Nope... not a whole new story. This is was a donation piece a few years ago. While it might continue at a later date, it is a stand 'as is' until I finish something.

That said... Soulless should update on Friday. This is a glorious version of Demetri I just had to share to tide you over until then.

~Speklez

*X*

The day had finally arrived, the one that was nearly ten years in the making. The emotional overload that was running rampant through her veins left her gasping for breath and visibly shaking as she pulled on her elbow length black gloves in final preparation of the evening ahead of her.

Setting her hands on the vanity top, Jade looked in the mirror before her, seeing the reflection of completely terrified dark blue eyes looking back at her. Her normally sun kissed skin far too pale in her opinion, and that had nothing to do with the makeup that covered her complexion. She had almost ten years to ready herself for this, to meet him for the first time she could ever remember, and she still wasn't ready.

She had arrived in Italy two days ago and, though she had been given free reign to move about as she pleased so long as she was in the care of a guard, she was unable to catch even a glimpse of the reason to her presence. It wasn't for a lack of trying on her part. He just wasn't there to be seen. He had been sent out on some task to deal with an issue involving a pack of werewolves and hadn't returned until about an hour ago. Since she couldn't think of a decent enough reason to leave the room she had been put in when she had a ball to ready for, she was now completely tied in knots over it.

She didn't even know what his name was.

Jade had lived among vampires all her life, the majority of them somewhat peaceful if not slightly sadistic if you caught them between feedings, but the ones she has spent the last two days with were the definition of demons; freshly fed or not. With them, it didn't matter. They were the top of the food chain, knew it, and owned that shit.

As per orders of the one she was here for, she had spent the majority of her time with this monster of creature named Felix and that fucker was mean. Not to her so much, but there were times that had she not known better, she probably would have wanted to knock his teeth out. He was rude, crass, and had a mouth that would turn a whore into a nun. When he spoke to her, however, he was almost able to be called nice, though he had refused to answer anything she asked, telling her that it wasn't his place to answer her.

When the letter came ten years ago, there was no signature, no name, only the stamp of the Volturi Guard at the bottom. The letter itself was actually very nice in her opinion if not a little on the proper side of the line. Then again, how else do you tell someone they now belong to you and not have them kill themselves first if not a nicely worded letter? The only thing that was missing from the elegant script was a name to put with it.

She had personally known many humans over the years of her life that had become the mate to a vampire, but not a single one had been claimed by an Italian, and not a single one ever had a nice thing to say about them. It didn't matter who was asked, or which species, the answer was always the same. Either they were monsters, they were blood thirsty demons, or they were simply evil incarnate. They were swift and brutal barbarians that never asked before they killed, showed no mercy to the damned, and never had a speck of remorse to the lost life.

And she was in the middle of their den.

The vampire that had chosen her, however, didn't seem to have the darkness she heard about, though she was positive he did. There was always a gift on her birthday, something else for Christmas. If she was cared enough about to have the time taken to send something to her, the vampire couldn't be pure evil as she had been led to believe. Then again, by their very nature, vampires were evil and whether this one thought about her or not, it was no different.

Shaking her head, Jade turned to look at the clock on the wall, trying to see how much longer until her escort showed up to retrieve her. Guessing at about ten minutes or so, she grabbed her cigarette case and lighter and went out on her balcony, leaning on her forearms on the railing and propped her chin in her palm. Sighing lightly, she lit up and looked out over the small but beautiful rose garden that was below, smoking quickly as she waited.

She had just stubbed out the cherry and returned to her room when there was a rap on her door. Jumping slightly at it, she sighed once again before spraying some perfume on and calling out for them to enter, not at all surprised to see Felix come in.

Felix smirked at the human his best friend had decided he wanted and chuckled as he crossed his arms. "You really need to calm down, Jade. This is, believe it or not, an occasion to celebrate. Besides, this little party is for you and you'll hurt the Mistress' feelings if you show up looking like you're walking the last mile."

Taking a deep breath and setting a hand on her stomach, she looked up at the six foot eight monster. Swallowing hard, "I kinda am, Felix, if you think about it."

Snorting and shaking his head, Felix snickered. "No, you're not. Trust me, you would know if you were." Presenting his arm and holding his other hand to the door, "shall we?"

