Refugee (The Captive Series Book 3) (29 page)

Braith waited, watching for awhile to
make sure there weren’t others out there. They could not take the
chance of one of them escaping and returning to the palace, if it
wasn’t for the swampland he wouldn’t engage them at all. When he
was certain that it was only these seven men, he nodded to Jack and
waved his hand toward the last place he had seen Gideon and
Ashby.

They simultaneously burst free of the
woods. Braith seized hold of the first guardsman and took him down
before he was able to make a sound. He had a brief glimpse of wide,
terrified eyes before he smashed his fist into the guardsmen’s
chest. Bone gave way beneath the tremendous blow, crumpling as
easily as paper beneath the force of his fist. His hand wrapped
around the heart and he ripped it free.

Braith launched to his feet, Gideon and
Jack were encircling one of the last two guards, but the other one
had turned and bolted into the woods. He raced after him, pouring
on the speed as the guard ran toward the area where he had left
Aria. The vampire ran faster as he sensed his impending demise.
Concern for Aria drove Braith to levels of speed he’d never
achieved before.

They came around a turn in the woods;
Braith was honing in on the guard as a path opened up before them.
Aria was standing there, her bow raised. The guard was stunned; he
hesitated for a brief moment. Aria didn’t. She released the arrow
with deadly accuracy. It was only the small sidestep of the guard
at the last minute that saved him from a killing blow to the heart.
It drove into his shoulder, knocking him back a step.

The guard lurched forward, his hands
curved as he dove at her. Braith surged forward and seized hold of
the back of his shirt. He ripped the guard back, all sense of
reason vanished as he drove his fangs deep into the guard’s neck.
The man bucked, a gurgled sound of surprise escaped him as he
clawed at Braith over the back of his head. Disgust filled him as
the man’s life pumped into him.

This was not the way he liked to kill.
This was not the way any of them liked to kill, very few of them
allowed another vampire to feed from them. It walked a fine line
between remaining completely in control, and becoming something
unspeakable. But his desperate need to protect her had driven him
to this.

He pulled away from the vampire,
grabbed hold of his head and snapped his neck with a sharp, jerking
motion. The guard crumpled before him, weakened by loss of blood
and the severe injury but not yet dead. Braith seized hold of the
arrow, ripped it from his shoulder and drove it deep into his
heart. He remained kneeling over for him for a moment, struggling
with the influx of vampire blood in his system and what he had just
done. His actions had been bad enough, but he had just carried them
out in front of her.

Slowly, guardedly, he lifted his head
to look at her. He knew what he was, knew what he was capable of,
especially when it came to her. He had tried to keep the worst of
it hidden from her but it was too late now. Now, she could see it
all, had seen it all.

She stared at him, her bow hung limply
at her side. He had expected censure and disgust in her eyes,
instead there was simply shock. Seeming to sense his need for her
to accept him, even like this, at his most evil, her expression
changed slowly and the bow slid from her fingers.

Falling to her knees before him, she
attempted to remove his sins by wiping the blood from his mouth.
“It’s ok.” Her hands clasped hold of his cheeks, her forehead
pressed against his as she comforted him. “It’s ok.”

Then, to his utter amazement she was
kissing him, softly, tenderly, and with a love that humbled him.
She’d seen the worst of him, she’d seen him do something atrocious
and she still loved him. A groan escaped him as he drew her closer.
He buried his face in the hollow of her shoulder as his love for
her swelled and grew within him. He rocked her as the wonderfully
sweet scent of her blood washed over him and soothed his mind and
body in a way that only she could.

Her hands were in his hair as she
maneuvered his mouth against her neck. He didn’t know how but she
knew that he needed something else, that he needed reassurance from
her that he wasn’t a monster. His lips skimmed back, his fangs
lengthened as they fairly vibrated with anticipation. She jerked
slightly as his teeth penetrated her supple skin but then she
relaxed and melded against him. Her blood filled him, replacing the
foul taste of the guard’s blood on his tongue.

The taste of her was enough to help
wash away his transgression. He released his bite and licked the
remaining drops of blood from her neck. “Arianna,” he groaned. She
pressed her cheek against his, her lips just barely brushing
against his skin. “So sweet…”

The sounds of approaching feet silenced
his following words. He kissed her cheek far too briefly before
rising swiftly, and lifting her smoothly up with him. Her eyes were
questioning but she threw back her shoulders and thrust out her
chin as she picked up her bow and turned to face the oncoming
vampires. If things were different, she would have made a
magnificent queen, a wonderful leader and champion for her people.
He was proud to have her at his side and always would
be.

Jack rounded the corner first, skidding
to a halt as he spotted the two of them. Then his gaze locked on
the ruined body of the guard, his eyes widened, his jaw dropped.
“What did you do Braith?”

“What needed to be done.”

Jack gaped at him, he turned slowly to
Aria who stared unwaveringly back at him as she took a step closer
to Braith’s side. She didn’t fully understand what had just
transpired, the true nature of the transgression he had just
committed, but she looked about ready to shoot an arrow straight
into his brother’s heart if it became necessary. Her fingers
twitched on her bow as Gideon, Ashby, and Xavier
appeared.

“Help me get this out of the way.” His
voice was detached, he felt a small recoil from Aria when he
referred to the dead guard as a ‘this’, but he had to keep himself
disconnected from this mess.

Jack eyed him from head to toe and then
back again. Gideon’s eyebrows were in his hair as he looked back
and forth between Braith and the dead guard. Interestingly, Xavier
was watching Aria. His eyes were latched on the fresh bite marks on
her neck and the single drop of blood that quivered on her skin.
Braith brushed it away, fighting against a rising wave of anger as
he glared at Xavier in warning. Xavier didn’t back down from Braith
as he continued to assess her from top to bottom.

