"I smell fear on the kitty," Caleb ridiculed.
Taking a deep breath, Aria forced herself to calm down. There had to be a way out, she was sure of it. She recalled Jack finding the secret lever to reveal the hidden passage in the room she'd slept in as a blood slave, and she knew well the intricate traps and unknown releases Daniel designed in the caves. Just as there was always a way out of those places, there was a way out of here; she only had to find it.
She bit back a scream of frustration as her fingers frantically skimmed over the smooth walls surrounding her as she searched for a lever or switch. It wouldn't be so hidden that the servants couldn't find it, so why couldn't she locate the damn thing?
Then her fingers caught on the small lever set at chest height; she pulled down on it and stepped back as the door swung inward. Light descended on her, and for a moment she couldn't see again, but her eyes quickly adjusted to this sudden influx. She was about to step forward when she saw what the open door revealed.
Her mouth was suddenly as dry as The Barrens; her heart lumbered as she stared at the atrocious throne room the king cherished so much. With sinking dismay, she realized she'd leapt out of the frying pan and into the fire.
"Boo."
She cried out as she jumped. She'd been too startled by the realization of where she was to hear Caleb's approach. His word, whispered near her ear, sent a fresh flood of adrenaline crashing through her, and with her hands fisted, she spun to face him. He was better prepared for her this time, but even so, she got in a glancing blow to his chin. He danced back before coming at her again.
With an infuriated cry, she kicked him in the knee with enough force to knock his leg back and pushed herself off him as hard as she could. She was fast, but she wasn't faster than a vampire. She was hoping to give herself a little bit of a head start as she turned and bolted out of the passageway. The king had to be somewhere nearby; she had a feeling he spent most of his time in this throne/trophy/monstrosity room he created for himself.
She bolted into the room, nearly tripping over her own feet as the king's soldiers spun toward her. She froze, her eyes widened, and her mouth dropped when the king turned to look at her. There was a malicious smile on his face as he leered at her with far too much amusement for her liking. Then, over the sea of heads and across the massive hall, she saw him.
Her heart lodged in her throat; tears burned her eyes as her gaze clashed with Braith's. The soldiers lifted their spears and moved to block him when he stepped toward her.
Braith's vivid gray eyes became the color of glistening rubies as his fangs extended past his lower lip. Though there were far more soldiers than him, judging by the look on his face he might plow his way through them to get to her.
Arms wrapped around her waist and lifted her up before flinging her to the floor. She cried out when her body bounced off the marble, and her teeth clamped down on the inside of her bottom lip. She had forgotten about Caleb in her astonishment over seeing Braith, but he hadn't forgotten about her.
She scrambled back and tried to regain her feet as Caleb came at her. Braith's ferocious bellow ripped across the room when Caleb seized her arms and yanked her to her feet.
Chapter Eleven
Leading the way through the streets, Jack fought off the soldiers coming at them while he tried to avoid the unsuspecting souls scrambling to get out of the way. The only ones he genuinely cared about not killing were the children.
Though some of the king's noblemen resided within the palace itself, most had residences within the large town and bailey outside of it. Jack targeted those residences. He was sure most of the nobles had fled toward the palace when the attack started, but some would have stubbornly remained in their homes.
Wood cracked and popped as flames licked at the stores and homes. The stage where the slaves were auctioned was already fully engulfed. Screams echoed over the cobblestone and down the roads of the town as vampires and humans attempted to flee the devastation.
He wanted to be repulsed by the death, but a part of him was thrilled by the brutality of it. He was surprised most of their vampires were doing so well, especially the starving masses from the outlying towns. There were few here who wanted to win more than the broken masses the king had created though.
Drops of David's blood plopped onto the streets as he fought close at Jack's side. Though Jack had his baser instincts under control, the past few days had been a trying time, and David's blood seemed more distinct than the humans around him. Jack realized he'd never smelled it before. In all their adventures and trials together, David's blood had never spilled before tonight. The man was too quick for that most of the time.
David lifted his bow and fired at a soldier who emerged from the smoke and fire. The arrow pierced deep into the soldier's heart and knocked him back as he kicked and groaned in the final seconds of his life. Though David's jaw was locked, and determination radiated from his eyes, his arm trembled as he dropped it back to his side.
"It is essential you take care of your wound," Jack informed him.
"I'm fine."
"You're not fine."
David shot him a look as he lifted his bow and fired another arrow into a cluster of soldiers. Jack ignored the furious glare his friend gave him as he seized the bow from David.
"Do something about it before you bleed to death," he commanded gruffly. "Your children will kick my ass if something happens to you."
David glowered at Jack as he reached out and grabbed Jack's shirt. Jack wasn't expecting it when David brandished a knife to cut a large piece of cloth from the last shirt Jack had.
Clothing was hard to come by in the woods. Over the years, Jack had become accustomed to the lightweight tunics and baggy pants woven out of flax for the summer, and the heavy woolen articles created for the winter.
David's eyes sparkled as he deftly tied the shirt around his injury and used his teeth to pull the knot tight.
