Sitting on the floor on the living room, her arms folded on the couch Paul was laid out on, her chin on her forearms, she let out what had to be the hundredth sigh in the last ten minutes. It had been two days since they left the Valley, and in that time, Bella watched Demetri and Felix put forth a Herculean effort to save Paul's life. None of the three vampires she was with would tell her exactly how he was doing at any point over that time, but there was actually a part of her that was thankful for it. She knew they would tell her if his heart actually stopped, and the way she saw it, if they weren't telling her anything, there was nothing to tell.

Rolling her head to the side, her eyes scanned all the medical equipment that was 'acquired' when they reached Florence. Demetri had sent Felix straight to a walk in clinic that was a couple of miles from where he had taken her and Paul. Once they were inside, he had set straight to work, using kitchen knives to cut away the necrotic tissue from Paul's shoulder where he had been bitten by the feline shifter and Demetri had used venom to stop the bleeding.

While the wolf had no idea the outcome of that, the vampire knew exactly what was going to happen when he chose to do it. However, flesh took a much longer time to die and decay than it took for someone to bleed to death, giving Demetri no other option when he pressed his venom covered palm over those puncture marks. Paul's shoulder didn't hurt like it did because he was running on all fours with a shoulder that was barely in its socket, though that certainly didn't grant him any favors. It hurt like it did because his skin was rotting, and now that the danger was over, it was up to the one responsible to fix what he set into motion.

When Felix returned, the car he had taken was stuffed with everything that clinic had to offer. Other humans didn't even cross his mind as he cleared the cabinets and drawers, taking everything down to the very last syringe. He had even taken a dialysis machine. He had no idea if it would work or not, but he did know it was used to clean human blood of outside toxins, so it was his hope it would remove whatever traces of venom there was. His nose told him what Paul's blood type was, so to make sure they had enough of that, he cleaned them out of that too.

If nothing else, what they didn't use to save the wolf would make for a snack later.

Since Bella had steadfastly refused to leave Paul's side, and knowing there was nothing she could do or say to change her mind, Jade had slipped away and went in search of food and clothing for Bella and Paul, knowing they had abandoned whatever meager shit that had brought with them back at the hotel. She and Bella were near identical in size, making it a snap to shop for her, but it came down to comparing Paul's size to Demetri in order to get something for him that would fit with clothing became an option for him. He was slightly taller than her male, but not quite as muscular, so she had a pretty decent guess.

When it came to food, she just grabbed whatever she could get her hands on, not having the slightest fucking idea what either of them would eat, or how much. She did know shifters ate a lot, especially when they were trying to recover from a serious injury, and from what she saw before she left, Paul was going to need enough to feed a small country.

Once Jade returned, she pulled Demetri away and brought up everything that was left in Egypt that belonged to Bella and Paul. She didn't know what, if anything had been done with it, and when Demetri just shrugged, she cocked a brow at him. "Demetri..."

To which she had been cut off. "If Amun was stupid enough to leave that shit there, he deserves what happens with human law enforcement."

Jade didn't disagree, but she still shook her head. "He might, but they don't."

In response, Demetri's face leveled out and as he crossed his arms. "Now you care about the outcome of involving them in something they should have been kept far away from? My Love, there was only ever going to be two ways this ended, and neither one favored these two. I was either going to get out from under my sire or I wasn't, but for them, they were either going to actually die, or become presumed dead. There was never a third option."

Face drawing, Jade wrapped her arms around her stomach with a sigh through her nose. "So, what you're saying is, it's impossible for them to return home."

To her shock, he shook his head. "That's not what I said. I said they would either die, or become presumed dead. Until or unless they actually die, nothing is impossible. It just might become very, very difficult."

Dropping her eyes to the floor, Jade frowned. "I was so focused on getting you back, I didn't stop to think about..." She stopped talking when she felt Demetri's hand cup her cheek, flicking her eyes back to surprisingly soft ones.

