"We all do, dad, but they're right; Aria's right, there are sometimes when our wants no longer matter," Daniel murmured.
David wouldn't look at them; Jack could smell the scent of tears in the air as his head bowed and his shoulders shook slightly. "If she is to leave after so be it, but we have to get her soon. She can't be kept in there—"
"We'll get to her soon," Jack promised.
Max shook his head ardently. "No, now. You didn't see what Caleb was doing to her; I don't think he'll keep her alive…"
"He'll keep her alive," Jack asserted.
"He was draining her!"
David finally turned away from the tree; tears didn't streak his face, but his eyes watered.
"He'll keep her alive," Jack insisted.
"How can you be so certain?" Max demanded impatiently.
"Because he'll smell Braith on her, in her. He won't kill her."
"So he'll torture her?" Max accused.
Jack's eyes flitted nervously to David as he stepped away from the tree. William and Daniel were beginning to shake as their jaws clenched and a muscle jumped in William's cheek.
"Abuse her?” Max asked. “I know you're one of them, Jack, but you have no idea what goes on in there from a human’s viewpoint. Aria was lucky last time, but by all accounts, Caleb is a sadistic son of a bitch."
"We will get her back," Jack assured him.
"Braith has to know what Caleb is doing to her. He has to be aware of everything before he decides to wait," Max insisted.
"I'll break your neck before I allow you to tell him that," Gideon vowed.
"Gideon, shut the fuck up!" Jack barked in frustration. "Max, we can all guess at what might be happening, but you can't shove it in his face. He may think he knows, may think he realizes it, but if you confirm it, there will be no stopping him. If there is to be any chance of getting her back alive we have to do this right."
"I don't like this,” Max said.
"None of us do, but I need your word that you won't do anything reckless, yours too, William." He added with a pointed look in William's direction.
"I won't," Max muttered resentfully.
William shifted uncomfortably, his jaw locked and unlocked before he bowed his head and reluctantly voiced his agreement. "I'll do what Aria would want me to do. I won't ruin our chances of succeeding."
Relief flowed through Jack, and his shoulders slumped. Jack studied Gideon as he contemplated whether he should tell the vampire he didn't believe any of their plans would work, or that the only reason Braith was remotely sane right now was because she was still alive. He decided to remain quiet though; he didn't trust how Gideon would react if he realized there would be no separating them.
Chapter Three
The sensation in Aria’s fingers was one she often associated with warming up too fast after being out in the cold for too long. A sharp tingling woke her from the darkness that had claimed her for an unknown amount of time. Her heart seemed sluggish, and it ached as it worked to pump blood through her body.
She was dying, she was sure of it.
She didn't want to die. She'd told Gideon she would, but now she was terrified by the possibility. She'd meant the words when she said them to Gideon, but that was when her death would have been quick. That was when it would have been for others, for her family. There was no reason for her to die now. For the first time in years, she felt like a child, she felt every bit of her seventeen years, and she longed for more of them.
Mostly she wished she could have said goodbye to Braith and her family.
Her tears were cold against her already icy flesh as they slid down her cheeks. "She's awake."
She hadn't realized there were others in the room. She was ashamed of herself for crying, but she couldn't lift her hand to wipe them away. Aria didn't have it in her to face Caleb right now. Even under Braith's protection, she'd feared Caleb and the cruelty the middle brother radiated. Now she was his to do with as he pleased.
"Give it to her."
The other voice was unfamiliar to her, but she didn't have time to ponder it as hands seized her hair. A small cry escaped her, but she held most of it back as she was hauled up from the floor.
She didn't have time to take in her surroundings before something metal was thrust between her lips and her head tilted harshly back. The foul taste hitting her tongue caused an explosive reaction to erupt from her.
She struck out at the hands holding her when the thick liquid was forced down her throat. She gurgled and choked, but her head was kept tilted back. The liquid pooled against the back of her throat until she was forced to swallow.
Bile surged up her throat; tears unwillingly burst free as more poured down her throat. Once, when she was a child, she'd eaten a handful of berries that she'd mistakenly believed to be blueberries. The taste alone had made her vomit. But this, this was worse.
She'd gladly eat those revolting berries again before swallowing one more drop of the viscous liquid spilling down her throat.
She was abruptly released, and her head was thrust forward. She staggered but was unable to keep her balance. Falling back to the floor, her shoulders heaved as she panted, choked, and dry heaved.
She felt like she was dying even as heat spread through her numb limbs and strength gradually returned to her weakened extremities. Sobs stuck in her chest; fresh anguish twisted through her body as she realized what it was they had given her.
Blood. Caleb's blood.
It tasted nothing like Braith's. Braith's was sweet and soothing when it filled and strengthened her; it was right in so many ways. Though Caleb's blood had renewed some of her strength, it felt hideously wrong in her body, it didn't belong there, and although her body was absorbing its healing properties, it was also revolting against the influx.
A scream built inside her; she had the irrational urge to rip her skin off to release the blood that didn't belong there.
