Waking the next morning, she was still curled into the side of Hades, her face buried in his ribcage and her arm across his chest with the slow sound of his heart trying to lull her back down into unconsciousness. He seemed to sense that she had woken up, and his hand moved slowly across her head, combing out the long length of her hair. The sensation was incredibly soothing, and she exhaled slowly, pressing her face into his side and wishing it would all simply go away.
It wasn't going to; she knew that. But it didn't mean she couldn't wish for it.
"Time to get up, little one," he said softly.
She shook her head, stubbornly refusing to accept that. He chuckled softly, and when he moved, she whimpered, clinging to him for only a moment before letting go, curling into a ball in the warm spot left by his absence.
His long fingers curled around her upper arm, and he dragged her up, her eyes still closed in the hopes of getting a few more hours of sleep, but he wasn't having any of it. His hand cupped her chin, and he turned her head to him, her eyes opening reluctantly to find his stern, coldly proud face looming over her.
"Wake up," he said.
She frowned, dropping her eyes from his face and it was his turn to frown.
"What did they do to you?" he demanded.
She didn't reply, instead she pulled herself free of his grip and moved to the edge of the bed, her face in her hands as she tried to get her brain to work. She felt incredibly tired, and she knew she needed to feed, or she wasn't going to be able to cope with any of it.
He moved around her and sat down at her side as she pressed her palms into her eyes and rubbed them furiously in the hopes of rubbing some life back into her. His hand was light on her wrist as he drew her hand away, and he bent forward to see her face, his eyes narrowed.
"What happened?" he demanded again, but when she tried to pull her wrist free, he refused to let go.
"Nothing; let go."
Even her voice sounded weak, and he looked past her to the door. Yanking her up off the mattress, he dragged her across to the closet and roughly stuffed her into a dress before he pulled her from the room. She was dragging her feet and not wanting to go anywhere. The quiet talk from the room stopped as he dragged her bodily from the room and lifted her arm up above her head, forcing her up straight, while his free hand went to her face and forced her head up to the group.
"What's wrong with her?" he demanded of the group, her eyes opening only enough for her to see blurry feet on the carpet.
Someone stood and left, Hades turning to watch while his grip on her face released.
Her head drooped, and she reached out for him, dragging herself closer to him and the warmth his body offered.
She just wanted to sleep, and she clutched at his robes. His arm went around her back and he sighed as she nuzzled into him.
Whoever it was who had left returned, and the hand was cold against her jaw as they turned her head. Growling softly at the strange, demanding touch, she tried to twist away, but his fingers tightened and something cool touched against her lower lip.
"Drink," a low growl demanded, and the wavy image of the lich prince came into her mind. Parting her lips slowly, the cool liquid spilled into her mouth and she clutched at his wrist, drinking greedily while her nails dug into his skin.
"At least she didn't kill anyone this time…" Epharis growled, pulling the empty mug away from her and she followed after it, licking the last drop of the liquid from the mug.
"Prone to that, is she?" Hades asked dryly as she released him, clinging to Epharis and the mug of delicious energy.
"You don't really see animalistic destruction quite like when Etani is injured to the point of exhaustion," the lich said, sliding his arm around her waist to pry her away from his bloody wrist. Her snarl was feral as he tried to pull away from her and she leant forward, her tongue finding the trail of blood at his wrist.
"A little help," Epharis growled.
Arms wrapped around her shoulder before she could dig her teeth into him.
"Hold her tight," Epharis said as she squirmed, the warm arm around her tightening until she was flattened against a hard chest.
"Etani, focus on my face," the lich demanded.
She looked up at him, studying his features, but she was having trouble remembering why it mattered who he was.
He leant closer to her, and she smiled, his eyes widened, and her hands curled on his robes, dragging him closer.
Her teeth sank into his cheek and she jerked back, tearing his skin and making him scream.
Stumbling back from her, she swallowed the chunk of flesh and licked her lips, shivering as her body welcomed the meat.
"Mother… Did she eat that?" someone asked behind her. Lifting her hands, she looked down at the torn fabric in her grip but no flesh. Flicking her hands to be free of the fabric, she threw herself forward and the person behind her yelped as he was jerked off his feet and landed hard on his back.
"Stop her!" someone screamed.
