When they woke the next morning, she yawned and walked up his chest to tap him on the nose, his eyes snapping open and she clung to his shirt as he sat upright, surprised by the touch.
Looking down at her, he laughed and curled his hand around her middle to lift her off him and onto the bed.
"I wish I could become a cat," he said wistfully, and she tilted her head, thinking. He would make an interesting cat.
He changed after a while and she was scooped up into his arms as they headed out, finding Daemon and Uzo already up and preparing to leave.
Damon glared at the sight of her, and she hissed in response, calmed by Kai rubbing her ears.
It felt amazing and her eyes slid shut, enjoying the attention.
"It felt good to sleep in a real bed," Kai said gently, his clothes washed overnight and looking clean for the first time in ages.
Etani turned to Uzo and sniffed at his fingers as he reached for her and he scratched her head, leaning so far into it that she nearly fell out of Kai's arms when the Fae stopped and turned away.
Daemon snorted at her near fall, and they returned to packing.
"Nayishma left you clothes for when you decide to join us again," Daemon said moodily and looked up as Jaia joined them, yawning and looking confused and rumpled.
"Are we leaving already?" he asked, scratching at his neck as he eyed her in Kai's arms, his lips pursed though she didn't know what he was thinking.
"As soon as Versalis decides to get his worthless arse out of bed," Daemon snapped.
"It's not worthless," Versalis said, looking disturbingly perky for that early in the day.
"As worthless as the rest of them," Daemon quipped.
Etani leapt down onto the table and stalked for a cloth wrapped hunk of some sort of meat, her mouth watering. She felt eyes on her, but she ignored them, nearly on it when someone caught her and she was lifted up with two hands under her arms.
"No more treats for you until you change back," Daemon said, looking at her.
She glared at him, hissing and then jerking when he hissed back at her. Knowing how to get free, she turned to Kai and mewled pitifully. He immediately came to her rescue, taking her from Daemon who gritted his teeth.
"You can't baby her forever," Daemon scolded, but Kai was ignoring him in his petting of her and she turned smug eyes on the demon.
"Don't you listen to that moody demon. I'll give you all the treats you want," he cooed, and she stretched up to butt her head against his chin.
Uzo laughed and shook his head. "She has him wrapped around her little paw."
"He's always been an avid cat lover," Jaia said, staring resentfully at his twin.
"Same with her," Daemon said and the two exchanged a look of shared misery at their plights.
She and Kai ignored them, instead spending their time together and only offering token assistance to help pack.
"So, the water spirit?" Uzo asked and Daemon nodded, picking up their bags. Kai took two and slung them over one shoulder, his free arm curled around her.
"Stop being so lazy," Daemon demanded but she only curled deeper into Kai's arm, tucking her tail up over her little pink nose.
"Leave her alone," Kai said defensively, turning his body so she was hidden from the demon.
Daemon growled and took Jaia's wrist, the chain joining with her and Kai at the end and he pulled them through the tear in reality and back in Summer.
"The next four should all be in Faerie," Daemon said as they broke apart in a clear meadow, the sound of water coming from a nearby stream.
"Where are we going to find a water spirit? They don't usually linger in the Courts," Uzo said
"We should just follow the streams and we'll come across a pond sooner or later," Daemon said and nodded in the direction of the stream.
They followed along it for a good few hours, talking rarely until they came across a deep pond and Daemon picked up a rock, throwing it into the pond.
"Anyone home?" he yelled out and a woman's head popped out, looking at them irritably.
"What do you want, demon?" she snapped, sharp teeth flashing.
"Looking for a water spirit, any nearby?" he asked.
The woman looked at them all considering before she tilted her head down an offshoot.
"Claresha is down there," she said and then she vanished back under the water.
Etani wasn't sure what she had been, a kelpie perhaps. But they headed in the direction the woman had suggested.
They were starting to discuss doubling back in case they had missed something when they found a large, deep pool and there was a watery figure sitting on the surface, watching them with interest.
She was made entirely of water that moved and rippled with her, but remained still when she did, a soft glow coming from her eyes and she was see-through for the most part.
She would have been pretty in life, but the water spirits were all long dead and refused to pass on, allowing them to take form from the water in which they died.
"What have you come to see me for?" she asked in a high, young sounding voice.
She had worn a long flowing dress when she died, the ends tattered and waving in a breeze that didn't blow, her long hair in tight ringlets and held back with a bow.
"We have come to ask for your magic to help us save the human world," Daemon said kindly.
"Is that so? You want to include me in your quest?" she had stood and drifted closer, her feet touching the surface and allowing her to suck more water up into her form.
"Yes, Claresha, we would ask for your help."
"Who will I be blessing?" she asked and Kai sucked in a breath, holding her out.
Claresha looked a little taken aback by the cat sitting poised on his arm.
"That's a cat," the spirit said, looking to Daemon.
"Right now she is a cat, but normally she is a very stubborn woman who refuses to change out of her cat form to help us," Daemon snarled in her direction and she looked at him, yawning in his face.
She turned to look at the spirit and leant forward, her nose outstretched.
Claresha bent down and their noses touched, the spirit's form wavering slightly before solidifying once more.
A sense of coolness washed through her and her fur stood on end, making the spirit laugh with enjoyment.
"Why are you so willing to help?" Jaia asked, curious.
"I would like it remembered that I helped, later," she said cryptically and slowly sank back into the pond with a tinkling laugh.
"Creepy…" Daemon said, looking down at the pond but he was content enough.
"Jiuwei Hu?" Uzo said and Daemon nodded, the group joining hands and heading through the tear but then stepping out into Winter.