Arlen clutched a warm mug of tea in her hands as she stared out her window.

A cold rainstorm hovered over Vancouver with thick clouds covering the sun as wind wended through the wintergreens and pines in her backyard. She huddled under her black track jacket as she went over the nightmare she had last night where the Volturi Kings stood at her door, asking for entrance as if her doors wouldn't crumble from one good vampire-powered kick. A plate of sashimi and sushi sat on her island as she lounged around, snacking, and her bare legs swung beneath the marble counter. Due to the winter weather outside, her heater was on and it was a little too warm in her house for comfort considering she hated being overheated but Vince had forced her to turn it on.

The doorbell rang and she blinked, setting down her mug and chopsticks.

The last time that happened two of the Volturi guards dragged her all the way to Italy. She flipped open the kitchen' security panel and turned on the feed to find the exact same view of what she had seen in her dream. Clearly, she couldn't run away considering they were vampires who moved at undefinable speeds and she doubted Vince went somewhere with a signal but she shot him a text message anyway, hoping he'd get it if they kidnapped her.

Well, she could still try.

She slipped up the stairs, running as quietly as possible, just as her door opened. There was the slightest sound of cracking wood, and her eyes widened, panic taking hold. Arlen sprinted, barely up the first flight.

A hand grasped her shoulder and she stared at Demetri's strained, charming smile.

"Why is it always you?" she gritted out.

"Apologies, my Queen, but my masters wish to speak with you."

"Queen? You know what, that doesn't matter. What are they planning on doing? Break my legs this time to prevent me from escaping so they can interrogate me like last time?" she asked.

"They will not harm you."

"Really now? We've resorted to lying? I have a cut cast and x-rays to prove you wrong. Or did they not count it since it wasn't done by their own hand? People who play politics usually don't count their orders as things they've done. Yes, I do know they can hear me, stop looking at me like that."

He guided her back down her stairs leading towards her living room and she didn't bother fighting him once she managed to calm her fight or flight instincts. There really was no point even if she had tried to run. The Volturi Kings and their guard sat on her sectional but she didn't bother crossing the threshold, leaning against a pillar at the entrance with Demetri guarding her back and preventing her from attempting to run again. They all made an unearthly beautiful picture, sitting in her living room. Their pale skin, red eyes, flawless features, and too symmetrical faces terrified her to unimaginable degrees but she bit her tongue and crossed her arm.

"You did agree to speak with us if we returned in twelve hours, cara mia," Aro said mildly.

"I was sleep deprived and unable to think clearly, if you couldn't tell. I would've told you to leave and not come back then if I knew you'd listen to me."

When Caius stood, she backed up and sidestepped Demetri's stiff form.

Aro raised his hands with a slight smile. His bespoke suit fit his toned and lean body like a glove, spotless and unwrinkled in the slightest. "I see we still frighten you. We apologize, but we are not here to harm you, cara. There is much to discuss as you left before we could truly begin last we met."

"So, you chased me across the world and then followed me across an entire ocean and forced your way into my house despite not being invited."

"The old myth of vampires needing invitations into one's home is false, amore mio," Caius said.

"I can tell. I'm not stupid." She smiled icily and decided to push her luck with their patience for their civilized, non-punitive ruse. "I wasn't talking about the vampire myth. I was talking about the basic manners of asking for someone's consent to enter their home out of good manners and respect for their person. I didn't invite you in so I don't appreciate your presence here but I guess I don't have a choice since I can't physically throw you out."

Caius look struck, cut quick to the bone. His clothes hid his much bulkier frame corded with muscle and banked violence, everything about him screamed predatory. Hunter, fighter, soldier, and gladiator from the stories she heard about him. He embodied carnivorous except a hint of dejection flickered across his face for mere moments.

"We apologize for how we entered your home," Marcus intervened, his low voice soothing, free of the rasp he had back in Volterra. He was tall, slender, and graceful; his movements swaying like bamboo giving to wind only to snap back into place. "But there is an unsolved quandary we must address before we leave."

"I live in Canada so I'm assuming it's not my medical bill." Arlen's gaze shifted between them and their guard. "Cut to the chase, why are you here?"

