Remember: Alex and Aro (boyxboy)

Chapter 46

"It looks quiet enough. No bodies. No screaming people." My voice is low, as we stand opposite the palazzo, tucked into an alley between the patisserie and the water fountain. Aro presses into my side, stroking my arm almost therapeutically though also because the alley is so small, it's difficult for us to have individual space while in incognito mode. Caius snorts.

"No screaming people?" He turns to smirk at me. "Oh, well, if there's no screaming people, Alex we must be fine!" Caius strides out, across the street, dodging the fountain with a swerve of his hips and heading towards the palazzo's main doors. Aro tuts. "Come on, Caius. It's true, there doesn't seem to be any danger." I huff, stomping across the street to join him as he stands before the main doors, staring curiously, his arms folded like he couldn't care less although I know different. Caius's additional snort is derisive. "You have an excellent talent of stating the obvious." Aro catches up with us like a lost child, and slips his hand into mine. "I do hope Marcus is alright. He doesn't do well with conflict." He murmurs softly.

Another snort from Caius. "He sounds like a fucking pig. Snorting like that." For once, I agree with Richard; Caius's "IDGAF" attitude is starting to frustrate me. He cares for Marcus as much as Aro does, not to mention his wife is also in there somewhere. I turn to him. "You not going to charge in there and see what's going on? Or are you going to stand and wait for someone else to open the door for you?" I fold my arms and wait for Caius' response, whose eyes are transfixed on the handle of the main doors but shows no sign of movement.

"He's a lazy bitch." Yes, he fucking is, Richard, though I wouldn't dare say it. Blondie would yeet me into the middle of next week if I said anything too risqué. He finally turns to face me. "I've grown accustomed to being treated a certain way." He utters cryptically. "So, you're used to people doing everything for you, AKA, opening the door so you can get in?" I scowl. "Your wife is in there, maybe in danger, maybe dead.-" This earns me a first class glare from Caius, white teeth bared and all.

-"and you're just standing there! You come from a time where men whip out their swords and run into buildings to save their women! So go on, do something!" I almost square up to Caius for emphasis, except he's smiling at me already, and it's not an encouraged, wholesome smile either. He glances down at my shorts, at the bulge that continues to grow. I flush. "It looks to me that you've already 'whipped your sword out'." He saunters off towards the main doors without another word, leaving me blushing like an idiot and Aro doing a double check to see if I'm genuinely having a hard-on right now.

"Please don't." I push him away with one firm hand and stalk angrily after Caius, feeling the twitch in my shorts and the amused chuckle of Richard who can just fuck off.

Aro hurries after me. "Alex. Really? An erection? Now of all times?" He sounds more intrigued than annoyed and I sigh. Jesus, these past few days have been a menace.

The dream about Caius and I together after him tasting my blood was disturbing enough, but to wake up in the same bed as him. Well that was just, too much. On top of that, being sleep deprived, concussed from the plane crash and until a few hours ago, missing a fragment of my thigh, I'd say I'd really been through it, these past three days or so.

Aro and I trudge through the open hall, quiet so far. What I wouldn't give for a chaise-longue and a glass of iced tea in my hand right now, sitting in the sun. That's how Greece was supposed to go down, not literally in a pile of ash and debris in a plane crash. God, if I was strong enough to take on whatever asshole set us up like that, he'd have his head resting on a pike in front of this building.

Aro's hands clutches mine and I let him rootle around a little, listening in. "Head on a pike?" He brings his eyebrows together. "That's a little extreme for you, Alex." He looks at me closely. "Are you sure Caius didn't feed you some of his blood too?" I glance at his concerned expression. "Why would you say that?" Please don't say giving me his blood would turn me into a sadistic creep like him. At least I haven't had any of his blood; the most I've had was Aro healing my wound. That wouldn't give me any vampiric qualities, would it?

Sadistic thoughts, primal urges? Improved sex drive?

Aro notices my train of thought. "I think perhaps Caius has fed you some of his blood at some point, while you were unaware." He mopes ahead, down the hallway towards the larger rooms where most of the coven usually congregate. "Would him feeding me blood give me weird thoughts?" I follow, picking up my pace to keep up with him, he walks at a brisker pace now, no doubt wanting to catch Caius and wring his neck and also find Marcus in equal measure.

"Yes it can." He replies curtly. "You'll still have occasional dreams, because he took some of your blood when he cleaned that metal, but if a vampire feeds a human his blood, well, it elevates to a whole other level." He sounds angry, and I rush to grab his hand which swings rapidly as he walks. I catch it and push my arm through his, though he doesn't slow his walking.

We trail up the stairs together. "It's okay, Aro. It's not possible. He couldn't feed me his blood, I'd remember that." My thoughts trail off as I remember the time Caius spent some time in search of Aro, as he left me lying beneath the tarpaulin. When he'd returned, raging after I'd fallen asleep, and said it had been an hour since he'd been gone. I'd been passed out with exhaustion. Maybe. Perhaps he'd done it then.

Aro clutching my arm hears my thought process and nods grimly. "Yes." He agrees.

"But he has no reason to do that. Why would he? I'm of no interest to him."

"No you're not. Caius is impulsive, like a bored schoolboy who does things because they give him pleasure, or he's curious to see how they turn out." He stops to look at me. "He probably did it to punish me for being gone so long, being unavailable and him having to use Demetri to locate and then come after me."

His mouth straightens into a firm line. "The worst is, I can't punish him for doing this, because it's true. I've put him into a dire situation, making him worry about me." He sighs.

He holds my arm tighter. "Be honest, you're feeling sexually attracted to him?" My heart flutters a little, as we reach the first landing, listening for any signs of life, though there isn't anything. I think about how to phrase my next words. "Well." I clear my throat. "It doesn't matter if it's all because of the blood, isn't it?"

His face remains stony. "No. The addition of vampire blood only increases the feelings of sexual desire, which means, you must have been sexually attracted to Caius anyway."

"Woo hoo. This is heating up." Richard giggles.

"Aro, I don't want you to get any ideas-"

"It's alright." He cuts me off. "You may be my mate, but you are a person, free to have ideas and desires. If you wanted to have intercourse with Caius, I don't suppose I could stop you."

This is a stark contrast from the whole 'you are my one true love/all mine.' charade he put me through when we met, though I don't thinking a snide remark will help us right now.

"Okay." I murmur once we reach the second landing where one of the common rooms is located. "Well, I'm not really interested in intercourse right now, Aro. I've just survived a plane crash, and to be honest, I'm fucking exhausted." Aro chuckles. He tilts my chin and smiles. We stop in front of the common room door. "You sound like my Alex. Back to your normal self." He kisses my forehead and I wrap my arms around his waist.

We embrace quietly, the only sound is the gentle ticking of Aro's watch until a loud creak reveals the common room door to open and there unharmed, stands Marcus, clutching a cup and saucer. I gasp unintentionally at finding him safe and well.

We break apart guiltily. "Marcus?" Aro embraces him, Marcus's free arm wraps around him awkwardly as though he wasn't expecting such an outburst. They utter a few quick words in Italian, Aro's hands cupping Marcus's well lined face fondly as they speak. "Aro, please." He brushes away Aro's grabby hands. "Do not fret, all is well, here. Caius was just telling me about the escapades in Greece. Most troubling. We must get to the bottom of this."

Aro pulls away. "Caius told you?" The common room door creaks a little further, widening enough until Caius appears, seemingly content, besides Marcus. So that's where he ran off to.

He stands smiling, clutching an identical cup and saucer. "I found Marcus. Earl Grey, anyone?"