Aria

Aria checked to make sure her glasses were safely in place and inched open the door to the room she’d been given by the rebels the next morning. Beside the door, Xavier settled the chair he’d been leaning against the wall on the ground. He and Daniel had come back in after she’d retreated to the room again, but she didn’t know if her attempt at drawing them closer together had worked or not, until she smelled Daniel on him. Not in him, they had not shared blood, but they had gotten close to each other.

Good. Her heart was shattered around her, but she would do everything she could to make sure those she loved found happiness in this world. Found someone to help them move on and thrive after she was gone.

William rose from his chair with Tempest cradled against his chest. He went to set her down on the chair, but Aria pushed the door to her room open and gestured for him to enter. Requiring some time alone with his bloodlink, William didn’t argue with her, but strode forward to stop beside her. She ducked her head and stepped out of the way when he went to touch her shoulder.

Her skin felt more sensitive today than it ever had. Every time she moved, her normally lightweight clothes scraped against her flesh.

Insanity looms, she realized grimly.

William stared down at her, but she couldn’t meet his gaze.

Six more days. Hold it together for six more days.

She could do that. Somehow. At the end of those six days, if she needed more time to ensure that Sabine’s head rolled from her shoulders, she would hold it together for that time too.

She waited until William closed the door before moving further into the room and toward the door leading out. Opening it, she walked down the hall to the stairs at the end. She needed to feel fresh air on her face, and she needed to feed.

She checked the peepholes before turning the heavy metal latch and pushing the door open. Cool air caressed her cheeks when she stepped into the barn with Xavier close on her heels. Though there were no animals within anymore, the familiar scents of straw, hay, and horse tickled her nose. For a moment, she recalled what her life had been like in those simple, early days before she’d been captured and taken to the palace.

She’d loved the forest, her family, her friends, and the animals she’d cared for. It hadn’t been an easy life. There had been many nights she’d fallen asleep cold and hungry, many nights she’d prayed not to be discovered or doubted she would live to see the next day, but it had been her life. Then it had all been thrown into a whirlwind never to be the same again.

She’d never trade one day of her life with Braith, even if this was the way their love ended, but she had let her guard down. She’d been unprepared for the bad she’d always been prepared for as a human.

In her days as a rebel, she’d accepted that she would most likely have a short life and meet a brutal end at the hands of a vampire. With Braith, she’d had an eternity of love and laughter laid out before her like a never-ending road. Now the road smashed into a brick wall, and she found herself lying awake every night, once again feeling cold and hungry, but this cold and hunger was unlike anything she’d ever experienced as a human.

Footsteps sounded behind her as Daniel made his way up from below. Over the years, she’d seen her brother with women, but then she’d also seen him sitting close to men. She’d never really thought much about it. Daniel had always been more private about his love life than most of the other men and women in the forest. However, Daniel had always been more private and introverted than most anyone she knew.

He was often busy with his sketches and designs. He looked at the world and saw things entirely different than anyone else did. Her vision had been enhanced when she’d become a vampire, but she knew Daniel still saw more detail in their environment than she did.

She’d noticed Xavier’s growing interest in her brother when they’d traveled back to Chippman for Jack’s wedding, and started to notice the way her brother watched him too. They were an odd pairing, but then she and Braith hadn’t exactly been normal. Odd pairings could work well and she thought the two of them balanced each other nicely; Daniel with his dreamer ways and Xavier with his fiercely loyal heart.

“How are you feeling today?” Daniel asked her.

“Fine,” she replied and lifted her hand to her forehead in an attempt to further shade the rays of sun filtering through the rafters and causing the dust motes to dance in the air around them.

Daniel went to pull her hand from her forehead, but stopped himself. “We’ll find you something to eat and you’ll feel better,” he said.

“Yes, that will help,” she lied and really hoped he bought it.

Xavier slid the barn door open and stepped outside. “Stay here,” he said crisply over his shoulder to them.

“I’m happy for the two of you,” she whispered when Xavier disappeared. “You both deserve happiness, someone to love.”

“It’s not like that, Aria,” Daniel reluctantly said, as if he didn’t want to burst her bubble. “Not everything is a love connection. Sometimes two people, or beings, or whatever they are, simply need each other.”

“Could it become more?” she asked, unwilling to give up on her hope for the two of them finding love together.

“Perhaps.”

Having just lied to him, she recognized one when she heard it. “Liar.”

He went to take hold of her elbow, but she moved away from him before he could touch her raw skin. Sighing in frustration, he lowered his hand. “I care for Xavier. He is honorable and confident…”

“But?” she prodded when he trailed off.

“I have no intention of ever becoming a vampire or settling down with one. It’s not something I want, and to be honest, neither is a relationship. Not at this time in my life.”

“But one day you might want a relationship with a man?”

“Or a woman. One cannot help who they love after all.”

