Braith could not finish the thought, it was too awful. What his father would do to her in order to punish Braith would be horrendous, atrocious. He could not put her in such a position, could not risk her life in such a way. She hugged him tightly, burying her head against his chest as she clung to him for a long moment.
She pulled slowly away, her head bowed. He grasped hold of her chin, tilting her head up to kiss her softly. She melded against him, a soft sigh escaping her. He barely registered the sound of the door opening and closing as he lost himself to the wonderful feel of her. It was a long while before he roused himself from her again, a long while before he pulled himself away from the sweet taste of her mouth.
She stared unblinkingly up at him, a small smile curving her mouth. “I am going to miss that.”
He ran his finger over her swollen lips. “I can come back,” he said impulsively. He had never intended to come back, it was too much of a risk to her, but now faced with the prospect of never seeing her again, the words popped out of his mouth. “I will come back.”
Tears slipped down her cheeks. “Braith, you’re getting married.”
He shook his head, his thoughts turning dark. The last thing he wanted to think about was his upcoming wedding, and the bitch he was marrying. Especially not when he was holding the woman he wanted to spend forever with. “I’ll come back Arianna, as soon as I can. I will be back. I will find you.”
She bit on her bottom lip, tears spilled down her cheeks. “Won’t it be dangerous for you?”
“I’ll find a way,” he vowed, stroking her face ever so gently.
She smiled tremulously. He could tell that she wanted to argue with him, wanted to tell him no, but neither of them were strong enough to walk away. Not right now anyway. She enfolded his hands in hers, clinging to him for a moment longer. He kissed her again, before taking hold of her hand and leading her over to the door.
Jack was standing near the forest, his back to the house. He turned at the sound of the door opening. Arianna’s hand clutched tighter around his, a tremor worked its way through her. She didn’t want to say it, didn’t want to end their wonderful time together on a bad note, but she had to. “The blood slaves Braith, do you…”
“There will be no more Aria.” She stared at him for a long moment, wanting to believe him, needing to believe him. She could forgive him for these past months, she hated what he had done, but she understood what had driven him to it. She could not forgive him, or understand if he continued on such a path. There could be nothing between them then; he would not be the man that she loved if he continued to hurt her people. Seeming to sense her hesitance, he bent over her, his hand stroking over her cheek. “I swear Aria there will be no more blood slaves.”
She smiled wanly as she managed a small nod. He kissed her gently, his attention turning away as Jack came toward them, his eyes weary and sad. “Make sure that she stays safe until I can come back,” Braith grated.
“You’re coming back?” Jack asked in surprise, his mouth dropping as he stared at the two of them.
Braith glared at him. “Yes.”
Chapter 7
Aria glanced up at Max as he stepped closer to the map laid out in the middle of the cavern. His eyes were dark and intense as he stared down at it, his eyebrows drawn tightly together. William stood beside him, his arms crossed over his chest as he bit thoughtfully on his bottom lip. Aria’s father was talking softly, his dark head bent over the map as Daniel traced a line through it with a stick.
Daniel was the only one of them that had inherited their mother’s fair coloring. His hair was wheat colored; his fair skin speckled with freckles that made him appear far younger than his twenty one years. His eyes were the same bright blue as Aria and William’s. Aria sat back on her heels, her legs were cramping up, but she couldn’t move away from the map. She was far too fascinated, and horrified, by it.
Her gaze drifted slowly to Jack. He was standing off to the side, his arms folded over his chest as he stared at the back wall. Ever so slowly, his gaze came down to hers. It took all she had not to leap to her feet, grab hold of his arm, and drag him from the cavern and demand to know what the hell he was thinking.
Aria glanced back down at the map, swallowing heavily as Daniel poked the spot where the palace was. She had always had the rudimentary knowledge to read a map, but Braith had taught her how to read so much more. She did not share this revelation with the people surrounding her; she didn’t think they would appreciate it much, and no matter what she said or did they wanted to continue to believe that she had been manipulated by Braith. That one day she would realize that her feelings for him were not real. She was tired of trying to convince them they were wrong, it was wearing on her, beating her down, making her everyday struggle to just survive even more tiresome.
“Is this how you remember it?”
Aria didn’t realize her father was talking to her at first, until she noticed that they were all staring questioningly at her. She swallowed heavily, trying to wet her suddenly parched throat. “I guess; I didn’t really pay much attention. I didn’t get out much either,” she finished on a whisper.
Though it wasn’t memories of being kept as a blood slave that made her voice tremble, her father seemed to think it was. He gave her a sympathetic look before resting his hand lightly on her shoulder. He had been treating her like she was breakable and fragile ever since she’d returned and she was becoming frustrated with it.
“Max?”
Max was standing off to the side, his arms folded over his chest as he stared at the far wall. His jaw was locked tight, his forehead furrowed slightly. She hadn’t been abused, but he had, and now her father was talking about going back in there as if it were the simplest, easiest thing in the world. About all of them going back in there. “From what I recall, yes.”
Aria’s heart hammered and flipped, she could barely breathe through the terror constricting her chest. “You can’t do this,” she whispered. “It’s slaughter to go in there, we can’t.”
Her father patted her shoulder again before rising to his feet. He knew that this was reckless; he knew that it was crazy, but he seemed hell bent on doing it anyway. And she knew that it was because of her, because he believed that she been hurt and mistreated during her time with Braith. It didn’t matter how often she told him that she hadn’t been; he was convinced she was lying in order to protect him.