Unbound

by Erica Stevens

  “I’m glad you are well,” Aria said to him.

  “What is life like in the palace?” he inquired.

  “Manners, John,” Mary scolded.

  “When was this place built?” Aria inquired to distract the conversation from anything having to do with the palace or her life there.

  “After the last war,” Mary replied. “I know we were all supposed to be safe, there was a truce and things have actually been going extremely well, but…”

  “But it is always better safe than sorry,” Aria finished when Mary’s voice trailed off.

  “Yes, and it had become well known by the vampires that many of us resided within the caves, so we knew we had to do something different.”

  “So you built shelters beneath the ground,” Aria said and forced herself not to shudder at the reminder that ultimately she was standing in a large coffin. If one of those beams in the ceiling gave out…

  Stop it!

  “Yes, and until now, we’ve never had a reason to use one. We keep them stocked, make sure the water supply and ventilation system is still operational at least once every two weeks, and we clear away any debris obstructing the peepholes. Your brother is a genius.”

  “He is,” Aria agreed. “I wish there was no reason to have to use one of these safe houses now.”

  Rising to her feet, she paced over to the wall, feeling uncomfortable in her own skin as it seemed to tighten around her as much as these walls were. Her hand went to her heart, and she placed her palm over the deadened organ as she once again fought the impulse to tear it from her body. It was unnatural for a bloodlink to carry on without their love, and all of her instincts screamed at her to end it, while another sinister part of her hungered for blood and revenge.

  “This new threat, is it bad?” Mary asked.

  “Yes,” Aria replied as she stared at the wall and tried to ignore the enticing rush of blood in their veins.

  “Is it… is it the king?” Mary asked hesitantly and Aria couldn’t help but wince as she kept her gaze locked on the wall. “Has he become like his father?”

  “No, he hasn’t,” Aria replied. His wife might though. She took a minute to regain her composure and make sure her fangs weren’t visible before facing Mary. “How many of these safe houses are there?”

  “Five.”

  “Are there any closer to the palace?”

  “One.”

  Aria turned to pace over to the other wall. Caged. It’s what she felt right now and she needed free of these bars. Easy, calm. “How far is it from the palace?”

  “About five miles.”

  “Close enough,” she murmured as Tempest and William reappeared.

  The scent of their mingled blood drifted to her, along with the fresh scent of the pine soap. William had his arm around Tempest’s waist as she rested her head on his chest. Turning away, Aria paced over to the other wall and then around to the door they’d entered through. She almost grabbed the handle and fled into the hallway beyond, but she managed to keep herself restrained from doing so. If only there was a window. If only she could feel and smell fresh air instead of the musty air surrounding her.

  “Close enough for what?” William inquired.

  “I don’t think Sabine will go for the palace, not yet,” Aria replied. “She’ll try to find Braith first, but she’ll be in the area of the palace, getting ready for her next move. We have to be there too, if we’re to learn anything about her and to corner her when she does finally attack.”

  “How do you know that is her next move?” Tempest asked.

  “Because she left your town and headed toward the palace,” Aria replied. “I don’t think she planned to discover us in the woods earlier. She would have had more of her followers with her if she had. She probably didn’t realize Braith was outside the palace walls. Once she was uncovered in Badwin and knew there was a chance you would get word to us, she decided to make a move to seize the palace before we could gather more troops to defend against her.”

  “How do you plan to get past her troops to the safe house closest to the palace?” William asked.

  Aria finally turned to face him. “Quietly.”

  Despite the fact he looked tempted to throttle her, a smile curved his lips. He had Tempest to worry about now, a family to start, a woman to love, but her brother relished the thrill of a good challenge. They both did. Taking down Sabine may be the ultimate challenge.

  His cocky grin widened as he ran a hand through his wet hair. “Quietly usually works.”

  “When it’s us, it always works, but first we have to meet with more rebels.” She looked to Mary. “Can you bring more here for us to talk with tomorrow? If they don’t want to come, I understand, but this new vampire trying to take control has no sympathy for humans. She’ll make Atticus look like he was a friend to them.”

  “She locked the humans away in Badwin,” Tempest said. “After she arrived, we never saw them again.”

  “I don’t think that will change as time goes on,” Aria said.

  Mary paled at their words; she took hold of John’s hand. “We will all fight to keep the peace,” she said. “We’ve worked our entire lives to build a future of peace and safety for our children. We won’t let it be taken from us without a fight.”

  “We will also gather vampires as we go. I’m sure there are a fair amount of them who won’t want to be enslaved to her, and some who have already escaped her clutches,” Aria said.

  “Will it really matter to them if she wins?” John asked.

  “Yes. There are many vampires who only want to live in peace with the humans and who aren’t cruel. Also, she killed the vampire children in the other towns she took over. Maybe she’ll stop doing that now, instead of taking the risk of turning some of the vamps against her by continuing to kill them, but I’m not sure she will,” William said.

  “Why would she do that to the children?” Mary gasped.

  “Because the children can’t fight for her,” William answered. “They are a hindrance, and she couldn’t allow one of them to get free and warn someone of what she was trying to do. She slaughtered or imprisoned any who disagreed with her. The vampires she doesn’t kill outright for standing against her, she imprisons and starves until they become mindless killing machines. She didn’t bother to do that with the children.”

