“Then what good is any of this?” Caleb hissed. “A man named David leads these imbeciles. Six years and that’s all you came up with?”
“Enough!” their father snapped. “Let your brother continue.”
“As I was saying,” Jericho grated through clenched teeth; his annoyance at being cut off and degraded more than apparent. At one time, Jericho would have laughed off Caleb’s impatience.
“I met David, and though I don’t know where he lives, I do know his family,” Jericho said. “They may keep their living quarters a secret, but they all work together, especially David and his oldest son. In the beginning, I only knew the eldest son who is his second in command, but three years ago David’s younger son became more involved, as did his daughter. Though they try to keep the girl out of most of the fighting, she is well trained, and a skilled hunter. She often went on food gathering trips, and would aid in planning and executing the raids as she knows the forest better than anyone.”
Braith felt a knot forming in his stomach as uneasiness curdled through him. Arianna had been hunting for food when she was captured; she admitted as much. She’d said Max was caught because of her, that he could have run, but sacrificed himself in the hope he would be able to free her from captivity.
There were only two reasons a man would do that, either for love of the woman, or love of his leader. He’d assumed Max aspired to save her because they were friends, and he loved her, and because of his friendship with her brother.
He realized he might have been wrong; Max may have gone after her because he knew who she was, and who her father was. Because Max realized what a threat it was to their cause if one of the children of their leader was caught, discovered, and held by the enemy.
What kind of a mess had he gotten himself into with her?
“Okay, so the girl is a heathen and aspires to be a man,” Caleb said. “So what?”
“Shut up, Caleb,” Jericho grated.
Braith felt Caleb’s disbelief ripple through him. He supposed he would have felt the same if he wasn’t already terrified of what else Jericho might reveal.
“The heathen is also in our possession right now, or at least she was,” Jericho said. “There was a raid on an outer encampment a few weeks ago; blood slaves were taken. At first, there were only rumors about exactly who was caught, but one child claimed a girl saved him. A girl who very much resembled David’s daughter. No one knew anything for certain though, until last week.”
Oh hell, Braith thought with an inward groan. Arianna had spoken of going back to rescue a child. His hand constricted on his cane as he fought the urge to flee back to his room and demand answers from her. Answers he feared receiving right now.
“And what happened last week?” Braith wanted to know.
“David’s daughter didn’t return as scheduled, and neither did one of his higher ranking lieutenants. It was confirmed the girl was taken. It hasn’t been confirmed if she’s alive as a blood slave, or not. That’s why I risked blowing my cover to come back here,” Jericho said.
“What good is any of this information?” Caleb inquired, but the irritation was gone from his voice.
“Humans tend to be attached to their children; so, if David’s daughter is alive, and being kept as a blood slave, then we can use her as a weapon against him. He won’t like the thought of his child treated in such a way, he will try to get her back, and he will be reckless. If she is dead, then we will have to dig up a blood slave who looks like her and try to use that girl against him. Either way, we have strong leverage over the rebels right now,” Jericho explained.
“I want all of the blood slaves from the past few weeks brought forth tonight for the banquet, Jericho will inspect them all,” their father commanded.
Sensing Braith’s growing concern, Keegan rose to pace around his feet.
“Perhaps it is your blood slave, Braith,” Caleb taunted.
“Perhaps,” he managed to agree.
“You have taken a blood slave?” Jericho’s astonishment was evident in his voice.
“Yes, Braith has finally sunk to the levels of depravity the rest of us have enjoyed all these years. He did well for a blind man; she’s a pretty little thing if you like redheads. Which, I do.”
Braith was close to ripping the head off his cane as he anxiously waited for Jericho’s response. If David’s child were a redhead, they would all know shortly, and they would be racing up to his apartment to get at Arianna. They would use her and torture her before they killed her. Braith didn’t know how he would stop them, but he was damn sure going to try.
Jericho released a mellifluous laugh. “No, fortunately for Braith’s newest addition, David’s daughter is not a redhead.”
Relief coiled through him, but the tension in his chest still didn’t ease. Something felt off about all of this. He itched to return to Arianna and question her, but he had a feeling that no matter how much had passed between them lately, she still wouldn’t tell him about her family, especially if this David fellow was her father. He couldn’t blame her for that; her family was probably far closer than his. Humans tended to cling to their loved ones.
If David was her father though, then why would Jericho lie about her hair color? Maybe he didn’t consider her dark tresses red, but Braith doubted that.
Maybe he’d never actually seen the girl, but why would he lie about it? What did he have to gain by coming here and lying about any of this? Unless Jericho wanted to escape the woods and this was his excuse to return to the luxurious lifestyle he left behind.
That didn’t seem right either, but he couldn’t quite figure out this puzzle, not yet anyway. He knew he had to get back to Arianna, and he had to keep her away from Jericho. She couldn’t go to the banquet tonight.
“Well, if she’s not a redhead, then I’ll be leaving my blood slave behind tonight. I’d prefer to mingle amongst the crowd, alone,” Braith said.
“Already tired of your treat?” Caleb goaded. “Funny, but it didn’t seem that way when I stumbled upon you earlier.”