Sagging her shoulders as she sighed again, Jade closed the distance and slipped her arm through Felix's elbow. Once they were out of her room and on their way to the ballroom, she looked up at him again. "You still won't tell me anything?"

Snickering with a grin, Felix just cocked a brow at her. "You haven't known jack shit for almost ten years. Five more minutes won't kill you."

Grabbing the skirt of her dress as they started down the stairs, Jade wrinkled her nose but said nothing, knowing it wouldn't make a difference anyways. Still though, she was persistent enough to give it a go again when the doors came into sight. Licking her lips, "why are you the one escorting me to the this and not him?"

Lifting a large shoulder, Felix grunted. "He just returned from a very long and grueling mission. I am going to assume that he took your human sensitivities into account and got a shower after his debriefing with the masters so he didn't show up covered in blood and dog fur." Looking down at her, "not the best first impression, I wouldn't think."

Jade couldn't have stopped the shudder that went down her spine if she was comatose. Gulping lightly and shaking her head, "not really, no."

Hearing her heart stutter, Felix's grin turned into an amused smirk. "Better get used to blood, guts, and gore, Little One, because here, it's pretty common if not an everyday part of someone's uniform."

That was the last thing said and the last image that was put in her head before Felix pushed open the doors to the ballroom and led her inside.

As she walked next to Felix, Jade let her eyes roam over the crowd, blinking when she saw more than just red eyes looking back at her. She had not expected there to be other humans here as well, but as she got closer to the dais, she began to wonder if they were here as dinner guests when she saw just as many black eyes looking at her as red. Swallowing hard again, she tightened her grip on Felix's arm as her nerves began to grow and start to get the better of her.

Rolling his eyes, Felix said nothing as he came to a stop before the dais where the three rulers sat, bowing his head to them before looking down at the human that was about to have a fucking heart attack.

Standing from his throne and waving away the guard, Aro gave the human before him a slight smile. "There is no need for you to be so worked up, Young Lady." Steepling his fingers and pointing them down, "this is a celebration. Do you have any idea how long it has been since the last time we have welcomed anyone into the coven?" Cocking his head when all the young lady did was seem to become more upset, he lifted a hand and crooked a finger at one of the servers. "Perhaps a drink to calm your nerves would help."

Barely biting back a whimper, Jade lifted her eyes. "I'm not old enough, Sir."

There was a dark, amused chuckle from the right as one of the other rulers stood and crossed his arms. "Like age matters. Age, Child, is a number to count the years you have been on the earth. However, when there is no set time to which you die, it ceases to exist and becomes nothing but an annoyance, especially when you stay the same for centuries." Slowly moving down the steps and picking up a glass of wine from the presented try, Caius held it out to the girl. "The drinking age set for humans only matters to humans. You will not see twenty one before your heart stops, so I suggest you forget about human law and just enjoy yourself tonight."

Biting the corner of her lip, Jade lowered her eyes slightly before looking back at the youngest of the three kings, reaching out and taking the glass from him with a small, unsure smile. Once it was in her grip, she licked her lips, her voice low and soft. "Do you know when?"

Caius shook his head. "No." Looking at his nails before rubbing his fingers together. "Contrary to popular belief, we do follow our own laws and it is forbidden to interfere with a male and his mate. Your fate is solely his decision. However, since he was changed before he turned twenty one, I very much doubt he would want his mate physically older than him."

Nodding once to him, though it wasn't lost on her that the king never gave her a name, Jade sighed as she lifted her glass to her lips. After taking her very first drink of alcohol, she looked back at Caius. "What should I do until he arrives?"

Turning his head, Caius searched the room for a moment before finding who he was looking for. Clearing his throat but not raising his voice, "Felix."

Excusing himself from his conversation, Felix made his way back over to the dais, dipping his head as his master once again addressed Jade. "You are free to do what you will until he gets here, just stay with your guard until then. I can't imagine it should be too much longer."

Looking back up at Felix, Jade nodded again before taking his offered arm. After a dip of the knees, she let Felix lead her away from the kings and out into the crowd of attendance. Before any clear destination was made to her, she glanced up at him. "Can we step outside, please? I don't like the way everyone's staring at me."

