She gritted her teeth at the first bite. The second seemed less but then it came again and again until finally she couldn't hold in her pain and the room echoed the sound back to them.
He smiled again before he began to drink deeply, his fingers digging into her skin to keep her from escaping.
She didn't know when the tears had started, but they dripped onto the floor below her. Versalis had gone silent, listening to the sounds of the vampire lapping at her bloody, ruined wrist, her panting breaths and Kai's slow breathing. Finally, Jaia released her and she was allowed to pull her arm back.
Jaia was looking at them, confused as he wiped the blood from his face. Looking down at the sticky red on his normally white gloves, he looked up to Kai who had dropped her chain and stepped up to the glass
"What happened?" Jaia demanded, crimson eyes returning to black as he looked around the room he was in.
The instant she had been freed, she had backed away from the glass, her back hitting the wall and she hugged her arm close to her chest.
She was panting hard, her head beginning to ache as she tried to figure out who it was that was in her mind. She had thought it was Versalis but it was also Jaia.
Shaking her head to clear it, she looked to Versalis who had managed to splinter the first layer of glass. He was staring at her arm, his expression furious.
She needed to get away from them all and she spun, scrambling up and sprinting for the stairs and up towards the exit.
Kai was after her in the next breath, but she had a head start. She didn't know if his speed could match hers, but she wasn't keen to find out.
Bursting into the sitting room, she grabbed a chair and jammed it under the door handle just as Kai tried to get through. He grunted and the door splintered, but she was already backing away quickly.
"You have to let me explain!" he yelled through the door, but she wasn't about to listen. Instead she turned and ran for the door.
The door and chair splintered as he kicked the door, but she was already passing through the second, running up the flight of stairs.
Screaming, she felt his hand on her ankle and she turned as she fell, ensuring she fell on her backside instead of her front. Taking advantage, she drove her heel into his nose but he refused to let go.
Dragging her back down, he caught one of the chains and huffed in relief, wrapping it twice around his hand.
"Damn it all Etani, listen to me!" he caught her free wrist and pulled her closer, even as she aimed a kick squarely between his legs.
He dropped, but it did her no good.
Jaia had appeared and caught the second chain, wrapping it lightly around his fingers.
Turning on him, she had been about to punch him when Kai jerked the chain and she fell back, cracking her head on the step.
World spinning, she grabbed her head with both hands, feeling the wetness of blood.
Something grabbed her ankles and pulled her down the last few steps and back into the sitting room, the door quickly shut and locked.
"There we go, now you be good," two Jaia's said as she peered at him through a curtain of her hair. She was fairly sure she had a concussion, but it would fade soon enough.
"How do you feel?" Kai asked, pulling her to her feet and helping her onto the couch, the chain tied securely around the wooden arm of the couch.
"I don't know. I have no way of knowing how long it will take."
"What about that thing inside her?" Kai asked. "They couldn't hear it when they checked."
"Could it be dead?" Jaia asked, his voice hopeful.
"It's possible, but Epharis seemed fairly cheerful when he left her alone. I think he would have been in a rage if it was lost."
"It's problematic, this whole situation is trouble for us."
She lowered her arms and blinked, it taking a moment to process that not all the blood on her arm was from her head.
The chew marks on her arm were oozing, only adding to her confusion.
Suddenly a hand appeared and a set of six fingers snapped in front of her, making her jerk back.
"She hit her head," Jaia said, his fingers gentle as he tugged at her hair, unable to see through the blood and sticky hair.
"I think that was you," Kai said, moving away and collecting something.
She had spotted a twin pair of threads that had come loose on the rug, focusing on them to try and clear her head but the harder she focused, the more her brain hurt.
***
Something wet and cold touched her neck and she jumped back, sliding off the couch and onto the floor in a heap.
A pair of hands pulled her back up and someone held her head gently against his stomach while someone else worked on the back of her head.
"It's not bad, might be a concussion though, she's not acting right" Jaia said and Kai murmured his agreement.
Letting go of her head, she looked up to see two sets of twins, the four men swaying together and apart again. The sight made her stomach churn and she wanted to vomit all over their pretty rug, but nothing came up.
"What is it with men constantly trying to keep me chained up?" she asked, sounding groggy even to herself.
