Unbound

by Erica Stevens

  “Were there notes attached to them too?”

  “I believe so, milady.”

  She had no doubt the other two notes had been addressed to someone else in this room, most likely Ashby and Gideon, if they both hadn’t also been addressed to her.

  “What does it say?” Calista demanded and rose from her seat as Gideon read the message. Her close-cropped black hair emphasized her beautiful features and mocha skin. Her brown eyes pinned Gideon as he handed the cloth over to her.

  Gideon turned toward the king’s man. “Have more guards put on the wall. Tell them an attack is coming soon and to be prepared.”

  “Yes, sir,” the king’s man said and left the room.

  “A?” Saul, another member of The Council, inquired as he stared at the note.

  “Aria,” Melinda replied. “She’s letting us know they’re gathering troops on the other side and to hold the wall until they’re ready to make a move to help us.”

  “Then we will do just that,” Calista said firmly.

  “Why has Braith not returned here, and why didn’t he send the note?” Saul demanded, his gray eyes surveying her.

  “We all know Aria is far better with a bow and arrow than Braith, so of course she sent the notes,” Gideon lied with ease as he strolled around the table. “We have to make sure we are completely ready for this threat. We must go out and be with the residents now, assure them we have this under control and that we will win this fight. If they’re fearful, it will make them weak and in turn make us all weak. We will bolster their confidence!”

  Melinda stared after him as he exited the room with those words floating almost cheerfully behind him.

  “What about the other two arrows? What if those notes said something more?” Adam, another member of The Council, inquired.

  “There is nothing we can do about that, but there is something we can do about this,” Melinda replied. “Gideon is right. We have to get out and assure everyone that this threat will be handled. Let’s go.”

  Ashby slipped his arm through hers and led her out of the room. Gideon was at the end of the hall waiting for them. “If Braith was awake, she would have signed it B, or he would have written the note,” Gideon said when they joined him.

  “I know,” Melinda replied, “but Aria has warned us, and we will be prepared. I have a feeling Jack will be there for this battle. He is liked enough that everyone will follow him.”

  “He hasn’t been here in over a year,” Gideon reminded her.

  “He’ll return and prove he’ll fight for them. It will mean something to them,” Ashby said.

  “I hope you’re right,” Gideon said and turned away. “None of us will survive if you’re wrong.”

  ***

  Daniel

  They had about ten more miles to cover when the sun dipped behind the trees. Daniel stopped to wipe the sweat from his brow, cursing the short days even as his fingers itched to paint the pinks, reds, and oranges spreading across the blue sky and illuminating the mountains.

  It would be best to take a break now, drink some water, and hunt for their dinner while there was still enough daylight left to do so. They continued on for a half a mile before coming across a set of caves and slipping inside. Daniel rushed through the twisting tunnels winding deeper into the earth, until he was sure they were far enough away from the outside that it would be safe to build a fire.

  Timber worked on gathering the wood while Max went out to hunt for their dinner. Daniel ignored the grumbling of his belly as he set up two sticks beside the firewood to hold the spit and started a small fire. Max returned with a rabbit and sat to skin it. The meat wouldn’t go far between the three of them, but it was something, and he’d definitely done with far less in his lifetime.

  When he was done preparing the rabbit, Max stuck another stick through it and set it over the fire. “We should make it to Jack tonight,” Max said as he turned the spit.

  “I hope so,” Timber muttered as he eyed the rabbit with a ravenous gleam in his eyes.

  The scent of the cooking rabbit caused Daniel’s stomach to rumble again as he hungrily watched its meat brown. Finally, Max deemed the rabbit done and pulled it from the flames. They split the meat between them, giving Timber a slightly larger portion. When he was done eating, Daniel licked the juices from his fingers before rising.

  He studied the walls surrounding them; this hadn’t been one of the caves they’d resided in over the years. He was sure he’d probably been inside here a time or two, but he’d designed no traps or gates within these tunnels and it wasn’t as secure as some of the other caves. The sooner they were out of here, the happier he would be.

  When Max and Timber finished eating and rose to their feet, Daniel kicked the fire out before leading the way back through the dark tunnels to the night that had descended while they’d been eating.

  Stepping out of the cave, he tilted his head to the sky as the first star blinked to life. The smallest crinkle of a leaf whipped his head around as a young woman darted around a tree and raced toward them with the ease of someone who knew these woods well. Her eyes widened when she spotted them and ran over the weapons they carried, marking them as most likely human instead of vampire. She didn’t slow her frantic rush toward them.

  She all but barreled into Max, knocking him back a step as she lowered her shoulder and sprinted into the cave. “They’re coming!” she panted over her shoulder at them.

  “Who?” Max demanded as she fled down the tunnel.

  “Vampires.”

  Daniel barely heard the word before the woman vanished into the cave. He tore his attention away from her to search the woods, but he didn’t see or hear anything unusual out there. Then, the scent of pine reached him and a stick cracked loudly. She was right, something was coming, and judging by the scent and sound, there were more than a few somethings. They couldn’t risk making a stand against numbers that could more than double their own.

