Byzantium

Stage 13

Elise was lying askew atop her bed, flat on her back with her feet propped up by two pillows, and her hands stuck underneath her head. She was contemplating going to see Rayna again for another confrontation, but this time, she snarled to herself, there would be no talking. Only claws, teeth, and magic.

Elise's rage was almost palpable as she thought about what she wanted to do to Rayna for what the woman's workers did to Ivy. She would roar and demolish anything and everything, all in the name of Ivy. There were absolutely no limits to what Elise was capable of now.

She surmised that the senseless slaughter would get her taken away from Ivy, but she couldn't sit around and do nothing. Someone needed to be punished. But could Elise really murder those she once cared deeply for? Besides, she thought, if Rayna died then Carmen would have to as well since she was a part of Rayna's activities. Elise didn't think she could kill Carmen, who had at least tried to make things better, even if she didn't try very hard. Rayna though, perhaps...

Moving her feet, Elise looked between them and saw Ivy standing in the doorway. Ivy wiggled her fingers in greeting and smiled softly. She stared through Elise's little foot window for a minute before speaking, "Do you want to talk about it?"

Elise scoffed and put her feet back to their original position. "Talk about what?" Her jaw twitched at being unnecessarily rude to Ivy, and she tried to calm herself and separate her anger at Rayna from her other emotions.

"Talk about you possibly being taken away." Ivy took a slow step into the room, not put off by Elise's attitude. "Talk about us." Another step, lazy, and a half shrug. "Talk about anything, really."

Elise scooted over in bed, a silent invitation for Ivy, who took it without a second thought. She laid down beside Elise and propped up her feet on the two pillows where Elise's were. She wondered if she should push the subject, but in the end she silently waited for Elise to speak first. She was forced to wait an obnoxiously long time.

Sighing, Elise crossed her ankles and finally spoke, "I'm thinking of going to see Rayna again."

At the news Ivy almost sat up and hit Elise right on the nose, but she held back her initial reaction and just turned her head to glare at Elise. "Why in the world would you want to do that?"

"Talk to her. Set some things straight." Then Elise added under her breath, "Kill her..."

Ivy caught the last words and held back another urge to bop Elise's nose. "Please tell me you're joking."

Elise didn't respond. She wasn't going to lie, didn't want to lie. The silence gave Ivy her answer.

Shifting onto her side, Ivy lifted herself up onto an elbow and looked down at Elise, who was strategically keeping her eyes anywhere but on Ivy's face. "You know you can't do that."

"I very much can," Elise muttered. She was damned wolf, and could kill most anything when she set her mind to it.

"Elise," Ivy sighed. She tried to catch Elise's eyes, but failed. "If you do that, you're definitely going to be taken away from me. Do you want that?"

"No," Elise admitted softly. "But I'm not going to wait for Rayna to send someone else after us. She's not going to stop, Ivy. She's going to keep coming at us until we break. I want to stop her first, and the only way I know how to do that is to kill her."

"You talk like killing someone is easy."

"It is, if you know where to hit."

"That's not funny, Elise."