall give you two examples of how I can help. Demetri and Bernard. We did not get to discuss it as a group in light of the revelations that surfaced this evening, but Marcus’ memories provided me quite the insight. Penelope Whitehall’s mates are both Demetri and Bernard.”

At that, Caius’ platinum brows rose in surprise. “Both of them?”

“Indeed. It would seem that the Whitehall women are most unusual in their capacities for multiple mates. This could be linked to a gift that has yet to fully awaken.”

“Most unusual indeed. Intriguing, even. I fail to see how this information benefits me, however.”

“We can use them to our advantage. By keeping Penelope continuously occupied with Demetri and Bernard, we will have more opportunities to keep Annabel occupied and away from Marcus. If we cooperate, we will both be able to make greater gains in our respective relationships with her.”

“So,” began Caius, a smirk growing on his face, “Not only are you a flagrant opportunist, but an outright coward as well. You are afraid of facing the wrath of Annabel’s dear mother, whereas I was able to look the beast in the eye and even make her laugh all afternoon.”

Aro scoffed, the scheming smile dropping from his lips as his brows furrowed. “Of course not! That is the most ridiculous—”

“Then why attempt to get Penelope out of the way at all? She is no trouble for me to handle. In fact, I daresay she quite enjoyed my company during our luncheon where, as you so rightly observed, I made ‘great strides’ with her and Annabel simultaneously.”

“Then that is your game? Getting to Annabel through her beloved mother? How very underhanded of you, Caius.”

“As opposed to the underhandedness of trying to remove Penelope from the equation altogether? You have now shown your hand, brother, and I recommend you fold. You and I both know that you currently have nothing to offer Annabel and you want to gain favor with her off of my coattails under the guise of aiding me. As I said before: transparent and pathetic.”

At that, Aro straightened to his full height, his chin raised in indignation. “Fine. If you wish to go it alone, then so be it. But when you inevitably fail to win her over, never say that I did not offer my aid to you from the very beginning.”

“Oh, I would not dream of it, seeing as I will obviously be the victor. The Whitehalls actually like me.”

At the growing rage on Aro’s face, Caius left, smirk intact. Aro then slowly made his way to his throne and dropped into the seat heavily, heaving a burdened sigh.

With only his thoughts to keep him company, Aro felt the weight of the evening resting upon his shoulders. His closest, oldest companions were turning on him before his very eyes. Marcus, apparently, had turned on him long ago. Aro of course had no room to blame him, no matter how jarring the revelation was.

He felt like he was seeing clearly for the first time since the war, and what he beheld would only bode ill for him going forward. Had he truly been so blind? He tried to review all the times he had read Marcus, and in every interaction he saw in his mind’s eye, what Marcus had asserted only became more true. Aro saw only what he had wanted to see and nothing more. He had innumerable chances to dig deeper, to know his brother’s heart fully, and had chosen not to in the name of ease and expediency. Ignorance really was bliss, but only for those who could remain within its tenuous grasp. For Aro, there was no going back now that the whole truth had been laid bare.

Even more daunting was the response from Caius. Aro knew that if the truth about Didyme ever saw the light of day that Marcus would be lost to him, but he had been certain that Caius would stay by his side in all matters, even if he reacted poorly at first. Aro had been proven wrong about far too many things to even begin finding his bearings again.

It was mortifying having Caius throw his plans back in his face so casually. Much to Aro’s chagrin, it only proved what Caius said to be true: he really was transparent in his apprehension concerning Penelope Whitehall. Clearly, he was losing his touch if he could be dressed down so easily. He knew that his apprehension was at the forefront of his mind for good reason, however. Annabel was undeniably susceptible to her mother’s opinions. One misplaced word from her would have Annabel turning against him even faster than Marcus and Caius had. It was only natural, in his reasoning, that Penelope would need to be dealt with in order to get closer to Annabel. Using Demetri and Bernard as distractions seemed like the most amiable option for everyone involved, now that he knew they were her mates and they were becoming romantically involved. He begrudgingly had to admit, though, that Caius ingratiating himself was the far more tactful strategy. Tact from Caius meant that he was truly serious about playing the long game and winning. Aro would not be dismayed for long, however.

No, certainly not, Aro thought, his head leaning on his open palm as silence reigned over that wing of the castle. Marcus has a head start and Caius has his charms, but those are superficial advantages that will run their course. Neither of them could ever know Annabel as well as I do. Surely, there are hints I can find in her memories that will open her heart to me. It is simply a matter of strategizing based on the battlefield, and I am the only one with a complete map of her terrain.

Methodically, he mentally combed through not only her life, but of every moment Marcus had spent with her up to that point. Every date she had ever been on, every achievement that had meant something to her, every birthday…

That was it. Penelope herself had said that they ruined her precious daughter’s birthday and Marcus had confirmed it with Annabel shortly thereafter. None of them had made up for it yet. If Aro was the first to do so, it would be quite meaningful to her. Birthdays and holidays of all sorts were meaningful occasions to her, after all. There was no doubt in his mind that after such a harrowing failure of a birthday, an attempt at making amends would stand out. It had to be absolutely perfect, though. There was no room for error on his part now that he was openly competing with Marcus and Caius.

The thought of Annabel brought to mind the stroll they had taken together before he made the mistake of leaving her in Marcus’ care. Despite the circumstances, Aro smiled as he remembered every detail of her vividly. She had taken his hand willingly, which still utterly thrilled him. His free hand idly flexed as he wished he could take her hand again right then, but without a glove, so that he could feel the warmth of her skin and of her affection, secure in the knowledge he had earned her trust. As they took their turn about the castle, in his attempt to be a comfort to her they had been able to talk at a new depth, and he had taken the opportunity to speak his mind freely with her after she expressed her sympathies for the strains that were inherent with his gift. He was so touched by her kind nature that he could not contain himself any longer. His understanding of her pain combined with his reassurances and hopes for their future had brought her to tears, but he knew when she hugged him for the first time and allowed him to console her that they were tears of relief. His beloved was quite the emotional little creature, no matter how hard she always tried to maintain her composure. His determined, caring, strong, effervescent Annabel. He could not lose her to Marcus and Caius. He had to act first and preempt them before they could poison her opinion of him. If it was a war they wanted for her hand, then it was a war he would win by any means necessary.

“Heidi,” Aro called into the stillness of the night.

Only a moment later, Heidi was kneeling before his throne, eyes lowered the floor. “Yes, Master?”

“I have a mission for you of the utmost importance. You must move with complete discretion and execute with masterful precision. No one may know of your movements for any reason. Are you up to the task?”

“Of course, Master. I’m at your disposal, as always.”

“Very good,” Aro smiled. “Pack your bags and take the small jet to Brazil. You are to acquire all the finest aquamarine jewelry you can find, as well as any accessories or trinkets you think would complement them. Rings should be sized six or seven. Silver, white gold, and platinum settings are preferred. Do you understand?”

“Perfectly, Master. I’ll be on my way immediately.”

“When you return, your next objective is to bring everything straight to me. If I am otherwise engaged upon your arrival, lock them in the walk-in closet. In fact, hide them among my suits as an added precaution. If questioned, say only that you are fulfilling a request for me and let no one see the contents you are transporting, no matter the circumstance.”

“Yes, Master. Is there anything else I may assist you with?”

“Yes, actually.” Aro’s smile grew as the idea struck him like a bolt of lightning. He continued, unable to keep the excitement from his voice, “On your way back, procure me the most exquisite lemon cake in all of Tuscany.”

“Is it fair to guess that this is all for the new Mistress?”

“Do as you are told and only ask questions when necessary, Heidi,” said Aro, the smile leaving him at her impertinence. He had had more than enough of being seen through for one night. “If you encounter any obstacles, my phone will be with me at all times.”

“Yes, Master.” With that, Heidi left the Throne Room, a knowing smile on her red lips.

Chapter Text

“Oh, Marcus, this is magnificent!” I breathed with a smile as my gaze traveled from one end of his bedroom to the next.

It was so very him. All dark mahogany accents with forest greens and cranberry reds, and woodland scenes carved meticulously by hand into each piece. It was striking, but also soothing and inviting, exactly like how I saw him. The stone walls kept the penthouse-sized room cold, but the fireplace across from his gigantic fourposter bed would easily fix that. The mattress had to have been custom made, it would easily dwarf any Alaska king sized bed. Despite being incapable of sleep, vampires really seemed to enjoy the comfort of extravagant beds. It was a trait I could certainly appreciate.

“I must admit that I was not expecting your company again tonight. Please excuse the lack of preparations,” replied Marcus.

Turning to look up at him, I said teasingly, “If you get the fireplace going I’ll forgive you.”

Returning my smile, Marcus leaned down to kiss me before whispering against my lips, “Consider it done, tesoro.”

In under a minute, the fire was kindled literally and metaphorically. The sexual tension in the room when he turned his attention back on me could’ve been cut with a plastic spoon. Slowly, I approached him, my hips swaying with every step. Our gazes were locked and the hunger within them was perfectly matched. When I was close enough that I could’ve leaned into his chest, I instead placed my now-healed hand over where his heart should’ve been beating.

“I’m so glad you stole me away again,” I whispered, my smile softening into one of tenderness.

Marcus brushed a stray curl behind my ear as he said, “If I could have my heart’s greatest desire, I would steal you away for all the days to come. I wish to be near you always, no matter what. When we are apart, I can think of nothing except how much I crave your presence, your touch, your kiss, your everything. I ache for you unceasingly, tesoro.”

Standing on tiptoe, I kissed his throat just above where it disappeared beneath his shirt collar. I watched in satisfaction as his Adam’s apple bobbed in response and answered, “That’s exactly why I had to find you again tonight. The moment I was alone, all I could think about was you. Earlier was just so incredible that I can’t get enough now.”

“While it deeply pleases me to hear that, I am surprised you feel ready for more. You are certain this will not be too much for you?”

“Whatever you’re paying Dr. Clarke, give him a raise. While he was fixing my arm, he fixed everything else, too. I’ve never felt better,” I grinned.

“I will contact the payroll department first thing in the morning,” Marcus replied, the fire beside us lighting his black eyes and making them dance.

Now able to freely move, I wrapped both of my arms around his neck and pulled him into a heated kiss. The satisfaction of having my mobility back only made the kiss better for us both. His hands quickly found my hips and pulled me flush against him with a squeeze as his tongue parted my lips. My tongue eagerly met his and my fingers found their way into his silken hair. I tightened my grip at the base of his skull, causing him to moan lowly into my mouth. A fantasy flashed through my mind of him taking me right against the door beside the mantle, but I knew better than to ask. Now that there was a proper bed so nearby, Marcus would insist on using it. I couldn’t wait to get to that part.

I let the kiss go on for another moment before parting from him so that I could reattach my lips to the perfectly smooth skin of his neck. An extra fun perk of having a self-proclaimed invulnerable boyfriend was that they couldn’t actually get hurt from anything a human was capable of, so I could suck and nibble my way across every inch of his exposed skin without a care in the world. And that was exactly what I did.

Wait a goddamn second, I thought in shock, I just called Marcus my boyfriend. Is that accurate? Are we in a relationship now?

My movements must have slowed as my racing thoughts caught up with me, because Marcus pulled away slightly to look at me as he said, “Tesoro? What is it?”

“Nothing,” I quickly answered, moving to resume my assault in earnest. The last thing I wanted was to kill the mood, especially when we had only just begun.

“That is the first lie you have uttered since we spoke about it the day we met,” Marcus said, using his hold on me to put me at arm’s length and look into my eyes. “Do you remember what I told you then?”

Of course I remembered. My brain absorbed everything about him like a sponge and it was well beyond my control at that point.

“That I need not lie to you,” I replied.

“And what did I say after that?”

I paused, searching his eyes, before answering, “That you just want to understand me.”

“Yes, tesoro. I only ever want to understand you, especially when you feel the need to lie. I will admit that it hurts me when that is your first instinct. It means you still hold distrust for me.”

“That isn’t true,” I said immediately. “I wouldn’t be here right now if I didn’t trust you. Earlier never would’ve happened either.”

“Then trust me enough to speak your mind.”

Oh, Lordy. If only it was that simple. Every braincell I had rose up in a chorus to scream at me not to tell him what I’d been thinking. It would make me vulnerable, and I couldn’t stand being vulnerable. I hated feeling insecure, feeling weak. Especially in moments where I was very much looking forward to sex and could easily ruin it by saying the wrong thing. I needed to come up with a satisfactory response fast.

Finally, after a beat I hoped wasn’t too long, I said, “Sometimes, my brain runs away from me without my control. I end up thinking too hard about things that don’t matter in the moment and before I even realize it, I’m lost in my own silly thoughts. Nothing’s wrong, I promise.”

“That may indeed be the truth; however, you are avoiding the crux of the matter. These thoughts cannot be silly or you would not be guarding them so carefully.” Well, shit. “Express yourself freely. Allow me to understand you better. Let me know you, Annabel.”

God, did he have to be so sincere and convincing all the time? As a woman who was raised to keep secrets, it was half infuriating; but as a hopeless romantic, it was half incredibly endearing. Maybe even more than half.

“I… I guess I’m just a little unclear about how things will work between us,” I began, my tone hesitant but my hazel gaze steadily met his. “You’ve made it clear that we’re mates and that it’s a lifelong bond, but that doesn’t actually mean we’re exclusive. Like, in an official relationship, I mean. I know you said that you won’t want anyone else, but honestly… I’ve been told that before. It wasn’t true. So, I guess I’d just like to know where we stand,” I finished with a shrug.

Marcus looked at me from head to toe, taking all of me in before he asked, “You are worried that I will want someone else someday?”

“Of course,” I answered immediately, not caring that I sounded jealous for absolutely no reason. He wanted to know me, so he would know me, for better or for worse.

“Why? No man could want another if you are by his side,” Marcus purred.

“Now’s not the time for sweet-talk. The fact of the matter is that I don’t know all the particulars of this arrangement yet and it bothers me,” I said firmly, unwilling to back down now that he’d made me explain myself.

“Then I will use your verbiage so that we might understand one another fully,” Marcus started patiently, a small smile curling his lips as he spoke. “Henceforth, our relationship is an exclusive one. I cannot call it monogamous if you choose to also form relationships with Aro and Caius, but to be clear, they are the only two other factors permitted within our relationship. If you would want this to be monogamous, though, you will hear no complaints from me,” I could swear I saw hope briefly flash across his eyes, but maybe it was just the flickering of the firelight. “Yours is the only bond I am truly tethered to in this world. I could not possibly consider wanting another under any circumstances. I was born for you, as were my brothers. If thinking of bonds abstractly is challenging to envision, compare them to compasses. We are guided toward our preordained mates over the course of our lives. They are true north, and not even the strongest forces can change that. You are my true north, tesoro, as I am yours. You are drawn here, to me, just as strongly as I am to you. Fate itself is on our side, so how could anyone ever foolishly hope to come between us?”

For a moment, quiet blanketed the two of us as I took him and his words in completely. Only the crackling of the fire broke the silence, with its pops and hisses as the flames licked the freshly chopped wood to fuel itself. Everything he said rang true deep within me. We were mates, drawn together by the hand of fate and bound by the knowledge of our significance to one another. If, despite all that, Marcus did ever cheat on me, it would be quite the low blow indeed. In fact, it would be unforgiveable.

His explanation about the bond being like a compass also made me realize something. He was entirely right about everything. I was drawn to Volterra for no real reason when I planned my Spring Break. Yes, I’d heard how lovely Tuscany was, but I could’ve gone to literally any other town in the whole country. Or even changed my mind and gone to another country entirely. But I hadn’t, and now here we stood, united mates in a bedroom fit for a king. Fate was truly the only answer.

Once everything had duly sunk in for me, I admitted stiltedly, “I get like this when I care. Needy, insecure. I’m sorry. But I really appreciate you dealing with it so nicely.”

“If you require assurance, even endlessly, then you shall have it, cara mia. I am endless, after all. There could be no better use for my eternity than removing the doubts from your mind. My devotion is and always will be unfaltering. That is simply the nature of vampires.”

“So, just to be clear, you won’t randomly decide one day that you’re sick of me?”

“I cannot fall ill, therefore no such scenario is possible.”

God, it was always so cute when he would say things like that. “Okay, good deal,” I smiled. “We can get back to the fun part now if you want.”

“Every second with you is the fun part, Annabel. Although, if I have your permission to continue, I will be glad to do so.” His smile curved into a suggestive one when he finished speaking, and I knew then that all was well with the world. Or, my world, at the very least.

“Permission granted, handsome.”

All of a sudden, my feet were no longer on the ground. With Marcus’ hands now firmly cupping my ass, he had hoisted me up so that my legs were wrapped around his waist and we were at eye level. With a squeal of surprise, I hurriedly put my hands on his muscular, broad shoulders to keep my balance.

With a deep chuckle, Marcus murmured, his face scarcely an inch from mine, “Worried I might drop you?”

“I’m more worried for your poor back, picking me up like that,” I giggled.

“You are lighter than air, tesoro. Watch.”

Before I could ask what I was supposed to be watching for, I was landing in the center of his bed on the other side of the room. My giggle became a screaming laugh as I bounced on the thick down comforter beneath me. In a blink, Marcus was hovering over me, his hands supporting him from where they were situated on either side of my head. It didn’t escape my notice that his lower half was pinning me in place.

“Having fun?” he asked, not even trying to hide his playful grin.

“Every second with you is fun,” I answered with another giggle.

My response only broadened his grin before he lowered himself to kiss me. I snaked my arms around his neck and pulled him closer, arching in pleasure from the feeling of all of him pressed against all of me.

As our kiss deepened, Marcus’ hands began to explore me eagerly. First one hand ran down my side, making me shiver in delight at the sensation, before the other hand did the same, no longer needing to support his weight over me. They then tailed over my hips and down to my thighs before hitching my legs up to wrap around his large frame. Suddenly, I couldn’t stand there being clothes between us for even one more minute.

Without breaking the heated kiss, I moved my hands to his shoulders and started attempting to pull his suit jacket off. I knew I wouldn’t be able to in our position, but he quickly got the hint and did the rest himself. While he worked on extracting his arms from the sleeves, I loosened his tie and pulled it away from him in one fluid motion before setting my fingers loose on his shirt buttons. I loved his classically sexy sense of style, but my God, it was utterly unfair in moments like these that he always had so many layers to remove while I had so few. Maybe mandatory Casual Fridays would be a good idea to bring up at some point.

Marcus was also impatient apparently, because a second later the shrill sound of cloth being torn violently had filled the air. Not only had he ripped his own designer suit to shreds like it was just paper, but he did the same to everything I was wearing except my socks.

“Marcus!” I gasped, my eyes akin to saucers.

“Hmm, yes, my love, let me hear my name upon your heavenly lips,” he smirked from above me as his hands trailed down to take my socks off too.

It was the second time he had called me his love, and between that and the position I was in, surrounded by confetti made from our outfits while he looked at me with such passion and promise, I blushed scarlet from my chest to the top of my head.

“You owe me a shopping spree, none of my clothes are ever safe from you,” I said breathlessly, trying to be firm despite being so overwhelmed by him.

My reaction only seemed to spur him on. Slowly and deliberately, he lowered himself so that his lips were brushing my ear. I heard him inhale deeply before he whispered, “If that is my penance, it will be a pleasure. Although, this will be a far greater pleasure.” His proximity had distracted me entirely. Before I knew it, one hand had moved between my parted legs and now rested lightly on my mound. “Give me permission, tesoro. You look and smell divine when I please you. Even now your arousal is emanating off of you in waves.”

I knew good and well that he could feel my pussy clenching in anticipation from his words alone. Now that I could use both of my hands, though, I couldn’t just let him have all the fun. Reaching down, I covered his hand with mine and guided his fingers to my entrance. One brush of his cold fingertips had me shivering as he realized the full effect his actions were having on me. But I wasn’t about to stop there. I slid his fingers inside me with a gasp and he let me set the pace. He pulled away from my ear and looked down at me with a satisfied smirk gracing his angular features. What he wasn’t expecting was for me to suddenly pull his fingers away a moment later and bring them to my lips. As slowly and seductively as I knew how, I dragged my tongue from the base of his dripping fingers to the very tip before wrapping my mouth around them and sucking them clean individually. Marcus’ eyes grew wide at my ministrations, but this was only the beginning of what I had in mind.

I released his fingers with a pop a moment later and leaned up to whisper in his ear, “Your arousal isn’t exactly a secret either, handsome. Lie back for me.”

He pulled away to raise a quizzical brow at me, but I only smiled and nodded toward the space beside me. He gave his own nod in answer and did as I asked without question, which in itself was a turn-on. Now on his back with his member standing at attention for me, all the sinfully delightful possibilities flashed through my mind at once.

Leaning up from my position on the bed, I started making my way down to his waiting cock. Just as I was level with it, though, Marcus put a hand on my shoulder to stop me and said breathlessly, “Tesoro, you need not—”

“Why not?” I interrupted, looking up at him from under my lashes.

He hesitated for a beat before explaining, “I would never pressure you to please me in a way that would displease you. Only do what you truly want.”

“So, this is something you want? Or no?”

“I… would not be opposed,” he murmured, looking me over to gauge my reaction.

“Then I truly want this,” I answered.

Marcus’ lips parted in shock at my boldness, but before he could say anything else, I wrapped my right hand around the base of his shaft and lowered my mouth onto his engorged head. I flicked away the bead of precum at his slit with the tip of my tongue, making him gasp and move his hand from my shoulder to my hair.

I began with a few slow movements up and down, getting used to the feeling of him in my mouth and figuring out what he liked. Just when he was getting comfortable with the rhythm, I dove down deeper until my lips met my hand. Needless to say, he liked that, which only encouraged me to find ways to take things further. Now using my mouth and hand in tandem, I added just a little more pressure, making him gasp and moan from the sensation. It was reactions like his that made being in control so much fun. I knew I could take more of him, though, so I decided to test both of our limits.

Again, I waited for him to get used to the pace I set before changing anything. Taking him by surprise was such a great feeling every time. When my fist met the base of his member, I loosened my pinky and ring fingers to let them support the position my hand was in and squeezed his base carefully with my remaining fingers. My hand didn’t follow my mouth back upward, and instead kept the pressure consistent, creating a makeshift cock ring. I was taking him all the way to the back of my throat at that point, and with each small gag I made around his cock, Marcus’ moans became louder and more frequent while his grip on my hair tightened. Having my hair pulled like that only made me wetter for him and more determined.

“Annabel,” Marcus half moaned and half snarled. “Stop!”

Instantly, I removed myself from him and met his gaze with concern in my own. “Are you okay? Did I do something wrong?”

With a breathless chuckle, Marcus soothed the spot on my head where he had been holding me with gentle fingertips. “On the contrary, tesoro, it was so right that I would not have lasted another minute.”

A smirk of satisfaction appeared on spit-slicked lips. “Ah, I see. So, do you want us to call it a night or should we get to the main event?” I asked, slowly crawling up his body before taking a seat directly over his manhood and resting my hands on his chest.

“Are you certain you are well enough? Will this be too much?”

“I’m ready if you are, handsome,” I replied, sliding my hand back down to the base of his cock to run his head along my slick folds.

Marcus’ immediate reaction was to gasp and grip my hips tightly. I loved the feeling of his giant hands enveloping me.

“Please, cara mia.”

That was all I needed to hear. Holding him firmly in place, I used my leverage to help him enter me in one fluid movement. We cried out in unison as I buried him in me all the way to the hilt. With both of my hands back on his chest and his hands gripping my hips like his life depended on it, we naturally found a rhythm together that had us moaning our shared pleasure to the heavens. Nothing had ever felt more perfect in all the history of the world than Marcus’ cock inside me.

The firelight dancing across his alabaster skin, his long brunette tresses fanned out in all directions on his pillow, and his midnight eyes running hungrily over every inch of me would be burned into my mind forever. The coiling of his muscles beneath me, the contortion of his face as he tried desperately to contain his immense euphoria and let our lovemaking last as long as he could, it all combined to create the perfect picture of everything I couldn’t get enough of. It was impossible for me to ever have enough of him, my Marcus. This was how I wanted us to always be together, in utter primal bliss.

“Marcus,” I whimpered, “I’m close.”

He grunted in response and slid his cold hands up my sides, making me shiver as my pace faltered only slightly at the contrast between our body temperatures. When his hands finally stopped at my breasts to cup them and play with my hardened nipples, it was like a switch had been thrown in my brain. The only way I could describe it is that every sensation combined to turn me into a wild animal.

Gasping, I created a punishing pace, but Marcus was all too happy to oblige me. His hands kept me steady as I came down full force onto him over and over again, the wet slapping of our bodies meeting in the most intimate way possible drowning out the crackling of the fire. Nothing existed outside of our coupling. No star could have ever hoped to burn as brightly as our passion for one another did.

With a hard pinch to both my nipples right as I plunged downward especially forcefully, Marcus sent me into an intense, all-consuming orgasm before I could even fathom what was happening. I threw my head back, screaming his name as pure ecstasy that seemed to never end overtook me from head to toe. With every clench of my cunt around him, Marcus grunted and moaned before he, too, succumbed to his own orgasm with a choked roar. I could feel every jolt and pulsation of his cock as he exploded inside me, extending my own orgasm until I saw stars behind my eyelids.

We were both still gasping for air when I collapsed onto his chest, my wild curls covering us where I laid in complete exhaustion with him. His arms encircled me and held me tight as we slowly came down from our shared high.

“You have no idea how happy I am that you returned to me tonight,” Marcus whispered after a couple minutes of rest, one hand rubbing my back idly. The cold from his skin was wonderfully soothing.

I lifted my head with a small smile and whispered back, “You claimed me earlier, so now I’ve claimed you.” A second later I giggled and continued, “You really do owe Dr. Clarke a raise.”

Marcus chuckled that deep rumble of his before pulling me further up his body to kiss me. He slid out of me with the movement, and the loss of him would have been disappointing had he not distracted me with his fireworks-inducing kisses.

“I can assure you, it will be a delight to sign his significantly heftier paychecks from now on.”

* * *

When I awoke the next morning, I almost felt disoriented without Marcus beside me. I was in my bed instead of his, much to my regret.

I was still wearing one of his dress shirts, though. It was gigantic on my small frame, so it was perfect to sleep in. I lifted the collar to my nose and breathed deep, smiling as the scent of his cologne filled my lungs. It was as close as I would get to a perfect start to my day without him actually being there.

Last night, Marcus had practically begged me to stay with him. Apparently, watching me sleep wasn’t as boring to him as I thought it would be. He used every argument he could think of, but I knew I had to make it back to my bed before the night was over or Mama would tear the castle apart looking for me. She might be more distracted than I was used to now, but she was still her protective self, and that wasn’t a bear I was willing to poke when things had only just settled down between us.

Since Marcus had completely destroyed both of our outfits, he had supplied me with one of his shirts to cover up with, and I secretly promised myself that he would never get it back. It was just so soft and smelled so wonderful, I couldn’t even consider giving it up.

It seemed that even after all our lovemaking last night, he just couldn’t stand to keep his hands off of me for even a second when we were together, so he ended up carrying me the whole way back to my suite. The ways he would display his strength with me were so utterly and undeniably hot that I almost invited him to stay when we reached my door. But if Mama caught us fooling around, there would certainly be hell to pay. It was completely hypocritical considering her new… situation with Demetri and Dr. Clarke, but I still wanted to avoid that level of humiliation for as long as I could.

My stomach rumbled, reminding me that I hadn’t eaten since my long lunch with Caius. Numerous orgasms had a funny way of keeping other bodily necessities off my mind, but without such pleasant distractions, the leftovers from the day before were loudly calling my name. I decided to get ready and start the trek to the kitchen, wherever it may be.

Half an hour later, I was dressed and locking the door to the suite behind me. Mama was nowhere to be found, but she had always been an early riser. She probably scurried off with her boy toys as soon as she got the chance since I didn’t require medical attention anymore. It was almost a relief, not having to mind her so much and vice versa. It meant we were finding our footing here faster and easier than either of us had dared to hope we would, even if things have been bumpy along the way.

As I walked down the corridors, I tried to find any sign of where the kitchen might be hidden. There was never any scent of cooking food to guide me, so unless I stopped and asked for someone for directions, I would have to play the guessing game for a while. Admittedly, I was intimidated by the thought of asking a vampire I didn’t know for help. My survival lessons hadn’t left me despite the fun I had been having, and the last thing I wanted to do was trust the wrong person, whether they worked for the kings or not. After half an hour of trying different hallways to no avail, though, I did have to admit defeat. My growling stomach was getting to an embarrassingly loud volume with every extra moment I took to stubbornly search for my destination. I couldn’t just ask one of the kings, either, because I had wandered to the opposite end of the castle, to the corridor that led to the veranda. It would be ridiculous to walk all that way just to ask for directions and potentially double the time this goose chase was taking.

Finding the nearest guard standing down the hall, I approached, realizing that he had been the one to open the door to the veranda the day before. Now, though, he was standing next to that small old door I’d noticed. Maybe it was the door to the kitchen? That would certainly have made it easier for the staff to prepare yesterday’s meal and put what was left of it away.

“Hello,” I greeted the guard with a smile. His head snapped in my direction unnaturally fast, startling me. I swallowed my reaction and kept the smile plastered across my face as I continued, “I’m sorry to bother you, sir, but I’m a little lost. I’m looking for the kitchen. Would you mind pointing me in the right direction?”

“Do you not know where you are right now?” he asked gruffly.

I really didn’t like his tone, but I answered anyway, “The veranda?”

“This is the Hall of the Queens. It is my duty to guard their tower, not provide directions for interlopers and imposters. Until you are made a queen and recognized publicly, see to it that you do not return here unattended.”

I was aghast at his completely uncalled for rudeness. All I’d done was bite the bullet and asked for help. I supposed that biting bullets could only end in cracked teeth.

I kept my chin held high, though, and said calmly, “I see. So sorry to have disturbed you, sir. Have a pleasant morning.” Despite my polite response, what I was really thinking went a little something like, Eat shit and die a second time, asswipe.

Turning on my heel, I walked slowly in the direction I had come from, just wanting to bother him with my lingering presence. I refused to show any level of intimidation by leaving quickly. I might be outmatched where our species were concerned, but I would never give anyone the satisfaction of a hasty retreat when I hadn’t even done anything wrong.

My first thought was to go straight to Aro and show him exactly what had happened through my memories, but I quickly dismissed that. First, I didn’t want him getting comfortable with the thought of being allowed in my mind. That was a can of worms I had no interest in opening. Second, I wasn’t some snot-nosed snitch in elementary school. Realistically, someone being rude wasn’t a big deal. Sure, it bothered the hell out of me, as I think it would anyone, but it was nothing to involve this guy’s boss over. I could simply accept that I had wandered someplace I wasn’t welcome and move on with my day. My hunger wasn’t getting any better, after all, and that was enough of a motivator to stick to the task at hand. I made a mental note to not ask for directions from anyone I didn’t know in the future. Maybe asking the kings, no matter how much extra time that would take, was the best option after all.

By the time I made it to the other end of the castle where the Throne Room was located, I had noticed a distinct lack of guards in the main corridors. Then it was explained by the ornate wooden Do Not Disturb sign that was dangling from the doorhandles from a gold chain. There must be Volturi business everyone was attending to, which would also mean the kings were preoccupied.

Goddamn it! I thought in a most dignified manner. I was well and truly on my own where breakfast was concerned.

Perhaps I didn’t have to find the kitchen at all, actually. Yes, there was enough food to feed a small army in this castle somewhere and I was responsible for eating it, but I was at a disadvantage in that moment that simply couldn’t be helped, and I didn’t want to risk a repeat of my latest encounter. Promising myself that I would eat nothing but leftovers for days on end if I had to, I decided that at least for breakfast, I would be eating out.

While it annoyed me that I would have to go back to the suite to retrieve money and leave a note for Mama, my stomach was quick to remind me that this was the only viable option for the time being. Thus, I turned and began walking once more.

By the time I left the castle, it was verging on noon and I was nothing short of famished. It was a spectacularly glorious day, though, and the sunshine playing off of the glimmering water fountain before me in the city square lifted my spirits. I had decided to try my luck at the café that was next door to the Biblioteca Guarnacci. It was a ways down the winding cobblestone streets of Volterra, but I had wanted to visit the library ever since I started planning my vacation months ago. The archive there was especially impressive with manuscripts dating back to the Middle Ages, a history major’s dream.

Luckily, Volterra was a small town despite its exceptionally huge castle, so it only took about twenty minutes to reach the café. Most people were already at work, so I had the place to myself aside from a pair of elderly gentlemen who were engrossed in a game of chess. There truly was nothing like real Italian espresso and fresh pastries.

When I was finished, I eagerly entered the library and discovered what seemed to be a middle school fieldtrip taking place. Some tweens were flitting between shelves under the instruction of their teacher, a stern-faced woman with graying hair at her temples, while others were on computers and whispering to one another. Seeing them reminded me that I had an email address I should probably delete if I was seriously going to give up my old life and settle down here with a coven of vampires that couldn’t risk discovery. I resolved to do so after seeing as much of the library as possible since all the computers were taken anyway.

I pretended I was being given a private tour as I tuned out the quiet chatter of the students and showed myself around. I obviously couldn’t understand anything I was reading, but being in the presence of history in such an intimate way made my heart soar. Just looking into the glass cases at the fragile, crumbling artifacts filled me with a sense of awe that despite the endless sea of time and so many obstacles in life, these precious words had survived and were still right here, ready to teach their wisdom to anyone who was willing to seek them out. Next time, it would be fun to bring Marcus so he could translate for me.

After an hour, it seemed that the middle schoolers were being rounded up for an actual tour. I was glad I got the first crack at seeing everything so I wouldn’t get swept up in the mob. When the last girl deserted her computer station, I took my turn with it, resolving to leave yet another part of my old life behind. Pictures, correspondence from friends I had long since lost contact with, excited suggestions for colleges from Mama, they would all be gone in an instant. It was strange, being constantly surrounded by reminders of what preservation through time could look like while having to accept that most things wouldn’t end up getting preserved, even if they meant something to you.

My ruminations were halted when I realized everything was in Italian on the computer. I would need to switch the language preference but I had no idea how. Looking around, it seemed that the only librarian on duty was the one conducting the tour. Great.

At the very back of the group of students was a boy with shaggy brown hair and an obviously bored expression. Every thirty seconds, he would flip his hair to disguise the fact that he was looking around at anything other than the books that were being held up by the librarian for the discussion. I decided to take a chance on him.

Leaning toward him in my chair, I whispered, “Psst. Hey, kid!” Thankfully, he looked up right away. I waved him over, and despite the suspicious look he gave me, he did what I wanted. “Do you speak English?” I asked.

“Ci, English is my second language,” he replied with a heavy accent.

Sticking my hand out to shake, I smiled and said, “Wonderful. My name’s Annabel, nice to meet you.”

Still suspicious, but a little less so when he saw the sincerity on my face, he took my offered hand and answered, “Vincenzo.”

“I could really use your help, Vincenzo. I don’t speak any Italian and I don’t know how to change the language on the computer to English. Do you know what to do?” He gave me an unamused glance before wordlessly leaning over me and going into the computer settings. Seconds later, everything was magically in English. Grinning, I whispered, “My hero. Grazie, Vincenzo.”

He looked me up and down before cracking a half-smile back at me and winking. “Prego, bella Annabel.”

I was stunned by his cheek, but before I could say anything else, he turned and rejoined his classmates. With a huff and a shake of my head, I returned my attention to the computer monitor.

I’d expected to log into my email and find a strongly worded message from my landlord regarding my departure, but instead, only one unopened message was waiting for me. The sight of it made all the blood drain from my face and sent a cold shiver down my spine. It was from my ex-boyfriend, Carson, and the subject line read, Where Are You?

I didn’t want to open it. I didn’t have to open it. I could easily delete my email address and go on my merry way, pretending forevermore that no such message had ever existed to begin with. But there was just so much implied by that simple Where Are You?

He had gone to my apartment. He must have gone to my house, too. He must have watched them both to figure out I wasn’t coming back. That was how he always liked to operate, after all. My mind was racing with every possible scenario and I hadn’t even opened the goddamn email.

Maybe it isn’t what I think. Maybe it isn’t so bad, I thought, my tone unconvinced even when echoing in my own mind.

But I was right. It wasn’t as bad as I had thought. It was far worse.

Annie Baby,

It isn’t like you just to up and leave like this. I was going to visit you at work but they said you quit suddenly over spring break and just never came back. Then I tried your apartment and your landlord was all too happy to tell me how you moved out and left all your stuff behind for him to get rid of. Even that expensive laptop I gave you for Christmas a few years ago. That hurts me you know.

Next I tried your mom’s place but neither of you were there. Your car was though, so I waited for you. When you never showed, the neighbors told me they don’t know where you two went. I don’t like when you’re hard to find Annie Baby. You’ve never been like this before. Hide and seek is only fun when both people know they’re playing.

Don’t worry. I got your laptop. I thought maybe I should remind you that it isn’t nice to let good gifts go to waste. Come back home and I won’t spread around these pictures. I don’t want things to get uglier between us Annie Baby. You know how much I love you. I’m just worried is all.

See you soon,

Carson

By the end of the email, I was shaking like a leaf. I didn’t want to open the pictures, but I knew I needed to see whatever he was talking about, if only to figure out how to protect myself going forward. I jerkily looked around to make sure no one was in close enough proximity to see my screen before opening the first of three attachments.

It was me, in my apartment bedroom, getting dressed. I was bent over and completely naked. The other two were similar, but all were taken on different days because the clothes I was putting on were all different. And by the angle of the pictures, they had been taken from where my laptop was usually positioned on my desk. There was no window behind that desk, so the pictures had to have been taken through my webcam. The problem was, I had never taken pictures on my webcam in my life, no less nude photos where I clearly had no idea they were being taken.

Carson had hacked my laptop. There was no way to know exactly when or how, but he had. And he had used it to watch me for quite some time. I felt like I had been doused from head to toe in ice water.

There was one more detail that had every hair on my body standing on end. I’d left my laptop at the house before Mama and I had fled together, not at my apartment like Carson claimed. He broke into our home when he realized we were gone. He probably sent this email from my laptop while he stood in my abandoned bedroom.

With trembling hands, I exited out of his email and deleted my account. I then shuffled out of the library and back out to the sunny streets of Volterra. Even in the midday sun, I felt no warmth. The chilling fear coursing through me had settled into my very bone marrow. I glanced in the café window as I passed, and my reflection didn’t even look like me. I was so ghostly pale that the color had even left my lips. My shoulders were hunched and my arms were crossed so tightly that it was like I was physically holding myself together to keep from unraveling right there on the street. I had no idea what to do with myself, so I just kept walking.

It took me almost an hour to return to the castle, I had walked so slowly the whole way back. The uneven cobblestones of the ancient road had tripped me up numerous times, but I hardly noticed. A meteor could have crashed right in front of me and I wouldn’t have looked up from my Converse-clad feet. Nothing could penetrate the fog that had overtaken my mind. Not until the castle doors had closed behind me, at least.

“Where have you been?” asked Caius. Apparently, he had been waiting for me as close as he could get to the doors without the sunlight from outside reaching him.

My eyes dragged their way up from my feet, to his feet, to his legs, to his torso, to his neck, until finally they met his ruby orbs. That was the moment the fog decided to lift and the crushing reality of my situation fully came down on my head.

The unnatural pallor of my skin must have tipped Caius off that something was wrong. In two long strides he was in front of me, scrutinizing every inch of my face. “Are you unwell?” he finally asked. That was certainly one word for it.

“Yes,” I whispered hoarsely.

When I didn’t elaborate, he questioned with a furrowed blonde brow, “Well, what seems to be the matter? Shall I call Bernard? You still need to answer my previous query.”

Just the thought of where I’d been and what I’d seen made me sick to my stomach. My heart stuttered and then beat at a full gallop, my breath hitched and started picking up speed. I was about to have a full-blown panic attack right there in the castle foyer. I couldn’t speak, couldn’t think straight, couldn’t do anything but sink to my knees as gasping breath after gasping breath left me. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get a full breath back in, like a weight was crushing my lungs.

Then, the shouting started. My ears were ringing, but I vaguely registered that Caius was still there and he was calling to me. When I looked up again, he was on his knees too, his hands hovering over my shoulders like he wanted to grab me but wasn’t sure if he should. His eyes were now frantic as they rapidly searched my form for answers they wouldn’t find.

Somewhere far away in my mind, it occurred to me that we had been in a similar situation before. I needed something, anything to ground me until I could catch my breath again. Leaning forward, I rested my head heavily on his shoulder and gripped his black button-down shirt for dear life. Taking my cue, he brought his arms around my shoulders and pulled me closer, but not close enough to keep me from the air I needed to feel then.

“What should I do?” I heard him ask.

In moments of extreme panic, our minds don’t always make the most sense. In fact, they rarely make sense at all. For whatever reason, I ended up gasping out, “Kitchen.”

Then, the world was a cold blur around me as the wind whipped my hair in all directions. My head was still on his shoulder, but his arms were now holding me bridal style as he whisked me away to the kitchen. I wished I could’ve found it a different way.

Chapter Text

In the basement, we burst through a set of double doors into what was essentially a section of a subterranean cave system that had been remodeled into a modern commercial kitchen, sprawling and bedecked in every stainless steel appliance of the highest quality known to man; every surface gleamed with the shine of being spotlessly clean. I shut my eyes, it was too much. Caius ordered everyone out and not to come anywhere near the entire floor. I could hear them all put down anything in their hands at once and flee without question. They didn’t move at supernatural speeds, I would’ve felt the breeze coming off of them if they moved that quickly, so they were all humans.

Once we were well and truly alone, Caius seemed to struggle with whether to keep holding me or to put me down, but he made no move to set me on my feet. He didn’t move at all. “Is this alright?” he finally asked. All I could do was nod in answer while still trying to gulp down air as fast as I could, eyes still firmly shut. “You will only make things worse doing that,” he chided.

“I… can’t… stop….” Suddenly there was life in his limbs again. Gently, he readjusted our position so that my head was pressed comfortably against his chest. He took deep breaths I could feel beneath my cheek, giving me an example to follow and calm down. It took a few tries, but he was patient, and my breathing gradually evened out to the point that my heart wasn’t pounding anymore and I could think clearly again. With a sigh, I whispered, “Thank you, Caius.”

“You are welcome. I… I apologize for frightening you so. It was not my intent.”

Confused, I lifted my head and finally squinted my eyes open as I asked, “What are you talking about?”

“This was not caused by my awaiting you in the foyer?” His eyes took in every inch of my face to gauge my reaction.

“Oh! No, it wasn’t that at all. If anything, I’m glad you were there. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you think this was because of you.”

“Then what on earth did cause this? Who upset you so? I will deal with them personally,” Caius said firmly, determination hardening his delicate features.

“I….” How could I explain the situation to him? Did he even know what an email was? Or webcams? Hell, did he even know about computers? I very highly doubted he spent his spare time surfing the web. To a supernatural king, I was quite certain my panic-inducing problem would seem trivial at best. He must have had an entire world of problems on his plate to deal with every single day, the last thing he needed was my very human, very insignificant issues on top of all that. “It’s nothing,” I finally said, the response sounding especially lame in my own ears.

“Annabel,” said Caius, his tone deadly serious, “this was not nothing. You have the heart of a lioness. The heart of a warrior. And hearing it thunder like that, hearing you gasp for your life as if you were a hunted animal, can only mean one thing: something has truly terrified you. Tell me what is going on this instant. I will not leave you be until you do.”

Christ, that really was what it came down to, wasn’t it? Compared to him, I was practically an animal. I was a mammal. And even if he had the DNA of one too, what he was now certainly couldn’t be described as anything so base. It was so easy to forget about the things that made us completely different creatures when he’d been so charming and kind. “It’s a human matter. It would take a lot of time to explain and I’m sure you have better things to do,” I said, no longer able to meet his eyes.

“Hear me well, Annabel Whitehall. Any matter concerning you is not a human one. You may be human, but first and foremost you are my mate. Nothing and no one comes before you. It matters not to me if I must sit here for the next century listening to you, I will hear every detail; and this matter, whatever it may be, shall be addressed accordingly. Bear in mind that you are currently in my clutches, and it is here you shall remain until I am satisfied that you have told me everything.” When Caius finished, his arms tightened around me, cradling me closer while he rested his chin on top of my head.