  Daniel didn’t wait to see what would emerge from the forest. He turned and fled into the cave behind the woman. From up ahead, he heard her curse and the clattering of sticks as she ran into the remains of their fire.

  CHAPTER 24

  Max

  From behind them, the skittering of rocks across rocks resonated through the cave. Max kept his breathing and steps as quiet as possible while they felt their way steadily on through the darkness blanketing them. They’d caught up with the girl. The only reason he knew that was because he’d felt the brush of her breasts against his arm when she’d stepped into him a few hundred feet back.

  No light pierced this deep into the caves, and to start a torch may be guaranteed death, but to continue blindly feeling their way along could also get them killed or, at the very least, lost. His heart pounded in his chest as he tried not to think about the possibility there might be a sudden drop off somewhere ahead. The cool rocks were rough beneath his fingers as he felt along their surface. He edged his foot cautiously forward as he felt ahead of him in the hopes he would feel a drop off before plummeting to his death.

  Sweat beaded his brow, but he kept himself outwardly as composed as possible. Years of training had taught him that remaining calm was the only way to survive, while inwardly he fought the instinct to run. Death lay in running blindly ahead.

  The girl’s small hand touched his forearm when she leaned into him. The warmth of her breath tickled his ear and neck when she spoke, “This way.”

  She gave a subtle tug on his hand. He grasped hold of Daniel on his right before seizing Timber before him. It was only their shallow breaths and their body heat that let him know where they were.

  They followed his movement down a side tunnel. After a hundred feet, Max couldn’t walk straight anymore and had to turn sideways in order to continue. Never one for claustrophobia, he couldn’t help but feel a little squished as the jagged rocks scraped against his chest and back. He had no idea how Timber was making it through this crevice without becoming wedged between the wa
lls, but the heat of his friend’s arm remained against his side. Daniel brought up the rear of the pack.

  Not being able to see the rock brushing against his nose only made him want to run more. The blood rushed through his ears as he strained to hear anything of their hunters over his heartbeat, but the cave they’d left behind remained undisturbed.

  Then, the walls gave way and a rush of cool, fresh air wafted around him. Max inhaled a gulping breath when he was able to walk straight again. Specks of light filtered through here and there, illuminating the walls around him and the woman before him.

  Tipping his head back, he realized they had left the caves behind and were now in a hollow beneath the earth. Massive tree roots intertwined through the ground above them, holding the trees up despite the lack of dirt beneath them, but it was only a matter of time before nature took over and the trees lost their battle for life.

  Glancing behind him, he strained to hear any sign of pursuit, but slipping into that narrow passageway seemed to have thrown the vamps off their trail. The girl continued onward, leading them further beneath more tree roots until they arrived at a rounded hollow created by water that had worn away the dirt over the years. It only went three feet beneath the earth before dead-ending.

  She crept to the end and turned to settle in the shadows. Max frowned as he searched their surroundings. He ran his hands over the cool dirt, inhaling its rich scent as he sought some other way out, but he found nothing within the roots and earth surrounding him.

  Kneeling beside the girl, he hissed in her ear, “It’s a dead end.”

  In the light filtering through the roots, her cerulean blue eyes stood out starkly against her pale skin and black hair. “I know,” she whispered.

  “Why would you bring us into a dead end?” he demanded as Timber and Daniel crept closer.

  “Because the cave dead-ends too, or at least the direction we were going dead-ends,” she replied. “At least here we will hear and see them coming. We will be able to attack them before they can enter here and we can climb out through the roots if we must. Besides, the chances of them finding the crevice to lead them here are slim to none. I’ve hidden here before.”

  Max’s teeth ground together. If she was telling the truth, she’d been right to bring them here. If? He saw no reason why she would lie to him, but he hadn’t lived this long by not being cautious.

  Daniel stepped forward and craned his neck to peer up at the thick roots twining down from above. “We can make it through them if we must,” he agreed. “Timber, come with me. We’ll listen for the vampires if they come this way. Max stay here and watch above.”

  Daniel and Timber cautiously crept back across the cavern beneath the roots and to the jagged crevice in the wall. They took a position along the sides of the rock walls to wait for any possible attack.

  “What are you doing here?” the girl inquired, drawing Max’s attention back to her.

  She’d pulled her legs up against her chest and hugged them to her slim frame. He guessed her to be no more than five feet tall. She was delicate looking with her slender hands, a ski-slope nose, and pouty lips. When she turned to face him completely, he saw a scar running down the right side of her face, but he couldn’t see the extent of it through the dark.

  “We are meeting with some friends,” he replied. “What are you doing here?”

  She shrugged and rested her chin on her knees. “I live here.”

  “In this cave?”

  “Sometimes. Sometimes I live in the forest.”

  “Who do you live with?”

  “Friends.”

  Her words made him take a closer look at her. She knew the caves well. She was elusive and had been nearly silent when she’d run at them from the woods. “You were a rebel,” he guessed.

  “Aren’t we all a little bit of a rebel?”

  He couldn’t stop himself from smiling at her. “Some are. Some are simply surviving.”

  “And which are you?” she inquired.

