"Don't you think it’s time to go?" Ashby asked.
Braith squeezed her shoulders before slipping her hood back into place. She never thought she'd miss her captivity in the palace, but she found herself missing the time when they spent many uninterrupted hours together while they shut out the rest of the world.
No matter what happened, she was sure this wasn't going to end well for them. She needed as much time as she could get with him before that time came, but it wasn't going to happen now.
"Stay covered," he whispered.
She nodded and slid her hand into his.
Chapter Two
"What is a chev...ro...let?"
"Excuse me?" Braith inquired in response to Aria's halting question.
Braith turned away from Ashby, and his attention was brought back to the twins as they studied something he couldn't see. It was a little disconcerting how similar the scowls on their faces were.
Aria’s gaze was inquisitive when she turned toward him while William continued to look aggravated. She’d slipped the hood from her head again, as had William. Their dark auburn hair, dampened by sweat, gleamed in the bright light of the wastelands. It was a shining homing beacon in this washed out land of little color.
Frustration filled him as he stalked back to them; it was bad enough she didn't listen to him, but neither did her damn brother.
"What is that?" Aria asked.
She thrust her hand out to point at something hidden by a dilapidated building. What was left of the roof sagged, and the walls leaned toward whatever Aria pointed at. He stepped around the corner of the building and focused on the rusted hunk of metal housed in what he now recognized as a garage.
Years of the bright sun had stripped the vehicle of any semblance of its former glory except for the back end. The roof of the garage remained fully intact over the ass end, and though it was rusted and falling apart, it wasn’t in as bad of condition as the rest of the car.
"What is that?" she asked again.
"A Chevrolet," Braith informed her.
Her blue eyes were bright even though she squinted from the blazing sun. "A what?"
"An automobile."
"A what?" the twins asked simultaneously.
Ashby stopped whistling as he walked over to join them. He grinned as he leaned back on his heels and folded his arms over his chest. Braith would like to punch him, not just for that smug look, but also for the interference Ashby had been running between him and Aria for the past two weeks. He tried to tell himself Ashby was missing Melinda, and that was why he kept interfering, but Braith was growing tired of it all.
"An automobile," Braith explained. "At one time humans used them to get around."
Aria frowned at him before she glanced back at the hulking bucket of rust. "Why didn't they walk or ride a horse?"
In her world, he could understand that question, but a hundred years ago things had been different.
"I don't know," he admitted. "They were fun though. I had one of these and a Mustang."
"So, I had a mustang once too," William informed him.
Ashby guffawed loudly, and even Braith nearly burst out laughing. He managed to keep it contained as both Aria and William shot Ashby disgruntled looks. "A Mustang was a different kind of automobile," he explained.
Aria's head tilted to the side as she studied it inquisitively. "It doesn't look like it would get far; walking would be a lot quicker."
Ashby spun away and walked briskly to the corner of the building. Aria and William couldn't see him anymore, but Braith clearly could. Ashby's shoulders shook with laughter as he covered his mouth to stifle the noise.
"It didn't always look like this," Braith assured her.
"What did it look like?" William wondered.
"It was solid and fast. Very fast."
"Faster than a real mustang?" William inquired.
Ashby laughed harder, and Braith wanted to throttle him.
"Yes," Braith answered.
They both looked more confused. When Aria shook her head, her hair tumbled around her shoulders and down her back. The dark red color that flashed with strands of brilliant gold in the sun captivated him.
"Weird," she muttered.
He didn't know how to explain to her it wasn’t weird at the time. That he had, in fact, actually enjoyed his cars.
"Why did they stop making them?" William asked.
Ashby had stopped laughing and turned back to them, but there was no merriment left on his face.
"There was no one to make them after the war ended. They required upkeep and without someone to do that..." Braith shrugged as he ran a hand through his hair. "After a time, they became obsolete. Vampires don't need them to get around, so no one particularly cared when they were gone."
Ashby had moved back to them; he was brave enough to lean against the building as he crossed one leg over the other.
"Those first humans, the ones immediately after the war, must have had a tough time," Aria mused.
Braith had never thought about the humans after the war or how they adjusted to their new, and far more brutal, lives. But he’d also been newly blinded at the time —by the jackass leaning against the garage Braith hoped would crumple under his weight— and trying to adjust to his disability.
Turning his thoughts from the past, he grasped Aria’s hood and tugged it back into place. Her eyes sparkled as he tucked her hair away and caressed her cheek.
"I'm sure they did," he agreed.
"Was it really so different?" she asked.
"It was." She peered up at him as his hands lingered on the hood of her cloak.
William stepped closer; his eyes, the same bright shade of blue as his sister's, were filled with curiosity. "Why did it change so much?" William questioned.
Braith shrugged. "Technology was never a real necessity for us. I spent seven hundred years of my life without it. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed some of it, but I didn't mind seeing most of it go. My father and a lot of the others felt the same way. They didn't overtly try to get rid of most things, but they didn't try to maintain them either."
"What else was there besides automobiles?"
