William

“It’s bad, isn’t it, with Aria?”

William adjusted his hold on Tempest, settling her deeper into his lap as Daniel leaned across the table toward them. Tempest’s lashes tickled his neck when her eyes fluttered open.

“I don’t know how she’s still going,” William admitted honestly. “I’m not sure I could, but revenge is a powerful motivator.”

“You would know,” Tempest murmured.

“No, not like this. I sought revenge on Kane, yes. I would have died to get it, but that was a drop in the bucket compared to what is driving her.” Tempest leaned back to stare up at him. “I understand that only because I have you now. If it had been you who had been taken from me…” The concept of such a thing caused his fangs to lengthen. “I would have destroyed everything in my path.”

Tempest’s fingers played with the hair at his nape as she leaned forward to kiss him. “It’s not me,” she murmured.

“But it is Aria.” His gaze went to the room Aria had disappeared into hours ago. “I shared a womb with her. We hid together and listened while our mother was killed. She’s always been stubborn and strong, but I can feel her slipping further away from us. She didn’t go in there to sleep. She doesn’t sleep more than a few minutes at a time anymore. She went in there to get away from the humans.”

“I’m sure it’s overwhelming for her,” Max said as he leaned across the table toward them.

William glanced around the room before moving closer to them. They were the only ones still within the main room. The rest of those staying here had retreated into the rooms lining the hall, but he still didn’t like saying this out loud. “She’s fighting not to kill the humans.”

“Don’t think that,” Tempest said.

“I don’t think it,” he replied and clutched her to his chest. “I know it. I feel the insanity creeping closer around her, feel the emptiness engulfing her, and there’s nothing she can do to get away from it. I’m not sure how long she can keep going before she cracks just like Atticus did.”

Tempest shuddered against him. Max and Daniel leaned away from him while Timber and Xavier remained staring at the wall across from them. “Atticus kept it together long enough to complete his goal,” Xavier finally said.

“How many did he slaughter before that happened?” William asked. “How many did he slaughter because that was his goal?”

“Too many,” Daniel said.

“She’ll keep it together until Sabine is defeated, or at least I think she will, but as soon as this is done…” William’s voice trailed off, and his gaze returned to the closed door Aria was behind once more. “She’s my twin. I feel her anguish here”—he rested his hand over his heart—“and anguish is such a completely inadequate word for what she is experiencing. It’s deeper than that. It’s a complete twisting and destruction of the soul. She’ll die when this is done, or she’ll lose her mind.”

Tempest pressed closer against him as his own raw sorrow slipped through. He kissed her forehead, taking in her scent as he tried to ease his growing distress. With every day that passed, Aria slipped further away and he felt their chances of Braith rising growing slimmer. It had taken time for Atticus to return, he tried to remind himself of this, but he couldn’t help but feel as if their time was rapidly running out.

Xavier rose from the table, the chair skidding out behind him as he paced away from them. He stalked toward Aria’s closed door and stood there. Finally, the vampire came back to the table and rested his fingers on it.

“As she always has, Aria will accomplish what she must,” Xavier said. “Have faith Braith will return to us soon, because if we have to destroy her, we will have to destroy him too if he rises. If you think Aria is falling apart, imagine what he’ll be like when he realizes he rose from the dead only to learn that those he trusted the most destroyed his wife. If we must, we will find a way to restrain or imprison her—”

“We can’t do that to my sister!” William snapped.

“You think I like the idea?” Xavier snarled. “She is my friend, one of the few I have in this world. I would have taken every one of those arrows Braith received for her, but I failed in my duty.”

So that was the source of all of Xavier’s pent-up frustration, William realized. The vampire believed he’d failed Aria.

“We were all supposed to protect them. We all failed,” Daniel said.

Xavier’s gaze shot to Daniel, but he didn’t acknowledge his words as he started to speak again. “What Atticus did to this world will look like child’s play compared to what Braith would unleash on all of us if Aria is dead when he awakens. He stayed alive for hours after having his heart pierced with an arrow. Not even Atticus managed that feat, and I’m betting Sabine didn’t either. Braith did that for Aria. He knew what his loss would do to her, but even sheer strength of will and the bloodlink could not deny the course nature has set for all of us.”

“And what will he do if he wakes to find we’ve imprisoned her?” Timber asked.

