Aria’s blood.
He’d know its aroma anywhere. His gaze darted over the barn. He didn’t see any blood on the floor or walls, but the scent of it was sharp in his nostrils. He’d butcher any who had dared to hurt her.
“I smell her blood,” he snarled. “It’s been spilled here.”
The others exchanged frightened looks before Max closed the barn door, drowning out the sound of the rain beating against the earth. Keegan padded over to some bales of straw where he settled in with his head on his paws.
“Everything looks the same,” Daniel said in a calming tone. “I’m sure there is a reason you smell her blood.”
Braith just stared at him. His fingers had left perfect bruises around his throat, but Daniel didn’t cower away from him.
“Where is she?” he demanded.
Max slipped passed him and over to a board in the floor. Braith watched as he knelt and his fingers felt around something before a click sounded. A perfectly concealed door swung up to reveal the space below. Body odor and sweat wafted into his nostrils, but beneath it all, he scented her.
His feet didn’t touch a step as he jumped into the pit below. The man that had been standing at the bottom of the stairs, probably to keep watch, took a staggering step back. Braith strode forward, uncaring about what might await him as he followed Aria’s scent through the dank hallway.
She would hate it in here, but there was no doubt she’d been here. Was she still here? It was possible she wasn’t. Her blood had flowed above, and her soul no longer brushed against his as it had since the moment they’d completed their bloodlink. Had she been killed?
What would happen when he got the answer, he didn’t know. He’d never dreamed he could become like his father, but he couldn’t deny that killing those vampires in the forest had been the only release he’d been able to find from the insanity that had swirled within him since he’d risen from the dead. For one brief moment, the flow of their blood had filled the empty hole within him. Now that hole was wide open again, and he was about to learn if it would forever be a part of him or not.
The others descended the stairs behind him. The door clicked shut as he arrived at the end of the hall and pulled open the door there.
Hundreds of humans were gathered within, all of them had their backs to him as they listened to someone speaking at the center of the pack. A few glanced over their shoulders at him. They were turning back toward the center when they froze and their heads spun toward him once more. He could smell Aria in this place, but he couldn’t see her and he couldn’t tell how long it had been since she’d been here.
The ones closest to him took a couple of stumbling steps back. Their mouths opened and closed. A few rubbed at their eyes like they couldn’t believe what they were seeing. He ignored all of them as he strode forward. More of them turned toward him as he approached and fell back to stare at him with incredulous expressions.
“She’s sent more troops back here,” a man said from somewhere in the center of the pack. “To attack this area of the wall.”
More of the humans stepped away to finally reveal a table in the center of the room and a man standing beside it with a stick. Xavier stood next to the man and William on the other side of him.
William’s head was bowed as he watched the man point to something with the stick while he continued speaking, “And here is where we believe she is keeping some of the humans.”
William leaned forward and Braith froze as William’s movement revealed Aria standing between him and Xavier. His deadened heart leapt in his chest. He almost lunged for her, but found himself rooted where he stood as he drank in the sight of her.
He’d never seen her so still, so rigid. Her hands were clasped before her, and her head was bent as she stared at the table. Dark glasses shaded eyes he instinctively knew were red. Her thick auburn hair hung in a braid over her shoulder. The cheekbones and figure that had filled out since she’d become his wife were gaunt and lean once more. She looked as if she weighed less now than when she’d first stepped onto that stage and into his life.
Yet, to him, she was still the most beautiful woman in the world. Love swelled within his chest. He yearned to touch her, to feel her skin against his, but he remained unmoving as he watched her. She didn’t interact with the others while she watched them.
She’s barely in control, he realized and had no idea how she’d managed to hang on for this long. Revenge was a strong motivator.
Her nostrils flared, and her head lifted in such a way that the movement seemed to pain her as her head slowly turned toward him. He felt as if he’d been punched in the gut when the left side of her face came into view. A black bruise marred the whole side of her face and a scratch sliced across her cheek; the scratch had once been deep enough to bleed. The dark color of the bruise stood out starkly against the pallor of her skin. A visible tremor went through her; it was the only movement she made.
“Not real,” she whispered and turned away from him once more. Her head bowed as another tremor went through her.
Anguish twisted through him. What has she been through?
William shot his sister a curious glance before his head lifted and he noticed Braith standing there. His jaw dropped so fast, Braith thought he might have dislocated it. The man who had been pointing to something on the table lifted his head. He stopped speaking mid-sentence and the stick fell from his hand to clatter against the ground. Xavier took a step toward Braith before stopping to gaze down at Aria.
Her shaking increased as she whispered. “Not real, not real, not real.”
She flinched away from Xavier when he rested his hand on her shoulder. Unable to stand her torment, or being apart from her for a second more, Braith closed the distance between them. William gawked at him as leaned back against the table to get out of his way and slid around it.
Aria whimpered when Braith stopped beside her. His hand trembled when he reached out to stroke his knuckles over her cheek. Her skin was chilled beneath his touch, but it sent a current of pleasure through him as the clawing in his chest finally eased. It didn’t go away completely. It probably wouldn’t until they were bonded once more, but he could at least think clearly again.