  “Monster,” Mary whispered.

  Aren’t we all? Aria’s gaze went to the wall once more. She certainly no longer knew of what she was capable. She felt as if she were unraveling, becoming completely unbound from all the rules once governing her, from everything she’d always known and believed. Now she was adrift in a world she could barely make sense of, but she would protect it.

  “She is,” Tempest confirmed.

  “How will we know which vampires we can trust and which have already been turned to her side?” Mary asked.

  “We will have to be cautious,” Aria replied. “But we always have been, and I’m sure the rebels already have some they trust. After we speak with the rebels here, we will move onto the next safe house and talk with the ones there.”

  “I will bring as many rebels as I can to you tomorrow.”

  “Thank you,” Aria said and settled onto the chair once more.

  “You can use one of the rooms to sleep,” Mary offered her.

  Aria focused on the wall across from her once more. “I’m fine here, but please, all of you, rest.”

  She required sleep in order to be at her best, but the idea of sleeping without Braith beside her wasn’t something she could handle right now. She didn’t think she’d ever be able to sleep again. Mary and John rose from the table; they spoke with William and Tempest before their footsteps retreated down the hall. Two doors opened and closed and she knew only William remained behind with her.

  “Go, Tempest needs you,” Aria said without turning to look at her brother.

  He didn’t say anything, just walked over to the table and pulled out another chair. He settled in
to it and folded his arms over his chest as he stared at the wall across from him. “I hate walls. They make me feel trapped,” he murmured.

  “I know. Tempest has made it better for you though.”

  “She has,” he admitted.

  Aria bowed her head and stared at her hands clasped before her. Her beautiful, delicate emerald ring and her simple white gold wedding band mocked her with the broken promise of eternity. She grabbed the bands with the fingers of her right hand, intending to rip them off and heave them across the room, but instead she brought her hands together and clasped them tightly to her chest.

  She bit her lip and struggled to regain her composure before she did something she would regret. Lifting her head, she found William’s gaze upon her. There was no sympathy in his eyes. He knew she’d hate to see that from him as much as he would hate to see it from her. Instead, there was only understanding.

  “Things were so simple before I was captured,” she said. “They were hard, but they were simple. Father loved us, we hunted, we avoided vampires, when we couldn’t avoid them, we killed them, and we had our woods.”

  “Then it all changed.”

  “Then it all changed, yet now I feel as if we’ve returned to the beginning. We’re without Dad, but back to avoiding vampires and hiding out within our woods once more. Actually, beneath our woods.”

  He glanced at the ceiling. “We survived then.”

  “Yes.”

  “We’ll survive now.”

  “I will make sure of it.”

  Her head bowed again, her gaze focusing on her rings. The flickering light of the lantern caused shadows to dance over her hands. The wood creaked and groaned every once in a while, but otherwise silence filled the safe house beneath the earth.

  CHAPTER 13

  Melinda

  “Close the gates!” Ashby yelled to the guards in the turrets on the wall surrounding the palace.

  Melinda craned her head back to look at the guards peering down at them from atop the wall. Voices and footsteps echoed on the stone above them as more of the king’s guard came out to look down at them. The horse’s hooves rang out on the cobblestone roads within the castle walls as everyone accompanying them crowded into the bailey.

  “Did you say close the gates?” one of the guards called down. It was an order that hadn’t been given in some time.

  “Yes!” Ashby slid from the saddle and turned to pull Melinda into his arms. “Close them now!”

  Around them the survivors of Badwin and the residents of Chippman fanned out into the massive courtyard. Their eyes were wide as they took in their surroundings and murmured with awe to each other. Melinda adjusted her skirt as the gates swung closed and the large wooden drawbridge Braith had ordered built rose into the air.

  No moat surrounded the palace, but the heavy piece of wood was extra protection against any possible, future attack. At the time, her brother had believed he was being overly cautious by building it. She’d never been more thankful for that caution as the heavy wood settled into place against the metal gates, blocking out the homes beyond the gates.

  “What about the residents of the outer town?” she asked Ashby.

  “We’ll have them awakened and brought in now,” Ashby replied. “But those gates will remain closed until the residents are ready to enter and we have more guards to defend these walls.” He thrust his reins at a passing stable boy.

  “Make sure all of the animals are well taken care of,” Melinda said to the stable boy before turning to face the palace.

  Set into the mountain above them, the palace rose high into the night. Its golden spires gleamed in the moonlight shining down on them. Lanterns flickered in the windows of the main areas within, but many of the rooms were dark. Some of The Council members still resided within, but most of them had moved out of the palace and settled into the bailey town or the outer town.

  It was as beautiful as she remembered and as imposing. Atticus had made it a formidable place he could readily defend against his many enemies. The enormous stone walls surrounding the palace enclosed nearly four square miles of land around it.

  Aria and Braith had made the palace more inviting since they’d taken over and settled within. There had been no laughter within its walls or in the surrounding town before their rule, but now there were parties and dancing; there was happiness between the humans and vampires who coincided in peace. There was still the occasional disagreement, but more often than not it was solved without the authorities having to get involved. It was a life she’d never pictured having; secure, fun, and full of love, and now it may be coming to an end.

