Unbound

by Erica Stevens

  This time Aria actually did give a real laugh; it was short, but it was there. “Not even as a vampire have I ever run as fast as I did when he chased after us.”

  “Neither have I,” he admitted.

  CHAPTER 22

  William

  “Is she asleep?” William whispered in disbelief when he stepped out of the room and spotted Aria in the chair she’d been sitting in last night. He assumed it was morning because he’d awoken and felt somewhat rested, but couldn’t be sure of the exact time of day.

  Max lifted bloodshot and bleary eyes to him. “She is,” Max whispered back.

  “How did that happen?”

  “We were up talking until late. She fell asleep about an hour ago.”

  As far as he knew, that was the most she’d slept since Braith died. “Hopefully it will last longer than that,” William said as he soundlessly closed the door behind him. If he didn’t think it would wake her, he’d carry Aria in to sleep with Tempest, but there was no way she would sleep through being relocated. She couldn’t possibly be comfortable sitting in the chair with her chin on her chest, but he would leave her be. “How much did you drink last night?”

  “Enough to kill my liver, but not enough to get me drunk,” Max replied.

  “Will you be going with Daniel to retrieve Jack?”

  “Yeah.”

  William eyed the two empty jugs of wine and then Max. Despite the red veins encircling his blue eyes, he looked entirely alert as he watched William. “I think you definitely killed your liver.”

  “Believe me, I know,” Max replied.

  “What were you talking about all night?”

  “Old times in the forest. I wouldn’t mind an hour or two of sleep myself.”

  William knew when he’d been asked to shove off. “If Tempest wakes, tell her I’m in the barn.”

  “Will do,” Max replied.

  William made his way out the door, down the hall, and up the stairs. He checked through the peepholes, spotting Xavier, Daniel, and Timber standing with a group of humans from the safe house, talking amongst themselves. Undoing the lock, he shoved the door open and stepped into the early morning rays of sun filtering through the cracks in the roof above.

  Daniel turned toward him as he emerged and closed the door behind him. William walked over to join them.

  “How are Aria and Max?” Daniel asked.

  William glanced at Xavier, wondering if he’d told Daniel what had happened while the three of them were out there. He seriously doubted it. If Aria and Max weren’t talking, the normally stoic vampire wasn’t about to either.

  “Aria is actually sleeping and Max is trying to get some sleep now,” William replied.

  “Will Max be ready to leave soon?”

  “He drank two jugs of wine, looks like he’s been awake for two weeks straight, and smells like a brewery, but I’m pretty sure he’s good to go.”

  “Good. The sooner we get this journey over with, the better,” Daniel replied.

  The creak of the door drew their heads around as Aria pushed it open and entered the barn. Her glasses were back in place, but she still lifted her hand to rest it against her forehead to shade her eyes from the sun.

  “At least she got a little rest,” William said as Max exited behind her and turned to offer his hand to someone else.

  Tempest’s crisp, wintry scent reached him before he caught sight of her. William hurried forward to take her hand from Max and help her out of the safe house. She was still annoyed with him for pushing her back down into the stairwell when those vampires found them the other day, but she took his hand and gave it a little squeeze. The smile she gave him melted his non-beating heart and let him know the rest of her annoyance with him had faded away.

  Leaning forward, he kissed her forehead. “What is going on?” she asked.

  “They’re getting ready to go back for Jack,” he replied.

  A small shudder went through her and he knew she was thinking the same as him. What would happen with Braith? They couldn’t bring him here, others couldn’t know he was dead, but to leave him alone in the caves would be to leave him vulnerable. No matter how much Jack loved his brother, he wouldn’t agree to leave Hannah behind so she could watch over him, and Daniel, Timber, and Max may not be enough to keep Braith protected. He highly doubted Xavier would agree to remain in the caves with Aria here.

  “Are you ready?” Daniel asked Max.

  “I have to gather some things,” Max replied and smoothed down his spiky hair. “But I’ll be ready in ten minutes.”

  “Are you sure you don’t want some of us to go with you?” one of the humans asked.

  “We’ll only be a couple of days,” Daniel replied. “And we need as many people here as possible.”

  All of the humans and vampires they’d encountered had been told Braith and Jack were out on a mission of their own, and in a way, they were. Jack was on a mission to protect his brother, and William really hoped Braith was working on a way to make it back to them. Somehow.

  The knowledge it was Sabine trying to destroy them all had helped to bolster his hopes that Braith would come back, but it could still be impossible. Had Sabine died like originally believed, or had she faked her death? He felt there would have been a body for her family to have believed her dead, but what did he know about something that occurred over a thousand years ago?

  He vaguely recalled something in Atticus’s journals about her being buried in the family plot in a place called Traslania? Trasylvia? Transylvania, he finally remembered. If there was a burial plot, there had to have been a body, or at least he really hoped there was.

  Sabine had come back, so had Atticus, and so would Braith, but would it be in time?

  It may not be, and there was nothing they could do about that, except carry on with their plan. If they didn’t stop Sabine, they would lose everything and Braith would awaken to find his world burned to the ground by a member of his family, again. He may wake to find all of his loved ones gone, lost to the war, including Aria.

