Aria ducked back away, she looked up at Braith. She had never been frightened of him, she had even slapped him once, but she was truly terrified for anyone that he felt was a threat to her. For the first time she realized the true depth of his desire to protect her. He had let Max go this time, but he would not do it again. Melinda studied them, her gaze disbelieving as she turned toward Braith, and then Ashby.
Aria saw the silent communication that passed between them, the intensity of their stares, and their concern. "Put me down Braith," she urged.
He slipped her easily from his arms, balancing her upon her feet. "Are you ok?" he inquired anxiously as he pushed her hair back away from her face to study her.
"I'm fine, I'm fine," she assured him hastily.
She grasped hold of his wounded hand, pulling it before her. He kept it fisted, but at her persistent prodding he reluctantly unfolded it. She gaped at him in astonishment, her mouth dropping as she rapidly fumbled with his hand. Blood still marred his skin, but there was nothing there. Not anymore. She stared in awe, unable to believe that what she was seeing was real. It was there, she knew a cut had been there but there wasn't even one scratch upon his flesh anymore. His hand curled around hers, he pulled her close for a brisk, firm kiss on her forehead.
"It's ok Arianna, I hardly felt a thing."
She gazed up at him, her mouth parted, astounded by the rate in which the wound had vanished. She knew that vampires were able to heal rapidly, but this was something not only stunning, and amazing, but also a little unnerving. She couldn't stop the shiver of trepidation that ran down her spine. "Braith?"
He kissed her again; his fingers lingered on the nape of her neck. "I'm good."
She squeezed his hand, wishing that they could go somewhere, wishing that they could be alone for just a few moments to recoup. Unfortunately, that was not possible right now. He turned away from her, and though he didn't try and block her from everyone again, he kept his hand on the wall by her head, and his other hand on her waist. She was well aware of the fact that he had kept himself in a better position to stop her if she tried to jump forward again.
She chafed against the invisible restraints he had placed on her and his protective urges but it would only irritate him more if she fought with him. Braith had to think that he was in control right now, even if he wasn't. Max was still in the grip of Ashby and Jack, but he wasn't trying to fight them anymore. He was simply staring at her and Braith as if they had just sprouted two heads, jumped on a table, and started dancing a jig while singing at the top of their lungs. Aria understood his reaction, if it had been anyone else from their camp, she would have felt the same way. But it wasn't anyone else, it was her, and she knew that what she felt for Braith was real, it was genuine, and it was so good and pure that it made them both stronger and better.
"It appears that we have a lot to discuss."
Aria looked across the room, trying to keep up the appearance of strength and courage, but her father was staring at her in a way that made her feel like a child all over again. She wanted to go to him, she wanted to hug him, she wanted to be his little girl for just one more minute, but she knew she could never be his little girl again. She wanted to apologize, wanted to tell her father that she had never wanted any of this, but she couldn't. It was true that the last thing she had expected was to fall in love with a vampire, but she wouldn't change any of it.
"Yes," she agreed.
- CHAPTER 17 -
"Our mother's family was nearly as powerful as our father's. They were married over a thousand years ago when the world was a different place, just as it was different a hundred years ago, before the war started. At the time of their marriage, superstition ruled, witches were burned, and our kind was relegated to the shadows. Our father always chafed against that, but he knew that to try and come out during those times would only result in death. So he waited. He bided his time, and he married our mother so that he would have more power, and more allies, for when the war broke out.
"And yes, I think that he was making plans to start it even back then," Jack said swiftly, cutting off Braith's question before he could ask it. "I think he planned it for even longer than that. He stayed with our mother, continued to have children with her. He had to keep up the pretense that he cared for her a little more than the rest of the nobles cared for their spouses, had to treat her well if he was going to keep her family as an ally.
"There was no king at this time, but a conglomerate of nobles that ran the underworld, dealt out the rules, and meted out punishments rapidly, and with imaginative, sickening flare. The nobles had grouped together to wrest control, and murder, the previous king. Before then the underworld had been nothing but a series of civil wars that had started to decimate the more powerful families as each king was brought down. Upon ousting the last king, it was decided that they would rule as a group in order to keep the inner slaughter somewhat under control.
"Our father had to find a way to wrest control from them if he was going to become the single, most powerful figure again."
"Shit!" Braith hissed.
Aria was staring wide eyed at Jack as he spoke. Though Braith seemed to have figured out where this was going, she still wasn't quite sure. Her hand shook in Braith's as he enfolded both of his around hers. She could feel an awful trembling working its way through her, but she couldn't stop it. "If you remember father was never cruel to mother, at least not publicly, and I have no idea what went on behind closed doors. So when he did turn on her, when he did accuse her of unfaithfulness and treachery no one questioned it, everyone believed him."
Aria was beginning to shake; she could feel it all the way down to the tips of her toes. She knew little of what the world had been like before the war. She'd heard stories of a world where humans ruled, there were libraries and schools, and homes and buildings that touched the sky. She had thought that most of it was a myth, stories filtered through the generations to entertain children, and to give people something to fight for. But listening to Jack, she had a feeling that there was so much more that she didn't know, and that she would never see.
