She inched closer to him, biting down gently on her lower lip and smiling when his eyes flicked down to her lips and then back up to her eyes.
"You know… I like you a lot," she breathed and his eyes went wide. "More than just liking, for a long time."
He looked like he would very much like to run away just then but he had extended the full length of his arms in order to draw away from her and still she was close to him.
"I think I may be in love with you…" she whispered. He opened his mouth to speak but then he looked behind her and something jabbed into her back.
She frowned, moving on instinct and turned, cupping her fist in her palm and driving her elbow back and up into the face of Harla.
He fell flat on his back and she smiled, stepping lightly up to him and placing her foot hard down on his throat. She could feel the buzz wearing off, anger coming to her.
"You know Nid, I'm getting really sick of you injecting me," her buzz was turning into a foul mood at an alarming pace and she was in the mood to rip that man's head off his scrawny shoulders.
She pressed down hard on his neck and he choked, trying to push her off him but she kept pushing down, anger burning inside her at everything all these men had done to her.
"I'm going to take your head, and I'll hand it to Hecate on a silver platter. She'll be thrilled," she snarled, unable to do much more than choke him to death with her foot.
Jaia was still in shock, Alaric was still barely able to move and Harla was being choked out by a half-naked bound Fae.
That was the sight Epharis walked in on as he came looking for his brother.
He looked at her, then to Jaia, then Alaric and then finally down at Harla, who had turned red.
"Epharis," she said pleasantly, but he could tell by her tone that someone was going to die.
"Etani, what is going on?" he asked warily.
"This here? Think back to our first date, but instead of a psychotic lich, it's a psychotic demi-god with a size complex and a bone to pick with Faerie. Then we have King Voyeurism and a shell shocked vampire. That's what we have here. How's your day been?"
He watched her, looking up to the chain and then down to Harla again, who was by this point turning blue.
"It'll be a real hassle if you kill him, and his husband will cause a scene, Alaric will have to deal with that and there'll be another trial," he sounded like it was all simply too hard for him and she frowned, glaring at the man who was her husband.
"Why don't you come here and take him then?" she said in a lethal tone, but judging by his expression, he wasn't going to do anything stupid. "How about you come over here and release me so I can speed along the process?"
"If I let you go, do you promise not to kill him?" Epharis asked calmly, knowing the best way to deal with his angry wife was to try and stay calm.
"No, I'm going to wring his neck and then hand his mutilated corpse back to Pharley."
Epharis let out a soft sigh and looked down at Harla, who by now looked as though his living long enough to be strangled properly wasn't going to be an issue.
He moved forward and she growled at the approach, but it was either stand still and Epharis would stop her, or defend herself against Epharis and stop killing Harla. Neither were her desired outcome.
Stopping before her, he reached down and curled his hand around the back of her knee and pulled up sharply, his eyes locked on hers and refusing to back down from the challenging stare.
Harla rolled away and Epharis let go of her leg, allowing her to lower it to the floor.
Still they stared at each other, trying to force the other to look away and neither willing to be that one who looked away first. Alaric coughed and they both looked to him in unison.
"This is what happens if you let your anger get the best of you brother," Epharis said, finally reaching up to release her wrists and then moving to Jaia, who hadn't budged.
Ignoring Harla, she moved to Alaric and he jerked as she reached for him.
"Oh calm down, I'm checking your pulse," she said moodily, pressing her fingers against the skin under his jaw.
Nodding, she crossed to the table and picked up bottles, checking the labels for the one she needed.
Picking up a clean syringe, she drew out a portion and then stabbed it as deeply into his arm as it would go, making him flinch.
"If you ever threaten to rape me again, I will ensure you die a slow and painful death, and then I will find you in death and kill you again," she murmured in his ear, pushing down on the plunger and then jerking the needle out.
He was glaring up at her as she moved away, throwing the empty syringe at Harla, who had the thing bounce off his forehead.
Grabbing her clothes, she stalked from the room to free Kai and Versalis.
The instant Versalis was free, he was on her and checking to make sure she was okay, the black patches looking terrible but they were healing, the bite on her shoulder still inflamed and even slightly infected.
"We could hear…" Kai said, looking pale.
"Don't think about it," she said, turning away from his agonised look to get dressed.
"How can you be so calm?" he whispered and she looked at him, buttoning up her vest.
"It's not the first time I've been tortured Kai. You get used to it," that wasn't true, one never got used to being tortured, but she didn't want him to worry about her and he looked horrified.
Walking back into the cell with the rest of the men, she glanced at Jaia, frowning as she tried to recall what had happened to him.
She left Kai to deal with him, needing to check on Alaric again.
His pulse was fast but steady and he was getting control of his limbs back.
