Heartbeat [Alec Volturi]

Lachesis

Daylight peeked out from behind the curtains in Alec's room, my only hint as to the time of day since the vampire decided he was too good for alarm clocks. Or clocks in general. Upon returning from our excursion, we spent a great deal of time into the night debating the relevance of morality in times of war. I won. However, Alec had woken me up at an ungodly hour (not even a hint of light in the entire room, mind you) to inform me there was a meeting with his team and promised to return. I think he did it to brag, proud of their work, and I recall cursing him for waking me. 

He'd left the door cracked, and just as I reached the handle to close it, a screech barrelled into the room. This scream was more than frustration. It escaped past teeth, sharp and violent. It was ireful and vivid, and worry filled me more than fear at the noise; because it sounded a lot like Jane.

I hurriedly slipped between the doors, only to see the twins on opposite sides of the L-shaped couch. My gaze flickered from one twin to the next, trying to fabricate some context to negate the most apparent deduction for their postures – I could not.

The twins were fighting.

The siblings often engaged in petulant back and forths, sly comments, and teasing remarks, but it was done in good humour. It emphasized their adoration for each other. For two tactful but sensitive teenagers, they were remarkably good-natured after a thousand years with their sibling. But this was different. Neither acknowledged me as I cued into the conversation, and I was hit with extraordinary deja vu.

"I only wished to protect you." Alec took a step forward, genuine distress colouring his voice as his arm extended to further convince her. Jane stuck her nose in the air with an indignant scoff.

"That's a dirty tactic, brother." From his expression, it was unlikely he had identified the pattern. She didn't allow him to defend himself, "and it's not good enough."

"What's going on?" I couldn't help but shrink away slightly as both twins turned to me as if finally registering my presence. They stilled, neither taking their eyes off the other, like two predators in the wild, a starved earth and a single carcass between them.

Alec's eyes softened, finding mine, "nothing."

With a petty growl, Jane lost her predatory stance but bared her teeth, "stay out of this, human."

"That is enough, Jane." Alec's voice shifted, firm and deep, no longer matching his sister's passion.

Her pink lips tightened into a sneer. "Fine. Shall we share?" Alec's hand balled into a fist, and the glare he fixed on his sister disturbed me. This was a real fight, and one twin I could handle but both? Against the other? Out of my league. Jane was absolutely delighted to threaten him, "would you like the honours?"

"Enough." She took this as a no and turned, more than willing to fill me in herself.

Before she could, Alec appeared before me, blocking my line of sight. Jane didn't seem to care, "Aro has refrained from assigning me missions without Alec since you both returned." Ignoring her, he tugged gently on my bicep, requesting to turn back around the way I came. I sidestepped him, ignoring his immature attempt at forcing his sister to give up. Plus, I didn't fancy the reaction if I had gone with him.

Jane continued staring down her brother, condemning him, "I have learned that Alec was asked to lead his precious task force in return for the Masters barring me from leaving for any missions."

My expression tightened in a pout as I looked for Alec's eyes, mixed emotions forcing me to check, "Alec, you didn't...."

Alec was already shaking his head as if he could deny the accusation. I shrugged his hand off my arm, and he lashed back at his sister. "It is not as misintended as you portray, dear sister."