“Someone’s no longer human,” he murmured against her ear as he sniffed along her neck. A shudder rippled through her, bile surged up her throat. “My son thinks he can keep you, but he’s wrong. I’ll be keeping you.”
“How?” she croaked as he forced her head to the side.
“You think a simple stake is going to kill me? I’m almost fifteen hundred years old, there’s plenty you don’t know about me, bitch. I know plenty about you though, especially where you are, always.” His fingers flitted up and down her neck before resting on the marks that Braith had left on her last night. “I’m going to make you pay, and I’m going to make my son pay. No one can defeat me.”
Pain, unlike any she’d ever known, exploded through her as his teeth sank into her neck and he began to replenish his depleted strength with hers.
***
Gideon handed Braith the truce agreement that had been written with the border towns. He knew most of the concessions and promises that had been made within the agreement, but even so he read it carefully to make sure everything met his approval. The border towns would be sending an elected representative to join The Council next week. In exchange, they would consent to representatives from the palace moving into the towns for an unspecified amount of time to ensure that all slavery was ended.
Braith nodded as he grabbed the pen and hastily added his signature to the document. His hand was cramped from the endless signatures, but they were finally reaching an end, finally forming a solid union with everyone that had been involved in the war. He flexed his fingers as he sat back in his chair and surveyed the room.
Things weren’t perfect, far from, but they were better than he’d thought they’d be at this stage. They’d formed alliances, they were rebuilding, the donation center wasn’t thriving, but more people were coming around to the prospect of giving their blood. There were still fights, and there would be continuing violence for awhile, but even that had started to slow as stability was beginning to return in the form of homes, businesses, and a solid government.
He also had Aria. It was more than he ever could have hoped for, more than he ever had hoped for. He was going to have an eternity to enjoy their marriage, an eternity to enjoy her. The thought caused a small smile to tug at his lips. He knew she would be coming in soon to meet with Melinda, he thought he might be able to slip away for a few minutes in order to intercept her. Unknowingly, he began to tap the pen harder as he planned out his brief escape.
The pen tapped harder on the table, he didn’t realize his foot had dropped to the floor as an uneasy feeling began to twine through his stomach. “Easy there fidgets,” Daniel said as he signed the document and passed it on.
The pen cracked in his hand, ink ran out to coat his fingers as he stood slowly. A sense of doom slithered like a serpent through him as he searched the room for whatever danger he felt licking across his skin. Even as he searched though, he began to realize that whatever was wrong wasn’t coming from in here, but from somewhere else.
It was Aria, something was wrong with Aria. He didn’t know how he knew, didn’t know why he was so certain of it, but he knew that something wasn’t right with her.
“Braith?”
An involuntary snarl ripped from him as Gideon rose from his chair. Gideon took a startled step back. “Aria.”
He didn’t look back as he moved from the room faster than he’d ever moved in his life.
***
After the initial burst of agony that nearly drowned her within its dark depths, Aria managed to regain enough control of herself to begin to put up a fight. Her hands fisted as they were ineffectively pinned against his mushy chest. She squirmed against him as she tried to bring her legs up between them in order to get some leverage against his savage attack. Using the palm of his hand, he pressed it flat against her face as he pushed it hard against the wood of the stall.
She kicked at him, but with his body flat against hers she was unable to get in a good shot at him. She finally managed to break one of her pinned hands free, he blocked her from punching him, but her fingers hooked into claws that she was able to rake down the side of his face. A choked scream escaped her at the feel of the bugs beneath the squishy skin she’d managed to tear free. His skin broke away with a vile odor that nearly overwhelmed her.
Her struggles increased but it was like pitting a lion against a lamb as he growled low and bit down harder. Even half dead, he was ten times stronger than she was, and his strength was increasing as hers weakened. She put every ounce of power she had into her legs and arms as she gave one final attempt to shove him off of her.
A startled cry escaped, she dropped onto her butt as the king abruptly released her. She looked up in time to see Braith heaving him one handed across the stall by his shoulder. The wooden wall gave way, collapsing beneath the impact of the king’s body as it shattered around him. She stared in disbelief at the wreckage as ruined wood continued to topple down on the king.
Aria’s hand fumbled at the trail his teeth had raked across her throat as she tried to staunch the flow of blood. Braith was suddenly before her, his hands on her cheeks as he turned her head toward him. “Are you ok?” he demanded.
“I’m fine,” she assured him. “I’m fine.”
“Who did this?” His upper lip curled as his eyes shimmered red.
“You didn’t see?” she gasped. He shook his head as he pulled her hand away to examine her neck. “Braith it’s your…”
She broke off as the broken fragments of wood exploded outward. Braith enveloped her with his body as splinters, boards and beams rained down around them. He grunted beneath the impact of the debris as he protected her from the dangerous wood crashing against him.
Silence filled the broken stall as the last board clattered to the ground. Braith’s face was warm against hers, the stubble rough on her cheek as he waited to see if there was anything more coming at them. “Hold onto me.”
Her hands encircled his biceps; his muscles flexed beneath her grasp as he lifted her against him and surged back to his feet. Releasing her, he planted both hands on either side of her head and pressed closer as he turned his head to face the new threat.
The muscles in his arms vibrated beside her head as his fangs extended over his bottom lip. He actually did a double take as his father stepped from the wreckage with far more aplomb than Aria had expected from a man wearing rags and still missing part of his nose. The king appeared refreshed and better than he had before, thanks to her blood. He wiped the blood from where she had gouged his face but the marks were already gone. Straightening the remains of his shirt, he eyed them both with amusement.