SOMEWHERE ONLY WE KNOW ➻ DEMETRI VOLTURI

D I C I A N N O V E

Laying on her side, Cecilia leafed through the pages of the false file once more. Though she knew it was a complete fraud, she still hoped to find some valuable information. After all, the best lies were based on a certain truth. Considering that Demetri had seen right through it, however, left Cecilia wondering how good the lie was after all. Still, she had to admit that it was some impressive work, even if it was fake.

Demetri had left to go hunting, leaving her alone in the hotel. She never liked it much when she was on her own. It was like she was missing a pair of eyes and hands to protect her. She had learned to fight her own battles through the years. In fact, she was quite an alright warrior, matching Jane in most skills, but it was the feeling of her soulmate, or rather the lack thereof, that caused a hollow ache in her heart.

It made her chuckle. She had always thought of her family members as cheesy and sometimes even a little too sticky, but here she was, the exact girl she despised in all the novels she'd read. She supposed it helped that she and Demetri were actual soulmates, and that the girls in novels only claimed it.

Letting out an entirely human sigh, simply for the purpose of creating a little sound in the silent room, she rolled off the bed. Gracefully, she landed on the ground, her eyes landing on one of her dresses littered on the floor. As she bend down to grab the piece of fabric, she noticed a white piece of paper laying underneath the bed. Forgetting all about the dress, she let herself fall to her knees and snatched the piece of paper away.

Sitting down on her knees, she turned the paper around. It was a photograph, one that had probably fallen underneath the bed when Demetri had sent the file and the papers with it through the room, but that wasn't what surprised her. It showed the same design as the one on the ring Anya had been wearing. Now, she recognized that it wasn't a tulband, but a crown, made of hundreds of shimmering jewels.

Frowning her eyebrows, Cecilia pushed herself off the ground, laying the picture in the middle of the bed carefully while she put the dress away. A jolt of shock moved through her body as she suddenly heard the door being opened and quickly, she stepped away from the dresser to see who had entered. As soon as her golden eyes landed on Demetri, a wave of relief crashed over her. She placed her hand over heart, which would have been beating erratically if it could.

She forced a smile on her mouth. "You scared me."

"Why?" he asked. His eyes were a fiery kind of red, a sign that he had just fed and he glanced at her with a worried expression. "Did something happen?"

"No," she said, shaking her head. She chuckled, some of the tension ebbing away. "It's just that this whole business has got me on my toes."

The expression on his face changed into a sympathetic one. "I know."

"But look what I found," she continued, determined not to let her nerves destroy the mood. She walked over to the bed and grabbed the picture, handing it over to Demetri. He stared at it, obviously not knowing what exactly he was staring at.

"This is the crown the late tzars and emperors of Russia wore," he said finally. He side-stepped her, his eyes landing on the file that was strewn all over the bed. Cecilia knew what he must be thinking, that she was wasting her time and that she should stop it, the look in his eyes said as much, but he kept quiet. "What of it?"

"It must have fallen under the bed," she said. "But I recognized it from somewhere else. The ring Anya wore to the dinner, it had the exact same design."

"You looked at the rings on her fingers?"

"Well, it caught my eye," Cecilia defended herself. "The rhinestones reflected the light."