"Ow!" Jane's harsh gaze snapped to my face, using the mirror before us as a vessel. It was an automatic response to see if there was any validity in my claim, even if I was not the most reliable of sources when it came to exclamations of pain.
Her expression shifted to give me a look that clearly said she had no patience for my antics. She rolled her eyes dismissively when I gave a sheepish face in return, before continuing to run the bristled brush through my curls.
"I can still hear it," I mumbled, offering a defence for such an obvious lie. As I did, the brush caught yet another tangle in my hair and tugged my head back with the resistance. Instead of running it through anyways and causing aforementioned sound to happen again, she moved the antique brush away. Jane didn't acknowledge my sass, but she did take the time to comb the tangled strands loose with her fingers.
This exchange was the first crack in her highly guarded exterior since I'd returned to the room almost an hour ago. I'd been aiming for a reaction from her, so whether the brief, tiny smile on her face was due to a dip in her anger or was owned by a more sadistic cause, I did not care. I'd take anything at this point.
I didn't get the chance to ask her why she was waiting for me because only a few seconds after the chamber door had shut behind me did she tell me to "take a shower". Word for word. It seemed like a weird directive to me, but because I'd already been debating it, I did as she said without another word.
As soon as I'd closed the bathroom door, I was racking my brain, trying to figure out a reason why she would be upset with me. I tried to remember when I'd first noticed it and it was just before my fight with Alec so it was an unlikely possibility, at least when considered as the main cause of her anger. Of all the options that ran through my head, none stuck out as something that would upset my friend. I'd hoped that maybe I had just imagined it, but it was very clear that Jane was, at the very least, extraordinarily frustrated with me.
And it wasn't like I could come right out and plainly ask her what was wrong. That would be too easy.
Water still dripped from my hair as I'd emerged from the bathroom soon after, both nervous and eager to see what my friend was upset about. I observed the room first and I was surprised to see my rucksack, which had been missing since I'd moved back into my room, resting against the bedpost. It looked like it had been filled to the hilt and just barely managed to zip closed. The journal Aro had given me and a book of Jane's current poetry favourites sat on top. We'd been reading through them recently and discussing our perspectives afterward, almost like we were in school.
When my eyes landed on Jane, I realized why she wanted me to take a shower. She was standing at the vanity desk, brush in hand, waiting for, but not looking at, me. It was a contradicting activity to her emotions and I almost second guessed my assessment. Except that ever since I sat down, she wouldn't say a word.
Small tugs of exhaustion were already pricking my skin, but I pushed them down. There would be time to sleep later. But, god, I wish I would've known I'd need the sleep. The shower had done nothing to reverse the effects of my previous nights, which included a less than restful R.E.M. cycle. I'd been sitting patiently and obediently and I was sort of impressed by my doing so. I chalked the submissive attitude up to the tediously drawn out day. A day that was far from over.
Jane wasn't known for starting conversations. This time, however, I was determined to let her do so. After all, I truly was lost as to the cause of her frustration and I doubted trying to start a conversation about the last movie we watched would be enough to pull her out. Though this staying quiet tactic had, unfortunately, not initiated the conversation as quickly as I had assumed it would. Instead, Jane remained intent on the single task of combing through my hair. It was almost like she was in a trance, but her anger came through every once and again when a particularly stubborn tangle resisted her touch.
Every time my eyes flashed up to check in with her, I felt a tug in my chest.
I wanted to ask her how the mission had gone, as she often returned with a very strong positive or negative opinion on the events. Mostly, I wanted to know more about what they'd left for, because it was clear that the threat they were chasing was still prominent. I was also curious about what other insight she might have on the three mysterious women, if she had one at all. I guess I'd been turned into a bit of a gossip by association. I tried to figure out how to ask if she wanted to play a game of chess, because it felt like we hadn't done so in ages. I just wanted her to talk to me.
