They had been waiting for Daemon to return when the figure seemed to materialise out of the forest at their back and she had caught the movement. Her cry of warning was the only thing that kept Versalis from taking a stake to the heart, his turn to see what had startled her leaving the stake under his shoulder blade.
The figure had shot the stake from a strange, horizontal bow and was reloading it even as Jaia was on him, trying to get his teeth into any inch of exposed skin.
He had white-silver hair, and his face was three quarters covered by a black mask that crept down his neck and melded into black clothes that seemed almost like liquid.
The man threw the vampire off him, and she watched as a red burst of liquid threw Jaia even further.
She had leapt to her feet, and he turned on her as she came upon him, Kai going immediately to Versalis.
Grabbing the end of the bow, she forced it upwards, and it went off, the stake grazing her shoulder but missing them all and he slammed his fist into her chest, throwing her back.
She staggered back and lunged forward again, driving her foot into his ribcage.
He staggered, dropping the bow but instead she was suddenly frozen as his hand flung out towards her, blood dripping down his hand and a drop landed against her jaw.
Screaming as every vein in her body contracted, she dropped to her knees, her brain feeling like it was going to explode as her blood was drawn towards him and his hand.
Agony ripped through her, her skin turning first red and then blood began to ooze out of her pores, nose and eyes.
The sensation cut off as the man screamed and she heard Uzo's grunt of effort as he snapped the man's arm.
"Hunter!" Uzo yelled and Kai swore, grabbing the injured Versalis and dragging him away from the silver-haired man.
He hadn't spoken, instead he had turned his attention on the Fae, and she looked up through a smear of red as he withdrew a long black knife and Uzo retreated quickly as they all heard the whispers of the blade. It was a soul stealer.
"Run!" Uzo yelled and he turned, grabbing her by the arm and they were all immediately on the move, sprinting away from their belongings and the hunter.
They all knew better than to try and fight a hunter, they used blood magic and rarely ever lost. They were some of the most feared creatures in both worlds and no one knew how to kill them.
Her instincts had gone onto high alert, and she had become very aware of the other forms inside her, though she didn't know why.
She felt something inside her screaming a warning and glancing back, she swore as she saw the bow rising for Kai and Versalis. Spinning in place, she grinned as she tapped viciously into the wolf.
She was not going to let them die because of some stupid blood flinger.
The wolf howled inside her and she felt fabric and skin tearing as she changed direction, her face elongating in the most delicious pain she had ever felt in her life.
Her muscles changed and fur sprouted over her flesh, suddenly she was no longer on two feet but four and the crimson eye of the hunter went wide.
She leapt for him and her jaws found his head, shaking him in the hopes of breaking his neck as she landed and skidded, her claws digging into the soil and grass.
He grabbed her jaw, and she tasted his divine blood, letting go before he had the chance to rip her apart from the jaw.
Growling, she paced around him as he rolled to his feet. She had taken him off guard and the vampires were gone, leaving her alone with him.
Her ears flattened against her head as he found a new knife, the blade glittering silver in the moonlight.
Her laugh came out as a bark, and she licked her muzzle to clean it of his blood.
His one exposed eye narrowed at her and he lunged forward, swiping at her with the blade and she leapt back from him, the knife singing against her fur but missing her.
She went for his leg and her teeth cut through the leather of his boot, finding flesh and he groaned in pain, the sound muffled by his mask.
She yipped in pain and backed away as the knife found her shoulder, but it wasn't a deep cut.
Growling at him, she slunk back and lowered herself onto the grass, ready.
He watched her, limping as he tried to decide what to do.
His blood magic would have to touch her flesh under the fur to make an impact on her and that was hard when she was a wolf.
She heard footsteps but she ignored them, knowing someone had come back and she shouldn't draw attention to them.
She barked and the man jumped, amusing her that he was so twitchy.
He lunged at her and she leapt back, but his fingers caught her fur, and she howled as the knife drove deep into her back.
Turning on him, she caught his shoulder and chest, her teeth cutting into him like butter, and he grunted, ripping the knife out and driving it into her again.
She screamed, the sound a mangled humanoid-wolf cry of pain.
Turning on him, her teeth found his throat and she shook him violently, ripping the knife free as she threw him from her.
Staggering after him, blood coating her, she met his eye and bit down on his neck again, jerking him violently and she felt his neck breaking but it was only a short-term fix.
