I had somehow managed to fall asleep on the floor. When my eyes opened, I glanced around the room, but my eyes paused when they noticed a sleek, black dress shoe. I was surprised, however, that the person I was expecting to see as my eyes made their way to the face of the shoe's owner was not the one sitting in the chair next to the bed. I sat up. Where was Aro?

"I was beginning to wonder if I'd have to kick you awake," Caius smirked at me, a playful ruse appearing on his features.

Pulling my knees into my chest, I leaned back against the side of the bed. "Did Aro send you to punish me?"

He chuckled. "Silly girl. Aro doesn't need me to punish you for him. He's well capable of punishing you himself if he so chose. Luckily for you, I'm only here to babysit while Aro and Demetri are both away."

"Oh." I bit my lip and turned to gaze at the bedroom door before looking back up at Caius. "Where did they go?"

"They're out with that bastard son of Aro's wife," he sneered.

"Yevgeni?"

"Who else?"

My toes curled, and I finally decided to stand and make my way to sitting on the bed rather than the floor. There was something about being on the ground next to Caius that made me a bit uncomfortable. Strangely enough, the bed felt safer, and I couldn't say why.

I crossed my legs and then hugged my arms around my waist. Curiosity was getting the better of me, and honestly, I had already upset Aro apparently. How much deeper could I dig the hole? "Does it just make you mad that he used his ability on you, or is it something else?"

"His gift is a nuisance." He narrowed his eyes and then scoffed. "As if that boy means anything to me."

"He doesn't look much older than I am. By appearance, I mean."

"He's not." Caius stood then and unexpectedly, sat next to me on the bed. He took my hands in one of his, and I blinked, watching his actions. "You seem to have quite a temper of your own. I believe I had a glimpse of it myself earlier." I stayed quiet, but Caius told me to look at him. I did. "Never do something so foolish again."

Caius would never say thank you or that he was grateful, and for all I knew, he wasn't. He probably didn't like a human sticking up for him. He seemed to despise them so well. Even still, there was something about the way he had said the word foolish that had amusement behind it. I offered a small smile and nodded, Caius narrowing his eyes but not commenting.

"Aro said that temper of yours came out earlier after you and Demetri returned. You didn't even finish your meal. How disappointing. Aro does hate to be wasteful."

So Aro had said something about me sort of going off on him. I wondered if he would be angry when he came back. Did he still plan on hurting me for it? "I didn't mean to yell at him. I don't know why I did." I swallowed, pausing for a minute, waiting for Caius to say something, but he never did. Sighing, I continued, "I guess I was just angry at everyone always staring at me and treating me like I'm either some zoo animal or nothing at all."

I felt Caius lean toward me, his breath cool on my neck as he whispered into my ear. "But you're human. You are nothing," he lifted up and then said louder and more plainly, "besides some sort of plaything or pet to my brother."

His words did hurt, but at the same time, coming from Caius, the truth was welcomed and appreciated. He had never tried to lie to me, not once, at least not that I knew of. He said I couldn't trust him, but funnily enough, I wondered if I trusted him even more than I trusted Aro. Aro wouldn't like that, but he probably already knew, considering he could read my mind.

Caius suddenly released my hands and stood, gliding over to the door. The door opened just as quickly, and Aro stood there, his eyes a bright red, and I realized that his trip away with Demetri and Yevgeni must have been a hunting trip since feeding in the city wasn't allowed. Was it dark outside already?

"Thank you for watching after her, brother," Aro said with a smile as he took Caius's hand. Caius nodded then left after Aro released him. I turned away. "Little one, we should discuss what happened earlier."

"You already know. You saw what I told Caius," I replied softly.

"Even so, it is something we should discuss together, not second hand."

Aro hadn't moved from the door, and I glanced over at him, meeting his eyes. He held out his hand as I did so, but I didn't get up to take it. Instead, I sat where I was, sort of beckoning or perhaps demanding even that he come to me. Or maybe I didn't feel like moving. "I'm sorry for yelling at you."

Aro dropped his hand with a sigh before coming over to the bed and sitting down exactly where Caius had been seated moments before. "As I told you before I left, I never asked for an apology. Apologies get us nowhere. Never regret your decisions, my dear. You make them, and then you live with the consequences of those decisions, or perhaps you die. Either way, you accept it without complaint and without remorse, though reparations may be welcomed."

"Reparations?"

"Making right one's wrongs," Aro defined for me. "Words are empty. Action shows a willingness to change and do better the next time, to not make the same mistake twice."

He was threatening me, and I picked up on it quickly. I nodded. "So, you want something?"

"I always want something." Aro chuckled as he grabbed my chin and held my eyes. "Tomorrow night, you will come with me."

Come with him where? He hadn't let go of my face, and whether he meant it to or not, his grip was hurting my jaw. "Okay," I blurted out almost inaudibly, but with his vampire hearing, he heard me fine.

Aro finally released me, and I rubbed my right jaw where he had been gripping so tightly with his thumb. "Did you enjoy your time with Caius?"

"I slept through most of it, and then we just talked."

He hummed. It was quiet for a minute as Aro took to his feet and moved to the footboard of the bed. He was thinking, maybe going over in his head what he had seen from Caius or something else entirely. I might have been easy for him to read, but Aro was nearly impossible unless he was fascinated by something. Even then, I wasn't always sure if it was a real fascination or if he was merely acting for the benefit of others or because he was slightly insane after living for over three thousand years. It could have been a bit of both.

He pulled me from my thoughts again as he spoke, appearing in front of me like out of thin air. Though I knew about vampire speed, it still made me jump. "Do you think I should punish you, Ariana?"

"What?"

"Do you think you deserve punishment for earlier?"

I shrugged. "I don't know."

Aro laughed as he then left the room, and I stared at the door as it shut behind him. My heart was pounding. What the hell was that?

A/N: I know this is a bit shorter this week, 1300 words rather than my 2k average on this one, but y'all, I'm struggling. 96.75 hours of my week is taken up by one of my three jobs, my volunteer work, and my internship. Let's not even discuss how I have papers due every week for grad school and tons and tons of reading. I'm not meaning to complain. I'm just tired and stressed. Either way, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and that you forgive me for the shortness and the late in the day posting. Love you all. Leave me some reviews! See you on Friday for the last chapter of Finding You, if you're reading that, or next Monday for the next update of NPftL.