When Josie, a tourist in Volterra seeking meaning to her life, pays a visit to one of the city's ancient monuments, she seems to find that meaning in the form of a powerful member of vampire royalty named Caius.
Caius stopped pulling the strings of my corset dress for a moment before asking, "Why?" Then, he pulled the strings tight. "Do you think I thought you were special?" he added.
I blushed. That was so embarrassing. He knew I hoped he thought I was special. But he probably didn't think I was. He probably chose me at random. "No..." I said.
"Well, then you're wrong. I did."
My heart skipped a beat. Was he really admitting this? "But, still, why?"
"I just found you interesting. Why do you want to know so badly?"
"Wouldn't you be curious if someone chose to save your life?"
"I'd probably assume they didn't specifically choose me. Like you should."
"But...you just admitted it was specific."
"Shh," said Caius as he pulled at the corset strings one more time before tying them for good.
I didn't know why he wouldn't just tell me what he thought of me. I wasn't going to press any further questions, though, as I didn't want to get on his bad side. I did know, though, that I secretly wanted him to take my new dress back off. Not because I disliked it or anything of the sorts—I thought it was beautiful—but because I liked the feeling of being naked in front of him. It felt right.
Now that he was done with the dress, he grabbed my hand. "Come," he said, leading me out of the door.
I was afraid then. What if the reason he had dressed me up so nicely was so that he could use me for some sacrificial ritual? Were the other horrible vampires going to kill me? Or, worse, was Caius going to kill me?
Regardless, I came with him, as I had no choice. He led me back out into the beautiful arched hallway, and we walked through it until we stopped at a massive set of double doors.
"What are we doing?" I asked.
"It's time you met everyone else." He reached his hand out for the doorknob to let us go inside.
I grabbed his wrist to stop him from opening the door. "Wait! Who is everyone else?"
"The other vampires," he said coldly before using his other hand to remove mine from his wrist, and opening the door.
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Inside was a massive, beautiful room filled with marble pillars, couches, tables, a bar, and, right at the back, a performance stage framed with silk curtains.
The room was also filled with about thirty people...well, vampires, and each of them looked exquisite. I now understood why Caius had wanted me to change into the beautiful dress I was wearing, because otherwise I would've looked like the odd one out. They were all beautiful, with the women clothed in detailed gowns like my own, and the men in long, velvet suits, some with frilled collars like Caius'. I glanced around, panicking for a moment, but my nerves settled slightly when I realised there was no sign of Aro or Marcus in the room.