  William shut the thought off and drew Tempest closer against his chest. He would do everything he could to get them both through this. He’d vowed to give her a better life than the one she’d known in Badwin. Now he wasn’t sure any of them would still be here next week.

  Resting his hands flat against her belly, he drew her back so she fit snug against his chest. He planned to ask her to marry him when all of this was settled, but it may never be settled, and he didn’t want her to have any doubt about his feelings for her, or the integral part she played in his life. If something were to happen to them, she needed to know exactly how he felt about her.

  This place wouldn’t be romantic, and he didn’t have a ring, but he would figure something out that would make it special for her.

  “Gather what you need,” Daniel said to Max.

  Max retreated back into the safe house. Aria opened her mouth to say something then closed it again. They waited until Max returned with a full quiver of arrows and a bow slung over his shoulder before heading outside, leaving the humans from the safe house behind.

  “Braith,” Aria said and winced as if the name had torn her open anew.

  Max steadied her when she briefly swayed on her feet. William resisted knocking her hand away when it rested over her heart again. For as long as he lived, he would never forget the image of his sister trying to tear her heart from her chest.

  “Someone must stay with him,” she managed to croak out.

  “I will,” Max offered.

  William’s eyebrows shot up at this statement. They definitely got along better than they had in the beginning, but Max and Braith had never been close.

  “You will need help,” Aria said. “Just in case.”

  “You know how much I love a good fight, but I will stay with him too,” Timber offered. “Daniel and his brain will be needed here, to help guide and lead the humans.”

  Daniel planted his staff into the ground and l
eaned against it. “Everyone wants me for my brains. What about my beauty?”

  “Get better looking,” William said to him, and Daniel’s smile grew.

  Aria smiled wider than he’d seen in over a week. He didn’t know what Max had done to her last night, but he almost hugged the guy. For the first time, he had hope that maybe his sister would get through all of this and be okay, even if Braith didn’t come back.

  Then his gaze fell to Tempest and his hope deflated. No, Aria may be showing signs of life because she loved them all, but no one came back from that kind of loss. No matter how much he loved everyone gathered around him, he could not continue on without Tempest. He pulled her closer against him, a possessive rumble working its way through his chest as he kissed her temple. She turned to look at him, her doe eyes full of understanding as she rested her hand against his cheek.

  Aria turned to Xavier. “I know you won’t want to stay with Braith—”

  “I am not going with them to get Jack, Aria.”

  Daniel didn’t look at all stunned by Xavier’s words, but Aria’s mouth dropped. “You must,” she said.

  “They can detect someone else’s passing through the forest and know when someone is closing in on them. They read these woods better than I read the history scrolls. My duty is to you first.”

  “And to Braith,” she protested.

  Xavier clasped his hands before him. “No, it is to you. Braith knows that. I am to guard you, to defend you with my life. It is what I have chosen to do until the day I die.”

  “But Braith will need a vampire to watch over him too.”

  “There is nothing one vampire can do against Sabine’s troops that the humans can’t do.”

  “They can’t carry him,” she protested.

  “Timber can.”

  “We’ve discussed it already and it has been decided,” Daniel said before Aria could argue with them further.

  “What if I asked you to go?” Aria inquired of Xavier.

  “You could command me to go and I would not. You are the one I protect. I couldn’t come with you when you left the cave before, but I will not leave you now,” Xavier replied.

  “We’ll be fine,” Daniel said. “Xavier is right. We know these woods better than anyone, and it’s time for us to get going. We’re wasting time discussing this. Hopefully, I’ll be back with Jack by sundown tomorrow.”

  William glanced between them and then to Xavier and Aria. The last thing he wanted was to leave Aria alone. She had Xavier here to watch over her, but she could decide to do something crazy in a split second. However, he didn’t want his brother and his friends out there alone.

  Aria’s been good so far.

  “I’ll go with them,” William said and Tempest stiffened in his arms.

  “Then I’m coming with you,” Tempest said.

  “We’ll move faster if it’s just us. We have more knowledge of the woods,” William said gently. “And I will move faster knowing you are safe here.”

  “If I can climb a mountain in a blizzard, I can find my way through these woods. I’m not staying here without you. You can’t expect me to when you wouldn’t.”

  She had him there, but the idea of her in those woods again made him consider changing his mind about offering to go with them.

  “You both forget you were once human too, and would have felt secure doing this without a vampire as added protection,” Daniel said and looked sternly between him and Aria.

  With that look on his face and his mouth curved into a disapproving line, he looked so much like their father that William heard the, I’m so disappointed in you, in his head without Daniel having to say it. Aria must have felt the same way as she bowed her head and folded her hands before her.

  “Sorry,” she and William muttered at the same time.

  Daniel gave a brisk nod before turning to William. “Unless you’re willing to stay with Braith also, then it’s best you stay here.” He gave a pointed look at Aria before continuing. “They need your skill with a bow here. We need as many vampires as we can get on this side of the palace walls, and Jack will want you here.”

