Chapter 8 – Sunlight
It was around one o'clock in the morning and Marcus was lounging across the couch in his office. He had only been in his office for mere minutes after Castiel went to bed before his family accosted him, causing them to convene in his private workspace. Usually his family coming to spend time with him wouldn't have been a bother, but they didn't come bearing good news.
"He did what?" Marcus hadn't felt so ready to kill in years. His eyes went a dangerous shade of onyx as he stood, glaring at Aro as if daring him to repeat himself. Pacing angrily back and forth Marcus knew that if he stood still, he would crush the first thing he encountered.
"You don't need me to repeat myself brother," Aro sighed. He was sitting at Marcus' desk, leaning back in the chair with his fingertips pressed together as he watched Marcus beginning to lose his cool. "I left no details out of young Shaun's encounter with Castiel."
They had come to inform Marcus of the near deadly attack on his mate earlier that day. To Castiel it might have seemed to be a very minor physical confrontation, but it was far from such. When his little mate had snapped at the young guard and he had gone to hit her, Shaun had intended for his blow to be fatal.
It proved to be very lucky that Castiel was psychic because if she hadn't been able to see his attack, she surely wouldn't have been able to duck in time. And this meant she was only one unfortunate circumstance away from having her skull crushed by a young vampire with anger issues.
"And you've executed him, correct?" Marcus wanted vengeance. God help that boy if he were still alive for Marcus would make sure his death was as painful and drawn out as possible.
"No." Aro said simply with a shrug of his shoulders. He could see that his response was about to set Marcus off and spoke quickly as he really didn't want to have to have contractors come in and fix a wall. "Shaun has not been executed because it would have greatly distressed Castiel."
This statement was so unexpected it caused Marcus to pause, before growling out, "What do you mean?"
"Your mate protested the punishment that was awaiting the boy when Demetri and Felix came to escort him to my office. I believe her exact words were "You aren't going to hurt him are you? Please don't hurt him. This whole confrontation was stupid," followed up with her saying "I don't want them to hurt him. Please Afton I don't want anyone to get killed because of me"."
And while Aro greatly admired Castiel and her kindness he couldn't help but think that she was too understanding for her own good. Someone with such innocent intentions and a genuine loving nature was so hard to come by, and while they had been blessed with her presence, he couldn't help but muse that at some point she would have to be introduced to the brutality that was required to keep vampires in line.
Though, the reality of immortal life might be a little too harsh for her and Aro wasn't sure she would ever be able to stand in on trials with such a gentle personality. Of course, they would never require her to do so if it was distressing to her.
Marcus could only rub his face in frustration. He wanted Shaun gone. He wouldn't let anyone with the thought of hurting his mate within a thousand feet of her before he destroyed them. But now he was faced with and entirely unexpected problem. The problem was that he was unwilling to hurt his mate in any way and apparently ending the insignificant little boy would upset her.
But just because he couldn't kill him didn't mean Marcus couldn't give the boy a very brutal example of what happens when anyone dares to fuck with his mate.
"I know what you're thinking brother," Aro's voice cut into his line of thought, and he saw that Aro was scrutinizing his expression, "First off, we must acknowledge that the boy truly had no idea that she was your mate because most of the castle still has yet to find out. So, this was not premeditated. Second, while he does need an attitude adjustment, I assure you Demetri will be more than sufficient in making sure we see an improvement."
"And third," Aro stretched back in Marcus' chair unnecessarily, "You also don't have to worry about punishing the boy yourself. Caius was more than happy to take up the task once he heard what had happened."
When his siblings had come to his office Marcus had noticed Caius was not with them, but he just assumed that he had other business to attend to. It soothed his anger some to hear that Caius was handling the problem. He knew that both of his brothers would hold nothing back when it came to protecting one of their own.
"He cares very much for her Marcus, we all do." Sulpicia's soft voice came from over by one of his bookshelves, as she was currently paging through one of the books they created about vampire mating and rituals. She hadn't missed a word of her husband's conversation with Marcus regardless of her task, "Caius won't let anyone think they can treat her as anything less than their queen just because she's human."
Marcus could only nod as he looked around to see where Athenadora was as he hadn't heard a word from her since they arrived.
