Epharis was looking like he was going to rip Versalis into pieces and Jaia looked like he would have happily joined in and added a few kicks for good measure.
She leaned into Versalis' chest, his arm tight and the pressure made her feel better in ways she couldn't understand.
Glancing to Kai and Daemon, the demon looked worried but wasn't homicidal. Kai was looking at his brother in concern, not understanding his anger.
"You're okay, my little Etani," Versalis whispered, and her attention turned back to him.
She smiled, nodding her agreement. If he was sure that she was going to be fine, then she would be. He would keep her safe.
Uzo had been watching the events from the door to Jaia's room, bemused and enjoying the chaos.
"Well, those were the easy ones," he said, the anxiety in the room suddenly spiking.
"What do you mean?" Kai asked, inching closer to her and his fingers were gentle on her hand.
She jerked away on impulse but then she realised who it was, and she slid her hand into his, his fingers feeling pleasantly soft against hers.
He smiled at her tentatively and she offered him a wary smile in return, but they were both tense and the room felt like it had narrowly escaped an explosion.
"Well, we already had a demon and a vampire in the area. The rest won't be so easy. If you think about it, we now have to find all the rest and that will mean leaving Ayathian and hunting them down," Uzo said, his eyes lingering on Epharis with a small frown on his lips.
"You're not leaving Ayathian," Epharis snarled.
She turned on him, but Versalis touched her cheek and she calmed, looking back up at him.
"We are, Epharis. And you can't force us to remain," Versalis said gently, speaking to the lich but he was still looking into her eyes.
"She's my wife!" Epharis screamed and Kai moved to grip her hand with both of his.
"You do not get to control me anymore, Epharis," she murmured, unable to tear her eyes off Versalis.
"Vampire, demon or human it makes no difference. I own you," he snarled.
Alaric moved to restrain him with a hand on his shoulder.
She finally tore her eyes from Versalis to look to the lich, her eyes narrowed at him in irritation.
"You are the one responsible for the destruction of the human world if we can't get my magic back."
He looked taken aback and then he began to laugh, but their seriousness had him pausing. "You can't be serious? Because I stole one Fae's magic?" he was incredulous.
"Because you returned her magic to the Creators, and they are going to be coming to tear down the human world. They want Faerie to be whole and this world is dragging it down," Uzo said, still watching Epharis.
"You're lying," Epharis snapped but then he frowned, realising that Uzo was a Fae and he was incapable of lying. "This is insane, you're not a Creator."
"No, she is The Creator," Daemon said gently, a small smile on his lips. "I created the mother of all future worlds. Etani will be able to repair Faerie and create as many worlds as she desires."
Epharis turned on the demon, fuming. "Rubbish. It's impossible!"
"It's true. Etani will birth a universe of worlds on a whim. There is nothing she cannot do," Uzo said while Epharis was starting to look distinctly nervous.
"And what if she doesn't get her magic back?" he asked.
"Then the creators bring down the human world and we all die," Uzo said simply. "We will all be vanished."
Epharis looked like he was going to be sick, and he looked at her, searching her face but she simply looked back at him blankly.
"I can't return her magic," he said. The room tensed, everyone hopeful that he would have made it easier for them all.
"Why not?" Daemon demanded as Epharis looked only a little guilty.
"I banished it. I shredded her connection to Faerie."
Daemon sighed and shook his head at the pettiness of them all. "Idiot. I don't know how long we will have before the Creators come and wipe us all out. We have to get through fifty more species, and we can't do it fast or it might break her mind."
She watched the group, her face empty but she thought she might be perfectly content right where she was, a vampire and demon. It would be easy, and she could already think of a few choice people she would gladly leave behind. She knew it was spite, but she couldn't really help it.
"Alaric, we need your permission to go," she said simply. The king jerked at being addressed.
Epharis turned on his brother, fuming that she had gone over him. "Don't let them. We can find something else," he hissed, but Alaric was looking at her with calm eyes.
"You have my permission to take anyone you need with you. You need to do this and save our world."
His words made her flinch, and she bit her lip, hating the idea that they were relying on her like that. She didn't want to be the one who would fix it, she just wanted to be alone. No that was wrong now, she wanted to be with Versalis.
Looking up at the vampire king, she found him watching her and he bowed his head to brush his lips against hers.
A soft hiss sounded from someone in the room, but she ignored them and enjoyed the sensation of his love and adoration.
Melting into him, she made a happy sound of content and closed her eyes.
"If we do this, we will have to move fast. Very fast," Daemon said, looking around the room at the various men. "We will need to be a small group to go unnoticed."
"I'm coming," Epharis said immediately, and her eyes snapped to him.
"You are staying right here," she said. She would not permit him to come with them. She would kill him herself before she let that happen.
"You are too recognisable. It will be Daemon, myself, and Uzo," Versalis said but Kai looked distressed.
"I'm going!" he cried, hating the idea of being left behind.
"If Kai is going then so am I," Jaia said but she shook her head in refusal.
"You're not going," she said simply.
His eyes found her, and he glared, but she simply turned her eyes away from him and back to Versalis. Versalis never broke her heart and left her soul bleeding. He would never hurt her like that. But she would never give her heart to another, she was not a foolish woman.
"Don't leave me," Kai whispered, and she looked to him, seeing the fear in his eyes.
She shook her head and turned, cupping the back of his neck and resting her forehead against his.
"Never…" she breathed, and he seemed to relax into her.
"You're not going without me," Jaia snapped. Kai looked to his brother and then back at her.
She frowned at the pleading in his eyes, and she shook her head but then sighed at his little devastated whimper.
"Fine," she said moodily, and Kai tilted his head, not understanding her reluctance.
"You're not going!" Epharis yelled but she ignored him.
"So, Kai, Jaia, Daemon, Uzo, Versalis, and me?" she asked, a little concerned at the size of their party but what choice did they have really?
"Six isn't bad," Uzo said, knowing her fear.
Alaric nodded, looking between them all and then he sighed at the loss of so much power in one go. But they all knew it had to be done. There was nothing else they could do.
"Very well, go save the stupid world," he said moodily and stomped from the room.