Aro's words had haunted me for the past couple of days. What did he mean there would be no fight left in me at all? It was still part of his game. I knew it was, and I hated not knowing all of the rules. But that, too, was part of his game. Aro wanted me on edge. He wanted me to be driven crazy by it now that I knew he had plans for me, more than just studying my mind, and it was working.

For the next two days, Aro had been busy as usual. I had not seen any more of Caius, though Yevgeni had paid a few visits to Aro's quarters while he was away. Much like Caius, Yevgeni seemed to enjoy artistic endeavors. Not only was he fond of magic tricks, but he liked painting illusions. He brought up supplies one day and painted one for me to see. It was cool. It looked like the painting was moving.

As much as Caius despised him, I had learned that it was Caius that had taught Yevgeni painting techniques in the first place. Something had apparently gone on between the two of them years ago, but I wasn't going to ask about what it was. That was like signing my own death sentence. I doubt they would tell me anyway.

Aro didn't appear to mind that Yevgeni had spent time with me the past couple of days. The strange sensation surrounding him never left, which kept me on edge, but he had also not given me any reason to be afraid of him necessarily. That is if we took out the part that he reminded me very much of Caius in many ways and was also a vampire that I had recently just met.

So far today, I had started off with being watched by Demetri, and at some point, Yevgeni had shown up again and taken over. I had been viewing more math videos on the laptop, new assignments that Aro wanted me to keep up, when Yevgeni dismissed Demetri and sat down next to me on the sofa. "What is it that Aro sees in you anyway?"

Yevgeni's question came so suddenly that I was stunned. "What?"

"It's just amazing that you're still alive and that he gives you toys to play with. He's teaching you, which is absurd. Before, he would simply take the one he wanted, lock them up in some room, and feed on them whenever he liked. There would be games, yes, but nothing like this."

Before I realized what was happening, Yevgeni had taken the laptop from me and then put his hand around my throat. He didn't squeeze. I could breathe just fine, but the fact that his hand was there at all sent my heart racing. I didn't move, just sat there staring at him trying to figure out what game he was now playing.

"Aro was right. You are quite interesting for a human. I suppose I can see his infatuation. You don't cower." Yevgeni released me, and I let out a breath I hadn't realized I kept held.

I pulled up my bare feet to the sofa, wrapping my arms around my legs. "I've been through worse."

Yevgeni stood, and I watched as he went to the shelves of books along Aro's wall and scanned the titles. He finally pulled one out and took it to Aro's desk, where he sat down behind it and flipped through the pages of the book. He sighed as he closed it and dropped it onto the desk before leaning back in the chair and studying me.

Our eyes met, and I felt a surge of frustration boil up within me. Everyone kept watching me, and I had no idea what the hell they wanted. "Why do you keep coming in here and telling Chelsea and Demetri to leave?"

"You want the honest answer?" Yevgeni asked, and I shrugged as if to say that it was silly to even ask that question. "Much like you, Aro has me trapped in this building. I'm under constant watch and can't go anywhere without being followed. Even now, the witch twins are outside the door."

I glanced over at the door that led to the corridor and frowned. It had been a while since I had seen Jane and Alec, not that I wasn't happy about that. Alec was okay, strangely enough, but Jane despised me for whatever reason. I turned back to Yevgeni. "I'm sure he has his reasons."

The door to Aro's study suddenly slammed open, and I was amazed that it didn't splinter off the hinges at how loud it hit the wall behind it. Whatever they had used to build the door made it quite sturdy. Caius entered the room and growled. "Get out!"

Yevgeni scoffed as he came around to the front of Aro's desk and leaned against it. "In all fairness, I was here first."

Caius took a step forward, and I could tell that he was seething, leaving me feeling like whatever Caius had initially planned to come in here for would definitely change once Yevgeni was gone. "Leave before I decide to kill you now, despite what Aro believes about you."

"I'd like to see you try," Yevgeni challenged.

The older vampire moved quickly, but so did the younger. Yevgeni snapped his fingers, and Caius went still. I looked back and forth between them. Caius told me that Yevgeni had a gift. He called it sedation. Was that what Yevgeni had just done to Caius? Was that why Caius wasn't moving. "What did you do?"

Yevgeni smirked. "Nothing that will hurt him. Maybe his pride a little."

I wasn't sure what to do, but I did know that I had already been angry, and now I felt it even more. Out of everyone here, Caius had been the most honest with me. Even more than Aro. Though Caius wouldn't tell me himself about Aro's plans, he was the only one who understood me, and I wasn't going to let Yevgeni put him down. A silly idea really for me to think that what I said even mattered, but all I felt was blazing heat coursing through my bones.

I got up from the sofa and went to stand in front of Yevgeni. "Stop it."

His smirk only widened. "Do you really think that you, a human, could truly stand up to a vampire? Risky and so cute." Yevgeni reached out and held my face in his hand. "I could break you, little girl, slowly, so you felt every single one of your bones snap."

Though his threat did actually terrify me, some part of my mind still firmly believed that as long as Aro wanted me alive, no one would hurt me. I didn't budge. "Let him go."

Yevgeni snapped his fingers again, and the second he did and Caius could move, Yevgeni's head was swiped clean off of his body. I was mortified and quickly stepped back, falling right into Caius, who wrapped one of his arms around me. It took me a minute to process that Caius had just ripped off Yevgeni's head, and the body fell to the ground, his head rolling next to it.

I could barely get the words out. I felt like I was going to be sick. "Why did you do that?"

"He deserved it."

