Working her way up to his elbow, he had begun to stir and was whimpering softly, a scuff at the door and sucked in breath having her look up.
"Go to the lab and get me a vial of the white liquid in the very back of the top shelf. Hidden in a little compartment that opens if you press on the hinge closest to it. Get a small measuring spoon, a cup and some wine with it."
Jaia stared at her for a second and she growled. "Go!"
He left, and she looked down at Kai, his eyes opened and unfocused on her.
"'Tani?' he wheezed, and she hushed him, stroking his hair back from his head.
"Quiet now; just rest."
Looking up, she accepted the items from the anxious Jaia, and she turned away from Kai, pouring the wine into the mug and then applying the white liquid. Swirling it around, she sniffed the mug and then slid her arm up under his neck. Placing the cup against his lip, she kept her voice low. "Drink up love; it'll make you feel better."
He drank obediently and only once the cup was empty did she lay him back down on the soaked sheets.
"What was that?" Jaia demanded, and Etani glanced up at him.
"Opium. It will relieve the pain and help him sleep," she said simply, stroking her hand over Kai's hair.
Kai looked up at her, but she didn't know if he could make out her voice and she kissed his scorched forehead gently.
"I'm sorry, Kai," she whispered against his skin, hating that he had been hurt because of her.
To help ease his passage into sleep, she began to sing softly, her voice echoing hypnotically around the room, and she looked up to see Jaia had almost fallen asleep. She frowned, but didn't stop as Kai's eyelids lowered and he was soon asleep, his breathing laboured, but he was still alive.
Jaia had dozed off as well, and she shook her head at the idiot male, leaving him to sleep while she worked on Kai. She was able to work more efficiently when she knew he wouldn't be feeling most of it, and she was relieved that his arm healed fully by the time she had worked her way up to the other elbow.
It was agony to work on him, forced to cut pieces of his flesh away when the fabric refused to come free, and tears had started to fall when she had finished his second arm, a constant drip into the water as she cut his shirt from his chest and then down to his pants until he was naked in the bloody water.
Jaia had begun to stir around the time she had finished, and she lifted Kai's shoulder gently to check over his back, moving down to run her fingers down over the backs of his legs and around his toes to ensure she had got it all. He looked peaceful, his head resting back to allow his hair to float in the water, most of it grown back where it had been singed away. He still had large shiny patches, but most of him was the natural whiteness of the vampires.
"What happened?" Jaia asked after she had conducted her final examination and pulled the stopper that held in the water.
Using a small bucket, she ran the water into it and used it to rinse him off, ensuring there was no blood or toxins left on his body. "Vincent cooked him to force me to agree to a deal. He only fought everyone so he could learn who I would sacrifice myself for." She kept her eyes down, her hand resting against Kai's forehead to block the water as she rinsed out his hair and then set aside the bucket to pick out an oil for his hair. Her fingers worked slowly through the long strands. She smiled faintly as she realised, he too was in need of a haircut.
Jaia was silent as she worked and she didn't look up at him, picking up the bucket and with her hand protecting his face, she washed out the oil until his hair was clean, soft, and smelling faintly of sandalwood. Content with her work, she slid her arm up under his back and lifted him into her arms, stepping up out of the bath. He was a lot heavier than she expected, but she refused to let go of him, growling when Jaia approached her. Taking the limp vampire into her room, she laid him down and crawled up beside him, not caring that her clothes were soaked, and there were no sheets on the bed.
She pulled the blankets up over him and pulled him against her, his breathing slow and even as he slept.
Looking up at Jaia, he was frowning at her with an odd expression on his face, a mixture of confusion, anguish, and jealousy that gave him a tortured look.
"Where is everyone?" she asked quietly, resting Kai's head against her shoulder and her arm wrapping around him, stroking her fingers gently down his arm.
"They went looking for you, but right now everyone is just trying to stay out of the way. They were worried you might… get violent again."
Looking up at him, her brows lifted, and the sudden flash of a smirk had her stomach clenching, though she had no idea why.
"I think you scare them all," he said.
She laughed softly, her eyes dropping to Kai. "I think I scare everyone, including myself," she said finally, running her fingers through his hair gently.
"You scare me," he said, approaching slowly. When he motioned to the edge of the bed, she nodded, and he sat down. "What deal was it?"
"Vincent seems keen to have his own pet Goddess," she said, not entirely sure what his purpose had been. "He said…" Frowning, she tried to remember through her blind panic. "He said something like... a man must do what he must to own a Goddess. I think so, at least."
"Why would he be working so hard to get his hands on a Goddess?" he asked, frowning down at her as he tucked the end of the blanket around Kai's feet.
"I honestly have no idea. It's just a title, isn't it? It doesn't give you any actual power."
Jaia shrugged, chewing on his lower lip and she found herself watching the action. "No one really knows. If there is any change, it would only enhance what was already there. With the average God it wouldn't be such an issue, but with you… it is concerning."
Forcing her eyes away from his mouth, she frowned and dropped her eyes to Kai as he shifted, nuzzling closer to her with a soft murmur. It seemed he had entered a more natural sleep state.
"If he wanted a Creator he would have said so, wouldn't he? But he said, 'Goddess' specifically."
"Maybe he wants the Goddess of death?"
"I guess we will just have to wait and see," she sighed.
Jaia nodded, shifting to sit with his back resting against the post of her bed and crossed his legs. "Did you get any indication of when he will want his new toy?"
"A few months, or so he says. To prepare."
"Prepare what?"
"Your guess is as good as mine."