Knowing the tracker would have no problem locating his mate once he finally decided to show up to his own party, Felix nodded to her and redirected them to the raised patio that led to the main gardens. Before they were completely outside, Felix glanced over his shoulder and also noticed the looks she was receiving. He really didn't blame her for being as uncomfortable as she was. Lightly taking her wrist and removing her hand from his arm, he turned to the room and, once she was completely hidden behind him, a glare settled on his face before he growled loud, low, and deep.

He might not be a gifted member of the guard, but he was the strongest one on it. Not to mention he was also by far the biggest, so no one wanted to fuck with him. Jane didn't even really bother him anymore, having built up a tolerance to her gift of pain over the centuries. Alec could if he wanted to, but you could see his gift coming so it was avoidable if necessary.

As it stood, he was far more afraid of the tracker than he was the devil twins because you piss him off, there was no hiding from him. He had proven, on numerous occasions, he wouldn't give up until he caught up with you, either.

Snorting out a puff of air once everyone snapped their attention away from his appointed charge, Felix then turned back and, grabbing Jade by the waist, pulled her out of view of the doors.

Grunting at the action, Jade pulled away the moment she was able to, wrapping her arms around her midsection, barely able to mask the pain it caused and force it to look like fear instead. She knew Felix knew his grip wasn't feather light, but she certainly didn't want him to know it was as tight as it had been. She could only imagine it would lead to problems she absolutely didn't want to deal with.

Seeing the look on Jade's face, Felix sighed, thinking the fear was real and directed at him. Clasping his hand behind his back, he dipped his head . "I apologize, Jade. You weren't the one I was trying to scare."

Shaking her head, Jade gave a breathless giggle and hoped she was convincing enough. "It's alright. I just, never heard something quite like that before."

Cocking a brow as he leaned on the railing next to her. "Really? I would have thought that at some point over the last nearly eighteen years, you would have heard a pissed off supernatural growl before."

Setting her glass on the rail and leaning back against it as well, Jade laced her fingers together in front of her thighs. "I have. It just wasn't like that. The closest thing I think I have heard to that was about three years ago when me and a few of my friends got too close to a vampire and a werewolf having a territory dispute."

Nodding slowly once, Felix pursed his lips. "Yeah, that'll do it. We don't like each other anyways but if one crossed the border into the territory of the other, the shit will certainly hit the fan." Looking down at her, "you were damn lucky to get away from that with your life still intact."

Picking up her glass, Jade shook her head. "We were well within the vampire's border. It wasn't the whole thing that was being disputed; it was just the line." Giggling quietly after she swallowed her wine, "they were fighting over three inches."

Felix snorted. "They'll fight over millimeters, Little One. When you have the two most territorial creatures in existence right next to each other, it doesn't matter to them. One will try and kill the other over the width of a pinky fingernail clipping."

Turning her head up to look at him, Jade blinked. "That's fucking stupid."

Grinning, he snickered. "Doesn't make it any less true. The supernatural side of the population should not ever to be thought of as civilized. Yeah, we communicate and yeah we think at a higher capacity than humanity, but while humans are driven to act on emotion, we are ruled by instinct. If we're hungry, we feed. If we're horny, we fuck. If we're threatened, it's fight or flight. There is no real emotion involved in our decision making. While you're still trying to figure out if you should be scared enough to run or brave enough to fight, we either have already turned tail or are in the middle of whooping someone's ass. Humans will spend ten years with someone trying to figure out if they want to continue to be with that person while we have been mated for that same ten years. We have eternity but we are some really impatient fuckers."

Nodding as she finished her glass of wine, Jade tisked a bit. "Sounds like it." Playing with her empty glass, she cocked her head. "So, do you just not have emotions or, what?"

A snort came out at the question. "Of course we do. We were human once, remember? We just feel them differently than we used to. For example, when there is not a lot that can kill you, what's the point of being scared of anything? However, just because it's a pointless emotion for us doesn't mean we don't feel it. As a matter of fact, if there is something that strikes that particular cord, it's an incapacitating fear. We feel every emotion we used too, just a lot stronger and a lot deeper than before."

Humming, Jade's head tilted to the side. "Alright. So, my next question would be, is it true your kind never changes?"

