"Perhaps you could at least let me finish before you take her?" Dirdos asked, but the group of men around her only laughed.
"Afraid not, she's a slippery little bitch, and keeping hold of her is difficult enough without adding a new element to the equation." Alez leered.
She looked up at Alez and then at Vincent, his head tilting to the side as he studied the changes in her before he straightened up.
"You're going to deny an old man the chance to have a young Queen?" Dirdos sounded devastated, and Alez glanced at Vincent, who shrugged.
"I've marked her, she's not going anywhere," he said.
"Fine, just make it quick," Alez growled.
Dirdos swooped down, and he met her glare with a wicked grin, brushing away the foot against her back that held her down. Taking hold of her hips, he dropped to his knees behind her, and Alez turned away. Vincent was reloading his bow, and Dirdos growled as he bundled up her dress, hitching it up. Jerking away from him, he sighed in irritation. "You were all keen before, just because we have guests doesn't mean you should say no now."
"Get off me," she snarled, angry that he had given in so quickly to them.
Reaching up, he wrapped his hand tight around her mouth, and with one finger, he brushed the side of her nose and then pointed, her eyes following it in the direction of the party. He moved behind her and his nails raked up the back of her thigh, her scream of shock and pain involuntary as he groaned.
"Mm, virgin Queen no less," he sighed, causing Vincent and Alez to glance back at the smell of blood but then forward again, not all that keen to watch her abuse as she whimpered.
His thumb tapped against her cheek, then his index finger, and she smiled slowly, turning her head into the snow to wipe away the smear of blood as best as possible. Middle finger, ring finger. She shifted, planting the balls of her feet against the ground as he growled his pleasure, and then he released her.
She shot off the ground like an arrow, streaking past Alez, who yelled. Dirdos laughed, streaking off in the other direction and the spot they had been kneeling in burst into a pillar of flames as he threw something down.
Vincent was frozen only for a second before he streaked after her.
Etani hitched up her skirts to move more easily. Something hit her shoulder, and she screamed, staggering. Without warning, she was suddenly jerked backwards as whatever was in her shoulder recoiled and her back hit the snow, rolling as Vincent reached her and aimed a kick for her side.
Her arm had gone numb, and she dragged herself to her feet, her good arm gripping the length of rope. She jerked it, pulling one of the other Hunters forward and off his feet.
His arm flicked out and Etani turned away, his blood splattering her clothes and hair, but not her skin.
Jerking the rope again to try to rip it out of the arm of the Hunter, she kept her eyes on Vincent as he glared at her, his wrist twisting to get more blood flowing.
"Come on, Etani, you know it's over," he growled, the rope tugging as another man jumped on it.
"Go die in a fire, Vincent," she snarled, staggering as the rope was pulled and her shoulder burned.
Sucking in a breath, she saw him frown as she let her voice sing his death. He screamed with her, his hands clamping over his ears. But the man whose wrist the grappling device had been attached to wasn't so lucky, and his eyes rolled up in his head.
A second bolt hit her other shoulder and her scream cut off as she was dragged backwards. But the party had heard her, and the music had stopped, voices calling out in the dark.
Vincent lifted his head, and she smirked to see that his nose, ears and eyes had begun to bleed. As the rope yanked again, he lunged forward and caught her wrist, jumping back as she aimed a kick for his side. Neither of her arms were working, and as he danced back from her, he grinned. Her blood began to boil.
Screaming in pain, she dropped onto the snow and curled herself into a ball as the pain filled every inch of her being. It felt like an eternity before the pain began to fade. Vincent started forward as Alez reached for her and gripping her hair, using that to pull her up onto her backside.
"Go," Alez growled as Vincent lifted her up into his arms, her body limp.
"Etani!" someone screamed, but she already felt the magic flowing up around her as Winter vanished.
***
She didn't know where they were, but was sure they were still in Faerie somewhere, as Winter was still touching her. Her head hung limp over his arm, and she opened her eyes just enough to see where they were, but didn't recognise the black glass walls. Her hair had gone back to being black, though, so she knew it wasn't Winter.
Turning a corner, a low whisper started up, and she slid her eyes shut, just in case anyone looked at her too closely.
Heading across a room that echoed, Vincent laid her down on the ground and he bowed his head as he knelt beside her. He reached out to run his index finger down from her hairline in a straight line to the tip of her nose and then down over her lips to her chin to leave a line of crimson.
"Is she dead?" a voice called out, and Etani immediately wanted to growl at the voice.
"No, Your Majesty; only unconscious," Vincent said in response.
"Wake her up."
His fingers were light on her cheek and a shiver ran through her as he reached into her and her blood began to sing, flooding her with an odd energy.
Eyes snapping open, she took him in as he withdrew his hand, frowning as the smear of blood down the centre of her nose was an instant distraction.
She wanted very badly to punch his smug face, but no one had been kind enough to remove the spikes that were stuck in her.
"Morning, beautiful," he said playfully.
"Die," she snarled back.
He laughed, looking up as Alez strolled into the room, followed by one of his men who had severe burns to half of his body. It would seem that the other one didn't survive, judging by the arm Alez was holding. The second Hunter was dragging the dead man who had first shot her with the grappling hook.
"What happened?" the woman said, and Etani turned her head to see Megara.
"Oh, goody…" she growled softly, Vincent looking down at her curiously as he shifted to crouch at her side rather than kneeling.
"She awake?" Alez asked.
Vincent nodded, moving to help her sit up, but the arm thumped down beside her, and Alez bent down to grip a fistful of her hair and drag her up onto her knees. Snarling in pain, he forced her to bend forward, and she looked down at the limb. It appeared that it had been bitten off, or rather that the body had been bitten off the end of it. "Your pet dragon," Alez growled.
"He tends to do that," she quipped, rather impressed by the dragon.
Alez jerked her back upright, allowing her to look up at Megara.
"Hello, Etani," Megara said smugly.
She smiled back at her. "You're a determined little bitch, I'll give you that," she said, then gasped as Alez's knee drove into her sternum. Doubling over, she wheezed as she tried to suck in enough air to breathe, but he yanked her back upright.
"That's the queen you're talking to," he said angrily.
"I think you'll find that I'm the queen," she wheezed.
"For now," Megara said gently.
The grip in her hair tightened, and he pulled her head back to look up at him, his grin feral.
"You and I are going to have a bit of fun, then we'll see if we can get that magic out of you," he growled.
"Do whatever it takes to weaken her. You have two days, Alez, if you can't do it, I will send in Vincent."
Alez nodded and pulled her up, dragging her down the hall. She was fascinated to see the others that lived in the building. She immediately realised she was in Spring, the Heathen Court, and that gave her a way out.