There I was again, gladly forgetting for a moment all the things that made us separate, just to feel the comfort of his body like this a little longer. And he truly was a comfort, when he’d let himself be. Taking a deep breath, I began, “I went out this morning because I couldn’t find my way here to eat my leftovers for breakfast. I tried asking for directions, but the guard I came across… wasn’t very helpful. While I was out, I stopped by the library. I wanted to use a computer while I was there, I’d forgotten to do something before I left home. When I got on, I had a, um… correspondence from… um, has Aro told you about Carson?”

At my shifting tone and the mention of another man, Caius’ arms tensed around me. “No. Should he have?”

“Not necessarily, I just don’t know what he told you about what he saw in my past.”

“I can assure you, he told us nothing. He would never give up such an advantage.”

“What?”

“Worry not, just continue.”

Filing that little slip-up away to examine at another time, I went on, “Well, he was my boyfriend a couple years ago. I hadn’t heard from him in a long time because things didn’t end well between us, but he wrote me. He made it very clear he’s been stalking me and threatened me if I didn’t go home to face him. He clearly doesn’t know where I am, but it all was enough to scare me shitless anyway.” The images Carson had sent me of my naked body in my own bedroom, a room he had never even been in, flashed through my mind one after another. It was enough to make my stomach turn.

Caius’ grip on me tightened protectively when I ended my stilted explanation. “How did he threaten you? And why does he want you to go back if you have been out of communication for so long? This is not to be borne.”

“I really don’t know what his intentions are, he was vague about that. He was definitely trying to blackmail me into going home for a reason, though.”

“What did he use to blackmail you with? I find it difficult to imagine you of all people having skeletons in your cupboard.”

This was the part that was the most difficult to make him understand; not just because there might be gaps in his technological understanding, but because thinking about it made me want to throw up the pastries I’d eaten that morning. What if he didn’t get how horrible this truly was for me? What if because of his age and station in life, he saw no problem with having my privacy invaded in such an egregious way?

What if he isn’t on my side? I had to take a moment to collect myself before answering, “These days, it’s supposed to be a fun thing to attach a camera to computers. People use them to talk face-to-face from long distances. But Carson had given me the computer that had the camera as a present. He… he was remotely taking pictures of me without me knowing. Intimate pictures. He sent me a few to prove it and threatened to show them to people we know to humiliate me if I don’t do what he wants.”

Slowly, he pulled his head back to look in my eyes again before growling through gritted teeth, “How intimate?”

Tears pricked the backs of my eyes as I met his, but I didn’t let them fall. “They were all pictures of me naked. He took them while I was getting dressed,” I whispered, almost afraid that if I said it too loud that I might have another attack. “And all of them were from different days. He made it clear he didn’t appreciate getting cut off from his favorite peepshow. I left my laptop behind and he broke into my house to find it. He tried lying about that part in the email, but I know for a fact that’s what happened.”

Caius’ lips curled, baring his teeth. His jaw was clenched so tightly I thought he might actually chip a tooth. I shrunk back, trying to make some space between us even though I knew I was as trapped as he had previously claimed. Seeing my reaction, he forced himself to release the tension in his jaw and squared his shoulders.

“Worry not, little one. As I said, I shall deal with this matter personally.”

“Please, you really don’t need to do that,” I said, my voice small and uncertain.

“I absolutely need to do this. No one is permitted to terrorize my mate. I promise you, he will die screaming for his crimes against you.”

“Caius,” I warned, my hand clutching his lapel, “don’t. I’m here and he’s all the way in Alaska.”

“What else has he done? You said that Aro knows something about this,” Caius demanded.

“I don’t want to go into it right now,” I replied, shuddering at the mere thought of my past with that bastard. “Just… just tell me I’m safe here. But only if it’s really true.”

“Annabel, do you realize where you are?”

“Volterra?”

“Be more specific.”

“… In your castle?”

“No, darling, not my castle. My fortress. You reside in the most impregnable structure that has ever been erected, and you are constantly surrounded by the most powerful, elite force of beings to ever walk the earth. Everyone and everything you see around you is dedicated to protection. Your protection. If that disgusting waste of oxygen did somehow find you and was moronic enough to attempt coming anywhere near you, he would be inviting an utterly brutal demise. A well-deserved one, despite your protests.” Caius paused and looked deeply into my eyes. “You have suffered so much in your young life, little one. Yet, you carry no malice. No desire for vengeance whatsoever against anyone. You want peace and security for yourself and others, nothing more. I saw that clearly when you agreed to begin anew with me.” He paused again to lift my wrist, the same wrist he had bruised so painfully, to his lips and kissed it softly. “I saw it again shortly thereafter when you insisted on not allowing your food to go to waste. And I see it even more clearly in you now. Admittedly, I do not understand it. I admire you very much for it, though. In you, it is a strength, not a weakness.”

“Sometimes,” I whispered, my eyes never leaving his, “it feels a lot more like a weakness than a strength. Especially when it ends up hurting me.”

“That is exactly what I mean, darling. To be as you are is to know almost constant pain. Unfair, uncaring pain. Yet you bear it with such grace and strength regardless. That is not a trait that can be learned or mimicked, even with an eternity to do so. Believe me, I speak from experience.”

As we stared at each other, we didn’t seem to notice our faces slowly inching closer and closer. I didn’t notice, anyway, not until our noses touched. Using the same hand that had been holding his lapel, I placed it on the back of his neck and drew him in. This kiss wasn’t anything like our first outside my suite. Whereas that had been all passion mixed with relief, this was pure gentleness and care for each other. Experiencing this side of Caius was beyond anything I had ever expected, even more so than seeing his charming side over lunch. His cool lips were so soft against mine and his arms around me were so steady, so strong, I felt just as safe with him as I ever did with Marcus. I had anticipated feeling at least a little guilty kissing Caius after Marcus and I had made love so many times the night before, but instead, I just felt totally and completely right. It was just as Caius had said: we were mates, and I knew then that I truly was as safe as anyone ever could be.

I brushed my tongue against the seam of his lips, asking for permission to deepen the kiss. He pulled me even more snuggly against him as he met my tongue with his. Even with the new level of passion we were sharing, we remained slow and gentle with each other, taking our time to be comfortable and explore at our own leisurely pace.

When we separated, it was Caius who broke the kiss to ask, “Feeling better now, darling?”

Smiling softly, I answered, “Much better. Thanks for everything, Caius. I don’t know what would’ve happened if you hadn’t been waiting for me.”

“Next time you decide to abscond from the castle because you cannot find something, simply ask me. I dislike how often you have been distraught under my care.”

“I was going to, but you were busy in the Throne Room this morning. I couldn’t exactly disturb you when there was a sign explicitly telling me not to.”

Something unreadable flashed across Caius’ face as I spoke. Before I could ask about it, though, he said, “Ah, that does explain your absence. It is rare we have meetings of that nature, so next time, just leave a note and wait in your rooms for assistance.”

“I was hungry,” I shrugged.

“Well, you are here now. Are you still hungry?”

Immediately, I replied in disappointment, “No, I lost my appetite at the library. But I promise I’ll still eat the leftovers, I just can’t even begin to think about food right now.”

“Of course, there is no urgency,” Caius nodded, although his jaw had clenched again at the mention of the events that transpired while I was out. “I will show you how to return here. It seems you will be a frequent visitor and it would not do having you get lost.”

“Yeah, I’d really rather not get berated by any guards again if I can help it. Not an ideal way to start the day,” I said offhandedly.

“Who berated you?” Caius asked, his brows raised and eyes serious.

“I didn’t get his name,” I started honestly, realizing my mistake by mentioning what had happened that morning, “but he really wasn’t happy that I wandered down his hallway. I was as nice as could be and he still wouldn’t help me find my way.”

“Which hallway?”

“He said I was in the Hall of the Queens, the one we went down yesterday,” I shrugged. “But don’t get on his case about it, I disturbed him while he was on guard duty so that’s probably why he was annoyed with me.” When I was finished explaining, that same unreadable look came over Caius again. This time, though, there was something in his eyes that made me deeply uneasy: guilt.

But what in the world did I say to make him look so guilty? My mind began racing over everything I had said and what had transpired in the Hall of the Queens that morning. After a beat, I remembered a statement I had completely overlooked.

“It is my duty to guard their tower, not provide directions for interlopers and imposters.”

“It is my duty to guard their tower….”

“… their tower….”

People I didn’t know about yet lived in that tower. And if the name of their domain was anything to go off of, they were queens. To my understanding, there was only one way to be vampire queens in this scenario: being married to vampire kings. My kings.

If my mind was racing before, it had just become the Daytona 500. The guard hadn’t been annoyed, he had been downright hostile. And apparently with good reason. He called me an interloper and an imposter. He said not to come back until I was a recognized queen. That meant he was guarding women he considered to be the true queens. These men, my mates, were married. And they obviously thought they could get away with it, outsmart me, because of how vastly superior they held themselves to be.

Calm down, my inner voice cautioned me. Your parents’ shitshow of a relationship and every relationship you’ve ever had prepared you for a situation like this. You know how to paste on a smile while snooping behind the scenes. Don’t let on that anything’s wrong. Never confront a liar without hard evidence, they’ll just deny it and turn it on you. Play their game and win. Play it smart, play it cool. For that moment of silence, we simply stared at each other. Caius was clearly waiting to see if he had been caught. You goddamn fucking coward, I inwardly raged.

Outwardly, I smiled charmingly to catch him off guard. “Anyway,” I chirped, “it doesn’t matter now. I have bigger fish to fry than one cranky guard. Speaking of fish to fry, how about you show me around here so I don’t have to eat out for dinner too.”

Caius was indeed caught off guard, but he recovered quickly, obviously grateful that I was moving on from the topic. The guilt in his eyes was replaced by relief. That alone made me want to claw them out with my bare hands.

Blissfully unaware of my enraged plotting, Caius spent the next hour showing me all around the kitchen and the basement floor itself, ensuring I couldn’t get lost again. I smiled, I giggled, I asked questions to make him feel knowledgeable and to feign being engrossed in anything and everything he had to say. By the time we were walking up the stairs to the ground floor, arm in arm, he was practically strutting like a peacock he was so pleased with himself. Who’s the animal now?

He'll never know what hit him. None of them will.

* * *

It took everything I had not to cringe or scowl when Caius kissed me goodbye at the door to my suite. I giggled and smiled, all the while my stomach was tying itself into knots and my hands were balled into tight fists behind my back. As soon as he left, I went inside, and I swear I had never been so relieved to see Mama.

“We’re at DEFCON 1,” I said without preamble, the smile that had been painfully stretching my cheeks sliding off in an instant.

Mama’s head snapped up from where she was reading in the sitting room upon hearing the seriousness behind my proclamation. After taking a second to gauge my appearance and body language, she asked, “What in the world happened?”

Before I answered, I all but stomped across the room and threw myself into the space next to her on the couch. I might as well have had steam coming out of my ears at that point. “They’re married, that’s what happened. Fucking. Married.”

Mama didn’t even bother to scold me for my language because her jaw practically dropped to the floor. “Seriously? You’re sure about this?”

“A couple things slipped this morning and the dots weren’t hard to connect.”

“They’re all married? Even Marcus?”

That question gave me pause. “There was a mention of queens, as in plural. And it was in the present tense. But Marcus told me he lost someone at some point. Maybe his wife?”

“Maybe his first wife,” said Mama. “There’s no telling how many times any of them have been married. They’re old as the hills after all, and for all we know they could have a whole harem stashed somewhere around here.”

My stomach sank even further than I’d thought possible. Caius’ obvious betrayal had infuriated me, but if Marcus had also betrayed my trust, there was no way we could come back from that. We had just made things official the night before, yet here I was, having to question everything after I had made myself clear to him about my feelings on our relationship. He had gone out of his way to reassure me, but it could very well be an act just so he could get laid multiple times in one evening. If that was the case, he would set the record for breaking my heart the fastest. I hated even thinking that.

“Have you discussed prior relationships with your beaus?” I asked.

Now it was Mama’s turn to think things over. After a beat, she replied, “No. It hasn’t come up yet.”

“Well, better bring it up sooner than later. We could both be in trouble now.”

“Shit,” she whispered, crossing her arms over her chest. “We got caught up in all this, didn’t we?”

“Yep, and it looks like we’ll be paying the price for it,” I grumbled bitterly. “Don’t make it obvious that you’re snooping and don’t give away anything about what I told you. I was just with Caius and he doesn’t know that I know yet. The longer we can keep everyone else in the dark, the more intel we can get.”

“Of course. We need to work fast, nothing stays secret in a place like this for long.”

“Unless you’re a wife, apparently,” I said with a roll of my eyes, my hands clenching once more.

Mama noticed and put a hand over my fist. I relaxed my hand and took hers.

“Hey, now,” she said softly. “You have every right and reason to be hurt. Just remember that this isn’t your fault. You haven’t done anything wrong.”

“I’m a homewrecker,” I whispered, tears filling my eyes as the reality of the situation fully hit me.

“Absolutely not, don’t you dare talk about yourself like that,” said Mama with a shake of her head. “You can’t be a homewrecker if you didn’t know there was a home to be wrecked. Put the blame on them where it belongs. You are the kindest, sweetest, most responsible person I know. You’d never do anything to ruin someone else’s relationship and we both know that.”

When the first tear fell, I put my head on her shoulder and squeezed the hand I was holding. She squeezed back and leaned her head on mine, letting me get my feelings out as we sat together quietly.

After a cry and a long hug, we made our plan of attack. Within the hour, our coordinated effort was solidified. We would question the men individually and as far away from anyone else’s supernatural hearing as possible. We had to start right then if we were going to be quick enough to outpace the spread of information between them. It was imperative that none of them were able to compare notes with the others before we got to all of them.

Mama decided to start with Dr. Clarke since he had the least contact with the others on a regular basis, and I chose to begin with Aro. My reasoning was that he would respect my wish to have him wear gloves again without question since our supposed fresh start was so, for lack of a better word, fresh. He wouldn’t try to read my mind and I could distract him with a walk in the garden my balcony overlooked. I knew that no guards bothered to patrol the area since I had gotten so far from Caius during my attempted escape, so I’d wait to go for the kill until we were at the hedge wall on the opposite end. After Aro, I would have to face Marcus. That was going to be the most challenging confrontation by far, not only because I wanted so badly to believe the best of him, but because he would be able to see immediately that our bond was in turmoil. I hoped that my walk with Aro would give me some ideas on how to approach Marcus without making the situation completely obvious to him. I couldn’t let that happen when his answers were arguably the most crucial of all.

Going our separate ways after agreeing to meet back at the suite before dinner, I went straight to the Throne Room. This time, there was no sign to keep me out, so I had the guards open the doors for me to enter without knocking. I knew I was supposed to be on my best behavior, but I simply didn’t have the patience to knock and wait even a moment more.

As usual, the kings were each sat upon their individual thrones. Their attentions all turned to me in an instant, and at the sight of me, Caius smirked. It made me want to rip his lips off and feed them to him.

“Missed me already, darling?” he asked with a wink.

“Actually,” I said, expertly feigning shyness as I looked to the floor and brushed a lock of hair behind my ear, “I was wondering if Aro might want to take a walk like yesterday.” Looking up again to meet Aro’s eyes, I continued, “It’s a lovely day and the view from my balcony is just so spectacular I wanted to get a closer look at the flowers. But only if you aren’t busy, of course. I can always just go by myself.”

I chanced a glance at Marcus and had to physically contain my wince. His eyes were locked on my form, but his face clearly showed concern. He knew already that something was very, very wrong with my bonds.

Before Marcus could comment, though, Aro answered delightedly, “It would be an absolute pleasure to accompany you, my dear!” He was up from his throne with his gloves on before I could even blink. Standing to my right, he offered me his arm and asked with a broad grin, “Shall we?”

“We shall!” I giggled convincingly as I looped my arm through the crook of his elbow.

I made a point not to look at Marcus again as we left. First, I wanted Aro to think that my focus was solely on him and my fascination with the fragrant blooms in the garden. Second, I just couldn’t take seeing that look on Marcus’ face after everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours. Feeling guilty wasn’t what I needed when I was the wronged party in all this.

I set a slow pace as we walked to give myself more time to make Aro comfortable and figure out some tactful openings in the conversation to ask the questions that needed asking. There was an art to extracting intel from people like Aro, and it wasn’t something that could be rushed. In fact, rushing was a sure-fire way to ruin everything while creating unwanted suspicion. This was one of those times I was incredibly grateful that Mama taught me espionage techniques in her spare time while I was growing up.

My first information gathering opportunity came easily. All I had to do was ask Aro about the history of the castle and he was more than happy to indulge me. Based on how he hardly stopped to breathe while he spoke about every nook and cranny of the ancient structure, I got the impression that because of his gift and position, he didn’t often get the chance to talk casually about things that interested him. It was easy to see that this castle was a great source of personal pride for him, so starting there was perfect.

By the time we reached the garden, Aro had only scratched the surface on the topic, and was in the middle of telling me what a dreadful pain it was to source just the right stones and marble for the design he and Caius had come up with for the castle. He had been talking basically the entire time, so it was an appropriate opportunity to move the conversation in the direction I wanted. I almost lost focus when the sun hit us and his exposed skin began shimmering brilliantly.

“You have exquisite taste, the stone and marblework are perfectly balanced in every room. It’s all perfect for illuminating spaces without direct sunlight. Truly ingenious on your part.” My compliments, as expected, went directly to his head. No, really, he raised his chin even higher as a pleased smile grew on his lips. “But you and Caius really designed this whole place all by yourselves? It’s nothing short of an architectural masterpiece.”

“I must admit, it is even more impressive that we created the sketches for building on such short notice. Only three days and four nights,” Aro said, his tone oozing with self-congratulating arrogance.

I gasped for effect and looked up at him wide-eyed. “It was really only a few days? I had no idea you and Caius can draw.”

“Caius is the artist in the family, you might say. I contributed the majority of the ideas and he drew them. It would have taken even less time if we had been able to agree upon the dimensions for our private residences. He could not stand for there to be even a single inch of difference between our wings, thus the lengthy calculations and arguments commenced.”

Giggling, I leaned my head on his arm just for a moment. Initiating more contact, especially contact that indicated my comfort around him, would make him answer my next question more willingly. When he responded by slowly moving his free hand to rest atop the one I was using to hold his arm, I knew it was time to proceed.

“Why did you have to build the castle on short notice, though? And why here when you could’ve built it anywhere in the whole world?”

Aro stopped dead in his tracks, no pun intended. When I looked up at him again, he seemed to be struggling with how to answer me. I must’ve been on the right track, then. “The answers to your questions may be more complex than you anticipate, amore,” he hedged.

Hearing that endearment only enraged me further. I felt like a boiling kettle and all I wanted to do was scream and scald everything around me like one. But I maintained my composure expertly as I replied, “Well, I have nothing but time and there are still hundreds of flowers here to see. If you’re up for sharing, I’m up for listening. But you don’t have to, of course.”

Ah, one of my favorite tactics, reverse psychology. By offering him an out, he would be compelled not to take it, because that would mean the topic was a weakness of his. And no man, especially a ruler, could stand to look weak in the face of innocent questioning and a compassionate response. It didn’t always work, but the majority of the time it did, and it seemed the odds were in my favor that day.

“It is quite the tale, and I shan’t bore you with all the minute details today, but I am always happy to spin a yarn of your choice, dearest,” he answered, giving my hand a reassuring pat.

Oh, yes, I’m well aware of how willing you are to spin yarns for me. Especially when they’re yarns about your feelings and loyalty, you cocky bastard, I thought, fighting to keep the scowl off my face. Instead of voicing my inner monologue, I said, “I’ll have to keep that in mind, I do love stories.”

“Yes, I know you do,” Aro replied, smiling fondly down at me. I smiled back, resisting the urge to shove him into the thorniest rose bush I could find. “It all began two thousand years ago. Caius was hunting alone outside of Rome when the Children of the Moon attacked him. The modern term for them would be werewolves, but I am a traditionalist, as I am sure you know by now. They would very rarely hunt in packs, preferring instead to go in pairs at most, but this was an exceptional case. Caius was lucky to escape with his life. He killed the leader of the pack in the melee, and on the next full moon as an act of vengeance, they killed my sister, Didyme.”

My eyes widened for real at that. Marcus had very clearly mentioned Didyme in a romantic context not long ago. I couldn’t have imagined that she was also Aro’s sister, though.

“I’m so sorry for your loss, Aro,” I said, genuinely meaning it. Was he a cheating son of a bitch? As far as I could tell, yes. Did he deserve to tragically lose his sister after almost losing Caius? No, no one deserved that.

“Thank you, Annabel, you are most kind. At that point, there was no other choice but war. We tracked the pack and discovered that they would hunt around Rome because they had decimated the human population of their true home, Volterra. However, since they were only in their lupine forms once per month, we could not distinguish them from the other humans. Our best course of action was to wait until the next full moon and ambush them before they could leave the city and wreak even more havoc. No one fought more fiercely that night than Marcus, which is how St. Marcus’ Day got its name. By morning, no Children of the Moon survived. The humans who witnessed the battle begged us to remain and protect them. We saw it as an opportunity.”

“I thought that St. Marcus’ Day was for celebrating driving out vampires, not inviting them to stay,” I remarked. I was certain that was what I’d read when planning my vacation.

Aro chuckled at that and answered, “Much becomes distorted and lost altogether over the years, dearest. Saint Marcus’ Day was originally to celebrate the eradication of blood drinkers, not vampires specifically. Thus, we were regarded as heroes by the humans and built this castle not only to firmly establish our might as a coven, but to act as a home base as we began our crusade across the rest of Europe and Asia. To this day, there is not one Child of the Moon left on either continent.”

To learn all of that was quite the surprise. It was hard to imagine Marcus as a vicious, legendary warrior, but it all seemed to check out based on what I already knew. I would definitely be mulling over all of that later, but for the time being, I had to stay on task.

After a moment of silence passed between us, I said, “Thank you for telling me. Those memories must be so painful for you. Especially since you had to get through all of that without a mate to support you.”

Looking at him, I saw the same flash of guilt pass through his eyes that I saw from Caius earlier. Bingo.

“Now that you are here, it is not as painful to recall,” he replied smoothly.

“But, Aro, you’ve carried that weight with you for two thousand years all by yourself. You must’ve been so hurt, so lonely all this time. I can’t even begin to imagine it,” I simpered.

He was visibly becoming more uncomfortable by the second, but he tried to cover it with a smile as always. “Yes, quite lonely, in fact. The company of my brothers and the rest of the coven, as well as my duties, have gotten me through it all, though.”

Now was the time to push him. We had made it to the wall at the back of the garden. If he lied to me now, there would be no coming back from it.

“You only had your brothers and the coven? In all that time, you never found love or tried to settle down?”

Aro’s hesitation in that second was so brief that under normal circumstances it would’ve gone completely unnoticed, but he wasn’t one to hesitate in his answers at all because of his gift, and it said everything for him. I could practically see the hundreds of potential answers flitting through his mind as he tried to think of the correct thing to say. If that wasn’t bad enough, his actual response only served as the final nail in the coffin, pun very much intended. “A gentleman does not kiss and tell, amore.”

And a gentleman also doesn’t cheat on his wife, I thought, doing everything I could to not have an outwardly negative reaction to his, in my estimation, moronic choice of words. I had never lost all respect for someone so quickly before.

Mustering as much of a laugh as I could, I said, “Of course. Silly me.”

After that, the topic of conversation turned to the landscaping of the garden and the awe-inspiring number of rare flowers to be found all around us. Once we had concluded our stroll, Aro insisted on walking me back to my suite. Despite wanting to be as far away from him as possible, I agreed as I knew I should to keep up my façade. At my door, Aro finally removed my hand from his arm only to bring it to his lips. I forced myself to smile for what felt like the thousandth time that day. What I hated the most right then was that his kiss, no matter how brief, still made me feel good deep down. When he released my hand and it fell to my side, the place where his lips had been tingled. No matter how livid I was at the whole situation in my heart, my body was still reacting to him.

After we said goodbye once more and I entered my rooms, I gasped at the sight that met me. I’d left my bedroom door wide open earlier, and through it I could see the hulking form of Marcus, waiting for me hunched at the foot of my bed. He looked utterly miserable.

I had a choice to make in that moment. Do I come clean or play dumb? Should I confront Marcus or wait for him to confront me? Maybe it was selfish, but I wanted the option that would give me the greatest advantage in this situation. No, wait, screw that. What was selfish here was that these men, who insisted on pursuing me under the pretense of fate, were all doing so while lying to my face and by omission. I needed to keep my head in the game and hold on to my righteous fury with both hands.

A full minute passed in silence as Marcus and I simply stared at each other from across the vast suite. Apparently, he wasn’t willing to make the first move despite having invaded my space, which only irritated me further.

“Is something the matter?” I finally asked.

“You tell me, tesoro,” Marcus replied forlornly. “I thought that after last night, all was well. Perfect, even. Yet our bond is fraying more and more with every passing minute. Your bonds with Aro and Caius are even worse off. You are not afraid, but incredibly angry at us all. I simply cannot understand what has happened.”

Well, there went my chance to play dumb. With a heavy sigh, I said, “A lot’s happened since last night.” The day’s events flashed through my mind all at once. The hateful guard in the Hall of the Queens, getting blackmailed in such a horrifying way by Carson, Caius comforting me in the kitchen, the look on Caius’ face when he realized he gave away too much information, the things I had learned from Aro in the garden. It was nothing short of an emotional rollercoaster and the day wasn’t even close to finished yet. “You’re right, I’m incredibly angry. I’m furious, Marcus. Completely and utterly livid. It’s honestly hard for me to even look at you right now.”

“Why?” he asked brokenly.

Meeting his searching eyes unflinchingly, too red-hot mad to be moved by his display of sadness, I crossed my arms and held my head high as I answered icily, “Because I know that at least two of you are married. It could be all three of you, but I want to give you the benefit of the doubt before I go fully ballistic.”

Marcus gasped and straightened, but not in shock or defensiveness. No, he almost seemed excited that I had just accused him and his brothers of using me to cheat on their wives. His reaction had me furrowing my brows in confusion, but I didn’t back down.

As he stood and slowly approached me, he said, “Annabel, I told you that I have not been with anyone since Didyme and I meant it. I was always faithful to her and her memory until I met you. I swear to you, I have no wife. There is no one but you and there has never been anyone but you in two thousand years. However,” he paused for a beat, stopping to stand a few feet from me as he cautiously gauged my response to his next words, “you are correct about Aro and Caius. They are, in fact, married. However did you find out?”

“My sources are irrelevant,” I deadpanned. “You understand that I can’t believe a word you’re saying without hard proof, right? Especially when you’ve been helping to cover this up.”

“I have never wanted to hide any of this from you. I even threatened to tell you if they overstepped.”

“Oh, how big of you to warn them but not me,” I hissed through clenched teeth. Everything he said only served to make my blood boil to the point I felt physically hot with rage all over. My face had long since turned red from the heat, but I couldn’t care less about being self-conscious when it should be him feeling that way. “You’ve had so many chances while we were alone to say something, anything, and you deliberately chose not to. Even if you’re telling the truth now, you’re not just getting off the hook for any of this.”

At the bare minimum least, Marcus had the sense to look completely ashamed, his eyes downcast. It wasn’t nearly enough, though.

“I could not tell you without Aro knowing—”

“You just said you threatened to tell me if either of them overstepped. But overstepped against who? Me or you?” His silence was deafening. Or maybe the ringing in my ears was from how precipitously high my blood pressure was getting. Whatever had happened between the kings, Marcus was using me and their wives as leverage. It was disgusting. “I have had more than enough of men using me today. Get out.”

At that, Marcus’ head snapped up. “What do you mean? Who has used you?”

“I don’t owe you an explanation,” I spat. “Get. Out.”

“Tesoro, please—”

“I won’t say it again.” My tone was as deadly serious as could be. There was no room for pleading or arguing with me and he knew it.

After a beat, Marcus gave a single jerky nod and left at top speed. As soon as the door was shut, my eyes welled with tears I couldn’t possibly hold back. I collapsed right where I was in heaving sobs.

First Carson, then Caius, then Aro, and now Marcus. It was a day of nothing but betrayals and I simply couldn’t take it anymore. No, betrayed wasn’t strong enough of a descriptor. I felt violated. Of all the people here, I had come to depend on Marcus and hadn’t even fully realized it. I trusted him, I wanted him, I was connected to him in every possible way. And yet, here I was, crying my heart out on the floor because he, too, had selfishly forsaken me.

I sat there until all the tears ran dry and I couldn’t be bothered with my own feelings anymore. I realized there was only one course of action left to take at that point. I had to find out exactly what I was up against, and it needed to happen before Marcus clued Aro and Caius in on the fact that I was on to them. But it was far too dangerous to go alone, especially with that guard standing at the ready to keep me away from the queens.

It was times like these that I could swear Mama was a psychic. Just as I came to my decision, the suite door opened to reveal her, Dr. Clarke, and Demetri. Considering that they all seemed to be in high spirits, I guessed they had nothing nefarious to hide in their relationship.

When Mama caught sight of me from the entryway, she gasped and rushed to me. “What in God’s name happened?” she demanded in concern.

With a sniff, I started filling her in on what she’d missed. There was no point hiding it from the men with us since I was certain they were well aware of the kings’ marital statuses. When I finished, they both wore matching guilt-ridden expressions. Typical.

When I was finished explaining, Mama scoffed. “And to think I was starting to give Marcus and Caius some credit. The gall of these bastards!”

“I need you to help me and we need to act fast. All of you,” I said.

“Anything, darlin’. Just say the word.” Mama shot Demetri and Dr. Clarke a glance that clearly said there was to be no argument from either of them.

Turning my attention to Demetri, I declared, “You’re taking us to see the queens.”

Demetri’s crimson eyes widened. “That is ill-advised at best. We would never be allowed to see them without direct orders, anyway.”

“You said that you take orders from me now as the one true mate of the kings. Were you just blowing smoke up my ass?”

Understanding reached his eyes and caused a devious smirk to crawl across his face. “Of course not, Mistress. You have just as much command over the royal guard as our kings do.”

“Then consider this a command. We’re leaving now. When you’re questioned, say you’re under strict orders.”

“And what do I do when the kings come for my head?”

I looked him dead in the eyes as I replied uncaringly, “It’ll grow back.”

At that, Demetri laughed loudly. “Now that is how a queen should respond. I’m at your service, Mistress.”

“What about me, though? Why do you want me to go with you?” Dr. Clarke asked hesitantly.

“There’s safety in numbers and you never know when fast medical intervention will be needed. Besides, you seem like a worrywart, so if we left you behind all you’d do is wait for us to get back. Or worse, Aro might find you and then we’ll all be busted. Might as well make yourself useful.” Dr. Clarke opened his mouth, but I cut him off with, “Good, it’s decided. Time to go.”

Now that I knew perfectly well where the Hall of the Queens was located, it wasn’t long before our not-so-merry band reached it. Naturally, the guard at the end of the corridor stopped us when we approached.

“I told you not to come back here,” he glared.

I, taking great pleasure in my elevated position even if it would likely only be temporary now, simply smiled and nodded toward Demetri.

“We have orders to visit with the queens. It would be unwise to keep us waiting,” said Demetri. The guard didn’t budge, though. “The Masters will not appreciate your insolence, Pierre.”

After a moment, he finally stepped aside with a snarl. If looks could kill, I would’ve been dead a thousand times over. I wasn’t fazed by it, though, I was just glad that I had gotten my way without a scuffle.

Behind that ancient door had been innumerable stairs, climbing ever upwards in so many circles that it was dizzying just to look at from solid ground. We began our ascent. It truly felt like it went on and on forever, only made worse by the unevenness of the stairs themselves. I commented that it was hard to believe that Aro and Caius allowed such shoddy work to go uncorrected.

Dr. Clarke jumped in and explained, “Actually, the stairs are like this by design. You see, it was the height of architectural innovation to have uneven stairs for the purpose of protection. Those who are supposed to be here will become familiar with the pattern of unevenness, but those who attempt an invasion will not be, which would slow them down.”

“Even if the invaders are vampires?” I asked.

“We may have supernatural speed and much enhanced vision, but even we are susceptible to familiarity and its advantages. It might not slow us down by much, but that can still make all the difference in the heat of battle.”

“Interesting.” My reply reverberated off of the stone walls around us, reminding me just how very small I was in the grand scheme of things. The tower was massive and we were nowhere close to reaching the top.

When Demetri realized just how long it would take us if we continued at human speed, he groaned, “This is just ridiculous. Bernard, you take Penny, I’ll grab Annabel.”

“What?” Mama and I asked in unison.

Before anything else could be said, I was hauled up into Demetri’s arms and the same was done to Mama by Dr. Clarke. We were carried up the rest of the stairs in a flash. Once we reached our destination, I was thoroughly motion sick.

“You really should warn a girl first,” I said after being put back on the stone floor.

“I warned you enough. I could’ve easily picked you both up without saying anything at all,” smirked Demetri.

“Show off,” I muttered in distaste, trying to regain my bearings as quickly as possible. Now that we were at our destination, I had no idea what to expect and needed to be at the top of my game.

Mama turned to me and put a comforting hand on my shoulder. “You ready, baby?”

“As I’ll ever be,” I nodded.

She returned my nod before gesturing to the men to open the impressively ornate oak doors. The swirling, golden designs carved into the wood reminded me of Durin’s Door in The Fellowship of the Ring.

Before us lied a massive circular sitting room. Closed doors were scattered about on the opposite end, hiding other rooms from our wandering gazes. In the center of the room were two chaise longues that were mirror images facing each other, both upholstered in black velvet and separated by a low glass coffee table between them. Upon those chaise longues were two waifish, bone-skinny women, one strawberry blonde and one with hair so dark that it was practically made of shadows. They were giggling, but at what, I had no idea. I blinked, and suddenly another woman was standing before us, red-headed and furious.

“You cannot be here,” she hissed, glowering hard at us all.

“You will find, Corin, that we can be here, and that in fact, we are,” snarked Demetri.

I was immediately struck by the fact that in this forbidden tower, there were three women. Enough for three kings. And there could be more, hidden behind all those closed doors.

I couldn’t contain myself as I bluntly asked, “Are you one of the queens?”

Her narrowed gaze returned to me in an instant. “Of course not,” she scoffed.

“So, are they?” I then asked.

“Yes, and you are displaying unprecedented disrespect by barging into their domicile. Leave.”

“Are they the only two? Who are they married to?”

“If you ask one more question, I will tear out your windpipe.”

“Don’t make threats you wouldn’t want to answer to Aro for,” growled Demetri.

“Master Aro knows you are here?” Corin asked, her eyes narrowed into slits with her suspicion.

“We’re under orders,” answered Demetri cooly.

“What are your exact orders?”

“That I’m supposed to meet the queens. If you introduce me, we’ll be out of your hair in no time,” I replied. Since it wasn’t technically a lie, it wouldn’t change my pulse and would be much more believable.

“Why, if you are under orders, did the Masters not come with you?”

Well, shit. Time to think fast. “Gee, I don’t know,” I started haughtily, crossing my arms and lifting my chin, “maybe they were under the impression that you would be competent enough to handle something as simple as that without supervision? Or should I go back and let them know that they were mistaken? I’m sure they’ll be just thrilled to have to drop everything they’re doing to come all the way here and correct you.”

At that, Corin’s entire demeanor changed. It was like I had directly threatened her with an executioner based on the sudden terror that came across her face. Bingo, I thought triumphantly.

A moment of silence passed before she said quietly, “Very well. My apologies. Right this way.”

“Thank you,” I replied cooly.

Corin turned and approached the queens, leaving us to follow a few steps behind. I only realized then that no one but us had spoken the entire time, yet the two women had never stopped their giggling.

“Introducing Queen Sulpicia, wife of Master Aro, and Queen Athenodora, wife of Master Caius,” said Corin, nodding toward each in turn.

“It’s an honor to meet you both,” I said, bowing my head in respect. “I’m Annabel Whitehall. This is my mother, Penelope Whitehall.”

They both looked in the direction of my voice, but it was as if their matching pitch-black eyes were looking straight through me.

“Corin,” Sulpicia giggled, her voice deep and sultry in complete contrast with Aro’s, “do it again.”

With a sigh, Corin waved her hand in a sweeping motion. Suddenly, it was as if a warm breeze swept through the tower and settled happily in my stomach, lifting my crushed spirits. It seemed to have that effect on everyone in the room, because the giggles of the queens became great guffaws only a second later.

“There, now you have been introduced. It is time for you all to leave,” said Corin as she turned her attention back to me and the rest of the group. She pointed at the grand doors behind us to emphasize her point.

I seriously considered pressing my luck, but decided not to in the end. I was feeling agreeable enough to do as I was told for once. With a nod, I turned and led us out of the room. When the doors closed, I didn’t even have to ask Demetri and Dr. Clarke to carry me and Mama down the stairs.

At the bottom, I was gently put back on my feet by Demetri while Dr. Clarke did the same for Mama. “So,” began Demetri, “satisfied now?”

“Yes,” I said with an absent-minded smile. “At least in regards to my curiosity.”

Demetri smiled fondly down at me as he said, “Corin’s gift hit you especially hard, huh?”

“I have no idea what you mean and I feel too good to care right now.”

With a chuckle, he shared a look with Dr. Clarke. “Your assistance is needed, good doctor.”

In return, Dr. Clarke sighed. “Let’s get them back to their rooms first, it’ll be faster than making the trek to the infirmary.”

“What are you two goin’ on about? I feel great,” interjected Mama with a dainty giggle.

“Same here,” I agreed.

Demetri only chuckled again and began to lead us. As we passed the guard, he said nothing, but glared so hard at us I wondered if he might burst a blood vessel in his eye. Could vampires do that? The thought made me laugh.

Once we were back at the suite with Mama and I seated on the largest couch together, Dr. Clarke began using his gift on us, even though I had no idea why. It wasn’t nearly as unpleasant as the last time since I didn’t have any broken bones, so I just sat back and allowed the feeling of his gift to wash over me. After a few minutes, my mood suddenly soured all over again.

“Hey,” I started, “what are you up to? I thought your gift makes people feel better, not worse.”

“My gift heals,” he stated. “Your brain chemistry was altered by Corin, so my gift corrected it. You’re lucky, actually. If I allowed it to wear off naturally, it would leave you feeling hungover.”

“But what did she do to us? Should I be worried?”

“Yeah,” Mama chimed in, “groovin’ on the good feeling is one thing, but if this is gonna have lasting effects, I’m going right back up there to give her a piece of my mind.”

“If you were subjected to her gift regularly, then there would be long-term consequences. You should be right as rain now, though,” Dr. Clarke assured us.

“Thanks for your help, doc,” I said. “And you too, Demetri. Now that everything’s settled, would you mind giving me some time with my mom? It’s almost dinner, anyway.”

“Of course not. Glad to be of service,” answered Dr. Clarke.

“It’s always a pleasure, Mistress,” answered Demetri with a nod.

Mama walked them to the door and kissed them each goodbye before we were left to ourselves. There was so much to digest after what just happened that I had no idea where to start.

“So, what’s the plan now, darlin’?” Mama asked when she rejoined me on the couch.

“Shit if I know. I’m pissed, sad, exhausted, and hungry all at once.”

“Sounds like the plan is dinner, then. Let’s go get some of our leftovers. It won’t do scheming on empty stomachs.”

Nothing that day had sounded better. I really needed some mother-daughter time and a hot meal to get my head right. With that, we began the long trek down to the kitchen.

Chapter Text

The leftovers were just as delicious as when they were fresh. One of the chefs had been kind enough to prepare them for us despite our protests. He even made us comfortable at the island in the center of the kitchen and cracked a few jokes in broken English. I wondered if he would’ve gotten in trouble if the kings found out Mama and I made our own dinner. Not that their opinions should matter at the moment.

What I didn’t expect was for our dinner to make me even sadder than I already was. I couldn’t look at my plate without being reminded if how good everything had been just a day ago. But I quickly reminded myself that things were that good under false pretenses. It was all a façade and I had to accept that fact.

At least I knew for sure now that Marcus hadn’t been lying about being a widower. I was nowhere near forgiving him for his actions, but I could at the very least feel relieved that the man I was sleeping with hadn’t made me an unknowing homewrecker.

“I can hear how loud you’re thinking from here. Calm down and focus on your food for at least five minutes, for both our sakes,” said Mama, scooping a second helping of pasta onto her plate.

“I know, I know.” Picking up my fork, I forced myself to do what she asked instead of just glaring a hole through my meal. I hated how intwined human senses were with memories. With every bite, I got another flash of a memory of Caius. It made my heart ache thinking of his smile, his stories, his kisses. All things I had accidentally stollen from his wife. All things that would always be mine, yet never were to begin with. “Wait. Were we technically drugged today?”

“Sure were, baby,” she answered matter-of-factly.

“Should we try to do something about that?”

“What do you suggest?”

“… I don’t know,” I sighed, feeling defeated.

With a squeeze to my shoulder, she mused, “You know, of all the times I’ve been drugged, that was the most pleasant and least dangerous of ‘em all. And Bernie fixed us up right away, so that’s a plus.” At my dubious glance, she continued, “Look, I’m not telling you to be happy about it. It shouldn’t’ve happened, and on top of everything else, you’ve earned being furious if that’s how you’re feeling. But it did happen, and believe me, it could’ve been worse.”

It took a minute to really let her perspective sink in, but when it did, I raised my crystal glass of wine and tapped hers with it. “Could’ve been worse.” With a nod, she repeated the sentiment and drained her wine with me.

By the time we finished dinner, there was still a mountain of leftovers stacked in the commercial sized refrigerator. We would really have to work our way through them the next day if we had any hope of finishing them before they went bad. Or maybe delivering them to people in need would help take my mind off things. I resolved to not worry about it until the morning.

When we got back to the suite, Mama asked, “So, now that we’re full, ready for some scheming?”

“I guess,” I answered glumly.

“Believe me, I know how you’re feeling right now. But a plan of action is a necessity.”

With a sigh, I dropped onto the sitting room couch and propped my socked feet up on the coffee table. “I’m assuming you already have some ideas?”

“You know me well,” she replied, sitting beside me. “We’re in a tight spot here. We both know that even if we left right this second, there’s no real escaping. There’s no living free now. I have no qualms with my men so far, but that doesn’t mean you should be trapped here suffering because of yours.”

“I’m not hearing a plan in any of that.”

“I’m getting to that part, hold your horses. Anyone can tell that Marcus is your lapdog and I’d bet anything he’ll do whatever it takes to get back in good with you. We have to assume that Aro and Caius are now aware of the situation, but there’s no way to know how they feel about it since they haven’t confronted you. If they want to make amends, they might follow Marcus’ lead since he’s the closest to you. So, if all that’s true, you could probably work all three of them to your advantage.”

“Work them how? And what if they don’t wanna make amends? It seems like they couldn’t care less about their poor wives or how I feel about all this.”

“Play hard to get, obviously. You’re the shiny new toy. You’re the one they’ve been chasing instead of paying their wives any mind. Give them a run for their money and they’ll come begging for forgiveness on their knees.”

“It’s kind of hard to give them a run for their money, though. They have every advantage in this situation.”

“Every advantage and it’s their home turf, that’s all true,” she nodded. “But what they can’t control is you. No matter what they do, no matter how grand the gesture, tell them it isn’t good enough. That’ll throw them into a tailspin.”

With a sigh, I went over her idea a few times in my mind. “I don’t feel right doing that to Marcus when he doesn’t have a wife.”

“Don’t forget whose side he’s on, and it clearly isn’t yours, darlin’. He deserves the runaround just as much as the other two do.”

She had a point there. It was crude, but this boiled down to the fact that Marcus had a bros before hoes mindset despite the thousands of years he’d had to mature in his thinking. It made my blood boil all over again just thinking about our confrontation that afternoon.

“You’re right. I’m in.”

“That’s my girl. You’ll have him slinking back with his tail between his legs in no time. They all will.”

“I’m so sick of all this tit-for-tat bullshit, but I’m even more sick of them constantly being the catalysts of it. Let’s give ‘em hell.”

