He was moving faster as they accessed another small hallway and the staircase that led to the lowest bowels of the palace, the dungeons. Even as he took the stairs he knew that something was wrong. He knew, before he even saw the ruined door that Aria wasn’t within the dark cells below. A low growl escaped him; his hands trembled as he pulled the heavy metal gate away from where it had fallen across the bottom of the doorway.
A snarl curved his upper lip as he bypassed the steps and leapt into the depths of the dungeons below. The smell hit him first, he had been here before, he had drawn people from here before, but he’d never truly noticed the smell until now. He hadn’t even noticed it on his victims; he’d been too lost in the madness consuming him at the time. It engulfed him now, suffused him with its desolation and dread. Even though he was struck by the harsh scent, beneath it all he could smell Aria’s potent, more delicious scent. She had been here, trapped within this place, ensconced in this awful gloom. This place was everything that her woods weren’t, everything that she wasn’t. The clamoring madness inside him was briefly pushed aside as a lump formed in his throat.
Sharp gasps accompanied his sudden arrival. People scurried like cockroaches from the light to the backs of their cells. He deserved their terror, there may even be some women still within that he had fed from, but he didn’t have time for it.
He stopped before an open cell door, his hand twisted around the metal frame. For a moment he couldn’t move as her scent overwhelmed him. He’d known what they would do to her, the abuse that she would endure, but the strong scent of her blood slapped him in the face with the harsh reality of it. He ripped the door from the wall with a violent wrench that did little to soothe him. He managed to restrain himself from heaving it at the back wall as it fell with a clattering ring at his feet.
He stepped away from the dingy, filthy cell, and turned to the man that stood in the middle of the one next to Aria’s. “What happened here?” he demanded. The man simply stared at him with a gaping mouth and bug eyes. “Where is she!?”
Determined to get answers from the man Braith seized hold of the cell door. He was about to yank it free when a faint whisper pierced the air. “Max?” Braith’s head shot around at the name. “William? Daniel?”
The three of them had crept to the bottom of the stairs; the radiance of a single torch flickered over their horrified expressions as they took in the dungeon. Braith stormed down the hall toward them, and the voice that had come from their right. Snatching the torch from them he thrust it forward, causing the woman within the cell to shrink back. He didn’t know if she was one of the women he’d fed from, he hadn’t been able to see them, and they’d been a blur of blood that hadn’t been nearly good enough. The woman watched him with a wary expression that made him think she might have been one of his victims though.
“Mary.” Max was staring at the woman in disbelief as he stepped closer to the bars. “I didn’t think you would still be alive.”
Her gaze darted to Braith and her lower lip began to tremble. He might have felt bad, he was certain he would feel bad once his panic and wrath abated, but right now all he felt was irritated and incensed. “Neither did I,” she whispered.
“What happened here?” Braith grated.
The woman just stared at him with large, frightened eyes. Braith took a step toward the bars, causing the woman to shrink back even further. Max shot him a look as he elbowed Braith out of the way. Braith’s jaw clenched, his hand tightened around the torch, he thought he might have preferred it when Max hated him and went out of his way to avoid him. This side of Max was a little to brazen for his liking right now.
“Mary, was Aria here?” Max asked.
“I know she was here,” Braith retorted.
William and Daniel shook their heads as they stepped forward. Mary continued to study Braith like he was a hairy spider. “You really trust him?” she inquired doubtfully.
“Yes. Please Mary was Aria here?” Max pressed.
“She was here,” she answered after a moment of hesitation.
“What happened?” Braith thrust the torch at one of the soldiers as he grabbed hold of the bars of the cell. “Who took her from here?”
“No one took her.” The voice came from the man that had been in the cell next to Aria’s empty one. “Your brother,” the word was spat at him. “Came for her.”
“Caleb came into the dungeons?” Braith asked in disbelief.
“He did.” Mary moved hesitatingly toward the bars. “He attempted to put the chain on her.” A cold chill flitted down the back of Braith’s neck as beads of sweat began to coat him. Knowing his brother, Caleb may very well keep it on her until the day she died.
“She got away though.” There was amusement in the man’s voice and a few chuckles emerged from the cells surrounding them. “Kicked his ass actually.”
Braith didn’t know if he was more proud or terrified by that revelation. He did know that he couldn’t let Caleb get his hands on her again.
Chapter 9
“Concentrate on the ones behind us, we can take them!” Jack yelled above the twang of arrows and the growing shout of voices erupting from the crowd. He pushed his way through the horde, heading toward the group that had turned to focus on the enemy approaching from the back. He grabbed hold of Ashby and pointed to the top of the battlements. “We need to get some men up there.”
Ashby stared at him as if he’d just sprouted a horn from the middle of his forehead. “Jack…”
“Just do it Ashby!” he barked. “We have to keep them occupied if Braith is going to have any chance of slipping in from behind.”
Ashby was unmoving for a moment before he visibly paled and rushed into the crowd of bodies. Jack could hear him calling for vampires and humans to follow him as he ran toward the wall. David appeared at his side and reclaimed his bow and arrow. He turned and slipped away toward the soldiers encroaching on their backside.
A loud shout rose up from both armies as they collided with a loud crash of bodies and metal. Jack grabbed hold of one of his father’s soldiers and flipped him over his back. Slamming his foot down on the man’s throat, he drove his wooden spear through the man’s ribcage and into his heart. The man thrashed for a few moments before going still.
Jack ripped the spear free and turned in time to face the next threat barreling down on him. He spotted Calista within the throng; blood already coated her dark skin and faded clothing. She was grinning savagely, thoroughly enjoying the mayhem as she stepped back and heaved her spear at a soldier that had made the mistake of thinking she was more vulnerable because she was a woman.