"Braith." At first, she was so lost in him, so swept up in the surging needs of her body that Ashby's voice barely penetrated her mind. "Braith." Loss, acute and profound, filled her as Braith's hands stilled on her and he pulled a little away. She stared breathlessly up at him. Joy and love filled her as she saw the beautiful gray of his eyes once more. He stared at her with a mix of awe and love that caused her legs to quiver around him. "Braith."
His eyes flashed briefly red again, his hand slid free as he moved her into a position that protected her from Ashby's gaze. Aria felt her face heat at the thought of what Ashby may have seen as she quickly re-buttoned her shirt. "So help me Ashby if you don't leave us be for five minutes…"
"There's someone coming."
In a split second everything about him changed. Gone was the laziness of his posture along with the small half smile that had curled his mouth. Before her now was the man that would one day rule if they succeeded. He lowered her slowly and turned away. "Who is it?" he inquired as he replaced his glasses.
Ashby shook his head appearing disconcerted as he glanced between the two of them. "I don't know. A figure just appeared over the horizon. I'm not sure if there are others with it."
Braith glanced back at her, for a moment she thought he was going to order her to stay, but then he held his hand out to her. Relief filled her as she slid her fingers between his and he led her from the room. Aria was able to get a good look at her surroundings as they stepped into the hall. The room she'd been in had no windows in it, and it appeared that none of the other rooms up here did either.
Braith led her down a rickety set of stairs that seemed to drop from a hole in the floor. She stopped at the bottom, staring up as she examined the darkened area above her. It took her a moment to realize that it was an attic, she hadn't seen one in years.
His hand squeezed hers as he led her down another set of stairs to the first floor. Unlike the attic, this area was covered in dust and sand. It coated what remained of the furniture and was piled against the back wall. William turned from the doorway as they crossed the room.
"It's alone, as far as I can tell," William informed them.
Braith squeezed Aria's hand before releasing her. "She has to have her arms wrapped back up."
William stared at him for a long moment, his eyebrows furrowed questioningly before he nodded. William glanced at her arms, shaking his head as he pulled the remains of her ruined cloak from the bag on the floor. "Leave it to you sis to nearly get killed by one vamp and make out with another." Braith shot him a lethal glare as Aria felt her face flame red again. She remained silent though as William tore pieces of cloth with his teeth and hands. "We should find something to clean it with."
"It won't get infected," Ashby assured him as he moved unhurriedly past them.
"And how do you know that?" William demanded.
"Infections don't live in us."
William and Aria studied him. "You don't get sick?" Ashby shook his head in response to William. "Ever?"
"No."
Aria stood in stunned amazement, lost in thoughts of the rebellion she'd been a part of since birth. "We never had a chance did we?" she asked.
Braith finally turned toward her but he didn't respond. He didn't need to, she already knew the answer. William had become still, his fingers were wrapped around the scraps of cloth in his hands as he looked between the two of them. "Aria isn't one of you though."
"No, but Braith's blood has already accelerated the healing process; it will boost her immune system also. The cuts will not get infected."
She met her brother's worried gaze for a moment before he finally turned his attention back to ripping the pieces of cloth. He bandaged her arms with fingers that quivered against her skin. She knew how he felt. She was just as rattled by the realization that not only were the vampires faster, stronger, and possessed enhanced senses, but they apparently had never even had one freaking sniffle in their lengthy life spans.
William tied the last knot, squeezed her hand and then stood. Aria was drawn to the doorway, curious about the new arrival as she picked up her bow and arrows. "Is it human?" she inquired.
"It is," Braith confirmed.
The figure had gotten close enough for Aria to realize that it was a woman. She appeared to be about five years older than Aria with long brown hair that flowed around her shoulders. She wore a dress that hugged her curves and swayed about her feet as she moved. The woman was beautiful as she flashed a bright, disarming smile. Braith was wooden beside her, his hands clenched upon the doorframe as he studied the woman with a flare of his nostrils that caused a knot of apprehension to form in Aria's stomach.
Here was the food source they'd been lacking.
Aria thought she might be sick as Ashby stepped beside her, practically salivating. Aria remained unmoving, struggling to breathe normally as her heart lumbered. They wouldn't force this woman to provide blood, or at least Aria didn't think they would, but she wasn't entirely certain just how much the depravation of blood may have affected them.
If this woman was willing, then she knew they would have to use her as a food source. They were both hungry and therefore unpredictable and extremely treacherous.
"Gideon sent me."
Braith's need for blood seemed to vanish the moment he heard the name.
- CHAPTER 4 -
"What did Gideon send you for?" Braith grated from between clenched teeth.
The woman's smile widened, she provocatively stuck a hip out as she grinned at them. "What do you think?" she taunted as she pushed her hair back to reveal her slender, unmarked neck. "I was instructed to provide you with anything you might require, and then bring you to him afterward."
She ignored Aria with an ease that was astounding, and infuriating, as her gaze wandered lustfully between Braith and Ashby. "You can take us to him now."