And yes, I also wanted to know if Alec was okay because if I was honest, I expected him to be the one in my room before her. His disheveled appearance at the meeting worried me more than I cared to admit, both out of a fear for over-reacting and of not wanting to have any emotional response to it in general. It was just that I couldn't push it down and pretend that this hyperawareness of him didn't exist. Not anymore.
My consistent curiosity only made me wonder further, pondering if there would ever be a day that I walked into a room with a member of the Volturi and did not have a question. If I would ever be on the inside, with all the necessary information and more answers than I had questions. But I had to focus on the present before the future could even come to exist and right now, I wasn't the only one with questions.
"Why are you pretending to be affected by my powers?"
My attention snapped back to Jane, her voice and her claim surprising me. "I'm what?"
She ignored me again, continuing with the accusation. "You shun my brother for his secrets, yet you've keep your own all the while." I turned around in the chair, but she pushed my shoulder back in place. I had to settle for looking at her through the mirror as she continued to accuse me. Without waiting for me to deny her previous statement, she got to her point, her eyes imprisoning mine.
This was nowhere to be found on my list of possible problems Jane had with me. It wasn't even a concept I had considered myself. Simply because it made no sense. I'd felt the pain first-hand and the entire guard had been witness to my dramatic reactions to Jane's infamous gift. The last response I expected anyone to have was doubt.
My eyebrows dipped into a deep frown, unsure of how she could have possibly come to this abrupt and faulty conclusion. As well as to where she would have gotten the idea. Alec had mentioned she wanted to apologise, but from her demeanour right now it seemed he may have softened his interpretation of her original message. Which was way off on his part — obviously.
"What are you talking about?"
"Your 'fits of pain' at the end of our session was not caused by me." Her eyes darkened as she gave evidence for her accusation. She spit her words with contempt, "you faked it."
By the end of the session, Aro had lost his patience and was eager for results after multiple attacks from Jane had seemed to lose their power. But, he'd stirred her up and it started working again, arguably even stronger than the previous attempts. "That makes no sense." I thought she might be joking, or at the very least trying to catch me off guard for something else. But she continued with an incredibly sober disposition.
"I did not intend on continuing after Marcus attempted to end the session." While her words seemed gentler, her tone hadn't lost its spite. "I believed you had have enough."
I frowned, finally able to drop my gaze from her as I zeroed in on a spot on the table in front of me. I tried to think back to each individual attack from the other day. I briefly recalled checking in with my memory of Felix, writhing in agony during my first few days. In the times Jane aimed her gift at me, I knew it was coming and I'd created imaginary paths and sounds. It didn't seem possible that I could have let these imagined creations overwhelm my mind with an attack of unequal proportions.
Except, this was a process I'd been perfecting since I was three years old. The ideal key to mimicking anything was preparation and if possible, knowing exactly what was going to happen. I could walk myself through stepping in front of a car and replicating the strokes of a brush by breaking down every move in the process step by step. With only a look, Jane could make others feel immense pain in less than a second. After analyzing Felix's response and referencing my own gallery of pain responses, I would — theoretically — be able to fake a reaction to her gift. There was just one problem with her theory. Or so I thought.
"But, I felt…pain."
"Did you?" She mocked me out of a self-preservation instinct, and despite the vulnerability in it, all I could see was the bracing cold that was Jane, Volturi Guard. Not Jane that liked reading upside down on her bed and giggled every time her character was killed in a video game. The Jane before me was the relentless, unforgiving, savage girl that ran on fear and gave nightmares to a species that couldn't even sleep.
This Jane tried to take advantage of the moment as I tried to make sense of my confusion. She gave me a particularly bitter look, as if I'd betrayed her a thousand times over and I almost believed I had earned it on purpose. However, the personal connection we shared that made the betrayal element so temperamental, did not allow her to maintain her regal composure of indifference. "You had me believing it was my fault that you were crying out, trembling from a pain you know nothing about." She spoke bitterly as her throat tightened, and she continued stiffly, "It was not until you did it again, without any provocation from me, that I knew you were deceiving us."