With that, it was settled. From that moment on, I was playing the most extreme game of hard to get of my entire life.

Volturi Castle, 7:12pm.

“What do you mean she knows?!” barked Caius, leaping to his feet in outrage.

Demetri sighed as he imagined the pain he would endure when his head was torn from his shoulders by the three infuriated kings. “It is as I said, Master. She knows everything now. She gave me direct orders to bring her to the queens so that she could see them for herself.”

“Demetri, your hand,” demanded Aro from his throne.

With another sigh, Demetri had no choice but to relent. Less than a minute later, Aro was also on his feet, but his scorn was not directed at the vampire kneeling before him.

“Bloody traitor!” seethed Aro, pointing directly at Marcus where he sat.

“It is most hypocritical of you to call me the traitor when we are all traitors against Annabel, brother,” came Marcus’ monotone response.

“Then that only makes you doubly a traitor. Remember where your loyalties lie, brother.”

“I have already made it perfectly apparent where my loyalties lie. They have always been and always will be with our mate, as yours should be. At least I have the decency to feel guilt for my actions against her.”

“What has he done?” Caius demanded suspiciously, glaring between the other two kings.

With a smirk that belied his inner turnoil, Aro answered, “He made good on his threats in the most cowardly way possible and is now facing the consequences of his actions, just the same as we will have to. Annabel confronted him about our wives and he told the truth. She rebuffed him for his part in the deception and took matters into her own hands.” Despite his eyes being pitch black with rage, the smirk never left his face as he continued to Marcus, “The queens have not been fed in some time. Had they been in lesser spirits, Annabel would have most certainly been killed.”

Demetri attempted to interject, “Master, I would never allow—"

“You forget your place, Demetri,” hissed Aro, his eyes flashing dangerously. “The queens are as vicious and volatile as they are ancient. You did not see them during the war. Between their years of experience and unpredictable natures, you would never have stood a chance against them, especially with only Bernard there to aid you.”

Caius scoffed disgustedly. “You brought Bernard of all people to act as your backup? How stupid can you be?”

“Mistress Annabel ordered him to come with us, Master,” replied Demetri.

Caius’ face blanched at that information. Marcus could only shake his head in disbelief. Aro giggled for the first time that day.

“Her unfailing belief in the physical prowess of all vampires is simply adorable,” Aro said. “We will have to discuss proper offensive strategizing sometime in the near future. For now, though, we find ourselves yet again in hot water with our beloved. It is a position I am becoming most annoyed with, especially since it is not even my fault this time.”

“It most certainly is your fault,” protested Marcus. “The fault lies with all of us. We all hid this painful truth from her while knowing the consequences if we were to be caught. We all took the risk and we have all failed her miserably. We deserve her ire.”

“Caius and I simply wanted to divorce the queens and remove them to more suitable accommodations quietly. You, Marcus, gambled with us and Annabel and lost your bets on both fronts. That is no one’s fault but your own.”

In the midst of the back-and-forth occurring between Aro and Marcus, Caius was contemplating his options. Truthfully, he knew he was the one who gave away their secret with his reaction in the kitchen that afternoon. The look that had crossed Annabel’s face had not been lost on him, he had simply been too full of himself to acknowledge her intelligence and act accordingly. His hubris was indubitably their downfall. Now they had all been well and truly made because of him, and it would be incredibly costly where all their relationships with her were concerned. It seemed that at every turn, there was nothing for him but failure when it came to his mate. He needed to act quickly and independently of his brothers if he wished to salvage what little he had with Annabel. It seemed that a grand gesture was in order… but what could possibly turn her head in light of the situation?

The squabbling between the three kings went on well into the night. Demetri was simply grateful that by the time they were finished, his head was still firmly attached to his neck and he was able to leave the Throne Room with little more than a slap on the wrist for his actions that day. It was truly a miracle, one he attributed to them not wanting to anger Annabel further. No one had forgotten how formidable Penelope was, either.

There was no consensus to be found among the kings by the time they went their separate ways for the evening. Each blamed the other two for their part in the mess they had found themselves in, but none of them could bring themselves to cooperate with the others long enough to find a productive path forward. Separately, Aro and Caius furiously demanded via strongly worded texts that their lawyers return posthaste to hurry along the divorce process, willing to pay any price to have it over with so they would have one less strike against them where Annabel was concerned. What neither could decide, however, was how to face her directly now that she was aware of their individual and joint deceptions.

To Aro’s immense relief, Heidi had returned just in time with the gifts he had requested for Annabel. As expected, the jewelry she had selected was exquisite. Every possible aquamarine accessory of the highest quality had been procured, as well as the cake. It stood at three tiers tall and had he been human, he was certain the lemon scent wafting from it would have been mouth-wateringly heavenly. Surely, this would be a good start for apologizing for both her ruined birthday and the betrayal of her trust.

Caius and Marcus, unaware of Aro’s extravagant birthday presents, were desperately trying to conceptualize how to proceed. Neither had the advantage of knowing what gifts Annabel liked, and they were separately kicking themselves for never having asked in their previous conversations with her. Marcus holed himself up in his study for the rest of the night, hoping solitude might offer him some inspiration before he attempted to see Annabel the next day. Caius, on the other hand, felt more inspired by direct action.

This dreadful mess between them had begun in the kitchen, so Caius decided to start there. Before everything had gone so terribly wrong, he had been comforting Annabel regarding a stalker. Carson, his mind snarled. The sight of his little warrior breaking down in utter distress that afternoon was still seared into his mind’s eye and would remain there until her pain was resolved. He had seen her cry far too much already so early into their acquaintance, and he wanted to do something, anything, to correct such a terrible wrong against her. She had been directly violated and her security breached on his watch. It would be a pleasure for both of them if he handled the Carson situation personally. Best of all, with the upset regarding Annabel meeting their wives, Aro had not gotten the chance to check in and see what else had come to pass that day. Only Caius knew of Carson’s disgusting blackmail, and that was an advantage over his brothers worth its weight in gold.

Immediately, Caius sought out Demetri. The Russian knew he was on thin ice with his kings at the moment, so he was all too happy to comply with any and all of Caius’ orders. He was to leave for Alaska at once. Carson, according to Annabel, had broken into the Whitehalls’ former residence to hunt her. He would soon become the hunted, but it was not soon enough for Caius’ liking. Demetri was to catch his scent, locate him, and bring him back to Volterra without witnesses. Once Carson was shackled and locked away in the dungeon, Demetri would report to Caius so that the torture could begin.

When he was alone, the blonde king vowed to make Carson’s death as slow and gruesome as physically possible. If he had his way, it would last for months on end. Surely, that would ease his little warrior’s mind and put them back on the right track together.

Marcus, at 5:09am exactly, came upon a very different idea than either of his brothers. After much contemplation, he decided to start with a letter. Considering their last interaction, he was certain Annabel would not abide hearing his explanation in person, so he hoped that a letter might offer a better path forward for them both. From there, he would arrange for them to go on an overnight trip away from Volterra. The memory of how much she enjoyed their drives together inspired the idea. He was desperate to prove his loyalty to Annabel and make her his alone now that she could never want his brothers. Marcus knew he had to capitalize on their mistakes as quickly as possible, before his own mistakes sealed his fate, too.

At 6am sharp, Aro was outside of Annabel and Penelope’s suite, overseeing Heidi’s work. She was arranging an enormous, pyramid-shaped, tiered display stand at their door of all the magnificent gifts Aro had requested for Annabel. The jewelry formed the base of the glittering blue pyramid, with the largest pieces at the bottom and the smallest at the top, leading up to the cake on the highest tier of the display. Once Heidi was finished meticulously arranging everything, Aro placed the finishing touch: a parchment scroll, sealed with matching aquamarine blue wax, laid delicately atop the cake so it would be impossible to miss. Apparently, it was a modern tradition to top cakes now. Candles for birthdays, and effigies of brides and grooms for weddings. He did not personally understand the point of such nonsense, but he had seen every memory of every birthday Annabel had celebrated, and there had always been candles and little baubles of all sorts topping her lemon cake each year. When her birthday would come around again in a year’s time, he would make certain that they celebrated as she preferred, with candles to light and wish upon. He would even learn the accursed traditional song, Happy Birthday to You, if that was what it took to make her truly happy. He hoped that in the meantime, this peace offering would suffice.

At the sound of Annabel mumbling unintelligibly in her sleep, Aro smiled. “Come,” he told Heidi, “let us away and leave our queen to her beauty sleep. Not that she needs it.”

Heidi giggled quietly, having never seen the ruthless king so infatuated. If Alice Cullen herself had told her that Aro would go to such great lengths to woo a mere human, Heidi would have rejected the absurd claim out of hand. She might even be insulted on Aro’s behalf. And yet, there he was, grinning eagerly as he looked at the closed door separating him from his mate. Heidi had to admit that Annabel Whitehall was no mere human after all.

Not only did Heidi come to this conclusion, but of most of the guard did as well. Thanks to Demetri and every guard who witnessed their expedition through the corridors, word spread through the ranks like wildfire about Annabel’s little jaunt to the Hall of the Queens. No one could believe her temerity, bringing her human mother, only one proper guard and the doctor of all people with her, and then lying her way into the tower to meet the former queens. How any of them escaped unscathed was beyond everyone’s comprehensions, whether they be attacked by the queens or harshly punished by the kings. Pierre, the only official guard for the Hall of the Queens, had been practically blind with fury once the deception came to light. Heidi had been furious in her own right that no one had bothered to tell her about it when it occurred, leaving her to find out only after she arrived at the castle with her new queen’s presents. Never before had there been such a bold human in their midst. Annabel was becoming the stuff of legends among every vampire who knew of her. That growing number now included the Olympic Coven as well.

At that very moment in Forks, Washington, the Cullens were gathered in their living room. No one was happy about the news they had received from the smallest vampire among them.

“You’re completely sure of everything you’ve seen today, Alice?” asked Carlisle Cullen, the concern on his handsome face matching that of his stunning wife, Esme.

With a sigh, Alice replied, “Of course I’m sure, and you know I’m sure. Edward sees everything I see, there’s no denying any of it. Under no circumstances can the Whitehalls become vampires. If they do, the Volturi will be unstoppable.”

* * *

When I woke up, it was with a heavy heart and low expectations. I had thought that at least one of the kings, any of them, would have tried to talk to me last night and work some things out. But no one came.

Cowardly little bastards, I internally fumed, throwing the down comforter off of me with unnecessary force as I got out of bed. I could already tell that it was going to be a long day.

Mama wasn’t up yet, which was unusual for her. She must’ve had a late night worrying about me. She was always worrying about me, it seemed, and that only made me worry about her in return.

My glum mood was seeping into my every thought, which was a telltale sign that I required caffeination. A strong espresso from the kitchen was definitely in order. So, I got ready for the day quietly to let Mama sleep in and made my way to the door once I felt put together enough. When I opened it, I gasped, utterly astounded by the sight that met me.

The light from the high, gigantic windows on the other side of the hall was hitting the display of aquamarine jewelry before me just right to make every individual stone sparkle brilliantly. Refracted prisms of light were all around me, giving the entire corridor a shining blue glow. I could hardly believe my eyes. And that was before I even took in the full detail of the cake at the top of the enormous display.

From where I stood, I could smell that it was lemon flavored, making my mouth water automatically. Lemon cake was not only my favorite dessert, but my favorite food, of all time. It was irresistible to me. It was the cake I always insisted on having for every birthday because my special day could never be complete without the one food I craved above all others. And this particular lemon cake was the most spectacular I had ever laid eyes on.

Utterly gorgeous was the only description my mind could conjure in that moment. It was three-tiered like a wedding cake, but it was decorated all around with candied lemon slices and a cascade of meticulously piped, pale blue roses on one side. Aquamarine blue, to be exact.

That wasn’t all, though. Atop the cake on the highest tier was a thin scroll of parchment, sealed with aquamarine blue wax and the same Volturi emblem I had seen everyone wearing as pendants. I was too short to reach it by myself, so I quickly went back into the suite and found a chair to stand on. When I came back, though, someone I had never seen before was waiting for me, scroll in hand. She was so beautiful that it made me a little unsure about approaching her, especially after my experience with Pierre only a day ago, despite the broad smile on her red lips. Luckily for me, she spoke first.

“Do you like your gifts?” she asked, excitement and expectation clear on her face.

“Um… yes? But what are they for? And may I ask who you might be?”

“Read this, it’ll explain everything. And I’m Heidi. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Mistress Annabel.” As she finished her introduction, she bowed her head toward me in respect and held the scroll out for me to take.

When the scroll was in my hands, I couldn’t help but trace my thumb across the seal holding it closed, feeling the Volturi crest with the pad of my thumb. I had always wanted to receive something sealed in wax. It was just such a rare and romantic notion to me. “Thanks for getting this down for me. It’s nice to meet you too, Heidi.”

With her encouraging nod, I broke the seal, regretting it only a little when it snapped crisply in half. The scroll read:

Sweet Annabel,

Happy belated birthday. While you were not celebrated properly this year on the actual day of your birth, I hope these meager offerings will express my affection plainly. Sincerely, no one has ever been born before who is as important as you are. I promise you that next year’s birthday will be much improved. For now, though, enjoy your gifts. I eagerly await you in the Throne Room so that I might see you wearing your favorite pieces from your new collection.

-A

I was flabbergasted. Not from Aro’s generosity, but from his audacity. I turned the scroll over and found no postscript. No apology, no acknowledgement of anything that had occurred the day before or how I might feel about it, absolutely nothing of real substance. Just flowery platitudes I never asked for.

Just a Band-Aid on a bullet wound, I thought bitterly.

As Heidi watched my reaction, the smile slid right off her pretty face. “Is something the matter, Mistress?” she asked hesitantly.

Clearing my throat, I answered, “Please, it’s just Annabel. You’ve done nothing wrong, don’t worry. This was just the last thing I was expecting right now.”

“Master Aro insisted on only the finest pieces for you. Do you need help putting any of the necklaces or bracelets on?”

For a split second, I felt bad. Heidi seemed genuinely nice. She clearly aimed to please, but I only felt more and more angry at the position Aro was putting me in with every passing second. I tried to make it look like I was taking a contemplative glance at the jewelry before I replied, “No, thank you. I appreciate you offering but that won’t be necessary. Would you mind doing me a favor, though?”

“Of course not, Mistress.”

“I’m not quite ready to go to the Throne Room yet since I wasn’t aware Aro was waiting for me. If I write a quick note for him, would you please deliver it ahead of me?”

“I’ll gladly do anything you wish, Mistress. You need only ask.”

“Thanks. But really, I’d prefer you call me by my name.”

Heidi only nodded, so I took the opportunity to go back into the suite to write my note. I knew exactly what I wanted to say before I even sat down, and to be extra passive aggressive, I wrote it in my most beautiful cursive handwriting. After I set my pen down, I got to work folding the note. Just to twist the proverbial knife between his ribs even more, I decided to make it into a paper crane. He would never see the contents of the note coming that way. Once finished and completely satisfied with my handiwork, I returned to Heidi and handed her the delicate little crane.

“Oh, Master Aro will be delighted by this!” she exclaimed.

Trying to make my smile look as genuine as possible while knowing I couldn’t lie in front of her, I carefully chose my words. “Hopefully it’ll at least keep him busy until I’m ready to see him. Before you go, could you help me move all of this into my room?”

Nodding once again, Heidi lifted the entire display with grace and ease, and carried it straight into my bedroom. After she placed it carefully at the foot of my bed, she asked, “Will that be all?”

“Yes, thank you. You’ve been a huge help to me.”

“It’s my pleasure, Mistress.”

Before I could correct her, she was gone in a flash. Knowing I had to move fast and grateful I had gotten dressed already, I spared no time lifting the cake off the top tier of the pyramid display and speed walked out of the suite, kicking the door closed behind me. With as much haste as I dared, fearing I’d end up dropping the cake accidentally, I made my way down to the kitchen.

When I arrived, the place was completely deserted. Perfect. I gratefully set the cake on the island, already feeling how tired my arms were, before going straight to the refrigerator that contained my leftovers from lunch with Caius. Everything was already boxed up and stored neatly in labeled plastic shopping bags, so all I had to do was pull everything out. All told, no fewer than a dozen bags were hanging off my arms, but I couldn’t allow them to slow me down. Grabbing the cake once more with the utmost care, I went back up the stairs to the main floor, ready to execute my plan for the morning.

I received many questioning looks from every member of the Guard I passed, but no one questioned me or made any attempt to get in my way as I made it to the foyer. The guard at the main doors even opened one for me with a bow, which I returned with a grateful smile and nod.

I was out of breath by the time I was in the courtyard, but I had made it out into the sunlight before I heard behind me, “Annabel! Stop at once!”

To my chagrin, I did instinctively stop immediately, knowing without having to look that it was Aro calling me. I turned sideways to look at him around the cake in my arms as I asked innocently, “Yes?”

“I received your note.” By the look on his face, which was glaring at me from the very edge of the shadows created by the massive doorframe, he was barely in control of his temper.

“Oh, good.” With that simple response, I turned back around and continued walking.

Aro scoffed and questioned angrily, “Is that really all you have to say?”

“Is that all you have to say? Because I don’t see much point to this interaction if you’ve already read the note,” I said, still walking.

“Annabel, enough of this! Come back here!” he snapped.

At that, I turned around just enough to make eye contact with him and smirked as infuriatingly as I could possibly manage. “Make me. Oh, that’s right, you can’t. Not when it’s such a lovely day with so many shops open for business here. You wouldn’t want to make a scene, now, would you? And even if you were fast enough to not get caught, you’d just end up making me drop this sublime cake and waste it. You know how much I utterly despise wasting perfectly good food. Don’t make things worse on yourself than they already are.”

I didn’t spare another backward glance and he didn’t say anything else. After a busy morning of donating every last crumb of food I had brought with me from the castle to the local foodbank, I decided to reward myself with a long overdue espresso and a pastry for breakfast. I had wanted a slice of lemon cake so badly since the moment I laid eyes on it, but I resisted, and I deserved a treat for that alone. It was almost painful letting that cake go.

I knew my personal funds were quickly dwindling. At the rate I was going, I would need to get a work visa and a job pretty soon. Bernard would likely be the best person to talk to about starting that process since I was certain none of the kings would be thrilled by the prospect of me working. I couldn’t even depend on them emotionally, so there was no way I would depend on them financially. Besides, I knew Mama would feel the same on the matter after how ugly her divorce got over finances, so that meant I would need to be ready to support her, too. I’d rather die than make her work when she was supposed to be happily retired, and she was like me, far too proud and mistrustful to rely on her mates even if they meant well. At least she had a little alimony coming in every month to keep herself afloat until I got a job lined up.

By the time I made it back to the courtyard of the castle, it was almost noon and my extremities were all terribly sore from hauling mass quantities of food and walking such a long way. My trusty Converse were my most comfortable shoes by far, but they weren’t exactly supportive enough for long walks on cobblestone streets. New shoes were an expense I currently dreaded the thought of, so I put it from my mind as I reached for the door knocker. With the state I was in, there was no way I could even consider attempting to open the heavy doors by myself.

Just before I laid a finger on the knocker, though, the door was swiftly yanked open as if it weighed nothing at all to reveal Aro, holding the door open on the other side of the threshold. Our eyes locked and dread instantly filled me.

“Welcome, my sweet,” he greeted, his eyes wide with emotions I wasn’t quite sure how to interpret. It was certainly a change from his obvious anger when I had left that morning. The new approach from him was suspicious at best since I knew he was always up to something behind my back, no matter the time of day or night.

My eyes narrowed as I replied, not even bothering to conceal my doubts, “Thank you for getting the door. But you don’t need to do this weird my sweet act. Let’s just have it out here and now so we can get it over with and I can go back to my room. I’m sure you’d rather not see me right now, anyway.”

“On the contrary,” he said, his voice smaller than it had been only seconds ago, “I very much want to see you. I have wanted to see you all morning, in fact. Please, come in. You have nothing to fear from me.”

As I walked past him into the foyer, the fable of The Scorpion and the Frog came rushing to the forefront of my mind. The frog knew it was dangerous to trust the scorpion at its word, all too aware that the scorpion’s venom would mean certain death if it decided to sting the frog. But the scorpion reassured the frog that it could be trusted, that it only wanted a short ride across the water, right before it stung the frog and ended up drowning them both. It was simply the scorpion’s nature, something that couldn’t be helped, even if it was to its own detriment in the end. I got the distinct feeling in that moment that I was the frog and Aro the scorpion, only I highly doubted it was even possible to drown him. In that moment, I was acutely aware of the fact that I was even more vulnerable than that poor frog. At least the frog got to die knowing that his assailant went down with him. I would receive no such satisfaction if Aro decided to finally turn on me. And it was entirely possible that even if he did mean well, it might simply be part of his nature, his very DNA, to lash out and deal me a fatal blow when I least expected it. Maybe it would be right then and there, maybe it would be someday far down the line, but there was no way to see such a scenario as an outright impossibility. Not with everything I already knew about him. With all that playing out in my head, I turned to face Aro once I heard the door close behind me with an echoing thud.

“Alright, say your piece,” I deadpanned, crossing my arms in an attempt to look unbothered. I could hear the leather of Aro’s gloves squeak as his fists tightened. Here comes the sting, I thought, bracing myself.

“Annabel….” Aro was never one to be at a loss for words, but from the way his Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat after saying my name, it was as if he was choking on whatever it was he wanted to say to me. The display made me even more suspicious than I’d already been.

By the time one moment of silence became two, I was downright uncomfortable. “… Yes?”

“I… I am sorry. So deeply, terribly, utterly sorry.”

The tension in the air between us could’ve been cut with the stirring straw that had come with my espresso. I was now in the middle of a balancing act I hadn’t anticipated. Should I just accept the apology and get out of there as quickly as possible? Should I draw this out? If I said I forgave him, he would know I was lying. My pulse would give me away instantly. If I was going to put on a show of nerve, I had to stand by it now that I was in the thick of it with Aro. I couldn’t just talk a big game and then fold at the slightest hint of awkwardness. So, I decided to put him on the spot and take some power back.

“Interesting. Sorry for what, exactly?”

There was the throat bobbing again. It was like his body was physically fighting to keep the words out of his mouth. “I’m sorry for not telling you about Sulpicia immediately.”

“Nope. That’s not the apology I want,” I replied with a shake of my head, my righteous fury reigniting so fast that I couldn’t keep the words from spilling out of me. “This isn’t a matter of you not telling me immediately. You had no intention of telling me at all. That’s completely different and you know it. And it’s even worse since you’re supposed to know everything about me. You know how I feel about cheating. Don’t insult my intelligence like this. If you’re not going to take this seriously, then just do us both a favor and leave me the hell alone. As a mere mortal who is apparently unworthy of even basic common decency from you, my time is precious, and I won’t waste it on this horseshit.”

I turned on my aching heel to walk away, but Aro was standing only inches from me in a blink, blocking my path. Everything about his demeanor had gone from meek to mad as his eyes bore down into mine.

“Gods damn you, woman! I am trying to apologize!” he seethed, his voice shaking with the effort to keep it at an appropriate volume.

“Then do it right! This is pathetic and I won’t stand for it even a second longer!”

“What would you have me do, hm? Grovel? Beg on my hands and knees before you? Well, I never have and I shan’t begin now. I have made my intentions toward you plain. I have lavished you with the gifts of your wildest dreams. I humbled myself and apologized. I will not accept your ire when I have done everything right! You are the one who is out of bounds and have been since you arrived here!”

By the end of his tirade, he was fully shouting in my face, his finger raised and pointing at me so close that he could’ve poked me in the eye with one wrong move from either of us. I fought it with every fiber of my being, but my mind raced with every time my father or an ex-boyfriend had yelled at me in such a manner, and I couldn’t control myself as tears welled in my eyes. This was it. The scorpion was now raising his tail for the final blow that would destroy us both in the aftermath. But I had to act fast, speak through the fear, if I wanted the satisfaction of knowing I took him down a peg or two before all was said and done.

I bowed my head, unable to look into his eyes anymore without crying, as I said with my teeth clenched and voice trembling, “You’re only mad at me because you know I’m right and you’re wrong. You’re embarrassed, like a little boy caught stealing. You thought that by giving me some fucking cake and jewelry, you could have your cake and eat it too. You thought I could be bought, and now you’re throwing a tantrum because it didn’t work. Your projections are a reflection of exactly how pathetic and insecure you truly are deep down. You bury it all behind the fear you inflict on others, wielding their own minds against them like an executioner’s axe, but I see you, Aro. I see you. How petty and small and scared you are underneath it all. And just like with your bullshit presents, I’m unimpressed at best and completely disgusted at worst. You know everything about me, but somehow you think you can get away with playing dumb to avoid the discomfort of even one second being authentic with another person. You know one real apology would’ve fixed this. But instead, all you care about is covering your own ass.”

At that, I couldn’t stop the hot tears that rushed down my cheeks and the sob that escaped me. It wasn’t just because I was frightened or that I knew everything I had said was true. It was also because, deep down, I cared about him. And since I cared, his complete lack of care for me and my feelings hurt worse than any physical injury I had sustained since meeting him. For my final words, each one loaded with as much venom as I could muster, I looked up into his eyes once more and leaned in close, forcing him to see the pain he put me in. Those garnet orbs had gone from hard with unearned rage to soft with regret and just the slightest hint of fear. But it was far too late for that shift in him to matter. “You tell yourself that you know everything, that no one can hide from you, and that’s supposed to grant you all the power in the world. But it’s all just an act so you don’t have to know yourself. So you can hide for all eternity from the responsibility that would come with really knowing who you are. Stick to what you’re good at, Aro. Stay all alone in that head of yours with only your power and schemes to keep you company. You obviously like things better that way. No need to put me in a tower, I’ll gladly steer clear of you from now on. It’s obviously for the best.”

With nothing left to say, I side-stepped him and took my first few steps down the hall. It would take the entire walk back to my suite to get my emotions back in check, but I wanted more than anything just to get away from him and start the difficult task of calming myself. Of course, though, that wouldn’t be an option for me. Not yet, at least.

As fast as lightning, Aro’s hand shot out and caught me around my shaking arm, the same one that Felix had broken, forcing me to stop mid-stride. His grip sent a wave of panic through every inch of me. A thousand horrific scenarios flashed through my mind’s eye at once of every way this moment could end for me. I knew I couldn’t break his hold, and I knew I couldn’t outrun him even if I did, so all I could do was brace myself and wait for whatever would come next.

“Annabel, look at me.” On instinct, I turned my head away. It was the only thing I could think to do in that moment to shield myself, even if I already knew it would do me no good. “Annabel, please.” I neither moved nor spoke. Then came a broken whisper, “Please, do not leave me alone. I need you.” I still didn’t move. I hardly even dared to breathe. All of a sudden, there was the distinct sound of Aro dropping to his knees with no apparent attempt to soften the blow. His one hand on my arm became two hands desperately clutching mine, his cold forehead pressing into my wrist. “I will do anything. If I must beg, you need only say the word. Say anything, Annabel, I cannot take this! I cannot lose you, not when I have only just finally found you! Please! I am sorry! More sorry than I have ever been for anything in my entire life! I was wrong. Everything you said was true and it only makes me need you all the more. No one has ever understood me as you do and I would rather die a thousand deaths than watch you walk away from me. Annabel, please!”

His last word sounded more like a choked wail than a plea. It startled me enough to finally look down at him. There he was, on his knees, hunched over and grasping at me like I was his only lifeline in the middle of a raging tempest. And, perhaps, that was exactly how he felt about me. And, perhaps, I was a complete idiot for feeling compassion for him. Just like the frog who only wanted to do a good deed for a scorpion in need.

“Aro,” I croaked, my voice still watery from my tears. His head snapped up to look at me, and it was then that I saw the moisture gathering in his eyes. When he blinked, though, no tears fell. It made me all the sadder for him. “I’ll let you try again. Tell me what you’re sorry for.”

Aro swallowed thickly before answering, his eyes never leaving mine, “I have betrayed your trust time and again. I had no intention of telling you about Sulpicia, just as you said, and that was truly horrid of me. Then, just as you said, I attempted to buy your affection and forgiveness, which was nothing short of belittling. When you saw through me so easily, I lashed out at you. I frightened you just now. The look you gave me, seeing you tremble and cry because of me even after I swore you would never need to again… I am so ashamed of myself. I spent all this time while you were gone thinking of what to say, how to make things right between us, but the moment you pushed back, I lost control of myself. You deserved none of these betrayals and I apologize for all of them. From the bottom of my heart, Annabel, I was wrong in every possible way, and I am sorry.”

It was a beautiful apology by any standard. It was exactly what I had wanted to hear and it was abundantly obvious that he was being sincere. But there was a voice in the back of my mind, no louder than a whisper, telling me not to let him off the hook. There was simply too much still wrong with the situation for me to offer full forgiveness. My tears had only just dried. I had only just calmed enough to stop shaking. Just as he had objectively owed me this apology, I objectively owed it to myself to wait until I truly meant it to forgive him.

“Thank you for saying all of that. I accept your apology.” I crouched down so that I was close enough that our noses could’ve touched if I let them before continuing, “However, you still have a wife, Aro. One whose living conditions I strongly disagree with on top of your infidelity to her. Until all of that changes, don’t expect me to forgive you. And I swear to God, if you ever yell at me like that again, it will be the last time I ever speak to you. I don’t make promises I can’t keep and I don’t give more than one warning. Remember that.”

Aro nodded slowly, affirming that we understood each other. “I want you to know that I am divorcing her. It may take a little while to get through the proceedings and relocate her, but it will be done as quickly as possible.”

“Is she even aware that this is happening?” All I had to do was look at his face for one second to get the answer to my question. “Uh huh, that’s what I thought. Either she’s too doped up all the time to remember what you’ve told her, or you haven’t bothered to tell her at all. My bet is on the latter. Am I right?”

At that, Aro could no longer look me in the eyes. “As always.”

“Right,” I deadpanned, finally pulling my hand away from his. “Be a man and sort this all out properly if you ever want a shot with me, Aro. You’re losing me with every passing minute you insist on conducting yourself like this. It’s beneath both of us and you know it.” Before Aro could say another word, I walked away, leaving him on his knees and with his head hung low.

Aro’s POV

I was positively ecstatic when Heidi delivered that note in the form of a paper crane. As our fingers barely touched when she handed it to me, I saw her memory of Annabel writing and meticulously folding it. My sweet had done it just for me. Then, after taking my time unfolding it to savor every symmetrical line and crease, I read it. In an instant, every ounce of jubilation left me all at once.

Aro,

What exquisite presents you procured for me. Never have I been given such lavish gifts, but of course you were already aware of that fact. And I cannot even begin to tell you how much I want to eat the cake, it is absolutely to die for. You truly do know me well. It really is too bad that all of these things are just symbols of how inexcusably obtuse you are. You know everything about me, so I can only assume you have purposefully elected to offer me no apology for the pain and humiliation you have shamelessly caused me in the hopes that I can simply be bought. You should, in all your infinite wisdom, already be aware that is not and has never been an option with me. Please give my sincerest compliments to Heidi, she has impeccable taste.

-A

I bolted out of the Throne Room, leaving my brothers and Heidi in concerned confusion, and quickly caught Annabel’s scent in the corridor. As fast as I could, I followed her intoxicating trail straight to the entrance of the castle. She had only just left.

When I saw her arms laden with bags of food and her cake, I was furious. By the end of our exchange, I was incensed beyond words. But even in such a state, as she continued on her merry way in the full knowledge that I was powerless to intervene, my eyes found her delectable rump. Her hips swayed enchantingly with every step farther and farther away from me. I was utterly mesmerized. Still rageful that my gesture had backfired so spectacularly, but mesmerized all the same. I had no doubt my eyes were as black as the deepest pit with my unabashed desire for her and the scorn I had received from her.

Once the doors were shut firmly behind me, I was forced to acknowledge a most uncomfortable truth about myself. Annabel was now the one person who I could hold both anger and adoration for at once. I knew every last cell in her body as if they were my own, and not even one of them was a disappointment to me. I had not been able to control the images in my mind as I watched her leave me, knowing exactly what she would have looked like stark naked in that moment. And by every god that had ever come and gone, I wanted desperately to lay my eyes on her outside of the confines of my mind, even though I was furious at being rebuffed. The memories Marcus had made with her already drove me to madness every time I had to read him for information. I knew now that he purposefully relived his time with her while I would read him just to torture me. I even burned with jealousy over Caius’ memories, who had only kissed her thus far. They had earned those precious moments with her, though, while I had only driven her away and still continued to do so.

It truly was an idiotic oversight on my part to not even acknowledge her feelings and properly apologize. I had gotten so caught up in triumphing over my brothers that I had only thought of using her as a pawn to hurt them, rather than showing her she was my one and only queen by providing the answers and respect she was due. Of course paltry trinkets and a late birthday cake would not solve anything between us. She was anything but shallow, anything but easily distracted, and naturally, treating her as such would only hurt her even more. Once again, I was stuck in a hell of my own making.

As much as I dreaded the prospect of it, I knew we had to have a discussion upon her return. It could not wait even a moment longer than absolutely necessary. Not when our future together was hanging in the balance. Whatever it might take, no matter how much it might cost me personally in any way, I had to establish myself as someone she could trust fully and unquestioningly. If I had to change, then so be it. All she needed to do was state her terms and I would move the heavens and the earth to comply. As her mate, the only mate who knew her completely, it was my purpose on this planet to ensure her wellbeing, both physical and emotional. Failure was no longer an option, and really, I never should have seen it as one in the first place. Being catered to for thousands of years had made me believe deep down that she should meet my needs, not the other way around. That if I should disappoint or hurt her, it was her responsibility to inevitably forgive me and move on. No more. I had to be better. No, I had to be the best. Otherwise, I would only drive her toward Marcus more and risk losing her forever. Caius was far less of a threat now that we had jointly betrayed her, but that was certainly nothing to celebrate. Regardless of who might steal her from me, eternity without any hope of her loving me sent a sharp pang through my still heart. Whether it beat or not, it belonged to Annabel Whitehall and no one else, forever and always. And she needed to know that before it was too late.

I had to make absolutely certain she could not avoid me upon her return. As much as it was foreign to me, I was nothing short of desperate to make amends. If I was being absolutely truthful, which I needed to practice if I had any hope of deserving her, I was desperate also to just be in her presence. It was part of what drove me wild, and drove me to fury. I had so looked forward to seeing her, in all her glory, bedecked in her new jewelry, hazel eyes shining with unadulterated joy as she looked at me. There would be no chance of that ever occurring if I mishandled her feelings any longer. So, safe in the knowledge that there would be no tour of humans bursting through the doors at any point that day, I stood where she left me and waited as patiently as was possible for her return. That is to say, I was practically a caged animal on a rampage in my own mind, stuck with nothing but my own cruel thoughts of my many shortcomings and failures until she would arrive and seal my fate. And little did I understand it at that time, but seal my fate she did indeed.

Nothing could have fully prepared me for our exchange in the foyer. Every word Annabel had spoken buzzed and rattled through my mind like a hive of stinging wasps, attacking me from every angle at every opportunity. No one had affected me so in all my many years walking this green earth, not even my fiercest enemies. This fact, for it was nothing short of objective truth, only made me crave her love with an urgency that I doubted any man had felt before. Neither the howling packs of Children of the Moon nor the vicious Romanian Coven had been able to leave me helpless on my knees despite their many attempts over the endless years. But Annabel Marie Whitehall had, all without lifting a single finger against me.

Time ceased to exist when she walked away from me. It was as if I had turned to stone the moment her warmth left my vicinity and I was nothing more than a crude statue there in the foyer, awaiting even a glimpse of her to reanimate me. True to her word, though, she went straight to her suite after our ill-fated encounter. The sound of her door shutting behind her echoed in my ears, a cruel reminder of how I deserved to be shut out like this.

I remained immobilized there for hours before a thought struck me so suddenly that it made me gasp and leap to my feet. In the jumbled onslaught of her painfully true assertions against me, I had not fully comprehended her last words before she walked away. If I was losing her with every passing minute as she claimed, then that logically meant on some level, I had her. No one could lose what they never had, but in her own words, I was losing her. And she was obviously quite hurt by the loss of me, by the loss of her ability to trust in me. She had, at some point, put her faith in me because she cared for me. That meant there was still a chance. I could salvage this small, fragile opportunity to make her mine and mine alone. It was simply a matter of conducting myself on her terms, a task my pride had not allowed me to fully accept until then. As they say, though, pride cometh before the fall. A fall from grace in my beloved’s eyes. A fall for my beloved. The prophecy of my pride was coming to fruition, and if there was any hope of stopping the worst-case scenario, I had to act with all haste.

First, I needed to call my lawyers. Then, I would meet with Sulpicia.

Chapter Text

I really didn’t feel like dealing with anything or anyone else for the rest of the day. Aro had completely emotionally exhausted me and all I wanted was to get in bed and hide away from the world. But, with my luck, or course that wasn’t an option. There was a crisp white envelope waiting for me on my favorite pillow so that it would be impossible for me to overlook.

Just because it was right in front of me didn’t mean I had to look at it, though. I could sleep the day away without a care in the world. Jesus, who was I kidding? I knew where I was and who I was constantly surrounded by. I knew all too well that no matter how much autonomy I tried to take for myself, I was still completely at the mercy of everyone else, and ignoring that would be unwise by any standard, no matter how much I hated it. If there was an envelope, I had no choice but to open it.

“Where in the world have you been today?” Saved by Mama as per usual. I couldn’t be more grateful for the distraction.

Turning around to face her, I answered, “I had to run an errand that took longer than I thought and then I got cornered by Aro. What have you been up to?”

“Bernie surprised me with breakfast in bed but neither of us have any clue where Demetri got to. Have you seen him?”

“No, I haven’t. I can ask around if you want.” Now that was strange. Had Demetri gotten in trouble because of me? I needed to look into this and set things right if he did. “What did Bernard bring you for breakfast?” I wasn’t going to use a nickname for him anytime soon. I had nothing against him— yet— but I saw no reason to be overly familiar with him so soon.

“Espresso and crepes,” Mama said dreamily, her eyes wandering toward the middle distance as if she was reliving her morning.

Well, I thought with a twinge of jealousy, at least one of us got to enjoy their favorite food today. Yes, I could’ve eaten some of Aro’s lemon cake. Yes, it would’ve been delicious and a dream come true with every bite. But at what cost? I was determined to not give him an inch because he would just end up taking yet another mile at my expense. With everything going on, I couldn’t let him do that and get away with it, even if it meant rejecting things that, under normal circumstances, would mean the absolute world to me. Backing down simply wasn’t in my nature, and now that I had decided my course of action, there would be no deviating from it.

When Mama came back to reality, she looked past me and asked, “What’s that envelope?”

“I have no idea,” I shrugged.

“Well, open it, silly.”

“Do I really have to?” I groaned, knowing good and well what the answer would be.

“If you don’t, I will. You know I’m nosy.”

Lord, wasn’t that the truth. Just in case it was something salacious, I figured it was time to bite the bullet before she could do it for me.

With the ginger way I lifted it from my pillow, anyone would think it contained poison or an explosive. Mama sighed behind me with impatience. There was no wax seal and I had just been with Aro, so I doubted it was from him. In fact, it was completely unsealed, so all I had to do was lift the top flap and reach inside. A perfectly average, twice folded letter was now in my hands. I hesitated only another second before opening it. In impeccable calligraphy, it read:

Annabel, my beloved,
I cannot stand the distance forming between us. It is nothing short of torture every time I see it grow. I know I have no one to blame but myself for this. I take full responsibility for my actions and I apologize profusely for the part I played in this imbroglio. Please, allow me to show you how truly sorry I am for my trespasses against you. Come to me at your earliest convenience, I await you in the Throne Room.

Always faithfully yours,
Marcus

Now that was a start. There was just something about Marcus and the way he spoke to me, even in writing, that never failed to give me butterflies. And I couldn’t help but notice the way he signed it was none too subtle, as he was the only one who’d been faithful to me this whole time. Apparently, he wasn’t afraid to flaunt that fact if it would earn him back some brownie points with me.

“Well, don’t leave me in suspense. What’s goin’ on?”

Turning my attention back to Mama, I replied, “Marcus requests that I meet him ‘at my earliest convenience’ in the Throne Room.”

“And are you going to give him the satisfaction of immediately acquiescing to his request, or will you make him sweat it out a little?” she asked, giving me a look that clearly said she thought I should make him wait.

Too bad my butterflies had other plans. “I have no idea how long this has been sitting here, so he might already be sweating. I’m not sure that putting this off any longer is the best idea right now,” I reasoned. Mama only hummed in response, obviously nonplused. “He says he wants to apologize, so it won’t hurt just to hear him out real quick and come back.”

“Whatever you say, darlin’. This is your revenge plan, after all .You have to play it the way you think is best.” That was southern mother for, You big sap, get your shit together before he pulls another one over on you.

“I just think it’s important to toe the line since we’re guests. After all, you’re the one who always tell me, you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. It’ll pay off more in the long run to stay polite. That doesn’t mean I have to be swayed by whatever he says, though.”

That explanation seemed to get through to her more. “Alright, but hurry back with all the juicy details.”

“You know I will.”

With a quick hug, I tossed the letter back onto my bed and strode out of the suite, unable to contain my curiosity. Marcus, of all three kings, was the one I felt I could rely on the most. If he was asking for a chance to make amends, he’d certainly make it worth my while. It was just a matter of seeing what he had in mind, and knowing him, it would be something very thoughtful. The only question was, would it be enough to convince me to let him off the hook? I almost hoped it wouldn’t. I hated feeling like a big softy when I was supposed to be holding onto my grudges with both hands. Aro made it easy to stand my ground with how brash and temperamental he could be, but I knew already that Marcus could be the one to break my resolve completely.

My musings brought me to the Throne Room in record time, or at least it felt that way. There were no guards outside to let me in, but that gave me the chance to steady myself before I’d have to face Marcus and anyone else in there. After I left Aro in the foyer, I was sure seeing him again so soon wouldn’t end well for me. And God only knew what Caius might pull since he was in equally deep shit as Aro.

I only had time for a deep breath and to raise my hand to knock before both doors were pulled open. It gave me deja vu, instantly reminding me of Aro opening the main entrance doors upon my return. I looked up, half expecting it to be him, only to be met by the garnet gaze of Marcus.

He looked me up and down twice without blinking and said nothing, his expression unreadable. It was unsettling, to say the least. “Um, hi, Marcus. You wanted to see me?”

“Where have you been, tesoro? I was waiting and you were nowhere to be found.”

Ah, I thought with some satisfaction, so he was waiting a long time for me. “I only got back a little bit ago, I had errands in town.”

“What errands? Did you go alone?”

Trying to be nonchalant since I couldn’t see past him in the doorway and I didn’t want Caius to know where I’d been if he was nearby, I shrugged and said vaguely, “I just made a little delivery, that’s all. And of course I went alone. It was early, I didn’t wanna drag Mama out of bed, and it’s not like any of y’all can go out in the sun with me.” There was the smallest crack in his expression then. He tried to hide it as quickly as it revealed itself, but he was undeniably displeased. “What’s the matter?”

“It is unwise for a lady to go out unaccompanied, especially one of your status. From now on, either send a human employee to run your errands if they must be attended to in the day, or wait until the evening so someone may guard you. Come to think of it, you should be assigned a permanent guard as soon as possible.”

“Now wait just a minute—”

He cut me off. “Your safety is not up for discussion.”

Well, there went all my pleasant butterflies, fluttering straight out the nearest window and leaving me cold. It was the first time he had ever been so stern with me, and after having just dealt with Aro, my hackles were raised in an instant. This wasn’t like the Marcus I had come to know at all, but then again, I couldn’t exactly say I knew him after such little time, could I? At least this made it easy for me to stay the course and remain unimpressed by whatever gesture he’d had in mind. In fact, I wouldn’t even give him the satisfaction of getting that far.

Squaring my shoulders and raising my chin, I replied, “Fine, then this discussion and any others are hereby over. Enjoy the rest of your day.” Turning on my heel, I began walking back the way I came, my footfalls echoing softly off the marble surrounding me. I couldn’t stop the small smirk that crept across my lips, though. The face he made at my declaration was priceless.

