"Don't talk?"
"That is what I said."
I jogged a bit to catch up with Jane's graceful stride. "As in, don't say anything stupid, or don't be a smartass?"
"Both. You speak out of turn during meetings with the Masters, even though you're not supposed to, correct?"
"Yeah," I mumbled sheepishly.
Jane ignored my sensitivity, more concerned about the issue at hand. "While you have gotten away with insubordination, this will be different. Alec is in charge, and if you challenge him in front of the Guard, you lessen his credibility." She emphasized, "and that is very bad."
"Alec is in charge?"
"Yes." She stared past me at the castle wall. She might have been thinking or listening, but Jane was purposefully quiet. Unlike her brother, her body language in silence was stiff, empty, and she observed the world with the passiveness of a ghost. There was something about the situation that held more than she would say.
Alec usually brought her back with a touch if this happened. It was like some twin telepathy. But in the current company, I kept my hands to myself and tried the next best thing. A question. "Of what?"
Her steps echoed lightly as we stepped into the corridor. "A task force." Her voice became light and airy in the new environment. "The Kings no longer see Razin and his supposed plans to be an active threat."
I halted in the middle of the hallway, and she slipped, sending me an irritated look. "But the train!" I protested, "we were attacked–"
"By the Romanian," she acknowledged, glancing at my guards ahead of us. "A long-time grudge-holder who would sooner run than fight. As far as the Masters are concerned, this Razin character sent a newborn to threaten the Volturi's might with nothing but words." I would argue that Zafir had done a lot more damage than the statement suggested.
"And they're just ignoring Alice's visions?"
"The future is unpredictable, and nothing is set in stone." Jane reminded me harshly, and I felt guilty for mentioning the Alice Cullen. Every answer Jane gave only raised more questions, and the last one put me on the edge of a cliff with her. I didn't push, but she did. "Alec is tasked with determining if Razin is an active and worthy threat and, if not, to assess the damage from the excess newborns created in Razin's desperate attempt to be relevant."
I would have laughed at the comment in different circumstances.
Jane provided the rationale thoroughly, competently, and like the perfect soldier she was. But it felt like propaganda, and I didn't believe a word of it.
"What does he need me to do?"
She tilted her head, finally pleased with my words. Jane would tell me exactly what to do, no matter how blunt or infuriatingly demeaning. Alec would put me above his own perception, and I was beginning to understand the danger in his approach. For now, I needed Jane so I would not be a liability to her brother. "Do everything you can to make sure he does not appear weak. Do not undermine him."
"Everything," I agreed.
Nothing more was said as we moved deeper into the castle, closer to listening ears.
Percy and Talib pushed open a pair of double doors, introducing me to yet another unfamiliar room. We hadn't asked to enter, but all eyes turned to us once it was clear my heartbeat had become the strongest sound in the room.
It looked like it came straight out of a high-rise office building. An oval table was situated in the center of the room, currently serving a meeting of darkly-dressed, grim vampires, with Talib and Percy making the number an even ten as they took their places. And sitting at the end of the table was Alec, returned alive and well.
I ducked my head, trying to do as Jane had asked and cause as little disturbance as possible, out of curiosity, if nothing else. The young girl took my wrist and guided me to a lonely chair in the corner of the room. It was a deep burgundy and velvet, but it meant she was not staying. The assumption was correct. She set my bag against the chair legs, gave me a stern 'be quiet' reminder, and retreated from the room. She didn't even spare her brother a glance. Her brother.
My eyes found Alec again, regal and composed as ever, but he did not search for mine. He was deeply involved in the conversation at the grown-ups' table. I held in a pathetically pitiful sigh, certain that his anger would have at least slightly faded in our time apart. At least enough to look at me. Mine had, not that I wished to admit it.
A black cotton turtleneck wrapped elegantly around his throat, tailored to his torso and enhancing the subtlety with which he moved. The epitome of refinement, Alec leaned back into the chair with a penetrating dominance.
I forced myself to look away.
Sleek, black binders were arranged in front of each vampire. Some were opened, and others had long since been closed. Percy and Talib, the new arrivals, were the only ones sans a binder, but it didn't seem to be a concern for anyone.
