Daemon had managed to pull her to her feet without letting go and he hoisted her up over his shoulder, his arm tight around her legs to head back in the direction of the camp and the last of their supplies.
Kai followed close behind, as the fastest he would be able to catch her easily and hold her long enough to give the others time to catch up and contain her.
She was glaring at him the entire time, his eyes wide and hurt at the murderous intent in her face.
Jaia had moved ahead in the hopes that she wouldn't try and escape if she couldn't see him, and Versalis had taken up the rear with Uzo talking to him quietly.
She wanted to go to Versalis, but she was also starting to wonder at his intentions as well. Was it possible they had all turned on her?
The thought had her death glaring Kai and he shrank back a little, the unfortunate victim of her fury.
When they returned to the camp, Daemon dumped her down on the ground and she growled but he ignored her, instead grabbing her arms and twisting them behind her back and his fingers clamped down, that same weird glue magic keeping her arms trapped.
She swore at him, straining to free herself but there was no escape.
Watching, she saw Jaia stalking away from them and dropping onto the ground, his head in his hands but she had no pity for him, instead she found Uzo crouching in front of her, his fingers on her jaw as he forced her to look up at him.
"You should have taken us on a much merrier chase," he said and she narrowed her eyes at him, snapping at his fingers.
He slapped her, not hard but enough to shock her and she jerked back, staring up at in incredulously.
"Stop that, you're a grown woman," he snapped, sighing at her resentment.
He lifted his wrist to her mouth and she resisted at first, but the call of his blood was too strong and she bit down hard, chewing just out of spite but he didn't make a sound while she fed and his energy washed into her.
He pulled away after only a few minutes and she followed him until he was out of her reach, licking her lips and she had to admit she was starting to feel better. Had her absolute irrationality been hunger? She didn't know, but she felt somewhat foolish.
He smiled at her and kissed her forehead, standing and moving over to Jaia.
She was still angry at him, but when her eyes met Kai, he was looking hopeful at her improved mood.
He approached her slowly, coming to sit at her side and he nudged her gently, finally resting his head on her shoulder when she didn't reject him.
"I love you, even if you do go crazy when you're hungry," he said gently and she snorted.
"That was hunger?" she was indignant when he nodded.
"Sure was, all of your moods get sour and everything makes you angry. We didn't manipulate you," he said gently and she looked at him, her expression wary.
"Jaia did," she saw Jaia look her way at the sound of his name, knowing he was listening even if she had been talking quietly.
"No it wasn't like that. Daemon said it would be impossible to be with you. He couldn't touch you and couldn't love you. He had to stop what had started, he couldn't risk hurting you and he couldn't risk your choice being a result of your feelings for him."
"So instead of choosing to be a vampire and going to Faerie, he made me hate him and want to be a Fae just so I can be away from him," she said sourly and Kai jerked, looking up at her.
"Why would you hate him?" he demanded.
"Monsters don't love Kai. Not like that," she said and turned away from him, dropping onto her side with her back to him to end the conversation and try to get some sleep while the group packed up their things.
She got around an hour or rest before Uzo shook her awake and helped her up. She was allowed to be free so long as she didn't try and run off again, or they would find a stick, tie her to it, and carry her the rest of the way. Or so Daemon threatened.
Setting off at a quick pace through the trees, they scoured a good fifth of the forest by the time the sun began to set and they had been forced to settle in for the night.
She refused to sleep with the group and instead climbed a tree and settled into it, exhausted from her lack of sleep.
When she woke she found she wasn't alone and it wasn't by one of the men in her group.
An elf was sitting on the end of her branch, a long spear touching her throat and she offered him a wry smile.
"Morning," she said conversationally, and his eyes narrowed.
He had blue skin, as blue as the sky at midday and his eyes were black as night. He had white hair the colour of clouds and was naked except for a fur loin cloth, fur boots and a necklace of long teeth.
"What are you doing here, vampire?" he demanded and she was surprised to see he had two rows of sharp teeth.
"Looking for you, I suppose," she said and he looked confused.
"Why me?"
The spear pressed closer to her throat.
"I came looking for someone to grant me a favour."
His white brows shot up and the spear lowered slightly, resting against her collarbone.
"What kind of favour?" he asked and she smiled slightly, moving on instinct.
She swatted the spear out of the air and grabbed him by the necklace, pulling him closer.
"Never drop your weapon, little boy," she purred as he looked terrified. "I need you to take me to your elders, they and I need to talk,"
He nodded slowly and she smiled, watching the young man as she climbed down and she stayed close to him as he started off into a section they wouldn't have entered until day three.
She kept a firm grip on his arm as they walked and he was nervous, but she was perfectly calm and all the more amused because she had managed to ditch her guard again.
The terrain became rockier as they walked and she was beginning to wonder how long he had been following her when a weird, squeaky growl had her looking around and up.
The tree behind her was absolutely filled with tiny dragons of all shapes and colours. It was mesmerising to see them all, the poor tree straining to stay upright with the weight of them all.
"Wow…" she breathed and the boy stopped, appreciating her wonder.
"Dragons," he said and she nodded, fascinated.
He tugged her on and she reluctantly followed him into what she had thought was just a depression in the landscape but turned out to be a massive hole in the ground.
He led her down the steep incline and they came out into a cavern so large she couldn't wrap her brain around it, and it was entirely covered in tents and hanging domes.
The sight of the place was baffling and she stopped again to stare around.
People and dragons stared back when they saw her and she jerked at a huff behind her, a huge feline dragon glaring at her.
Utterly in love with its white scales and fur combination, she had to be dragged off by the boy and she whined, reaching for the dragon and its big, purple cat eyes.
"I want him..." she whimpered, the cat's ears flicking forward and prowled after her for a moment but then he was drawn back to his owner.
Leading the way through the milling people, she marvelled at the sheer number of people and dragons.
A large tent towards the far end of the cavern was where they had aimed and they reached it eventually, the boy pulling her inside and she blinked, looking around at a small table of four people, three men and a woman.
They all had purple hair, something she had never seen before. All had purple eyes and all had grey skin. It was bizarre to see when they turned to look at her with interest.