In Italy's time zone, it was quite late by the time they'd arrived back in Volterra. It was . . . oddly nostalgic, watching with her eyes barely open as the car rolled into the garage once more, fortunately parked near the door to the elevator so that there would be minimal walking involved once they climbed out.

She wasn't entirely sure who was responsible for her belongings, but she couldn't say she exactly cared either. Maybe it was all the travelling, but she just felt so unbelievably sleepy. Even briefly walking through the castle with her hand in Caius' felt like too much of a task, her eyes barely open at all anymore and squinting in discomfort at the slightest signs of light.

Once she knew they were approaching her room, she very faintly mumbled, "Can one of you please stay with me?"

"I will," Marcus replied gently, yet quickly before Caius or Aro had the chance to answer for themselves. He held his hands out for only a moment before she practically collapsed into his arms, causing him to have to scoop her off her feet and hold her with ease. "Come on, it's time for you to get some rest."

Aro tried not to laugh at the adorable scene of her already nodding off in Marcus' arms. "Dormi bene, bellissima."

All she could even do was nod slightly in acknowledgement and yawn before Marcus had closed the door to her room behind them. In an instant, they were both under the covers, his shoes and jacket removed as well as her own shoes for good measure.

"Would you like to change into something more comfortable?" he suggested.

All she did was shake her head and press herself up against his side. She didn't seem to even have the energy to brush her teeth or take a quick shower either.

"Okay then," he answered humouredly, his hand rubbing slow circles on her shoulder. "Sleep well, tesoro."

"Marcus?"

He glanced back down at her, not that her eyes were even open anymore. "Yes?"

She froze for a few seconds. "I was going to say something, but now I don't remember."

"Oh, Eliana," he sighed light-heartedly. "Tell me when you remember, but for now just get some rest."

She nodded and went quiet. He noted her clear comfort in his presence, apparently enough to warrant one leg over him as she held herself as close as humanly possible. He tried to recall back to the last time he'd experienced any kind of embrace like this. Had it been centuries? Or possibly longer?

Surprisingly, he'd never exactly been the cuddling type either. Generally Aro was — it was in his nature — and then possibly Caius on a good day, but even with Didyme he couldn't exactly say it was a regular thing for him at all. Eliana had only been around for a short while, but she was already bringing out a slightly unfamiliar side of him.

"I remember what I was going to say."

It was her sleepy mumblings that pulled him out of his reverie. He saw her eyes slowly flutter open, although judging by the way her gaze would dart around, she was struggling to see in the dark of the room.

"Is it something that can wait until tomorrow?" he asked.

"I think so," she admitted, "but I don't feel like waiting. I wanted to ask, and it might sound dumb but –"

"Nothing you say will ever sound dumb, cara mia," he cut in.

She smiled faintly. "Um . . . do you . . . make purring noises?"

At that, to her mild shock, Marcus began to laugh. Feeling more stupid than ever, she buried her face in his shirt and closed her eyes, hoping that falling asleep would come quickly. "Forget I said anything."

"No, no, piccola, you asked a completely valid question," he reassured her, running a hand through the bleached blonde ends of her hair. "You just caught me off-guard. But to that question, the answer is yes."

She raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"

"It is believed to be a phenomenon exclusive to true mating, but yes. A true mate's purr is often either a sign of contentment or to comfort and relax their mate," he explained. "I would offer to stop if it bothers you, but I've found it is involuntary."

"It's fine," she assured, her head now back on his chest as her eyelids began to force themselves closed. She could feel her tiredness really catching up with her now. "I quite like it."

Marcus' thumb briefly brushed against her cheekbone. "Is there a reason why you wanted one of us to stay with you tonight?"

Eliana shrugged and let out a yawn. "I know you're busy, but I don't get to spend time with you much . . . Also, you're really comfy . . ."

"I'll take your word for it," he answered in amusement. Now he could finally hear her heartbeat begin to slow to a much calmer pace. "Buona notte, bellissima."


By the time she awoke finally, not only did she have next to no idea what time it was, only that it was past sunrise, but Marcus had vanished from sight completely. She had expected that, in all honesty — to expect someone that busy to stay with her for that many hours was simply unreasonable — but she couldn't say she didn't miss the company.

But that feeling of longing didn't last long. She hadn't been up for any longer than 10 minutes, fresh out of the shower and standing by her wardrobe in only a towel, when she heard the door open somewhere behind her. She gasped and turned around, the top of the towel nearly falling out of her grip and off her body.

"Aro, for goodness sake!"

Aro didn't even look remotely sorry. He smiled warmly at her, if smugly. "Ciao, amore."

"Jesus, go ciao yourself," she muttered bitterly. "I almost dropped my towel!"

"It wouldn't be anything I haven't seen before," he reminded her. "Just be glad I'm not Caius. I'm not so sure if he'd be able to control himself-"

"Aro, did you come in here for any specific reason?" She swiped the first items of clothing she could grab from her wardrobe and held them close to her while also awkwardly holding her towel at the same time. "Or just to be a bother?"

