Refugee (The Captive Series Book 3) (6 page)

“Infections don’t live in
us.”

William and Aria studied him. “You
don’t get sick?” Ashby shook his head in response to William.
“Ever?”

“No.”

Aria stood in stunned amazement, lost
in thoughts of the rebellion she’d been a part of since birth. “We
never had a chance did we?” she asked.

Braith finally turned toward her but he
didn’t respond. He didn’t need to, she already knew the answer.
William had become still, his fingers were wrapped around the
scraps of cloth in his hands as he looked slowly between the two of
them. “Aria isn’t one of you though.”

“No, but Braith’s blood has already
accelerated the healing process; it will boost her immune system
also. The cuts will not get infected.”

She met her brother’s worried gaze for
a moment before he finally turned his attention back to ripping the
pieces of cloth. He bandaged her arms with fingers that quivered
against her skin. She knew how he felt. She was just as rattled by
the realization that not only were the vampires faster, stronger,
and possessed enhanced senses, but they apparently had never even
had one freaking sniffle in their lengthy life spans.

William tied the last knot, squeezed
her hand and then stood. Aria was drawn to the doorway, curious
about the new arrival as she picked up her bow and arrows. “Is it
human?” she inquired.

“It is,” Braith confirmed.

The figure had gotten close enough for
Aria to realize that it was a woman. She appeared to be about five
years older than Aria with long brown hair that flowed around her
shoulders. She wore a dress that hugged her curves and swayed about
her feet as she moved. The woman was beautiful as she flashed a
bright, disarming smile. Braith was wooden beside her, his hands
clenched upon the doorframe as he studied the woman with a flare of
his nostrils that caused a knot of apprehension to form in Aria’s
stomach.

Here was the food source they’d been
lacking.

Aria thought she might be sick as Ashby
stepped beside her, practically salivating. Aria remained unmoving,
struggling to breathe normally as her heart lumbered. They wouldn’t
force this woman to provide blood, or at least Aria didn’t think
they would, but she wasn’t entirely certain just how much the
depravation of blood may have affected them.

If this woman was willing, then she
knew they would have to use her as a food source. They were both
hungry and therefore unpredictable and extremely
treacherous.

“Gideon sent me.”

Braith’s need for blood seemed to
vanish the moment he heard the name. 

CHAPTER 4

“What did Gideon send you for?” Braith
grated from between clenched teeth.

The woman’s smile widened, she
provocatively stuck a hip out as she grinned at them. “What do you
think?” she taunted as she pushed her hair back to reveal her
slender, unmarked neck. “I was instructed to provide you with
anything you might require, and then bring you to him
afterward.”

She ignored Aria with an ease that was
astounding, and infuriating, as her gaze wandered lustfully between
Braith and Ashby. “You can take us to him now.”

The woman was taken aback, her eyes
finally focused on Aria for a brief moment before she shook her
head, obviously finding nothing remarkable in her. Aria was half
tempted to hit her. “Braith,” Ashby hissed.

“If you’d like to feed from her go
ahead.” Braith’s words were clipped and harsh. His body vibrated
with tension. Ashby was staring at him as if he’d lost his mind.
“Do what you must, but do it quickly. I plan to leave before
nightfall.”

Braith turned away, leaving them
staring questioningly at his retreating back as he moved deeper
into the dwelling. Aria remained unmoving, dismayed by what had
just happened. “Aria.” She couldn’t turn her head to look at Ashby,
couldn’t bring herself to meet his gaze as she stared at the
doorway Braith had disappeared through. “Aria you have to talk to
him.”

Finally she was able to look away long
enough to meet Ashby’s fevered gaze. “He needs to feed Aria, he’s
weakening and he’s becoming more unbalanced. Giving you his blood
drained him further. He needs this Aria.”

She managed a small nod as she slowly
closed her mouth. “He has to understand that you can’t be his only
human supply, it’s not possible.” He was right, she knew he was
right, but it caused a physical ache in her chest to even think
about another woman nourishing Braith. “I don’t like to do it
either, it’s most certainly not something I enjoy, but I must, and
so must Melinda. Maybe if there were more animals around and you
hadn’t been wounded it would be different. He’s not going to put up
much of a fight if he’s malnourished, he’ll get
injured.”

It was those last three words that
spurred her forward. She had to go quickly, or she wouldn’t go at
all. If she stopped to think about it…well no, she couldn’t think
about it. She just had to focus on getting him to feed, getting him
strong again and making sure that he didn’t get hurt.

She found him outside, leaning against
the house, his arms folded over his chest and his legs crossed
before him. “Braith.” She broke off, unable to get the words out as
her chest and throat constricted. It took her a few tries before
she was finally able to speak. “Braith you must.” He kept his head
bowed, refusing to look at her. “Braith…”

“And you would approve of
this?”

She swallowed heavily; her eyes burned.
She tried to tell herself it was from all the sand and dust, but
she knew it was from the tears she was struggling not to shed. Not
in front of him anyway, not if she had any hope of convincing him
to do this. “I don’t like it.” She hedged, unable to lie to him.
“But you’re weakened, and you need blood. If it can’t be
mine…”

“Then it will be no one’s.”

“You can’t deny yourself. You need it
to survive.”

“I need you more.”

“Braith…”

“I’m not arguing with you on this
Arianna. It won’t do any good anyway.”

She started in surprise. “Of course it
will.”

He lifted his head and finally looked
at her. “No Aria, it won’t. Yours is the only blood I crave. None
of them, none of those blood slaves after you satisfied me.” The
words were almost purred; they caused the hair on Aria’s arms to
stand up.

“Then take mine.”