Filling a mug with water, she lifted it to his lips and he drank gladly. She knew that sedative tended to dry out ones mouth terribly.
Satisfied with her work, she turned to find Epharis glowering at her from a mere foot, looming.
"If you yell at me I'm going to neuter you," she threatened, seeing he was about to blow up.
"Six months you've been gone, Etani," he was using that tone, that 'I'm going to kill you later' tone
"And before that I was in Faerie," she retorted, hearing the slap and seeing Jaia jerk, looking at Kai and then the two left the room, Kai almost dragging his brother.
She watched them go, concerned but unable to remember what had happened.
"Do you want to stay down here?" Epharis warned and she turned on him.
"Is that a threat?" she snapped, his jaw clenching making her believe it was one. "Do not threaten me Epharis. I am not yours to control."
"You are my wife," he exclaimed, grabbing her arm.
"You married the lich?" Harla demanded and she turned on him. He was still on the floor, trying to breathe through a crushed throat.
"Shut up Nid!"
Epharis wrapped his arm around her middle, predicting her move and she managed to clip Harla's jaw, but didn't kick him in the face as she had intended.
Epharis heaved her up under his arm and stalked from the room, ignoring her struggles and profanity.
Taking her up to his room, he threw her in and locked the door behind him. She turned on him, glaring at him even as he started for her, fury in his eyes.
"If you ever talk to me like that again…" he hissed and she backed away, seeing the fire beginning to dance in his eyes.
"You can't threaten me," she snapped back, but he wasn't going to tolerate her mouth.
He slapped her across the face and she staggered, finding the back of a chair to keep herself from falling.
***
Moving after her, he gripped her by the hair and forced her forward over the table, sweeping the books off in his haste.
Keeping a tight grip on her hair, he reached down and released the ties of her pants and jerked them down, followed by her underwear and he leant down over her.
"You are my wife, I will do whatever I want with you," he snarled, kicking her legs apart and hitching up the front of his robes.
He bit down hard on her ear as he forced himself inside her, his low groan sounding loud in her ear and he gripped her shoulder with his free hand, nails digging into the bite wound as he thrust hard, grinding her hips into the edge of the table.
He had been without her for so long, angry at her and the world, furious that she hadn't found him when she had arrived and then their argument and his rage had escalated. Now all he wanted to do was have her and make her hurt.
Keeping his hand in her hair to keep her from standing up, he took what he wanted from his wife and released her when he was done, panting hard and finally relieved although only momentarily.
Sliding to her knees on the floor, she tugged her pants and undergarments up, ignoring his growl of warning that he wasn't done with her yet.
She didn't speak to him as she stalked from the room and into the bathroom, throwing her clothes in a heap and running the bath.
He followed her after a few minutes, angry that she had walked away yet captivated by the blood and damage to her body with new bruises blooming at her hip bones.
Stripping off his robes, he joined her in the bath without a word, still angry but wanting to help her.
He helped her to wash her hair when her shoulder made it difficult and when she turned around, he kissed her hard and forced her up against the wall of the bath.
She grunted in pain, but didn't fight him as he took her again, knowing he would have her willing or not and it was easier not to fight him.
Having expended himself twice, he seemed to have calmed down, looking at her shoulder and frowning at the discolouration.
"That's infected" He said, moving to pull at the skin around the bite and feeling the heat radiating off it.
"I thought that too," she sighed, flinching when she tried to lift her arm. "I've never had an infection before."
Epharis grunted softly and climbed out of the bath to collect supplies, returning to drizzle a stinging, thick liquid onto it.
"Keep it out of the water but stay in the bath, the steam will help," he said, drawing her closer to him and into his lap.
His arms were tight around her, protective as she leant against him. She felt his need for her again but he resisted the urge for the time being, leaving her to heal.
"Where have you been?" he asked, watching the infection oozing from the bites.
"In the north, Pharley's territory. That's how they found us, dumb luck."
He nodded and ignoring her protests, he pulled the skin tight to help expel the infection.
"Stop Epharis that hurts," she complained and he hushed her, watching in fascination as a small barb came loose and he picked it out of the mess of blood, medicine and pus.
"He bit you, didn't he?" he asked, looking at the small fragment.
"Yes," she said, trying to see what he saw. He let it roll onto his palm and she frowned at it.
"You know what this means…" he said and she put on her best 'pity me' look, wanting mercy.
But he wasn't about to give it to her. He climbed out of the bath and drained it, having her lie on her back with her shoulder overhanging the edge of the bath.
He sat on her hips to keep her from struggling and he grabbed her shoulder, squeezing it.
She screamed, blood and pus pouring free along with small fragments of the barbs.