Unbound

by Erica Stevens

  “Yes, I can see,” Braith said to him before his attention returned to Max. “Where is she?”

  “She’s somewhere safe, about thirty miles from here,” Max answered.

  “When did you last see her?”

  “Two days ago.”

  Braith went completely still before all of his muscles rippled and a snarl erupted from him. He dropped Daniel as if he was nothing more than a sack of grain. Daniel stumbled to the side, his hand on his bruised throat as he watched Braith stalk toward them. Jack tensed, his muscles bunching in preparation of getting Hannah out of harm’s way when Braith stopped before them. He and Max tipped back their heads to take him in.

  “So she could be dead and you don’t know it,” Braith grated.

  Jack rose to his feet, holding his hands out in a pacifying gesture when he suspected Braith was about to snag hold of Max. He edged closer so that he was somewhat in between them, but Braith didn’t so much as glance at him.

  Because he knows I can’t stop him.

  “She is in an extremely safe place, Braith. Safer than these caves,” Max replied.

  “She could be dead and you don’t know!” Braith roared and Max flinched.

  “Yes,” Daniel said from behind him, his voice raw from being choked. Red marks marred his fair skin. Some of them were already starting to darken into bruises. “But she’s not. William and Xavier will make sure she stays safe.”

  “Take me to her, now,” Braith commanded.

  “It will take us some time to get there and with the storm—” Daniel broke off when Braith swung toward him again. “We’ll go now.”

  Braith didn’t acknowledge any of them when he turned away and walked into the tunnel the others had entered through. Timber hastily stepped out of his way. Keegan trotted passed them and down the tunnel behind Braith. A young human Jack had never seen before casually stepped aside to let Braith go by before turning to follow him. The girl had to be nuts if she wanted to be anywhere near him right now.

  “Who is that and why is she here?” Jack asked.

  “Maeve and she followed us,” Max said as he rose to his feet and gathered his bow. “What do we do if something did happen to Aria after we left?”

  Jack stared at the tunnel as Hannah walked over to join him. “Pray. Atticus destroyed much of the world. Braith will level what remains of it.”

  “Did he come back stronger?” Timber asked.

  “Yes,” Daniel croaked out and rubbed at his throat.

  They all took a step back when red eyes blazed at them from the darkness of the tunnel before Braith emerged from the shadows once more. “Now,” he growled at them.

  Jack took hold of Hannah’s hand and, keeping her securely behind him, he walked toward the tunnel. A tremor went through her and into him when they slipped passed Braith. Maeve stood by the gate, her arms folded over her chest while she watched them.

  “I really hope Aria is still alive,” Maeve whispered to Max when he bent to retrieve the key.

  “We all do,” he replied and unlocked the gate.

  CHAPTER 31

  Braith

  The icy rain beating against Braith’s skin did nothing to cool the wrath and terror clawing at his chest. Dead. He’d been dead for nearly two weeks. Aria had been out here, alone, in danger.

  She is alive.

  He kept telling himself this, but with the emptiness stretching out before him and the hole the breaking of their bond had created in him, he couldn’t quite believe it. She felt dead. He felt dead. His fingernails tore into the palms of his hands. Blood dripped from the wounds, but he found himself clenching tighter and tighter, regardless of the pain. He’d thought the pain would help to ground him, help him to feel alive in some small way again, it didn’t.

  Would he become his father? At one time, he’d have said no, without a doubt, that could never happen. Now madness slithered through his mind, creeping deeper and deeper until all he craved was sinking his fangs into someone and tearing them to shreds. He’d thought he understood what had caused his father to snap and become the man he had. He’d believed he’d understood it, but had known it could never be him.

  No, now he understood. Now, he felt the complete disconnect of his soul from his body. For the first time in his life, he completely comprehended what his father had gone through and why he became the way he did. He would not become like his father, he couldn’t, but right now the temptation was nearly as tantalizing to him as Aria.

