It was the inability to do anything that was most agonizing.
As a vampire, I was accustomed to stillness and enduring the passage of time. Never before had time crawled by at such an excruciating pace. Sitting inactive, unable to do anything to find my mate was as agonizing as physical torture. I would have traded places with Selena, who lay wrestling with the effects of venom, in an instant.
Though it had been only three hours since I'd found her, in those 180 minutes my world had collapsed. Everything I had known hours ago had been thrown into uncertainty. I restated what I knew on an endless loop, trying to make sense of what had happened.
Camila, Ari and Justin had been kidnapped, or worse.
We had no idea who had taken them, or for what purpose.
The same unknown enemy had attempted to murder Selena.
In Selena's final moments, she'd been turned into a vampire by Demi.
Without any other leads, we were stuck waiting for her to wake up.
No matter how I looked at the situation, it painted a horrific picture.
Demi clasped a comforting hand on my shoulder as we watched Selena endure the struggle of transformation. Her limbs twitched in an erratic rhythm. As if to repress her pain, her expression set itself in a permanent grimace.
"She's adapting well. The venom is taking hold."
Demi's words carried a hopeful note that had been missing from her usual demeanor. In the last few hours, her usual positivity had been extinguished for good reason.
We'd worked in tandem to clean up the grisly mess surrounding Selena and transferred her into her bedroom. If one didn't know better, it looked like she was aloft in restless dreams.
"That's good," I replied, my tone bland. I was too preoccupied with my own uselessness to offer a more insightful comment.
I wanted to be searching for Camila and the kids. Instead, I was stuck waiting for a woman who might not retain her human memories to wake up.
"I finally got in touch with Dinah," Demi added when I said nothing more. "She was with Mani. They're both on their way back. They're coming as fast as they can."
I nodded tightly. I knew I should ask if Dinah and Normani had solved their issues, but I couldn't muster up the will to care. They were safe. What was some insipid relationship drama when three people I loved had disappeared into thin air? My attention was better spent elsewhere.
"I'm going to take another look outside," I muttered, dismissing the topic. "Maybe I missed something."
Demi met my eyes. "We will find them. I swear to you, if it's the last thing I do, we'll find them."
I combed the yard, dutifully searching for anything that seemed out of the norm. There was not a blade of grass out of place, just as had been the case the last several times I had checked. I circled around the house, sniffing the air and scouring the landscape for any sign that would get me a step closer to Camila.
The intermingling scents of concrete, dirt and evening rain mingled. There was no trace of the culprit. It was equal parts frustrating and mind-boggling. How had someone been able to get inside the house without leaving a trace? They had to leave their scent somewhere. I was a goddamn vampire. If my superior senses couldn't catch the faintest whiff of the assailant, what hope was there?
I stopped cold as the answer hit me like a ton of figurative bricks. My quicksilver mind snapped together pieces of information like a puzzle, reasoning out a new theory. I didn't know why it hadn't already occurred to me.
Demi frowned when I burst into the room wheres she was watching over Selena. She stood, her features brushed with concern.
"Is something wrong?"
"I know who took them," I declared, confident in my logic.
Demi glanced at me anxiously. "Did you find something?"
I shook my head.
Confusion settled over his expression. "Then how...?"
"Because there's nothing. That's it. When we first found Selena, what did you smell?"
"Blood." Demi grimaced at the memory.
"And?" I pressed.
Demi wondered where this line of questioning was headed, but scoured her memories nonetheless. She came up blank.
"Was there anything else notable?"
"No, there was nothing. Not a single distinctive scent."
Demi's gold gaze was growing concerned. "Laur, what are you trying to say? You're not making any sense."
"Think about it, Demi. If anyone was here we should have known it immediately. We would have smelled them. Human or vampire, everyone has a distinctive scent. Everyone except one person."
Demi's voice was soft as the answer dawned. "Afton."
I nodded, eager for her to reach the same conclusion I had.
"You think the Volturi are behind this? That's a strong accusation."
"It's the only thing that makes sense," I reasoned, certain my hypothesis was correct. "It's common knowledge that's how they disappear. They use Afton's gift for altering scent and it's like they were never there. They didn't want us to know they were here."
Countless questions clouded Demi's mind. "What would the Volturi want with Camila and the children?"