“Annabel, let us not be hasty—”

“You heard her, Marcus,” came the snarky voice of Caius from within the Throne Room. “She is unwilling to entertain any further discussions with you, and practically by your own request. But tell me, Annabel, might you spare a moment for me if I promise not to bring your autonomy into question as my brother ever so rudely dared?”

I stopped, my Converse squeaking against the floor with the abruptness of the action. Then, very slowly, I looked over my shoulder to assess the situation. Caius’ form was completely obscured by Marcus’ hulking figure, but there was no doubt he was right there, waiting for me to call him forth from the shadows. Like the devil himself lurking at a crossroads.

Marcus was notably tense now, his lips pressed into a thin line and his eyes pleading as he looked at me. Unfortunately for him, though, I wasn’t in much of a forgiving mood that afternoon.

“Fine, Caius. But I want your word.”

At that, the door on the right was pulled open fully, and out came Caius, his full lips smirking unabashedly. “I swear to you on my honor that I shall never question your autonomy, now or ever.”

Deadpan, I asked, “Is that supposed to mean something coming from you? I think this qualifies as a moment, anyway. Bye now.” Caius’ face dropped faster than a sack of hammers. I pretended I didn’t notice and continued on my way.

When he realized I was completely serious, he used his vampiric speed to catch up with me in no time. “Wait! There really is something you should see!”

“I doubt it. But since you’re here, do you happen to know where Demetri is? My mother asked for him,” I said, not even sparing him a glance as I walked.

“Demetri is preparing what I have to show you. If you come with me, you can relieve him and send him straight to your dear mother.”

“Or you could just do that yourself and stop wasting my time.”

Suddenly, Caius’ hand shot out to grab my wrist and stop me in my tracks. His hold was gentle enough to not hurt me, but unrelenting all that same. “Annabel, look at me.” More deja vu over Aro hit me. I was getting real sick and tired of the same old song and dance from these three. I didn’t move a muscle out of sheer spite. “Please, my little warrior. Just look at me.”

Just like when Aro had commanded me that morning, my instinct was to listen. This time, though, I fought the urge and kept my eyes facing down the corridor before me. “I’m no one’s. Nobody in the whole damn world has a claim on me and I don’t have a claim on anybody either. Don’t you dare call me yours when you’ve belonged to somebody else for thousands of years now.”

At that, Caius sighed forlornly. Then, to my great surprise, he moved to stand in front of me and leaned down so we were at eye-level. “You are half right. You belong only to yourself, as you have made known repeatedly since the moment we met, and I respect that. No one is allowed to stand between you and your freedom on any level, no matter the cost. How very American,” he smirked fondly. His hand slid from my wrist to my palm as he continued, “However, you could not be more wrong when you say you have no claim on anyone. Your claim on me is predestined and everlasting. I am your mate, whether you want me or not, until the day I die and am naught but ash in the wind. An ill-fated marriage will never change that. Therefore, I am to be divorced in accordance with your modern laws and customs.”

Time to ask the million-euro question that threw Aro into a tailspin. “And is your wife aware of this? Did you even give her the chance to properly agree or disagree?”

“We spoke this morning and are in wholehearted agreement. There was no coercion, no conflict, and no grudges. She made her terms for the settlement clear and I have accepted them. Once my lawyers have all the necessary paperwork completed, all that will be left is for us to sign it, have it notarized, and them my lawyers will file it with the local court. The judge has already been compensated, so there will be no need to present ourselves in person. The whole process will be completed in a matter of days.” I was so stunned that I had to look at him. There wasn’t a hint of deception on his face or in his voice, either. Plainly seeing the state of shock I was in, he took the chance to add, “I fully understand how important it is for you that I abide by modern standards of romantic conduct and I am happy to oblige you. Truly, I regret not having done so to begin with. Deceiving you in such a hurtful manner was unacceptable and I… I am deeply apologetic.”

The castle around us was so silent that I could hear Marcus’ soft gasp from where he stood observing our exchange. Whether it was the sincerity of Caius’ apology that caused his reaction or the change of heart I could feel stirring in my chest, I knew he wouldn’t be so caught off guard if this wasn’t as significant of a moment as it felt. Caius was being entirely genuine, and he was making it clear that this was all for me.

I knew better than to count my chickens before they hatched, though. I needed to make absolutely certain that everything was as he said before I could fully give myself over to what I was feeling. But, that didn’t mean I had to pretend to be completely unaffected by him.

Finally folding my fingers over his and squeezing his hand, I said, “Thank you, really. Now, what did you want to show me?”

The way his eyes lit up and danced at my acceptance made his already youthful features appear even younger. I could see exactly what he must’ve looked like as an excited little boy in that moment. Before I knew it, I was smiling.

Without another word, he started leading me toward the staircase that went down to the kitchen. As I was about to take my first step to descend the stairs, my eye caught Marcus’, who appeared rooted to the spot where I’d left him. Briefly, I almost wanted to feel bad for him. But my pride simply wouldn’t allow for the emotion to break the surface of my mind, not after he shut me down over something as insignificant as going into town. I wasn’t some teenager breaking curfew, I was a grown woman doing what normal grown women do, and I refused to be disrespected.

When Caius and I reached the kitchen level, instead of going through the double doors in front of us, he led me to the left and continued down the hall. I had no idea where we were headed or what he might have in store for me. Maybe another elaborate meal? He said Demetri was helping to set it up, so maybe there was an underground dining room I wasn’t aware of.

We came to another set of stairs; spiraling downward into darkness, they were nestled into a narrow, uneven, gray stone passageway that could easily go unnoticed in the low light. It was quite the departure from the grand marble staircase I had just come from, but it confirmed that the lower levels of the castle were part of subterranean caves.

“Um, Caius? Where are we going, exactly?”

“To the dungeon,” he answered, flashing me a grin.

I immediately pulled my hand away and backed myself against the wall behind me, ready to make a run for it. “What the fuck do you mean the dungeon?!” I half-shouted, my voice bouncing off of every nearby nook and cranny.

Realizing his mistake, Caius lifted his hands placatingly and said, “Annabel, there is absolutely nothing to fear. If I had any intention of detaining you, you would already be down there. It is just where your surprise is being kept.”

While that was a somewhat logical explanation, it did nothing to soothe me, especially with the way he phrased it. “Are you punishing Demetri for helping me yesterday? Is that what this is about?”

At that, Caius chuckled. “This is anything but a punishment for Demetri, I assure you. Yes, I enlisted his help to make up for going behind my back, but this is something he would have been all too willing to do regardless. Really, I think you will very much enjoy what I have in store. Now, come, take my hand. I would hate for you to get hurt on the way down.”

I searched his eyes as hard as I could in the dim light. He still seemed to be telling the truth, to my surprise. Personally, I loved anything creepy and had always wanted to see a real dungeon, but I would’ve appreciated a warning beforehand. “Next time you plan a surprise in a place known for torture and death, especially when I didn’t even know it was here to begin with, let me know first. You have to be able to see why I’d be a little disconcerted, right?”

Caius chuckled again and beckoned me forward with the hand he was holding out to me. “I will admit that was a bit of an oversight on my part. Duly noted.”

With a sigh, I pushed off of the wall and took his hand again, wondering if I would either A) die because he was lying to me, or B) die from breaking my neck after one wrong move on the stairs before me. There was no railing and it was nearly impossible to see even with my eyes adjusted to the darkness. “Just don’t let me fall, please.”

“Well, since you asked so nicely,” he replied, raising my hand to his lips for a kiss before leading me farther down the stairwell.

It was strange, being led step by step without being able to see. It was incredibly intimate in a way, having to follow his every instruction, knowing he could see me when I couldn’t see him. We took each step at a snail’s pace, with him meticulously guiding me over every stone to make certain I wouldn’t stumble. Not once did he let me falter. This was a nice, surprising change of pace compared to how my day had been thus far.

Once we finally reached the bottom, I could see again. There was faint sunlight peaking through high, filthy, barred windows, allowing just enough light in to make out my surrounding. The cells stood along the wall before me, and they looked like they hadn’t been used in many years. There were unmistakable bloodstains on the shackles that were chained to the walls and floor. To my right, there was a long table with piles of rusty, equally bloodstained chains that had larger shackles attached than the ones that furnished the cells. I hated to consider what could be gargantuan enough to require shackles of such a monstrous size and weight to hold them. When I looked to my left to the opposite end of the room, Demetri was standing there waiting for us, holding… a bucket?

“Took you long enough, Mistress. I thought you’d keep me waiting all day,” greeted Demetri with a teasing, dimpled grin.

Looking closer, I realized that every cell door in the dungeon was wide open except the one he was standing in front of. A closed cell door and a bucket, presumably full of water, told me beyond a doubt that he was guarding someone. “Well, whatever you’ve been waiting for, try to be quick about it,” I answered. “Mama wanted me to send you up to her when you’re done here.”

At that, his grin widened. “The last thing I’d ever want to do is keep her waiting. Come over, see what Master Caius has procured for you.” When he finished, he threw the water through the bars, startling awake whoever was being held in there. The sharp gasp and sputtering that followed sounded distinctly masculine.

I hesitated, looking to Caius for some kind of explanation. He only smirked and nodded toward the cell. When I didn’t move right away, he took a few steps forward, giving my hand an encouraging tug to coax me onward. I could never have imagined what I was about to see.

When I was close enough to look at Caius’ captive, I practically jumped out of my skin in uncontrollable shock. It was Carson, naked and chained to the wall by his wrists so only his toes barely brushed the ground, and every inch of him was beaten bloody. His usually curly, mousy brown hair was plastered to his face and neck with the exception of the mats that had formed from a combination of coagulated blood and sweat. He lifted his weary head just enough for his beady blue eyes to meet mine, and it was then that he became like a man possessed.

“GET ME OUT OF HERE!” he screamed, his hoarse voice echoing throughout the large dungeon. It made me jump again so hard that my back hit the wall behind me painfully. His body flailed wildly as he tried to gain purchase on the ground below his feet, but he just couldn’t with the way he’d been chained. “ANNIE, PLEASE!”

“Mind your tongue or I will rip it out of your mouth and shove it down your throat! You are never to address her again!” Caius roared back, striking the bars with his fist hard enough for the resulting clang to drown out Carson. At the threat, Carson wheezed and recoiled in terror, his eyes darting between Caius, Demetri, and me. I was so flabbergasted by what I was witnessing that I couldn’t move, couldn’t speak. “I see you did exactly as instructed, Demetri. Well done. If Annabel has no further use for you, then you may go.”

Demetri turned his attention back on me and appeared amused by the state I was in. “Am I dismissed, Mistress? Or do you have any special requests for the treatment of our… guest?”

It took me another moment to find my voice, but when I did, all I could bring myself to whisper was, “You’re dismissed.” Demetri took the time to bow to me first, then Caius, before disappearing in a silent blur, the breeze he caused with his superhuman speed and the now-empty bucket on the ground the only indications that he had been there at all. The cold chill that ran down my spine brought me back to myself enough to ask, my voice stronger this time, “Caius, what the fuck is going on here?”

“It seems that what is going on here is that you have caught a chill. Sometimes I forget that humans are especially susceptible to low temperatures. Here, allow me.” With a flourish, Caius removed his suit jacket and placed it around my shoulders. He might have been the most slender of his brothers, but it was still large enough for the obscenely expensive fabric to practically swallow me whole.

As I slid my arms through the sleeves, I said, “You know that’s not at all what I’m talking about.”

With a sigh, Caius asked, “Are you displeased?”

“I don’t know what I am, frankly. I just want an explanation.”

Nodding, he began, “I told you I would deal with this parasite and I meant it. I said he would die screaming for frightening you, and I meant that as well. This, Annabel, is how we deal with the filth of the world of so brazenly dare to cross us.” As he spoke, his eyes turned black as night, but there was a gleam in them that could even be seen in the dim dungeon. Every word, every syllable, was stated with nothing less than the full power of a wrathful king. There was so much more to this than just a power trip for Caius, though. This was vengeance in its purest form, and it was vengeance for me. “He threatened you and it is not to be tolerated. He signed his death warrant the moment he gave you a device to spy on you with. I want you to rest assured beyond doubt that his end will be merciless. That he will never be able to frighten you again. So, I invited you here to watch. That way you will have no doubt that he has been disposed of properly.”

Carson sobbed pathetically hearing his own demise laid out so plainly, but I hardly paid him any mind. A cosmic shift was taking place in the depths of my soul that I had no way to stop. Honestly, I wasn’t sure if I would’ve wanted to stop it even if I had the choice to. Never before had I relished the thought of anyone’s suffering, even when I was at my lowest. But standing there with Caius forced me to realize that I had only felt that way because making someone suffer, truly suffer, had never before been an option for me. Now that I was being given the chance, I couldn’t help but notice that I wasn’t nearly as opposed as I definitely should’ve been. I was still shocked by this turn of events, there was no doubt about that, but it wasn’t because of opposition to Caius’ offer. Could I really choose to let Carson be tortured and killed by Caius? What would the consequences of that complacency be? Surely, at the very least, not intervening on Carson’s behalf would mean I was no better than Caius. I would be an accomplice, an accessory to cold-blooded murder. Could I truly live with that fact?

“DON’T JUST STAND THERE AND LET ME DIE! DO SOMETHING, YOU FUCKING CUNT!” Carson roared with everything he had, blood and spittle flying from his mouth.

Yep, in this case, I could live with it. I was taken back to my first time walking hand-in-hand with Marcus down that long hallways to the infirmary, where I had questioned if he was secretly taking me to a torture chamber despite how gently he held my hand then. Looking up into Caius’ expectant eyes now, I found the irony in him having led me by the hand down into the actual torture chamber, where I was not the captive, but the executioner. This was Caius’ way of being his best for me, just as that had been Marcus’ way seemingly a lifetime ago already. Finally, I said, “Caius, I know you want to, but don’t rip out his tongue just yet. He could choke on his own blood and die too quickly.”

Caius’ face split into the broadest grin he’d ever graced me with. Rather than reply with words, he pulled me into a brutal kiss, his arms holding me flush against his deceptively muscular frame. I hadn’t realized how much I missed kissing him until his lips were forcefully slotting against mine, but with that realization came a hunger for him that suddenly felt insatiable and all-consuming. I returned his kiss with just as much fervor, surprising him and myself. My tongue swept across his lips, and that was the infuriating moment he chose to pull away from me.

His chest heaving, he gritted out, “As much as I truly hate to admit it, we are getting carried away, darling.”

Equally as breathless, I answered, “No, we’re not, and that’s exactly the problem.” Before I doubt my actions, I pressed myself against him again and grasped his already hardened cock through his slacks, making him gasp. Standing on tip-toe, I whispered in his ear, “If you don’t carry me away in the next ten seconds, I’ll leave you here to play with your new friend all by yourself. And we both know that won’t be half as satisfying as what we could be doing instead right now.”

With a snarl in his voice, he replied, “In this state, I will not be gentle.”

“I didn’t ask you to be.”

To really drive the message home, I bit down hard on the ear I was whispering in and squeezed his cock at the same time. Before I could even begin to process what was happening, Caius had hoisted me up and suddenly we were on the other end of the dungeon, the sound of chains rattling as they hit the floor echoing loudly. He had only one hand under my ass to support me, so he must’ve used the other to sweep the table clear of the chains that had been coiled there for God knew how long. Then, Caius unwound my legs from his waist and practically dropped me onto the hard metal tabletop.

“You must decide here and now: will you let me claim you? There is no going back once it is done. You will be mine and I will be yours until the word forever does not even exist anymore,” he growled, his eyes boring into mine as they searched for some indication of my answer.

Being driven entirely by instinct, completely negating what I had thought and said not even an hour ago, the words poured out of me, “I’ve always been yours and you’ve always been mine. Take me, Caius.”

The next sound that filled the room was the ripping of clothes. These men were apparently determined to ensure that I didn’t have a scrap of clothing left in tact before the week was out. Caius shredded and yanked off every stitch that had covered me before throwing his own onto the floor in a pile. I might’ve been a little peeved that his clothes were allowed to survive while mine hadn’t been, but the look on his face while he did it was just too entertaining for me to care at the moment. He was somewhere between a kid on Christmas and a dog tearing up homework. Just watching him and knowing he was this wild all because of me was like an aphrodisiac.

Now both stark naked, I had about a second and a half to take in the sight of him before he pulled me against him again, but what a glorious second and a half it was. In the low light, it looked like his hair and skin were the same shade of pale white, as if he were a meticulously carved marble statue that had been made in the likeness of an ancient god. And all I wanted in that moment, even more than my next breath, was to worship at the altar of his body.

Our lips crashed in a harsh caress. Our tongues tangled fiercely, yet none of it was enough. With both hands burined in the fine silk that was Caius’ hair, I pulled him impossibly closer. It was better, but I still yearned for more of him; all of him.

Caius’ grasp on my hips was bruising and bit at the soft skin there. I reveled in it; in the feeling of him needing me, in the thought of the evidence he was leaving on my skin in his need, and in the knowledge that it was all reciprocal. It fueled the already raging fire within me that he had ignited with his little gift.

With out bodies pressed together, I could feel his length anxiously awaiting my attention between my legs. I removed one hand from his hair to take hold of it and started rubbing his weeping tip between my soaked folds. His gasp of pleasure was what forced our mouths apart. My lips frantically latched onto the juncture where his neck and jaw met while my hand aligned him with my entrance. No words were necessary, we both knew what was about to happen and how ardently we craved it. With strangled cries from us both, he surged into me, giving me every inch of him at once. My ankles locked behind his back and my arms wrapped around him to clutch his shoulders, bracing myself for Caius’ brutal pace.

The way he ravaged me was unlike anything I’d ever experienced before. Pleasure overwhelmed every molecule of my being as he claimed me, body and soul, with every relentless stroke of his cock inside me. Neither of us could control ourselves and we didn’t want to, moaning and screaming the bliss from we took from each other with reckless abandon.

Before long, I desperately sobbed, “I’m gonna cum! Please, Caius!”

“My perfect little mate, so ready to take what I give,” he panted in my ear. “This is only the first of many climaxes I will give you this day. Reach your peak for me now.”

I screamed out with my ecstasy as every muscle in my body tensed deliciously around him. His breath hitched at the feeling and he groaned, clearly affected as I came in waves on his cock, but he didn’t slow for even a second. Once I was able to at least somewhat regain my senses, I knew exactly what I wanted next.

Putting a hand firmly on his chest, I pushed against him and gasped, “Stop!”

Without hesitation, he pulled out of me and stepped back to assess me, his eyes searching every available inch of my person for any sign of an injury. “What is the matter? Are you alright?”

Seizing the chance, I slid off of where I’d been perched, turned around, and folded my arms on the cold table for support, presenting myself to him. With a smirk over my shoulder, I breathed, “I want you like this now.”

Caius’ gaze drifted downward from my face, inch by inch down my arched back, until it settled upon my glistening cunt on full display as an offering to him. His slow, predatory grin was my only warning before he rejoined our bodies. The only word that could possibly come close to describing the feeling was rapturous. The new angle alone would’ve been enough to make me see stars, but combined with the force behind every breakneck thrust, I had no way to even know what sounds were being ripped from my throat anymore. All I could do was let my mate overpower my senses with the greatest pleasure any mortal could ever know.

The force of my next orgasm overtook me and set every molecule of my being off like fireworks. I didn’t even have time to warn him before I was undone. Caius paused a moment as I squeezed and pulsed and shuddered around his length, nestled as deep in me as he could possibly be, and groaned as he enjoyed every wave of my climax, his forehead resting against my shoulder while his hands kept me anchored to him by my hips. I couldn’t wait to get a good look in the mirror at the finger shaped bruises that would most certainly be left behind.

I expected him to pick up the pace again immediately, but instead he shocked me by changing our positions for the third time. Suddenly, I was no longer bent over with my feet on the ground. Caius was now the one sitting on the table with his back against the wall and me straddling his lap, the harsh metal uncomfortable on my knees and shins. I couldn’t care less about that though with the aftershocks of my orgasm still lingering.

“Claim me,” he demanded, his eyes wild as they flitted across every inch of me they could find. “I must know that we are equal in our possession of each other. Never have I allowed anyone to ride me. To tame me. You and you alone, for all time, will be the only one to know this privilege. I beg you to use it to your full advantage. Use me.”

Between the look in his eyes and the uncharacteristic strain in his voice, it was obvious this wasn’t just sexy talk to please me. This was an act of desperation. In fact, it struck me that everything leading up to this very moment had been an act of desperation on his part. He, in all his glory and power, was still considered to be the least useful of the Volturi for his lack of a gift. He, in all his beauty and brilliance, felt like a lesser in his own home, among those who were supposed to be his eternal family. And he felt that sex with me would be his great equalizer, his only chance to gain something no one else could take from him, not even his brothers. I needed to be careful with how I handled him in such a state, lest I accidentally confirm his insecurities, or worse, make him feel outright rejected.

“Darlin’,” I whispered, brushing his hair away from his searching eyes with a feather-light touch, “you are not to be used. You are to be cherished. Never forget that.”

Caius’ emotions played out on his face for me to see only for a split second, but it was enough. The shock and awe came first, then fear, then shining, resplendent hope. It was then that I lowed myself onto his manhood, taking him slowly until he was sheathed completely inside me again. He gasped as a ripple of unrestrained pleasure coursed down his spine, and I took the opportunity to slip my tongue into his mouth. With all the gentleness I had, I coaxed his tongue to entwine with mine as I began to slowly rock my hips. In answer, he slid his arms around my back to clutch me to his body, not allowing for any space between us whatsoever. I clung to his shoulders with all the strength I had, needing him to know on a primal level that he was safe and adored in my embrace.

When I had to pull back for air, Caius whimpered sadly at the loss of contact and the flash of fear returned to his flawless features. I couldn’t stand the sight of it, so I mapped out every inch of his face with my searching lips, each kiss undeniably imbued with the reverence he so craved, in the hopes it would comfort him. The effect was immediate, his arms tightening even more around my frame.

Only after completely running out of places to kiss him did I finally stop and adjust my position so that our heads rested in the crooks of each other’s necks. I threaded a hand into his hair to hold him in place, relishing our closeness as I continued to rock unhurriedly. As much as we had both loved our frenzied fucking, I could tell that the juxtaposition was appreciated by him beyond words. Caius truly needed this, and I was all too willing to give him anything his deceptively fragile heart desired.

The buildup to our climaxes was slow and steady, but once they were upon us, they were anything but gentle. Mine was just as powerful as the others Caius had given me, and the force of it caused his own. The guttural sound that left him while he filled me with his cum made me shiver with satisfaction. We were one, joined completely; inalienably each other’s.

Languidly, I lifted my head to look at him and was blessed to find the epitome of bliss staring back at me. His eyes had always been so sharp, so utterly piercing, but now they were clouded over with the lingering euphoria of his release. Based on his smile, I imagined I must’ve looked very much the same to him.

“I thought the gods had forsaken me for all my wrongs in this life,” he began, his smile unfaltering. “Never could I have imagined that all this time, they were crafting and perfecting my mate for me. For surely, it would indeed require millennia to create all the glory that is you, il mio cuore.”

“How in the world could you look at everything you have and feel forsaken? You’re one of the most blessed people to ever live.”

“Now, and only just now, I can truly believe that.”

The blush that had already stained my cheeks and body from exertion only deepened at his flattery. He made no secret of his admiration at the sight of it, and kissed from my cheeks, to my neck, down to my shoulder. He would’ve gone lower if I hadn’t gasped, “That’s not fair.”

With a smile, he gently nipped at my collarbone, just barely pulling the skin with his teeth, then said, “I have never once claimed to be fair other than in appearance.”

“Well, you’re playing by my rules now, and if we’re continuing this, it will be in a bed behind a locked door.”

Heat filled his eyes at my teasing. “Yes, domina.”

I had a grin like the cat who ate the canary. I hadn’t expected to enjoy his deference so much. Clearly, Caius was eager to please me any way he could, and who was I to deny him the chance to do so when he was already batting a thousand?

Carefully, I lifted myself off of him, gasping at the empty feeling that was left behind in me. Then, racing against time, I hopped off the table as quickly as possible and crabbed my shredded panties off the ground. It was anything but ideal, but I needed to clean up immediately, so I used them to wipe away the remnants of our lovemaking.

“You owe me a new outfit.”

“And have your beauty obscured from me? Absolutely not.”

“Everyone else would get a good eyeful of my beauty then, too.”

“… I had no considered that. I would have to blind anyone who dared.”

With a giggle, I picked up his suit jacket and put it on again. One button, the one on the very bottom, was placed perfectly to cover my mound once buttoned. My breasts were barely concealed, but with the way Caius was looking at me, I could hardly care about a little indecent exposure here and there.

“I’ll accept this as a temporary trade,” I said cheekily. “You’ll get it back once I have my new clothes.”

“I am unsure whether I should place the order this very moment or if I should tear apart the rest of your vexing wardrobe.”

“You find my wardrobe vexing?”

“You, clothed or not, are the most vexing temptation that has ever walked this earth. Seeing you dressed only makes me long to undress you. Seeing you undressed drives me to think of nothing but possessing you. My mind is constantly abuzz with you, and my affliction only grows more severe by the hour.”

Maybe it was his words alone, or maybe it was all the endorphins coursing through me, but I was suddenly misty-eyed and speechless at his proclamation. I did the only thing I could think of and kissed him, and he returned it gladly, pulling me to stand between his legs where he still sat on the table.

When we pulled away, I leaned up and whispered in his ear, “Let’s get out of here, sugar. You did promise me many climaxes, after all.”

With a chuckle and a kiss on my cheek, he gracefully stood before putting his pants back on faster than I could see. “I am, if nothing else, a man of my word. This way, darling.”

Unexpectedly, he walked into the nearest cell. I almost took a step before I remembered I was barefoot. “Did you ruin my shoes too?” I gasped. “Those were my favorites!”

“Only the laces. I promise you they will be perfectly restored and returned to your rooms by this evening.”

With a sigh, I slid my feet into his shoes and laced them as tightly as I could to keep them from falling off. “Fine, then I’m taking these too. You might be okay with walking all over centuries of torture-grime without a second thought, but I’m certainly not.”

Straightening up again, I caught Caius’ eyes flitting between all the places where his jacket had failed to cover me while I was preoccupied with his shoes. He smirked when our eyes met. “Anything you might want from me, even if it is the clothes off my back, shall always be yours.” With that, he reached up to the wall where there was an unlit torch in a holder, enshrouded in spider webs from disuse. Just like from a movie, he pulled the torch forward and the bricks parted, revealing a narrow passageway hidden behind the cell wall. Unlike the unlit torch he was holding, the passage flickered with firelight. “This leads directly up to my bedchamber. At the top of the stairs, pull the lever on the left. You will exit through my fireplace from there. Make yourself comfortable in my absence, I will be with you shortly.”

“Why—?” I cut myself short, realizing the answer to my question already. I had completely forgotten about Carson. For just a moment, I looked at Caius. Really looked. This man, who was so fiercely protective and concerned for me, had made good on his promise to avenge me. In fact, he was making good on everything he had ever told me, even if he had gone about some of it the wrong way. Alright, a lot of it had been done the wrong way. But he was still here. He was still trying. He made it clear he wanted to try, all while on my terms. This man, one of only three true kings of the world, was doing whatever he could to place that very world at my feet in offering as much as I would allow him to. Carson was just one such offering. “You really are going to kill him, aren’t you.” While it was a fully formed question, it came out as a statement. My tone didn’t give away how I felt about it, leaving Caius to tilt his head curiously at me.

“Of course. I made you a solemn vow, did I not? Do you wish for me to forsake it?”

“No,” I answered without hesitation. I knew what I wanted to say, but saying it was proving difficult for me. It made everything almost too real. “Just… just don’t eat him, please. Not even a drop. I don’t wanna feel like his essence is lingering around you, you know? I don’t want any trace left of him in the world.”

Curiosity shifted first to understanding, then satisfaction on Caius’ handsome face. “You wish for my being to remain untainted by this wretch?” When I nodded my confirmation, then said, “You honor and thrill me, my mate. I will abstain and keep my body pure for your purposes, domina.”

“In that case, also make sure you shower before you come up. No torture-grime in bed.”

Highly amused, he laughed, his bare shoulders shaking with his mirth. “Anything for you.”

With a satisfied nod, I walked into the cell and the passageway beyond.

Volturi Dungeon, 2:54pm.

Caius, now certain that Annabel was safely tucked away in his private domain, returned his focus to the matter at hand. Carson Henderson was about to meet his end.

It only took a single second for Caius to return to the cell where his hostage awaited his fate. In all his many years, he had seen and done much that, by any standard, would be considered nothing short of monstrous. However, none of it could even hold a candle to the violence he was inspired to commit against Carson when the current state of him registered in Caius’ mind.

Carson had been far too quiet while Caius had been entirely focused on Annabel, and now the reason was clear. There he was, still chained and conscious, with an erection. The stone walls between each cell prevented him from seeing anything that had transpired, but even a pin dropping would have echoed throughout the dungeon. Carson had heard every gasp, pant, moan, scream and every meeting of skin on skin. And it had all aroused him, even in his sorry state.

Caius had not been able to fully understand until then how Annabel had felt. Yes, her privacy and safety were his top priorities, and that was exactly why he would ensure that Carson would die, but now his time with Annabel, their sacred claiming of one another, had been stained for him by Carson’s enjoyment of it. Now Caius was the one presented first-hand with the evidence of Carson’s depravity. It filled him with a rage the likes of which he had not felt since his final days as a mortal warlord.

“Enjoying yourself?” Caius snarled. Carson began whimpering and doing everything he could to get a foothold and turn himself away from Caius’ sight, but it was far too late for any of that. In an instant, Caius tore the offending appendage from his body, sending an immense spray of blood onto his bare chest and across the cell. Carson’s scream was guttural, like a tortured animal, and when his eyes began rolling back to allow him to faint and escape his mind-bending agony, Caius slapped him into full awareness hard enough to shatter his cheekbone and jaw, knocking all of his teeth on that side loose. “Now, now, none of that,” Caius reprimanded. “You see, I need you awake for this. You must be made to understand true suffering before you pathetic life fades into nothingness. It is the only appropriate penance now.”

His jaw broken, Carson’s tongue lolled out of his mouth in his attempt to say something, anything that might save his life. No words would ever leave him again, though, as Caius ripped his tongue from his mouth, in keeping with Annabel’s prior request. With every drop of Carson’s blood he spilled without allowing any to touch his lips, he felt his heart soar remembering Annabel’s concern that he might taint himself with the scum of the earth before him. Then, a truly dark impulse struck Caius, making his lips curl up in cruel delight. This would be the grand finale, the perfect vengeance for his beloved and a symbol for all to see exactly what would befall them should they be idiotic enough to cross her or Caius in future.

With Carson’s tongue in one hand and his member in the other, Caius swapped their natural places on his body. Where his member had been only moments ago, Caius forced his tongue into the still-spurting wound with enough force to make it stay in place. Likewise, where the tongue had lived within his mouth, Caius broke his jaw even further to open it wide enough to shove his cock down his throat. Between the blood that had been slowly but surely drowning him around his wails and cries, and his airway being blocked completely with his own penis, the life faded from Carson’s eyes quickly thereafter, leaving him to twitch and struggle in agony for his final minutes.

The sight of Carson Henderson was unnatural, repulsive, horrific. Caius was most pleased with his work of art.

Chapter Text

True to his word, Caius’ gargantuan fireplace was the secret entrance to his wing of the castle, facing into his private study. The fireplace itself was made from what looked like the same type of stone that lined the walls and floors of the dungeon, but was carved meticulously into the form of a lion’s head, its mouth open wide to devour anyone unlucky enough to be caught on the other side of its hidden door. I planned to ask him later why he felt the need to have a secret entrance that led directly to the dungeon specifically used for torture and murder, but after everything that had just happened, I was feeling especially charitable toward whatever his reasoning might be.

Unsure of how much time I’d have to myself, I decided to take my chances and snoop around. Just a little, of course, nothing too invasive. I couldn’t be sure I’d ever get the chance again after all, so in my barely dressed state, I began my investigation at his desk, where all great men tended to keep their greatest secrets.

It seemed that Caius preferred organized chaos when it came to his belongings. Textbooks and stapled printouts on modern Italian marriage and divorce laws festooned over half the desk in leaning stacks. The sight of them made my heart flutter, excited by the clear evidence that he had told me the truth about divorcing his wife. On the other half of his desk were all kinds of mismatched items shoved into a haphazard pile; from empty tubes of oil pant, to wooden and metal knickknacks that had to have been nothing short of ancient and most certainly belonged behind glass, if not in an actual museum, to a pile of messily discarded ties and scarves in a variety of shades of grays, blacks, and reds. Considering that he hadn’t worn anything around his neck that day, he must have decided against all of them when dressing that morning.

Just as I was about to round the desk and see if any of its drawers were unlocked for my perusal, a small, shining something caught my eye, having been partially covered by the portion of the pile that was dedicated to neck accessories. Upon closer inspection, I gasped in recognition. It was my Swiss army knife. The blade was still bent from how Caius had launched it away from me and into the trunk of a tree on that fateful day, and the bent blade was what had caught the light.

Marcus came to mind then. He had gone about it the wrong way, but he seemed genuinely concerned for my safety when I had gone to see him before Caius spirited me away. I didn’t want to play by his overtly restrictive rules when I was perfectly capable of doing things for myself, but I could privately admit that it probably wasn’t the best idea to gallivant around Volterra without any protection whatsoever. I could bend the blade so it was straight again, or I could break it off entirely and just use one of the other blades in the set. Either way, it wouldn’t be a hard problem to fix.

Picking it up, I started looking at it from every angle, trying to ascertain which course of action would be best. In my distraction, I didn’t notice Caius enter silently through the main door of his study.

“Annabel…” he cautioned, his voice low and his hands positions as if he was trying to dissuade an animal from attacking. “Please, put down the knife. Whatever is the matter, we can work through it together.”

Looking up at him, I couldn’t have been more confused by what he’d said. “Nothing’s the matter, I’m just figuring out how to fix this. Are you alright?”

“There is no need to fix it. Just put it down.”

“Caius, what—?” Realization struck me like lightning, sending a startled jolt through my body. “Oh, honey. I’m not gonna hurt myself, I just noticed it on your desk and thought I should start keeping it on me again, that’s all.”

Caius narrowed his eyes suspiciously despite my honest response. “Why would you need to carry that barbaric thing when you have the most powerful guards on earth at your disposal?”

His question was an echo of Marcus’ previous command and it didn’t sit well with me. However, I called upon my patience as I explained, “’Cause they can only help me in a fight if it’s nighttime. During the day, I’m on my own, and I’d like to enjoy my days without being totally defenseless.”

My reply, though reasonable in my estimation, clearly didn’t assuage him. “You are never on your own, no matter the circumstance. Even if the entire Volturi were to be exposed in broad daylight, it would be done without hesitation or regret so long as your safety was assured.”

“And what if I don’t wanna always hide behind the robes of your guards? What if I plan to hold my own?”

At that, Caius’ lips curled upward in the slowest, smallest smirk. “You truly are a warrior at heart. You will strike fear in all who behold you one day; I shall personally see to that, rest assured. For now, though, can you not be satisfied with what I offer you? It is merely the single greatest fighting force assembled in all of history, but it is yours to do with as you see fit.” His sarcasm was reassuring, he couldn’t be truly upset with me if he was making jokes.

“Then that means it’s at my discretion whether I utilize them or not. I’m glad we’re in agreement,” I answered slyly, my chin held high.

Something halfway between a scoff and a chuckle left him at my reasoning, but it only lasted a second. In a blink, his eyes were misty and haunted as they stared at the knife in my hand. “Do you know why I kept it?”

“Because you’re a secret fan of Swiss ingenuity?” came my hesitant humor. I couldn’t help but try and keep the tension at bay. I wanted things to go back to how they were when we were together in the dungeon mere moments ago, despite how crazy that might sound coming from me given the context.

“If only. No, I kept it as a reminder. Every day, I look at that offensive thing as if it were my greatest enemy, because truly, it is. Despite all I have seen and done, what you so casually hold there in the palm of your hand is the embodiment of death made manifest. Had I been only one second slower, or you one second faster, I would have been too late to protect you from it. It is constant proof of exactly how vulnerable you are, and in turn, how vulnerable I am as well.”

“If that happened, you would’ve just turned me into a vampire.”

“Yes, I would have had no other choice, but then your fear and hatred for me would be cemented for all eternity like the Roman roads. There could be no future for us at that point.”

“Thing would undoubtedly have been rough between us for a very long time if they’d gone that way, but it wouldn’t last forever.”

“You do not understand the transformation process, my love. It freezes you exactly as you are whenever you are turned, not only physically, but mentally as well. All your greatest passions are heightened a hundred fold, but so too are your grudges and fears. For all time, you would hate me for having made you fearful enough to take your own life in the first place, and then you would doubly hate me for changing you and binding you to the Volturi against your will. Make no mistake, in such dire circumstances I would change you and gladly bear the brunt of your ire for eternity, but the sacrifice of that exchange, of losing you in every other way despite assuring your survival, would be unceasing misery for me. In such a state, even our bond as mates would not be able to rival your loathing, especially not when you would have Aro and Marcus to fall back on. I would be persona non grata at best forevermore.”

While I fully understood everything he said and the weight it put on his already put-upon shoulders, the part my mind kept repeating was when he called me his love. Just like with Marcus, it was a completely different feeling hearing it for the first time in my own language. Endearments in every language under the sun were always nice to hear, but when said in your own tongue, the impact was far greater.

“So, you love me, huh?” I asked with a small smile.

The softness came back to his eyes as he finally looked away from the knife, his gaze trailing upward until it reached my own. “I do not simply love you. I revere you. I live by and for your grace alone. I always have, whether I knew it or not, and I always shall.”

What a sight he was; hair wet and still without a shirt or shoes, professing his feelings in a way I never would’ve thought possible only a week ago, from him or anyone. “Well,” I began, “you needn’t worry about playing second fiddle to Aro or Marcus. They’re both on my shit list right now. That’s partly why I wanted the knife, actually.”

“You are aware you cannot stab us, correct?”

“Quite aware, unfortunately,” I answered with a smirk and a wink.

He smirked right back, crossing his arms over his bare chest as he asked, “Then what need have you for the measly thing?”

“You heard what Marcus said earlier. He thinks I need extra protection at all hours of the day and night— as if this isn’t already the most heavily protected property in the whole damn world— but I don’t wanna have to rely on him or the guards if shit hits the fan and I have to act fast while I’m out somewhere. So, I’ll tell him I’ve got my knife again and he doesn’t have to worry.”

Caius’ smirk curled even higher on his cheeks. “Yes, tell him exactly that. If he supports this idea of yours, he will be lying through his teeth and doing a poor job of it.”

My face dropped as I heaved a sigh. “You think I’m being ridiculous, don’t you?”

“I would never think such a thing of you, darling. It can be easy for me to forget what it was like being as young as you; so quick to ignite and kindle, all to happy to follow instincts over strategy. You can hardly be blamed for your youthful mind and spirit. Although, in any scenario, I would choose utilizing the guard rather than relying on an easily bent multi-tool.” Caius paused a moment to look me up and down. “And surely you know that Aro will have something to say about it as well.”

“Aro’s opinion hardly matters at the moment,” I sniffed, putting the knife back on his desk and crossing my arms over my chest.

“Ah, something has happened between you, then. He did not rejoin us in the Throne Room after he went to find you. Whatever you wrote must have either struck a chord or a nerve.”

Being reminded of what had transpired between me and Aro was a mood killer to say the least. “I’m sure you’d rather not hear about that; suffice it to say that yes, something happened.”

“Of course I want to hear it. Aro’s failing are typically few and far between. It is an exceedingly rare treat for me indeed when I get the chance to revel in his mistakes.”

“I’m not sure that’s the best idea. I want to confide in you, but he could see this whole thing and try to use what I say to his advantage. Frankly, I want him to wallow in this for as long as possible.”

“So, it is something worth wallowing over? How delicious.” Caius was clearly amused by the little information he had gotten out of me.

“Well, let’s just say this: if he’s not wallowing, it’s because he isn’t taking me seriously, and that won’t end well for him.”

“Then I sincerely hope he is doing anything but wallowing, so that any chance he may have at winning your favor will crumble to dust and be swept away with the next warm breeze.”

“How poetic.”

“Do you enjoy poetry, my love?”

“I do, very much in fact. But I think I like your stories better, actually. Good storytellers are hard to find these days, and you’ve already proven you have all kinds of stories to make me laugh. You’re good at it, you know.”

Caius’ smile was as light and airy as a summer day. “If it is stories my love requires, then I will spend our days and nights telling you every tale worth hearing.”

Unable to resist smiling after seeing his own, I quietly admitted, “I’d love that.” Then, remembering why we were there at all, my smile became devilish. “But we’ll save story time for later. You did promise me many orgasms today, and yet here we stand.”

“Ah, how very foolish of me to keep my queen waiting. You are quite right, of course. I can never claim to deserve you when I stand idly before you, mistreating you with my inaction.”

“I’d be willing to consider forgiving you if you rectify the situation posthaste.”

With that, I closed the distance between us and brought my lips a hair’s breadth away from his, lingering only a beat before taking his full bottom lip gently between my teeth. A sound that could only be described as both a purr and a low growl rumbled through his throat at my teasing.

“Say no more, my love.”

My ass landed on the edge of his desk before I heard the cacophony of thuds from his books landing on the stone floor and the distinct swish of his papers being thrown into the air around us. “Your things, Caius!” I gasped. A throaty laugh I couldn’t contain followed my exclamation as hundreds of shredded papers fluttered in the air all around us.

“Shh, worry not for them. Let me take care of you,” he whispered as he spread my legs. I could feel the shape of his smile against the shell of my ear.

Caius kissed a trail from my earlobe to my jaw, down my neck, over my chest and between my breasts, and only stopped to undo the single button that was keeping his suit jacket closed over my naked body. He nuzzled the spot where the button had rest with his nose before continuing his path of kisses, falling to his knees and gently resting my legs over his shoulders once he reached my mound.

“Wait, I haven’t had the chance to shower yet. You probably shouldn’t—”

“Annabel,” he purred, taking my hand off the edge of the desk and kissing my knuckles. “Only the weakest of men would shy away from such an honor as this.” Then, without another word, he went from seductively soft to maddeningly merciless as he attacked my pussy with his mouth. I gasped sharply, my hands flying to entangle in his hair to gain any purchase I could. The amount of force he was using could’ve easily knocked me onto my back.

“Caius!” I cried, ending in a wanton moan. He was expertly using his face simultaneously as an instrument of both torture and the most divine of pleasures. Using his inhuman speed to his advantage, he alternated between fucking me with his relentless tongue and rubbing my clit with his nose, to sucking and flicking my clit with the very tip of his tongue while he fingered me with perfectly precise movements. The combination of sensations was mind-blowing, and he was quickly driving me to an explosive end. “Yes! Fuck, Caius, give it to me!”

He was definitely a man who thrived on praise based on his he redoubled his efforts in response. I hardly had time to take a full breath before he sent me hurtling over the edge of oblivion with the intensity of my climax. My ears were ringing and my mind was consumed entirely with the pleasure of the release he gave me, every spasm of my inner walls sending shockwaves through the rest of my body. When my senses finally returned to normal minutes later, because Caius didn’t stop until he had wrung out every last second he could of my orgasm. At some point my hands had gripped Caius’ hair hard enough for my knuckles to turn white, so I gently released my hold before slumping backward onto the desk, completely and utterly spent.

Caius slowly kissed his way up my body as he climbed on the desk and hovered over me. Once he reached my panting mouth, I relished the taste of myself on his tongue as he slipped it in my mouth and the feeling of my arousal smearing between our faces. A primal satisfaction settled itself comfortably behind my ribs.

I broke the kiss long enough to whisper, my lips still brushing against his, “Caius… thank you. For everything.”

With a rueful chuckle, he replied, “You need never thank me for pleasuring you.”

“No, darlin’, not for that,” I giggled, brushing a lock of damp hair behind his ear. “For handling Carson. For going forward with your divorce. No one has ever done anything even close to that for me before. You truly listened to me, took me seriously, and took immediate action on both fronts. I know I haven’t exactly been kind with how I’ve acted towards you. I guess I’m just amazed that instead of holding it against me, you’ve done all this instead. I’m… so grateful, Caius.”

