As they stepped into a new room, she pulled away from him and turned her head to try to see the injury, her shoulder on fire, and fingers tingling with only the barest hint of feeling having returned to them.
"You're protective of that one," Vincent said, but she ignored him, reaching around behind her and pulling at the bolt. Digging her nails into the tail end, she grunted in pain as she slid it part of the way free of her shoulder and then released it, unable to move her arm back enough to get it all the way out.
"Why that one in particular?" Vincent asked, watching her, though he made no move to try to help.
Still, she refused to answer, and she gripped the bolt, pulling it further out and she panted through the pain, her fingers clenching as feeling flooded back with a million pricks of tiny tingling pain. Pulling it free of her back, she gasped and threw it down on the floor, lifting her hand to clench the spot to stem the bleeding while her body worked on sealing it.
"What is it about him that makes him so important?"
"Shut up, Vincent, it's none of your business," she growled, looking backwards over her shoulder, and lifting her fingers to see the gaping hole. Her clavicle had begun to knit together, but it had been obliterated and the tiny fragments cut new paths in their return to join the bone.
He approached her, irritation on his face as he curled his fingers in her hair. She grunted in pain, her head tilting back under his grip.
"Answer me," he demanded.
"Or what, you'll kill me?" she taunted, doing her best to contain her anger at him.
"No; I'll bring him here and kill him in front of you," he snapped.
Fear washed through Etani. She bared her teeth at him, her response making him smile.
"Why him?"
"He's special," she snapped and flicked blood from her fingers at his face, making him jerk back in surprise.
"You're an impudent little bitch, aren't you...?" he growled, wiping her blood off his face and mask, then lifting the mask away to lick the smear of crimson from his fingers.
"It's part of my charm," she said dryly, smiling slightly when his eyes trailed down her face to her lips and then down over her throat.
"Clearly," he said, releasing her hair and stepping back from her. "You're not as much fun when you're moping."
Shrugging, she lifted her arm up and tested the muscle and bones, finding them working, at least mostly, and turned to the Hunter, crossing her arms under her chest. "How are you planning to kill me?"
Did it matter? Not really, but she was a little curious.
"I am not going to kill you, Etani; Megara is doing just fine," he said, and she turned to him, frowning.
"What?" she asked, her mood breaking slightly as she realised, they had all been tricked. "You almost killed my friends over a lie?" Anger flooded through her and she stepped forward, but he lifted his hand with his index finger extended.
"Now, now. There's no need to be angry. I wasn't going to kill any of them, but I did have two reasons for showing up when I did. Firstly, I want our deal back; and secondly, I needed a reason for you to agree to a new deal."
She was fuming, glaring at him and trying to decide how to respond to the news. Kicking him in the face sounded like a good idea. "You can go rot in the underworld," she growled.
His laugh echoed through the cavern. "Come on, Etani, just one little deal," he coaxed while she shook her head. He seemed all too happy at her refusal and disappeared from view, leaving her alone in the room.
Turning slowly, she found herself in a sparse bedroom with two beds carved into the wall, a little alcove for a table and two chairs, plus a little wardrobe. It was fairly boring, and she had to think that was why all the Hunters were crazy.
A loud grunt had her turning back, and she looked down at a form that seemed to have been dipped in red, his hair plastered to his head and his clothes stuck to him. She inched closer, but it was when he looked up that she really moved, dropping to her knees behind him and cradling his face in her hands. "Kai, are you all right?" she demanded.
He nodded, slipping in his blood-coated boots as he sat up, his expression confused.
"How did I get here?" he asked, dragging his eyes over her to make sure she was all right.
"Vincent, but I don't know where he went. You look like you were dipped in a river of blood."
He grunted and looked down, pulling his soaked shirt away from his skin. "It felt like it. Are you all right?"
"For now," she said, looking around the room, but there was no basin or anything that she could use to wipe away some of the blood.
"Where are we?"
"I don't really know; the Hunters live here."
His eyes swept the room and then returned to her, reaching out to stroke back her hair from her face and leaving a smear of blood on her skin. "Never do that again, Etani. We aren't worth your life," he said, his hidden anger at her actions bubbling to the surface.
"I won't let you die. I've already lost Uzo, I can't lose you too. You're the only thing giving me a reason to fight," she was unrepentant for her actions, and his eyes softened, understanding coming over his face.
"Don't say that. You have plenty of reasons," he said gruffly, his arms twitching, but he didn't pull her close so as not to soak her in blood.
Etani didn't respond, instead letting him believe whatever it was he wished to believe, and he frowned at her silence. Movement caught her attention, and she looked past Kai to see Vincent walking into the room, his mask gone and eerily wide mouth even wider in his enjoyment.
"How touching," he said as he approached. "Wasn't sure I got the right one—you and the other one look really similar." Blood dripped from his hand, forming a long stalactite-shaped spear.
Kai turned and pushed himself to his feet, his eyes narrowed and falling into a defensive posture as she stood, fear going through her at the sight of the spear.
"Twins tend to look similar," Kai said.
Vincent smiled, looking between the two of them. "You share the same sense of humour." He seemed delighted, and Etani exchanged a glance with Kai at the oddity of the Hunter. "Why did you bring Kai here?" she asked, suspecting she already knew the answer.