Caius snapped something she couldn't hear and their guards disappeared from view in a whirlwind of black and red cloaks.

"Oh, good. They're gone," she commented. "You can just break my bones yourself this time."

Caius flinched. "It was a mistake, amore."

"Uh-huh." Like that admissions was going to stop her from holding it against them. She didn't owe them anything and her wrist couldn't just unbreak itself immediately after the 'mistake'. "Well?"

"What do you know of mates, fiore?" Marcus asked.

"...like the definition of the word or the slang used in the United Kingdom?" she asked, unimpressed. "And is there a reason why you're referring to me with pet names instead of my given one or did you not bother to remember it?"

"Sit, lovely Arlen," he said. "This is not news you will want to hear while standing so far away."

She smiled sharply. "I'm fine here."

"Then I will be blunt. You are our mate, Arlen Lau." Caius stared at her intensely. "The other half of our souls. We were created by the gods for each other."

Aro smiled thinly at his brother and muttered something.

Arlen stared at them, eyes sharp and narrowed. One girl for three kings? The math didn't add up on that one and there were several things wrong with what was being said.

"Sorry but I don't believe you. There's no such thing as soulmates and you should know I'm an atheist so your explanation also doesn't sway me," she said firmly. "That's some premium bullshit you're trying to sell me and I'm not buying it."

Their brows furrowed before they pieced together the implications of her words.

"Fiore, it is pertinent you hear what we must say to you. We have searched six months for even a trail of your scent."

"Sweet Arlen, we are not here to trick you."

"I really don't have to listen to you or believe what you're saying," she said.

The Kings exchanged glances with each other. Aro clasped his hands together and whispered something lowly and they discussed things at breakneck speed, enough that her eyes didn't know where to look and her ears couldn't even catch the slightest pronunciation of their words. If they were smart, they'd even discuss things in a language dead long before she even was a concept on the Earth.

"Perhaps a discussion was not needed at all. We can take you back to Volterra without your agreement," Caius hissed.

"I'm sure you can," she fired back, heartbeat wild in her chest. "And I'll make sure I'm dead before we even get there."

If they forcibly took her to Volterra, she didn't know how she would escape without letting Vince know where they took her and she'd sooner die than let them imprison her. She only had so many resources before she ran out and Jiang wasn't even back with her emergency exit plans. She had nothing in clutch and in truth, she would die before she let them get whatever they wanted from her. God, what the fuck did they even want from her? Her hands trembled despite her arms being crossed and she swallowed harshly, eyes tracing their every movement for a hint they might follow through on the threat Caius issued.

Marcus' eyes flickered before he touched Aro's hand and whispered something beneath his breath to Caius who's red eyes shifted away from her, expression pinched. Almost regretful.

"Do not say something you will regret, brother," Aro said. "We shall listen to our dear Arlen and wait until we are invited into her home once more on one condition."

"Condition?" she echoed.

"That you will remain here, in Vancouver, where we can find you so that we may speak to you again."

She met their milk-glossed stares and leaned away from them. "Maybe."

They nodded, as if that was good enough, and they walked by her through the front door with all the grace and elegance typical of old vampires but Aro lingered and grasped her hand, brushing a kiss against the back, before he disappeared with the other Kings into the evening. She closed the door behind them, breathing in sharply, and clutched her hand to her chest.

Were they really gone or were they waiting around until she let down her guard to kidnap her? Her terrible human vision could only do so much in the dark and she didn't know what they wanted with her, but Aro's habit of collecting powerful vampires put Vince in danger and he was due to come back soon. The entire soulmates idea they pitched to her? A delusion or a lie they cooked up in crazy-town kitchen in a plot to convince her to abide by... whatever they had in plan for her. She didn't know who they thought she was but the enchantment of vampires only went so far on a human after said human spent most of her time around them. Similar to exposure therapy. The knowledge of what she did settled on her and she blinked, fingers trembling. She kicked out the Kings of the vampire world after she ripped them a new one for breaking into her house.

She stared at the crack in her wooden door stemming from the handle.

