Frustration filled her; her eyes burned as he pulled her head back and bent her neck at an unnatural angle. He may not mean to do it, it would ruin all his plans, but she was becoming increasingly fearful he would accidentally break her neck.
She threw herself forward. Stars burst before her eyes; she could feel the hair ripping from her scalp as she kept her weight shifted forward. Losing her hair was far preferable to losing her life.
A clump of her hair gave way with a wrenching tear that caused her eyes to burn. She fell forward; her knees and palms stung as they slapped on the floor. Scrambling to her feet, she didn't look back as she bolted down a lengthy corridor. She was completely unaware of where she was going as she fled into the bowels of the palace.
His rooms were much as he'd left them. Trashed. He recalled the last conversation he had with Caleb in these rooms; he'd been getting fitted for his wedding when Caleb came to him. The tailor had been terrified of him, everyone had feared him, even Caleb, and rightly so as he'd been an out of control, bloodthirsty monster after Aria left him.
But that conversation with Caleb had pushed him over the edge. Aria had been spotted, in a cave, with another man. He now knew the other man was William, but at the time Caleb's revelation had sent him into another frenzy.
He'd already destroyed his apartment once after discovering her gone, but this time he'd ripped it to shreds. Braith knew the damage he'd done, he'd been there for it, but this was the first time he witnessed it.
He'd gone to the dungeons after with the goal of sating the beast within him, but he never made it there. He'd finally given up his pride, vowed to hunt her down, and make her pay for turning him into this insatiable monster. Instead, she'd quenched the savagery within him.
Now he was standing here, back in the rooms where it all started, and he could feel the rising bloodlust pulsing through him. This time though, only death would satisfy him.
William let out a low whistle as he stepped over some broken furniture. "Your father has a temper," he muttered.
"I did this."
William's mouth dropped. "Why would you… Aria."
"Yes."
Braith nodded to the soldiers and picked his way carefully through the debris littering the floor. He could see, but he still relied on his other senses the most right now. He would hear and smell the enemy before he saw them.
The sitting room was in much the same condition as the living room, and he knew without having to see it that the room Aria spent the majority of her time in was the most devastated. He'd tried to destroy anything with her exquisite scent on it, anything she may have touched, but he hadn't been able to bring himself to ruin it all.
"Wow," Max breathed.
He didn't look back at them. Braith was not proud of what he was then; he had despised the lack of control consuming him and the death and misery he rained down on the innocent. He couldn't take it back though, and right now he welcomed the thrumming power that came with letting the darkness creep in to retake control.
He stepped into the room that was Aria's when she first arrived. He wasn’t at all surprised to find the tunnel near the bed barricaded. He suspected at least part of the tunnel was demolished. He refused to look at the nightgown spread out on the bed as he turned on his heel and left the room. Keegan remained at his side as he made his way into the central living area.
At the door of the suite, he pressed his hands to the wood and his eye to the peephole. He saw nothing out there and sensed no one as his hand rested on the knob. He turned it bit by bit and stepped into the hallway. There was no one about, but he could hear running footsteps in the massive foyer below and shouts echoed off the cavernous walls.
Some walls broke the openness of the hallway before him, but for the most part, it was an open balcony to the main entryway below. They would be far too visible to the soldiers and people beneath them. Unfortunately, it was also the fastest way to the dungeons.
He turned and went the other way, disappearing deeper into the palace as he moved toward the servant's corridor. It would take longer, but this part of the hall was hidden in shadow and sheltered from view by massive walls. He had to turn sideways to make it down the stairs at the far back of the hall.
It didn't become any more comfortable as he finally stepped out of the stairwell and into the hallway the servants used to transport supplies and where they had their rooms. A man, stepping from his room, spotted them.
