The Captive Series 1-5

by Erica Stevens

  "Don't leave me," she whispered.

  "Never," he groaned against her ear. "No matter what happens I will always be with you, Arianna. Always."

  His shirt collar was growing wet with her tears.

  "Always," she breathed.

  His lips pressed against her ear, her cheek, and then his mouth was on hers. It was meant to only be a chaste, loving kiss, one of goodbye, but the minute his lips touched hers, her body reacted as if lightning had stricken it.

  She flattened against him as waves of passion and love cascaded through her, leaving her boneless and limp. She clutched at him, torn between wanting to scream from the injustice of it all and wanting to rip this room apart with her bare hands.

  Unfair, it was all unfair. But life was unfair; she'd always known that, but she'd hoped this once it would work in their favor.

  No matter what happened after, she would have the memory of this kiss and the taste of him. She would always have these few short moments and their love to help get her through it. She'd be strong no matter what they did to her. The king and Caleb would never break her; never beat her into the weak little human they thought her to be.

  Braith broke away; he was shaking as his hands cradled her face. She lifted her eyes to his, relieved to see the beautiful gray and blue color she cherished so much. He pressed another tender kiss briefly against her quivering lips.

  "I love you," he whispered.

  More tears spilled free as she pressed her cheek against his and delighted in the feel of his stubble roughened cheek. The sweet scent of his blood swirled up to fill her nostrils. Horror filled her as she looked down. He was dying; she was certain of it as the stain of his blood spread across his solid chest and torso. Her large, powerful, magnificent vampire was gradually dying before her eyes. He seized her hands when she fumbled to try and staunch the flow of blood.

  "I'll be okay love, don't worry about me."

  "No," she whimpered, knowing he lied. "There's so much."

  "The guard's blood helped some."

  Her hands shook in his; she couldn't unclench her fingers from his to hug him once more. His gaze scanned her face, neck, and arms as his eyes faded back to a ruby shade. When he let himself go he was more destructive, more powerful; he could feed on his kind and be a monster like his father.

  If he gave himself over to the darkness within he may even be able to get them all out of here, but at what cost? Would she ever get him back? She'd rather die than lose him to such a fate, to see him become as twisted and broken as his father and brother.

  "Stay with me," she whispered. "Don't go there, Braith, don't let me lose you that way."

  His eyes came back to hers. They shifted from that awful ruby color to a shade partially red and partially blue. That beautiful blue band around his iris surrounded by a murderous scarlet was disconcerting, but she could at least see him beneath it now.

  She leaned toward him and pressed her lips to his as she slid her hands free of his grasp. She moved her lips unhurriedly over his as she realized what she had to do. She recalled Ashby's words from the tree house when he'd spoken of his bond with Melinda; we are stronger because we drink from each other. She traced the much-loved planes of his magnificent face.

  "Love me, Braith; stay with me."

  "Always," he vowed again.

  Gently pressing her lips to his one more time, she turned her head to the side and guided his head to her neck. "I can make you stronger."

  He hesitated; she felt his desire to recoil as clearly as she felt his hunger for her blood. He didn't hesitate because he was repulsed by the marks on her or the flow of the king's blood within her veins, but because he was frightened she couldn't handle any more blood loss.

  He could become a monster to try and get them out of here, or he could accept the gift of life she was offering him as freely as she offered him her love.

  "It's okay; I can handle this. I know I can; you know I can," she said.

  His hand cradled the back of her head as the other flattened against her back. His mouth pressed against her skin; a soft breath escaped her as his lips pulled back and she felt the hard press of his fangs.

  Her raw skin caused her to wince as he bit deep, but the pain was fleeting, and the pleasure of finally joining with him again swirled inside of her. She fell into him as she was lost in this exquisite moment, perhaps their last.

  Heat flooded her extremities; it pooled through her body and moved out from her heart as his love consumed her. The intensity of the emotion left her trembling, and shaken, but also stronger.

