Eyes closed tight, one hand over her mouth while the other was covering an ear, Bella sat on the dirty floor behind a bar, trying to stay quiet and out of sight like she was told to as screams and crashes assaulted her hearing. Every new sound made her cringe, and every time a voice was cut off, a new tear slid down her cheek. When Demetri told her the only way he was going to be able to actually get out of the area was to eat, while also making it perfectly clear she was going to present because he wasn't letting her more than ten feet from him, she had tried to steel herself against the barrage of emotions that were going to come with knowing several humans were going to have to die for her to live, but she wasn't expecting to literally be dropped behind a bar to keep her out of his sights when he released the inner demon that lived within him.
She hadn't been keeping track of time, only keeping track of how many voices were forever silenced before a deafening quiet took hold of the hold in the wall Demetri found.
12...
12 people died. She knew his stomach could not hold that much blood, and with that knowledge came the additional tidbit that the rest of who he didn't eat were nothing more than collateral damage, something she had once heard him say back in Washington wasn't something he cared all that much about.
Several minutes had passed since the last time she heard anything, but still she remained where she was, not sure if it was safe yet to make the fact there was still one more living being in the building known. She knew he could hear the thundering of her heart without the screams to cover it, and he was the one that literally dropped her where she was when he crashed through the door, but he said to stay put until he said otherwise, and that was, for once, exactly what she was going to do.
In the middle of the chaos that surrounded him, Demetri's glowing red eyes looked for any signs of life, finally able to completely ignore the last remaining heartbeat in the room. 2000 years afforded him some of the best control in the vampire world, but over a month without feeding while constantly having his mind taken over by someone else and the fact the human was trying to quiver herself out of existence was truly nothing short of a miracle.
Using his toe to kick a cue stick next to his foot up so he could catch it, he smashed it over his thigh and, twisting around, he threw it sharp end first with perfect precision for it to impale itself in the head of a human that did nothing more to twitch, which he knew dead bodies were prone to do, but in this moment, it was certainly better to err on the side of caution. It wouldn't be overly long before this was discovered, but now that he was fully back to himself, even carrying a human, he would be long gone before someone even a block away could stumble across it.
While he glanced at himself in the mirrored wall behind the bar, he didn't give it a second though. He was absolutely drenched in sticky drying blood, but it was what it was. There was more to what went on in the ten minutes since he kicked in the door and laid waste to everyone that was present than just feeding. He was coiled so tight for so many reasons, just filling his belly with the right kind of food wasn't going to do anything to lessen it. He had to do what he did or there was absolutely no way he was going to be able to get on a plane with a human and a shifter and the human and shifter making it, alive, to disembark.
Leaning over the bar, a drop of blood fell from his hair, landing with a loud splat on the human curled into the smallest ball he was sure she could make of herself. His lips puckered and pulled to the side when he heard her whimper at the wetness, knowing she knew what it was without her even having to open her eyes. There was a slight pang of something that came from the noise, but he honestly did not care to try and name it. He certainly didn't feel bad about what he did, there being literally no other options, but he did suppose he might have put too fine a point on the black and white situation they were in. It was literally a them or her ordeal, and of the thirteen humans in the room when he started, there was only one he cared about.
And it was to his utter shock and, some level of disgust, he did actually care.
It wasn't too far an extent, but it was too enough of one that should something happen to the human, he knew it would have a negative effect on him, and as he looked down at her, he knew it had nothing to do with the passing resemblance to his mate when she was human. It was a general rule for him that, unless he was hungry, he didn't have much to do with humanity. They weren't really all that worth his time, their time on the planet being so short it became pointless to be involved in their lives. With this one though... that was no longer the case.
In Washington, his life was never, not for even a single moment, in any danger. He was simply following the orders given to the best option to protect her to avoid future issues with that pack of wolves. Sure, had she died when he left her in that clearing the dogs would have been a nuisance, but even the drive to avenge their version of a mate wouldn't have endangered anyone but themselves.
This was an altogether different situation.
