A cruel smile of satisfaction filled her as she turned the arrow in her hand and swung it forward. She drove it through Sabine’s right eye and straight into the tree. The woman howled, and finally released her hold on Braith as she clawed at the arrow pinning her to the tree.
Blood spilled down Braith’s neck. His fangs glistened in the fire as he grabbed Sabine’s head and wrenched it to the side. A wet cracking sound pierced the air as flesh and bone were severed. Aria stepped away from Sabine’s headless body when it slumped to the ground.
Braith’s shoulders heaved as he clutched Sabine’s hair in his hand. He handed Jack Sabine’s head before turning to Aria. His body moved with supple grace as he stalked toward her, lifted her up, and claimed her mouth in a bruising kiss that left Aria momentarily dazed by its intensity.
She sensed his barely controlled restraint behind the kiss and knew he needed her to calm him. Sensed how close he was to coming apart completely and giving himself over to the bloodlust shaking his muscles. Closer than he’d ever been to Lucifer, her husband was stronger, but violence and blood also beckoned him more than it had before.
His fangs scraped against her bottom lip, drawing blood. His hands clutched at her as his hard body enveloped hers. She gave herself over to him, and her own need to feel him against her. His tongue entangled wildly with hers as he licked away the drops of blood his fangs had created. His hand cupped the back of her head before his tongue slipped from her mouth.
An anguished groan escaped him as he lifted his head to look at her. His reddened eyes filled her vision when his forehead rested against hers. Beneath her hands, his body vibrated and beads of her blood glistened on his lips before his tongue slid out to lick them away. The red faded from his eyes and their beautiful gray color slid back into place. In that instant, she knew that no matter how close he’d become to Lucifer, he would never be anything like Atticus or Sabine, because he had her to calm him.
Reluctantly, he lifted his head and set her on her feet once more. “Are you okay?” he demanded as his fingers brushed over the gashes on her neck.
“Fine,” she croaked out, her voice hoarser than she’d expected.
A thunderous expression crossed his face before he held his wrist out to her. “Drink,” he commanded gruffly. She shook her head no. “You’re injured, Aria. Drink.”
“So are you,” she reasoned.
“I’m nearly healed.”
Knowing it was pointless to argue, she took hold of his arm and lifted his wrist to her mouth. She sighed when her fangs pierced his flesh and his blood filled her mouth. He drew her against his chest, cradling her there until she’d taken her fill and released him.
Pressing her head to his chest, he kissed her hair before turning to reclaim Sabine’s head from Jack. “Keep the body away from the head. I’m not taking any chances with this bitch until she’s nothing but a pile of ashes,” Braith commanded.
Jack grabbed Sabine’s arm and lifted her to toss her body over his shoulder. Aria glanced behind her, her brow furrowing when she realized the others were nowhere to be seen. If everything had been okay with Daniel, they would be here. She spun and fled through the trees with Keegan on her heels.
“Aria!” Braith shouted behind her, but she didn’t look back.
She burst out of the woods and onto the road. She spotted Max and Maeve still kneeling by the tree where Daniel had fallen. Behind them, Xavier, Timber, Tempest, and William continued to battle back the straggling remains of Sabine’s troops. Braith crashed out of the woods behind her. He reached for her shoulder, but she was already moving toward Daniel.
She crouched at his side, horror pooling through her when she spotted the blood coating his shirt, the pallor of his skin, and the awkward angle of his arm. His skin had been shredded open around his throat. His head lolled toward her. His glassy blue eyes met hers and he smiled at her.
“You’re alive,” he whispered.
“Because of you. You’re going to be fine,” she promised.
“Is she dead?”
“Yes.”
His heart gave a lumbering beat in his chest. Aria lifted her wrist and bit into it. “Drink,” she commanded when she held it before him.
Despite the growing weakness she sensed spreading through his body, Daniel’s voice was strong. “No.”
“Daniel, it will help you heal faster!”
“No, it won’t,” he replied. “It’s too late for that, Aria.”
“No, it’s not,” she insisted. “I won’t give you enough to change you, only enough to see you through this.”
His lips took on a bluish hue that caused her knees to give out on her.
“It’s too late, Aria,” he said again.
She knew he was right; it would be all or nothing for him now. He’d lost too much blood to reverse this. “You can be one of us,” she whispered as she brushed the blond hair from his forehead. “I know you said you didn’t want to be, but you could be.”
He’d said he didn’t want to be a vampire when he’d been healthy and far from death. Now, she could see death creeping through him, steadily taking him over. She opened her mouth to plead with him to change his mind, but the words died on her lips. If he’d changed his mind, he would have said yes to her blood.
Her hand stilled on his forehead as she leaned forward to kiss his cool cheek. There was so much he still had left to do, children to have, laughter to enjoy, plans to design, and life to live. She wasn’t ready to let him go, but he’d said he would accept his fate. No matter how badly she wanted to cling to her brother, to plead with him to say yes to trying to change into a vampire, she had to respect his wishes and let him go.
“Daniel…,” Max started as realization settled over his features and his lips parted. He closed his mouth against any further protest though.