"I liked this shirt," Jack grumbled as he handed the bow back.
"It was nice," David agreed.
Jack's attention was diverted from the blood soaking through his friend’s bandage when a shout of victory rang throughout the street. He turned to discover that Victor, one of his father's right-hand men, and one of the cruelest vampires Jack ever had the displeasure of meeting, had been taken prisoner.
Victor was beaten and bloody as a group of soldiers, led by Saul and Barnaby, propelled him down the street. Saul stepped back and pointed toward one of the growing fires, and the soldiers pushed Victor into the inferno. Jack didn't feel an ounce of remorse as Victor's agonized shrieks pierced the night.
Rounding a bend in the road, the palace came into view. It loomed over them, ominous and imposing as it stretched high into the night sky. Illumination from the leaping flames of the town shimmered off the pale palace walls as they approached.
Almost there, they were almost there. He could only hope his brother hadn't managed to get himself killed as the massive gold doors of the palace swung open and a new horde of the king's soldiers spilled out to challenge them.
Braith could barely believe what he was seeing as Aria burst free of the servant's tunnel. Seeming to sense his presence, she turned toward him. Hope and terror radiated from her brilliant blue eyes as she gazed at him. Even filthy, with her hair tangled around her dirt-streaked, porcelain skin, she was still the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.
Beneath the dirt, he saw the bites, bruises, and blood covering her arms and the column of her throat. He couldn't bring himself to think about where else she might have bite marks, where else they might have touched her, and what else they might have done to her. All he longed for was to get his hands on her again and to get her out of here alive.
If at all possible.
She stepped toward him as Caleb emerged from the servant's quarters right behind her. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he lifted her up and threw her to the floor. Braith's vision became a shade of crimson as a bellow tore from him.
He lunged forward, shoving through the guards closest to him as he felt the beast within taking over and all his control slip away.
He was consumed with bloodlust as he jerked a man forward and seized the spear from him. Turning it in his grasp, he twisted it under his arm and plunged it into the vampire's chest. Tearing it free, he drove it into the hearts of two more soldiers closing in on him.
Aria's frightened cry drove him heedlessly onward. All he cared about was getting to her and destroying anyone who dared to touch her. He didn't feel the spear piercing his back and tearing through his shoulder. He didn't know he'd been stabbed until the pointed tip shot out the other side of him.
He tore the spear free as he spun on the two guards staring at him with huge, frightened eyes. He was about to cross that line again, about to completely relinquish himself to the darkness, and he didn't care as he seized them both. He killed the one quickly, almost mercifully, as he grabbed him, slammed his fist into his ribcage and tore his heart out.
The other was not so lucky as Braith spun him around and used him to deflect the four soldiers rushing at him. The man screamed and howled as multiple spears and arrows pierced him. He squirmed within Braith's grasp, but Braith felt no compunction over continuing to use the man as a shield as he battered his way through the crowd.
He lost sight of her as soldiers engulfed him. Something else pierced through his calf, driving him briefly to his left knee. Pain lanced through him, but he forced himself to his feet as the guard he held heaved one final groan and went still in his grasp. Braith used his body to beat back two more soldiers as they lurched at him. He threw the limp body of the dead guard at three more of the king's men and knocked them over.
The soldiers fell back; the crowd parted giving him a brief glimpse of Aria as she tussled against his brother's hold. He grunted as another arrow tore through flesh and bone, ripped through sinew, and clipped part of his heart.
Driven to his knees, Braith felt the rush of blood from the damaged organ as it seeped into his chest. It wasn't a fatal blow, not at his age, not if he could feed soon, but it would weaken him. The guards approached with far more confidence than they had before, and on top of his other wounds…
"No!" Aria's scream was frenzied and raw with terror. "Don't! Stop it; you're killing him!"
Caleb tried to grab her again when she spun on him.
Chapter Twelve
Panic tore through Aria as she watched Braith go down on the marble floor. A scream of anguish ripped from her; she'd never seen so much blood. They were killing him, and he kept trying to get up and reach her. It was becoming devastatingly apparent there were too many of them; the soldiers swarming him outnumbered him.
Caleb grinned maliciously as he grabbed her. Reacting on instinct and rushing adrenaline, she tried to drive her knee into his tender groin region again, but he was better prepared this time. He slapped her fist away from its trajectory toward his face when Aria tried to change tactics. She lunged at him, throwing him a little off balance as she shoved her weight against him.
Every dirty trick her brothers had taught her sprang to mind as she sought to free herself from him. Caleb was expecting her to go for his groin again, and she made a feigning attempt at it. His hands dropped, leaving his face, and her intended area of attack, exposed. Feeling like a crazed woman, she hooked her fingers and went straight for his eyes.
Caleb howled as she drove her fingers into his eye sockets. Aria tried not to think about what she felt beneath her fingers; she simply clawed as ferociously as she could until he threw his arms up and knocked her away from him.
The jarring impact caused her arms to go numb as she stumbled backward. His hands flew to his face, she had not blinded him, but she'd injured him enough that blood pooled from his battered right eye. Aria was not fooled into thinking it would distract him for long.
