A/N: - As Demetri returns the green eyed monster is now rampaging around Volterra xx Thanks everyone 'Visibility Isn't Always What It Seems' passed the 10,000 hits mark xx Alexis
Villa Paradiso Cont
Esme, Jane and Bella had left for the day to do some serious shopping for the new hotel, they had looked online for some period pieces and Rome was the place to go. Work had begun on the Villa and once again Bella was using the local tradesmen and women, this being a resounding success with the locals. Everyone in Volterra threw themselves into the project wholeheartedly, bringing the place slowly back to its former glory and opulence.
Demetri was set to return about two hours before Bella's party and Heidi was therefore also ready, so the minute he left the King's offices she would be waiting, fully intending to use her lure on the tracker and have him calling her name out loud, as the party returned from Rome. She was staking her claim, forgetting two monumental things,
One, she was forbidden to use her lure on other Volturi members.
Two, Demetri was not in the least bit interested in her and had told her repeatedly so over the last three-plus centuries.
Unfortunately, jealousy has no sense of reason and Heidi was determined if she couldn't have him as a mate, then no one ever would. This was not the first interloper she'd seen off and she was getting very cocky as she'd done this twice before and not been caught, although not here in the Citadel. But she never seemed to grasp the reality of the situation, he, Demetri, would only ever choose her whilst under the power of her lure.
So as the three laughing, happy women, arrived back at the Citadel, Heidi had a sadly unsuspecting and completely naked Demetri exactly where she wanted him and in full view of them and hearing distance of everyone else, Demetri was as she planned, roaring her name out in ecstasy as he came, with Heidi under him spread across the bonnet of one of his muscle cars.
'Well fuck me! How desperate was he to get balls deep in her, and in public no less? Nice ass though, hell nice everything really!'
The tenuous link Marcus had seen previously between Demetri and Bella dissipated somewhat.
"Goodness me!" Esme exclaimed as she hurried past the sight of so much naked vampire flesh.
"What the fuck? You've done it now Heidi!" blasted Jane, as a stunned Demetri shook his head and realised his position and state of undress as Heidi's grip on his mind slipped at Jane's outburst.
"Heidi! Giatí?" he roared at the still naked woman lying atop of his most favourite car.
He glanced over to see the tail end of the three woman disappearing through the garage doorway to the Citadel. His mind was registering only two and he knew the third must have been the elusive Bella Swan.
He sniffed the air deeply and cursed to himself, "Skatá!"
When he smelt nothing but the other two women. So she was scentless too, this would make things much harder for him, he thought. He stooped to retrieve his clothes and walked away leaving Heidi where she was. Aro stepped out of the shadows as Demetri departed and held his hand out to Heidi, she took it reluctantly knowing it would be her undoing.
"Oh, Cara! You have broken many rules today, Heidi. Was it worth it? Was a quick roll in the proverbial hay, worth losing your position in the guard? Silly girl, he doesn't want you, not now or ever has he wanted you! You shamed yourself and the guard by your actions today!" he said as he leads her away after draping her robe around her shoulders.
As word percolated through the Citadel of Heidi's downfall, many of the other jealous women accepted they would never win the affections of the tracker now. But several were still determined to at least try, if not in attaining him, stopping Esme or Bella getting him for themselves. Jane had given Aro the other nineteen names and he called them all to the great hall.
"Well ladies, Heidi has lost her position in the elite guard, she has been demoted and sent to one of our less salubrious outposts, which of you wish to join her in exile from Volterra?" he demanded,
there was silence as he strode among them, touching hands or naked arms, of the nineteen, six more were unrepentant in their quest to win the tracker, or to at least stop anyone else getting him. So they too were exiled to several far flung outposts and replacements for them all brought in or promoted.
Sending the rest back to work, some demoted from the upper guard, all with a severe warning to never speak or look directly upon the leader of the elite guard again unless directed by Demetri himself to do so. Aro shook his head sadly, wishing he'd realised just how much of a problem this had become, without him knowing it before now.
Jane spent the evening explaining what had happened today, telling Bella and Esme who had been exiled or demoted and why. How using one's power on another member of the guard was frowned on and dealt with severely, it was only permitted in the case of an uprising or the said vampire had lost their mind and needed taking down for their own safety or that of those around them.
'Bloody hell, their laws have sub-clauses, their rules have provisoes! This place, it's a cross between a Political Soap Opera and a High School Drama! Sheez, what a palaver'
The more Bella thought about it the funnier it became until she was full out laughing her head off. Esme and Jane were just staring at her as she tried to explain,
"Come on! It's like 'The West Wing' meets Clueless' here!" Bella sniggered and soon the other two were joining her,
"Or maybe, 'House of Cards' meets 'Mean Girls' instead" laughed Esme,
"Damn it's so fraught with plots and sub-plots, sex and subterfuge, we could have our own show, how about 'Scandal in Volterra ' shouted Jane, "We could make it a musical".
In another part of the Citadel, Demetri was having his sixth shower, trying to scrub the smell of Heidi's scent off of his body. The car she had laid upon had been removed from the garage and set alight, he knew he would never have driven it again because of her. Once out of the shower he answered a summons from the brother's to their private office, where Aro explained who was exiled and where asking Demetri to keeps tabs on them all for the foreseeable future.
As he idly watched the little lights in his head moving around from place to place, Demetri made a startling revelation, he couldn't see Miss Swan, but he knew where she was! The lights of the people around her glowed, or rather pulsed when they were with or he assumed talking to her. Well, that was a start, God help him if he needed to find her when there was no one with her.
Caius has decided now was as good a time as any for sparring, he called the Whitlock's suite asking them to join him and Demetri in the training room. Demetri was glad to be doing something to take his mind off the day's events. Charlotte declined and set off looking for a distraction, she found it in the recreation room, in the form of Bella, Esme and Jane.
