the trickster // caius volturi

✵EIGHT✵

~~~Volturi Palace, Volterra, Italy~~~

~~2005~~

~One Week Later~

Caius had begun to get worried.

It was that time of the month when the vampires of the Volturi would collectively feed in the Throne Room together. But no humans would come close to the clock tower because of the freezing-cold temperatures.

And, his powerful mate had not emerged from her quarters in a week. Not once. Demitri had been sent again to lure her out, but the door was frozen shut, and when he attempted to open it, a red sore of sorts appeared on his hand for a few moments.

Caius knew that his mate was an ancient being, and he knew that she was far from her home. But he felt her absence and it pained him. So, instead of having Demitri fetch her, he went himself.

He was ashamed to have worn his cloak to weather the extreme cold.

"My Lady?" He asked as he knocked on the door. When Demetri had done the same, he had been frostbitten. For some reason, the ice did not touch Caius, and he did not feel the cold. He placed his coat on an end table by the door.

He reached for the doorknob hesitantly, then opened the door in a burst of confidence.

What he saw inside stole his breath.

Ice. So much ice.

"My Lady?" He beckoned. Finally, he saw her, frozen solid in a block of ice. She was lying on the floor in a coffin of ice. But her eyes were open, and they glowed.

If he weren't so terrified for her, he would've been starstruck by her magnificence.

He reached out to touch the coffin of ice, but he heard a roar that shattered several icicles dangling from the ceiling.

He turned slowly and saw Fenrir. The loyal polar bear would not let someone touch his Mistress while she was occupied in the ancient rite.

Caius didn't quite know what to do. He knew that the fearsome animal had more strength than a Child of the Moon and even the shifters in Washington. Perhaps both combined.

But he needed to know that she was okay.

"Is My Lady well?" Fenrir stood at his full height, which was about a good ten feet. He towered over Caius and simply looked down at him as he let out a rumbling roar that shook the room.

"I respect your companionship with her, but I must know, animal," Caius warned. Fenrir growled. They were so caught up in the standoff that they didn't realize that the temperature was rising back to its original degree, and the ice coffin was melting.

Only the wolves, Ulf, Freki, and Skol noticed and yelped in happiness when their Mistress stood in all of her glory.

She was reborn once more.

"Niður, vinur. Ég mun höndla þann föla. Sofðu." The animal got down on four paws and curled up in the snow. His slumber became apparent when slow snores rumbled from the animal.

"Ég hef hvílt mig. Nú þið þrjú. Við heimsækjum bráðum heim." Skol, Freki, and Ulf curled up to Fenrir, who nearly took Ulf's head off when he got too close.

Caius felt her behind him. He didn't feel her power or her presence, but he felt the string that connected them and frayed every moment they were apart. Instead of him turning around, she walked to him. 

Her stiletto-heeled boots clicked on the ice as she circled him and stood in front of him.

"You look beautiful." She looked taken aback by the compliment. She didn't receive many. The only people she interacted with were the ones she would eat. And normally they didn't compliment her while she tore their throat out.

"Thank you." She noticed how comfortable he looked. While she was asleep, she felt the ice burn Demitri, but she only felt Caius in her habitat when Fenrir shook the room, and her crystals fell.

He simply wore a black dress shirt and dress pants. His hair was in a low ponytail, and he wore loafers. His hands were in his pockets, and his stance was casual. Even his casual looked stuck-up.

"Why are you not scared?" 

"How could I be scared of something so incredible?" 

It was true, what he said. It came from his dead heart.

She looked different. Her pale skin glowed as she stood beneath the glimmering and glittering ice. Her typical black outfit was now an ensemble of the old and the new.

She wore a white corset with black flowers on it and a dark black shirt with long sleeves. She had a gold metal band around her head that had flowers carved into the metal.

"My mother used to wear one of these. A very, very, very long time ago. A fillet, I believe it was called. It held some kind of scarf on her head. Such things were customary." Caius nodded. She took it off and handed it to him.

He took it but wondered why she was telling him this. Not that he cared much. he could listen to her talk about the dullest things all day and still be interested.

"Today is the day of feeding, My Lady. We have gathered humans in the Throne Room." Loki shook her head. "I feed elsewhere. Speaking of, I need to return to my home for a few hours."

Caius could already feel the pains of her absence.

Loki didn't want to leave, but she hadn't fed in front of others since the first time. She didn't want them to see her when she was most vulnerable.

Somehow, Caius could sense this. She wasn't skittish, but he could tell that she wouldn't feed in front of the whole of the Volturi.

"No one will see you, I promise." She froze. How did he know, She thought. No one had known that.

"Th-Thank you, Caius." He looked surprised, and she didn't understand why. Then it hit her. She never addresses him by his given name.

Caius decided to leap. He held his arm out. "Shall we, Il mio burlone?" Loki let herself smile as she took his arm. Caius held her close to him as he reveled in her presence. He assumed that these feelings were one-sided.

If only.

Loki could feel her whole body going haywire. Now that she has found this incredible ecstasy—being near him— she never wanted it to stop.

They started walking, the snow crunching beneath their footsteps, and her heels clicking on the ground.

"You're an artist. Is that correct?" Caius nodded. "I prefer painting, but I embrace all styles. Does artistry interest you?" She hesitated, then nodded.

"I've never been very good at it. I sculpt with ice. In my palace, it's cold enough that my sculptures will never melt." Caius smiled and looked at Loki, who looked at him and smiled back at him. Granted, it was a small smile, but a smile nonetheless.

They never did realize how many times they got lost walking through the castle.