His mouth dropped as recognition lit his eyes. "Intru—"
Braith snagged him and snapped his neck before the man could finish his shout of warning. Daniel let out a low curse as William made a strangled sound. He turned back toward them. Max had his bow raised; to Braith's surprise the arrow wasn't aimed at his heart, but at the human he’d destroyed.
They stared at each other before Max grinned at him and lowered the bow. He didn't know when it occurred, but Max seemed to have started to put some trust in him. Or if not trust, Max had at least decided Braith would be the one to get Aria back.
Braith stepped negligently over the servant's body as he continued down the hall. The further they moved down the hall, the more candles started to cast shadows on the dark rock wall. Though the palace had electricity, his father had never installed it in these lower areas as a way to exert his control and torment the servants forced to reside in the dark.
The hallway opened as they stepped into a room filled with tables and a large stone fire pit at the end. Burnt logs were still in the pit, heat radiated from it but no servants were lingering around it. Everything seemed to be going to plan, but he couldn’t shake the sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach.
He had to find Aria; he'd be able to think better and be less on edge if he could see and hold her right now.
He moved faster as they accessed another small hallway and the staircase leading to the lowest bowels of the palace, the dungeons. Even as he took the stairs, he knew something was wrong. He knew before he saw the ruined dungeon door Aria wasn't within the dark cells below. A low growl escaped him; his hands trembled as he pulled the heavy metal gate away from where it had fallen across the bottom of the doorway.
A snarl curled his upper lip as he bypassed the steps and leapt into the depths of the dungeons below. The smell hit him first. He had been here before, had drawn people from here, but he'd never truly noticed the smell until now. He hadn't even noticed it on his victims; he'd been too lost in the madness consuming him at the time.
It engulfed him now with its desolation and dread. Even though he was struck by the sharp scent, beneath it all, he could smell Aria's delicious aroma. She had been here, trapped and ensconced in this awful gloom. This place was everything her woods weren't, everything she wasn't. The clamoring madness inside him was briefly pushed aside as a lump formed in his throat.
Sharp gasps accompanied his sudden arrival. People scurried like cockroaches from the light to the backs of their cells. He deserved their terror, there may even be some women still within he’d fed from, but he didn't have time for it.
When he stopped before an open cell door, his hand twisted around the metal frame. He couldn't move as her scent overwhelmed him. He'd known what they would do to her, the abuse she would endure, but the strong scent of her blood slapped him in the face with the harsh reality of it.
He ripped the door from the wall with a violent wrench that did little to soothe him. He managed to restrain himself from heaving it at the back wall as it fell with a clattering ring at his feet.
He stepped away from the filthy cell and turned to the man standing in the middle of the one next to Aria's.
"What happened here?" he demanded. The man simply stared at him with a gaping mouth and bug eyes. "Where is she?"
Determined to get answers from the man, Braith seized the cell door. He was about to yank it free when a faint whisper pierced the air.
"Max?" Braith's head shot around at the name. "William? Daniel?"
The three of them had crept t
o the bottom of the stairs; the radiance of a single torch flickered over their horrified expressions as they took in the dungeon. Braith stormed down the hall toward them and the voice coming from their right. Snatching the torch from them, he thrust it forward which caused the woman within the cell to shrink back.
He didn't know if she was one of the women he'd fed from, he hadn't been able to see them, and they'd been a blur of blood that hadn't been nearly good enough. However, the wary expression of the woman made him think she might have been one of his victims.
"Mary." Max was staring at the woman in disbelief as he stepped closer to the bars. "I didn't think you would still be alive."
Her gaze darted to Braith, and her lower lip began to tremble. He might have felt bad, he was sure he would feel bad once his panic and wrath abated, but right now all he felt was irritated and incensed.
"Neither did I," she whispered.
"What happened here?" Braith grated.
The woman stared at him with large, frightened eyes. Braith took a step toward the bars, causing the woman to shrink back further. Max shot him a look as he elbowed Braith out of the way. Braith's jaw clenched, and his hand tightened around the torch; he thought he might have preferred it when Max hated him and went out of his way to avoid him. This side of Max was a little too brazen for his liking right now.