Her hands wouldn't sit still on the hard floor as they jumped and danced over the marble beneath her. She tried to steady herself, but it felt as if she were no longer in her own body but someone else's entirely.
This was only the beginning of the suffering to come. Caleb could do this to her over and over again, and he would because her reaction had just revealed how appalling his blood was to her, how miserable it made her feel.
"Apparently, someone only likes big brother's blood."
Aria's eyes flew open. For the first time, fury and indignation tore through her. Her eyes narrowed as they focused on Caleb; her jumping fingers curled into her palms. He appeared unreasonably dignified in his refined clothes as he smirked at her.
He was somewhat shorter than Braith, but broader through the chest and shoulders. His dark hair tumbled in waves around his face, and his green eyes would have been pretty if they weren't so icy. Caleb's nose was a little larger than Braith's, his lips thinner, but there was no mistaking they were related.
Caleb knelt before her and seized her chin. He turned her head first one way and then the other. Aria's jaw clenched, but she didn't give him the satisfaction of trying to pull away. He squeezed her chin until she flinched, and he threw her face away in disgust. Her lip curled as she slowly turned back to him; she itched for her bow.
"Enough. Bring her here," someone else commanded.
Aria was so busy glaring at Caleb as he hauled her to her feet that she didn't immediately notice who he was dragging her toward, and then her gaze traveled to the dais. Foreboding slammed into her when she saw the man casually sitting on the large throne, a throne meant for a king.
The King.
Aria's legs almost gave out on her. Sheer will kept her on her feet as Caleb pulled her forward. She'd never seen him before, but she knew him instantly because he looked so heartbreakingly like Braith.
His hair was that same black shade, but his features were different in subtle ways. His nose was sharper and his mouth crueler as it curved in a sneer. Though she knew how merciless Braith could b
e when pushed to his limits, there was a depravity about this man Braith could never possess.
She shuddered at the thought of what Braith was like now, without her.
The king rose to tower over her. This close to him she was able to pick out the other differences between this man and his son. There was no sparkle within this man's callous green eyes; the king's forehead was higher and his cheeks broader, but she was still unnerved by the similarities.
His gaze raked her from head to toe and back again. She felt exposed, judged, and found lacking.
"I smell my son on you, in you," he stated.
Aria remained still, uncertain what he expected of her. If they planned on killing her, she felt she would be dead.
The king rested two fingers against her cheek. Pride kept her face impassive as he turned her head first one way, then the other.
"He has also fed from you, recently, and on what appears to be a fairly regular basis," the king murmured.
She remained immobile as his fingers slid over her neck and then her collarbone. Bile rose in her throat; goose bumps broke out on her chilled flesh as his fingers brushed against her breast and a leering grin crossed his full mouth.
Caleb was the threat she'd known upon coming here, but the other one was now standing in front of her, touching her far too much for her liking. The king was the one with all the power; the one who would now control her fate.
"You willingly allow this?" he asked.
He required an answer; she just wasn't sure what she was going to say to him. Her heart hammered, stammered, and then leapt into full-blown panic mode as his fingers wrapped around her throat, and he leaned closer to her.
"You allow this?" he hissed.
He wouldn't tolerate her disobedience or willfulness. She was alive for some reason she didn't understand, but he would kill her without hesitation if she didn't at least pretend to play along with him.
"I do." Her voice was as strong as she could make it considering the hold he had on her.
He smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. "Delightful."
She was ashamed of the tremors shaking her as his fingers trailed over the bare flesh of her arms. She would have preferred death to having this man touching her in such a way.
"Simply delightful. Will my son come for you?"
The lump in her throat had become uncomfortable. "I…" she swallowed heavily. "No, he will not."
She wasn't sure if it was a lie. She knew Braith would be furious, devastated, he would blame himself, but she had to trust he would do what was right. It was what she had hoped for, what she’d plotted with Jack and Gideon for after all.
No matter how badly she longed for Braith to storm in here and take her away from the foul creature across from her, he couldn't be careless. Braith had to think this through; he had to realize he couldn't throw everything they’d worked for away. He had to accept the fact she was most likely a lost cause.
And so did she.
The king's face was suddenly in hers. "You really don't think so?"
The quirk in his eyebrow and a shifting in his eyes caused alarm bells to ring in her head. Not only was he powerful and sadistic, but she was beginning to realize there may be a little insanity lurking within his twisted mind. His fingers encircled her wrist; she thought he was going to break it to punish her for some offense he thought she'd made.
"No," she said forcefully. "I don't believe he’ll come for me."
"If that is true then you are of no use to us; maybe you should change your answer."
Her teeth clenched as she grated the single word. "No."
He pulled her a step closer to him; their noses almost touched. "I think you should. There is a reason my son left here, a reason he gave up everything he knows. What are you to him, and what do you know?"
"I'm nothing but an ex-blood slave and a rebel, teenage girl. What could I possibly know?"
"Your pulse is racing."
"I'm frightened," she admitted.
"As any normal teenage girl would be, I assume."
"Yes," she confirmed.
"Why is my son with you?"
"I… I don't know."
