Days turned into months and she was able to more easily track the time by the changes in her body. It had taken only a few weeks for her to fall pregnant to him, a natural one that confused and scared her more than anything. After that, she could feel her body changing to accommodate it and she had started getting nauseous.
He had been giddy with joy when he noticed the swelling of her abdomen and he had completely changed, going from a vicious, obsessed sociopath to a gentle lover. He didn't stop satisfying himself, but he was exceptionally careful not to hurt her in any way.
He had even allowed her to be free of her bindings except for the ankle cuff when she had promised not to do anything to the foetus. She couldn't bring herself to kill an actual being growing inside her, and so it had been easy to promise.
The priest had been kept alive, and she suspected that the man would be her first meal after she gave birth, but she didn't know, and she didn't tell him what she suspected.
It turned out that the priest was not simply a priest, but also knew a large amount about human health, and she was able to question him extensively. After her bout of sickness had brought up all the meat she had in her stomach, she groaned and closed her eyes, sitting on the bed with the bucket in her lap.
"When does it stop?" she complained. "I didn't have this issue last time…"
"What happened last time?" the priest asked.
"King Alaric had it cut from me," she said bluntly.
The priest looked horrified.
She had never fully moved past that, and so she refused to think about it there in that place.
Neah wandered into the room and immediately headed for her, taking the bucket from her, and kissing her forehead before he left to clean it out. He was kind in that sense at least.
When he returned though, he motioned for her to lie down and she met his stare, a fleeting moment of defiance flowing through her.
No, she wasn't going to let him touch her again, not in that state, not when she was so, so irritable from being sick.
"Lie down," Neah said, and she shook her head, her arms protective around her swollen belly. She had only ever been this protective of her sisters, a desperate need to keep it safe from him.
"Lie down!" he raged, reaching for her hair and dragging her closer to him.
"No!" she snarled. "I'm due in a matter of weeks, you can't keep doing this!"
His face went perfectly blank, and she knew what he was going to do before he did it. His fist collided with her jaw and she screamed in pain, curling herself around her belly and uncaring that he beat her so long as their child was safe.
Dragging her off the bed, he hit her again and again, his face never once showing an ounce of emotion, his eyes ever wide and empty. She could see he was getting aroused from her screams, would be particularly vicious with her when he got her down, but she couldn't let him hurt her child.
Lashing out at him when his blow to her solar plexus was too close for her liking, she left four deep gouges on his cheek and he froze, a low and exceptionally dangerous growl coming from him.
Grabbing her arm, he flung her body into the wall and she hit it with a loud thud that had her screaming, and he came after her, gripping her by the hair and using his grip to slam her head against the wall again and again.
Collapsing to the floor, he turned on her and his foot sank into her back. She felt her spine snapping, and she whimpered, no longer able to feel her legs when he kicked her again and again.
"Stop Neah!" the priest cried; his voice panicked enough to get Neah to look around.
"Mind your business, priest!" Neah snapped.
"She's bleeding!"
They looked down at her, but she couldn't feel anything, her legs numb and breathing laboured.
"Ah shit…" Neah sighed, reaching for her and pulling her up into his arms.
He was right, she was bleeding, and she knew in that terrible instant that she was no longer pregnant, there was too much blood and it was a bright scarlet mixed with a clear liquid she thought was very likely amniotic fluid.
Clutching her back to his chest, he sighed and released the shackle around her ankle. Dragging her from the room with him.
Looking down at the trail of blood left by her limp feet, the fluid still flowing freely from her, she knew it was over.
He took her into the bathroom and sat her down on the stone floor, picking up a bucket and filling it with water, then throwing it on her.
She gasped, confused, and shocked into alertness.
"Is it gone?" he demanded, angry at himself, and at her.
Turning inward, her eyes slid shut, and she nodded, the precious light inside her gone, again she had lost something so precious to her.
"It's okay. We'll just try again. I won't hurt you next time," he said, his cruelty forcing her head down.
There was no stopping her shameless crying for the life she had tried to protect, but it had been so fragile, and she was too weak.
He wrapped his arms around her and clutched her shuddering body to him, stroking her hair and crooning.
"Come on, love, we'll try again."
He couldn't possibly mean right, away could he?
He could.
He lifted her still dripping and bloody from the floor and dried her off, his eyes going over her, and when he was satisfied that the bleeding had stopped, he dragged her back into his room and down onto the bed.
"What happened?" the priest demanded.
"We will try again," Neah said coldly.
The priest whimpered as the Hunter pressed her down onto the bed and snapped the shackle shut over her ankle.
Settling on top of her, he groaned softly, and she locked her eyes on the ceiling, listening to the muttered prayers of the priest. It only lasted a moment, then the priest was screaming in a terrified peel of shock and terror.