  Awareness began to grow in her. Ashby had said he didn't know why the bloodlink between vampires made them stronger, but Aria understood it now.

  It wasn't only the sharing of blood between such mighty beings, though she knew the strength of their blood was part of it, it was also the love and trust so freely given amongst creatures who seldom allowed themselves to be vulnerable to someone else. She wasn't a vampire, but she made Braith more powerful simply by loving him, by accepting his love in return, and by nourishing him with the blood he craved most.

  She also understood something else; she wouldn't lose Braith. He wouldn't be overcome by the darkness and anger rolling through him. Anger he'd always harbored toward his cruel and heartless bastard of a father; a darkness that broke free of him every time he felt her life was in jeopardy.

  He could lose himself, but he wouldn't, not with her here to help pull him back. Even now, in the middle of this whole mess, there was still hope, and a growing understanding of who she was, of who he was, and what they were together.

  She knew because she knew him, that whatever happened from this point on, he wouldn't be driven by fury and hatred, but by love. And love was by far the stronger motivator. It was something his father would never understand, and it was their most powerful asset.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Braith embraced her as her blood flowed freely into his mouth. She smelled of the dungeon, but beneath the stench of that hideous place he detected her natural, sweet essence as it flooded his senses and invaded his body. He could taste his father within her blood, and though he knew he should be infuriated by it, all he could find was relief, pleasure, and all-encompassing love that left him shaken.

  He'd thought he'd lost her, and yet she was here, in his arms, holding him as she offered herself with the ease only she could. He heard the steady thump of her heart, felt the tears wetting his neck as she pressed her face against him, and tasted the power of her blood as it infused him. The knick in his heart sluggishly repaired as her blood worked to heal him.

  He unhurriedly pulled away from her and nuzzled her neck before leaning back from her. Her tears had left streaks through the dirt marring her delicate cheeks. Her eyes fluttered open; their crystalline sapphire depths shimmered with unshed tears.

  The love in her gaze humbled him and made him stronger as it radiated like a brilliant ray of sunlight. For her, he could do anything; even retain control when he was so close to losing it. If this were to be their last moment together, he would make sure she never saw the monster inside him again.

  "Impressive, son," his father said.

  He grasped her cheeks when she moved to face the king. He didn't want her to see the bastard again, not right now. "Look at me. Focus on me, Aria."

  "I won't let them take me alive," she whispered.

  "They won't take either of us alive."

  She swallowed heavily and closed her eyes as she nodded briefly. He savored the sight of her before turning toward the king, the man who had fathered him but failed to turn him into the son he'd wanted him to be.

  "Very impressive. I am actually proud of you for the first time," the king murmured.

  The king spread his hands out to indicate the bodies littering the floor around Braith. He had managed to take down a good fifteen soldiers before Aria reached him. Caleb stood before the dais and his father; his forehead furrowed as he stared at them with glowing red eyes. Bloo
d still stained his cheek, but the gouges Aria inflicted had healed. No, there was no way he would allow Caleb to get his hands on her again.

  "I never knew you had it in you. It is her, isn't it? She is what makes you stronger?"

  Braith held Aria's head still when she tried to look at his father again.

  "Her blood is what makes you like this. I think there's a link." The word hissed out of the king as he stepped forward. "After what I've witnessed, I think I'll keep you both alive and use her to keep you under my thumb. You would be my greatest weapon to control and use as I saw fit, even against the forces trying to take me down now."

  So that was why the king told his troops to hold, Braith realized. He'd wanted to know the lengths Braith would go to for her. He had needed to see how much he could control Braith by controlling her, and Braith had played right into his hands. He'd shown his father exactly what he was looking for and hoped to learn.

  "I bet you'd even kill Jericho if it meant keeping her alive," the king said.

  Aria inhaled sharply, her tears wet his fingers as he held her still.

  "I'll make her watch as you destroy everyone and everything she loves, for her."

  Braith would destroy himself first. "That will never happen."

