"Gideon sent me," the woman said.
Braith's need for blood seemed to vanish the moment he heard the name.
Chapter Four
"What did Gideon send you for?" Braith grated from between clenched teeth.
The woman's smile widened, she provocatively stuck a hip out while she grinned at them. "What do you think?" she taunted as she pushed her hair back to reveal her slender, unmarked neck. "I was instructed to provide you with anything you might require, and then bring you to him afterward."
She ignored Aria with an ease that was astounding, and infuriating, as her gaze wandered lustfully between Braith and Ashby.
"You can take us to him now," Braith said.
Taken aback, the woman’s eyes finally focused on Aria before she looked dismissively away, apparently finding nothing remarkable in her. Aria was half tempted to hit her.
"Braith," Ashby hissed.
"If you'd like to feed on her go ahead." Braith's words were clipped and harsh. His body vibrated with tension. Ashby stared at him as if he'd lost his mind. "Do what you must but do it quickly. I plan to leave before nightfall."
Braith turned away; they stared questioningly after his retreating back as he stalked deeper into the dwelling.
"Aria." She couldn't turn her head to meet Ashby’s gaze while she stared at the doorway Braith had disappeared through. "Aria, you have to talk to him."
Finally, she was able to look away long enough to meet Ashby's fevered gaze.
"He needs to feed, Aria, he's weakening, and he's becoming more unbalanced. Giving you his blood drained him further. He needs this," Ashby insisted.
She managed a small nod as she finally closed her mouth.
"He has to understand that you can't be his only human supply, it's not possible," Ashby insisted.
He was right; she knew he was right, but it caused a physical ache in her chest to think about another woman nourishing Braith.
"I don't like to do it either, it's most certainly not something I enjoy, but I must, and so must Melinda,” Ashby pressed. “Maybe if there were more animals around, and you weren’t wounded, it would be different, but he can’t put up much of a fight if he's malnourished; he'll get injured."
It was those last three words that spurred her forward. She had to go quickly, or she wouldn't go at all. If she stopped to think about it...well no, she couldn't think about it. She had to focus on getting him to feed, getting him strong again, and making sure he didn't get hurt.
She found him outside, leaning against the house with his arms folded over his chest and his legs crossed before him.
"Braith." She broke off, unable to get the words out as her chest and throat constricted. It took her a few tries before she was finally able to speak. "Braith, you must feed from her." He kept his head bowed as he refused to look at her. "Braith—"
"And you would approve of this?"
Tears burned her eyes. She tried to tell herself it was from all the sand, but she knew it wasn’t. She wouldn’t cry in front of him, not if she had any hope of convincing him to do this.
"I don't like it." She hedged, unable to lie to him. "But you're weakened, and you need blood. If it can't be mine—"
"Then it will be no one’s."
"You can't deny yourself. You need it to survive."
"I need you more."
"Braith—"
"I'm not arguing with you on this, Arianna. It won't do any good anyway."
She started in surprise. "Of course it will."
He lifted his head and finally looked at her. "No, Aria, it won't. Yours is the only blood I crave. None of them, and none of those blood slaves after you, satisfied me."
The purred words caused the hair on Aria's arms to stand up. "Then take mine."
Though she had sensed his interest in the woman, it was nothing compared to the blast of hunger vibrating from him now. Her mouth went dry. She thought self-preservation should kick in, and she should run screaming back into the house. Instead, she found herself wanting to run to him. She was losing her mind, and it was all because of him.
"No," he said.
She inhaled deeply, straightened her shoulders, and thrust out her chin. "If you're going to be stubborn about feeding on others, then you can't be stubborn about this. You don't have to take much, just enough—"
"It's never enough!" he snapped. "That's what you don't understand. It's never enough. Every time I taste you, I think maybe my thirst for you will weaken, and I won't crave you so badly. But the yearning only increases, and I find myself insatiably craving more and more."
