Aria

“I know you’re there! Show yourself!” Aria commanded.

“Don’t shoot,” a woman replied from the shadows. “I’m coming out now, and I mean no harm.”

The woman stepped out of the tunnel where she’d been hiding. Her hands were raised in the air. Gray speckled the brown hair tumbling around her thin shoulders and weathered face. She was probably only in her late thirties, but life had etched lines around her brown eyes and mouth.

Something about the woman tugged at Aria’s memory, but she didn’t lower her bow. Even if this woman had known where the keys were and how to traverse these tunnels, she trusted no one right now.

“Your Highness,” the woman said and kept her hands raised as she gave a small curtsy. “It has been a while.”

That voice, she’d heard it before, but where? If her heart wasn’t so badly shattered and her mind could grasp at anything other than death and destruction, she was sure she would know who this woman was, but the answer continued to elude her.

Her gaze ran over the woman again as her voice tickled at the back edges of Aria’s mind. Then, recognition burst to life within her. “Mary?” she inquired.

Her voice hitched as the memory of being trapped within the king’s dungeon slithered through her mind. Mary had been in the dungeon with her.

The woman smiled and dropped her hands to fold them into her skirt. “It is me,” she confirmed.

Aria finally lowered her bow. She may not trust Mary completely yet, but she sensed no one else standing behind the woman, and she’d be able to kill a human easily enough if it became necessary. “What are you doing here?”

“My son, John, said he saw you coming into the caves,” Mary said.

“You found him?”

“It took some time, but yes, I found him after I was set free of the dungeon.”

John was the reason Aria had been captured and brought to the palace to be auctioned off to the highest vampire bidder in the first place. Braith had stepped forward to claim her from the man who had originally bought her and taken her with him to the palace. At the time, she hadn’t known why Braith had done it, but eventually he’d told her it was because she was the first thing he’d actually been able to see in a hundred years.

Aria had sacrificed herself, allowed herself to be captured in place of John, and everything in her life had changed for the better. Even now, when she felt at her bleakest, she had to remember that. Mary had been taken with her on that long ago day, imprisoned in the dungeon and freed when Braith had come to rescue Aria. Mary had had no idea where her son was when she’d left the palace, but she’d found him once again. A small beacon of hope swelled within Aria at the realization.

Aria’s capture had been the beginning for her and Braith, and they had already come to their end. No matter what happened from here on out, no matter the heartache she endured now, it had all been worth it.

“There is always good in the bad,” Aria whispered.

Tempest squeezed her arm and William shot her a look, but she didn’t acknowledge either of them.

“What are you doing here, Mary?” Aria inquired.

“John said it looked like you were in trouble when you came in.” Her gaze ran over all of them, taking in their bloody and torn clothing. “Judging by the looks of you, I’d say he was right. You saved my child. I owe you much, and I’m here to help.”

“There are vampires after us. This is not something you should be entangled with.” Aria glanced at her brother. “Our guard was down if we didn’t notice John out there.”

“John would have made a fine rebel. He’s nearly as silent as your family was in these woods,” Mary said proudly.

William’s face seemed to say exactly what she was thinking; had they missed someone else?

Mary’s brow furrowed. “You are our queen and a vampire. Why would vampires be after you?”

“There is a new threat rising,” William said.

“Get John somewhere safe, Mary,” Aria said.

“Will this new threat hurt us if they uncover us?” Mary asked.

“Yes,” Aria answered honestly.

“Then we are already in danger. Come with me. I know somewhere safe.”

“Safer than these caves?”

“And warmer,” Mary replied with a smile. “And there will be clothes. Come, Your Highness, I promise you will be safe with us.”

“I’m just Aria. Please don’t call me Your Highness.” Mary blinked at her.

“Where is the king?” Mary inquired and Aria couldn’t stop herself from flinching.

“Elsewhere,” she replied crisply.

Mary frowned but didn’t press it further. “Then come, let’s get you clean and warmed up.”

William glanced questioningly at Aria as she remained unmoving. Part of her plan had been to locate new recruits. Mary had been a rebel too. Aria was certain she still associated with many of the people who had once moved freely through these woods and caves. They would need vampires too, but humans could be almost as lethal as a vampire when properly armed and trained. After years of having to be stealthy, humans could often be quieter when necessary.

And if Sabine’s soldiers followed them here, Mary and John would need help to stay safe. From what William and Tempest had told her, Sabine did not treat humans well.

“I promise you will be safe,” Mary said.

Aria swung her bow over her back and returned the arrow to her quiver. “Lead the way then.”

***

Melinda

Melinda had no idea where they were in the forest, only that they were going in the general direction of the palace, or at least she hoped they were. For all she knew, they could be heading back to Chippman, something that would prove lethal to all the vampires susceptible to the sun’s rays.

She really didn’t want to tell Hannah they’d been responsible for her cousin’s horrific death by sunlight. At the edge of a stream, Ashby didn’t hesitate before plunging the horse into it and guiding him through the flowing water. The animals had to be exhausted. Many of the vampires and humans surrounding her were slouched forward in their saddles and struggling to keep their eyes open, but they couldn’t take a break and they couldn’t let up on their relentless pace.

Every muscle in her body ached from sitting in the saddle for these past hours. Her ass had to be bruised, but she didn’t utter a complaint and neither did any of those with them. Ashby’s body thrummed with tension as he constantly surveyed their surroundings.

Splashing out of the stream, a flash of something on her right caught Melinda’s attention and she sat up straighter in the saddle. Joy burst through her chest when she spotted the treehouse Braith had built for Aria nestled within the trees. They were going the right way, and what was more, she knew her way back from here!