I was lost for words, unsure of how to convince her of something she so adamantly believed in. This was no mind for Jane, who used her words like venom in a situation like this. Unlike her brother, she was able to secure the exact string of letters and sentences to pinpoint her thoughts, sometimes her emotions, and coherently translate them into being. And unfortunately for everyone in contention with her viperous attitude, she knew just where to strike to make her words sting so violently that the guilt could almost be physically felt. "I thought I was killing you." It didn't appear that she intended to say this, but she made no effort to retract or deafen the impact of the admission.
Whether or not I had deliberately done as she accused me, I realised that I had never accounted for Jane's feelings nor her opinion on the assignment she'd been given. A sort of pitying grief began wracking itself up inside of my chest, even if I wasn't fully accountable for the cause because I knew how potentially damaging something like this could be for her. Jane adored her gift. She used it every opportunity she had, but the signs I'd missed that supported her claims were only now illuminating in my memories. The doubtful glances she'd send to Aro and her look of shame when Caius accused her of being sentimental. She wasn't ashamed because she was not satisfying her masters' requests, as I'd assumed. She was ashamed because Caius was right — she had grown sentimental.
I tried to take a deep breath, but it was all too quick as I was desperate to clear my name. "I didn't think—"
"No, you didn't." If it were possible, her eyes became even sharper, piercing mine with the tip of a newly forged sword. There was a shift in her energy and with this switch, Jane had gained a new wind, passionate and certain of my culpability for the reverberations of my alleged crime. Yes, she was hurt by what she believed I'd done to her, but this was different. She was no longer speaking as the scorned best friend. Now, she engaged me with the ferocity rivalling that of a mother bear — the defensiveness instinct of a sister. She continued.
"My brother has built his world around keeping you from harm, only for his sister to be the only source of pain he cannot save you from." She cut herself off, correcting her posture after she'd started to become undone by the emotions her passion was stirring up. "You've retained your humanity, but you have failed to consider the cost."
Alec had made his feelings clear about Jane's gift being used on me and I'd shown him defiance in return. Of course, this had been before I'd known about our being…mates (an admission I still hesitated to make without notation). But, if he had not brought it up, I would not have sought out his opinion by any means. It wasn't his choice, so why would it matter? Knowing what I did now, I could see how it would.
"That was never my intention. Jane, you have to believe me." She gave no indication that she would do any such thing, so I tried to offer ideas supporting a reasonable doubt. "What if I've just grown used to it?"
She shook her head and answered as if she'd already considered the possibility. "No. Your physical responses have never matched the intensity I directed to you. I attributed the dramatics to your being human, but now it makes sense."
"It does?" I asked softly, wanting her to forgive me more than I wanted to continue with such a negative conversation.
Her gaze had not backed down, but there was a strange genuineness in her voice as she admitted, "I do not believe you ever felt it to begin with."
She had to be wrong. From the first time we met, to only two days ago, her gift always felt so real. If she were right, then I'd been extremely lucky in my assumptions before I witnessed her attack on Felix. Yet, there was something else that bugged me even more. The same insecurity that this whole thing started with began to rise and I didn't want to give in to it. Jane's gift was the only thing that made me even partly normal. So, out of fading desire to hold on to it, I tried to provoke her, posing a challenge — which never ended well with the competitive twin.
"Fine, try it again." I abruptly pushed myself to my feet, opening my arms as if to say I was fair game. "Right now, then."
"I have." She narrowed her eyes. "From the moment you entered this room."
Her words hit me in the chest and I had to physically step back to catch my balance. My head retracted, as if having to reprocess and then reframe what she had just said. Surely, she hadn't been trying consistently this whole time to excessively torture me. Surely… Still, the fact that I hadn't noticed anything, that I didn't even have an inkling that this was happening was disorienting. I raised my arms, scanning them as if I'd somehow missed a visible clue that the rest of my body should have been squirming in agony. But I'd felt nothing. Not even the little bit of pressure I always thought I felt right before her gift would hit me.