His fair-haired sister was sitting next to the fire, biting her tongue in concentration as she stared at things on the screen of the computer in her lap. Her fingers were typing so fast they were a blur.
"Athenadora?" Marcus asked, curious as to what had her so enraptured.
"I'm just checking shipping updates on the things we have ordered for Castiel. It looks like I'll have to leave out another change of clothes for her in the morning… maybe I should leave her some soaps as well since I'm sure she wants to shower. Most of the things we've ordered won't arrive until mid-day. If you could keep her busy somewhere while Sulpicia and I set things up tomorrow that would be great."
She spoke fast, not stalling in anything she was currently doing on the machine and barely taking a breath before continuing, "But I've also been trying to see if I could find anything on the deep web about vampire relationship's with humans but everything I'm finding is just a bunch of biting and blood kink porn."
Marcus gaped at her for a moment, and Aro starting to laugh was the only indicator that caused him to realize his mouth was open.
"I wouldn't really expect to find anything about mating on the Internet sis," Sulpicia laughed as she glided over to the desk, dropping the book she was looking at in front of her husband with a frustrated huff, "But even in our books I'm only finding things that we all already know about mating. Marcus is only the fourth case of imprinting in existence and he's the only one with a human imprint, nonetheless. We have nothing to go off of as to how she can feel a vampire mating instinct since it has never happened in a human before. It's probably only possible because she is the subject of a vampire's imprinting."
"This won't be easy," Aro sighed, rubbing his temples, "Since Castiel is a human and not a vampire her natural instincts will be the complete opposite of what the bond is telling her to do. I worry as to just how negatively this can affect her. The only way I think she'll even be able to handle vampire instincts at all is if she just doesn't question them and "goes with it"".
He air quoted the last three words. "Brother I know you want to start your relationship as naturally as possible with her, but you must remember that starting it naturally in this situation would be to tell her what is going on so she can act appropriately on whatever drives she does show… You have to tell her soon."
Marcus knew that Aro was right and that he would have to tell Castiel within the next couple days what was really going on, but that didn't mean the prospect of her possible rejection was any easier to swallow.
"Oh, this is going to be very frightening for her." Athenadora said sadly, shutting her computer and sitting back more leisurely in her chair, "Her feeling a pull to be near you is only the start of it and that alone can be a very finicky thing! I know that feeling the bond's pull when you want to have her close is only irritating to you at most Marcus, but it is possible that Castiel-,"
"Can feel physical pain by it?" Marcus finished, as this was a thought he had already had, "I know. I've worried about it too."
"But if the pull could hurt her because she is human…" Sulpicia suggested gently, understanding that she was toeing a very fine line, "Perhaps you should just… change her?"
Marcus knew how careful Sulpicia was trying to be about what she said, so it was easy for him to keep his emotions in check.
"I understand your logic Sulpicia, but I cannot do that to her. She's scared and vulnerable right now, and if I were to change her, I'd be taking advantage of her in the most unfair way." He sighed delicately, taking a seat back on the couch and leaning forward to rest his head in his hands. "I've been feeling nothing since she last woke up other than the desire to protect. Her emotions are taking shape of the defense mechanism most newly mated pairs show. She is obviously the more submissive one of our pairing, and therefor she is unintentionally calling out for me to protect her."
He wasn't calling her submissive to be degrading toward her, she was just so good and gentle and quiet. He knew that she was not meant to be the protector in their bond. In every vampire relationship there was one vampire who was more responsible for safety, and for being the fighter in physical confrontations. It was usually the male who displayed more dominant and hostile traits due to venoms interactions with testosterone, so it was more common for the female to be protected rather than do the protecting. Of course, that didn't mean the Volturi hadn't seen plenty of cases where the opposite was fact.
Castiel's overall shyness and gentle nature as compared to his own past of fighting and his namesake as a "God of War" was enough of an indicator from the start that Marcus was to be the protector, regardless of the fact that when it came to imprinting the trend was always the same. The men protected and defended what was theirs.
Of course, his family nodded their understanding, and Aro gave Marcus a sympathetic look.
"We'll help you brother." He assured, "Everything will work out alright and perhaps you should make it known to Castiel that she can feel free to ask any of us anything that confuses her."
