Eliana awoke very slowly the next morning. It still shocked her, just as before, when she woke up in that same room she'd fallen asleep in. It was as if a small part of her brain continued to believe the entire situation all to be a dream. But it wasn't. She knew first hand that it wasn't. No amount of wishing and hoping she could do would send her back to a time when she'd never shown up in Italy in the first place.

Rather than delaying her start, she wearily climbed out of the bed she could've sworn she'd fallen asleep on top of rather than in. Shuddering at the thought of someone entering her room during the night, which she managed to convince herself wasn't possible, she got herself dressed stupidly fast for fear of having a repeat of the previous evening where those two vampire kids invited themselves in.

Her hair, she noticed while brushing her teeth in the mirror, surprisingly wasn't looking in too much of a state. It was knotted, yes, but she knew brushing it would only make it look like she'd been dragged through a bush backwards, so instead she opted to leave it as it was.

As soon as she left the bathroom, the same two kids as before opened the door without any warning whatsoever. Jane sat down on the edge of her bed, attempting to hack into her phone which she'd left on top of the bedsheets, while Alec stood by the door.

"The Masters sent us to fetch you," Alec told her. "They're waiting downstairs."

Her heart was already racing in her chest. Even the mere thought of them seemed to make her feel a strange giddy combination of anxiety and excitement. She couldn't remember a time when her thought processes had ever been more pathetic and boy-obsessed—correction, vampire-obsessed.

"You know you can knock, right?" Eliana snarked as she sat down on the floor in front of a full-length mirror and switched out her small hoop earrings for a different pair of silver ones she'd found. "I would've let you straight in, but at least then you wouldn't end up scaring me half to death."

"Don't be dramatic. One of us would just turn you on the off chance that it was to happen," Jane countered, apparently successful in her attempts in getting into her phone. "Got any games on here by the way? I'm waiting for my new phone to arrive—stupid, unreliable human postage system—and no one will let me use theirs except Demetri, but there's nothing on his. Oh, Instagram-"

"That's enough." Eliana snatched her phone back and placed it in the back pocket of her skirt. She motioned towards the door. "Lead the way, I guess?"

"Would you rather wear shoes this time?" Alec asked, glancing pointedly at her feet.

Eliana groaned and sat down on the floor, reaching for a pair of converse shoes. While she did the laces on her left foot, Alec crouched down and tied them on her right.

"Who told you?" she asked.

"Felix," Jane laughed openly. "The human's already embarrassed herself, how priceless. Granted, I thought it would happen sooner, especially with this one, but-"

"Jane," Alec warned so quietly that Eliana didn't even have a chance of hearing it. He knew that if Aro was to catch either of them remotely making life difficult for his new mate, that couldn't possibly end too well for them, even if they were his favourites.

Eliana glanced between the two. "But what?" she asked, confused why Jane had cut her sentence short so suddenly.

Jane shrugged and walked straight out at a considerably fast human speed. "Nothing. Let us leave."

"The hell was that?" Eliana asked quietly as Alec helped her up to her feet and led the way out of the room.

"Oh, that's just how Jane is," Alec excused as they wandered down the dark and echoing maze of stone corridors. "If she makes any more comments like that—wait, she didn't offend you, did she?" Eliana shook her head, and he sighed in relief. "Good, no, she's like that with everyone. If it makes you feel any better, this is the best I've seen her treat a human for centuries."

"Centuries?" she repeated. "Holy moly, how old are you?"

He laughed. "Very."

"And you and Jane are . . . twins, right?" she asked. "It's just, you're both so similar, but it would be kind of embarrassing if I just assumed it and in reality you weren't related whatsoever."

"Oh no, we're twins," he answered. "She was born first apparently, but she acts more immature than I do." He went quiet for a moment. "And she just threatened to tear my arm off . . . and some other things. At least you don't have siblings."

She froze, giving him a quizzical look. "How do you know I don't have siblings?"