From the moment this human boarded that plane with Jade and Felix, there was nothing but danger to her. This human literally risked her very life to save his, and for no other reason than she was asked to. It was one thing when the person she put her life on the line for was her mother, but him? She put everything on the line to save someone that, not 24 hours prior to this moment, didn't give a single shit about her continued existence. Had something happened to her in the month since that newborn debatical, he could have just shrugged it off as an unfortunate side effect of her being a human.
Now though, he found himself biting back a growl at the fact that, no matter what, when this girl finally succumbed to her humanity, regardless of how it happened, he was going to miss her.
Keeping that revolation to himself, he laced his fingers together and leaned on the bartop, speaking for the first time since they entered the building. "You are aware, yes, that this is far from over."
For Bella's part, she thought she did well in not completely jumping out of her skin at the sound of Demetri's smooth voice as it reached her ears. Licking her lips and opening her eyes, she first glanced to the drop of crimson on her knee where it landed before tilting her head back and finally looking up at the blood covered vampire looking back at her. Her breath was stolen from her at the sight, but even without it, she was able to respond. "I know."
Cocking his head to the side, he hummed in his throat. "No, you don't. All of this? This was the easy part. Things will only become harder from this point on." When he saw the look on her face change, he sighed through his nose. "Before we can return you to your home, we must first handle the situation in mine, and it's not simply going to be solved by my showing back up. Far too much time has passed for that to be the case, and my coven's den isn't a place a human goes and leaves with a heartbeat."
No matter what he thought, that was something she understood. But, instead of trying to make him understand she wasn't as stpid as he seemed to think she was, she instead decided to try and make herself feel better by attempting to lighten the mood a bit. So, she shrugged. "Doesn't matter. My dad is gonna kill me anyway when I get home, so if nothing else, that'll save him the hassle of trying to cover up a murder."
Not finding an ounce of humor in her statement, Demetri leveled her with a serious look. "I will kill him before he has the chance to so much as touch you."
Gulping at the look that entered his eyes, Bella cleared the lump that formed in her throat. "I wasn't serious. He's going to be nine kinds of pissed off, but he won't actually do anything to me."
Face not changing, Demetri unlocked his fingers and reached a hand down to her to help her to her feet. Once she was up, he locked their eyes. "And I will be there to make sure of it."
*X*
Paul had been called a lot of things over the course of his life. Cocky, head strong, determined, all of things were to a near fault, and he never really gave it much thought. He was actually all those things. When you're an orphan though, you tend to grow up faster than you should, and all the things other kids were taught by their parents, he had to teach himself. Learning to navigate life on your own, without the guidance of a father or the patience of a mother, you really only learned how to do things the right way by first trying all the wrong ones. Sure, the grown ups of the tribe didn't let him starve to death, but with them having their own kids to raise, that was about where their help ended.
He was about as self made as someone could be, and he got there damn near solely on his own.
The fact that he grew up alone, and did so with little aid, turned him into the self assured asshole that everyone on the Rez knew him to be. It's what shaped him into the man that no longer asked for help, because he had learned a long time ago he didn't really need it, and no one was all that interested in giving it anyway. His cockiness and self assured attitude were hard earned, and when you actually go through something like that, it's almost impossible to turn off. If he gave it much more thought, he would have been able to tell Jared that when he was asked why he didn't go to him and Sam before he and Bella left the country to save a vampire.
As it stood though, even after the all the time he spend with them, and how many times he had been assured they did actually have his back, old habits were hard to break, which was why he was standing as tall as his body would allow him as he stared down two vampires that had finally caught up with him, Demetri's jacket still in his mouth, as he put forth more bavado than he felt.
He was tired. He was in pain. He didn't know if he was about to have to fight for his life, or if now that the odd colored leaches knew they had been fooled and Demetri wasn't there, they were going to turn their back on him and take off in the other direction like the female of the pair suggested. He learned when it came to pairs like this back in Washington, it was the dude that had pretty much all the say in any given situation, so when the guy looked as though the idea left a bad taste in his mouth, Paul made every attempt to prepare to fight without making it obvious, for the first time ever deciding to channel his inner Sam and wait them out instead of diving in claws first while also doing what Jared usually did and try and figure out how to stall them just a little while longer.
He realized in that moment that, regardless of what happened when he finally made it home, in the last three days, he had really grown as a person.
