She collapsed against the arms holding her and was swung up off the ground. She could barely make out the blurry world around her. When she lifted her hands once more to her chest, they were slapped aside.
“No!” William’s voice penetrated through her grief-stricken haze. “There are caves up here.”
He wasn’t speaking to her, and she dimly recalled Tempest was with them too. They’d been doing something…
They’d been drawing the vampires who had attacked them away. Fury burst over her like the sun rising over the mountains on a clear summer morning. It dried her tears as she balled her hands and resisted bellowing into the night sky. Squirming in William’s arms, she shoved against her brother’s chest.
“Kill them!” she hissed through her teeth.
His arms tightened around her, but on her next shove, she broke his hold on her. He grabbed for her as she tumbled from his arms. She hit the ground running, back toward where she’d last seen the white-cloaked troops following them. She made it only ten feet before arms enveloped her ankles. With her legs yanked out from under her, she slammed into the ground.
Her fingers tore at the earth. She kicked at whoever held her until she knocked their hold on her free. Red filled her vision, and a snarl tore from her as she became determined to kill whoever had tackled her. Flipping over, she hooked her fingers into claws and went for the eyes.
William ducked back in time to avoid having his skin torn from his face. The sight of her brother knocked some of the driving urge to kill from her. No matter how much she craved death right now, she would not hurt her brother, her twin. William clutched her arms, pinning them to her chest as he loomed over her.
“Listen to me!” he yelled. “Remember that you think there’s a chance Braith can come back from this. That he can rise from the dead, like his father. If you die, there is no coming back for you, and he will rise only to want to die again.”
Her struggles against him eased as his words sank in. “They have to pay.”
“They will, but not tonight. You have to stay with me in order to get them.”
Keeping hold of her forearms, he yanked her to her feet. He pulled the ruined remains of her shirt from her upper body, leaving her only in her bra, then wiped her blood away before tossing it on the ground. The frigid air caressing her skin had nothing on the icy tendrils encasing her heart.
He was dead, her Braith was dead.
He’s coming back!
What if he doesn’t? What If I’m wrong?
She wrapped her arms around her middle. Her fangs pricked her bottom lip when she drew it into her mouth. She hadn’t realized they’d extended. She craved sinking them into someone’s throat and tearing out their jugular to watch them bleed all over the place. To tear out that bitch’s throat.
Oh yes, that was exactly whose blood she wanted sliding down her throat. She could keep it together until then; she had no other choice. The analytical, vengeful side of her brain slowly rose up to take over the weeping, shattered pieces of her mind.
If Braith didn’t return, she would continue until Sabine, and anyone who aided her, was dead.
William pulled her cloak snuggly around her, lifted her up, and tossed her over his shoulder. “I can walk,” she gasped when she found herself staring at his back.
“I don’t trust you right now,” he replied honestly and broke into a jog with Tempest by his side.
Aria had no idea where they were going; she didn’t care. She had plans to make, and she knew exactly how to set those plans into motion.
***
Jack
Jack couldn’t tear his gaze away from Braith’s eyes. Open and unseeing, there was nothing there anymore. Even after Braith was blinded, he may not have been able to see anything, but his eyes had reflected life to the rare few who had seen him without his dark sunglasses on.
Anguish squeezed his chest. Behind him, Melinda sobbed openly as Ashby tried to comfort her. Tears pricked his eyes, burning and making him blink rapidly. Braith had been his older brother, at one time his enemy, then his friend. He’d expected that friendship to grow and deepen throughout the coming years.
A single tear slipped free. Braith would come back; he had to.
Until then, the kingdom had just fallen to him. He may not want it, but he would protect it and everyone in it.
Hannah knelt at his side, her arms wrapped around his shoulders. Her sweet scent filled his nose, and his arms encircled her waist as he pulled her closer. He took some comfort in her as he turned his head into her silken hair.
She’d been his redemption in a time when he hadn’t felt as if he deserved it, or ever expected to find it. He’d sworn to protect her, to cherish her, yet their world was crumbling around his feet. Sabine had power and was growing a large army. They’d lost their king, and their queen was within the forest, probably losing her mind.
“Aria,” he whispered. Wherever she was now, he knew his sister-in-law was aware of Braith’s passing.
“What do we do, Jack?” Hannah whispered.
“We can’t lea… ave him,” Xavier croaked out. “It’s not over, not yet.”
Jack was glad the history keeper sounded so certain, because he wasn’t. He believed Aria was right about that woman being Sabine; he just didn’t know what to make of all of this right now.
“We have to do what we told Aria we would. The residents of Chippman and the survivors from Badwin must be taken to the palace,” Jack said. Keeping his arm around Hannah, he rose to his feet and turned to Ashby. “Enough time has passed. It should be safe for the two of you to return to them and lead them the rest of the way.”
Ashby lifted his head to look at him, the fox he’d caught lay where he’d forgotten it on the rocks. Tears swam in Ashby’s eyes as Melinda sobbed against his shoulder. He held her closer before giving Jack a brisk nod. “You should come with us. They’ll need a leader at the palace. One of your line.”