For a split second, Alec panicked internally. Didn't she know about Aro's gift? Deciding to play it safe, he responded, "The Volturi do tend to know these things. After all, remember our close connections with the Cullen coven."

"Oh yeah, you know uncle Carlisle," she recalled, accidentally aloud. "He used to live around here for a while, didn't he?"

Alec raised an eyebrow. "He's your uncle?"

She shrugged. "I just call him that. It's just like how I call Esme 'auntie Esme'."

After a further few minutes of talking, again about nothing specific but just making small talk, they stopped in front of a heavy set of double doors. It seemed that every door in the building was built like that at this point, probably just to ensure any unsuspecting humans wouldn't just accidentally let themselves inside.

Jane lifted the lock and pushed it open. To Eliana's surprise, she was suddenly hit with near blinding daylight, something she hadn't seen in a while. Tossing up the hood of her black cloak over her head, Jane led the way through some kind of rather large garden, followed by Eliana and then Alec just behind.

Despite the fact that the twins had their hoods covering their heads, they still gave off a slight shimmer from the exposed skin on their hands and wrists and whenever they tilted their faces towards the sunlight. Little spots of refracted colour danced across the pavement as she was led towards what seemed to be some kind of patio area. At the table, as predicted, were the three—kings? Was 'kings' the word? Sure—kings.

"Ah, Eliana, amore mio, it is wonderful to see you again!" Aro exclaimed. "Thank you, my dears." He nodded towards Jane and Alec in dismissal, and the pair both disappeared again in a brief flash.

Already feeling awkward about herself despite having only just arrived, Eliana blushed and stared down at the ground by her feet, this time with shoes fortunately. She heard movement beside her and saw Marcus stand up and untuck the remaining vacant chair for her.

"Thanks," she murmured sheepishly, sitting down opposite Caius with Aro to her right and Marcus to her left.

The sight that surprised her the most though, more so than the Volturi being outside in the first place, was Caius. He had his chair further untucked so that he was fully reclined back in the sunlight, his sleeves even rolled up so that the light bounced off his pale skin. Struggling to take the image seriously, she found herself accidentally laughing out loud.

Aro chuckled. "We humour you, do we?" he asked teasingly.

Eliana instantly blushed. "No, not at all."

"Well, at least you are wearing shoes this time," Caius humoured, nodding towards her feet under the table. "As lovely as it is that you feel comfortable enough to walk around barefoot, our floors are not made with the fragility of human feet in mind."

Marcus shook his head at his brother. "I presume you are hungry?" he asked.

Now that it had been pointed out to her, she noticed that there was in fact food already on the table in front of her. There wasn't that much—just some summer fruit and some freshly-baked bread with butter—but in fairness it was only for one person anyway.

She nodded and began to reach for a bowl of raspberries when her hand froze half way. "May I?"

Aro shrugged in amusement. "We don't plan on eating it ourselves."

Feeling even more sheepish than before due to his response, she quickly slid a small bowl of fresh raspberries closer to her and timidly popped one in her mouth. "If you don't mind me asking," she began, ensuring her mouth was clear first, "why exactly am I still here and not with the Cullens? It's not like them to leave so randomly. Well it is, but that's not the point."

"Not at all, cara mia, not at all," Aro replied happily. "The Cullens, as you are likely aware, have already returned to their residence in Forks, Washington. Unfortunately, you were not in a state to make the journey home with them, and it was actually dear Alice who suggested you stay behind."

His response was mostly true, anyway. Technically, their mate could have made the trip home just fine, maybe with the right medication to settle her stomach, but there was no reason for her to need to leave that urgently. If it was likely that they would not see her for some time after her currently temporary stay, could they really be blamed for taking the opportunity to keep her close for longer?

"Yep, that sounds like Alice," Eliana muttered. The little pixie loved to get involved in personal affairs, and that included others' love lives, especially when a vision was involved. "So, um," She cleared her throat unnecessarily to relieve some tension, "in the nicest way possible, when can I leave?"

"Whenever you so wish," Marcus responded. "So, on the contrary, when would you like to leave?"

