Hello, lovely people!

I'm starting to see a pattern developing already. The previous chapter was the first time I had written Antoine Jean in all his eccentric glory, and now here is my first attempt at a same-sex romantic scene. I realise it might not be to everyone's taste, but please be gentle and provide constructive criticism if you feel the need!

Update: As per the first chapter, the structure of this one has changed, somewhat.

Thank you, and enjoy!

LookAliveSunshine03

Chapter 2:

Necessary interruptions

18th February 2012

"I never meant to stay away for so long, you know." Even to Hazel's ears, the truth was weak and insincere. Mumbling frustratedly, she fiddled with the silk edges of the pillowcase. "I'm sorry, swee'eart."

At her vanity table, Iona ran a brush through a thick section of hair. It was long enough to sit on, and Hazel might have happily watched her do this for hours, but Iona was quick to become bashful.

"Yes. Yes, Hazel." Sighing, Iona's reflection lowered her eyes. "You have said this many times."

"God…" Hazel swallowed the useless lump in her throat. She clambered over the bedcovers to wrap her arms around Iona, and tenderly kissed the tip of her nose the way she always did after sex. "What can I do? Tell me how to make it up to you."

Two decades was enough to make one forgetful or furious; Iona had every right to experience both. Though Hazel loved her glamours (eye irritation and all) they could become weapons to confuse and wound at Iona's will. As Hazel stared at their reflections, it was easy to believe it was all an illusion.

Yet Iona melted into her, as willing as their first fumbling night together. "You can stay," she said. "I hurt Marek so deeply, and you left. Twenty years I've waited for you to come."

Hazel sighed a dry sob. "I never wanted to go, but –"

"No." Iona pressed her fingers to Hazel's mouth. Her soft eyes blazed with sudden anger, desire, or both, Hazel couldn't guess. "No more words. Just love me. Please."

Hazel gulped a whimper. "That I can manage." She choked out a laugh as Iona impatiently flicked her hair out from under her like golden coattails.

"Take me…" Turning in her seat, Iona laced her fingers around the back of Hazel's neck. She carried Iona back to the bed like a bride, where she finally smiled.

Iona's body was pale as silver, sparkling wherever the light kissed it. Hazel burned to follow suit, but she stepped away, weighed down by her guilt. "You can hate me," she rasped. Iona mewled in protest, reaching for her. "No, no. I mean it. I get it if you hate me for leaving."

Iona shook her head so much that her golden hair flew about her face. "You had to go. Your duty to them gave you no other option." Bitterness sank in her light voice, and Hazel felt it grow heavy in her own ribcage.

They linked fingers, and Hazel allowed herself to worship Iona properly. Her lips meandered across her breasts, lingering in the places that made Iona quiver so prettily.

Hazel eventually came to rest in the crook of Iona's long neck and savoured her caramel scent while she still could. The words were jagged in her throat. "You have to know…I did not come here under my own volition."

Iona stiffened beneath her. "I don't understand, Hazel. What are you saying to me now?"

"My sister. Julia, she visited you, yeah?" A few years ago?"

Iona's chest rose and fell with a redundant, shaking breath. "I – I thought she was you in one of your disguises." She giggled at the memory, tugging at Hazel's long fringe. Then her face grew troubled. "But there was a man with her. He did not like my glamours. He scared Dana. He was –"

"Your glamours are gorgeous," Hazel snapped. "The man was an idiot. He's dead, now, anyway."

Iona gasped. "Dana will be happy to hear this. How did he die?"

"He messed with the wrong women. But...that's a story for later, swee'eart." Hazel grinned. "I want you to sing for me again."

Iona smiled, and kissed Hazel's throat in eager acquiescence.

The city of Prague glowed golden in the blue dusk. Stretching up on her Doc Martins, Beth surveyed Old Town Square from on high. Its lavish pastel structures loomed over streets bristling with people like an ant colony. Beth had never felt so powerful, so omniscient in all her life. She also felt a familiar twinge of longing.

For the last two days, Beth and Demetri endured roof-top reconnaissance beneath her glamour. Away from the square, the sad-looking church lay in wait for them. The artist behind its façade, the mysterious Iona, unknowingly had Beth's respect and admiration.

Despite annoying her eyes whenever she stared too long at it, the glamour was as flawless as Beth's own. THE HOTEL BOHEMIA screamed in pink neon, a grand, three-story building with generous balconies and gilded doors.

The man who frequently lurked outside was nothing but a filthy homeless man at first glance. With a flaccid cigarette clenched in his teeth he would smoke lazily like he had all the time in the world. His bleary eyes scoured the crowds, and those who didn't desperately ignore him threw money his way.

If Hazel was to be believed, the man was known only as Radko. The tragic truth was that her word was almost all they had to go on. By their observations, Radko would reappear with the setting sun, almost always with one or two people. True to custom, Beth now watched a pair slip into the gleaming hotel. Their pale, olive skin and bright smiles betrayed their true nature.

So, this is the man who introduced Julia to the Romanians, Beth thought. She recoiled as Radko looked up suddenly. That gaze wasn't bleary at all, but sparking up at the sky like cat's eyes.

"Fuck!" Beth jumped, startled by the stone gargoyle leering beside her.

And Demetri shushed her. He put the frozen beast to shame, standing with his phone in one palm. "Hazel. Come in."

Beth resisted the childish urge to make a noise like walkie-talkie static. Come in. Okay, cool dude. Instead, she adjusted her glamour around Demetri, ensuring it remained stable.

For Demetri, it turned the calm sky into raining crimson embers. Nevertheless, the glamour's gentle heat was comforting. Such an admission would have brought a gratified smile back to Beth's face. For all her petulant mutterings, they remained hidden.