Not to mention that if this were true, then she must have been positive about her conclusions. No matter how angry she was with me, I couldn't imagine her attacking me on purpose for a selfish reason. With this fact alone, I could feel my doubt being convinced of what it hoped to disprove. Which begged the question Jane had started with — why had I pretended and more importantly, how was it possible for me to not have some consciousness of the fact that these were a false performances.
She repeated her message again in a definitive statement. "My gift does not effect you, Saffiya."
My lips parted slightly as I processed her words again, but I no longer denied them. Jane was watching me, likely contemplating what to do with me. I just wanted her to believe me when I say I had no idea. But, how could I claim such a thing, especially one I did not yet understand.
She only faltered in her strict form for a brief moment, almost seeming to regret the responsibility that she otherwise cherished and respected. But she was a professional. "I must inform Aro."
Of course, Aro would want to know. Would he be upset? You could never tell with him, but I had a sinking feeling I wouldn't get lucky with this one. Caius would no doubt be furious, raving and all that, and I couldn't even bare to consider what Marcus would say — if he would even speak or look at me. The immense dread that was growing in me reminded me of the time I tried to hide the priest's prayer book so I didn't have to go to masses with the nuns anymore. I was about 12, a bit temperamentally rebellious, and when Sister Misha told me I had to return it to the Mother Abbess herself, I was terrified. I knew I'd done wrong and I didn't want to disappoint her. Except this time, I was innocent of my own crime and it could literally take thousands of years for them to forgive me. That's when it clicked.
Jane had insinuated that I had hid a deceptive performance in an act to preserve my humanity, even though the act had negative consequences for my friends. She'd made the assumption long before I ever discovered my motive. If I wasn't effected by Jane's gift, then there was technically nothing to delay my being changed into a vampire for much longer. It should've been clear as day, but my mind had only just finished putting together what I hadn't yet connected the dots on.
"Wait," my hand landed on her wrist. "Please don't."
"Saffiya, I must."
"I know. But the Masters just decided they don't want a newborn around right now." The words tasted sour in my mouth.
"Because we cannot account for—"
I stopped her, desperate to make her understand just how crucial it was for me to reclaim control over the single pivotal factor in this entire situation that I was never consulted on. Even if it was only for a little while. "I just need time to get used to the idea." She still looked hesitant. I pleaded, "not yet."
Finally, she nodded.
"Time should be the very least of your worries, anyways." She commented boldly, her tone far too casual for the words she was choosing. "This mission holds its own possible paths that are far more timely and treacherous."
I had to repeat her words for myself, unsure whether she was skirting around something or being purposefully broad in an attempt to get me to respond a certain way. I only waited for her to explain exactly what those potential paths might lead, already assuming the answers ranged from the growing rebel group to other vampires. Rather than offer me anything remotely close to this, she decided to take a separate, particularly blunt step in another direction. "Besides, I am of two minds on whether you would stand a better chance as a human or as a newborn if such an occasion were to arise."
I rolled my eyes, noting the slight humour — well, Jane's humour, in her phrasing, but still finding myself somewhat miffed. "That is wonderfully reassuring, thanks for that." She shrugged, unaffected by my sarcasm, as she took my arm and quickly returned my to the chair, undoing her interrupted work to start over. Her indifference only continued to prod at my irritation. "If it is so dangerous in the real world, then why are they sending us away." The challenge to the Masters' authority made Jane twitch as if preparing herself to jump into action to defend her leaders. However, instead of getting angry, she provided me with an actual clear answer.
"The Masters have invited our closest allies to a reunion, of sorts." She smirked to herself in the mirror. "An opportunity to demonstrate their continued support of the Volturi."
An invitation like that reeked of suspicious intent and I was curious to know whether or not Aro had shared the second piece of information in his little invites. Either way, limiting it to the Volturi's 'close' allies implied a level of loyalty and trust that was exposed to too many outside variables to be consistently reliable.
