Caius lay on Elenora's bed, filled to the brim with simmering anger that begged to be unleashed but, unlike his brother he would not be so quick to be overcome with it. He knew that it had been a bad idea to invade her privacy in such a way. There were bound to be things she held close to her chest, secrets she wouldn't want them to know and he was almost...honorbound to respect that–despite his temperament he wasn't so irrational as to disrespect her in such a way.

The anger inside him clawed at his mind, twisting it and pushing him to the limits of his control, craving to be set free but he couldn't. Aro had done enough damage for now. From what he could hear a majority of the lower guard had unfortunately been disposed of. It was...regrettable but it was no great loss to him, they were pawns that would be easily substituted.

What perhaps angered him the most was that Aro had essentially invaded her mind for no reason and instead of helping he had made things worse. Much worse. There was no time for them to be told of what he had seen, as soon as he had released her hand his eyes were swarmed with complete darkness–almost as if he was no longer sentient behind them, like he'd been shoved to the back of his consciousness.

Nora had been so petrified of him that she had actually screamed, so loud and so gut wrenching he could still hear it ringing in his ears. It had taken the little will power he possessed to not make an attempt on Aro's life at that moment, his instincts thirsting for blood, to get rid of the thing that was causing his mate so much distress.

He thanked the gods that Marcus had been there.

His brother seemed to be the only one of the three of them with an air of sanity, there to hold him back when he had eventually rushed toward his mind reading brother with murderous intent. Aro hadn't even seemed to notice, within a second he had vanished from the room and the first agonised scream was heard.

Marcus had ordered him to stay with her before leaving, following the trail of dead bodies that would lead him to Aro. Normally being ordered and bossed around would have stirred his ire but he was in no mood to put up a fight. He didn't want to be separated from her anyway.

He was drawn from his thoughts when Nora released a choked whimper, fisting the fabric of his shirt in her hands. She had fallen into a petrified and emotionally exhausted sleep after the whole charade and he had taken it upon himself to hold her, laying her on top of him and hoping that at least that might bring her some hard won relief.

He relished the feel of the inviting heat from her body and was intoxicated by her sweet scent; dianthus flowers and pomegranate invaded his senses and reminded him of his ancient, lost home. Gods, the way she clung to him–so desperate and seeking comfort that he felt for the first time in centuries he was actually needed by someone. It was...devastating, though, that the first time he got to hold her in such an intimate way was as a result of something that was so painful to her.

As gently as he could, he wrapped his hand around her small one that gripped his shirt in a near unbreakable hold. Slowly and with care he only reserved for his paintings he managed to get her to release him but in doing so accidentally woke her.

Her steel blue eyes were drowsy, still blinking away the last remnants of sleep. It seemed to take her a minute to recollect where she was as she looked around the room, but eventually blue met red.

Thanks to her sluggishness she was slow to react and to his shock, she smiled down at him and leaned her head back on his chest with a content sigh. In any other circumstance he would have allowed her to continue to rest but her state of mind was more important to him.

"Nora?" His tone was delicate and tinged with sweetness; his only response was a grumpy mumble that had him releasing a small laugh. "You must wake, dolcezza."

"Yeah...not gonna happen."

"Please?"

"Nope."

"Nora..." There was a warning edge to his voice now.

"Caius..."  She mimicked playfully.

"Alright. Fine." He conceded but...something wasn't right.

"What's–OH MY GOD! STOP!" She screeched and cackled when she felt Caius's fingers dig into her sides–a laugh that would have put Winnifred Sanderson's to shame.

It didn't matter how much she squirmed and tried to get off him, the assault on her sides continued until her face was beet red and she struggled to breath. Through giggles she begged him to stop. "Please!"

Carrying on for a moment longer just to hear her laughter he eventually relented, his hands stilling and resting on her waist.

"That was mean." She pouted, still gasping for breath. He simply smirked and raised his eyebrows and childishly she stuck out her tongue. He laughed and she was still for a moment, admiring the way his face lit up when he did. He was hot when he was being all broody but when he laughed he was...beautiful.

She wiggled around, managing to dislodge his arms from her waist and rolled off him.

They lay next to each other in a peaceful quietness. Nora appreciated the warmth her jumper brought her against Caius's lack of body heat but she was beginning to get used to their abnormalities. She was slightly concerned as to who had changed her but she was going to assume one of the many female guards had done it–at least she hoped that was the case.

Caius, serious once again and trapped in his thoughts, mulled something over for a moment before deciding to speak, turning his head to look at her. "How are you...feeling? After earlier?"

He was extremely reluctant to ask, he hadn't wanted to break the comfortableness she was feeling but it was an important subject and was better to be asked now rather than later.

As if just now remembering what had happened her face dropped. Great, so she'd had a literal breakdown in front of them. They probably thought she was a complete psycho.

She jolted suddenly, the icy touch from Caius's hand that was now on her cheek was startling. His eyebrows were creased with what she assumed was worry. Delicately, like he was touching the soft petals of a flower, he trailed his finger under her eye and when he pulled his hand away she was embarrassed to notice that his fingertip was wet.

Sniffling, she dabbed the tears she hadn't even known were falling away but it was useless–more and more kept taking their place and in little to no time she was suppressing sobs.