"There were trains and planes, computers and TV's; there was the internet and game consoles, cell phones—"
"I never did like those things," Ashby muttered.
Braith silently agreed. "There were so many new things developing every day that it became impossible to keep up. We didn't get rid of it all. Indoor plumbing stayed, as did electricity, but that's mostly around the palace now. The outer areas didn't, and still don't, have the resources to sustain the upkeep for it.
"The golden chain," Braith continued. Aria's nose scrunched, and resentment burned in her eyes at the reminder of the chain. "It's also part of that technology. It recognizes fingerprints and only responds to the prints of the one who owns it. That's why only the owner can remove it from their slave. There is also a device in the chain which allows a slave to be tracked if they escape while wearing it."
"It should be done away with," Aria said fiercely.
He didn't argue with her. She was the only person he'd ever put the chain on, and she still bore the faded marks on her wrist from that debacle. If they were successful in winning a war against his father, he'd have a bonfire using the chains as fuel.
"It will be," he promised. The way she smiled at him would have made him promise her the moon if she asked for it. "It will go the way of the automobile and guns."
"Guns?" William inquired.
"They were weapons," Ashby answered.
"And these weapons would kill you?"
"Not necessarily. They mainly fired metal bullets," Ashby informed William as he nudged his shoulder. "But there were wooden bullets too. The king seized all guns and had all manufacturing plants razed. You're deadly with those bows and arrows, but they aren't nearly as fast as a bullet was."
"They sound interesting." Aria bit on her bottom lip as her eyebrows drew sharply together.<
br />
"I guess you could say that." Braith soothed the line in her forehead by tracing it with his finger until she smiled once more.
Even though he began to whistle, Ashby's eyes were hooded and guarded as he moved away from the building. They walked across the sand coated streets that had once been ribbons of asphalt winding through the abandoned town.
He remembered what it was like before the war, but he'd never seen the aftereffects of what his father did until now. Beyond the acres and miles of woodlands and towns, there was nothing left of the earth, nothing inhabitable anyway.
He'd heard the rumors of the aftereffects of the war; the whispered talk of the empty lands, but he'd honestly thought a lot of it was just rumor. Looking at it now, he realized how wrong he'd been.
The extent of the damage done was devastating, and as he took in the vast Barrens, Braith realized his father hadn’t shut down technology and advancements because he didn't need it, but because he’d used them to ruin the world. The king was terrified that same technology would one day be used against him.
For the first time, Braith wondered if the rumored aristocrats were still alive, or if they had perished in these forsaken lands as his father intended.
"Was it better before the war?" William asked.
"Depends on who you ask," Ashby replied. "Some vampires preferred the way things were before the war, and others wanted more."
Ashby had preferred the way things were, while Braith's father had wanted more, and he’d gone to great lengths to get it.
"I don't think many humans preferred the way things became, but it wasn't all roses and candy back then either," Ashby continued.
"Candy?" Aria inquired.
Ashby shook his head. He shoved back strands of shaggy dark blond hair as it fell across one of his bright green eyes. "Just something humans used to enjoy eating."
"Oh. Did you like it back then?" Aria asked.
Braith glanced at Aria as she gazed up at him from beneath her hood.
"I never really minded it," he admitted. In fact, there were a few things he missed.
"I've heard stories about it," William mused. "It seemed fantastically extravagant. I've heard there was plenty of food, homes everywhere, and people who had everything they required."
"Depends on who you were and where you lived," Ashby informed him. "Not everyone was so lucky, but many people had such things, and many didn't. As I said, it wasn't all roses and candy."
"But it was better," Aria pressed.
"It was," Ashby finally agreed.
Braith stopped abruptly; pulling Aria up beside him, he searched the stark landscape. Dilapidated buildings dotted the desert area. They were hollowed out remnants of what they’d once been, with gaping windows and doorways. Most sagged beneath the weight of disuse and abuse.
The wind howling around them blew up sand and coated his glasses with fine particles of dust. They were deep into The Barrens now, far from the fertile lands they all knew well. Survivors out here were unpredictable and remorseless.
And there was something out there now.
"Ashby," he said tensely.
Ashby had already stopped too; his head tilted to the side as he listened. Braith's hand tightened briefly around Aria's as he drew her back another step and nudged her behind him. It would do little good, Braith knew she wouldn't stay there, but at least he was mostly in front of her. He heard the rustle of her cloak as she pulled her bow free.
"Aria," he growled in warning.
She didn't say anything, but there was a low clink as she rested an arrow against the bow. The explosion of motion seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere at once. Braith grabbed Aria and spun her out of the way as the first vampire slammed into his back. Knocked forward by the impact of the weight, Braith braced himself as the creature tore ferociously at him.
Aria grunted as his arms momentarily constricted before he was forced to release her. He grasped at the creature clawing up his back. Teeth snapped as it reached his neck, and the scent of its breath washed over him.
Braith finally managed to seize it. Clutching its head, he pulled it over his shoulder and threw it away from him. The creature squealed before it hit the sand. It squirmed there as its attention focused solely on Aria.