The woman was taken aback, her eyes finally focused on Aria for a brief moment before she shook her head, obviously finding nothing remarkable in her. Aria was half tempted to hit her. "Braith," Ashby hissed.
"If you'd like to feed from her go ahead." Braith's words were clipped and harsh. His body vibrated with tension. Ashby was staring at him as if he'd lost his mind. "Do what you must, but do it quickly. I plan to leave before nightfall."
Braith turned away, leaving them staring questioningly at his retreating back as he moved deeper into the dwelling. Aria remained unmoving, dismayed by what had just happened. "Aria." She couldn't turn her head to look at Ashby, couldn't bring herself to meet his gaze as she stared at the doorway Braith had disappeared through. "Aria you have to talk to him."
Finally she was able to look away long enough to meet Ashby's fevered gaze. "He needs to feed Aria, he's weakening and he's becoming more unbalanced. Giving you his blood drained him further. He needs this Aria."
She managed a small nod as she finally closed her mouth. "He has to understand that you can't be his only human supply, it's not possible." He was right, she knew he was right, but it caused a physical ache in her chest to even think about another woman nourishing Braith. "I don't like to do it either, it's most certainly not something I enjoy, but I must, and so must Melinda. Maybe if there were more animals around and you hadn't been wounded it would be different. He's not going to put up much of a fight if he's malnourished, he'll get injured."
It was those last three words that spurred her forward. She had to go quickly, or she wouldn't go at all. If she stopped to think about it…well no, she couldn't think about it. She just had to focus on getting him to feed, getting him strong again and making sure that he didn't get hurt.
She found him outside, leaning against the house, his arms folded over his chest and his legs crossed before him. "Braith." She broke off, unable to get the words out as her chest and throat constricted. It took her a few tries before she was finally able to speak. "Braith you must." He kept his head bowed, refusing to look at her. "Braith…"
"And you would approve of this?
"
She swallowed heavily; her eyes burned. She tried to tell herself it was from all the sand and dust, but she knew it was from the tears she was struggling not to shed. Not in front of him anyway, not if she had any hope of convincing him to do this. "I don't like it." She hedged, unable to lie to him. "But you're weakened, and you need blood. If it can't be mine…"
"Then it will be no ones."
"You can't deny yourself. You need it to survive."
"I need you more."
"Braith…"
"I'm not arguing with you on this Arianna. It won't do any good anyway."
She started in surprise. "Of course it will."
He lifted his head and finally looked at her. "No Aria, it won't. Yours is the only blood I crave. None of them, none of those blood slaves after you satisfied me." The words were almost purred; they caused the hair on Aria's arms to stand up.
"Then take mine."
Though she had sensed his interest in the woman, it was nothing compared to the blast of hunger that vibrated from him now. Her mouth went dry. She thought self-preservation should kick in, that she should run screaming back into the house and away from him, instead she found herself wanting to run to him. She was losing her mind, and it was all because of him.
"No."
She inhaled deeply, straightened her shoulders and thrust out her chin. "If you're going to be stubborn about feeding from others, then you can't be stubborn about this. You don't have to take much, just enough…"
"It's never enough!" he snapped. "That's what you don't understand. It's never enough. Every time I taste you I think maybe my thirst for you will weaken, that maybe it will ease, and I won't crave you so badly. But the yearning only increases and I find myself insatiably craving more and more."
She was stunned speechless. She hadn't known, she hadn't understood, she couldn't understand, not as a human anyway. But she did know one thing, he needed nourishment, he was stubborn, and she was here. Without thinking, she pulled at the knots on her arm as she stalked toward him. The cloth fell free, exposing the gashes as she thrust her arm out to him. Yes, she had completely lost her mind, tempting him like this, but there were some things that needed to be done, even if he couldn't see that. His weakness could get them all killed, it could get him killed. Her life was a small thing compared to their far greater goal, and the lives of so many others.
"You being unable to fight won't do us any good. I will not stand by and watch you starve yourself because you think you will hurt me. You will not hurt me. It's either me or her Braith."
Though shadowed by his glasses, she knew his eyes were latched onto her arm, and the droplets of blood that glimmered on her skin. "Either way I upset you Aria," he grated.
"I am offering my blood to you and so is that woman. You have to pick one." She tried to keep her face impassive, tried to control the beat of her heart as she stared stubbornly up at him. She couldn't reveal how much it would upset her if he went to that other woman, it would only stop him if he knew, and he couldn't be stopped. Not this time.
He clasped hold of her wrist, his long fingers gentle as they wrapped around her. He could kill her; with a simple flick of that hand he could kill her so easily, but he would kill himself before he ever injured her. She waited breathlessly to see what he would do, as he bent his head and licked the blood from her arm. A shiver raced down her spine, her breath was frozen inside of her as he pressed his lips against the inside of her elbow and rose over her.
She thought that she had won, that he was conceding defeat as he brushed the hair back from her neck. His fingers lingered upon his marks still on her skin, pressing ever so briefly against them. Then his hand entwined in her hair as he rested his forehead against hers. "You really are reckless," he muttered.
