"It seems as if we have had our first unanimous vote." There was no satisfaction in Gideon's tone. In fact, he seemed resigned and saddened as he met Braith's gaze. "Will you agree to run the form of government you would like to see carried out in the future?"
Braith nodded. "I will."
He left out the words "for now" as he gave his response, but they were there, and Gideon and Ashby were well aware of it. He would lead them into this war, he would help to see them established, and then he would disappear with Aria and leave Jack or Gideon in his place. They may be unsure of his little brother; to a certain degree so was he, but Jack would at least be a fair king.
"You have two days to gather your people. We'll move out on the third to rejoin with David," Braith said.
"How will we find him?" Barnaby inquired.
Aria grinned. "Oh, we'll find him."
The sinking feeling in Braith's stomach had nothing to do with his recent election, and everything to do with the unruly air surrounding her. He'd never inquired how Aria and William would find their father again; he'd simply assumed they had a way of locating each other after all their years of moving and separating so often. He realized he wouldn’t like the answer.
Chapter Ten
Her forest.
She'd missed the sweet scent filling her nostrils and the cool shade hiding the heat of the sun so much. The sounds of the animals were familiar and soothing. The tension in her body eased, her heartbeat slowed to match the melodious rhythm of the world around her. A rhythm that enveloped her within its comforting embrace and held her close as she picked her way through the natural obstacles with the ease of an expert.
An ease a lot of their group didn’t exhibit. Though their predatory vampire nature made them stealthier than most, they were not accustomed to the sticks, leaves, and fallen debris littering the forest floor. And they were obvious about it. Aria flinched at every snap of a twig or branch, and she was doing a lot of flinching.
Braith finally stopped; his impatience was apparent as he turned to face the massive troops gathered behind them. Most of the women had remained in The Barrens with the children and elderly, but there were a couple hundred of them mixed in amongst the men and looking as ferocious and annoyed by their surroundings.
Aria was leading an army of deadly vampires, humans, and weaponry straight into the heart of her world. She swallowed the lump of trepidation lodged in her throat. What they were doing went against everything she had ever known and fought against.
They were on her side, she reminded herself, but she still couldn't shake her lingering concerns. She had absolute trust in Braith and his ability to succeed, she had grown to like Ashby, had forged a small amount of confidence in Gideon, and something about Xavier intrigued her, but she didn't know these vampires, and she sure didn't know the thousands following them.
There were too many of them. They couldn't continue like this without being caught. Her people knew these woods, they moved through them with ease, but this mass would never make it through unnoticed if they continued to stomp through the woods like a herd of elephants.
Braith seemed to sense this as he turned to her. "How long do you think it will be before you’re able to find your father?"
"Stay here."
Braith lurched for her, but she was already scrambling up the closest tree. It was the only way she knew he wouldn’t be able to stop her. She imagined it would be amusing to watch him chase her through the trees, but she doubted she'd ever get the chance. She wasn't at all surprised to see him following her as she leapt, ran, and swung easily from limb to limb.
She swiftly made her way up a small hill where she paused to climb to the top of a large maple. She hoped she was near one of the areas she used to communicate with her father, or he had moved through this region. There was a chance she'd have to go a couple of miles to the west before finding another place that might help her. It could take days before she located one of his markers; she hoped to get lucky now.
"Arianna!" Even though the snarl had been low pitched, it drifted up to her.
She didn't look down; she didn't have to. She knew his look of annoyance well. The thinner branches bowed beneath her weight, but she'd done this since she was a child, Aria knew exactly how far she could go before the tree wouldn't support her anymore.
Pausing, she spread her legs to brace her feet against two branches bending to the side. Between the two of them, she distributed her weight without snapping the limbs as she poked her head over the top of the leaves.
She moved slightly so she could see the forest from different angles. It spread out before her in an endless array of shimmering leaves, deep green conifers, and a spattering of red maple groves that added sporadic color to the landscape. For a moment, she allowed herself to savor the view.
Then she spotted it, a small glimmer halfway up a tree about two miles away. Her father didn't climb as high as she did, but he could navigate the trees well. Smiling with relief, she was about to shimmy down the tree when something to the right snapped her head around.
Eyes narrowing, her hands dropped to grab the two branches supporting her weight. She brought them together to lift herself higher; Braith hissed angrily.
She didn't care she was pushing her luck as she scooted another foot higher. Only about a mile away, she spotted movement in the woods not made by any animal, but she couldn't be sure if it were human, or something else, until a break in the trees revealed the group of men. Though they were too far away to discern much about them, they all wore the royal colors of the king.
Aria's heart leapt into her throat when two of the men turned to scan the horizon. She didn't move while they turned in a complete circle, but they seemed oblivious to the brim of her head over the tree as they bent to speak with each other.
They had more soldiers on their side right now, but if things went wrong, and one of the king's men happened to escape back to the palace, everything they’d worked for would be ruined. They needed to stay hidden until Braith decided it was time to make their presence known. But that would be impossible with the herd following them.
