“I bet you’d even kill Jericho if it meant keeping her alive.” Aria inhaled sharply, her tears wet his fingers as he held her still. “I’ll make her watch as you destroy everyone and everything she loves, for her.”
Braith would destroy himself first. “That will never happen.”
The king grinned at him as he gave a brief nod of his head. “I want them alive.”
The soldiers started moving in to shatter their moment of solitude and peace in this brutal place. He turned his attention back to her, taking just one more moment to feel her against him. “Stay behind me.”
She shot him a wild grin that made him realize she would do no such thing, not his Aria. He grabbed hold of her, wrapping her in his embrace as he launched to his feet. Her blood had renewed his strength, and revitalized him in ways that the guards blood never could have. He hadn’t taken enough to impair her, but even so, he bit into his wrist and offered it to her as he spun her away from the onrushing guards. She seized hold of it, pressing it firmly to her mouth with an enthusiasm that surprised even him.
She swallowed swiftly and eagerly before she released him. He reluctantly let her go to face the soldiers rushing at him. From the corner of his eye he saw Aria leaping forward with the grace of a deer as she dashed to a spear discarded on the ground. Snagging hold of it, she spun with an eerie elegance toward the soldier charging at her. Her throw would have been lethal if the guard hadn’t sidestepped the weapon at the last second.
Braith grabbed hold of the two closing in on him. He snapped the neck of one with a brutal jerk before ripping the spear from his twitching hands. The man wasn’t dead, but Braith didn’t have time to finish the job as he drove the spear deep into the other guard’s heart and pulled it free. Aria ducked beneath the grasping hands of the guard. She moved so quickly that even Braith didn’t notice the broken end of the spear she’d managed to plunge into the man’s chest until the guard fell back.
She ran toward her brothers and Max. Braith kept an eye on the guards encircling them as he deliberately moved back with her. Three more guards launched themselves at him; he fended them off as he fell back, determined to keep his body between her and the king. It would be Aria his father went for first, Braith was certain of it. Keegan leapt before him, growling and snapping as he forced one of the guard’s away.
Max, William, and Daniel launched forward suddenly. They shoved their shoulders into two of the guards that were watching over them as Xavier leapt to his feet. A guard grabbed William by the neck of his shirt and plunged a spear through his right leg. William wailed loudly before his scream broke off and he grasped hold of his thigh. Sweat beaded his forehead and upper lip, his face went deathly pale as he tried to rip the spear free.
Fury darkened Aria’s features. She switched directions as she raced toward the man that had just maimed her brother. “Aria!” The shout came from Max as he managed to grab hold of a bow and a quiver of arrows. He tossed them toward her before being knocked back by a blow that echoed throughout the room and probably knocked more than a few teeth loose.
Aria slid across the floor on her knees; she snagged hold of the bow and arrow before leaping back to her feet. Braith had no idea where she was going, or what she had in mind until she leapt onto the lap of one of his father’s trophies, jumped onto the table, and launched herself at the massive, dark wood beams that ran across the rounded cathedral ceiling of the room. She hung for a moment before swinging her legs up and catching hold of the beam. Pulling herself up, she sat briefly on top of the beam before leaping to her feet.
She was back in her trees, Braith realized as she dashed across the wood.
Braith wasn’t surprised that some of the soldiers had stopped to stare at her as she leapt from beam to beam toward her brother, Max, and Xavier. Even the king was watching her with assessing, shrewd eyes. Braith met Xavier’s gaze over the crowd of soldier’s, Xavier’s dark eyes closed as he bowed his head to Braith and gave a brief nod. Braith didn’t know if it was relief or anguish that filled him at Xavier’s confirmation of what he suspected about Aria.
But he did know that they had to survive this before anything could be discussed or decided.
Braith shoved another guard out of his way as he struggled to get to the others. Aria leapt to another beam, leaned back on her heel and fired two arrows at the guard that had stabbed her brother. He fell back as another guard snagged hold of Daniel and hauled him to his feet.
Xavier was a man of books and histories, but even so, as the guard jerked Daniel up, Xavier grabbed hold of him and slit his throat with deadly ruthlessness. Xavier pulled Daniel free and finished the guard with a killing blow to his chest. Pushing Daniel behind him, Xavier grabbed hold of Max as the three of them were forced back beneath the crushing wave of the king’s men.
Daniel tried to grab hold of William, but the spear through his leg made it nearly impossible for him to move. Aria covered her twin by firing at any guard that dared approach him.
Braith leapt over the bodies of two fallen guards. Grabbing hold of William, he tried to lift him from the ground but part of the spearhead was embedded into the marble. William released another shout that was eerily echoed by Aria, as Braith ripped him free with a merciless yank that tore muscle and bone.
William’s fingers dug into his arm, his lip bled from biting into it, but he didn’t offer a complaint as Braith shoved him at Max and Daniel. Something pointed and rigid pierced his shoulder; a ferocious growl escaped him as he spun back on the guard that had just shot him with an arrow. He leapt forward, looking to bring the man down, but an arrow pierced the man’s chest before Braith could get to him.
Aria nodded as she smiled fleetingly at him. Turning to face the new wave of guards coming at him, he braced himself for their impending attack. An arrow whistled past his ear, Daniel and Max leapt into the fray beside him as they attacked the soldiers with spears and arrows. Xavier hung back, protecting William as others poured forth to try and get at the injured human. Keegan raced around the guards, barking and snarling as he forced them back from Xavier and William. A shrill yelp escaped the wolf as a guard managed to deliver a solid kick to his ribs that knocked him back a good five feet. The guard went after Keegan but William had managed to retrieve a bow and fired an arrow through the guard’s heart.
They were putting up a good fight, but Braith knew they would eventually be beaten down by the multitude swarming around them. Using his shoulder, Braith rammed back three more guards and dodged three arrows aimed at him. One clipped across his bicep but it was only a flesh wound that would heal quickly. He managed to rip a spear and some arrows free from one of the men and threw the extra arrows up to Aria. She knelt down and snagged them out of the air.