"What?! What do you want?! Shut up! This has been going on for fucking months and I'm busy trying to save a life! I'm sick of it! You need to shut up!"
Neah looked around, freezing in place and the movement caught the man's attention.
"Oh, hey man sorry, didn't mean to interrupt your fun. I'm just going to… take…" his eyes had found hers and he was frozen as though made out of stone, staring at her as he tried to process what he was seeing, the sight of Neah on top of her, her tear-streaked face, all the blood.
No one had expected the demon to show up in a rage at the near constant prayers of the priest, least of all the priest himself.
"Etani…?"
"Fuck…" Neah said.
"Daemon!" she screamed as the shock wore off.
Neah rolled off her as Daemon lunged for him but the Hunter was faster, and he was gone from the room and out the main door as well.
Daemon was on her in an instant, dragging her up off the bed. His fingers trembled as he clutched her to him, his face pale as snow.
"Oh mother… oh mother, I'm so sorry…" he whispered, stroking her hair as she clung to him. "I should have listened… he's been talking for months… I should have listened."
"Yes, you arsehole!" the priest yelled, adopting her favourite insult for the demon. "That monster has been abusing her for months! She cries your fucking name in her sleep!"
Daemon cringed, but she wasn't angry at him, she was simply glad to have him there with her.
"My leg," she whimpered, pointing to the chain.
He looked down, pulling her down with him as he picked a small leather pouch out of his back pocket and set to work picking the lock that contained her.
The instant she was free she was hugging him furiously, and he hugged her back just as hard, crushing her in the best way possible.
"Get the priest," she said, knowing she couldn't leave the man there to suffer.
He nodded, leaving her side and going to release the human.
Standing unchained for the first time in months, she clutched the footboard of the bed and looked around the room for something to cover herself with, but there was a low growl and she looked around to find Daemon was staring at her belly. Her very swollen, very beaten body that showed a very clear sign of being recently full.
Picking up the blanket that had spent the last month scrunched up at the bottom of the bed, she wrapped herself up in it and reached for Daemon, his hand finding hers immediately.
"The priest," she whispered, and Daemon turned, the terrified human stumbling forward and their hands touched for the first time.
***
The warmth of her room in Ayathian hit her like a physical blow and there was a sudden silence as they took in the scene, the terrified human in stained black robes, Daemon looking like he had finally snapped, and her, pale, and gaunt with the blanket wrapped tightly around her, protecting her from their eyes.
"Etani!" Letari screamed, almost tackling her but then stopping, looking down at her body and she went almost as pale as Etani was.
"Gods… you're okay," Hunter whispered, but her eyes were sweeping the room, finding the shocked crimson eye of Vincent. He was breathing in slowly, taking in the scent and a low, feral growl was starting up in his chest.
"I'll kill him…" he said as he met her eyes, realising she had been looking for him. "How long did he have you?"
"The whole time…" she whispered.
His eye closed, rage setting his hands to trembling. "That was you... the whole time that was you…"
"You heard?"
"Of course I heard… my room is down the fucking hall!" he raged and she jerked back, a flood of adrenaline going through her in her fear and she started to feel queasy once more. The sound of his fury set her heart to racing, fear and adrenaline coursing through her. He seemed to realise, forcing himself to calm down. "I'm sorry… I just… I knew he had someone in there, we all did…"
Her hand went to her stomach and Letari immediately stepped away as her face started to go green. Staggering towards the bathroom, she stopped as Jaia stepped in front of her.
"Kai needs you," he snarled. "This is no time for a bath."
"Bad idea," Letari said as Etani bent over and vomited on his nice, shiny black shoes.
His eyes were closed as she straightened, his jaw set as he tried to remain calm and not flip out at the cool bile likely seeping into his socks.
"You can't not be a jerk, can you…?" she muttered, using the edge of the blanket to wipe her mouth.
"What's wrong with you?" Jaia demanded.
"She's pregnant. The normal kind of pregnant," Daemon murmured, and all eyes turned to her, shocked and horrified.
"No, not anymore," she whispered.
Jaia reached out and pulled the blanket down off her shoulders, the protection of it falling down around her.
There wasn't much left to her, mostly just skeleton and stomach, and without the blanket she felt painfully cold, her head bowed as fresh bruises started to bloom over her skin. Looking down, she touched her belly, the skin no longer tight and hard. She was no longer bleeding, her body slowly reversing, and she realised with a terrible pang that her body had likely consumed the foetus to help her stay alive.
"Gods…" Hunter whispered, the only one who seemed able to speak just then.
Epharis didn't speak, he simply stalked from the room and when he came back, she turned to him. Taking the large mug, she downed the elixir as fast as she was able while she moved into the safety of his arms. He seemed surprised by her moving closer to him, but he was warm, and he would keep her safe, at least for a little while.