With their attention distracted, Aria plunged from branch to branch until she released the final limb and plummeted to the ground. She would have been fine if she'd hit the ground, but she didn't mind when Braith's arms wrapped around her and he cradled her in his embrace. She relished the strength of his body beneath her hand before he set her on her feet.
Ashby’s bright green eyes were filled with astonishment when he looked from her to the top of the tree and back again. Behind him, Gideon and William were watching her.
"Dad?" asked William.
"That way; about two miles there's a marker." Taking a steadying breath, she turned and pointed to the west. "That way about a mile, are the king's men."
Braith's hand stilled in the hollow of her back; his eyebrows drew sharply together over the bridge of his nose as his nostrils flared.
"Are you certain?" Gideon asked.
"They're wearing his colors," Aria said.
"What are we going to do?" Ashby demanded.
"There are caves," she said.
William inhaled sharply at her words, and his eyes darted uncertainly toward her. She stared hard at her brother; she understood his trepidation and hesitance, but they had brought these vampires into their world, and there was no turning back now. If they were going to keep their allies alive, they would have to divulge some of their rebel secrets.
"The caves are less than a mile from here and large enough to hold everyone, but with so many, it will be cramped," Aria continued.
"They're not going to like being forced into those caves."
Aria started in surprise when Xavier separated himself from the shadows of the trees. She hadn't seen him standing there, but Braith seemed to have as he didn't react to Xavier's sudden appearance. She was even more surprised when Braith didn't remove his hand from her back and separate himself from her. A tremor of trepidation shud
dered down her spine as Xavier pinned her with his dark, knowing eyes.
"They knew this wasn't going to be an easy undertaking," Gideon stated. "That there would be sacrifices when we left. This will be one of those sacrifices. It's painfully obvious we cannot move them all through here; this hasn't been their environment in a hundred years, and some have never experienced it."
"These caves will be safe?" Braith inquired.
Aria forced herself not to shudder at the thought of the darkness, the confining space, and the chill that came with the underground systems she had grown to hate after nearly being trapped in one with William and Max.
"All the cave systems have iron gates, alarms, and traps in them," William explained. "Though there is no way to know if they have been discovered since we left."
"I think we have no choice but to use them," Ashby said.
"Neither do I,” Braith said. “Gideon and William go back to round up everyone else; try to get them to be a little quieter if it's possible. Unless it becomes necessary, do not engage with my father's troops, but if it does become necessary, make sure there are no survivors. Xavier, Ashby, Aria, and I will go to the caves and make sure they’re safe."
Aria didn't want to step foot in the caves, but she had no choice.
"Go," Braith commanded. Gideon nodded and slipped silently into the woods with William. "Get us there quickly, Aria."
"Follow me," she said.
Braith followed Aria as she led them with fascinating ease. She was quiet, far more so than Xavier as she moved like a wraith through the trees and covered the distance to the caves in less than ten minutes. Standing at the edge of the woods, Braith studied the cliff face only twenty feet away; it appeared entirely impenetrable to him.
"That's them," she stated.
"Where?" Xavier inquired.
There was a darkening in her eyes only he would recognize as fear. The last time she'd been in the caves, her terror of them had led to him leading her out of them. Just when he thought she was going to balk at telling them exactly where the caves were, she slipped from the woods.
They followed and fanned out around her as she knelt before the rock wall. Her head tilted as she examined a cropping of bushes against the rock wall with an intensity that was a little unnerving given it was a group of ferns and wild scrub. Then her small hands parted the brush to reveal a sliver in the rock wall that was nearly indiscernible even without the brush covering it.
"No one has been here in months."
"How do you know?" Xavier asked her.
Her smile was fleeting. "I know."
Ashby looked about ready to protest, but Xavier spoke. "Lead the way then."
"I'll lead the way," Braith stated.
Xavier quirked an eyebrow at him.
"I know the system, Braith. I'm certain no one has been here, at least not through this entrance, and the only other entrance is two miles from here."
"So there could still be someone in there," he insisted.
She shook her head as her eyes darted to the opening and then back to him. "It's unlikely. The other opening is in a meadow at the top of a hill. If it's even spotted, it appears to be more of a foxhole than an entrance to anything significant. There's no one in there."
"Except bats," Ashby muttered not looking at all pleased by the notion.
"I'm still going before you," Braith insisted. She opened her mouth to protest further, but he cut her off. "You can guide me through, Aria. Tell me which way to go."
"Okay," she relented, her voice a little tighter than usual.
Her hand brushed his, before her fingers wrapped around his index finger. His heart swelled with love. To hell with Xavier, it was too late to keep their relationship hidden from him anyway. He pulled her into him and cradled her as his palm splayed across her neck; he relished the silken feel of her hair and the suppleness of her body.
Bending low, he pressed his lips to her ear. "Will you be okay in the cave?"
She turned her head toward his mouth; her lips brushed enticingly against his as she spoke. "Yes."
"We can find—" he started before she cut him off.