"I'm guessing Hazel's at the Bohemia already," Beth muttered to fill the silence. "Probably busy reuniting with her beloved."

Demetri nodded, too preoccupied to invest in her glib attempt at humour. "Hazel, what's your report?"

"What, no, hello?" Hazel tsked. "Oh, Demetri. Aro would be appalled by your abysmal decorum."

It had been almost a month since Hazel carried Julia's decapitated head to the Volturi furnace. Michael, her brother, had stumbled in his grief.

Beth sighed, wrestling with her frustration. Even now, the extent of Julia's betrayal had yet to be revealed.

I could be anywhere else right now. The thought was a petulant whisper, and Beth immediately felt terrible. Anna was her sister, her best ally, and Volturi queen. They needed Beth to protect Demetri. He needed her.

A muscle twitched in Demetri's temple. "You have infiltrated the hotel? Can you give me some good news, Hazel?"

"Oh, yes," Hazel said. Beth could hear her smirk. "Yes, I'm here. Before you ask, no. You aren't getting in. Dana will smell the Volturi on you before you open the door, swee'eart. Sorry."

Demetri closed his eyes. "We depended on you, Hazel."

"If it's any consolation, I'm lucky to be here at all." Hazel sounded smug. "But Iona wouldn't take no for an answer."

Beth huffed. "Well, that's great. Good for you."

There was a chuckle from Hazel. "What was that? Was that our little princess?"

"Oh, shut up." Tossing her hair out of her eyes, Beth stared Demetri down. "I think I should meet Hazel at the hotel."

Demetri didn't even blink. Since arriving in Prague, Beth had caught him watching her like this on multiple occasions. Like he expected her to run away.

"Good." Hazel sighed, pleased. "I admire a princess who takes the initiative. You'll have to be a convincing peasant, of course."

Beth frowned. "Even without my glamour, I can walk in without looking like I own the place. No offense, Demetri," she added as he scoffed quietly.

"Look, you need to understand what you're walking into, swee'eart," said Hazel, suddenly serious. "All of Iona's coven has encountered with the Volturi at some point between them. Use those pretty eyes of yours; Radko loves a misfit."

Beth knuckled her eyes. "So, let's be clear. Should I not mention the Volturi?"

Hazel hummed and hawed. "If you happen to mention them, say the black cloaks manipulated you. Word will have gotten 'round about the new queen, so say you stayed to protect Anna, who was so fiendishly seduced by Aro. But you had to leave. It was too much to bear."

Um… For once, Beth didn't trust herself to say the right thing. She gulped, suddenly afraid to look Demetri in the eye again.

He was expressionless. "May I add to your proposition, Beth?" It didn't sound like a question.

Rubbing her face viciously, Beth sighed. "Sure, Demetri."

"You cannot go alone to the hotel," he said.

Beth almost laughed. "From you, I expected nothing less."

Hazel made a rude noise. "But Dana won't allow it!"

A cold excitement roused Beth. She rose quickly. "If she sees Demetri, yeah. But my glamour is strong enough."

"Hm. What say you, Demetri?"

"Hazel, I am unable to track Beth when she's beneath her glamour." Demetri's lips quirked, and Beth couldn't hide her grin. "This will work."

"Oh." Hazel practically sang it. "Alright, then. Meet me outside St. Vladislav Church in ten minutes." She ended the call.

The breeze ruffled Demetri's long hair. "So, are you ready, Beth?"

Her smile was slow. Her eyes spat like pits of fire in the growing darkness. "We'll use morse code like I suggested."

Demetri nodded, so Beth drew out her phone. Throwing the gargoyle a baleful look, she hit speed dial.

For Anna, the sun might have risen and set over and over on another world. There was only Aro, his touch, and the way he sighed her name as reverent as a prayer.

Yet some small, rational facet of Anna remained ashamed. It was the same part that yearned to know what day it was, where Demetri and Beth were, and whether they were safe. Who was she to indulge in her oh-so-willing husband while Beth threw herself so forcefully into danger?

Aro tried his best to soothe Anna's troubled mind. Beth, most assuredly, would call them when they made progress.

If only Anna could remember when Aro had told her that.

The unmistakeable sound of her phone vibrating dashed their fugue. Anna reached across Aro to grab it, only for him to steal a kiss. She playfully pushed him away. "My love, it's –"

Beth's photo flashed on screen. It was taken at a happier time; she had her nose scrunched up, poking her tongue out from the corner of her mouth. Rain plastered her fringe to spikes down her forehead.

Suddenly fearful, Anna answered. "Hello?"

The voice on the other end sounded strange. "Hazel has checked in." No greeting, no jokes to mask Beth's discomfort over interrupting their honeymoon. "Demetri and I are meeting her in five minutes. I'll let you know when we're in."

Aro lay still beneath Anna, listening to her thoughts. No! This can't be all she has to say. I must know if she's okay. She must know I am worried for her.

"Wait, Beth!" she cried, because it sounded like Beth was going to hang up. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," said Beth, sounding far from it. "Really great. Actually, I'll – I'll probably text you when I get to the Bohemia. It'll be safer that way."

"Thank you." Anna gulped, clutching the bedcovers. "I appreciate that. Beth, please be careful."

"I have to go now," Beth said softly. "Hazel is expecting us. Bye." There was a click, and she was gone.

Anna dropped her phone to the duvet. Closing her eyes, they burned.

Aro's hands slipped up her wrists. "Trust in her," he murmured. He kissed her palms gently one at a time. "And trust in Demetri. He has taught her well."

Anna nodded, though her stomach pinched with fear. But will it be enough?

To be continued...