"They have the potential to be powerful vampires," I pointed out. "Camila blocks my gift. Ari is a seer. I'm assuming the Volturi collected them. Remember how we said the Volturi would kill to get their hands on Ari? We were right."
Demi's doubts were shrinking, but she was striving to remain objective. "What about Justin? Why take him?"
I shrugged. "Maybe they brought him along to keep Camila complacent? Or as a playmate for Ari? Does it really matter? No reason is going to be good enough."
Demi pondered the information I laid before her. "If you're correct about this, we're powerless to stop them. We're three vampires against an army."
"We can't stand by and do nothing!" I growled, unwilling to surrender my mate to the clutches of the Volturi without a fight.
"This is a precarious situation," Demi stated, ever rational. "We have to be prudent in how we choose to approach it. Dinah and Mani should be here soon. When they arrive, we can explain. Together we'll figure out a plan of action."
My hackles rose, raring for the opportunity to protect what was mine. "But Camila–"
"I understand your mate is in danger. It goes against every fibre of your being not to seek vengeance for her suffering, but please, wait for Dinah and Mani. We'll be stronger in numbers."
I relented, tearing a hand through my hair in frustration. Demi was right. As much as I hated it, I knew she had a point. Feeling just as helpless as before I'd deciphered an enemy to blame, I sunk into the nearest chair.
I peered at Selena's prostrate form across from me. She would wake sometime within the next three days and then we'd be dealing with a volatile newborn on top of trying to figure out how to confront the most powerful coven of vampires ever to exist.
The entire situation was one giant clusterfuck.
Demi lowered herself into the chair next to mine. "The situation may seem bleak, but we'll figure something out."
"What about Selena?" I wondered. "We can't take on the Volturi with a newborn to consider. She'll be unpredictable, to put it mildly. We can't leave her here if we go to Italy, but getting her on a plane in this state would be impossible."
"She'll be strong, and most likely be hardwired to seek vengeance for her son and bestfriend. Maybe she'll prove to be an advantage," Demi suggested.
I muttered a vague agreement, not in the mood to fight with her in the face of greater problems. In reality, I couldn't see how Selena would be anything other than a hindrance.
Quiet descended as we monitored Selena, our anxious thoughts about the impending confrontation filling the room. Ten minutes passed before the silence was broken by Dinah's voice shouting for us.
My agitated best friend burst through the door a moment later, her expression laced with concern and fury. Normani wasn't far behind.
"What happened?" Dinah demanded. Her furious eyes settled on Selena. Normani greeted us with quiet somberness, and stood to the side, letting Dinah express her rage.
Demi explained the situation in a measured voice while Dinah paced the room like a caged lion. By the time Demi had relayed the entire story, Dinah was nothing short of murderous.
"Those Italian fuckers decided to claim Mila and Ari as their property? They had no right! I say we go in guns blazing and annihilate the motherfuckers. We have the element of surprise on our side."
"Dinah," Demi soothed in an ever-rational tone. "Do you really think Aro isn't expecting a retaliation? He knows we don't stand a chance against the guard. If we attack him, all we'll do is provide him with an excuse to kill us."
Dinah was doubtful. "If he's expecting us, why go through the trouble of concealing that it was his guard who took them?"
"To delay the inevitable? To piss us off so we attack first? To fuck with our heads?" I offered, each suggestion filled with more venom than the last. "Why does Aro do anything? He's an asshole, but he's not stupid; he knew we'd figure out he was behind this sooner or later. He has Camila. We'd know if he added her to his guard."
"What the fuck ever. We should be in Italy," Dinah declared. "Whatever Aro's got up his slimy-ass sleeve, we can't do anything about it sitting on our asses in here."
I nodded my agreement. I was supportive of anything that would get me closer to reuniting with Camila. Only Demi remained uncertain.
"What other choice do we have?" Dinah asked Demi. "Aro's not going to come to us. You know he expects us to come to Volterra. His turf, his rules."
"We can come up with a plan en route," I suggested, hoping to sway Demi to our way of thinking. Time not spent getting to the source of our problem was time wasted. "The flight to Italy will give us time to think about what we want to do when we arrive."
Demi's sigh was resigned; she was outnumbered. "We should take the private jet. We can't leave Selena here. If we're going to do this, the jet will allow us to avoid unwanted questions. I'll let Jenks know we need his piloting services immediately."