"Oh Nora, shhh." Caius wrapped his arms around her once more, drawing her softly shaking body into his chest and holding her tightly, his large hand encompassing the back of her head and stroking her hair.

Despite her despair it felt nice to be held so closely by someone–no one had ever cared for her in such a way before.

"I—I'm sorry. All I seem to be d–doing is crying in front of you guys." The sentence caught in her throat, thick with the force of her tears. She winced, hating how pathetic she sounded.

"Stop." His chest rumbled when he spoke and despite his stern tone of voice, it was a great comfort to her. "Don't ever feel ashamed for being vulnerable in front of any of us Nora. We will think no less of you. I don't think that would even be possible. Just breathe, carissima."

It was hard for her stubborn mind to be swayed from the self hatred she so often felt but it was...easier to believe him, to listen to him. She found herself calming and couldn't help but wonder how he had succeeded where others had failed; she did wager that it had something to do with their bond.

Taking deep calming breaths in, spurred on by his gentle encouragement and soft caresses, she soon was almost back to normal save for the few stray tears that stubbornly persisted to fall, tears that he wiped away tenderly with his thumb when she pulled her head back to look at him.

"I'm so sorry, Nora. We promised you comfort and peace, instead all we gave you was heartache."

Confusion, an emotion she had been experiencing too much for her liking at the moment, lay in the forefront of her mind. The whole ordeal after she had woken up was a rollercoaster and none of them were to blame for it but, it was Aro's actions that had possibly baffled her the most.

"Yeah, well about that. What–what the hell happened? I know that I was upset but Aro he...he was terrifying Caius." He broke their eye contact with a sigh and for once since their meeting he seemed unsure, lacking confidence in himself.

"You may hate us for this but we...haven't been entirely truthful with you." Her eyes widened, panicked with the possibilities of what they could have been dishonest about–at the thought anger began to simmer inside of her. She'd had enough of people withholding the truth from her.

Furrowing her brows harshly she pushed away from him and opened her mouth, ready to unleash hell but he was quick to cut her off. "Wait! Just, listen."

She relented but her displeasure was obvious, she sat up so she could look down at him and crossed her arms haughtily across her chest, eyeing him with thinly veiled contempt. He mirrored her actions, sitting and laying his back against the headboard.

"Nora, you must know that I never wanted to keep anything from you and neither did Marcus. But Aro is a stubborn bastard and will not be induced to change his mind. If he thinks something is right then he sticks to it, however irritating that may be."

Considering his words she knew he was right but a minuscule part of her wanted to ignore that, to continue to be mad but...it just wasn't her, she always forgave. She also couldn't forget that, from the beginning, he had been the one advocating for her to know everything.

"Do you remember, in the library when you learned of what we are, what some vampires can do?" He tried to conceal it but Nora could see the worry that seeped into his crimson eyes, marring the perfection of his voice. He grabbed her hand and she was unsure if the action was to comfort her or himself.

"Umm, vaguely. Marcus said something about certain vampires having gifts? Like his ability to see the bonds between people." He nodded, platinum hair falling in his face. It didn't appear to bother him, he was only focused on her and their conversation; so much so that he didn't move at all, except to give her hand a gentle squeeze. Possessed by some abnormal instinct she pulled her hand from his and reached to push the unruly hair back, marvelling at how soft it was.

Catching herself she winced, embarrassed, and pulled her arms back. Crossing them over her chest she ignored the heavy blush that now dusted her cheeks. Caius smirked, though it was less devious than usual. His emotions were weighing heavily on him–he'd have to tease her for that later.

"Aro has a gift. One that others fear and tend to avoid due to its...invasive nature." Her now wide grey eyes stared past his head, the puzzle pieces were slowly slotting together.

It was sort of blatantly obvious now that she really thought about it. He would touch Marcus or Caius's hand and almost communicate silently with them, seeming to know exactly what they were thinking. He had been so reluctant to touch her, even with his gloves on yesterday, his hands were never placed upon her. And then when he finally had, he had become dazed, his trance only broken by the terrifying anger that consumed him.

She wasn't stupid, she had suspected something. But, however naively, she didn't think it would be a gift. Especially not an invasive one—whatever that meant.

"What is his power?" His eyes flitted around the room as he procrastinated but she only became more aggravated and anxious the longer he was withholding it from her. "Tell me."

He breathed deeply, an action that was completely unneeded but told her everything she needed to know. She was not going to like his answer.

"With the slightest touch, he can read every thought, and see every experience you've ever had."

It felt like all the blood in her veins had turned to ice as she gaped at Caius in terrified disbelief. That meant that...he knew.

"I'm sorry carissima, I told him to wait until he had your permission but he wouldn't listen."

His voice was muffled, she could barely hear it over the abrasive thoughts that were screaming in her head. No...no no no no!

It felt like her whole body was numb, like her head was spinning. She didn't feel it when she slid off the bed, or when she stood on her wobbly legs. She didn't feel Caius's touch as he stood in front of her. She didn't notice the concern or confusion in his eyes, or hear his words as he tried to speak to her.

All she knew was that she was pissed.

Unflinchingly so. As her rage reached its boiling point her body grew painfully hot, tears collecting on her water line. She whipped around to face Caius with fierce eyes, intent on letting that fury out–there was only one person who would be experiencing it, one person to blame.

"Take me to him. Now."