It is remembered that some people once said that humans feel they don't have enough time because they need time to sleep. Katherine now thinks this statement is simply the truth. After being deprived of the right to sleep, the same twenty - four hours seem so long.
Caius has his job. Although Katherine has no interest in the content of his job at all, having something that can occupy Caius's attention and temporarily free herself is such a delight.
She stood on the balcony while Caius was in the room handling Volturi affairs. The precious parchment, which would be an insult to auction, seemed worthless in front of him. The sound of the pen moving back and forth on the paper was fine and dense. The piled - up ancient books hid his face, and Katherine felt relaxed.
After the twilight before dawn, the water vapor in the air became heavier because it had accumulated throughout the night. Dark clouds covered the sky like a blanket, leaving only the edges torn into tassel - like shapes, hanging low and almost shrouding the continuous gray - green mountain range.
The golden dawn light tried to lift this heavy cover but could only shine in from where the mountains and clouds met. Occasionally, there were weak points in the clouds that provided an opportunity, and the sunlight would penetrate through, constantly changing its illumination range as the clouds moved.
The light and shadow in the whole world changed so randomly and dreamily. Katherine cast her gaze as far as her vision could reach, watching the battle between the sunlight and the dark clouds over the sky, the magnificent scene composed of light, shadow, and colors. The clouds' capacity to hold moisture hadn't reached its limit yet, and some sporadic water droplets had already started to fall from them.
Katherine's vision could accurately capture all of them, which amazed her. Those crystal - clear water droplets, colored by the sunlight, were even more beautiful than gems.
She moved her gaze downward, passing over the forest and the animals that had just woken up, and stopped on a familiar figure.
"Jane?" Katherine softly called out the other's name. In fact, there were not only Jane there, but also three other people, people Katherine had never seen before.
They walked in unison, silent as ghosts, quickly approaching the Palazzo dei Priori through the forest. Besides Jane, there were Alec, Demetri, and Felix. Each of them was followed by one, two, or three strange vampires, surrounding the Palazzo dei Priori.
"Are they back?" Caius said without looking up. Katherine nodded and added, "They also brought some other people."
"Temporary guards." Caius said, closing the book in his hand and putting away the pen. "Are they also part of the Volturi?" Katherine's eyes widened slightly. Temporary guards? If they belonged to the Volturi and were scattered elsewhere, wouldn't the Volturi be like having a set of all - round, colorful pinhole cameras?
"Yes." Caius replied briefly. He skillfully and quickly wrapped his scarf around his neck while raising his eyebrows and looking at Katherine. "Not thirsty anymore?"
It was fine if he didn't mention it. Once he did, Katherine felt extremely thirsty. But the thrilling dinner last night was still vivid in her mind. She hated the vampire's branded - like memory. No wonder this race was always so competitive. It was so normal to hold grudges since they couldn't forget even if they wanted to.
"I'll go in a while." Katherine replied gloomily. Hopefully, she could choose the right path from the maze - like routes in the Palazzo dei Priori. If not, she could also hunt outside. She just didn't know if she could go out alone.
Caius didn't give her a chance to daydream. He quickly came to Katherine's side, naturally put his arm around her shoulder, and led her out. "Let's go. I'll take you to have breakfast first, and then I'll be very busy. Will you go back to your room or to Sulpicia's later?"
Katherine was forced to keep up with his pace, barely looking normal. Of course, she couldn't compare to Caius in terms of elegance. She thought for a while and chose a more compromise - like statement: "Aren't we training today?"
Caius's cold and hard hand suddenly tightened. He turned his head, almost face - to - face with Katherine, and his magnificent voice was lowered:"Do you want to go outside?"
She froze for a moment. Her survival instinct quickly kicked in, stimulating her reaction nerves. "Because you said you'll be very busy, so... Heidi has prepared a lot of records and books for me. I think I can stay there for a long time."