One of these days, preferably today,
Braith was going to find out exactly what it was that Xavier was
trying to figure out about her, or what it was that he thought he
already knew.

“
Give me a hand Jack,” he
commanded gruffly.

Jack looked discomforted as he grasped
hold of the guard’s arms. He didn’t offer any protest as he helped
Braith carry him into the woods. “Are you ok?” Jack
inquired.

“Fine,” he replied
brusquely.

“Braith this isn’t good, this isn’t the
way things are done. You know that, it’s a sign of loss of
control.”

Braith dropped the feet. “I am fine
Jack.”

Jack’s gaze darted toward the path they
had left behind. “Aria…”

“You’ll leave her out of
this.”

Jack swallowed heavily. “What did she
see?”

“All of it.”

Braith didn’t wait to hear what else
his brother had to say, he turned and made his way back to the
others. Aria stood with her shoulders back as she warily watched
Xavier, Ashby and Gideon. Braith stepped between them. She looked
up at him, seeming not to focus on him for a moment before a small
smile curved her full lips.

“Let your father know it’s
safe.”

She nodded before taking off down the
path, the bow bouncing against her back as she ran.

CHAPTER 18

Aria stood in the shadows, a lump in
her throat as she slipped deeper into the hollows of the cave.
Braith spoke with a commanding, self assured tone to the group that
would soon become an army. The cave was unnervingly silent
considering the amount of bodies it now housed as they listened
raptly to him. He laid out his plans, speaking of his new
government with such passion that it brought tears to her
eyes.

Gideon had said that the king had a way
of making people believe him, Braith seemed to have inherited that
charismatic ability too as he roused the crowd, garnering cheers
from them as well as devoted agreement for the cause. He encouraged
and excited his army in preparation for the coming war.

She refused to look at Jack. She could
feel his eyes from across the cave as she slid further into the
tunnel behind her. She was proud of Braith, so proud in fact that
she could barely breathe through the emotion rippling through her.
That same pride was at war with the feeling of being trapped that
she constantly felt now.

She turned away, needing some time to
herself. She moved slowly through the dark cave, navigating the
turns with ease. She started to run faster and faster, pounding
through the dark tunnels as she was consumed with the need to be
free.

Her lungs were burning and her legs
were tired but she continued to run toward the promise of fresh
air. She burst free, nearly falling to the ground as she inhaled
heaping gulps of air. She made it to a tree, collapsing against its
trunk as she slid silently to the ground.

She drew her knees against her chest
and hugged them. Shadows from the tree limbs played over the
ground, the crickets chirruped and the frogs called to each other.
What were usually soothing sounds, now offered her
nothing.

She saw the figures emerging from the
cave before they stepped into the moonlight. Having spent her
entire life with them she’d know Daniels’s assured gate and
William’s slight swagger anywhere. She also recognized the sadness
that rounded both their shoulders in much the same way. They sat on
each side of her and leaned against the tree.

“They really admire him,” Daniel said
after a period of silence.

“They do,” she agreed.

“Jack spoke with us,” William told
her.

“I figured he would.”

William’s hand wrapped around hers, he
squeezed it briefly before releasing her. “I understand where Jack
is coming from. The vampire race, even if we are finally all
united, is far different from ours, but you’re a strong person
Aria, they may accept you.”

“Do you honestly believe
that?”

He started to respond and then shook
his head. She knew he wanted to make her feel better, wanted to
give her flowery promises, maybe even wanted to believe them
himself, but he wouldn’t lie to her. “No.”

“I didn’t think so.”

“I was on board with this. I thought it
was better if you were separated anyway.” Daniel squeezed her
shoulder as she glared at him. “You’re seventeen years old Aria,
you’ve never been a child, but you’re young and he’s… Well he’s far
more advanced than you, he’s a vampire and your worlds are so
completely different that I saw only grief in your future. I
thought it would be best if you returned to a more normal life,
with people your own age and your own kind. I thought it would be
best for the two of you.”

“And now?” William prodded before Aria
could.

“And now I don’t think there’s any
chance that what Jack proposes will work out. Even he is somehow
unable to track you through your blood, Braith is not going to let
you go, not unless you ask him to, and even then I don’t think it
will be a good situation. It was bad enough when you first escaped
the palace, you were lost and heartbroken. The two of you are
closer now, your bond has grown and strengthened. I’ve never seen
anything like it. If Jack is right then you know the choice you
have to make, the one that you’ve already made. But if Jack is
wrong it’s going to be bad Aria, very bad, and you know
that.”

“What would you do?” she whispered,
shaken by his words.

He shook his head, his hand slipped
inside his shirt as he pulled something free. “I don’t know. That’s
the kicker of it all, I don’t know. But I know you, and I know that
in the end you’ll make the right choice, but only you will be able
to make it. I’ll miss you if you choose to leave, and I’ll stand by
you if you choose to stay.”

“Thank you.”

He grinned at her, flashing a smile
that was so endearingly similar to what she remembered of their
mother’s. “For saying aloud the same things you already
knew?”

She laughed dryly as she rested her
head against the trunk of the tree. “For standing by me no matter
what. How did it all come to this?”

“You let yourself get caught and hauled
into that palace,” William informed her.

“Yeah that’s exactly what I let
happen,” she retorted.

They sat together for a long time,
silent as they listened to the familiar sounds of the forest. “No
matter what happens Aria, something good will come of
it.”

“I hope so. He’s coming.”

“How do you…” William broke off the
question. “Never mind.”