Sanguine - Aro Volturi

Chapter twenty eight

"Rompersi una gamba," he says and I unbuckle my seat belt.

"Let's not joke about breaking legs," I grimace and get out of the car.

Inside were about twenty other young adults, most accompanied with parents or partners, as we walked through to the registration desk almost everyone stared at Demetri, my abnormally handsome bodyguard.

"You'll never blend in will you," I smirk as I take a seat and fill in some of the paperwork.

He shrugs, "Can't help that I'm just the most attractive creature these poor humans have ever seen."

"Alright, tone down the modesty," I chuckle.

"I bet Aro could tell you some real juicy stories from people's thoughts, it doesn't take a genius to guess but I'd love to try the whole mind-reading shit for a day."

"I can imagine it has plenty of downsides."

"Not with you though," Demetri says. "I can't even comprehend how refreshing that must be for him."

My pen stills. "I'd never thought of it like that," I muse. "Do you think he enjoys it? Not being bombarded by what I'm thinking...constantly?"

"Of course! Think of it like listening to music, every time you touch anyone," Demetri placed his hand, although still gloved, on my lower arm. "You hear every song they've ever listened to at breakneck speed." He removes his hand. "If just the once isn't enough to give you a headache, it happens every time, no matter how small or fleeting the touch." He taps his fingers against my arm again.

I resume filling in my forms while I mull over Demetri's explanation, although I'd of course known about Aro's gift now for quite a while I had never really processed what it must've been like. In fact, all the gifts, what did they feel like? Did Demetri just think of someone and then see a Sat-Nav style map in his head leading to their location. What about Jane and Alec, did Jane imagine someone in pain and it just happen, or was there something she had to magically/mentally connect in order to inflict the apparently agonising pain, akin to burning alive – or changing into a vampire.

I decided to wait with my questions until after my exams, having my mind spinning with vampire related mysteries wasn't going to help me concentrate on remembering anything I had spent nearly 4 months painfully reciting to memory under the scrutinising eyes of my vampire tutors.

Demetri steered the conversation away from vampires and onto theorising what everyone else in the room must've been applying for. With his hearing being superior he could overhear most conversations.

"Now, they've said they're also going for the law department, English and French, not as impressive as Latin," he winks.

"Stop," I roll my eyes. "You're starting to sound like a dad."

"Guess I'm old enough," Demetri shrugs.

"Ew, no," I scrunch my nose in disgust of the idea. "That would be so weird, in a few years we'll look the same age, that'll just be...I'm saying this, but I've just realised that's exactly what'll happen to Bella and Ness, they'll look like sisters."

"Not feeling the broody desires?"

"Definitely not," I shake my head and Demetri laughs.

"Signora Celestine Voltaire?" My name was called and I take a steadying breath.

"I can't believe he still insists that I have to be a 'Mrs' at school," I mutter as I stand and gather the sheets of paper I'd filled in.

"Don't worry about that, now, good luck, you'll be great, Signora," Demetri smirks and I follow the man who'd called my name through and into my exams.