My eyes flickered from vampire to vampire, taking note of those chosen to sit at the table for Alec's unique task force. However, my curiosity was put on hold as a stern warning came from the head of the table, "I do encourage you, Dorian, to keep your eyes off my mate."
A floppy-haired blond male snapped his head in the direction of the twin and dropped his chin to the authority in a flustered apology. Alec ignored him, already facing the previous speaker.
However, as Alec's conversation deepened on the other end of the table, my eyes met a pair of black sockets, pupils not nearly visible. I was sure my heart should have stopped in fear as this was the true gaze of a vampire, a starved vampire. His hands clenched into fists, and I was stuck on him, observing the coils and strenuous activity required for him not to risk his life and attack me.
Dorian. Albania. 1446.
I tilted my head, like a scientist examining a mouse. Knowing full well what would happen next, all the awareness to warn someone, and yet, I did nothing. My action was all he needed before he slammed his hands on the table, using the momentum to stand. A loud clunk landed hollowly in the room as his chair dropped back. Without missing a beat, the event was catastrophized by an astounding snarl that made me jolt back. Still, my eyes never faltered from the soulless obsidian sight of the monster, even as his face was slammed into the table by Percy, who had moved faster than my eyes could process to incapacitate the vampire.
She leaned down, grabbing a handful of his hair and breaking my contact with him. She forced his head to flip and face Alec. "Apologize," she hissed.
Whether he did or not was unimportant to me, as Alec's voice cut off whatever the vampire managed to say.
"Something amusing, Saffiya?"
My lips were tilted upwards, but the smile fell from my face the instant Alec brought it to my attention. Only, he appeared to be the opposite of upset. It was almost as if he were entertained — no. Smug. Proud? I couldn't tell.
Uncomfortable in the absence of my answer, Percy asked, "shall I remove him?"
Alec spoke to me, his eyes running over my figure quickly as if to multitask. "Do you have a preference, Darling?"
He was asking if I was afraid of being in the same room as a vampire who clearly lacked the control not to attack me. Was he serious? I took in the faces of the others around the table, assessing their individual reactions. Most heads were down, but the rest were split between Alec and Dorian. No one looked eager to remain in the thick tension, only building on the distress with excessive anxiety. Their eyes, too, were lacking the vibrant red hue Alec was currently sporting.
Dorian had been ready to kill me. There was something about that viciousness and the way he'd been put in his place that erased my pity for the man's situation. If I asked for him to leave, it would signal that I was still afraid of their kind. Despite living one-on-one and spending all my time with the most vicious of their coven, they would think of me as fearful. Fear would be a weakness. But Dorian let out a whimper as if pleading to be free of the enclosed room. I looked away from him, back to Alec.
I had to wonder if Dorian would be able to make it the rest of the meeting only feet away from the temptation of an unattainable food source. He was a few hundred years old, so surely, another twenty minutes (give or take) would be nothing to him. I was curious.
Jane would have been livid at the slip-up, but Alec appeared dutifully the opposite – opinionless. Jane said not to make Alec look weak. I was unsure of the effect any potential fear of mine would have on that goal. I went with honesty, as I was experiencing anything but fear. They usually liked that – when I was not an expected human.
The decision, coincidentally, would fulfill my darker curiosity as well. I shrugged, trying not to let a rising inappropriate entertainment show on my face because this was sort of fun. From the look on Alec's face, I was doing a poor job of hiding my lapse in empathy. A mindset I was becoming more familiar with as my exposure to the Volturi's ethical standards persisted.
Percy, somewhat conflicted, shoved Dorian back into his chair and held onto his shoulders. She looked to Alec for permission to release him. His eyebrows creased, examining the way the man's jaw trembled, palms flattened against the table in distress, silently begging Alec to relieve him of the agony burning his throat.
My teeth captured my bottom lip out of habit. Dorian's eyes snapped to me, making Alec's decision for him.
The twin extended his arm towards me, immediately catching my attention. His fingers stretched and offered his open palm as a request for my company. Damn it. Had I already broken my promise to Jane? Denying him would definitely look bad, so I left my lonely corner to accept, not feeling particularly defiant.