“A change is always good,” Braith replied blandly.
“So be it,” their father interjected. “I still require Jericho to see the girl, just in case.”
“Of course,” Braith murmured while struggling to remain calm. “Whenever you wish to stop by, Jericho. I will join the rest of you later.”
Braith strode swiftly from the room with Keegan following at his side. It took everything he had not to break into a run and race back to Arianna.
Chapter Thirteen
Aria stood silently as Maggie slipped the beautiful dress over her head and began to tighten the strings running up the back of it. Aria stared at the shimmering green material, awed by the striking color as it flowed gracefully to the floor.
There were only two things she didn’t like about the dress; its low cut revealed far too much of her cleavage than she was comfortable with, and the strings, that even now were cutting off her breath as they pressed against her still tender ribs.
“Is it too tight?” Maggie asked.
“A little,” she admitted.
“I can loosen it, but it has to be snug to stay up. The prince chose this dress, but maybe he’d allow you to wear another if he knew it was hurting you.”
Aria closed her eyes as she shook her head. She had to stay with this dress; no one could think Braith was offering any sympathy to her. If this were the dress he’d chosen, then she would wear it. There were probably already questions about them; she couldn’t allow any more to be raised.
“No, it will be fine, and the prince won’t allow me to change if this was his pick,” Aria said.
“I’m sure he might; he probably wasn’t thinking when he picked it. Men don’t understand strings after all.”
“It will be fine,” Aria murmured.
Maggie sighed in aggravation but returned to pulling strings again. Aria clenched her teeth and strained to keep her face impassive as Maggie tried to be as gentle as she co
uld.
“Do blood slaves often attend the banquets?” Aria asked, more to distract herself from the pain than out of any real sense of curiosity.
Maggie shrugged absently, but she looked a little troubled. “Not normally, and not when it is such a big celebration.”
“What are they celebrating?” Aria inquired. She hadn’t seen Braith since he sent her to his room, but Maggie had appeared shortly after.
“The youngest prince’s return.”
“Return from where?” Aria asked in surprise. She hadn’t known he wasn’t here; Braith had never mentioned it.
“No one knows, but he’s been gone for six years.”
“Odd,” Aria whispered, mulling over Maggie’s words.
“It’s been speculated and whispered about for years.” Maggie’s voice was eager; she obviously enjoyed sharing the gossip. “Some say he left to aid the soldiers fighting against the rebellion, and others say he left for the love of a woman his father didn’t approve of. Of course, no one liked that theory.”
“Why not?”
Maggie was silent for a moment; her gaze darted around before she bent closer to Aria. “The young prince is very handsome. No one liked the idea of him with another woman. They all hoped they would snag him.”
“Oh,” Aria said dully. “I see.”
However, she didn’t see how anyone could be more handsome than Braith. She also didn’t care to think about the women running around here trying to snag a prince for themselves, especially when it could never be her doing the snagging.
Aria closed her eyes as her ribs screamed in protest. She was so focused on trying to ignore the throbbing of her ribs that she didn’t hear Braith arrive until he growled a command, “Leave us.”
Aria’s eyes flew open; her heart leapt when she spotted him standing in the doorway. He was magnificent, but he seemed unreasonably irritated and tense right now. Aria stood as Maggie glanced between them. She seemed hesitant to leave Aria by herself, but when Braith barked at her again, she scurried from the room.
A small tremor worked its way through Aria; she’d never seen Braith look like this, not even after she slapped him. The strange mix of anger and apprehension clinging to him left her breathless.
“What’s wrong?” she whispered.
“If I’m going to keep you safe, then I must know more about you. Do you understand me, Arianna?” he asked. “There can be no secrets.”
Her gaze darted nervously behind him. She could see little of the rooms beyond as his shoulders nearly took up the entire doorframe. “I don’t understand, Braith; what is this about? What happened?”
“My youngest brother has returned.”
“I heard.”
He stalked unhurriedly forward, his body taut, and his jaw clenched as he surveyed her.
“Is he okay? Is everything all right?” she gushed out.
She was uncertain as to what was going on and why the return of his brother would cause such a strange reaction in him. She would be thrilled to see William and Daniel again, not looking as if she’d like to rip the head off something. Perhaps the youngest brother was as revolting as the middle one.
“He’s fine, Arianna, but he came back in search of someone,” Braith said.
Aria’s heart sputtered as a cold chill crept down her spine. She could only assume it was her he was probably looking for. But how was that possible? How would he know who she was? Until her capture, and Braith, the only vampires she encountered were killed.
“I don’t understand,” she whispered.
“Don’t you?” he inquired.
Aria shook her head. She tried hard not to seem frightened, but she knew she was failing miserably. No matter how much she fought it, she could feel the horror showing on her face.
Then, a flicker of movement behind his back caught her attention. Her eyes widened, terror coursed through her as adrenaline slammed into her veins. She could only gape in silent dismay as the man behind Braith strode toward them.
Her mind couldn’t comprehend what her eyes were seeing. It was impossible. What she was seeing was utterly impossible!
