"You're fucking lying." Lexi spat as she swore internally at her foolishness, ashamed that her first choice of action was to sit and wait when they were languishing in the depths of some gods-forsaken hole in this place.
"I have no reason to lie," Eromaug shrugged, "What I do have, however, is a reason for wanting to keep you compliant."
"Fuck you!" Lexi spat viciously, trying to pull away from Aoife's hands.
"Oh, you will." Eromaug chuckled, approaching the bed and fixing his gaze firmly on Aoife, "I warned you witchling, if you crossed the line there would be consequences."
"Don't fucking touch her you disgusting piece of shit. At least she had the balls to tell me what you were too much of a coward to do! If you can't fucking handle me then why am I even here?! Why the fuck do you have my mates? Why the fuck do you have my mother?!"
Eromaug laughed, reaching for her chin and pinching it firmly between his fingers. The pressure he exerted almost brought tears to her eyes but she blinked them away furiously.
"They are here so that every time you fuck up or refuse to perform your duties as an Eternal, I have an option to ensure that you don't forget your place." He smirked down at her, his lips only mere millimeters from her own.
"So what are you saying? If I don't open my legs for you then you kick their ass?" She snorted and her lip curled up in disdain, "You fucking disgust me."
"I know," He hummed thoughtfully, inhaling her scent, "The thought of you allowing them to fuck you disgusts me as well, but sometimes, we have to move past these things, don't we?"
He sighed heavily before releasing her chin and stepping back, looking down at her speculatively.
"I won't hesitate to kill them once they outlive their usefulness Lexi. They mean less than nothing to me and whilst they currently serve a purpose by being here, this seems to be diminishing by the minute."
Lexi looked up at him, his cold eyes devoid of almost all emotion as they seemed to suck all of the fight out of her and she sagged back against Aoife.
"You can keep your little friend close by…the dragonling too," Eromaug said flatly, "But, you will sleep in our bed, with me, every night for this concession."
"And if I fucking refuse?" Lexi hissed as Aoife tensed behind her.
The smirk that spread across Eromaug's face chilled Aoife to the core and the twisted amusement that danced in his eyes as he stared at Lexi seemed to mock her, only infuriating her further.
"Why don't you test me and find out?" Eromaug purred dangerously, "There's one of two ways that it can go for you. Either I'm bluffing or one of your little entourage, if not more than one, loses their life and you can spend the rest of eternity hating yourself for pushing me and hating me just a little bit more than you already do."
Her jaw clenched as she stared at him, the hatred burning in her eyes as held her gaze unflinchingly.
"I'm fully aware that you'll never love me the way that I love you, Lexi, but I don't care." He continued, "You belong to me, whether you like it or not and even if you hate me more with every breath that you take, I will still take from you what is owed to me."
"I owe you nothing." She hissed lowly as he snorted contemptuously.
"You owe me, everything." Eromaug grinned wickedly, baring his pointed teeth in a macabre smile, "Everything that I demand you will give obediently for the mere pleasure and status that comes with being my Eternal."
Aoife's chest felt as though it would explode with the length of time she had been holding her breath as she watched the two bicker back and forth, and when she sucked in a desperate lungful of air, Eromaugs attention fell back on her, as if he had almost forgotten that she was there at all.
"Please, my lord," She said quickly, feeling Lexi's anger and frustration practically oozing from every pore, "I said before that this kind of atmosphere wasn't conducive to good healing. I have to ask you both to calm down and..."
"She is mostly healed now anyway, " Eromaug scoffed, waving a dismissive hand towards Aoife, "But I will remove myself from this pointless dialogue. Nothing can be achieved by either of us throwing insults and words that you will regret later."
"I won't regret a thing," Lexi hissed.
"You will if it results in one of your loved one's deaths," Eromaug spat as he turned on his heel and stormed out of the bedroom, slamming the door behind him.
Aoife sagged against Lexi in relief as soon as his figure disappeared from view.
"Well, that could have gone better." She murmured, lifting her head from Lexi's shoulder and blowing a stray strand of hair out of her face.
"Doubtful," Lexi snorted as she stared furiously at the heavy door in front of her.
"Listen, let's get you back into bed, okay?" Aoife suggested gently, "We need you rested and…"
"Rested for what?" Lexi snorted as she begrudgingly lifted her legs back into bed and winced as the skin pulled tight on her chest.
Aoife sighed, pursing her lips as she settled her back into the bed and then stood, hands on hips as she regarded her with a strange look.
"What?" Lexi bit out defensively as she crossed her arms against her chest.
"I was just wondering what happened to the feisty hybrid that I had heard so much about, that's all." she smirked with an eyebrow raised.
"You aren't at all like I remember either," Lexi grumbled, as her eyes narrowed dangerously.
"Considering I wound up dead and forcibly resurrected, I think me not being the same as I was before I died is a good thing." Aoife shrugged as she moved to the side of the bed and took a seat, "You not being the same as you were could prove problematic though."
"Why?" Lexi asked suspiciously as she took in her friend's smirk and cunning glint in her eye.
"Because it's going to make getting out of here just that little bit more difficult, and I would have thought that getting everyone home safely was high on your list of priorities."