It rained the day of Dmitri's funeral.

That didn't stop hordes of people from attending, it was the second biggest social event of the decade. Only second to the Winter Ball. Thousands of people flocked to the Volkov castle in Russia, none of them cared about the freezing rain or the boy lying in the casket- they were too busy gossiping with the news reporters. From the sky, it would have looked like the ground was blanketed in a sea of black umbrellas. My fellow heirs and I stood in huddled group, off to the side from the swarms of people.

We didn't speak to the reporters, or our classmates who expressed fake sympathy. We barely even spoke to each other. The others were reeling from his death. They felt guilty that they never tried to be friends with him after it was revealed that he wasn't Aleksander. I empathized with them, not just because I could feel their emotions, but because I had treated him in a similar fashion. Dmitri hated being the second option and that was how we treated him.

Aleksander clung to me, throughout the entire ceremony. He pointedly ignored his parents, who vocalized their distaste for our budding relationship. I noticed his dad was far more aggressive in the argument than his mother. Every time his eyes slid over to me he either felt intense fury or longing. Aleksander never left my side though, I was seeing a new side of him or perhaps the real him.

Several people thanked us for ridding the world of the malevolent Dark One. The supernatural reporters bombarded us with questions about the fight at Chernobyl but they quickly learned that they weren't going to get an inside scoop from me. I chose to keep the identity of the Dark One a secret. Even though Cam caused a lot of carnage I didn't have the heart to take away his former status as a hero. He was a just a puppet. His master was the true villain.

I swore on his grave that I would avenge him, his master would feel my wrath and the wrath of every witch and warlock on the planet. It was time to stop being the victim, I was prepared to go to war.

"You're shaking," Aleksander noted.

I nodded and snuggled deeper into his embrace. "It's freezing outside."

"We can go inside, the party seems to be dwindling down."

Malice laced his words. He hated every fake person at his brother's funeral with a passion. There were a few incidents when I had to physically restrain him from attacking some of the guests.

"It's your brother's funeral. Don't you want to stay here and pay your respects?"

Aleksander's perfectly shaped lips twisted into a grimace. "I'd hardly call this a funeral, Lyubov Moyà. I'll pay my respects when all of these people leave. Then I'll make sure to disrespect my parents for inviting them."

That was the nicest thing he had said about his parents. Half of the funeral was filled with him cussing out his parents in Russian. I didn't know what the words meant but I was pretty sure he threatened to kill them at least six times.

"I think you've disrespected them enough today." Awkwardly patting his back, I led him towards the Volkov castle. "You don't need to waste your breath anymore."

The Volkov family castle vaguely resembles the Böse castle. It was incredibly large, even Murphy would look dwarfed next to it. There were some gothic elements, like the intimidating spires and tall mosaic windows. But Mrs. Volkov did a good job keeping the estate alive. Gardens  filled with vibrant flowers could be found throughout the lot. Nobody even noticed the dirty, deteriorating stone walls because they were too busy admiring the gold trims. More gold could be found within the castle. The Volkov's loved to show off their wealth as much as they loved to show off their good looks.

Aleksander led me through a series of halls. We stopped briefly at a wall covered in the portraits of his ancestors, I forgot most of their names, except for one- Adeline. The agony in her eyes was so powerful, I found it hard to look away. I empathized with her, not because I was an empath, but because I had worn that look many times. It was the look of a woman who had lost the love of her life before her eyes. Noticing the tears glimmering in my eyes, Aleksander whisked me away from Adeline. I didn't know then, but that wouldn't be the last time I saw Adeline Volkov.

He abruptly ended the tour when we stumbled upon his room. I awkwardly stood in the door frame as Aleksander mosied over to his bed. His bedroom furniture must have been made centuries ago, priceless family heirlooms could be found peaking out of mounds of dirty clothing. His room was fit for a prince, but he was as messy as every other teenager.

Aleksander patted the empty spot beside him. "Come sit here. I'm not Bob, I don't bite."

I pushed off the doorframe and maneuvered through the piles of used underwear. My perfect image of Aleksander was slowly fading away.

"I didn't think you were going to bite me. It's just-" I broke off and nervously fiddled with my fingers.

"It's just what?" Aleksander asked. He tried to ease my anxiety but my irrational fear of embarrassing myself proved to be stronger than his powers.