She knew that better than anyone. She’d fallen in love with a vampire after all, her greatest enemy at the time. “No, they can’t.”

“The day for a relationship may not even come for me.”

She recoiled from his words. “That day will come! I’ll make sure of it.”

“Aria, you more than anyone, know you cannot will something into being. Whatever unfolds along the way is the course we are to follow.”

“I will not lose any more of those I love.”

He opened his mouth to respond then clamped it shut once more. He was right, they both knew it, but he also knew it would be pointless to argue with her right now. Secretly, she’d always hoped Daniel would choose to become a vampire too, if he survived the transformation. Maybe one day he would change his mind and join her and William, but Daniel had always stayed on his course once he chose it, and she doubted that one day would occur.

Max stepped out of the doorway behind them. His sandy hair stood out in spikes around his face as he rubbed at his swollen eyes. “Did I miss anything?” he asked as he stretched his back.

“No,” Daniel replied

Xavier stepped back into the doorway. “It’s clear and I spotted some deer by the lake.”

Aria’s mouth watered, and her fangs tingled as she hurried out the door. They moved quickly through the woods until they arrived at the lake. She separated from Max and Daniel to hunt with Xavier.

When she’d glutted herself on deer blood, she sat back on her heels and wiped her mouth. Xavier stood beside her, his gaze incessantly scanning the trees for any hint of danger. Aria rested her hands on her knees as she surveyed the woods. Satisfied they were still alone, she rose to her feet and returned with Xavier to where Daniel and Max remained hidden within the forest.

“I think we should try to get closer to Sabine again,” she said.

Xavier shot her a dark look. “No. We have a plan. We stick with it.”

“We have to know more about her. Arrogance can’t be her only weakness.”

“Beheading is another,” Max said.

“We’re not 100 percent sure who she is. If it’s not Sabine, we could be walking into something worse than what we’re preparing for. We need more information,” Aria insisted.

Daniel and Max exchanged a look before Daniel spoke, “We can’t risk people.”

“Not people, me.”

“Absolutely not,” Xavier said.

“I don’t have a suicide wish. I can get close to her without her knowing I’m there, and if by some miracle she catches me, she won’t kill me. She’ll slaughter or enslave anyone else, but not me. Not right away anyway, she’ll use me as leverage.”

“If Braith awakens—” Max broke off when her jaw locked.

“And you have been caught, then what?” Xavier demanded, finishing what Max had been unwilling to say.

Aria took a minute to gather herself before speaking again. “The three of you have this wrong. I’m not suggesting this. I’m not asking for permission. I’m telling you I intend to get closer to her.”

Silence met her statement. Xavier opened his mouth then closed it again.

“William will want to go with you,” Daniel finally said.

“No, I’m going alone. I can get closer to her by myself, and William has Tempest. He has to protect her. I won’t risk something happening to either one of them. They can never know what this is like.” Her hand rested over her heart. “I won’t do that to them.”

“That’s why you want to go now,” Max deduced. “Because William’s not here to stop you or go with you.”

“Yes,” she admitted.

“I will come with you,” Xavier said.

“You’re fast, but I’m faster and quieter when it comes to these woods.”

“It doesn’t matter. I am coming with you. You don’t know where she is.”

“Believe me, the trail she left will be impossible to miss,” Aria replied. Max and Daniel nodded their agreement.

“We’re coming with you,” Daniel said. He held his hand up when she opened her mouth to protest. “Extra eyes are never a bad thing.”

“And if you take off without us, we’ll just follow the trail too,” Max said and smiled at her when she frowned at him. “It will simply take us longer, and put us more at risk by not traveling together, but we can follow her as easily as you can.”

“Fine,” she relented, “but someone has to tell William and the others where we’ve gone. They’ll send out search parties if they’re not informed, and someone could get killed because of it. The humans follow you, Daniel. You’re their representative on The Council and they look to you for guidance as much as they look to me. I think you should stay.”

His arms folded over his chest, but whereas she and William were hotheaded and impulsive, Daniel was practical. He couldn’t deny the truth of her words. “What do I tell them?” he inquired.

“The truth,” she replied and shifted her bow and quiver on her back. “I’ll only be two days. If I don’t find her, or I’m unable to get close to her, I’ll return. That will still give you enough time to return to Jack and let him know what is going on. If I’m not back, you or William have to return for him no matter what.”

Daniel took a deep breath and dropped his arms to his sides. He stepped forward to hug her before stopping himself. Aria braced herself for the discomfort she knew would come from touching another and stepped forward to kiss his cheek. “I love you, and tell William that for me too.”

“He’s going to be irate.”

“Yeah, well, he’s pissed me off a time or two before himself.”

Daniel smiled before stepping away. “Good luck and be safe.” His gaze went to Xavier who bowed his head to him and turned away.

“We always are,” Max replied.

Aria didn’t look back as they slipped into the trees.