CHAPTER 9
“Concentrate on the ones behind us, we can take them!” Jack yelled above the twang of arrows and the growing shout of voices erupting from the crowd. He pushed his way through the horde, heading toward the group that had turned to focus on the enemy approaching from the back. He grabbed hold of Ashby and pointed to the top of the battlements. “We need to get some men up there.”
Ashby stared at him as if he’d just sprouted a horn from the middle of his forehead. “Jack…”
“Just do it Ashby!” he barked. “We have to keep them occupied if Braith is going to have any chance of slipping in from behind.”
Ashby was unmoving for a moment before he visibly paled and rushed into the crowd of bodies. Jack could hear him calling for vampires and humans to follow him as he ran toward the wall. David appeared at his side and reclaimed his bow and arrow. He turned and slipped away toward the soldiers encroaching on their backside.
A loud shout rose up from both armies as they collided with a loud crash of bodies and metal. Jack grabbed hold of one of his father’s soldiers and flipped him over his back. Slamming his foot down on the man’s throat, he drove his wooden spear through the man’s ribcage and into his heart. The man thrashed for a few moments before going still.
Jack ripped the spear free and turned in time to face the next threat barreling down on him. He spotted Calista within the throng; blood already coated her dark skin and faded clothing. She was grinning savagely, thoroughly enjoying the mayhem as she stepped back and heaved her spear at a soldier that had made the mistake of thinking she was more vulnerable because she was a woman.
Two of their own vampires fell around him, but the tide was turning in their favor as the militia battled through the soldiers with ferocious glee. They wanted this more than his father’s men did, Jack didn’t think that alone was enough for them to win, but it was enough for them to fight harder. Assured that Calista and the others had this under control, Jack broke into a run as he hurried toward the pack still concentrating on the wall. He snagged a bow and arrows from a fallen human and took up a stance beside the scattered line of archers.
Ashby, and the men he had gathered, had managed to distract the attention of the guards on the wall. He hadn’t expected Ashby to go up there himself, but he was climbing with a swift and deadly purpose. Someone shouted as one of their men fell from the wall, an arrow was embedded at a downward angle through his shoulder. Even before he hit the ground Jack knew the man was dead. Another fell seconds later, and then others began to topple off as the king’s soldiers turned their attention to the new threat scaling the wall toward them. They weren’t going to be overpowered from behind, but unless Braith managed to get his group inside, Jack knew they weren’t going to make it into the palace either.
Jack leaned back on his heel, but this time he didn’t aim for over the palace walls, but at the soldiers gathered on top. He focused on one about to fire at Ashby and released the arrow. The guard’s arrow went astray as Jack caught him in the shoulder.
Hurry, he thought frantically as more of their men fell from the wall and the growing heat of the flames from the town pressed against his back.
***
Unlike Braith and the king, Caleb couldn’t track her through her blood, but with as loud as her heart was beating and as noisy as she was breathing, it wouldn’t be difficult for him to find her. She longed to pause to catch her breath, and calm her pulse, but she didn’t dare stop for even a moment. She had a head start on Caleb, but not much of one, and he was much faster than she was.
His freakish humming filled the air as he strolled through the dark halls, relentlessly and unerringly pursuing her. She fell against the wall, wheezing as her legs trembled and shook from exhaustion. She knew she was being louder than normal but she didn’t understand how he managed to stay on her trail so easily.
Lifting her arm to wipe the sweat from her forehead, she froze as a small groan escaped her. His blood may not be inside her, but her own blood was still seeping from the multiple bites that had been inflicted upon her. Though most of them had stopped bleeding, there were a few of them still open and raw enough to leave a blood trail behind her. She was ringing the dinner bell and Caleb was answering it.
He was taking his sweet time because he knew no matter what she did she wouldn’t be able to escape him. Tears burned her eyes, a knot lodged in her throat as she shoved away from the wall. Her teeth grated as she forced her legs to move. She would not go down this way, she would not.
“Here kitty kitty kitty.” Caleb’s taunting voice drifted down the hall.
Aria had never wanted to punch someone more than she wanted to punch him at that moment. Rushing down the hall, determined to escape, she wasn’t prepared for when the walls suddenly gave out and she staggered into some sort of sitting room. She stopped, momentarily confused by the sudden appearance of the room within the dark and twisted passages.
“I’m just going to catch you.”
She glanced over her shoulder, she could tell by the clarity of his voice that Caleb was gaining on her but she still couldn’t see him. Aria bolted across the room, looking for something, anything she could use to defend herself with but there were only three couches and a small table in the center of the room. She wanted to linger longer in the hope that she would find something, but there was no time to waste.
