Midnight Solstice

Chapter 24

Photo: Alec and Jane
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   After Jane said a couple words to Aro, we followed him to his office. The walk was silent between the three of us as we walked through the halls of the castle, which might as well have been a labyrinth. Before I knew it, Aro was opening the door to his study. I gave Jane a nervous look and she gave me a small reassuring smile in return as we entered. He sat down in the leather chair behind the desk and folded his hands in his lap. He looked at us and smiled.
  "Now my dears, what is it that you wish to talk about." Jane glanced over at me as if to tell me that I should be the one to explain our plan to Aro. I sighed in defeat. Katerina was my mate after all.
  "I was wondering if I could take Katerina out of the area for a couple of days. She is overwhelmed by everything and she has no time to process what is going on with our mission, let alone her vampire training as well as her high priestess training."
  Aro pondered that for a moment. He looked between Jane and I as he thought. You could see the gears turning in his head, trying to figure out the possible outcomes of what I wanted. Finally, his shifting gaze stopped on me.
  "Why do you want to take her out of the area, can't she stay here and..."
  "She needs a break from here Aro." Jane said. "Every time that poor girl walks through these halls, she's either going to training or rushing to get Jayden so the two of them can go to Lorne's so she can work after her long day here. And then after all of that work, she has to go through her high priestess training for two hours before coming back here to sleep! She's half fae Aro, even though she is immortal, she still can get tired."
  "That still doesn't explain why she needs to leave..."
  "She needs to leave because this place is literally going to drive her mad because of everything she has to do! You put Katerina at the head of a mission and expect her to train in elemental gifts as well as physical combat! That's enough to drive anyone crazy, and she does more!"
  "It wouldn't kill you to let her and Alec leave for a couple of days just to relax because those two have been through more in these past eight months than anyone else in this castle has! It's not like they are asking to leave so they can go have sex like ridiculously irresponsible humans, they just want a break! And after all they have done for you, you could at least give them that!"
   Aro was shocked at her outburst, as was I. She has never yelled at Aro like that before in all of our time here, at least not to my knowledge. He looked down at his hands before looking at Jane.
  "And how does Katerina feel about all of this?"
  "She's fine with it. It will be good for her to take a break." I answered.
"Are you sure this is the safest thing to do Alec? With her father out there, who knows what will happen if you run into him."
"That's why we would be leaving to a place out of the area." He was silent for a moment.
"I will allow it. But I would check with Alucard, Lorne, and Pauley first. That may put her other training behind and they should know before you two go...where is it you'll be going?"
"Well I didn't think about that part yet...I honestly didn't think we would get this far." He laughed and raised an eyebrow skeptically.
"Alec, I think the whole point of a plan is to have it ready beforehand."
"I know, but I felt like I would ask Katerina where she would want to go, I mean after all, it is her vacation."
"That would be a wise decision. You will leave tomorrow and return in a week. No more than that." He looked between my sister and I once more. "Alec, I believe you have some planning to attend to, and Jane, I need to speak with you for a moment if you don't mind." I gave her a nervous look. She didn't look in my direction but stiffened a little bit before she spoke.
"Of course, master." She said harshly.
"Thank you, Aro." I told him. He smiled warmly.
"It's not a problem Alec, I do too think she is very stressed right now. A break would do you both some good." I nodded and exited the room.
This time I didn't fall for the smile he gave me when putting on his concerned father act that he uses with us. Neither did Jane. After all he has done (or what I think he has done) I didn't know what to think of him. My mind is spinning in so many directions that I'm confusing North and South.
To be honest, I was scared to leave Jane alone in there with him. After she told me what he did with her, my trust in him lessened; it also lessened when I found out what he did to Didyme. I'm not sure if I even knew this man anymore. He definitely wasn't the man I had always thought him to be.
I began wandering the hall, trying to find where Katerina may be. As I wandered, I came upon a familiar scent...Caleb's. Maybe he knows where Katerina is. And if he's alone, it also may be the perfect time for him and I to have a little chat. I followed his scent down the hall until I found him standing by an empty arch in the wall.
"Caleb!" I said as I approached him. He smiled and met me half way.
"Hello Alec...what's up?"
"I was wondering if you knew where Katerina is?"
"Uh...I think she may be with Heidi in the elite guard lounge area. I think I saw her on my way over here."
"Thanks." I began to walk forward and he started to walk the other way. I grabbed his arm and pulled him close to me.