Aria settled beside her brother and took hold of his limp hand. Tears burned her eyes when she rested her head on his shoulder and her chest squeezed with grief. She refused to shed those tears, not yet. Daniel would go peacefully, knowing they would be okay. There would be plenty of time for tears later.
“The world is a far better place because you were in it,” she told him. “We are all better for knowing you, for loving you, and for having you to love and protect us.”
Her gaze slid up to her twin as he came toward them. The last of the vampires were falling away before Xavier and Timber. William gazed at her, then her wrist before looking to Daniel again. He opened his mouth, then clamped it shut when he realized arguing would be pointless. William’s bow fell to the ground as he walked over to Daniel’s other side and knelt beside him to rest his hand on his shoulder.
“William and I never would have lived this long,” Aria continued.
Despite the increasing rattle of his breath and the slowing of his heart, Daniel gave a choking laugh. “Tr-true,” he stammered as his fingers twitched within her grasp.
“You’ll see Mom and Dad again,” William said.
“They need one of us there,” Daniel murmured and Aria bit back a sob. “Max will lead the humans now.”
“I will,” Max said and settled his hand on Daniel’s leg as tears slid down his cheeks. “Everyone will be safe now.”
“Safe, loved,” Daniel said and his heart stuttered again.
Aria lifted her head to kiss his cheek. “We all love you so much,” she whispered.
“Love you all too,” Daniel said, and this time his heart did not beat again.
CHAPTER 39
Braith
Braith kept his arm around Aria’s waist as he led her through the bloody streets of the town toward the palace. Smoke wafted around them, and the cries of the dying filled the air before they were able to be put out of their misery. Aria kept her shoulders back and her chin up, but he felt the small tremor in her muscles against his side. Though she tried, she couldn’t hide her sorrow from him.
William carried his brother’s body in his arms, his expression almost identical to A
ria’s as they neared the palace gates. The last of Sabine’s troops were falling beneath the onslaught of the palace guards and the fighters who had ensnared them within the town.
“Braith! It’s Braith!” Melinda shouted from the wall when he stopped before the gate and tilted his head back to look up at them. She clapped her hands excitedly and bounced on her toes before spinning away and disappearing from view.
Gideon and Ashby gawked down at them. He lifted Sabine’s head into the air to show them she’d been eliminated.
“Open the gates!” he commanded.
Gideon blinked at him before turning away. “Open the gates!” he bellowed, and the cranking of the mechanism within sounded as the battered wooden drawbridge lowered with a groan.
The wood hadn’t fully hit the ground before Melinda was running through the gates toward him. She ignored the head in his hands as she threw her arms around his neck. Unwilling to release Aria, or to have Sabine’s head touch Melinda, he turned his chin into her shoulder. “It’s good to see you too, sister,” he told her.
She pulled back from him, her hands staying on his shoulders. “She had your head,” she whispered, her lower lip trembling as her gaze ran over him.
“Not mine, but I do have hers.”
Melinda grinned at him and slapped him on the shoulders. “Good.”
She stepped away from him as Ashby and Gideon emerged from within and strode out to meet them. Behind them, Braith spotted the rest of The Council making their way outside of the palace walls, along with a large grouping of humans and vamps who surveyed the wreckage around them with wide eyes.
“We have to put the fires out, now!” Braith shouted at the milling group.
The command snapped many of them out of their stunned stupor. They ran back inside the walls to gather the hoses and pumps that would funnel water from the nearby lake to the fires.
Melinda’s gaze ran over all of them before falling on William’s arms. Her hand flew to her mouth and the color drained from her face. “Is that…?”
Her question trailed off as she looked to Aria, who held her gaze, but didn’t speak.
“I’m sorry,” Melinda whispered to her.
Aria gave a brief bow of her head as Ashby and Gideon arrived.
Gideon’s gaze ran over him from head to toe and back again before he grinned at him. “Not your head she had, I’m guessing.”
“No,” Braith replied. He had to get Aria away from all of this and settle her somewhere safe so she could mourn in peace. Lifting Sabine’s head, he smiled grimly at Gideon as he thrust it into his stomach. “Make sure this stays away from her body.”
Gideon’s lip skimmed back in disgust. His hand threaded through her hair. “With pleasure.”
“The fires must be put out, the injured have to be taken care of, and the bodies of the dead collected. All of the bodies of those who followed her are to be burned. There are too many dead to bury them all, and they don’t deserve a funeral. Any of her followers who are still alive are to be executed. There will be no leniency and no prisoners. I will help you sort that out shortly, but if you have any questions about who was on Sabine’s side and who wasn’t, detain them until their loyalty can be determined for certain.”
“We will take care of it,” Ashby said.
Braith nudged Aria forward, but she planted her feet. “We must stay and see everything through,” she said.
“I can take you to our rooms. It will be quiet for you.”
“No,” she replied. “The largest part of the threat has been eliminated, but we’re still needed here. It is the way of our world that we can’t always do what we wish.”
Braith stared at her, torn between carrying her away from here to give her the time he knew she needed right now and doing as she asked of him.