"I'll be fine."
Her hand flattened against him; a small exhalation escaped as she closed her eyes and pressed closer to him. Time seemed to slow as she lifted her face to him and her lips parted beneath his. He didn't care who was there with them, forgot what had brought him here as he lost himself to the soft pressure of her lips, the sweet taste of her mouth, and the quickening of her heartbeat.
For one long moment, the only thing that existed was her, and then reality returned. It took everything he had to pull away. He pressed his lips to her forehead as he held her. "I'll lead the way," he whispered.
She relented with a nod before reluctantly releasing him. She didn't meet Xavier's gaze, but Braith did. Xavier's hooded eyes gleamed as the wheels in his mind turned, but it was impossible to decipher what the powerful vamp was thinking as Xavier examined them. It would only cause friction among the factions, but he would kill Xavier if he made one move to hurt Aria.
Taking her hand, he turned sideways to fit through the small crevice in the rock wall. For a second, he wasn't sure he would fit as he pushed himself further along.
"It's cramped for the first hundred feet or so, but it opens up in a little bit," Aria said, seeming to have read his mind.
Ashby grunted in response; Xavier remained silent in the back. Aria's hand trembled in his, her palm was sweatier than normal, but she forged steadfastly on behind him. Relief filled him when the walls released their grasp. Even with his enhanced vision, he strained to see the pathway as almost no light penetrated the thick rock walls.
"Wait." Aria released his hand.
He grabbed for her as she moved forward, intending to pull her back, but she returned to his side almost immediately.
"Hold this," she said.
She thrust the handle of a torch into his hand and fumbled in the darkness for something else. He spotted what she was searching for and pulled the box of matches from a small hole tucked into a crevice of the cave. They huddled together as she fumbled with the matches and finally struck a spark. A flicker of light played over the contours of her face before she pressed the flame to the end of the torch.
Fire blazed forth as she grinned at him. "Lead on."
The torch lit the dusty cobwebs of the tunnel and the solid rock floor beneath them. The air became mustier and colder the deeper they traveled into the cave. The faint drip of water sounded in the distance; condensation coated the rocks around them. Aria's grip on him increased the further they traveled.
Aria pointed out heavy, iron gates hidden in the walls that could swing shut to keep out invaders.
"No wonder the king couldn't squash the rebellion! You live like rats beneath the earth," said Ashby.
Braith halted when Aria stopped abruptly and turned to face Ashby. "We did what we were forced to do to survive," she grated. "And we don't always live in the caves; most of the time we live in the woods and only resort to the caves when it becomes necessary."
Ashby chuckled; he reached for her shoulder before glancing at Braith and thinking better of it. He dropped his hand to his side. "Easy tiger, I was just commenting,” he said to Aria. “Don't forget, I was forced out too."
Aria stared at him before Braith tugged gently on her arm. He pulled her forward as Xavier smirked with amusement.
Braith had to admit that though Ashby had gone about saying it the wrong way, he agreed with him. The hidden nooks and security systems the rebels had set in place down here were amazing. Though most of the tunnels were natural, manmade ones ran through the cave system too.
She'd said there was only one other exit, and he believed her. She wouldn't put them at risk by lying about that, but there was far more to this cave system than she was revealing, especially when she shut some of the iron doors while leaving others open.
"Do you know all of the caves around here?" Xavier inquired in
his deep, timbered voice.
"Not all of them, there are far too many for that, but a fair amount of them. We're almost to the center of the cave now," Aria answered.
Braith sensed an opening ahead before he stepped into the massive cavern.
"Bats," Ashby griped with a shudder.
Braith's eyes landed on the rodents lining the ceiling. He'd started to smell them a while back, but the smell was worse within the large cavern. He didn't bother to look down; he knew guano coated the floor. The thought of staying here repulsed him, the fact Aria grew up among these caves disturbed him immensely.
No wonder she preferred the trees.
Chapter Eleven
"You know, for an immortal vampire you're a bit of a wimp," Aria informed Ashby.
He flashed his dashing smile as he grinned. "I never said I wasn't."
As quietly as possible, so as not to wake the sleeping creatures, she closed three of the five gates. "The bats will go out tonight." She pointed to the fourth gate. "That's their way out; when they leave to feed, we'll lock it down, and they won't be able to get back in."
"We're not staying here, are we?" Ashby inquired.
Aria shook her head. "No, we aren’t savages; we don't like the smell of guano any more than you do."
Braith squeezed her shoulder soothingly. "No one is saying you do."
Aria took a deep breath to keep her control. It wasn't only their scrutiny and blatant revulsion that had her so wound up, but also the confining walls surrounding her.
"I know," she said. "We always leave one of the larger caverns blocked off so the bats can't get inside. This way."
The pungent aroma of bat droppings caused her nose to wrinkle as she picked her way over it, moving steadily toward the fourth gate. It had already been closed off.
"I'll go," Braith was moving toward her, but she held up her hand and shook her head.
The Captive Series 1-5 Page 48