He frowned and kissed the hand that had brushed his hair back. “I have hardly done anything, my sweet. I would bring the stormiest of seas to heel for you. I would force the highest mountains to move if it be your whim. Should you ask for diamonds, I will snatch every last star from the sky, and they will be all the more beautiful hanging about the throat that says such sad, lovely things to me. Should you ask for the largest, roundest pearl, I will pluck the moon from its orbit and place it upon your finger with all the deference of an acolyte bearing an offering for his goddess, for truly, that is what you are. Say the word and the world and all that surround it shall be yours. Nothing less would be befitting of you.”

I couldn’t have stopped the tears from pricking my eyes if I’d tried. “Don’t say anything you can’t take back,” I whispered hoarsely.

“Annabel, listen to me and hear me well. If a day ever comes when I do not live up to those promises and more, you must banish me to the farthest reaches of the globe. For on that day, I will have lost any right to call you mine, and I would deserve nothing less than eternal exile for such an egregious slight against you. I have come too close to losing you already. I must remember that my place by your side is earned and take nothing for granted.” As my tears overflowed, I pulled him into a chaste kiss, one I hoped conveyed just how much everything he had said and done meant to me. In that moment, I felt like the luckiest woman who had ever lived. “Now, my goddess,” he whispered when our lips parted, brushing his nose against mine. “What might your humble servant do for you next? What would please you best?”

With a watery chuckle, I began, “Firstly, it would please me greatly if you wouldn’t lie about being humble. We both know good and well there couldn’t be anything further from the truth.” His laughter joined in with mine at that, and the sound made my heart pang with happiness. After swiping away the tears that had fallen down my temples, I continued, “Honestly, I’d love a bath. Then I want you to find me the softest, fluffiest robe you have so I can spend the day lounging around in it.”

All smiles, Caius replied, “Very well. And what of the many orgasms I promised you?”

My lips curled upward to match his. “We’ll revisit that promise once I’m satisfied with your taste in robes.”

* * *

Apparently, Marcus wasn’t the only one with a private spa. Caius informed me that all the kings had their own, and while I’d only seen Caius’ so far, I knew already that his would always be my favorite.

When I had asked for a bath, the most I’d hoped for was maybe a clawfoot tub. I loved clawfoot tubs. But I’ve now discovered that even more so, I loved bathtubs that weren’t bathtubs at all, but fountains so large you could swim in them. That was Caius’ idea of a tub, and I was forever changed by it.

He was sitting behind me in said fountain-tub, rubbing my shoulders while I relaxed against him, enjoying the steaming water and the show that the fountain itself provided. In the center, where the water ran hot and fresh at all times, there were marble statues of lions, eagles, and bulls, surrounded by a garden of Tuscany’s oldest native flowers, and their petals were made up of sparkling gemstones in every color of the rainbow to match their real-life counterparts, forever in the peak of their bloom. The contrast between the vibrant flowers and the pure white animals brought new movement to the scene; as if they were living, breathing things that had made a home beneath the swirling steam. Spurts of water danced and flowed from creature to creature in perfect synchronization before ending up in the main pool. It was all so mesmerizing to watch, I could’ve stayed right where I was for days at a time.

“Enjoying yourself?” Caius murmured in my ear.

“Immensely,” I sighed contentedly.

“Your shoulders were dreadfully tense, my love. Where else requires my attention?”

“If you rub my feet I’ll be forever grateful. Those cobblestone streets are brutal.”

Chuckling lowly, he kissed my cheek and switched positions so that he was now facing me. He took my left foot gently in his large hands and began to work his magic. My head rolled back to rest against the raised edge of the fountain as I gasped at how wonderful of a feeling it was.

“During your spat with Marcus, you said you ran an errand in town this morning. Where did you go?”

I’d nearly forgotten that I gave away all the food Caius had had prepared for me. Guilt pricked at the corners of my mind. “Can I tell you the truth and you won’t get mad at me before I explain everything?” I asked sheepishly.

He raised a blonde brow in curiosity. “If you would consider lying about it at all, it must have been quite the errand indeed.”

“That’s not a real answer.”

“Is it really so scandalous?”

“Only you can be the judge of that.”

I could tell he was surprised and intrigued by my answer. “Then do go on so I might judge.”

Sighing, I reluctantly admitted, “Aro really upset me this morning. Like, first thing this morning. I hadn’t even had time for coffee yet when it happened. I was so upset that it bled into everything else, and along with something he gave me, I took all the food from our lunch and brought it to a local charity to be distributed to people in need.”

The circles he had been making with his thumbs in the sore muscles of my foot stopped for just a half-second, but it was enough for me to know that this was not something he would simply brush off. “All of the food, you say?”

“… Yes.”

“And what offering from Aro could be so offensive as to cause such a reaction?”

Just thinking about it made me angry all over again, but it was tinged with sadness as well. “It was just so… manipulative. He set up this crazy display of nothing but aquamarine jewelry because he knows it’s my birthstone and my favorite. Then at the very top was this cake. My dream cake. And there was a note in the form of a scroll at the very top, even sealed with wax like I always wanted. But all of it was so shallow. The note said nothing of substance, just that his presents were supposed to make up for my birthday. Frankly, it was infuriatingly insulting, and still is. And everything just kind of spiraled from there. I decided I couldn’t keep the cake, which only made me madder, and I was still mad at you too, so I decided to just give away all the food you both had given me in one trip to make things easier on myself. I donated all of it, every last scrap.”

I had expected frustration, anger, maybe even for him to storm out or make me leave. What I hadn’t expected was for him to throw his head back and laugh, long and loud. He laughed so hard that his eyes got misty.

“My love, you are a delight. Lesser women would have been wooed and won, yet you were driven to fury instead.”

“I’m sorry about the food,” I sighed. “I shouldn’t have been so hasty about everything.”

“Never apologize over such a trivial matter. You turned your ire into great fortune for those who will now have the chance to sup when they may have otherwise gone hungry today.” With another chuckle and a shake of his head, he went on to say, “Even with his own mate, Aro cannot seem to break his curse with the fairer sex. Truly, this news could not have been more welcome.”

“Curse with the fairer sex?” Now it was my turn for my interest to be piqued.

Caius nodded, a cruel smile forming as he explained, “You see, no woman will suffer his touch. They are all too afraid of him.”

“Well, obviously that isn’t true. He’s married, after all.”

“Sulpicia has never allowed him in her bed.” His eyes lit up as he said it, dancing with mirth and mischief at having aired Aro’s dirty laundry. It seemed that Caius loved his fair share of gossip too.

“Aro has never been… forceful with anyone, has he?”

At that, Caius sighed and released my foot so that he could start massaging the other, his amusement now dimmed. “Of all the things you could have asked me about him, of course you would choose one of the few areas where his record is completely spotless. Aro has never, and would never, force himself on anyone in any way. The only reason he married her at all is because Marcus and I wed long before him, and as time passed and rumors spread, he began to appear weaker by comparison, and there were whispers among the covens of rebellion. So, he chose to make an alliance and married Sulpicia, the only child of the head of the Roman Coven, with the understanding that it was nothing more than political for all parties involved. He confided in me that he had hoped they might be able to kindle a fondness for each other, although that was before he read her mind. The disgust and terror she felt for him, and especially for bedding him, put a swift end to any hope he had of a friendly union.” My face must have given my pitying thoughts away, because Caius pulled me by the foot deeper into the water and straight into his waiting arms, the water splashing pleasantly with our movements. “Be not fooled by soft-heartedness, my sweet, for Sulpicia had good reason to fear him. We all do. Nothing can be hidden from him, and the longer he has access to one’s mind, the more he can focus and truly see all. Exceptionally few individuals in this world can face his scrutiny with minds unblemished enough to avoid incurring his wrath.”

Worry furrowed my brow as I said, cradling his jaw in my hands, “Then shouldn’t you be afraid of him seeing this conversation whenever he reads one of us next?”

Self-assured defiance made his ruby eyes flash. “No matter how incensed he will be with me, my loathing for him will yet burn hotter and brighter. If he dares to challenge me for this, he will swiftly come to regret it.”

My many reservations surrounding Aro and his gift still stood, but once again, I was reminded of The Scorpion and the Frog. The sympathy I now felt for Aro must have been what the frog felt for the scorpion when it made its humble request to cross the water. And that thought made me remember Aro’s face when I left him in the foyer, so deeply hurt and hopeless. Yes, everyone had good reason to fear his gift and how he could wield it; Caius would always be right about that. But Aro was no scorpion, nor was he a mindless, conscienceless predator of any other kind. No matter how great his power, he was still a person, and he was in constant pain due to a lifetime of constant rejection. His gift was a double-edged sword, and it cut him just as readily as everyone else.

I knew that Caius wouldn’t be open to my train of thought, so I asked him after a moment of silence passed, “Why do you loathe him?”

His fingers were warmed by the water as they brushed my wet bangs away from my eyes. “When I was a human, I despised everyone I ever knew. Since I have become a vampire, I have found three people in this world, and three alone, whom I loved. First was Didyme, the sister I never had. Then came Athenodora, my only true friend. And now, there is you, my mate. Aro is the reason Didyme is no longer with us, and as long as the sun hangs in the sky, I shall never forgive him for the loss of her.”

“What happened?” I gasped.

“I know not, and I revile him all the more for that.” Again, my troubled expression gave me away. “You cannot possibly think of going to him,” he protested.

Sighing, I answered resignedly, “You know I have to talk to him about all this.”

Caius began peppering my neck and shoulders with kisses. “Come now,” he reasoned, “the day is so young. We can spend the rest of it, and then all night, indulging in anything and everything you desire. Does that not sound far more preferable?”

“Preferable? Absolutely. But I think I’ve done something wrong, and now I need to make it right, darlin’.” Caius brought his head up again from where he’d been kissing me to give me a searching look. I wasn’t sure what he was trying to find, so I tried to lighten the mood at least a little. “Besides, if I stay in here another minute I’ll be a walking-talking prune.”

Evidently, I made the wrong choice, because Caius became outright panicked in an instant. “Please, you cannot go so soon. We have gotten so little time to spend with one another and I have only just begun to show you what is yours now. Please, Annabel, do not leave me.” He pulled me in close and tight, his arms encircling my frame to keep me clutched in place against him.

This desperation was the last thing I expected from Caius, but it stirred my heart to the point I felt it stutter and pang in my chest for him. Today had shown me clearly that he was always worrying about losing me in some way or another, and we needed to work on building trust in the fact that I wasn’t going anywhere. It wasn’t his responsibility alone to be a good mate to me; I needed to step up for him too.

“Caius, sugar,” I cooed in his ear, hugging him and ensuring that our bodies were as closely connected as they could possibly be in our current position. “I’m not leaving you. I never said I was leaving you. Just come with me.”

At that, he pulled back just enough to look into my eyes again. I held his gaze steadily. “You would have me by your side?” he asked, his voice quiet and uncertain.

“Of course, darlin’. Whenever you need me, you can always be with me. Day or night, rain or shine. Alright?”

“And if I always need you? What then?”

“Then you’re welcome to be with me for as long as you want.” His face softened, but his eyes were still glinting with an internal struggle of self-doubt that I could tell was hurting him. “Caius, listen. You matter to me. Your feelings matter to me. If you don’t wanna be apart then we’ll stay together; simple as that.”

It was almost enough to convince him. He was resisting a smile, but I caught the way the corners of his mouth were fighting to curl. “Simple as that, eh?”

“Simple. As. That.” I finished by snapping my fingers for emphasis.

A chuckle rumbled through him as he gave in. “We shall test that, then. Let us dress and find Aro if you really insist.”

“I’m afraid I must insist,” I confirmed with a nod. “But, the sooner we go, the sooner we can find other things to do, too. It doesn’t have to take all day.”

Leaving the warmth of the bath for the cool air was anything but ideal, but I couldn’t let this sleeping dog lie even a minute longer than necessary. Luckily, though, Caius had a towel warmer and quite possibly the fluffiest towels known to man, so the cold didn’t bite at my exposed skin for longer than a moment. After using a second towel to wring out my hair, I was about to brush it when Caius tsked and took the antique silver comb from my hand.

“First you must use oils, then brush,” he admonished.

“I wouldn’t have expected you to care.”

“We have much to learn of one another, but if there is one thing you should know about me, it is that I take great pride in my appearance and the appearances of those around me.”

From a side table along the wall, Caius produced a bottle of fragrant oil, dispensed several drops into the palm of his hand, and then began to rake it meticulously through the lengths and ends of my hair until the oil was absorbed and my auburn tresses were as soft and shiny as they’d ever been. Then, he combed every strand with the utmost care, never even pulling when he’d come across a knot. It was yet another surprise from him on a day full of nothing but surprises from him, and it was just as welcome as the others had been. When he was finished, my hair was still damp, but it would dry beautifully thanks to him.

“This is so… domestic compared to how I thought things might be between us,” I mused with a small smile as I admired my hair in a nearby mirror.

“You may find it out of character, and I would not blame you for such an assumption given what you know of me. To tell you the truth, though, this is how I rebel.” I shot him a questioning glance in the mirror. “This domesticity, these moments of lingering touches and blissful lounging, is what Aro has always wanted and could never have. When he reads my mind, he will see you and feel you as I have seen and felt you, but with my eyes and hands. It will drive him mad.” Caius’ hand moved to grasp my thigh where it peaked out from the slit formed by my towel. “It matters not to me what we do, so long as I can always feel you near me. I get both the comfort only you can bring me, and the satisfaction of knowing I am robbing Aro of it all the while.”

Caius rested his chin on my shoulder, so I kissed his cheek. “I really should be more offended about you using me for revenge, but getting fed, fucked, and pampered isn’t a bad gig.”

He grinned wolfishly at my reflection. “Forget not that I also dispose of your enemies for you.”

“That falls under pampering.” Caius’ slender but broad shoulders shook with his chuckles as he began kissing his way up and down the side of my neck. After his third full pass, I stepped away with a giggle, blushing from the attention and the steam of the spa. If I didn’t know better, I would say that the ancient, ever-dignified sovereign before me actually pouted when his hand fell away from my thigh. “The faster you find me a robe, the faster my towel comes off,” I winked.

That put the smirk back on his face in a hurry. “I take payment in advance.” He tugged at the center knot, and with a barely perceptible flick of his wrist, the towel was whipped off of me and tossed over his bare shoulder.

* * *

I had to admit that Caius’ taste in robes was, in fact, satisfactory. More than satisfactory, actually. I never wanted to take it or the matching slippers off ever again. If he told me he personally stitched them together from sun-warmed clouds, I’d believe him.

We padded softly out of his wing hand-in-hand, hair still damp and in matching robes, though his was black while mine was white and vastly over-sized on my frame. He forewent slippers, unbothered by the marble floors I found to be biting cold.

Once we were outside of his personal domain of the castle, his hand was suddenly torn from mine with a terrible crash. I blinked reflexively, and when my eyes opened, there was Marcus, his chest heaving and teeth bared as he stood above where he’d thrown Caius, at least a dozen feet from where he was walking beside me only a second before.

“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!” Marcus raged, spittle flying from his mouth and onto Caius’ cheek.

Caius was back on his feet in an instant, bowling Marcus over by tackling low. “Nothing that was undeserved, brother,” he spat.

The brawl that ensued was as chaotic as it was brutal. Their movements were so difficult for my human eyes to track that it gave me a headache just to watch, though I couldn’t look away, too worried for both of them. They sounded more like lions than people as they snarled and growled and roared with every blow. It wasn’t until they destroyed an historical artifact in its glass case during their struggle that I found my voice, and my concern for them now lay in as many pieces on the floor as the clay figurine was in. They may claim I was to be a queen, but I was a history major first and foremost, and the destruction of an artifact for no reason at all was simply too far beyond the pale for me to remain uninvolved.

“THAT’S GODDAMN ENOUGH!” I hollered at the top of my lungs, my fists balled so tight in fury by my sides that they were white-knuckled and shaking. The blurs that were their bodies suddenly froze in place, their heads each snapped in my direction. “I’m fucking done! Both of you posturing macho shitheads, get the fuck out of my sight!” I pointed down the hall that would eventually lead to the basement and dungeon levels of the castle. “Take it to the dungeon, and don’t come back out until this shit is settled once and for all!” They stared at me blankly, unmoving and unspeaking. “Well?! Go! Andiamo!” Shooing them off with an exasperated wave of my hand, I turned heel and left them there, mourning the piece of history lost from their senselessness with every step I took.

My head was pounding from having watched the fight for too long, and my face and body were so red-hot with the physical manifestation of my anger that all I could think of was getting out of those stifling corridors and into the open air. In my state of undress, I opted for the shade of the back garden. Little did I know that it was yet another action that would carry consequences, both good and bad, for the rest of my many days.

When I arrived at the castle on St. Marcus’ Day, it was entirely against my will— yet the trajectory of the remainder of my life was decided then and there before anyone could even begin to know it. This time, the action, the choice, was just as sudden and seemingly insignificant as when I was brought to the castle, but the difference was that it was all mine to decide. The subject of consequences was quickly going from intriguing to mind-boggling for me whether I knew it or not, but as they say, the day we plant the seed is not the day we eat the fruit. The consequences I was about to set in motion, the seeds to be planted, would change the world and everything contained therein forever.

Chapter Text

Aro’s prized garden was alive with colorful blossoms waiting to bloom their fragrant petals at the first sign of summer. A cool breeze soothed my flushed face and tickled at my exposed ankles. Sitting on the edge of the fountain in the center of the garden, I dabbed clear water onto my forehead and the back of my neck to try and quell my throbbing headache. It was a far cry from the fountain I had just come from and dearly wished that I hadn’t left, though.

Aside from the tinkling water of the fountain and the rustling of the leaves all around me, almost like they were being tickled by the breeze too and laughing quietly about it, the area was entirely silent. I relished that silence compared to the explosive violence I had just witnessed. It didn’t last long, however. After a few moments, I realized there was a rustling of leaves that wasn’t due to any stray spring breeze. And it was coming from directly behind me, making the hair on the back of my neck stand on end as my ears strained to detect the source of the sound past the fountain.

It was no good. There was no crunching of earth or gravel to indicate footsteps, no sounds of fabric, nothing to hint at who it might be. I couldn’t figure it out just from where I was. I had to investigate.

My slippered feet cautiously maneuvered through the winding paths of the garden without a sound, but with every step, there was no indication to be found of anyone. The rustling didn’t stop, though. Now that I was deeper among the countless varieties of rare flowers, the sound was clearer, and I could finally tell that it was coming from the hedge wall where I had attempted my escape from the castle.

I listened, hardly breathing so as not to give myself away, and waited. Before long, there was another rustle coming from the ground on the other side of the massive hedge. Looking down, it took a moment, but I finally found the source: a small hole, not even large enough for a toddler to fit through, had been made in the branches, leaves and thorns leading to the outside. My curiosity getting the better of me, I laid on my stomach on the cold ground, dirtying Caius’ pristine robe just for the chance to glimpse whatever was waiting on the other side.

Bright green eyes stared intently back at me. A small, common tabby cat laid nestled at the entrance in almost the same pose I was in, her arms tucked under her chin just as mine were. All we did was stare at one another for a full minute before she rose with a delicate, trilling chirp and began to slowly close the distance through the little tunnel she had somehow burrowed. I didn’t dare move, not wanting to startle her if she was a skittish stray.

Once we were face to face and eye to eye, she took her time sniffing my head, nose, cheeks, and chin before she made her final verdict. I still didn’t move, only blinking as slowly as I could when I absolutely had to, and my patience paid off. She bumped her forehead against mine and began to purr.

“Hello, little lady,” I whispered, finally daring to let out the grin I’d been holding back with all my might. “Where in the world did you come from, hm?” Seemingly unbothered by my whispering, she began encircling me, bumping her head against me in random intervals as she went. After a full lap, I rose into a sitting position as slowly as I physically could, and she climbed into my lap as soon as she had the chance. “Isn’t this robe lovely? Have you ever felt anything so soft?” I cooed as she purred. “When I get dressed, I’ll bring it back here and give it to you instead of Caius. Won’t that be fun?”

Suddenly, she meowed loudly in the direction of the hole she’d just come through. An answering cry came immediately in the form of a meow that sounded more like a squeak, and all of a sudden, a kitten came scuttling out and directly into my lap to be reunited with its mother.

“Well, goodness me! What a surprise,” I gasped happily. Then, the kitten meowed with all its might, and scurrying paws hurried through from the other side of the hedge. “Oh, my goodness! Holy guacamole! How many of you are there? Four… six… nine… a dozen! Holy Lord almighty, a dozen kittens! What have you gotten yourself into, little lady?” I laughed in delighted astonishment. She jumped from my lap as the last meowing kitten climbed on me and ran through her secret passageway, only to return seconds later with a thirteenth kitten’s scruff held between her teeth. “A baker’s dozen! Good sweet Jesus!” Once the thirteenth was climbing me along with the rest of its mismatched siblings, as no kitten looked like the other with their numerous varieties of fur patterns, the mother cat went back out through the hole. Only she didn’t return. I’d thought maybe there was a fourteenth straggler, but no, she was gone from the vicinity entirely, and had left me in charge of her litter in her absence. “Hey! Little lady! Come back!” I called. “You can’t just leave your babies with strangers! What kind of mama are you anyway?” No answer came, and all rustling had ceased. Wherever she went, she wouldn’t come back until she was good and ready.

The first kitten that had summoned the others climbed onto my head, getting its prickly claws tangled in my damp hair as they dug into my scalp, and snapped me back into clarity. I was now responsible for thirteen kittens, and we were sitting in the very back of a garden full of any number of flowers that could kill them if they got curious and tried to eat any toxic petals or stems. Every blossom, so beautiful and delicate and full of the renewing promise of spring, was now a potential hazard to life and limb, and we were entirely surrounded on all sides by them. There was no way for me to handle this on my own. I desperately needed a helping hand, and with my mates currently trying to kill each other underground and no idea where my own Mama might be, I was faced with very limited options in this race against time.

“Excuse me!” I shouted into the air over the high-pitched mews of the kittens. “I know I’m supposed to just pretend that none of you can see or hear me at any given time, but if anyone at all could spare me a few minutes, I really need some help over here!”

Immediately, the whooshing of fabric and a cold breeze that didn’t belong to nature alerted me to the presence of one of the guards. The kittens all began hissing and crying louder for their mother, and the one on my head dug his claws even deeper into my scalp, making me wince.

“You rang, madame?”

Oh, fuck me sideways, I silently lamented, fighting to keep my expression as neutral as possible. Of all the vampires in all the world, of course the one who hates me the most just had to show up. “Hello, Pierre. I wasn’t expecting you. Don’t you need to stay at your post?”

“That will not be necessary,” he answered, his French accent thick and his narrowed burgundy eyes as sharp as ever. “You see, Master Aro has relieved me for the time being, so I’ve found myself at loose ends. How might I assist you?”

My mind raced. If Aro had relieved him, he must’ve been talking to Sulpicia. If he was talking to Sulpicia while Marcus and Caius were still slugging it out, that meant I was vulnerable. And I really didn’t like the look in Pierre’s eyes. “Let’s get something straight here. I know you despise me and I’m not your biggest fan either. But, if you intend to hurt me, so be it. All I ask is you help me get these kittens to safety first and don’t hurt them after either.”

At that, his lips curled into a cruel smirk under his mustache. “Let’s say that I do hurt you, madame. Let’s say I even kill you. How will you prevent me from hurting the kittens in your absence?”

My hackles were raised in an instant. My shoulders squared themselves despite the kittens clinging to them, and a wide-eyed scowl changed my features from soft and delicate to hard and murderous. Just seeing the change in me made him reflexively take a step back, but it was too late to reverse my wrath at even the suggestion of harm befalling the kittens now in my care. “I hear the influence of the Crescent City in your voice. I know that Volturi or not, vampire or not, you know to mind the forces of nature, seen and unseen.” Lifting my hand, I pointed my index and middle fingers up at his eyes so that he was forced to look straight into mine as I declared gutturally, “If you lay even one unkind finger on any of these babies or their mama, I’ll haunt you ‘til the end of your fucking days. You’ll suffer every possible misfortune and indignity this life can provide, and I’ll beset you with an army of haints and the souls of every single person you’ve ever wronged, of which I’m sure there’re many. No one, and I mean no one, not even the greatest practitioners in all the world, will be able to help you. I won’t stop you from hurting me, but hurt my babies at your own peril, Pierre.” To solidify the seriousness of my curse, I lowered my hand and spat at his feet without breaking eye contact with him.

He was stunned into silence only for a moment, but it was enough to establish who had won here. The curse was laid, never to be unmade or undone, for as long as he should live. I meant every single word, and there was no force in the universe more great, more powerful, than the sincere will to protect the innocent. I could see in his eyes that in that brief silent moment he was affected. Afraid…. Good.

The look in his eyes didn’t change as he smirked again, his goatee moving with the exaggerated expression, trying to save face. “Fear not for the kittens, madame. I was always rather fond of cats,” Pierre reclaimed the step he had given up in his shock, and the kitten on my head hissed again for good measure, causing several of the others to hiss as well, “though they are less so of me now. And fear not for yourself either. Since you requested aid, all available eyes and ears have turned to you, whether you know they’re there or not. You are as safe with me as your new… babies.”

“I don’t exactly have a choice, so I’ll take you at your word. But you should also take me at mine.” With one last hard look to solidify my point, I made my list. “If you’d be so kind, I need a box big enough to fit all of them, any blanket that can be spared— no, wait, make that two, but they don’t have to be in good shape or anything fancy— and then I’ll need litter or sand or whatever you can find, two small bowls, and as many cans of whatever fish they’ve got in the kitchen as they’ll let you have. Oh! And if there’s a library here— there’s gotta be a library, right?” Pierre nodded in confirmation. “Good, thought so. If you can find me a copy of The Return of the King I’d appreciate it.”

“May I ask what the book is for?”

“Have you read The Lord of the Rings?” Pierre’s blank gaze was all the answer I needed. “Well, one of my favorite characters ends up having thirteen kids in the end, and their names are in the appendices. I don’t remember them all off the top of my head, though.”

“I see,” he deadpanned. Without another word, he sped off, and the kittens relaxed immediately once he was gone.

“I don’t blame you guys for not liking him,” I whispered conspiratorially. Finally removing the kitten from my head, I held him in my hand at eye level. “You were the bravest, so you’ll be Frodo of course.” I settled him in my lap with most of the others. The two on my shoulders wouldn’t budge yet, though. “Well, that’s alright. Now I can finally say I’m like Treebeard. You’ll be my Merry and Pippin.”

Fussing with the kittens made the short wait feel even shorter. Time flies when you’re a new parent. Upon Pierre’s return, every kitten hissed and growled, their hackles visibly raised, and Merry and Pippin both almost tumbled off my shoulders in fright. Luckily, I caught them before they could either hit the ground or claw into me to steady themselves, and set them down with the others.

“Here is everything as requested, madame.” In his arms was a rectangular wooden crate, piled high with a sandbag, two folded blankets, two bowls small enough for the kittens to get their heads into, and at least a dozen cans of various tinned fish.

“Thank you very much for the help, Pierre. Really, I appreciate it a lot.”

“You’re welcome. Although, I was wondering if you might permit me to accompany you?”

“Accompany me?” Raising a brow, I continued confusedly, “Why in the world would you wanna do that?”

“There are a great many kittens to wrangle, but only one of you. Should one of them escape, don’t you think it beneficial for me to be there to catch them?”

His tone was cordial, even relaxed, but there was an intensity shining in his eyes that was unmistakable. He had a hidden motive, no doubt about it. There was only one way to find out what it was, though. “You’re right, how thoughtful. If you can spare the time, then I’d be glad to accept your help for a little longer. But only if it’s no trouble for you.”

“No trouble at all,” he smiled tightly.

“Alright, then I’ll need the fluffier of the blankets folded in the bottom of the crate and pressed up against the sides so they don’t get any splinters, and then I’ll use the other one to cover the crate and try to keep them from getting out on the way. Do you mind carrying everything else?”

“Of course not, madame.”

When the crate was prepped and ready, I carefully, slowly rose to my feet while holding my robe up and out to keep the kittens enclosed. I toddled the few steps to the crate and used my robe as a slide to make sure every kitten made a soft landing into the crate. They were still crying loudly, half for their mother and half to drive Pierre away, when I covered them with the lighter of the blankets. It was a heavy lift, but I got the crate situated securely in my arms before we began to make our way through the garden and back into the castle.

There was a long hall and a staircase we would have to traverse before we’d make it back to my suite, so I figured I should make conversation. “So, what—”

“Lower your voice.” The command had come from Pierre, though his lips barely moved at all, and his voice sounded so close it was as if it had come from within my own ears, drowning out the kittens almost completely. “Whisper as quietly as you physically can. I’ll hear you, but no one will overhear us thanks to your babies.”

A shiver ran down my spine. This was the last thing I’d expected, and I couldn’t even begin to imagine what he might have to say next. “Is this your gift?” My whisper was so quiet I couldn’t even hear it myself over the meows coming from the crate.

“Oui. Useful, no? This way, we can talk without being heard, and seen by the others without being perceived. It is the only way for me to help you.”

“… Help me with what, exactly?”

“Most unfortunately for me, I have found myself indebted to you. But I believe in payment upfront, so listen closely. You’re in grave danger.”

“What in the world are you even talking about?”

I turned my head only an inch to raise a brow at him when he said, “Don’t, you’ll give us away. Only look ahead.” My head snapped back into position. “Good. Now, pay attention, I will only say this once. You’ve been anything but subtle since the moment you arrived here and word is already spreading far and wide. Your being here will not remain secret for long, if it is even a secret by now at all, and your purpose will then be exposed as well. When this happens, you’ll never know peace again. Every enemy your mates have ever made will come for you, even the ones they thought were friends all along. It’s only a matter of time now. You must be prepared for what— and who— is coming.”

I was reminded of how easily Felix wrecked me on my first day in the castle, and how he’d clearly enjoyed it. Times that by a million and it would only be the tip of the iceberg of what I was apparently facing now. But my back was as straight as a rod, my shoulders squared and ready. If I was being warned, it meant there was still some hope for me. “How do I prepare for something like this? What can I do?”

“Lay low and let the speculation die down for now. It will cause confusion and uncertainty among the ranks of those who would see your downfall. There will be many varied accounts of your arrival and stay here, and you want all of them to seem untrue. That will put power back in your hands, however limited it may be for now.”

“And then what? It’s only a matter of time still, right?”

“This is true. But, there is much to be said for a tactical retreat. You can’t simply borrow time, you must steal it, and use it as much to your advantage as is possible for you. It’s the only way you will ever stand a chance of surviving what is to come. While you’re safely out of sight from prying eyes, rally any and every defense you can think of, but be careful of who you trust. You’ve met Corin, but you’ve yet to fall into the hands of Chelsea. Both are snakes in the grass and are as venomous as they come. Trust neither and avoid both at all costs.”

“But Corin—”

“You’ve seen what Corin can make a person into.” Pierre’s tone darkened. “She gave you only the smallest taste of what she can do to you. She will come to you in a moment of weakness, offering reprieve and companionship, just as she did to ma cher. Listen not to the honeyed words from her forked tongue.”

“What about Chelsea? No one’s said even one word about her to me.”

“That’s by design, madame. Chelsea’s gift may be the single most powerful, most destructive force that has ever been harnessed. She makes and breaks bonds; like a spider she weaves her webs of loyalty and betrayal, and there’s no escaping her once she’s woven you into her dark tapestry. She comes only at Aro’s behest, and follows only his orders. She is the true secret behind his ascension over this world. And make no mistake, he won’t hesitate to use her against you.”

Hearing that caused another shiver to traverse my spine, because I knew it was all true. There wasn’t a single doubt in my mind that Aro would stoop as low as he needed to get his way, and with that kind of power in addition to his own gift, there’d be no stopping him no matter the situation. The question was, how long would he give me, luring me day by day into a false sense of security, before he’d set the trap and force me to meet my fate? How long before the scorpion would finally sting me?

“If you were me, who would you trust?”

“Where your allies are concerned, you’ve already chosen well. Demetri and the good doctor will serve you faithfully. I’ve known Bernard in both life and death, and he is a man who does not take matters of honor lightly. As for the rest of the guard, though, you can only use your best judgment and pray for God’s mercy.”

“You knew Bernard before…?” I didn’t know what to call it. In both life and death. How do you talk about someone’s death when they’re standing right next to you, seemingly alive and yet not? Seemingly human, and yet not.

“We found ourselves on opposite sides more than once, but in the end, he was the one who brought me into this life. My choices were to die once or to die never in exchange for only three days of suffering. I chose correctly, though my suffering was not limited to those three days. I don’t know how many days have passed now. But the end is in sight because of you.”

“I don’t understand what you’re telling me.”

“We haven’t the time for the whole story, the stairs are just ahead. What you need to know is this: Sulpicia is my mate. My everything. And against all odds, because of your shameless audacity, Aro is setting us free to finally be together. I was wrong about you, so now that you’ve helped me and mine, I’m helping you and settling my debt in advance.”

I nearly dropped the crate at the news. “I had no idea. Congratulations to you both.” Was that even the right thing to say in such an odd, utterly disconcerting situation?

“Merci, madame. There is one last thing you must know, though.” Halfway up the staircase was a landing with one wall featuring a massive portrait of the three kings standing on a balcony in eighteenth century period dress, and on the opposite wall there was a small, dark alcove obscured by heavy curtains. One second I was taking a careful step onto the landing, the next I was in the alcove, the crate pressed bruisingly into my chest as Pierre reached across it to cover my mouth and keep me pinned to the wall with one hand, while the other balanced the supplies he’d been holding with ease. The kittens panicked feeling the speed of his movement and the closeness of his presence, and they grew even louder in their fear. “It’s too late to escape your fate now. You belong to the Volturi, and they will take all you have in due course, even your name, from here to eternity. But even if you can’t outrun fate, you can still outsmart the rest where fate has put you. Use their underestimations of you against them and keep your wits about you always, it’s your only chance.” He nodded sharply over his shoulder at the painting beside us. Chancing only the fastest glance, my heart beating a mile a minute in sudden fear, I realized it was a much smaller, more precise portrait of all three of the original queens, wearing the finest fabrics and bejeweled crowns the world had to offer at the time it was painted. It was the first time I’d seen Didyme, and my God, she had the sweetest smile set in the most beautiful face that had ever existed. She was on the left, with Sulpicia in the middle, and Athenodora on the right, closest to us. Pierre continued, “Ma cher is a queen above every other queen who has ever walked God’s green earth; but you will reach even greater heights, if only you live long enough to see such summits.”

… they will take all you have in due course, even your name… The words echoed in my mind. Something wasn’t right here. There was a piece missing to all of this, and that might be it. Pierre had finished speaking and let me go, having turned to face the stairs again when I whispered, “What was your name?”

Looking over his shoulder to meet my eyes, a smirk full of pride curled his lips and goatee. “Lafitte.”

I gasped, my eyes wide in realization. “Pierre Lafitte… the pirate?”

“My brother and I prefer to be called privateers.”

The fear I felt before swiftly left me, only to be replaced with white-hot fury. I could hardly see straight as I seethed in a shrill whisper, following him out of the alcove and back to the center of the landing, “I don’t give one good goddamn what you or your brother prefer. You’re a pirate, a war profiteer and a slaver. How many times did you ask the preferences of the people you trafficked and sold, huh? How many—”

“Lower your voice,” his voice commanded sternly in my ears.

“Go to hell!” I shouted in return.

At that, he laughed aloud until his shoulders shook with the force of it, his head thrown back in his mirth. “Unfortunately for you, madame,” he began, dropping the pretense of using his gift, “you’ve already freed me from hell. That is why I’m here, after all.”

“Yeah, and you said you owe me for that, right?”

“Oui, and as I already told you, I’m repaying my debt in advance.”

“Fuck no. You don’t get off that easy.” Putting the crate down so my hands were free again, I closed our distance in only a few steps and poked his chest repeatedly as I spoke. “I’m not the only one you owe a debt to. Your debt is to society now, and with God as my witness, you’ll fucking pay with interest.” Pierre’s brow raised in a haughty arch, but he didn’t interrupt me. “You’re getting a second chance because of me, and you’re gonna use it to my satisfaction. Now that you’ll be free to come and go as you please, a right you stole from God knows how many people, you will end the global slave trade. No, actually, that’s not enough either. You’ll end all trafficking, period. Men, women, children, animals, it doesn’t matter. You’re ending all of it.”

“And if I refuse?”

It was my turn to laugh now, and the sound was cruel in my own ears. “This isn’t a request,” I scoffed. “This is an order. You said that your name isn’t even yours now, and that’s because you’re a Volturi. That means you answer to me whether you like it or not. Leverage all the power the Volturi has to offer, do whatever you have to for as long as you must, but you will end global trafficking everywhere, on every level, without getting caught. Every person and animal you come across is to be returned to wherever they belong, and you won’t take even one thin dime in profit for your trouble.”

“What about Sulpicia?”

“She’s been in that tower an awfully long time now. I’m sure she’d enjoy the chance to travel, and what better hobby is there than helping people?”

Pierre’s eyes were aflame with palpable rage at having his future plans hijacked, but I couldn’t care less. I was more than prepared to fight his fire with my own, and my hazel eyes were blazing with the proof of my conviction. For only a moment, we were locked in a silent battle of wills, unblinking and unrelenting as we stared each other down. But as his will wavered, mine remained steady and prepared to flare even brighter if need be. Finally, I saw the light of indignation fizzle out of him as acceptance of his position took over, even if it was full of reluctance and resentment.

“It goes without saying, but this was not what I’d planned for my new life with my mate.”

“Then I suggest you complete your orders posthaste. The faster you get it done, the faster you can get back to your plans. But even you have to admit how heavy your shoulders are under the weight of your wrongs. I see it in you.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he sneered.

“Oh, just cut the shit already. Tell me this: how many people exactly did you directly traffic or facilitate the trafficking of in your lifetime? How many people lived and died in unimaginable suffering because of you?”

“The number is incalculable.” The cold indifference he held despite his horrific answer only made me burn hotter.

“In. Calculable. The number of souls weighing you down, day in and day out, is incalculable. And you have the nerve to wonder why you owe this world such an enormous debt? How do you even look at yourself?” I questioned in overt disgust.

Pierre condescendingly lowered himself enough to put us eye-to-eye. “You think my shoulders are heavy, madame? You think I’m unique in my monstrousness? Just wait until you’re like me. The hill of bodies I’m responsible for will be overshadowed many times over by the mountain you’ll amass in your thirst as a newborn alone. Then let’s compare the weight we carry and see who owes this world more.”

“I would never—”

“What was it you said? Ah, yes, cut the shit already. You have such principled notions because you are sheltered, privileged. You know nothing of true hunger, or strife, or fear. You know nothing of what it means to truly survive, or to truly live. But you will. One day, you will know, and that is the day you’ll become everything you ever swore you wouldn’t, and you’ll have no one to blame or look down upon but yourself.”

“That’s just rich coming from someone who fed upon death long before you were even a vampire.” Pierre’s surprise was obvious. He’d expected to take such doubts to heart, not immediately disregard them. “Oh, what, you think I’m supposed to be sorry for things I haven’t even done and still might not do? I understand that you aren’t happy with this little arrangement, but this is beneath both of us. You know your orders and you know why you have no choice but to follow through with them, so you will follow through with them, tout de suite.” Leaning in close, I whispered in his ear as quietly as if it wasn’t my voice at all, but the wind itself, “Think of it this way: I’m already following your advice. You’ve underestimated me from the second you saw me, so I’m using it against you. And now that we understand each other, I get to lay low while you do all the hard work for me. Thank you for what you’ve told me today. I won’t forget it.”

As I stepped back, he huffed a chuckle. “No good deed goes unpunished, eh?”

“Not a one,” I shook my head.

“Tell me, do you play cards?”

“I do.”

“Then, if it still stands, come to my shop one day. We will play cards and see where fate has taken us by then.”

I knew exactly what shop he was talking about. “Your blacksmith shop does indeed stand, by the grace of God alone it would seem. I’ll take you up on that, and the day I arrive is the day you’ll have to prove that your orders have been fulfilled.”

“I’ll look forward to the day now that I know Sulpicia will be beside me.”

The kittens had been frantic up to that point, unable to escape the blanket that had folded under their crate to keep them securely inside, but they calmed somewhat when I picked them up again. “Your gift is so interesting. Is it how you’ve been able to talk to her all this time?”

With a self-satisfied smile, he confirmed, “Oui, though she can’t answer me the same way. I have spent the entirety of my time here whispering to her, and when given the chance, she sends me letters in return. She slips them through the crack of her door and to the bottom of the tower stairs for me to find.”

“That’s very romantic,” I answered, though it pained me to have the thought at all. Bastards like him didn’t deserve happiness; or at least, not until they righted all their wrongs.

“She would agree with you, much to my relief.”

We made it up the stairs and to the corridor leading to my suite without further incident. Breaking the silence that had settled between us, I said sincerely, “I’m sorry for the loss of your brother, by the way. New Orleans will be very different from the last time you were there.”

“Merci, madame, although your condolences are unnecessary. My brother awaits me at our shop.”

My head snapped in his direction. “That can’t be true, he died at sea.”

“And I died of a fever, non?” he grinned. “Bernard delivered me from death, and then I did the same for Jean two years hence. If the shop stands as you say, then he abides.”

“I’m not sure if I should laugh or cry knowing the likes of him still walks among us.”

“You were so very amused just the other day by Master Caius’ story about my dear brother. You laughed then, so laugh now.”

“That was when I thought he’d been dead for almost two hundred years. Things are different now.”

“Has it really been that long?” he asked, a wistfulness in his tone I hadn’t heard before. “There is much lost time to make up for, then.”

“New Orleans won’t be anything like how it was last time you were there, but I have no doubt you’ll still enjoy it, especially at Mardi Gras. And there’s plenty of trafficking there to this day, so you’ll be quite the busy bee I expect.”

“How will you know if I’m making progress on my orders or not?”

“If I don’t hear anything about it within a week of you leaving here, I’ll know you aren’t doing enough. Don’t think you can hide from me, the world is full of more whispers than just your own now, and I know good and well where your shop’s at.”

With that, we arrived at my door. I kicked the door to knock, and luckily, Mama answered right away.

“What in the world?” she asked in surprise as she opened the door for me, her eyes comically wide as they flicked between the loudly mewing crate in my arms and my unlikely companion.

“I’m a mother now and Pierre helped me with the supplies. Can we get this all set up?”

Clearly taken aback, she stood aside nonetheless. “Why’re you in a robe and slippers?”

“Caius let me use his bath, it’s unbelievable.”

“Ah.”

“Will that be all, Mistress Annabel?” Pierre had made short work of finding a place for everything he’d been holding.

“Yes, you’ve been a huge help. Thanks again for everything.”

“You’re welcome. If I don’t see you again before I leave, I bid you adieu.”

“Safe travels and happy hunting, Pierre,” I nodded in reply. With a bow, he was off in a blur, and finally the kittens relaxed enough to quiet down. But, no longer feeling threatened, they started tearing at the blanket keeping them contained in the crate. “Oh, come on now, don’t be like that.”

“Care to clue me in?”

“Let’s talk and work at the same time, I’m still expecting one more.”

“One more guest or one more cat?”

“Cat, or course.”

“I should’ve known.” The kittens were all too happy to be unleashed upon our rooms. When I emptied the crate to the side, they scattered in all directions, their jewel blue and green eyes finding any and all trouble possible within seconds. “Sweet Jesus, how many are there?”

“Thirteen kittens and hopefully one little lady to raise them all.” I plucked The Return of the King from where Pierre left it on the decorative table beside the main door to the suite. “I’ll convert their crate into a litter box before we have any accidents, and you find the Gamgee family tree in the Appendices.”