I'm sure that anyone receiving this invite that just so happened to know something about the rebels yet hadn't, at the very least, warned the Volturi, would be very conflicted right about now. On one hand, if they showed up in Volterra, within minutes the resident mindreader (thought-reader, whatever Aro was) would likely shake their hand and follow up with a prompt, 'off with the head'. Though, I assumed that a missing RSVP would also result in an automatic assumption of guilt and a handful of Volturi guard members would appear at their metaphorical front steps for a 'check in'. However, I got the impression that invitations from the Volturi were not turned down, and definitely not optional. So, either way. These vampires would be screwed.
"You mean to test their loyalty," I asked, surprised at how comfortable I was with the idea when I wasn't on the other side of it. With the assumably large amount of vampires in attendance, something else clicked for me. "That's why Huda's here?" Aro could touch as many hands as he wanted, but I imagine it would be much easier for someone to just come right out and admit their betrayal for all to see. And for all those other people to witness the punishment for defying their allies. Fear was certainly a powerful motivator.
Jane nodded. "We need numbers. But numbers threaten your safety. It also does not benefit that my brother does not have the control he thinks he does where you are involved." The subtle dig at her brother didn't go unnoticed as I recognised that this was definitely true. Even if they could keep me safe and tucked away from all the vampires wanting to eat me, it was shown earlier that this was easier said than done. Not to mention, the intensity of my protector couldn't take a joke, and even my other guards might respond to a general comment and accidentally open up additional issues and infighting. A generality that was made more substantial and conceivable by the recent encounter with the Volturi's first visitors.
As expected as the potential for danger was in general, it hadn't soaked into my mind as much as it was able to now. "Exactly how much danger am I in?" Even if I didn't exactly understand why I was a target, the resulting consequences convinced me to rely on the Masters' decision. And I was suddenly grateful that there were three, instead of just one making the calls. Despite Aro standing at the helm, the additional input was much appreciated.
Jane's face softened at my question, and her residual contempt began to fade. "You will be safe with Alec and Prosper. And the Cullens certainly have the will, if not the talent." She seemed pained to even utter the second part and I might've laughed if not for the seriousness of the moment. "They will protect you."
But who will protect them? I wanted to ask, but if I didn't want to delve into that idea, I definitely didn't want to open if up for Jane. If it hadn't already. That's when I realized, "you're not coming with us?" Her name hadn't been mentioned earlier, but I'd just assumed if Alec were coming then she would as well.
She shook her head sadly and patted mine. "I am to stay here to fortify the allusion that Alec is present as well. The vampire world is under the impression that Aro would never separate us." I frowned at the statement, not because she said it, but because I knew what it meant for her to be separated from her brother for even a short while. Much less an unknown amount of time, which this it would be.
"I'd rather you then Alec," I pouted childishly, trying to alleviate the negativity and although she often laughed when I poked innocent fun at her brother, this time she did not take it that way. Her protective sisterly instinct rising once more as she snapped.
"You need to stop." The clarity in her tone made room for an emotion I couldn't quite name, but was certainly overwhelmed by it even in secondhand exposure. "Both of you. Before one of you says something that cannot be forgotten." I didn't look at her, her reaction making me too nervous to own up to the associated casual meanness in my comment. But, I also wondered what exactly Alec had been saying to prompt the reaction.
Despite my injured pride, my snark to her warning was technically avoidable. And yet, "too late for that."
"Damn it, Saffiya." She growled in light frustration, "he nearly lost his arm because of your—" Jane stopped talking, catching herself a little too late. She couldn't take it back and I faintly heard an Italian curse word hissed between her teeth at the slip. She'd dropped my braid, seemingly giving up on finishing it off.