"Etani are you alright?" Kai asked.
"Fuck off, Kai," she said.
He looked taken aback but Jaia laughed.
"Well you did kidnap her, force her to feed me and then refuse to let her leave," Jaia said, moving to attach the second chain to the opposite couch arm.
"Says the man tying me to a chair," she said moodily.
She squinted at their feet, trying to force four into two but it wasn't happening.
"Yes, well that can't be helped," Jaia said, giving the chain a tug and moving to sit across from her.
Lifting her head just enough, she glared at him through wet hair.
"I am looking forward to when Epharis finds out and rips your head off. He might even let me keep it."
Jaia exchanged a look with Kai and frowned.
"That is a cause for concern. The lich will have figured out someone let her go," he said and Kai moved to sit in the armchair to her right.
"You can't keep me here, makes you no better than him downstairs."
Jaia stiffened, looking angry at the insinuation. "We are considering our options, not turning you into a blood doll for our sick fantasy," he snarled.
"Tell yourself whatever you want, Jaia, but you are keeping me here for your own purpose too. You're exactly like him."
He stood suddenly, hands balled into fists. "Shut up! If it weren't for your lich we wouldn't be here! If he hadn't drugged you we would never have had to feed on you!"
She glowered up at him, not giving him the satisfaction of agreeing with him.
The silence felt thick between them and Kai let out a gentle sigh.
"It was my idea to drain her," he said sadly, but she had no sympathy for him.
Using the chains to pull herself more upright, she swallowed to keep from throwing up, the world spinning and slowly she eased herself backward against the backrest of the couch.
Tilting her head back, she closed her eyes.
"No sleeping," Kai said.
She ignored them both, feeling their eyes on her but she was going to pretend they didn't exist until they went away.
At that point, she figured it was just a waiting game until Epharis reasoned it out and came down there looking for her. But as it turned out, they had the same thought and after only an hour of being able to get her scrambled brain back together, she was moved down into the recently vacated left cell.
She didn't have the energy to fight and so when she was sat down on the bed by both men, she immediately laid down on the hard stone, the furs doing little to cushion it. It could be needles for all she cared at that point, she simply wanted to sleep.
***
It felt like it was only a second later when a pair of hands gripped her shoulders, rolling her onto her back.
Looking up, she was shocked to find that one Kai and one Jaia were above her and Jaia was biting his wrist.
Recalling the events in the tower, she immediately clamped her mouth shut and Jaia gritted his own teeth as he worked to get her mouth open.
Finally, Kai moved to sit on her chest, freeing up his hands and they all knew she was in no state to be defending herself.
Squirming, she flicked up her right leg and caught Kai around the neck, bending him backwards but the distraction was all Jaia needed.
He dug his fingers into the joints of her jaw and forced his wrist against her mouth, blood dripping onto her tongue.
Turning her head, she tried to spit it back out, only to have Jaia gripping her hair, keeping her from being able to move.
Whimpering, she knew she would have to either choke or swallow, neither overly appealing to her.
Finally, she swallowed and felt it burning its way down to her stomach.
Kai and Jaia moved with effortless synchronicity, Jaia sliding onto the bed and lifting her until she was leaning against his chest, his arm plastered against her mouth.
Kai moving to bind the chains together behind her back after he had released himself from her leg.
Finally she gave in, her tongue tracing the bites and Jaia shivered behind her.
Clutching her tight to him, he rested his cheek against her hair and allowed her to drink freely.
Kai squeezed her fingers gently before moving away to watch but she didn't try and escape again.
Eyes sliding shut, she considered the heat that was spreading through her body, making her feel as though she were glowing from the inside out.
Eyes opening, her vision had begun to turn pink and Jaia drew his arm back from her reluctantly.
Leaning forward to prolong the connection to him a moment later, she frowned at its loss, but she could feel something in her beginning to fray.
Someone was shouting from another room, loud and furious but she was no longer paying attention. Turning, she buried her face in the neck of the man behind her, the man who smelt amazing, delicious and erotic yet entirely normal all at the same time.
Strong arms enclosed her and she sighed, her fingers curling in the fabric of his shirt that she could reach and she felt a new connection forming that overtook the old.
Versalis no longer lingered in the back of her mind, it was now Jaia.