Salvation

  “And if not, Gideon was the backup plan,” he growled.

  She managed a small nod as her lower lip began to quiver. “Yes.”

  “Aria,” he moaned as regret filled him. Pulling her against him he pressed a firm kiss against her forehead. “I would have found you, you know, diluted blood or not I would have found you. I’ll always find you.”

  “I know.” Her fingers curled into his shirt as she pressed her face against his neck. “I think I always knew.”

  “Gideon became your entire plan at one point.”

  “Yes.”

  “You should have come to me,” he broke off as he shook his head. “You couldn’t, I wouldn’t listen. Why did you change your mind? Why have you decided to tell me this?”

  She pulled slightly away. “Because I couldn’t be that person anymore. I simply couldn’t leave you like that for a second time. I was trying to do what I felt was right by leaving now, but it was never going to be right, not in the end. It would have destroyed us; even if you found me things never would have been the same. No matter what, you would have brought me back here, and you would have resented me for the rest of my life for betraying you, even if you could have forgiven me. You’ve also come to realize we’re not the most important thing, not anymore. While I was in that dungeon I knew that you’d become the king.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “The stubborn, determined, unwilling to bend Braith I knew would have stormed through those gates with no thought to reason and logic…”

  “I came as soon as I could.”

  She smiled as she rested her forehead against his; her fingers were as delicate as a butterfly’s wing against his face. “I know you did. But you restrained yourself, and you put the greater good ahead of me, and you.”

  “I would give my life for yours Aria, never doubt that.”

  She tilted her head to study him. “I know that, but you’re a king Braith, so many depend upon you, and I’m…”

  “A queen if you agree to be.”

  She closed her eyes, her hands stilled on his face. “I know they won’t accept me as a human.”

  “They have agreed to.” Her eyes flew open as she leaned back. “They will accept you as a leader, as a human, and as a queen. They will recognize you.”

  “Because of Caleb.”

  “You may not want it for that reason, but you gained their respect for it, their admiration. I think they would have eventually agreed even if you hadn’t helped to take down Caleb. They are beginning to realize that if things are to be equal this is one of the things that will have to change. They accepted and respected human leaders in The Barrens, they’ll accept them here as well. You make me stronger Aria, and it will help gain the support of the humans if you are by my side. They will recognize you as my queen.”

  “You had a meeting about this?”

  “Yes.”

  “And if we have children?”

  His hand fell instinctively to her belly. “I will love our children no matter what, human or vampire. I never thought I’d say those words, never even thought I’d care for any progeny I had, but I will love our children as much as I love you.”

  Tears shimmered in her eyes. “I know that Braith, but they will not be accepted if I stay human, will they?”

  He swallowed heavily as he shook his head. “They have agreed that our oldest child will have a seat on the council, but if the child is human, he or she will not be accepted as my heir. It will have to be a vampire child of ours, and even if it doesn’t sound like it, that is a huge concession for them. Though, I don’t plan on stepping down for a very long time.”

  “Would others accept them?”

  He hesitated. “It’s going to be very difficult for awhile Aria. It’s going to be a long time before our society operates the way we want it to.”

  “Probably not in my lifetime though,” she muttered. “The life they will face...” Her voice trailed off as she turned toward the fountain. “We fought to make a better world, but our children will still know hardship and hostility…”

  “No.” He grasped her chin easily as he turned her head toward him. “No. Our children will know no such thing.” But even as he said the words he knew that he was trying to force things again, trying to make things bend to his will. “Ok, yes, they may face some obstacles but all children do, and things will be different for them. There will be prejudices, distrust, and hatred for a long time to come, but one day all of this will be just a memory and the hatred will fade.”

  “Just as the memories of the world that used to exist have faded, I don’t have that many years though Braith.”

  “I know.” This was it; the time had finally come to tell her. He was fairly certain of the choice she would make, he just wasn’t sure he was ready for it. “Aria, there is something you must know.”

  She frowned at him. “What is it?”

  He braced himself before continuing on. “Xavier knows many things; more than both of us could ever learn, or figure out, or understand over hundreds of years.”

  “I know, he’s fascinating.”

  “That’s one way to describe him I suppose, most go with peculiar but I guess fascinating works.” The furrow in her brow deepened as she stared at him. “He also sees deeper into people than anyone I’ve ever known, and he understands more about the way they work. He sees things in this world that no one else would, or even could. Before you were captured I noticed that he had taken a particular interest in you.”

  “What kind of an interest?”

  “That’s what I was curious to know, and I confronted him on it.”

  “What did he say?” she prompted when he didn’t speak for an extended moment.

  He didn’t want to say the words, as badly as he wanted to blurt them. “He believes that you have vampire blood in your heritage.”

  She became as still as stone, even her heart seemed to freeze for an instant before giving a forceful kick against the inside of her ribs. “That’s not possible.”

  “I think it is.”

  “No.” She shook her head so vehemently that her hair flittered around her face. “No, Braith. I’m human.”