"Leverage, got to do whatever it takes to get the job done, my dear Etani," he said. "Either you agree, or I kill the vampire."
Etani's hand went immediately to Kai's arm, and she drew him back a step, not wanting him anywhere near the Hunter.
"Agree to what?" Kai demanded, his eyes still on Vincent.
"None of your business, little boy. That's between mummy and daddy," he leered.
She growled, but hers was nothing compared to the feral snarl Kai made.
"I'll kill you before you lay a hand on her."
"Please, I could have laid any part of myself on her when I had her. But I was polite, and I didn't touch her," Vincent snapped. "Though I hear Alez did, or so he tells it." His eyes moved to her, and she shook her head, Kai's head turning in her direction to catch the movement. "Didn't think so. He's all talk, but actually doing the deed is beyond him."
Vincent came to a slow stop. The spear stopped growing at around two feet in length, the blood dripping from the end forming a little puddle under it. "You look like someone skinned you," he said cheerfully.
"Why am I covered in blood?" Kai demanded, but Etani was fixated on that little pool of blood, watching it grow with each steady drip.
"It's easier to get her to cooperate if you're in pain," Vincent said, and Etani looked up, then at Kai. He didn't seem to be in pain at all, just sticky.
"I'm not in—" Kai choked off as Vincent threw the spear at him. It struck his stomach and seemed to vanish, melting into him as he fell backwards.
His screams were terrible, and it was only a second before the smell of cooking meat reached Etani's nose.
"Stop!" she screamed, reaching for him, but Vincent wrapped around her. She thrashed as Kai's screams grew into a terrible pitch and her heart clenched as he writhed.
"Stop! Please stop!" She couldn't get to Kai, and the more she thrashed, the tighter Vincent held her. Reaching up with his blood-coated hand, he curled his hand around her throat and forced her head back against his shoulder, both arms trapping her.
"Agree to be mine and I stop cooking him," he said in her ear, grinning widely.
"Let go of me, you psycho!" she screamed, driving her elbow into his ribcage.
He grunted. Kai's voice broke as he keened and Etani screamed his name, tears running down her cheeks as she tried to get free.
"Agree!" Vincent shouted in her ear. "Agree or he dies right now!"
Etani watched in horror as a spark of fire from Kai's hand lit up the room. He made a sound like she had never heard before, a vampire burning alive.
"Yes! Whatever you want!" she cried, her vision blurred by not tears, as she originally thought, but by smoke.
"Deal," he whispered. Etani threw his suddenly limp arms off her, staggering forward and dropping to her knees, crawling forward to Kai as his screams began to quiet.
"Kai? Kai! Say something!" She was frantic, her fingers trembling as she touched his face, blisters forming on the tips of her fingers. "Kai, please!"
He groaned softly, eyes fluttering open as he looked up at her.
When she touched him a second time, he was hot, but it didn't burn her. She pulled him violently into her arms, ignoring his grunt of pain as she stroked back his hair and kissed his forehead with shaking lips.
"Okay…" he breathed, and she sobbed, rocking him gently as her terror began to ease. She looked down at his hand, the flesh burnt away and charred.
Vincent approached slowly, his face curious as he examined the injuries, and Etani realised with horror that the blood had been burnt away and what she thought had been blood was Kai's burnt skin.
"You bastard!" she screamed at Vincent.
"A man must do what he has to, to own a Goddess," he said slowly, studying her for an instant before he smiled. "I'll give you a few months while I prepare everything, but you will come when I call on you," he said.
Etani only nodded, not caring what he said, so long as Kai was all right.
"Take your vampire and go. But don't forget, I am not a patient man, and I will kill him without a second thought if you refuse."
Nodding again, Etani wrapped her arms tightly around Kai from behind, clutching his back to her chest. She looked up at Vincent as he leant down and placed a single finger against her lower lip to smear blood on her.
She shuddered as a stinging sensation started up against her throat, but she ignored it. The world around them vanished, and they were dumped back in the sitting room in Ayathian.
It was empty, and Etani whimpered, looking around as she tried to figure out what to do.
"Sorry, Kai…" she whispered as she pulled him up from under his shoulders.
Kai groaned, but she thought he was barely conscious, and that was a good thing. Dragging him across the room and into the bathroom, Etani ran the cold water, and as the bath began to fill, she laid him down before streaking back out of the room to collect the things she would need.
When she returned, the water had covered the bottom of the bath, and she rolled up the stripped sheets from her bed, lifting Kai's head gently to slide the ball of fabric under it. Kneeling down in the bath with him, she cupped the water and dribbled it over his face. He groaned, his face twisting in pain.
"Shh, it's okay," she whispered, turning the tap on full force. "You're okay, love."
Turning off the tap once the water was just covering Kai's chest, Etani picked up a small knife and set to work cutting off his long-sleeved shirt, working to be gentle as she tried to ease it out of his burnt flesh. He moaned softly, and she bit her lip to keep from sobbing, lowering his arm back into the water to soothe the pain. She knew it hurt him to be touched, but his burns wouldn't heal at any significant speed if the fabric wasn't removed.