"Mary, was Aria here?" Max asked.
"I know she was here," Braith retorted.
William and Daniel shook their heads as they stepped forward. Mary continued to study Braith like he was a hairy spider.
"You really trust him?" she inquired doubtfully.
"Yes. Please, Mary, was Aria here?" Max pressed.
"She was here," she answered after a moment of hesitation.
"What happened?" Braith thrust the torch at one of the soldiers as he grabbed the bars of the cell. "Who took her from here?"
"No one took her." The voice came from the man in the cell next to Aria's empty one. "Your brother," the word was spat at him. "Came for her."
"Caleb came into the dungeons?" Braith asked in disbelief.
"He did." Mary moved hesitatingly toward the bars. "He attempted to put the chain on her."
A cold chill flitted down the back of Braith's neck as beads of sweat began to coat him. Knowing his brother, Caleb may very well keep it on her until the day she died.
"She got away though." There was amusement in the man's voice, and a few chuckles emerged from the cells surrounding them. "Kicked his ass actually."
Braith didn't know if he was more proud or terrified. He did know he couldn't let Caleb get his hands on her again.
Chapter Nine
"Concentrate on the ones behind us; we can take them!" Jack yelled above the twang of arrows and the growing shout of voices erupting from the crowd.
He pushed his way through the horde, heading toward the group that had turned to focus on the enemy approaching from the back. He grabbed Ashby and pointed to the top of the battlements.
"We need to get some men up there," he commanded.
Ashby stared at him as if he'd sprouted a horn from the middle of his forehead. "Jack—"
"Do it, Ashby!" he barked. "We have to keep them occupied if Braith is going to have any chance of slipping in from behind."
Ashby was unmoving before he visibly paled and rushed into the crowd of bodies. Jack could hear him calling for vampires and humans to follow him as he ran toward the wall. David appeared at his side and reclaimed his bow and arrow. He turned and slipped away toward the soldiers encroaching on their backside.
A loud shout rose from both armies as they collided with a loud crash of bodies and metal. Jack grabbed one of his father's soldiers and flipped him over his back. Slamming his foot down on the man's throat, he drove his wooden spear through the man's ribcage and into his heart. The man thrashed for a few moments before going still.
Jack ripped the spear free and turned in time to face the next threat barreling down on him. He spotted Calista within the crowd; blood already coated her dark skin and faded clothing. Calista grinned savagely; thoroughly enjoying the mayhem as she stepped back and heaved her spear at a soldier who made the mistake of thinking she was more vulnerable because she was a woman.
Two of their vampires fell around him, but the tide was turning in their favor as the militia battled through the soldiers with ferocious glee. They wanted this more than his father's men did, Jack didn't think that alone was enough for them to win, but it was enough for them to fight harder.
Assured Calista and the others had this under control, Jack broke into a run as he hurried toward the pack still concentrating on the wall. He snagged a bow and arrows from a fallen human and took up a stance beside the scattered line of archers.
Ashby and the men he’d gathered had managed to distract the attention of the guards on the wall. He hadn't expected Ashby to go up there himself, but he was climbing with a swift and deadly purpose. Someone shouted as one of their men fell from the wall, an arrow embedded at a downward angle through his shoulder. Even before he hit the ground, Jack knew the man was dead.
Another fell seconds later, and then others began to topple off as the king's soldiers turned their attention to the new threat scaling the wall toward them. They weren't going to be overpowered from behind, but unless Braith managed to get his group inside, Jack knew they weren't going to make it into the palace either.
Jack leaned back on his heel, but this time he didn't aim for over the palace walls, but at the soldiers gathered on top. He focused on one about to fire at Ashby and released the arrow. The guard's arrow went astray as Jack caught him in the shoulder.
