"Beale, where are Daemon and Jaenelle?" Azazeal had asked pleasantly after arriving in Kaaleer with Cassie to discuss the next operation with Jaenelle and Daemon.

"Indisposed, sir." Beale had replied.

Azazeal had scowled in annoyance and Cassie had smiled to herself remembering how that look used to frighten her. Now she knew that he just detested his plans being interfered with.

"Indisposed? Just tell me where they are."

"I'm afraid that I can't…they should not be disturbed."

"I will be the judge of that!" Azazeal had said in his most menacing tone and before Cassie could corral him and apologize to Beale, the poor butler was spilling the beans.

"They're in the study," Beale had announced and turned on his heel and left them.

Azazeal didn't bother knocking, quickly turning the knob and wrenching the door open despite the Black locks on the door, he strode in with Cassie trailing after him. Cassie was already planning how to take over the situation and get him refocused on her, when she heard Azazeal chuckle and then a deep threatening growl answer him. She looked up and then took a step back from the scene before her.

It would have been enough, actually, to see Daemon and Jaenelle naked as the day they were born, but what she saw as less a man and a woman making love, but more a predator feeling threatened over a….a freshly killed meal. Jaenelle didn't speak but did free a hand to stroke Daemon's left flank. He turn his attention towards her only long enough to snarl at her and then nibble at her breast but his eyes never left Azazeal and Cassie.

"Well," Azazeal said apparently finding this situation more humorous than dangerous, "I can see that our meeting has been cancelled, but I wish I'd had some notice."

At this Daemon rose off of Jaenelle, who remained reclined on the couch, and prepared himself to attack. Azazeal smiled and stepped in front of Cassie, knowing that even in his rut he would hesitate to attack an angel after what Lucifer had done to him last time.

"Alright," Azazeal said putting up his hands, "To whoever is coherent enough to understand, we're going to have to delay our next conquest and fit her in at that ball next week with that other one. Assuming, of course, that you two are done screwing each other."

Jaenelle gave a slight nod from where she lay but Daemon understood nothing but that there was a male who refused to leave and a female that infuriated him. He sprang forward, as fluidly and elegantly as a cat, his nakedness adding to the beauty and menace of this action, but Azazeal and Cassie were gone before he reached them.

His fury made his confusion only lasted for a moment and then he turned back to his mate. She had moved. She was standing near the book shelves now which was enough of a challenge to his dominance on this, the second day of his rut, that he caught her in his piercing gaze like a doe in headlights and before she knew it she was pressed up against the books, riding his rough passion with her legs wrapped around his waist.

When he had spent himself, he leaned against her for a while, panting before carrying her back to the couch but then deciding that the floor was better, he laid her down on a plush rug after vanishing the coffee table that had sat on it. He stretched out next to her and began to kiss her insistantly but still relatively gently, occasionally rubbing his body against her. He would mate with her again as soon as his body was able, as he had for the last day and a half, but in the meantime he would keep her compliant. However, Daemon fell asleep for the first time since the rut had started before he could mount her again.

Jaenelle woke up and Daemon was gone. Hunting, she suspected, since the house was dark and quiet. He would be in the kitchen destroying Mrs. Beale's neat and orderly domain. Jaenelle could sense that the house remained evacuated, thanks to Beale's quick thinking everyone had been kicked out when she had alerted him that Daemon was about to trap her in the study. Beale himself had been the only person who had entered the house since then and only during the day when the front door had to be monitored, which Daemon seeming willing to allow. That was until Azazeal and Cassie had burst in.

Just then the door flew open and Daemon returned with his spoils…Mrs. Beale was going to kill him, rut or not, when she saw the state of her kitchen. He arraigned first the food and drink and then himself on the floor next to her and waited impatiently for her to start. She looked at him with a faint smile before choosing a sandwich of some kind and taking a bite. It was, she knew, of supreme importance that she accept the food he offered, but though the refusal of the food meant she did not want to mate with him, the reaction that she would get would not be sadness and disappointment but something more violent. Not that she believed for a second that Daemon, even in this state, would actually hurt her but he was too controlled by his hormones at the moment and he might do something he would regret. This rut, like the prior rut, was strong because he had been holding them back and as before, he did not speak much or allow any clothing. What amused Jaenelle more was that he appeared unwilling to move to the bedroom. This is where the rut had started and this is where they were going to remain until he came out of it.

