Pulling herself from Vincent's arms, she hissed at Daemon and headed for the bathroom to see her face. It was rather alarming to see her face marked like that, red-brown lines trailing down her cheeks from her lower eyelashes to her jaw. It was exactly like Neah's face, and the same pattern she had drawn on his mask.
Grabbing a cloth, she ran the hot water and soaked the cotton, using it to scrub the blood from her face and leaving her skin a shiny red.
"Stop being so reckless," Demon growled as he moved into the room.
"Go away," she said simply, wringing out the cloth to start on the other side of her face.
"I'm not going away, Etani, and neither are you."
She didn't like the sound of that, and she looked up at him in the mirror, his face coldly angry.
"Stop trying to control me," she snapped, her eyes going to the doorway where Vincent stood, watching the two of them warily.
"Stop fighting me, I'm just trying to keep you safe," Daemon growled.
"Stop trying to contain me."
"If you're not going to keep yourself safe, then it's up to us to do it for you. You're so stupidly reckless!"
Clenching her jaw, she glared at him and refused to back down.
"Fine. Give it here," Daemon growled and Vincent handed him something that glittered gold.
"No," she snarled, backing away from him.
"If you refuse to listen to us then we have no choice."
"No! You're not tying me down!"
"Don't fight," he said calmly as he unwound the gold chain.
"Don't touch me, Daemon. I'll rip your throat out if you touch me."
It was not an empty threat, but he only shook his head.
"Hold her down," he said, and Vincent moved into the room, closing the door behind him.
"I'll never forgive you…" she whispered, backing away from the both of them.
"At least you'll be alive to hate me," he reasoned.
Vincent lunged for her and she turned on him, the momentum of her twist sending him crashing through into the wall as her foot collected with his ribs.
He was on his feet again in seconds and she backed away, the two men moved apart, forcing her backwards into the corner of the room.
"Just stop fighting," Daemon said gently.
"No! Stay away from me!" she snarled, panic filling her as her back touched the wall and they were still coming forward.
A bang sounded from the other room and the two men glanced back.
"Don't interfere," Dainin's low voice growled, and she whimpered, all three of them against her. She had trusted both of them when they kept her safe, but they had betrayed her, just like everyone else. There wasn't anyone she could trust except Letari.
"Don't do this…" she pleaded, trapped and sinking into a defensive posture, ready to defend herself against them.
"We have to. You're not safe," Vincent said gently, and she saw his wrist twisting, crimson trickling down his arm to drip off his fingers. She couldn't let him touch her; they would have her if he touched her.
Vincent moved for her and she ducked under his arm, driving her fist into his ribs and as he staggered back, she went for one of the knives hidden under the bench.
Her fingers closed around it and she shrieked as Daemon's hand caught a fistful of her hair, dragging her backwards.
Spinning, she slashed the blade across his ribs, and he let her go with a yell of pain.
Spinning the knife in her hand, she drove it up under his sternum and he grunted. It was the wrong angle to get his heart, but it would hurt, and she pulled the knife out of him, aiming for a second shot at the right angle.
An arm went around her neck and she was yanked backwards, the second strike only grazing him, and she screamed, biting down as a hand covered her mouth.
"Etani!" Letari screamed from the next room but she couldn't focus on her sister.
Daemon was coming for her and she lifted her leg to slam her heel down on the bloody spot on his chest, using it to shove her and Vincent backwards, thrusting herself up and over the man's chest.
Landing hard on her feet, she spun for the door, her fingers on the handle when a sticky hand gripped her throat from behind, dragging her backwards.
Pain ripped through her body and she screamed in agony, her blood boiling as his magic slid through her pores and into her.
His free arm went around her middle, pinning her arms down, but she couldn't fight against him, her entire body frozen in agony.
"Go!" Vincent snarled, Daemon making a quick knot and throwing a large loop of the chain over her head, pulling it tight around her throat.
Vincent let her go and stepped back, but she sank to the floor, gasping for air as the pain faded into blissful nothingness.
"Mother..." Daemon wheezed, bending over with his hands on his knees and blood dripped onto the floor from his soaked shirt. "I keep forgetting what she's like with a knife…"
"Almost got you?" Vincent asked, clutching his side.
"Yeah, if that knife was any longer, she would have."
The bathroom door exploded inwards and Letari took in the scene in a second, her lip curling as she saw the chain in the demon's hand.
"I'm going to kill you…" she whispered, stalking forward only to be captured by the long arms of Dirdos, dragging her backwards.
"Etani!" she shrieked and Etani looked up, feeling helpless and lost.
Letari went silent seeing her twins face, and she shook her head.
"Don't let that bastard break you!" she screamed, thrashing in the dragon's arms.
She couldn't help it, they had dragged her down so many times. She had trusted them and so many of them had abused that trust. She couldn't escape, couldn't run, and now she would have someone holding onto her every second of her life. How was she supposed to fight that?
Her eyes dropped to the floor, not fighting when someone pried the knife from her fingers. Daemon lifted her chin, but she couldn't look at him, not the man who had done so much against her. He was worse than Jaia, Jaia had only abused her, Daemon had taken away her hope.
"Etani, it's for your protection," he said, but she didn't respond, staring at the large, uneven circle of red that had bloomed on his shirt.
Sighing, he pulled her to her feet and out of the bathroom into the sitting room.
"You son of a bitch…" Versalis growled, staring at the chain.
"None of you are to let her go. I'll kill you if you try, I don't care who it is," Daemon said, pressing her down onto the couch.
Sitting silently, she looked down at the blood covering her hand, pressing her sticky fingers together and pulling them apart again.
"Daemon, you can't do this... she's not a dog you can chain to a post."
"Touch her and you'll die, Versalis. She can drag your sorry arse back from wherever it is you go later. Do not test me."
"I shouldn't have bitten her…" Kai whimpered, horrified.
"You were doing your job," Jaia snapped.
"She could be anywhere by now if it wasn't for me! She wouldn't be chained! "
"Shut up, Kai! This is the only way we can keep her safe," Daemon yelled.
"By chaining her up? Why don't you just lock her one of the cells!" Kai yelled back.
"That's next if one of you lets her go!"
"You sick bastard…"
"How do none of you see that I'm trying to keep her safe?"
"Does she look safe to you?" Versalis snapped.
She felt their eyes on her, but she kept her head down, staring at her hand.
"Better here and chained than under another man bent on world domination!"
"You're insane... This isn't better!"
Daemon shook his head, refusing to listen to any of them as he wrapped the chain around his hand and sat down at her side, stubborn and refusing to budge.