No human seemed to know what had triggered the war that left the human population decimated, starving, and just barely clinging to survival, but she was beginning to realize that it was something that she had never even begun to fathom.
"For hundreds of years he bided his time, until he felt that the situation was becoming one that he could control, manipulate, and use to his advantage."
"And then he exiled her," Braith stated.
"Yes."
"And then he had her killed in order to fire the spark that started the war."
"Her family demanded revenge; they blamed the humans who had been set up to take the fall for her murder. Father was able to take control of the situation, manipulating everyone to his way. He may have exiled her, but she was still his wife, and it was still his daughter that had been so ruthlessly slaughtered."
Aria gasped in astonishment as she focused on Melinda. The beautiful woman was standing proudly, her chin raised defiantly. She showed no sign that the fact her father had expected her to be killed in the raid upset her. However, no matter how much time had passed, no matter how much she despised the father that had helped create her, Aria knew that it still had to hurt her. The small flicker in her dove colored eyes revealed this.
"They allowed him to seize the power and rule that father had always coveted," Braith said.
"And once he took it there was no stopping him," Melinda murmured.
Aria shuddered, the night was warm, but she was suddenly freezing cold. Her bones were numb; she was barely able to stand anymore. She could feel the shock radiating from Braith at the depths of his father's perfidy. "How long have you known this?" he inquired.
Jack shifted; he looked uncomfortable by the amount of hostility radiating from Braith. "About sixty years. It took me awhile to gather all the pieces of the story and to actually believe it. I hate the man, there's never
been any love lost between us, but even I had a tough time believing that he would have our mother killed for his own advancement."
Braith closed his eyes for a moment. Aria ached for him, she ached to comfort him, but this was not the time, and it was not the place. Later, when they were alone, she would try and take some of his suffering from him, but she wasn't certain that even she could help ease this treachery and loss.
"Your family is even more screwed up than ours," William muttered.
Jack cocked an eyebrow at him; a sad smile curved his mouth. "And you haven't had the pleasure of meeting Caleb, or Natasha, yet."
William nodded slowly; his gaze drifted to Aria. "What did you get yourself into now sis?"
Aria managed a weak smile; William was trying to sound casual, but even his normal jovial tone fell short in this horrendous mess. She itched to go to William, to hug him and the rest of her family. However Braith wasn't ready to let her go just yet. "Braith." She rubbed his arm, looking to comfort him, looking to get him to relax a little. It didn't seem to be working.
"You know everything now Braith, you know what was done, and you know what we believe. The question now is; what are you going to do?" Jack asked pointedly.
Braith's beautiful eyes were aglow in the dim room. The blue in them was bright, sharp in contrast to the unrelenting gray. There was something in his gaze, something so vulnerable and yet so strong that she felt her insides melt. His eyes caressed her face, stroking lovingly over her, but the steel rod of determination within his eyes left her cold with dread. "Braith," she breathed.
"I'm going to keep you safe."
She managed a small nod. "I know you will. I have absolute faith in that."
"No matter what, Arianna, I am going to keep you safe."
She gulped; her heart was fluttering rapidly. "It's a brutal war to wage," she whispered, a war that he had not experienced in a hundred years; a war that she had only lived through the horrendous consequences of.
"It is. The results of the last war have to be set right though."
"They will follow you Braith," Jack encouraged.
Aria shot him a dark, withering look. She knew what Braith had in mind, knew that she couldn't stop him, but Jack didn't have to make him feel as if he had to do it, because he didn't. She would stand by him no matter what he decided. Even if he decided he chose to flee from here and never look back. That may not be her choice, but she would support it because she supported him. It wouldn't be her that would be going against her own family; she wouldn't force him into that position.
"Will they Jack?" Braith inquired dryly.
Jack swallowed heavily as Braith leveled him with a virulent stare. "Yes. I think you may be as strong as father now." Jack focused upon her. Braith stiffened and stepped in front of her. "Maybe even stronger. Many will look to you for leadership, especially the vampires on the outskirts, especially the ones starving under father's regime."
"And the people will follow the human," Braith said coldly. Aria shivered at his harsh, brutal tone. "Isn't that right Jack?"
"They will."
"Why do I feel as if I have been manipulated into this?" he grated.
"As if anyone could have expected you to fall in love with your blood slave," Melinda retorted.
"I am not a blood slave!" Aria snapped.
"Maybe not anymore, but you were. It's how all of this started after all."
Aria glared at her. "No one saw that coming," Jack agreed, trying to placate everyone with his docile tone.
"I don't think they'll follow a vampire who fell for their blood slave." Braith squeezed Aria's hand reassuringly when he said the words blood slave. "In fact, I imagine most of them will be disgusted by it."
