Kai immediately stepped between them, Jaia's face having gone pale at her hostility.
"Get back, Jaia," Daemon said, and the man backed up until her tension eased.
Daemon was looking between the two of them with a frown, trying to figure it out before he suddenly hissed. "The fairies," he said, and moved to stand in front of Etani. He took her roughly by the arm and pulled her forward. She watched him curiously until she moved within range of the brother, and her attention snapped to him in an instant. Her glare locked onto him as the threat he was. Daemon stared at her, and she saw his frown out of the corner of her eye. He pressed her back a few steps and her tension eased, allowing her to look at the demon again.
"What are you doing?" she demanded, still wary of the brother, but she felt at least mostly safe with Daemon at her side.
"You went to the fairies and asked them for a favour, didn't you?" he demanded.
She frowned, shaking her head but then she stopped and squinted. It felt like a dream, but the pull of the deal was there.
"What was the favour?" Jaia asked, though he sounded like he didn't want confirmation of his fears.
"She asked them to make her forget," Daemon said and Jaia's eyes slid shut, his shoulders slumped in defeat as Kai swore.
Dirdos, however, was laughing. "That's what you get for being a jackass, little vampire."
An odd expression was on Daemon's face as he looked at Etani, part hope and part fear.
"I don't know what the deal was," she said warily, unsure if that was a good or bad thing.
"I know, love. And as a bonus, they instilled a healthy dose of distrust for him, so you won't ever want to be near him again."
Etani's eyes turned to the vampire, and she had to wonder why she would go to the fairies to make her forget him.
"What could you have done to make me go to fairies?" she asked suspiciously, but Daemon turned on the vampire quickly.
"If you ever tell her what you did, I'll bury you alive at sea."
"You want her to live in ignorance?" Jaia growled.
"Better that than knowing what you did."
That only made her more suspicious of him, and she inched back another step, just to be sure.
"You can't expect me to just pretend nothing happened!" Jaia snapped.
"I expect you to do exactly that, Jaia. You made your choices, and this is your punishment. Now go be with your wife and stay away from Etani. You deserve to die, but out of respect for Kai, I won't kill you."
Etani's brows lifted as she looked the vampire over from head to toe, but she saw and felt nothing that would suggest there would be an issue between her and his wife.
He was exceptionally attractive, painfully so even, with his hard features and dark eyes, but that wasn't enough for her to want to be with someone. The demand made it seem like the two of them had been through some sort of romantic complication.
"I'm not leaving," Jaia growled.
It was Kai who spoke this time. "You should go, Jaia; give us time to talk to Etani. Go be with Selene."
Jaia looked like he had been asked to eat nails. His eyes rested on Etani for a long moment before he stalked from the room, furious.
"You have odd relatives..." Etani said finally, looking to Kai, who only smiled sadly.
"You have no idea. At least, not anymore." He wrapped his arms tightly around her shoulders and she looked up at him, not understanding his sadness. She leant her head against his chest. A warm hand found hers and she smiled as she squeezed Daemon's fingers.
"One down, three to go," Dirdos said cheerfully.
Daemon growled, looking around at the dragon. "You and I need to set some ground rules on what acceptable behaviour is."
"Not a chance, little demon. You're what's standing between me and my prize."
"I'm not a prize," Etani said moodily, but Dirdos only laughed.
"My darling Etani, you are the ultimate prize any man could win," he said.
She looked at him, his eyes burning crimson that made her blush.
"Stop it," Daemon snapped, unable to hide the jealousy in his voice.
"You need to learn how to fight in other ways than on the battlefield, my friend, or you might lose what you hold dearest."
Glaring between the two of them, Etani huffed and took Kai by the hand, pulling him from the room to let the two men argue it out.
Kai followed her quickly and Letari came along behind, taking Etani's other hand and smiling brightly.
"I've never seen you look so happy as when that dragon was dancing with you," she said.
Etani blushed and glanced at Kai who was watching her with a slightly puzzled frown on his face.
"Why would that make you happy?" Kai asked.
Etani shrugged, not wanting to try to explain it to herself, let alone someone else.
"Because he likes her, she likes him, and while it's not like the attraction with the man in the basement, his nature appeals to hers," Letari was saying, and Etani pulled up short, mortified by her sister's mouth. "Plus, she likes the attention from someone who could actually control her. She likes the whole bit about being dominated, didn't you know that?"
Etani's face had gone white, and she panicked as she tried to figure out what to do without throwing her sister through a wall or out a window.
"On top of all that, he appreciates her mind more than her body or what her magic can do. He isn't affected by her magic at all, he just pretends it does to annoy Daemon, but he just wants her because he is attracted to h—"
Finally, Etani clamped her hand over her sister's mouth, her own mouth a thin line as she resisted the urge to strangle the tiny creature.
"Letari, shut your mouth," she said, but Kai had started to laugh, enjoying the sight of her embarrassment, though it wasn't a mean laugh. She knew he loved her, but still. "You shut up too," she demanded, but he only laughed louder and hugged the two of them. Letari looked confused but pleased by the attention.