His nostrils flared and though she had
sensed his interest in the woman, it was nothing compared to the
blast of hunger that vibrated from him now. Her mouth went dry. She
thought self-preservation should kick in, that she should run
screaming back into the house and away from him, instead she found
herself wanting to run to him. She was losing her mind, and it was
all because of him.

“No.”

She inhaled deeply, straightened her
shoulders and thrust out her chin. “If you’re going to be stubborn
about feeding from others, then you can’t be stubborn about this.
You don’t have to take much, just enough…”

“It’s never enough!” he snapped.
“That’s what you don’t understand. It’s never enough. Every time I
taste you I think maybe my thirst for you will weaken, that maybe
it will ease, and I won’t crave you so badly. But the yearning only
increases and I find myself insatiably craving more and
more.”

She was stunned speechless. She hadn’t
known, she hadn’t understood, she couldn’t understand, not as a
human anyway. But she did know one thing, he needed nourishment, he
was stubborn, and she was here. Without thinking, she pulled at the
knots on her arm as she stalked toward him. The cloth fell free,
exposing the gashes as she thrust her arm out to him. Yes, she had
completely lost her mind, tempting him like this, but there were
some things that needed to be done, even if he couldn’t see that.
His weakness could get them all killed, it could get him killed.
Her life was a small thing compared to their far greater goal, and
the lives of so many others.

“You being unable to fight won’t do us
any good. I will not stand by and watch you starve yourself because
you think you will hurt me. You will not hurt me. It’s either me or
her Braith.”

Though shadowed by his glasses, she
knew his eyes were latched onto her arm, and the droplets of blood
that glimmered on her skin. “Either way I upset you Aria,” he
grated.

“I am offering my blood to you and so
is that woman. You have to pick one.” She tried to keep her face
impassive, tried to control the beat of her heart as she stared
stubbornly up at him. She couldn’t reveal how much it would upset
her if he went to that other woman, it would only stop him if he
knew, and he couldn’t be stopped. Not this time.

He clasped hold of her wrist, his long
fingers gentle as they wrapped around her. He could kill her; with
a simple flick of that hand he could kill her so easily, but he
would kill himself before he ever injured her. She waited
breathlessly to see what he would do, as ever so slowly he bent his
head and licked the blood from her arm. A shiver raced down her
spine, her breath was frozen inside of her as he pressed his lips
against the inside of her elbow and rose slowly over
her.

She thought that she had won, that he
was conceding defeat as he brushed the hair back from her neck. His
fingers lingered upon his marks still on her skin, pressing ever so
briefly against them. Then his hand entwined in her hair as he
rested his forehead against hers. “You really are reckless,” he
muttered.

She managed a wan smile as he kissed
the tip of her nose. “And you are stubborn.”

“Soon,” he said tenderly. “When you’re
stronger…”

“The woman.”

“When you are stronger. Let this go, it
will not happen.”

Aria gave the battle up on a sigh. She
leaned into him, simply enjoying the feel of him as they stood
together in a stolen moment of peaceful silence.

***

He was starving, simply on fire with
the necessity to feed. His veins felt as arid as the desert
surrounding them. His body was sore, muscles he hadn’t known he had
burned from the blaze licking through them. It was shear willpower
that drove him forward now. He should have fed, he knew that, he
needed it so badly right now but he’d sensed Aria’s unhappiness,
sensed her anguish over the idea. She wouldn’t deny him the woman,
she would understand, but he couldn’t bring himself to do that to
her.

Instead, he was walking a thin line,
bordering on complete loss of control. He was becoming even more of
a threat to her with each passing moment. It didn’t help that Ashby
looked far better than he had before. The color was back in his
face and the spring was back in his step. He was whistling merrily,
and annoyingly, as they followed the woman across the desolate
landscape. The woman was a little paler but appeared otherwise
uninjured. He could smell the fresh blood from the bites on her
inner wrist, but it was nowhere near as sweet and potent as the
scent of Aria’s blood on the rags covering her arms.

She was wearing William’s cloak now,
the hood pulled over her bent head shadowed her features and hid
her hair. He felt that simply touching her might help to ease the
fire inside him, but he didn’t dare touch her in front of the woman
that obviously held some loyalty to Gideon. Gideon may very well
have been one of the strongest, and most human rights friendly
aristocrats that Braith had known before and during the war. He’d
fought adamantly against the enslavement of the humans, but Braith
had no idea what a hundred years of living in these Barrens had
done to him. He wasn’t entirely certain what to expect from Gideon,
but Braith sure as hell wasn’t going to alert Gideon to the fact
that Aria was his biggest weakness. Not until he knew if he could
trust the once powerful aristocrat.

They rounded the top of another dune
and like a beautiful mirage a town came into view. Heat rose from
the sand in waves that made everything shift and blur. But the town
was there, green and lush for as far as the eye could see. “How is
this possible?” Awe laced Aria’s voice as she gazed over the
town.

“At one time all of these lands were
lush and fertile.” Braith forced the words out. “It was the war
itself that left everything so desolate. Gideon must have found a
water supply out here, probably deep within the earth.”

“Amazing, simply amazing,” she
whispered to herself.

He gazed at her for a moment before
turning his attention back to the town before them. There were
already vampires lining the streets, waiting for them as they moved
down the dune and onto the main thoroughfare.

For a moment he hesitated. He should
have fed. It was too soon for Aria, and the thought of feeding off
the woman was enough to make his stomach turn, but he was in no
condition to fight if that was what this became. Aria went to touch
him, but her hand fell limply back to her side. He almost grabbed
hold of her hand to make it abundantly clear that she was off
limits to everyone in this town. He didn’t want any more talk of
someone possibly buying her, or her brother. However, he also had
to keep her alive and there was no way to know what they were
walking into.