Deep within the dense forest, Alec moved like a black phantom, gliding soundlessly through the trees.
He swept past a shattered tree stump, its thick trunk lying off to one side. The fractured surface was rough and fresh, while the grass and exposed earth nearby bore distinct human footprints, interrupted here and there by several shallow pits. Judging from the trail left behind, Alec concluded that the newborn vampire had first attempted to hide inside a hollow tree.
When the brittle wood proved incapable of concealing a body for long, she had apparently changed her mind and tried digging a pit instead, intending to bury herself alive.
She truly succeeded with the latter plan, tracking her down would have become considerably more troublesome. Fortunately, the shallow depth of the pits suggested that she had abandoned the idea before finishing it.
As the lingering scent grew stronger, Alec became increasingly certain he was closing in on his target. At last, he crossed a narrow river and reached the opposite bank, only to discover that the scent ended there completely.
"I lost her?" Alec frowned, replaying every step of the chase in his mind, wondering if he had overlooked a fork in the trail or missed some subtle clue. A moment later, he shook his head. "No, that's impossible. It has to be this direction."
He leaped back to the original bank, where the scent remained overwhelmingly strong. There was no mistake. He had followed the correct path.
"If she left the riverbank without jumping across..." His gaze slowly lowered toward the flowing water. "...then that only leaves one possibility."
"The riverbed."
The river was more than three meters deep, filled with swaying aquatic plants, fish, and drifting algae. Alec removed the black hooded cloak that marked his rank within the Volturi and dove headfirst into the water.
Since becoming vampires, they no longer relied on oxygen. As long as they held their breath, remaining underwater indefinitely posed no problem. Even so, they were still creatures of the land, and water remained inconvenient. Their movements slowed considerably, and the soaked clothing clinging to their bodies afterward was always unpleasant.
The moment he held his breath, Alec lost the advantage of scent. If he failed to find his target beneath the water, he would have no choice but to retrieve Demetri.
Yet everything along the trail had been so clumsy, so blatantly obvious, that he refused to believe the newborn had suddenly become clever enough to use the river to erase her tracks.
She has to be down there.
Holding fast to that conviction, Alec patiently descended toward the riverbed. He swept aside the murky water clouded by disturbed silt and continued swimming through the weeds until something finally caught his attention.
A thick bed of vibrant green aquatic plants covered the bottom of the river, yet in the very center rested an enormous stone that looked strangely out of place. Alec recognized it immediately. It closely resembled the rocks lining the riverbank.
He couldn't help letting out a quiet laugh.
After hiding in a tree hollow and trying to bury herself alive... she actually settled on tying herself to a rock and drowning?
The idea was unbelievably foolish, almost the exact opposite of how one actually killed a vampire. In a way, Alec had to admire her. Entirely by accident, she had managed to choose one of the safest hiding places imaginable.
Under different circumstances, he might even have considered recruiting such an amusing newborn into the Guard.
What a pity.
Having finally located his target, Alec abandoned his aimless search through the water. Swimming forward, he casually shoved aside the massive stone with one hand, fully exposing the girl concealed beneath it.
She's so short, he thought instinctively.
The girl had curled herself into a tight ball, arms wrapped around her knees. Her short brown hair floated gently in the current. Alec seized her firmly by the neck and kicked powerfully toward the surface.
By the time the girl realized what was happening, the two of them had already broken through the water.
A newborn vampire possessed astonishing physical strength. In terms of raw power alone, perhaps only Felix among the Volturi could rival them. Alec, however, had never relied solely on strength. His combat experience made all the difference. The angle of his grip was flawless, leaving Sophie struggling helplessly no matter how violently she thrashed.
Once above the surface, Alec shifted his hold, trapping her throat within the crook of his arm as he dragged her relentlessly toward the shore. They stumbled onto solid ground, both soaked from head to toe, and only then did Sophie manage to wrench herself free through sheer brute force.
"Don't touch me!"
Her strength was so overwhelming that the recoil from Alec releasing his grip sent her tumbling backward onto the ground.
The situation was mildly troublesome.
Both of them were dripping wet, making it impossible to burn her immediately even if he built a fire. A simpler solution would be to tear off her head now, carry it elsewhere, and burn the remains later.
Faced with the newborn's panicked attempts to retreat, Alec couldn't even be bothered using his gift. In a blur of motion, he appeared at her side and brutally dislocated both of her arms with practiced precision.
Against newborns, the first priority was always to disable their arms.
If they managed to lock both arms around you...
There was almost no chance of victory.
Conveniently, Alec had dismantled countless vampires before. He knew exactly where to place his hands and precisely how much force to apply. Even a vampire's granite-hard body offered no resistance against his technique.
"Aaaagh!"
The agony of both arms being torn from their sockets sent the girl screaming into the forest.
Ripples spread across the river's surface.