Aria hurried past the room, and plunged back into another hallway. She was unable to see her hand before her but she rushed onward. She didn’t know where she was going, where any of these hallways led, and at the moment she didn’t care. She just had to stay free of Caleb long enough to find a weapon of some sort, or Braith. There was a sizzling energy in her veins that made her think that he was also close.
She was deep into the new passageway when she began to hear voices. She froze as shouts began to echo through the narrow halls. She strained to pinpoint the location of the noise, but it was impossible as the shouting vibrated the walls around her.
She took a step forward and the hand she had braced against the wall fell into nothing. It took her a moment to realize she had come to a crossroads. She was motionless as she tried to decipher which way to go. Grimacing, she clamped her teeth together as she dug her fingers into the tender bite marks on her inner wrist. Fresh blood welled up and trickled down her wrist to her hand. She moved into the hallway on the right and wiped her wrist along the stones for the first five feet. She stuck her wrist into her mouth, sucking on it to staunch the flow as she hurried back to the hallway that branched to the left. She didn’t know if she was making the right choice, but she felt a stronger instinctual pull to the left tunnel and she couldn’t just stand there until Caleb found her.
She hoped the fresh blood would draw Caleb away from her, but she didn’t count on him being fooled for long. Eventually he would realize that her scent didn’t go all the way down the hall. She just hoped she’d bought herself enough time to make some sort of stand against the monster hunting her.
***
“Gideon, collect all the soldiers that have emerged from the tunnel by now and take them to the palace gates.”
Gideon did a double take at Braith’s command. “Braith we should stay with the plan.”
“I am staying with the plan. The snake needs to be destroyed and Caleb is the tail.”
“But…”
“I am not leaving this palace without her Gideon, I made that clear before we stepped foot in here. Retrieve the soldiers from my apartment and lead them to the main gate. We must get the outside forces in here, and you will need the group waiting within the tunnel to do so. I will have an easier time surprising my father if I go in with a smaller force. If something happens to me, you should still be able to reach the main gate with the larger force.”
Gideon started to protest but light blazed at the top of the stairs seconds before Melinda plunged into the depths of the dungeons. The torch she held highlighted the planes of her face and her ashen complexion. Her tempestuous eyes fell on Braith and for a moment color returned to her skin as her shoulders slumped. “You made it,” she whispered.
“What are you doing here Melinda?”
“I came.” Her gaze flitted over the cells before landing upon the broken door behind him. “I thought I would try to get to Aria while they were distracted.”
“She’s gone.”
“Ashby.” She took a step toward him, the yearning on her face nearly palpable. “Where is he?”
“Outside the gates.”
Her face paled, her hand trembled on the torch as her lips compressed. “They’re flanked out there Braith, father had troops moved into the town. They’re trapped.”
He was still as his mind churned rapidly. He wouldn’t be able to take any of the troops with him to find Aria. Every man and vampire would be needed if they were to succeed in getting those gates open and saving his brother and Aria’s father. It would weaken his chances of getting them both out of here alive, but if they were going to win it was what had to be done. It was not the choice he wanted to make, it was not the choice he would have made a week ago, but it was the choice he knew he had to make now.
“You will take all of the men and go to the gates Gideon, it’s the only element of surprise we have and the only chance we have of succeeding.” Braith had expected an argument, but Gideon simply bowed his head in acquiescence. “Melinda, go with them, Xavier…”
“I am staying with you,” Xavier stated flatly. “I assume the humans will also insist upon going with you, and you ought to have another vampire at your back.” The three humans glared at Xavier but nodded their agreement. “Getting those gates open is important, but trying to keep you alive is also a necessity. Besides, even if we don’t survive this, I would like a chance to see the girl and her brothers in action.”
“What does that mean?” William demanded fiercely.
Xavier chose to ignore him, as did Braith. “Fine,” he relented. “We have to go.”
“Braith you… ah you need to be prepared,” Melinda’s hesitant words froze his approach toward the stairs.
“Prepared for what?” His voice was a low rumble that caused Melinda to take a small step back.
She swallowed nervously as she glanced at Gideon and Xavier, but they remained mute. “I don’t know everything that has been done to her.” William stepped closer to Braith; his eyes narrowed, his hands fisted as he studied Melinda. “But she has suffered abuse, and it’s very apparent.”
He was afraid to move for fear he would rip the entire place down as Melinda’s words echoed in his head. He could barely get words out of his constricted throat. “I have to get to her.”