She looked up as a mass of looming figures coming for her, and her heart started to race. She ducked as someone reached for her, her body recoiling and throwing her shoulder into their side, throwing them back and away from her. She was not going to be captured again. She was not going to let them cage her. She needed to run; she had to escape them all.
Turning for the door, she heard a cry as she ran, stumbling at first but then moving faster as energy sang through her and she smiled.
Someone had frozen in the middle of the corridor and she growled, hungry and broken, they would be perfect.
Launching herself up off the floor, she wrapped her legs around their chest and her hands found metal as she reached for their face. Her nails screamed as they dug into the metal of his helmet, and she ripped it off him, blood flowing as she tore something on his face. He was bellowing, but she silenced that as her mouth met his and she was inside him.
He went stiff against her, his back rigid, and he began to tumble as she found him and mercilessly ripped him free of himself. The crash of his armoured body hitting the floor was deafening, but she was already moving, rolling forward off him as he fell and throwing herself back up onto her feet.
They were chasing her; she knew they were. She could hear them, she could feel them coming for her, and she was wary that there were so many on her heels. Where had the rest of them gone?
Skidding to a stop with her nails digging into the marble to slow her momentum, she found the hallway filled with metal monsters, their spears lowered and ready for her.
Watching them for a long moment, she saw the rippling of the air around them that told her they were wearing iron, and she bared her teeth at them, pushing herself up. She could kill them all, but it would hurt her. What did it matter? She was already hurt; she was already broken.
Lunging forward, someone shouted something, and she was on them, throwing herself off her feet into a horizontal roll through the air that allowed her slender frame to slide easily between their spears. They were prepared for a bigger adversary, not her.
Blood sprayed as she ripped at them, metal screamed, and her skin boiled at the contact. They only lasted a few seconds, and then she was gone again, licking blood from her arm and smiling to herself.
She found out where the others had gone as she rounded a corner and they were ready, the tall dead man throwing something glittery in her direction. She looked up at it, fascinated by the sparkling thing, but then it slammed into her mind where she had seen it before. She threw herself down, flipping onto her back. Her fingers found the gold chain he had caught her with once before.
Yanking on it, he stumbled forward and let go as she flipped herself into her hands and balls of her feet, the chain tight in her grip.
He swore, and she smiled at him, ready to use it on him this time. He would not contain her again. She would not allow him to contain her again.
Rolling her wrist, the chain coiled around her hand, and she watched him, dead but not rotting. He was not good meat, the dead were rarely good meat, but the others were alive, and she wanted them, wanted their flesh.
A giant furred black thing hit Etani, and she screamed, twisting on the black thing and throwing it off her, but they landed with feline reflexes and Etani went still, watching the creature.
The feline extended her neck, sniffing with a delicate black nose, and Etani growled softly, warning the feline to stay away from her. The feline hissed back and Etani shrank down, torn between fascination and the feline's domination that itched at her back, both making her want to fight, and submit. She had never faced a feline before, and she didn't know what to do, she didn't want to submit, that would be bad if the feline wasn't friendly, but she didn't want to fight, the feline was bigger than her.
Dragging the chain along with her, she backed away from the feline, moving slowly and cautiously so as not to trigger the hunting instincts of the feline. It followed after her, moving with deliberate elegance, and hissed again. Etani immediately dropped her head, the wash of magic over her dominating her in a way she had never experienced before.
She was frozen, her eyes wide and mind in a panic as the feline approached. One long-fingered black hand found her back, pushing her down with a force she couldn't fight.
She dropped, flat against the marble, and whined softly, begging the feline not to kill her. The feline inched closer, keeping that hand on her back, and then bowed her head, her jaw closing over the back of her neck.
She froze, terror washing through her, but she didn't think the feline was male, it was not wanting to mate, only establish dominance over her.
She went limp and the feline released her, turning her head to nuzzle her warm, black-furred nose against her bloody face.
The hand left her back, and she settled down at Etani's side, white eyes on hers as hands moved over her. The chain was pulled from her grip and wrapped around her wrists, binding her tightly.
She couldn't look away from the white eyes, the perfection that was the black feline, and she mewled pathetically, a tiny sound that Bast responded to, licking her cheek softly before she was dragged from the cold floor and onto her feet.