"You'd better not go out casually for now. You still can't control your instincts well." Hearing that Katherine was willing to stay in the Volturi, Caius seemed to be in a good mood. He even relaxed his grip. "When you learn to control them, I'll take you out. You should also get to know Volterra. We established it and have owned it until now."
Katherine stiffly moved the muscles of her face. You guys are really rich. She thought that people in the real estate bureau would be furious if they heard this. But if this continued, one day she would forget how to smile normally.
Coming to the room specially used for storing blood, Katherine watched Caius hand her a full cup of blood, animal blood used to control newborns. She didn't know if she should be grateful. For now, Caius didn't seem to have the intention of forcing her to change her eating habits.
However, the life in the Volturi, where everything was provided, was simply a vampire's paradise. Once a vampire came here, they wouldn't want to leave just because of the food supply.
While she was absorbing the sweet liquid in the cup, she suddenly had an inappropriate thought - was this also one of their ways to train newborns? Make them dependent on the Volturi in every aspect.
Thinking about it like this, Katherine suddenly felt that what she swallowed was a real cup of poison. Caius, on the other hand, watched her quietly. His lip color was as red as if he had kissed a rose, shockingly bright.
Somehow, Katherine suddenly remembered the icy and bone - chilling kiss last night and trembled a bit.
"What's wrong?" Caius asked. She shook her head. After hesitating for a while, she asked, "Have there been many newborns in the Volturi?"
Caius raised his eyebrows and gave an affirmative answer. "Then, who was in charge of training them?" she asked again.
"Jane and Alec among others." Caius said, with a strange smile on his beautiful face. "Are you going to ask next why you're different from them?"
"Because of my ability?" Katherine tightened her grip on the cup, looking a bit unnatural. "This reason sounds reasonable."
"Reasonable?" Caius repeated the word softly. The expression on his face was beyond Katherine's comprehension. He was silent for a while, then took the cup from Katherine's hand and put it aside. "Let's go."
They were lucky. As soon as they went downstairs, they met Jane and Demetri, who had returned on orders. Seeing Caius and Katherine coming down, they stopped and greeted them politely.
At this time, a red - haired woman who had been standing behind Jane suddenly looked at Katherine, her expression of surprise evident. She raised her head, and Katherine's figure was clearly reflected in her scarlet eyes. Her face became even paler, and her trembling lips seemed to want to shout something.
Katherine noticed her strangeness and didn't understand why this vampire was so surprised to see her. Maybe it was because she found a new arrival? And this new arrival could stay beside Caius unharmed?
The other's continuous gaze forced Katherine to look back at her seriously. The ability of "death instant" was unconsciously activated, and many scenes began to appear in front of her:
This vampire seemed to have been forcibly transformed because she had violated some rule of the Volturi. She was very young, having been a vampire for only two years. Katherine saw Aro and Caius among others. They watched this woman being painfully drained of blood, injected with venom, and slowly changing.
The red - haired vampire's gaze at Katherine attracted Caius's attention. After meeting Caius's cold and gloomy eyes, the red - haired vampire quickly lowered her head, pretending that she had never seen Katherine.
The scene gradually became blurred. When everything was about to disappear, Katherine heard an extremely familiar voice from the death scene of the red - haired vampire, gentle and polite.
It sounded just like Landon!
"What?!" Katherine was stunned. The scene in front of her disappeared, and the faint voice also disappeared. She quickly turned around to look at the red - haired vampire, who was now blocked by Jane taking a step forward, trying to identify again who the person who had appeared at the end was.
"What's going on?" Caius turned Katherine's face to make her only see him, his brows furrowed. "What were you looking at?"
Looking at Caius, Katherine was a bit dazed. She subconsciously compared Caius and herself with Landon in her memory. The answer was obvious. Landon couldn't be a vampire. His hands were warm, and his eyes were a rare but normal golden color.
He had normal sleep and ate human food like her. He was human.
She looked at Caius blankly for a while, then pursed her lips and shook her head. "Nothing. I just saw the 'death instant' of one of the vampires. You and Aro were there."
