There mysterious girl

Chapter 3

"How can you be certain Caius is the right one to send, Aro?" Marcus asked for the second time. The first answer hadn't satisfied him. He was nervous, and rightly so, that Caius's legendary temper would ruin their chances with Isabella.

She would not take kindly to him tearing the heads off the Olympic Coven's shoulders, which was a distinct possibility. It should have been himself, Aro thought, but the former possibility had yielded the best results.

"It was shown to me," Aro said softly, remembering the vision that young Alice had revealed to him in the throne room. "It must be Caius. They will bond in this way and she will come willingly."

"You trust the female," Marcus observed, clearly understanding exactly how Aro came by this knowledge. "I do hope she is worthy of your faith, brother."

Aro did not trust anyone, not completely, but he trusted his gift- it had never failed him. Not until he met his mate, of course. But that only illuminated her exceptionalism, it did not detract from his own power. He both mourned this lost opportunity and reveled in the advantages such a gift could bring to their coven if she learned how to control it- project it. Not that he would think her less worthy if her talent never blossomed from the perfect bud it presented as now. Fate could not allow him access to his mate's mind, he realized, although to know her thoughts would be a privilege indeed.

Alice's thoughts, however, had opened to him like the cloven wings of a rare butterfly. The possible futures, her own and her family's, diverted like rivulets of water in a summer storm. Aro's own future, the potential futures and the ones which were more certain, spanned out before him. The only future he was interested in, however, was the ace she played, saving her life as well as Edward's.

Aro replayed what he had seen in her mind on an endless loop, his entire being vibrating at the opportunity that was finally within his grasp. He was a patient man when the need arose, but three thousand years was a long time by anyone's standards. An eternity spent waiting for one woman.

Alice had seen a fourth throne and Isabella's hand clasped in his own as they held court. He saw Caius arrive in Forks, tearing an injured Isabella away from an irate Edward. She showed him her friend's gratitude and relief that her feelings for the three vampires were not, as it happened, an indication that she was insane.

The seer's visions of Isabella, beautiful and immortal, were the brightest, the clearest. Their mate was born to be a vampire. Alice had seen it happen a dozen different times and in varying ways, but it always ended the same. In one or two visions which were not as clear, he had seen Edward lose control as he attempted to change her, resulting in her death. For obvious reasons, this could not be allowed to happen.

There were other images as well, ones Alice tried and failed not to see. He saw them in a passion. The library, the throne room, the bath. Nowhere in the castle was off limits. She would be with one of them or another in various places and positions. Indeed, Aro had read enough thoughts in his day to know that the pull of a true mate was as inescapable as gravity. They would not be able to get enough of one another. It was fortunate, perhaps, that their lovely mate was not long for this mortal coil. Such a thing would exhaust a human woman.

"Master Caius has landed," Santiago announced.

Jane had undoubtedly contacted him as soon as the landing gear had gone down. Aro had sent her on this mission with implicit instructions to keep him updated, and she was nothing if not loyally obedient to Aro.

"Keep us apprised of any other updates," Aro instructed. "And see to the construction in the Mistress's chambers."

Santiago bowed and swept from the room.