His hand clenched on her wrist; pain lanced up her arm as he twisted it back and grasped her middle finger. Her eyes widened as she gazed at the massive hand wrapped around her finger. She was unable to stop herself from flinching as he pressed his nose to hers.
"You're lying," he said.
A startled cry escaped her when he snapped her finger back. He grinned maliciously at her as the distinct crack of bone reverberated through the massive hall. Sweat beaded her brow; her breath came in rapid pants as nausea swelled up her throat and tears burned her eyes.
He squeezed remorselessly as he pulled her downward. Aria strained to stay upright, but he was far stronger than her, and her broken finger throbbed relentlessly. The king loomed over her as he drove her to her knees.
She should be afraid, and she was, but righteous fury also built in her chest and a self-respect that refused to let her cower before him. He had managed to force her to her knees, had maimed her, and she was sure he would do far worse to her before he finished, but she managed to tilt her chin up and glare back at him.
"You're far more than what you let on, and there is something between you and my son. Perhaps even both of my sons; it was Jericho who led you from here the first time."
Sickened by him, she leaned away as he bent close to her neck and sniffed her like a dog.
"But it is only Braith I smell in you, and myself, of course."
Aria started in surprise; she turned to meet his shrewd green eyes. It wasn't Caleb's blood they’d forced into her, but his.
"Do you know what that means?" he asked.
She knew what it meant, but she couldn't put the appalling realization into words. It didn't matter; he continued without her reply.
"It means I can find you anywhere. It means that what once belonged to my son now belongs to me. If you somehow manage to escape these walls again, I will hunt you down and destroy anyone with you. I will shred everyone in your life, and then I will shred you."
His fingers lingered over her cheek; she couldn't stop herself from turning away from him. "There are things I will do to you that not even an animal should have done to them, but I'd prefer to do them in front of my son. I will save up every little torment, every little pleasure I have planned for you, until then. I know you’re lying to me my dear, he will come for you."
She couldn't tear her gaze away from his. The cruelty in his eyes mesmerized her; she was trapped by the horror of his promises, and the glimmer of his insanity. His hand wrapped around her brutalized finger again, and he bent it back bit by bit.
"Oh, and what superb torture it will be," he murmured.
His other hand brushed against the tears streaming from her eyes as he bent the broken appendage farther than it was meant to go.
"Is he out there now, near the town? I imagine he probably wasn't far from you, but Caleb says there were only three other humans with you."
"No," she breathed. "No, he wasn't with us. I haven't seen him in a while."
A snarl curved his mouth; his fingers pressed on the marks on her neck. "These are from Caleb." A small cry escaped her when his fingers dug into Caleb's bites before drifting over to Braith's marks. "Who left these on you then?"
"I don't know where he is!"
"Oh, maybe not right now, but you did, and he was close to you. What were you doing in the town?"
"Looking for food."
"What exactly are you to my son?"
For the first time his casual, sadistic demeanor slipped. In its place was pure wrath as his eyes briefly shimmered red.
"No… nothing," she stammered out.
Faster than a striking snake, he sank his teeth into her inner wrist. A startled yelp escaped her; she tried to jerk her wrist back, but he clung to her as he bit deeper. Much like the blood Caleb had forced into her, her body seemed determined to reje
ct this invasion from someone who wasn't Braith.
Flames and heat licked through her veins from where his teeth embedded in her arm. This was worse than when Caleb bit her; her head bowed as she felt crushed beneath the torment engulfing her.
Just when she thought she couldn't take anymore, and her entire being was going to splinter apart, he pulled away. He rose over her as he leisurely wiped away the blood staining his mouth.
"Delicious," he murmured as he licked his lips.
He snatched a goblet up; before she could react, he shoved it into her mouth and poured its contents down her throat again. He jerked her back when she tried to scramble away and grabbed her hair when she shook her head to keep from consuming the blood. Seizing her hands, he clenched her wrists together while he held her head steady. Nausea burst through her as he forced the blood into her mouth and wouldn't release her until she swallowed it.
Though tears rolled down her cheeks, and she was struggling not to start sobbing in devastation, she managed to thrust her shoulders back and at least try to appear defiant. He watched her with a maliciousness that caused chills to run up and down her back.
"I'll enjoy every minute of what I'm going to do to you. I'm going to break you and my pathetic excuse for a son."
He pulled her roughly up and spun her around. For the first time, Aria was able to take in the massive hall they were in, was it the dining hall? But that made no sense, what were all those…
"Oh," she breathed as realization and abhorrence suffused her.
The tears streaming down her face were no longer for herself but the people in this hall. Only they weren't people, not anymore. They had once been alive and breathing, perhaps at one time they had even been happy and loved before they entered this nightmare.
Aria's head spun; she couldn't take everything in at once. It took her a minute to comprehend they weren't all humans, that there were also desiccated remains of vampires pinned to the walls, hanging from the ceiling, the rafters, and sitting at the massive table. The vampire's faces were pulled into macabre grins that revealed their pointed fangs, while the human's faces were warped into different expressions of torment and woe.
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