SOMEWHERE ONLY WE KNOW ➻ DEMETRI VOLTURI

V E N T I

Cecilia bent down, her hands finding the edges of the dark carpet and ripping it away. It came off smoothly, exactly exposing the circle that trapped her. It was a circle with a pentagram inside it, the lines made up of intricate patterns, along with several words scribbled in ancient languages she didn't recognize. It looked a lot like Hebrew, but she couldn't be sure. Carefully, she traced the lines with her fingers. If it wasn't for the fact that this circle was trapping her, she might have been amazed at the intricate design. It must have taken hours to draw.

Cecilia looked up, a slow sense of dread filling her. "This isn't possible."

"Surely it is, or do you claim you can walk freely?" Vasilisa said, raising her eyebrows as if to dare her. She was wearing a bemused expression, obviously smug. "Just because it's ancient and doesn't sound very likely, doesn't mean that it can't be done. You just have to find the right person to do it."

"You're dammed," Cecilia said. "You can't have done this."

"No, I didn't," Vasilisa admitted, looking to the side. Cecilia followed her line of vision, her eyes landing on an orthodox priest laying in the corner of the room. His throat had been slit, dried blood all over the carpet surrounding him. He must have been dead for quite a while as well, which at least explained the smell of decay Cecilia had noticed when she had walked into the room.

Cecilia didn't bother to hide her disgust. "Why are you doing this?"

"It's nothing personal, really. In fact, I reckon you might have made a valuable ally hadn't you chosen a side already," Vasilisa said, shrugging nonchalantly.

"I choose nobody's side," Cecilia protested.

"You did, that crest on your chest is the proof."

Her golden eyes landed on the piece of jewellery on her chest, the crimson Volturi crest. She let out a sarcastic scoff before directing her eyes on the vampire in front of her again. "You're doing this because I'm a member of the Volturi? That's pathetic."

"I'm doing this because of what you are to the Volturi, which is not simply a member," Vasilisa said, circling Cecilia slowly. She looked a lot like a predator lurking around her prey, even though she couldn't possibly reach Cecilia. She was certain that the barrier worked two ways. "Without you by their side, the Ancient Ones lose a lot of their power and influence. It will make it a lot easier to overthrow them."

Cecilia stared at Vasilisa with an incredulous look. It surprised her how many covens and individual powers felt the need to crown themselves. First the Markis, now a crazy woman from Russia. Yeah, she would admit that the Volturi weren't particularly fair or honest rulers, but they certainly were discrete and it could be so much worse. "The amount of people who want to rebel is beyond me. Do you really want a crown so bad?"

"It's my right," Vasilisa said. "You know what the name Vasilisa means?" Seeing Cecilia's blank look, the woman let out an exasperated sigh. "It means queen. It's my birthright. "

"Cecilia means blind, but unfortunately, I can still see you," she countered sarcastically.

"Actually, it means blind to one's beauty," Vasilisa corrected her. "Which is certainly true in your case."

Cecilia rolled her eyes, making a dismissive gesture. She noticed that she was getting impatient and growing angry. Mostly because of her own stupidity and naivety. Who on Earth walked into a trap so easily, especially one who had read hundreds of books and praised herself on her strategic mind. She directed her annoyance at Vasilisa. "What are you going to do now?"

"The future? Wouldn't you like to how I got you here in the first place?"

"Bore me," she replied. She wondered how on Earth she was going to get out of this Michael Pentagram. Even if Demetri managed to get into the church unnoticed, which she sincerely doubted, and kill Vasilisa, which probably wouldn't go too easily either, she was still stuck.

"Very well," Vasilisa said. She didn't appear to be bothered by Cecilia's rudeness. In fact, she seemed to enjoy it. "When I heard from one of my insiders that you would come to Russia, I had hoped you would pay an old friend a visit. That friend obviously being Nikolai. I knew of his ties to Anya, some stupid mortal. I caught her, send him a message that he could exchange her life for his, which thick as he is, agreed to. Once I got him in manacles, I killed Anya and introduced myself to you as her. It's always easy to pretend to be someone when the other person doesn't know who he's talking to."

"So, you're a psychopathic bitch who doesn't keep her word?" Cecilia suggested. "Who would have guessed?"

Just for a moment, barely a split second, Vasilisa's face twisted in fury, but it was replaced by an unbothered expression so quickly that she might as well have imagined the whole thing. Untroubled, the woman continued her story. "I admit it was smart of you to ask for verification, but obviously, you couldn't know that I was holding Nikolai captive. I tortured the address out of him. Don't look so betrayed. It took me the better part of two days and believe me, he tried to resist. I must have gotten a hundred false addresses before the truth finally came out.

"Then I made up that file. I could hardly tell you I was the red princess, after all, you were the one searching for me. Kind of ironic, isn't it? I was after you, you after me and here we are. I think I won. Anyway, you must have fallen for it, otherwise, you wouldn't be here on your own."

With a sudden jolt, Cecilia realised that Vasilisa really thought she would slip away from Demetri without his knowledge. That she could use to her advantage, though she wasn't exactly sure how. "And now what? You can't kill me and I can't leave. Are you planning on leaving me here to rot?"

Vasilisa smiled, it was unsettling. "That's exactly my plan."