Two of their own vampires fell around him, but the tide was turning in their favor as the militia battled through the soldiers with ferocious glee. They wanted this more than his father’s men did, Jack didn’t think that alone was enough for them to win, but it was enough for them to fight harder. Assured that Calista and the others had this under control, Jack broke into a run as he hurried toward the pack still concentrating on the wall. He snagged a bow and arrows from a fallen human and took up a stance beside the scattered line of archers.
Ashby, and the men he had gathered, had managed to distract the attention of the guards on the wall. He hadn’t expected Ashby to go up there himself, but he was climbing with a swift and deadly purpose. Someone shouted as one of their men fell from the wall, an arrow was embedded at a downward angle through his shoulder. Even before he hit the ground Jack knew the man was dead. Another fell seconds later, and then others began to topple off as the king’s soldiers turned their attention to the new threat scaling the wall toward them. They weren’t going to be overpowered from behind, but unless Braith managed to get his group inside, Jack knew they weren’t going to make it into the palace either.
Jack leaned back on his heel, but this time he didn’t aim for over the palace walls, but at the soldiers gathered on top. He focused on one about to fire at Ashby and released the arrow. The guard’s arrow went astray as Jack caught him in the shoulder.
Hurry, he thought frantically as more of their men fell from the wall and the growing heat of the flames from the town pressed against his back.
***
Unlike Braith and the king, Caleb couldn’t track her through her blood, but with as loud as her heart was beating and as noisy as she was breathing, it wouldn’t be difficult for him to find her. She longed to pause to catch her breath, and calm her pulse, but she didn’t dare stop for even a moment. She had a head start on Caleb, but not much of one, and he was much faster than she was.
His freakish humming filled the air as he strolled through the dark halls, relentlessly and unerringly pursuing her. She fell against the wall, wheezing as her legs trembled and shook from exhaustion. She knew she was being louder than normal but she didn’t understand how he managed to stay on her trail so easily.
Lifting her arm to wipe the sweat from her forehead, she froze as a small groan escaped her. His blood may not be inside her, but her own blood was still seeping from the multiple bites that had been inflicted upon her. Though most of them had stopped bleeding, there were a few of them still open and raw enough to leave a blood trail behind her. She was ringing the dinner bell and Caleb was answering it.
He was taking his sweet time because he knew no matter what she did she wouldn’t be able to escape him. Tears burned her eyes, a knot lodged in her throat as she shoved away from the wall. Her teeth grated as she forced her legs to move. She would not go down this way, she would not.
“Here kitty kitty kitty.” Caleb’s taunting voice drifted down the hall.
Aria had never wanted to punch someone more than she wanted to punch him at that moment. Rushing down the hall, determined to escape, she wasn’t prepared for when the walls suddenly gave out and she staggered into some sort of sitting room. She stopped, momentarily confused by the sudden appearance of the room within the dark and twisted passages.
“I’m just going to catch you.”
She glanced over her shoulder, she could tell by the clarity of his voice that Caleb was gaining on her but she still couldn’t see him. Aria bolted across the room, looking for something, anything she could use to defend herself with but there were only three couches and a small table in the center of the room. She wanted to linger longer in the hope that she would find something, but there was no time to waste.
Aria hurried past the room, and plunged back into another hallway. She was unable to see her hand before her but she rushed onward. She didn’t know where she was going, where any of these hallways led, and at the moment she didn’t care. She just had to stay free of Caleb long enough to find a weapon of some sort, or Braith. There was a sizzling energy in her veins that made her think that he was also close.
She was deep into the new passageway when she began to hear voices. She froze as shouts began to echo through the narrow halls. She strained to pinpoint the location of the noise, but it was impossible as the shouting vibrated the walls around her.
She took a step forward and the hand she had braced against the wall fell into nothing. It took her a moment to realize she had come to a crossroads. She was motionless as she tried to decipher which way to go. Grimacing, she clamped her teeth together as she dug her fingers into the tender bite marks on her inner wrist. Fresh blood welled up and trickled down her wrist to her hand. She moved into the hallway on the right and wiped her wrist along the stones for the first five feet. She stuck her wrist into her mouth, sucking on it to staunch the flow as she hurried back to the hallway that branched to the left. She didn’t know if she was making the right choice, but she felt a stronger instinctual pull to the left tunnel and she couldn’t just stand there until Caleb found her.
She hoped the fresh blood would draw Caleb away from her, but she didn’t count on him being fooled for long. Eventually he would realize that her scent didn’t go all the way down the hall. She just hoped she’d bought herself enough time to make some sort of stand against the monster hunting her.
***
“Gideon, collect all the soldiers that have emerged from the tunnel by now and take them to the palace gates.”
Gideon did a double take at Braith’s command. “Braith we should stay with the plan.”
“I am staying with the plan. The snake needs to be destroyed and Caleb is the tail.”
“But…”
“I am not leaving this palace without her Gideon, I made that clear before we stepped foot in here. Retrieve the soldiers from my apartment and lead them to the main gate. We must get the outside forces in here, and you will need the group waiting within the tunnel to do so. I will have an easier time surprising my father if I go in with a smaller force. If something happens to me, you should still be able to reach the main gate with the larger force.”
Gideon started to protest but light blazed at the top of the stairs seconds before Melinda plunged into the depths of the dungeons. The torch she held highlighted the planes of her face and her ashen complexion. Her tempestuous eyes fell on Braith and for a moment color returned to her skin as her shoulders slumped. “You made it,” she whispered.