What the hell did he want with her?
He remained unmoving, his gaze focused upon her for a long while. Then, he turned abruptly away, leaving her stunned and motionless. She didn’t know what to do, what was going on, what was expected of her. Her gaze slid helplessly back toward Max. His jaw was locked tight, his disbelief and shock evident on his face. He turned slowly toward her, his bright blue eyes wounded and fearful.
‘I’ll find you,’ he mouthed silently.
Arianna wanted to believe him, wanted to trust in his promises, but she did not see how she could possibly escape the powerful monster that owned her now. She shuddered, her fingers digging harder into her elbows. The wolf slipped silently past her, plodding slowly after his master. “This way.”
Aria jumped slightly at the forceful command. The two men that had accompanied the prince came toward her, their hands outstretched. Aria took a small step back, frightened by their massive size and hard eyes. The prince turned slightly back, his dark eyebrows drew sharply together over top of his glasses as his full mouth pinched tight.
His men seemed to sense his sudden irritation as their hands fell limply back to their sides. Arianna stared at the prince in surprise, startled to realize that he seemed truly irritated at the thought of them touching her. “Move,” one of the men commanded softly.
The prince did not turn back around as he walked swiftly down the street. The wolf, and the three of them, trailed silently behind.
Chapter 2
Aria couldn’t stop gaping; she could not get her mouth to close for more than a few seconds at a time. Everything was so amazing, so wonderful, and so strange. She had never seen anything like this, had never imagined it could even exist. And now she was standing smack dab in the middle of it, being openly stared at and whispered about as she was ushered into the large, rambling entry room of the massive palace.
She’d heard stories of palaces and the exquisite beauty and elaborate designs, but she’d always assumed that they were just that, stories. She had never dreamed that such wonderful, opulent places could exist, let alone that she would actually be walking through one of them. Everything was sparkly and bright, huge and wonderful.
She glanced at the roof far above her, her mouth parted even more as she took in the wonderful artwork upon the ceiling. She had never seen anything like the beauty of the colors and detail above her. She had never even seen a painting before. She had seen drawings, as Daniel loved to sketch things when he was not busy hunting for food, planning attack strategies, or fighting for his life. He created wonderful things with the charcoal they scavenged from the caves, but they had no color, and they were not as large and spectacular as this. For some strange reason she felt tears burning her eyes at the sight of the magnificent art above her.
She blinked them rapidly back, dropping her head down as she was hurried across the white, sparkly floor. “Braith!” Aria jumped in surprise as the word was barked harshly out. Her head snapped up, her eyes widened as she took in the woman striding purposely toward them. She was dressed lavishly, her golden hair pulled back in a tight braid that highlighted her beautiful features. Aria stopped instantly, unable to move or breathe as she stared in wide eyed disbelief at the stunning woman. A woman that had never known hunger, fear, rags, or dirt. A woman that was staring at her with open disgust and scorn. “What is this?” she demanded coldly.
“It’s a blood slave Natasha,” the prince replied dryly.
The woman blinked in surprise, her gaze raked disdainfully over Aria. Though she wanted to shrink from the woman’s scathing look, she managed to throw her shoulders back, narrow her eyes, and hold the woman’s gaze. The prince, Braith, did not look at Aria but simply stared silently at the woman.
“I can see that Braith. What are you doing with her?”
He turned slightly toward Aria, his eyebrows drawing sharply together as he took her in. Aria stared defiantly back at him, refusing to back down, refusing to let them see the fear that was coiling through her. “What is normally done with a blood slave Natasha?” he inquired, his deep voice rumbling softly out of him. “I thought you would be happy that I decided to finally take one.”
The woman’s light eyebrows shot swiftly up. Aria felt her mouth part slightly again. Was she the first one that he had ever taken? But no, that couldn’t be possible; these creatures loved their blood slaves. They loved to torture and use and abuse people until there was nothing left of them. It was what she had always been told, so it had to be true. Didn’t it?
“You could have cleaned her up first. The girl is a mess Braith; I cannot believe you brought her into our home like this. I could smell her from a mile away, and she probably has lice.”
Anger shot through Aria, her hands fisted at her sides as she glared at the blond woman. She may not be at her cleanliest, but she most certainly did not have lice. “I will take care of it immediately.”
Aria’s glare turned toward the prince. There it was, that awful it word again. She was most certainly more than an it, but not here, and not now. She was fairly certain she might never be more than it again. “I should hope so,” the woman retorted.
The woman brushed swiftly by them, leaving Aria glaring after her retreating back and fuming over the conversation. It was the soft nudge from the wolf that alerted her to the fact that they were moving once more. She hurried forward, eager to catch up with the prince, suddenly terrified that he would leave her alone in this place. A place that she was not welcome in at all, and did not seem nearly as magnificent now as it had two minutes ago.
She didn’t stop to think about the fact that the only thing that made her feel safe in this strange world was the creature that now owned her. It was far too disturbing of a thought.
Arianna’s hand trailed across the ornate, shiny wood of the banister as they moved slowly up a large staircase. She had never seen a staircase like this before as it wound and twisted its way up to the second floor. They had stairs in the caves, where she spent a fair amount of her life, and she had been on raids to abandoned houses, she had even been in a few people’s homes before, but none of those stairs were even remotely like this. These were glorious, overwhelming, and beautiful.
“Gather some servants.” The prince ordered over his shoulder.
“Yes.”
One of the men broke away, heading the other way down the long hallway before disappearing up another set of stairs. Aria stared in awe as they moved slowly forward. She didn’t know if she wanted to stare at the beautiful paintings and pictures lining the wall on her right, or gape at the amazing room beneath her to the left. Though she had just walked through the grand foyer, it was even more stunning from up here. The chandelier was spectacular, the glass radiated with sparkling colors from the thousands of lights within it, and the swirling shades of artwork overhead.