“We will get her back,” Jack assured him.
“Braith has to know what Caleb is doing to her. He has to be aware of everything before he makes the decision to wait,” Max insisted.
“I’ll break your neck before I allow you to tell him that,” Gideon vowed.
“Jesus Gideon shut the f**k up!” Jack barked in frustration. “Max, we can all guess at what might be happening, but you can’t just go and shove it in his face. He may think he knows, may think he realizes it, but if you confirm it, there will be no stopping him. If there is to be any chance of getting her back alive we have to do this right.” Max looked away from Jack. “You can’t tell him what you know; we’ll lose them both if you do.”
“I don’t like this.”
“None of us do but I need your word that you won’t do anything reckless, yours too William.” He added with a pointed look in William’s direction.
“I won’t,” Max muttered resentfully.
William shifted uncomfortably, his jaw locked and unlocked before he bowed his head and reluctantly voiced his agreement. “I’ll do what Aria would have wanted me to do. I won’t ruin our chances of succeeding.”
Relief flowed through Jack and his shoulders slumped slightly. He studied Gideon as he contemplated whether or not he should tell the vampire that he didn’t believe any of their plans would work, or that the only reason Braith was even remotely sane right now was because she was still alive. He decided to remain quiet though, he didn’t trust how Gideon might react if he realized that there would be no separating them.
Chapter 3
There was a sensation in her fingers that she often associated with warming up too fast after being out in the cold for too long. A sharp tingling that woke her from the darkness that had claimed her for an unknown amount of time. Her heart seemed sluggish; it ached as it worked to pump blood through her body.
She was dying, she was certain of it.
She didn’t want to die. She’d told Gideon she would, but now she was terrified by the possibility. She’d meant the words when she’d said them to Gideon, but that was when her death would have been quick. That was when it would have been for others, for her family. There was no reason for her to die now. For the first time in years she felt like a child, she felt every bit of her seventeen years, and she longed for more of them.
Mostly she wished she could have said goodbye to Braith and her family.
Her tears were cool against her already icy flesh as they slid down her cheeks. “She’s awake.”
She hadn’t realized that there were others in the room. She was ashamed of herself for crying but she couldn’t lift her hand to wipe them away. Aria didn’t have it in her to face Caleb right now. Even under Braith’s protection she’d been fearful of Caleb, terrified of the cruelty the middle brother radiated, and now she was his to do with as he pleased. “Give it to her.”
The other voice was unfamiliar to her, but she didn’t have time to ponder it as hands seized her hair. A small cry escaped her, but she was able to hold most of it back as she was hauled up from the floor. She didn’t have time to take in her surroundings as something metal was thrust between her lips and her head was tilted harshly back. The vile taste hit her, causing an explosive reaction to erupt from her. She struck out at the hands holding her as the thick liquid was forced down her throat. She gurgled, choked, but her head was kept tilted back. The liquid pooled against the back of her throat till she was finally forced to swallow.
Bile surged up her throat, tears unwillingly burst free of her eyes as more was forced down her throat. Once, when she was a child, she’d eaten a handful of berries that she’d mistakenly thought were blueberries. They’d been bitter, foul; the taste alone had made her vomit. But this, this was worse. She’d gladly eat those revolting berries again before swallowing one more drop of the viscous liquid spilling down her throat.
She was abruptly released. Her head was thrust forward; she staggered but was unable to keep her balance. Falling back to the floor, her shoulders heaved as she panted, choked, and dry heaved. Her stomach twisted into knots, tears blurred her vision. She felt as if she were dying even as heat began to spread through her numb limbs, even as strength gradually returned to her weakened extremities. Sobs stuck in her chest, a new anguish twisted through her body as she realized what it was they had given her.
Blood. Caleb’s blood.
It had tasted nothing like Braith’s. Braith’s was sweet and soothing when it filled and strengthened her, it was right in so many ways. Though Caleb’s blood had renewed some of her strength, it felt hideously wrong in her body, it didn’t belong there and although her body was absorbing its healing properties, it was also revolting against the influx. A scream built inside of her, she had the unreasonable urge to rip her own skin off in order to release the blood that didn’t belong there.
She was shaking. Her hands wouldn’t sit still on the hard floor as they jumped and danced over the marble beneath her. She tried to steady herself, but it felt as if she were no longer in her own body, but in someone else’s entirely.
This was only the beginning of the suffering to come. Caleb could do this to her over and over again, and he would, because her reaction had just revealed how appalling his blood was to her, how miserable it made her feel.
“Apparently someone only likes big brother’s blood.”
Aria’s eyes flew open. For the first time fury and indignation tore through her. Her eyes narrowed as they focused upon Caleb, her jumping fingers curled into her palms. He appeared unreasonably dignified in his refined clothes as he smirked at her. He was somewhat shorter than Braith, but broader through the chest and shoulders. His dark hair tumbled in waves around his face; his green eyes would have been pretty if they weren’t so icy. Caleb’s nose was a little larger than Braith’s, his lips thinner, but there was no mistaking that they were related.
Caleb knelt before her and seized hold of her chin. He turned her head first one way and then the other. Aria’s jaw clenched but she didn’t give him the satisfaction of trying to pull away. He squeezed her chin until she finally flinched and he threw her face away in disgust. Her lip curled as she slowly turned back to him, she itched for her bow.
“Enough. Bring her here.”
Aria was so busy glaring at Caleb as he hauled her to her feet that she didn’t immediately notice who he was dragging her toward, and then her gaze traveled to the dais. Foreboding slammed into her when she saw the man casually sitting in the large throne, a throne meant for a king.