“I’m fine.” Her crimson eyes focused on the board still protruding from his shoulder. His fingers brushed briefly over hers as he looked to soothe her. “Really Aria.”
William and Max flanked her. They wouldn’t be able to hold her back, not anymore, but their presence seemed to have a further calming effect upon her as her fingers wrapped briefly around his hand.
“What was your plan here Atticus?” Gideon inquired with a tilt of his head and a quirked eyebrow.
“He planned to recapture her or kill her,” Braith answered flatly.
“I plan to do many many things to her son. All of which I will truly enjoy.” A gleam on the other side of the circle caught Braith’s attention. Jack had managed to retrieve a honed ax from one of the building sites. He twisted it in his grasp as he met Braith’s gaze over top of their father’s head. “You can’t kill me!” Their father began to laugh hysterically as he flung his arms wide and spun in a circle. “Look at me! I’m invincible! You can’t stop me!”
His father was still laughing as Braith lurched forward. His father wasn’t fooled though, instead of meeting Braith head on, he spun to confront Jack. Jack’s fangs flashed as he threw the ax to Braith and dove at their father with unrestrained glee. Braith had expected the action as he leapt into the air and seized hold of the handle with his good hand. Jack rammed his shoulder into their father and shoved him back. On his descent, Braith swung the ax downward with the full force of his might.
Atticus turned toward him as the ax whistled through the air. Braith had to grab hold of it with both hands as his arm was jarred by the impact of metal against flesh and bone. Atticus’s mouth parted in an O, his crimson eyes widened as the ax cleaved his neck. Braith took a step back as the head bounced across the ground and the body collapsed. There was no satisfaction in the deed, but rather a strange sense of completion and relief as the ax slipped from his fingers. Disgust coiled through him as he wiped the splatters of his father’s blood from his face.
“Not that f**king invincible,” Jack spat as he nudged the head away with his foot.
Braith’s shoulders sagged; now that his adrenaline wasn’t pounding, and the threat had been removed, it took everything he had to stay on his feet as blood loss started to take its toll. Aria was beside him in an instant, her arm wrapped around his waist as she pressed against his side. He grabbed hold of her hand as she reached for the broken piece of board jutting from his shoulder. He couldn’t be weak, not here, not in front of so many.
He pressed her hand flat against his chest. His broken bones and wounds were throbbing and he desperately needed some blood, but there was something he had to do first. “Caleb,” he grated. “We have to make sure Caleb and Natasha are still in their graves.”
“Braith, you need blood,” she whispered.
He glanced down at her, relieved to find her eyes back to their crystalline sapphire color. “We can’t take the chance that Caleb may be out there right now.”
“I’m coming with you.”
He started to protest but decided against it. He’d feel better having her with him just in case his siblings were out there. His hand tightened on her arm as Saul emerged from the barn with Xavier’s arm draped around his shoulder. Xavier was pale beneath his dark complexion as he held a hand to the still bleeding wound on his neck.
“He’s ok.” Tears shimmered in Aria’s eyes as she watched Xavier. Braith had to admit he was relieved to see him still alive, Xavier still managed to irritate him once in awhile, but he was an asset and had become Aria’s friend.
Melinda rushed up, pushing past the crowd as she arrived at the edge of the circle. Her mouth dropped, her eyes flew wildly around before landing on Ashby. A small cry escaped her as she raced across the circle and threw herself into his arms.
Aria went to take a step toward Xavier but stopped as she glanced nervously at Braith and wrapped her other arm around his waist. “Saul, gather the remains and place them in the stable. We’ll burn them later.” Saul nodded agreement to Braith’s command. “The rest of you grab shovels, something to light a fire with, and come with me.”
Aria’s fingers dug deeper into his skin as the crowd that had gathered during the fight parted to let them pass. “I think there is no longer any doubt that you deserve to be king.”
He glanced down at Aria’s murmured words as the crowd bowed their heads and began to kneel around them. At least something good had come from this awful mess, he realized as he pulled her closer against his side. Though he couldn’t understand how it had happened to begin with. “It appears so.”
Aria eased against him as they moved past the gates and into the town beyond. When they entered the woods she released him and turned to face him. “Let me look,” she commanded.
“We have to check on Caleb and Natasha.”
“They’re either still dead or they’re already roaming the earth again. A few minutes isn’t going to change that outcome either way. Now, let me see.” He could behead his father and take on twenty men at once, but he still found it difficult to say no to her. He forced himself not to wince as her fingers gently prodded at the wood embedded in his shoulder. “We need to get that out.”
“Later.”
Her eyebrows drew together as she frowned at him. “If Caleb did crawl out of his grave you’ll be in better shape to face him if you’re already healing.”
“Fine,” he relented, knowing that she was right. “Jack.”
He released her as he grabbed hold of the trunk of a tree. With clenched teeth, he braced himself as Jack stepped beside him. Jack placed a hand briefly against his back before seizing hold of the board and pulling it free in one hard yank. A low groan of pain reverberated off Braith’s teeth as he stood with his head bowed and his shoulders heaving. His fingers dug into the bark of the tree as he fought against the bellow that wanted to erupt from him.
Aria rested her hand on his arm, but it was a few moments before he could open his eyes to look at her. Ducking under his arm she stepped in between him and the tree. With nimble fingers she pulled back the tears in his shirt to examine the jagged wound. Blood still seeped from the hole, but with the beam removed he could already feel his body working to heal itself. The jagged tear in his stomach was already almost completely closed.
“You need blood,” she murmured.