Eliana froze, a raspberry halfway to her mouth. Suddenly grossly unsure of herself, she dropped the small berry back into the bowl she'd picked it up from and awkwardly studied a grain in the wood of the table, her hands folded in her lap.

That hadn't exactly been a question she'd been anticipating. From the moment she'd even made contact with Alice just days prior, she'd been dragged from point A to point B, told exactly what to do, where to stay, and even when to speak or stay silent. But now she was being given a choice? It was as if she'd forgotten how to make decisions for herself after being out of practise for so long.

"Oh . . . well . . ." Her foot tapped nervously against the concrete. "Maybe a few days?" she suggested slowly. "Just to be safe, if I'm supposedly unfit to fly. If that's okay."

"How wonderful!" Aro exclaimed. Eliana smiled nervously. "That will give us the perfect opportunity to get to know you better."

Eliana nodded in agreement, but she just couldn't shake off the uncomfortable, disconcerting feeling she felt whenever she was around them. True mates or not, it couldn't be denied that the Volturi were definitely an atypical group of people.

Caius narrowed his eyes at her quite clearly terrified form. He'd dealt with enough humans to smell fear and discomfort from a mile away, and while he was typically nonchalant about that type of thing, something about her own fear both concerned and angered him.

"I do apologise if my brothers," He paused his sentence at the quick glare he received from Aro, and rolled his eyes, "and I have made you feel uncomfortable. Know that it is not our intention."

Eliana's eyes widened for a moment and her gaze shot up at him. "Oh no, n-no, it's fine, don't apologise," she insisted quickly. "I'm fine, and what happened yesterday was my fault, really-"

She missed both the irked look Aro gave Caius and the blond's bemused shrug as Aro's hand clasped over hers and lifted it out of her lap. "Never blame yourself, amore mio," he reassured her gently. "Your reaction couldn't be helped."

"My deepest apologies for interrupting-"

The voice had sounded so close to Eliana's ear and so suddenly that she jumped in her seat and yelped in fear. Almost giving herself whiplash from how quickly she turned around, behind her stood a blindingly tall man, albeit not as tall as Felix, whose appearance intimidated her in every possible way. He stood with his arms folded over his chest and what resembled a scowl on his face, though most of it was hidden by the shadows caused by the hood of his cloak.

Caius' expression turned murderous at the guard's unplanned interruption, as did Marcus', although not nearly as severely. Aro, however, remained entirely serene and somewhat joyous at his arrival.

"Whatever is the matter, Santiago? Oh, Jane, Alec, my dears!" He gestured them over with a single finger, and the twins were in front of him within a millisecond. "Escort Eliana here back inside, would you? I'm so sorry to cut this conversation off so short, amore," Aro apologised to her.

Eliana shook her head as she stood up and Alec tucked in her chair for her. "Oh no, it's fine, really. Um, thanks again, I guess," she said sheepishly over her shoulder as she made her way back inside, now an absolute flustered mess.

Only then did she realise: Had she really just agreed to a week in Volterra?


"You're acting rather quiet," Alec commented during their short walk. Eliana hadn't said so much as a sentence since she'd left that meeting. "If I may ask, how did it go?"

"What do you mean?" she asked.

Jane rolled her eyes. At least this time, she still strolled far ahead of them but within eyesight and hearing range for a human. "He wants to know the details," she explained, though there was a hint of exasperation to her tone. "That includes key points in your conversation, opinions on the masters, etc."

"Well yeah, I know that," Eliana retorted, "but what exactly are you expecting me to say? It was a short conversation."

Alec shrugged. "I don't know, what did you think of the masters? Consider that your first impression of them."

She clicked her tongue in thought. "They're nice. I suppose."

In response, he hummed in agreement, but he still hid the fact that he'd somewhat expected a little more to come out of that. According to vampiric legend, a true mate was an incredible phenomenon, and thus far, 'they're nice' was a rather underwhelming outcome from it all. Of course, it was still very early days, and he certainly wasn't in a position to judge.

