“Imagine if she becomes a vampire?”
“Is it possible?”
Aria frowned at the two of them, startled by the intense conversation that suddenly became just between the two of them. “I don’t know,” Ashby admitted. “But I think they have more than a bloodlink. I think they may have an even stronger bond.”
“You may be right,” Melinda agreed. “For him to get his eyesight back like that. So strange.”
“It is,” Ashby confirmed.
Aria sensed Braith’s mounting aggravation. She wished to soothe him, but she was growing just as frustrated by the couple as he was. “Enough!” he snapped, causing Melinda to jump slightly. “Enough, the both of you, enough. If you are so close, then why is there another vampire here?”
They both frowned in confusion then their gaze drifted slowly to the girl who had stayed utterly silent, though she was listening raptly to them. “Oh her,” Melinda replied, giggling softly. Ashby brought her hand up to his chest, holding it tight with his. Aria could feel Braith’s rapidly unraveling composure. They didn’t know what they were messing with right now, didn’t know that he was close to losing all control. Aria knew though. She had seen him in the woods with those vampires. She had seen what he was capable of, the punishment and death he could deal out so swiftly and without remorse.
“Melinda,” Aria reprimanded softly.
The smile slipped from Melinda’s, her eyes widened slightly as she finally focused on Braith again. “She’s just a girl from town; they knew that I would be coming back soon.”
“How?” Braith growled. “And why would she come here?”
“I manage to sneak out of the palace more often than you know. As the youngest and most ineffective child, no one ever pays attention to my comings and goings. I bring back blood slaves with me when I can, in order to keep the people in the area quiet about the fact that there are no guards anymore. She is here in the hopes of returning to town with whatever I have managed to smuggle out.”
“Why?” Braith demanded.
“To keep Ashby safe of course. I killed the guard’s years ago, but Ashby could not escape. There was nowhere for us to go. Every village knows who Ashby is, father made certain of that, and the reward on him is large enough for any starving vamp to hand Ashby over, no matter how much they may hate father. But only one person, or one family, could get that reward not the entire village. And no matter what, there was no guarantee that father would actually give them the money. I bought the loyalty of the people closest to here by promising them a steady supply of blood if they kept their mouths shut. It was more than father could promise all of them. She came to see if her dinner had arrived.”
Aria bowed her head beneath the implication of those words, nausea twisted through her. She was certain she was going to be sick. Her people had been used to buy silence; their lives had been freely traded away as if they meant nothing. “Awful,” she breathed.
“Life is not roses and sunshine dear,” Melinda retorted, her grey eyes as hard as steel as they focused sharply on Aria. A chill crept down Aria’s spine, she found herself unable to hold Melinda’s cold gaze. “And I would do anything to keep Ashby alive, just as I am assuming you would do the same for Braith.”
Aria bit on her bottom lip, she couldn’t look at any of them. She would do anything for Braith, but to freely trade lives for his, she didn’t think she could do that. But then, she was human, and they were not. They thought little of her species; humans were beneath them, they did not care what happened to them. And Aria knew she would freely trade a vampire life for his, she was certain of that.
“There are things that need to be done in order to secure the bond between bloodlinks,” Ashby explained.
Braith squeezed her hand gently. He was trying to soothe and comfort her, but Aria could not shake the horror and fear rolling through her. This was not her world, she did not belong in this place of blood and death and strange bloodlinks that allowed the blind to see. What the hell was she doing here? How did she get involved in all of this?
But the answer to those questions was standing before her, willing to die for her, as he used his body to block her from whatever attack might come their way. Her heart swelled, tears burned her eyes. She did not belong in this world, but she realized now that she would never be leaving it again. She hadn’t realized at the time, but when she’d chosen to leave the woods with Braith, she had sealed her fate. There was no turning back, and even though she was frightened by the uncertainty of their future, she was willing to endure the hardships that were still to come.
“And those are?” Braith inquired.
“Exchange of blood, sex,” Ashby continued. Aria’s face burned, it was all she could do to keep standing before them. “But those are vampire interactions. With this, I’m assuming that the change will also be necessary.”
“And if she doesn’t survive it?” Melinda asked.
“Then I doubt any of us will,” Ashby muttered.
Aria finally managed to lift her head to stare at them. “I’m not going to die,” she told them.
Ashby and Melinda leveled her with identical looks of hopelessness. “Most do not survive the change. The human body is too frail; it simply cannot take it. If you stay human it is certain that one day you will die. And Braith will go crazy from it.”
“And that’s only if you are willing to become a vampire,” Melinda elaborated.
Braith turned toward her, she could feel the full force of his gaze upon her, but she couldn’t find the words to answer his unspoken question. Was she willing to become a vampire? Was she willing to live in that world? Was she willing to die? Willing to drink blood and feed from her people? She lifted her gaze to Braith, she could feel the tears burning in her eyes, but they did not slip free. He was so strong, so powerful, and wise. He was ancient compared to her, a near God in his world. She was a fighter, and she was strong, but he could snap her bones with a flick of his wrist. And yet, as he looked upon her, she could see the weakness in his gaze, the uncertainty and need that blazed from him, and made him just as weak as she was.
She did that to him, she was doing it to him, and she hated herself for it. She touched his face lightly, loving the feel of his hardness beneath her hand, loving the stroke of his stubble against her fingertips. He awed her, and inspired her in so many ways. “You humble me also,” she whispered.