"Yes," Athenadora agreed, bouncing slightly in her seat, "It might help if she knows she can come to us. Another woman's advice might feel more helpful as she tries to figure things out, and Sulpicia and I can help explain why she might feel certain ways."
"You might actually be the best one for that Dora," Sulpicia interjected, smiling optimistically at Marcus, "Since you and Caius have a very similar power balance to Castiel and Marcus I mean. And speaking of her being able to come to us; when are we allowed to meet her?"
All eyes looked to Marcus at this, and he was spared having to answer by the door being thrown open by a grumbling Caius. He had venom dripping from the sleeve of his robe that didn't belong to him, the scent of it matching the boy who had thought it wise to attack Castiel.
Having venom your person as a vampire was equal to having blood on your clothes as a human. Vampires didn't exactly have blood running through their veins, as the blood they consumed was sentient in their muscular tissues, so when injured their venom was what acted to heal and close wounds… not to mention re-attach severed limbs.
And with no bites or wounds visible on him, it was more than likely that Caius had gotten some of Shaun's venom on him when he removed one of the boy's body parts.
"Ah," Aro's tone was positively cheerful as Caius shut the door, "The party is all here! How did it go Caius?"
Caius only rolled his eyes at Aro's statement at first, discarding his robe on the back of a chair as he pulled Athenadora into his arms and purred in contentment as he buried his nose in his mate's hair and closed his eyes. It was a sweet embrace to witness, and Athenadora spoke so softly to him that only Caius could hear her words as she rubbed his back. Knowing that Caius had probably spent the last few hours in pure rage as he tortured the guard, Athenadora's comfort was surely more than welcome.
"I had hoped I wouldn't have to torture anyone on behalf of our youngest so soon, but I suppose that is life." Caius sighed, never loosening his grip on his wife as he spoke, "We must introduce Castiel to the guard. Whether she is physically there or not doesn't matter just yet but we have to be sure that there isn't a vampire in this castle who doesn't know of her at the very least. I don't want a situation like this to happen again."
A low mumble of agreement went around the office, and Aro voiced that the best course of action would be to call a meeting immediately and round up the entire coven in the ballroom. This room was one of the only rooms in the castle large enough to host their entire coven comfortably as the Volturi's numbers totaled at nearly two hundred members if you counted all their nomads and reserve guard. Afton and Chelsea would not have to attend since they would be guarding Castiel while she slept, nor would any of the human staff, or Demetri and Felix as the pair would be responsible for guarding the grounds while the rest of the coven was occupied.
So, Marcus and his brothers left his office to wait in the ballroom while the wives went to round up the guards for the meeting. Alec and Jane had come to follow in their master's wake from their positions outside the office as the twins were usually responsible for the protection of the master's when all three convened together.
Idly, Marcus wondered as to how the twins would react. Jane in particular had an issue with jealousy when it came to any gifted person who could be considered more special than her, and that was aside from her nasty opinions of humans. Part of Jane's personality was just the constant need for validation as she was shunned so much in her human life. Her brother was much more stable with his feelings though, and Marcus knew that if Jane did end up feeling jealous of Castiel, Alec would be a very dependable source in keeping his sister in line.
5 Hours Later – 7 AM
It was with a small groan that Castiel awoke, her joints popping in a satisfying kind of way as she stretched. She had slept solidly. She hadn't moved an inch and couldn't remember having any dreams.
There was a fire crackling in the fireplace in her room, the merrily dancing flames casting orange light everywhere. She had never bothered to reopen the curtains because she knew that she couldn't get the windows open anyway, not to mention that she was rather fond of the dark. This time it didn't startle her to see a fire going in her room either because she was sure it was Afton who was responsible for lighting it.
A knock on her bedroom door caught her attention as she started to fall back asleep, and she sleepily stumbled out of bed with her eyes only half opened to get it.
Afton's smiling face greeted her, and in his arms were what was obviously a new change of clothes for her as well as a plastic bag that upon closer inspection she saw had shower gel, shampoo, conditioner, a toothbrush and toothpaste.
She squealed in delight, unable to hide how grateful she was that she would be able to take a shower. Afton laughed at her enthusiasm and told her he would be waiting in the hall when she was ready for breakfast.
