She had to wonder how quickly he had been dragged into the hunt for her, along with Vincent.
"Funny, it only took us ten minutes to catch her, yet you were chasing her for months," Daemon hissed.
"A good plan never fails," the hybrid said, Vincent's face remaining neutral even under the suspicious glare of the demon.
A feral snarl sounded, and she looked around at Jaia, who had Malik in a headlock, dragging him along to join the rest of him.
"No!" she cried, moving for him only to be jerked to a stop by Daemon, who was growling.
"What is that?" the demon demanded.
"Malik?" a soft voice asked, and all eyes turned to a curious looking Epharis. "It's Malik, isn't it?"
Malik nodded, and as he looked up, she saw his nose had been broken.
Ripping her arm free of Daemon, she moved to Malik's side and cupped his face, forcing him to look up at her.
"I'm okay," he growled softly, angry and in pain, but glad she was there.
"Let him go, Jaia," she hissed.
Malik's head snapped around at the name, his eyes a sudden blaze of crimson.
"Is he a vampire?" Dirdos asked, fascinated.
"He's a fledgling," Jaia snarled, throwing the man from him and he landed hard, accepting her hands and he fell into her protective arms.
"Oh, Etani… you turned him?" Versalis asked, his pale eyes wide in fear.
"You made a vampire?" Daemon roared, but she ignored him, her fingers light on his nose as she popped it back into place and hugged him tightly to herself when he whimpered.
"You're bleeding," he breathed, studying the bite on her throat.
"How is that even possible?" Jaia demanded.
"She's clearly more vampire than we suspected," Daemon said, and her focus was so wrapped up in Malik that she missed the signal.
Dirdos' arms went around her and Daemon grabbed Malik, ripping them apart.
"Malik!" she cried, reaching for him, but Dirdos dragged her backwards.
"Who has the stake?" Daemon asked.
Her mind went black, and she shrieked, terror flooding her as Jaia produced the long wooden tool.
"Malik! Daemon, no! Malik!" she screamed, fighting desperately to get back to him, even as he writhed to get himself free of Daemon's grip.
"You can't just kill him…" Versalis said. "He's her scion, you'll destroy her."
"Do you want to see what happens when they end up together?" Daemon snarled.
"I swear we won't!" she cried. The scent of blood from Dirdos' arm was strong as she fought to get herself free. "Please, Daemon! Please don't hurt him!"
Daemon took the stake, and she twisted, sinking her teeth into Dirdos' arm.
He bellowed in pain and threw her back from him on impulse.
Turning, she lunged for Daemon but Jaia grabbed her, and she screamed, hating that he was touching her.
"Etani!" Malik cried, and her eyes filled with tears, the thought of losing him filling her with a feral, wild terror and started her wrists to burning.
Screaming as the stake lifted, she felt Winter rising in her and she flung out her hand, the spike of ice ripping its way out of her flesh with a splattering of blood and an odd pain started in the back of her mind.
She didn't care where it came from, throwing the thing at Daemon and it caught him hard on the shoulder.
"Etani!" someone cried.
She saw her wrists were smoking, the gold turned a blazing red. "Don't you fucking touch him, you bastard! I'll kill you!" she raged; her fury directed at Daemon.
Daemon was staring at her, his eyes huge as blood dripped down his arm, but then he smiled, and her eyes narrowed.
"What will you give me if I spare him?"
"Anything," she gasped, a tiny spark of hope starting up in her chest.
"Anything?" he asked, and she nodded.
"Anything… don't hurt him!" she whimpered, her rage vanishing under the hope that her precious Malik might be safe.
Kai approached slowly; his eyes wide as he took in the scene.
"Who is going to keep him from killing thousands?" Daemon asked.
"I will."
Their eyes turned and found the vampire King was watching her, his hard face slightly wary as he took her in.
"I'll keep him safe; I'll make sure he doesn't hurt anyone."
Whimpering in relief, her eyes swung back on Daemon and he was watching the vampire king, considering the man. It would be so easy for him to kill Malik.
"You can't kill him… please…" she pleaded. "I'll do anything, Daemon, please."
Daemon looked back at her, the stake gripped hard in his fist and then he looked down at the ice spike in his shoulder, his head lifting to look at her wrists, the mirage of heat radiating off them.