“What about us?” the man demanded from the shadows when Braith spun on his heel.
“We’ll come back for you,” Braith responded impatiently.
“Wait, you can’t leave us here!”
He was already moving down the aisle when Max grabbed hold of his arm. Braith almost ripped Max’s arm off in his rush to get to Aria. “Braith, if we lose they’ll be trapped here. We have to let them out now. This may be the only chance they have.”
“We can help you fight them,” Mary said eagerly.
“We can’t leave them here like this,” Max pushed.
He pulled his arm free of Max’s grasp and seized hold of the bars of the woman’s cell. With a brutal jerk he snapped the lock on it and pulled the cell open. The woman stood for a moment, her mouth parted as she waited hesitatingly in the shadows. “Free the others,” he commanded gruffly.
He was almost to the steps when he froze, his nostrils flared, and his head turned slowly as he caught a familiar scent. Lauren was cowering in the back of the cell, pressed flat against the wall as she stared at him. A small whimper escaped her as he took a step toward her.
“Please don’t hurt me,” she pleaded.
Braith’s gaze traveled up and down her filthy, trembling body. “Except her, this bitch stays here,” he snarled. William and Daniel glared furiously at the girl, while Max didn’t bother to look at her as he led the freed prisoners up the stairs.
“Wait! Please don’t leave me here!” Braith turned away as she took a hesitant step toward the door. “I just wanted back in! Please don’t leave me here!”
William moved closer to the bars. “If he doesn’t come back for you, I will,” he assured her.
“I’ll be coming back for her,” Braith promised.
William flashed a feral, fleeting smile that reminded him of the fact that her brothers were a lot more ruthless than Aria was. Braith climbed the steps to the servant’s hall and paused as he opened himself up to the flow of his blood within Aria’s veins. Though it wasn’t as strong as it had been, he could feel it calling to him, feel the rhythm of it within her as it pulsed through her veins.
He turned back the way they had come from. “The scent of her blood goes the other way,” Xavier pointed out.
“I can get to her quicker this way.”
He maneuvered through the hallways, steadily climbing as rising horror began to pulse through him. Aria didn’t know where she was heading, but he did. He was running, not paying any attention to the people he sensed still following him as he burst out of the servants quarters. The kitchens stood before him, startled servants took a step back from the group they’d been huddled in.
“Your Highness,” a woman blurted as she stumbled into one of the counters. “But… Oh.”
There had been no avoiding this; the kitchens were the fastest way to get to their destination. He couldn’t kill all the servants within the massive room, and truth be told he didn’t want to. It was too late anyway. Aria was on a one way path straight into the lion’s den, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. He could only hope to get there first. One of the women fell to her knees, bowing her head as she went. Another man knelt, but the rest seemed too astonished by his sudden appearance to do anything other than stand and stare in amazement.
“Do we kill them too to silence them?” Max inquired flatly.
One of the servants let out a startled cry as they stumbled into a workstation loaded with more pots and pans. “It’s too late for that,” Braith informed him.
“What does that mean?” William demanded. “Does the king already know we’re here?”
“No, but we can’t remain hidden for much longer.”
“Why is that?”
“Because Aria is heading straight for the king’s throne room.”
William tripped and nearly fell as he gaped at Braith. “And that’s where we’re going?”
“It is.”
He strode out of the kitchen, breaking into a brisk jog as his body thrummed with anticipation and bloodlust. She was so close; he could feel her there, just beyond his grasp. Fire licked over his skin with his driving urge to see and touch her once more. He needed it more than he needed blood to survive. He burst into the palace foyer, startling the ten guards stationed outside the throne room.
The guards leapt into action as they jumped forward to try and block him from the room. Braith grabbed hold of one, shoving him back against the door as he drove a fist into the side of another guard’s cheek. The man grunted as he fell back beneath the blow. Another guard began to shout loudly as he called for more of his brethren. Braith seized hold of his neck and ruthlessly tore the guard’s throat out before he could raise too much of an alarm. An arrow whistled over his shoulder and pierced another guard in the forehead.
Xavier was suddenly beside him as a soldier grabbed hold of Braith’s shoulder and tried to pull him back. Braith drove his elbow harshly into the man’s chin and snapped his head back. The dull thud of arrows hitting their targets filled the hall, and the shouts died away as Braith took down the last standing guard.
Rising to his feet, he wiped the blood from his face with the back of his arm. He doubted he got it all, but he didn’t want to be completely drenched in blood when he saw her again. Braith grabbed the handles and flung the massive wooden doors open on the hideous room that his father cherished.