She managed a wan smile as he kissed the tip of her nose. "And you are stubborn."
"Soon," he said tenderly. "When you're stronger…"
"The woman."
"When you are stronger. Let this go, it will not happen."
Aria gave the battle up on a sigh. She leaned into him, simply enjoying the feel of him as they stood together in a stolen moment of peaceful silence.
***
He was starving, simply on fire with the necessity to feed. His veins felt as arid as the desert surrounding them. His body was sore, muscles he hadn't known he had burned from the blaze licking through them. It was shear willpower that drove him forward now. He should have fed, he knew that, he needed it so badly right now but he'd sensed Aria's unhappiness, sensed her anguish over the idea. She wouldn't deny him the woman, she would understand, but he couldn't bring himself to do that to her.
Instead, he was walking a thin line, bordering on complete loss of control. He was becoming even more of a threat to her with each passing moment. It didn't help that Ashby looked far better than he had before. The color was back in his face and the spring was back in his step. He was whistling merrily, and annoyingly, as they followed the woman across the desolate landscape. The woman was a little paler but appeared otherwise uninjured. He could smell the fresh blood from the bites on her inner wrist, but it was nowhere near as sweet and potent as the scent of Aria's blood on the rags covering her arms.
She was wearing William's cloak now, the hood pulled over her bent head shadowed her features and hid her hair. He felt that simply touching her might help to ease the fire inside him, but he didn't dare touch her in front of the woman that obviously held some loyalty to Gideon. Gideon may very well have been one of the strongest, and most human rights friendly aristocrats that Braith had known before and during the war. He'd fought adamantly against the enslavement of the humans, but Braith had no idea what a hundred years of living in these Barrens had done to him. He wasn't entirely certain what to expect from Gideon, but Braith wasn't going to alert Gideon to the fact that Aria was his biggest weakness. Not until he knew if he could trust the once powerful aristocrat.
They rounded the top of another dune and like a beautiful mirage a town came into view. Heat rose from the sand in waves that made everything shift and blur. But the town was there, green and lush for as far as the eye could see. "How is this possible?" Awe laced Aria's voice as she gazed over the town.
"At one time all of these lands were lush and fertile." Braith forced the words out. "It was the war itself that left everything so desolate. Gideon must have found a water supply out here, probably deep within the earth."
"Amazing, simply amazing," she whispered to herself.
He gazed at her for a moment before turning his attention back to the town before them. There were already vampires lining the streets, waiting for them as they moved down the dune and onto the main thoroughfare.
For a moment he hesitated. He should have fed. It was too soon for Aria, and the thought of feeding off the woman was enough to make his stomach turn, but he was in no condition to fight if that was what this became. Aria went to touch him, but her hand fell limply back to her side. He almost grabbed hold of her hand to make it abundantly clear that she was off limits to everyone in this town. He didn't want any more talk of someone possibly buying her, or her brother. However, he also had to keep her alive and there was no way to know what they were walking into.
He shouldn't have brought her here, but in the end there had been no choice. They would need help if they were going to take down the king, and there was no one that hated the king more than the aristocrats that had stood against him during the war. Aristocrats that had power and followers of their own, or at least they used to, and judging by the growing crowd, they still did. The people and vampires all appeared healthy, the buildings were in good repair, and it was obvious that they had established some sort of unbiased system here as human and vampire stood side by side. There was astonishment on some of the faces surrounding them, a couple of which he vaguely recognized from the years before the war.
They were almost to the end of the street when a figure separated themselves from the crowd. Braith's growing nee
d for blood diminished under the shock of seeing a face he had never thought to see again. Uneasiness twisted through his gut. It took everything he had not to grab hold of Aria and shove her behind him, but though there was no surprise on Gideon's features, there was also no hostility.
"Braith," Gideon greeted blandly.
Braith stepped in front of Aria as Gideon's gaze slid over them. He didn't miss the flicker in Gideon's hazel eyes as his attention momentarily focused upon Aria and William before moving dismissively away. His eyes gleamed with amusement as they landed on Ashby, and a disbelieving smile curved his thin lips. He shook back his light brown hair and studied them over his hawkish nose.
"Well, if nothing else, it looks as if I'm in for an interesting story. Come along."
They followed silently behind as Gideon led them down the streets and into a home that, while it was not opulently furnished, was appointed nicely. Aria pressed closer to him as her horrified gaze slid over the brutal scenes of death and violence depicted on the numerous canvases lining the walls. It was the first time he sensed any true fright from her as she fidgeted nervously with her hands. This was a world she didn't understand and probably never would.
"Are those human?" William's eyes were narrowed as he stared at a shelf displaying jars full of teeth.
"Some," Gideon replied flippantly. "Others are vampire."
William looked horrified as his head turned slowly toward Gideon. Aria's lips parted, a small breath escaped her as her hands pressed against her belly. Even though she'd worn a hood throughout most of their journey the sun had still caught her face and reddened her cheeks and nose. At the moment she was deathly pale beneath her sun kissed skin.
"Why?" she breathed.
"Souvenirs," Gideon answered with a negligent shrug.