Yawning, she stretched and Uzo grunted softly as her change in position allowed blood to return to his legs.
Squinting up at him, she frowned groggily.
"No news?" she asked, and he shook his head.
The smell of him so close was making her mouth water and she found herself staring at his neck.
He laughed gently at her and had only just managed to tilt his head away when she had wrapped her arms around him, her lips on his throat.
The sensation of her teeth slicing through his flesh was as beautiful then as it had been the first time, a delicious pressure she would never want to lose. His blood was another story altogether and she shuddered as it hit her tongue.
Pulling greedily, she clung to him and he held her just as tightly, his attention on something else behind her.
It was he who terminated the feeding, pressing her back from him and she growled softly, wanting more. His blood was like nothing she had ever tasted, but he would start to suffer if she took too much. That didn't stop her from trying to pull herself closer to him again.
A pair of arms slid around her ribs and she was pulled off the Fae, snarling and reaching for him.
Slowly she began to come down from the high, her desperate attempts to get back to him easing until finally she just stared at him sullenly.
"Thank you," Uzo said gently as he used a scrap of cloth to wipe away saliva and blood from his throat, the bites already healed over. "The more we collect the stronger she gets."
"I think the blood lust will fade as we move down the line," Daemon said, easing his grip on her and a low growl came from him.
Looking around, she smiled at the sight of Kai as he approached. Wriggling herself free of the demon, she immediately went to his side and he used his thumb to brush away a smear of blood from her cheek.
Licking her lips, she went willingly into his one armed embrace, his hug tight but fleeting.
"Still no sign of him," he said and the mood on the beach dulled.
"He has time, he can do it," Uzo said gently.
Everyone agreed, but no one was particularly happy.
"I didn't see anything, but you got the general sense that the trees had eyes," Versalis said gently and all eyes went to the trees in the distance.
The day wore on and it was night again. Then day and everyone was getting anxious. Pacing the beach, Kai looked irritable and she had taken to drawing symbols in the sand, focusing on the perfection of them before wiping them away and starting over.
The others had wandered off somewhere and had all returned by nightfall.
"I don't like this," she said as the sun set with no sign of the vampire or the harpies.
"Do we wait or go in for an extraction?" Kai demanded.
"Jaia is a fully capable soldier, we will give him until noon," Uzo said calmly, his eyes lingering on the passage.
She was impatient and found herself pacing, interjected with anxious glances in the direction of the passage.
It was close to dawn when they heard the loud laugh, and everyone froze for an instant.
Uzo seemed to melt into the sand, he moved so fast. He had sprinted far enough away that the Harpy wouldn't be able to sense him, and the rest of them moved into position around the entrance of the passage, alert and ready. Daemon however had gone the other way, knowing she would feel him if he was near
A low, raspy female voice joined in with the laugh and Etani felt that same clenching in her stomach. She resented it, knowing she had no claim over the vampire and she resented that just as much.
Shaking her head, she tucked herself under the ledge of a rock, her knees nearly touching her chin as they waited. Kai had lowered himself down onto his stomach under a bush and Versalis had hidden behind a tree that hugged the wall of the cliff.
As the two came through the passage and out onto the beach, she got her first look at the Harpy.
The Harpy stood around five foot five, making her a good foot shorter than Jaia, though wild reddish-brown hair made up another several inches on her head. She was naked, legs changing slowly into taloned claws from just below her knees. Her arms were strewn with feathers, the limbs seeming to form the basis of her wings though she had hands at the pinnacle.
There was no denying she was a beautiful creature, her skin melting into feathers and scaly claws seamlessly. But seeing her with Jaia had her wanting to rip out the Harpy's throat.
Versalis moved, holding up one finger, the three readied themselves as the pair headed leisurely towards the water.
A second finger rose and they tensed, seeing Kai shifting his weight, ready.
The third finger went up and then Versalis dropped his hand and they lunged forward.
A sound must have alerted the Harpy, she turned and screeched a terrible sound and Jaia threw himself out of the way.
Kai being the fastest reached her first and he caught her by the wings, spinning her and throwing her into Versalis who caught her.
Etani immediately went for the Harpy's feet and as she spun to try and gouge the vampire, she caught her ankle and yanked it out from under her, the Harpy fell and they went down with her, pinning her down to the ground and Kai immediately sat on her writing legs.
The sounds she made were terrible and Versalis clamped a hand over her mouth, only to get bitten with sharp teeth.
Deciding on an alternate course, she waited a beat and then slapped the Harpy across the face.
"Shut it! If you listen, we will let you go!"
The Harpy did so, looking sullen and scared with a bright red handprint on her golden cheek.
"What do you want, vampire?" the harpy hissed, her eyes were large and golden, searching for Jaia and then realising he had been in on it when he hung back, looking guilty. She bared her sharp teeth at him and Etani smiled. Versalis held tightly to the Harpy's shoulders and glared down at her.
"Good job!" Uzo called as he approached and the Harpy hissed at him, sniffing at the air.
"There's a good girl. Just listen and we'll let you go. What we want from you is a tiny bit of your magic, then you're free to leave. However if you refuse we kill you, and I take it all,"
The Harpy didn't look particularly happy about that, glaring up at her with full lips pursed.
"What do you want it for?" the Harpy asked and Etani paused, considering the creature.
"Why does it matter?"
"We Harpies like our secrets. You give me that secret and I'll give you magic," she countered.
"It's no longer a secret if I tell you. Nothing stops you from sharing it."
The Harpy smiled slyly and Etani narrowed her eyes.
"It harms you none if I know. Your secret is with me."
Etani looked up to Daemon who shrugged, frowning down at the Harpy.