*** This story contains some mild language, suspense, romance, and some frightening images and situations—13 and older, please.
In the Grip of Twilight
By:
Olivia Tannis Moore
Chapter Eighty One:
Part Two: Who's Afraid of the Volturi?
The windows to Demetri's study were unlocked and it was a simple matter to climb into the dark, silent room.
It was quiet in the study. In fact, I could hear no sound in the rest of the castle—it was as silent as a crypt. Better to hear me, I supposed. And therefore I assumed I was alone as I walked around the high-backed chairs, and Demetri's writing desk, where his papers were still scattered…but then a small flitting shadow danced in the corner next to the empty fireplace and I gasped. The shadow was much too small to be one of the Volturi, but I took a defensive position regardless, and looked back to the windows as my point of exit if I should need to flee.
The shadow receded back against the wall and I could've sworn I saw the glare of flashing eyes.
"Come out so I can see you," I demanded. And the small figure slid forward.
I squinted into the dark. The white-blond short-cropped hair of the girl seemed familiar. And then I realized where I'd seen her. "You're the child that brought me the shoes and necklace for the ball the night I arrived in Volterra… What are you doing here—in Demetri's study?"
She studied me with her soulful, yet defiant, dark eyes. "He asked me to wait for you," she said reluctantly.
My heart did a somersault and I glanced again at the windows wondering if I would still need to bolt out of the study—although it didn't make much sense, if it was a trap, to send this slip of a child here to wait for me. "He?" I asked.
She rolled her eyes; it was an exaggerated roll, dramatic, as if I was the child and she the adult. Then, she sighed, "Demetri. Who else?"
My shoulders relaxed and I sat down in one of the high-backed chairs, rubbing my hand along the velvet, plum-colored arm, remembering how the last time I'd been here, Demetri had addressed me from the same chair. "What's your name?" I asked casually.
She bristled, and for a moment I thought she wasn't going to answer me, but then she replied, "Audrina."
I smiled at her curt tone. Perhaps she blamed me for turning life on its backside here at Volturi Castle. "Well, Audrina—that's a pretty name, by the way—how'd you know I'd come here, to Demetri's study?"
"You found the strings, didn't you?" she snapped. "He left them out there for a reason."
I smiled patiently, but remained wary. It could still be a trap. The girl could be doing Aro's bidding. I stared at her, musing aloud, "I wonder…"
"What's that supposed to mean?" she said, glaring at me.
"Do you always do what Demetri tell you to do?" I asked.
"Yes, always." She looked up at me and then quickly turned away. "He's the only one that cares about me…he's my family. The only family I know." She turned her eyes back to me and they sparked with rage. "You're a fool to turn him down. Oh, if he'd just asked me to bond with him. But it was wasted on you!"
So that was it. Jealousy. I shook my head. "I think you have it wrong, Audrina. It's true that Demetri preformed the transformation, but it was not his venom that changed me."
"And you're a liar, at that," she hissed. "I would never deny his venom inside me." She raised her fists to the sides of her head, against her blond cropped hair in torment.
"It's true, Audrina. You don't know the whole story. We defied them, the Volturi. I have Edward's venom inside me."
She looked up at me, then, "The boy that came with you?"
"Yes. Demetri helped us."
Her eyes widened and she looked hopeful for a moment, but then the misery returned. "It doesn't matter. He still loves you more than life itself. You're his Isabeau."
"How old are you, Audrina?" I asked softly.
She stood straight and proud, "Almost two centuries old."
I smiled and shook my head. "No, how old were you when you were turned?"
"Fourteen," she whispered, which was actually older than what I had guessed.
"Fourteen is a difficult age to be immortal. Smack in the middle of puberty, I bet."
She nodded slowly. "But I'm not a child anymore…I'm not even human. It's so unfair. He should've left me to die."
My eyes narrowed. "Demetri didn't do this to you, did he?" I held my breath. Surely he wouldn't do this to a child…not the man I knew.
"Demetri?" she scoffed. "No, it wasn't Demetri. It was Caius." She said his name as if it were the most vulgar word she could utter. "He found me hiding in a cellar during a raid on our village. He said he pitied me and that I deserved mercy. But his mercy didn't extend to the rest of my family…my sister, or my little brother…" And then, she said coolly, "One day, Demetri will kill him for what he did to me."
I didn't say anything to that. I didn't know whether Audrina knew that Demetri was now Aro's prisoner, and if not, I wasn't going to be the one to break the news to her.
"So, why did Demetri ask you to wait for me here?" I asked.
Audrina crossed the room and stood before me; she was striking with her chiseled cheekbones and deep-set eyes. She would have been extraordinarily beautiful given a few more years to develop into an adult. Her hand rummaged in the grey cloak's pocket before pulling out an amber-colored stone and handing it to me.
My hand trembled as I took it from her outstretched hand. "Is this what I think it is?"
Audrina nodded and smiled impishly, her white teeth flashing in the darkness. "The Volturi's most protected relic, yes." She bent down and sat on the floor beside my chair, curling her legs beneath her. When she whispered, there was no malice in her tone, only awe as she said, "He's given you The Gods' Eye."
***
(Audrina made her first appearance back in Chapter 30, and only briefly, but if I decide to write a sequel to this story, she'll be in it because I have a whole character sketch and background on her—and I like her, she's an interesting character. Have a Happy Thanksgiving holiday. And as always, thanks for reading! OTM)