  “Yes, you most certainly are human. However I believe that somewhere, over the years, one of your ancestors was the child of a vampire. Listen to me Aria, it makes sense,” he said when she continued to shake her head. “You’re so fast, faster than most humans, and only Daniel and William move with the same sort of soundless grace that you do.” He didn’t add her father in; this was difficult enough without that reminder.

  “Max is quick and capable in the woods, but nowhere near as quick or as silent as the three of you. You’re strong; you yourself were amazed when you destroyed that vampire in The Barrens. The first time I ever saw you maneuver through the trees, even I thought the speed and grace with which you moved was extraordinary. I’d never seen anything like it. If I’d been thinking clearly at the time, maybe I would have picked up on it, but I don’t think I’ve thought clearly since I met you.”

  “Same here,” she muttered as she stopped shaking her head and frowned at the fountain.

  “There’s also the bloodlink.”

  “It’s never been with a human before, Ashby and Melinda were so baffled by us.”

  “As was Xavier and Gideon. No vampire has found their bloodlink in a human, Xavier is certain of it.”

  “That might explain why I unreasonably felt like I could trust you from the beginning, and why I was strangely unafraid of you when I first met you. I was always so reckless and driven to find a piece of me I didn’t know was missing, until you kissed me and I found it. Maybe there is a little bit of vampire DNA in me that recognized something in you.”

  He quirked an eyebrow as she frowned at him. “You weren’t fearful of me? I’m terrifying.”

  “Nowhere near as afraid of you as I was of that other vamp that tried to claim me.” He would have protested if she wasn’t smiling at him so endearingly. “But
what does that mean Braith? What difference does it make if somewhere along the way there was a vampire in my family?”

  “It didn’t have to be a vampire; it could have been a human-vampire child banished from the palace, one that fled in order to avoid the abuse they received.”

  Dawning realization settled over her features. “My great grandfather left the palace when he was a child. He later started the rebellion.”

  “I know, you told me that in The Barrens, but I didn’t think anything of it at the time. When I spoke to your father…”

  “My father knew of this? What did he say?” The yearning in her voice tore at his heart.

  “He told us what you just did. His grandfather left the palace at thirteen; he struggled to survive on the streets of the town before retreating into the woods. Once in the woods, he gathered a loyal following that over time became the rebellion. Your father didn’t know much about his time in the palace, only that his grandfather had left after his mother died, and that he had a deep hatred of vampires. David assumed it was because of the abuse he’d sustained while in the palace. He admitted it could have been possible that it was more than just that. He said there were strange rumors about the man when David was a child, but they faded after his death, and were chalked up to having been created to add an aura of mystery and power to the rebel leader.”

  “What kind of rumors?” Aria inquired.

  “That he was faster than a human, stronger, could see better and hear better than a hawk. Your father never really thought anything of it, and your great grandfather was killed when your father was only ten. He’d never spoken about it with his father as there had been no reason to question any of it, until Xavier.”

  “And did my father believe that his grandfather could have been the child of a human and a vampire?”

  The world became oddly still, the blue of her eyes became clearer as every sense he had focused upon her. He didn’t miss the fact that her hand was against her belly as she watched him. He rested his hand upon hers, leaning closer as he pressed a kiss on her temple. “He did believe that it was a strong possibility once he thought over everything.”

  “I see,” she murmured. “But what difference would it make if he was, if I do have some vampire in me?”

  “Xavier believes it will make a difference on your chances for survival.”

  Her nostrils flared as she inhaled quickly. “Of the change?”

  He didn’t want to desire this, he truly didn’t, but deep inside he did. He had to release her to grasp hold of the bench with both hands. His arms locked; the stone of the bench bit into his palms as he tried to steady his emotions. He didn’t know if he hoped for her to say yes or no, more. “Yes.”

  There was a moment of stunned silence before she started to laugh and flung herself at him. He barely felt the force of her slender weight as she wrapped her arms around him and settled in his lap. Anguish and ecstasy swamped him as he hugged her back. “There’s still a chance you won’t survive. Xavier says the only survivors he knows of had vampire heritage of some sort, but we’re still not entirely certain that you do.”

  “I’ll survive.”

  “Aria…”

  “I’ll survive Braith; I’m stronger than all of them and I’d say all the evidence points toward a ‘yes’ about my heritage. I’d never thought I’d be happy to hear that, to know that, but I am. I feel it’s right somehow.”

  He almost couldn’t look at her. If she didn’t survive, he would be the one that killed her. He shuddered at the thought, his hands clenched upon her. But if she survived…

  An eternity of promise unfurled before him; the hope was almost too much for him to bear. “I don’t want to be the one that kills you.”

  “You won’t be.”

  “Either way, I will Aria. You can stay human; you can stay with me as a human.” He had to make sure she thought over all her options.

  “I will still die. I would love to have those years with you Braith, truly I would, but I’d love to have many many more with you.”