Within ten minutes, Mama was read in on how I’d acquired the kittens, the litter crate was placed and filled with sand, and they were happily gobbling up a can of tuna I’d put in their new bowl for them. While they were distracted, I took the blanket they’d been resting on in the crate and spread it out on the balcony, hoping the lilac tree wouldn’t overpower the scent of the kittens on the fabric. Would it be enough to draw in their mother if she ever came around the garden again? For good measure, I left one of the doors cracked in case the sounds of her kittens might reach her before the scent of them.

Leaning on the wall beside the balcony doors, I watched the kittens eat with a worried furrow in my brow. “Do you think she’ll know where to find ‘em?”

“Of course, baby. It’s rare for any mama in nature to abandon her babies just like that, especially when they’re all healthy and looking for her. She’ll come around, don’t worry.”

With a sigh, I pushed myself off the wall and sat on the floor by Mama’s feet. “I feel like all I do is worry these days.”

“Well, you’ve got good reason to, don’t you?”

“Yeah, lucky me,” I huffed, remembering Pierre’s warning.

The last drop of tuna juice was ravenously licked up, and suddenly, the kittens were off wreaking havoc in all directions. Ten of the kittens split into groups, climbers and divers. The climbers used their pin-needle claws to start vertically traversing every upholstered surface they could jump high enough to reach, damaging every antique thread they touched, while the others dove under all the furniture, batting at any and all of the long forgotten odds and ends they came across. Merry and Pippin, however, split off to investigate the bathroom, while Frodo bounded off to my bedroom.

Leaping up from where I’d sat, I went after Frodo, knowing it would be easier to catch him since he was acting alone. I skidded to a halt in the doorway to my room only to find him already at the top of the jewelry display Aro had given me, batting at the gaudiest necklace of the bunch until it fell to the floor with a clatter. The sound startled him into backing up, and I grabbed him the second he began to fall from the top of the tower. “Whoa! You gotta watch where you’re going, baby! I see you have an eye for the finer things, though.”

In that second, he gave me an idea. I couldn’t bring myself to wear all that jewelry, but if I couldn’t give it back and the kittens liked it, why shouldn’t they have it? Putting Frodo next to the necklace, I started pulling it across the floor slowly, and he pounced for it with all the exuberance his tiny body could contain. It was decided then that the largest, jingliest pieces would be cat toys, and the bracelets, once they grew big enough, would serve as collars. Picking up the necklace, I used it to lure him out of my room, and only a moment passed before the shiny bauble caught the keen eyes of Merry and Pippin down the hall. From the state of the bathroom, they must’ve discovered the toilet paper roll. Once the three of them were focused on the necklace in my hand, it was only a matter of time before all the rest gathered round to have their chance with it. I ended up scattering around all my necklaces on the floor for them, and from the ways they tumbled and purred, they were having the time of their lives playing with my obscenely expensive gifts.

Chancing a glance out the window at the garden below, I gasped sharply. “The little lady’s back! Look!”

Mama joined me to find the mother cat, drinking from the water fountain I’d been cooling off at before we met. When she had her fill, her delicate little nose began to twitch, and she looked right up at the balcony. She caught the scent of her babies, much to my immense relief. In only a handful of agile bounds, she crossed the distance from the fountain to the lilac tree, scaled the branches with ease, and jumped between the slats of the railing to land delicately on the blanket I’d left for her to find. She pushed the door open with her head and walked in like she owned the place, and I couldn’t have been more thrilled.

“Are you really gonna raise fourteen cats?” Mama asked me dubiously.

“Of course!” I replied excitedly, picking up the late arrival and cuddling her to my chest. She bumped my chin with her forehead with a purr in greeting. “She picked me. I can’t just abandon them when she made her choice.” The kittens forgot about their new toys when they realized their mother had returned, and with renewed cries from all of them, they began swarming me. Just as Merry and Pippin sunk their claws into the hem of my robe to start climbing, I placed her in the center of the crowd that had formed. “Aren’t they just the best, Mama?”

“You never could turn down anything in need, great or small.”

“Remember when those three baby squirrels ended up in Dad’s engine and I raised them?”

“Like it was yesterday. You had to bottle feed them every two hours for weeks and weeks.”

“And remember when I found that hurt eagle in senior year?”

“To this day I have no clue how it didn’t bite you or claw you to shreds.”

“And we donated the feathers so they got used in making ceremonial clothes and headdresses for Alaska Natives.”

“There’s never been a need you haven’t tried to fill. I admire that, baby, but this is gonna be a lot even for you.”

“It’s an adjustment, that’s all,” I shrugged.

That night, both mine and Mama’s periods started, and deeply uncertain as to how a castle full of vampires might react, we made the call to turn our suite into a bunker until the week was out. We had enough supplies, including MREs, to not have to see anyone for anything, and it was the closest to a vacation I’d gotten since St. Marcus’ Day. The cats all adjusted splendidly, taking to all huddling around me as I slept like living heating pads, and following me like an army of little shadows everywhere I went. None of them had flees and we had no reason to suspect they had worms, so they could easily wait an extra week before seeing a vet for their shots.

In the end, they were named Frodo, Merry, Pippin, Bilbo, Elanor, Goldilocks, Ruby, Daisy, Rose, Hamfast, Robin, Tolman, and Prim rather than Primrose because he was exceedingly fastidious, even for a cat. Their mother remained Little Lady since she already consistently responded to it. Their coats were a kaleidoscope of colors and patterns, with only Frodo matching their mother’s tabby fur. Little Lady never left her kittens again, and by the end of the week, she wouldn’t leave me, either. Which, to my surprise, was a stark contrast from my own mates.

We’d put a note on the door to not attempt to enter out of respect for the cats, but I didn’t think it would repel everyone entirely. The only person who came by the entire week was Demetri, and all he did was slide a letter under the door for Mama, explaining that he would be gone for several days and that Bernard was still attending to official business. But from Aro, Caius, and Marcus, there was absolutely nothing. I wasn’t sure if I should feel relieved or even more paranoid in light of my encounter with Pierre.

Chapter Text

Volturi Castle

Caius may not have possessed a gift to give him the upper-hand in his fight against Marcus, but he did have a cool head compared to the enraged lather Marcus had riled himself into. Using that factor to his advantage, he led his brother to the dungeons and waited for Marcus to pounce. When he did, Caius used his momentum against him and threw him into the cell where the corpse of Carson remained hanging by the wrists on a thick chain, now swarming with flies and already blanketed in the disgusting scent of decay that could only accompany a brutal death. Marcus jumped to his feet at the sight.

“Who is this wretch?” he asked disgustedly.

“Oh, what a delightful introduction this will be. Meet Carson Henderson. While you were so preoccupied with your laurels and what position was best for resting upon them, I actually bothered to make myself useful to our Annabel, and—”

“NOT OURS, MINE,” Marcus roared, breaking the stone beneath his feet with the force he used to launch himself at Caius again.

Caius smirked cruelly despite the position Marcus caught him in. “Your little fantasy of keeping her all to yourself is no more and will never be again, brother.”

“I will have Chelsea break your bond if you survive this!” Marcus declared, slamming Caius into the ground in front of Carson.

“You did not allow me to finish, how exceedingly rude of you.” Caius hooked his leg around Marcus’ opposite side and pulled him into a roll that dug his back into the floor and allowed Caius to straddle him. “As I was saying, this disgusting waste of oxygen before you was an enemy to Annabel, so I dealt with him in accordance with his crimes.”

“Annabel has no enemies,” Marcus scoffed disbelievingly, although even he was disconcerted by what Caius had done. With Carson dead, there was no way for Marcus to read his bond to Annabel and confirm or deny Caius’ claim.

“Oh? You are quite certain of that? Is that why she collapsed into my arms, frightened out of her wits and inconsolable, and regaled me with her account of Mr. Henderson’s perverse betrayal? It would seem you hardly know your own mate. That is exactly why I stepped in, and as you have seen…” Caius gestured to himself, still in his robe after abandoning his slippers on the way to the dungeon, “… she rewarded me beyond my wildest imaginings. This was so important to her she found it fit to bestow eternity upon me, yet you apparently had no idea about him? Then behold what I will do to you if you ever fail her in such a manner again,” he declared, pointing directly at where Carson’s penis should have been attached, only for there to be his tongue instead. “You have done nothing to provide for her, nothing to earn her. You should have seen how thrilled she was by this meager offering. It would seem I have taken the lead in the standings of her heart now… unopposed.”

Marcus was already well past the point of containing his rage and anguish, but Caius’ taunting was the final straw to break the camel’s back. Not simply because it was ruthless, but because Marcus knew every word to be the truth, no matter how hurtful it may be to acknowledge on top of losing his place as Annabel’s only bonded mate. His current tormentor was Caius, his greatest competition was Caius, and his only outlet was Caius. He could take no more of it. With a roar that shook the dirty, cobwebbed windows above the cells, Marcus lifted himself and his opponent until he could throw the blonde to the ground and pin him again. He pulled back his fist to land a brutal blow, but not to Caius’ defiant face. With speed and strength he had not shown since the War, he punched the ground on either side of Caius’ head, sending broken pieces of stone and dust flying all around them.

“What are you doing?” Caius gasped. The stone floor was already beginning to give way. “What are you doing?!”

Marcus did not answer, only driven to punch through the floor with even greater strength, until a hole opened up and swallowed them both. Caius shocked gaze flicked between Marcus’ murderous glare and Carson’s corpse dangling above them in the hole of light that was quickly narrowing to the size of the head of a pin as they fell through the long undisturbed darkness that lay hidden beneath the dungeon. It was Marcus’ eyes, though, that truly disconcerted Caius. They were a blazing crimson, the milkiness that had accumulated around the edges of his irises with time had disappeared entirely, replaced with a clarity and sharpness that made his eyes almost glow with their wide-eyed fury. He knew exactly what he was doing, he was well fed and at the peak of his physical power, and he fully intended to kill Caius with his bare hands.

In their fall they separated, and Caius knew that whoever landed prone on their back would stand little chance of surviving the fight to come. Marcus was still dressed in his formal wear, but Caius had much more freedom of movement in only his robe, thus his plan of attack was made in an instant. Untying the soft belt around his waist with a swift tug, he had his robe off his shoulders and swung in front of him with a flutter. It flew directly into Marcus’ face, giving Caius the opportunity to twist in the air and throw Marcus down ahead of him before he could reorient and retaliate.

Marcus did indeed land first, shattering the domed roof of the old solarium and sending shards of clear glass raining down around him, although he did not land on his back as Caius had wanted. He had enough time to recover and landed on his hands and feet, sending mosaic tiles flying in all directions from the impact and kicking up thousands of years of dust in an all-encompassing cloud. The earth above and below shook violently, and more of the dungeon floor fell away to crumble all around him and Caius. Along with the rocks came down a scrap of fabric, no more than a wisp of a strip shining in what little light they had before landing in a coil at Caius’ feet. He picked it up and held it for Marcus to see between two fingers.

“This was from Annabel’s shirt… before I relieved her of it, of course. Tinia himself must favor me this day.” Using his teeth, Caius secured the scrap around his upper bicep, the only fabric left on his body.

The scent of his beloved and the memory of their coupling filled him with deadly determination to return to her in triumph. Even when Marcus was virtually comatose with grief, he was still respected above Caius simply because he possessed a gift and could still use it whenever necessary for Aro, and Caius decided he would stand it no longer. He was the one who picked up the slack when Marcus could hardly bring himself to even sit his throne. He was the one who ruled faithfully through tragedy, through adversity, and had kept himself and his wits intact no matter the trials they faced. He was long overdue his place in the world and would no longer remain overlooked and underestimated. Why not claim both Annabel and a higher standing politically in one fell swoop? What Marcus had intended to be an easy surprise attack was quickly forming into a once in a lifetime opportunity for Caius as his mind churned with possibilities.

Marcus disposed of his own clothes and shoes without a care in the world for the finery he destroyed, his mind wholly set on the violence he was chomping at the bit to inflict on Caius for his insolence. There was still time to observe their laws and traditions though, therefore the fighting would be done naked as the warriors of their time had done, and no wounds would be inflicted on the face, feet, hands, or the neck above the point where a shirt collar would cover them, in accordance with the Secret Laws of Kings. There would be only one victor, but neither expected to leave there unscathed, and would have to be able to hide any scars under their clothing no matter the outcome.

“Forget not who she chose first,” snarled Marcus. “Tinia does not favor you, he merely taunts me as he always has.”

“Ah, yes, you did make a habit of blaming Tinia in the wake of Didyme’s passing. This must be his way of reminding you just how unfit you are to be Annabel’s mate. Tell me, what is it like being a failure to not one, but two queens?”

No words were exchanged beyond that point until the fighting was finally finished. The battle lasted for seven days and nights, with the final blow being struck just before midnight. The brutality they inflicted on one another would be etched on their skin for the rest of time, but the damage done to the underground palace in their wake was far, far worse. They heeded nothing around them, throwing each other through walls and pillars more ancient than any building standing in Volterra, and bashing their ways through more floors than just the dungeon’s. By the end, they had reached the deepest depths of the castle, where the cave system branched out for many miles in all directions and the light from above could no longer find them. The most horrid remnants of the Volturi’s ancient history had been sealed away down in that cold, impenetrable tomb so long that neither of the combatants considered for even a second that they might have made a mistake disturbing the peace of the dead. All either cared about was ending the other, but the only true victor to emerge in the end was their combined hubris.

* * *

A chalk white, dust-encrusted hand appeared out of the hole in the dungeon to grip the stones that were stable despite the damage to the rest of what remained of the floor. Then, another hand followed, attached to an arm covered in cracks and bearing a filthy strip of cloth. Caius hoisted himself up and out of the pit. Despite having been taken unawares to begin with, he had bested Marcus soundly. Carson was still hanging by his wrists above the hole, but the smell of his body was untenable, as were the flies, maggots, and the few brave rats that took the chance to climb down the chain to feast on his husk. Caius had reached the absolute limits of his strength between the fight itself and climbing his way back to the dungeon despite his injuries and exhaustion. There were gaping holes all over his body, exposing his innards where Marcus had torn at him with both teeth and hands; the largest by far spanned the entire left half of his ribcage. Marcus had at one point pulled out enough ribs to rip Caius’ unbeating heart out and stomped on it until it was indistinguishable from the rest of the dust and grime covering the ground. Despite the tremendous amount of energy it was taking to regenerate from his injuries, Caius always made sure to have enough energy in his reserves to be spiteful should the opportunity arise.

At the other end of the dungeon, on the floor beside where he had claimed Annabel for his own, bolt cutters lay waiting in the corner among the other tools that had been kept on the table originally. Taking them up, he used them to cut the chain above the shackle, sending Carson’s decomposing, maggot-infested corpse down into the abyss. He had hoped it might hit Marcus on the way, but instead, it fell to the very bottom with the faintest of echoes. Satisfied, Caius used the passageway to his study, and when he was alone behind the stone wall, he untied the scrap of Annabel’s shirt from around his arm and brought it to his lips in reverence despite the dust and decay clinging to it and himself. Marcus had taken up entirely too much of his time, and now all Caius wanted was to eat so that he might be fit to seek out Annabel at first light.

Once settled behind the desk in his study to obscure his nakedness, he called for Heidi. She arrived in under thirty seconds, gasping at the sight of him.

“Master! What’s happened to you?” Her eyes flitted in horror between all the wounds visible to her, but kept returning to his jagged, mangled ribs and the space behind them where his heart should have been. She had never seen any of her masters in such a state, but now that she had, she wished never to again.

“No questions. I need a private meal, posthaste.”

“Of course, Master.”

Heidi returned within the hour. Caius felt revitalized by his victim, but was left frustrated at how slowly he was still healing even after replenishing himself. When he asked for Bernard to come and speed up the process, Heidi was forced to regretfully inform him that Aro had the good doctor at his indefinite disposal for a private matter. It seemed he would have to wait yet another day before seeing Annabel, and that did not sit well with him in the least. Marcus had made things difficult on purpose, of course. Healing was much simpler when the body part requiring it was still intact and available to be reattached. Regrowing anything from scratch took even the oldest and strongest of vampires quite a bit of time, and with so many wounds healing at once, it would take even longer than usual. The only silver lining was that there was no need to wait for his heart and ribs to fully regenerate, he only needed his external injuries to fill in enough for them to be invisible to Annabel’s human eyesight. Resigned to make the most of the situation, he sent Heidi away with his thanks to dispose of the body he drank from, and kicked back in his desk chair to while away the wee hours of the morning with thoughts of Annabel.

All in all, he may have been worse for wear physically, but Caius’ spirit was flying high above the gathering clouds, soaring on the winds of change and rising to peaks he thought he might never reach without a gift of his own to aid him. By contrast, when Marcus finally pulled himself from the pit of his own making, not only was he defeated in body, but in spirit. He hardly noticed the destroyed halls they had once called home, the beautifully elaborate mosaic floors they had danced across and never would again, as he crawled on his stomach inch by inch back up to the dungeon. All he could see in his mind’s eye was his humiliating defeat playing out over and over again, never allowing him a moment’s peace.

Marcus, in all his life, had never run from anyone or anything. On the seventh day, he ran as fast as his weakening legs would carry him out of the depths and to the lowest level of the abandoned palace. Caius did not let him get far, though, and made his final play against Marcus now that he knew victory was in his grasp. Before Marcus could clear the gap they had made in the floor, Caius sprang from the shadows on the opposite side, collided with Marcus in the air, and pinned him with a knee to his throat, forcing Marcus’ head to bend at an unnatural angle backward into the hole. With animalistic brutality, Caius slammed his fist into the side of Marcus’ head until his spine snapped at the base of his skull, rending him completely incapacitated. Deep cracks formed where his neck broke, and for the first time since the kings formed their immortal alliance, the Secret Laws of Kings went unheeded. With sick satisfaction, Caius took Marcus’ limp head and began to pull, ready to break his head off of his shoulders and prepare him for burning. Before the point of no return, however, a thought occurred to Caius. Not of mercy for his brother and fellow king, but of the potential for even greater cruelty.

Caius stopped pulling, and instead struck like a viper, sinking his teeth into the fission forming in Marcus’ neck as deep as he could. Caius spat Marcus’ windpipe onto the damaged tiles beside them and assessed the gaping wound. Venom was already spreading just beneath the surface of Marcus’ skin, scarring him as it began sealing the edges and the smallest cracks. Forevermore would Marcus bear the scars of his mistakes, and the unique indents of Caius’ teeth would remain well in view for all of their kind to see as a result. No vampire would look upon Marcus again without knowing that Caius had utterly defeated him, and furthermore, had allowed him to live despite his attempt to kill Caius first.

With that, the battle was over, and Caius spat, “Let this be a lesson to you, brother. You have always underestimated me, just as Aro has, only because I lack a gift. I have no lack of strength in mind and body, however, and you will have no choice now but to accept that you are no match for me. I will not end you this day no matter how deserved it would be, both for initiating the death match and then having the cowardice to run once you were cornered. No, your punishment will be to live long in the constant knowledge that you owe your continued existence to me and me alone. And everyone else will know, too.” As Caius turned to leave, though, he remembered Marcus’ previous threat. For good measure, he added, a demented grin curling across his face, “One last thing: if you have Chelsea break my bond with Annabel, I will make quite certain she does the same to you. No… as a matter of fact, I do believe I will tell her to do so anyway. Annabel would not wish to remain tethered to a man who cannot protect himself, no less her. I will be doing her and I both a favor. Thank you for the inspired suggestion, it is as close as you have come to serving an actual purpose over the past millennium.”

Without his windpipe, there was no way for Marcus to answer Caius’ threat. All he could do was lay there, his eyes searching desperately through the dark to find the light from the open hole many floors above him, his ears straining to hear even a single breath of Annabel’s. No light found him down there, though; nor did any sounds come from above, aside from Caius’ echoing escape. All he could see were swirling memories and regrets in the endless dust as it floated restlessly in the air all around him, and all he could hear were imagined laments from both Annabel and Didyme, carried to him from the dripping of water throughout the caves below. When Caius cut Carson down, his body narrowly missed Marcus’ head as it landed with a disgusting, squelching impact on the cave floor. As the dust settled and the stench of Carson rose from the hole Marcus was left to precariously dangle over, there was nothing he could do but silently suffer in the aftermath, just the way Caius wanted him to.

It took six hours for his spine to repair enough for him to begin the arduous journey back to the surface, and in that time, he sunk deeper and deeper into his own shame. He had thought he was prepared, more physically and mentally prepared than perhaps he had ever been, yet even with every advantage on his side, there was no denying the loss he brought upon himself. Caius outwitted him at every turn without fail, flawlessly utilizing the terrain and Marcus’ few weaknesses against him. He clambered and crawled through floor after floor of the old palace, icy dread filling him at the thought of facing Annabel. How could she possibly want him now? She was already so angry when she sent him away, and to return defeated was a far worse disgrace than returning to her dead. At least then she would mourn what could have been, rather than being forced to endure his indignity with him eternally. Once again, he was proven a failure of a mate exactly as Caius said, and there was no one to blame but himself for it all.

Perhaps Annabel really would be better off if Caius summoned Chelsea to sever their already precarious bond. Then her reputation might still be saved in the eyes of the covens. At least, Marcus thought, he could still do that much for her: give her the chance to be accepted by her subjects. If they rejected her because of the mark of proven weakness he would now bear, he could never forgive himself. Such a fate would only lead to ruin for her, no matter the status she was entitled to. By giving up their bond and surrendering to Caius’ life sentence, he might be able to spare her a sentence of her own.

* * *

On the seventh day, as the sun blazed its last golden rays over Tuscany, Aro and Sulpicia were officially divorced following a week of lengthy discussions about all that had transpired between them in their marriage. It was not a simple or easy thing, rehashing thousands of years of history and unshared feelings, but it was necessary; cathartic, even. Especially because Aro insisted on doing so without using his gift the entire time, and brought Bernard to heal Sulpicia and Athenodora of their dependency on Corin so they could make their plans for the future with clear minds and open hearts. By the end of their week of talks, they were able to form a new alliance founded in both friendship and respectful duty to the Volturi. It was all so much better and easier than Aro had dared to hope, and in his estimation, it was all thanks to Annabel. His mate had made all the difference, forcing him to see the error of his ways and take action to correct them. His wish was to not only end his marriage amicably, but to please Annabel in doing so, and he was quite certain he would achieve both now.

“Sulpicia, really, there is no hurry. You may stay for as long as you like, anywhere you wish,” Aro assured her with an easy smile.

“Thank you, truly. We are ready to go, though,” she answered serenely, referring to herself and her mate, Pierre. With a deep breath she released in a sigh, she continued, “Do you smell it? La Tempesta is upon us. It will be here by tomorrow evening.” There were nothing but blue skies and wispy white clouds all day, but it was true. In that tower, so high in the air, the vampires present could easily smell the forming storm. “We will leave after nightfall during its peak. No one will see us, and I must admit I am quite looking forward to it. I have not run among fields of lightning in quite some time.”

“Very well. If it is something you look forward to, then far be it for me to deny you.”

“One last thing, Aro. Give Annabel mine and Dora’s fondest regards. She did not meet us at our best, and for that I will be embarrassed for a great many years to come; but it is clear to see that she will do you a world of good, and perhaps the rest of us in turn.”

The following night, as the wind picked up and the drops of rain grew larger and more forceful in their assault upon the unsuspecting rooftops of Volterra, Sulpicia was readying the last of her things when Pierre requested a brief audience with Aro. “Master,” he began, his head lowered. “I must thank you sincerely for allowing me this leave. I’m truly grateful.”

“It is long overdue,” Aro replied benevolently.

“On that, we can certainly agree.” There was a sharpness in Pierre’s eyes that Aro immediately disliked. He was hiding something. Scheming, even. “It’s because of my gratitude that I must inform you of something you’re unaware of.”

“Go on.”

“Mistress Annabel and I have spoken. She gave me direct orders that I suspect you will disagree with.”

“And what orders might those be?” Aro asked, especially suspicious now, but unwilling to ask for Pierre’s hand and ruin the rapport he had painstakingly built with Sulpicia.

“To end all trafficking in the world, Master. Human, animal, I suspect also the trafficking of rare art and historical artifacts too if given the chance. I have already begun, but I require access to the resources of the Volturi to get any farther.”

“When exactly did she give you these orders, Pierre?” Aro was only barely keeping his temper in check.

“Just after you dismissed me from my post.”

“So, for one whole week you have had these orders, and only just deigned to tell me?”

“I didn’t think I was permitted to interrupt your meeting.” It was obvious that Pierre’s choice was entirely motivated by revenge. He had been deeply outraged and offended when Aro dismissed him and would not allow him to participate in negotiations involving his own mate, and Aro suspected that Pierre turned to Annabel behind his back to even out the score. “And besides that,” Pierre went on innocently, “my orders were exceedingly clear, so there was no need to waste time consulting you for additional directions when you were handling far more important matters. I only ask now because I have many leads to follow already and I’d like to begin making headway on them for my new Mistress.”

“I see. And what else did you discuss with your new Mistress?” Aro was only moments away from throwing the last week’s negotiations straight out the window to dispose of Pierre.

“Well, she cursed me to protect her new cats.” Pierre hoped, if only for his own sake, that such a jarring statement would be enough to distract Aro from digging deeper into his encounter with Annabel. The warning he gave her had to remain a secret for as long as possible if it was going to do her any good.

“New cats? And what curse?”

“She was afraid I might harm them. She’s very suspicious, you know,” Pierre chuckled, genuinely amused by the memory. “She cursed me so that even in death she would haunt me forever and turn all my endeavors to misfortune if I attempted any wrong-doings with even a single one of them. The red-heads, their spirits are made from sacred flame, non?”

Aro knew he had to cut to the chase before he completely lost his temper. Cats? Curses? Camaraderie between Annabel and Pierre? When he sealed himself away eight days prior, he had done so safe in the knowledge that the castle’s affairs would be dealt with appropriately in his absence. Rather than his beloved Volturi Castle, though, he seemingly found himself now in Bedlam. “That does indeed sound like her. And how many cats has she acquired?”

“Fourteen.”

“You are quite certain of this?”

“Oui, Master. I was the one who helped her bring them to her rooms.”

It would seem that not only was Annabel feeling especially industrious with her ideas and orders about how things should be run in the world, but with even her pets, as well. Aro was squeezing the life out of his own hands behind his back, because otherwise, they would have already found Pierre’s throat. “And do you know where I might find her?”

“She returned to her rooms with her mother and the cats early this afternoon and hasn’t left since.”

“Where did they go?”

“The veterinarian down the street. It was a cloudy day, so I followed them there and back unseen. They returned with one less kitten, though.”

“Thank you for all the information, Pierre. I will not delay you any further. You will hear from me regarding the orders you brought to my attention.” If I were any less determined to remain on good terms with Sulpicia, your head would already be rolling down the corridor, you stinking, conniving frog-eater.

“Very well, Master.”

Pierre went his way, relieved and anxious in equal measure to finally leave Volterra with Sulpicia, while Aro rushed straight to Annabel’s suite. He was far too livid to wait, to think. He had never known anyone, not a singular person, with the utterly outlandish audacity of Annabel Whitehall. It was one thing to have guards protect and assist her on her direct orders. It was entirely another, however, to attempt to install a new world order on a lark without even mentioning it to him first, and already had a head start on him by a full week. And, just when he thought she could not possibly infract any further, she also brought strange animals into the castle without seeking permission or even a single word of warning. Such disrespect could not and would not be borne.

Aro threw wide the door, unannounced. The only warning of his presence was the crashing of the door against the wall and immediate rolling thunder with a bright flash of lightning. It sent all the cats jumping straight in the air, their tails puffed up and their backs arched as they yowled in fright and sprinted to the nearest hiding places they could find.

“Jesus Christ almighty!” shouted Annabel as her mother gasped beside her at the sudden chaos, both clutching their chests as their hearts raced. They had been playing with the cats while they listened to the rain pelting the castle as the sudden storm gained in strength outside, each holding sticks with shining aquamarine necklaces looped around the ends while wearing matching flannel pajamas. “You scared the everlivin’ shit outta me, Aro!”

The instant her scent reached him, he knew Caius had claimed her. If he had not already been so furious about more pressing matters, he would have been completely ballistic over the fact that he was still nowhere near completing their bond. “Come with me,” was all Aro could bring himself to say calmly.

“What’s the matter?”

Rather than stand and wait for her to join him of her own accord, Aro whisked her away in the next flash of lightning. He carried her to the one place he could deal with her without them being interrupted or overheard. In his private wing, there was a turret the reached the greatest heights of the entire castle, standing even taller than the Tower of the Queens. Originally, it was meant to be a decoy, so that enemy forces would mistake it for the queens’ dwelling and attack the completely opposite side of the castle first, giving the Volturi the advantage in battle. Now that no enemy on earth would dare attack them directly anymore, the turret had become something of Aro’s private hobby room. The rounded, floor-to-ceiling bookshelves only contained his favorite works of fiction, whether they be leather bound books or wax tablets or scrolls of papyrus, and there was only one ancient object on display beneath protective glass behind his desk: a crudely carved wooden horse that was hardly recognizable at all anymore, no larger than his palm. It was his favorite childhood toy.

Aro placed Annabel in the center of the large room, but the moment he released his hold on her, she sank to the floor. “Annabel?”

“Don’t ever do that again,” she groaned, one hand on her reeling head and the other on her churning stomach.

“Come now, you cannot be so soft.”

At that, Annabel looked up and met his eye, entirely taken aback by the coldness she found there to match his tone. “Seriously, what’s wrong? Mama’s gonna be apoplectic after that stunt and she won’t be happy about—”

Aro raised his hand and silenced her. “Did you give Pierre orders?”

Confusion turned to realization on her face in a matter of seconds. Not confusion over his question, but why he would ask it so tersely. Then, realization became defiance, born from her own anger that he would take issue with her directives and man-handle her into a confrontation about them. With her head held high even from where she sat, she replied steadily, “Yes, I did.”

“And those orders were to end all trafficking in the world?”

“Yes.”

“Damn it all!” he burst, kicking the wall beside him. “Why would you do this?!”

With a scoff, she picked herself up from the floor, knowing a fight was inevitable regardless of her motion sickness. “What kind of a question is that? A far better one would be, why didn’t you do it yourself sooner?”

“Because I am not in the habit of meddling in affairs that are not my own! The ways of the modern world, no matter how tragic, are not for us to blindly change over nonsensical sentimentality, Annabel!”

“Nonsensical sentimentality?” she repeated in disbelief. “We’re talking about slavery, Aro! Not some bullshit they write about in Hallmark cards; actual fucking slavery! In modern times! And we can stop all of it!”

“Can and should are separate words for a reason,” he warned, pointing at her from where he paced behind his desk like a barely restrained animal.

“If they’re separate in this case, then it’s for a stupid reason,” she challenged, moving to block his path and stare him down.

“You would know what the reason is if you had only asked, but rather than consult anyone before engaging in this shortsighted tomfoolery, you simply went ahead with your whims and threw all caution to the wind! Did you even consider for a single moment what might happen if any of it was traced back to you?!”

“Pierre already agreed to not mention my involvement to anyone and do the legwork himself. And I’m here now, so what’s the reason, huh? I can’t wait to hear this.” Annabel crossed her arms, her brow raised disbelievingly.

“There are forces at play here that you are unaware of, forces that make it impossible to allow you to go through with this!”

“Allow me?! Last I checked, I’m allowed to do whatever I goddamn well please whenever I goddamn well please it!”

“Why do you even care about what happens to these miserable wretches?!” he shouted, genuinely flummoxed by her reasoning. “What business is it of yours what does or does not become of them?”

“Why do I care?! How can you even ask that?! And I’m not the one who has to justify anything here! How can you possibly justify not caring about what happens in the world?!”

There was no hiding that Annabel was now as hurt as she was filled with righteous fury. Aro could not bring himself to back down now, though. “Do you weep for every animal killed for your meals?! Do you lament the reaping of the harvest for killing the crops in their prime?! If you are so concerned with the rest of the world, then remember your place within it!”

“What if it was me, huh?! What if we never met because I got trafficked?! Every single person alive is someone’s Annabel, including the ones who have been disappeared into slavery! The people who love them are out there still looking for them, still waiting for them to come home, and now they’ll get that chance! How can you possibly ignore that?!”

Something inside Aro snapped. Not because he was truly angry with her, not because he disagreed, but because he knew she was right, and all the many implications of that fact were too much for him when they were framed around her. “YOU ARE OVERRULED!”

“Like fucking hell I am!” she shot back. If he refused to back down when they both knew he was wrong, then she certainly would not back down either. “I have the authority to give orders to the guards, Demetri even told me so, and my orders still stand whether you like it or not!”

“And I have the authority to enforce my decision!”

“THEN ENFORCE IT!” Annabel screamed, red-faced and fuming. As she slammed her tightly coiled left fist onto the desk, a bright bolt of lightning spider-webbed across the sky and thunder crashed so hard above their heads that it rattled every window protecting the circular turret. “Chain me up in that fucking dungeon of yours and throw away the goddamn key, ‘cause that’s the only way you’ll stop me! If I have the chance to bring down a global system of oppression and save lives and history from being lost, then with God as my fucking witness, I won’t rest until it’s done! You haven’t said it’s impossible, or it’s too expensive, or you don’t have the resources, so clearly it can be done and I’m fucking doing it! End of discussion!”

“YOU HAVE NO RIGHT! NO AUTHORITY!”

“I HAVE EVERY RIGHT AND EVERY FUCKING AUTHORITY! You don’t get to have it both ways, Aro! You don’t get to call me a queen and then treat me like a peasant! It’s one or the other, NOW. PICK. ONE!”

“THAT IS ENOUGH!” Aro withdrew his cellphone from his pocket and held it in front of Annabel’s face as if it were the detonator to a bomb. “One call to Pierre and it will be done! Over! Finito! Do you understand me?!”

“Oh, I understand, alright! I understand that you’re a bully ‘cause you’re a coward, and you’re a coward ‘cause it’s safe. It’s easy. God forbid you should ever have to actually respect someone and act like it; to care about the outcomes of people who will never have it as easy as you do! And God forbid you should ever admit you’re wrong and have to do something, anything, about it!” Annabel looked him up and down, no warmth to be found in her eyes. It was such a terrible contrast to behold compared to the usual beauty he could always find in her irises, the mirth that always lay in bright sparkling wait just beneath the surface of her earth tone orbs, that Aro then felt as if he were physically shrinking beneath her withering gaze, awash in the iciness of his long-suppressed shame. “It must be so lonely, thinking so little of everyone else,” she continued, her voice now flat and quiet, so entirely unlike her usual animated self. “Your head’s so full of the lives of other vampires that there’s no room left for even basic humanity anymore. You weren’t born a vampire, remember? No one is born a vampire. And just because you’re one now doesn’t make you any less of the human you started out as. That’s just your pride talking, and we all know what follows pride like yours.”

Annabel turned on her heel and marched in even strides straight to the door. Her left hand reached for the handle, but her right lifted just for the briefest of seconds. Aro would not have noticed if not for the lightning that struck in that exact moment and caught the light of the ring on her right hand. A glimmering aquamarine was set on her pointer finger, and that finger was swiping away the smallest of tears as it bloomed at the outer corner of her eye.

What am I doing? Aro asked himself, his eyes widening in horrified realization. Annabel… my precious, dear Annabel… I cannot do this. I cannot hurt you so, not when all you want so desperately is to help anyone and everyone. You never cease to amaze me. Your heart is so profoundly full, even for those you will never meet… even for me. You wore my ring today after I left you without word for so long, and I have repaid you with more tears you do not deserve to shed. How do you keep seeing right through me? How do you know me so well without knowing me at all? “ANNABEL!” he roared over the rolling thunder outside. Despite having every reason to hesitate, she turned to face him at once, hearing the desperation in his cry. Seeing her readiness even in the face of his harsh treatment only made him feel worse for having been so unkind, and in turn, strengthened his resolve to prove himself to her once and for all. He crushed his phone in his palm and threw it on the floor before him, then stomped it into hundreds of pieces for good measure. Astounded, Annabel looked between what was left of his phone and Aro, the warm light returning to her eyes like stars that had been obscured by cloud cover. She slumped in relief with her back against the door she had been preparing to leave through. “You forced me to show my hand, only for us both to discover I was bluffing,” Aro admitted with an uncertain chuckle. “Now, the truth is laid bare: I have no capacity whatsoever to usurp your authority, in this or any other matter. You have rendered me utterly powerless against you without even lifting a finger. Please, Annabel, forgive my brutishness. It was uncalled for and I deeply regret it already.”

Chapter Text

Volturi Castle, 11:31pm.

“Why… why were you so upset with me? I’m not trying to do anything bad,” Annabel asked, her voice shyer and smaller than it had been all night. Despite having apparently won their showdown, she was still wary of Aro’s temper.

“You must understand,” he sighed raggedly, combing his fingers through the roots of his hair to try and wrangle the strands back into place. “No one has gone over my head like this before, not once. I am not accustomed to… giving myself over to the will of another. Especially a will I know shall reap consequences the likes of which you never imagined when coming to this decision of yours. My sweet, you are so good-hearted, but you are about to alter the balance of both the human and vampiric worlds. There are more covens out there than just the Volturi, and most of them rely on trafficking to stay fed. They will come, sooner rather than later, demanding answers and compensation.”

“Then just explain it and compensate them,” she shrugged.

A beat of stunned silence was followed by Aro’s peels of laughter. “Oh, sweet Annabel, you truly are a marvel. It is indeed that simple, is it not?”

“Well, I should think so, considering you’re richer than God and all,” she replied with a hesitant smile. More laughter filled the air, from both true amusement at her assessment of him and from the shocking freedom that came with acquiescing to a course of action that was not his own. He imagined that this must be how birds felt in flight, at once untethered yet still held aloft by the four winds. He thought he might be able to fly himself with how light his shoulders suddenly felt, unburdened by leadership for the first time since his ascension to the throne. There was a wonder in her gaze as she watched him that Aro had not seen since they walked alone together through the halls. Could she already tell there was a change in him that he could feel unfurling in his chest? Just as she had then, she approached him, stood on tip-toe, and kissed his cheek. The heat of her lips only lasted a second on his cool skin, but it was a balm like no other to his troubled soul. “I forgive you. But I do think this has proven you need to learn to trust me more. You can’t go flying off the handle every time I do something. If I’m about to hurt innocent people or cause an environmental disaster, then by all means stop me. But otherwise, isn’t it alright for me to do things like this? Things that’ll actually help the world instead of hurt it?”

“As per usual, you are right. Although, it would help me trust you if you would at least keep me in the know when you make decisions like this.”

“How was I supposed to tell you when I haven’t seen you or anybody else in over a week?”

Now that was especially interesting to Aro. While he was with Sulpicia all week, his mind had strayed hundreds of times to his brothers and the dreaded possibility that they might be winning Annabel’s favor in his absence. Finding out that they had not made a single appearance in over a week was quite the surprise, and a most welcomed one at that. Schooling his features, he answered, “I had assumed my brothers would be keeping you company, although it seems once again my assumptions have betrayed me. I beg your pardon, it was never my intent to leave you lonely.”

“Last I saw them, they started brawling and destroyed something, so I told them to take it to the dungeon until they worked it out. I haven’t seen or heard from them since.”

“I can guess as to why the fight broke out.” Personally, Aro wished dearly he could also start a brawl with his brothers for being so ahead of him in their competition, able to smell Caius’ scent on her in equal measure with Marcus’ now, but Annabel need not know that since it clearly displeased her. He hoped to turn their brawl and subsequent absence into a boon. “They have never fought so long, though. I will personally find them and inquire as to their extended disappearance.”

“Okay. Then… I guess I’ll get out of your hair.”

“Wait,” he blurted in a knee-jerk reaction. “Pierre told me about your cats. He said there were fourteen, although there were only thirteen when you returned to the castle today. Did something happen?”

“Oh,” said Annabel, surprised by Aro’s awkward attempt at concern. “I took them in to get a checkup and their shots. They’re all doing great, thankfully. I’d met the veterinarian’s son, Vincenzo, when I went to the library the week before last, and one of the kittens took a real shine to him. It only seemed right to let them stay together in the end. I’d named him Prim, so Vinny calls him Primo.”

“Ah, I am glad that all is well. And how did you acquire them to begin with? Animals are usually far too afraid of us to come into the castle.”

“I found them in your garden, actually.” Uncertain of what Pierre might have already told him, Annabel said no more on the matter so as not to give away too much or accidentally provide conflicting information. If she had learned anything from their fight, it was that Aro’s first priority was the covens under him, and there was no way for her to know yet which were actual allies and which were dens of vipers already plotting her demise. Either way, Pierre’s warning needed to stay between them. Changing the subject, she asked, “Will your flowers be alright out there? I’d hate for them to be ruined in this awful storm, they’re all so lovely.”

“Fear not, they are as resilient as they are lovely. Like you.”

Blushing, Annabel looked to the floor in mild embarrassment. “Thank you, that’s kind of you to say.”

“Do you not believe me?”

“Well, I’m not exactly dressed for the Met Gala right now,” she shrugged, gesturing at her flannel pajamas and the plush slippers Caius had given her.

“Anything you wear is enhanced simply by virtue of enrobing you.”

“Now you’re getting into shameless flattery territory,” she giggled.

If his heart could flutter, it would have at the sound of her tinkling laugh. “There is nothing shameful in the slightest about paying a genuine compliment.”

There was a pause before she looked up at him again. “You know… earlier, when you came to get me. You startled me, but I was glad to see you. I thought everybody was mad at me all week, so when I saw it was you at the door… it was a relief.”

Slowly, Aro stepped around his desk and approached Annabel where she was still leaning against his door. “Do you really mean that?”

“You hear my pulse, right?”

He could of course hear her pulse, and it had calmed ever since he destroyed his phone. But he was selfish enough to want to hear it from her own lips. “La Tempesta is a demanding prima donna, it is difficult to hear over such a rare performance.”

Annabel’s lips quirked up in amused curiosity, willing to play his game. When he stopped only inches away, his frame so close and so large compared to hers that he blocked the next bolt of lightning as it lit up the rolling hills of Volterra, she said, “I really was happy to see you, Aro. And I am now, too.”

Maybe it was the static electricity he could feel in the air and running across his skin, or the twinkle in her eyes as they held his, or the way her lips sweetly curled around each syllable she uttered, but he lost himself in the moment entirely and did something he had not dared since he was human. Aro kissed Annabel, but the second their lips touched, they each received a zap of electricity that made them jump apart. Wide-eyed and mouth agape they stared at each other, only to simultaneously erupt into ecstatic giggles. Thunder struck then, making Annabel jump with a yelp, only to set them both off in guffaws. Annabel’s head was pressed against the door, thrown back in laughter, and Aro leaned with his palms on either side of her head, his shoulders shaking with every high cackle. They had a few false starts, becoming drunker and drunker on their own mirth after having been so tense only minutes ago, but slowly they calmed, and their gasps gave way to an awestruck silence.

Annabel, never one to shy away from diving in once the moment was right, took him by the cheeks and pulled him down into another kiss, much deeper and hungrier than the first. He was bowled over by the feeling of all his nerve endings activating at once in response, brought to life in a way he had never experienced even as a human, and was overcome with the need to be closer to her.

“Please let me touch you,” he begged in a gasp.

Her answer came out in a rush, suddenly just as desperate as he was. “Overmyclothes.”

It was far more freedom than he had dared to hope for. He drew her into his arms in an instant, pulling her flush against him and exploring the length of her back with fervent, worshipful hands. His lips gladly yielded to the gentle flick of her tongue, and at the first brush of their tongues entwining, Aro let out a moan from deep in his throat. When Annabel moaned in return and drew his tongue into the sweet warmth of her mouth, pushing her soft curves into his hard body invitingly, Aro completely lost control of himself. He was harder than he had ever been, already so close to the edge, and he could not resist grinding his cock into her hip. There was no stopping it, much to his sudden horror; he came in fiery spurts with a broken moan, ruining his underwear and slacks as his spend seeped through the layers of fabric.

Aro broke their kiss and threw himself against his desk as fast as he could, his back to Annabel as he gripped the edge with both hands. Annabel might have been hazy with the passion of their kiss, but unfortunately for Aro, that did not make her completely oblivious. “Did you just…?”

“I… I cannot begin to tell you how sorry I am. I have never been so humiliated in all my life,” Aro answered shakily. And it was the truth. Nothing so calamitously embarrassing had ever befallen him, neither in life nor in death. It was completely and utterly mortifying.

