Refugee (The Captive Series Book 3) (9 page)

“I know.”

He gently wiped the tears from her
cheeks before taking hold of her hand, and following the sounds of
voices back to Gideon’s study. Ashby looked up from his place by
the window where he had been staring outside, a drink in his hand
as he spoke quietly with Gideon. He grew silent the minute they
entered the room. Gideon was sitting behind the desk, his feet
propped on top and his hands folded on his stomach.

“Where’s my brother?” Aria
demanded.

“Relax Aria, he’s fine,” Ashby assured
her.

“Where is he Ashby?”

“Dara took him on a tour of the
town.”

A cold chill crept down her spine, she
nearly sputtered in disbelief. “You let him go alone?”

“There’s no need to fear anything here,
your brother is safe.”

Gideon’s smug tone irritated her as she
turned her glare on him. “I don’t fear anything,” she retorted
sharply.

Gideon quirked an eyebrow as Braith
shook his head. “She’s a feisty one.”

“She is,” Ashby agreed. Though Ashby
was smiling, and Gideon seemed somewhat amused, they were both
studying her with an intensity that was a little unnerving. “I
wouldn’t let him go anywhere if I thought he was at risk, I
promise. Besides, he’s with a human.”

Aria refrained from saying that didn’t
mean much, especially not in a vamp ruled world. She didn’t think
William should be wandering around alone; she tried to control her
panic at the mere thought of it. “I’d like to find him,” she said
softly.

“Of course,” Gideon purred. “I can have
someone take you to him. We have some things to discuss anyway,
don’t we Braith?”

Braith shook his head. “Aria will be
here for that discussion. We’ll find her brother first.”

Gideon contemplated this before he
dropped his feet down and rose with an easy grace. “Why not?” he
asked nonchalantly. “I’d like to show you around anyway. I think
there is much you’d like to see here.”

A small chill of apprehension raced
down her spine, she wasn’t sure she cared to see much of what this
town had to offer, but her need to find William outweighed her
trepidation. Gideon handed Braith a cloak, this one the same deep
blue color as her dress. “It gets cold at night around here,”
Gideon explained as she studied it. “The color doesn’t denote any
certain position. Not in these lands.”

She nodded slowly and slipped it around
her shoulders. Braith tied it for her and pulled the hood up. She
was grateful the cloak hid the fresh bandages on her arms, and even
more grateful for its warmth as they stepped outside. After the
intense heat of the past week, the sudden chill was shocking to her
burnt skin. Goosebumps instantly broke out on her flesh, her teeth
chattered as she wrapped her arms around herself.

“The water in the area causes the
nights to be colder here,” Gideon explained.

Braith slid his arm around her waist,
pulling her firmly against his side in an attempt to offer her some
warmth. It did little good as the icy air licked at her. “Moving
will help,” he told her, seemingly unfazed by the sudden
chill.

They made their way through the cobbled
streets of the loud and boisterous town. People and vampires
littered the crowded streets. They passed by bars and a theatre,
and a dimly lit brothel that caused Aria to blush as one of the
women called out to them.

Then they were moving out of what
seemed to be the party area of the town, and into an area of
subdued streets and dimly lit homes. Though the houses were small,
they were all in well repair, and it seemed as if the owners took
pride in them. She had been unnerved by the seedier parts of the
town, but she was surprisingly charmed and a little fascinated by
this area. Did humans and vampires actually live side by side in
these homes?

“Let’s rest here for a bit.” Aria
frowned at the building Gideon had stopped in front of. Large
windows in the front revealed the people sitting inside talking as
they ate in a cozy, candlelit ambiance she found intriguing. Gideon
held the door open, allowing the gentle aroma of food to waft out
as he waited expectantly for them to follow him.

Braith kindly nudged her forward into
the entrance of the building. People glanced up at them,
momentarily riveted as Gideon led them easily through the crowd of
tables. Aria’s stomach rumbled far more loudly than she would have
liked. Gideon spoke softly with a woman. Aria found it impossible
to decide if the woman was human or vampire as she flashed him a
smile and nodded.

“This way.” They followed the woman
through the room to a booth hidden within the dark shadows at the
back.

“We should find William first,” Aria
said, trying to ignore the increasing rumble of her stomach as she
studied the plate of crackers already on the table.

“Relax young human,” Gideon chided. “I
can hear your stomach rumbling from a mile away. Besides, if we are
going to fight a war together than at least some level of trust
should be formed, don’t you think?”

There did have to be trust and her
hunger was making her lightheaded, but she was worried about
William.

“I’ll find him Aria, sit and eat,”
Ashby assured her.

Relief and gratitude filled her as she
nodded. “Thank you Ashby.”

He grinned at her before disappearing
into the crowd. Aria slid into the booth, she almost grabbed the
plate of crackers and pulled it over to her, but managed to
restrain herself from acting like a complete ruffian as she eagerly
ate one.

“What is this place?” she inquired as
she studied the people, or vampires, gathered in the booths
surrounding them. Some were eating, some were leisurely sipping
wine. There was a faint melody playing in the background that
lulled her, and to her surprise she found herself swaying along
with the music.

“It’s a restaurant,” Gideon told
her.

Aria blinked out of her strange
reverie. “It’s where people gather to eat,” Braith explained
further.

“They just feed you here?” she asked in
surprise.

“For a price,” Gideon explained. She
frowned fiercely at him. She could well imagine what that price
might be. Gideon held up a hand, chuckling as he shook his head.
“The only price here is our form of currency.”

“I see.” Aria’s gaze drifted slowly
over the strange place again. It was such an oddly wonderful thing.
Braith handed her a piece of paper, her stomach lurched as she read
over the list of food.

“Choose what you want.”