She was stunned speechless. She hadn't known, she hadn't understood, she couldn't understand, not as a human anyway. But she did know one thing, he needed nourishment, he was stubborn, and she was here. Without thinking, she pulled at the knots on her arm while she stalked toward him.
The cloth fell free to expose the gashes as she thrust her arm out to him. Yes, she had completely lost her mind, tempting him like this, but some things needed to be done, even if he couldn't see that. His weakness could get them all killed; it could get him killed. Her life was a small thing compared to their far greater goal and the lives of so many others.
"You being unable to fight won't do us any good. I will not stand by and watch you starve yourself because you think you will hurt me. You will not hurt me. It's either me or her, Braith."
Though shadowed by his glasses, she knew his eyes were latched on her arm, and the droplets of blood glimmering on her skin.
"Either way I upset you, Aria," he grated.
"I am offering my blood to you, and so is that woman. You have to pick one."
She tried to keep her face impassive and control the beat of her heart as she stared stubbornly at him. She couldn't reveal how much it would upset her if he went to that other woman. It would only stop him if he knew, and he couldn't be stopped. Not this time.
When he clasped her wrist, his long fingers were gentle when they wrapped around her flesh. With a simple flick of that hand, Braith could kill her so easily, but he would kill himself before he ever injured her.
She waited breathlessly to see what he would do, as he bent his head and licked the blood from her arm. A shiver raced down her spine; her breath froze inside her as he pressed his lips against the inside of her elbow and rose over her.
She thought she’d won and he was conceding defeat when he brushed the hair back from her neck. His fingers lingered on his marks still on her skin and pressed ever so briefly against them. Then, his hand entwined in her hair as he rested his forehead against hers.
"You really are reckless," he muttered.
She managed a wan smile as he kissed the tip of her nose. "And you are stubborn."
"Soon," he said tenderly. "When you're stronger—"
"The woman."
"When you are stronger. Let this go; it will not happen."
Aria gave the battle up with a sigh. Leaning into him, she simply enjoyed the feel of him as they stood together in a stolen moment of peaceful silence.
Braith’s veins felt as arid as the desert surrounding them. Muscles he hadn't known he had burned from the blaze blistering them. It was sheer willpower propelling him forward now. He should have fed; he needed blood so badly, but he'd sensed Aria's anguish over the idea. She wouldn't deny him the woman, she would understand, but he couldn't bring himself to do that to her.
Instead, he was walking a thin line, bordering on complete loss of control. He was becoming even more of a threat to her with each passing moment. It didn't help that Ashby looked far better than he had before. The color was back in his face, and the spring was back in his step. He whistled merrily and annoyingly as they followed the woman across the desolate landscape.
The woman was a little paler but appeared otherwise uninjured. He could smell the fresh blood from the bites on her inner wrist, but it was nowhere near as sweet and potent as the scent of Aria's blood on the rags covering her arms.
Aria wore Wil
liam's cloak; the hood pulled over her bent head shadowed her features and hid her hair. Touching her might help to ease the fire inside him, but he didn't dare touch her in front of the woman who held loyalty to Gideon.
Gideon had been one of the strongest and most human rights friendly aristocrats that Braith knew before and during the war. He'd fought adamantly against the enslavement of the humans, but Braith had no idea what a hundred years of living in these Barrens had done to him.
He wasn't entirely sure what to expect from Gideon, but Braith wasn't going to alert Gideon to the fact Aria was his biggest weakness. Not until he knew if he could trust the once powerful aristocrat.
They rounded the top of another dune, and like a beautiful mirage, a town came into view. The heat rising from the sand in waves made everything shift and blur. But the town was there, green and lush for as far as the eye could see.
"How is this possible?" Awe laced Aria's voice as she gazed over the town.
"At one time all these lands were lush and fertile." Braith forced the words out. "It was the war itself that left everything so desolate. Gideon must have found a water supply out here, probably deep within the earth."
"Amazing, simply amazing," she whispered.