The moment they entered the room Eliana had been assigned, she froze in the doorway. Her eyes widened and she stared into the distance. "Shit," was all she said.

Jane sighed and sat down on her bed. "What have you done this time? Is this about Noah?"

Eliana's mouth moved as she gazed bewilderedly at Jane, but no coherent words came out for a moment. "Wha—but—huh—how did you-?"

She waved her phone up between her gloved fingers and placed it down beside her. "I went through your contacts," Jane replied. "Remember that my brain operates at a speed millions if not billions faster than your feeble mind. Within seconds of scrolling through your phone, I could learn most of your simple human life. That includes romances."

"So, what do I do?" she mumbled as she sat down heavily on the bed and rubbed at her forehead. "Damn it, I have a boyfriend."

"So? He's human, right?" Alec confirmed. Eliana nodded meekly. "I highly recommend you call him and break up. No explanation needed. Just a simple "we're over"."

Eliana looked at him incredulously. "What? No, I can't do that-"

"Too late, you're doing it," Jane retorted, her eyes trained on the phone screen. "I'm dialling that boy's number now."

"No, Jane, no, don't you even think about it," she warned, her hand outstretched. "Just give back the phone."

Jane simply shrugged and held up the screen in front of her. From the looks of things, it truly was too late. "Now, I'll be generous and give you two options here, human. I speak to that boy, or you do. And trust me when I say I will get the job done."

Alec nodded in agreement. "She's good."

Eliana glanced between them, in pure and utter confusion. "Oh my God, you can't seriously be-"

Her phone made a faint click. "Hello? El? . . . El?"

Jane offered the phone forward. Completely silently, her arm trembling uncontrollably, Eliana fumbled with her phone and eventually gripped it well enough to hold it up to her right ear. Her hands clenched at her skirt to ground herself.

"H-hey," she stammered, forcing a light tone.

Jane rolled her eyes and momentarily disappeared, only to pop back up again with a stack of paper and a pen. If you want something done, you've got to do it yourself . . .

"Er, why are you calling me? At 10 in the morning?" Noah inquired. Now that he'd mentioned it, his voice did sound rather groggy over the phone, and while usually that would've been something she didn't mind, the purpose of conversation really wasn't easing her nerves in the slightest.

"Well . . ." Eliana squinted to read what Jane had written across the sheet of paper she was holding up. "There's no easy way to say this, so I'm just going to get this all out at once." There was a long pause before the next sentence, which consisted of an insistent warning glare from Jane. "I'm breaking up . . . with you," she finished with a wince.

"Huh? What the—you can't be serious," he grumbled. There was a rustle in the background. "Eli, just go back to sleep, you're probably just tired. It's spring break. You're supposed to sleep."

"No, I'm serious," she continued to read from the girl's cue cards. "Things have just become . . . complicated lately, and it would be for the best if we ended this relationship now." Eliana shook her head and sighed to herself at the unnatural phrasing. "Don't make this more difficult than it needs to be, Noah."

"What? Where the fuck is this coming from?" he questioned exasperatedly. "El? . . . Eli! Goddamn it, answer my question."

Jane held up one final sheet of paper, on which it read: '*HANG UP*'

Eliana bit her lip and removed her phone from her ear. She held it out in front of her, her finger hovering over the end call button. The moment her finger would make contact, that would end everything. That would finalise her words. That would-

Due to pure impatience, Jane had ended the call on her behalf and handed the powered-off phone back to her. "Pitiful, honestly," she commented snidely.

Her eyes closed, she lay back against the sheets on her bed with her arms wrapped around herself in a sort of self-hug. "I can't believe I just did that," she whispered. "And I didn't even explain why. I just-"

"Don't claim credit for my own artistry," Jane interjected, "but there there," she deadpanned, with a half-hearted pat of her shoulder. "The boy was pathetic. He was weak, naïve, and not to mention unintelligent. It's as if you hold no standards at all."

"What have I done?" Eliana whimpered.