They also broke her fucking door and the metal locks.

She should've said something about that too.

Vince reappeared in her foyer, removing his shoes and a bag holding his dirty clothes from hunting.

He tensed as he took in the new scents. Woodsy and citrusy, like the one Volturi guard, and a heavy musky, almost coffee-like scent which belonged to the other, giant Voltui guard, but there were other unfamiliar ones, but they all screamed vampire. There was always the undercurrent of inedible compared to the scents of humans and the mildly lighter scent of animals. Their scent being in the house meant that they came for Arlen and if they took her and hurt her, he swore to every god to exist, he'd kill them all.

Arlen's soft, comforting flowery trail was still strong in the house, though, and he heard her voice, clear like a windchime, and he sighed in relief.

Maybe they were simply scouting.

She still had to know they were here.

He walked in towards the kitchen where she sat at the island where she clearly abandoned her lunch and a mug of tea.

"I originally had the plain steel-reinforced doors with several locking mechanisms but I'd like a new double door installation for the front and back with the highest possible security possible. The bulletproof one—no, money is really not an issue and would you be available tomorrow?" She spotted him at the corner of her eye and tilted her head at the sofa in the living room. "Yes. My addess is—oh you found my file? Yes, it's the same address as before. Alright, thank you. I'll definitely have someone home to watch over the process and may you please bring the invoice with you? Thank you, much appreciated."

"The Volturi are back," he said once she hung up the phone.

"Yeah, I know," she said dryly. "Considering they broke in while I was in here and made me talk to them."

"But they didn't take you?"

"No, they fed me some bullshit and I basically told them to fuck off...and they surprisingly did?"

"What did they want from you?"

She went quiet, contemplative. "For once, I don't really know."

That wasn't reassuring at all.

Marcus stared out the window of the newest addition to a list of their residences across the world.

Aro had acquired it in a rather short timeframe but offering a few million dollars over the asking price usually had people bowing at their feet and asking very few questions. It was a Tudor-revival style home with an emphasis on warm woods, red tones, and gold accents, all accompanied by soft, buttery leather furniture. An old home built in the early 1900s and kept far from the public eye with tall hedges, a brick wall, a wall of trees, and a thick metal gate. His brother had chosen it, citing how it suited their tastes perfectly, while underlining that it was a short drive to their lovely mate's home and an even shorter run if they wished. They lounged in a sitting room as their guard hunted, leaving only Demetri behind with them as he had fed first. The tufted red leather armchairs and loveseats were close to an iron fireplace and surrounded by walnut bookshelves carved into the walls, and there was a large window-view of their back garden of trees, drenched by the rain.

He wondered if their mate's preference for home skewed only towards the contemporary and modern styling of her own home or if she was more diverse in her tastes.

Hopefully they would receive the opportunity to find out.

Aro mused on the possible ways to convince their mate to listen to them without damaging their already tenuous bond strained by the distance, distrust, and harm they already caused her. As for Caius...

If it were possible for someone to read angrily, Caius accomplished it as he flipped through a leather-bound edition of War and Peace in the original Russian with a heavy scowl on his face, eyes fiery. The last time he had seen something anger his brother so was when a nomad threatened Athenodora during a trial where they executed their mate. He had taken great pleasure in the slow death but now there was nothing to soothe his rage or give him comfort especially when the only one capable had sent them away from her home.

"None of that is of consequences if she'd sooner kill herself than return to Volterra with us." Caius set down the book on the coffee table, somehow managing not to damage the furniture in his anger.

Marcus sighed and set down the book he clearly wasn't reading. The topic of their mate's clear dislike of them wasn't avoidable when their purpose in the Americas was to retrieve her and make her return their connection.

"It was foolish of you to threaten her so, brother," Aro chided. "It achieved nothing but potentially hurting our chances persuading her."

"You think I do not know that? As it is, we do not have time to remain here and we have lost progress."

"Perhaps not," Marcus said. "There is a chance for us to grow the bond if we act with care and appeal to her."

Aro's gaze slid away from Caius to him and sparked with interest. "And do you have a suggestion, Marcus?"

