Chapter 25 - Unbreakable

Caius brings me around, showing me the different rooms, but I can't help but notice that he keeps eyeing my neck.

"You're not hungry now, right?" I ask. His eyes are quite bright today though.

"No...?" he looks at me questioningly.

I meet his gaze and point to my neck, "You keep staring."

He runs his fingers through his hair and smiles, "It just feels like a full circle moment," he admits, "Actually, the gold used to make that necklace came from jewelry that used to belong to my mother." My eyes widen. I reach up to study the necklace again. "It hasn't been back here for centuries."

"Why did you want me to wear it today?" I ask, astonished that he would trust me with what's basically a family heirloom. Caius averts his gaze back down to the necklace. I can almost see the wheels in his head turning as he, from what it looks like, tries to piece together his next words. Is he battling with deciding what he wants to admit? What he can admit? He could even be concocting a lie for all I know. But, he looks... genuine? with almost a human-like rawness in this moment. I sigh, really wanting to believe that he'll tell me the truth.

"I don't just want you to wear it today," he finally answers, "I want it to be yours." I stare into his rose-colored eyes looking for any suspicious motives he could possibly have. They say the eyes are the windows to one's soul, and honestly, today is the first day I can see a crack in Caius's typical demeanor. Could it be because we're in the privacy of his own home, where he doesn't have to put up walls? Will that crack be patched up by the time we get back to Volterra? I hope not. Now I have the urge to pry it open even more. "You know," he starts again, "a diamond is one of the toughest materials on Earth. They're unbreakable, kind of like you," he smiles. He walks over and slides his arm around my waist. I push away the shock of hearing that this massive gem is actually a black diamond.

"Diamonds aren't technically unbreakable," I remind him, "anyone could shatter one with a simple hammer if they hit it in just the right way." I weave myself out of his embrace and plant myself on the sofa behind us, crossing my arms. "Then again, apparently I'm also... technically breakable, with a simple bite from just the right person, in the right circumstance." Caius's eyes narrow as he digests what I mean, his playful behavior from a moment ago dissipating back into seriousness.

"What did you hear? And from whom?" Caius demands. His tone has made a complete 180 and my heart starts pounding in response.

"So it's true?" I ask, "so why does Athenodora know all these secrets about me that I don't even know myself?"

"She told you?" he asks, bewildered.

"I thought you said your 'marriage' was basically a PR stunt. So why are you telling her about me? Why did you tell her you're the only one who could change me?" I counter, trying my absolute best to keep my emotions steady, but I already feel my eyes prickling with tears holding the anxiety that has been pent up since Atheondora's last visit. Caius sighs and lets himself drop down into the chair opposite me.

"I never lied to you," he says pointedly, "about anything."

"Well that's great but you sure didn't tell the entire truth."

"Telling you Athenodora and I were never married was not a lie," he studies my reaction but I'm giving him nothing. "She lives in a tower, not under a rock. She always knows what's going on in the castle. She gets a hold of every whisper, every rumor; she has her people in the castle. If I go behind her back, she will know. If she suspects anything between us isn't just 'for the good of the Volturi,' there's no telling what she might do if she feels her status at the castle is threatened. I had no choice but to tell her before she hears something from someone else first. Luckily after all the information we discovered in Washington about how to change you, I had a great excuse to give her, allowing me to do what I was holding myself back from doing from the second you first walked into that throne room."

"Which is...?" I ask pointedly.

In the blink of an eye my back is thrust down fully onto the sofa and my wrists are held hostage by Caius's grasp. "You would not believe how enraged I was to see Felix fixate on you first," he growled, using his free hand to gently, yet purposefully trace the veins throbbing under my skin, starting from my temples and going down my neck. At my shoulders he replaces his fingertips with his lips, using them to finish the journey down to my wrist. "Then again, I'm not sure I would have known what to do with you back then." His hand migrates south, grazing my waist. Meanwhile my heart is overworking itself trying to pump blood around my otherwise frozen body, but its dethawing efforts are useless.

"Are you saying you wanted to be the one to suck me dry Caius?" I ask, "...how romantic." Honestly I think there's too much shock mixed into my voice to really get my sarcasm across.

Caius exhales defeatedly, "Your blood calls to me in ways no one's has ever before."

"Tua cantante?" I ask with narrowed eyes, remembering way back when Antonio first told me about blood singers. Why would a vampire kiss a human? I remember thinking. The irony of Caius being on top of me right now. Why would a human kiss a vampire? I had thought. Oh, simpler times those were. Meanwhile now I don't think I would say no to even more, eventually. My body flushes in reaction to that sudden thought. "Aren't blood singers supposed to be soulmates? And you would have killed me?" I ask.

"They can turn into soulmates, if the vampire can control themself," Caius trails off, "Luckily you gave everyone no choice," he smirks.

"Soulmate is a strong word," I tell him, "Is it really strong enough for you to want to break an ages long partnership after only a couple months?"

"It's a strong word because it weighs an eternity, which is a lot heavier than a couple thousand years," he tells me. He moves to the side of me and lifts me up bridal style. His lips capture mine, obstructing my view. My heart jumps at the thought of where he's taking me. Eventually we reach the long staircase to the second floor. He walks into a room which has open windows that greet us with a warm, salty breeze. I feel myself being set down on some soft blankets. Without giving me time to think, Caius's lips are trailing along my body. I exhale softly. My mind is racing, yet somehow relaxed at the same time. He lifts himself up with a grin, and crawls back up to escort my body back into his full embrace. I bury my face into his neck and soak in the beachy scent stuck to his clothes. Words cannot describe how good it feels to finally be able to relax with him again.