  Blood and death, he wanted it so badly he could taste it. He’d once told Aria he’d go on without her, he would rule and he would make sure her loved ones were safe. He intended to uphold those words to her the best he could, but how long that would be or how well, he had no way of knowing. He could barely think straight right now; he couldn’t think about what years of this emptiness would do to him.

  Nor could he entirely process all of the changes he felt in his body now.

  He could see. Somehow, while he’d been dead, he’d healed. He had no idea what to make of that, or the increased power he felt flowing through his veins. It felt as if something deep inside of him had been tapped, as if some well of strength had been loosed when the arrow had sliced through his heart, and now it would never be stemmed again.

  His gaze slid to Jack at his side as he stood protectively in front of Hannah. He should feel bad for what he’d done to his brother, for what he’d done to Daniel. He felt nothing beyond this yawning desolation and impending insanity.

  Brushing back the wet hair and rain streaming down his face, he turned to look at Daniel, Max, and Timber. He had no idea who the girl was, but the three of them kept her between them.

  “Aria, is she… how was she when you last saw her?” He nearly had to shout to be heard over the storm.

  Did she feel this hollow and this looming insanity? Had she been suffering through this clawing sensation in his chest for almost two weeks? The idea caused fresh fury to swell through him and the four humans came to an abrupt halt. Braith stopped, his head bowing and his shoulders heaving as he tried to maintain control.

  “She is… coping,” Daniel replied hesitantly.

  More blood spilled from his palms as he heard the doubt in Daniel’s words. Aria was in pain. He’d caused that pain; he’d left her. He’d been dead! And now very much alive again and stronger, but she could be dead. She could have been killed since they’d last seen her. He shook his head to clear it of the disconcerting thoughts filling his head.

  Keep it together until you know for sure.

  When he’d first woken, he couldn’t remember anything. He’d felt empty; all he’d wanted was Aria, and she wasn’t there. His passing had fractured their link. Now, as he struggled to piece together what had occurred, more and more of the events leading up to his death started to come back to him.

  “And the woman who attacked us, where is she?” he demanded.

  “We have confirmed that her name is Sabine,” Max said. “And we believe she is your grandmother. Apparently, the first born in your line make it a habit to come back from the dead even if you’re pierced through the heart.” His gaze ran pointedly over Braith’s healed flesh before landing on where his heart would be located in his chest. “Before we left the others, Sabine was planning to make a move against the palace.”

  “And Aria is near the palace?”

  “Yes, we have been gathering forces and making plans to fight Sabine. Aria will wait for us to return before she carries out our part of the plan.”

  Braith’s lips skimmed back. “Aria doesn’t wait.”

  “For this, she will. She knows we only have one chance at this woman, and believe me, she is not going to blow it, not after what happened. She’ll have her revenge.”

  Then there was a chance she was still alive, that she was okay and this emptiness within him could be eased. It had to be eased. Braith stared at Max as he tried to assimilate everything they were telling him into his chaotic mind. His gaze fell to the woman before Max.
She didn’t take a step away from him as she held his gaze.

  Max rested his hand on her shoulder. “She won’t tell anyone what she’s learned.”

  “I won’t,” the woman said.

  Braith turned away from them and broke into a loping run through the trees once more. He had to move, had to get to Aria. The ground slipped and slid beneath his feet as he pushed onward through the driving rain and whipping wind.

  “We have to take a break,” Daniel panted from behind him after they’d covered a few more miles.

  Braith spun toward them once more, causing them all to take a stumbling step back from him. “Tell me where she is. How do I get there?” he commanded.

  “In a barn… about fifteen miles away… near the palace,” Max gasped loudly as he bent over to rest his hands on his knees.

  “There are many barns near the palace!” he yelled. “I need more than that.”