“Aro?” He was as still as a statue. “Aro, please look at me.” He only hunched in on himself more, trying to keep the evidence of his misfortune concealed from her. “I know you’re really embarrassed right now, but it’s okay. If anything, I’m terribly flattered.”

At that, Aro’s head snapped up to look at her over his shoulder. “Surely you jest. Please, do not mock me.”

“I mean it.” Her pulse remained steady. She did mean it, much to Aro’s astonishment. “When you think about it, that’s the very highest of compliments.”

“I… I….” But what could he say? He was so addled from lust and distress that he could hardly think straight. His internal panic was clear to see in his eyes no matter how hard he tried to keep it from showing on his face.

Annabel decided to take a chance and go to him, the padding of her footsteps nearly inaudible over the rain and thunder. When she reached his side, she asked, “Remember what I said about needing to learn to trust me? This might be a good place to start.”

“… Can I trust you not to tell anyone about this?”

“Of course,” she smiled assuringly, laying a gentle hand on his bicep as she looked up at him. He did not release his grip on the edge of the desk, however. “That goes without saying. I’d never tell tales out of school like that, not with you or anyone for that matter. But, Aro… you’re always so buttoned up. So tense. Didn’t it feel good to let go like that?”

It was the best I have ever felt, Aro admitted to himself alone. “It would have felt better to have some control over myself, especially in front of you.”

“I think you’re wrong about that. That’s the joy of a mate, right? You get to do and be whatever’s natural for you, even when things get a little messy accidentally. Or, at least, that’s the way it should be.”

“This is not a typical mess.”

“Of course it is. Do you think you’re the first man who’s ever gotten a little over excited? It happens every day. It’s nothing to worry about at all, I promise.”

Finally, Aro loosened his death grip on the desk and faced her, bracing himself for the moment she would eat her words. “This is not a little over excited, I must admit.” Even with only sporadic lightning to illuminate the space and with slacks that were as black as the night itself, there was no missing the even darker stain and his straining cock beneath it, still so hard that it ached.

“Oh,” she breathed, eyes large and round as she took in the sight of him. “Is it typical for you to still be… ready to go like that after you take care of business?”

Her attempt at delicately handling the situation only made him all the more self-conscious. “Vampires have no refractory period,” was his short explanation.

Hearing that, her eyes searched his, a new curiosity lighting hers from the inside out. “Is that so?”

“Indeed.”

“Then… this is a bit unorthodox, so feel free to send me on my way if it’s too much, but I’d like to try something with you if you’re up for it.”

Aro’s fingers itched to curl around hers, his palms desperate to seek out whatever she was thinking in that moment. As she said, though, he needed to learn to trust her, with or without his gift. “What do you have in mind?”

“There’s no polite way to ask this, so I’m sorry for my bluntness, but have you ever milked your prostate?”

Aro’s cock jumped where it was pressed to the front of his pants as his thoughts raced with every instance of prostate play he had seen in the minds of others over the many years. Some had had partners lovingly perform the act, and in his most private moments, he had bitterly lamented never having experienced it for himself before, or anything else with a partner for that matter. There was simply not enough time as a ruler for the privacy it would require, and certainly no one was lining up to do the deed with him. He had felt cheated many times over, doomed to never feel the dizzying heights of ultimate pleasure that could be achieved through such for himself. But that was all long before Annabel. He could hardly believe his own ears, although there was no mistaking her question or the interest in her brave, open gaze.

“No, I have not.”

“If that doesn’t sound good to you that’s totally fine, I was just—”

“I have never wanted anything more,” he hurried to say, almost wishing he could catch the words in his hands and stuff them back into his mouth as soon as they were out in the open, but he was far too intrigued to stop now. Aro could smell her arousal seeping from between her lips and gathering in her panties, much to his startled delight.

A heated grin rounded the apples of Annabel’s rosy cheeks. “If that’s the case, then we need to set some ground rules first.”

“Whatever you want,” was his reply, one he hoped did not seem over-eager.

His hopes were for not, but Annabel made no mention of it, finding him endearing. “It’s not just about what I want, it’s what we both want. Are you okay with me taking charge here?”

“Yes.”

“Do you trust me to take care of you while I’m in charge?”

“Absolutely.” No proposition in the world had ever sounded so sweet to his ears.

“Good. And I trust you to tell me if you don’t like something and want me to stop. There’s no pressure at all, we’ll be done at any point, all you have to do is say so.”

“I understand.”

“Do we need a safe word?”

Aro’s adam’s apple bobbed in his throat as he swallowed a mouthful of venom. He could hardly contain his excitement. “No, I will tell you directly if I wish to stop. But you must also do the same.”

“Of course. And how do you feel about some dirty talk?”

His cock throbbed and twitched at the mere thought. “I would like that very much, please.”

“Such wonderful manners,” she grinned. “Good boy.”

A whine left his throat before he could suppress it. “Please, say it again.”

Leaning close, she squeezed his bicep and whispered in his ear, her breath warm against his skin, “Good boy. Now keep being good for me and put your hands on the desk again. I don’t want you to move from this spot until I tell you to.” A high whimper left him as he put his hands flat on the wooden surface, his body facing the desk completely. “Perfect, you’re already doing so well for me.” Annabel took her place behind him and rolled up her sleeves. Every millisecond of anticipation was the sweetest torture Aro had ever hoped to experience. He almost could not bring himself to believe the position he had found himself in on that of all nights. Sulpicia was finally out of his hair, enjoying her lightning storm with her own mate at that very moment, and his meddling brothers were apparently nowhere to be found. Was it a dream? After so long, had he learned to dream again without realizing it? No, this was better than any dream his mind could have produced. Even with so many thoughts and memories from so many lives to draw from, he never could have dreamed up Annabel in all her audacious glory. “Is it okay for me to take your belt off now?”

“Please do.”

Her hands, so small compared to his own, slipped around his waist to find his buckle and feed his belt through it. With it undone, she took hold of the buckle, and in one swift motion, pulled the belt out of every loop holding it in place with a crack announcing its freedom. A gasp left Aro at the sound. She had only just begun, yet he was already on pins and needles waiting for her every move.

Annabel coiled his belt neatly and placed it beside his right hand on the desk. “You don’t seem very relaxed. Are you sure you wanna do this? It won’t hurt my feelings if you’d rather call it here.” She knew exactly what she was doing. Of course he wanted to proceed, he was practically buzzing. Vampires had no need to breathe other than to track scents, yet his every breath was coming out in shallow pants already.

“I have never been more sure of anything.”

“Alright, if you say so. Your pants are coming off then.” It was all too easy to pop the top button and unzip his fly. She hooked her fingers under both the waist of his slacks and the elastic waist of his briefs, and pulled them down to his ankles. The feeling of his cock springing forth was erotic for both of them, but what really surprised Annabel was what else Aro had been hiding behind his overly expensive fabrics. “You’ve got the perkiest little ass I’ve ever seen, baby.” Aro groaned lowly, enraptured by her praise. “I could bounce quarters off this thing. Where’ve you been hiding all this? Can I touch it?”

“Please, Annabel.”

She slipped her hands under his dress shirt and suit jacket and palmed both of his firm, muscular cheeks. He gasped again, quickly becoming addicted to her warm hands on his skin. “So good and polite. Spread your legs for me, baby.”

Aro eagerly widened his stance as much as the slacks around his ankles would allow. “Please touch me.”

“Where?” she asked, feigning ignorance to drive him that much closer to the edge.

“Anywhere. Everywhere.”

“Anywhere, huh? What about here?” Annabel’s right middle finger found Aro’s entrance and stroked a single gentle circle around it. He startled and whimpered, arching his back to encourage more contact. “Or how about here?” While her right hand toyed with his back end, her left glided around to his front and grasped the base of his cum-slick cock. Aro moaned brokenly, his hips stuttering with instinctive bucks into the warmth her hand offered him. “That feel good?”

“So good.”

“Now, what I’m about to do, you’ll probably cum harder and faster than you’re used to.” Her fingertip pressed only the slightest bit at his entrance. “If it’s too much or you wanna slow down, tell me right away.”

“Yes, now please, Annabel!” he cried desperately.

When she took her hand away, he whimpered and inhaled to prepare for more begging, and Annabel could not help but chuckle at his wantonness. “Relax, baby,” she crooned before he could say more. “I just gotta get you ready first, that’s all.” She spit on her middle and ring fingers and brought them back to his hole to lubricate him. He arched into her careful touch, ready and waiting for her. For good measure, she spit on him directly, a string of saliva connecting them for only a split second.

“You filthy little minx,” he ground out through gritted teeth, still bucking into her other hand sporadically and already half out of his mind for her.

“You like when I make you a little dirty for me?” she grinned deviously out of his line of sight.

“More than words have ever been able to describe.” And it was true. The closest thing he could equate it to in his addled mind was a depraved baptism, for what liquid in all the world could possibly be holier than one produced by her to anoint him with pleasure? Yes, it had to be a baptism of some kind, because the soul he would have sworn he did not have was on fire for her, so ready to serve in any and all of her wicked designs until the end of his days.

“Then you’re really gonna like this.” Without further ado, she slid the tip of her middle finger inside him. He gasped and tensed, his anus puckering around her and trying to draw her further into him. “Relax for me, it’s only getting better from here. There’s no rush.” At her assurance, he relaxed the muscles of his lower half, but was as tense as ever in his shoulders, arms and back as he strained to keep his hands right where she wanted them. With a couple experimental strokes of her fingertip, she slid her finger incrementally deeper and deeper, until her middle finger was entirely sheathed and he was panting hard, his shoulders heaving.

“Annabel!”

“Yes?”

“I need more!”

“And what do good boys say when they need something?”

“Please!”

“Of course, baby.” Her ring finger joined her middle as she slowly, meticulously stretched him. Her other hand then began firmly pumping his cock in matching strokes from base to tip. She could tell he was close again already from how hard he was trying to keep her from knowing. His resistance was utterly futile, but adorable to her in its own way. “The whole point is to make you cum, so don’t fight it if you feel it. Don’t hold back.”

His entire body stiffened with his second orgasm of the night. He let out a howling cry that was lost in the thunder and lightning crashing over their heads as the storm crescendoed with him. “FUCK! ANNABEL, YES!” Annabel almost thought her next move would be too much for him to bear if he was already so undone. When he began to come back to himself, he laid his head down between his hands on the desk, his shoulders heaving beneath his suit jacket with every labored breath. Just when Aro thought he might rest for a moment— dazedly realizing a cold puddle of drooled venom was forming under his cheek— his cock still dribbling with the last of the cum she drew out of him with her tight grip on his shaft, she caught him completely by surprise and applied just enough pressure to his prostate to have him arching into the feeling as much as he physically could, a tsunami of new pleasure washing over and immobilizing him with its intensity. His cum shot out wildly in hot ropes, painting the side of his desk in time with every feverish stroke of his cock. He was wailing again as if his life depended on it, the veins straining in his neck, babbling to the heavens above in a combination of prayers and curses he remembered in various languages. All Annabel could understand was when he would scream and howl her name in between swearing in English, making her smile behind his back. Her panties were soaked by then, undeniable proof of how enthralling that side of Aro was to her. He was so willing, so responsive, she could have made him cum all night long and not been even slightly tired of the sight and feeling of his full-body desperation for her. “Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, YES! THANK YOU! YES, FUCK ME!”

She tortured him in that delicious manner until his well physically ran dry, and that was no easy feat for a vampire. She worked him at both ends until there was nothing left for him to give but his incoherent begging and shaky, keening moans. When she finally took her hands away from him, his head snapped up to look at her, his eyes dazed and vulnerable.

“Annabel?” he asked uncertainly.

“Did you have fun, baby?” she purred, taking her time as she wiped her hands off on the back of his jacket. Both his shirt and jacket were already soaked through in the front with his cum, so she felt no guilt in adding to the mess they had made.

“Yes! Yes! Please, I need more! I need you!” Aro had been imagining all the ways the night could proceed for them, all the sexual wonders he wanted to experience with her now that the line had been crossed. It had never once crossed his mind as a possibility that they might leave things there, and the thought lit a frantic flame within him.

“I think you’ve had enough for one night. You’ve been perfect, Aro.”

This cannot be happening, Aro thought pitifully. He had to find a way to salvage the evening before it was too late. “No! More! Annabel, you do not understand—”

Aro, in his haste, lifted the hand closest to Annabel to reach for her. “I didn’t tell you to move yet, did I?” He slapped his hand back onto the desk so quickly that the sound echoed, eyes wide now with the hope that their encounter would go on. “Good boy.”

“But Annabel—” Aro cut himself off this time. Beside him, Annabel had untied the drawstring of her pajama bottoms and let them pool around her ankles. She stared him down as she pulled off her drenched panties, drawing them down the length of her legs inch by agonizing inch. His mouth was already agape just from the brief sight of her, so she waded up her panties and placed them crotch-down on his tongue to gag him. His eyelids fluttered from the scent and taste of the saturated cotton blend.

Satisfied that she had his full attention and would not be interrupted, Annabel began, “Now, here’s how this is gonna go: you’re taking us to the nearest bathroom to clean up, and then I’m heading to bed. When you’ve collected yourself a little, you’ll go find out what’s happened to Marcus and Caius like you said.” Aro tried to protest around the panties in his mouth, but Annabel held up her hand to silence him. “Darlin’, it’s getting late. And I really don’t like that neither of us know what they’ve been up to all this time. Besides, I’m sure there’re plenty other things you have to attend to, so it’s time to get going.” He shook his head emphatically and tried to protest again. Heaving a sigh, Annabel drew her pajama pants back up to her waist and retied the drawstrings. “Well, if that’s how you feel, then I guess I’ll just have to leave you like this.” He started shouting around the panties in three syllable bursts that were clearly her name, shaking his head so hard that his hair flew out in all directions with the motion. “I tried to do things the easy way, baby. Remember, don’t move your hands until I tell you.” She leaned up, kissed his closed lips so softly it was practically only a whisper of a touch, and left him standing there in a puddle of his own seed, his ruined pants and underwear still rumpled around his ankles. She began the treacherous descent down the circular stair of Aro’s turret with only the lightning to guide her way. In only a matter of seconds, though, it became completely apparent that for her, lightning was not enough to see her safely to the bottom, or even a quarter of the way down, for that matter. It would be just her luck to miss a step and fall to her doom. With a sigh, disappointed in how soon she had to give up the act, she called over her shoulder to the closed door, “Alright, you can move now.”

For a moment, there was no sound but the wind and rain outside rattling the leaded glass of the windows. Then, with a bang like thunder, the door slammed into the stone wall beside it from how hard Aro threw it open, causing Annabel to jump and nearly go toppling down the stairs. In that moment it took him to reunite with the object of his desires, he spared only enough time to strip completely and clean himself off in preparation for what he hoped would come next. He would admit to no one that he also threw her panties into one of the drawers in his desk to save for later, when he could wrap it around his fist and pleasure himself while he thought of her, just as he did with the belt she left the indents of her teeth on the day they met. In an instant he was upon her, naked and crazed with want.

“You are undoubtedly the cruelest woman I have ever known, and fuck do I love it,” he declared, placing both hands next to her head so he could lean into her personal space.

The invasion of her space put them so close that their chests could touch if they so much as breathed in at the same time, and that fact drew her wandering eye across the corded muscles he kept hidden at all times under his suits, thickly covered in dark hair from his pecks to his ankles. Her hands itched to tangle in it. “Aro, what in the world are you—”

“Be mine, Annabel. The night is so young and so ripe with possibilities.”

As tempting an offer as it was, Annabel regretted having to acknowledge her human limitations. “Darlin’, I told you I’m going to bed. I was getting ready to when you grabbed me, and now I’m tired.”

“Would you say no if it were Marcus or Caius asking?”

Her eyes searched his, finding insecurity and jealousy in his frenzied black depths. “That’s not a fair question and you know it.”

“Is it not? After all you have done to me tonight, I have not yet earned the privilege of basic inquiry?”

“Green really isn’t your color, Aro,” she shook her head. “And you know exactly why it’s not a fair question. The circumstances with all of you are completely different.”

“Different, however, not separate.” He leaned in closer, his breath cold against the shell of her ear. “You do not understand my pain. They torture me on purpose, beloved. Those ungrateful traitors think about how much it will destroy me to watch them make love to you when I cannot even so much as touch you. It is nothing short of maddening, Annabel. You are nothing short of maddening.”

“I do understand, actually,” Annabel quietly admitted. “Caius told me something to the same effect last time I saw him. It’s been bothering me all week ‘cause it isn’t right. And… he also told me that you’re… inexperienced.”

At that, Aro stiffened, his muscles all tensing at once. It was the worst case scenario, and it had come up far sooner than he had feared. Any other secret being revealed could never have been so horrible for him to answer to with how far behind he already was compared to his brothers with Annabel. Caius would pay dearly for this brazen humiliation. “All the more reason to spend the night remedying the situation,” he replied, hoping to steer the conversation back to his barely-contained need.

“That implies it’s a bad thing.”

“Because it is.”

“Would you say that if I was a virgin?”

Aro lifted his head to meet her eyes. “Of course not.”

“Would you think it and just not tell me?”

“Never. Not even for the briefest of moments could I consider anything about you bad.”

“Then it’s the same thing. I know Caius only told me that to hurt you, but it’ll only hurt if you let it. I don’t mind at all, and I know that’s easy to say, but I hope that gives you permission to not mind it either.”

“I do appreciate your saying so. But, might I suggest that we simply forget about both of those iniquitous miscreants and go about our evening?”

“It’s a tempting suggestion, really. But I’m worried now.”

“That can be easily remedied, just worry about me instead.” Aro brought his lips to the side of her neck, drawing a soft gasp from her. It was like a shark smelling blood in the water. He knew her weaknesses, all of them, and if exploiting them was what it took to change her mind, then he would do so gladly. One kiss became many, each pressed into her skin with growing urgency.

Annabel giggled, his lips and hair tickling her as much as they were turning her on. “That’s not fair and you know it,” she grinned in spite of herself.

“If this is unfair,” he said between fervent kisses, “what would you call your own actions?”

“Entirely called for,” she answered cheekily.

“That bloody well does it,” Aro growled before hoisting her into his arms, her back pressed into the stone wall and his hands holding her up under her rear. It was the first time he had gotten to feel it with his own hands, and even if it was covered by flannel, he could feel his addiction to contact with her growing by the second. “What can either of them possibly have that I lack? I have seen every depraved act that can be attempted with a lover thousands of times over in the minds of the experienced. Give me this chance, Annabel, and I will ruin you so completely that neither of those negligent reprobates will ever satisfy you again. I can even bind myself to ensure I cannot touch you if that is your wish. Anything you say, anything you want in all the world, it is yours. I am yours for the taking.”

Annabel might have been surprised by their new position and the dedication in his offer, and she knew it to be sincere; but she could feel the weight of her eyelids, the exhaustion in her body from a full eight days of feline chaos. She held firm, but only just. “I already told you what I want and you freely offered to do it: go find Marcus and Caius.”

“Anything but that,” he whined, laying his cheek on her chest and holding her tight against him.

“But you said you would,” she giggled as she rested her chin on the crown of his head.

“That was before you opened the gates of the heavens for me. I cannot return to the underworld now, especially not for them.” Aro was becoming truly, genuinely desperate. Changing tactics, his mind in overdrive for any possible way to convince her, he put her back on her feet and dropped to his knees before her, wrapping his arms around her thighs and burying his head in her stomach.

“Aro! For God’s sake, find your dignity!” she half laughed and half scolded him as lightning struck outside the window nearest to them.

“What has dignity won me thus far with you? Absolutely nothing. No, I will debase myself at your feet daily if that is what it takes. Bid me as you will, my one and only Queen.”

She quite liked the sound of that, but she would not allow herself to get carried away any further than they already had. “I’ve bid you already.”

“You are a most harsh Mistress.”

Unfortunately for Aro, Annabel knew how to play this game and win. “Only when I have to be. You know just how good I can be to you, though. You gave me a reason to be happy, so I gave you one back. Keep making me happy, and I’ll keep making you happy too. That should be easy enough for you.”

Aro knew he was cornered. He was already all in, and there was no going back now. Annabel had once again gotten the better of him, but this time, it did not sting his ego, only aching with longing in both his heart and his cock. “It will be as you wish. When can I see you next, though?”

“Come to my window after you’ve found them. I’ll leave it unlocked for you, and you can sneak in like all the fiends my mama warned me about,” she playfully explained.

Aro’s head shot up as new hope and purpose rushed through him like adrenaline. Their dark and stormy night was far from over.

* * *

Many floors below, in depths farther than Annabel could imagine, new horrors sprang from the shadows that swallowed the ancient underground beneath the castle and streets of Volterra. In their melee, Caius and Marcus each did their fair share of damage to the structure and its foundation, whether through directly pummeling the cave system in the heat of battle, or indirect damage from the cracks and breaks caused by the vibrations of their unrelenting attacks on one another. The final devastating blow, though, was delivered by Carson’s body when Caius cut it down. The crack it created upon its landing was the last impact needed to destabilize everything the Volturi had built, and the secret held in that corpse’s rotten flesh would in turn destabilize the world.

As soon as the immortals were well and truly gone from that place, the brawl finally over, the rats that dwelt in the catacombs swarmed the body; thousands of wriggling rodents scuttled and fought to get their rare taste of meat. They swarmed for an entire day, their numbers only growing with time, until there was nothing left of Carson worth consuming. Now, with old paths unblocked and and new paths created unbeknownst to anyone, for the first time, La Tempesta breached the long-sealed kingdom and flooded it from the lowest corners of the cave system to the heights of the solarium, where Caius and Marcus first broke the solemn silence. As the flood rushed in, the rats were swept out through the obliging pathways in secret, and sent out into the night to wreak irreparable havoc.

Chapter Text

Volturi Castle, 12:22am.

Aro had a choice to make. He stood naked, hunched over the vanity in his private bath, staring down his disheveled self in the mirror. After bringing Annabel safely to the bottom of the spiral staircase, she insisted she return to her rooms alone so that he could not bargain for any more time. She thought she was forcing his hand to find his brothers. However, all she had done was drive him further into the depths of distraction. Obsession.

Indeed, there was a choice to make, and time was of the essence. Would he retrieve his brothers, his greatest rivals and sworn enemies in the war for Annabel, or would he go to her and lie about the state of them? Typically, he would have chosen the latter course without hesitation. But the game had changed entirely now, and the only way to play effectively was with extreme caution. Annabel proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that she would go toe to toe with him and not back down unless forced, and now that she had the advantage over his body and mind, he knew she would wield that advantage like a cudgel if she felt he deserved it. “Keep making me happy, and I’ll keep making you happy too,” she had said in hushed honeyed tones that made his skin tingle all over again just thinking them. They shared a secret together now, as new and fragile as a chick that only just broke through its eggshell, and the only way to keep it safe, and warm, and hidden from the brutal, clawing hands of the other kings was to ensure it remained between only he and she. Though, the proverbial pendulum swung both ways, and could cut him mercilessly with the opposite implication at any time; Fail to keep her happy, and she will end his happiness in return. It was the danger in it that set him ablaze from within. If he lied, she very well may find out. If he went through with finding his brothers, they very well may realize that he was back in the running and do everything in their power to undercut him before he could get another taste of her. Luckily for him, it was the dangerous games that brought out the very best of his cunning.

There was an additional factor that made his decision for him. Only he and Pierre knew of Annabel’s crusade against the world order that the covens, including the Volturi kings, had established, which gave him an opportunity unlike any other that had presented itself during their time on their respective thrones. It would be a matter of days at most before the first covens would descend upon Volterra, literally and figuratively out for blood, and neither Caius nor Marcus would have any idea of why until it was far too late. They would display their ignorance, and it would be perceived as incompetence. If events unfolded as he suspected they would, not only would he be able to usurp his fellow kings in the eyes of their public and be celebrated for having done so, but he would also gain Annabel’s favor for championing her cause faithfully while the others were too busy fighting to even so much as check in with her. All he had to do was leave the other two in the dark long enough to allow Annabel’s chips to fall where they may. And leave them in the dark he did.

For the plan to come together, she would need to be convinced that he really did meet with his brothers in accordance with her command. Meticulously, he brushed every last jet black strand of hair back into place where it belonged and used the rarest cologne in his collection. He dressed to impress, uncaring of the merciless wind and rain he would face when the time came to appear at her window. He took his time with every step between grooming and dressing, moving at a human pace no matter how it pained him, so that she would assume he utilized it conferring with Caius and Marcus. As always, his lies would be perfectly executed.

When the time was right, he raced from his wing around the outside of the castle. At his speed, he moved faster than the rain, and could see every crystalline droplet individually in midair as they fell around and onto him. Petrichor and the fallen petals of his flower garden perfumed the air as he closed in on Annabel’s window. From below, no light could be seen within her bedroom, and he wondered if she really had been too tired to wait for his arrival. He scaled the stone wall and reached the sill with ease. Her form was covered by her duvet, and her face was obscured by the way her curtain was draped to the side. Silently, he pushed upon the frame, and the window swung open, unlocked as promised. It made the lightest tap against the wall, causing Annabel to roll to her side and sit up. Aro had been shrouded in complete darkness until that moment as a lightning bolt split the sky behind him, illuminating them both for a long second as deafening crashes of thunder followed.

To her, he was as regal as he was monstrous standing on the ledge bathed in deadly electricity, the smell of ozone and his cologne mingling as they filled the room; lethal, yet entrancing to her in a way that was impossible for her to resist. To him, she was a vision with one delicate shoulder exposed from where her oversized flannel shirt fell down her arm, her blanket hugging all the curves hidden from his view but doing nothing to prevent the scent of her arousal wafting straight into his nostrils. No matter how uncertain she may be of him in her mind, her body knew her mate and responded as invitingly as possible. All he wanted was to fall to his knees before her in worship.

“May I come in?”

“You may.”

His dress shoes hit the floor so softly that the sound was lost in the pouring rain. He removed his cloak and placed it over the chair of her writing desk to dry, revealing the suit he had chosen just for her. Her eyes scanned his silhouette with interest, taking in the way his suit broadened his shoulders and lengthened his torso and legs. He had wanted to pique her interest no matter how dark the night ahead might be, and from the way her heartbeat sped up with every new detail her eyes caught despite the low light, he knew he succeeded in his aim.

He closed the window and leaned his back against it. “May I approach?”

“You may.”

Her smile was amused, but she was undeniably pleased by his deference, as he knew she would be. When he reached her bedside, he knelt and lowered his head as he would expect any member of the Guard to do when approaching him.

“My brothers are both accounted for. All has been resolved between them now.”

“I should hope so. Where were they when you found them? What was the hold up?”

Aro knew immediately what she did not say. I was waiting for you. It made him smirk behind the curtain of his hair. “They were in the dungeons, as you said. They followed your order to the letter and did not leave until all business was settled.”

“So, thing’s weren’t over yet when you got there?”

“No. But, with my help, they were able to reach a compromise at last.”

“You’re as much of a diplomat as you are a king, I see. Did they say anything about when I can expect to see either of them next?”

He paused, purposely injecting uncertainty in his answer, “They did not. That is to their own detriment, however, not yours.” Her breathing changed only slightly, though its indication was clear: upset, worry, doubt. That was the moment he knew he had her. Looking up, he made his eyes as wide and sincere as he could muster. “They may not have missed you nearly as much as they should have after a week apart, but I certainly did. You were all I thought of, day in and day out.” That part was the absolute truth. During his long negotiations, his thoughts constantly strayed to Annabel, pining for her during lost time he feared he may never be able to make up for, believing his brothers would have ensnared her totally and completely in his absence. Instead, they had made it all too easy for him to divide and conquer, his specialty.

“… Are they mad at me?”

“I cannot say. I did not read either of them, so their thoughts remain their own on this matter.”

“Do you think they’re mad at me?”

What was worse to Annabel Whitehall than the anger of another? Indifference, if Aro’s memory served him, and it most certainly did. “To be perfectly honest, they never mentioned you at all.” Her nostrils flared with a surprised inhale; her grip on her duvet tightened minutely, but enough for Aro to easily see from where he knelt. They are nowhere near, but I am, dearest, he thought. Speak no more of them and let me be the one to soothe you in their stead.

“Well, then,” she sighed, “I guess I’m just glad there won’t be any more fighting in the near future.” Oh, she was clever, Aro observed. Her heartbeat was steady, indicating the truth of her carefully worded reply, but her hurt feelings were as plain as day. Now that he had broken down her trust in the others, he could take it all for himself as he built her back up. “You don’t have to stay down there, you know.”

“Where would you have me?”

“Wherever you’d be comfortable.”

“Make not such vague offers, my Queen. They provide far too much room for the mind to wander, and cause fools such as I to dare to dream; to hope.”

“Where does it wander and what does it hope to find there?” A curious smile was beginning to curl the corners of her lips.

“There is many a peak and valley I would traverse with gladness in every breath. Too many to name and finish before sunrise.” His eyes trailed along the slope formed by her hip, haunted by the knowledge of what the soft skin lying in wait there would feel like under his hands. “And all with their own secrets and treasures to discover. Know that my mind strays those paths every moment I have to spare.”

“With all the thought you’ve put into these places and their spoils, shouldn’t you know how to ask for what you want by now?” she teased.

“I would never ask for an unearned boon.”

“I’ll just have to command you then: come to bed.” Aro was quickly growing a preference for the demanding side of Annabel. He was used to being sent away from beds in shame and disappointment, not invited into them with enthusiasm. He had honestly expected to be sent away after delivering his false report, certain he was disturbing her rest and would be unwanted beyond his menial task. This night felt to him like a gift beyond even his greediest, most self-centered fantasies; the dawning of a new era, for him and him alone. “Or you can just stay down there all night if you prefer. Up to you,” she added when his silence stretched on too long for her liking, turning over so that her back was to him. Am I losing my touch? An hour ago he would’ve jumped into bed with me in a second if I asked. Then again, a week ago Marcus and Caius still liked me, and look where that’s left me now. Maybe my shine is just wearing off that quickly for them, she thought with uncertainty. I’m only human, after all.

The night was too dark for him to cast a shadow as he slowly rose, and the motion was so fluid that even his clothes did not rustle. It was not until the corner of the blanket was pulled back that she realized he intended to join her. “Where shall I leave my shoes?”

“Wherever you want.” She did not move, did not even turn her head to speak to him. Perhaps, he realized, the seed of doubt he hoped to plant in her mind was growing too quickly and entangling him in its vines unintentionally. That was the absolute last outcome he aimed for. His shoes were done away with in a second flat, but now that he was prepared to proceed, he had no idea how to. It would be his very first time in a bed with a woman he was not immediately related to. What was allowed? What was frowned upon? Certainly he still needed to keep his hands away from any exposed skin, but should he touch her at all? “If you don’t actually want to be here you can just say so. I’m not trying to hold you up or anything.”

Her heart was practically thudding against her ribs, not from a lie, but from the nerve it took to give him an out. Any desire she felt before was gone, replaced entirely by anxiety. Yet, still, she wanted him there. Her fears were from the prospect of his leaving, not from his staying, as was always the case for him previously. He had to find a way to salvage the night she so generously offered him before he alienated himself from her as much as his brothers currently were.

“There is nowhere else in all the world I wish to be. Forgive me, dear heart. No matter how many times I have imagined this very moment, none of them could prepare me for the reality. I am afraid I must admit… I feel a bit unsure of myself. However, do not mistake my hesitancy for a lack of interest. That could never be the case where you are concerned.”

Despite his assurance, her pulse did not slow. “Then maybe we’ve gone too fast and it’d be better for you if we backed off some.”

“On the contrary, my hesitancy is for you, not myself. I worry I will overstep in some unforeseen way and be unable to recover from it.”

At that, she finally looked over her shoulder to find him in the darkness. “Well, that’s what I’m usually afraid of too. I was hoping tonight we could maybe start to put that behind us, though.”

He had not realized it until then, but it was exactly what he needed to hear from her. She was genuinely willing to give him this chance out of the kindness and care of her heart, and all he had to do was capitalize on it. He had endless knowledge of her, he knew every way she had ever wanted to be touched and held, and he also knew full well just how easily her heart could be his if only he might find the correct combination of words and touch she required. She was immensely strong of mind, but equally soft of heart, and it could be any one move that either opened her to him completely or closed her off from him forever. Much like a rare flower that could only bloom under perfect conditions, lest her petals wilt and her roots die. The time had come to put all he learned to good use. If done correctly, by the time his brothers crawled out of the dungeons she relegated them to, it would be too late for either of them to compete with him, mating bonds or not. One rule bound the natural and the supernatural, men and beasts of all kinds: never leave your mate undefended if you hope to keep her.

Aro slipped beneath the blanket behind her and encircled Annabel in his arms; one beneath where her head met her pillow, and the other around her waist, avoiding any bare skin that revealed itself beneath her nightclothes. Upon being pulled snuggly against his chest, she breathed in deep and released it in a contented exhale, the tension leaving her body all at once as she allowed herself to fully relax into him.

“You smell like heaven,” she practically purred.

“Thank you, dearest. I hoped you might like it.”

“Never wear anything else ever again.”

“If you insist.” He brought his hand away from her waist to loosen the tie around his neck as if he meant to undress, making her giggle quietly and roll over to face him. He smiled down at her where she laid against his shoulder, pleased beyond words to have amused her with his easy joke.

“I like laughing with you a lot more than fighting.”

“As do I.”

“But I like this even more. Just… being with you.”

Kissing her forehead where her bangs parted, he replied, “If this night could last for the rest of eternity, it would still be over much too soon.”

Her hazel eyes glimmered in a way no human could have seen as they trailed down to his lips. Slowly, Aro brought them to hers in a gentle caress. Careful to keep things slow but overcome with the urge for more of him, she brought her hand to his cheek and deepened the kiss. With every slotting of their lips in perfect harmony, they pressed themselves together more and more firmly, until they were as close as they could possibly be. Their breaths were heavy but unhurried to match their pace with one another. Feeling especially bold now that things were going so well, Aro brushed his tongue across the seam of her lips, and they opened to him without a second’s hesitation. He moaned at the taste of toothpaste and the sweetness on her tongue that was solely Annabel’s. In turn, she slid the hand on his cheek into his hair and laid on her back so that he could resettle on top of her.

His fingers toyed with the buttons of her flannel shirt. He parted from her to ask, “May I?”

“Yes,” she whispered eagerly. Then her eyes grew wide, and she was quick to add, “But don’t rip it. I mean it. Not even one button.”

“What sort of barbarian do you take me for?” he giggled.

“The same sort as the other two. I love my jammies and I want them in perfect condition.”

“Do they often make a habit of ruining your precious clothing?” he asked, feigning ignorance as he kissed his way down her neck. Of course he knew, and while he also wanted a shredded scrap of hers to add to his growing collection of erotic trophies, a new, better idea was rapidly forming in his mind.

“They do; or at least, they did. It’s getting old now that I’m starting to run out of clothes.”

“Well, this is not to be borne now that I have been made aware. As soon as the roads are passable, I will take you to replace your clothing in kind.”

Her eyes lit up as she gasped quietly with delight. It was exactly the reaction he hoped to receive, knowing how much she adored shopping but how little she got to do it in her old life. It was high time she be elevated to reflect her new position in the world, and her wardrobe needed to match. There was also an opportunity to be found in their outing: the chance to send scouts out to intercept any covens that may arrive unannounced while they were away and detain them long enough for Aro to fully form his strategy.

“Really? You mean it?” she asked with quiet excitement.

“I certainly do. I shall see to it that my schedule is cleared and we will make a day of it. Would you like that?”

Her smile was as bright as the stars that lay hidden by the gunmetal gray clouds of the raging tempest outside her window. “I’d love it. I can’t wait.”

It was the first time she said she loved something he offered her. That one simple word threw a switch in Aro’s mind that he had not known was there before, but was overwhelming in its power nonetheless. He was flooded with the desire to not only ensure that she loved every aspect of the life he would give her, down to the most minute details, but for her to love him even more than all of it combined.

He was ravenous when he returned to her neck, his kisses now feverish in his desperation. At first she laughed as his fast moving pecks and hair tickled her, though it became quiet moans only a moment later. When he reached her collarbones, he swiftly unbuttoned her shirt without loosening a single stitch. He raised his head with the intent of catching a brief glimpse of her exposed breasts before continuing back up the other side of her neck, but was stunned into stillness at the sight of her. Yes, he had stolen this very view from the mind of Marcus; however, to have earned it was another experience altogether.

“By the gods, Annabel. Your beauty astounds me,” Aro breathed just loudly enough for her to hear. He could smell her blood rushing to her cheeks, then down her neck and chest before the glow of her blush reached the surface of her skin. “Please, let me touch you. On my honor, any secrets you may have will be kept safe with me always. You have nothing to fear.”

“Aro…” she sighed, closing her shirt to him and crossing her arms in a clear sign of denial. He was crushed by it. “Be honest. Would earlier have happened if there was even a one percent chance of me being able to read your mind?”

He knew the answer right away, and despised the grating feeling of it on his tongue as he replied, “No. Of course not.”

“Right. Because everyone’s entitled to their privacy, and that includes me.”

“What are you hiding from me?”

“I could ask you the same thing.”

Sighing, Aro moved to lay beside Annabel in defeat, mentally berating himself for ruining such a perfect moment together. “We find ourselves at an impasse, then.”

“It doesn’t have to be.”

“How so?”

“Well, there’s plenty we could do without you using your hands.”

“I want to use my hands, though. I want to be able to touch my mate properly, to give you everything in all the ways I know how. Do you truly not wish for the same?”

“Of course I want that. So badly.” It was true. She could feel how wet he had made her in so little time, and he could smell it as easily as he could smell her blood, the lotion on her skin, her favorite shampoo, and her fabric softener. “But it’s like you said. Even a one percent chance of reading your mind would still be too much of a risk. How do you think it makes me feel when it’s a hundred percent guaranteed?”

“I know quite well how it makes you feel. I will not pry, but… after what we have shared tonight, do you really believe that if I were to read you, I would be so callous as to spread your thoughts and secrets around like the latest gossip? Have I not earned even a modicum of your trust?”

“Earlier was about earning your trust.”

Hearing her response, Aro was filled with an odd sense of pride. It is easy to forget just how alike we can be at times, he thought. They often compartmentalized their thoughts and actions in the same ways, though Annabel’s were not even half as devious as his on any given day. “Then give me this chance to earn yours in return.” Annabel stiffened as Aro wrapped his arms around her again, his hands carefully placed on the middle of her clothed back to ensure no accidental contact, and pulled her into his chest. When he made no other moves, she breathed out in a long sigh and allowed her muscles to relax again. “If I cannot feel the heat of your body directly, at least allow me this. I could not bear it if you sent me away now.”

“I don’t want you to go,” she was quick to say. “Just… if I fall asleep, don’t try to pull a fast one on me. I’m trusting you, Aro. Please don’t make me regret it.”

“I shan’t. Believe me when I say that there could be no worse disgrace for me.”

They laid in silence for several minutes after that, only being disrupted by the pelting rain and crashing thunder, until Annabel suddenly sat up in agitation, startling Aro with her abruptness. “I can’t sleep until we fix this.”

“Fix what, dearest? Are your pillows uncomfortable?”

“You wanna touch me and I want it too. There has to be a compromise.”

He attempted to keep his eyes on hers as any gentleman should, but the attempt was abandoned the moment her still unbuttoned shirt parted to reveal her breasts again, mere inches from his face. “What do you suggest?” he asked distractedly.

“See something you like?” she teased. Despite the darkness keeping her mostly blind aside from the sporadic lightning illuminating the room, his tone and the reason behind it were all too easy to guess.

“That would be the understatement to end all understatements.”

“Well, that’s a relief, ‘cause I really liked what I saw earlier.”

Joining her in a seated position, Aro leaned in with interest. “Did you now?”

“I’ve kinda got a thing for hairy chests. Too many Sean Connery movies growing up, I guess.”

“Hm, indeed, I do know that about you,” he hummed as he closed in on her neck.

“Even if we can’t do much, would you wanna get undressed? You can’t be comfortable in that suit. Or would that be torture?”

“Vampires know no discomfort unless we are in true danger,” he replied between kisses. “I am completely comfortable either way, and the only torture I could know now is to be parted from you. Do your worst, preziosa. ”

As Aro kissed and sucked at the delicate skin where her neck met her shoulder, Annabel removed her pajama bottoms with a soft moan, leaving her completely bare aside from where her shirt covered her back and arms. Now able to drink in her form without obstacles, he could hardly tear himself away from her long enough to remove his own clothes.

Why did I wear all this in the first place? I should have known she would not be able to see most of it anyway. What a bloody idiot I am. We could have been naked this entire time! Perhaps I will destroy my own wardrobe so that our outing may last twice, even thrice as long. Yet, that would still be too little time spent with her. We shall go jewelry shopping too, then, so that we will match completely, and I will agonize over every piece to ensure I may keep her all to myself the entire day. And we simply must make a stop at the perfumer to make a custom blend to match my cologne of she likes it so well. These were the thoughts racing through the forefront of Aro’s mind as he shucked layer after layer of clothing until he was left with nothing but his black briefs and matching socks.

“Do you wanna keep those on since I’m keeping my shirt?”

“Absolutely not.”

She giggled behind her hands at his answer, making him grin in turn. He adored how receptive she could be to him, how playful, never shying away from his body or her own. It was a liberation that could never have been found among the women of his time, or any time before the end of the twentieth century. He had been made to wait for a modern woman for this exact reason, and so many others as well. It was invigorating in ways he had lost hope in finding with the fairer sex until that very night.

They settled once again after Aro was left as bare as the day he was born, with Annabel held close draped across his chest. She sighed blissfully at the feeling of being chest to chest, skin to skin, his cold temperature a relaxing contrast beneath the warm blanket.

“I can smell you even better now.”

“Have we fixed it, as you put it?”

“I’d say so. Unless you disagree.”

“My agreement could not possibly be more wholehearted.” Now well and truly comfortable nestled into him, her hand stroking along the hair of his chest, her breathing slowed as her eyes fluttered with their heaviness. “Go to sleep, beloved. I will keep watch through the night.”

“Will you be here when I wake up?”

“If that would please you.”

“I’d love it.”

* * *

Annabel would have kept sleeping had the cries of curious kittens at the door not awoken her. She stretched before opening her eyes, enjoying the feeling of Aro’s body entwined with hers. “Morning,” she mumbled sleepily.

“Good morning, dearest. Did you sleep well?”

“Mhm,” she nodded, finding his chest too inviting to remove herself from just yet. “You must be bored by now.”

“On the contrary, if you wanted to sleep the day away just like this, I would be utterly delighted.”

“Why? You can’t even move.”

“Why should I wish to? You talk in your sleep and it is most entertaining.”

“What was I saying?” she giggled, hiding her face against him.

“Quite a lot about your coconuts being stolen. We were just about to uncover the thief before you were interrupted.”

“Riveting for you, I’m sure. I don’t even like coconuts,” she shook her head with a smile.

“We shall simply have to continue this coconut caper tonight. This thief, this scourge upon decent society, must be apprehended before more damage can be done,” Aro grinned, moving to kiss her neck. He was stopped, however, by the increasing volume of the dissatisfied cats. “It could have been one of them, you know.”

“You’re so right. We’ll have to interrogate them until they crack, just like the coconuts they stole,” she giggled.

“Your laugh is more beautiful than birdsong. Did you know that?”

“What I know now is you need to get your hearing checked.”

“Your laughter could make flowers bloom in winter. Look, the sun had not begun to shine yet this day before it heard you beckon with such a sweet melody.” Aro gestured to the window, and indeed, the first rays of sun were finally breaking through the lingering storm clouds.

“No wonder the kittens are fussy, I’m usually up by now.”

“Shall I take my leave so you may tend to them?”

“I’m sure Mama fed them already, they’re just dramatic. But, let’s try something while you’re here. They seem to do better around vampires when I’m with them, and I wanna get them acclimated since they live here now.”

“And if they flee?”

“Then I’ll just have to conduct the interrogations by myself,” she sighed jokingly.

