They fell into a peaceful silence, both listening to the slow breathing of Kai as he recovered from his injuries and his body worked off the drug Etani had given him, a deep yawn coming from him close to morning.
Etani had been staring at Jaia for several minutes, his eyes locked on her in return as she tried to figure out what it was about him that had drawn her in from the beginning. She could feel something inside her that was calling for him, but she didn't know what it was, or why it was there, a deep part of her singing to him and he was singing back, calling to her. It made no sense, and any time she tried to silence it, it moved away and around her like water.
His eyes were hard on her, his jaw clenched and face almost angry. She had to wonder what it was he was thinking, though she refused to ask.
When Kai yawned, their tense moment broke. And she looked down, her finger tracing a slow line up and down his arm.
He blinked at her groggily and then down at Jaia, squinting at his twin before his face lit up.
"You two didn't kill each other!" he rasped, and Jaia snorted.
"You sound like you need something to eat," he said as he swept from the room.
Looking up at Etani, Kai realised where he was and his cheeks flamed red. He practically attached himself to her side, his arm tight around her waist, his leg on top of hers and a wet spot on her dress where he had been drooling.
"Sorry," he said, but Etani only smiled, kissing him hard on the top of the head. "Hey, don't be sad." He frowned, reaching up to brush away a tear she didn't realise had fallen.
"I'm so sorry, Kai. I didn't even consider they might hurt you because of me..." she whispered, hating herself all the more for his kindness.
"We did," Jaia said as he came back into the room with a mug of something that smelled both amazing and revolting at the same time.
Kai's face lit up and he took it, drinking greedily.
"You did?" she asked, looking up at Jaia. But it was Kai who nodded, his upper lip crimson as he drained the cup.
"Of course, I just figured it would be Jaia," Kai said.
"I figured it would be you," Jaia said, and the two exchanged a sad smile.
"What are you talking about?" Etani demanded, eyeing the cup and accepting it when Kai offered it to her. It was blood, but not like real blood; artificial, in a way, yet entirely natural and with an odd odour that stuck in her sinuses.
"Everyone thought you and Jaia would end up together, and they would go after him."
"You've been talking about me…" she said, making a face and handing the cup back, but Kai tipped it back for the last few drops on his tongue.
"Strategy; what we do if a certain situation happens. You draw danger like a magnet, and we wanted to be prepared," Jaia said, his chin lifting slightly in defiance.
"Who is 'we'?"
"Everyone," he said, and he met her glare with his own. "But I knew even if we were together, they would see Kai as more important to you. You cherish him in a way you could not do for a lover."
Etani's cheeks flamed at the thought of Jaia being her lover. She dropped her eyes. Kai stared up at her, brows lifted, before his eyes flicked between the two of them and he frowned. "What's going on between you two?"
"Nothing, love. What did you drink?" she said, ignoring Jaia's death glare on her.
"Epharis managed to at least semi-replicate your blood using arcane magic and Daemon's blood. It's not the same, it tastes pretty bad, but it mostly works." He swiped the inside of the mug and offered his finger to her. Eyeing it doubtfully, she licked the smear of crimson from his finger, then recoiled. The two vampires were laughing at her expression.
"I thought you were no longer addicted," she said, wiping at her tongue with her hand, but the taste stuck like glue.
"We're not, but we can't walk in the sun without your blood. Fae blood doesn't do that," he said. He licked his lips and looked down into the cup for more, but it was clean. "We can only drink so much, or we get hypersensitive to the sun. We can be in it, but we get a sunburn and end up blind for a few hours if we're not careful," Kai explained, still grinning.
"How could you drink that?" she asked. The liquid had left an oily taste in her mouth. Scowling, she dragged her tongue against her teeth.
"You get used to it. We couldn't stay out of the sun after being in it. It was drink it or be without the sun again," Kai said as Jaia took the cup from him. Grunting softly as Kai flopped down on top of her, he looked up at her, then frowned. "What's that on your neck?"
"What's what?" she asked, lifting her hand to touch her neck, but she couldn't feel anything.
Jaia moved around to look.
"When did that happen?" he asked.
"It wasn't there yesterday," Kai said. "I don't think so, anyway."
"What is it?" she asked, and Kai's finger touched her neck just below her ear, his finger tracing a cross shape.
"Is it a rune?" Jaia asked, her skin tingling as he lifted her jaw and turned her head away to see the thing better.
"What kind of rune would that be, and why would it be there?" Kai asked, his eyes narrowing on her.
"What happened in that cave?"
Wriggling herself free of Kai, Etani swatted at him as he tried to grab her and keep her from leaving the bed, and he huffed when she was gone.
Crossing the room to the mirror, she turned her head and squinted, leaning closer to study it. It looked like a curly diagonal line with a second diagonal one forming a cross. It was thick and an odd reddish-purple colour.
Jaia had followed her and was looking at it in the mirror, curious about where it had come from.
"Vincent…" she growled, remembering the pain in her throat.
"Vincent? The Hunter?" Jaia asked, and they turned as Kai jumped out of the bed.
Before either of them knew what was happening, he had thrust Etani back against the mirror. It cracked ominously as he forced her head up to see the rune. "What did you agree to?" he growled.
"It doesn't matter, Kai." She pulled away from him, but he gripped her arms and pressed her back. Jaia backed away a step, wary and ready to pull Kai off her if needed.
"Tell me!" He rarely ever raised his voice, and it was shocking to hear the cheerful, kind man so angry at her.
"I don't know, Kai. He wasn't specific. It was just that I would go back when he called."
Kai's face twisted and her back ground into the glass. "You agreed to an unknown deal for what?"
"He was going to kill you…"
His eyes flashed a dangerous crimson. "You're not allowed to give yourself up for us!"
She looked up at him, her chin lifting slightly. "I will not be responsible for your death," she said softly, but he growled, turning away from her and pacing away.
"You are more important than us!" he yelled, turning back on her.
"I will not let you die because of me!" she shouted back, angry at him for thinking she would ever surrender him to save herself.
"I forbid it! You are not ever to give yourself up for me!"
"I will not let you die for me! I will not allow you to end up like Uzo!"
The colour drained out of Kai's face, and Etani's anger snapped off like a cut string.
"I can't lose you too…" Tears swam in her eyes, and she was on the field again, looking down at Uzo's shattered body.
Kai was staring at her, pain and anger flicking across his face. He pulled her roughly to him, crushing her against him. "I know, love; you won't," he breathed.
"Why haven't you brought him back yet?" a voice asked.
They looked around to find Hades leaning in the doorway, looking amused at their shouting match.
"What?" Etani asked, her arms tight around Kai.
"You're Death; go get him. Or do you simply not care enough to bother? If you don't, I'm fully on board with that. It sounds like a lot of trouble. But by the amount of whining you've been doing about him, you'd think you would have gone to drag his stupid Fae arse back. Stop feeling sorry for yourself, get over it, and go."
Etani stood frozen, staring at the God before she shook her head. She recalled Dirdos saying something similar. There was no rhyme or reason to magic, there was no trying to figure it out or understand it. Just go do it.
"Or are you just too weak? Or worse, are you too much a coward?"
Jaia growled, turning on the God, but Kai stopped him, turning him to look at her but she was unable to take her eyes off Hades: his smug, proud face; and his taunting eyes. She knew he was goading her, but it was impossible not to rise to the challenge.
"Are you a Goddess of Death, or a snivelling little bitch who wants to feel special?" he asked, and as fire began to dance in her eyes, he smiled. "That's what I thought."