Felix cocked his head as he thought about how to explain that. Making a noise in the back of his throat, "If you mean physically, then the answer is no. We're the same from the time we're bitten to the time we fry. If you mean a personal change, we experience time way differently than you do. A year to you is nothing but a moment to us. A human's entire life span is a blink to a vampire. If time affects us slower, than wouldn't it stand to reason that change would as well? It's not so much we never change, it's that we just do it at a different pace. There are only a few things that are instant and once they happen, there is no going back."

"What are those?"

Felix grinned at her as he shook his head. "I'm not answering that one."

Face dropping into pout, Jade whined. "Why?"

When a throat lightly cleared a few yards away, both Felix and Jade turned to face the new arrival to the party. Nodding his head towards the newcomer, Felix smirked at the now silent and slightly terrified human. "That's why." Dropping his voice of human range, Felix cocked a brow. "Took ya fucking long enough."

Demetri just shrugged an unapologetic shoulder, not bothering to lower his voice. "It's my party. I'll be late if I choose to." Turning his attention to his human, he sighed as he took in the woman she had become from the child he had once saw. Not moving his eyes from her, "I appreciate you seeing to her safety in my absence, Felix, but I will take it from here."

Jade saw from the corner of her eye as Felix pushed himself off the railing and nod, but she couldn't take her eyes off the vampire that was looking back at her. He was probably the most under dressed of anyone there. While everyone else was done to the nines in a three or four piece suit, he was in black slacks, a tucked-in black button up with the top few buttons left undone, and a very loosely tied tie around his neck that matched the color of her dress. On his head he had a brimmed, black, short top hat with the Volturi Crest on the left side that was tilted to the right and down over his eyebrow with unshined dress shoes on his feet. His outfit was finished off with the signature black, floor length, hooded jacket of the guard in lieu of a suit jacket. He was standing with one hand behind his back and a wine glass in the other, the stem through his fingers and the glass itself nestled in his palm.

As Demetri was about to go to his human, Felix set a hand on his shoulder to stop him before he lowered his voice, once again out of human hearing range, and told him about the others in attendance and the looks he had seen them giving Jade.

Jade bit her lip as she watched the vampire's head lower slightly, gulping as his eyes began to darken the longer Felix stood next to him until they were as black as his clothes. She didn't breath until she saw those eyes move away from her and narrow when he was looking back inside.

Demetri nodded once when Felix was done talking. "I'll take care of it." Once Felix was gone, he grinned with chuckle as his human began to fidget when he returned his attention to her. Moving slowly across the patio, "calm down, Mio Gemma Preziosa. You are not the only one that has waited so long for this."

Brow drawing as she bit her lip harder, Jade played with her fingers until he was about a foot away from her. Lifting her eyes, a spark of uncertainty lit in deep within them as she locked her blue orbs on his ruby ones. Taking a breath and swallowing, "so, um, you're him?"

Smiling slightly, Demetri nodded as he set his glass on the rail. "I am." He then looked back at her uncertain eyes, his grin only widening as she seemed to shrink back from the color of his own. His voice carried his amusement. "Don't worry, you'll get used to them."

Since there was nothing to say to that, Jade just nodded before licking her lips as she continued to play with her fingers. "So, do I get to know your name, now?"

Setting a hand over hers and lightly closing his fist to stop her fidgeting, he hooked a finger into her palm, lifting it away from the other and to his lips. Keeping his eyes on hers, he dipped his head, "Demetri, and I have waited a very long time to see you again, My Precious Giada." Then he pressed a kiss to her gloved knuckles.

Blinking at the statement, Jade whispered. "Again?"

Standing back to his full height, an affectionate look settle on Demetri's face as a tenderness enter his eyes. "Yes. However, that's a story better left for later. For now, I have something for you."

A confused little smile pulled at Jade's lips as Demetri reached into his inner pocket with the hand that wasn't still holding hers captive. "What?"

Pulling out a perfectly wrapped little box, Demetri held it up. "Your birthday present."

"But, my birthday isn't for two weeks."

Chuckling softly as he nodded, Demetri held it out to her. "Oh, I know, but for once I would like to see you open your gift and I cannot promise I will be here in two weeks."

Taking the package from him, Jade looked at it for a moment before looking back at Demetri. "Thank you, by the way, for the others. I would have sent a thank you card before but I never knew who to send it to."