Jaia had come on her then as she moved away from the hunter, pain pulling her down to the grass and she huffed, contemplating the stupidity of her actions but it had been better than Versalis or Kai being killed.
Jaia was on her, his face pale as he searched her, finding her fur wet with blood and the gashes not healing.
He swore and turned as the hunter began to move, his arms flinging out to protect her from further harm.
Blood splashed over him as the hunter threw himself up and Jaia collapsed under the pain, the hunter using the same magic that had brought her down in the first moments of their fight.
A new player had entered the scene and Daemon slammed into the hunter, the two going down in a roll.
"Get her out of here!" Daemon screamed at Jaia.
Jaia grabbed her but she was too big, and she focused on what she could do, the wolf stubbornly refusing to let go of her.
Instead, she and the wolf were satisfied with an alteration and her form changed to one of more humanoid shape, naked and bleeding heavily.
Jaia scooped her up into his arms and they were running again, the trees whipping past them as the demon did his best to rip the hunter apart, but again there was only so much they could do to incapacitate the hunter.
***
They ran for a good hour, finally skidding to a stop and she found she had been staring up at the canopy as it whipped by, but they had stopped and Versalis was swearing under his breath as Kai tried to pry the wood free of his back.
Daemon was on them a few minutes later and he punched Jaia in the face, the vampire letting go of her and she screamed as she hit the hard stones.
"You stupid vampire! You had one task, to keep her alive, and you almost get her killed!" Daemon was in full rage, and she rolled onto her stomach, her head spinning wildly as the two screamed at each other.
Uzo joined them a few minutes later, panting.
"I cleared up as much blood as I could, he shouldn't be able to find us."
He was on her as soon as he saw her, dragging her limp body from the ground and looking at her back.
He swore and when the fighting pair seemed to not notice, he picked up a rock and threw it at them.
They broke apart and looked around, fuming and bloodied from their attempts to kill each other.
"What are you doing?! She's injured!" the Fae snarled, angry at them both.
Jaia looked down at her and his face went pale, his hands going to his shoulders, but his pack had been left behind.
Daemon swore and streaked from the clearing, returning a few minutes later with a large armful of the moss they had used to dry off.
"What was that knife?" the demon demanded.
"Silver," Jaia snarled, and his arms went around her ribs, easing her up against his chest. "We have to get them cleaned first, don't just bandage it."
With her cheek resting against Jaia's collarbone, she sighed at the scent of him, and she enjoyed the warmth of him against her while the others moved around behind her.
Water was poured onto her back, and she whimpered as the wounds were held open to allow water to flush out the deep cuts.
Jaia murmured softly in her ear to help calm her and it worked well, her attention on his voice rather than the pain at her back.
"Is everyone okay?" she whispered, and she flinched at the scream and weird sucking sound as the stake was pulled free, Versalis immediately turning and crawling for her once he was free.
She took his hand and smiled, looking down at him over Jaia's shoulder.
"You have ears…" he said, blinking up at her.
"Didn't I always?" she asked, confused by his statement.
Kai joined them a moment later and he was staring at her head.
"You have dog ears…" Kai said, beginning to laugh.
"And a tail," Daemon said, his attention focused on his work and Kai tilted slightly to look.
"You have a tail! Your wings are gone, and you have a tail!" he laughed, and she narrowed her eyes at him.
Something weird happened around the top of her head and she reached up to find that yes, she had a pair of ears on her head, and they were furry.
"Stupid wolf..." she growled, and she heard the panting laugh from inside her.
"You were a wolf," Jaia said, and she nodded.
"She wouldn't go back down. So, we compromised," she explained, flinching as the moss was pressed hard against her back.
Shifting, Jaia slid his arm down under her backside and she wrapped her legs around his middle, the angle stretching her back and she whined softly, but it made things easier for Daemon to wrap the moss around her and he used his belt to tie it in place around her waist.
"Stupid girl, you should have run," Daemon snarled.
"He was going to shoot Kai and Versalis," she said sleepily.
"Then you let them die. You're more important than them," the demon was fuming as she shook her head.
"I'm not going to try and fix this world if they die. Any of them," she was mumbling, barely awake as her blood loss drew her down into unconscious.
Kai made a soft choking sound, and she nuzzled her face into Jaia's neck, dozing off against him.