  William had to agree that Jack would want him here. They’d been friendly when Jack had been in the forest, pretending to be a rebel, before Jack had actually become one, but after his father had died, the two of them had become much closer.

  During the time after his death, they’d leaned on each other, traveled together and fought together. Jack trusted his opinion as much as William trusted Jack’s. William knew being king was not a role Jack wanted. He would do well with it as he was kind, fair, and likeable, but Jack would chafe against the bonds being king would put him in. He would look to his friends for advice and to help keep him sane.

  “You’re right,” William finally agreed, and the rigid set of Daniel’s shoulders eased.

  “Good, we’ll see you soon,” Daniel said briskly.

  They said good-bye to everyone before disappearing into the woods as if they’d never been there to begin with. The only sign of their passing was the still shaking pine needles, which were barely noticeable to the naked eye.

  “We have to notify the palace about Sabine’s impending attack,” Aria said.

  “How?” William inquired.

  “We’ll fire an arrow at them,” Aria said and walked back toward the barn.

  “Is she kidding?” Tempest asked.

  “No, she’s not,” William replied.

  CHAPTER 23

  Aria

  Aria drove the head of her arrow through the note she’d written onto a piece of white shirt. They’d torn the shirt into sections of rags. It was the best they could do as all of Daniel’s sketchpads were in the palace and paper wasn’t exactly the easiest thing to come across in the forest unless they made it themselves. Since she had no idea how to do that, they’d sacrificed a shirt.

  She’d carefully folded the clothing into something resembling an envelope and written Melinda’s name on it with some coal dust they’d scrounged from one of the nearby caves. She was counting on Ashby and Melinda having made it safely back to the palace. On the cloth, she’d written a simple message: Attack coming to you soon from confirmed Sab. Help comes end of week, A.

  She would have said less in the note, in case someone got ahold of it, read it, and later turned to Sabine’s side. However, she had to give Melinda and the others some hope that, if they held their ground, they would have help. If they didn’t have hope, they may fall to Sabine before Aria could ever do anything to help them. She also had to let them know exactly who they would be dealing with.

  Beside her, William stabbed an arrow through another piece of cloth. They’d written three identical messages, one each to Melinda, Ashby, and Gideon. Hopefully at least one of the messages would be taken to the rightful addressee, and not taken as a sign of war and destroyed immediately.

  Lifting a rock, she filed down the lethal point of the arrowhead. It would not fly as true, but it wouldn’t accidentally kill a bystander on the other side of the wall either. Beside her, William did the same as she prepped the note meant for Gideon.

  Aria slipped from the shadows of the home they’d been hiding behind. It was situated about a hundred feet outside of the palace walls. She’d never seen the town so calm before; the stillness unnerved her almost as much as the hundreds of troops spread out across the top of the wall. However, the sight of all those men and women standing guard also heartened her. If the town was empty and the guards were more than tripled on the wall, Ashby and Melinda had definitely made it back with word of what had happened to all of them.

  Aria steadied her hand as she aimed her arrow over the wall. With a twang, she released her bowstring and let it fly.

  Shouts rose from the wall as the arrow cleared over the top of it. Bows spun in their direction, but she and William had already released the next two arrows and were fading into the shadows when arrows from the wall thudded into the ground where they’d been standing.

  Ar
ia pushed back the hood on her cloak and listened as more shouts echoed from the wall, but the drawbridge did not come down and the gates didn’t open. Good. She needed those within the palace to be overly cautious right now, and not looking to charge into a war when they didn’t know what awaited them.

  Xavier and Tempest slipped from the shadows to join her and Willian as they gathered their things and left the town.

  ***

  Melinda

  “Milady.”

  Melinda lifted her head to stare at the young king’s man hovering in the doorway of the meeting room she sat in with the members of The Council. They hadn’t told The Council about Braith, but they all knew an attack was most likely imminent and from whom. There had been no point in trying to hide it. If The Council members ever saw that woman, they would know of her power and be enraged over not being informed about the force of the threat. They may mutiny, and she couldn’t risk that happening.

  The look on the man’s face had Melinda rising from her chair. “What is it?” she demanded.

  “Someone fired three arrows over the wall,” the man replied.

  Ashby rose beside her, his fingers resting on the table as he leaned forward. “Only three?”

  “Yes and that is not the weirdest part.”

  “What is?” Melinda asked.

  The man approached the table with an arrow in hand. He extended it to her. Melinda took the arrow, turning it over in her hands as she studied the blunted end and the piece of cloth stuck to it with her name written on it. Aria. It had to be.

  She tugged the cloth free and read the simple note scrawled on it before passing it to Ashby. She stood for a minute, digesting the words on the note. Aria had confirmed it was Sabine who would be coming after them, which meant there really was a chance Braith could rise again. Hope leapt in her chest, but she shoved it back. There was too much to do now to count on Braith rising again in time, or at all.

  “You said there were three. Where are the other two arrows?” she asked the man.

  “We believed it was an attack. The other two were trampled before we could get to them.”