"Winter," she replied and flinched as he slid the needle into her left thigh and pressed down.
It started slowly, a burning that started out relatively mild and then began to heat up until she was sure her leg was on fire.
Gasping, she kept her teeth clenched and tried her very best to stay silent, but a whimper escaped her.
"Which court?" he wasn't going to change his question and she shook her head.
The second jab had her crying out in pain, both legs on fire and she could see that the areas around the injection site had turned black. He had injected her with a corrosive element that was eating away at her body.
"You only have to tell me which one and we stop," he said calmly, studying her for the next place to inject.
"Winter, you bastard!" she cried and finally screamed as he injected the next dose deep into her stomach.
It spread through her, given a larger area to destroy and she could do nothing to stop it.
"Last chance," he said as he lifted the syringe with only a little of the compound left in it, it was hovering over her heart.
Did he know she was immortal? She didn't know but she wanted it to end.
She refused to speak and he hesitated, not willing to kill her. Instead he smiled and moved away, leaving her hanging limp and whimpering as the corrosive ate away at the repairs her body made.
He had left the room and she couldn't see what he was doing, unable to turn herself and so it was a shock when he dragged in Jaia.
Her heart froze at the horrified expression on his face as he looked at her, his eyes trailing down her tear streaked face, her bloodied body to the dark black holes in her flesh.
Jaia was shaking though she thought it was more from fury than fear.
"There's a good man, just stand there," Harla said and tied Jaia's chain to her own, just above her hands to leave them standing close together, facing each other.
"Etani…" he whispered and she shook her head, resting her forehead against his.
"Now tell me, or I kill the vampire," Harla said and she looked up to see a large wooden stake in his hand.
Her eyes went wide as she saw it, terror filling her and even Alaric seemed to be struggling.
"Get away from him!" she snarled, but Harla only smiled.
Looking up at Jaia, he had frozen in fear with his eyes on her.
Placing the stake against Jaia's back, Harla aimed up and drew back the stake.
Panic flooded her at the mental image of losing Jaia, her entire world ending with him. The stake flew forward
"Autumn! Ceress! I'm a Celestrial, stop!" she screamed, frantic as the stake stopped, an inch of it buried in Jaia's back.
He looked utterly terrified at being so close to death and his body jerked at the removal of the stake.
She began to cry helplessly and he moved closer, allowing her to rest her head against his cheek at the fear and relief of his surviving.
Harla had vanished to make notes, the stake discarded.
There was a choking sound coming from Alaric, but she ignored him and pressed herself against Jaia, relief flooding her and countering the fear to make her feel dizzy and unable to keep the tears back.
His cheek rested against the top of her head, his eyes on Alaric in a hateful death glare.
Returning, Harla seemed pleased at the results and pulled her back from Jaia, turning her to face him and Alaric.
She thought she was starting to get control of her legs back, but she couldn't tell if it was that or simply muscle spasms as the muscles had to regrow.
"Autumn is Ceress? What is Spring?" he demanded.
***
"It's where the leftovers go. The freaks who don't belong anywhere else. It was the Drow home before they were banished," she was absolutely exhausted, drained from the fear and near loss of someone she cherished so dearly. "It was dubbed the Heathen Court by the rest of us."
He began writing again and she looked at Alaric, who had been staring at her with a murderous look on his face.
"You Fae and your secrets," Harla breathed, delighted at getting confirmation after all that time.
"I don't suppose you would permit me to keep her for a few weeks or a year? To study of course," Harla said to Alaric, who looked angry enough to breathe fire.
Harla shrugged and turned back to her, gleeful as he picked out a new syringe.
"Now tell me Etani, how do you get into Faerie?"
"Only the Fae can get in unless you are taken in by a member of the Fae," she realised his glee and she shook her head, lying for all she was worth. "It has to be a genuine desire to take the extras. A genuine need or it will just spit you out somewhere in this world."
He looked disappointed and then looked to Jaia and back to her.
"You took him there didn't you?"
"We needed to escape, that is a genuine need."
Harla nodded and inched closer to her, his eyes eager.
"What happens to the vampires when they go to Faerie?" he breathed, so close his nose touched hers though the angle made it impossible for her to be able to force a kiss before he moved away on reflex.
"We get incredibly strong and fast," Jaia said, his breath warm on the back of her neck.
Harla looked from her to him and smiled happily at the new information.
"Do you feel any different?" he asked, scribbling down his notes in a feverish pace.
"I get ravenously hungry and feel like a god," he said.
She gave her toes a little wiggle and Alaric looked down at them, his lips turning up into a grim smile as their eyes met.
They both wanted revenge against Harla now.
"Do you feed off her?" Harla asked and Jaia sucked in a breath, nodding once at the personal question.