Jack glanced over the others within the cave. They would all heal. They were all fighters, but they were in no shape to protect Braith from their attackers if their hiding place was discovered.
“I can’t,” he said. “If someone came for Braith now, they wouldn’t be able to fend off an attack. Xavier may be able to carry him now, if it became necessary, but none of the others could. I know these caves and forests well. I’ll be able to move Braith around much easier and into better hiding spots than Xavier would. There is also a chance we could end up having to separate if it becomes necessary.”
In other words, the humans may have to be left behind in order to protect Braith’s body. They all knew it, but they wouldn’t argue the decision if it became necessary. If there was the smallest chance of Braith coming back, he had to be protected above all others.
He’d also promised Aria he would keep Braith safe no matter what, and he planned to uphold that promise.
“No one at the palace knows Melinda is not of our line. She will be there to rule with you, and Gideon will also be able to help you keep control. The humans like Melinda, the vampires will follow her, and she will be able to keep them calm until we are able to join you.”
Melinda lifted her head from Ashby’s shoulder. Tears continued to stream from her eyes as she stared at Jack. “But I’m not a leader,” she whispered.
“Neither am I, but we’re both about to learn how to be one, sis. I know you are capable of doing this.”
She blinked at him, swallowed heavily, and wiped the tears from her eyes. “What should I tell them, about you and Braith?”
“Tell them we were attacked, that there is a new threat rising, but assure them they will be safe. Tell them Braith and I are recruiting more troops and securing the vulnerable border towns. I’m hoping Sabine holds off on attacking the palace in order to search for Braith, but start preparing them for an attack. If Aria was right, Sabine will be looking to behead him in order to ensure he really is out of her way.”
Melinda turned a shade of green. “I think
you’re right.”
“Mention nothing about Braith being shot or his… his…” Jack couldn’t bring himself to say the word death. “This,” he finished. “Tell only Gideon about this. There is no reason to create a possible panic or mutiny between The Council members if we can avoid it. Gideon will know how to handle them and will keep this quiet.” He hugged Hannah closer to his side when her hands curled around his forearm. “You should go, now.”
Melinda broke away from Ashby and made her way around the others to stand before him. They embraced each other before she knelt by Braith’s side and leaned forward to kiss his cheek. “I will see you soon.”
She said her good-byes to everyone else in the room before returning to him.
“Be careful,” Jack said as he took hold of her hands. “You can do this and they will follow you.”
She may have been removed from the palace by his father when she was a child, and she was far younger than him or any of his siblings, but he’d always liked and cared for Melinda. She was kind and she was far stronger than many gave her credit for, including herself. Even knowing her heritage, he didn’t consider her a half-sister. She was his blood.
“Do I tell The Council that Atticus wasn’t my father?” she asked.
“If you feel you must, but I wouldn’t. There is no reason for them to know, and you are still our sister and, therefore, entitled to rule as I have instructed.”
She tilted her chin up as pride blazed in her gray eyes. “You’re right. I will see you soon.”
“You will,” he promised.
“I’ll lead them to the surface,” Max offered.
“Thank you,” Jack said and turned to look at his brother again. They couldn’t leave him there like this. “We have to get this cavern set up, weapons made, food and water found. We may be here for a bit.”
CHAPTER 9
Aria
William finally set her down in another cave about ten miles from where she’d lost her mind. Aria still wasn’t sure she had it back, but at least the desire to rip her own heart from her chest with her bare hands had passed. Her legs shook as she walked over to a boulder and sank down to sit on it.
William grabbed her hands when she lifted them to her chest again. She jerked them away from him. “I won’t.” Those two words were all she could manage to get out right now. Her hands fell into her lap as she bent forward. Tears burned her throat but refused to fall; there was no way to soothe the aching rawness of her emotions.
She would never be able to escape the emptiness coursing through her. The stark realization made her fingers curve with the urge to tear out her heart once more. Her fingers dug into her thighs as she resisted the impulse. The only thing that would ease this barren, hollow sensation was Braith’s arms around her. Right now, all she felt was the absolute certainty that would never happen again.
“What do we do now?” Tempest asked.
“We wait here until we can return to the others,” William replied. “We lost Sabine’s followers about five miles back, but they’ll still be in the area, fanning out and searching for us.”
“We’re not going back to the others,” Aria grated.
“Why not?” William demanded.
Her body felt as if it were made of glass and would shatter apart at any second when she lifted her head to look at him. “Because we need to know more about that woman. We need to know her every weakness, and trust me when I say, she won’t have many. We have to be prepared for her and we have to destroy her.”
Her hand fluttered to her chest, and her fingers dug into her flesh once more as her heart clenched. She didn’t understand how an organ that had ceased beating on the day Braith had changed her from human to vampire and granted her eternal life could hurt so badly.
Eternal life, without him.
Madness loomed before her, spiraling around like a whirlpool looking to suck her in and never let her go again. She gritted her teeth against it, tore her hand away from her chest, and gripped her thigh.
“I will not become Atticus,” she grated.
William knelt before her and grabbed her hands. “We should go back, Aria.”
