SOMEWHERE ONLY WE KNOW ➻ DEMETRI VOLTURI

Q U A T T O R D I C I

Thirteen years had passed since that night. For ten years she had served the Volturi, erasing a lot of people's minds, only to fill them with things she'd made up. She had learned to fight, both with her gift and physically, and killed just as many vampires as she had managed to turn crazy. The grip of the rulers had increased over the last decade, all the other covens following the rules quietly and obediently. It was all thanks to her.

She moved through the castle calmly, her cloak moving behind her. It was only a shade lighter than Aro's, and many tints darker than the one the witch twins wore. Moving up to the highest-ranking guard had many profits, but brought along certain responsibilities as well. It meant that she had to attend all the meetings with high nobility, standing there like a lapdog she had Alec made out to be.

Cecilia wasn't a lapdog, though, not really. She was simply waiting out her time. Patience was key. If she was fortunate, she would have multiple lifetimes to spend with her soulmate and so she had to wait for the perfect opportunity to flee. Three necklaces hung around her neck, all of them reminding her what she was working for. It was the ruby pendant she had gotten from Demetri as a late birthday gift all those years ago, the Volturi's crest, and a small version of the key to Angelokastero.

She was on her way to the throne room, wondering what task the Masters had for her and Demetri. She met the said soulmate halfway, instantly rushing to his side with a soft smile on her face. After a decade she still felt like she was falling more and more in love every day, from the way his eyes shone with excitement to the way the left corner of his mouth curled up in a smile. All of it made a rush of happiness move through her body every time she laid eyes on him.

"Cara mia," Demetri greeted her with an amused smile. He pressed a soft kiss on her cheek, intertwining their hands. "Do you already know what Aro's going to ask from us?"

She shook her head. Sometimes Aro would inform her of the tasks before the other members of the Guard, even if she wasn't involved. It always led to a lot of annoyed glances and mental daggers stuck in her back from the evil twins. Ever since she moved up the ladder, the two of them had been pushed to the side. Demetri found it thoroughly amusing, considering the exact same thing had happened to Felix and him centuries ago.

They made their way to the throne room quickly, matching cautious expressions on their faces.

"My young friends," Aro said as soon as they walked inside. He clapped in his hands, smiling excitedly. Cecilia resisted the urge to tell him that Demetri was over a thousand years old, realising that in comparison to the oldest vampire, everybody seemed young. "Once more I have a diplomatic and sensitive mission for you. I only trust the two of you to succeed."

It reminded Cecilia of all those years ago. She'd been standing here as well, being told that they had to go to Greece to visit the Markis' coven. Now, that ancient name had been wiped from history. She wondered if they were about to end another coven.

"I'm sending you to Russia, Moscow, to be exact," Aro said. "I want the two of you to dig up information about a woman who is better known as the red princess. Concerning rumours have reached me, telling me that her ambitions have grown from being a princess to a queen. I want the two of you to figure out who she is and what she's really up to, without showing your faces."

Cecilia nodded, her movements in synch with Demetri. She felt a tug in her mind, like a memory trying to resurface, but she pushed the feelings away. In the last ten years, her mind had grown with so many taken memories that it was sometimes hard to discern her own from the different ones. Though she hid the feeling very well, both from Demetri and the Volturi, she was sometimes afraid that she was losing her own mind. From the very start, she'd been keeping a diary, writing her own experiences in it and once Aro started using her gift, she'd bought a USB and started typing out all the memories she'd taken, the lies she'd fed and to which people. She always hid it in the lining of her ballgown and the only other person knowing the location of that USB was Demetri.