Unbound (The Captive Series, Book 7) (23 page)

The door at the end of the hall was open, the people within abnormally subdued as they huddled close together. There were well over two hundred of them in the safe house now, and none of them had any idea of what to expect anymore. Their voices stopped when she stepped inside. Aria clasped her hands before her as the others entered the room to fan out beside her.

The straggling vampires they’d gathered along the way were all hiding in one of the nearby caves. Preferring not to stay in the safe house, some of the humans were also in the caves with the vamps. The humans here were willing to work with the vampires, but they weren’t willing to reveal all of their secrets by letting them know the locations of the safe houses. Aria didn’t blame them. If she hadn’t once been human and a rebel, she knew they wouldn’t want her standing here either. Xavier and Tempest were allowed in here because the humans had no other choice in the matter.

“Your Highness, is there anything we can get for you?” a young woman inquired.

“My name is Aria.” She struggled to keep the irritation from her voice as her fangs pricked and the beat of their hearts sounded like drums in her ears. The tingling in her skin now had nothing to do with the cold, and everything to do with all of the warm blood surrounding her. She didn’t recall the last time she’d fed, but even if it had been an hour ago, it wouldn’t have been enough to douse
this
hunger. “And no, thank you. Have the people we sent to spy on the palace returned?”

She’d been in the barn for the past hour, but before that, she’d stayed as far from the safe house as she could. The shifts of people and vampires they had keeping watch over the palace were supposed to switch; she wasn’t sure if that time had come and gone already or not.

“They have, Your… Aria,” a man replied.

“What did they learn?”

The man glanced nervously around the room. Her reddened eyes couldn’t be seen behind the lenses anymore, but sweat beaded their brows and their hearts beat faster than normal around her.

Act the same. Be normal. They’re uneasy because they think you’re just learning of Braith’s death. Keep it together and they will relax around you once more. Give them stability and they will continue to follow.

“The palace is under attack.” The man stepped back and gestured at the large, round table in the room. “They have surrounded the walls.”

Aria moved closer to discover they had created a crude drawing of the palace’s walls with coal on the table. Daniel could have made it a masterpiece; this one consisted of stick figures, x’s, and squiggly lines, but she understood it. She’d drawn enough plans of her own like this to be able to read this one.

“They’re attacking mostly in this area.” The man used a stick to point to where most of the x’s were clustered by the front gate. “But they’ve spread out and are attacking various places along the wall.”

“Looking for weaknesses in it,” Aria murmured.

“I believe so,” the man replied. He moved the stick to point toward more x’s positioned within the crudely drawn buildings representing the town. “They have more soldiers watching their backs throughout the homes here. Our men guess there to be about a hundred of them, but they’ll be able to get a better number tomorrow, if the storm clears, and once Sabine has her troops officially positioned.”

“A hundred will be easy enough to take out quietly,” William said. “We’ll have them down and be at Sabine’s back before she knows what happened.”

“And Sabine, where is she?” Aria inquired.

“Here.” The man moved his stick to a building near the end of the street. “It’s a brick home, no trees around it, at least forty guards, and it’s far enough away from the palace that she can avoid anything they might shoot at her.”

“But not what we can,” Aria said. “We’ll take out her men and set that house on fire, flushing her out like the rat she is. Once she’s out in the open, we’ll have her.”

“We have to get close enough to the house,” William said.

Aria lifted her head to look at him. “I’ll get so close I could knock on her back door.”

Around her, the people nervously shuffled their feet, but grins spread across their faces as they nodded enthusiastically. A man entered into the room from the hallway leading out to the barn. “We have a problem,” he said.

Aria turned toward him, her nostrils flaring at the potent aroma of fear wafting from him. “What is it?” she inquired.

“Vampires. They’re in the barn, and judging by the brown cloaks on them, they’re not our allies.”

Aria stepped away from the table and followed him down the hall to one of the peepholes near the exit. She pressed her eye to the hole, and her hands balled at her sides when she spotted the ten vampires mulling around inside the barn.

They were probably only trying to get out of the storm, but more than a few of them were examining every inch of the building. As she watched, one knelt by the doorway in the floor.

Daniel

Daniel’s feet slipped in the wet leaves and pine needles beneath him. The rain came down so hard it didn’t sink into the ground, but slid over it in torrents that poured down the embankment they were trying to scale. For every two steps forward, he took one step back. Water sluiced over his hair, pouring down his face and into his eyes. He wiped it away, but it did little good as more ran over his eyes and his hair was plastered to his skin.

They were only a mile away from the caves where they’d left Jack, yet with the way they were going, it may take them hours to get there. His soaked clothes pulled heavily on his body, weighing him down. He wouldn’t be surprised if an icicle formed on his skin. No matter how badly his legs ached and shook from exertion, he continued stalwartly onward.

They didn’t try to be as quiet as they normally would have been as the storm covered any noises they made and masked their smell, but it would also do the same for anyone pursuing them. However, he didn’t think their enemies would be crazy enough to be out in this; no one with any sense would, unless they had to be.

Max grunted beside him as he lost his footing and fell onto the side of the embankment. He lay for a minute, panting on the ground with mud splattering his face. Daniel held out his hand to him. After a minute, Max took hold of it and climbed back to his feet.