Jaenelle woke again with a blanket covering her from the waist down, but she was still on the floor of the study. The blanket was from their bedroom, she recognized it, and yet Daemon had not moved her, only retreived a blanket. She rolled over on to her back and found Daemon watching her from the couch. He almost seemed normal except that his was still naked and there was still a certain light in his eyes that she knew well by now.

He got up off of the couch and slipped next to her on the floor. He looked at her and scanned her body seemingly reviewing where each of the bruises and bite marks had come from over the past four days. Then he nuzzled at the teeth impressions on her neck, he licked the bruises on her wrists, he kissed the scratch marks on her back, giving attention to each part of her that had been marked since the rut had turned fierce, until they were both aroused and yearning for each other.

Jaenelle estimated that by the end of tomorrow, the fifth day, his rut would be over. It had followed an arc from mere passion to viciousness to gentleness and it would be over soon. Her only concern was how he would feel about what he'd done to her afterward.

When Daemon saw what he'd done to Jaenelle, he was enraged and incensed beyond reason and when she tried to explain to him that she was fine, they were only the marks of their passion, he wouldn't listen. He supervised her healing and beat himself up inside and then they all went to the ball, where he'd started to take out his anger at himself on the Queen they were trying to rehabilitate and almost got her killed by an overzealous Lucifer. Not that Daemon saw it that way.

In the afternoon a few days after the fiasco at the ball, Azazeal called a meeting at Cassie's church (you couldn't get him to refer to it as his anymore) in order to berate everyone for moping around for the last few days.

"We have a mission, you know, or have you all forgotten?" Azazeal started in while Cassie actually bothered to take in what was really going on with their friends.

Daemon, still ignoring his fury at himself, was angry with Elizabeth for what she'd done to Lucifer.

Jaenelle was angry with Daemon because he wouldn't listen to her that he'd done nothing wrong and because he didn't believe she was strong enough to take care of herself.

Lucivar was angry at both Elizabeth and Daemon because they had hurt people that he loved. Yes, he considered Lucifer a good friend now.

Lucifer had become a more quiet form of himself since Elizabeth had corrected him. He was reluctant to leave her side, hesitant to act without her permission, and exceedingly tender with her. Cassie was actually familiar with extended periods of this persona but it was annoying Azazeal, who usually had a blank check in using him for his plans once Elizabeth set him in motion, and Daemon and Lucivar saw it as a reaction to what she had physically done to him. Daemon had, of course, informed Lucivar of what he had seen, but not Jaenelle.

Elizabeth sensed these things from the boys, their faces and attitudes made their opinions clear, but she was stubbornly unwilling to push Lucifer away before he was ready. Elizabeth had told Cassie that she had been worried about Lucifer's fawning but he had told her that he it was not because he was afraid that she would leave him. On the contrary, it was more humiliating and disgraceful to disappoint her now that he knew she would never abandon him. He was just not ready to risk it again yet. Elizabeth and Cassie had shared a little laugh at this logic but it made sense in angelic terms.

"I think," Cassie interrupted whatever Azazeal had been saying and he stopped, "I think we all need a bit of a break. Don't you agree?" She said to Azazeal, who there and then completely forgot about the mission and his failure of a crew and smiled at her brightly.

"Alright," he responded and the relief was instant from everyone in the room, including Cassie herself who he'd been dragging along on all sorts of recognizance missions since everyone else had been useless. She found it interesting that he as actually harder to control that Lucifer, but she'd get the hang of it eventually.

