It was stunning, warm and green with moss everywhere. The water was so incredibly clear and blue that she could see the forms below moving.
The siren were very similar to that of the mermaids except they looked less like fish and more like eels with long tails ending in sharp fins. They were various shades of purples, blues and even some greens but they were radiantly beautiful, even with their large webbed ears and red eyes.
They didn't seem to have noticed the intruders into their cave and Etani smiled as she watched the beautiful dance.
Siren, unlike the mermaids, were capable of becoming humanoid on a whim while the mermaids had to go through a whole ritual to have legs and it took a great sacrifice, as it meant they were unlikely to ever be a mermaid again if they did not genuinely wish for it.
It was the main reason why the mermaids and siren hated each other and why one would never find them in the same pond.
There were about five down there and they were eating something, or perhaps it was a 'someone', so when she crouched down and stirred the surface of the water, all eyes snapped up and what she was fairly certain to be a human leg was between them, torn and shredded by shark-like teeth.
They stared up at her for a second and then they moved through the water like she had never seen before, speed and grace weren't enough to describe the way they cut through the water like it was air and the first siren was on her, gripping her wrist.
She smiled at the siren, who while under water was hairless and eerily beautiful, but when her head broke the surface, long black hair sprouted from her scalp in the wake of the falling water.
She was a rich purple colour with violet tones, her forehead and chest a deep green along with stripes over her arms.
"Hello sister, I'm afraid I'm not up for dinner tonight," she said and the siren looked first amused, then confused by the sight of the two men.
Realisation dawned on her beautiful face and she looked down, making an odd whistling, squealing sound.
The other four shot up like an arrow and they were all exquisite, the body that had once been a man, sinking to the bottom of the pool, forgotten.
"You're the one everyone is talking about?" a silvery beauty whispered, looking stunned when Etani nodded.
"I remember you," a blue and silvery toned siren said, looking at Daemon and Etani turned to see him blushing.
"I um… like their singing," he said nervously and the blue siren giggled.
"You like more than that, you perv," she purred at him, her sharp teeth flashing as she licked her lips.
"We didn't think you would make it this long," the purple beauty said and Etani looked back to the siren and found that her hand had been dipped into the water.
"Stop trying to pull me under, I'm not going to let you eat me."
The siren pouted and let go of her wrist, wading back to join her sisters.
"Well then we aren't going to help you," she said petulantly but Etani only smiled at her and straightened.
"Well that's fine," she said, turning to look at Daemon and Uzo, "Do you suppose someone will come and get them before this world is pulled down? I imagine the rivers in Faerie will fill up quickly. The mermaids will probably get first dibs," she was looking at Daemon, her tone conversational but she knew how the siren would react.
Their hiss was low and angry and the siren were shoving the purple siren back towards the shore.
"Go do it."
"We don't want to share with the mermaids."
"They smell."
They seemed rather eager to get the task done and Etani smirked, the purple siren looking irritated, but she shrugged.
"If it means we get to stay here..." she said finally, not wanting to cooperate at all.
"You will, I'll even have the occasional human sent your way," she bargained and her lovely face lit up.
"Male," she said and Etani nodded.
The siren's tail split and she stood, naked and lovely in her unashamed nudity.
The siren took her hands and her lips were wet but not slimy, smooth and clean with just a hint of blood.
The magic moved through her like a whisper and she shivered as her throat began to itch, her vocal cords tightening and then releasing again to make her feel like she needed to cough.
"Thank you," she said gently and the siren laughed, looking over her shoulder.
Her voice had caught the attention of both men and Uzo was smirking, Daemon looked like he was going to pop like a soap bubble.
"You're welcome, watch out for that one, he is devious," she said with a gesture towards Daemon.
Etani smiled and nodded, watching as she dove into the water and her tail returned seamlessly.
"Stop staring at me," she said, not needing to look at Daemon to know he was staring at her and the effects of her voice were turning on all sorts of needs in his brain.
His hand was tight on hers as he drew her from the beautiful cave and she desperately wanted to go back and join her sisters in the water, but she was not foolish.
***
They stepped out into Winter, but it was only the chilly air that told her that it was Winter.
They were inside a massive foyer and their appearance sent a small man scurrying from the room.
Daemon glanced at her and Uzo before he let out a slow breath and followed after the small man into a long corridor lined with doors.
The floor was tiled in black and white; the walls were black and the doors were a dark wood that gave everything a dark, creepy feel to it.
At the end of the corridor, they stepped out into a large living room where three men were standing around the cowering small man that had fled.
Turning at their intrusion, she froze in place at the sight of them.
She had never seen anyone so incredibly terrible and attractive at the same time and their eyes seemed to dig into her very soul as they looked in her direction. Uzo had frozen in place as well, his breathing seemed to have stopped just as hers had done.
Daemon was the only one who wasn't affected and he approached the group.
"Friends, how are you?" he called, trying to break the cold silence but it wasn't working.
The Strigoi embraced him none the less, their eyes lingering on her and Uzo with a keen interest.
"Have you brought us dinner?" one of the beautiful men asked, smirking.
They all looked very similar, black eyed and black haired with snow white skin and long nails. They wore the same black robes and black hoods, but no two looked exactly the same and she found herself studying them with intense interest, trying to find what was different about them.
