Refugee (The Captive Series Book 3) (21 page)

Her hand constricted around William’s.
“I’m afraid.” It was the first time she had said the words out
loud, the first time she had admitted it, even to
herself.

“I know. So am I.”

Tears bloomed in her eyes as she turned
to her twin. She’d never expected such an admission from him. “Not
of dying,” she whispered.

“No shit,” he retorted.

She couldn’t help but laugh as their
hands began to swing back and forth like they had as children.
“You’re not either.”

“Never have been.”

“Then what is it we’re so afraid of?”
She was asking because she didn’t know. She knew she was scared of
losing Braith, of losing this war, of losing any member of her
family, but those were worries she’d always had, or that she’d
learned to deal with since meeting Braith. This was something
different, it was in the pit of her stomach, it was buried in the
back of her mind at all times, festering like an infected
lesion.

William was thoughtful before he
answered. “The unknown…”

The hesitation in his words made it
clear he wasn’t entirely certain about his answer, but the minute
she heard it Aria knew he was right. They had struggled with death
and loss; starvation and thirst; dirt and homelessness their entire
lives, but they had always had some sense of knowing. They’d had
their father, Daniel, the other rebels, the caves, the woods, and
the knowledge that vampires were the enemy to be fought and
destroyed. Now they were on their own, surrounded by what had once
been the enemy, in a cave system Aria had grown to hate, and filled
with nothing but uncertainty.

“Yes,” she agreed. “The
unknown.”

“It’s not the same now.”

“And it never will be
again.”

“Do you want it to be?” he
asked.

“Sometimes.”

“And other times?”

“I wouldn’t change a thing,” she
admitted. “Not one thing.”

“Because of him?”

“Yes, but also because of the hope that
the unknown brings us now, because of the promise of something
better for everyone. No matter how much we knew before, the outcome
was always the same. If we were lucky we would grow older, if we
weren’t then we died young.”

“Or became blood slaves.”

“Yes.” She did not shy away from it
anymore. “You’re not still angry at him because of that, are
you?”

William hesitated for a moment before
he shook his head. “No. If it hadn’t happened then we wouldn’t be
here.”

“Afraid?”

His smile was small and fleeting.
“Afraid, and full of hope,” he responded with a twinkle in his
bright blue eyes.

Aria’s gaze locked on Braith as she
recalled their encounter in the hallway of that dilapidated house.
She had one more thing to fear, what would become of them? Of
her?

She knew Braith planned to leave when
this was over, knew that the vampires would not accept her if she
stayed. But he couldn’t leave. They had voted him in for a reason,
and even if he didn’t see it, or refused to see it, it was obvious
to everyone else that he was a born leader. He’d done some things
he was not proud of, he’d hurt innocents, and he’d been a monster
for a brief time, but at heart he was good, and he would do right
by as many people and vampires as he could.

He may not intend to be the leader, but
he already was, even if he didn’t see that, she did and so did
everyone else in this room.

Their hands stopped swinging as Braith
beckoned them forward. William squeezed her hand before releasing
her. “How long do you think it will be before you can find your
father?” Braith inquired.

“Aria can usually track him within a
few days,” William answered.

“I don’t know how far into the forest
he has gone though and if there are a bunch of us…”

“There will not be,” Braith inserted
briskly.

She was beginning to realize that there
was more to his clipped tones than trying to appear distanced from
her. Something had aggravated him. “That will make things easier.
Even if he’s gone into regions that we’ve never explored, I can
find him in a week.”

“Are you certain of this?” he
asked.

“Two, tops.”

“Which is it?” Barnaby inquired
sharply.

Aria’s gaze darted nervously to him. “I
think she’s already answered that question,” Ashby told him. “The
longest it will take her is two weeks.”

“So that means it could be almost a
month before you return. And if there is a large group of them,
even longer,” Calista replied coldly.

“We were raised in these woods, we know
them well. A group of us is far easier to move than you think. It
will not be a month,” Aria said firmly.

“Even if it is a month Calista, you
will survive. It’s not the most ideal situation but we knew it
wasn’t going to be easy,” Braith informed her.

Calista shifted, her dark eyes narrowed
for a brief moment before she gave a quick nod. “We can make do and
the human knows the caves.” Aria’s head snapped around, a small
gasp escaped her. There were only two humans here who knew this
cave, and she didn’t want either one of them staying here. Braith
shifted slightly and she suddenly understood the tension in him,
the terseness of his words. William didn’t know how to track their
father as well as she did, he wasn’t a big fan of the trees, and he
wouldn’t be as quick as she would. William glanced anxiously at
her; she seized hold of his hand again. “He’ll come in handy for
getting us out of here if it becomes necessary.”

Aria was finding it difficult to
breathe. She could feel Braith’s gaze boring into her, pleading
with her to understand, to do this, to not fight over being
separated from her brother, again. She tried to be strong but she
was terrified of leaving William with a bunch of
vampires.

Everything in her body screamed against
it. The other humans were used to the vampires surrounding them,
she and William were not. The rigidity in her brother made it clear
that he wasn’t too pleased by the idea either, though she didn’t
know if it was because he was staying, or because she was
going.

She swallowed the heavy lump in her
throat. “Who will be going with me?” she inquired with far more
strength than she felt.

“Ashby, Gideon, and I.” Braith’s voice
was still cold but some of the strain had eased from it.

“I plan to go also,” Xavier informed
him.

Braith showed no surprise at his
statement, but Aria felt a flicker of it deep in her belly. “Fine,”
Braith grated. “William will be staying behind with the others to
help keep order, and to help find food if it becomes necessary. If
they’re forced to abandon these caves will you be able to find each
other again?”