She wanted everything. It all looked so
wonderful. A young woman appeared at the booth; Gideon spoke to her
before they all turned their attention to Aria. Her hands were
trembling, her stomach was rumbling so loudly that mortification
was starting to take hold of her. Braith leaned over her shoulder
to study the paper in her hand. He leaned away, talked briefly with
the woman, who nodded and disappeared.

“Let me see the menu,” Braith
said.“Menu?” she croaked. Her head was spinning, this town and
everything in it was far different than anything she’d ever known.
It was overwhelming and so out of place with the jars of teeth and
scenes of death she’d seen in Gideon’s study.

Braith pointed to the paper she held
before smoothly taking it from her hands. A feeling of uncertainty
seized her; there was still so much she didn’t know. Braith’s hand
took hold of hers; he gave her a reassuring squeeze as he nudged
the crackers toward her. Gideon was studying her in a strange
manner that flustered her even more. Instinct made her want to pull
her hand away from Braith’s, but it was already too late to hide
what was between them from Gideon.

“These are all humans?” she inquired as
she studied the shadowed room.

“No, there are vampires here too.” She
started in surprise as her focus shifted back to Gideon. The woman
reappeared, placing two goblets before Braith and Gideon, and a
glass of water before her. Aria’s throat was dry, but she was far
more interested in what Gideon had to say at the moment. “Braith
and I can tell the difference.”

As she looked around the room again,
she realized she could pick out some humans also. The one’s that
appeared to be over thirty and eating were most certainly humans,
but the rest were more difficult to discern. She didn’t ask how the
two of them could tell; she assumed all vampires could tell the
difference. “They get along together?” she asked.

“Of course they do, why wouldn’t they
young human?”

Aria shot him a dark look, not at all
liking his placating tone, and the young human nickname was
beginning to grate on her last nerve. “You have jars of human and
vampire teeth on shelves in your home,” she retorted. “That’s
why.”

Gideon just grinned annoyingly back at
her as he reclined in his seat. He swirled the contents of his
goblet before taking a small sip. “Those humans were just as
culpable as those vampires during the war, sweetheart.”

“Watch it Gideon,” Braith
growled.

Gideon’s hooded gaze flickered briefly
to Braith; he looked about ready to say something more but seemed
to think better of it. “What do you mean?” Aria
inquired.

“Do you think it was just vampires that
were fighting on the side of the king? No dear, there were also
humans involved.”

Surprise flooded her, her gaze flew to
Braith, looking for denial of Gideon’s words but he just squeezed
her hand. Anguish filled Aria; her shoulders slumped as she forgot
about her crackers. “Why?” she breathed.

“Who really knows why?” replied Gideon.
“Some wanted to be on the winning side while others wanted to be in
the king’s good graces should he be the victor. You know the saying
‘to the victor go the spoils?’ Perhaps some of them were even
offered the chance to survive the change. No matter their reasons,
unfortunately, they chose correctly and it paid off. Their
offspring, and their offspring’s offspring, are still amongst the
higher-ups of the human race within the palace.”

“Oh,” Aria breathed, her hand pressed
against her lips as the full horror of his revelation sank in.
She’d known that the humans within the palace were more than
willing to sell them out now, and in the past. She hadn’t known it
had gone all the way back to the war, and that they had actually
fought with the vampires.

“I keep the teeth of the ones I killed,
and their vampire brethren as a reminder.”

“Why would you require such a
reminder?”

“To keep the fire for revenge alive.”
Gideon leaned across the table, for the first time his flippant air
vanished. His hazel eyes burned forcefully as he studied her. “I
keep that whole room like that to remind myself every day of my
hatred of that place, of the betrayal, and the destruction. I fan
the fires everyday in the hopes that one day, just one day I’ll get
a chance for payback.”

The ardor with which he spoke, the fire
in his eyes ignited an answering spark inside of her. “I escaped
that palace, and that war, and I fled to safety. My family was not
so lucky. They were already gone, already massacred when I escaped,
but I vowed that one day I would avenge their deaths and it appears
that day has finally come.”

Aria swallowed heavily, she didn’t know
what to say to that. She knew how Gideon felt and understood the
urge that drove him forward. She had hated the vampires for as long
as she could remember, had wanted their deaths more than anything,
until she’d met Braith. And now she realized that her kind was just
as culpable for the fall of her race as the vampire’s were. She
should be relieved to see this side of Gideon, to know what drove
him, and finally understand why he had that hideous room; however,
she didn’t like the way Gideon was looking at Braith.

She didn’t like the stiffness, the
rigidity she could feel taking hold of Braith. The tension was
nearly palpable in the small booth. The woman reappeared, seemingly
oblivious to it as she placed heaping plates of food before Aria.
She laid utensils down, utensils that Aria hated but had grown
accustomed to in the palace. Her stomach rumbled at the sight of
the food, but she couldn’t bring herself to move toward it as she
warily watched the silent war of wills going on beside
her.

Braith looked away first, not because
he was capitulating to anything, but because he realized that she
was not eating. His glasses were back in place but she knew when
his eyes latched onto hers, she would always know. “Eat Aria.” She
swallowed heavily, her gaze darted nervously to Gideon. Braith
grasped hold of the fork and pressed it into her palm. “Eat,” he
urged.

She hesitated before digging eagerly
into the plates of meat, potatoes, and vegetables before her. She
thought he might have ordered everything on the menu. It was
delicious and she couldn’t stop the small moan of pleasure that
escaped her as she devoured it. They didn’t speak again until she
had finished every last morsel on her plate.

“Are you still hungry?” Braith
inquired.

She did want more, simply because it
had been so good, but she was completely stuffed. “No, I’m full.”
He squeezed her knee gently as she focused on Gideon again. “Humans
and vampires live together in peace here?”