To those who reviewed, thank you :)

For those who did not review… please let me know if you are still reading this by leaving one, because I can only be motivated to update every week if I am sure that this story is being read and people enjoy it.

Anyways, enjoy this chapter :)


Lilith's POV

The next few weeks continued in a pattern.

Renata visited me daily, bringing me my meals and keeping me company.

Aro visited every few days, and surprisingly, with each visit, my level of wariness slowly, slowly, began to diminish.

He would often come unannounced, preferring to catch me by surprise. However, it was only a surprise to me, because he never entered the room while I was eating or speaking with Renata, as if he knew that I was preoccupied at those times. As if he knew that I would not be able to refuse him.

Aro would escort me through the halls, and this had almost become custom. When he reached a place fit for his liking, we would sit, and each time he would give me a tip and example of how to control my gift.

Somehow, along the way… my initial hostility against him had faded. Though I still hated what he had done to me, I know longer hated him. The way he spoke to me now was less like how one would speak to a captive, and more like how one would speak to an equal.

He could tell that this made me more at ease, and continued to do so.

After several weeks of our routine, Aro stopped me one day while I was practicing my gift on a man who he called 'a guard' and said, "My dear, I have decided something."

I looked up at him. "Yes?"

"It is time that you know the capabilities and limits of my kind."

Before I could respond, Aro had thrown me over his shoulder, and ran so fast… I blinked and missed the change of scenery.


Aro's POV

I carried Lilith to the doors of the throne room, and set her down.

She stared at me with wide and frightened eyes as she tried to form words. "W-What the-… how…?"

"Remarkable strength, speed, and endurance are all wondrous benefits to this life," I told her calmly. "And you would experience these amazing capabilities as well, should you choose to become one of my kind."

Lilith paused, and then frowned. Shaking her head, she said, "Aro, I'm not going to-"

"-But of course," I interjected her, watching as she carefully decided that it was best not to speak, "this life is not all what is seems. While there are benefits, there are also negative aspects that have to be considered."

Before she could completely process what I had told her, I opened the doors to the throne room, and grabbed her by the arm firmly. The doors hit the inside walls with a bang, and I led Lilith inside.

I heard her gasp as she took in the scene.

The midday tour had arrived about 10 minutes ago, if I was judging correctly. Bodies, thankfully all facing away from Lilith, littered the floor. Small amounts of dark, appetizingly looking blood seeped through their bodies, though most of it had been drained by my brethren. The blood that had managed to escape pooled in small streams down the slightly tilted floor, and into the purposely placed drain in the center of the room.

Though most of the consumers had already left the room, Heidi was one who remained. She finished draining the blood from a middle aged man and dropped his lifeless body, smiling as she wiped remaining blood from her face with the back of her hand.

Caius sat on his throne, looking quite satisfied. Athenodora, who had not yet made it up the stairs to the platform in order to stand beside her husband, looked at Lilith worriedly.

Demetri and Alec had begun to remove the lifeless bodies from the room. Small stacks were upon their shoulders and they reached to pick up more. Jane observed a dead teenage girl, performing her usual habit of checking belongings to see if the humans had anything of interest to her in their possesion.

I noticed Marcus was absent. He has not fed for several days… I frowned.

Lilith let out a lifeless scream beside me. Her thoughts shifted from bewilderment, to pure horror, and then anger. Suddenly, her eyes rolled back into her head, and she went limp.

As I reached out and caught her, quickly pulling her frail frame into my arms, Caius snickered.

"She could not fathom it?" he teased.

Athenodora looked at him apprehensively, and it was clear she was torn between speaking up to scold him or staying quiet, as was expected of her.

Her choice was clear. I cannot blame her- she did not need to step out of her place so soon after the occurrence with Lilith. Caius would most likely never harm her, but I did not want to hear their bickering for the next few days over this trivial matter.

I turned, carrying Lilith, and headed towards her room at a normal human pace, in order to not shake her limp head too much.


Lilith became conscious after a minute or two.

She gazed up at me groggily, before recalling what had happened and what I had shown her that had made her lose consciousness. She gasped, and tried to escape my hold.

"Easy," I warned her. I set her down on her feet gently and only fully released my hold on her arms when I was assured that she stood on steady feet.

"What was that?" she demanded.

"That is a natural occurrence," I answered vaguely. "It is as natural to my kind as eating is to yours. The only difference is that we drink our nourishment."

Lilith shivered involuntarily. "Why did you show me that?"