The king was at the end of the vast room, lounging in his throne, seemingly unaffected by the fact that Braith was here to kill him. He didn’t appear at all concerned about the fact that his soldiers had just been dispatched of with relative ease as he grinned at Braith and gave a small wave of his fingers. Braith’s jaw clenched as he nodded a brief greeting in return.
Even with the light from the massive chandelier, his father had always insisted upon having torches lit across the walls in order to highlight every gruesome, emaciated, and unwilling occupant of his trophy room. William inhaled sharply, Max’s step faltered while Daniel studied the room with obvious revulsion. Keegan growled as he crouched at Braith’s side.
“Awful,” William breathed.
Braith hadn’t seen the room with his own eyes in over a century, but it was just as hideous as he remembered. In fact, it was worse. There were even more vampire and human remains preserved within the room now. He also saw the reason for his father’s nonchalant demeanor as guard’s slipped from the alcoves within the room. They moved noiselessly forward to protect the man they served.
“I was wondering when you’d join us,” his father called to him. “Come closer son, I think our girl will be joining us soon. I sent Caleb to retrieve her for us.”
Braith’s gaze moved over the guards gathered within the room. There were at least thirty of them, and he wouldn’t be surprised to learn that even more were hidden throughout the room. He felt no concern over the fact that they were outnumbered, he had no fear anymore; he only had the burning urge to have Aria back and the vampire before him dead. He’d kill all of these men if that was what it took.
“Is that Xavier with you?” The king leisurely rose to his feet and straightened the rich, voluminous maroon robe he wore. He scanned Xavier from head to toe as his eyebrow quirked and a smile flitted across his mouth. “You’ve sunk even lower than I thought Braith if this is the pitiful company you’ve started to keep. You thought you could beat me with this pathetic excuse for a vampire.”
Braith refused to rise to his father’s baiting. Xavier stepped forward, his hands were enfolded within the sleeves of his robe and his shoulders were thrust back as he stared wordlessly at the king. Max and William were beside him, but Daniel had moved a little bit away, he seemed oddly fascinated by the withered vampires. Braith had to restrain himself from grabbing hold of the kid and forcing him to stay near them.
“What exactly was your plan here Braith?” Aria was close; he could feel it, she was almost within his grasp. He just wasn’t certain which passageway door she would be coming through as there were at least three that he knew of within the throne room. “Did you honestly believe that you could come in here and what, overthrow me? Kill me? With this sad assortment? They’re not even vampires, what were you planning on doing with these humans, distracting me with them as a snack?”
He didn’t know what the plan was; he simply knew that he had to get her out of here, alive, if at all possible. “They’re still alive,” Daniel muttered as he hastily stepped away from one of the desiccated remains.
“The vampires are,” Xavier confirmed. “The king has always liked his trophies.”
Daniel’s eyes were huge as his hand twitched on his bow. Braith moved somewhat to the side, stepping partially in front of Daniel. Daniel was usually stable, analytical, and rational to the bone, but this room seemed to have rattled his restraint completely. Braith was fearful Daniel would do something irrational before they had a chance to get Aria back.
“Where is your poor excuse for a brother?”
“Caleb is chasing down the human that escaped him at the moment,” Braith answered, knowing full well that was not the brother the king had meant.
A small flicker of a muscle in his cheek was the only reaction the king had to this revelation. “Ah the human,” the king purred as he licked his lips. “She is quite the tasty little treat Braith. I’m actually amazed by your astoundingly good taste, or should I say her taste and your restraint with her. I was unable to be so restrained with such a morsel.”
“Easy Braith,” Xavier urged as Max stepped in front him.
It took all he had not to launch across the hundred feet separating them and pound that smile from the man’s hideous face. His vision clouded with red again, his hands fisted. Father, or not, he was going to enjoy destroying this vampire, enjoy ripping his heart out and stomping on it.
“Yes Braith, easy. We don’t need you getting all worked up before our girl is here to enjoy it. Oh the fun we three will have.” He paused for a lengthy moment, rocking on his heels as he smirked at them and rubbed his fingers together before him. “I assume that since he isn’t here, Jericho is amongst the group being decimated outside the palace walls right now.”
Daniel and William exchanged an uneasy look. “I have no idea where Jericho is, and he goes by Jack now,” Braith managed to grate out.
Braith strained to hear something, anything, outside of this room. Then he heard it, a muted scraping of feet, a muffled heartbeat coming from within the walls. Unfortunately, she was closer to the king than him.
But even worse was the fact that behind the soft sounds of Aria, he heard the relentless pursuit of someone else.