Daemon came up to Etani, and she jumped as he got a handful of her backside. "You and me," he growled suggestively.
She smiled, motioning for him to lead the way.
Turning on her once inside the ring, she unleashed on him and he must have assumed her battle against Kai would have slowed her down, but it had only made her faster and she had him pinned in less than a minute, grinning down at him.
"You underestimate me, demon," she said, leaning down and licking up the side of his face.
She bound off him before he could grab her, but then she froze as she saw Jaia with two swords in his hand. Daemon was on his feet in an instant, growling in warning as the vampire approached.
"I need to practice too," Jaia snapped, glaring at the demon.
"Then fight me," Daemon said.
Jaia shook his head and offered the sword to Etani, handle first.
She looked at it and then up at him before she took it, unsure but eager to get her revenge on him. Moving away from him, she saw the bright crimson hair of the wife as she approached, fascinated by the scene.
Jaia bowed before Etani and she returned it, holding the sword out at her side with the point facing down.
Rising, he struck, and she blocked it, spinning and driving her elbow into his shoulder to make his offhand go numb.
He growled, and she grinned nastily. Both of them knew she fought dirty, and all bets were off.
"Are you really so angry that you would cheat?" he said in a low growl as they came together, her teeth bared at him.
"You're one to talk about cheating," she hissed in return.
His eyes narrowing at her. They parried and came together again, sparks flying under the force of their blows.
"I never cheated, I waited," he said in a furious whisper.
"Careful you don't speak too loud, or your wife might hear," she said, knowing it was petty but not caring. She wanted him to suffer.
"Why, are you jealous?" he snarled, his next lunge easily blocked. "It's been three years, Etani, you can't expect me to wait."
"To you it's been three years, to me it's been days since I died."
He froze, staring at her. "Days? What do you mean?"
"For me, I died two days ago, not three years ago. Last month I was with the dragon, a month ago we were fighting the Creators. A month ago, Uzo died. Six months ago you, Versalis and Kai were abandoning us as we tried to save the world. It's been days. Two days ago, you told me you would never love another woman but me. Two days ago, I realised I am in love with you still." She scored hard against his shoulder and blood coated her sword, but he wasn't moving. Stepping back, she frowned at him.
"You... days?" he looked horrified. "How is that possible?"
"Time does not move when you're dead. There is no time, only darkness."
He struck out at her and she hissed as his blade sliced across the bones in her knuckles. They were getting distracted.
"It doesn't matter now. You have your wife," she said.
His face went white, trying to understand the situation. "I didn't know…" he whispered as they came together. His eyes were broken, but hers were hard.
"No one knows except you and me. Just deal with it," she hissed, and they broke apart again.
Making one final vicious strike, Jaia's sword flew. So did Etani's fist, connecting with his jaw and sending him sprawling in the sand.
The wife squealed and ran into the ring, cradling him in her arms, and Etani looked down at her, her fingers tightening over the handle of the blade. It would be easy to kill her, so easy that it would be over in seconds.
She felt her hand moving, the sword raising and Jaia's eyes went wide as he saw her anger, the deadly weapon.
Someone grabbed her arm and forced her wrist up behind her back, the sword hitting the sand as she was dragged back from Jaia and his wife.
"Etani, no," Sobek hissed in her ear, but she could only whimper at the pain in her shoulder and her situation. It was agony to see them together, to see her fussing over him and as Sobek released her arm, she turned to him, jaw clenched to stop the tears.
Sobek's arms were tight around her, his hand resting against the back of her head as the wife began to yell, furious that she had cheated, and struck him.
"You bitch! How could you do that?!" she screamed, and Etani went rigid, her breath sucking in as the homicidal thoughts soaked into her brain. Sobek only held her harder against him, dragging her away before she could rip the vampire to shreds.
Daemon had moved in to diffuse the situation, but it was Kai who moved to his brother's side to calm her down
"What were they?" the redheaded wife demanded. "Lovers?"
"No, but they were in love. Not that either of them would have admitted it. Jaia did some things, Etani did some things, and they were both angry. But if it weren't for Daemon, they would be together now, and Etani resents you. She sees you as taking away what is hers and you should be very afraid," Kai said gently.
"Why should I fear her? I'm not afraid of some Goddess of love."
"Do you recall the month when that beast in the dungeon ran loose? Think of the number he killed in a day. Now think of that number being killed in one minute, from a distance. Etani counts the number of her kills in the million, Selene; that's why you should be afraid of her. That's why everyone should be afraid of her."
"What do I do?" the redhead whimpered.
"Stay out of her way and try to avoid making her angry. She would rather beg Jaia for his forgiveness after killing you than tolerate your existence if you flaunt your relationship with Jaia."
She hated that she had heard the conversation, but that need to rip and rend was stronger than it had ever been before, and she couldn't fight it. She wanted to kill Selene and drink her blood, to bathe in it and watch Jaia crying over his wife's tattered corpse. She wanted him to suffer the way he had made her suffer.
"Etani, you need to think," Sobek demanded. She looked up at him, her face stricken. "Focus on me; breathe. Calm yourself."
She sucked in a breath, and he nodded, glancing in the direction of Daemon who was hurrying to catch up.
"Etani, what was that?" the demon demanded, but she had no answers for him. "You can't just go around killing people's wives! They've been married for a year!"
She looked up at him, her mouth opening and shutting again as she tried to think of the words to tell him.
"You were dead for three years! How is it you are still in love with him?!"
"Stop yelling, Daemon," Sobek snapped, but Etani's mind had frozen, and she stared at Daemon's chest.
"It hasn't been three years for me," she said in barely a whisper.
Both men looked at her.
"What?" Daemon demanded, gripping her arm and shaking her roughly.
"I miss Uzo…" Etani whimpered, her eyes filling with tears.
He pulled her hard to him, her face buried in his chest.
"How long has it been?" Sobek asked gently, his hand on the back of her head.
"I died the day before I woke up…" Her voice was muffled against his chest, but she felt Daemon stop breathing and Sobek swore softly under his breath.
Pushing herself back from the two, Etani swallowed hard and put on her best fake smile. "I'm fine; don't worry about me," she said. The two men exchanged a look. "I should get changed; these clothes will need soaking to remove the blood."
Without another word, she left the field and headed back into the castle.