Licking his lips, Demetri did his best to calm his mate, but there was a small part of him that was beginning to question whether or not he was going to be able to keep this promise. "What's done is done, and they will make it home, Agapimenos. That part, I can promise. I am just no longer sure exactly how it's going to happen." Moving his eyes to the wall that separated them from Bella and Paul, he frowned slightly. "I cannot put off my return much longer, or there is likely to be nothing left for us to return to." Sighing himself, he returned his eyes to his mate's. "But you have put me in a position where I owe them far more than I owe anyone back at the den. The lives of the guards have never meant a damn thing to me, but should any of the three Masters parish, everything done to that point becomes for not."

Pressing her lips together, Jade cast her eyes off to the side of the room, even as she leaned into Demetri's palm. "I'm sorry, D'tri. I tried to make things better, but just ended up making them worse."

Clicking his tongue, Demetri gave that a once tumble through his mind before shaking his head. "Not necessarily. This isn't over yet, My Darling. The wolf lives, beyond all conceivable reason. By all accounts, he should be dead, and not due to lack of trying to save him. I have never heard of a shifter surviving any amount of vampire venom in their veins, yet his heart is strong and he's, shockingly, still breathing. Other than what I can only assume to be every last thing he has ever eaten in his entire life coming up an hour ago, he's fine."

A flat look overtook Jade's face as she took a step back and crossed her arms. "And the fact you carved into his shoulder like a pumpkin wouldn't have anything to do with his throwing up like he did?"

Not giving a singular damn about the lengths he went to to stop the death of more skin and muscle, Demetri merely shrugged as he crossed his own arms. "Fine, all things considered, but either way, he's fine... or will be when he wakes up. The healing abilities of shifters are actually quite extraordinary. While I'm sure he'll wake up in more pain than he's ever been in in his life, I have every confidence he will wake up, and probably pretty pissed off when he sees what I did to his back."

Only half listening to him at that point, Jade's eyes grew wide as her brain caught up with what he hadn't said in the moments prior. "You admire him."

Demetri, however, shook his head. "I wouldn't go so far as to say all that, but I do respect him, both as a supernatural and as a man. It's not often you come across a beast with a shred of integrity, and he has it in spades."

Snorting, Jade grinned. "Yeah... you don't admire him at all."

Lifting a shoulder in a shallow shrug, Demetri made a face, though not one of disgust at the thought. It was simply a quick rise and fall of his brow. "I don't. Admiration and respect are not the same. The human? I will admit I admire her. By every single law of any universe to ever exist, that girl should be dead, and several times over. How in the name of all things holy and the unjust that human still breathes, baffles the shit out of me. I had thought having you at my side for the last seven hundred years would have removed all surprise when it came to just how much trouble a female can get herself into, and yet..." Rolling his eyes to the ceiling, he shook his head with a sigh before looking back to his mate. "I have wiped entire races off the face of the Earth for you. Destroyed villages, cities, and countless lives without second thought. I say that to say this, and I apologize now for this will sound. For all the destruction I have done for you, for her? I would burn this world to the ground just to keep her alive."

Though she was sure she wasn't completely able to suppress the bristling at the statement, Jade still just glanced over her shoulder at the wall that separated then from the human in question. After a moment, she cleared her throat. "Don't apologize. I like the girl too, despite your growing affection" Ignoring the responding snort, she clicked her tongue and looked back at her male. "Besides, should your Olympian Gods see fit to ensure she lives completely through this, I doubt you'll be the only one."

*X*

Paws flinging up dirt and grass as they pounded against the countryside, Paul once again questioned his actual sanity. His imprint on his back, he kept pace between Demetri and Felix, wondering not for the first time on the thirty mile run how in the fuck he was talked into helping them instead telling them to go fuck themselves. Their coven disintegrating into rubble was absolutely not his problem, and quite honestly, he thought the world would actually be better off without that many vampires. Yet, somehow, he was convinced, and not even by Bella, to go with them instead of taking his girl and getting on the first plane back to America.