  The king grinned at him as he gave a brief nod of his head. "I want them alive."

  The soldiers started moving in to shatter their moment of solitude in this brutal place. He turned his attention back to Aria. "Stay behind me."

  The wild grin she shot him made him realize she would do no such thing, not his Aria. He grabbed her and wrapped her in his embrace as he launched to his feet. Her blood had renewed his strength and revitalized him in ways the guard’s blood never could.

  He hadn't taken enough to impair her, but even so, he bit into his wrist and offered it to her as he spun her away from the onrushing guards. She seized it and pressed it firmly to her mouth with an enthusiasm that surprised him.

  She eagerly swallowed before releasing him. He reluctantly let her go to face the soldiers rushing at him. From the corner of his eye, he saw Aria leaping forward with the grace of a deer as she dashed to a spear discarded on the ground.

  Snagging it off the floor, she spun with an eerie elegance toward the soldier charging at her. Her throw would have been lethal if the guard hadn't sidestepped the weapon at the last second.

  Braith grabbed the two closing in on him. He snapped the neck of one with a brutal jerk before ripping the spear from his twitching hands. The man wasn't dead, but Braith didn't have time to finish the job as he drove the spear deep into the other guard's heart and pulled it free.

  Aria ducked beneath the grasping hands of the guard. She moved so quickly even Braith didn't notice the broken end of the spear she'd managed to plunge into the man's chest until the guard fell back.

  She ran toward her brothers and Max. Braith kept an eye on the guards encircling them as he deliberately moved back with her. Three more guards launched themselves at him; he fended them off as he fell back, determined to keep his body between her and the king. It would be Aria his father went for first, Braith was sure of it. Keegan leapt before him, growling and snapping as he forced one of the guards away.

  Max, William, and Daniel launched forward suddenly. They shoved their shoulders into two of the guards watching over them as Xavier jumped to his feet. A guard grabbed William by the neck of his shirt and plunged a spear into his right leg. William shouted before his scream broke off and he grasped his thigh. Sweat beaded his forehead and upper lip, his face went deathly pale as he tried to rip the spear free.

  Fury darkened Aria's features. She switched directions as she raced toward the man who maimed her brother.

  "Aria!"

  The shout came from Max as he managed to grab a bow and a quiver of arrows. He tossed them toward her before being beaten back by a blow that echoed throughout the room and probably knocked more than a few teeth loose.

  Aria slid across the floor on her knees; she snagged the bow and arrow before leaping to her feet. Braith had no idea where she was going, or what she had in mind until she jumped onto the lap of one of his father's trophies, climbed onto the table, and launched herself at the massive, dark wood beams running across the rounded cathedral ceiling. She hung for a moment before swinging her legs up and catching the beam. Pulling herself up, she sat briefly on top of the beam before leaping to her feet.

  She was back in her trees, Braith realized as she dashed across the wood.

  Braith wasn't surprised some of the soldiers had stopped to stare at her as she leapt from beam to beam toward her brother, Max, and Xavier. Even the king was watching her with assessing, shrewd eyes.

  Braith met Xavier's gaze over the crowd of soldiers. Xavier's dark eyes closed as he bowed his head to Braith and gave a brief nod. Braith didn't know if relief or anguish filled him at Xavier's confirmation of what he suspected about Aria.

  But he did know they had to survive this before anything could be discussed or decided.

  Braith shoved another guard out of his way as he struggled to get to the others. Aria jumped to another beam, leaned back on her heel and fired two arrows at the guard who stabbed her brother. He fell back as another guard snagged Daniel and hauled him to his feet.

  Xavier was a man of books and histories, but even so, as the guard jerked Daniel up, Xavier grabbed him and slit his throat with deadly ruthlessness. Xavier pulled Daniel free and finished the guard with a killing blow to his chest. Pushing Daniel behind him, Xavier seized Max as the three of them were forced back beneath the crushing wave of the king's men.