"I'veneverbeeninaboy'sroombefore," I mumbled.

"Huh?"

I sighed. Why did he have to be an empath, why couldn't he have been the Mind Manipulator?

"I've never been a boy's room before," I said again.

Dread twisted in my stomach when I heard his melodic laugh. I should have known he was going to laugh. Aleksander had probably in more girls' rooms than his own.

"It's not funny," I smacked his arm.

He looked beautiful when he laughed. His blue eyes crinkled in the corners, his smile was practically blinding. He would have been even more beautiful if my lack of experiences wasn't the cause of his laughter.

"I'm sorry," he pretended to wipe a tear away, "I just find it hilarious that you think I care about that."

Wait what? I cocked my brow, daring for him to continue.

"Caddie, you're sixteen. I don't expect you to be taking regular visits to boys' rooms. Besides, it wouldn't sit well with me if you did. I know I have been with many girls in the past but I can't imagine having a future without you. If you were to be with somebody else, I-" he took a deep breath and gathered his thoughts. In the midst of his speech our sitting positions had changed. I sat on his lap, he held me close to his heart as if he needed my presence to keep it beating. "I don't want to think about what would happen. You're changing me Caddie, for the better. You showed me that we are not the carbon copies of our parents, we can find our happiness and make our own futures."

"We can write our destinies, Aleksander."

His blue eyes shined with admiration and love as he looked down at me. I no longer felt a little spark whenever he touched me, it felt like a roaring fire was devouring my body. The close intimacy of our bodies drove me insane. I wanted him to take my fear and pain away but I didn't want him to do it with his powers. I wanted to kiss him- but I couldn't. Kissing Aleksander would only cause more problems, his kiss would bind me to him forever. I would never know if the love I felt for him was real or if it was just a spell.

"What's wrong?" He, too, was staring at my lips with a burning desire.

"I-I want to kiss you, but I'm afraid."

Aleksander didn't laugh at my second confession. The air seemed to get thicker as heat continued to lick at our limbs. Hearing my confession only intensified the smoldering look in Aleksander's eyes, but he knew we couldn't treat the situation lightly. I was trusting him with my an entire being not to abuse his power. I knew he was changing, but he could always change back.

"I don't want to make people fall in love with me anymore Caddie. You have always been the most honest and genuine person I know- I don't want to change that."

Hesitantly wrapped my arms around his neck, I straddled his waist, my eyes were focused on his lips. Lying to an empath was impossible, I knew he was being sincere but that didn't make it any less nerve wracking. Luckily, Aleksander read my body language and didn't wait for me to make the first move. Static electricity filled through the room when our lips first touched. I could feel a current of energy running through my body, it felt like an adrenaline rush but more addictive. Our innocent little pecks became deeper and more passionate. We fed into our temptation until our oxygen starved lungs cried for release.

The sound of heavy breathing echoed throughout the silent room. My face flushed when I remembered where I was and what had happened. Aleksander Volkov kissed me! I never thought that would happen. Months ago I would have rather kissed a toilet than Aleksander. Life had a strange way of working itself out. Turning away from his mesmerizing blue eyes, I snuggled deeper into his warm embrace. I decided to enjoy the peaceful moment, lord knows I wouldn't get anymore of those.

**They kissed! I'm glad we got that out of the way, but Caddie should really think through her actions. She just got rid of a crazy ex, she doesn't need another one. But that's a topic for another day, right now she's happy and I'm not killing anyone off so we can enjoy the moment. I'm really excited for book 3. I find it funny that I wrote Book 1 the summer of my freshman year, then I wrote Book 2 during my sophomore year. Now I will be writing book 3, during my junior year. I did chose @Heartlessly_Loving submission Adeline. All of the submissions were so amazing, thank you guys for submitting them. I might even use a few more, because there will be more new characters. I just recovered my Twitter account so please follow me on Twitter @rowena_black I love being connected with you guys, and I like having you guys updated with what's happening in the series!! Thank you guys for reading this series! I'm so lucky to have such great readers.
XOXO,
Ro.**

P.S. One reader had called herself a Noxy, that was one of the happiest moments of my writing career. Tell me in the comments what you guys would like to call yourselves. I like Noxy, but someone else mentioned Casters. I also like the name Darklings. I'll leave the debate up to you guys. Tell me which one you like the best or suggest a name in the comments.