She felt weak, and the only things holding her up had been his blood and the human she had eaten the week before. It wasn't enough, and she wanted very badly to eat whoever it was that had tried to kill her.
Pushing herself back from Malik, she squinted at him, dragging her eyes down him to ensure he was alright.
Finding he was fine, her eyes swept the room, and he was easy to find, hiding being Russo and covered in blood.
Shoving herself back from Malik, she went for the man and Malik scrambled to keep up with her. Russo had an axe, and she looked from it to him, then to the cowering man behind him.
"Is this how your species thank someone for saving a life?" she rasped at the giant, her eyes on the other brother, the one who had agreed with Russo on his thoughts on her freedom.
"You killed my brother," the giant said.
"I think you'll find that he killed your brother," she said, nodding to the bloodied man. "I simply changed him. He makes for a much better vampire than a human, anyway."
"You made him into a monster."
"Better than your making him into a corpse," she shot back, tilting her head to watch the man while Russo tried to move between them. "And in thanks, you try to kill me."
"You're a monster," the brother cried.
"Yes, and now I'm a very angry monster. Move, bear," she told the giant man, but he refused.
"Please don't hurt him…" The queen pleaded and Etani turned, looking at the woman.
"Why not? He stabbed me, repeatedly. After I kept his brother from dying. Your entire species is backwards. When I brought Kai back from the dead everyone was happy, but not you lot."
She was angry at the lot of them and had half a mind to just drag Malik back to Ayathian and dump him in front of Versalis for the king to deal with.
"Please, they're my children," she pleaded.
She wasn't overly impressed by the argument, and she lifted her brows in a silent 'who cares?'
"Surely you can understand what it would be like to lose a child…"
The silence that followed went from tense to fully hostile and she glared at the woman.
"Don't talk to me about losing children," she growled, the queen jerking back slightly in surprise.
"Etani, you can't kill him," Malik said, not backing down when her glare turned on him, but his words were forcing her rage down.
"Why not, Malik? Would you forgive attempted murder?"
He reached out, and she was disgusted with herself when she found she wanted to go to him, to take his hand and pull herself into his arms where they could be safe together.
"I have to," he said gently. "He is of my blood."
"You are of my blood, Malik. You have no connection to the humans." Why didn't he understand that? Perhaps he didn't want to understand?
"I know, darling, but I still care for him," he said, his soothing words feeling like a brush of fingers down her back that had her wanting to lean into it and revel in his attention.
Staring at him for several seconds, she tried to figure it all out in her mind, but none if it made any sense and all she wanted was to go to him.
"Malik…" There was the faintest hint of a whine to her voice, and he smiled, approaching her and as his arms went around her, she leant into his chest, frustrated at the effect he had on her.
He knew full well what he was doing to her, and he took full advantage, murmuring softly as his arms wrapped tight around her. She growled in frustration, her cheek resting against his collarbone and her glare on Russo and the other brother.
The tension eased as he soothed away her anger and she heard the two men inching away to leave her alone with Malik. The rest of them huddled in the corner except for the queen, who was watching her newly transformed son with fascination and creeping forward, wary and yet unable to resist the urge to be with her child, even if he was a grown man.
Malik looked at Etani and smiled, that smile doing odd things to her heart but then he was letting her go and a sudden violent jealousy flooded through her as Malik hugged his mother.
She wanted to destroy the woman, though there was no reasoning behind it. She knew that was his mother and yet she wanted to obliterate her for daring to touch her... oh.
She blinked hard as she looked at Malik, dawning understanding coming over her at the hostility of her thoughts. She saw Malik as hers and she tried to force the feelings down. Malik was not hers, he belonged to no one, and yet she wanted to pull him to her and feel his skin on hers.
Looking up as a shadow fell over her, she found the form of Russo looming over her like a tree.
"Go away," she said simply, her eyes drawn back to Malik and his mother.
"So, you're leaving... today?" Russo asked.
She shrugged, not wanting to give him any actual answer. She didn't know what to do, would Malik agree to come with her, or would they be forced apart? The idea was terrible, and her mind instantly rejected it, she couldn't be apart from him now, she had to keep him close. He glanced at her over his mother's shoulder and frowned at whatever he saw on her face before he pulled himself back from the woman and kissed her cheek.
"I don't know," she said finally, watching the vampire trying to detach himself from the queen.
"Are you going to leave Malik here when you run off?" Russo asked in a snide voice.
"Malik will be coming with me," she said flatly, finally tearing her eyes off the man in question to look at his brother.
"You're not taking my brother anywhere," Russo said.
"He's not staying here with you. He'd kill you all." She vaguely remembered the twins mentioning the bloodlust that their creator had planned for, throwing humans in their path, and watching the fun.
She would not do that. She would keep him fed, but he would never forgive her if she allowed him to kill any of his family members. She would teach him to control his hunger just like the rest of them.
"You have no faith in him."
"I know vampires, I live with three of them."
"He is safer here."
"He might be, but you are not safe with him here. He is a baby; he will get hungry soon."
"You're not taking him."
"You have no say in the matter. He's my Scion, and he will remain at my side." She was getting angry again and Malik seemed to sense it, his face growing anxious when he couldn't get free of his mother and reach her.
Glancing at him, she could feel his tension and she was torn, wanting to go to him but the giant was a threat and she had to defend the both of them.
The king moved to pull the queen off her son, and he immediately headed in Etani's direction, his face showing his relief when his hand found hers.
"What's wrong?" he asked quietly, his eyes intent of hers.
"Your brother thinks you should stay here with them," she said, relief at his closeness flooding through her body.
"Why can't we both stay here?" he asked.
She huffed, growing frustrated once more. "Because I need to leave."
"Then leave," Russo chimed in.
"Malik, you can't stay here alone. You're going to experience bloodlust and you need to be looked after."
"You can look after me here."
"You know I can't stay here," she sighed, growing tired with the lot of them.
"Malik needs to be here with his family," Russo said loud enough to draw the attention of his family.
She frowned as they all started moving closer. "Malik needs to be with me," she growled.
"Then you have to stay here," Russo said.
"No. I'm leaving, and Malik is coming with me."
"Malik can't leave!" the queen cried, her face pale but Etani's eyes moved to Malik, his tension growing with each second.
"They can both stay here. We can keep Malik safe," someone said.
Turning to Malik, she brushed her fingers against his jaw and drew his attention back to her. It was getting to him, all the tension and flying emotions.
"Hey now, focus on me," she murmured gently, her fingers trailing through his hair to try to keep him focused.
He looked into her eyes desperately and she saw the first hints of crimson.
"Get away," she ordered while her hands dropped, curling her fingers gently around his wrists.
Russo saw it too, and he barked the order, everyone immediately backing away.
Malik was staring at her, taking in deep breaths of the air and his muscles flexed, tensed to the breaking point.
"You're okay, love. I know you're hungry," she whispered, and he made the softest mewling sound that broke her heart.
She wanted him to be satisfied, but they were his family and she had to resist the urge to let him run wild.
He tugged gently at her grip on him, his eyes flicking away to the others and his pupils swelled to cover the entirety of his irises, and when they shrank again, the blue was gone, crimson blazing.