Prosper leaned forward, coming into my line of sight for the first time on Alec's right side, eyes flickering to me, then Dorian. His lips parted like he wanted to say something, but decided against it.
I recognized then that Alec was their leader, but I held a certain control in the balance of the room as well. I had an impact on Alec, and his reaction trickled down to affect them. I cannot be sure I was ready for such power, and looking back now, I know I was not. There was something dark in it, as was the nature of the world into which I was entering. But the type of force I could feel…it was comparable to Mary Tudor's reign on the throne of England, buried under the rapaciousness of Abigail Williams (1). I was beginning to collect my share of sins as this power matured, waiting with malicious patience for a trigger to set it free.
Just as I reached him, Alec pulled Percy's vacated chair back out for me to sit and, incidentally, moved it closer to him. When I made to discreetly move it to an appropriate distance, he stopped me. He nodded to Percy across the table, who released Dorian's shoulders but remained standing over his shoulder. Intimidation in its most blatant form.
"Continue, Amaya." Alec prompted the woman with long, straight deep orange hair who had been cut off by the disruption.
Amaya. Portugal. 1178-ish.
"Why aren't we focusing on why he burns his newborns before they've served their purpose."
"Because we do not know what their purpose is. Obviously." Hamzah's tone was starkly unique from the rest of the room. The humorous tone took, however, and the pale dark-skinned male leaned back in his chair with a wide grin. Victorious as the class clown.
Hamzah and Amaya were not the only ones from Alec's 'try-outs' that were present at the table. It seemed that those who had been rejected for one job gained a coveted position on the Volturi Prince's personal task force group thing. The Kings may not have cared much for Razin's drama anymore, but Alec was pretentious when it came to mediocrity.
Whatever Amaya fired back went over my head as Alec began to drift his thumb back and forth over my knuckles. He was staring, blankly, at Dorian with such intensity, I wondered if he was even listening to his team. I considered turning to see if Alec was merely intimidating the other vampire, or if he was in a staring contest. Instead, I squeezed his hand.
Wordlessly, Alec raised my hand to his lips. He placed a subtle kiss on the inside of my wrist, purposefully directing a glare toward the end of the table before returning his focus to the meeting. It was a chaste display of public affection, and I might have gotten through it just fine if he had not then casually placed a gentle hand on my tights-clad thigh. The thin black material was irrelevant to my brain as the recognition of the cold hardly registered over the racing nerves the touch sparked.
He never once looked at me, but there was no way my heart didn't give a stupid reaction to it. However, no one else seemed to notice. I thought I was in the clear before catching a playful glint from Prosper, who looked away before I could even think about retaliating.
The discussion had traipsed into a detail I was not privy to. "We should prepare the traitor for a trial," one of the vampires offered after clearing his throat.
Malik. France. 1739.
Alec shook his head, informing mysteriously, "Caius wishes to give him time to reflect." A brief ripple passed over the table. It seemed I was not the only one in the dark this time. However, the information raised a disturbing curl of Malik's lips.
"Shall I begin?"
Alec nodded. As Malik pushed his chair back and buttoned his jacket, Prosper added gruffly across from me, "start with an arm."
The crude smile returned to the man's face. He nodded at Alec, tipped an invisible hat to me, and flashed out of the room.
"We need to identify where he is getting newborns from, if he is still collecting them."
The woman beside Amaya spoke up for the first time. "Renata and I will continue to monitor the human reports." Alec nodded at her. Kiara. Japan. 1274.
"Remember, anything we can do to get ahead of him." Prosper assisted, nodding respectfully to his command. "We missed them this time. Not again."
Slowly, all eyes returned to Alec.
"The rest of you have your tasks. Dismissed."
The hand squeezed my thigh before he stood to speak one on one with Percy, who had appeared between him and Prosper. I assumed it to be about Dorian, who was the first to leave the room.
A smooth voice commented from my other side, "you seem much better."
I quirked an eyebrow at Talib, my eyes quickly returning to Alec and ignoring the rest of the room. "How do you mean?" Some members made small talk, while others left immediately. But they quickly began to thin out as the seconds passed.
