That night there wasn't any talk of politics, something Cecilia was grateful for. Instead, she got to know the rest of the Markis coven. They consisted of six people in total. Adras and Danae she already knew, but the other two couples she hadn't. Vasyl was a dark-haired vampire who had been turned at the same age as Cecilia, but who appeared much older. He didn't talk much, barely introducing himself. His mate was named Ptolema, a blonde-haired pretty girl who talked too much. They evened it each other out, of that much Cecilia was sure. Olina must have been turned somewhere at the beginning of her twenties, but took after Danae a lot. She radiated the same sort of arrogance, even if she wasn't half as beautiful. Her mate was Kyros, who could be considered handsome of you squeezed your eyes almost shut, but was so vain that his personality ruined it all.
"You should tell me the name of your tailor, Cecilia," Olina said, eyeing the evening gown Cecilia was wearing with a plain look of jealously. "I will cut off her legs and keep her in my room to work on my clothes day and night."
Cecilia shared a look with Demetri. It was shorter than a split second, but it told her all she needed to know. Leaning back in her chair, she shrugged. "I could tell her your name," she said. "But you would still need to find a way to make her come back from the death."
Danae snickered, raising her glass. "That was a naughty thing to do," she said. "But I can't say I would have done it any different. Cheers to that."
Cecilia raised her glass awkwardly, watching as they clinked against each other and send little red drops flying over the table. Never before had she seen vampires drink human blood from cups like ordinary people sharing a cocktail, but that wasn't the worst of it. If she were to believe the hints and sniggers of the family, it was the blood of a junkie and when drunken in huge amounts, would give the effect of being high for a couple of seconds.
She was glad that it wasn't fresh blood and that it was poisoned, because in no way did it appeal to her. If they would have gotten a mortal in the room and cut open his veins, it would have been a whole other story. Now she just raised the cup to her mouth every few minutes, pretending to take a sip before setting it back on the table. Demetri would switch their glasses when nobody was looking, drinking for the both of them. From the expression on his face, she could tell he wasn't enjoying it, but she was grateful that he took her share as well.
Underneath the table she grabbed his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. His head turned to hers and both of them smiled. At least they had each other.
"Tell me, Vasyl, when were you turned?" Cecilia asked, looking at the only Markis beside Adras who didn't seem completely and utterly mad.
Before the vampire seated across from her even had the chance to reply, his mate did. "Almost fifty years ago," she said happily. She was holding onto his arm for dear life and Cecilia watched uncomfortably. "I came across him in Macedonia and believe me, it took everything in my might to stop myself from killing him. After that, I took him back to Angelokastro to join our coven. He's our newest addition and I couldn't have wished differently."
"That's," Demetri began, searching for the right word. "Sweet."
Cecilia nodded in agreement, getting the feeling that Vasyl had only joined because of Ptolema, but that he was slowly going crazy with the Markis. Suddenly, she could understand why the Ancient Ones didn't want to visit themselves. With only Adras and Danae to survive, Cecilia might have managed it, but the four other vampires were a whole other story.
"Cecilia," Kyros said, gaining the girl's attention. He eyed her up and down, before continuing. "How did you and Demetri meet?"
Before she was able to say anything, Demetri squeezed her hand once more and started talking. "We met while the Cullens visited Volterra, Cecilia has been staying with us ever since."
She had no idea why Demetri was lying, but she had a feeling it was for a good reason. Maybe it was because he didn't want the Markis to know about the Ancient Ones occasionally leaving the castle to fly across the world, maybe because he didn't want to expose her family. She didn't care, she trusted him with everything.
"And you haven't joined the Volturi yet?" Kyros asked, raising his dark eyebrows in question. "Not that I can blame you, bunch of filthy monsters."
"Kyros, cut out your tongue if you can't control it." Adras instantly chided the other vampire. He turned to Demetri and Cecilia with an apologetic smile on his face. "I'm sorry for his words. He doesn't mean them, obviously. I hope you've not taken any offence."