Her reluctance to rise was abundantly clear in every move and groan as she extracted herself from his arms. But rise she did, and just as she stood, the light met her bare skin and brought the red in her auburn hair to life. Her messy curls tumbled down her back in waves and spirals, veins of copper and rubies waiting to be mined for their full potential; her breasts peaked out where her shirt parted, and the hem highlighted her thighs, creamy in tone and texture and just as inviting as the rest of her. Her rear was covered by the bottom of her shirt, but its shape could not be hidden from his ravenous gaze.

When she touched the first button to close up her pajama shirt, Aro interrupted, “Please, wait.” She turned to look at him questioningly over her shoulder, and he explained, “Allow me one more moment to remember this, our first morning together. The daylight is exquisite on you.”

The sentiment brought a soft, sweet smile to her lips. “It looks good on you, too. You shine like a brook on a clear day. I like seeing you in my bed.”

“Then this is where I will faithfully return every night, if you so wish.”

As she was about to remind him that his brothers would likely have quite a bit to say about that, she stopped herself. She did not question a single detail of Aro’s account of meeting with them, including them not even asking after her. Yes, when they initially began fighting she had obviously been the catalyst of the confrontation, but to find out that it had taken Aro’s help to finally end it, it had to be about much more than just their jealousy over her affections. She fully believed that they had not mentioned her or showed a single care about having been apart for over a week, as they were still nowhere to be found. When Aro wanted her the previous night, even in anger, he came to her directly and only left her side when she practically pried him away to see to her order. It seemed now to Annabel that she was far more invested in the wellbeing of her other two mates than they were in her; something she was all too familiar with in prior relationships, especially directly following physical intimacy.

They got what they wanted out of me, and now I’m here while they’re off doing God knows what, she thought bitterly. I shouldn’t have given in to them so easily. I only have myself to blame for this. How stupid, thinking things might finally be different for me. At the very least, though, I can be grateful that Carson’s been dealt with. “You should,” she answered after a moment of inner turmoil. “If you’re not busy, that is.”

“Nothing could make me so busy as to miss an opportunity such as this. Leave your window unlocked for me again and I shall come.”

Nodding with a small smile, she buttoned her shirt, threw on her abandoned pants, and went to the door. She only opened it a crack before Frodo nudged it open as hard as he could with his little face, leading the charge with a tiny scream as the kittens all filed in behind him with their own indignant vocalizations. They stopped in their tracks after only walking a couple of feet, though, and some hissed while others stumbled backward and cried for their mother at the sight of Aro in their typical place on Annabel’s bed.

“Mornin’!” Penelope called cheerfully from the sitting room. The scent of freshly brewed Italian coffee flooded the entire suite.

“How’d you sleep?” Annabel asked as she crouched to try and soothe her frightened pets. Little Lady came trotting in to see what was the matter, only to stop and hiss herself the second she sensed Aro’s presence.

“Like a rock. Everything okay in there?”

“Oh, yeah. I think they don’t like where I moved my lamp during the storm. Something about the lampshade rubs them the wrong way, I guess,” she lied easily. “I’mma head back to bed with them. I can’t seem to shake this headache.”

“Aw, I’m sorry. Want some coffee and somethin’ for it?”

“No thanks, it’s messing with my stomach too. If a nap doesn’t help I’ll call for backup.”

“Alright. Feel better, baby.”

“Thanks, Mama.” Annabel closed the door and picked up Little Lady to comfort her. “Shh, it’s okay. It’s just Aro. He won’t mess with you or your babies, I promise.”

She took a step toward the bed. Little Lady hissed a second time, but did not struggle. Cautiously, one small step at a time, Annabel brought her, and in turn the kittens, to the very edge of the bed. With the utmost care, she sat with Little Lady in her lap. The cat never took her sharp green eyes off of Aro, wide with fear and suspicion, but did not make any moves to leave her new owner. Upon seeing where their mother was, the kittens jumped and climbed their way up into the bed to surround Little Lady and Annabel. They did not move an inch beyond where she sat, their hackles still up and the growing fur of their tails puffed with agitation. It was then that Annabel noticed all the damage that had been done to the fine fabrics and upholstery by the cats over the previous week, making her wince.

“Remarkable,” Aro whispered. “This is the closest I have been to any animal since I was changed, no less so many.” She must have a gift, he thought, gleefully going over the many possibilities of what sort of gift she would need to have in order to accomplish such a feat before even being turned. She will surely be powerful when she joins me in eternity, whatever he gift may be. What fun we will have testing the extent of her potential.

“I’ll admit I didn’t think this would go as smoothly. I’m sorry about their claws, though. They’ve ripped this whole place to ribbons, so I’ll find a way to pay for the damages.”

Aro let out a high laugh, causing the cats to jolt and run to hide under the hand carved wardrobe. “My apologies, I simply could not help myself. They certainly have not been idle, have they?” With a bright smile, he continued, “Fret not, dearest, your money is no good here. I have artisans and restoration experts of the highest caliber on standby who will be thrilled to correct any harm done. I usually only bring them round for maintenance about every decade or so. They relish a challenge, as there are now so few for them in these times of innovation and convenience. They will be overjoyed, believe me.”

“It’s just… declawing is so cruel, you know? I don’t even know if it’s legal here, but if it is I still wouldn’t do it to them.”

“And I would never ask you to. They are exactly as they should be, exactly where they should be.”

Annabel’s eyes sparkled in a way his skin never could at his simple assurance. He did not have to be a mind reader to see how much her new pets meant to her, nor how much she meant to them. No animal would brave the presence of a vampire otherwise, no less over a dozen vulnerable kittens and their diminutive mother at once. Annabel certainly had a gift, there could be no doubt of that now, but even without it he believed they would love her just as much. He knew he certainly would, too. In a way, she was more catlike than she knew. By nature, she was tearing apart the fabric that had been his world, and in doing so, was making room for a restoration that would make everything new while still preserving just enough of what had always been. He would sharpen her claws himself if only to see what she might do next.

“Thank you. Really,” she beamed.

“No need, dearest. Now, what is this I hear of a lingering headache? Have you not seen Bernard for it?”

“He’s been as scarce as everybody else this week,” she replied with a shrug. “I always get headaches on my period but it cleared up yesterday. No big deal.”

“It would seem that the Volturi have taken the opportunity of their kings’ absences to shirk their duties. This will have to be remedied posthaste.”

“Time to go then?” Try as she might, she could not hide her disappointment from Aro. It was unexpected to be so clearly wanted by her, and it filled him with elation.

“Not yet. There is something I would do first, if you might allow me.”

“Color me intrigued.” Aro leaned over and took hold of the front of Annabel’s shirt to pull her close. She crawled on all fours across the bed following where his hand guided her, and grinned broadly when he settled her on his lap over the blanket, straddling either side of him. “I like where this is going.” With a tug, their lips met in a hard kiss, full of longing from them both. Knowing he was running out of time and that he was very much to blame due to his prior lies, he wanted to leave her with a lasting impression to fill his absence until they could reunite in the evening as promised. His lips danced across her skin to her neck, paying special attention to the spots he knew made her moan the loudest. “Aro,” she gasped, eyes shut and head thrown back to afford him better access.

There had been many bleak days in his life when Aro doubted he would ever hear his own name in a breath of unadulterated pleasure. The sound was immediately addicting; life changing, even. It meant there was hope for them yet. He needed to hear it again, and again, and again, until the very end of time itself.

With haste and care in equal measure, he opened her shirt button by button, determined to keep every last one in tact despite how it wore on his patience. His mouth found her left nipple first, and at the first flick of his cool tongue, she gasped and arched, accidentally grinding her mound against his covered erection in the process. Aro pulled away with a quiet gasp of his own to find her gaze. Her eyes shone with a light that was more than simple lust, and his eyes were so black with need for her that they could have swallowed the sun. To him, she was warmer, brighter, and far more life-giving than the sun had ever been.

No words needed to be exchanged for them to know what they both wanted. He struck like a viper and enclosed her nipple between his lips again as she wrapped her arms around his neck and ground against him with new purpose. He met her with bucking thrusts of his own, his hands greedily pawing at and spreading her cheeks to increase their contact despite the infuriating layers separating their bodies, wild with desire that had been simmering just below the surface since the moment he knew they were mates. Annabel had not done anything like this since she was in college, but the feeling of their borderline virginal frenzy in search of shared friction thrilled her. They gasped and moaned in chorus against each other, toeing the line of discretion ever more precariously with every jolt of pure pleasure that rushed through them.

Aro switched sides and expertly teased her right nipple into a painfully hard peak. Annabel’s arousal soaked through her pajama bottoms and into the blanket that torturously kept his member hidden from her. Just when she thought she might reach her end, Aro pulled away from her with a gasp. His lips shined with venom and saliva, his hair in complete disarray.

Whimpering, Annabel breathlessly asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Too close,” he panted.

“What?”

“Too close to finishing.”

With a groan, Annabel fell to the bed beside him with a bounce. “I wouldn’t have minded.”

“I would have. Last night’s mishap can never be repeated.”

Sitting up again, she looked at him with seriousness overtaking the haze of want in her gaze. “It was really that embarrassing for you?”

“Even more so than you can imagine, and I know how vivid your imagination can be.”

Nodding her understanding no matter her disappointment at their sudden stop, she leaned in to kiss him sweetly. “Okay. I’d never push you.”

“I know,” he smiled softly in return. It was neither a smirk nor a wicked grin, but an honest, vulnerable quirking at the corners of his mouth born from the safety he now felt with her. “Thank you.”

“You don’t have to thank me for that.”

“I want to.”

Kissing his cheek, she whispered in his ear, “You’re welcome.”

Chapter Text

Aro’s POV.

Annabel will never fuck me now, I thought in bone-deep horror.

The Old Palace was utterly destroyed, flooded all the way up to the Solarium. The damage beneath the water must have been catastrophic for the entire palace to have flooded so. Floating at the top among the wreckage and serving as a raft for dying rats was the picked-over corpse of one Carson Henderson. I would know his stench anywhere thanks to the glimpse I stole at Annabel’s memories. Why was his rotting body defiling the solemn sanctity of the last remaining monument to the life we once loved above all things? Where were my brothers?

The passage to Caius’ study was still easily accessible despite the missing sections of the floor. I would drag him down here by his hair if I had to, but he would answer for this, and then Marcus’ judgment would soon follow. Whatever they have done, they would pay dearly for every infraction.

I was upon him before he could prepare for my onslaught. I had him by the throat and jaw with both hands, pinned to the stone wall behind him. In a moment, I saw all. Marcus attacked him first, yes, but Caius had been waiting for the opportunity to present itself to test Marcus in battle. He suspected the long years in nearly completely silent mourning, barely sustaining himself enough to remain upright on his throne, would be his undoing, and Caius wanted to find out in real time if his theories and carefully kept calculations had panned out. And in the end, they did, although neither could have anticipated how long their contest of strength would drag on. Marcus finally ran, fled for his very life, for the first time in all our lives. Caius came seconds away from killing him for his cowardice, but left him grotesquely humiliated instead. He broke one of our most sacred laws just to be petty. He refused to see how his hubris could ruin us all now. Could ruin me.

What Caius had focused on the entire time was the fight at hand, using the terrain of our old home expertly, but as I watched the memories unfold I was filled with gut-wrenching grief at every crack and tear made. They together destroyed nearly everything, down to even the last statue Caius ever sculpted of Didyme, the one honoring her final resting place. And it destroyed me in turn to witness, helpless and painfully ignorant until it was far too late to intervene.

Then came cutting down Carson, the final insult as he claimed victory, and unraveling how Caius got to that point. He had the sniveling, pathetic excuse for a man captive without my knowledge in the bowels of the castle dungeon, and I only had myself to blame for my lack of vigilance. It was so unlike me. It even cost me a crucial opportunity I would never get back.

Annabel went to him alone regarding a threatening correspondence from the late Mr. Henderson. He dealt with the matter to her satisfaction, and she saw fit to complete their bond then and there for his efforts. The sight made me crush him beneath my palms all the more brutally. I knew about Carson from the beginning, if I had only seen him for the pawn he was then it would have been me satisfying her, taking her until she broke upon my cock in waves the way she did for him. The sound of her voice calling Caius’ name made me want to kill him. For what he took from me with Annabel and for utterly decimating the very fabric of our most cherished memories. Now everything could be at risk, all so he could run some numbers and prove a point. He crossed too many lines to remain beyond judgment, even if I had to incapacitate him myself to bring him into the Throne Room. I considered the current positions of the Guard before finally speaking.

“There is something you must see before we proceed. If you struggle, I will break you without mercy. I know you are still too weak even after having just fed. Marcus did not go down without a fight, I see. As expected of a warrior of his prowess.” One hand curled around the curvature of his throat to hold him securely from ear to ear while the other reopened the passageway to the dungeons. Into the dank, putrid darkness we raced as I half-dragged him behind me.

I slung Caius down where Demetri had left the bucket used to awaken Carson just before his end. The yet undamaged stone cracked and went flying up with a cloud of grime and dust. Caius was on his feet again a half-second too slowly due to his healing injuries, and I took him by the back of the neck to force his head over the open pit that reeked of death and disease, both of the body and the over-ambitious mind. “Look at it! Look at what you have reduced us all to in your shortsighted arrogance! What do you have to say for yourself before your trial begins, eh, brother? How can you possibly defend this?”

His thought came to my mind at the same time it formed in his own, full of hissing rage and spite, but a bubbling in the filthy water below caught our attention and silenced our inner voices the millisecond movement could be detected. The bubbling produced a skull, which meant the flooding went all the way into the depths of the catacombs. It was the wolf-like skull of a Child of the Moon, having died halfway between forms. There was more bubbling then, and within seconds the surface of the disgusting water became filled with thousands of skulls, most with their jaws still attached and opened in eternal screams. The last object to rise to the surface, right above what remained of Carson’s waterlogged head, was the head of Didyme from her burial monument.

Her head and neck of carven stone were crumbling, but the silver sculpted mask of her face and the diadem she wore in life remained in place. The closed eyelids of the mask had never opened and never would, though both of us suddenly feared that they may, and her piercing gaze would pin us with their endless grief and disappointment after yet another direct betrayal to her. A new thought came to Caius when tears could not: She is looking upon us, our every move, and we will never be forgiven in her sight now. Never.

I wanted to rear back and allow Caius to fall face first into the cesspool of his unwitting making. The urge to cry out in terror and anguish was strong, but no emotion was permitted to pass across my features. My hand, aching to do irreparable harm to my so-called brother, was stayed by propriety alone. I pulled him upright to face me and released him. My body blocked his only path to the exit now that most of the dungeon floor had crumbled away. There was no way for him to escape me.

“You know perfectly well I did not do this,” he pointed, his voice as close as it could come to shaking. “Not purposefully, at least. Who knows? Marcus may have done this on his way back here. You cannot blame me until you read him.”

“And you know, brother, that such excuses are not to be tolerated. You wrote the law, after all.”

“Then this is all I can say of my conduct: no further harm was intended beyond proving Marcus unworthy to continue pursuing Annabel and sitting the throne, and I have done so on both counts. The victory, and even more so Annabel, are worth the price of this setback, come what may.”

“Setback? You call kidnapping and murdering a human without even consuming him, then destroying the last vestiges of our old life a mere setback? Have you even dealt with the police surely investigating his disappearance? Did you stop and think even for a singular moment about the consequences of your many idiotic actions? We both know the answers and they are one and the same: no. This is an insult beyond forgiveness. Be prepared for what awaits you after I find Marcus. Would you happen to have some idea as to where he is? He will need the chance to bear witness to the true weight of his defeat as well before the trial may begin.”

Perhaps before it starts I might return to Annabel, I thought. By the very nature of my gift, it was impossible for me to clear my head, as they say, so I would rather cloud it entirely with her before the trials. My plan to become the sole ruling king already had its alibi. Now all I needed was to tie up the loose ends in an aquamarine blue bow, and Annabel would be mine for the taking.

It was one thing to break laws, explicit or implied or secret, but it was entirely another to anger me personally. Now that I was livid and repulsed with my heartbreak for Didyme renewed, along with the revelation that I was potentially vulnerable, there would be no mercy for either of them. Their fates were already sealed.

Last night with Annabel, it felt as if the world shifted sideways on its axis to raise me above all others. She gave me wings upon which to soar, and for her, I would reach the sun itself to bottle a solar flare just to watch the glow of it upon her skin once more. Icarus’ wings were of feather and wax, but mine were of flesh made stone, and would never falter. Not when their every beat was for her now.

Was her gift that of luck? Pure, odds-defying luck? It almost seemed as if it had to be, for what else could explain the sudden change in my fortunes? If she was my good luck charm as I suspected, then soon we would be of one throne, and I would keep her beside me always. The earth would tremble once her full potential was realized. Gifted or not, I was her weapon now, and I would spend my days delighting her with any and all retribution she sought. If she was so easily pleased with Caius’ paltry offering of the easily dispatched Carson Henderson, then I would fill her cup to overflowing with the blood— or venom— of anyone she so desired.

“Marcus’ fate is no concern of mine now. You know his whereabouts have not even crossed my mind, my mouth too full of blood and my mind too full of Annabel to spare even the most fleeting thought for him. If you have yet to arrest me, then I remain a free man for now. I think I will pay my beloved a visit while you locate your brother.”

“Come now, Caius, even you cannot mean that. Once our brother, always our brother. What you did to him was gruesome, to put it mildly. Know this well in advance, you will be forced to make amends no matter your sentence.”

“I will not. And when I plead my case, I demand that Annabel hear it as well as you. She is a queen twice over now by vampiric standards, therefore she is entitled to preside and judge as she sees fit.”

“When she is a vampire, then she will be entitled to vampiric political rights. You will face me and me alone. I advise you make peace with what that will mean for you in light of the damning evidence against you.”

I need not gesture to the pit. It was painful to even look at. Contemplating the extent of the damage beneath our feet made me as close to ill as my kind could come, and the scent of the dead only made the sensation all the more vivid. I left Caius in that dark corner of the dungeon to search for Marcus and embraced the fresh air of the New Palace like an old friend as it cleared my airways and my head. Caius was up only shortly after me in search of Annabel, and to our mutual distaste, our paths led to exactly the same place.

* * *

My head was full of daydreams about waking up with Aro and mewling kittens. I distractedly took a sip of my espresso from a cup that was priceless and perfect, but I noticed neither the pattern nor the fact that I’d already drained the cup until my lips were already on it again. I wished they were pressed against Aro’s instead. His skin and the fine porcelain were similar in tone and touch. If I pressed the rim against my bottom lip just so, I could pretend—

“— Did you hear me?”

“Hm?”

“What’re you thinking about so hard it’s making you chew your cup?”

With an embarrassed laugh, I put the empty cup on its saucer atop the coffee table. Merry and Pippin always laid on the table while the other cats surrounded me and Mama wherever we sat. “I’ve been thinking about something but I’m not sure how to go about it,” I recovered. “Marcus was right, I do need to pick a private guard, so I need to apologize to him. I’m sure he’s none too happy with me and I don’t know who to trust in the Guard, or if I’ll even get a say in who gets picked now.”

“We’ll have to be completely nonverbal if you get a guard,” she warned. “We can’t talk with one of them so close. I know they’ve been polite so far to not piss us off any more than we were when we got here, but that isn’t loyalty by a long shot.”

“I know. Unless Demetri could do it?”

“Like you said, you don’t know if you’ll get a choice or if that’s even the right choice. We don’t know anything about vampire ethics yet, if there even is such a thing.”

“That’s exactly why I’m dragging my feet about it.” I wasn’t about to mention that I was torn between confirming for myself that Marcus didn’t actually give a shit about me and dwelling in my fantasies just a little longer. I very well may lose him and Caius as fast as I got them, because no matter how often they spoke of forever, it still felt like our time was nearly up somehow. Or maybe that was just my habit of pre-mourning relationships. Nothing good had ever lasted for me, no less lasted long.

“I don’t blame you. These men are exhausting.”

“From your mouth to God’s ears; that’s exactly the right word, exhausting,” I sighed and absentmindedly scratched Little Lady behind her ears as she and the kittens purred like baby buzz saws. “I woke up feeling so rested, but I’m tired now just thinking about it.”

“That means it’s one of those things that shouldn’t wait. You don’t wanna drag out your own exhaustion, now. Better to know where you stand sooner than later so you can make plans and act fast.”

“I knoooow,” I groaned, leaning my head back defeatedly. “But just one more coffee?”

“Your hands are already shaking after just one.”

“When’s that ever stopped either of us?”

“That’s my girl.”

Thank sweet Christ I made that second espresso a double. My week of peace and quiet, aside from the joyful mayhem of my new cats, was officially over.

I found my way to Marcus’ wing, and just as I was about to knock on the door of his study, I heard faintly from behind me, “La mia tesoro.”

I turned around, but with so little light to begin with in the darkened hall, I didn’t see Marcus at first. He was there, though, hidden in the darkest corner with his back halfway propped against the wall as he laid naked sprawled across the floor. Every square inch of him was covered in what looked to be white and gray chalk, and his eyes were so dark that they blended into the darkness behind him eerily.

It took my breath away in shock and terror seeing him like that. Despite his size, he was visibly feeble. Weak. It wasn’t right, it didn’t suit him at all, and I couldn’t make sense of how such a state could’ve possibly befallen him.

“Marcus! What happened to you?” I gasped, hands out reflexively to help him somehow but entirely unsure of what to do.

“Tesoro, you must go. I can offer you nothing now. Unless Caius has sent you here to mock me.” The emotionlessness in his quiet, strained voice chilled me to the bone.

“Marcus, I don’t know what in the hell you’re talking about. Can you stand? Do you need help up?”

“Come no closer. What I need is blood, and vampires are unpredictable when as thirsty as I.”

“Who can I get for you? What do you want me to do?”

“No one can see me this way. Not yet. I must make my final arrangements before it is too late and the news of my great loss becomes common knowledge.”

“Where’s your bathroom?”

“What?” A spark of confusion lit his voice and eyes just for a moment.

“You told me you have a whole damn spa. Where is it?”

“The opposite side of my wing.”

“Alright, then I’ll run ahead and find it and then we can decide what to do. At the very least you need to get cleaned up.”

“There is nothing left to decide. Go, my Annabel, my everything. Please, at least allow my mind to be at ease where your wellbeing is concerned.”

“I’m gonna chalk all this up to the rambling of a starving man and leave it at that for now. Don’t move a muscle, handsome. I’ll be back in two shakes of a lamb’s tail.”

I went running down the hall and followed the twists and turns to a set of ornate stained glass doors on the very last wall. The daylight was streaming through them and the glass western-facing wall beyond, perfectly aligned with the path the sun would take for the rest of the day. This was quite the ways away to try and haul Marcus by myself. Getting his strength back enough for him to walk had to be the priority. How could Aro leave him like this? Had something happened after he left Marcus and Caius last night? The first chance I got, I’d interrogate Marcus within an inch of his life and get to the bottom of all this. Then, I’d tell him how sorry I was for the way I acted before, and that he was right, and I didn’t want to lose him already.

He needed blood. But even if he would let me call for a guard to help him, I couldn’t in good conscience sign someone’s death warrant to solve a problem I’d inadvertently caused. I shouldn’t have sent him away to duke it out with Caius. And even before that, I shouldn’t have been so quick to anger just because Aro riled me up that morning—

Aro. Oh, I’d have something for him as soon as I found out his part in all this. Let me make myself clear: I was wrong to be quick to anger with Marcus specifically. The other two were another matter entirely. And just where the hell was Caius anyway? Those two were in for a piece of my mind they wouldn’t soon forget if I discovered they were even remotely responsible for Marcus’ condition.

That would all have to wait, though. Marcus needed blood, and badly. I stormed into his spa and ransacked the place for a glass, which ended up being a bejeweled and intricately patterned goblet in the Etruscan style, and something sharp.

Of course Marcus would shave with a straight razor, I thought with a short huff of a laugh at his old fashioned ways. A whole silver set, including the leather strap to hone the blades with, was in a large drawer at what seemed to be his preferred sink and vanity out of the dozen or so around me. He might enjoy watching Sweeney Todd sometime, if we could get a solid two hours of calm again that is.

The trick now was picking the right spot to cut and making sure I could stop the bleeding adequately. There were no real first aid supplies around because vampires didn’t seem to need them, and the only article of clothing to be found in the whole spa was a skimpy silk robe I definitely didn’t want to ruin, so I’d be working with a towel tourniquet for the time being. With that in mind, I went for the top of my left forearm. No important veins to accidentally cut wrong, easily tied with my dominant hand and my teeth, and shouldn’t take too long for the bleeding to stop. Just a friendly tip, never cut your palm open if you don’t have to. It hurts like a motherfucker, and because it’s a heavily used area full of contracting muscles, it’ll take forever to heal and could easily reopen if you aren’t constantly careful. Just save yourself the time and trouble, skip the horror movie stuff.

Did I need to wash my arm and my razor of choice before I dared to proceed? Probably not, I realized. Did I do a thorough job anyway, just on the off chance vampires were susceptible to illnesses from unsanitary donation sources? Absolutely. Marcus was already in horrific shape, I didn’t want to chance making things any worse for him. Then, with a deep breath and a preemptive wince, I made a cut only about an inch and a half in length and just deep enough to get the blood going. It wasn’t pleasant by any means, but it certainly wasn’t as bad as my palm or anywhere else.

I held my arm over the goblet and let my blood flow steadily into it, balling my hand into a tight fist repeatedly to encourage the pace. The cup filled up quicker than I expected thankfully, so tied off the wound tightly and cleaned up after myself. If Marcus needed more blood than this, it wouldn’t be hard to do again, just inconvenient. It was a strange feeling, weighing the particulars of helping a vampire ethically drink my blood. But he wasn’t just any vampire. He was my mate, and I had to help him however I could. There was a drive to do so in me that simply couldn’t be ignored.

I rushed back to him as fast as I dared without spilling a drop, his robe slung over my unwounded arm, but I met Marcus closer than I’d anticipated. He crawled over two thirds of the way up the first hallway in the time I’d spent on my half-baked plan. Why could men never just sit still when you tell them to? As he continued toward me without stopping, dragging himself like the undead, it struck me again that he was undead, which was why he needed blood in the first place.

He strained to say hoarsely, “You should not have done that. You must leave that and hide until the bleeding stops. My thirst is too great, I cannot control it!”

“But what if you need more?”

He commanded, voice gaining some strength with his urgency, “Even if I beg, you cannot allow me another drop beyond this! Promise me, Annabel!”

“Alright, alright, I promise! Feel better!” I hurriedly put the cup on the floor and sprang back to make my escape. To where, I had no idea, but I knew I’d be trapped for sure in the spa, so I needed to think hard about anything else I saw on the way that might help me.

“Slowly! You must walk slowly! If you run, I will chase you.” That was the last warning he could bring himself to give me before he dove for the goblet with both hands and raised it to his lips.

My stomach swooped as I took a hesitant step away from him this time. Not in disgust or fear, but sudden, extremely inconvenient arousal. Something about knowing he was drinking my blood like it was water from an oasis really did it for me, apparently. And the chasing thing could be very fun just on its own under the right circumstances. Fuck, the sounds he was making as he drank were the sinful love children of moans and snarls, and the way it echoed because of the shape of the goblet made it impossible for me to ignore. Jesus, Lord have mercy, I seriously needed to get it together.

I took another step, and his head snapped up, the seam and chalky cracks of his lips painted in red with my blood. His nostrils were flared and his eyes were alight again, not hollow in their darkness like before.

“Marcus?”

He licked his lips slowly, eyelids fluttering in ecstasy at the taste. “Say it again,” he pleaded there on the floor before me.

“What?” I breathed.

“Say my name,” he growled commandingly.

The hold he had on me, body and soul, was inescapable in that moment. My nipples and clit ached for his touch in nearly painful throbs in time with my racing pulse. I hadn’t felt like this since high school. This wasn’t the time or the place, though, much to my regret.

“Marcus, what happened to you?” He stood at a human pace, but I still took a step backward. He followed in an unsteady step after me, but fell hard to his knees. “Marcus!”

“There is no more sacred elixir in all the world than your finite life’s blood, and you chose to share it with me in a final act of kindness. It is an honor I will never forget, even after your warmth has long since left me. It may even be a new form of cruelty in its own right, allowing me a taste before we are separated forever. I can never untaste you now.”

“Stop it! Just, whatever you’re talking about, stop it right now! This isn’t helping! You need more blood, so you’ll get more, easy. Give me the cup.”

“You promised, not a drop more,” he groaned.

“You were half-dead a minute ago! You still can’t even stand! Give me the cup, Marcus!”

I didn’t have time to so much as gasp before he had me against the wall. When my gasp did catch up with me, he’d already untied the towel and was holding my arm up. It hadn’t quite stopped bleeding, and his cool lips wrapped around the wound. I winced, expecting it to hurt, but it felt more like he was giving me a hickey than draining me of my life force. His lips and tongue coaxed the blood from me gently, reverently. Watching him made my heart and my pussy seize at the same time. His eyes shot up to mine, his nostrils flared again, though his ministrations stayed steady and soft.

“I can taste how you want me,” he sighed against my skin.

“I’ll want you twice as much after a shower,” I tried. “But first, tell me what happened.”

“You have done more for me than I ever deserved.” He kissed the wound a final time before kissing his way up to my shoulder. When our eyes met again, he tied the towel back into place. “Go now, they will come for me shortly. I… I am too proud to let you see what is to come. Any sentence I can bear, but never your shame in me.”

“Marcus, whatever you think is about to happen, it’s not. I swear. If anybody comes for you, whatever that’s supposed to mean, they’ll have to go through me. We’re just gonna get you cleaned up and then figure it out from there. How far do you think you can walk?”

“I can walk anywhere you please, though slowly, and that very well may endanger you more.”

I wanted to love the way he was looking at me, but I hated it instead. It was too soft. Too wistful. He was trying to say goodbye without saying it, I could see it as clear as the day that was hidden behind the seemingly endless feet of thick velvet curtains across every window. I wasn’t about to get tangled up in them the way he was, so to speak. After losing Didyme and everything that must’ve followed, I could more than understand why he seemed hardwired to see only the darkest, most dire of circumstances… but nothing was over until it was over. No matter what he thought he would be facing all too soon, I wouldn’t let him just shoo me away when what he clearly needed most was help. An ally, if nothing else. We were mates now. My team was his team and vice versa, always, even if I didn’t understand the rules of the game we were playing just yet.

From the sound of it, he believed that he was going to be terrorized in some way beyond hope of recovery at any moment, and in my exceedingly humble estimation, that wasn’t to be fucking borne. I wasn’t going to let anything else happen to him. I wouldn’t leave him all alone. Scared. It didn’t suit him at all, this hulking bear of a man standing naked and frail in what was supposed to be his sanctuary. I simply wouldn’t stand another minute of it. I was an American, goddamn it, and I was the latest generation of many in my family who knew a thing or two about enemies, both foreign and domestic. Whether the ones coming for him were Volturi or from the turncoat covens Pierre warned me about, Marcus wouldn’t be alone with them. Not now, not ever again.

“Why do you blush, sweet Annabel? Now is a most cruel time to tempt me so.”

“I’m not blushing, I’m boiling. Who do you think’s coming? What happened to you, Marcus? Where in the hell have you been? And what’re you covered in?”

“Please, tesoro. We must use this time wisely. Those details will not matter in the end. What matters is that the gods saw fit to reunite us once more.” He bent to lay a kiss where my cleavage peaked out over my neckline, making me gasp at the contact. He laid another next to it over my heart, and began a trail toward my bleeding arm as he whispered, “You are already so queenly. If I am not in attendance at your coronation, know that I will always be proud of the sovereign you become.”

“Hey!” I took his face in my hands and lifted it to mine. The bond was nearly impossible to resist with all that sweet-talking, I won’t lie, but we needed to stay on track. We just had very different ideas of what that meant, and it was time for him to come around to my way of thinking. “You said you can walk, so time to start walking. I might’ve been a little too generous when I used the word shower earlier. I actually think you need to be hosed off outside first. You’ll clog the pipes with whatever the hell you got into.”

His brows rose in question. “Like a dog?”

I decided to chance a joke with a tentative half-smile, “Only if you shake off like one when we’re done.”

Leaning forward and forcing my back against the wall with his proximity, he whispered in my ear, “I would much rather make you shake.”

My hands left prints behind on both sides of his ribs where I shoved him. It was as if he hardly felt it, but he did step back to give me some space. “That’ll have to wait quite a while, normal soap won’t even put a dent in all this.” I rubbed my hands together uncomfortably, wondering in nauseated curiosity as to the origin of that grimy part-chalk-part-clay-part-god-knew-what-else substance. “We might actually need to wash you with dish soap and a scrub brush.”

“If that is how you wish to spend our remaining borrowed time, then I will offer no protest, so long as we are together.”

“You really need to quit talking like that. I simply don’t believe you.”

“You have lost your trust in me so soon?” He sounded more wounded than when he was still on the floor.

Frustrated, I snapped my fingers in front of his face and waved my hand before his eyes. It was rude, and I didn’t like doing it, but it did the trick and forced his attention. “Are you blind all of a sudden? Can’t you see how I feel about you?”

True tenderness came back to his face. Just seeing it let me breathe a little easier. “Of course I can.”

“Then you know I trust you. You can’t… God, you can’t always jump to the worst possible conclusion. All I’m saying is I think you’re wrong. Whatever’s going on or whatever happens next, it’s not the end. Not by a long shot. Now, quit saying it is. I mean it, I’ve had it.”

“Yes, tesoro. Whether this is our last day or simply another of many, I will not quarrel with you. My apologies. It is my greatest hope that you be right in this matter.”

I absolutely hated the defeat in his voice. I hated the state of him, feeling so wretched in mind and body that he was near giving up completely. I could feel the way he was clinging to my presence like a life preserver. It frightened me.

What’d happened to him? When did it happen? These details would determine who I’d be going apeshit on at some point in the next twenty-four hours. If it was Caius, I’d only be able to wait as long as it’d take to care for Marcus and get him back in shape enough to be left unattended without my stomach feeling sick in knots with worry for him. If it was Aro, he and I had a standing shopping date the next day. I’d have the perfect chance to corner him when we were alone. It’d be easier to stomach the nausea of my anxiety if I had a day to settle into the all too familiar feeling. Was it wise as a very breakable human to challenge the most powerful vampire to ever live in what would essentially be a one-on-one cage match? Probably not under normal circumstances, but these were anything but. Last night with Aro was such a whirlwind of emotions, good and bad, that the last thing I wanted was an encore with a very different ending than the first. But if I found out he knew about Marcus’ condition or had some part in it, I’d go utterly ballistic the moment I got my chance. I was getting too riled up even thinking about it— having to confront either of them over this at all was infuriating and nerve-wracking at once.

“Hope is useless without the willingness to act,” I answered more harshly than I meant to. “And right now, the thing to do is get you cleaned up.” I tried to hand him his thin silken robe to put on. “Sorry, but if we have as little time as you say, then we need to get going.”

“We will be seen.”

“I didn’t find anything but this. I can look again, though.”

“Your care for my modesty is most thoughtful, cara mia. However, I meant on the way.”

“Are there any secret passages around here?”

“Not close enough to be of any use.”

“What about a window?”

“They are sealed for security purposes.”

“The ones in my room aren’t,” I answered, brow furrowed in confusion.

“What are you talking about, Annabel?”

Oh, I did not like the way he changed all at once then. His voice was gravel and his eyes were onyx as they bit into me, chilling me to the bone. I thought of Aro, coming through my window with ease only hours ago, his eyes just as dark then. “Mine all open just fine. My bedroom window’s open right now.”

“WHAT?!” came the roar of Caius from behind a curtain far down the hall. He whipped it aside with a decisive swish to reveal himself, letting in a ray of light that glistened across his beautiful, irate face. My fright in response was immediate, and I accidentally dropped Marcus’ robe with a startled gasp. Marcus wasn’t fast enough yet to keep Caius from barreling through the distance between us. He had me in his arms and all the way at the other end of the corridor in a second flat, cornering me with his body against the wall. “This is true?!” he hissed.

“Yes!” I squeaked, unsure whether to push him away or pull him closer. The draw to him was as instantaneous as it was with Marcus.

“Then you have been in danger this entire time. This is sabotage! Keep your voice low, we must handle this delicately.”

I nodded silently in wide-eyed understanding, and in doing so caught a glimpse over Caius’ shoulder. Marcus was in a crouched defensive position, a guttural snarl tearing from his throat so loudly that it reverberated off the walls and bounced down the hall right to me. He wasn’t facing us, though. He was standing between us and Aro.

Apparently, Aro was speaking, but I only knew that because of Caius’ enraged response. “What do you mean, Caius? The question is, what have you done?” He spat over his shoulder lowly.

“Caius, my mother,” I gasped. She was a sitting duck and had no clue. Should I run and warn her? If I screamed for Demetri or Bernard, would they hear me and go to her? Or would that give away how vulnerable she was and make everything worse?

Aro was beside us then, bypassing Marcus with ease it seemed. He propped his elbow on the wall and his head on his fist, the very picture of casual relaxation. “You have nothing to fear, preziosa. Your dear mother is perfectly safe and has been this entire time.”

Marcus caught up to us then, the worst scowl I’d yet to see on him twisting his lovely features with fury. “Answer his first question, Caius. Answer for what you have done.”

“What you have both done is unconscionable, but that will all be dealt with in due time. Stop scaring our beloved, her heart beats with the wings of a hummingbird,” Aro chided them.

Caius put me down to face Aro in what certainly would’ve been a doozy of a tirade, but I stepped between them and rounded on Caius first, putting him in the corner instead. “Where the fuck have you been and what time did Aro find you and leave last night? I want exact times,” I demanded in a huffing rush. My heart did feel like a hummingbird somehow got trapped inside it. I could hardly catch my breath, first from worry and now from seething anger. His eyes flicked to his brothers for only the slightest second, but it was enough to make me burst, “Don’t you dare look at them for help when I only asked you two simple questions!”

He seemed to seize up at having been caught out, and to see how vampires did it was unnerving. He went stock still, not a single twitch of a muscle or flutter of an eyelid to be seen. It made me realize that they must’ve gone to great pains to regularly move in ways that were at least passing for mortals. But that didn’t quell me even one iota. I was about to give him an earful he’d never forget when he finally said, “I missed you. Not a moment has passed since we parted that I have stopped thinking of you. You are magnificent to behold when you are cross.” He lifted his hand to brush his fingers against my flushed cheek, but I batted him away with a scowl. At that, he threw his head back and laughed like I’d never heard from him before. “My apologies for my absence, darling. Settling matters took longer than expected and I required time to recuperate. As for Aro, I cannot seem to recall what time he arrived and left last night.”

“Oh, don’t give me that hot crock of horseshit,” I dismissed with a scoff. “Tell me now.”

“The exact time is uncertain; between the hours of one and three in the morning, Aro came and went,” Marcus answered much to my surprise.

I could feel my eyes narrowing in suspicion as I noted this new change of tactic. “Alright… and did you happen to look like this before, during, or after that point?”

“Before.”

“So, they left you this way?” I whispered in barely restrained, disbelieving rage.

“It was my choice.”

“I don’t believe that for a second.”

“You must understand the circumstances, tesoro. You see, Aro kept Caius from killing me.” I gasped, my hands shaking as they reached for him of their own accord. “He did not realize the extent of the damage at the time, and left me here upon my own request. It was even worse than I realized, though, which is why you found me in my current condition. I am sorry to have frightened you so, amore. You saved me.”

“No such thing took place last night!” Caius hissed. “Heidi can be called as my witness! She spent the night bringing meals to my wing.”

“Tsk, tsk, Caius,” tutted Aro with a giggle. “Poor choice to cover your tracks by saying your true transgression was spending the entire evening unchaperoned with another woman. A trusted member of the Guard, and our resident seductress, no less. Was that meant to somehow be a better alternative to the truth? Do not give me that look, brother. You were there last night, we all were. You know well that you have gone too far this time. The evidence of your crimes speak irrefutable volumes. Please, do not insult our mate’s intelligence with such undignified excuses.”

“This undignified excuse for a lie is an even greater insult to our mate than any I could concoct! For shame, the both of you! You, Aro, for whatever you are playing at; and you, Marcus, for being such a sore bloody loser,” he spat viciously.

“Caius!” I cried in outrage. “That’s goddamn enough!”

“Ask Aro who unsealed your windows, then! He would not be nearly so desperate to pull the wool over your eyes if he were not trying to distract you from the real matters of import here!”

Turning to Aro, I squared my shoulders with a steadying breath. It did very little if anything at all to calm me. I glared into his glinting eyes and asked, “Who unsealed my windows?”

“’Twas I, beloved.”

“To spy on me?” My mind went to the last man who dared to spy on me. Did Aro know yet about what Caius did for me?

“Certainly not, you must know me better than that by now, la mia vita. It was to spy on Carlisle Cullen, an old friend of ours. Your rooms were once his while he stayed with us to study medicine. He founded our program to train more vampires in what you would call STEM today, which our dear Bernard is taking part in at this time per Dr. Cullen’s recommendation. It came to my attention that he was not abiding by our prescribed code of ethics during his studying and experimentation, and he lost my trust forevermore that day. I could not leave him to his own devices while he remained here, so the windows have been unsealed since his stay. I simply never had them resealed because I am quite certain the Guard is more than adequate to keep out cat burglars. Little did I know those very windows would be used to burgle cats instead!” He laughed heartily at his own joke. “Fate is most amusing at times like these, no?”

“No, actually,” Caius interjected with a sneer. “You have now committed the crime of knowingly endangering our mate. She is not yours, therefore you have no authority to take such liberties with her safety when she is already bonded not once, but twice over. You are hereby under arrest.”

“Then allow me the long-awaited pleasure to arrest you in turn for treason, and we shall see whose claim holds up in formal trials.”

“Tesoro, I tire already and they only make it worse. Please, take me away from them and do with me as you will. Caius has tortured me enough in body and spirit to last a lifetime. You are the only balm that can soothe me now.”

I wanted to cry for Marcus right then and there. My heart ached with a thud I knew they could all hear. “What did you do to him?” I asked Caius softly, raising my watery eyes to his.

“I merely ended the skirmish he began in the manner most befitting of him.”

“What. Did. You. Do?”

“He ripped his throat out,” Aro answered when Caius refused to. I went straight to Marcus and started looking for the wound I’d somehow missed under whatever was caking his skin. “You will not be able to see it, but we can. He did it with his teeth so that the venom would heal it quickly while leaving a scar behind. All of our kind will see it and know what occurred. Marcus has been, socially speaking, dethroned.” Caius’ smile at the final word was of pure malice and sick satisfaction. “However, the manner of which you speak, Caius, was a crime in and of itself. Therefore I regret to inform you that you are hereby charged with yet another count of treason.”

“I’m about to hereby break off my foot in both your asses!” I exploded, completely at my limit. “While you two chucklefucks have all the fun in the world arresting each other, I’m gonna actually help Marcus like you should’ve before I even got here! And don’t think I haven’t noticed you weren’t in the least bit surprised that I’m bleeding. You’ve been watching and taunting Marcus this whole time, haven’t you?”

“Quite the opposite, I would say,” countered Caius. “We were beginning to believe you somehow sensed us with how enticingly you have taunted us, as you say, at every turn since our arrival.”

“In that case, you both think entirely too highly of yourselves.” Their faces dropped simultaneously. It was the only satisfaction I could hope for out of the entire ordeal. “Marcus, do you need to lean on me?”

“No, dearest. I know even the mere sight of me must disgust you as I am; I would not make you suffer the indignity of this filth alongside me. Since it is already on your hands, though, would you hold mine?”

I went and picked up the thin silk robe I had dropped upon Caius’ appearance. I held it up high so that he could slip it on an arm at a time without having to move much in case it was laborious for him, then tied the matching belt in a neat bow. “Of course, handsome.”

His fingers threaded through mine in a tender caress, and with a last teary glare at Aro and Caius, I left the way I came, albeit slower for Marcus’ sake.

I wouldn’t find out until much later that I wasn’t the only one who looked back. Only a step behind me as I lead the way, he shot them a triumphant smirk over his shoulder, his eyes blazing with with the fires of renewed determination. They realized all too late that while yes, he lost a significant battle and there would be consequences for it, he was still winning the only war that really mattered to any of them.