Normani, who had been silently absorbing the conversation until this point, cut in.
"That won't be necessary. I'm a certified pilot. I can get us where we need to go."
She brushed off three incredulous expressions. "Yeah, I know. I'm full of surprises. Come on, time's wasting and that sleazy fucker, Aro, has some things that belong to us."
I repressed a smile, both impressed and exasperated by her bluntness. I hadn't failed to notice she had used the phrase "us." Did that mean she considered herself a part of us now?
I glanced at Dinah to see if I could get a read on her, but she was impassive. She was in battle mode; all her mind power was focused on our mission. Deciding that now was not the time to ask about what had transpired between her and Mani, I set about helping Demi with the arrangements that would get us to Italy.
Within fifteen minutes, the five of us were loaded onto our plane.
We managed to sneak Selena in sight unseen, moments before the flight controller at the tiny airport had declared our plane ready for takeoff. Though Selena continued to twitch in the throes of transformation, her agitated movements had lessened in the hours since she'd been bitten.
Normani glanced at us over her shoulder from her place in the cockpit.
"Ready to roll?"
At our collective acquiescence, she set to work flipping switches and gauges like she'd done it a thousand times before. In a single smooth movement we began barreling down the runway. We sat in anxious silence as she maneuvered the plane into the sky with astonishing ease.
While Normani helmed the plane, the rest of us contemplated ideas for confronting the Volturi. I halfheartedly listened to my two best friends' thoughts, comparing them against my own.
Dinah favored brute force. She thought if we went in under the guise of peaceful negotiation, we could catch the Volturi off guard, and get into Aro's inner circle without too much trouble. Dinah was sure she could take out the strongest members of the guard herself.
Demi considered reasoning with Aro the more logical option. She thought if Aro knew we intended no harm, we could request a recess with the leaders and present our case without resorting to violence. Demi was convinced we could persuade Aro that separating a family wasn't right.
When we reached cruising altitude, Normani put an end to the stifling silence. She adjusted some controls to set the plane on autopilot and got down to business.
"Okay, enough with the broody silence," she demanded, her tone forbidding dispute. "Who wants to share their ideas first? Demi?"
Demi's sigh expressed her hesitance. "Aro is a reasonable man. Despite his faults, he's a sensible leader. He knows when to relent and when to stand his ground. We should talk with him rationally, before we consider anything violent. Violence only begets further violence."
"Fuck yeah it does," Dinah agreed, eager for a chance to show the Volturi a taste of their own cruel medicine. "That asshole got himself into this by taking our fucking kid, Justin and Lauren's mate. He tried to kill Selena! He deserves nothing less than to feel our wrath."
I scrubbed a hand over my face. "As gratifying as that sounds, we wouldn't stand a chance. We can't compete with the sheer size of the guard, let alone their gifted. Alec could take out all four of us in a matter of seconds. As much as it pains me to treat Aro with civility when he refused to extend us the same courtesy, I can't see how we have any other option but to reason with him."
"Do you really think Aro will give us the time of day?" Dinah questioned, blunt as ever. "You know as well as I do that he has no intention of returning Camila or the kids. Why would he even pretend?"
"What we really need is a trump card," Demi advised. "Something that we can use against him to force him to see our side."
Dinah snorted. "Sounds to me like you're advocating blackmail."
Demi was sheepish. "I can see how it might sound that way."
"And where do you suppose we get something to use against him, anyway? Do you happen to have any incriminating videos you forgot to tell us about?" Dinah's words were bathed in sarcasm. "If anyone should have dirt, it's you. The two of you were practically besties back in the day. Lauren and I hardly know the guy. As much as I love some good blackmail, we need something to blackmail him with."
Demi shook her head. "Aro's much too clever to leave evidence. There are stories of his misdeeds, but I don't have anything concrete to prove they're true."
"Well great, that puts us back at square one," Dinah complained. "Got a plan B?"
"Maybe we don't need to go after Aro directly," I mused. "What if we target something important to him? What means more to Aro than anything else?"
"Sulpicia?" Demi suggested.
Normani scoffed from her position in the cockpit. "Yeah, sure. Have you seen the way they treat the wives? They're glorified slaves. I mean they call them 'the wives.' How degrading is that? They're only guarded because of what happened to Marcus. Aro knows that the Volturi would be powerless if that were to happen again."