Timber made it to the top of the embankment first, his eyes scanning the forest before he turned back to wave them onward. Daniel gritted his teeth and leapt toward the top. Timber took hold of his arm and helped to haul him the rest of the way over.

Daniel bent over, resting his hands on his knees as he inhaled gulping breaths of air and searched the forest. Water slid off his lips and into his mouth. He greedily drank it down as he tried to ease the burning in his lungs.

They desperately needed a break, but couldn’t stand here; they’d freeze in the icy rain if they did. Rising, he broke into a brisk jog as he led the way through the woods. Despite the fact the rain and wind made it difficult for him to see more than ten feet ahead of him, he didn’t ease his pace. They were already behind; they had to make it there tonight and get Jack back tomorrow, assuming they would still find Jack still alive and in the same cave where they’d left him.

The rain may have driven Sabine’s vamps to seek shelter tonight, but there had been a fair amount of them moving around the caves they’d left behind. Had Jack and Hannah been found?

They had to have answers tonight.

With every step he took, his heart pounded more and more with excitement and dread.
Nearly there. Nearly there.

They were almost a hundred feet from the cave when a flash of movement on his right caught his attention. Daniel spun, swinging his bow off his back and nocking an arrow against it in one swift movement. His fingers were numb, but he’d still hit his target.

He went completely still as he controlled his frantic urge to gasp for breath. The hair on his nape rose as he felt eyes on him. Someone was out there watching them, stalking them.

***

Aria

Aria stood at the bottom of the stairs, staring at the doorway above her head. William and Tempest remained unmoving beside her. Xavier stood resolutely on her other side. The vampires were still up there; she could hear them moving about the barn, their feet stomping over its surface. The lingering scent of animals in the barn and the thick wood would cover their scent, but they couldn’t allow them to remain above.

She didn’t think the vampires would find the door, but if they did…

She’d put an arrow straight through the heart of the first one who entered. “We’ll go out the back way and circle around to the front of the barn,” she said.

“Or we could wait for them to pass on,” William said. “Which they’ll probably do when the storm breaks.”

“And if they don’t? We’re close enough to the palace that they could be considering using the barn as part of their base. With the storm, we can sneak up on them a lot easier. The rain and wind will mask any scent or noise we may make,” Aria said. “We’ll also be taking out some of Sabine’s numbers.”

“And if she notices them missing?” William asked.

“Do you really think she will?”

“I don’t know,” he reluctantly admitted.

“She knows we’re still out here, she has to expect that we’ll still be looking to fight her. She might even think they fled,” Tempest said.

“If they were smart they would,” Xavier replied.

“They would,” Aria agreed. “Come on, let’s get this over with.”

She turned and walked back to the main room. Everyone within remained eerily silent as she strode into the center of the room. “We’re going to go after them,” she whispered. “We can’t take the chance they’ll remain after the storm. We’ll take at least twenty with us.”

Men and women rose to gather their weapons as they worked it out between them who would go and who would remain. Aria waited for them to decide, before striding down the back hallway, passed the rooms lining it to the door at the end of the hall. The humans who would be coming with them, followed her.

William opened the door and peered into the hallway beyond before entering it. She followed him down the dank-smelling, ten-foot long hall to the wall beyond. William’s fingers searched over the wood before he pushed on something and the door swung inward to reveal the root cellar beyond.

The sharp scent of mildew and dirt wafted over her as she stepped into the abandoned cellar. The wood over her head sagged beneath the weight of the earth trying to reclaim it. She warily examined the bowing beams as she walked over to another small door, sagging on its hinges and splintering down the middle.

She waited for everyone else to fill the room. The last woman in closed the door behind her, briefly plunging them into complete darkness until Aria turned the rotten handle and cautiously pulled the door open. Rain lashed against her, stinging her face and numbing her skin as she stepped into the storm.

The wind howled through the trees. From somewhere deep in the forest, a branch cracked and plunged to the ground, taking more branches with it in a cascading, thundering crash as it fell. She wiped the water from her eyes to focus on the barn a hundred feet away from them. Behind her, the others filtered out into the storm.

She gazed over the humans and vampires surrounding her before jerking her head toward the barn. They moved silently across the muddy, slippery ground, or at least they couldn’t be heard over the whipping wind and pelting rain. As Aria gripped the handle of the barn door, she held up a finger to halt everyone before putting it down and sliding the door open in one fluid motion.

She pulled her bow from her back and grabbed an arrow as five of the vamps within leapt to their feet. The other five remained asleep, for now. Shock registered on the vampire’s faces before William’s arrow struck the first one and sent him reeling backward. Aria unleashed three arrows in rapid succession, killing two vamps and catching a third in his shoulder.

More arrows whistled around her as the humans fired at the vampires. The other five vamps woke and leapt to their feet. The vamp’s confusion didn’t last long as they took in the dead bodies surrounding them and the group standing in the doorway.

They charged toward them with murderous expressions on their faces. Aria aimed at the one barreling toward Tempest. Before she could fire, William swung his arm out, catching the vamp in the back of his head and sending him spiraling to the ground.