A thousand years from now, he would still not understand how that conversation went the way it did, because he had, in fact, told them to go fuck themselves. He and Bella had done what they were asked to do; get Demetri away from his sire. They did that. There was exactly zero mention of having to do anything in Italy before they could go home, and truth be told, the two of them were in enough trouble as it was. The longer they were gone at this point just gave his girl's father more time to get more creative with how they were going to die, and after everything he went through to not be dead, getting shot in the face upon arrival back in Forks wasn't high on his priority list. Yet... for whatever fucking reason, he didn't change course, and continued to run toward the vampire den that was looming in the distance. It wouldn't be much longer until they were there, and he would once again have to put unknown amounts of trust into a vampire when it came to his imprint. But, to be fair, he would be honest...

That was actually getting easier to do.

He still didn't like it, but it was easier now than it was in Washington.

A half mile from the towering wall that surrounded where they were going, Paul followed the cue when Demetri shifted direction, heading more toward the city. Lifting his eyes, there was a moment of hesitation on his part on whether or not he would be able to clear the height, or rather, what landing on the other side was going to feel like. Having to adjust to a sizable chunk missing from his back just to run took awhile, but that was a twenty foot wall that he really doubted there was a way to go under. While his acrobatics in wolf form were impressive, he wasn't a cat, and had never jumped that high before. He did figure, though, he could run up the wall, but with Bella on his back, with only his fur to hold on to, he actually gulped.

Feeling Bella shift on his back to prepare herself for the hurtle, Paul clamped his jaw closed, bared down, and put everything he had into his hind legs to get speed he needed to run vertically.

There would be no convincing him that if the stupid bastard hadn't removed half his fucking back, Paul knew with absolute certainty he could have made it. As it was, however, he did manage to get his claws into the top of the walls, but the strength in his arm was so diminished, he had a very difficult time pulling himself up.

Digging the claws of his hind legs into the wall, he then had to bite back a whine at the pulling of his fur as Bella tried desperately to hang on. It ultimately came down to having to have Bella's extra weight removed and a boost from Felix for Paul to pull himself up to the top, and as easily as he could, drop down to the uneven cobblestone below. He still didn't land as delicately as he would have liked, too much of his own weight being supported by a shoulder that had barely any support itself, causing him to nearly land on his nose.

Staggering a bit as he tried to steady himself, and eventually deciding he didn't give a shit since, at this point, the three leaches he was with had seen him completely incapacitated, Paul dropped to his belly, only barely able to hold in the whine. His eyes were closed, his entire body was shaking, and his tongue was actually hanging out the side of his mouth as he panted away the pain. He had ever woken up from that kind of sleep and still suffer from whatever injury put him down, but this time was different. He hadn't actually gotten any sleep. It was artificial, so there was nothing healing about it. Then again, he doubted there would ever been enough sleep for the rest of his lift to undo the fact the fuck face decided to try his hand at carving a turkey and used his back as a stand in bird.

He also very much doubted he would live long enough to ever forgive Demetri for that either, regardless of the fact it was nothing more than what was needed to save his life. He understood the situation as it was explained, and the ramifications if the bloodsucker hadn't done what he did. He really did get that he wouldn't be alive to continue to hate the dick if the venom had continued to eat away at him, but that also didn't mean he would ever in his life actually thank him for it.

He was perfectly able to feel the eyes of the three vampires on him, but he chose to continue to ignore them for a few minutes longer and instead focused on the soft, warm hand of his imprint as she slowly ran her palm along his muzzle, allowing her touch to center him once again. He could hear what sounded like a war going on in the stone building a quarter mile away, but even that didn't come between him and his contentment with the moment.

It wasn't until he heard a throat being cleared Paul opened his eyes, lifting them until Demetri came into view. He just stared at the current bane of his existence, not knowing what the fuck he was waiting for. It wasn't like they could have actual dialog at the moment, so if the vampire was waiting for him to say something first, the son of a bitch was in for a long fucking wait.

