Born in Flames / / C. Volturi

{13 Evolution}

Caius Volturi

Watching Adela and the twins adapt to their new vampiric life filled Caius with an entirely new sense of pride. Caius had felt the pride of winning wars and the pride that came with academic pursuits and with the gain of knowledge and power. He had always been pushing himself to be the best that he could be because he knows that he had been born for greatness. He has pride in himself and while others would argue that Caius has too much pride in himself, for the first time in his life, Caius was feeling pride for someone else.

Too many it would be morbid or ungodly taboo and sinful to enjoy watching your life partner drain the blood from their ex-husband, even to other vampires, but Caius couldn't help but revel in the image.

Adela had evolved in such a small amount of time, turning quickly from messy blood-soaked chins and hands to elegant and efficient kills with sleek brutality. It was almost like watching a dance in Caius' eyes, the graceful, panther-like movements were enchanting as her black clocked form moved through the trees. He took sick delight in watching the light drain from John's eyes as he grasped helplessly at the feminine hands digging into his throat. The twins had the delight in draining both Francis and their biological mother respectively, although Jane clearly took more delight in doing so than her brother. It seemed to be that she was more prone to echoing Caius' sadism while Alec took more to Adela's silent resentment.

He could feel the power resonating through her veins even if it hadn't quite come to fruition yet, but he knew that it would in time. There was no reason to rush now that they had eternity. But there was a certain aura to the trio that Caius had a hard time explaining. While Adela felt protective, down to her very bone marrow, Jane and Alec held a slightly darker ambiance, like the bitterness was brewing beneath the surface of their skin. It was only a matter of time before one of them caved and showed their gifts.

But until then Caius was free to let them explore their new transformation without the pressure of duty or position in the coven, their skill and usefulness would soon come to prove itself, he just knew it.

Aro Volturi

What few belongings needed to be brought had already been packed as it was now time to begin the journey back to Italia, finally. It had been tense between Caius and Aro ever since the trio had been turned and it had been clear to the inky-haired vampire that we were severely outnumbered. Both his brother and Adela had been fiercely protective of the twins, Adela more so after their shared agony and despite no one making any attempt to explore what powers they may have, Aro had a feeling that it would come to a less than peaceful discovery if he overstepped his boundaries.

Aro had not expected the situation to end up like this either, although he had not attempted to use his gift on the twins due to their mother, what brief contact he had made with the red-haired woman had caused him troubles. Making a polite and official introduction to her he had offered a courteous handshake and received nothing from it. Not one single thought or memory and if the vampiress had some form of shielding gift then Aro would be at a disadvantage.

Aro would never admit it out loud but he craved control, longed for it, so far that he planned for complete domination of the undead world as a governing body. Yet a singular woman might pose a slight dent in the plan. She hadn't reached her full potential, this much was obvious. If her gift developed to be even stronger than Adela would always be one step ahead of her and he had yet to determine the woman's mental constitution. He knew that in this very moment he did not have her loyalty, nor the twins for they had only awoken but four days ago.

He needed to ensure it somehow, Aro plotted to himself, but he couldn't make himself known in his endeavors. Caius was going to make sure that she would not be fooled by simple trickery or allow for her intelligence to be undermined, he knew his venom brother too well. He may be a fellow monarch of the Volturi but now that he had gone from a singular vampire to a family of four, Aro knew he would be outnumbered, and Marcus would simply follow Didyme to the ends of the earth. Aro knew his sister would never betray him by choice but he needed his rule cemented in stone.

He needed a plan first and foremost of he wanted everything to run smoothly, but he had time for that. He didn't know how much time he had but he had something to work with. Looking on at the family he could sense the power just at the tips of his fingers, they were just within his grasp if only he could secure it for himself.

But alas Aro needed time but he would soon have everything he needed, or at least he hoped he would.

Thank you for reading, and thank you for having patience with me. I apologize for the longish wait on this part, but hopefully, I will get into a better writing routine for the rest of this book. Your support of this book has meant a lot to me~