the trickster // caius volturi

✵TWENTY-ONE✵

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

~~2005~~

The roles have been reversed. Loki has been seeking Caius out, but he has been strategically avoiding her. Like a child. A king of vampires is avoiding a girl because he's embarrassed.

Loki knew that he wasn't embarrassed--it was more intense than that--but still. Communication is important, and she wanted to talk to him.

If only she could find him.

There was an influx of rule breakers and such things, so the kings were presiding over trials every day. When they weren't, Caius was hiding from her, with the help of Marcus and Aro.

He hadn't told them why he was avoiding the goddess, but the Kings, who both had met their mates already, could tell that he had done something. The problem was that they didn't know if he did something wrong or if he did something right.

Loki had gone to their study, where she was sure he would be, and knocked on the door.

Marcus answered, physically opening the door. 

"Ciao, Marcus," she greeted, using the Italian word for hello, that Imani had started using. Her lessons with the forlorn king had started paying off. She now used Italian words for everyday objects.

"Piccolo Imbroglione. How can I help you?" He was standing directly in the two-foot-wide space where the door was opened. Loki narrowed her eyes and took a step forward.

Of course, since he was much taller than her, she couldn't look over him, or on either side.

"I need to speak to Caius. Is he in there?" She knew he was because she could feel the bond. She hadn't seen him in two weeks, and she needed to speak to him.

Even more, she needed to see him. The pesky soulmate bond was making her weaker. Not too much, but every day, she grew more depressed. Now that she had met him, and their bond had gotten stronger, she needed to be near him, or at least see him.

Marcus—saw this. He could see the toll it was taking on the goddess. She had stopped paying attention to how she appeared.

He wasn't an idiot, and he knew that even if a woman didn't look as "perfect" as normal, then it didn't mean something was wrong, but he could see her sadness in the bond.

Her hair was messy. The raven had faded to coal, and it was cascading down her back. Her pale blue eyes, though a mirage, looked duller. The color was slowly being sucked out. She wore the same grey scarf, jeans, and a strange white dress shirt that was much larger than her size.

As he got closer, he understood why. It was Caius'. His scent was on it.

She was also fidgeting. Jittery. 

They were all the symptoms of what the vampires call 'Soulmate Sickness'. Essentially, the vampire stops paying attention to their surroundings, only needing their soulmate. The older the vampire, the harder it is to fight off the sickness. They also stop feeding.

"Have you fed recently, my dear?" He asked softly. He could see the shaking in her irises, and the way her breath was shaking—especially since she didn't need to breathe.

"You haven't brought humans, Marcus, so no, I haven't. Obviously, because of your rules, I can't go and feed within Volterra, and I can't just leave. Maybe if you brought me humans—" She stopped herself.

Yes, Marcus recognized everything. The irritation was part of it as well. Imani mentioned it during their lessons. Jane as well.

He had gone through the sickness for decades when Didyme died.