"Just a quick thought, if you ever hurt my sister, and I mean ever...I will personally end you myself. Are we understood?" I let go of his arm. He stumbled back a bit and gave me a look of shock before straightening out.
"Yes, but I have no intention of hurting her. She's been hurt enough in her life already." I smiled.
"Then I think we are going to get along fine."
"Well we have for the past eight months...I don't see why we can't now."
"True. But I only said that as a precaution."
"Well if I were in your position, I would have beaten the guy up before giving him the stern talking to, so you are a lot nicer about it than I would be."
  "Good." I began to walk away.
   "And Alec..." I turned around. "You know if you hurt Katerina, you may have at least half the guard, along with the Morgynsteins and VonHeusens after you right?" I smiled at his cocky attitude.
  "I know. But like you with Jane, I have no intention of hurting her."
"I'm sure you don't. Not to mention if you piss her off, you could get your guts squeezed out of you." I laughed at the thought. Katerina wouldn't do that to me. She didn't even mean to do that with the wolves when Michael and his mutts attacked.
  "I'm glad we had this chat." I told him. He began to walk away.
  "Me too." He called over his shoulder. I smiled to myself as I began walking towards the lounge area. I had a good feeling about Caleb. He would be good for Jane; she needs someone like him in her life.
  When I approached the elite guard lounge, I realized that Caleb was right about Katerina. She sat next to Heidi and Felix on one of the couches, while Fred and George were doing something stupid contest with Andi as the judge. When Katerina saw me she stood up with a smile and ran into my arms.
  "Uh...I would hate to ruin the love fest over there..." Felix began. "No, I actually wouldn't. Demetri has requested that he, you, Jane, and I had a meeting to discuss the training of the newborns. Of course you're here while he's doing something, but just so you know."
  "What's he doing?" I questioned.
  "Brynn." The twins said simultaneously. Katerina shot the two a glare with her veiny eyes and looked back up at me sweetly, causing Andi, and the boys to start laughing. Heidi and Felix gave each other an odd glance before joining in with the laughter.
"Ignore them, they are being extra snarky today." Katerina told me, wrapping her slender arms tighter around me. She buried her face in my neck and sighed.
"Uh...gag." Andi said, pretending to vomit in the fire place. Katerina whipped around and walked over to her, taking the warmth of her body with her and leaving me with the cold emptiness that came after.
"Andi, you have to be nice. Caius told you to be on your best behavior." She teased. Andi groaned and smacked her forehead.
"Do you have to remind me? I wasn't doing anything bad anyway, I just told him that his shoe was untied and he got mad because he looked down."
"Well you were kind of being a nuisance before that." Felix said.
"Yeah, between you and the gingerbread twins cracking jokes and fooling around, it can get annoying." Heidi told her. Andi raised an eyebrow.
"Gingerbread twins?" Fred asked.
"I think that's the best name for us I've heard in a while." George told him. They smiled and laughed.
"Run, run, run, as fast as you can, you can't catch us, WE'RE THE GINGERBREAD TWINS!" They sang together, screaming the last part at the top of their lungs. I couldn't help but laugh; their humor was quite amusing at times.
"Wow guys...You may want to say that again, I don't think the whole castle heard you." Felix told them sarcastically. They looked at each other and shrugged. Fred and George then jumped up on two chairs and cupped their hands around their mouths.
"RUN, RUN, RUN, AS FAST AS YOU CAN, YOU CAN'T CATCH US, WE'RE THE GINGERBREAD TWINS!"
"Ever heard of sarcasm?" Heidi asked them jokingly.
"Ever heard of the Gingerbread Twins?" George responded. She rolled her eyes.
"I've heard that they'll kill you slowly until you rip your own eyeballs out." Andi said. Katerina rubbed her eyes and shook her head.
"Ew, ew, ew, ew, ew, EW!" She said as she ran back into my waiting arms. Katerina didn't have a very strong stomach for such things like that. It made her feel quite ill sometimes.
"Don't worry love, you'll be getting a break from them soon." I told her, stroking her hair. She looked up at me and smiled.
"Aro is letting us go?!" She exclaimed. I nodded.
"Go where?" Heidi asked.
"Katerina and I are taking a little break for the next week. I figured that all of the stress she's dealing with is getting to her, so a break would be nice."
"Aw lucky!" Fred shouted.
"Yeah, and meanwhile we will be stuck here, doing all of your dirty work for you. Or it may be you two doing the dirty work, but you get what I mean." George added with a wink. Katerina sighed as I groaned from the intentional sexual joke.