Hurry, he thought frantically as more of their men fell from the wall and the growing heat of the flames from the town pressed against his back.
Unlike Braith and the king, Caleb couldn't track her through her blood, but with her pounding heart and noisy breathing, it wouldn't be difficult for him to find her. She longed to pause to catch her breath, and calm her pulse, but she didn't dare stop for even a moment. She had a head start on Caleb, but not much of one, and he was much faster than she was.
His strange humming filled the air as he strolled through the dark halls, relentlessly and unerringly pursuing her. She fell against the wall, wheezing as her legs trembled and shook from exhaustion. She knew she was louder than usual, but she didn't understand how he managed to stay on her trail so easily.
Lifting her arm to wipe the sweat from her forehead, she froze as a small groan escaped her. His blood may not be inside her, but her blood was seeping from the multiple bites inflicted on her. Though most of them had stopped bleeding, there were a few of them still open and raw enough to leave a blood trail behind her. She was ringing the dinner bell, and Caleb was answering it.
He was taking his sweet time because he knew no matter what she did, she wouldn't be able to escape him. Tears burned her eyes; a knot lodged in her throat as she shoved away from the wall. Her teeth grated as she forced her legs to move. She would not go down this way; she would not.
"Here, kitty, kitty, kitty." Caleb's taunting voice drifted down the hall.
Aria had never wanted to punch someone more than she wanted to hit him. Rushing down the hall, determined to escape, she wasn't prepared for when the walls suddenly gave out, and she staggered into a sitting room. She stopped, momentarily confused by the sudden appearance of the room within the dark and twisted passages.
"I'm just going to catch you," Caleb called.
She glanced over her shoulder; she could tell by the clarity of his voice Caleb was gaining on her, but she still couldn't see him. Aria bolted across the room, looking for something, anything she could use to defend herself with but there were only three couches and a small table in the center of the room. She wanted to linger longer in the hope she would find something, but there was no time to waste.
Aria hurried past the room and plunged back into another hallway. She was unable to see her hand before her as she rushed
onward. She didn't know where she was going, where any of these hallways led, and she didn't care.
She had to stay free of Caleb long enough to find a weapon of some sort or Braith. The sizzling energy in her veins made her think he was also close.
She was deep into the new passageway when she heard voices. She froze as shouts echoed through the narrow halls. She strained to pinpoint the location of the noise, but it was impossible as the shouting vibrated the walls around her.
She stepped forward, and the hand she had braced against the wall fell into nothing. It took her a moment to realize she had come to a crossroads. She was motionless as she tried to decipher which way to go.
Grimacing, she clamped her teeth together as she dug her fingers into the tender bite marks on her inner wrist. Fresh blood welled up and trickled down her wrist to her hand. She moved into the hallway on the right and wiped her wrist along the stones for the first five feet.
She stuck her wrist into her mouth, sucking on it to staunch the flow as she hurried back to the hallway that branched to the left. Aria didn't know if she was making the right choice, but she felt a stronger instinctual pull to the left tunnel, and she couldn't stand there until Caleb found her.
She hoped the fresh blood would draw Caleb away from her, but she didn't count on him being fooled for long. Eventually, he would realize her scent didn't go all the way down the hall. She just hoped she'd bought herself enough time to make some stand against the monster hunting her.
"Gideon, collect all the soldiers that have emerged from the tunnel by now and take them to the palace gates."
Gideon did a double take at Braith's command. "Braith we should stay with the plan."
"I am staying with the plan. The snake needs to be destroyed, and Caleb is the tail."
"But—"
"I am not leaving this palace without her, Gideon, I made that clear before we stepped foot in here. Retrieve the soldiers from my apartment and lead them to the main gate. We must get the outside forces in here, and you will need the group waiting in the tunnel to do so. I will have an easier time surprising my father if I go in with a smaller force. If something happens to me, you should still be able to reach the main gate with the larger force."
The Captive Series 1-5 Page 64