  “Easy, Braith,” Jack advised. Braith shot him a withering look that caused his brother to raise his hands in a conciliatory gesture. “I know you’re eager to get to her. Believe me, I know.” He looked at Hannah, standing by his side and shivering in the rain. “We will make it there, but they’re doing the best they can, and it’s better if we all stay together. If we can’t find the barn, or them again, we’ll be screwed.”

  Braith stalked into the forest with Keegan at his heels as on the horizon the night’s black sky gave way to the slate gray color of a stormy dawn. He stared at the changing color as he tried to rein in his emotions. Jack was right, he knew that, but the clawing in his chest increased with every passing minute.

  With a curse, he drove his fist into a tree. The bark and wood gave way until his arm burst free on the other side. The broken bones in his knuckles and his sliced-open skin were already repairing themselves when he pulled his hand free. Lifting his hand before him, he couldn’t help the wonder filling him as he examined the already healed flesh and bones. Pink rivulets ran over his skin as the rain washed away the remaining blood. Never before had he healed so quickly; he never would have believed it possible.

  When he turned away from the tree, all of them were staring at him with the same mixture of fear and awe that he’d often seen on those who had been in the presence of his father.

  That realization rattled him more than his accelerated healing ability.

  “I will not be like him,” he vowed. “I will destroy Sabine. I will make her pay, but I will not become my father.”

  When their eyes lifted to his, he saw the uncertainty in their gazes. Unable to stand the sight of that uncertainty, he turned away from them. He blinked and wiped the rain away from his eyes when, through the trees, he spotted figures slipping through the woods. He took an abrupt step forward, his lips curling away from his fangs as he watched those figures closing in on them.

  “We’re not alone,” he said over his shoulder to the others.

  Jack came to stand beside him, his brow furrowing as he searched the woods. “I don’t see anyone.”

  “They’re there, and they’re coming,” Braith replied. “They’re wearing brown cloaks, not white though.”

  “Those could be Sabine’s followers,” Max said from behind him. “They gave up their white cloaks when the snow melted, but many of the rebels also wear brown cloaks in order to blend in.”

  “Then we’ll make sure that they deserve to die before they do,” Braith replied. Bloodlust surged through him, and he nearly licked his lips at the possibility of a fight. It would take more time to kill them all than he wanted to spend right now, but he’d gladly tear into the throat of any who dared to stand against him, or who could be a threat to Aria.

  Another flicker of motion drew his eyes to the right as a woman ducked low in the brush. “No heartbeats,” he said.

  “They could still be on our side,” Daniel said. “We have vampires working with us too.”

  “If they come at us, we’re going to fight.”

  “How many are there?” Timber inquired.

  “A dozen or so,” Braith replied when he spotted more of them within the trees.

  The vision that had once been taken from him had become sharper during the time when he had been dead. His eyes were more than making up for the time they hadn’t seen anything by picking out every minute detail within the woods. Right down to the vamp nearly buried in mud behind the oak tree to his right.

  “Be prepared,” he said to them as the first one moved to the edge of the clearing. The tip of an arrowhead swung toward them. “Not on our side,” he hissed.

  Malicious joy filled him as he realized he would get a chance to unleash the savagery building within him.

  The vampire didn’t have a chance to fire the arrow before Braith swooped down on him like a hawk on its prey. Braith yanked the vampire out from behind the tree and had his heart in his hand before he even realized he’d covered the distance between them with such rapid speed.

  A grim smile spread across his mouth as the coppery tang of blood filled his nose and for a second the clawing sensation in his chest eased. As he turned to take on the next vampire stalking them, death became all he craved.

  ***

  Jack

  Braith moved so fast through the woods that he became a blur as he uncovered and slaughtered vampires Jack hadn’t even known were there. Some of the vamps turned to flee from him, but they were nowhere near fast enough to escape the wrath descending on them.

  Jack swallowed as his hand tightened on the stake he’d pulled free, but he realized he wouldn’t be using it. He wouldn’t get the chance to. Beside him, Daniel lowered his bow and returned his arrow to his quiver.