When Castiel did get into the bathroom, which was upscale with double sinks, a Jacuzzi tub that could easily fit six people, and a gorgeous shower that seemed to have showerheads on each side and a rain effect showerhead on the ceiling, she sighed. Everything in her room was so upscale and beyond anything she had ever had in life, so she felt like a freeloader.
It was very hard this time to ignore the homesick feeling that took root in her stomach.
Stripping out of her clothes she observed the many dials on the side of the shower before taking a minute to get them to the setting she liked. She had both showerheads on opposite sides of the shower running and the rain head going from above. It was an absolute downpour of warm water, but it helped relax her stiff muscles and the feeling of the water hitting her scalp was soothing.
The citrus body wash and shampoo were nice and helped wake her up. As she stepped out of the shower into the now very steamy bathroom to grab a towel from the rack on the wall, she felt a little guilty for the state of the clothes she had slept in.
The blouse was very wrinkled, and the jeans were looking a little well worn. She should have taken them off when she got into bed, but she wasn't very comfortable with the idea of sleeping in her underwear. And speaking of underwear she really needed some clean ones.
Drying her body and wrapping her long hair into the towel she shook out the clothes she was being loaned today, which was a plain black dress with a sweetheart neckline. Fitted above the waist, it would fall a few inches above her knee. She was also left sheer black stockings and was happy to see that she had been given clean – and new – underwear. They were made of a fine baby blue lace, the tags were still attached, and upon inspection Castiel noticed they were exactly her size. She tried not to think about the fact that the only person who could have known her size for sure was the leader who had read her mind, Aro.
She made a mental note to ask Afton who was lending her clothes so she could thank them as she got dressed and went over to one of the sinks to brush her teeth. She found herself unconsciously thinking of what the day had in store for her as she really had no other plans than to see Marcus.
Castiel paused with the toothbrush in her mouth, her brow furrowing at the unfamiliar sensation in her stomach. It felt almost like butterflies… why was she suddenly feeling so nervous and excited?
She knew the answer deep down. Marcus… well Marcus was a very attractive man, and she had become rather enamored with him the previous night, so was it really so surprising that she had formed a little crush? No.
It's not like it would become anything anyway, she assured herself, ignoring the tiny stab in her stomach at the thought.
After towel drying her hair and running her fingers through her curls since she couldn't find a hairbrush, she padded to the living room and opened the door to face Afton. She was barefoot except for her stockings and wanted to voice her concern at only having sneakers to wear. Her ratty running shoes definitely wouldn't go with this dress.
But of course, her guard had all the answers. He held up a shoebox wordlessly and upon opening it she saw that it held a pair of black flats with a satin exterior in exactly her size.
"I was going to bring these in a minute ago, but I didn't want to interrupt your shower." He explained with a shrug, holding out an arm for her to grab onto for support as she bent down and pulled on the flats one at a time.
She padded quietly back to the couch so she could put the box down, and when she turned, she noticed that Afton had a heavy black fabric over his arm. It appeared to be a black cloak, and once they were in the hall and he had locked her bedroom door Afton held it out to her.
He ended up having to assist her with the little gold fastener, and once it was secured around her neck, they began to head down the hall in the direction of the kitchen. Her hair left a startling contrast to the black of her outfit, the deep blood red color of her curls framing her face attractively.
"So, who's been loaning me the clothes?" She inquired as they walked, her stomach growling at the promise of breakfast.
"Ah," Afton seemed not to be expecting this question, "I believe lady Athenadora has been loaning you clothes while we wait for new items to come for you."
He might have made it sound as if he weren't sure who was lending her the outfits, but there was no doubt it was Caius' petite mate as she had personally bought the clothes to Afton that morning along with her winter cloak. Things made for warmth really didn't make any difference to any of the vampires, and Athenadora couldn't help but vocalize her relief that she had something warm enough for Castiel. It was the only cloak she had that was made of a thicker, winter fabric, and she told Afton that Castiel was welcome to keep it indefinitely.
The walk to the kitchen took about ten minutes, and Castiel had barely walked through the door before Emmanuel was nudging her toward the breakfast bar and promising to have an omelet ready for her momentarily. She couldn't believe how happy he could be so early in the morning since she wasn't much of a morning person at all usually.
