SOMEWHERE ONLY WE KNOW ➻ DEMETRI VOLTURI

V E N T U N O

"You are not worthy of the gift you have," Vasilisa screeched. All of her earlier control seemed to have ebbed away and suddenly Cecilia was glad for the barrier between them. Without it, she was positive that Vasilisa would have tried to strangle her to death. "You have the greatest gift somebody could wish for. You could control everything, but you are even stupider than you are blind. Yeah, you honour your name that way, that much is true."

Like a snake reaching out to bite someone, like a bullet leaving a gun, Demetri swung his arms around Vasilisa neck, pulling her against his body harshly. The surprised expression on her face, the way her mouth fell open to a big 'o' and how her eyebrows frowned together, brought Cecilia more pleasure than anything else she could imagine. It was like instant gratification.

"I would very much appreciate it if you wouldn't talk to my soulmate that way," Demetri said, his voice dark and full of hidden anger. He looked down on Vasilisa like she was a pest. "Not that you will ever speak another word again."

Just as he was about to twist her head of her body, Cecilia could see it from the way his muscles tensed up, Vasilisa managed to wriggle an arm free and give him a mean elbow to the ribs. Forced to let go of her, Demetri took a step back to regain his balance, his face twisted in annoyance. The two attacked each other, jumping and flying through the room. For every human entering it must seem like two flashes following each other, never staying long enough in one place to truly see them.

A wave of worry crashed over Cecilia, who could follow the fight very easily. Demetri was a good fighter, but so was Vasilisa. Worse than that, she was a dirty fighter, with all kinds of tricks up her sleeves. Cecilia didn't think she had ever felt as worthless as she did right now, trapped in a circle of less than a square meter of space to move around. All she could do was watch as Vasilisa used a piece of glass to reflect light to temporarily blind Demetri, landing a couple of good kicks after.

Suddenly, out of all the voices that could have come to her, it was Aro's that came to her mind. She remembered the way her head had ached when she'd only just begun training her gift, how he had pushed her to go on anyway. Just because it was difficult and painful didn't mean it was impossible.

Setting her mind to the task, she tried once more to reach for Vasilisa's mind. It was like moving in a maze, constantly bumping into dead ends, but instead of simply seeing them and turning back around, the dead ends seemed to add to the ache in her mind. Just as she was about to give up, feeling a familiar prickling sensation in her left temple, like a knife pressed against the skin, she noticed the way the barrier around her seemed to light up. Knowing she was close, she pushed herself to continue, to apply all the tricks Aro had taught her to crack someone's mind and most of all, to focus on Demetri.

As soon as she heard an incredibly loud noise like the entire heaven had fallen down and shattered on the earth in thousands of tiny glass shards, she knew she had done it. The lines of the pentagram underneath her, a moment ago all connected in an elaborate pattern, had broken and looking up, she saw the surprise both on Vasilisa's and Demetri's face.

Smirking triumphantly, Cecilia stepped out of the circle, her golden eyes fixated on the woman in the red dress. Vasilisa, suddenly realising that her chances had dwindled now it was two against one, tried to flee to the door, but before she could set as much as one step, Demetri had his hands on her. One was wrapped around her neck, the other had a tight grip on her upper jaw, tearing it away from the rest of her face.

Cecilia didn't hesitate as she kicked Vasilisa's legs from underneath her, allowing Demetri the last bit of leverage he needed to tear the upper half from her face from the rest of her body. The sound of diamonds breaking echoed through the room and with a loud thud, Vasilisa's body landed on the ground, part of her head a split second later.

It wasn't a pretty sight, she had to admit that, but she was grateful for the fact it was over. Noticing the lighter in Demetri's hand, she quickly grabbed hold of his arm, shaking her head. "No, we need to take her back to Volterra and allow her to heal so we can get more names," Cecilia said quickly. "And if she doesn't speak, there must be a public trial."

Demetri let the flame die, a smirk on his face. "I love your way to think things through."

"Occasionally," Cecilia said with a smile, the difficult situation she had been in earlier not quite forgotten. Resisting the urge to press her mouth against Demetri, she turned back around, her eyes landing on Nikolai. He was staring at the two of them already, an embarrassed expression on his face. "We've got to stop meeting like this."

"I just like to see you every now and then, Cecilia, and since you don't visit me that often, I've got to create the situation myself," Nikolai said. He managed something that was probably intended as a pleasant smile, though it looked more like a grimace. He held up his hands, jingling the shackles against each other. "Now free me, please. The keys are around her neck."

Demetri quickly bent down, pulling the necklace from Vasilisa's neck in a single motion. He walked over to Nikolai, quickly freeing him of the manacles which had kept his hands and feet bound together. The Russian vampire let out a loud groan, stretching his limbs before standing up. His dark eyes moved from Demetri to Cecilia.

"I'm sorry this all happened," Nikolai apologised awkwardly. He placed his hand in his neck, a sheepish expression on his face. He was covered in dirt and grime, his hair plastered to his face. He looked even worse than when Cecilia had found him in the castle's dungeons. "I didn't want to give up the address, Cecilia, truly, but she tortured me."

Cecilia eyed the Michael Pentagram suspiciously, before nodding at Nikolai. "It's fine," she said. "However, I do want to collect the favour you owe me."