There was a charge on the air, the face of the male vampire changing once again, causing Paul's hackels to rise and, in response, a growl to rumble in his throat. The dude decided his course, which in turn chose Paul's.
Lowering his chest, his lips pulled from his teeth, baring his fangs as he finally dropped Demetri's coat to the sand. It wasn't like he had any attachment to it, and it also wasn't like he would be able to actually do anything with it in his mouth.
Shifting his weight from paw to paw, his growl turning into a snarl, his fang clicking together as he snapped at the air, hoping to show he was in better condition than he actually was, Paul prepared himself to lunge into a fight, but never got the chance before his next snarl to come out as a high pitched whine when he felt something sharp stab him in the neck.
And the reaction was instant.
Eyesight going blurry and head spinning, he whipped his massive head to the side, coming nose to face with a stone faced Felix. Swaying slightly as his vision began to tunnel, he whined again, not really meaning to, but unable to stop himself.
Felix, looking the shifter in his distant eyes, ripped the syringe from his neck and crushed it in his palm. His voice was off hand, but held nothing but fact. "You've done your job, Pup." Watching as the giant wolf collapsed and changed back into his human form, Felix then shifted his eyes to the now far less confident Amun as he removed his cape and covered the naked body at his feet. "It's now time for us to do ours."
Shifting his eyes once again to look between the two vampires twenty feet from him, Felix barely bit back the snort at a blood drenched Demetri, and merely cocked a brow, his only show of surprise, when a still very human Isabella poked her head out from around his arm. There was nothing of the normal regal air that usually surrounded the tracker. There wasn't an inch of his that wasn't crimson. His clothing was torn and his hair either sticking up or matted to his head. Felix had seen his boss in several different situations over the course of service on the guard, but filthy wasn't one of them.
Crossing his huge arms over his chest, his question was phrased in a way it could have been for Amun, but it was clearly for Demetri. "Do you have any idea what the fuck this shit caused?"
Amun, having no idea they had been joined by anyone else, too focused on figuring out how he hand his mate were going to get away from the Volturi Executioner, opened his mouth to retort something along the lines of him having no business in his territory, was stopped short from doing so by the unexpected voice behind him.
"I have been apprised of the situation, yes."
Felix, a grin on his lips, did finally snort. "Pompous and proper as always, even looking like you bathed in the blood of your enemies. Did you even eat, or just take a crimson shower?"
Demetri merely rolled his eyes. "Shut the hell up, Felix. You have not the slightest idea what the last hour has been like."
Lips twisting and nose wrinkling, Felix grunted. "And with how you look, I never want to." Then, he cocked his head. "What do you want to do with them?"
Demetri, looking back and forth between his sire and the female Amun took as his mate, he considered his options, but eventually just lifted a shoulder. "Let them go." Seeing Felix open his mouth to argue, he then flicked his eyes to his right hand. "It's not like they can hide, Felix, and we have far more pressing matters to deal with. Besides, there are others to take into consideration. When this vampire burns, it will be with his whole coven. I'm not dealing with this shit again. Twice in the span of a month is twice too many."
He then locked his eyes on his sire's, his own arms crossing over his chest, his spine straightening. "Run... before I change my mind." Not so much as turning his head, Demetri stopped the venom in Amun's veins before he got too far in his granted escape. "I'll see you soon, Sire."
Felix, on the other hand, watched Amun stumble a step before turning bewildered eyes on Demetri. "Are you out of your fucking mind? Why would you let him go?"
Demetri, a level look on his face, his eyes devoid of all emotion, clicked his tongue. "Like I said... there are others to consider that care much more than I do if that vampire dies. Patience and timing, Felix, are two things you really need to cultivate into your bag of tricks. Now..." uncrossing one arm and pointing to Paul, his voice became much darker. "Explain that."
Gulping, Felix tried to clear the lump in his throat. He knew Demetri developed something of a soft spot for the full human back in Washington, but he didn't think it extended to the half human. Putting his hands up and taking a half step back, he cleared his throat again. "He's fine, I swear. He's just sedated." The look on Demetri's face clearly asked why, and Felix answered without the question being voiced. "The dog cou..."
