She woke suddenly and sat upright, alert and confused as she felt something cold moving over her, but she was alone.
Squinting around the room, she found the window had been left open for fresh air and she stood, moving over to it to close it and she looked down at her hand, slender and small with long fingers and those sharp, metallic nails.
The dark mark around her ring finger, the mark of Epharis on her kept her attention for a long moment before her mind began to drift and she closed her eyes, a fleeting thought of a different brand being on her making her clench in pain. A different ring around her finger, silver and delicate to mark his connection to her. Jaia, not Dirdos, not Versalis, not Daemon, not Epharis, or Drizdan, Jaia.
The thought burned her heart, and she swallowed hard to keep from making a sound as she remembered him, the redhead astride him and her moans of pleasure. The sight of his bare chest and stomach clenched in pleasure as she moved atop him.
A loud crunching sound had her looking down, and she saw the hole she had left in the stone, then the bloodied knuckles and the sting of broken bone. She didn't care, none of it mattered.
The sound of her hitting the wall brought someone to the door, and they slipped inside as she stood still, a slow drip of blood falling from her fingers as she looked down at the cuts.
She hated him for what he had done, for making her remember it all. She had been happier not knowing or just remembering it, not actually seeing it again.
He was cruel, and she hated him.
A soft hand found hers and she let them stroke her skin, refusing to make a sound as they pressed her knuckles back into place for them to heal and then kiss the top of her hand.
He smelt faintly of sandalwood still from the oil she had put in his hair, and she turned to him, his arms wrapping tightly around her and drawing her closer. His hand stroking her hair felt nice, soothing, and she felt very young under his attentions.
"I'm so sorry, love…" Kai whispered, but she felt suddenly drained of emotion.
The door opened again, and Hades came into the room, glancing at the two of them and the wall before he placed a long, thin wooden box on the bed, bowing to her once.
"You're going to need these," he said and then left the room.
They looked at the box in confusion, neither all that keen to go see what it was, given the nature of the God, but it was better than having Kai stress over her physical or mental state.
She pulled away from him gently and approached the box, a delicate silver clasp being all that kept it closed.
Pushing the clasp up, she lifted the box and sucked in a breath at the sight of the swords.
They were absolutely stunning, made of a shiny silver with deep black blades that seemed to suck in the light. Lifting one out slowly, the blade whispered to her, and she smiled slowly, a dangerous smile that had Kai looking anxious.
They were soul blades, designed to rip a person from their body and trap them for eternity.
Closing her eyes slowly, she knew that the God wanted her to do, and she placed the sword back and turned away from Kai, stripping off her night dress and throwing it aside as she started pulling out her leathers.
"No," Kai said, but she ignored him, slipping into small undergarments and rolling the tight leather up over her legs and snapping the buttons into place. "No!"
Still, she ignored him as she pulled on her shirt and then the corset, reaching back and sucking in her breath to cinch it tight then tying it before tucking in the ties.
"No, no! You're not going!" he yelled even as she turned, boots in hand and a leather case of her extra supplies.
The door opened and Uzo came in, followed closely by Daemon and then Jaia.
There was one very tense moment as everyone saw her eyes fix on the vampire and then turn to the box in a serious consideration of sticking it in him to seeing what happened.
"Etani…" Kai growled in warning, but she only snapped the wooden case closed and left the room, refusing to look at any of them.
They followed her back out as she set down the two cases and started pulling on her boots, making quick work of the ties and tapping her toes to settle her feet.
Turning to the case, she went still as she found Kai almost breathing down her neck, teeth bared and furious.
"You're not going anywhere," he growled.
"Move," she said simply,
Uzo moved around to open the wooden case and Dirdos whistled gently.
"Stay here, with us," Kai said, but she shook her head.
"I'm going for my magic Kai. Winter is mine."
"You're angry, you're scared, and you're hurting. You're not thinking right."
"Get out of the way, Kai…" she breathed, her voice perfectly calm and yet she saw Letari had sidled out of the room, Jagum following after her as his own personal early detection system.
"Etani…" Jaia said, and she moved
Pulling one of the swords out of the box, a tiny spot of blood trickled down the blade as the tip clipped his chin, her eyes still on Kai and her arm stretched out to her side.
He swallowed and there was a collective sucking of their breaths as the threat became very real for them.
"If you say another word to me, I will end you," she said to Jaia, her eyes on Kai.
"Etani stop," Kai said gently, pressing at her arm, but it didn't waver.
"You can come or stay, but I am going. Move."
Dirdos stood and picked up the case with her supplies in it, holding it before him in both hands with a contrite expression on his face.
"Let's go children, we have killing to do," he said cheerfully.
She smiled, a dark smile and Kai's eyes widened as he saw it. She was not going to back down, she was going to destroy, with or without him.
Daemon walked forward, and he picked up the wooden case and offered it to her. She took the second sword, and she withdrew the blade from Jaia's chin, both sheathed in her belt.
No one thought it prudent to touch her except for Uzo, who brushed her cheek and then wrapped his fingers gently around hers, the rest deciding to go with Daemon, and she looked up at Uzo as she bit her finger.
"Megara, here comes the queen," he growled, and she smiled grimly, drawing a line in the air with her blood and they stepped through.