He pounced on the vamp, jerking his head back and to the side before wrenching it from the vamp’s shoulders. One of them leapt at her, but Xavier dove at him. His arms encircled the vampire’s waist as Xavier slammed the vamp into the ground with enough force to shake the building.

Three left.
Aria released another arrow, taking down one of the three.

“You!” the word was spat at her from her left.

Turning to face the new threat, she didn’t get a chance to fire before something crashed against her temple and the side of her face. Her head spun as she took a stumbling step to the side and swung out with her bow at the same time something else cracked against the back of her head. Blackness swirled up around her. She tried not to lose consciousness, but her vision was becoming smaller and smaller as it crept down to a single bead of light in a world of shadows. She tasted blood in her mouth,
her
blood.

“Aria!” William bellowed as something else hit her and she saw no more.

***

Jack

The low growl on his left caused Jack’s lip to curl back and his hand to tighten around the rabbit he’d caught to feed to Braith. Blood dripped from the rabbit and into Braith’s mouth as claws clicked across the rock floor toward them.

“Enough already,” Jack grated and tossed the bloodless remains of the rabbit to Keegan.

Despite his new meal, the wolf glowered at Jack as he settled in at Braith’s side and rabbit bones crunched within his jaws. Ever since the wolf had arrived the other night, apparently drawn into the cave by the scent of his former master and Jack, Keegan had refused to go far from Braith’s side. Jack hadn’t seen Keegan since he’d returned to the wild after the war with Atticus. The wolf’s loyalty to Braith remained as true as ever though.

Jack could still recall the disbelief that had run down his spine when he’d poked his head around the corner of the cave wall to find Keegan’s emerald eyes blazing at him through the darkness. The wolf’s hackles had been raised, his head bent low as he eyed Jack like a meal. If he hadn’t recognized him as Braith’s wolf, he would have killed him before the wolf could try to feast on them.

Instead, he’d opened the gate for him. Keegan had given him a disgruntled look as he’d trotted by, his claws clicking over the rocks until he’d arrived at Braith’s side. The wolf had settled beside Braith and only left him to go to the bathroom in one of the other side tunnels or to eat.

Keegan barely tolerated Jack’s presence around Braith’s body. The wolf allowed him to feed Braith blood, but watched his every move and emanated a series of growls the entire time Jack knelt at his side. Despite his dislike of the animal, Jack wouldn’t turn away the added protection for Braith. Keegan also now disposed of the remains of the animals, and he only had to leave the cave once a day to hunt for them.

Jack wiped off his knees and rose to his feet. Keegan lifted his head, his lips skimmed back to bare his fangs. Jack gave him the finger before turning away.

Hannah’s lips clamped together as she resisted laughing at him. “He’s only an animal.”

“He’s a dick.”

“There’s certainly no love lost between you two.”

Jack shrugged as he climbed the rocks to sit beside her. “He doesn’t know me. When Braith got him, he was only a puppy, and I was getting ready to leave the palace to infiltrate the rebels. Keegan was ever-present at Braith’s side and served as Braith’s eyes while he was blind.”

Hannah rested her hand on his knee as she gazed across the cavern at Keegan. The wolf finished off his rabbit and rested his head on Braith’s stomach. His emerald eyes glistened as he focused on Jack and Hannah. His thick gray coat shone with health in the torchlight playing over it. He released a yawn that revealed all of his lethal teeth.

The wolf
was
a dick, but he was an extremely protective one and Jack admired him for it.

“He’s beautiful,” Hannah said. “I wish he would let me pet him.”

“Maybe when Braith wakes,” he replied.

“I like it when you’re optimistic.”

“One of us has to be,” he teased and nudged her side.

She tilted her head back to smile at him. “I always try to see the bright side of things.”

“That is one of the many reasons why I love you.”

The light in her jade eyes was irresistible and he bent his head to kiss her. Her hands twisted into his shirt to drag him closer. Her mouth opened to the gentle prodding of his tongue. Lifting her from the rocks, he climbed easily over them as he made his way toward their sleeping area. After spending a week and a half in this cave, he knew every inch and crevice of it, so he didn’t have to look to see where he placed his feet as he climbed.

Leading her into their side tunnel above, Jack laid her down on the blankets and furs. She lifted her arms to him and he eagerly went into them. He lost himself to her in only the way Hannah could make him lose himself. For a period of time, he was able to forget his brother was dead, their world was coming apart, and the future he’d planned and hoped for them was unraveling.

When he separated himself from her again, he cradled her against his chest as he listened to the distant drip of water sliding over rock and the crackle of the torch flame. Earlier, rain had been pelting the ground when he’d gone to hunt for Braith, but deep beneath the earth there was no indication of that. It remained calm, almost peaceful in this fortress of rock.

He stared at the ceiling over his head, watching the distant flickering of the torch playing across the rock and listening to Keegan’s claws clicking over the rock. The wolf had probably gotten up to go to the bathroom again. Jack ran his fingers over Hannah’s silken flesh, inhaling her tantalizing scent and the scent of the two of them together. Their blood mingled and flowed strongly as one, binding them for an eternity.