"But you just…"

"He'll be fine." Caius grabbed my arm and began to pull me out of the room. When we stepped out the door, I saw Jane and Alec standing there, Alec looking away like he had seen it plenty of times and Jane staring inside at Yevgeni's decapitated body like it was some sort of thrill for her. "Though, I suppose Aro did want him to attend. A pity." He turned to the twins. "Reattach him, then tell him he's needed in the council chambers."

Caius dragged me down the hall, leaving the twins to do whatever they were planning on doing to somehow reattach Yevgeni's head. I supposed vampires were immortal after all, so maybe it wasn't that big of a deal to be decapitated. Either way, I didn't imagine it would be a pleasant experience. Still, Caius had done it so quickly. My eyes didn't even register what had happened until after Yevgeni's head was on the floor.

My mind was frozen on what I had just witnessed. I was in between the present and some other dissociative state. I didn't want to try pulling myself back. Caius had done that. Right in front of me like it was nothing at all. He killed him without thought. He just reached up, and Yevgeni's head was gone. It was so easy for him.

Even when Caius dropped me roughly to the marble floor in what I assumed was the council chambers, I didn't move. I heard the footsteps come toward me, and then a voice I didn't recognize. "Is she all right?"

"I imagine she's never seen someone decapitated before," I heard Caius reply before he unceremoniously tapped my leg with his shoe, probably trying to bring my attention back into the room. It was here, but it was also still there.

"Brother, what was the cause this time? This dispute between you and Yevgeni needs to end." I heard Aro sigh, and then he knelt down next to me. "Little one, Eleazar is here, and I know he is very excited to meet you. Why don't you stand up and greet him?"

I nodded, slowly registering what Aro wanted when he held out his hand for me to take. I did, and he helped me stand. The vampire, whom I assumed to be Eleazar, had a female vampire standing next to him, and though she had a soft smile on her face, her eyes told a different story. I had seen that look before, the look of pity.

"Ariana, this is Eleazar and his mate, Carmen," Aro told me, introducing us. Eleazar hid his emotions more carefully, or else he didn't really care, as his expression showed next to nothing that I could actually read. "I suspect she may have a particular gift, and I was hoping you could give me more insight into what it might be," Aro continued.

"Of course." Eleazar moved toward me, and although my first instinct was to take a step back, Aro held me in place. The new vampire with golden eyes reached up and touched my face. His hands, like all the others, were ice, and I jerked away unintentionally. "My apologies. It's easier to read humans through touch."

Aro squeezed my shoulders gently. "Hold still, my dear."

It didn't take long for Eleazar to find whatever he was searching for, and he gratefully removed his hands. "You are correct. She has a gift, though I can't say how much use it will be to you. She has the ability to see into the past."

I turned my head slightly, so I could glance up at Aro. He was deep in thought for a moment, but not long after, a wide grin appeared on his lips. "That gift will be very useful to me, Eleazar. Thank you."

The doors to the council chambers opened, and I didn't need to look to know who had entered the room. Caius's snarl was loud enough for all of us. Yevgeni, head back on his shoulders like nothing at all had happened, sauntered over to where we were standing and winked at me like we shared some sort of crazy secret.

"Yevgeni, you remember Eleazar," Aro began, and Yevgeni sneered. "I was hoping he might be able to explain why I can no longer read your thoughts or see your memories as I once used to. It is unheard of, but perhaps something has changed, which has allowed you to unknowingly shield yourself from mental abilities."

"Demetri found me easily enough," Yevgeni remarked.

Eleazar's eyes had narrowed, and I knew he was using his gift on Yevgeni. "This is very strange," Eleazar said, his eyes showing even deeper concentration to the point they were almost closed. "I've never seen anything like this before."

"What is it?" Aro sounded as intrigued as I was. I still hadn't fully processed the fact that Yevgeni was alive and standing in front of me, let alone that I apparently did have a gift that was somehow useful to Aro, but now Eleazar saw something strange within Yevgeni. In many ways, it made everything that was happening seem so unreal, like a very, long dream.

"There is another gift at work here." Eleazar finally stopped using his own gift on Yevgeni, and the second he did, it was as if exhaustion hit him full on. He stumbled back, and Carmen put her arms around him to help steady him. "I do not know how to describe it, except to say that another gift that does not belong to him has been implanted inside of him."

Caius now appeared next to Aro. "How is that possible?"

"I don't know," was Eleazar's only reply.

"The black bond is connected." I turned my head to gaze over at the chairs, in reality, probably thrones, across the room. I hadn't even realized that Marcus was present. He had been silent the entire time until now. He joined us in the center of the room and touched his hand to Aro's, who quietly nodded. "I noticed the change in his bonds after he arrived. It can also not be explained. Amun could neither give us an answer."

Yevgeni stepped back and went to lean against the wall, and I studied him. He seemed just as shocked and confused as everyone else. Whatever was going on, though, had nothing to do with me, and all I wanted to do was get out of there. I placed my hand on Aro's, and once hearing my thought, he released me. "Demetri can take you back. He's outside the door."

I nodded and quickly left, opening the door to find Demetri exactly where Aro said he would be. Once the door was closed, I glanced up at him. "Can we get some fresh air?"

He paused for a moment, maybe to think, but then shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

A/N: So what is going on with Yevgeni? It's still a bit of a mystery, but more has been revealed. Ari also has a gift! I do wonder, however, how it might be useful to Aro. He's always wanted someone who could see into the future, not the past. Curiouser and curiouser. Thanks for reading! Please review!