I sighed dramatically. "Lilith, my dear… it has been several weeks, over a month, actually, since I brought you here, and I have heard nothing more from you concerning my offer. You should be grateful for that amount of time that I have left you in relative peace, because my patience and cooperation from my 'family' is growing thin. I cannot tell them what I have offered you until I am sure that you agree to and accept it. I am expecting a decision from you soon."

She frowned. "I… I don't know if I can decide something so vital in a short amount of time…"

I sighed again, but this time it was genuine. I pitied her. "I'm afraid I can only give you a little more time to decide."

She nodded understandingly, and her gaze fell to the floor.

"Though what I have shown you may be unappealing upon a glance, that is not the only thing that being an immortal entails. I had to show you that, because you had to understand the negative aspects. But, there are many benefits, and I wish for you to be able to see them," I tilted her head up with my fingers gently so that her blue eyes bore into my own, "because I truly do wish for you to choose to stay here, with me."

She looked away, and I dropped my fingers. "I am honored that you would ask this of me, but…"

"Look at it this way," I pleaded, "If you stay here, with me, after you have bore me a child," -Lilith gulped visibly, "I can make you my mate. Are you aware of how much power I have?"

She nodded slowly. "I feel as though I have a good understanding."

"If you become my mate, that power can be yours as well," I told her.

Lilith looked at me in the eyes again, with an entranced look in her eyes as she thought of what I had said.

"All this power that I possess could be used towards your advantage. You are human- do you not have people in your life that have wronged you? You could use immortality to achieve your revenge."

"I don't know," she hesitated. "It seems wrong to partake in something so evil."

"Than do not 'partake' in it- embrace it," I suggested to her. "You have been given a gift, my dear… why not use it?"

Lilith was quiet for several moments.

"I will be leaving tomorrow," I told her, "and I do not plan to be back for a couple days."

"Where are you going?" she asked, sounding frightened.

I shushed her softly. "I'm just going away on… business. You need not to worry- Athenodora and Renata will be in charge of you."

Lilith actually half-smiled, clearly grateful of whom I had chosen to watch over her.

"When I return," I continued, "I have a feeling that you will be able to make your decision."

She protested, but I interrupted, "Do you trust me, Lilith?"

Lilith sighed, and looked at me in the eyes, as if scanning for falseness. When she found none, she answered, "Yes."

I smiled slowly. I leaned forward, and lightly pressed a kiss to her forehead. She blushed, and tried to hide it, but I had come to know her very well, and spotted it. "Does that embarrass you?" I asked, slightly amused.

She shook her head. "No. It humbles me."

This girl knows exactly what to say, I praised.


Lilith's POV

Aro left the following morning, as he had announced.

Athenodora visited first, immediately apologizing for what I had seen. I shook off her apologies and told her that Aro had already spoken to me over the matter. Defeated, she dropped her concerns.

"Come," she suggested then, "Let us take a walk in the gardens."

"Gardens?" I asked.


Yes, gardens.

Though, it was evening, and the sun was set over the horizon, making it slightly difficult to visibly see, I noticed all types of flowers and plant life that grew peacefully in the garden. I had never seen such a display of natural beauty, and I was a bit overwhelmed.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Athenodora asked.

I nodded.

"Another girl, not unlike you, loved this garden, too," she mused.

"Was this 'another girl' you?"

"Actually, no," she confessed. "Though I do occasionally find peace out here, there was another who loved this garden more than I."

I noticed another figure in black across the garden. It was a man, with dark hair, and he was sitting on a bench, looking content and at peace.

"Her name was Didyme," Athenodora said quietly, as her own eyes followed my inquisitive gaze. "She was Aro's sister, and Marcus' wife."

I looked at the man, and my brows furrowed. Marcus… Marcus… one of Aro's brothers, the one who laughed as Caius and Athenodora danced?

"What happened to her?" I asked.

"She was murdered," Athenodora said quietly enough, but I was able to detect anger in her voice. "a long time ago, but the culprit has never been discovered. Poor Marcus has mourned her increasingly over time, and he has never been able to move on. It is growing near the anniversary of the day that Marcus learned of her death, and he has not been handling it well. He spends a lot of his time out here lately."

"Is that why he seems so… bored?"

"Yes."

I frowned slightly, feeling pity and sadness for Marcus. "I would have thought he would have gone with Aro on the business trip."

Athenodora shook his head. "Marcus has never liked dealing with business."

"I see," I commented.

"Well," she said then, "it is getting cold. We should go back inside. I would hate for you to grow ill under my watch."


After three days, Renata came into my room, in a rush.

"Aro has returned," she announced, "and he has brought someone, another human." She hesitated. "… and she looks like you."


If you are still reading this, please let me know by leaving a review!