Bending, he kissed the top of her head, causing her to shudder as tears spilled down her cheeks. “I’m real, love,” he whispered while he nuzzled her ear with his lips.
She whimpered again and flinched away from him as more tears spilled from her eyes. He wiped her tears away when she turned toward him and her head tipped back to look at him. Her fingers stretched toward his cheek before she pulled them away.
He grabbed her hand and pressed it to his face. Her lips parted, and her fingers curled into his skin as her other hand came up to grip him. He caught her against him when her knees gave out. She clutched at his back and buried her face in his neck.
Her tears wet his skin as he held her closer, savoring the scent and feel of her against him once more. Encircling her nape, he pinned her against him as he swung to meet Xavier’s eyes. The man didn’t say a word, only nodded his head to the right.
Braith didn’t pay attention to anyone in the crowd that quickly moved out of his way as he carried her by them all. Xavier led them to a door and opened it. He stepped aside to allow them to pass. Braith kicked the door shut with the back of his foot and stopped to survey the small room with the straw mattresses lining the walls.
Aria’s lips skimmed back. Her fangs pricked his skin before they pierced his flesh. His body reacted as if he’d been hit by lightning. He jerked against her, his hand clenching her neck tighter as her fingers dug into his flesh. She tried to get closer to him while she drank from him in deep, satisfying pulls.
Easy, she’s been through so much.
Yet he found himself unable to restrain himself when she bit deeper. He pulled back her braid and sank his fangs into her throat, a groan of bliss escaping him as the hot wash of her blood filled his mouth and body. It seeped into his cells, warming h
im from the inside out. Adjusting his hold on her, he kicked one of the mattresses off the wall and onto the floor.
Renewed.
He could feel the bond reconnecting between them while he laid her onto the bed and followed her down. Power swelled within him as her blood flooded his system. The bloodlink had always made him stronger, but this was a whole new level of strength.
When he’d first seen Sabine, he’d wondered if he’d be able to match her power. When he’d risen from the dead, he’d known he was stronger than he’d been before, but he now knew he would exceed her.
Reluctantly, he released his bite on Aria’s neck and leaned back until her fangs retracted from him. He stared down at her, absorbing every exquisite detail of her as she lay beneath him. The clamoring madness that had been ever-present in him since he’d woken in that cave eased within him. He no longer craved blood and death; all he craved was her.
Taking hold of her glasses, he eased them from her face to peer down into her crystalline blue eyes. His fangs throbbed when he saw that the bruise on her face also encircled her eye. His fingers hovered above it as he fought to contain his urge to kill.
“Who did this?” he growled.
“You’re here,” she breathed. “You’re really here. Not a dream. Not an illusion.”
“I’m really here, love,” he replied and rested his fingers against her cheek as he gazed down at her. “Who did this to you?”
“They’re dead. William took out the one who did this.”
***
Aria
Aria couldn’t understand what had happened. One minute she’d been standing at the table, trying to ignore the pounding in her head, and the next, she was lying here beneath him. The heat of his body against hers and the feel of his hands on her were all so familiar yet so unreal. Her eyes continued to run over him as her hands felt over his body. She touched him, but she couldn’t get herself to believe it was really him.
However, those were his chiseled abs with the indent running down the middle, and those were his broad shoulders. Shoulders she’d clung to more times than she could count. That was his black hair and those were his beautiful gray eyes with the blue band around the iris, before they’d turned red at the sight of the bruise on her face. His blood stained her lips and infused her body, strengthening her in a way she’d never experienced before. The power of his blood awed her, but not nearly as much as touching him did.
Icy water dripped from his hair and onto her, making this moment all the more real. Her fingers stilled on his cheeks, and her gaze ran over his eyes as she realized the scars around them had vanished completely. She found she missed them even as she realized their disappearance was due to the wealth of power emanating from him. He’d come back different, but he was still hers.
“Braith,” she whispered.
His hands tenderly clasped her cheeks as he bent to kiss her trembling lips. His mouth slanted over hers as his tongue slipped in to stroke over hers, tasting her until she quivered beneath him.
His hands worked to pull her shirt and pants from her as his kiss became more demanding. Clutching at the smooth, flexing muscles of his back, she eagerly met every hungry thrust of his tongue. She gripped him against her as he tossed aside his own pants and settled on top of her. The familiar weight and feel of his body against hers made her skin come alive. He pulled her firmly against his chest as his body joined with hers.
“Home,” she whispered against his neck before sinking her fangs into his flesh once more.
The intricate, soul-deep bond between them, which she’d missed so much since he’d been taken from her, consumed her once again, dragging her into its fathomless depths. He smoothed her hair back from her forehead when she released her bite on him, and bent to claim her mouth again with his.
Her nails dug into his back when his tongue thrust into her mouth in the same demanding rhythm as his powerful body moving within hers. Aria gave herself over to the passion he so easily stoked to life within her, and to the pleasure only he could give her.