“Look!” she slapped her hand against Ashby’s arm and pointed to the treehouse. “We’re almost home.”

Ashby relaxed a little against her before going rigid once more. She didn’t think he would relax again until Sabine was destroyed.

“We are,” he said and kissed her cheek.

He turned their mount to the right and nudged him into another trot. Lots of carrots for these horses when we get back, she decided when the animal grudgingly resumed his pace. Ashby lifted his hand to push aside branches when they plunged back into the thick woods once more.

***

Jack

Jack finished helping to clean the blood from Xavier and sat back on his heels. He could bandage the wounds but saw no point. The blood had ceased flowing and the holes were closing. He’d already taken care of the humans who had fared better than Xavier. He was fairly certain Daniel had a concussion and suffered from blood loss and exhaustion, but their bruised bones and bodies would mend and none of their arrow wounds would be deadly if they were kept clean.

“I should have go… gone with her,” Xavier said. His voice already sounding better, but it was still difficult for him to get words out.

“You would have only slowed them down,” Jack replied.

Xavier gripped his wrist when he went to turn away. “I believe she is right, about Sabine and about Bra…ith.”

“Believe or hope?” Jack inquired.

“Both.”

“I hope you’re right. I’m not ready to lose Braith and Aria, and I’m not meant to be king.”

“No, but you would do well with it if it became necessary for you to assume the throne.” Xavier released his hold on him. “You should ma… make sure Braith has blood.”

Jack glanced at where they’d placed Braith’s body in the shadows of the cave. They’d covered him in some of the furs and blankets from the store room, and Jack had tried to make sure his brother was as comfortable as possible, though he questioned if it mattered and doubted Braith could tell the difference.

“I don’t know about that,” he murmured.

“Your father was decaying when he rose from the earth, starv… ing and frail, most likely from lack of blood. If we can get some blood into Braith, he’ll be strong… er when he rises.”

Jack appreciated that Xavier said when instead of saying if Braith rose; he wished he could have Xavier’s confidence in this matter.

Atticus returned.

He’d also been over a thousand years old at the time. Maybe there was an age someone had to reach for resurrection. At nine hundred fifty-four, Braith was pushing one thousand years old, but still shy of the millennial milestone. He may never get there now. Sabine hadn’t been a thousand when she was killed, but did they really know if she had actually been killed and not faking her death?

Then he recalled Sabine’s words, “Kill them all, but bring me his head.” There had to be a reason for that specific command with Braith, there simply had to be, or was he grasping at straws in the hope Braith could return from the dead?

“How long do you think it will be before he comes back, if he does rise again?” he asked and saw the other’s heads turn in their direction.

“I don’t know,” Xavier replied. “It was about a month before we saw Atticus, but in his weakened condition it could have… taken him a while to dig out of his grave. We ha… have no idea how much time he spent in the woods before he made it back to the palace. For all we know, he could have risen again two weeks after his death, but… I… I doubt it.”

Jack rested his fingers on the cool stone beneath him. A month within these caves, trying to keep Braith protected. It could be done, it would be done, but it would be a month for Sabine to gather more troops and wreak more damage upon those who could, or did, stand in her way.

“When Aria returns—”

“I don’t think she will return,” Daniel interrupted Jack. “She’ll lead Sabine and her followers as far from here as she can, but if she knows he’s gone—”

“She knows,” Hannah murmured and her gaze latched onto Jack. She ran her hands over her arms as she stared at him. “Believe me, Aria knows Braith is dead.”

Daniel’s fingers clenched around the rock he was resting his arm on. Anguish twisted his features as he turned his head briefly away from them. “Then she will go to work,” he said.

“Doing what?” Hannah inquired.

“Raising an army, learning what she can about our newest enemy,” Daniel replied. “She won’t die without making that woman pay first.”

Hannah glanced nervously at Jack and folded her hands before her. “I’d make her pay too.”

Jack rose to his feet and stalked across the cavern to her. Wrapping his arms around her, he held her close against him.

“Won’t she come back for Braith?” Hannah inquired.

“I know what she said about this woman being Sabine, about there being a chance Braith could rise again, but I imagine right now she doesn’t believe in much,” Jack said as he ran a hand over Hannah’s silken. “And if Braith does rise again, instead of coming back here, she’s going to do whatever she can to protect him, which means gathering an army.”

“She’ll be going back to our rebel roots,” Daniel said. “I bet she’s already formulating a plan. It’s what we would have done before.”

“Aria will go for the humans and she will try to get closer to Sabine, if that is who that woman is,” Max said.

“What do you mean go for the humans?” Hannah inquired.

“Many of the rebels are still living within the forest,” Max explained. “The rebel life is what we knew for so many years, so even after peace was achieved, many chose to stay. These woods are the home of the rebels and where we were always more comfortable, even Aria. We know how to avoid vampires. We may not have their strength, but we know how to hide, know how to sneak up on someone and how to set traps. We know how to take a vampire down. Outside of the palace walls, Aria will return to the rebels.”

“And she’s going to get closer to the palace walls,” Daniel said. “She’ll want to know what is going on there. We will find her somewhere in that area when we go to meet with her.”

“You can barely walk,” Jack said.

“Not now,” Daniel replied. “But as soon as we’re feeling up to it, we’ll go for her. It has to be done.”

“He’s right,” Timber agreed.

“Sabine has been gathering her troops. It’s time to start gathering ours,” Daniel said.