In fact, compared to Katherine's explanation, Caius cared more about the changes in her expression and some unconscious subtle movements. He was sure that Katherine hadn't received training on how to disguise herself, but even if she had, it would have been useless. He had been a judge in the Volturi for thousands of years, and he knew too well how to see through lies.
Caius immediately realized that Katherine wasn't telling him the truth. There must be something she was hiding from him. The gloom in his eyes began to accumulate and brew instantly.
Obviously, Katherine's attention wasn't on Caius. She didn't notice Caius's change. Instead, she took the initiative to hug his arm, unconsciously tightening her grip. Her slender fingers pressed tightly against Caius's skin through the fabric, transmitting their same temperature. "Let's go."
The intimate touch and her unique fragrance were like a curse, easily shredding Caius's simmering anger. Caius held Katherine's hand in return, turned around to look at that damn red - haired woman, and his venomous gaze made the other tremble with fear.
After leaving the hall, Katherine asked, "Are they all coming to participate in this Venice operation?" Caius hugged her tightly and sneered, "Not exactly. Some of them clearly don't deserve it."
"Deserve?" Katherine repeated, not understanding. For some reason, she always felt that Caius was referring to the red - haired vampire who had been so surprised to see her.
But Caius clearly didn't want to waste the topic on that strange vampire. Soon, they arrived at the door of the room where Katherine had woken up yesterday morning. Just as Katherine had thought, the whole room had been completely renovated, and even the configuration was exactly the same as before.
The aroma of coffee, which she liked the most, was in the air. She was now completely sure that this must be Aro's arrangement. That one who could completely know all the thoughts of others just by touching... She couldn't speak ill of him!
But then again, what was Caius's ability?
Her speculation was quickly interrupted by Caius's words: "Stay here. I'll be back soon." When Katherine turned around again, the tall and graceful figure was already gone, and the door was closed casually.
After making sure she could no longer hear Caius's footsteps, Katherine quickly ran to the windowsill and carefully avoided the fragile curtains to look outside. To her surprise, there seemed to be an unusually large number of vampires in the Palazzo dei Priori today. Vampires could be seen guarding every entrance and exit.
She bet that Heidi's attendance record on the duty schedule of the Volterra Tourism Bureau must be blank today. The Palazzo dei Priori was not open to the public today.
Was this Venice operation very troublesome? Why would the proud Volturi call back all its temporary guards?
...
The news that Demetri brought back was just as Caius had guessed. The fool who had come to the Volturi with Leonardo Landon, not knowing his own death, to try to take Katherine away was one of the vampire hunters who had been lurking in Venice all along.
Caius sneered when he heard this news. This lowly hybrid dared to collude with vampire hunters. This was a capital crime in the Volturi, and the criminal must receive the trial he deserved and get the end he deserved. The fire in the torch was his best destination.
Aro's ceremonial speech continued. Caius was extremely impatient. His hand on the golden handle couldn't feel the texture of the chair. The feeling of Katherine hugging him tightly just now still lingered on his arm, forming a sharp contrast with the current numbness, making him rather irritable. The chair handle under his palm was almost crushed by him.
"We will select some of you to go with us to Venice and witness this sacred trial." Aro got up and walked down the steps, his smile gentle and harmless. "But we must make sure that those who go with us are absolutely loyal to the Volturi."
With that, he stretched out his hand.
Caius's cold and sharp gaze fell on the extremely annoying red - haired vampire. Her attempt to retreat and her stiff movements were all within Caius's sight.
"Jane." Caius said, and the girl with an angel - like face immediately turned her head. Caius raised his chin towards the red - haired woman, and Jane understood. She walked over, her beautiful, cold, and hard eyes looking at her arrogantly, forcing her to come forward voluntarily before being tortured by the burning spell.
"Oh, Diana." Aro smiled gently. "It seems you'll be the first?"
He took Diana's hand and held it gently.