Even the ground seemed to tremble.
Only Alec remained unmoved.
Without the slightest trace of pity, he stepped forward while she was still weakened by the pain and placed both hands beneath her jaw.
It was the first time he truly looked her in the face.
And he intended to kill her without uttering another word.
All it would take was one twist.
If Alec rotated her head one hundred and eighty degrees, every nerve, tendon, muscle, and ligament connecting Sophie's head to her body would be severed instantly.
Sophie admitted she had wanted to escape from the world.
But certainly not by losing her head.
After drinking human blood, she had recovered a fragment of her sanity, though only a tiny fragment. She had fled to the bottom of the river because she wanted to hide... to disappear... to avoid all contact with anyone.
She had tasted human blood.
Its sweetness lingered upon her tongue.
Yet even draining an entire grown man dry had barely eased the unbearable thirst. Around her, more and more threads representing pain and bloodlust had appeared. Black. red. White. Tangled together into an impossible knot. She had grabbed handfuls of them, compressing them into tiny grains until her mind returned to blessed emptiness.
That fragile peace had lasted...
Until this ferocious young man appeared out of nowhere and shattered the silence beneath the river.
The pain of having both arms dislocated jolted Sophie back to full awareness.
Her eyes widened as she finally saw his face clearly.
She froze.
What an astonishingly beautiful face.
His features were so exquisite they could easily have belonged to a young woman, while the faint traces of masculine sharpness only enhanced their elegance.
Sophie was absolutely certain.
If that face belonged to a girl...
It would be exactly my type.
Wait...
There really had been someone like that...
Within the blank spaces of her memory, a flower suddenly bloomed.
Golden.
Brilliant.
A face buried deep inside her mind exploded back into existence.
"I've seen you before..." She murmured almost unconsciously. "At the Palazzo dei Priori."
Alec remained completely indifferent.
"You've mistaken me for someone else."
He had never seen this female vampire before.
Either she was lying to save herself or the person she had encountered was someone who looked exactly like him.
Jane.
Whichever answer proved true, it only strengthened his resolve to eliminate her.
The memories continued awakening one after another like falling dominoes.
The beautiful and gentle Heidi.
The breathtaking blonde girl.
Sophie remembered.
She needed to imitate Miss Heidi's tone...
Her expression...
The very way she had looked at people.
The hands around her neck tightened.
Cracks began spreading across Sophie's skin as she desperately resisted the force trying to twist her head free.
With every ounce of strength she possessed, she forced out several broken syllables.
"L-Let... me..go…please..."
The pressure only increased.
The black-haired boy had fully committed himself to tearing off her head.
Did it fail?
Sophie couldn't tell how much longer she could hold out.
She tried again.
This time, however, she also reached for the strange threads surrounding her attacker.
Gray.
So faint they were almost impossible to notice.
Fortunately...
Sophie had always paid attention to details.
She reached toward those gray threads with all her strength.
Hooked them.
Ripped them apart.
Then hurled the fragments as far away as she possibly could.
Finally...
The boy's eyes clouded over.
Exactly as she had hoped.
He continued staring directly at Sophie.
Yet there was nothing behind his gaze.
Only emptiness.
Alec had forgotten who the person before him was.
The strength twisting her neck gradually weakened.
Sophie hardly dared breathe.
In the softest voice she could manage, she whispered,
"Let me go...don’t follow me. Please."
Alec slowly released his hands.
Then he simply stood there.
Motionless.
Sophie cautiously retreated, taking one careful step after another until she stood more than two meters away. Even then, the black-haired boy remained rooted to the spot, staring blankly into space.
It worked.
Joy surged through her heart.
Without hesitating another second, Sophie turned and fled into the forest as fast as she could.
The western watchtower of the Palazzo dei Priori offered the finest view of the sunset in all of Volterra.
Only the Volturi were entitled to enjoy such a privilege.
At this moment, however, the two members of the Volturi standing atop the tower had no interest in the scenery before them.
Their red eyes burned even brighter than the setting sun itself.
Their bodies stood as motionless as marble statues.
Jane stood at the front, gazing silently toward the horizon. Only after the final sliver of sunlight disappeared beyond the earth did she finally speak.
"Demetri."
The moment his name left her lips, Demetri visibly shuddered.
He feared Jane's gift more than death itself.
Now that Alec had failed to return before sunset, Demetri was convinced that the next thing awaiting him would be Jane's burning illusion, a torment thousands of times worse than descending into hell.
"Why hasn't Alec come back yet?" Jane asked softly.
Her voice remained sweet and delicate, yet beneath it lay unmistakable helplessness and grievance.
"You said Alec promised he'd be back by my side before the sun set." She slowly raised a finger toward the darkening horizon.
"But look...the sun has already set." She turned to Demetri. "So..."
"Where is Alec?"
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