  She hugged her arms around herself as she stared at the serene streets. Lanterns came to life in some of the homes closest to them. Doors opened as humans and vampires curiously peered out of the two and three story buildings lining the street.

  “Where is Gideon?” Ashby demanded of the head guard on shift who came down from the wall to meet them.

  “He is within the palace,” the man replied.

  “Have some troops readied to go out and bring in the residents of the town. Bring as many of them to the palace for shelter as possible. Find homes for the rest within the walls,” Ashby instructed. “More of the king’s guard is to be awakened and brought down to defend the wall until there is a guard standing every ten feet around the entire wall. Alert them that we could be facing a possible attack soon and to be on the alert for anything unusual, no matter how small it is.”

  “What of the king, will he be returning?” the guard inquired.

  “Not tonight.”

  The guard’s eyes widened, but he didn’t question Ashby’s statement or orders. The guard nodded briskly before turning away. Melinda watched him vanish into the growing crowd filling the street. Ashby gripped her elbow and led her forward. Her legs felt wooden as she walked beside him toward the palace.

  More lanterns blazed to life in the houses surrounding them and residents spilled into the street to see what was going on. The growing voices rang off the buildings until they echoed all around her. Even the animals were roused as a pair of spooked chickens ran across the road before them.

  Melinda kept her chin raised and displayed an air of calm she didn’t feel as they hurried up the hill toward the front door of the palace. Before Ashby could grab the handle, the door swung open and the vampire within stepped aside to give them entrance.

  “Is Gideon in his rooms?” Ashby demanded.

  “Why, yes… milord,” the guard stammered out, his eyes raking over their torn and bloodied clothes. “I believe he is sleeping, but I’ll wake him for you if you would like?”

  “No, I will get him.”

  Ashby kept his hold on her elbow as they strode across the glistening marble floor and beneath the chandelier to the stairs at the far end of the hall. They ascended to the second floor, where the remaining members of The Council still living in the palace resided. Gideon’s rooms were at the end of the hall, the largest and most lavish of all the rooms in this section. Ashby knocked loudly on the door, but he didn’t wait for a response before opening it.

  “Gideon!” he called into the dark sitting room they entered. “Gideon! Get up!”

  A woman’s startled cry came from the adjoining bedroom and curses sounded as feet hit the floor.

  “Get out!” Gideon barked from the other room and a young vampire scurried out from the bedroom with her clothes still in hand. Melinda lifted an eyebrow at the unfamiliar girl, but Gideon wasn’t known for his lasting relationships.

  “What is the meaning of this, Ash?” Gideon demanded as he strode into the sitting room, tying the belt on his red robe as he walked.

  Ashby stiffened at the much hated nickname; the two men glowered at each other. Before they could really start going at each other, Melinda stepped forward to end any further bickering between them. Gideon’s hazel eyes narrowed on her over the bridge of his hawkish nose. His straight brown hair was tussled around his face.

&nbs
p; “We have a problem, Giddy,” Ashby said and Gideon’s eyes shot toward him. Ashby smirked in return.

  “Enough!” Melinda snapped. “Now is not the time.”

  Gideon’s eyes came back to her. “What is going on?”

  Melinda walked back to close and lock the door of Gideon’s apartment. “Is there anyone else in here?” she asked, well aware there could be a few more women lingering about.

  Gideon frowned at her. “No, we are alone now.”

  She glanced at Ashby who took hold of her hand for support. “Braith is dead,” she said bluntly, but she had no idea how she could sugarcoat the news.

  The color drained from Gideon’s face. He took a startled step back, his knees connecting with the sofa behind him. He sank onto it before rising again. “You’re joking!” he blurted.

  “I’m not. We were ambushed. He saved the rest of us, but was shot through the heart with an arrow. He’s dead, Gideon.”

  “Ambushed by who?” Gideon demanded.

  “We believe it was Sabine, Atticus’s mother,” she replied.

  “She’s dead.”

  “And so was Atticus, but he came back.”

  Gideon blinked at them before spinning away. He stalked over to the sideboard and the cluster of liquors set up on top of it. He poured himself a generous glass of whiskey before turning to face them again. With a trembling hand, he lifted the glass to his lips and drank it all in one gulp. He ran the back of his hand across his mouth before staring at the empty glass as if it had somehow betrayed him.

  “Where is Braith’s body? If they came back, he could too,” Gideon finally said.

  “Safe, hidden with Jack,” Ashby replied.

  Gideon lowered the glass and poured himself another drink. “Where is Aria?”

  “Aria, William, and his bloodlink, Tempest, led our attackers away from where Braith is hidden,” Melinda said. “He died shortly after they left us.”

  “Shit,” Gideon muttered.

  “There’s more,” Melinda said and proceeded to fill him in on everything that had happened with Tempest and William, the new residents they now had within the palace walls, and the ones who would soon be joining them from the outer town, if all went well. “If it really is Sabine, and we all believe or want to believe Aria is right about her, she’s most likely going to come here.”