"Not exactly," Daemon was saying and the tallest of the three had turned his eyes directly on her.
Her breath froze in her chest as he gave her his attention, and everything seemed to melt away to leave her with nothing but those black eyes and his lips turning up into a smile.
He was so incredibly beautiful that it was painful to look at him, like she needed to cut out her eyes so she could never see anything but him again, the most perfect creature to ever exist.
He had crept closer to her without her noticing, and it was only when his fingers touched her cheek that she realise the danger she was in.
It was the exact same response her body had gone through when Versalis had turned his attention on her human body, but this was a million times stronger and she was in his arms, not having a clue when or how she had gotten there.
Distantly, she was aware of the second Strigoi at her side, his attention on Uzo and she frowned, something about that bothering her.
"Don't you want to join me?" the Strigoi whispered in her ear, and she shivered, his fingers gentle as he tilted her head back and to the side, exposing the smooth line of her throat to him.
Daemon was speaking, getting angry but it didn't matter to her, she was trembling in a burning need to feel the Strigoi's teeth sliding into her skin, desperate for it to happen and still he teased her, refusing to give her what she so desperately needed.
"Stacius, listen to me. You can't let them hurt her, she's Etania," Daemon was sounding frantic, and she gasped as a hot tongue touched her throat, his breath cooling the moisture and her legs gave out.
His breathy laugh was like nothing she had ever heard before, his arms were the only thing keeping her from hitting the floor.
Uzo seemed to be faring better than her, the Strigoi shoved back from him.
Teeth grazed her throat, and she whimpered, needing it like she had never needed anything in her life.
He gave her what she wanted, and she cried out as two sets of fangs pierced her throat. Several things happened very fast then at the sound of her pain and bliss.
Daemon flew into a rage and Stacius was suddenly leaping back from him, Uzo had grabbed the Strigoi by the hair and was dragging him back from her and the flame inside her woke up.
Her body burst into flames spontaneously and the Strigoi was thrown back from her, leaving her to sink back onto the ground with the oddest sensation settling low in her stomach.
The wall behind her was aflame and she looked at the beautiful flames and the way they called for her to dance with them, to move and sing and destroy but she couldn't, her legs weren't working.
She looked up as Uzo tried to reach her, but was unable to get any closer to her flames and she smiled at him softly, content in her fire.
Daemon grabbed the Fae and pulled him back, they were shouting and the Strigoi were screaming. The one whom had bitten her was gone, left as nothing but a humanoid shape of ashes on the ground.
The remaining two were screaming in rage at the loss and she looked up at the four men, fighting over something that she couldn't really hear through the roaring flames that was her.
She was going to miss the phoenix when it left her, it had saved her more than once now and she gasped as the flame found her throat, digging into the bites and down into her.
She realised then that it was the saliva of the Strigoi that had paralysed her legs, leaving her unable to stand, but the fire had found the traces and was burning it off.
Only once she was able to move again did the fire around her die down and she pulled herself to her feet using a chair that was only half on fire.
"Get that witch out!" the Strigoi was screaming and she looked at him curious, then at the ash body and then back at the Strigoi as a darkly amused thought trickled into her mind.
"Give me your magic or I do that to you," she said and the Strigoi froze in place, staring at her.
"We will not be threatened, witch queen!" Stacius screamed and she smiled at him, stepping forward and she lifted her hand to touch him.
She had no way of calling the phoenix to help her again so soon, but he didn't know that.
They moved back from her, and she followed after them, forcing them to have to deal with her.
"Who are you, witch?" Stacius demanded and she smiled.
"Mattie and Jeanne are my ancestors. I'm Tatialia's granddaughter, I'm your great to the tenth-degree granddaughter."
He had gone still, searching her face and she realised he hadn't actually looked at her properly until that moment. His eyes locked on hers and his lips pressed down into a hard line as he realised, she wasn't lying.
"I didn't know Jeanne had any children," he said slowly, and she shrugged.
"One girl, every one of them until Lutheral."
The Strigoi stared at her before he turned his attention to Daemon and growled.
"You are responsible for this? You kept up with your stupid game with the Gods?"
Daemon grinned, amused. "Sure did, and she is my success," Daemon quipped. "I suggest you give her what she wants before she kills you."
"You're my blood, you belong here with me," Stacius demanded, and she laughed.
"No Stacius, I belong in the human world, but it's nice to know you care."
Her fingers touched his cheek, and he flinched, but she kept the pressure light and persistent.
"You would kill your own blood?" he growled, and she tilted her head, curious by him.
"If you refuse to give me what I want, yes," she said simply and he glared at her, furious.
"Fine, but this isn't over," he growled, and his fingers were sharp on her arm as he brushed her hand away. He caught her by the back of the neck and pulled her against him, his lips dry and warm, rough and older than she expected.
His magic slid into her like a shadow, flooding down into her and leaving her feeling cold to the tips of her fingers.
He released her and his face showed his triumph.
"Maybe now you'll be more willing to listen to your family," he said, and she lifted a brow, her face blank.
"Perhaps so," she replied calmly, as she stepped back from him.
She ignored the flames as she swept from the room and his laughter followed her after what he had seen in her eyes, the coldness that dripped its way through her and left her feeling finally secure in her distance to those around her.