"Do you ever let the poor man rest?" Castiel joked with an eye roll at Afton, causing Emmanuel to turn and give her a fond smile before waving dismissively at her guard and uttering something in Italian.
When the chef returned to his work, Afton only rolled his eyes back at her in response.
Breakfast passed quickly, the omelet she was made – full of cheese, fresh tomatoes, and ham – was delicious and Afton was a great conversation partner. Castiel found herself asking a lot about his mate Chelsea and loved listening to his tales of the trips the two of them had taken over the years.
She was surprised when Afton revealed to her that Chelsea had been the one to find him. When Afton was a human in Rome, Chelsea was on a scouting mission with a few other guards looking for a vampire who had committed multiple far from inconspicuous killings.
Chelsea had apparently only been a vampire for less than a decade and knew the day she crossed Afton's path who he was to be to her.
She had returned to Volterra the very same day she found Afton, and immediately approached Aro about having found her mate. She had needed his help because she knew she did not have the self-control to change Afton without killing him and Aro only had to brush hands with Marcus to see that her words were true before he left for Rome with her.
According to Afton, Aro didn't waste any time searching him out, and had bitten him in the dead of night when he was meaning to return home to his human wife.
"Wait!" Castiel interrupted, shocked, "You were married when Aro bit you?"
Afton gave her a small smile of understanding at her shock, "It was many, many years ago Castiel. When I was human it was very rare to marry for love. Marriage was more of an indication of social standing or to produce heirs. I think I was only married for about a year before I was changed. I can't even recall her name to be completely honest. I only know she remarried within a month of my disappearance to a man I believe she was having an affair with while we were together."
Castiel's eyes were huge at the casual mention of such a scandal, but Afton only laughed at her expression before indicating she follow him to the library.
"It's never bothered me Castiel," Afton reassured her, "I believe if the decision of our marriage had taken another week, the man she was with after my "death" would have married her before I did. The only reason I remember any of it was because I never felt angry… I only pitied them since they could not be together."
"Couldn't you have gotten a divorce?" Castiel watched her feet as they descended a staircase not far from the library, nervous about tripping.
"People didn't really divorce where I was from all those years ago, marriages only usually ended when someone died." He paused thoughtfully, "…Which was probably why homicides weren't so uncommon at the time."
She still had so many more questions. She wanted to know how Chelsea knew Afton was her mate and how long it took until they were a couple, as she could tell by the way the pair had looked at each other yesterday that they were deeply in love. She was more curious about the topic of mating than ever before, and the idea of finding a human mate and changing them caused her to wonder what the chances were of a vampire having a "gift". She knew most of her immortal friends weren't gifted, Merida and Yakone were the only two of her long-term vampire friends she was positive of having gifts.
They had already reached the library, their conversation making the walk seem rather fast, and Afton led her in by the elbow. He could see she was deep in thought as he had given her a lot to think about and he almost felt sorry for Marcus, knowing that Castiel was going to bombard the king with questions once they sat.
Marcus was waiting in the same chair as the previous day, the meeting with the guard earlier that morning went well. There was even a polite round of applause from some of the Elite guard at the announcement of his imprinting and quiet congratulations. The only blip in the meeting was when Jane gave a small huff of incredulity from behind where the ancients were standing at the top of the steps in the ballroom.
His family had acted as though they hadn't heard it at the time, but after the room had cleared out Aro summoned Jane to follow him to his office. Aro was her sire, and while Jane certainly viewed herself to be one of the coven's best guards and therefor irreplaceable, she had to be reminded that acting out against Castiel was forbidden. Castiel's bond to Marcus made it so she outranked Jane and her status, as a human, did not change the fact that Jane was expected to take orders from Castiel if necessary and be graceful about it.
When Castiel finally arrived and sat across from him, Marcus couldn't help but smile. Her eyes glazed over for a second, as if the extent of his joy had momentarily dazed her, before she gave a tiny jerk of her head and smiled back.
When he observed her attire for that day, he knew he would have to thank Athenadora for leaving her a dress to wear. While Marcus didn't know if Castiel even liked wearing dresses, he couldn't deny that she was absolutely striking. The dress was very flattering to her petite frame and the dark, sheer stockings she wore made her legs distracting.