“He might still kill us all, but at least he won’t burn what remains of the world down too,” Xavier replied and paced away once more.

William stared across the table at his brother. “You will return to the cave and Jack?” he inquired of Daniel.

Daniel tore his gaze away from Xavier to focus on him. William lifted an eyebrow at the brief look of yearning that had crossed Daniel’s face while watching the vampire. His brother composed his expression into a mask of indifference as he stared blandly back at William.

“We told Jack we would report back. He has to have some idea of what is going on outside of those caves,” Daniel replied. “Braith can track Aria if he wakes.”

“When will you return to him?”

“We’ll wait a couple of days, help gather as much information about this woman and help as much as we can here before we return. I think it will be best if Jack comes back with me. Someone has to be able to lead if Braith never awakens and Aria is locked in a cell, again.”

“She’s going to lose her mind,” Max muttered as he gazed at the scarred table before him.

“She already is,” William replied.

Xavier walked back over to them and sat in the chair for a minute before rising and walking away again. “Perhaps you should feed,” William suggested to him.

“I fed earlier,” Xavier replied, his gaze focused on the door once more.

“Okay, but—”

“I will be fine when she comes back out,” he interjected.

William rolled his eyes, took a deep breath, and bit back his next words. Xavier had been composed when Aria was out here earlier; he would be so again when she emerged.

“Where do we sleep in this place?” Timber asked.

“With everyone else,” William replied. “Yesterday we had plenty of room in here. Now, not so much.” He glanced at Tempest. No damn privacy at all. “There are numerous straw-filled mattresses in every room.”

Timber clasped his hands behind his head as he stretched his long legs before him. “So right here then.”

“That’s what I planned,” William said.

Timber kicked off his boots and tilted his head back to stare at the ceiling above him. “You did some good planning, Daniel,” he said. He closed his eyes and released a snore on his next breath.

“Amazing,” Tempest muttered as she gazed at Timber’s slumbering form before resting her head on William’s chest once more.

Everyone within the room froze when the door of the room across from them opened and Aria padded out. Her loose braid dangled over her shoulder. The shadows around her eyes formed dark circles beneath the rim of her thick glasses. Without a word, she settled into one of the empty chairs and lifted her head to gaze around the room. Xavier had stopped moving the second she’d emerged. He stood guard beside the door leading out as he watched her.

Her head turned toward Xavier. “You should get some rest,” she said to him.

“I will watch over you,” Xavier replied.

“There are plenty here to watch over me,” she replied. “And it’s not like you’ll be far.” Xavier folded his arms over his chest but made no move to leave. Aria stared at him before turning to Daniel. “Take him somewhere. His pacing is driving me nuts. I could hear him prowling back and forth from the other room.”

“I will not move again,” Xavier vowed.

Aria rested her forehead in her hands as she rubbed at her temples. “Xavier, please, get some rest. If only for an hour or two, it would make me feel a lot better.”

He stood for a minute, seemingly torn between staying to protect her and obeying her request. In the end, he bowed his head and turned to open the door behind him.

“Go with him,” Aria said to Daniel, who frowned at her. “Watch over him. He’s coiled tighter than a spring and needs someone calming around.”

Daniel rose to his feet. William watched as his older brother strode out the door behind Xavier. He remained casual in appearance, but William could hear the increased beat of his heart as he closed the door behind them. Aria slumped in her chair.

“I couldn’t take one more second of his pacing and blaming himself,” she murmured. “Daniel will keep him distracted for a bit.”

“You know they’re attracted to each other?” Max inquired of her.

“I’m not blind.”

“I didn’t know you were aware of Daniel’s interest in, ah… men as well as women.” Max turned as red as an apple as he said this to her.

“I wasn’t for a long time, but I’ve noticed the two of them watching each other for a while now,” she replied. “

“You sacrificed your brother for some peace and quiet,” Max said with a snort. “I like the way you think.”

The corner of Aria’s mouth quirked. It was the closest she’d come to a smile in a week. “I don’t think either one of them will consider it a sacrifice.”

William glanced over at Max who smirked at him as he placed his folded hands behind his head. Tempest lifted her head to look at the door they’d left through. “Xavier is so much bigger. I hope he doesn’t break him,” she murmured.

William and Max both roared with laughter until tears streamed down Max’s face and even Aria gave a small chuckle.