When Aro stopped, he stopped behind me, and I stood frozen in place, my breathing barely present. At that moment, I saw Demetri and the giant turn and leave the room, Demetri with a long glance at me before he was out of my line of sight, and I heard the door close. I did not dare look behind me at the man, no, creature, who could move faster than I ever thought possible.

It was silent besides the beating of my heart, and that was when I felt a cool breath along the back of my neck, and then hands, as frozen as ice, touch my upper arms, holding me still before Aro pulled me into his chest. "You are remarkable, my dear. Truly you are."

Quietly I replied, "What do you mean?"

"One day, you will know."

He released me then, and I slowly turned to face him. "One day?"

"You thought I would kill you? What a waste that would be." I stepped back as I took him in. "I have been waiting for you to return for some time. You recognized Demetri, but you have yet to recognize me. I must say that I am hurt to be forgotten." But there was a sly smile on his face.

"I've never seen you before."

"Think, Liliana, back to a time when you were young. You ran away from your father and found the secret passage outside your grandfather's office, the door he said to never enter. You walked through these halls and discovered the stairs to the lower levels where you ran into Marcus, and he brought you to me."

"Marcus? As in-"

Aro's grin grew wider if that were possible. "Yes."

I took a deep breath, letting that play out in my head. So Saint Marcus had been a vampire all along. My mind stood shocked with the new revealing plot, so I shut it down and continued to think back, long and hard, attempting to recall ever seeing these two before.

"Try to remember that day," Aro encouraged. "It is in there somewhere."

It was a quick flash in front of my eyes, and it clicked. "I was four."

He nodded. "And now you are grown and have returned under such tragic circumstances, I am afraid."

My mind took a pause before my fear and confusion turned into anger, and I asked very carefully, "What happened to my grandparents?"

"Lia, your grandmother was very ill, and your grandfather died from natural causes. I am sure you are aware of that."

"My grandfather was a perfectly healthy man, and my grandmother suffered a traumatic brain injury rendering her brain dead from a mysterious, soundless fall. My grandfather never had an autopsy, and don't you think that's strange given the circumstances?"

Aro walked past me to the table he had been at previously and closed the book he had been reading from. "You are dealing with matters that would be best left alone."

My heart raced, and my adrenaline spiked as I moved towards the table and stopped at its edge. "What did you do?"

"You assume I had something to do with their untimely deaths?"

"I know you did. I can feel it."

"But where is your proof?"

"I don't need proof."

Aro reached out and brushed a strand of hair behind my ear before replying, "No, you, most of all, do not, but I did not murder your grandparents."

"Maybe not you," I answered, "but you know who did." I took hold of his hand that had been playing with the bottom strands of my hair and moved it aside. "What do you want with me?"

His eyes narrowed as my hand touched his and forced it away. "With you? My dear, it is what I want from you, and what I have wanted from you since you first wandered into my arms. I did not want to deliver you back to your grandfather, but what else could I do? You were so young, too young by our laws."

"Your laws?"

"Yes, laws I have laid out for my kind to allow us to live amongst humans without detection."

"You created these laws?"

He smiled again. "Quite some time ago. My coven is one of the oldest and most revered in my world. Unlike the ones who ruled before us, we prefer a more civilized state of being, allowing the supernatural to become myth."

"And now that I know? Now that I'm here? You've waited for me for fifteen years?"

"It was worth the wait."

My voice was barely above a whisper, and I watched his eyes anxiously. "What was?"

"Perhaps it is too soon to say. Liliana, you have blossomed into a lovely flower. I look forward to our time together. Demetri will take you to where you shall stay."

"Wait. What do you mean, stay?"

The doors opened behind me, and Demetri appeared waiting. He and Aro exchanged a look, and then Demetri spoke, "This will be your new home. You had wanted to stay in Volterra instead of returning, is that not right?"

"At my grandparent's house, not here," I said with a little more force than I had meant to.

"That will all be taken care of, Lia," Aro spoke from behind. "Piero left it in your name, as he made me aware, but I still own the majority of the city. Arrangements can be made, so it is no longer your concern."

"You can't just keep me here."

"My dear, I can do with you whatever I want," he paused a moment as the information sank in. "You will understand soon enough. I only ask that you do as you are bid. When the time is right, I will explain everything. However, you gained your grandfather's insight. I will leave you now to ponder it. Perhaps you will remember on your own. It will not be the first time you heard what I will wait to tell."

Aro passed me as he left the room and quickly disappeared from sight as if he had vanished into thin air. Demetri stared at me as I tried to calm my mind on what had just happened. What was he saying? I already knew what he wanted from me? This all began when I was only four years old?

"Shall we take leave?"

I looked up at Demetri as he leaned against the doorframe, his eyes showing only the slightest disinterest. "I can't go home?"

"No. This is home now."

"And if I just walk out?"

His smirk made my heart skip. "You could try. It might be fun."

I shivered at his response and said, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Why don't you find out? I'll even give you a headstart."