Marcus held out his hand and Aro's palm met his, slim fingers flexing.

"Oh, yes, that may work," he breathed.

"Well?" Caius snapped. "Share your revelations."

"A man must always appeal to a woman's better nature in place of arguing with her, brother," Marcus said solemnly. "How did you appeal to Athenodora when you angered her?"

The next morning, an urgent email appeared on her phone.

Arlen woke up to it, blurry-eyed and unhappy with the possibility of another thing coming up in her life. She ran her fingers through her hair as she read the email and she planted her face into the pillow. Unfortunately, she couldn't just go back to sleep and ignore something like this. Not when they've basically screamed emergency within the contents. She ran through her morning routine before she packed her tote with the essentials, the burner, a shitty laptop, and an old book she had already read, full of notes and tabs. Considering it was so rainy out, she deigned to dress in all-black and kept her hair in it's natural loose waves.

She tugged on her ankle boots at the door before Vince dropped his arm around her shoulders, anchoring her down.

"Where are you going?"

"The library," she said. "Because someone got in trouble and I need to fix it. Don't worry. You don't know them."

"Arlen, I don't know if you remember this, but there are actual vampires who are looking for you."

"If they had wanted to take me yesterday, they could've easily snatched me before you even came home." She paused at the door and stared at the giant moving truck in front of her home before she remembered what she had done yesterday after her lunch. "Well, they're early."

"It's probably because you're ready to write them a check with five fat figures for some doors."

"I have to go." She kissed his cheek as she walked out the broken front door. "Please stay here and keep an eye on them?"

"Yeah, yeah. You brought your umbrella?"

"I've lived here for eight years, Vince. Yes, I brought my umbrella."

Arlen walked down towards the moving truck towards a man giving instructions and she waited for him to finish before approaching with a polite smile.

"Good morning, thank you for coming so early." She shook his outstretched, calloused hand.

"Good morning, Ms. Lau," he said, bright blue eyes trained on her. Strands of his messy brown curls fell into his face from underneath his hat. "I'm Jared McKinney. My team is here to install your new doors. We heard that there was an attempted robbery? I'm sorry if you got spooked but we'll do our best to make it safe again. Oh, and here's the invoice your requested."

"Thanks for everything and bringing the invoice," she said and glanced at Vince. "I'll be headed out since I have important work to do and can't stand the noise but he'll be overseeing the construction. If you need anything at all, you can just ask him."

"Of course. Have a good day, Miss."

Arlen sent Vince once last wave before she got into her Lexus and drove off towards downtown Vancouver. Perhaps she'd get the emergency request for her help and her inevitable confrontation with the Volturi Kings out of the way. Two birds, one stone, and all. They wouldn't fly all the way across an ocean just to leave her alone at her request. They'd find her, that was a surety, but she didn't know when and she'd prefer if Vince wasn't around for them to incapacitate and kidnap.

There wasn't any sun today; another overcast day with the threat of rain.

A perfect day to ambush her in the middle of her daily tasks.

She drove down into the underground parking for central public library before she turned off her personal phone and walked out. Arlen wandered until she found a random coffee shop she never went to and stepped in. Arlen ordered her regular drink, an Americano, and sat down in the far corner, her back facing the wall. She pulled out the shitty little laptop and turned it on, connecting to the cafe's Wi-Fi. It took a good five minutes to boot up and another three to open the default browser but she forgave it considering it was less than two hundred dollars. The terribly cheap price was why she had bought it. It was perfect to dispose of.

She opened up the email again.

A throwaway email from Hong Kong but that meant nothing compared to the contents of the email.

She knew who was contacting her and while she was no longer involved in their business, she was dealing with too much to face the consequences of ignoring someone like this reaching out to her.

0715. The point of formlessness, the point of soundlessness.

0608. Be extremely subtle, be extremely mysterious.

The barista set down her drink on the table and Arlen sent her a thankful smile.

0715. Contact accepted. 011 852-XXXX-XXXX

0608. Acknowledged. 001 1-604-XXX-XXXX

She took out her burner phone and turned it on waiting for a text message.