"Did you sleep well?" Marcus' tone was warm, his expression soft and unguarded.
Castiel hummed in agreement, and the pair spent the next hour or so talking about random things. Marcus asked a lot of questions about her life; what she was studying in school, what her favorite color was, what she liked to do in her free time and the foods she enjoyed eating. While she didn't mind answering his questions, they were very innocent in an I'm-just-a-new-friend-getting-to-know-you sort of way, she couldn't help the fact that she was just itching with more questions about vampires for Marcus to answer.
He caught onto this, if the amused quirk of his lip was anything to go by, because she had an air of polite impatience when she answered his questions.
But Marcus was curious to see how long she could maintain her natural curiosity and continued asking her questions.
It only took five more minutes before she gave a rather hurried explanation of why she had chosen to study engineering in college before she finally said, "Can I ask you something?"
He laughed, showing his perfect white teeth for a split second, "I was wondering how much longer you'd be able to hold out on asking me what was on your mind. You've been bouncing in your seat since you sat down."
She wasn't offended by his amusement, because she knew that she was a very curious person. One of her father's favorite phrases to repeat to her when she was a child was "curiosity killed the cat", but he stopped saying it as she got older, because she began responding with, "But satisfaction brought it back".
One thing she was impressed by about Marcus though, was the fact that he seemed able to maintain eye contact with her for an extended period of time. She had been told too many times to count that the light shade of her eyes made some people feel uncomfortable – Ajmer had told her not long after they first became that she made him feel a bit uncomfortable at times too because her eyes made him feel as if she were looking into his very soul.
"I was wondering," She said, hoping he hadn't noticed her slight pause as she thought, "If you could tell me more about vampires… about mating to be more specific."
He froze. Mating wasn't a subject he expected to come up between them without prompting from himself. His mind began to race as he wondered if someone had let something slip to her by accident, but she didn't seem weary of him.
Chancing a look at their bond through his gift and seeing it was much the same is it was yesterday, the many of his strands still working to join with hers, and he figured she couldn't know that he had imprinted on her since the bond would have reflected her emotions in some way.
But Marcus did notice something that caused him to focus more intently to make sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him and noticed that the gold hue of their bond seemed to shimmer and glow warmly today. This hinted she was more comfortable with him than she had been even the previous night.
Castiel saw how Marcus seemed to freeze, and though his response only lagged a couple seconds she worried she might have offended him. "I was only wondering because I was taking with Afton this morning about his wife. He told me how she knew he was her mate before he had even met her, and I just thought… I don't know that you'd be the best person to ask about that?"
He could hear in her tone that she was worried she had said something wrong, but he was too busy trying to contain the almost giddy feeling that had overtaken him to change his expression. She didn't know about the bond, and she was more comfortable with him than he could have ever hoped for her to be so soon.
"Would you like to take a walk with me?" He asked suddenly, standing slowly and holding out a hand to help her up, "I know you haven't been outside since you arrived here, and some fresh air might be nice while we talk."
He smiled encouragingly, and even though Castiel was slightly confused by the sudden mood swing, she took his hand. He hadn't meant to confuse her with his sudden desire to go outside, but there was something very important he had to show her if they were going to have this conversation.
"Due to my gift I cannot deny that I certainty am the best person to have come to with your questions." His tone was teasing, "You merely caught me off guard with your question is all. I have no problem explaining this to you."
She smiled at his words and for the first time he noticed that she had dimples when she smiled.
He must have been staring, for seconds later Castiel's ears turned red and she averted her eyes as she began to rub her left cheek as if something was there.
"What?" She asked as he lightly tugged her hand, placing it gently on his arm so they could walk together from the library. He heard feather light steps following them and knew this was Chelsea and Afton shadowing but maintaining their distance to give them the illusion of privacy.
"Nothing," He said reassuringly, "I only just noticed… you have dimples when you smile."
Marcus could tell she was surprised by how honest he had been, because she responded with a soft "Oh", and her scent spiked warmly as she blushed and stared straight ahead.
The gardens were very close to the library, one only had to travel down a few halls and one flight of stairs to get there. The garden was protected by high walls and hedges so no one from the coven would be seen if they chose to enjoy the gardens in the sunlight. It was the only area any of the vampires could be outside on the grounds regardless of the time of day.