The tight group around Azazeal broke up then and people began to mingle a bit which Cassie hoped would bring about some resolution to everyone's issues.

As Cassie talked to Azazeal about the little vacation that they would plan for everyone, she watched Elizabeth walk over to Daemon and Lucivar and smiled, glad that Elizabeth too was not willing to let these things lie.

"I'm sorry," Elizabeth said to them.

"Mhm, for what exactly?" Lucivar snapped back and Elizabeth jumped a little at the tone in his voice.

"I shouldn't have yelled at you both like I did. He's my responsibility, not yours."

"Yes, well, apparently, you take your responsibility very seriously," Daemon growled and Elizabeth was confused.

"Well, I'm…I'm just sorry. I just wanted to say that."

"I don't think it's us you should be apologizing to."

"What?"

At that moment, Lucifer slid up behind Elizabeth after having the talk with Jaenelle, Elizabeth had sent him to have, and growled back, "Do we have a problem?"

Daemon was a bit startled by the sudden change in Lucifer and was about to answer when Lucifer stopped him by addressing Elizabeth.

"My dear, would you be so kind as to excuse us for a while? I think there's a discussion we boys need to have….again."

Elizabeth nodded, kissed him and went off to find Jaenelle.

"First, I would thank you to keep what you saw to yourself, Daemon," Lucifer said as soon as Elizabeth was out of ear shot, "It's hard enough for her as it is."

"Hard for her!!" Lucivar spat and Lucifer whirled on him.

"I'm going to spell this all out for you both, on couple of matters, so that we don't have to have this conversation ever again."

Daemon and Lucivar were too shocked by his forceful tone to respond.

"Excellent! Now, that woman gets to do whatever she likes, especially to me, no exceptions. Don't you dare judge her by your standards. I've told you before and you've seen it for yourself, I must submit or I will…I WILL tear everything apart trying to use my power on my own. I have to show her what my surrender means in mortal terms and, yes, to her it means a person devoted enough to suffer for her pleasure, it's not a direct translation but it works, so that went I say Na Aziagier, I submit, she understands me. You got that!"

They nodded like schoolboys.

"Second, Daemon, you hurt Jaenelle…deal with it! She was bruised and scratched and bitten and you know what? She's fine! Do you really think that Witch couldn't have stopped you? Do you really think Witch didn't enjoy your rut as much as you did? Do you really think that your little Queen couldn't still shatter your mind in a second if you really turned savage? Ha, and you also must have forgotten to consider the fact that I could still destroy Elizabeth anytime I wanted!"

Daemon looked solemn.

"Daemon, give people some credit would you," Lucifer said more gently, "You don't have to protect everyone…and neither do you," he finished pointing at Lucivar.

Lucifer then turned away abruptly and as if wanting to shed this forceful persona as quickly as possible, went and sat at Elizabeth's feet as she talked to Jaenelle. She smiled at him and stroked his head as she returned to her conversation. He closed his eyes and appeared perfectly content to remain there forever. Both Daemon and Lucivar realized how foolish they had been since Elizabeth was never anything but kind to Lucifer and even now had only gently encouraged him to take initiative again, rather than becoming annoyed at his reluctance or delighted in his subjugation. They might have had a point if she toyed with him and abused him on a regular basis, but though she made plenty of mistakes, she was not cruel to him. They would just have to accept that some of the things that happened between them were part of a strange form of communication made necessary by his angelic nature.

Daemon and Lucivar shared a look of understanding and Lucivar left Daemon with his forgiveness for what he'd done to Jaenelle's body because it was Witch who had seen him through the rut…and she was more terrifying than Daemon on any day.

Daemon wanted to go over to Jaenelle and beg forgiveness. No wonder she'd been cold with him lately. He'd done it again. He'd questioned her strength. If he didn't feel the pulsing power of the Ebony jewels he turned into protector mode and trampled all over her self-sufficiency. How did the other Warlords do it? How did they fuss and defend and protect while allowing the female their freedom to express their power? He'd just have to find out?