  “Perhaps if we wait a few years…”

  “We could do all of those things. I could grow old with you and you could watch me die that way. We can live together now for a few years, and then we will come to this same crossroads and it will be even more difficult to make the decision. Especially if there are children involved, I could never take the chance of leaving them. I’m not vain, but I don’t want to push this off year after year until I’m dying from old age and there are no other options.”

  “You’d still be beautiful.”

  “To you, of course, but it would be weird and you wouldn’t desire me.”

  “It would be a little weird, but believe me there have been times when you’ve been the most unkempt and smelly thing I’ve ever come across, and I still desired you. I’d take you anyway I could get you.”

  Her eyebrows lifted haughtily, her eyes sparkled with laughter. “You’re depraved.”

  “I am what you made me.”

  She grinned at him as she wiggled in his lap. He clenched his teeth as he tried to remain focused on the discussion at hand. “The last thing I want to do is die, and we’ve been waiting so long to start our lives together. I’d like to do so with the promise of eternity. I understand if you decide against doing this, I don’t know how I’d handle this if the roles were reversed. I’d be terrified.”

  He rested his face in the hollow of her neck. He inhaled her sweet scent, savoring in it as he allowed it to soothe some of the tension in him. He could smell his blood within her, but if he did this, if this was the step they took, his blood would fill her even more. Their blood would be forever mingled.

  “I’ll agree with whatever you decide Aria, this is your life we’re talking about here.”

  “I know. I was never even sure I would live to this age to begin with.” A distant look settled over her face. He could almost see the reality settling over her, the knowledge that she would die from this, and possibly never reawaken. “I wouldn’t mind a few more years with each other, perhaps we could wait. Though there is only one way to guarantee we don’t have children.”

  He quirked an eyebrow at her, she smiled playfully in return and shifted mischievously in his lap again. “You’re hilarious.”

  “I am.” The smile slid away, her expression became grave once more. “I think I’ll survive Braith but if I don’t what will become of you? What will happen to you?”

  “That’s not something you should be concerned about.”

  “It is though. I saw your old rooms. I was in that dungeon with the survivor’s, I know what you are capable of when you lose control, and Ashby said that bloodlinks cannot survive without each other.”

  “Ashby’s an idiot.”

  “Braith…”

  “I’ll survive Aria.” His hands splayed across her back. “I promise you that I will survive. I’ll hate myself, and I’ll hate this world if it doesn’t have you in it, but I’ll keep it together, and I’ll go on because of you. It’s the only thing I’ll have left of you, to do what you would expect of me, to do what would make you proud. I won’t destroy any humans; there won’t be any other blood slaves. This is not the same as last time Aria, I felt betrayed then, as did you,” he added quickly when her eyes darkened. “I was out of control, lost, and furious because I didn’t know what was going on with me, with you, or why you had left me so abruptly after claiming to love me. This will not be the same.”

  “Our bond is stronger after last night.”

  “Our bond was stronger before we slept together.” The words were hard, far harder than he had intended, but he’d seen the look of guilt that had flickered through her eyes. He wasn’t going to let her have any regret over what had happened between them. “Sex was not going to solidify it even more, no matter what Ashby, Gideon or any of those idiots believed. This.” He seized hold of her hand and pressed it over his still heart. “There are times I can almost feel this actually beating for you. You ha
ve owned it since the moment I saw you. It may have taken me awhile to come to that realization, but it’s true, and there is nothing, nothing that is going to change that. Not blood and not sex. You were made for me Aria; you’re my bloodlink, my soul mate.

  “The bond between us has been stronger for awhile now. When Jack helped you escape from the palace, I lost my vision completely. When you were taken this time, I never lost my vision at all. It wasn’t the best vision, but I could still see, and that was long before last night, understand?”

  She closed her eyes as a single tear slid free. “Yes.” He brushed the tear away, his fingers slid over his fresh bite marks again as he ignored the rest of the fading marks on her body. “So your eyes are healing?”

  He shrugged. “I think your blood has helped them to heal, you’ve made me stronger than I ever knew I could be.”

  “And if I’m gone?”

  “I don’t know, it may stay the way it was this time or I may become blind again. I will get through whatever happens though. Don’t concern yourself with that Aria, that isn’t one of the things I want you to worry about.”

  “I’d like for you to move on, to find someone else…”

  “No,” he interrupted as his fingers stilled. His entire being recoiled at the thought, revulsion twisted like a poisonous snake through his belly. “No.”

  “You will require an heir.”

  “There is Jack for that, or Ashby and Melinda.”

  “Braith…”

  “No Aria, no. I can promise you that I’ll keep on living and that I will stay in control of myself and lead justly. Those are promises I know I can keep, but I will not make that one. I will not be able to uphold it and I won’t lie to you.”

  “Maybe not now, but you have years ahead of you. You will need love, companionship.”

  “No!” he said forcefully. “No. There is no one after you. Five hundred years, another thousand years, hell forever is not going to change that. Don’t push this Aria; the answer will not change no matter how you try to spin it.”