CHAPTER 33
Braith
Braith cradled Aria against him, her back pressed to his chest as she ran her fingers over and through his. “I did something,” she whispered. “Or I allowed it to happen.”
He propped his head on his hand and gazed down at the unmarked side of her face. Color had crept back into her cheeks and her skin glowed with vitality once more, but she was still far thinner than he liked seeing her. Shadows circled her eyes and the knowledge of things one shouldn’t know shimmered in their depths.
He didn’t care what it took, he would do everything he could to make it better for her again.
“What did you allow to happen?” he inquired.
Her hands stilled on his. “We had to learn more about Sabine. Had to know her plan and who she was. Had to know if she had any weaknesses. Xavier, Max, and I tracked her to another town and a house there. I was going to try to get into the house with her, but I didn’t think I could do it without being caught. And I couldn’t get caught,” she grated through her teeth.
His hands clamped on hers at the possibility of such a thing. She wouldn’t be here now if she’d been caught. She wouldn’t be in his arms again, and the clawing sensation would still be tearing at his insides, driving him mad. Now, finally, it had been silenced by the renewal of their bloodlink.
“So instead of trying to get into the house, we lured away the vampire who worked in her stables there.” She rolled over to look up at him; her haunted eyes searched his face. “What I allowed them to do to that vampire was cruel. It was brutal…” Her words trailed off as her gaze slid passed him to the ceiling.
“You watched this.”
Her eyes were defiant when they came back to his. “I couldn’t condone it then walk away and leave them to bear the burden of carrying it out. I would never do that to Xavier and Max.”
Despite her show of defiance, he sensed the sorrow within her. “We do what we must in war,” he told her.
“I’d do it again.”
He traced his finger over her lips before kissing where he’d touched. “What did you learn from the vampire?”
She told him everything they had learned, the amount of recruiting they’d been able to do, and the plan to move in on Sabine in the next couple of days. He’d always been proud of her, always admired her strength and determination, but as he listened to her now, he realized she truly had grown to become a queen. A leader who did what was necessary despite her anguish, her struggle to keep from going insane, and her reservations about certain things that had to be done in order to protect her people.
He, personally, would have done to the vampire the same things she revealed Xavier and Max had done to him in order to learn more. “I tried to warn the palace about Sabine. I can only hope someone received one of the messages we sent them,” she said.
“I’m sure someone did,” he replied. He gently grasped her chin. “I’ve never been prouder to call you my wife, never been happier to have you as my queen. You are my everything, Arianna.”
“Even with knowing what I allowed Xavier and Max to do?” she whispered.
“You are fierce, loyal, proud, and do what is necessary to protect those you love and our followers. You’re more than I ever could have hoped for in my life.”
She rested her hand against his cheek. “She had your head, Braith. Or at least I thought it was your head, and I’m sure those in the palace believed the same thing.”
“Someone else’s head, someone who looked like me.”
“When she lifted it…” Aria broke off when her voice hitched. “Until then, I’d been trying not to, but I’d secretly hoped you would come back to me. That somehow you would find a way. When she revealed the head, it all fell apart. I fell apart. It was worse than when I felt the severing of our bond.”
She rested her hand over her heart. “Then, I tried to tear my heart from my chest. When she held up what I thought was your head, I thought I
would go insane. All I wanted was to die. Then all I wanted was to kill, and I didn’t care who I killed in order to make it all just stop, if only for a second. I wasn’t sure I could make it back from that madness or control myself. I didn’t know how to at first, but I knew the others still deserved happiness and peace and I had to get it for them. It’s the only thing that has kept me going since then.”
His fangs slid free at the image of her consumed by a suffering so extreme that all she wanted was to destroy herself by tearing her heart from her chest. “I know the disconnect you felt, the emptiness. I felt it too when I first woke to find you gone.”
“I had to go! I couldn’t stay in that cave no matter how much I didn’t want to leave you!”
He grasped her chin. “I know. I didn’t mean gone from there. I meant from inside of me. You were no longer within me. Our bond no longer existed. I would have destroyed everyone around me if Max hadn’t told me you were safe. I did destroy some of Sabine’s vampires in the forest when we came across them on our way here. What I did to them was something that should never have been done to another. I was out of control. I craved their blood and relished killing them. I didn’t think I’d ever come back from the bloodlust engulfing me while I tore them apart.”
Her head tilted back so she could gaze at him. He’d half expected to see fear or condemnation in her eyes, but he saw only love and understanding there. “And now what do you think?”
“Now, I can think again. The insanity has been eased, the emptiness filled with the renewal of our bloodlink. We will defeat Sabine, but I will be in control when it happens. I won’t be a monster again, not like that.”
“You’re not a monster.”
“Yes, I was with those vampires. If you hadn’t been here when we arrived, I have no idea what I would have done. I may have slaughtered everyone here before regaining control of myself, if I ever regained control of myself.”
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