Chapter XIV: Intimacy and Smoke

Travelling from Palaia to Volterra had been a strained, hushed endeavor. When the muted view of Volterra's forested borders streamed into his line of sight, Aro allowed his stiff shoulders to loosen.

The portrait of his beloved township was a welcome reprieve rising from the break of dawn.

Aro's hands tightened around the steering wheel. Clearing his throat, "We'll be home in thirty minutes."

His passenger gave no indication that she'd heard him. The rustic scenery seemed to hold her attention, but her gaze was blank, unseeing, and her breathing – too even.

Aro frowned, but allowed his companion sit in silence. The last twenty hours had been hard enough – tranquility and quiet were the least of things he could give her.

When they passed the main blocks of the city and drifted into the obscure roadwork leading to the castle grounds, the woman next to him finally roused from her dazed musing.

From the corner of his eyes, Aro watched the scholar slowly unclench her hands. The thick fabric of her brown leather gloves gave a slight scraping sound from the movement.

"My head still hurts." Altheia finally uttered, her throat rasping. "Not as much as yesterday, but..." she struggled for words, eyes downcast on her lap, "In my head it's like... a dull, screaming ache. I couldn't sleep at all."

Aro's eyes hardened. He nodded once. "Thoughts... echo often. They don't simply... pass."

"I see."

It was when they pulled into the expansive garage that the scholar had no other choice but to to meet the mindreader's dark, intense gaze. Her gloved fingers twitched from where they laid on her lap.

"Aro, I..."

Aro turned off the car engine and released a sharp breath through his nose. His tone impatient, "Are you scared of me now? Is that it? Having read my thoughts, my memories, you can't stomach me?" Teeth gritted together. "Perhaps you've changed your mind about us."

Altheia's eyes widened. "No!" she denied instantly. Shaking her head then speaking softer, "No. That's not it at all." she paused and frowned. "I'm sorry if it seemed like that."

"Three touches so we could confirm." Aro's jaw clenched. "Then you ran into the bedroom and locked yourself in. When Caius called and told us about Amun's news—" The monarch cut himself off and glared. "You wouldn't look at me. You wouldn't talk to me. You shut me out," Aro accused.

Altheia's lips pinched together and trembled.

Aro calmed himself with long, deep breaths. "But it's fine. Take the time you need." He spared a glance at her gloves, and the long-sleeved, high-collared ensemble she wore, "You can spend the day in your bedroom. Rest. In the evening I'll come find you. No one will bother you." He promised, curt, resolute. "No one will touch you."

Although gratitude crept into her features, Altheia hesitated. "But..."

"But nothing. Marcus will understand. Caius will understand." Their guests would be restless, but he'd make them understand. He'd behead them if it meant she'd have her peace of mind. "No one will touch you," he repeated.

It was the least he could do.

Altheia muttered her thanks under her breath, then her hand reached out to unlock the passenger door. But before she could leave, she paused and turned to him again.

"I'm not scared of you, you know." She tried hard to paste an assuring smile, but all it did was deepen the frown on the telepath's face. Altheia noticed and dropped it. "I'm really not. It's just... my mind is screaming, Aro. I can still hear all of it. All of it. Echoing," she confessed in a wavering tone. "Your thoughts, your memories; the screams of—of the people you killed." Aro flinched as she took in a choked breath, "I can't find my voice in my own head. And that—... that scares me. More than anything."

"It'll pass," he managed to tell her.

"How long?"

"Give or take a day."

He heard her swallow thickly. "Then I'll see you in the afternoon." Pausing when she was a few paces away, "Could... could you tell Marcus and Caius not to see me until then?"

Aro schooled his features before the look of hurt could emerge. "Of course."

"I'm not afraid," Altheia repeated firmly. "I just need some time to... to not think. You understand, don't you?"

Aro didn't nod. "Of course."

With one last look at him, Altheia's gloved hands clenched into fists before she turned quickly on her heels and took off for the refuge of her bedroom.

»»—- ❈ —-««

WASHINGTON. . .

The scent of pine smoke and charcoal wafted around the frosted clearing.