Aro simply laughed at that. "You're adorable," he said, only for her to narrow her eyes at him from across the room. "Go and get dressed and we'll talk after."

That she did, in the bathroom of course and with the door locked. It wasn't that she was uncomfortable with Aro, that wasn't it. He'd seen everything she'd ever seen from her perspective, so there was no reason at all to feel that way. In fact, there was no reason to even justify getting changed in private anyway.

But it didn't stop her from still wanting some sense of privacy regardless. This wasn't a strip show.

The moment she stepped out of the bathroom fully-clothed, Aro took her hand and led her out of the room and down the hall. She was so taken aback by it that she didn't even say anything at first, before she eventually managed to ask,

". . . Huh?"

"You seem confused," he noted.

Her eyebrows furrowed together. "That's probably because I am confused. Where are you dragging me to? I've barely been awake for 10 minutes, I want breakfast."

"Breakfast can wait a very short while longer," was all he said.

"You still haven't said where we're going," she told him.

"Patience, cara mia."

Again, Eliana was not a morning person. Hence, she certainly didn't have the energy nor the willpower to argue with the man, even once they'd arrived . . . wherever they were. It took her a moment while they approached the end of a narrower corridor to even realise where they were, and even then it was too late since Aro had already opened the door.

She registered Marcus already there, standing just a few feet from the bed, and Caius already sitting on the edge of the bed quite comfortably. This was Caius' room, almost certainly, if she remembered correctly.

Aro let go of her hand. "Sit."

To say she didn't understand what was happening would've been an understatement. A perplexed look on her face, she very slowly and warily sat down beside Caius as Marcus moved to stand near Aro.

Eliana glanced at Caius. "What's happening?"

Caius shrugged. "How the fuck should I know –?"

"Caius, please," Aro interjected shortly. Caius could only roll his eyes. Eliana was beginning to notice that he did that a lot. "I wanted to speak with both of you present."

She'd never seen a guy look so confused in her life. "Why?"

"There's an issue that needs to be addressed," Aro began, "and that issue is the constant bickering between the pair of you."

Silence hung over them for a moment, until Eliana asked innocently, ". . . Is this an intervention?"

Marcus snorted a laugh and covered his mouth. After sending him a mildly reprimanding look, Aro continued as though she hadn't said anything in the first place.

"You two are both grown adults but act as though you are children," he chided. "If I didn't know any better, I'd honestly believe you are completely incapable of having a calm and civil conversation without it ending in some form of argument or at least one party upset. All I ask of you is for you both to just get along."

"If it lets me get breakfast sooner," she muttered, "then yes, I'll get along with Caius."

She then looked to Caius. Everyone looked to Caius. He glanced between them and then rolled his eyes dramatically.

"Yes, Aro, we will "get along". Are we done here now?" he demanded.

Aro checked his wristwatch. "Alright. I have a meeting in 2 minutes anyway. I will take your word for it that this won't happen again." As he turned to leave, he said, "And make sure Eliana gets some breakfast," over his shoulder.

Marcus shook his head humouredly. "He means well." He offered a hand forward for her to take. "Tesoro, did you want to eat some food now-?"

"I'll take her," Caius snapped. "You had her all night."

All he did was nod. At least he didn't seem terribly disheartened. "Valid argument. In that case, I'll leave you two." Marcus smiled at her softly. "I'll see you later, cara mia."

For some reason, all Eliana found herself doing was awkwardly wave at Marcus as he left. In fairness, he did somewhat reciprocate it on his way out anyway.

The door closed behind him, leaving just her and Caius. She was still sitting beside him as before, although there was a small amount of distance between them. He had his back against the headboard now, his legs extended out in front of him while she sat near his feet.

"Is Aro always like that?" she asked him.

"You get used to it," he answered honestly.

He held his arms out in invitation, surprised yet pleased to see her crawl towards him without any hesitation and sit herself comfortably on his lap. Sometimes he did question whether she was just almost overly trusting or naive, but he wasn't complaining, especially considering how close to him she was willing to be.

Her face was near his neck as she took a deep breath and sighed contentedly. "Do you think Aro's right?" she asked him softly. "That maybe we do fight too much?"

"Do you?" he countered.

She took a moment to think about that. "I don't know. I don't think so. I can't imagine constantly getting along with you anyway."

"That's what I hoped you'd say." He leaned down to kiss her forehead.

She let out a little laugh. "What? You like to argue with me?"

"Who wouldn't enjoy arguing with a person whose favourite comebacks include "that sounds like a you problem" and calling me a "clown"?" Caius laughed. "And you don't need to sit here and falsely deny that you enjoy arguing with me too."

Eliana rolled her eyes teasingly. "For a bunny, your ego's far too enlarged –"

She let out a stunned yelp as she found herself suddenly pinned down with her back flat against what was presumably the mattress. Caius' body was pressed up completely against hers, his hands holding her arms behind her back which stopped her being able to move.

