Receiving Caius's tacit approval, Aro considered the matter settled. Picking up the guest registry again, he deliberately exaggerated every motion, slowly turning one page after another before stopping midway through the book. His eyes scanned each line carefully until they landed upon the name he had been searching for.
"Oh!" Aro exclaimed with theatrical delight. "An old friend is coming to visit us!"
He eagerly beckoned Marcus and Caius to look.
"Do you remember the guard who used to handle hunting?"
Following Aro's finger, Caius immediately located the page number with his extraordinary eyesight and opened his own ledger to the same place. Marcus silently did likewise.
Satisfied that both of his brothers had joined the discussion, Aro reminisced warmly.
"Charles. The wielder of the Gift of Lies. Every lie he told became true in the listener's mind. Such a fascinating ability. It's a shame it only worked on one person at a time. Finding prey for all of us became far too exhausting, so eventually we invited Heidi to replace him."
To put it plainly, Heidi's gift of irresistible attraction was vastly more efficient. She could lure an entire group of prey in a single attempt, while Charles had needed to deceive them one by one. The difference in efficiency was overwhelming. Even when he left the Volturi, Charles had remained deeply reluctant to part with the place.
"He was quite a handsome young man," Marcus observed quietly. "Much like Heidi. Both of them earned the affection of many guards."
Marcus had long understood one truth.
Beautiful people were not necessarily more trustworthy.
But they were almost always trusted more easily.
"I'm certain Charles has been waiting for an opportunity to prove himself again," Aro concluded. Then he sighed dramatically. "Ah... we've invited him to our gathering. What if he misunderstands our intentions?"
Caius rolled his eyes.
A misunderstanding?
The misunderstanding that killing one roaming guard would earn him a place back in the Volturi?
….
A vampire's memory was eternal.
There was no such thing as forgetting.
In truth, Sophie never needed to know about the expedited death certificate. Jane had said it deliberately for one purpose alone: to sever the girl's lingering attachment to the human world.
Should a powerful newborn ever truly decide to rebel, the guards would have no choice but to kill without hesitation.
The two-day pursuit through the wilderness conducted by Jane, Alec, and Demetri had already been an extraordinary exception.
Realizing there was no room whatsoever for negotiation, Sophie accepted the verdict with remarkable composure. Every argument rising inside her throat was swallowed before it could be spoken.
Only two days earlier, Jane would have been pleased by such quiet obedience.
Now...
It no longer satisfied her.
She knew what Sophie genuinely looked like when she accepted something. There would always be a bright smile on her face, the corner of her lips lifting just a little higher on the left.
Leaving humanity behind should have been something Sophie accepted immediately.
For some reason...
Jane found herself becoming irritated.
Human life had been utterly miserable.
What exactly was Sophie still fighting for?
A handful of worthless money? A pitiful social standing? Cold, indifferent parents? Friends who had betrayed her?
Which of those things deserved such attachment?
Watching Sophie stand there with her chin lowered obediently against her chest, pretending to submit, Jane stepped gracefully down from the broad windowsill onto the thick, luxurious carpet.
Though she had no idea why, Sophie obediently followed her down from the window.
With a sharp swish, Jane drew the heavy curtains closed, shutting out the brilliant daylight beyond.
Then she gave a simple command.
"Take off your clothes."
The same words had been spoken between them before.
Sophie immediately realized Jane intended for her to wash herself. But this wasn't the waterfall anymore. Where was the bathroom? Her lips trembled slightly before pressing tightly together. She knew better than to make Jane repeat an order.
Her pale fingers quickly undid the clasp of the gray cloak. With a single motion, she shrugged it from her shoulders, letting the fabric slide gracefully onto the floor.
The clothes beneath remained intact.
This time she couldn't simply tear everything apart as she had before.
Grasping the hem around her waist, she carefully lifted the shirt upward. Smooth skin had only just met the cool air when another hand suddenly caught hers.
"Not here."
Taking Sophie gently by the hand, Jane led her toward another room and pushed open the door.
It was a bathroom.
Everything inside looked brand new, yet carried an unmistakably classical elegance. Brass gleamed from every corner, adorning the faucets, mirror frames, washbasins, and countless decorative fixtures, each engraved with elaborate carvings.
Near the large window sat a bathing pool over ten times larger than Sophie herself, almost the size of a private swimming pool. Technically it was only a bathtub... one intended for a single owner.
Turning the polished brass faucet released a continuous stream of fresh mountain spring water flowing directly through hidden pipes. The enormous bath remained perpetually full, ready whenever its owner desired.
Even the drain was fashioned from matching brass.
Sophie swallowed hard.
Even so...
A tiny gasp escaped her lips.
"Wow..."
Jane remained standing in the doorway, blocking the exit.
Her command was exactly the same as before.
"Take off your clothes."
Beside the bath stood a wicker hamper for dirty laundry.
Entranced by the inviting pool, breathing in the crisp scent of fresh spring water, Sophie undressed far more quickly this time. Her shoes had already been left outside. She peeled off her stockings, bare feet settling against the cool, non-slip stone floor. Next came her trousers, blouse, and undergarments, each article tossed with surprising accuracy into the waiting basket.
Soon, the only thing left adorning her body was the black opal choker resting against her neck.
"Leave it on." Jane's gaze shifted toward the bath. "Get in."
Sophie still didn't know what material the necklace was made from.
But she understood the meaning behind Jane's words.
This was something she was not permitted to remove...
Not even while bathing.
As she turned toward the pool, she heard movement behind her. Without looking back, she carefully stepped into the water, her foot sinking into the perfectly level surface. The bathroom was so pristine, so luxurious, that she instinctively tried not to splash a single drop onto the immaculate floor.
Once both feet were submerged, she slowly lowered herself into the warm spring water until it rose above her shoulders. Silence settled throughout the room. Turning her head, she discovered she was alone.
The bathroom door had already been closed.
Jane had quietly left...
Taking the laundry basket with her.
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