"There won't be much to do while we are gone unless something major happens, but I doubt that it will."
"Don't worry about us Kat, we will be fine here without you!" Andi assured her.
"Yeah, and besides, with all that work you're doing, that's the least Aro could do for you." Felix said.
"Yeah, but I don't want Grandpa Al to be pissed because I missed training."
"Grandpa Al? As in King Alucard? He lets you call him that?" Heidi questioned.
"Yes, he does." A familiar voice said. I looked to the source of the sound to find Alucard himself standing behind the couch where Felix and Heidi were sitting. "And he wouldn't be "pissed" because you missed training. That is a reasonable excuse for missing it." He told Katerina. I watched her face as her cheeks turned a vibrant shade of red.
"Well, I didn't know how you were going to take it..." She left my arms once again. She walked over to him and embraced him in a hug. He gladly returned the gesture.
"It feels like I haven't seen you in forever."
"I know, but don't worry gramps, it's only been about two weeks." He sighed.
"Yes, that's true I suppose." Well, she has sure seen him more than I did. I haven't seen him since...well a long while. I've seen him for a brief moment now and then when Katerina is training with Pauley and Lorne. I think he is the only other person other than those three who knows what actually goes on during her training. I don't know too much other than it's her high priestess stuff.
  "But I am actually here for your boyfriend." He shot me a friendly smile. "He and I need to have a little chat."
  "That's fine." I walked over to where he and Katerina were. "Lets go then, shall we?" Katerina pecked my lips quickly.
  "I'll see you later?" She questioned. I nodded.
  "Of course you will, we do have travel plans to discuss." She smiled and squeezed my hand before joining the others. The King of the Fae and I began making our way down the hall.
  "What is it that you need to talk to me about?" I asked him. He smirked.
  "Something Aro doesn't plan on telling you."
  "And that is..."
"I can't tell you until we are outside of the castle. Don't fret though, it's overcast right now so you shouldn't begin sparkling like a disco ball the moment you step outside. The gardens should be a nice place to talk." Alright then, I guess we are going to the gardens. And it's and overcast day...lucky me.
  My mind pondered what Alucard was about to tell me. It could be anything really. I believe it has to do with Katerina. Whenever we talk, it's normally about her. When we got to the gardens, we moved quickly past all of the beautiful flowers that formed in patterns and shapes throughout the area. I almost forgot to make a note of it because we were moving so fast. Alucard got to the outer edge of the garden and sat down on a large stone bench. He gestured for me to do the same. When I sat down he sighed. A couple minutes of silence grew deafening before his voice broke through the quiet.
"This is going to be a very difficult situation for you, I have no doubt about that. I almost regret having to tell you this, but you deserve to know your options before things start to get out of hand."
"My options? About what?" He ran a hand through his hair.
"Look Alec...I talked to Pauley this morning, he told me that you were going to have a fearful feeling running through you. And my guess is that nothing scares you, other than loosing my granddaughter, which lead me to believe you have realized the truth about what will happen when she finishes her vampire training." I gave him a confused look for a moment before realizing what he meant.
"I'm not letting her leave me, so if you think you can just take her away then..."
"I wouldn't do that to you, or her. Separating mates is the worst thing you could possibly do, especially when those mates have a bond as powerful as yours and Katerina's." He paused for a second. "There is a way you can come with her when she has to return with me to the Fae district." I was intrigued by this.
"I'll do anything to stay with her." He smiled.
"Well, that is why your decision will be very difficult."
  "And what is it that I have to decide about?"
  "It is possible that you could be Katerina's consort...of course the high priestess has never had a vampire consort before, but there is a first time for everything."
  "I'll do it." I told him quickly. This was my one way ticket to be with Katerina forever. I wasn't going to pass that up.
  "Alec, there is more to it than what you think. You'll have to pledge yourself to her, and only her. You'll have to be whatever she needs, regardless of how you feel about it. You'll have to give up everything you've ever known here if you leave with us. This isn't something to be taken lightly. You need to think about your family, and also about yourself, and what you want. Because once you pledge yourself to her, there is no turning back."
  "Will I get to see Jane?" I asked him.
   "Of course you will. Just not as often as you would if you stayed here." We were both silent for a moment. "You don't have to rush into an answer Alec, I just wanted to tell you your options. Aro wasn't going to tell you about this, so I thought that I would."
  "Why wouldn't he tell me? I know he isn't going to let me leave anyway, but he would at least tell me about something that important."