  Daniel tried to snag William, but the spear through his leg made it nearly impossible for him to move. Aria covered her twin by firing at any guard who dared approach him.

  Braith leapt over the bodies of two fallen guards. Seizing William, he tried to lift him from the ground, but part of the spearhead was embedded in the marble. William released another shout which was eerily echoed by Aria, as Braith ripped him free with a merciless yank that tore muscle and bone.

  William's fingers dug into his arm; his lip bled from biting into it, but he didn't offer a complaint as Braith shoved him at Max and Daniel. Something pointed and rigid pierced his shoulder; a ferocious growl escaped him as he spun back on the guard who shot him with an arrow. He leapt forward, looking to bring the man down, but an arrow pierced the man's chest before Braith could get to him.

  Aria nodded as she smiled fleetingly at him. Turning to face the new wave of guards coming at him, he braced himself for their impending attack. An arrow whistled past his ear, and Daniel and Max jumped into the fray beside him as they attacked the soldiers with spears and arrows. Xavier hung back, protecting William as others poured forth to try and get at the injured human.

  Keegan raced around the guards, barking and snarling as he forced them back from Xavier and William. A shrill yelp escaped the wolf as a guard managed to deliver a solid kick to his ribs that knocked him back a good five feet. The guard went after Keegan, but William had managed to retrieve a bow and fired an arrow through the guard's heart.

  They were putting up a good fight, but Braith knew they would eventually be beaten down by the multitude swarming around them. Using his shoulder, Braith rammed back three more guards and dodged three arrows aimed at him. One clipped across his bicep, but it was only a flesh wound and would heal quickly. He managed to rip a spear and some arrows free from one of the men and threw the extra arrows up to Aria. She knelt down and snagged them out of the air.

  Braith speared three more guards and released a series of punches on one of them that left his face battered beyond recognition. He ripped the spear free, falling back as more guards pressed against the five of them. Aria leapt to her feet; her eyes were riveted on the front of the room as she turned to face the throne. Braith fended off the guards, as he fell back toward the table to see what held her so enraptured and what had caused her to look like she'd seen a ghost.

  Her eyes clashed
with his as she gestured toward the front of the room. Braith leapt onto the top of the table in one bound. Staring over the raucous filled room, he watched in disbelief as Caleb, using the distraction of the battle had circled behind the king and was now closing in on him.

  Braith stepped toward the dais as his brother sprang forward and shoved a spear through the king's back and straight into his heart. Blood pooled at the corners of the king's parted mouth as his eyes widened. His hands clawed at the spear; a strange guttural sound escaped him as his knees began to buckle. Caleb grinned at their father as he turned slowly toward the son who committed patricide with seemingly no remorse.

  'It may be harder to take Caleb down now that he realizes he is the heir apparent.' The words, spoken so long ago by Melinda, floated across his mind.

  As Braith watched his father fall he realized even in his death, his father was proudest of the offspring who had destroyed him than any of the other children he'd created.

  Caleb ripped the spear from his father's chest and stepped forward to take his place before the throne he had just claimed as his own. He bent and pulled the royal ring from his father's lifeless hand and unhurriedly slid it onto his index finger. His eyes gleamed with pride; a malicious smile curved his mouth as he held his hand out before him and wiggled his fingers admiringly.

  Braith had no love for his father, would have taken him down himself if it meant protecting Aria, but even so, loathing and vengeance flashed hotly through his belly. He would have slain his father, but he would have taken the man head on, he wouldn't have been as cowardly as Caleb had just been.

  Caleb continued to bask in his moment as he lifted his head to survey the room that was now his. He smoothed the front of his black shirt and idly scanned the motionless crowd.

  "Kill them." The command, almost nonchalant and flippant didn't immediately get the stunned soldiers moving again.

  Their king had fallen, and a new king, one more ruthless and sadistic, had stepped forward to take his place. Even if they’d been trained their entire lives to one day follow Braith, Caleb's slaughter of their ruler had just earned him the throne.