That information was not unknown to the tracker, either. He was simply waiting for Paul to collect himself enough to get back to his feet. Truth be told, he was in absolutely no hurry to face what he knew as waiting for them when they entered the building, but he also knew there was bound to be a blow to the wolf's ego to be unable to get over the wall without aid. So, he planned to just stand there and wait the wolf out.

Truth honestly told, there was absolutely zero need for either of them to be there. A human was going to be far more trouble to keep alive than most of them were worth, and there was no part of Demetri that thought Paul was going to be any easier to keep breathing than his mate. In the mood the vampire was in, he certainly wasn't in need of any help to get shit back in order within the palace, either. There was one reason, and one reason only, the pair was in Italy, and that was it. It came down to the fact he had repeatedly promised them he would personally see them both home, and that was exactly what he was going to do.

Besides, it never hurts to be owed one Hell of a favor from someone that prided himself on always paying a debt.

So, giving himself a part to play, and after a bloated moment's wait, Demetri crouched down, and looked Paul in the eyes. "These are not newborns, improperly made or otherwise. They are decades old, and trained killers. They have been trained to seek out any weakness and how to find openings in any defense. I told you the morning of that skirmish with those children the best made plans are ones with wiggle room, where you can deviate and still hold your ground. That's not the case here. Here, there is no plan. A leaderless coven will fight and squabble until someone forces them to stop, and that's what we are going to do. I don't care how many die today, because they will all be dead by tomorrow."

Bella, her brows drawn, flicked her eyes to Demetri. "Leaderless? What about Aro?"

Three sets of red eyes slowly shifted holding varying looks of shock and surprise, though it was Demetri that commented, in much the same way he used to talk to her in Washington. "After all the experience with vampires you've had, you still choose to see the good in any of us?" When he saw her shrug, he rolled his eyes and shook his head and glanced at Paul. "I told you... handful."

At the responding snort, he returned his attention to Bella. "One day, Morsel, your innocence will get you killed, just so we are clear."Shaking his head slightly, he then clicked his tongue. "There are very few within those walls that want to be there, and are instead forced to be against their will; tied to Aro and the guard through magical means. It's the only reason they put up with him. If he spoke to, or treated any random nomad as he does his guards, he would have died centuries ago. Those unnatural ties have been broken, either by the one death of the one that created them, their basic survival instinct finally kicked in, or... the one they are tied to is dead. Honestly, it could really be any one of the three."

Jolting, Felix opened his mouth without thinking. "You don't know if Aro is still alive?"

Closing his eyes and rubbing away a headache, Demetri sighed before looking to the dumbass. "Do you? He is your sire, after all."

Lip curling, Felix crossed his arms. "I'm twelve hundred years old. That link is gone."

Completely at a loss for words, for the very first time in his life, Demetri actually tripped over his tongue as he tried to respond. When he did, what was supposed to be a question came out as a statement. "You're an idiot. I am over eight hundred years your senior and just spent the last two weeks under the thumb of mine. The link to our sire, you fucking halfwit, never goes away." Taking a slow breath to calm down, he then rolled his head on his shoulders as he focused on finding Aro. After a moment, he shrugged. "As it stands, his mind still works, but you and I both know that doesn't in any way mean his head is still attached to his body."

Grunting in response, Felix looked to the palace. "So, are we using the tunnels?"

Shaking his head as he stood up, Demetri tisked. "We are not intruders nor do I have any interest in picking them off one by one as they attempt their long overdue escape from their personal Hell. No, for whatever it is to them, this is our home. We use the front doors like civilized beasts. Jade," looking to his mate, he softened his voice. "Go through the gardens, take Isabella to our chambers, and safeguard the doors." Flicking his eyes to the wolf that was now back on his feet, the same smirk pulled at his lips Paul saw right before the three hours of training he faced against the best the Volturi had to offer. "We shall be along shortly."