  "But that's where you are wrong. Aro wasn't going to tell you. In fact, he even forbade Lorne from telling you."
"Why?" I asked out of confusion. Aro always tells me the important details like that. He gave me a small smile as he tried to form the words.
"He doesn't want you to leave here."
"I know. But why? If I wanted to leave, I could but he would just send Demetri to track me down. So why does he want me so badly?"
"Maybe it's because you are like a son to him, or maybe it's because you are a great asset to the guard; but whatever the reason the choice is yours not his. And once you make that choice that will be the end of it."
"It's my choice..."
"Yes Alec, Aro has nothing to do with your decision."
I thought about this choice for a moment. Do I want to pledge myself to Katerina? Yes, of course I do. I highly doubt that the fae can protect her as well as I can anyway. But choosing her would force me to leave my life here. I would still be able to see Jane, and everyone else too every now and then, but I haven't been separated from Jane that long either. But it's been over a thousand years hasn't it? Can't I just move on from this life now. That is a lot of years of service and I'm sure Alucard would let me come back to help Aro with the larger and harder tasks.
"I...I...I need to think about it for a while."
"That's quite alright Alec. You can let me know when you decide, and then we will move from there." He stood up from the bench and smiled. "It has been a pleasure talking with you." The King began to walk away from me and back towards the castle. I watched him with a puzzled look as he left, unable to look anywhere else.
That was a short, yet still hefty conversation. Not to mention overly stressful. I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. It's almost as if every time I talk to that man, I get some heavy weight of decisions put upon my shoulders until it feels as though I am going to get squished into the ground. Huh, that's kind of what Katerina can do with her earth ability...it must be an earth fae thing.
  I sat for a few more moments before making my way back into the castle. I went back to the lounge area and found that no one was there. So I followed Katerina's scent all the way back to her room. I heard her softly singing to herself from behind her door. I gave three quick knocks before entering. The way she smiled at me sent a wave of comfort through my mind, relieving me of my anguished thoughts.
  "That was fast...especially for Grandpa Al..."
  "It was a very short conversation." I responded quickly.
  "What did you talk about?" I was silent for a moment. What was I supposed to tell her?
"Oh we weren't talking about much, just how I have the opportunity to be your consort but I haven't the slightest idea about how I can leave everything behind here!"
"Alright then, don't tell me. But I need to pack so tell me where we are headed!" She exclaimed excitedly. I chuckled at her enthusiasm.
"Where would you like to go?"
"I don't know, somewhere that doesn't cost an arm and a leg."
"Why does the price matter?"
"Because I don't want to spend..."
"Who said you were spending anything?"
"Well...I just figured..."
"Well you figured wrong pet. But if you want to save money, I know a place where all we would need to buy for you is food for the week."
"I'm sold. Where is this magical place?"
"It's in Rio." She squealed.
"Alec! I've always wanted to go to Rio!"
"Well, there you go. Rio it is then."
"But where will we be staying?" I laughed. I couldn't help but laugh. This story is quite an amusing one.
"Well...I may be the proud owner of a very secluded private island which just so happens to be in Rio." The smile on her face faded into a look of shock.
"No way." She placed her hands on her hips and gave me a disapproving look.
"I'm serious."
"Alec, you can't just joke with me like that! Where are we staying?"
"Katerina, I am being serious. It's just a really long story as to how I got the island."
"Well you better start explaining because if we have to kill someone for their house like you and Jane did when you two went on the Japan mission then I will turn us both right around and we will come back." I groaned in frustration.
"Okay, I haven't got a clue as to how you know about that, but we did that one time! Everyone just needs to let that go!" She laughed.
"Wow, I didn't think that was actually true but thanks for the confirmation."
"Who told you?" I asked her. She shrugged.
"A little birdy." Probably Felix and Demetri. For some reason they find that telling Katerina little things that I have done (most of those things are probably frowned down upon) is amusing.
"Anyway, disregard that. Do you want to know how I got my island or not?" She nodded and removed her hands from her hips.
"Well, it all started with an online auction that Felix showed me with the computer. I saw this island on it and took a look at some of the pictures and I really liked it, so I decided to buy it. Only except it took me a while to realize that every time I clicked the little button, I was actually raising the price of the island, not purchasing it. And then this one asshole decided to add a price a whole ten thousand more than me and..." Katerina was laughing hysterically.
"I'm sorry...this one asshole..." She mimicked.
"Why is that funny?" She laughed even harder. I felt the corners of my lips curving upward.