The overwhelming urge to flee was beginning to consume her. She didn’t know what to say, or what to do.
She was trapped, cornered within these rooms with two vampires; one of which she was troubled she might be falling in love with. The other was a man she once trusted with her life, but who most likely came here to end it.
She tried to breathe, but the dress and her panic were making the simple task exceptionally difficult right now.
And then, she gave in to her instinctual urges.
Braith’s loud curse followed her as she darted through the door of his bedroom, flew over the top of his bed, and raced for the entrance to the library. She didn’t look back, didn’t hesitate in her heedless rush. She didn’t stop to think about where she could be going as she fled through the library.
She didn’t kid herself into thinking she could escape, part of the reason they’d lost the war was that vampires were exceedingly fast, powerful, and so damn tough to kill.
But she had to try at least; she wasn’t going down without a fight; she meant to stay alive for a few minutes more. She wished she had the stake to defend herself with, but it was tucked under the mattress and probably wouldn’t do her much good anyway. It would have been something though.
As she ran, she threw things behind her. She tossed a chair here and an end table there, in an attempt to knock them off their pursuit. She wasn’t entirely sure they were still behind her until she heard a reassuring grunt of pain as a piece of furniture made contact with one of her intended targets.
She grabbed the library door, slamming it shut behind her as she leapt forward. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a rushing blur coming at her. Aria ducked low and darted to the side as the blur lunged at her.
A small yelp escaped when a hand skimmed over her back, but when she dove forward, she barely managed to escape its seeking grasp. It wasn’t Braith who lunged at her; she would know his touch anywhere, but rather his brother, the traitor.
Her ribs screamed in protest, but they didn’t slow her as fear for her life outweighed the agony. Scrambling back to her feet, she lifted the annoying hindrance of her dress as she leapt onto one of the sofas and jumped over the back of it in a fluid motion.
A frustrated shout sounded behind her, but she ignored it as she bounded forward. The door was just feet away.
For the first time since the chase started, true hope bloomed in her chest and excitement pounded through her. She’d managed to avoid two mature vampires in an enclosed space; surely, she would escape this never-ending nightmare.
Her fingers scrambled over the door as she worked hastily through the bolts that had been thrown. Those locks were rarely ever in place, as she’d learned earlier when Caleb walked in on them.
Locks, she realized that Braith’s brother had turned into place. The door was almost open a foot when a hand slammed into it, banging it shut with a resounding crash that echoed throughout the room. She tugged uselessly on the handle for a few seconds, feeling like a fool as despair filled her.
She almost screamed for help, but there would be no one to come to her aid. No one to save her, she was trapped, and she’d been discovered. There was no escaping that fact. Not with Jack here now.
Except, his name wasn’t Jack, was it? No, it was Jericho, and he wasn’t one of her allies, but a member of the royal family. He’d come here to root her out, hand her over, and use her as a weapon against her family.
Well, the joke was on him then, wasn’t it?
Because no matter what they did to her, her family wouldn’t come here. It would be a suicide mission, and they knew it. There were far more lives at stake than just hers. She was willing to accept there would be no rescue mission. She only wished it hadn’t come to this.
The sting of betrayal was sharp; she’d liked Jack, she’d trusted him and enjoyed spending time with him. She’d le
arned from him, and in return taught him a few tricks of her own.
Her father also liked and trusted the man. And the entire time Jack, no Jericho, had planned to betray him. Her body trembled from the bitterness radiating through her.
A hand wrapped around her waist, pulling her against a rigid body she recognized instantly as Braith’s. She remained wooden within his grasp. She didn’t try to kid herself, they’d grown close, she believed he might even care for her, but his loyalty would always be to his family and his kind.
He couldn’t protect her from this, even if he chose to, which she wasn’t sure he would. She was his enemy after all, and she had kept her true identity from him.
Her feet swung out when he spun her away from the door to face Jack.
Maggie was right, Jack was handsome, though Aria didn’t think him as attractive as Braith. He was as tall as Braith, with a slightly leaner, more whipcord build. His hair, lightened by his time in the sun, wasn’t as dark as Braith’s but had streaks of brown and gold highlighting it.
His eyes were steel gray and severe when his gaze locked on hers. She glared ferociously back at him, resentment curling through her. She’d stab him right now if she had the stake, and she wouldn’t think twice about it.
“I take it you two know each other,” Braith grated, his voice low in her ear.
Aria clamped her jaw shut, resisting the urge to swing her feet back and kick him in the shin. Pissing him off right now would do her little good though.
“Is she who you’re looking for?” Braith demanded harshly.
Aria remained unmoving in his grasp; her hands fisted as she stared fiercely at Jack/Jericho, her new greatest enemy. His eyes remained narrowed on her as he took her in.
“One of you answer me!” Braith snarled, shaking her a little within his grasp.
“Put me down!” she snapped.
His grip tightened on her. The frustration simmering in her raced toward a boiling point as everything inside her threatened to explode. She wanted to scream, wanted to kick and claw and go wild, but she did none of those things. She wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of seeing her broken. She folded her arms over her chest as she focused her gaze stubbornly beyond Jack.
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