My eyes widened and my jaw fell open with an involuntary whimper. My hand came up to cover it a second too late. I tried to speak, but couldn't remember how. I'm sure Jane could see the thoughts racing through my head with what she'd said. Or even just the emotions, because that was all I could manage to take note of; A wafting smell of disbelief, a touch of vengeful righteousness, and a whole lot of fear. Yes, I'd seen him just an hour or so ago and other than the obvious, he appeared to be fine. Two arms and everything. But what if he wasn't? What if…
"It is not what you think." Jane did her best to thwart this progression of natural assumptions in my brain before they could continue to build on their own. In her brilliant fashion, Jane kept her explanation brief, clear, and full of facts. She didn't really tell stories. Similarly, unless you caught her twin in a very unique and specific moment, you'd barely get more than a sentence or two from him. They were well-practiced. "He was distracted, he got careless, and a newborn tried to attack him from behind." She explained slowly, staring at me like I was an animal that could be spooked by the faintest sound in a forest. To reassure me more, she added, "it hardly touched him before Felix and Xavier had its' head in the flames."
I turned my gaze to the floor, not sure how I was supposed to feel and not even close to understanding what I was actually experiencing in that moment. It spanned from fear and anger somewhere around Alec and a debt of gratitude towards the men who had his back. But if Jane was still this emotional about it, was it really as inconsequential as she tried to make it seem? I tried to move the topic past this, only for it to backfire immediately. "Distracted by what?" She raised her eyebrows at me. "What…me?
"I do not know everything that happened between you two in the library," the sensitive edge dropped in her tone, "but whatever you did not resolve could have gotten my brother killed."
More dazed by her words than the harshness of the reality, I mumbled my confusion, "I wasn't even there…"
"Do you not think of him when you are apart?" I raised my head, her point striking me in unexplored territory. "You silly girl," she chided with an endearing sort of pity.
I moved away from the vanity only to settle on the open area of carpet on the floor. I laid down as Jane came to sit beside me. We weren't strangers to the occasional floor party. It helped me feel grounded, which this topic did nothing for.
"I know you two are not on the same page at the moment and you may continue to claim you hate him all you like." She placed a hand on my arm before laying beside me, staring up at my ceiling as if we were stargazing. She continued softly, "but while you are away, you must push your pride aside. Do everything Alec tells you to, without question and please," I met her eyes. "Bring my brother back to me."
It dawned on me then that I was not the only one worried about the danger my protector was putting himself in, despite his supposed invulnerability as a vampire. Jane was my friend, and I was hers. But she was a sister first. No matter the reason, he was in danger because of me and reassuring her of my same commitment was the least I could do in return.
She accepted another simple nod as I agreed to her terms and we both looked up to the ceiling.
"I don't hate him," I whispered into the air and I know she heard me, but she kept quiet. Until a minute later, she reached for my hand and squeezed it.
"I know."
Before I could lose myself in some reverie and now assured that she and Alec were physically okay, I moved on to the second tidbit of information she had accidentally provided me with.
I nudged her shoulder with mine. "So. You guys were fighting newborns?" She pointedly ignored me and I kicked the empty air with my foot in protest from the floor beside her. "Nobody tells me anything."
"Maybe you should focus on resolving your issues with Alec before you worry about the grown up stuff." She was teasing this time, as eager as I was to forget the darkness while we could.
Her words did surprise me a little because she hadn't mentioned anything specific. I'd assumed she knew. The twins told each other everything, even the mundane elements of their day. They once engaged in an exhilarating debate about evolution after Alec mentioned a cloud shaped like a squirrel. A cloud. He hadn't even stepped a foot outside that day. "He didn't tell you?"
"Some things." Keeping with our break from the seriousness of life, she gave me a smug grin and uncharacteristically chimed, "nice splint, by the way. Is it vintage?"
I groaned, feeling a little lighter as I collapsed backwards onto the bed, "of course he did." Jane giggled softly at my embarrassment, which was more out of knowing he'd chosen to share it with Jane rather than the fact that he'd actually shared it with her. He wanted to tell his sister and the implications of that were astoundingly real. Out of everything he could've shared. It presented more nerves in my stomach — teasing, giddy butterflies at their finest and I couldn't stand it.
