Tenebrous ↠ Volturi Kings {1} ✓

017

When I was nine, I kept a stray puppy in a box in my closet and fed him the scraps I could spare. I named him Sunny and was able to keep him a secret two whole weeks before my father found out. When he did, he took me and the puppy out back forced me to watch as he shot Sunny straight between the eyes with the pellet gun he typically saved for troublesome rodents.

I felt the same shriveling, suffocating sort of betrayal now that I did then. It was like having the air knocked out of you after being punched a little too hard in the chest. Almost subconsciously I cloaked my mind to keep it out of Aro's reach as I sifted through my thoughts.

"Amore, we never would have-" Caius started, but I held up a hand and silenced him instantly.

"Just let me think on this for a second," I said, wiggling out of their grasp to pace my bedroom floor. I could feel their eyes follow me as I walked back and forth, back and forth, for several long minutes.

Finally, I sat down on the edge of my bed and stared out the window as I addressed them. "I'm not mad that you took wives. That I can understand. You've been around a very long time."

One of the three gave an unneeded, relieved sigh, but I wasn't finished. "However, I'm absolutely pissed that you decided to keep this from me."

"We weren't sure you were ready," Aro said gently, scooting over to sit next to me.

My eyes flashed as I looked over at him, voice icy. "That wasn't for you to decide."

"You're right, of course," Marcus said gently. Unsurprisingly, he was the first to apologize. "We should have told you right away, it wasn't right for us to keep this from you. Please forgive me, forgive us."

His face was earnest, the three of them obviously repentant, and I let out a sigh. "Alright. But if there's anything else you're not telling me that I ought to know, you had better tell me now."

"There's nothing else, we swear," Caius promised, looking utterly sincere.

"Our wives are already gone, we sent Sulpicia and Athenodora away as soon as we met you," Aro said.

I raised my eyebrows. "Now my adding skills may be a little rusty, but I'm pretty sure that's only two. Last time I checked there are three of you."

Aro cleared his throat and Caius looked distinctly uncomfortable, and I wondered if I had broached some sort of taboo subject. If Marcus's suddenly despondent face was anything to go by, I probably had.

"Didyme was killed a thousand years ago by a rogue vampire that managed to slip into the walls of Volterra. Our guard was not quite so powerful then," Caius said delicately once it was evident that neither Aro nor Marcus were going to elaborate. "She was Marcus's wife and Aro's younger sister."

"She was not my true mate but still very dear to me, as a friend and confidante," Marcus said, cutting into Caius's explanation. "Though she was nothing compared to what you are to me."

"None of them are," Aro added, relief momentarily flickering across his features. It must be difficult to talk about his sister, and I decided to drop the subject.

"Tell me more about the castle," I said, settling back down on the bed. Only when the three had curled themselves back around me did one speak.

"It's beautiful and large. We each have our own wing, as do you, and you're free to come and go from any of them as you please," Aro said, content now that I had unveiled my mind to him once more.

"We'll have at least one guard with you at all times while you're still human. While we don't anticipate any danger, you are still in a castle full of vampires and one of us cannot be with you at all times," Caius said.