Heartbeat [Alec Volturi]

Avarice

"She asked for you."

My arm was asleep, but I didn't dare move. Lest I give away the fact that I'd been listening in on the guard members' conversation for the last several minutes. I had allowed my eyes to flicker open for a brief moment. During which, I'd located the two men seated at the table in the center of the train suite — directly in front of me. My eyes had been closed ever since for fear of getting caught. My other senses, however, were on high alert.

Especially now, when the new topic of conversation shifted to me and my skin tingled. It seemed I didn't need to catch it with my own eyes to know I was under the protection of Alec's watchful gaze.

"She sees me as a monster."

Prosper denied Alec's claim. "That is hardly true."

"I allowed her to watch as I broke a man in half." A chair creaked. Prosper didn't argue his point. Astute as he was, he knew it was one Alec had no interest in weighing at the moment. Unprompted, Alec continued with a mournful sourness. "She wouldn't let me touch her."

So that's what this was about. Of course, it made sense. When I had flinched away from him and not Prosper, it had been unintentional. Retrospectively, I should have known he would internalise it.

He tended to be more sensitive to the slight reactions I had to him rather than the explosive emotions. I'd noticed it first when he would draw a single wavy line with his pinky on my lower thigh just to distract me from Jane and I's latest marathon. He was amused by the automatic twitch of my knee and especially by the pickup of my heartbeat. A response, I noticed, he had pre-planned to escape Jane's notice. Specifically achieved by choosing an especially harrowing point during the movie to do it. I would be distracted for the rest of the film, every time.

Prosper coughed politely. "Perhaps it is not the best time to indulge in your emotions."

Pulled from his thoughts, Alec resumed their previous topic and main point of business. "The Romanian is difficult to track."

Prosper didn't disagree, but proposed a delay. "You should eat before I go. I'll stay with her."

"She is not leaving my sight."

In an attempt to convince Alec, Prosper invested in a genuine approach. "On my life, you will not know my shoes." He believed Alec was afraid to be in his position, to lose me as he had lost Elizabeth. Prosper reminded me a knight of Camelot. I could almost picture him in armour, being knighted by King Arthur in one of my old storybooks.

His attempt must have failed, because Alec picked up at, "we haven't time for this. You must go, or the scent will be lost." There was a pause between the men. "And Prosper..." I couldn't help but let my eyes flicker open, more invested in the conversation than I could help being. "Do not search for Elizabeth."

The longing in his voice sent a flood of sorrow through me. "She's alive. I can feel it."

Even with my limited view, I could see the fierce expression on Alec's face. It carried the gravity of his next words. "Then we will find her, but you cannot rescue her alone. Discover what you can and return to Volterra with haste."

"Understood. I wouldn't—"

Alec cut him off. "I would. For her." I immediately shut my eyes, just in case. "I know what I am asking of you."

"But —"

"On my life," he repeated Prosper's phrase. "If she is alive, I will not rest until your mate is returned to you." There was a heaviness to the air that stole my breath.

The quiet that followed made me question if I'd been discovered, but nothing more was said. The compartment door slammed shut and Prosper was off.

Before I could contemplate my next move, Alec's voice lilted through the air. Calling me out, he stated simply, "I know you're awake."