* * *

Eventually, the time we need to start heading back to Volterra comes. I almost wish we could just stay lost here in Greece forever, but it's nothing but wishful thinking. Caius has work to do back at the castle, and it would surely cause a stir if we didn't come back. This is only supposed to be a first date after all.

"What about Athenodora?" I ask when we're back on the plane.

"I told you I'd take care of her, and I meant it," he assures me, "We'll make sure she doesn't visit you anymore as well." I'm relieved, but wonder how exactly they'll decide to 'take care of her'.

* * *

We touch down back in Volterra and I Google-Map us to the music venue. Caius offers to lead the way, but since this is my part of the date I wanted to make it my responsibility. Plus, it couldn't hurt to get a little navigation practice to prevent a repeat of that night after the club. Daniel didn't turn out to be terrible, but if someone else had found me things could have gone a whole lot worse.

After a little mix-up down some side alleys, we finally face the door of the venue advertising the band we were there to see, Cascade. There's a man there checking IDs, and after showing ours he calls someone to lead us to our table. We go up some stairs to a private box on the second floor. The venue is arraigned like a comedy club with a big stage up front, and a bunch of tables on the ground floor, but the high ceilings with private box seating also makes it look like a small theater. I suppose they must have a variety of performances and events going on here. The mood is great. Like Raphael said, it feels very dark and private, with a ton of neon elevating the mood.

"You got us the VIP treatment?" Caius asks in disbelief. I relish in how impressed he looks.

"I have connections," I smirk as someone stops by to hand us our menus. I decide on some crab linguine and a glass of white wine. Caius orders a slightly different white wine along with the stuffed mushroom appetizer I was eyeing before deciding I'd be too full to finish it all. I raise my eyebrows at him.

"If you're too full for it all we can take it to go," he tells me.

Shortly after we get my food the lights dim and the band comes on stage, starting with a steady beat, but gradually picking up to full on power rock. A lot of attendees sitting at the tables below look like they've followed the band for a while and are fully rocking out to the music. Caius and I are both obviously unfamiliar with the band still, but it's the kind of music that's hard not to vibe to anyway.

By the end of the show I had finished both glasses of wine, and most of the pasta and mushrooms. A waiter comes with the receipt prompting Caius to reach into his pocket for his wallet. I stop his hand before he can give his card to the waiter. "It's on me," I wink, pulling out my gold Volturi card and handing it over, fully aware that I didn't contribute a single cent to the money in that account.

Caius shakes his head and laughs, "I've never been so spoiled by a woman before."

"It's my pleasure," I grin. As we're organizing our stuff a tall, beautiful woman with curly blonde hair comes to our booth.

"Good evening, I'm Marie. Are you Anna?" she asks, to which I nod my head. "Great! I'm the wife of the band's lead singer, Elio. The guys would love to meet you both if you have a bit of time!"

"Oh, of course!" I exclaim, looking towards Caius. Caius guides me with his hand at the small of my back as we follow Marie down and backstage.

"Anna, Caius, welcome!" A thin, but muscular man with gelled black hair stands up to shake our hands. He's wearing black cargo pants, black combat boots, and a crisp white t-shirt, revealing some black and gray tattoos peeking up over his neckline, along with fully inked sleeves down both of his arms. "How did you enjoy the show? I know our music is quite different from the mainstream," he grins.

"These days nothing about my life is mainstream so I think I fit right in. It was an amazing show, and thank you so much for getting us set up with such great seats!"

"No problem," he says, letting go of my hand and turning to shake Caius's.

"If I knew a year ago that one of the Volturi's leaders would be here I would have signed us up to play at the Teatro alla Scala," Elio laughs, referring to one of Italy's premier opera houses, "I appreciate you coming downtown to hang amongst us commoners," he jokes, to which Caius grins.

"As far as I figure, there's no need to keep up appearances among the Nephilim," Caius assures, "It was great to relax and enjoy the music tonight."

As Caius and Elio get deeper into a conversation about music, I take Caius's confirmation, back to Marie.

"So the band is all Nephilim? I wasn't sure if it was just Elio or not," I ask her.

"The band is yes, I myself am human though," she laughs. I widen my eyes. Raphael mentioned that human spouses were common with the Nephilim but there was something refreshing about meeting a fellow human who was as entangled into the world of the supernatural as I am.

"How did you meet?" I ask.

"I was at kind of a low point after a stream of bad breakups, so I went to a random bar to let loose a bit. Instead I became completely fixated on Cascade's music and the power of their lyrics. When Elio and I locked eyes, our fate was sealed," she giggles, "We've been married for almost two years now, with a baby on the way!" she says patting her stomach.

"Oh, congratulations!" I exclaim.

"We're still in the early months, but I'll have to invite you to the baby shower when we eventually have one," she suggests.

"I would love to go! I swear I was beginning to think I would never have a completely human milestone experience again. I would love to go to your baby shower," I tell her.

"Perfect," she smiles. We keep talking until the guys walk over with outstretched arms.

"Time to go I suppose?" I ask, and the boys nod. We say our final goodbyes before Caius and I take off back towards the castle. I pat myself on the back for a successful evening, if I do say so myself.