"What does she taste like?" Harla whispered and she felt Jaia tense behind her.
"Like the sun and ecstasy," he said. "Honey and sex."
Her cheeks flamed, but she was focusing on her legs and willing her body to heal them faster, trying to direct the healing but she had never been able to do that.
"Interesting..." Harla whispered, leaning in to breathe in the scent of her throat.
She flinched back at him but he had grabbed her, examining the scarred skin.
"How long have you two been together, or do you share her with your brother?" the insinuation had her blushing brighter and Jaia growled a warning.
Harla laughed at their embarrassment and moved before her, his eyes dragging down her form.
"Where else do you bite her?" he knew he had gotten to them and was going to try and torment them even further.
He tugged at the band of her undergarments to check her hips and she shoved herself backward into Jaia's chest.
"Stay still, I'm not going to defile you. I don't fancy women," he snapped and she clenched her eyes shut as he tugged her undergarments down to her knees and knelt, examining her hips, pelvic region and her rear, grunting when he found her free of bites and checking her inner thighs just to be sure.
She hated him, though when her eyes opened she found Alaric looking away and was glad for that at least.
Harla moved to her chest next, finding nothing but a number on her shoulders and then up to her wrists.
"I see two different sizes, possible three. Yes, these two have a wider space between the fangs and that one has larger fangs," his face was at her shoulder, examining the barely visible scars.
Stepping back, he slid her undergarments back up into place and looked between them, then at the door.
"All three of them? Etani, I'm surprised at you," he said, laughing at her embarrassment.
"Necessity," Jaia said through clenched teeth, almost shattering with his restrained fury.
***
"In what way?" he paused and then he recalled the information. "Her blood is addictive is it? I hadn't known that to be fact," he added the note to his book and examined her carefully, licking over his sharp teeth.
She had never stopped to think about his teeth, only finding it weird but never bothering to ask. It wasn't the weirdest thing in that world but now she was very much wondering what he was. There were a lot of creatures with teeth like that, but so many could change their shape.
"What are you?" she breathed as he inched closer, his grin growing wide.
"They say he tried to tear down the world to escape captivity, the world was crushing him. But if he ever gets free, he will bring the world crashing down," he seemed to delight in her realisation. "But that's just a story. I don't want to destroy this world, I want to destroy Faerie."
He moved forward and sank his sharp teeth into her shoulder, carefully picking a spot that hadn't been scarred already.
He didn't linger, but she still screamed as his saliva burned and she found herself getting woozy.
Harla moved back from her and licked his lips, frowning as he considered the taste of her blood and watched them as Jaia bit the tip of his tongue and dragged it over the bite marks. The bleeding stopped, but the bite didn't heal over.
Whimpering at the burning that refused to stop, she tried to calm herself and focus.
"Why does every creature here have to be some great mythical creature?" she demanded, her body burning.
"Who is he?" Jaia asked, looking down at her inflamed skin.
"Nidhogg, the world ender. He's supposed to be the one who consumes the world," she said through gritted teeth.
Jaia looked up at the slender, tall man who was looking thoughtful.
"That's supposed to bring about the end of the world?" His tone was doubtful.
"He's supposed to be an enormous dragon, not a man."
Harla looked at them, contemplating the two of them curiously.
"This form makes moving around easier," he said simply and Jaia nodded but she was frowning at him, wondering.
"You're cursed aren't you…" she said, laughing through the pain when his face went sour.
"Someone cursed Nidhogg, that's rich. Who was it? Old Jenny Greenface?" she taunted, knowing she was getting the name wrong but that witch and she had never gotten along.
"Hecate," he said angrily and his eyes narrowed as she began to laugh, though every peel hurt.
"Be quiet…" he growled.
"How did you manage to anger Hecate so much that she bothered to pay even the slightest bit of attention to you?" she asked, genuinely curious. "Did you eat some of her girls?"
He looked away and she laughed again.
Hecate was one of the more powerful creatures in Faerie, a step above even the Queens of Faerie. She was one of the oldest and was obscenely powerful. Called a goddess by the humans, but she was the woman to give certain humans the ability to tap into Faerie from birth. They had been called witches and Hecate was fiercely, insanely protective of her girls. It was assumed that Hecate looked after, and created Faerie, but she doubted it. Hecate only cared about the Fae as much as observing them as the ones to help create of the humans. Hecate only cared about the witches.
"How many did you kill?" she asked.
"A coven."
"You don't mess with the witches, everyone knows that," she said, shaking her head at his stupidity.
"I didn't know they were witches at the time…," he sounded like a petulant child and she laughed again.
"Is she ever going to turn you back or did you get the full parting shot before she booted your arse into the human world?"