  As Braith disappeared behind a tree, a startled yelp abruptly cut off and then a head came rolling out to rest against Max’s feet. Max took a step away from the head, but he didn’t truly seem to see it as his gaze remained riveted on the macabre scene unfolding before them.

  In all of his many years, Jack had never seen anything like the savagery Braith unleashed. He was like a ghost, disappearing in and out of the trees. Despite the pounding rain washing away the smells of the forest, the scent of blood permeated the air. The screams of the dying were briefly heard over the howling wind and the clacking of the tree branches.

  Beside him, Hannah began to shake and she moved closer to press her body against his. “What have we done, Jack?” she whispered. “What did we help to unleash? Who did we unleash on this world?”

  “It’s Braith,” he said.

  “Is it?” Daniel inquired.

  He’d been in many fights with Daniel over the years, but never had he seen the stark terror on his friend’s face that was there now. He had no idea how to answer that question. He wanted to insist it was his brother, that beneath the increased power, speed, and healing ability it was still Braith with them, but was it?

  Braith had always been ruthless when he needed to be and stronger than most other vampires. He’d seen Braith kill without remorse before, but he’d never seen the eager gleam in his brother’s eyes that had been there before Braith had gone after his prey. And he knew that Braith had thought of these vampires as nothing more than prey before he’d attacked.

  Still, he wasn’t ready to give up on his brother. He wouldn’t give up on him.

  “Yes, it’s Braith,” he said.

  “But is it the Braith we all knew, or is it someone else entirely?” Max asked and brushed back the hair sticking wetly to his forehead.

  “He’s different.” Jack couldn’t deny it. They had eyes and ears too; they could see him and hear the screams of those falling within the woods.

  “He’s terrifying,” Hannah whispered. “How will any of us ever stop him if he loses himself to the blood and to the killing?”

  “Aria will stabilize him. He just woke from the dead, their link was severed by his death, and he has grown vastly stronger in a short period of time. He’s understandably out of sorts right now, but she will help him to regain control.”

 
Jack had to believe that as another scream abruptly cut off. When he’d agreed to help protect Braith, he’d done it because he thought it would be the best thing for all of them. Now, he was beginning to fear that it may have been the worst thing.

  Braith said he wouldn’t become like Atticus, but what if there was no help for it? What if it became inevitable the minute the bloodlink was severed or the second he rose from the dead again? What if their keeping him alive had sentenced Braith to this uncontrollable need for death?

  Jack could feel Daniel’s gaze boring into him, but he couldn’t tear his attention away from the woods as Braith emerged from between the trees. He didn’t appear the least bit fazed or worn down from having just slaughtered a dozen or so vampires as he strode purposely toward them.

  Braith’s reddened eyes were stark against the blood coating his face and chest. The rain washed the blood from his hair and down his cheeks in red rivulets. The torrential downpour should have cleaned the blood quickly from him; instead there was so much of it that it continued to streak over his body.

  Jack reached for Hannah’s hand, and he enclosed it tightly within his grasp as Braith stopped ten feet away from them. Behind him, the others drew in sharp breaths when Braith’s gaze flicked over them and he wiped away some of the blood on his face.

  “Let’s go,” Braith said crisply. He turned on his heel and slipped into the woods without looking back at them.

  “What if Aria is dead?” Daniel asked in a choked voice. “What if her death, and not his, is the reason he can no longer feel their bond?”

  Jack tore his attention away from where his brother had vanished to focus on Daniel. His mind spun as he tried to process the death Braith had just unleashed with such casual ease and in a matter of mere minutes.

  He had no answer for any of them, but one, “Then God help us all.”

  He didn’t wait to hear what they had to say; there was nothing they could say. Tugging on Hannah’s hand, he followed Braith into the forest.

  CHAPTER 32

  Braith

  The blood coating him had completely washed away by the time Braith opened the door to the barn. However, he detected the scent of blood the second he stepped inside the building.