It was the lethal part that she was most frightened of right now.
Aria turned, she needed to see him, needed to know what he was thinking. His eyes were fierce on Max, a violent shade of red that caused Aria’s knees to tremble. His fangs had extended, but they did not drop over his bottom lip. Instead, they were clamped behind his full mouth. His jaw was clenched tight, a muscle jumped high in his cheek.
He was terrifying, and deadly. “Braith, please,” she whispered tremulously. His eyes flickered to her, but there was no softening in his features. “He didn’t know what he was doing.”
“He could have killed you,” Braith grated.
“I wasn’t going for her,” Max retorted.
“Max, shut up!” Jack snarled.
“Well I wasn’t.”
Jack lunged forward; he seized hold of Max’s arm, ripping him swiftly back. “You are an idiot.”
“Let go of me!” Max snapped. “I’m going to kill him!”
Jack was struggling to get Max under control, Braith was a tightly wound bowstring behind her. Aria’s head was spinning, the confusion in the room was mind numbing. Her father was grasping for Max, terror and anger etched into the lines of his face. “That’s enough Maxwell!” her father commanded sharply.
But even her father, a man that had helped to raise Max, a man that Max highly respected and listened too, could not pierce the fury that surrounded him. He continued to struggle, his face florid with anger; a vein throbbed in his forehead. “He’s corrupted her! He’s made her a traitor, a disgrace to her own people, and he needs to die for his perversity!”
Aria recoiled from his words, feeling as if she had been slapped, feeling as if she was the one that had been stabbed. Pain sliced deeply through her. For the first time she realized that Max would never forgive her for this. She had lost him forever. “You bitch!”
Aria gasped, but it was not Max’s words that caused her reaction, but the sudden explosion of motion from behind her. She barely saw Braith, and she most certainly did not hear him, as he sped across the room. Jack didn’t have time to react, her father had one hand on Max’s arm, but he was not strong enough to stop Braith from ripping Max swiftly away. Jack lunged gracefully forward, but it was too late. Braith was already spinning Max away from the others; he slammed Max against the wall with enough force that the entire room shook and the wall splintered.
Melinda gasped; her hand flew to her mouth. Ashby swept swiftly past her as Braith pulled back and slammed Max against the wall again. Ashby and Jack grasped hold of Braith’s shoulders, but Aria knew they were nothing more than annoying gnats against him. “I don’t care what the hell was done to you!” Braith roared his face twisted in a mask of fury the likes of which Aria had never seen before. “You hurt her, you talk to her, you so much as look at her again and I’ll rip your freaking throat out! You’ll be dead before you even knew what happened, do you understand me you little shit!?”
His hand tightened on Max’s throat, he lifted him off the ground and smashed him against the wall again. Aria was afraid the building was going to collapse as it rocked on the stilt foundations. Max’s eyes bulged, his fingers clawed at Braith’s hand as his feet began to kick against the wall. “Braith!” Jack hissed, pulling uselessly at Braith’s arm. “Let go! Damn it Braith, let go!”
Aria’s stunned stupor vanished. If she didn’t do something, Braith was going to kill Max now. “Arianna!” Melinda cried as Aria ran toward Braith.
“Stop! Don’t Braith! Please let him go!” She shoved her way past Ashby. Grabbing hold of Braith’s arm, the one pinning Max to the wall, she gave a hard tug on it. It was like trying to bend iron; he hardly even noticed that she was there. “Braith!” she hissed.
Bracing her legs on the wall, she pulled hard on his rock hard arm. “He’s my friend!” she cried in frustration and terror. “Stop it, don’t hurt him!”
Braith released Max so suddenly that Aria accidently shoved herself off the wall. She flew backward, losing her grasp on his arm as she tumbled backward. Braith spun suddenly, his arms swooping around her, catching her before she could hit the floor. Max dropped like a weight, hitting the ground with a loud thump.
Aria gazed up at Braith in stunned disbelief. He had been so quick, so fast in catching her, and so gentle as he cradled her with a tenderness that robbed her of her breath. The red faded from his eyes, his fangs swiftly retreated as he looked lovingly upon her. He ignored the rest of them as he turned away, striding with her across the room. The vampire girl was watching them in surprise, but there was a keen interest in her gaze that slightly unnerved Aria.
She peeped around Braith’s massive shoulder. Jack and Ashby were helping Max to his feet, he was rubbing his throat; the imprint of Braith’s hand was clearly visible upon it. “I would stay quiet if you want to live!” Jack hissed at him when Max opened his mouth to say something more. “She won’t be able to stop him again.”
Aria ducked back away, she looked up at Braith. She had never been afraid of him, hell she had even slapped him once, but she was truly terrified for anyone that he felt was a threat to her. For the first time she realized the true depth of his desire to protect her. He had let Max go this time, but he would not do it again. Melinda studied them, her eyes wide, her gaze disbelieving as she turned slowly toward Braith, and then Ashby.
Aria saw the silent communication that passed between them, the intensity of their stares, and their worry. “Put me down Braith,” she said softly.
He slipped her easily from his arms, balancing her lightly upon her feet. “Are you ok?” he inquired softly, pushing her hair gently back from her face as he studied her intently.
“I’m fine, I’m fine,” she assured him hastily. She grasped hold of his wounded hand, pulling it before her. He kept it fisted, but at her gentle prodding he slowly unfolded it. She gaped at him in wonder, her mouth dropping as she fumbled rapidly with his hand. Blood still marred his skin, but there was no wound there. Not anymore. She stared in awe, unable to believe that what she was seeing was real. It was there, she knew a wound had been there but there wasn’t even one scratch upon his flesh anymore. His hand curled around hers, he pulled her close for a brisk, firm kiss on her forehead.
“It’s ok Arianna, I hardly felt a thing.”
She gazed up at him, her mouth parted, stunned by the rate in which the wound had vanished. She knew that vampires were able to heal rapidly, but this was something not only stunning and amazing, but also slightly unnerving. She couldn’t stop the shiver of fear that ran down her spine. “Braith?”