Her head turned toward him; the tears in her eyes didn’t fall as she spoke. “These are our followers. They come first, and we will take care of them. It has always been so. It will always be so.”
Braith brushed the hair back from her forehead before bending to kiss her. “Sabine was a complete fool. There is no finer queen than you,” he whispered against her mouth.
Her hand compressed around his as she stepped back to speak with William. “Place Daniel in the solar where we put father and meet us back here. They will need all of us here to oversee things tonight.”
William bowed his head to her and turned away. Tempest stayed close to his side as he walked through the crowd who parted to allow him to pass. Braith would make sure that Daniel’s funeral would be the largest they’d ever had once this was all settled; he was the only reason Aria still stood at his side.
“Max will be taking Daniel’s spot on The Council. I realize there will have to be a vote to confirm this eventually, but he is in charge right now, and I have no doubt all who vote will choose him when the time comes,” Aria said to Ashby, Gideon, and the other Council members who had walked out to join them. “Max has stood by my father’s side and then Daniel’s throughout. He will help you to calm the humans.”
“Come with me,” Calista said to Max and jerked her head toward the palace. “It will be best for you to be with the injured and the grieving now.”
Max took hold of Maeve’s hand before walking beside Calista through the gates. Aria focused on Xavier, her eyebrow raised in question as he stood resolutely by her side. Braith knew there had been something between him and Daniel in the end. He’d smelled them on each other, but he’d never scented Daniel’s blood within him or seen Xavier’s marks on Daniel. He hadn’t gotten the impression of love between them, only a mutual respect and need.
“Xavier—”
“He was a good and loyal man, a dear friend. He will be missed greatly by many, including myself,” Xavier interrupted Aria and rested his hand comfortingly on her shoulder. “I cared for him deeply, but I will be okay, Aria.”
Aria bowed her head and took a minute to compose herself before squeezing Xavier’s hand. Keeping Aria against his side, Braith turned to face the town as water was released onto the flames eating away at the buildings. Keegan brushed against his side, and Braith ran his hand over the wolf’s head. Keegan whimpered when he pressed against Aria’s legs, sensing her sadness.
“We’ll be fine. Go on, return home,” she whispered to Keegan as she ran her fingers over his thick fur.
The wolf licked her hand before trotting away between two of the houses not yet on fire. His green eyes flashed in the light of the flames when he looked back at them for a minute. When Keegan turned away and vanished into the woods once more, Braith knew his old friend had said good-bye for the final time.
***
Braith
Throughout the endless night and into the next day, they worked tirelessly to put out the flames, gather the injured, settle those who had been displaced, destroy those who had attacked them, and calm the nerves of the numerous survivors.
The sun had set on the next day when Braith was finally able to lift Aria into his arms and carry her to their rooms. He turned on the water in the large tub before carefully removing her bloody, ruined clothes. The gashes on her arms had healed and the wound in her shoulder was mostly healed, but the skin around it was still red and puckered. She remained unmoving while he worked, her head bowed as tears slid down her cheeks.
She shivered when he bent to kiss her back. He undid her braid, allowing her glossy auburn hair to spill around her shoulders. Carefully, he lifted her into his arms and climbed into the tub with her. He settled into the water, clutching her against his chest when she curled into a ball against him and finally gave herself over to the sobs she’d been holding back.
He didn’t try to quiet her, but only held her as she shook against him and her tears wet his chest. He’d give anything to take her sorrow from her, but though there were so many things that could be taken from someone, the worst of them never could be. Grief had to be endured.
CHAPTER 40
Aria
Six m
onths later
William paced anxiously from one side of the room to the other, running his hands through his hair as he muttered to himself. Aria bit on her inner lip to keep from laughing at his nervous movements. “You’re going to wear yourself out,” she told him.
“What is taking so long?” he demanded.
“You know how women are when it comes to getting ready,” Jack replied, and Aria shot him a look.
Jack met her glare with an innocent smile as he adjusted the lapels on his black coat. His hair was brushed back from his face, emphasizing his handsome features. Beside him, Braith wasn’t bothering to hide his amusement over her brother’s frantic behavior. He grinned as he stood with his arms folded over his chest. Like Jack, his hair had been brushed back from his face to emphasis his gorgeous features. Her heart melted when his eyes met hers and he winked at her.
Stepping away from the wall, Braith strode across the room to her. He drew her into his arms as William started cursing. She melted against his chest, inhaling his crisp, masculine scent. Her fingers dug into his back as she closed her eyes and allowed herself to drift for a minute.
The past six months had been difficult to get through. It had taken them months to sort through the mess Sabine had created, to find any humans and vampires who had survived her imprisonment, and to check on all of the existing border towns. Some of the towns had managed to escape her wrath, others hadn’t been so lucky.
They’d discovered the humans Aria had seen with Sabine in the forest had been locked in the basement of one of the homes within the town. They’d been able to get them out before the building had been consumed by the fire. Some of the people had been too far gone to save, but the others had all been set free. The vampires Sabine had imprisoned, starved, and turned into monsters incapable of being saved, had all been hunted and destroyed.