The lamps caught my attention immediately. They were each lit around the room, giving the space a soft, warm glow. However, my eyes were not on them for long. It took in the other aspects as well, a sofa near a high bookcase, an old antique desk laden with scrolls and books, a large rug covering half the stone floor. I cautiously stepped inside.

"Is this better?" Demetri asked.

"Define what you mean by better?" I replied before turning back to him. "Who does this room belong to? It looks as if it's currently in use."

"I think my definition of better would be to leave it as a surprise." He grinned.

"That's definitely not mine."

"You will remain in here for now. You are free to help yourself to any of the books you see on the shelves, but do not leave this room. I imagine you'll be joined soon."

Once he left, I sighed, releasing a long breath that I had been holding. This was not too bad, right? At least not right now. Whoever owned this room kept it nice and orderly. They had refined tastes. Even in the dim lighting, the rug sparkled with flecks of gold, and the large tapestry on the wall hung elegantly draped. The paintings were of landscapes I had never seen before, waterfalls and mountains and rolling plains.

Walking over to the desk, I began to look at what it contained. The one thing I noted was the open book that could pass for a leather-bound journal. The writing was incomprehensible, a language I had not studied. The books were topics in psychology, the most notable being parapsychology, which was also opened to the side. I stared at it for a moment with curiosity. Who would be studying such a thing?

I heard the door open and looked up, and in some way, already expected who I saw. Aro glided into the room, there was no other word to describe it, and made his way over to me. "Did you see something that interested you?"

"I should have known these were yours."

"I apologize for the wait. It would seem Demetri had much to say about you."

"Is that so? I feel like he just left."

"One can say so much in so little time," Aro commented with a grin. "Is there anything you would like? After all, it would be ideal if you could be comfortable here."

I moved away from him and walked towards the sofa before sitting down. As casual as this all felt, as calm as I was forcing myself to be, the whole situation unnerved me. Vampires were real. I was in the room with one, perhaps one of the most powerful if what he had told me previously was true. Here he was acting as if we were old friends all of a sudden, and I had a million questions about why.

"So, you decided to keep me close to you? You don't trust me?"

"My dear, if I did not trust you, there are many other places I could have you stay. My quarters seemed to be the least appalling of the options. However, if you would prefer to stay in a cell, that arrangement can be made."

My heart stopped. "I'm good."

"As I thought. Come," Aro said, continuing, "I will show you around my quarters. It is not all so dark."

I stood and slowly walked back to him before he turned to the right. I saw another door that I had missed before, and he opened it and stepped in. I followed him into a bedroom where a massive four-poster bed sat against the wall at the center of the room. Two seconds later, a bright light had turned on, and I squinted at the suddenness of it.

"I apologize for that. Your eyes are not like mine. I forget. I did have this recently installed to connect the electricity from upstairs to down here. I thought it would be preferable to the lamps in your case."

Everything paused. "In my case?" I turned to look Aro directly in his crimson eyes, and this time, they did not shock me. They were fitting. "You've been planning this?"

"Lia, I did mention that I had waited for some time. I always expected you to return to me."

"What is that even supposed to mean? You expected me to return to you? I was never yours to begin with."

"How wrong you are, my lovely one."

"Don't call me that."

Aro sighed before reaching out and touching my face, tracing it with his cold finger. "You will submit to me one of these days. I do not need your gift to see that. I am very patient, and I am willing to wait for you to do so."

"You're crazy," I spoke softly in response, but all he did was smile.

"Some have called me that, but no, I believe the more appropriate term would be passionate. I know what I want, but can you honestly say the same?"

I turned away from him and re-organized my thoughts. It was as if a fog clouded my brain when he touched me, and it was a feeling that did not make me at all comfortable. I took in the bed again before asking, "So where do I sleep?"

"On the bed, of course," Aro replied as if it had been the most obvious answer.

"And where do you sleep?"

He let out a light chuckle. "My dear, I do not sleep."

"Then why do you have a bed?"

"Beds are used for much more entertaining endeavors than sleep." My heart pounded, and I regretted asking. His quiet laugh only increased. "Liliana, you are so credulous. The bed was brought in recently as well. A gift from your grandfather before he passed."

My eyes widened. "My grandfather gave this to you? Wait," I paused for a moment, thinking carefully about what I was about to ask. "Did he know?"

"What I am? We had met once when I had found you many years ago, but yes, Lia, he was well aware of vampires living underneath the city. He was aware as well that Chelsea was one of us. He worked most directly with her. Your grandfather also knew about the gift you have, and what that would mean to me. More than that, he knew I would request to meet with you formally when you were older. All of it was planned. Everything."

"I don't believe you."

"Your grandfather told you many stories about vampires over the years when you were still a child, the history of this city. He did that so you would come to accept it more easily when the time came. None of us expected your parents to move you so quickly after the incident. Demetri had assumed the child was you, but none of us were sure. To be honest, at the time, it did not matter, so we let it go.

"Piero knew that one of these days, his term as mayor of this city would be up. He also knew the consequences of what that would mean. Humans can not know of our existence."

I took in a breath before replying, my eyes burning. "He knew you would kill him."

"He knew he would have to die, yes. It was quick and painless. He made sure that you were left everything in his will. That would force you to come to Volterra to deal with all of it. His only request was that you would not be harmed, and Demetri, before the deed occurred, gave him our word."

"Demetri?"

"As I said, your grandfather expected all of it. It did not come as a surprise. He knew exactly what I wanted from you, and the price we would all pay to get it."

I blinked back tears that threatened to fall. "My grandma?"

Aro frowned, deep in thought. "She did not fall, Liliana. Her death was truly as quick as your grandfather's. The nurse was not meant to have found her when she did. She was asleep and felt nothing. It was made to appear as if that is what occurred. We needed something to put on the coroner's record."

"Did she know?" There was no holding the tears at this time, and they fell silently and freely.

"Yes, Piero had told her, and she had agreed that she could not go on without him. She was unstable the way it was. Her death would have otherwise been excruciating and very hard to watch. This way was more of a blessing than a curse."

"Why didn't I know any of this? Why didn't she tell me?"

"She was told not to. Demetri's appearance at your grandfather's funeral was her sign to know that it would be ending soon. Only Chelsea need to have been there. It also gave me my first sight of you in many years. I told Demetri to meet up with you to ask you questions to see how much you knew. I also needed to make sure you were away while it took place."

"Who did it if it wasn't Demetri?"

"Does that matter, Lia?"

I nodded. "It does to me. Was it you?"

"No, but I have already told you that. I think it best if we leave it alone, hm? You know enough information about their deaths, more than I had planned to tell."

I walked over to the bed and ran my fingers over the ivory sheets. Maybe I did not want to know. Everything Aro was telling me seemed impossible. Nonno knew. He knew this would happen to me one day, and he did nothing to try and stop it. He had agreed to it, even helped make the arrangements. It was too much.

"You said my grandfather knew about a gift that I have."

"Yes," Aro replied, watching my actions dutifully.

"What is that? What does that mean?"

"A special talent, if you will, that you possess, like many of us here, like myself."

"What sort of talent?"

"Your dreams, things you just know but have no reason for knowing them."

I shook my head. "I don't know what you're talking about."

He made his way over to me and sat on the bed nearby where I stood. "You do, my dear, but you have placed your own block on them. That is why you do not recognize them for what they are. You are also human, so this gift of yours is less potent than it would be if you were like me."

"Is that what you want from me? You want to make me like you?"

"That is an important and necessary step, yes, but I will not do so until you are ready."

"And what's in it for me?"

He smiled kindly at me before taking my hand. "Myself."