Demi nodded thoughtfully. "Aro has always been obsessed with being a ruler. The guard, they're a physical manifestation of his obsession with power."
"So... what you're suggesting is that to get inside Aro's head, we have take away the Volturi's power?" Dinah said slowly. "Sure, easy peasy. I don't know about you, but I think I'll take my chances trying to tear his head off."
"Actually," I interjected, "I think I might have an idea."
"Well, it can't be any worse than Demi's," Dinah groused.
I continued, ignoring Dinah. "When I asked what was most important to Aro, Demi's first thought was Sulpicia, his mate. For most vampires, that would be true. The mating bond is sacred, for lack of a better word. More so than any law could ever be. A vampire will kill for their mate, die for them–"
"Take on the Volturi for them," Dinah interjected.
"Exactly my point," I said, shooting a glare at my wisecracking brother. "Aro took my mate... what's to stop him from doing the same to any other mated pair? There have been rumors of him destroying covens in the past, but no one has ever survived to tell the tale. What if we could expose the truth – that the Volturi are so corrupted, they're willing to stomp on the sanctity of mate bonds for the sake of strengthening their own power?"
"The vampire community could very well revolt if they believed their mates were in danger of being taken unjustly," Demi agreed.
"That can be our trump card," I suggested. "If we threaten to expose the Volturi's debased tactics – with more than just hearsay for once – it could have a very unpleasant effect on the Volturi. A widespread revolt could be crippling. That's the last thing Aro wants. If we threaten to expose their tactics and trigger a revolt, perhaps he'll be open to meeting our demands."
"A threat is one thing," Normani pointed out, turning to face us from the cockpit. "Following through is another. He could call your bluff. We would need to make it a legitimate threat to capture his attention. Getting a bulletin out to vampires across the world wouldn't be simple."
Dinah quirked an eyebrow at Normani. "You nomads are so primitive. Haven't you ever heard of the Internet? We send out a mass email and bam. It's the click heard around the world. Demi carries a lot of weight in the vampire community; with her credibility, our story could get traction. Vampires get upset. Cue chaos."
Normani's lips twisted with amusement. "It's crazy enough that it just might work."
Dinah smiled. "Ah, I see you've discovered our motto."
Normani turned back to the controls, adjusting them with practiced ease. She consulted one of the many digital screens.
"We've got another 11 hours before we land at Casa Demi."
We agreed it would be safest to land on Demi's Italian property, which was located a couple hundred miles from Volterra. It would give us a place to regroup and do additional planning before we confronted the Volturi.
"So this 'Casa Demi' has a private runway, huh?" Normani was impressed. "I'm going to take a shot in the dark and guess that this 'casa' is indeed a castle?"
"It's not a cast-" Demi started to say, but was cut off by Dinah.
"It's a fucking castle, dawg, let's be honest."
"A castle typically has some historical significance that makes it a castle," Demi explained with unwavering patience. "My estate lacks the historical depth of a true castle."
"Actually," I interjected, "the word castle is derived from the Latin word castrum which means fortified place. Seeing as our estate was built with fortified security to ensure our privacy, Dinah is technically correct in saying it's a castle."
"Dorks," Normani coughed under her breath.
Dinah was smug. "Whatever. Ms. Look-At-Me-I-Know-Latin said I was right."
"I met Camila in our Latin class," I mumbled. I would forever associate the language with her.
I'd been so busy scheming how to find her that it hadn't sunk in that she was gone. My girlfriend had been taken. There was a distance separating us that I might never be able to bridge. I didn't know if I'd live to see her again. I wasn't even certain she was still alive. Everything we were planning was based on guesswork and uncertainty. I could only pray we were on the right track.
Dinah was instantly remorseful. She hated seeing me despondent. Her sister's instinct to protect me was prevailing even though she's younger than me.
"Shit. I'm sorry. We're going to get her back. Okay?"
All I could do was offer a strained nod.
If my theory was correct – that Aro had recruited Camila for her potential gift – there was a chance that she was still alive. I would hold on to that knowledge at any cost. Whether she was a human or a vampire was irrelevant; I wanted her back by my side where she belonged.
Dinah's mind was hard at work figuring out how to fix the situation.
"So about that email list..."
AN : Expect another chapter in a minute ;)