SOS611

"Fuck," she cursed under her breath.

Arlen no longer involved herself in business overseas for a reason but in an emergency like this with someone she knew? Once you were involved with them even once, you were apart of them forever, and something like this meant they'd reach out to anyone, including the people who 'got out'. She pulled out her wallet and dug into the slot behind her license for a little slip of paper.

0715 was very well-known, especially to her.

Ratline #3. 72109353. N22.6368. E113.8146.

a.

1738. N55.7558. E37.6173.

u.

Throw away your phone. Contact no one.

One thousand battles.

She tapped her foot nervously, sipping at her drink, before the burner buzzed and she read the message.

One thousand victories.

She removed the SIM card from the burner with practiced hands, pocketing it, and dropped some cash into the tip jar as she left without a second glance back. Arlen merged into the crowd and the second she passed by a garbage can, she tossed the burner phone in. She kept her head down as she walked back to the library and went up to the highest level via elevator. In the far, windowless corner was a small table meant for studying and she often went there while she was still a student with Vince and it was rare to find anyone else frequenting the area.

It was still early in the morning and rarely anyone went this far into the library as it was extremely inconvenient and terribly dark, surrounded by bookshelves and blocked off from the window light. The old library yellow light appealed to very few people when most gravitated towards the brighter white lights in the lower levels or the wide windows letting in sunlight. She set her bag down before she took out a small pair of scissors and the SIM card.

The metal blade of the scissors slid between and along the chip pads, cutting through all the tiny wires.

She disposed of it in the nearby trash can.

Arlen laid her forehead against her arms, leaning forward, before she took out her book, Smoke Gets In Your Eyes by Caitlin Doughty. An interesting read, that was for sure, but one she had went through several times since it's release four years ago. She could read while thinking about what the Volturi Kings said in the middle of their home invasion.

Soulmates.

She was a creative and worked in interior design, liked fantastical stories, and indulged in fantasy-concepts often when it came to media, but she was still science-oriented. A UBC graduate with a B.A and M.A in biomedical engineering and Arlen still waded in the heavy waters of the science field when she could from attending conferences and conventions.

Soulmates were concepts explored in romance and fantasy books.

Not something real in their world.

But at the same time, supernatural creatures existed. They were thought to be myths and stories passed down from the imagination of generations long before them but they were real. She had grown up with them, though. It was a lot harder to reconcile the idea of someone made so perfectly for you that they were considered the other half of your soul and for her that it was three vampire kings born and created before the common era.

She flipped a page idly.

There were soft footsteps coming in from behind her, almost intentional with making enough sound to be acknowledge and quiet enough to remain unnoticed. A very fine line to walk. Speak of the devil and he would come but this time she simply had to think of them.

"Hello," she said, still reading. "I did guess that the discussion from yesterday wasn't over but you were rather quick about it."

"Cara mia, it's difficult to go a day without seeing you."

Aro sat down on her side while Marcus and Caius took the seats across from her.

"Hello, fiore."

"Well, I can't leave, so if that's what you wanted...congratulations. You achieved it."

"You chose a location where it's difficult for others to see or find you," Caius said. "Rather intentionally."

"Like you were expecting us, sweet Arlen." Aro grasped her hand, pausing her attempt to flip the page. "It's a nice surprise to see you enjoy reading compared to other modern day humans. It is a past time my brothers and I indulge in as well. Our private library in Volterra is something to behold, perhaps you'd like to return to explore it."

"Well, since you're so well-versed in modern day humans, are you up to date on modern human laws?"

"Why do you ask that, cara mia?"

"Because what you're doing is considered harassment and certainly breaks those laws but I assume that you believe you're above them and therefore, you don't particularly care." She took her hand out of his light grip and flipped her page, barely dragging her eyes off the words despite the fact the Kings of the vampire world surrounded her. "Do human laws apply to you? I'd assume they should considering your laws apply to us."

Caius plucked her book out of her hand and set it down. "We wish to speak to you, amore mio."

"I thought that's what we're already doing."

Aro smiled, delighted, and she suspected he liked her belligerence and reticent behavior which didn't spell anything good for her.