There were voices outside the door and they briefly rose in volume as Jane and I both turned to look in the direction.
"What's going on?"
She sighed and laid back down. "I don't claim him when he's like this."
Before I could ask what she was on about, there was a slam that reverberated throughout the room and made one of the heavy antique doors shake. Jane opened one eye to see me looking at her with concern. "You probably should, though," she suggested. Still unsure of what exactly I was walking into, I stood to open the opposite door that hadn't been recently attacked.
As soon as I pushed it open, two faces turned to look at me. Alec had Prosper pinned against the door, the latter man with hands up to prove he wasn't a threat. Alec's eyes softened when he saw it was me who had interrupted them.
I just sighed disappointedly and glanced back to Jane, who grinned smugly at the fact that she'd gotten me to take the bait.
"Really?" I prompted, because I thought Alec had moved past his irrational mistreatment of the other man.
Slowly, his knuckles released their tension around Prosper's shirt and he moved a single step away. Prosper eyed him cautiously before fixing the garment to lay flat.
As if to excuse his behaviour, Alec muttered, "he shouldn't be here."
I crossed my arms suspiciously. "He's my guard." His eyes burned.
"I am your guard."
"You weren't here." I threw back. The words had an unintended side meaning and the look on his face had me flashing back to Jane's warning. I lifted my head to look at her, who had joined us in the doorway, and then to Prosper.
"Would you guys give us a minute?"
Jane nodded, sliding gracefully past me and switching places with her brother, who shot another look at Prosper before he realized I was still watching him. I raised my eyebrows and Jane held the door open as he slipped into my room.
She leaned in and whispered to me, "words, not hands." Which would've sounded like some hippie, peace not violence line except that she giggled as soon as she said it. I glanced at my broken wrist before noticing that Prosper too, was hiding a small laugh at the dig. I rolled my eyes, letting the door fall shut behind me as I found myself in the same position I'd been in only hours before, this time with the other twin.
He was standing in front of my paintings, but turned when he realised we were alone. I stuck my hands in my pockets, unconsciously mimicking his own position. I muttered softly, only now recognizing that the last thing I said to him had been more of a possibility than I'd imagined.
"You're here."
It took a moment but his lips curved up, hesitant and almost bashful. Until it was joined by his familiar petulance that drove me crazy, but now filled me with relief as he teased my worry.
"I'm here."
~•~•~•~
A/N: Kinda long! Check the bold for an overview.
Thank you all for your continued support. Thank you for the reviews, favourites, and reads, and to the readers who have just started! I value your support so much. Coming back after a few days to see all your comments and everything was amazing, I can't even begin to describe it.
There is quite a bit in this chapter, and while it may answer many questions you've been asking, I am sure more have been added. I did write this last week, so if something is majorly unclear, feel free to let me know ASAP so I can fix it if it wasn't purposeful :)
To those that are worried about bringing the Cullens in: No fear, this is an Alec Volturi and Volturi centric story and we will be meeting with only a few of the Cullens. However, on that note, anyone have any particular veggie vamp members you're just dying for Saffiya to meet? ;)
Someone asked for more romance, and I feel you, and your wish shall be granted shortly - as in the next chapter. I was writing a few cut scenes with them when my laptop was out of commission, so I'm excited to fit those in somewhere. There will be a lot of Alec x Saffiya moments up ahead - explanations, declarations, and all ;)
I've got midterms this week, but once that is over with I'll be able to pick up and get a move on!
I hope you like the chapter!
Ro
P.S.
So, explanation for the tardiness: It's been a hella wild week. There were several reasons why, but basically my puppy ate my charger and my laptop died. I've finally got it back on today and I usually keep a backup of my backups, but my laptop went nuts before I could save my work and it seems I've lost at least one chapter/cut scene so far and I'm still checking, but I'm a bit scared to check the remnants of the next chapter.
P.S.S. 21 April 2021 - Check my profile for updates on the next chapter, when it will be posted, and for any other notes!
