They had several hours of peace before the next intruder arrived and she had devoured an entire garden of berries of the straw, blue, and black variety. She found she had a very particular fondness of the mulberry variety, even if it stained her fingers and lips.
They had even found a treat for her, a dark slab of hard something that she was eyeing suspiciously.
Daemon burst in the room, golden eyes bright with fury as he found the three vampires.
"Where is she?! I know you've dropped her off on some random corner of this stupid ball you call a world, and I can't sense her! You have exactly three sec--" His eyes found her, her eyes were on him and she had gone as still as a human could manage.
The raging demon had absolutely and utterly enchanted her with his rage and the pheromones that kicked into the air and then her lungs.
His fury seemed to go out like a candle, and they all heard her heart skip when his lips quirked up into a slightly sheepish smile.
"Etania," he purred, and she swallowed. "What's wrong with her?" he finally asked, all three vampires looking at her even as she stared mesmerised at the demon.
"Hello Daemon," she breathed and the fact that she remembered his name had fear twisting his face.
He crossed the room in a blur and six other blurs moved around her, finding herself entrapped in their arms, Daemon's fist in the front of her shirt and he had pulled her closer, suddenly restrained by the protection of the vampires.
He ignored them and leant closer to her, his nose an inch from her throat and hair as he inhaled.
She shivered and made a soft sound that was very nearly a moan, but he let her go.
"Who did this?" he breathed, eyes glowing gold in his fury.
"Epharis," Kai said, guilt in his voice as he saw what would develop into bruises from their attempts to protect her.
"The lich husband? Why?"
"He feels it is the best way to control her," Kai said, worried.
"Or get her killed. We need to reverse this."
The pheromones being kicked off by all four of them was making her dizzy and she picked up the bowl of mulberries and slid from the couch, padding away from the lot of them to try and get some fresh air. They were all watching her carefully.
"This is sick…" Daemon breathed "How could any mythical do this to another?"
The three shook their heads and sighed.
"We need to keep her safe. If the lich won't reverse this, I'll find a way to fix it. You three need to protect her."
Sliding down onto her backside against the wall, she watched the four of them and chewed, her lips stained a deep red from the berry.
"How do we protect her? She's so… soft," Jaia said, looking worried.
"Feed her, idiot," Daemon snapped.
"We have been feeding her!" Kai snapped back.
"Your blood! Give her enough blood to make her stronger without turning her!"
He three vampires looked first shocked, then embarrassed. None of them had thought to feed her blood to give her strength.
"Versalis, you're the strongest," Kai said and Versalis nodded, looking worried.
"Yes, but there is always the risk of bonding."
"Do it anyway, we can deal with that later," Daemon said angrily, unable to take his eyes off her. He approached her finally and with two fingers, he lifted her chin as he crouched. "Etania, my love, we're going to fix this," he breathed.
Nodding, she felt the world leaving her as she stared into his golden-yellow eyes, captivated and entranced.
Daemon looked away and she blinked hard, unable to understand what happened.
"I'm not going to seduce her, idiot. The humans don't survive if I take them to my bed. I need her alive more than you do."
Looking up, she tried to process everything and then Versalis was at her side and none of it mattered.
He slid down the wall beside her and slipped his arm around her back, pulling her gently into his lap and curled his arms around her.
"Sweetheart, you need to take my blood to get stronger, do you understand?" he purred in her ear, and she shivered as delicious desire flooded through her system.
They could all smell her reaction to him, but she ignored it, her head turning to his.
"I understand, Versalis," she whispered.
He smiled, tilting his head away.
He used his nail to dig a smooth cut into his neck and she bit her lip, watching the blood before she licked up the side of his throat.
His body went rigid at the feeling of her wet tongue and hot breath on his skin as she sealed her lips around the cut and began to drink.
Energy flooded her and he clutched her tighter to him, bruising her and leaving her trembling with need.
He growled his desire, his fingers finding her hips, but Kai and Jaia were there to restrain his arms and keep him from trying anything.
She drank as much as her stomach could handle and then Daemon had her in a gentle embrace, pulling her back from the vampire. His blood stained her lips, dripping down onto her chin.
She felt both weak and strong at the same time, her mind racing to trying to process faster but unable to.
She whimpered as she reached for Versalis, and he strained to reach for her but they were both held back until the high came down and finally she was able to think.
The moment she was let go, she spun on Daemon and made to slap him, but he easily caught her wrist and grinned.
"Nice try, but you're not fast enough." His grinned and the firm tug of her towards him had her heart speeding up but she ignored it, instead focusing on her anger at him.
His mouth came down on hers and she very nearly melted in his arms, finally jerking back and glaring at him.
"See, that's how you're supposed to react to me," he said happily as she pulled her arm free and backed away.
Her cheeks were glowing, and she felt an uncomfortable tightness between her legs that made her feel awkward, especially when all three vampires seemed to be responding to her every response to them.
"Don't ever touch me again," she growled, the threat no longer very effective.
"Oh, but we had a deal Etani," he purred, pushing off the couch and approaching her.
She backed away from him and she saw the twins' stress. They needed to keep Versalis contained and that left her mostly on her own.
"You had a deal with a Fae," she countered, but his grin only grew wider.
Her back hit the wall and he closed the distance, his arm against the wall at her side and he ducked his head, meeting her eyes.
"And as soon as you are one again, we can complete the deal."
His finger traced her jaw, her hitched breathing making him press closer to her and she gasped as he bit her earlobe.
He was suddenly gone, and she found herself trembling at the promise of pleasure beyond her imagination and oh did she want it, so badly. Her entire body was screaming for him, and he knew it. He was using her humanity to get her riled up, and she was not strong enough to kill him now.
Versalis had broken free of the vampires and gone for the demon, who had leapt away with a laugh and bowed to the lot of them before sweeping from the room and she was left trembling, both aroused and horrified by the whole incident.
She had never been sexually aroused before and she was confused by it all. With Epharis it had been drugged, the sensation was overshadowed entirely but now she was human, and her body was responding in ways she couldn't understand.
"Make it stop," she pleaded.
Kai moved to her, glancing at the two remaining vampires.
To her shock and horror, his hand slipped easily down the front of her pants, and she froze, her eyes wide as he cupped her between her legs and then she buckled, his fingers soft against her.
He dropped with her, kneeling at her side and his free hand found her jaw, lifting her head.
He kissed her hard, greedy and demanding even as she whimpered and moaned against his lips, her fingers tight on his forearm, nails drawing blood.
It didn't take long for her to reach climax and she was left gasping as sparkles lit up inside her and she struggled to breathe. Smiling gently, he curled his arms around her and hugged her gently to him as she tried to process what had happened and what he had done.
"What was that?" she whimpered and Versalis tilted his head. Jaia looked stunned and glanced at the vampire king.
"Was… was Epharis your first lover?" Kai asked, sounding utterly confused.
Her cheeks flamed red, and she looked up at Kai.
"Oh dear…" he breathed and laughed gently, kissing her forehead.
They were very matter of fact about what a normal woman should come to expect from her partners, and she blushed the entire way through it.
She had extensively studied the anatomy of humans but had never bothered to learn about sexual pleasure outside of the realm of procreation and that had left her entirely unprepared for masturbation and then an orgasm.
But if she didn't lie to herself, she found she had enjoyed it immensely.