He gazed at her before turning his attention back to the town. There were already vampires lining the streets, waiting for them as they moved down the dune and onto the main thoroughfare.
For a moment, he hesitated. He should have fed. It was too soon for Aria, and the thought of feeding off the woman was enough to make his stomach roll, but he was in no condition to fight if this turned into one.
Aria went to touch him, but her hand fell limply back to her side. He almost grabbed her hand to make it abundantly clear she was off limits to everyone in this town. He didn't want any more talk of someone possibly buying her or her brother. However, he also had to keep her alive, and there was no way to know what they were walking into.
He shouldn't have brought her here, but in the end, there had been no choice. They would need help if they were going to take down the king, and no one hated the king more than the aristocrats who stood against him during the war. Aristocrats who had power and followers of their own, or at least they used to, and judging by the growing crowd, they still did.
The people and vampires all appeared healthy, the buildings were in good repair, and it was apparent they had established some unbiased system here as human and vampire stood side by side. Astonishment radiated on some of the faces surrounding them; a couple of which he vaguely recognized from the years before the war.
They were almost to the end of the street when a figure separated itself from the crowd. Braith's growing need for blood diminished under the shock of seeing a face he had never thought to see again.
Uneasiness twisted through his gut. It took everything he had not to grab Aria and shove her behind him, but though there was no surprise on Gideon's features, there was also no hostility.
"Braith," Gideon greeted blandly.
Braith stepped in front of Aria as Gideon's gaze slid over them. He didn't miss the flicker in Gideon's hazel eyes as his attention momentarily focused on Aria and William before moving dismissively away.
Gideon’s eyes gleamed with amusement when they landed on Ashby, and a disbelieving smile curved his thin lips. He shook back his light brown hair and studied them over his hawkish nose.
"Well, if nothing else, it looks as if I'm in for an interesting story. Come along."
They followed silently behind as Gideon led them down the streets and into a home that, while it wasn’t opulently furnished, was appointed nicely. Aria pressed closer to him as her horrified gaze slid over the brutal scenes of death and violence depicted on the canvases lining the walls.
It was the first time he sensed any true fright from her as she fidgeted nervously with her hands. This was a world she didn't understand and probably never would.
"Are those human?" William's eyes narrowed as he stared at a shelf displaying jars full of teeth.
"Some," Gideon replied flippantly. "Others are vampire."
William looked horrified when his head turned slowly toward Gideon. Aria's lips parted; a small breath escaped her as her hands pressed against her belly. Even though she'd worn a hood throughout most of their journey, the sun had still caught her face and reddened her cheeks and nose, but she was deathly pale beneath her sun-kissed skin.
"Why?" she breathed.
"Souvenirs," Gideon answered with a negligent shrug.
Aria took a small step back. She looked ready to bolt as her gaze darted wildly around the room before landing on her brother and the jars.
"Don't look at them," Braith instructed.
She couldn't seem to stop looking at them though, as her eyes remained riveted on them.
"Souvenirs of what?" William demanded more angry than mortified.
"Better times."
"Gideon," Braith hissed.
Gideon met his gaze head-on. "This is my home, Braith; you came here. I won't put on airs for two humans you've brought along as your food supply."
Braith bristled and his hands fisted at his sides. Aria tugged on his shirtsleeve as she shot him a disapproving look. Gideon rested his fingertips on his desk while he pinned Ashby with his unyielding gaze.
"Some of us didn't exactly enjoy the war, or the outcome, right Ash?" Gideon asked.
Ashby shook his head and his lip curled in distaste. He hated to be called Ash, he always had. "Whatever you say, Giddy."
"Did you enjoy my gift?" Gideon inquired, refusing to acknowledge Ashby's dig at him. "Was she to your liking?"
"She was fine," Ashby answered absently. "How did you know where we were?"