"We wish to speak to you about the idea of mates, fiore," Marcus said.

"And the fact that I don't believe in them. I'll talk on one condition." She dug around in her purse and then slid out a paper towards them. "That's the invoice for the front and back doors to my house. Which you and your guards broke. And before you ask about the back door, whoever left through it crushed the handle and snapped the lock. Vince doesn't use doors as he teleports so it was one of your guard."

"And you will speak to us if we pay for this?" Caius asked.

"Considering it was your guard who broke it, yes. It's the principle."

"Agreed." Aro took the invoice and pocketed it. "Now, sweet Arlen, let us speak to one another."

"I still don't believe in soulmates," she said. "You know, it's a rather romantic notion for the notoriously cold-hearted monarchs of the vampire world to hold."

Marcus set down two thick books on the table from the leather bag he carried with him.

"They're for you, lovely Arlen. Books from our personal library about vampires," he said. "While humans may not understand the idea of soulmates, a fated pull towards the other half of your soul, they are very real. It is much stronger for vampires. Always present once discovered. It's a recorded phenomenon since the early centuries of our existence. There are many mated vampire couples who can attest to their connection."

"Uh-huh," she said, crossing her arms. "So that's your explanation as to why I don't feel it? Because I'm human."

"What do you know of vampire gifts?"

"...enough," she said after a moment.

"You know of mine, but Marcus, here, also has a gift. The ability to see bonds connecting people." Aro caressed her cheek. "What would we gain from lying to you?"

"Vince." She shifted in her seat to finally look all of them in the eye. Her sandalwood eyes hard and cold. "I know of your reputation. I'm not stupid. You like to collect talents for your guard and if Marcus can see bonds then he knows that our loyalty towards each other runs deep enough that I make great leverage against him. Enough that if I willingly left for Volterra, he'd follow."

"He has an interesting talent, I will not lie, but you are what we want, cara mia."

"And how will I know that's the truth?"

"Why must you always dispute with our words?" Caius asked, eyes narrowed.

"I'm sorry for not believing everything that someone says. Because lying isn't a thing."

"Read the books, fiore. We will visit you again tomorrow. Perhaps with the information, it will be easier to understand."

"You're going to randomly appear at my house?"

The three of them exchanged glances when she sent them very unimpressed looks.

She sighed. "Please tell me you know what a smartphone is and that you have one. I'd at least like a warning before you arrive on my doorstep considering I do have a life outside of...whatever this is."

"Of course, cara mia," Aro purred and handed over the newest model of the Apple iPhone.

She entered her information and handed it back over.

"Another condition," she said.

Caius watched her, his blood-red eyes intense. "Anything you want, amore mio."

"I'll continue to talk to you and I won't leave Vancouver but you're not allowed near Vince. At all."

"Does he not live with you, cara mia?" Aro grasped her hand.

"I'll leave my house to meet with you or send him on errands if you insist on coming by my home. But you and your guard aren't allowed anywhere near him unless I say so."

"Agreed." He kissed the back of her hand.

Marcus and Caius followed suit. Where Aro was almost enthralling in his seduction with half-lidded eyes, Marcus was gentle and romantic, treating her like a rose petal that would crumble into dust. Then there was Caius with a burning, wicked passion as his canines peeked out of his lip and graze her skin. Intense and hot like hellfire.

She bit her tongue and took the books, leaving them behind as she went home.

Hopefully they were done working on her doors by now considering she had assigned reading from the Kings of the vampire world and they wanted it done by tomorrow.

Hello! If you're a regular reviewer, I have a private tumblr where I update a chapter or two ahead of time, and you're allowed to request access. I also have a regular tumblr and it's 1800canyousavemydream.

I'll also be gone for a little while because I got rear-ended and it's in-person lab weeks for my uni program. I have to work a minimum of two weeks of overtime to pay both my bills and the deductible because my insurance company won't reimburse me for a whole month or two depending on the person who rear-ended me. I definitely won't have time to write or update. I'm also kind of regretting buying a new laptop even if my program required it due to online classes now.