Picking up his wine again, Demetri smiled at her as he lifted the glass to his lip. "You're quite welcome, Mio Gemma, but no thank you is needed. Your smile and enjoyment is thank you enough. And, the reason you never knew who to send something like that to was I wanted you to learn my name through a proper introduction. That was why I never signed anything."

Nodding and cocking her head, the words were out before she could think them through. "Then how did you know mine?" At the amused brow that slid up his forehead, Jade's head jerked down once. "Right, never mind." Returning her attention to the present in her hands when Demetri pointed a finger at it, Jade pulled the paper off the velveteen box, handing it to Demetri when he held his hand out out for it, and, biting the inside of her lip as she always did when she opened something from him, she lifted the lid and gasped at the choker that was lying in the satin.

It was silver and would wrap around her throat. In the center of the intricate design there was a stone of jade that looked like it was being held in place by two fairies and had a short chain that hung off the bottom with a teardrop shaped piece of onyx.

Covering her mouth with a hand, she stared at the choker with wide eyes for a moment before looking back up at Demetri. Moving her hand from her lips to her chest, she shook her head, her voice breathless. "It's beautiful."

Once again putting his glass down, Demetri crushed the paper in his hand before blowing the dust into the air, running one palm over the other a few times to get the residue off his skin. Picking the necklace out of the box, he slipped to stand behind his human. Lowering the choker over her head, he gave her a moment to move her hair before setting it in place and clasping it.

When she turned back to face him, he cocked his head to the side as he straightened the hanging stone. "Hmm, I suppose it is on it's own, but it's nothing but dull metal compared to the one that wears it."

Smiling as she set her fingers to her throat, Jade looked up at him through her lashes. "Thank you, Demetri."

The tender look from before reentered Demetri's eyes at the first time hearing his name in her voice. Gently setting his hand on her hip, he took her chin between his thumb and forefinger, tilting her head back to look in his eyes, "Again, you're very welcome, Giada." Clicking his tongue once, "I have every intention, Tesoro, to make you very happy in our life together. I know you have heard a great many things about me and I am willing to bet every one of them are true, however..."

Blinking a few times, her confusion was clear over the statement as she cut him off without thinking. "No, I've never heard of you before."

Flashing her teeth filled smirk, Demetri chuckled a dark sound. "Oh, I'm sure you have. Maybe not by name, no, but I assure you, you know who I am." Clicking his tongue once and lowering his voice when she shook her head, he looked up for a moment before locking eyes on hers. "I'll give you a hint. I am the one person on the planet that no one can hide from."

Jaw dropping and terror sparked eyes going wide, Jade ripped her chin out of his fingers and pulled away from his grip, taking a half step backwards, gaining a cocked brow from Demetri, and whimpered. "The Tracker."

Clasping his hands behind his back and bending at the waist so they were eye to eye, Demetri chuckled. "Told you you've heard of me." Standing back up and crossing his arms, "it is only within the coven that we go by name. To the outside, we go by gift if gifted and rank if not. A very clear example would be myself and Felix. I have to wonder, Jade, if this is your reaction to me, how is you made it through forty-eight hours of being under the protection of The Enforcer."

Curling into herself once again, Jade stared at him in horror. She couldn't begin to process the fact that Felix was who he was after experiencing him firsthand, so instead she ignored it completely. Swallowing hard, she spoke in a barely there voice. "You're a monster."

Jolting back as if offended, Demetri scoffed lightly. "Well, that certainly wasn't very nice." Then he cocked his head, a thoughtful look overtaking his features. "It is true though, I suppose. I really am a prick with a nasty temper and no tolerant fuse to speak of." Then he straightened his head and gave her a flat look, "but, that still wasn't very nice. You might not approve of how I do my job but that doesn't give you the right to call me names, nor have I ever had any kind of negative affect on your life so you have no reason to have that opinion. I will never deny the fact that I am a cold hearted bastard. That is exactly what I am, but I justify my actions to no one but my Masters."

Brow drawing down and nose wrinkling, Jade merely whimpered again. "But, the overkill..."

Demetri snorted as he cut her off. "What the fuck is overkill? In this coven, that you only think you know, there is no such thing. You want to see overkill? Remind me to record your first feeding after I sink my teeth into that plump little vein of yours. THAT, My Dearest, is overkill and you're not gonna give a shit."