Gideon grinned at him; his fingers bounced lightly on the desk before he pushed himself off it. "I have eyes all over these lands; a man in my position must always be alert. So, to what do I owe the honor of the heir apparent and the fallen brother-in-law coming into my humble town?"
"We've come to gain your support," Braith informed him bluntly, knowing Gideon didn't do well with subterfuge.
Gideon’s eyes were doubtful as he frowned at Braith. For the first time, he didn't appear faintly amused or smug. In fact, he seemed almost hopeful. "Support for what?"
"To overthrow the king.”
Gideon released a low curse; his fingers rested on the desk as he leaned forward. "You're serious."
"I am,” Braith said and pulled Aria’s hood up again when it slid back.
Gideon was speechless while he gawked for a moment. Then, his jaw snapped closed, and his dark eyebrows drew sharply together as his focus became riveted on Aria. Gideon came out from around the desk and strode purposely toward her. Braith stepped in front of her and pulled her back as Gideon reached for her.
"Don't come near her!" Braith slammed his palm into Gideon's chest and knocked him back a step.
Ashby seized Gideon's upper arm when Gideon lunged at Aria again.
"Are you an idiot?" Ashby demanded.
"Let go of me," Gideon snarled as he shoved Ashby's hands away.
Braith widened his stance and braced himself for Gideon as the vampire spun back on them. He prepared to kill the man they had come to ask for help. Gideon's fevered eyes raked Braith from head to toe. Aria's head popped out from behind him; the hood had fallen back from her face to reveal her cascade of auburn hair and the paleness of her features.
Braith was afraid to take his focus off Gideon for even a moment to pull her hood up again.
"You can see!" Gideon exclaimed in amazement.
Braith remained silent; he wasn't going to respond to him or relax until Gideon moved away from them.
"And it's because of her!" Gideon declared.
"Gideon," Ashby cautioned.
"You didn’t feed on my gift."
"We are not here to discuss this," Braith informed him.
"Have you lost your mind?" Gideon exploded. "She's a human, Braith."
"We are not here
to discuss this!" Braith roared trying to control his rising temper as Gideon focused on Aria again. "This topic is off limits, for now," he amended, knowing it would have to be addressed one day, but not today.
Gideon stalked back to his desk. "I should have you all killed now," he muttered. "Save myself the aggravation."
Fury boiled through Braith at the mere thought Gideon might do something to her. It took everything he had not to leap over the desk and beat Gideon into a bloody pulp, but beating him senseless, or flat out killing him, wouldn't do any of them any good.
"If you think you could," Braith grated.
Gideon glared at him. "You're in my world, Braith, I rule here!"
"And just what do you rule?" Braith demanded. "Some brothels and bars, farms, a trade ring, a smuggling business? You rule nothing, Gideon. This is a poor substitute for the life you used to have, and you know it. With your help, we may be able to get that life back for you. But don't think I won't destroy you if you try to harm one of us. You don't have to help us, but you will not threaten us."
Gideon turned back to Braith, but he didn’t focus on Braith. His fascination with Aria was pushing Braith closer and closer to a deadly precipice.
"What is it you require?" Gideon asked.
"You must have stayed in contact with the other collaborators who were against my father."
Gideon grunted in displeasure and slid into the chair behind his desk. "I may still have contacts, but what exactly is your plan here, Braith? What do you propose?"
"To take control from my father."
Surprise flickered briefly over his features. "And you are going to lead? You are going to be the man who rights the wrongs?" Gideon's tone was sarcastic as his gaze focused on Aria again.
Braith pressed Aria against the wall and pinned her against his side. Her displeasure was evident as she tried to push away, but he wasn’t going to let her out. "It doesn't have to be me,” Braith said,
Gideon motioned to someone behind them. Aria inhaled sharply as a servant girl hurried past wearing almost no clothing. Bite marks marred her neck, but she didn't appear overly used as she flashed a smile at Braith and Ashby before bending to pour a glass of liquor for Gideon.
The Captive Series 1-5 Page 40