She took a startled step back. Her hand shook on the bow as the vampire launched to its feet and rushed at her. All her fear vanished as she straightened her shoulders and lifted the bow. Her hand was steady as she released the arrow.
The vampire fell back beneath the impact of her clean shot; its hands clutched at its chest as it gurgled and squealed. The fury swelling through him enhanced his strength as more vampires emerged from the sand. For a moment, he teetered on the edge of madness, and it felt so good that he almost let the monster take over.
Then the smell of Aria’s blood pulsing through her veins hit him. She pressed flush against his back as she sought to protect him. A shudder rocked through him as she brought him back from the brink he'd stood on. Even though it was dying, the vampire launched itself back at him.
He felt her elbow against his back as she retook aim, and he was keenly reminded there were more creatures out there as she let another arrow fly. He seized the beast, and with swift brutality, finished it off.
Aria let out a startled cry. Terror shot through him as he spun around. One of the other vamps had reached her, but not before it caught her arrow in its shoulder.
She hit the creature under the chin as she swung her bow up, but it was too late. The pale, thin monster was already grasping her arms. The hood of her cloak fell back, and her hair was the color of blood in the bright light. That ominous sign terrified Braith as the sweet scent of her blood hit the air.
The creature, enthralled by the prospect of fresh food launched itself forward. Braith wrapped his arm around Aria's chest and pulled her back as he seized the beast by the throat.
It squealed as its hands swung in the air while it tried to grab her again. He was going to kill it, but he couldn't bring himself to release her, not quite yet. Her chest heaved against his arm, and he felt the rapid staccato of her heartbeat. Even over the squealing noises coming from the monstrosity he held, he heard the subtle splash of her blood hitting the sand.
She was bleeding, and this creature had caused it.
Fury tore through him. His hand on her chest tightened, and he pulled her further back. In one violent motion, he snapped the creature's neck and shoved it back. It was not dead, but for the moment it was disoriented by pain. Braith was more than happy to put it out of its misery.
And then he heard the stutter in her heartbeat.
His head snapped around; she remained standing in his arms, but her face had gone deathly pale, and her lips were nearly white. The sleeves of her cloak hung in tatters. Blood slid down both her arms to pool at the ends of her fingertips before dripping onto the sand. Her arms were laid open from nearly her elbow to her wrist.
Panic tore through him; he grasped her and spun her around when she staggered a little. Her usually bright, crystalline blue eyes were dull and almost lifeless.
He bit into his wrist and held her as her knees buckled. He shook as they slid to the ground. He didn't care about the creature still staggering before them and didn't look up to see if others were coming.
"Blood, Aria, drink it!" They were the only words he could get out through the constriction of his chest.
She closed her eyes before they sprang open. It seemed as if she was having difficulty focusing on him. "I'm fine, Braith. Help the others. There are more of those things."
"I don't care."
He didn't wait to hear more of her protests; she was stubborn enough to keep offering them. He shoved his wrist into her mouth and prayed it would be enough to stop the flow of life he felt seeping from her.
There was a moment of nothing, and then he felt her teeth nipping at his skin. Despite their circumstances, ecstasy tore through him at the sensations suffusing him. Her hands clenched arou
nd his arm as she drank deeply.
He couldn't stop his low moan of pleasure as he leaned over her and embraced her against him. "Stay with me," he breathed in her ear.
She nodded as her eyes dazedly met his. The creature was already healing as it staggered back toward them; its eyes were a vibrant red in its hollow face. Its sagging skin had taken on a yellowish, sickly hue. Lack of food, the sand, and sun had turned this creature into a morbid version of a typical vampire—one who apparently had no sense of self-preservation anymore.
Braith cradled Aria with one arm as he tried to shift himself into a better fighting position. It wasn't much use; he couldn't pull his arm away from her. If there was any chance for her survival, she required his blood.
The creature was only feet from them when Ashby rammed the bony thing from behind and flung it a good ten feet through the air. Ashby didn't hesitate before rushing after it. William appeared before them with his upper lip cut and bleeding. One of his eyes had started to darken, and the sleeve of his cloak was ripped, but otherwise, he appeared uninjured.
Unable to stand the thought of someone else touching Aria, Braith almost ripped her away from William when he reached for her. He stopped himself from doing so, but he couldn't prevent a low growl from escaping him. William leaned back as he warily studied Braith. Aria tried to tug his wrist from her mouth as she squirmed against him.
"It's all right," Braith grated through clenched teeth. "I won't harm him. Stop. Please, Aria, you need my blood; he's safe, I swear."
Aria relaxed against him, but tension lingered in her body. William watched him suspiciously as he leaned forward and clasped his sister’s wrists. He pulled Aria's arms toward him, finally looking away from Braith to focus on her.
Braith couldn't bring himself to look at Aria’s battered flesh again. The smell of her blood was enticing enough without seeing it too. Neither he, nor Ashby, had been feeding well; he shuddered, and his fangs elongated. He closed his eyes as he fought against his baser urges.
The Captive Series 1-5 Page 38