The news of the escape reached them the next day, Alaric had exploded into a rage but she hadn't told her new little family about anything, and they didn't seem to be aware of her managing to slip away in the night to do the deed.
As much as she loved them all, she felt she had to keep that part of herself a secret, and Letari had agreed though she hadn't said a word in some time.
She needed something to cling to as she was suffering, with the trio of men all around her. Even if she was still struggling, being with them all made her feel better and the knowledge that she had done something for those she had freed did a great deal for her mental state.
So when the news of Alaric's breakdown reached them, she very nearly smiled. It was hard to keep a straight face, to the point where she found Versalis watching her, his handsome face showing a hint of a smile.
"What is it?" he asked in a tiny voice, the twins busy accepting a list from a servant of the missing creatures and their descriptions.
"Nothing," she lied, patting his hand gently.
He knew something was up, but after a moment of studying her face, he nodded his acceptance.
Kai was looking irritated, though he had been looking irritated for days since the incident days prior. She knew he and Jaia had been talking, but she didn't want to know what it was about. They would tell her if and when they were ready.
The fact that she was so unconcerned seemed to be bothering Versalis all the more, but she didn't think they were going to do anything against her.
If Versalis thought otherwise, he wasn't telling her and so she had let it go.
"I'm not sure what they're expecting us to do about this," Kai grumbled as he dropped the list of missing creatures down onto the table. "It was an intentional sabotage. Some guard reported a cloaked woman in a hat asking about the stables, but he didn't see her face. He didn't have any real information."
She saw Versalis moving, his eyes going to the place the twins stored their hats, but neither Kai nor Jaia seemed to have made that connection.
"I got the feeling it's being distributed across the city, not just to us," Jaia sighed, slouching back on the couch though his eyes had lingered on her.
Studying him for a moment, she dropped her eyes back to the list, noting that there was no name for any of the beings. Alaric wanted to keep the identity of Typhon and the incubus a secret. She hoped the man was back with his wife at least.
"Hopefully he isn't expecting us to go looking for them. They will be long gone by now," Versalis agreed, his eyes narrowed as he looked back at her.
"We can't find them. Some of those are fairly common creatures. It's not our fault he is incapable of keeping his own wards safe," she quipped, looking back at Versalis with a slightly quizzical expression. She didn't think it would fool him, but she didn't want him asking questions either.
"The kappa is common, but the unicorns aren't. No doubt that one went back to Summer," Jaia said as he flicked the paper in his frustration.
"Do all the unicorns live in Summer?" Versalis asked, the conversation piquing his interest.
"No, some live in Winter as well. I don't think there are any in the Heathen court and there's none that I ever saw in Ceress," she said slowly, wondering at that. "They don't like being in the human world, they don't handle the lack of magic very well.
Grunting his agreement, Kai flopped back onto the couch, still looking angry though she didn't know why.
***
They were given several days of peace, the twins blowing off their work to stay in the rooms that had been fondly named 'the basement'. The company was delightful, and she wasn't about to tell them to go to work if it meant she would get more time with them.
"You can't kill yourself," Kai said suddenly, his growing tension finally reaching its peak one late afternoon and making everyone jump.
Etani had been butting heads with Versalis and they had finally settled on a game of checkers, which he had taught her how to play. She very quickly mastered it and had beaten him sixteen times in a row, much to his disgust.
Three sets of eyes fell on Kai and he flushed, looking at her angrily.
"Kai this isn't the time or place," Versalis said softly, a black disk in his fingers.
"When is Versalis? It's not your life or your brother hinging on a suicidal Princess!" he had begun to shout, but Etani remained calm, her eyes returning to the board. She had known this would come up sooner or later and she frowned at the disk in Versalis's hand, he hadn't set it down yet and that meant she couldn't take her turn.
She could feel Kai glaring at her, growing angrier when she didn't speak.
"Etani!" he yelled and she flinched, looking up at him and then to Jaia, who was staring at the table, his mouth set in an unhappy line. "You're so selfish! You would destroy everything around you to get what you want!"
The words stung and she recoiled from him, shrinking back into the couch. She came up empty in the search for the little wooden box, she must have left it in the bathroom.
"Kai, shut up and sit down," Versalis growled, but Kai didn't hear him, pointing at his brother.