"None," Demetri said, waving with his hand as if the matter couldn't bother him. Cecilia knew differently though, it was borderline treason and simple madness to insult the Volturi in front of a member. If it had been Felix, Kyros's head would have been swimming in the ocean and his body in the fire.
Danae reached for her glass, but caused it to topple over instead. Cecilia saw it happening, knowing that if she wanted to, she could put the glass up before a single drop of blood was spilled, but instead, she watched Danae stare at it stupidly, as if all of her fast reflexes had gone. The glass fell to the ground, instantly shattering in thousands of tiny pieces. Cecilia wondered how many drinks the woman had had.
She observed quietly as one of the vampires, those that didn't belong to the coven in name, but simply served, shot from a dark corner of the room and cleaned up the mess while another retrieved a new glass and poured it full. Cecilia felt uncomfortable watching the whole ordeal. After all, the servants were vampires as well, with the same strengths and abilities. Why were they serving instead of running away?
"It's pretty cool, huh," Kyros said. His eyes shifted from the servants to Cecilia with a nauseous smirk on his face. She made a mental note not to take the seat next to Kyros again. "These were all junkies when we turned them. We give them special blood every other week. It keeps them addicted and tied to us at the same time."
Cecilia pretended to grin, feeling sick to her stomach. "How creative."
When Demetri had told her on the plane that the Markis' had some odd habits, she had expected them to maybe play with their food, to have a weird sense of fashion or that they pretended to still live life like a thousand years had never passed, but not all of the above and creepier things still. Volterra and the tours through the castle seemed a lot more humane all of a sudden.
She had no idea how she was to survive the coming ten days if this was the standard way of living at Angelokastro and she could understand the distress and reluctance Demetri had been showing after Aro's announcement. The only thing that kept her grounded, that kept her from fleeing out of the room and simply running back to Volterra, was Demetri, his fingers drawing calming circles on the back of her hand.
It was an old room and there was simply no shape, way or form of technology to recognize. There was no clock, but when Cecilia looked over her shoulder, through the several pillars, she could see the moon high in the sky. She wanted to retreat to her own room, lay on her bed and simply drown in Demetri's presence.
"It's been lovely this evening," Demetri said, smiling politely. Cecilia turned back, her eyes landing on the glasses in front of them. Both of them were drained. "But I think it's time for me and Cecilia to retreat to our chambers."
"Of course," Adras said, instantly rising. He pressed a kiss on Demetri's cheek and Cecilia's after that. "We will see you tomorrow again."
"Good night," Cecilia bid the rest of the Markis' goodbye. She was grateful for the fact that Demetri was able to read her body language that way and she followed him to their chambers gladly.
Though the Markis were crazy, the castle they occupied was beautiful. The room they were staying in was grande, with an attached bathroom as big as the living room back in Alaska. They had a big balcony as well, with a sight of the sea. Near the balcony stood their bed, just as extravagant as the rest. The flimsy white curtains were moved by the wind, exposing some of the coast to the two of them.
"I'm going to change," she said quietly, locking herself in the bathroom. She took her time in preparing for bed, even if she wouldn't sleep. She brushed out her hair, cleaned her face with water and put on her silky nightgown. If anything, she wanted some of her mortal rhythms to last for as long as she could manage.
When she walked out of the bathroom, she could see Demetri's figure on the balcony, the light of the moon illuminating him. He leaned his hands on the balustrade, the muscles of his shoulders tensing underneath his white T-shirt. The wind moved through his hair, his eyes were focused on something Cecilia couldn't see. She felt her whole body heat up from the love she was feeling and a soft smile came to her lips.
She joined him silently, pressing a chaste kiss on his bicep as she placed her hands on the balustrade as well. The wind moved through her hair and she closed her eyes with a pleased expression on her face. Forgetting all about the Markis, the Volturi and even her family, she realised she could stay like this for centuries. She and Demetri, just the two of them in a castle near the sea, spending eternity together. Yeah, she would love that.