The Volturi

The Right Choice

"I thought you dumped her," Renata said.

Felix stopped fiddling with his cufflink. "Who?"

"Her," Renata nodded to the last room on the hall.

Felix turned to where Renata stared. Emerging from her room, wearing a scarlet ball gown, brown hair in curls, and makeup done, was Cassidy Swan. She turned to the hall to see the small crowd of guards that would follow her like lost puppies daily. Demetri was the first to acknowledge Cassidy as she drew closure to the group.

"Cassidy," Demetri's eyes roamed over her. "You are a vision in red."

Cassidy smiled and smoothed her hands down the skirt of her dress. "Thank you," she blushed as her hands slid into her pockets. "It has pockets."

Heidi gasped, "Lucky! My dress doesn't have pockets..."

Cassidy's moment in the sun was short-lived as Felix spoke up. "You don't have a date," he stated, "Remember I dumped you to go with Renata."

To stress his point, Felix pulled Renata closer to his side. The Spaniard smiled and tucked herself into him, her eyes never straying from Cassidy. Cassidy readied an insult only to be stopped by the sound of a familiar voice and footsteps.

"Cassidy!" Marcus called as he drew closer.

Cassidy smiled as Felix stood agape as his boss came towards Cassidy with a bouquet of white roses in one hand. Marcus had his hair pulled back and secured in place with an elastic tie and his three-piece suit led to winged-tipped loafers.

"Marcus," Cassidy greeted with a simple bow of her head. "I thought I was supposed to meet you in the ballroom."

Marcus gave a sheepish smile. "I thought the correct thing to do was to escort you into the party and introduce you as my date for the evening." Marcus looked down at his right hand and quickly held out the flowers. "These are for you."

Cassidy paid no attention as Heidi and Renata both shot a nasty look at their dates as she took the flowers. "They're beautiful," she gushed, "I'll go put them in some water real quick then we can go."

"I'll be waiting."

Cassidy turned and made her way back into her room leaving the group alone.

Marcus caught Demetri and Heidi's look. "Demetri," the king greeted, "Heidi."

Both bowed. "Master."

Marcus turned to Renata and Felix. "Renata, you look beautiful tonight," Marcus complimented.

Renata bobbed a curtsy. "Thank you sir."

"Felix."

"Master," Felix greeted with a bow.

Cassidy came back and took her place by Marcus's side. "Shall we?" asked she.

Marcus nodded and together they walked off in the direction of the ballroom. Cassidy turned back and waved. "I'll see you guys there!"

 Once out of earshot, Heidi cackled even placing a hand over her stomach as she hunched over laughing.

"Have you gone mad?!" Demetri asked.

Heidi shook her head as she regained her composure, wiping nonexistent tears from her face. "I told Cassidy to find someone better than Felix to take her to the ball after he dumped her like a sack of trash," she explained barely containing another peal of laughter, "I thought she'd go for a higher-ranked guard, maybe even Alec!"

Heidi saw the anger that flashed over Felix's face and laughed. "But Baby Girl went for a KING! I couldn't be more proud!"

Demetri watched in horror as Heidi clapped Felix on the shoulder. "I'm so glad you fumbled a woman like Cassidy!" Heidi took Demetri's arm and steered him towards the party. "And I'm so glad I got to see the look on your face!"

Felix looked down to where Renata held onto him. He thought back to when he dumped Cassidy in the garden a month back. Her look of betrayal as he explained he couldn't be seen with her since she was still human and him being a fearsome Volturi guard.

"You made the right choice," Renata explained as she rubbed Felix's bicep. "People will talk, say we're weak for consorting with a human."

Felix nodded though he felt differently. He hadn't even noticed that Renata had taken him to the ballroom until the doors were opened and he could see Cassidy laughing with some party guest and Marcus's arm wrapped around her waist. Felix didn't even pay attention as Renata handed him a drink. His attention solely on Cassidy as she shook hands with a different coven leader after Marcus had introduced them. 

Did I truly make the right choice? He thought as Cassidy took a sip of her champagne. Did I?