In Bloom - Felix Volturi

4. Little Princess

Fear coursed through my body as I stood there, cheek pressed against the bark. I couldn't see who had me pinned to the tree, but they were strong - much stronger than me.

"Get off of me!" I cried, thrashing around in a fruitless attempt to break free of their hold.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't a precious little hybrid," a masculine voice said in my ear. The resentment in their voice was palpable. "I wonder what your blood tastes like."

I was living my worst nightmare; caught by a vampire, facing the same fate as a mewling human.

"Leave me alone!" I pleaded. I hated sounding so weak, but I was desperate. Frightened tears welled up in my eyes and trickled down my cheeks. "Please," I said, my voice breaking as I spoke.

Just then, I heard the sound of two people approaching at an inhumanly fast pace. I felt the man who was pinning me to the tree get pulled off of me as the two newcomers ripped him off of me.

As soon as I was free, I spun around to witness the chaotic scene in front of me.

Two Volturi soldiers, the men who had been standing with Aro back in the clearing with the Cullens - held my attacker by the arms, each man gripping a limb as if they were going to tear the man in half. Their strength was so powerful and their posture was so rigid that the man couldn't fight back. He was just as trapped as I had been.

Rather than feeling relieved, I felt even more shaken. More vampires meant more trouble, and if two Volturi guards were wandering around in the woods, there was sure to be more of them out there.

A moment later, Aro, of all people, came strolling out of the woodwork.

"What an unseemly sight," he said to my attacker, clicking his tongue. "Assaulting this helpless little creature."

The man stared at Aro with an expression of pure fear, like a man coming face to face with his god.

"Lucy here has just as much of a place in our world as any of our kind," Aro continued. "Bringing harm upon one of our most vulnerable isn't of good taste."

"I thought you hated her kind," the man sputtered. "I thought that's why we came all the way out here."

"This exquisite creature isn't what we originally thought," Aro said, spewing an excuse. "She's incredibly rare, and she needs to be protected from harm...from people like you."

"Aro, I'm sorry," the man frantically apologized, "I didn't realize—"

Aro held up his hand, cutting the man off. It was clear his decision was already made.

"Felix. Demetri," Aro said simply.

Without hesitation, the men holding my attacker in place tore his arms off of his body before going in for the rest of his limbs and tossing them in a pile on the ground.

After Felix and Demetri were through dismantling the man, they stepped back, putting space in between themselves and the remains. Aro stepped closer to the pile of limbs before pulling out a small metal lighter and flicking it open. A large stream of fire expelled from the lighter, engulfing the pile in flames.

I stood still, with my back pressed against the tree trunk behind me, as I watched the whole scene play out before me. For once in my life, I was genuinely speechless.

"Are you alright, piccola principessa?" Aro asked, turning toward me as he tucked his lighter away.

"Do I look alright to you?" I blurted out.

Aro let out a sympathetic sigh. "Unfortunately, I had a feeling something like this would happen," he said woefully. "This is why I insisted we turn back. We were well on our way home, but..." he trailed off.

He didn't have to say "I told you so"; I could hear it in his voice.

"I'm so sorry this happened to you," Aro said, looking at me with deep concern in his crimson eyes. "You know...my offer still stands. We have plenty of room for you in Italy."

My usual, natural instinct to be difficult was gone. The thought of being left alone in that forest again was almost too terrifying to contemplate.

"Okay," I agreed readily with a small, anxious nod. "I'll go."

A bright smile spread across Aro's face and he stepped closer to me, approaching me with a considerate amount of caution. Once he was close, he removed his cloak and secured it over my shoulders. He looked at me with a look of deep, somber sincerity.

"You will never have to face fear again, piccola."

The snow under our feet crunched loudly as Aro led me back to the rest of the coven, his bodyguards, Felix and Demetri, flanking me on both sides. Aro remained several paces ahead of us, but walked relatively slowly, as if he were taking his time to enjoy the weather.

I struggled to resist the urge to cast glances at Felix, the man who had so brazenly asked about me back in the clearing when I first encountered them. Each time I relented, I tried my absolute best to be sneaky about it, but my heart always gave me away. It was painfully transparent that he'd caught my eye; my racing heart was a clear indicator of it.

As we walked I pondered this. Why was it about Felix that I was so drawn to? I didn't know a damn thing about him - other than that he was a horrifically powerful member of the Volturi guard. He and I were complete strangers.

So, why did I want him so much?

It wasn't long before Aro, the guards, and I rejoined the rest of their overwhelmingly large coven. There were about thirty vampires present, give or take, all dressed in color coded robes, ranging from light gray to pitch back, based on rank, and they were militantly organized.

The guard moved fluidly out of our way, almost as a singular cohesive unit, as Aro led me toward the center of the group, where his brothers, Caius and Marcus, and their wives, Sulpicia and Athenodora, stood.

As we passed through the group, all I got was subtle, blank looks and averted eyes, except for a pair of twins that stood just to the right of Caius.

The brunette boy looked curious and amused, but the blonde girl looked downright livid. I tried not to look at her; making eye contact with her made my blood run cold.

"Brothers," Aro announced to Marcus and Caius as he came to a stop in front of them, "Look who we found."

Caius gave Aro a sour look, while Marcus appeared to be wholly apathetic.

"What are the odds?" Marcus said dully. I thought I heard a hint of sarcasm in his voice, but his tone was so flat that it was hard to tell.

Caius' expression didn't change.

"She ran into a bit of trouble, so I offered her a position in our coven," Aro explained, as if his brother's hadn't overheard the whole altercation.

"A position in our coven, Aro? Or in our guard?" Caius asked.

Aro laughed emphatically. "She has no business in our guard, brother. She belongs with us."

"Is now really the appropriate time for you and Sulpicia to play house?" Caius snapped.

Aro's bright demeanor didn't waver. "She needs a home, and we have the means to support her."

Caius shot Marcus a sharp look.

"There's no harm in it," Marcus said simply.

Caius gave both of his brothers incredulous looks, but gave up the fight.

"Exactly," Aro said smugly, "There's no harm in it at all."