“Yes,” Aria answered.

“Then we leave at
nightfall.”

Aria knew he didn’t mean to be harsh,
but that knowledge did little to ease the knot of sorrow in her
chest. She craved his comfort more than anything but she
reluctantly accepted that he couldn’t give it to her right now,
maybe not ever.

“Are you ok with this?” she asked
William when the others turned away from them, shutting them out
again.

“I’d be more ok if I was going with
you, but it doesn’t seem we have a choice.”

“No, it doesn’t.”  

CHAPTER 13

After eight days Aria was exhausted,
aching and feeling a little disheartened. She was also in desperate
need of a blessed shower, or at the very least a bath. Her hair was
a matted mess she wasn’t certain she’d ever be able to untangle,
and she had more mosquito bites than hairs on her head. She loved
her woods but despised this area of hell they had wandered
into.

She’d never ventured into the
swamplands before, and she couldn’t believe her father had chosen
this part of the forest to take refuge in. She would like nothing
more than to find him and escape as swiftly as possible from this
land of muck and filth. Her feet were blistered and her shoes
hadn’t been dry in three days. Yet they trudged endlessly onward
through acres of dirty water. Ashby had given up complaining, but
Gideon had taken to muttering about how he wished he killed humans.
Xavier remained blessedly silent, though he grimaced
often.

She could handle the mud and dirt, it
wouldn’t last forever, and she’d been filthy plenty of times in her
life, but the smell… The smell was enough to make her want to
vomit, and it had definitely induced more than her fair share of
gagging. She couldn’t get away from it and it twisted her stomach
in ways that she had never thought possible. But then again, that
could also be the incessant hunger that was tearing at her. She’d
only planned on seven days of supplies; she had realized three days
ago she should probably start rationing her food. She was growing
increasingly hungry and she was beginning to agree with Gideon’s
craving to kill something.

Braith was becoming steadily agitated.
Then again, they were all becoming short tempered and frustrated.
He’d carried her more than a few times but she didn’t want to seem
weak in front of the other three, so she insisted upon walking most
of the time.

The suction from the thick mud caused
her feet to make a loud popping sound as she stepped onto solid
ground. A dying pine lifted its branches to the fading light and
she tilted her head back to peer into it. Light refracted off of
something within the branches. Heaving a tired breath, Aria’s
shoulders slumped wearily.

Braith grabbed hold of her arm as she
grasped the scratchy bottom limb. “Are you ok to do this?” he
demanded gruffly. She managed a small nod and a smile. “I’ll
go…”

“It won’t hold your weight and you
don’t know what to look for once you’re up there.”

“Something shiny.”

“Yeah, something shiny,” she agreed
tiredly. “Which none of us will see if the tree collapses beneath
your weight.”

Thankfully, despite his foul mood,
reason prevailed as he released her arm. She was slower getting up
the tree, the blisters on her feet along with her weighted clothing
and shoes made it difficult to move as freely as she normally did.
Her hand curled around the piece of tin hanging from a thin line.
She lifted herself further up, bracing herself as she stared over
the treetops. Relief shot through her as she spotted the next
marker only a mile away.

Pulling the piece of tin free, she made
her way slowly back down the tree. “About another mile.”

“How long is this going to continue?”
Gideon demanded.

Aria shrugged as she wiped the matted
hair from her forehead. “I don’t know. Hopefully we’ll get there
soon.”

Her head was beginning to pound, her
stomach rumbled. Braith cursed as he pulled her pack from his back
and tugged it open. Rummaging inside he pulled out her meager
assortment of supplies. He shoved some dried meat, a canister of
water, and a bag of nuts into her hands.

“Eat.”

Saliva rushed into her mouth, the
rumbling in her stomach increased. Her hands were shaking. “I have
to ration the supplies, I can’t eat…”

“I’ll find you more food.”

The swamp was vast and imposing but so
far they hadn’t encountered much wildlife, and there were few
plants she was certain she could eat as she was unfamiliar with
this area. She’d seen what could happen to a person when they ate
something they shouldn’t, and though they had survived it, they’d
been sick for a week. Besides, she wasn’t the only one going hungry
right now.

“Braith…”

His hands enfolded hers, holding her
tight. “Eat.” She strived to stick to what she knew was
right.

In the end, hunger won out. Shaking a
little she broke off a piece of meat and lifted it to her mouth.
Braith’s shoulders fell in relief. “We’ll make camp here for the
night.”

Aria watched as the four of them moved
around, establishing a small camp. She wiped the salt from her
fingers and took a sip of lukewarm water. They conferred with each
other, but Aria wasn’t paying much attention as she chewed slowly
on the nuts, savoring each bite as she tried to make them
last.

“I’ll be back.”

Aria blinked up at Braith in surprise.
“Back?”

“I’m going to search for some food.
Ashby and Gideon will stay with you. You’ll be safe.”

“I know.”

Kissing her tenderly, his fingers
lingered briefly on her cheek before he reluctantly released her.
She munched on the rest of her nuts as she watched Xavier and
Braith head back into the swamp. There weren’t as many places here
to hide and find shelter, but they soon disappeared from view
behind some high grass and rotten trees.

Finishing off her nuts Aria wiped her
hands on her filthy pants and turned her attention to the pack
Braith had left behind. She didn’t speak with Ashby or Gideon as
she pulled out a pair of lightweight pants that were dirty, but
nowhere near as dirty as the ones she wore now. “I’ll be
back.”