::Dane walks in giving Azura a friendly fireman's lift. The lair is lavish and large, much as what you'd expect for the Queen of the Vampires. There are ceremonial daggers and large swords adorning the walls, as well as shackles and ancient-looking handcuffs. The vampire gruffly drops Azura into a sitting position on the bed and walks over to the door to guard it until the queen comes.::

:: Azura gazes around the lair in fright, her gaze settling on the various things in the room. This is too much like Cora, far too much. Shakily, she shoves herself back on the bed and slips off the other side of it. She backs up until she meets the wall where she sits. Silent tears roll down her face as she awaits Aoife.::

::Aoife arrives after half an hour or so and eyes Dane.::

"You may leave."

::Once he's gone, Aoife shuts and bolts the door and searches out Azura with her eyes. Once she sees her, she walks over and stands a few feet away.::

"I'm not like my sister, witch. I don't like to drag things out, as pleasurable as it may be."

:: Slowly, slowly Azura pushes herself to her feet using the wall for support.::

"I suppose that is some small mercy."

:: That was the worst part about her ordeal with Cora, the fact that the vampire dragged it, bringing her to the brink countless times before finishing her off.::

(Be brave. I'm coming.)

::Hopefully.::

:: Given some confidence by her sister's promise, Azura steps towards Aoife so that she is right in front of the vampire. She's scared. Real scared.::

"Go on then, if you must."

:: She doesn't want to weep and yell or anything else, she doesn't want to give the Queen the pleasure even though she knows she wont be able to hold onto this confidence for long.::

::Aoife reaches to the side where a stack of katanas are on display, one held proudly above the other. She grips onto a handle and unsheathes the silver sword with a long smile. Already she feels great anticipation building inside her. Finally, vengeance will be hers. She brings the sword in front of her and eyes Azura dangerously.::

"Any last words?"

:: Azura stares at the blade, the last of the colour draining from her face. She looks at Aoife, determind.::

"Killing your sister was one of the best things I have ever done for myself."

::Aoife hadn't been expecting that. She shows her bewilderment for only a moment before it's replaced with a look of dark wrath. She pushes her mouth into an angry pout before bringing the sword up behind her shoulder. She spins around before swinging it straight for Azura's neck.::

::The door is kicked open, coming right off the hinges. A blur flits into the room and attacks the queen, taking her and the sword well off balance and right into the wall. Paige's feet don't touch the ground as she grapples around Aoife's body and digs her teeth into her neck.::

:: And the end doesn't come. Azura opens her eyes to find her wife grappling with the Queen. She stares in shock, unable to force herself to do anything else. That confidence she felt is waning as her fear begins to claw its way back into the forefront of her mind.::

"... Paige."

:: She whispers her wife's name. Now a vampire.::

::Paige twists her head to look at Azura, blood dripping all down her chin. She screams at her, rage coursing through her veins.::

"Get out of here!"

::She slams a tight fist into Aoife's temple and bites her again.::

::Aoife's head slams into the wall again as the attack continues. She had been taken completely by surprise by Paige and hasn't done well to defend herself thus far. It's a cardinal sin for one vampire to bite another in attack, so Aoife is pis-say. She manages to grab Paige by the hair and yank her right over her shoulder so the fledgling vampire's back hits the wall and she lands headfirst on the ground.::

"Traitor! You will pay for your misdeeds!"

::She picks up the sword.::

::Paige barely registers what's happened. She was behind the queen a second ago, and now she's upside down on the floor in front of her. Her back hurts and she only has time to look helplessly at Azura.::

::Aoife brings the sword down, directly into Paige's heart.::

[Paige's body erupts in an explosion of dust and flame. She's dead.]

:: Azura doesn't, can't register what just happened. She can't. She can't. Not again. No! She stares at the spot where her wife lay and... breaks down. Slowly, she sinks to her knees and starts to cry. As much as Paige wanted her to run, she can't. She saved her, she sacrificed herself and she can't move. She can't. Her wife isn't dead, she isn't. Something is tearing at her inside and all she can do is cry. She doesn't care about Aoife for now, she only cares about Paige.::

::Aoife turns and smiles at Azura. She can see the hurt on her face and it's incredible satisfying for the queen vampire.::

"And now... you."