Wrapping her arms around her middle, Jade bit her lip before letting out a quiet sigh. "And when is that going to happen?"

Demetri hummed before shrugging. "I haven't decided yet. It could be as soon as tonight or it could be around a year from now." Then he grinned, "but don't worry. When I do decide, you'll be the first to know."

Seeing the fall of her face, Demetri sighed as his eyes softened in response to her distress. Taking the step that closed the distance between them, he crooked a finger under her chin and lifted her face up. "Hey now, none of that. Believe me, you're not going to want to know it's about to happen. If you think you're scared right this second, you're not. You don't ever want to see the eyes of a vampire right before the bite that kills you. As for everything else, I am what I am and I make no apologies. However, you have nothing to fear from me."

Blinking a few times to hold the surfacing tears at bay, Jade shook her head . "But, I've heard such... horrific things about you."

Nodding his head with slightly pursed lips, "I have done, and will continue to do, extremely horrific things, and enjoy it immensely. I very much enjoy my job, and I am very good at it. It is largely due to the stories you've heard there is so little strife these days between the human world and the supernatural, as well as between the different supernaturals. But, what makes you think that I would ever do anything to harm my mate?" When he saw something spark in her eyes at the term, Demetri smiled at her. "When dealing with threats and stupid little bastards that cross clearly defined lines, yeah, I'm gonna be brutal, barbaric, cold, merciless... hell, let's call this one as it is, shall we? I'm gonna be the demonically evil fucking prick that I am, period. When it comes to you, and only you, I am going to be extremely protective, toeing the realm of possessive," sliding his hand from her chin to settle against her neck and cupping her cheek and jaw, inching closer to her so they were nearly toe to toe and softening his voice, "soft, caring, gentle; the polar opposite. You're going to know Demetri while everyone else deals with 'The Tracker'. You will never, ever, have anything to fear from me."

Taking in a shaky breath and letting it out slowly, Jade licked her lips before pulling the bottom between her teeth, lowering her eyes . Drawing her brow down , she tisked lighting before huffing a puff of air out through her nose. "Your tie's crooked."

Demetri just snorted but held still as his human lifted her hands and pulled and tugged at the knot a few times before huffing and just undoing the knot entirely.

Pressing her lips together as she set about the task of properly tying a necktie knot, Jade lifted her eyes . "Whoever taught you how to tie a knot was an idiot." Looking back at her project, she did the little trick her uncle taught her before pulling the front through and tightening the knot again, tugging at the top once to make sure it stayed in place before smoothing the tie down the front of Demetri's shirt, smirking slightly when it laid perfectly.

Demetri cocked a brow at her before looking at his tie, blinking when it was perfect. Lifting his eyes back to her, "How the fuck did you do that?"

Grinning , Jade giggled quietly. "My mom used to tell me that fixing a man's mistake was ingrained in a woman's DNA." Lifting her eyes to Demetri's dubious face, she shrugged, "my uncle taught me. I wear them all the time and he kept getting pissed off at me for it always being crooked. So, he spent a few minutes showing me how to properly tie one."

Hooking his fingers through the loop around his neck and pulling the cursed thing looser, Demetri grunted . "Huh. Well, I hate the damn things anyways and only wear them when I have to."

Growling at him, Jade glared as she grabbed his wrist and pulled. "Damn it, you're fucking it up." Fixing it again once he gave into her request and moved his hand, she shook her head and huffed slightly again.

Demetri just grinned at her once she was finished and looking at him again. "Well, I believe we have been absent from the party long enough. Shall we go inside?" When he saw her back snap straight, he was reminded about what Felix had told him when he first arrived. Smiling as he presented his elbow, he led her towards the doors when she took it. "It'll be fine, Giada."

Looking up at him with a slightly pinched face, "but I don't like the way they look at me like I'm dinner."

Cocking a brow, Demetri smirked at her. "You're a human. To them, you are dinner. However, there is a slight difference between you being on my arm and you being on Felix's."

"What's that?"

Keeping his face to her but moving his eyes to the room they were about to enter, knowing that every vampire present was able to hear him, he said. "Should someone overstep themselves, I am allowed to get violent whereas Felix is not." Looking back at Jade, he winked at her before escorting her into their party.