Fingers curled in her hair, her fury giving voice with a feral snarl as someone pried her head back. Looking up at the intruder, she found Jaia standing over her with a pale face that was a weird mixture of relief, fear and anger. His anger won out, and he dragged her bodily away from Kai who was whimpering softly, clutching at his throat until it healed. In the next breath he was on his feet, his bloodied throat the most beautiful thing Etani had ever seen, and a soft keening sound escaped her as she looked up at the tall vampire. He didn't know what to do, staring down at her as she reached for him. But then he vanished, and she looked up at Jaia, her lips pulling up into a slow smile.
His eyes widened, but she moved before he had the chance to stop her, her arms going around his neck and his fingers slid free of her hair as her teeth found his throat.
She didn't care who it was, she didn't care what their relationship might be, she only wanted to feed, and he was close to her, and he was so warm.
He snarled in pain as her teeth sank into his flesh, his blood tasting oddly sweeter than Kai's had.
He didn't try to pry her off him, instead he held her to him with stiff shoulders and a clenched jaw, his head turning slightly at the sound of running footsteps.
Someone said her name, but she ignored them, her tattered wrist tingling as she gulped down as much blood as she was able to pull from the vampire, his body beginning to sag against her as he held onto her as tightly as she clung to him.
He spoke, but she didn't understand the words, only felt the rumbling in his throat but then she growled as someone new touched her, the growl low and feral in warning.
The hands left her and Jaia said something else, wilting against her until it was she who was holding him up as her body began to hum with energy.
His knees gave way, and she clutched him to her, refusing to stop until a strong hand pressed against her face and she was pried off the vampire.
Jaia hit the floor, Kai quick to help drag him away even as she turned on the one who had forced her to stop, looking up at Daemon whose face had gone very pale.
"Etani?" he asked gently.
She growled, her eyes sliding down to his throat and the wonder of what his blood must taste like struck her like a blow. Blood wasn't enough for her to regrow her hand, she needed flesh for that, but she was ravenous.
His eyes were challenging as she looked up at him. Would she dare try to bite him?
She did dare, and as she lunged forward, his muscles strained to keep her back from him, but she was high on the blood of two vampires and that made her stronger. Her teeth sank into his flesh, and he grunted in pain, the taste of him hitting her like a physical blow directly to the centre of her brain. She immediately latched onto him, tasting nothing like him and it clicked too late for her to stop. He was a demon; he was a God, and she was at least partially a vampire. This had to be what the twins felt when they tasted her blood and she groaned softly at the taste, the magic of his blood.
He gave up trying to fight her off and instead slid his arms around her. She opened her eyes to find Kai staring at her from the doorway, his face snow-white and terrified.
She didn't hear what he was saying, nor that Daemon was motioning to behind her, but people were moving around her though she saw only Kai as he seemed unable to tear his eyes off hers, frozen in place with Jaia leaning against him, sucking on something.
Something caught her attention, and she pulled away from Daemon's throat as a delicious smell hit her stomach. Spinning to find the exquisite scent, blood dripped down her mouth and onto her chest.
There was a terrified looking man standing before her, small and pale as he took in the sight of the ravenous woman. He was human, she could smell that, and discarding Daemon, she started slowly towards the human, her stomach twisting in pain.
He had nowhere to run, nowhere to go and so he whimpered, limp in the arms of someone.
Her fingers traced his cheek and left a glittering crimson trail across his skin. She found herself making soft hushing sounds to him though she made no conscious decision to do so.
He went still at her touch, and she smiled, his fear leaving her shivering in delight.
She bowed her head to him, and her lips met his in a gentle kiss. But she didn't delve into him, instead she curled her fingers in his soft, short hair and jerked his head back.
Her teeth sliced through his skin, and she pulled back, his flesh tearing and ripping as she tore it away from him. He screamed, a high pitched, agonised sound as he watched her chewing the chunk of flesh and then swallow. Lifting her arm, they could all observe the skin and bones growing, reforming her missing limb.
She made a soft murmuring sound of delight that the man had gone limp, but she didn't care as she knelt down beside him, sinking her teeth into him again and again and greedily swallowing his flesh.
After several minutes of silence, she looked up at a movement and her eyes found Epharis approaching. The moment slamming her back into her first day in that city in a position very like the one she was in then. Recovering the loss of a missing limb.
She moved over her prey and growled low, defensive of her kill, but the lich only smiled at her, seeming to remember the moment as she did.
Her hand had fully reformed, and she was simply eating because she wanted to, his soul clinging to his dying body. She was taking chunks out of it with every bite to leave her tingling.
She realised then that the room was quite full of people and her eyes flicked between each potential threat one at a time, all of them known to her and all of them registering in her mind as a friend, yet she kept her defensive stance over what was hers.
"You're okay now, Etani," Epharis whispered, coming to a stop as she bared her teeth at him.
"Step back from her, Epharis; she's running on instinct right now," a soft voice said.
Her eyes flicked to the dark furred feline to her right, standing calmly with her arms crossed under her chest.
Epharis took an obedient step back, and she licked her lips, relaxing only a shred.
"Why?" Epharis demanded, though Bast only shrugged.
"Her uncle just died, she has suffered an injury, and we don't know what she had to do in order to escape wherever she was taken, nor what they did to her. Just give her time to eat and process what is happening."
Etani watched the Goddess in silence, her fingers working at the man's arm and the room flinched as she severed the limb. She inched closer to the Goddess and placed the arm at her dark, pawed feet before retreating.
The Goddess looked down at it, her white eyes both surprised and amused before she stooped and picked it up. "Thank you," she said and much to the disgust of those in the room, her long pink tongue trailed over the flesh.
That pleased Etani to no end, smiling as she backed herself to her prey and sat down, crossing her legs before picking at the ragged edges of the torn flesh at his arm.
She turned her attention back to Epharis, deeming him the most likely to attack her if her back was turned and she watched his repulsed face as she lifted a piece of flesh to her mouth and chewed it slowly.
His disgust amused her, and she did it again just to feel the way they reacted with repulsion. She was no longer hungry, but it made her happy to disturb them.
Movement at her side had her snarling, looking up to see Sobek crouching down beside her, his eyes soft but she was wary of the crocodile God.
He politely turned down her offer of human flesh, instead taking her hand, though her eyes narrowed in suspicion, she allowed him to guide her to her feet.
She stubbornly refused to leave her kill, at least until the word 'bath' sank into her confused brain and she finally allowed him to draw her away from the corpse.
Others moved out of her path as he led her and she took note of everyone around her, their faces and their position before her eyes found Daemon's tense features.
She didn't know what was bothering him, but she knew she didn't much like it that he was unhappy. She paused, staring at him for several long moments before Sobek's hand tugged hers once more.
Daemon gave her a forced smile, soothing her enough to follow Sobek obediently.