"What's the tally?" Mele emerged into the dewy meadows, dragging a struggling, limbless newborn by the back of its neck.

"Two hundred nineteen," Esme replied from where she stood, occasionally stoking the large, blazing campfire at the center of the clearing. A projectile landed into the fiery pit with an ear-piercing screech. The screaming died down, and Esme shrugged, "Two hundred twenty."

"The pack will be returning with thirty more," Demetri announced, his pupils fogged as he tracked the Olympic vampires' and shifters' dispersed whereabouts in his mind. "They'll arrive in fifteen. We'll move towards the state border after."

Rosalie mused airily from where she idled by, "It's so convenient to have a mindreader, a psychic, and a tracker in the same hunting party. Not to mention the crazed brute you brought." She started picking at her blood-crusted nails, "I don't even need to do much."

"Felix is a brute just as much as your husband, but you're very welcome." Demetri responded dryly. "Though I would certainly appreciate your ruthless womanliness attune to its inner instincts and assist us in rounding up the newborns."

"Barbaric mutilation isn't in my inherent skill set, sadly. Call it my one character flaw." Rosalie sniffed, pert nose in the air. Emmett's loud guffaws could be heard from a mile away. Demetri rolled his eyes.

"We'll be moving soon so get ready," Alice announced as she appeared from the treelines. "It'll be quick work once we reach state perimeter."

Demetri grunted in agreement. "Can you see the sire's whereabouts yet?"

There was a petty scowl on Alice's face. "Not yet. I'm trying my best to see around the wolf pack, but as soon as Victoria makes a decision I should be able to—" Alice's vision glazed in the middle of her sentence, and a horrified grimace overtook her features. "No!"

Esme was beside her at once. "What is it, Alice?"

"Victoria—" The psychic's voice dripped in dread. "She circled around us—"

"Where?" Demetri pressed. "Tell me."

Alice locked gazes with Mele. "With Alec protecting Bella... she couldn't scent her at all. We may have been able to subvert her grand plans, but..."

Mele's gaze hardened. "Don't fucking tell me."

"She's going straight for Charlie," Alice confirmed. "Go—now!"

Not even a split second, and Mele was gone.

»»—- ❈ —-««

VOLTERRA. . .

Chelsea watched from where she leaned against the wall and mused in her mind, Damn. Felix would have killed to see this.

Upon Aro's return, he'd demanded the guards stationed at the throne room to vacate the nearby premises immediately. They understood that the masters would be discussing private matters so they readily complied, but before they could close the high doors behind them, Chelsea was able to overhear some but not all of the hushed words exchanged between the coven leaders. The way that Master Marcus pulled back in response to the telepath's commanding dialogue – a hardened expression taking over his face – was positively foreboding. Chelsea had hoped that the euphoric bonds she'd felt from the brunet since his return from a provincial trip with the scholar would last, but apparently not. Aro's initial instructions to Marcus and Caius had been said too low, even for her ears, but his voice pointedly raised when he noticed her staring as she moved to lock the doors.

The scholar will not be disturbed. Keep the west wing unoccupied.

Chelsea was smart enough to only be told once.

An hour later, Marcus prowled into the east wing and startled the guards who were lounging in the common room. Most of them had never seen the monarch in the eastern side of the fortress since... ever. But Marcus had marched right past them and headed directly into the training hall, three chambers over, his presence unquestionable.

The storm of the bondreader's emotions swirled in his blood red gaze. Chelsea understood from her own gift that her master had forced himself not to direct himself to the scholar's dormitories and ended up in a fit of undiluted rage.

But what exactly happened? What news did Master Aro bring? What could make Master Marcus so furious?

She decided she was better off not knowing.

A baritone command drifted between the walls. Santiago. Corin. Spar with me.

The guards exchanged wide-eyed looks amongst themselves, and eventually Santiago and Corin sighed in defeat, rising from their chairs to meet with Marcus on the sparring mat.