::She stalks towards Azura, the same sword she'd used to slaughter her wife spinning in her hand.::

::A twist of orbs forms behind Azura as Paige grabs her from behind.::

"Time to go!"

::They orb out, to the great hall.::

::Aoife's sword stabs empty space and the queen's eyes flash, enraged. She shrieks loudly, a call to arms for her following. She follows the psychic link with the triplets and knows Paige has shown in the great hall. She goes.::

::Dane carries Aoife in and draws a curtain across where the broken door stood, ensuring their privacy. He brings her over to the bed and lays her down on it while his lips move into the dip of her neck and begin to caress it with tender kisses.::

::Aoife sighs, beginning to relax in his expert arms and allowing herself to forget all of her troubles, at least for now. She tilts her head away from him and lets a hand drift upwards to touch the back of his head, fingers combing his hair.::

"Bad witches hurt poor Aoife."

::Dane starts pulling his shirt off, pausing his worship of his queen's body only to remove the shirt over his head. His breathing becomes harder and he grunts quietly into her ear before moving back, sensing what mood she's in.::

"Bad witches will pay."

::At the sight of Dane's war-beaten chest, Aoife's eyes light up and she sits up. She breathes raggedly, her fangs extending beyond the cover of her lower lip.::

"Yes."

::Suddenly she lunges at him, tumbling him backwards onto the floor and drawing red lines of blood down his back with her claws. She becomes vicious and volatile. They fight, she tortures, they fuck and we fade out.::

::Aoife opens her eyes and stretches, then looks over at the body of her lover. She rolls onto her front and crouches over him, lowering her lips to bite his chest, hard enough to hurt but no more. She then gets up and dresses before walking purposefully away, sending a psychic message to her followers.::

::Having been woken by Aoife's mouth, Dane stares at the ceiling for a while, letting the ache of his body return to him after being forgotten in sleep. He gets up and looks over his shoulder, examining gradually-healing clawlines. He pulls his shirt on and then his black trousers and jacket before walking to the throne room.::

::When Paige enters with her league of merry men, the cave looks different to when she was last here. It's been trashed, which is the main difference, and a lot of things removed. She looks at the broken bed, sans mattress or dressings, and frowns.::

(Hmmmm.)

::Something's tickling her memory.::

"Another dead end."

"Jaysus, I didn't actually think we'd hit double figures."

::Andrea looks around, sighing.::

"It's like the bloody school down here. Bloody bedrooms everywhere."

::Azura's also look around the cave and has a sense of deja vu. She knows that this isn't Cora's lair, she'd know if she was in that place regardless of the state that it was in.::

"... I do not like this place."

::Paige gives Azura a playful kind of smile.::

"You only just decided?"

::Still feeling childish from hanging around with Andrea, Azura sticks her tongue out at her wife.::

::Paige frowns now.::

"Oh, wait..."

::She just remembered that she has been here before, and what happened.::

(Oh my god I ate someone. And there was blood and gross and-)

::Going even paler than usual, Paige looks like she is about to puke.::

"I think we should stop here and rest for a little while."

::Leo unshoulders the rucksack Majora gave him.::

"Everybody should eat something."

"Okay."

::Azura squeezes Paige's hand and moves closer to her, it having just dawned on her too.::

"You saved me, remember?"

(At least we are not in Cora's lair.)

::Paige puts her free hand loosely over her mouth.::

(I think I'm gonna throw up.)

::There are some things she really doesn't like getting reminded of.::

::Azura can see this so she lets go of Paige's hand and takes a step back. As dirty as she is she doesn't want vomit on her.::

"Maybe you should have something to drink?"

"All right."

::Leo plops the bag into the bed and looks through.::

"Okay... I've got bread... chips... water..."

::He pulls out some water bottles and passes them around, then begins tearing up the bread and distributing hunks of that too.::

::Azura's starving but she doesn't start to eat just yet, instead she holds out her bottle of water to Paige.::

"Do you remember our first date?"

(What?)

::The question throws Paige off enough to work in the distracting her sense. Unfortunately, she's now faced with another problem.::

"Of course, sweetie!"

::No fucking clue.::

::Clueless Azura thinks that she has successfully distracted her wife by reminding her of their first date.::

"You turned up to my apartment early."