They had quietened down enough to go over the plans for the Villa and were discussing having a grand opening, maybe an evening soiree or ball type of thing with the guests in the relevant period costumes and jewellery etc, all supplied by them. Jane said there were plenty of gents apparel and dresses within the Citadel, plus vampire seamstresses to do adjustments, but they couldn't use any real jewels as people would notice.
"We'll need to find someone to make copies" Jane murmured,
"Hello! I make and sell jewellery back home in the states, I would love the chance to do some replica stuff!" Charlotte said in a hopeful voice.
Being mated to two males was one thing, but she seriously lacked female companionship, it was on occasion very lonely for Charlotte. She loved Jasper and Peter with all her heart and soul, but sometimes she wished there was someone for her to talk to, to chill and hang out with, they had each other for any male bonding they needed.
"Well don't just stand there looking sexy! Pull up a chair and tell us more" Bella said and Charlotte heaved a sigh of relief, this girl she liked.
An hour later, after Bella explained about the Lodge and Retreat and the new Villa venture, which Esme and Rose would be running, they were all in the vaults with Marcus, while Charlotte photographed all the pieces from the time period of the original Villa. She was having a wonderful time, although she'd never met Esme before she did know Rose as Jasper was very fond of her and Emmett.
Charlotte was so pleased they had broken free of Carlisle, Alice and Edward and told Esme she was happy for her too. Jane and Charlotte were also getting on well as both were seasoned fighters in their own right and again here was someone unafraid of Jane's reputation. Marcus had then mentioned he was off to the training room to see the sparring, so the ladies decided to join him and watch the proceedings from the upper balcony.
Charlotte still had the camera with her and couldn't resist snapping many shots of the sight below them, all four men were shirt and shoeless. Two in slacks and two in jeans, all four bodies highly decorated by scars. Caius and Demetri's coming from battles or newborns only, Jasper and Peter, unfortunately, had serious signs of torture marring their alabaster skin, Jasper's being by far the worst.
'Wow! It's like a choreographed ballet, I can damn near taste the testosterone from here!'
Esme had seen Jasper's scars before when he'd sparred with Emmett on occasion, but she could see now he had been holding back all those times. These four were far more dangerous than most, but like Bella, she could see the beauty in the scene below her. It reminded her of murals she'd once seen of some Greek Olympians, she mentioned this to Marcus and they wandered off discussing murals, frescoes and art in general.
Jane leant over and whispered in Charlotte's ear, "Fuck woman you're one lucky bitch!" to which Charlotte just smiled. Half an hour later the men all stopped at the sound of renting material,
" Gamóto! Can they not make trousers from a material that withstands fighting?" Demetri demanded,
"Yeah, it's denim and their called jeans" Peter laughed loudly as Demetri called for a pair of training pants from a watching guard.
Totally oblivious to their audience he ripped off the offending trousers to replace them with the pants, only to hear Bella's voice from the balcony say,
"Is he a bit of an exhibitionist? That's the second time today he's flashed us his ass!"
Bella was standing with a barely straight face, her lips pressed hard together and Jane couldn't help but burst out laughing as Demetri put his head in his hands. He was making an impression on her but it was not exactly a good one. Caius slapped him on the back smiling and said in a very low tone that only those four heard,
"There are easier ways to get a woman than exposing yourself, we could offer you some tips!"
The two Texans couldn't help laughing along with him. Demetri shook his head at them before glancing up at the balcony, only to see Bella wink at him, before leaving the room. This was his first look at her properly and he was stunned, she was beyond beautiful and he felt as if his stone heart fluttered in his chest. Turning away, he growled low but audible to the three other men with him,
" Dikos Mou!"
Jasper and Peter both raised their eyebrows in Caius' direction, he smiled nodding and replied,
"I think he said, 'Mine!' Yes that's the closest translation", they all smiled and nodded patting the confused Demetri on the back, he was unaware he'd voiced the thought out loud.
Bella too was feeling a little strange, she could remember this feeling from when she was human, she was a little panicked, but also nervous and confused. The fight or flight sensation was warring within her, alongside the want to return to the training hall. Marcus who was still standing with Esme, smiled as she passed by him, the bond had solidified now, no longer wispy and ethereal, they only had to accept each other and it would be damn near unbreakable.
If anyone in the Citadel had cared, or even happened to be listening, they might have heard two voices far below them, raised in distress. Their sanity slowly being threatened from within, a just and fitting punishment some would say.
"Shut up! For the love of God, please Shut up!" moaned one curled up in a ball, her hands over her ears and her eyes glazed over.
"I'm going to rip you to shreds when I am released, Shut up you moronic fool!" said the other pompous idiot.
Strangely thinking his puny threats would stop the flow of spoken words which contradicted the speaker's thoughts. Edward never could grasp his importance was of his own making, no one else saw him as anything but a foolish, greedy, selfish child to be ignored.
But even in silence, Malachi would slowly drive them insane, the inner thoughts of a mad man were unpleasant and beyond far-fetched but they continued hour after hour, as he rambled along loudly. His name may have meant 'Angel', but his thoughts were beyond demonic. Even Aro refused to read Malachi's mind, for fear of what would be revealed.
Giatí? (Γιατί?) - Why?(Greek)
Skatá! (Σκατά!) - Shit! (Greek)
Dikos Mou! (Δικος μου!) - Mine! (Greek)
A/N: - I'm reading 2 works in Progress the first called 'Soulless', by Speklez (Demetri x Bella pairing) if you haven't already started to follow it, please do it's awesome, as is the second, 'Intrigue' by Spudzmom (Jasper x Bella pairing) xx Alexis