"I'd watch what comes out of that pretty little mouth of yours if I were you," he murmured. He then raised an eyebrow as she tried and failed to squirm free, inwardly laughing at herself as she did so. The moment his hand grasped her chin and held her head in place, she stilled. "Is that understood?"

Eliana just nodded slowly, which was only made possible by him loosening his grip on her chin.

"Good," he responded as he sat up again, removing his hands from behind her. She stretched out her shoulders again, causing Caius to laugh a little.

"Damn, you really know how to almost dislocate a shoulder," she muttered.

Caius pulled her towards him so that her back was against his chest. He placed his hands over her shoulders and slowly yet expertly began to massage her joints there. "I don't understand how a human can possibly be this clumsy. I hate to remind you of this, but when I pin you down, you aren't moving until I allow you to."

"Go away, it was reflexive," she argued, "not that you'd understand human instincts."

"Stop moving." He removed one hand from her shoulder to hold her still around her stomach. "See, I imagine this is how you're always injuring yourself in the first place."

She tilted her head up to look at him, since she found herself physically unable to turn around, and frowned. "You know what? You're the mean one. Aro should've lectured you, not me."

He looked at her for a moment. A long moment. For a little while, she let herself think that he was pondering what she'd said. But instead, he simply came out with, "It gets increasingly difficult to take anything you say seriously."

"Caius!" She crossed her arms over herself indignantly. "I'm sick of not being taken seriously."

He continued to laugh, regardless of how he tried to suppress it. "I'll always take you seriously," he assured her. "Just not when you try to frown, scowl, or sneer at me." A kiss was planted on top of her head. "But you'll always be taken seriously. How much so, I can't promise," he added teasingly. "Now come on, let's get you some breakfast-"

Just as he began to stand up, she reached for his arm to stop him. "Just one more thing."

Caius glanced back down at her as she clung to his arm and relented. He took a seat back down on the bed, and the moment he did so she dropped herself onto his lap with her arms around his torso.

"Were you going to ask something?" he asked her. "Or cling to me like a koala bear?"

"I like the koala idea, but no, I was going to ask something of you." Eliana sat up a little and straightened her back out. "Caius."

"Eliana."

"Um, so, you know how you just, like, sit on your throne all day for trials and meetings and stuff?" she began sheepishly.

He pretended to be deep in thought for a few seconds. "I believe I do recall doing just that, yes. I assume you're asking to attend such an event."

She winced. "A little bit . . ." she answered hesitantly.

"It's not nearly as interesting as you may want to believe," he informed her. "You'll want to leave within the first 10 minutes, especially considering your attention span."

"My attention span isn't that bad," she protested. "And I'll come to that conclusion for myself."

He raised a blond eyebrow. "You're going to be stubborn about this, aren't you?"

"Again, a little bit," she confessed.

Caius' response came a little slow, akin to hesitancy. "Okay. There is a small and likely brief trial to be held this afternoon. I'll clear this with Aro and Marcus first, but –"

"Yes?" she asked hopefully.

"Yes," he confirmed. "But make that group chat you promised first."

"Jeez, I was hoping you'd forget about that," she complained. "There's nothing that interesting to see anyway. Just photos and videos I wouldn't exactly be waving proudly to my parents. You'll be underwhelmed."

"Like you said, I'll come to that conclusion for myself," he replied.

She couldn't help but laugh a little. "The growing sexual tension is getting uneasy,"

He hummed in agreement. "It's only natural. And that tension can only last so long before the metaphorical cord snaps."

"Well as long as the cord doesn't snap now, or within the next hour, we're all good here," she quipped as she quickly stood up and took his hand eagerly. "Come on, I want to eat a croissant."


Eliana wasn't nervous. At first. But when the circular room gained 4 more blood-sucking vampires, each being restrained by a guard, she was beginning to question every decision she'd ever made up until that point.

She gripped Caius' hand, sitting close to him on the armrest of his throne. "I thought you said this would be boring," she whispered.

"You find this interesting?" he questioned.

She shook her head. "Terrifying."

"Just don't panic too much," he advised her. "We can smell fear."

With a shiver, her attention turned back to whatever conversation Aro was having. It was all in Italian, so she didn't understand a word of it, but whatever he'd said had certainly aggravated them. One of them let out such a low growl that she jumped a little, Caius squeezing her hand lightly to keep her calm.

It was then that one of their gazes turned to her. Her blue eyes locked with black ones and she couldn't bring herself to look away, only freeze on the spot. There was an undeniable hunger behind them. It was very obvious what she was being viewed as — prey.

The next part was possibly the only thing she hated about being the only human in the room. All she could remotely register was a loud noise of some kind, followed by movement, very quick movement, a sharp stab of pain in her face, and then another sound that resembled a bang.

Then there was darkness. Pain, slowly tapering off into darkness.

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ────── ⊰

Author's note: This took a lot longer to write than I planned because writer's block hit me like a bus, and it made it impossible to think of literally anything. But anyway, I guess this is at least something haha.

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