She clasped both hands into a fist, and with the full force of her weight, she twisted as she swung them upward. She caught him beneath his chin and knocked his head back with a loud crack that gave her a spurt of satisfaction.
Blood exploded from his mouth as he staggered back. Before this, he would have played with and tormented her, but now if he got his hands on her again, he would kill her in the vilest way possible.
She would have to make sure he didn't catch her again.
Aria turned and darted away from him. Her heart hammered as she spotted Braith somehow finding the power to rise to his feet once more and take down two more guards. Pulling one of them forward, he yanked the vampires head back and sank his teeth deep into its neck.
No, Aria moaned silently. No, no, no.
She may be too late, she realized. She may have already lost Braith to the monster he could become.
She threw herself forward, rolling across the ground as she avoided the searching grasp of one of the guards. Grasping a spear, Aria staggered back to her feet as she ran for Braith; adrenaline and terror gave her a speed and strength she didn't know she'd possessed until this moment.
She didn't know if it was the king's blood, or her driving need to reach Braith, but all her other injuries and exhaustion were forgotten as a strength she never knew she could possess surged through her.
Toward the back of the room, she spotted her brothers, Max, and Xavier. They had already been taken down; bloodied and beaten they were on their knees, surrounded by guards, close to the elongated tableful of the king's horrible "guests." Her chest constricted as she realized she was about to lose almost everyone she loved today.
Keegan raced around Braith, biting and snarling as he forced some of the guards back while dodging the weapons thrust at him. Braith tossed aside the guard as he rose to his feet and lurched toward her.
A soldier, who had the misfortune of getting in his way, was easily disposed of as Braith broke his neck and tore out his heart. Aria heaved the spear at another guard, driving it deep into his chest. The man's eyes bulged as he clutched at the wooden pole protruding from him.
She ripped the spear free as Braith went down again, an arrow protruding from his torso. She was dimly aware the soldiers must have orders to take them alive; otherwise, they would all be dead by now. Braith was powerful, and the bodies of the soldiers he’d destroyed littered the floor, but ultimately he was outnumbered. She was quick, she had caught Caleb off guard, but she was still human.
But then none of it mattered as she was almost there. She could practically feel him again. She barely spotted the guard who stepped in front of her even as she heaved the spear at him. It was off the mark as it pierced his throat, but it still knocked him away as he fell back against two of his cohorts.
She fell to her knees; tears burned her throat as she flung herself into Braith's open arms. A sob tore from her; she'd never felt anything as magnificent as his body molded perfectly against hers. Her fingers clutched at his back as his love enveloped her.
He bent over her, clasping her tightly as he cradled the base of her head against his chest and buried his face in her hair. She couldn't get enough of the feel of him.
"Arianna," he groaned, his lips were warm against her ear.
The relief and pleasure in his voice almost undid her as her hands rapidly fluttered over him. They were going to die, but at least they would have this moment, this one last time, and she so desperately needed it as she clung to him.
She wished she'd never listened to Jack, Ashby, and Gideon and tried to distance herself from him. She'd been foolish to think she ever could have let him go, or that he would be able to do the same.
Holding him now was the best thing she'd ever felt. She'd never thought to experience love in the first place, never mind this kind of love, with him, a vampire who had taught her there was far more to life, and the world, than she'd ever imagined.
She was in love with this beautiful creature who had taught her not everything was black and white, good and evil. There were shades of gray, there were in-betweens, and there were colors she'd never dreamed of. Colo
rs that Braith had shown her in the garden, worlds, and experiences he'd opened to her when he taught her to read, love he'd given to her freely over and over again with his understanding, patience, and countless sacrifices he'd made for her.
Now they were here, back where it all started, and where it would finally end one way or another.
"You shouldn't have come." She buried her face in his neck; she couldn't get close enough to him.
"I will always come for you," he vowed.
Yes, he would. No matter what Gideon and the others thought, he would always come for her, and she would always welcome him. Aria would have pretended she didn't want him to find her and would have stayed strong because she believed she was doing the right thing. However, she continuously would have hoped for him to find her, and she would have been waiting for him.
"You shouldn't have brought them," she said.
"I could no more have stopped them than I could have stopped you if the roles were reversed."
A harsh laugh escaped her at the truth of his words. "My father is okay?" she asked worriedly, though she knew he would have had to lead the humans into battle.
"He was fine the last time I saw him."
From the corner of her eye, she saw the soldiers narrowing in with their weapons raised with deadly intent. Her fingers trembled; she should pull away, but she couldn't bring herself to let him go. Not yet, she wasn't ready to say goodbye.
"Hold."
She was dimly aware it was the king who spoke the word, but she didn't care about the reason why he had chosen to give them this reprieve. She was sure he had some ulterior motive, but the king didn't matter, the men surrounding them didn't matter, not anymore.
Warm wetness pressed against her skin. She didn't have to pull back to know Braith’s blood was soaking through his clothes and into hers. Another small sob escaped her; she clutched more frantically at him.
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