"You are different with him." My brain laughed before I could at the outrageousness. "Saffiya," I turned to face an admiringly wise expression. "It is a good thing."
After a moment, I nodded, and Talib took his leave with Percy. The two closed the doors behind them.
"Prosper," Alec addressed with an authoritative tone that caught me off guard. Again, I admired the black turtleneck as he rolled his sleeves up to expose his forearms before he reached for a binder on the table. The muscles on his arm flexed as he braced against the table, picking up the pen inside and scribbling (it was actually written quite elegantly, but he'd done it so fast I was jealous of the handwriting skill) something down. He pushed off the table and passed the binder to his second command. "Find John, would you?"
He rolled his shoulders back, his posture perfectly straight as he watched Prosper walk out of the room and close the door. I saw his mouth move before I heard his voice, teasing, "you shouldn't stare at people."
I stood before he could rejoin me at the table and moved to lean on the back of the chair. I hardly noticed the reference he'd attempted, and his eyebrows dropped with a hint of uncertainty.
"Alright," he seemed to resign himself to some eventuality, with an albeit humorous approach. "I am prepared to answer any and all of your questions from this meeting."
Alec arched an eyebrow when I made no move to answer, "Saffiya?"
"Yes?"
"Questions?"
"Oh." I dropped his burgundy stare, using the chair as a modified wall of distance. "No."
He appeared in front of me before I could blink, moving the chair out of my reach. I bit my lip at the loss of my safety net, leaning back on the table. It did little to minimize his influence on me. It was like some kind of magic. The clouded thoughts and feelings that filled up my chest whenever he was near made my chest feel heavy. It wasn't a burdensome weight. Quite the opposite. It was like receiving a box in the mail and not knowing what was inside, but whatever was inside had to be quite spectacular to be so hefty.
I had missed him so incredibly, that the thought of being turned away by his anger rendered me speechless, frozen. Terrified of doing the wrong thing, of losing him. Before leaving, he had hidden his infuriated state, and I had been none the wiser. I'd been under the impression that I could read him well, his responses and emotions. But now, I didn't know. How was I supposed to tell if he wanted me with him or if he was merely tolerating me out of duty?
He placed his temple against mine. His breath tickled my ear with a delicate need, "let me in." I took a sharp breath. "My darling, please."
A tingle began to spread throughout my body at his voice, his touch. Everything about him being here, with me.
"I hurt you when I left," I spoke so quietly; I almost wasn't sure he heard me until he leaned back to look into my eyes. His eyes revealed nothing to me, and my throat almost dried up with another strike of nerves through my system. I wasn't sure whether he wanted me to shut up or finally give him the apology he deserved. If he would believe me. "I am sorry for doing the one thing I should have known would terrify you. I'm sorry for not considering how it would make you or anyone else feel."
"I understand."
"Don't." I urged. "I messed up."
Simultaneously, we pulled the other into an embrace. I slid my arms around his waist without another thought and buried my head in his neck as he tightened his hold. It wasn't long before his silk voice found its way to my ears. "I understand your father is important to you, Saffiya." It was all he said, but it made me sink deeper into him.
"My dad wanted to give me the world. Every parent does, I know, but…I never thought I would lose him. And now, you're here an…and." I stopped, taking a small breath. Alec's hand brushed the inside of my palm. "I don't want to be in constant fear of losing you."
To my surprise, a breathy chuckle passed through his lips. "You will never lose me, Saffiya."
I disagreed, "you don't know that." He stroked the side of my head with a genuine smile on his face.
"One fight – or several disagreements. A million arguments would never be enough to take me away from you. We have been given forever."
I sucked in my bottom lip, releasing it before meeting his eyes again. Despite it all, he seemed content, euphoric even. "I'm not worried about disagreements, Alec. It's 'forever' that I take issue with."
"Only you would overthink the semantics of forever," he commented lightly.
"Forever is a relative term," I defended. "What if one of us says something that we can't take back, and it plagues us for years or for literally forever? Or if something happens, and one of us is left without the other – again, forever? And what if you look at me in a decade and realize you were wrong about us being mates!"
The last one was enough for him to act, and Alec caught me by my forearms. "That is not possible."