Since then, Marcus had been sparring with the guards, one after another, or both at the same time, completely ceaseless. Chelsea was sure Santiago would have pleaded for a break, along with Corin, if not for the threat of even heavier strikes from the millenia-old monarch. There, the league of Volterran sentries confirmed that Marcus was indeed deserving to be called master, and his surprising strength was a testament to his age, position, and experience, despite having been stagnant for most of the years they knew him. Chelsea struggled to imagine how much worse Master Caius would be, given that Marcus and Caius never trained alongside them but remained at the frightening and conditioned levels they were.

When Corin faltered in a misstep, an unforgiving palm striked her in the center of her chest, and she fell to the floor with an exhausted groan. She heaved out a sharp breath.

"Master, I yield."

"There are two of you, yet not once have you succeeded in subduing me." Marcus rumbled darkly. "Do the guards need a reorientation on their combat skills, after all?" His glare affixed to where they stood and watched nervously from the walls of the training hall. "Next – Chelsea. Renata."

If Felix and Demetri were here, they could possibly match with him... Chelsea gulped and winced and prayed for divine intervention in her head. But they aren't here.

Chelsea and Renata shared a nervous look. They stepped forward, reluctant but together.

At the corner of her vision, Chelsea saw Afton and Jane slink out of the hall. Cowards!

An icy tone suddenly spoke from the doors. "Marcus. Cease your torment on the guards." Caius commanded low. Chelsea let her shoulders sag in relief. Caius continued, "Heidi has hunted for you. Return to the throne room."

Caius glared darkly at the collapsed imagery of his queensguard and kingsguard on the granite floor, before he turned abruptly and headed for the throne room himself, disappearing just as soundless as Marcus did.

Santiago and Corin each released an unneeded breath of relief.

"Maybe you should make yourselves scarce for a while?" Chelsea suggested dryly in the silence.

But Santiago exploded. "What's up with this! Things were so light when Masters Marcus and Master Caius arrived!" Santiago scowled. "What's Altheia done this time!"

Corin smacked him on the back of his head. "You want to die? Stop talking like that!" she hissed. "If Master Marcus marches back here and cracks your head open, that's on you!"

»»—- ❈ —-««

Upon waking, Altheia spent a good hour dissociating on her bedspread. Just... staring out of her bedroom window, admiring at the familiar sight of the castle courtyard – home.

Afterwards, she fixed herself and went out of her quarters, strolling through the obscure hallways... only to realize she had led herself to the northern chambers in her mindless, wandering endeavor.

She had managed to sleep the day away for a whopping twelve hours, heaps better compared to the amount of rest she'd been able to get the day previous. She had a distinct feeling her uninterrupted rest had just as much to do with the eerie silence across the hallways than just the gradual disappearance of the thought-echoings in her mind.

Had Aro sent the staff home?

Past the woven staircases, she eventually found herself knocking on the high mahogany doors of Marcus' private chambers. The lack of an answer slightly dampened on her mood – his non-appearance meant she might actually have to pass through the lobby and reveal herself to the other occupants of the castle to find her comfort person.

She'd missed him.

Intermittent sounds of dripping liquid reached Altheia's sense of hearing. Turning towards it, the scholar's slackened expression morphed into a pinched look of alarm.

The sight of Marcus ran her mouth dry.

In the middle of the corridor, Marcus stood before her. Crimson blood smeared around the edges of his mouth, trailing down his neck and onto the soiled fabric of his formerly pristine cotton shirt.

Noting the cerise shade to his fingers, she barely found the nerve to speak.

"Marcus... You..." Altheia gulped. "You're..."

Mad, Altheia could only finish in her thoughts, further alarmed by the spiteful hardness in the brunet's eyes as he scanned her from head to toe. He'd just hunted, that much was obvious, but his irises remained deep black. Taking into account the rigidity of his posture, the grave frown on his lips...

Why was he mad?

"What are you doing here." Marcus questioned low as he strode forward and went into his room. Altheia took a step back when he passed by her, a step that proved to be unnecessary since the vampire made no motion to reach for her anyway.

Altheia's gloved hands twitched at her sides. Aro had told him what happened, then.

"People will think you don't actually want to be left alone if you appear in places you shouldn't be." His tone was unusually icy. "Return to your quarters."

Altheia's words rushed out when she understood Marcus was snubbing her, sending her away. "But... I came here for you."

