“Father,” Braith finished for her.
Chapter 25
Braith couldn’t keep his astonishment hidden as his father took another step away from the ruined wall. It was a sight he’d never even imagined he would ever see, never mind actually experience. There was a part of him that felt like a child again, cowering beneath his father’s heavy hand, unable to defend himself from the repeated blows, unable to escape the abuse that his father so jovially inflicted upon him.
Another part of him, the adult one, the king one, the one shielding Aria, wanted to rip the entire barn down and shred the man looking at him with such delight. Red shadowed his vision as the scent of Aria’s blood drifted up to him and a snarl curved his lip. He’d dared to touch her again and Braith was going to make him pay for that. After everything this man had done to Aria, to him, and countless other innocents, Braith knew that he could not let him survive this. There was no way he would allow this man to touch her again, to be in charge again; no way he would allow him to unravel all of the good they had already created here.
Braith just wasn’t sure there was any way to stop him. His father had taken a stake to the heart, and with no sustenance to sustain and revitalize him, the wound had still somehow managed to heal itself. It was obvious his father hadn’t had much nourishment before returning to the palace, but Braith suspected he’d looked far worse than this when he’d first crawled from his grave. Braith didn’t know how long he’d been wandering around, but the fact that he’d returned here meant he thought he was strong enough to be a threat to Braith, and anyone else he came across.
He looked like a decomposing corpse, but beneath the rotten exterior, Braith felt the vibrant pulse of power that he still possessed. His body was rapidly healing itself, his shoulders were straightening as he thrust them back and quirked an eyebrow in amusement. His upper lip curled to reveal long fangs that glistened in the murky light of the stable. Even though her chin was raised and her eyes narrowed, a small shiver ran through Aria and into him as his father leveled her with his gaze and licked his lips.
A low growl rose up Braith’s throat as he pushed Aria back a little. The tension in his body notched higher, bloodlust began to curl through him as he shielded her. He had far more control over his more primitive instincts now, but even so he would slaughter the creature across from him before he ever allowed his father to touch a hair on her head again.
“Xavier!” His father’s head tilted to the side as Gideon’s startled cry echoed through the stable. Braith had seen Xavier’s prone figure in the shedrow, but he hadn’t taken the time to learn if the vampire was alive or not. Judging by the marks on Xavier’s neck, and his father’s rapid healing, Braith suspected that Xavier was gone. Aria’s blood alone couldn’t have caused the changes that were rapidly transforming his father.
“He was delicious,” his father murmured.
Aria shuddered; a small sound of distress escaped her. “Xavier,” she breathed.
“Almost as good as your whore here,” his father purred.
Aria’s hands tightened on his arms, he refused to rise to his father’s baiting as he pulled her closer to him. Pressing her flat against his body, his hands splayed across the hollow of her lower back. He stood for a moment, savoring in the feel of her while he still could.
Aria’s gaze darted behind him at the sound of feet skidding to a halt outside the stall door. “Holy shit!” William blurted.
“Atticus?” His father’s head swiveled to the side, a smile twisted his lips at Calista’s disbelieving question.
“You look just as beautiful as I remember Calista, perhaps when this is over we can reunite,” he said suggestively.
Braith’s grip on Aria eased slightly. If there was one thing he knew for certain, no vampire came back from having their head ripped off. Her eyes were wild as they came back to his, her fingers clenched around his arms before her grip reluctantly loosened. He stared at her for a long moment before she gave a subtle dip of her head and her fingers stroked briefly over his biceps.
She let go of him as he sprang into motion. His father turned toward him, bracing for the impact as Braith lowered his shoulder and collided with him. His father’s hands came down on his shoulders, his fingers dug into his skin as Braith propelled them both backward. They crashed through the already ruined stall divider and into another wall.
He was disgusting, everything about the hideous creature that had once been a king, was repulsive. Yet the strength in his hands was even more than Braith had been prepared for, even with knowing that his father was stronger than he appeared. The walls gave out and he lost his balance as they tumbled into the shedrow. They rolled over top of each other as they each sought to gain the top.
Braith managed to get a few blows into his father’s lower ribcage but it felt just as spongy as the rest of him. He’d actually been decaying when his body came back to life, Braith realized. He hadn’t just become starved and emaciated like his pitiful trophies, his body had actually started to breakdown before coming back to life.
Braith’s nose wrinkled, his lip curved in a sneer as he lifted his father with his feet and flipped him over his head. He jumped back to his feet, but even in his state, his father was faster and back on him in an instant. They had been about the same size once he’d hit maturity, but he had a good thirty pounds on his father now, even still he was knocked backwards by the force of his weight and momentum.
They slammed into the back wall with enough force to crack the wood. Dust rained down as bits of the beams fell over top of them. A loud grunt escaped Braith as his father dug his fingers into his stomach and tore through his flesh. He struggled to unhinge his father’s hold upon him, but he continued to tear and dig until fire erupted within Braith’s gut and rapidly spread through his limbs.
A bellow of fury erupted from him. He drove his elbow into his father’s nose hard enough to knock him slightly loose. He seized hold of the hand working its way steadily into him and yanked it harshly back. His father screamed in his ear, his fetid aroma washed over Braith as bone and skin cracked within his grasp. Braith took advantage of his father’s slackened hold to get his legs in between them and thrust him off.
He crashed into the wall, but Braith didn’t take time to recuperate as he charged at him, grabbed hold of his throat, and propelled him into the wall again. It gave way with a loud crash as they plunged out of the barn, bounced across the ground and bounded back to their feet.