I shook my head wildly. "Exactly – what if we're the first to show it is possible? Clearly, we've got a record already of making vampire history, second only to Bella and Edward – but we could be the outlier. We could be wrong. What if–"
"No, Saffiya." He cupped my cheeks, sending dashes of electricity across my body and into my chest. He waited until I was calm enough to listen. "No more what-ifs."
"But what if–"
He cut me off with his lips, and I responded automatically. This kiss was more controlled than any we'd shared, but he'd pulled away before that could change.
"I'm sorry," I whispered again.
With two fingers, he lifted my chin. "I will always be by your side. You simply have to tell me where we're going."
His hand moved to cup my cheek, running his finger across my skin. I leaned into his touch, "deal." His eyes savored the shape of my lips, and I wet them quickly, overtly conscious of this. The action made him timid enough to find my eyes through thick lashes.
He was still nervous about kissing me, of how quickly he might lose control. It would be easy to break this temptation now that he'd already done so once. Knowing this, I started pulling away to help give him some air.
In the next second, he disappeared from under me with a sudden urgency that set off a round of warning bells. The wisp of air in his parting reminded me of the train, a small detail that made the walls of the snack bar flash around me. The memory was gone the instant it came, and my attention was demanded by the loud slam of the doors into the room.
I whipped around, suddenly feeling Alec return to me as we both faced the source.
An unfamiliar vampire stood at the entrance, his appearance unkempt and shocking, with a grotesque look on his face. It was either a grin or a frown, but it could not be both. More a look of disdain, I would suppose, as he scanned us up and down in what had to be irony.
"Interruptin', am I, boy?"
~•~•~•~
A/N: Missed me?
I realized I made an announcement on Wattpad that I did not put up here. Because of the way the websites are set up, this is probably going to happen a lot. So, if you're dying for a new chapter, feel free to check out my Wattpad account and spam me or see if I've posted an update recently.
But basically, to improve efficiency, I'm making an adjustment to the storyline. This book part will be a more specific focus on A&S, less on the background plot of her dad and the Razin storyline. I started writing this story to get back into writing and stay simple, but it turned into a full-blown story. Which I cannot commit to, and I want to be able to finish this story. Additionally, chapters may also be shorter in an effort to get them out faster.
(1) History nerd strikes again and provides an explanation because I couldn't help myself. Mary Tudor, AKA Bloody Mary had like 270+ people burned at the stake during her reign as Queen of England and Ireland. Abigail Williams is a character in The Crucible, which is about the Salem witch trials. Abigail led the group of girls accusing people in the town of witchcraft. Obviously, Saffiya doesn't know the witchy stuff yet, so that was just for you guys.
Ro
Thank you everyone for all the comments on the last few chapters! I can't remember if I've addressed them or if I've forgotten. If so, I apologize. I wish I could respond right away. Thank you to Pamela Hutchins, Faye51, LoveFiction2022, KirikaAndo, kaylaice, XOXOMaximumcullenXOX, EllieCast4, Gabbstterr, and everyone below for your comments in the last few chapters!
MisticaDove: Answer! You asked how long till the story is over. So - right now, there's a lot to come. Like, so many chapters I think I need to scale back. I'm glad you liked Alec's P.O.V. It's funny you mention Demetri not knowing they kissed. I did that for one very specific scene that, it turns out, is actually going to be cut (98% chance) because of the new changes I've made. Because it definitely should be obvious, but the explanation I gave on Wattpad is that the doors don't exactly keep sound out. But for the vamps, it's like when your upstairs neighbors are fighting, but you don't know exactly what they're saying. Ooo a chess scene between them is a good feeling, we'll have to see! Thank you thank you for reading!
BuckysGirl: Thank you! I'm glad you liked Alec's P.O.V.
Ariel: When I do write for Alec's P.O.V., it is usually only for a few lines or paragraphs, just to figure out how Saffiya will react. So, I spent a lot of time trying to focus on how his brain worked. More analytical, shorter sentences, etc. But yeah, hard haha
Mari: Hi! Hope this filled your desire to see them together again ;)
Guest: You're picking up on a lot of really important things!
