"Aro is in the throne room with Caius and Marcus. Were they expecting you?" Alec asked, as he led me through a long corridor. There were so many turns and twists in this castle that I knew for sure that if Alec had not found me, I would have been lost for a long time. And would have probably been found by some less civilized vampire.

"No, they weren't expecting me," I replied. "I sort of came here to ask of a favour." His eyebrows raised in surprise. "A favour?"

"You'll hear when I tell them," I told him, as a curious expectant expression fell across his face. He laughed good naturedly, and we continued walking in silence. The Volturi were not at all how Edward had described them to be. At least Alec wasn't like that. He seemed nice, civilized and he was so...handsome.

I peeked sideways at his face, and felt a shudder run down my spine. I was used to being surrounded by beautiful people ever since I had met Edward and the Cullen's. I certainly knew how beautiful could be after looking at Rosalie, Tanya and Edward. They were beyond beautiful. And yet, here was someone who surpassed all of them in good looks. Whether all Volturi were especially gorgeous, or that was just Alec's super power, the longer that I looked at him, the harder my heart began to pound. He was still holding my hand gently in his as he guided me through the halls, and suddenly, the coolness suddenly felt hot, and every nerve was hyper aware of him.

I had always thought that Edward was beautiful in a unique way with his strange copper hair and golden eyes. He was chiselled and tall, and yet, here was Alec. He looked like a dark prince. A vampire prince.

With dishevelled brown hair that grazed his wide blood red eyes, he was tall and sculpted. Long black lashes fringed his eyes, and were so long that they brushed his cheek and left a shadow on his cheekbone every time that he looked down. And he had full red lips that looked so soft and inviting.

I blushed. This wasn't me. I never thought these kinds of thoughts about someone I didn't know. I only had them about Edward. Was it possible that I was falling for another vampire? One that obviously didn't care about me at all. He was simply being courteous because he couldn't kill me; I was a guest to his master. And what did it all matter anyway? I was going to die soon anyways.

"See something you like?" Alec said, smirking, still looking straight ahead. I snapped my head forwards too, and mentally punched myself for being such an idiot. Of course he would notice me looking at him. Vampires practically had eyes on the sides and backs of their heads. They missed nothing.

"Nothing I haven't seen before," I responded coolly, lying through my teeth. There was no way I could tell him that he looked like a modern version of Adonis. Maybe he was Adonis- it was possible that he was that old...

"Oh." Alec kept walking, and I wondered what he was thinking.

"What?" I asked. He looked at me, his vibrant red eyes looking like they were almost glowing embers. Hot, intense.

"Has anyone told you that you smell good? Like flowers..." I blushed and looked forward again. Why yes, someone had told me that. That's what got me into this vampire mess in the first place.

"You're a flower person then?" I teased masking the slight twinge of grief in my heart. "I'll remember that."

He stared at me for a couple moments, with a far away expression on his face. It seemed like he knew the castle from the back of his hands, seeing as he didn't need to pay attention to know where to go. Or whether he was going to crash into a wall or not.

"You're beautiful," he said unexpectedly. I whipped my face to look at him, my eyes wide with shock and surprise. Where had that come from?

He stopped walking, and turned my entire body to face him. He brought his hand up to caress my cheek. And then, he slowly brought his face down, inching down, down, down, until his lips reached touched down at my neck. I had a feeling he was just smelling the blood that he couldn't drink. Enjoying the bouquet while resisting the wine, was that how Edward had put it?

"But then again, so am I." He murmured, before bringing his face up again. His lips were only inches from mine, and his eyes felt like they were burning through mine. Being so close to him was intoxicating.

"We're here," he whispered.