"What about him Etani? Can you just let him die because you are sad?"
Her own anger flared and she met his accusing stare. Versalis stood at the words but she caught his hand, keeping him from attacking the smaller vampire.
"Sad Kai? You would call my having my child cut out of me being sad?" the rest of what had been done to her hung in the air, demanding an answer but they all ignored it.
"I will not allow you to kill my brother. I will keep you alive by whatever means," Kai growled and he reached for her.
She was out of the seat before his hand had left his side, Versalis had moved between them even as she backed away. Jaia stood also, standing behind Kai and she looked between the two of them.
"Do what Kai?" she demanded, resenting her fear.
"I'll lock you in the cells until this castle crumbles into dust," Kai spat and she suddenly felt concern for herself and for Versalis. The two had been talking and she knew it would end up being them against her and Versalis. Versalis would protect her, but against two young vampires?
She watched her thoughts play out before her eyes even as it was thought up, Kai tackling Versalis and the two wrestling on the flattened table. Her eyes followed a single black disk rolling across the floor before lifting to see the approaching Jaia.
He was so calm, as though the fight behind him had never started and he was just coming in to embrace her. But her body tensed as he approached, preparing to defend herself against a stronger being.
Her body coiled and then rebounded, driving her foot into Jaia's side and throwing him across the room.
"Run!" Versalis screamed and she did exactly that.
Kai was only a breath behind her as she sprinted for the door across the room, arms going around her waist before she could get it fully open.
***
One arm left her and curled in her hair, forcing her head aside. Pain ripped through her body as his teeth sank into the soft flesh of her throat and she cried out.
His grip tightened around her and though she couldn't see what was happening behind her, she knew Jaia was doing his best to defend Kai's back from Versalis.
Struggling, she drove her elbow into his ribcage, stamping down hard on his toes but he refused to let her go. She had underestimated how strong Kai was.
Her vision began to swim as he fed, moving with her as her legs gave out and he lowered her gently to the floor.
His grip on her finally began to loosen as she slumped against him, unable to keep her eyes focused on the door or the darkness of the stairwell.
His fangs left her carefully and his grip on her hair eased, instead cupping the back of her head as he eased her onto the floor, his fingers stroking her cheek. He seemed satisfied when she moved weakly and he left her, off to do whatever it was he needed to do. When someone approached, she found herself looking sleepily up at Jaia, his face set and determined as he started moving things around, doing something she couldn't see.
She couldn't even lift her hand to touch his hair that tickled her cheek when he leant down, feeling her shallow breaths on his cheek and listening to her slow heart.
He said something and Kai joined him, his eyes alight and glittering as though he were high. She had to suppose that he was, on her blood.
They spoke quietly, moving over her and shifting things around, but she could only hear the slow rushing of blood in her ears, her heart fighting to push through what little blood she had left.
Silver flashed over her and she tried to focus on it, but it was gone too fast and then she felt something slide under the skin of her right inner elbow. The sting of pain was minor and she found herself staring up at the ceiling, deciding then and there that their colour of ceiling was much better than the one in her rooms in the royal quarters.
A pressure at her elbow had her looking to Kai, he had something in his mouth and was pulling it tight. Had he tourniquetted his arm? She tried to figure out why he would do that, but then decided it didn't really matter and she really just wanted to sleep.
Kai reached over her to help Jaia and her eyes were barely able to open, her breaths slowing to almost nothing and she had a moment of peace realising that she was about to die. Not the death she wanted, but it was ironic given their argument about her killing herself, and they were the ones that ended up killing her instead.
Jaia nodded and looked down at her, his face going pale as he saw her. He turned his attention to something else and then the little prick at her arm was moved, jerking and making her arm sting.
On her other side, a trembling pair of hands touched her and a new sting started in the crook of that elbow too.
She could see death, that old friend of hers and she smiled for him, glad to be able to reach him and yet he didn't look particularly certain, assessing her and when his arms drops, they both looked somewhat annoyed.
Warmth had started at her arms and had begun to spread though her, which was rather odd all things considered. She thought about that for a moment, contemplating the two points where the warmth started, both at her inner elbows, at the veins most often used for needles.
She contemplated that fact for several seconds, unable to make heads or tails of it in her drowsy state.
The warmth was spreading, racing each other until in unison, both sides met at her heart and her world went white.