It was a nice companionable silence as they walked at a Castiel's human pace. The silence between them so natural and the moments together so comfortable that Castiel was surprised when they came to two glass door that led outside.
There was hardly an inch of shade available outside the doors, so Marcus halted just before they came into the path of the sun that had come into the hallway. Castiel had unconsciously released his arm to get to the doors and had her hand on the knob before she noticed Marcus was not directly beside her.
She turned to stare at him in confusion as he stood a few yards away from her, her brow furrowing.
"Have you ever seen a vampire in the sunlight Castiel?" Marcus' smile was warm. His little imprint had been so eager to get outside that she seemed to have forgotten his… condition.
Shaking her head slowly, Castiel removed her hand of the warm golden knob and looked back out the glass doors into what she could see of the gardens so far. Lush greenery and many pastel-colored flowers were within her sight, and she found herself wondering how it was possible for all the flowers to be bloomed at this time of year.
"I've seen Ajmer in the sun for a second before," She said, suddenly unsure of her next words, worried she would sound like an idiot, "He had a jacket on so I was only able to see his hands, but it looked like he was-,"
She broke off, unsure, and Marcus had to prod for the rest of her statement.
"Yes?"
"It was probably just a trick of the light but-," she said quickly, shrugging "It looked like he was… glittering?"
The incredulous look she gave Marcus hinted that he was waiting for him to tell her she was wrong. He chuckled at her, taking a moment to push his sleeves up past his elbows and undo the top button to his shirt, before stepping forward to push open the doors and stride a few feet out into the direct path of the sun.
His back was to her, but it didn't change the fact that even from her spot just inside the castle she could see the way his skin shimmered, and how the stones on the ground around him had little beams of rainbow light thrown onto them.
Marcus turned slowly to face her, the glare of the sun shinning in his eyes a nuisance he was easily able to ignore due to his desire to see her response to him.
And Castiel's eyes were wide as saucers, Marcus wasn't merely glittering, he was shining. His skin looked like thousands of diamonds all pressed and molded together, looking at him in the sun made her feel as if she were looking at some great deity.
Moving forward slowly outside and into the sun herself, the warmth of it hardly noticeable due to the chill in the air, Castiel stopped only couple feet from Marcus. She didn't notice that she was now in the perfect position to look around him and see the grandeur that was the first real look into the garden, millions of different flowers of all sizes and colors were among lush greenery stretching as far as the eyes could see, because she was too busy watching him. There were stone paths that would lead to small sitting areas and fountains, and ponds teeming with life, but these things were easy to ignore, as none of it was as beautiful as Marcus.
Without thinking, Castiel reached up to touch his skin, wondering if the smooth column of his throat would feel any different now that she had this entirely new look at it.
She had no idea when she had gotten so bold and was momentarily embarrassed that she was so close to him, obviously invading his personal space and feeling as if she were at liberty to touch him without his permission.
She froze, her fingers only inches from his throat, and he saw the sudden flash of embarrassment across her face. Before she could lower her hand, he smiled encouragingly at her.
"It's alright." His voice was hardly more than a whisper, "You can."
Surprised he was allowing this, Castiel smiled, noticeably less dazzled than she was only moments before and gently touched the tips of her fingers to the area just under his jaw, before trailing her fingertips slowly down his neck toward his collarbones.
His throat was smooth as polished marble and cold, just as she knew vampire skin to be, and she was shocked when she felt what could only be described as something like an electric current run from her fingers through her arm. Her whole chest felt warm. She felt utterly at peace standing there with Marcus.
His eyes had fluttered shut momentarily at her touch, and he stopped breathing completely when she ran her fingers down to the collar of his shirt. He wanted to grab her and hold her to him, he wanted to have her close. There was no pain in him now, the pain he had suffered for thousands of years as he was alone wasn't even a distant memory. Here, now, it was like all that pain never exist.
This is why he needed her so completely. This was what an imprint was for. She was everything he had ever needed and wanted even though only a few days ago, he didn't even know he needed her at all.
Revised January 19th, 2021
(15 Pages, 6,780 Words)
