When she had gone to bed that night, she had fallen asleep with Letari at her side, their fingers linked and comforted by each other. By the next morning however, they were no longer alone, and she found herself entirely unable to sit up or even move.
"Get off," she complained, trying to pull her legs up under her but they were pinned by someone and there was another someone on top of her knees.
"Go back to sleep…" someone muttered and there was a grunt as she managed to get one foot free and it came down hard on a sternum.
Daemon was evidently the one on her knees, as she felt the hardness of his horns as he rolled over and wrapped his arms around her legs, nuzzling against her thighs.
Letari looked like she was perfectly content being crushed by the mass of testosterone, while Etani sighed, looking to see her arm trapped under her twin, someone was holding that hand and her other one was trapped under whoever it was that she was using as a pillow.
"This isn't fair…" she said, squirming, but she wasn't going anywhere.
"Shush," Daemon mumbled, and she looked down at him, glaring with enough force that he opened one eye and looked at her around a cloud of silver hair that was Vincent using her stomach as his pillow.
The door opened, and they both looked around to find Dainin of all people, dressed in a white, heavy cotton shirt that reached his wrists with a hood and black pants. He looked at the pile of people and frowned, tilting his head as he decided the best course of attack. Without hesitation, he crawled over the top of Jagum, flopping down on top of Letari's stomach and rolled over, wedging his body down into the gap between them so his shoulders and head were on Etani's stomach, his legs over Letari. Wriggling to make someone swear at him, he sighed happily and then looked at her, feeling her glare.
"I was here before…" he said defensively.
"What are you doing here?" she demanded.
"Shut up!" Versalis snarled from somewhere on the other side of Letari.
"Vincent asked me to come stay for a while."
"You know… As much as I like this whole sleeping arrangement... It's annoying when someone keeps talking," Malik said from somewhere near her shins, his breath warm on her legs.
"Then stop talking," Uzo said, rolling over on her ankles so she couldn't kick him again.
"Everyone just shut up," Hunter growled from her left.
"Get off me!" she said, and a hand came down over her mouth, Dirdos was her pillow, evidently, and she bit him.
"Ow… stop that," he complained. "If you want to get kinky, we have to go somewhere else."
She growled, and he sighed, rolling over and her head hit the bed, Versalis growling in frustration.
She was still holding his hand in her mouth and glaring up at him when he sat up as he looked back down at her, his brows lifting.
"Fine, I'll get you out," he sighed, and she let go.
He had been holding her hand, and it was Versalis holding the other one. Managing to get her hand free of his, Letari complained as she withdrew her arm from under her body.
Dirdos grabbed her wrists and placed his foot against the bed, dragging her out from under four people, much to their disgust and complaints.
Daemon latched onto her and Vincent did the same, refusing to let go of their pillow.
She kneed Daemon in the face, and that made him let go, Vincent was encouraged to let go by her nails on his arm.
Finally free, the men simply wriggled closer to each other and went back to sleep, leaving her to escape with Dirdos.
"Clingy bunch," he said, amused while she sighed, stretching.
"If they didn't mean well, I'd be annoyed," she said gently, bending forward to stretch out her back and hear it popping.
"Fairly sure that's Stockholm Syndrome," he teased, and she laughed.
"You might be right. Feel like rescuing me?" she asked.
"We could go to the cavern," he said, her mood brightening considerably.
"I'll write a note," she said and scribbled a quick note, underlining who she was going with three times. Daemon couldn't complain, Dirdos was one of their strongest fighters and she would be safe with him.
Grabbing towels, she accepted his hand and grinned as the world vanished into a blaze of crimson fire.
***
As soon as they were there, she threw aside the towels and her dress, running for the water and shrieking as she leapt off the rocks and plunged into the depths, gleeful for the perfection of the place and the simplicity of being with the dragon.
A splash announced Dirdos joining her in the water, and she looked up to find him in his underwear, swimming down towards her.
Swimming up to meet him, he smiled and pulled her to him. Wrapping her arms tightly around his neck, she kissed him hard and then shoved him down, squeaking when he grabbed her ankle and she looked down at him, his eyes narrowed, but he wasn't looking at her.
Turning, she was surprised to see the fast movements of a long fin ducking behind a rock. Apparently their private cavern wasn't so private any more.
Shrugging at Dirdos, she swam down and peeked around the rock to find the stranger looking up at her with wide eyes. He hadn't expected them to come down or be able to hold their breaths for that long, but she tilted her head and looked him over slowly.
He was young, and his skin was a pale silvery blue with the occasional blue patch of scales and short black hair. His skin was covered in unusual markings, and his tail was easily six feet long, if not more.
His eyes were massive and a solid blue-black colour that she found fascinating though when he grinned at her, she saw the pointy teeth.
Looking up at Dirdos who had been forced to the surface, she looked back back down and jerked back to find the stranger had moved up over the rock and was right in her face, alarmingly close.
She felt an odd rush of need wash through her body as he looked over her frame and she almost laughed, realising that he was trying to use his magic on her to seduce her into becoming dinner.
Shaking her head, his smile faded, and he looked almost sulky as she pointed up. His eyes went up and then back to her, frowning. His hand lifted, and he curled his fingers around her wrist, the delicate webbing between his fingers feeling odd on her skin as he tried to tug her further down.
If he was hoping she was going to drown, he was going to be sorely disappointed.
Dirdos was watching them, irritated that someone had dared to set food in his cavern, and she looked back at the siren, realising he had indeed been pulling her down towards the bottom of the pool.
Tugging her hand free, she shook her head and started up only to have him grab her ankle and she looked down at him, irritating her more than anything. Was he really going to try to eat her? He looked barely old enough to be out of the birthing pool, let alone by himself and hunting.
Reaching down, she pulled his hand off her and he scowled, clearly annoyed that this whole thing wasn't going to plan, and so he bit her.
She snarled in pain as he sank those sharp teeth into her calf muscle and she drove her foot into his face, throwing him back from her before she started up and broke the surface.
"He bit me!" she cried, pain shooting through her leg. The water around her was turning crimson but Dirdos was standing in the shallows, watching.
"That's what you get for trying to make friends with the sirens… here he comes."
Looking down, she saw him shooting up for her and she started towards the bank, yelping as he grabbed her and dragged her back under the water.
Curling himself around her, he bit into her shoulder and she screamed, vividly reminded of the mermaids during her hunt for magic.
Hoping not to have that happen again, she raked her nails across his stomach.
He let go of her and swam away, allowing her to crawl out of the water and flip down onto the stones.
"You could have helped…" she snapped.
"You were doing fine on your own," Dirdos said, watching the siren near the bottom of the pool touching the cuts on his stomach. "You got him good, he's going to think twice about trying that again."
"Get rid of him."
"I like him, he's spunky."
"You're such an arsehole…"
"Yeah, but you like it. Look at him, he's so cute!"
"You realise this means you have to share your cavern…"
"I share it with you."
"I don't live here."
He grunted in amusement and headed over to her, lifting up her leg to examine the cut.
"You're going to get an infection for sure. You'll have to get Versalis to treat it."
"You mean Versalis to treat it with supplies he steals from me," she grumbled.
"That's what happens when you have family."