“She has to die, William. We need to learn more about her. We need troops who will fight her and her followers, and we have to gather them now. She has to be squashed, completely.”
“What if the troops we try to gather decide to follow her instead?” Tempest asked.
“There are many vampires and humans who want to keep the peace too. Things have been good between the species since Atticus was defeated,” William said. “Humans don’t have much of a chance against vampires if the vamps decide to turn them into slaves again. There are many cruel vampires out there, but there are more of them who aren’t cruel. Many of Sabine’s followers are scared, and that is why they’ve joined her. If they think she can be defeated, they’ll turn on her or run.”
“I saw what they did in Badwin, William. They destroyed my town and there were a lot of them who enjoyed doing it,” Tempest replied.
“Yes, but I’m sure some of them didn’t.”
“I have to get close to her,” Aria said. “Somehow.”
“That’s impossible,” William said. “Believe me, I know. The only way I got close to her was to be captured by Kane and taken to her. If she captures you, she’ll kill you.”
“Not if Braith is still out there,” Aria murmured. “She would keep me alive until she had his body. If she believes there’s any chance he will rise again, she would use me to control him, but I can’t let her capture me.”
William gripped her chin and pulled her head toward him. “I won’t let you sacrifice yourself.”
She took hold of his hand, a hand she had known since their creation. Distress etched his features. She couldn’t imagine the sorrow she would feel if their roles were reversed. She would have done everything she could to keep him safe, to stop him from destroying himself, but there were few other options for her anymore.
“If Braith doesn’t wake, I have already been sacrificed. You must know that.” Her brother winced at her words as his blue eyes glinted like steel. “Dying for this cause would be the way I’d want to go, but I won’t willingly let her capture me. No, we have to learn more about her, but we also have to be able to relay whatever we discover about her to the others. Rotting in a prison cell would make that impossible. We also have to start quietly gathering recruits.”
“How will we ever get close enough to learn anything about her?” Tempest asked.
Aria gazed out the cave and to the night beyond. “We’ve always been good at going unnoticed within these woods. She’s in our territory now.”
“True, but that can be discussed later.” William rested his hands on his knees before rising to his feet once more. “First, let’s hope there are some clothes in here, somewhere. And some sunglasses.”
Aria glanced down at her dirty bra beneath her cloak. She didn’t care if she wandered around like this for the rest of her days, but it wasn’t exactly regal and many would be a little hesitant to follow the queen wearing a bra and looking as if she’d just rolled around in dirt. The Mad Queen; she almost laughed aloud at the realization they would call her that. Atticus had kept his insanity hidden; right now, she wore it for the world to see.
“Sunglasses?” she asked.
She lifted her head to look at William. Dirt streaked his rugged features, and his auburn hair stood out in a hundred different directions from the wind. He didn’t look much better than she felt, but somehow she knew he appeared far more stable than her right now.
“Your eyes are redder than rubies,” he said and clasped hold of her arm to help her rise. “I have a feeling they won’t be changing back anytime soon either.”
“Me too,” she murmured as he took hold of Tempest’s hand and led them deeper into the cave.
***
Melinda
“We have to be getting close to where we left them,” Melinda whispered as they crept through the
trees. They’d left the caves behind almost a half an hour ago.
Even though she was accustomed to moving quietly and undetected through the woods, the forest was not a place she enjoyed being right now. Not with the vampires who had attacked them earlier still out there.
She and her mother had lived in the forest after Atticus had banished them from the palace. After her mother’s death, she’d spent a lot of time trying to remain hidden from Atticus’s troops, until the day Jack discovered her. He’d promised to keep her safe and brought her back to the palace.
Then Ashby had been banished, and she’d often snuck out of the palace and into the woods to see him. She’d spent more of her life hiding within the forest than she’d spent living out of it.
Ashby took hold of her arm and drew her behind him when a twig snapped from somewhere ahead of them. The evergreens in this section of the forest were sparse enough to allow the moonlight to spill around them. The moon’s rays created a pathway of glittering crystals across the snow-covered ground before them. A doe stepped out from behind a tree. Her tail swished, and her ears flicked toward them. The deer stepped carefully over the snow before fleeing into the woods.
“Come,” Ashby said and released her.
She glanced up at him, love swelling her heart as tears burned her eyes. It easily could have been him who had died so many years ago, or again today. She’d never understood why Atticus had banished Ashby from the palace instead of adding him to his trophy room. Ashby always had been known for his refined taste and party lifestyle within the palace. A hundred years ago, he would have looked as out of place amongst these trees as a fawn in a bear den; relegating him to a life of no luxuries had been a harsh punishment for him.
However, that trophy room had been Atticus’s pride and joy, and Ashby would have made a nice edition to it. She shuddered to think Ashby could have ended up seated beside her real father there. Ashby had been married to Atticus’s daughter Natasha at the time of his banishment, but the couple’s intense loathing of one another had been well known within the palace. A worse punishment for Ashby would have been to be locked in a room with Natasha or turned into her slave. Instead, Atticus had exiled him to a treehouse in the forest.
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