"You will swear to never run away again. You are never to leave again. Even if you die and come back in a million years, you are never to leave my side," he said.
It was too much. She shook her head, but when the stake lifted, she panicked.
"Yes! Yes, yes, yes!" she gasped, and Malik slumped to the ground.
Swinging her arm, she drove her elbow into Jaia's face, and he fell back, swearing as she flung herself down onto Malik, dragging him up into her arms and clutching him to her so tightly she was sure it was hurting him, but he didn't complain, instead he clung to her just as tight.
She was crying, clutching him to her and refusing to let go of him again even as Uzo and Versalis came to her sides, pulling them both up to their feet.
Malik murmured softly and when she didn't respond, he tucked her head against the nape of his neck, stroking her hair as she whimpered, her fear and panic getting the best of her.
"Uzo," the Fae said, introducing himself when she was unable to. "Etani's uncle. That's Versalis."
Versalis growled a greeting, trying to coax her out, but she wasn't moving. "Versalis is the one who is controlling Etani's death magic… she didn't tell you about that part yet… never mind. You also have Daemon the incubus, also known as Eros, Dirdos the dragon king, Kai, Letari is Etani's sister, Epharis, Jagum, Vincent, Hunter, Sobek, Hades, and Bast. The last three are Gods if you weren't aware."
Malik was silent, and she could feel his stunned shock.
"Welcome to our world," Versalis sighed. "How is it you came about being turned?"
"Aren't you the Istralis boy?" Epharis asked, staring at the four of them.
"Yes, I'm the prince."
"Oh mother…" Dirdos sighed, rubbing his eyes.
"It's fine, it happened while I was there."
"Since when does Etani care about humans?" Jaia asked.
"Since I saved her life. She had a nasty infection in her leg and when we found her it was fairly evident that she would die without help."
"Where did you find her?" Daemon asked.
"She had hidden herself away in the bottom of my cargo ship. Some of the men could hear singing and said there was a siren nearby, but we found her instead. Half dead and singing to herself and talking to someone named Cat."
"Cat is a cat," Versalis murmured, and his face warmed slightly as she looked up at him finally. "Hi, sweetheart."
He pulled her into his arms and hugged her tightly, giving Malik a moment to breathe while she clung to the man.
"Cat the cat?" Malik asked.
"When we got him, all she could say was 'cat', so he got named Cat," Uzo said, kissing the side of her head gently.
"What happened after you found her?" Daemon asked, glaring at the lot of them.
"The ship healer and I got her sorted and then she ate one of my sailors and that healed her right up. Was a gory mess, and she seemed really surprised that we weren't happy. We took her up to the palace and got her cleaned up, then my brother took a liking to her and threats were made, she cut him and sort of went crazy…"
"Bloodlust," Versalis supplied, looking down into her eyes as she drank him in, the contact with him relieving her tension immensely.
"Right, that. One of my other brothers shot her with a crossbow and it went right through her and me both. She asked me if I wanted to live and I did, so she turned me. After that we were out hunting when those two came along and we've been on the run since."
Leaning back from Versalis, she grabbed Uzo and yanked him down into a painfully tight hug, his happy growl sounding loud in her ear as he squeezed her just as tightly.
"She has been telling me about you all, the things you've done together… and the things you've done to her," he said, and she saw Jaia's face darken. Evidently that had been directed at him.
Kai touched her shoulder, but she turned away from him, not wanting to look at him right then.
"How did you use magic, Etani?" Sobek demanded after a beat and when she ignored him, he stalked forward and grabbed her arm, yanking her around. "How did you use magic?" he snarled, holding her arm up between them so they could both see the blazing bands on her wrist.
"I don't know," she said gently, pulling at her arm. He let her go with a warning glare from Daemon.
"Come on… we can discuss this all back in Ayathian."
Looking to Malik, she held out her hand, and he took it eagerly, ignoring the multiple growls that came from around them. She didn't care, she needed to have him close to her.
Daemon opened the gateway, and they all filed through, his eyes narrowing at her hesitation, and she looked up at Malik, her urge to run strangled by her promise.
"It'll be okay, love, you have me," he said playfully, and she laughed, kissing him tenderly.
Daemon growled, and she sighed, pulling away from him and leading him into the tear through to Ayathian once more.