𝐂𝐑𝐎𝐖𝐍 ; volturi kings

CHAPTER XVII

CHAPTER XVII

The scent of fine leather lingered in the air, the ageing pages like the distilled dust of a springtime rain to come, dimly remembered from childhood.

Jas drew her hand along the sturdy shelf which, despite its obvious age and size, was completely clean. The dull-coloured, cracked spines that glared back at her were in a variety of languages, and she randomly selected what appeared to be a small brown diary. Upon flicking through the yellowed pages, she inspected the almost-illegible scrawl.

Desdemona:
My love doth so approve him,
That even his stubbornness, his checks, his frowns,
Have grace and favour in them.

"I do believe that's the original transcript..."

"Are you serious?" She turned around to face Aro, who had snuck up behind her.

His ruby eyes lit up at her bewildered expression, and he had to fight back a chuckle as she carefully placed the book back where she'd found it, treating it as if it were a glass figurine.

"I'm pretty sure it's Marcus'- he was into all that broody stuff back then."

They walked alongside each other as Jasmine continued browsing.

"But I'm sure he wouldn't mind if you borrowed it," he added.

Her eyes widened dramatically, "oh, no way. I would definitely end up accidentally dropping it, or something..."

The silence that followed after was comfortable, and they took a moment to not-so-discreetly admire each other.

Within the day or so that she had been here, each of Jas' soulmates had been showing her around at random intervals, whilst the others tended to the court.

It was still a concept that was hard for her to accept, that she had a soulmate.

Not just one, but three.

Three men that were all breathtakingly beautiful in their own ways, whilst she was just... her.

"So, I don't mean to pry, but there's something that's been playing on my mind since just a little before I met you..."

Jasmine turned to Aro, a small, intrigued smile on her face.

"I heard that you gave a few of the guards quite a shock..."

"Did you now?" She raised an eyebrow playfully.

"I was just wondering... Marcus and I have abilities too, you know? As well as quite a large majority of the coven."

"It's not really something that I fully understand yet, it's just... I- I guess I can copy other people's abilities, but I have to be in physical contact with the person."

He looked at her thoughtfully for a moment, astonishment discreetly written across his face.

"There was a servant in the coven who used to have a similar gift, and over time she trained herself to be able to take an ability from one vampire and transfer it to another."

"That sounds like too much hard work."

He gave her a small smile, "I'm sure you're more than capable of it."

Feeling mildly awkward at his admiration of her, she turned to him, "what about your gift?" She asked.

"I can read every thought someone's ever had with one touch."

"Huh. That must be awesome... But also, isn't it weird knowing absolutely everything about a person?"

"It occasionally has its downsides... some people can be a tad... disturbing."

"Yeah, I knew a guy who used to be able to read people's thoughts- when I first turned, I panicked and grabbed his arm... And I could finally hear what he truly thought about me."

"Wait a minute-" a suspicion suddenly ran through Jasmine, "have you seen all of my thoughts?"

He chuckled slightly, "despite my wanting to have physical contact with you, I have attempted not to- I didn't want you to feel violated in any way."

And they say chivalry is dead.

"Technically, if you were to do it, I would do the same thing to you... so we would be equally violated, right?"

"You are correct."

"I'm not saying that I want to give you access to every crevice of my mind right now, just- maybe take me out to dinner first, y'know?"

"How do you feel about tourists?" He grinned playfully at her.

She turned away from him with a timid smile and scanned the large bookcase in front of her.

A couple of shelves above her head, she spied a small, black book, practically invisible compared to the looming novels surrounding it.

She leaned up slightly, reaching high with one arm, but her efforts were fruitless.

Jas sighed frustratedly, and then felt her undead heart jump slightly as Aro leaned in, reaching for the same book.

Despite his supernatural lack of body temperature, the air around her suddenly heated up as she was stuck between him and the bookshelf. Upon successfully retrieving a copy of Emma, he looked back down at her, his scarlet eyes filled with an emotion that she couldn't quite place.

Within the small bubble of tension they had created, it would only take one small shift for them to be touching, for their souls to be bared.

The anticipation was dangerous.

Jasmine could feel herself slipping into the waters of it- this unbelievable, fantasy-like moment- and she decided, whilst dreamily gazing at his perfect face, that she would happily drown.

"It's my turn." A large door was suddenly slammed open, snapping the couple out of their daze.

"Are you aware of what knocking is, Caius?" The fake politeness that laced Aro's tone sounded dangerous, and Jas could feel herself shiver a bit.

But not out of fear, no.

Avoiding the rhetorical question, the blonde king looked at his soul brother, "you're needed in court," and then at his soul mate, "and I need to show you something."

"Not like that, you don't," Jasmine shot back, eyeing the large blood stain on his off-white shirt.

It was quite hot, in all honesty.

But also super gross.

"I could just take it off, if that would suit the lady?" He raised an eyebrow mockingly at her.

In the words of Desdemona, she thought to herself, oh, these men!