She padded into the room after him and slowed when she arrived at an arm's length from where he stood. "I wanted to say that... I'm back... and... " I missed you.

His glare hadn't diminished when he faced her, and Altheia's hands fumbled.

"Are you mad at me? What did I do?" She shook her head and gave him more space. "I'll come back tomorrow."

She moved to leave, but then Marcus spoke.

"You let Aro touch you."

Altheia froze.

"I saw it in his Bonds." In yours, too, hung in the air. "Tell me what to feel then, if not rage, that his first order to me upon his return was that I was not allowed to touch you. Or talk to you. Or find you."

Altheia shook her head again, "It's just because of—"

"Why yes, your newly-discovered talent," the bondreader cut off sardonically. "Am I supposed to stand down then? Let you distance yourself from me?" A scoff. "Don't even think for a single second that I'm unjustified with my anger."

"Marcus... Please," Altheia breathed shakily. "I'm just scared."

"Of? What you'll see when you touch me?" He sniped in return. The brunette flinched. "Aro explained quite fully. Your human mind is fragile, slow, and most memories and thoughts stream into your mind without comprehension. What leaves their mark on you are the sordid screams and bits of violence. Have you finally comprehended that we are monsters after all?" Marcus' mouth thinned into a straight line. "How inconsolable you must be."

"Why are you so angry at me?" Altheia whispered harshly. She couldn't understand! "I'm allowed to be scared. I'm—" Her own demanding tone wavered. "I'm human." She headed for the door again and tempered down her rising emotions. "I can see I'm not wanted. I apologize for disturbing you, Master Marcus."

Before she could pull the doors wide enough to slip through, Altheia startled at the large hands that slammed the door closed. She whirled around, wide-eyed in panic when she found herself caged against Marcus' towering form.

She couldn't move. A measly inch between their faces... A single, unmeasured breath could mean a telepathic touch.

Altheia whimpered.

Under her breath, in the smallest voice she had, she begged him not to move closer.

Marcus' dark brown fringes draped over his eyes. The obsidian glare holding her captive made him look feral... corrupt. "It's not my intention to see you go," he hissed slowly through clenched teeth. "But it enrages me that you won't let me touch you. Do you understand, Altheia? You're mine, too."

At that, Altheia's eyes shuttered.

Oh.

»»—- ❈ —-««

Jealous. Marcus was jealous.

Gloved fingers trembled at her sides. "Oh, Marcus..." She didn't know what to say, what to do to assure him.

"You have gloves." Marcus stated, his jaw tight. "And still you refuse to touch me." He scowled. "I never thought you could be so cruel."

Her eyes glistening, Altheia's clothed hands wound upwards, careful and slow, until she held Marcus' face. Her thumbs scraping over the blood at the edges of his mouth, silent, wayward tears fell down her cheeks.

"If I could kiss you right now I would." Careful to keep the distance between their faces, Altheia whispered to the man across her, "If I could let you touch me... hold me, comfort me... I'd let you," she assured him. "To make you feel jealous, Marcus, is the last thing I want in my life. But I don't know what to do. Your memories..." Her shoulders shook as she began to sniffle. "I'm not that strong."

"In Aro's thoughts... I saw it all. The hunting, the hunger, the screams and bloodshed... The life he lived..." Altheia furthered, and more tears flowed from the edge of her eyes. "But I saw Sulpicia, too." The heated coil of hurt that had been pulling tightly in her chest for the past two days finally unwound, escaped, and spilled beyond her brown gaze. "I saw him woo her. For thousands of years, I saw him love her. And come home to her, every time; and in the background, I saw you—" Her voice shattered and her bawling worsened. "If I touch you, Marcus, and see just how much you loved Didyme... Do you think I'm made of stone?"

Understanding finally dawned on the millenia-old vampire, and his sable glare faded into nothing. "Altheia..."

The woman dropped her hands. "We... We can just lay on the bed. Talk. With the gloves, I... I can hold your hand. Please, Marcus..." Her gloves latched onto his shirt, now bloodied as well. "Don't make me go. I need..." I need you beside me.

»»—- ❈ —-««

He was an idiot.