  “I’ve rebelled every step of the way.”

  “There’s something coming again with the vampires. Something’s not right. That’s why they chased me in here. They’re hunting humans again.”

  “I know. We’re preparing for it.”

  Her head tilted as she studied him, seeming to try to decide if she could trust him or not. He glanced toward Daniel, knowing that he could gain the woman’s trust by revealing who Daniel was, but he wasn’t certain if he could trust her with the knowledge yet. She had been fleeing from the vamps, but he wasn’t taking any chances with his best friend’s life.

  “Have you been to one of the new locations?” she inquired nonchalantly.

  Max’s eyes slid back to her. “Yes. Have you?”

  Her eyes ran over him again. “Perhaps.”

  Smart, cautious girl.

  “Then you will know how much airier they are than these caves,” he replied. Her lips clamped together. Max watched her closely but no emotion played over her pretty, dirt-streaked face.

  “Very airy,” she said and turned away from him.

  Were they both playing with each other, or had she really not been to one of the safe houses?

  Before he could try and figure out the answer to that question, the earth around them began to shake. Bits of dirt and debris rained down from above. Darkness and moonlight flickered through the holes in the roots when figures moved over them from above. The jingle of saddles drifted through the air as horse’s hooves thudded over the ground.

  Max snatched hold of the girl’s arm, holding her back when she craned her head to peer up. She shot him an irritated look and tried to jerk her arm free, but he kept hold of her. He couldn’t take the risk of her accidentally giving away their location. Beneath his hand, her wiry muscles bunched and flexed, but she remained unmoving.

  He held his breath as more dirt fell through the holes and the ground around them vibrated with every step the horse’s took. Across the way, Daniel and Timber flattened themselves against the rock wall and watched as shadows danced over the holes in the trees above them.

  Then, light slid back through the holes as the horses rode on. “The vampires after you, were they on horseback?” Max inquired of the girl when he was certain it was safe to talk again.

  “No,” she whispered.

  He looked across the way to Timber and Daniel. They wouldn’t be able to move on now, not until they had an idea of where the vamps who had chased them in here were.

  “There have been a lot of vampires in this area recently. Far more than usual,” she said.

  Max looked back to her. “Do you know why?”

  “No.”

  They were close to the cave where they had left Jack and Braith. Had the vampires realized Braith was somewhere in the area and were searching for him? The possibility chilled him. They had to get out of here and get to Jack as soon as they could—if it wasn’t already too late for Jack, Braith, and Hannah.

  ***

  Jack

  Jack let the blood from the coyote he’d caught drip into Braith’s mouth, which he’d propped open for this purpose. To him, it was such a morbid thing to do, yet everyday he caught more animals and brought them to his brother. He was feeding him more than Braith would have required if he were still alive, but he figured it took a lot to come back from the dead.

  He had to leave the caves to hunt the animals now as the ones within had either already been captured or they’d fled. He hated going above and taking the risk of exposing them, but there was no other choice.

  As he fed Braith the blood, he studied his brother. Despite the passing of time, Braith looked no different than he had over a week ago. His body wasn’t decomposing as their father’s had, or as any other normal vampire would be by now. His skin was still as pale as snow and his lips colorless, but they were the same hue they’d been when he’d first died. Jack didn’t know if Braith’s eyes were still cloudy; he’d finally gotten them to stay closed. He couldn’t bring him
self to look into their unseeing depths anymore.

  Maybe this lack of decomposition would happen with every vampire who died and was given blood afterward, but he doubted it. This was something more than normal; he just wasn’t sure what yet, and he refused to get his hopes up.

  Jack didn’t like doing this, but he wouldn’t stop until he knew for certain if Braith would rise again or not. Draining the last drop from the animal, he rose back to his feet.

  Hannah watched him as he walked across the cavern and into one of the tunnels. She remained behind when he opened the gate and returned to the surface with the animal carcass. Running through the woods, he traveled a mile before discarding the remains. His gaze lifted to the sky and the fading stars as the night crept toward dawn. The fresh air felt good against his skin, but he couldn’t remain here.

  Turning away, he sped back to the dank tunnels and plunged inside, eager to return to Hannah and assure himself she was safe. If he never set foot in a cave again for the rest of his life when this was over, he would be perfectly content with that. He’d done fine amongst these caves when he’d been a renegade from his father’s rule. Now, he despised every dark turn, mineral scent, and rock in the damn thing.

  He opened the gate again and closed it behind him before rejoining Hannah in the main cavern. As the days wore on, her skin became paler, more like the ivory complexion it had been when he’d first met her, and less of the golden hue it had become since she’d started venturing into the sun.

  She’d also taken to staying further and further away from Braith’s body. She didn’t complain about their conditions or their current situation, but he could tell that it wore on her. He’d promised her a better life, and so far, he was failing her. She’d been kept away from the sun that would destroy her without his blood for most of her life. She’d finally found a measure of freedom, and now she was being locked away again.

  Walking across the cavern, he wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her into his arms. She kissed his neck as he carried her up the rocks to one of the tunnels above. “We’ll leave here soon,” he promised her.