Alec rolled his eyes. "It was inevitable. If not now, I'm sure Caius would've been more than happy to lock him in the dungeons. Of course, at that point the foolish lovestruck human would only be able to beg for death."

She sighed. "You guys are the worst."

"If we were soft, like you, we'd be dead by now," Jane retorted. "Oh, Master Aro."

Eliana felt the side of the bed suddenly lift as Jane removed her weight. While she wanted to sit up too, she just couldn't find the willpower within herself at that moment. What was the point if she was just a cringe-worthy, 'soft' embarrassment anyway?

"Bad time?" Aro asked.

She sighed and winced slightly as she forced herself up so that her weight was propped up on her elbows. What she hadn't expected to see in the doorway was Aro dressed in the same black suit as before with his Volturi crest around his neck and a pair of dark sunglasses hooked onto the breast pocket of his jacket. He leaned remarkably casually against the doorframe, although the faint frown on his features indicated that he suspected something was happening.

Eliana remained silent for a moment, hoping Jane and Alec could explain for themselves, but before she even had a sliver of chance of stopping them, they vanished as if they hadn't been in the room in the first place. Never had she seen a pair of vampires act so cartoonish in her entire life.

"And there they go," she muttered at the door. "But not a bad time, not at all," she lied. "What's up?"

"Well, if it does not interfere with any plans of your own, I rather hoped you would be willing to accompany me on a short trip into Volterra, cara mia," he responded, his voice as soft and perfectly articulated as always. He took a careful step into the room, almost as if he was consciously ensuring he wouldn't startle her, and lightly closed the door behind him.

Despite the question catching her completely off guard, Eliana attempted to play it cool. Suffice it to say she was terrible at playing it cool. "O-oh, er . . . yeah, sure, I don't see why not, sounds fun," she replied with an unnatural-sounding laugh.

"Marvellous! Well, we'd better be on our way before the weather changes." He nodded pointedly towards the window, the view obscured by a gradually thickening layer of pale grey clouds. It certainly made sense why vampires would be so desperate to remain hidden from sunlight in the view of the general public.

Eliana nodded and began to shuffle off her bed, being mindful of where her skirt was positioned. The last thing she wanted was to inadvertently flash the guy, especially considering they'd only just met.

Just as her feet reached the ground, she transferred her weight into her legs much too quickly and was overcome with a thick dizzy spell. She stumbled sideways only to be caught by Aro with his hands gripping her forearms before she could fall and hurt herself.

"Are you alright, my dear?"

Once her vision was finally clear again, she looked up at him, startled at herself, and stood back up straight, pulling away from him which certainly wouldn't have been possible if he hadn't removed his vice-like grip of her arms.

"Y-yeah, fine," she stammered awkwardly. "Just headrush."

"Well, in that case, let us leave," he responded gently, a hand on the small of her back, ushering her out of the room. She initially felt herself flinch subconsciously at the contact but otherwise didn't mind it too much at all.

As they began to approach the door that Eliana remembered leading to the streets of Volterra, she saw Aro remove the sunglasses from his pocket and slide them on expertly with a single hand. She hadn't even noticed herself gaping for a long moment.

"Did I do something to shock you?" he asked teasingly.

Eliana quickly closed her mouth and shook her head as he opened the door. "You just . . . with one hand . . . in only a second . . ."

"Well, I'm glad to hear that I impress you," he replied in amusement.

She fought down the blush she gained on her cheeks. "I-I wouldn't call it that—but that's not to say that you're not impressive, I just—" She grimaced. "Forget I said anything," she muttered.

"I could never. Literally," he retorted, though at least, judging by his tone, he hadn't taken any offence to her ramblings.


The city was quiet, to say the least, especially compared to the volume of tourists and general chaos during the St. Marcus day festival just days prior. Eliana absently followed along with Aro's footsteps, her arm looped around his. He continued to talk to her about the history of Volterra and the general culture of the surrounding area, but paying close attention was becoming harder and harder to do.

Just as she felt her eyelids begin to grow heavy, she was interrupted.