"It's just the way you said it. You said it like this guy was a disease and you were so disgusted by it. And the look on your face was priceless..." She erupted into a fit of giggling, causing me to laugh as well.
"Okay...continue..."
"Anyway, I had to keep raising my price every time this person raised his price and this went on for a total of four days. At the end of it, I hoped the island looked exactly what it looked like in the pictures because I sold my soul to the devil for this island. Well, maybe not my soul, that's long gone..." Katerina rolled her eyes and scoffed as if this offended her.
  "Your soul is still there Alec, you just need to recognize it."
  "How do you know?"
  "Well, Lorne wouldn't be able to see your aura without your soul I don't think. Your aura confuses him. But that's another story, continue yours." She said almost too quickly. I raised an eyebrow at her, but she shook her head as if tell me not to ask anymore. I took a moment to collect my thoughts before continuing.
   "Anyway, I didn't move from the desk in my chambers for all of that time. As you can probably imagine, this made Caius very angry. He came in my room and screamed at least once a day for me to get back to work." I laughed at the memory.
  "What happened?"
   "He told me a bunch of things...I think my favorite one was when he teamed up with Jane and told me that Aro was going to order my execution if I didn't stand up. So, me being the awful person that I am, stood up out of my chair for a moment and then sat back down. He started sputtering out the weirdest things before going to get Aro.
  "Jane then began yelling at me and saying that I was "losing my focus on the job" but I told Aro what I was doing before hand so he was aware of the situation and he just sent Caius out of the castle for a while with his wife in the gardens to calm down."
  "They let the wives out of the tower? I thought they just stayed there?"
  "They do normally. Aro is usually kind enough to let them out every now and then. He doesn't want them to lose contact with the outside world. They also will come down to feed with us sometimes. The wives stay in the tower just as a precaution in case something were to happen."
  "Why do they have to stay there?" I groaned quietly. I did not want her to ask me this question.
  "It's because Marcus's wife Didyme was killed and they don't want anything to hurt their wives too."
  "Yeah but how did she die? Marcus told me that she was dead, but I didn't get the specifics."
  "That's because there isn't any specifics. No one knows how she died." Lies, lies, lies, and more lies. I know how she died. I know that deep down, Aro killed her to keep Marcus in the Volturi.
  Shut up Aleczander! Do you really think you can keep this from her?! She helps you lead the Morgynstein case, remember? She has a right to all of those files on the flash drive just as much as you do!
   Katerina doesn't deserve this...she deserves to be someplace far away from here where she can heal from her past experiences. If she figures out what I know, it could get her killed. If Aro figures out that I know, who knows what he'll do now.
  "Alec..."
  "I have a couple of theories, but they aren't important. And I'm already telling you a story right now." I said quickly, nearly struggling to form a response to cover my chaotic thoughts. She sighed in defeat.
   "Why didn't you tell Caius and Jane that Aro knew about the island?"
   "Because it's fun to fool them. Aro didn't tell anyone that he knew about my little auction either. I think it was entertaining for us both to see Caius fluster. It was a shocking amount of work though."
  "Yeah?"
  "Of course it was. I had to deal with Caius standing over my shoulder for four days. That's enough work for anyone." She giggled.
  "Well, that hard work of sitting on your butt all day paid off, because we are going to Rio!" She spun around in a circle and fell back onto the bed laughing.
It was amazing how the smallest gestures always make the biggest impacts. A simple gesture of excitement could make a man's heart soar with delight about how happy his mate was. I stood and watched her with the biggest smile on my face. I must have been standing for a while because in a moment, Katerina's face appeared in front of mine.
"Earth to Alec...are you alright? You haven't moved in a few minutes."
"Yeah, I just like seeing you happy."
"Are you happy?" She asked me, wrapping her arms around me and resting her head on my chest.
"Of course I am. These past few months have been the best months of my entire existence." I pulled her closer to me.
"But they also have been overly stressful and scary for all of us."
"True, but that is why we are leaving tomorrow. We have a whole week to ourselves and we can come back feeling all refreshed before the world starts spinning in the opposite direction again."
"Alec the world would spin in only one direction, if it didn't there would be chaos...oh, you were being sarcastic." I chuckled.
Katerina moved from my arms and started packing her suitcase, asking me about what we are going to do in Rio. I answered simple things that she found fascinating; causing me to laugh at her cute remarks. I didn't know what I did to deserve a mate as wonderful as her, but whatever I did...I'm glad it paid off.