"That is one thing we will have to keep secret," Jack agreed. Anger and hurt bloomed through Aria's chest but she tilted her chin defiantly. She would have to stay strong, she would have to accept that fact if they were going to succeed, and if they were ever going to have any chance at happiness they would have to succeed. "For now it will have to look as if you have formed an alliance with the humans, and as if you are going to bring the peace and security to the vampire race that father promised, but was unable to provide. The humans will follow if they are assured safety and security, which we will give them. When this is all over…"
"When this is all over, the two of us will be going somewhere safe. When this is all over, we will be left alone," Braith interrupted sharply.
Jack was hesitant; Aria could barely look at her family. They were staring at her with a mixture of confusion and defeat that made her ache for them. "They'll follow you Braith," Melinda whispered.
He kept Aria behind him still, unwilling to expose her to anything he might consider a threat. "And they'll follow Jack after, and the humans will continue to follow one of them." Braith waved a hand lazily at her father and brothers.
"Yes, fine. We can work it all out later," Jack assured him quickly. Ashby looked about to protest, but Melinda rested a hand on his arm and shook her head subtly. Aria understood that look, understood what it meant. Braith might want to believe that they would be free if they somehow managed to succeed, but they all understood what Braith was trying desperately to deny. The two of them would never be free. "First things first though."
"Father has to come out of power, and Caleb has to be neutralized," Braith stated.
Aria squeezed his arm; he glanced down at her, the hard lines of his face smoothing out as he smiled at her. She smiled back before slipping past him toward her family. She was timid; frightened of the reaction she would get from them. It was William that stepped forward first to hug her against him. She sighed contentedly, embracing her twin as Daniel and her father came forward.
Relief and love filled her. It was a long, savage road they all had ahead of them, but they could do this together. With the love of her family, with the love of Braith, she could get through anything.
Her gaze drifted back to Braith. She couldn't resist him. Releasing her family, she rejoined him, wrapping her arms around his waist as she buried her head in his chest. The coming war was inevitable; she would be giving up everything to help wage it, including Braith. She was acutely aware of the fact that when all of this was over, there would be little left for them. It was him that had to rule, they all saw that already, even if he didn't. And as a human, she would have no place by his side.
But she couldn't think about that now, there was a war to fight first.
THE END
REFUGEE
- PROLOGUE -
The figure slipped silently into the room. The deep gray cloak it wore covered most of its body; the hood shielded its features as it moved with inhuman silence. But it was not inhuman; Gideon was reminded of that fact by the solid beat of its heart, and the alluring scent that pricked his appetite. But this human, especially this one, was completely off limits if he was to keep his life. Although he couldn't see the features, he knew that it was female, knew who it was by the sweet aroma she emitted.
No, no matter how hungry he may be at the moment, he would not touch this one. He valued his life far too much to do such a thing. He'd eat rats first.
She stopped before his desk, her head bowed as she inhaled a small breath. Slowly, ever so slowly, she lifted her head and drew back the hood. Her dark auburn hair was the color of blood in the candlelight that flickered over it. Her features, though pretty, were not stunning, especially not under the pallor that now marked her normally healthy hue. Her hand trembled, but there was a steely resolve about her that Gideon couldn't help but admire.
"I spoke with Jack and Ashby."
Gideon froze for a moment, his hand tightened around the pen he was holding. "I see."
Her mouth was pinched, her eyes steady despite the tumultuous fear and anguish he sensed rolling just beneath her seemingly calm exterior. "I understand what needs to be done."
Gideon let go of the pen before he snapped it in half. He didn't care about the instrument, but
he was far too meticulous to have ink coating him. "You do?"
For a brief moment tears shimmered in her eyes before she blinked them back, thrust out her chin and nodded firmly. "I do."
"He cannot know about this."
"He won't."
Gideon was silent for a long moment. "The bond cannot be completed."
She winced as a flash of grief struck her like lightening. For just a moment her composure seemed to crumple. "It won't," she whispered.
Gideon didn't know what to say, he hadn't known what to expect from her or how she would react to what Jack and Ashby had to say to her. He realized now that he should have known this was the path she would take, that she would not shy away from this. She turned away from him, but her step wasn't so sure, or as silent, as she made her way to the door.
"You know what this may mean for you?" he inquired before she could escape.
She stopped in the doorway, her head turned back to him as she studied him over her shoulder. She swallowed heavily as she managed another stiff nod. "If we are unable to dilute his blood in me my death may be the only solution to separating us for good."
He was immobile, struck by the fact that this young girl was able to see what the others refused to. "And you accept this?"
"It's what I came to you for," she breathed.
That answer didn't surprise him either, he was the only one she could turn to in order to ensure such a thing was carried out. "No one else can know about this."
"They won't," she vowed. He realized he'd just made a deal with the devil as she slid the hood back over her head and slipped from the room.
- CHAPTER 1 -
The Barrens. The place where horror stories were born, cautionary tales were exchanged and people were frightened by the mere thought of entering them. They were desolate, somehow cold, even with the sun relentlessly pounding the earth around them. There were few people that had entered The Barrens and ever come back. The ones that did often ranted of strange creatures, monsters that hunted within the sand, appeared out of nowhere, and were even more vicious than the vampires. Few believed the extent of the stories, but even fewer wandered into The Barrens after hearing them.