"Are you hungry?"

She looked up at him in a daze. "Huh?"

Aro smiled at her. Even when she was completely confused and out-of-it, she still had a way of being frankly adorable. "I asked if you were hungry," he repeated himself. "There are several restaurants that some of our human staff have recommended in the past."

"Er . . ." Now that she paid attention to it, she felt that telltale empty sensation in her stomach. "I guess I could eat."


The pair were inside the closest restaurant to them and seated at a table far from the window or plain view in record time. Eliana shrugged off the jacket she'd put on and left it over the back of her chair, watching as Aro removed his sunglasses and placed them on the table. It was only once they made eye contact that she quickly glanced away at the menu in front of her.

"Um . . ." she trailed off, "I thought vampires didn't eat human food."

"We don't," he confirmed. "I just thought I'd help you find something to eat, or alternatively offer my translation services."

She nodded her head and began to read through the menu. Just by her luck, every single word down the sheet was written completely in Italian, and while she could understand the odd word or two, the rest was absolute gibberish to her. She narrowed her eyes at a few of the listed items as she attempted to string together a logical translation.

"I could always help, you know," Aro reminded her, clear humour in his tone.

"No, no, I've got it," she insisted without looking up. "I can figure it out for myself, thanks."

"You can? In that case, what is it you're thinking of ordering?" he asked. Of course, he already knew her knowledge on the Italian language was abysmal, but continuing forward with the ever-deepening hole she was digging herself into seemed like the more interesting option.

"O-oh, well, er," She cleared her throat unnecessarily, "the, um . . ."

He cocked his head in interest, urging her to continue. "The . . .?"

"The . . ." She squinted at the text. "Pici all'aglione rosso."

"Ah, I see," he responded, noticing her let out a heavy breath. "Oh, and that pronunciation was simply dreadful. We must teach you to speak Italian at some point."

She winced and rubbed her temple. "Was it that obvious?"

"It was a valiant attempt, cara mia," he assured her. "Things like this just take practise."

"Well, I guess I'll have an eternity to spend figuring all that stuff out," she replied. "Especially considering, as far as my life's going right now, I'll likely end up here for as long as I exist. I may as well learn the language." She paused for a moment. "You know, I didn't think it was possible for a person to have three mates. How does that even . . . I just don't understand," she confessed.

She felt Aro place his hand over hers resting on the table in reassurance. "I know this is overwhelming for you, but I promise, everything will move along at your own pace. We don't expect anything of you," he said. She subtly nodded in understanding but still kept her eyes trained on the table. "And to your first point, three mates is not impossible, but simply rare. It comes as a surprise to us too."

"Oh . . ." was all that she replied with.

Sensing her discomfort, Aro steered the conversation in a different direction. "While we are on the topic of your stay, the three of us have something of a gift for you." He slid a white rectangular box across the table towards her. "Consider it a little 'Welcome to the Volturi' gift."

He watched as she timidly yet eagerly opened the gift she'd been given, unable to miss the smile that graced her face and the little laugh that left her at the sight of the contents.

"A phone charger," she laughed. "My phone literally died this morning. And it's one of those fancier ones too that don't break after a month, like the ones that Apple charges an arm and a leg for." She finally made eye contact with him. "You didn't have to get me anything, really."

"How could we not?" he countered. "Spoiling you is the sole purpose of our existence."

"So literal sugar daddies," she joked. "But seriously, don't spend money on me again."

"Oh, we will," he promised. That was a promise he knew he'd certainly be keeping.

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ────── ⊰

Author's note: I got this out surprisingly fast honestly. I've been dealing with a lot these last few weeks, but I did promise an update soon and I hope you at least somewhat enjoyed this chapter. Honestly, the awkwardness in these few chapters feels like it's eating me alive, but I feel like it just makes this that much funnier hahah

Hopefully, with summer break finally here, I'll be able to get out much more regular updates as well. I really do want to finish this story this year hopefully.

Anyway, thank you so much for reading, stay safe, and ily lots!