Pain erupting in his mouth, Felix looked up from his new position on his back to a surprisingly irate Demetri glaring down at him, his eyes black and teeth showing.
For the tracker, his eyes on Felix, but his every enhanced sense on Bella, who he left standing where he set her down to make sure she didn't once again get snatched away, growled. "That dog risked his life, and that of his mate's, to save mine while you, knowing for point of fact where I was, allowed the rules and laws of someone that is very likely to be dead when we arrive back at the palace to keep you on the other side of a stupid border. He has earned every last ounce of my respect, and you will show him what he has earned through his own split blood, or I will knock your fucking teeth down your god damn throat. His name is Paul. I suggest you use it."
Reaching up and cracking his jaw, Felix nodded. "Right... Paul could barely stand. It was either I take him out of the fight, or Amun did, with two very different means of doing so."
Growling one more time, Demetri snapped his teeth at his fellow guard before turning to look at the human who had inched her way across the distance he left between them. Jerking his head to tell her to pick up the pace, he scooped Bella back up into his arms when she was close enough to do so, and looked down at Felix. "Grab him and let's go. I used venom on his shoulder to force close panther teeth marks so he didn't bleed to death. He needs actual medical attention, and soon, or just 'taking him out of the fight' isn't going to be enough to save him."
*X*
For all the ways Jade would have thought for Demetri to arrive at the hanger, covered head to toe in blood hadn't crossed her mind. She went from pure and utter excitement at his approach to almost cringing as he walked towards her, Bella jogging to keep up, and Felix behind her with Paul unconscious and hanging from the behemoth's shoulder; thankfully to her, wrapped in Felix's cape. Sure, he was stupid hot for a shifter, but now was certainly not the time to oggle someone else's mate.
Backing out of his way as her own male passed her without so much as a word, Jade fell into step next to Bella, her eyes looking at the human for answers, but seeing she was somewhere else. With as much blood as was on her, she was sure Bella was wherever that took place, so instead of asking anything, she just followed her onto the plane, and took a seat where Demetri told her to.
She had figured he would want to change his clothes, so Jade had put clean ones on one of the tables, Demetri wasting no time just ripping off his blood covered clothing and tossing it on to one of the seats, and pulling on the blood free ones. There wasn't a shower on board, and because of the condition of the shifter, before they went back to Voltara, they would have no choice but to go to one of the safe houses. He had given his word he would make sure both human and shifter returned to America, and by God or the Devil, that was going to happen.
Directing Felix to place Paul on his stomach on the bench seat at the rear of the plane before getting the plane in the air, Demetri finally looked at his mate. He was silent for a long moment, taking in the fear in her eyes, but choosing to ignore it for the time being. "You know as well as I do there are thousands of humans that know of our existence. What the hell possessed you to go to the only one of them you were explicitly told to stay away from?"
Bella, who had been laser focused on Paul since Felix laid him down, snapped her attention to Jade, her eyes wide and jaw laxed. "What..."
Jade, unable to look at either of them, gave a rough clearing of her throat. "She owed me for Washington."
Lip curling in the corner on both Demetri and Bella's face, Demetri growled far better than Bella. "She didn't owe you shit. Jade, we went over this when we left that God awful peninsula. By the time we got involved it wasn't about her anymore, and you choosing to involve yourself in something that had nothing to do with you doesn't grant you the ability to hold anything over her head to force her to bend to your will. Now, not only is there a possibility because of you that wolf is going to die, she may well too because before we can return them to their home, we must first deal with the guard."
Feeling as though the air was stolen from her lungs, a strangled cry sounded from Bella's throat at the end of Demetri's statement. Lips dry and eyes terrified, she pushed out a breathless "What?"
Glaring at his mate a moment longer, Demetri flicked his eyes to the human that was now looking at the unmoving body of her wolf. "He has venom in his blood, and vampire venom is little more than poison to shifters." Leveling his mate with another look as Bella shot out of her seat to try and go to Paul's side, he stuck his arm out, and used his forearm to catch her before forcing her back into her seat. Locking their eyes, Demetri crossed his arms as he heard Felix start up the plane. "I told your wolf on the Sphinx path I would get you both home, alive, or die trying. I'm not dead, so I'm not done trying."