Aria

Jack looked as if she’d punched him in the gut when his mouth fell open. It was a face she knew well as she’d managed to do so a few times when they were still rebels training in the woods together. She understood why he couldn’t see who that woman was, knew why Braith probably hadn’t realized who she was either. They had enough monsters in their family line, neither of them wanted to add another one to it, but they had to now.

William wouldn’t have recognized the woman for who she was either. He hadn’t spent as much time with the mad king as Aria had. William had recognized something familiar about her, but he wouldn’t know the distinct shades of green in her eyes, or the depth of the cruelty within them, but Aria knew she was right about the woman’s identity.

“Freaking vampires,” Timber muttered and Max nodded in agreement.

“Sabine is dead,” Jack said. “She was staked through the heart.”

“And so was your father, but he came back to life,” Aria said. “This would help explain why he did. It also explains her looks and her power. That woman is related to you, and I believe she is Atticus’s mother. Your grandmother.”

“You vampire families are so messed up,” Max said and everyone gave him a look. He lifted his hands and shrugged. “Am I wrong?”

Jack’s hands fell limply, and his skin took on a ghostly hue as he stepped away from her. His gaze fell to Braith. “Do you think they were like Braith, and they only looked dead when they were buried? Did we bury Atticus alive?”

There had been no love lost between Jack and his father, but she heard the note of anguish in his voice at the possibility. “No,” Aria said. “I think they were both dead when they were buried.”

“But how did they come back?” William demanded.

“I don’t know,” Aria replied. “But they are all a part of the one true vampire line, a line that can be traced all the way back to the original vampire Lucifer created. We have no idea what a vampire of that lineage could be capable of.”

“It is the oldest and most powerful vampire line,” Ashby said. “If there was a chance any vampire could beat death, it would be a vampire from that line. If they knew they were capable of surviving what would kill any other vampire, they would make sure there was no record of it. If they died in a public way, the survivor would have to go into hiding after rising.”

“So she’s been in hiding all this time?” Melinda asked. “Wouldn’t someone have seen her at some point?”

“Not if she was careful and left Europe immediately after she woke again. She may have even been in this country all that time. Back then it was wild and secluded enough that she would have been able to lose herself completely,” Ashby said. “Any who might have known her have perished over time.”

Jack ran his hand through his hair, tugging at the ends of it as he paced about the cave. With every step he took, he limped more and more. Blood trickled from his wounds to stain the ground, but he didn’t pay it any attention as he continued walking.

“Do you think Atticus knew about this?” he asked as he spun to face her again.

“No, I don’t,” Aria said. “All he wanted was death. If he’d known there was a chance he could come back, I think it would have driven him even more insane while he was still alive.”

“Don’t think that was possible,” William muttered.

“Why would Sabine keep the knowledge from him?” Jack inquired.

“She may not have known about it either, or most likely she never got the chance to tell him,” Ashby said. “A vampire that can’t die by staking is something else entirely. There’s a power involved that would be more than a little frightening to other vampires. They would have risked their entire line being destroyed if their secret ever got out. She may have been waiting until Atticus was old enough to keep the secret before telling him.”

“Att…icus was only fi…” Xavier rested his hand against the closing hole in his throat. He winced with every word, but continued speaking. “Five when Sabine die…d.”

“They die, but somehow they rejuvenate after death,” Ashby said.

“Shit,” Jack muttered.

“So that means Jack could withstand a staking?” Hannah asked.

“I don’t think so,” Aria replied. “Sabine only asked for Braith’s head earlier. Jack may not be as old or as powerful as Braith, but he’s still a big threat to her too. She’ll want him eradicated as well.” Aria turned to face Melinda. “And there’s no reason she would know that you’re not Atticus’s child. She would have asked for your head too, if she believed you could come back.”

Melinda clasped her hands before her, twisting them into her cloak when they began to tremble.

“She’s right,” Ashby said and Xavier nodded in agreement. “This is something to do with the first born in the line. Sabine, Atticus…” He glanced at Braith. “Even when he was young, there was always more power in Braith than in Caleb or you, Jack, or many of the vampires who were older than he was.”

Jack pulled at his face, rubbing his hand over the stubble lining his jaw as he stared at his brother. “He’s always been more powerful than most,” Jack agreed before focusing on Aria again. “What if you’re wrong and it’s not Sabine?”

Aria couldn’t stop her gaze from falling to Braith. “If I’m wrong and he dies, then he will remain dead, but either way, I have to leave here in order to keep him from being discovered.”

“I’m not letting you leave here,” Jack stated.

“I am your queen. You have no say in this.”

“Aria—”

“Someone has to lead them away from Braith and the others from Badwin and Chippman who are still out there depending on us to get them to safety. If they’re discovered, they will be slaughtered.”

Hannah released a choked noise as her eyes darted toward Jack. Tempest stepped closer to William and gripped his arm. Many of Hannah’s friends and family were with those waiting for them to return. The children Tempest had rescued from the orphanage, along with some other residents, and her best friend, Pallas, were also with them.

“We can’t leave them out there alone,” Aria continued. Her gaze ran over those gathered within before landing on Melinda and Ashby. They had faired pretty well during the battle and were well known and liked within the palace. “After I go out to lure Sabine’s followers away, Ashby and Melinda can return for the survivors and lead them safely back to the palace.”

“I will go out and lure the vampires who attacked us away,” Jack said.

“You made it here, but you’re limping badly. Hannah isn’t going to stay here without you, and neither of you will be able to traverse the forest with the speed it will require. These are my woods—”

“I know these woods well too,” he interrupted.

“Yes, but not as well as I do, and you know it.”

“And if he wakes up while you’re gone?” Jack demanded.

“If anyone will understand why this has to be done, it is Braith.”

“What if you get killed and he wakes up? You think Atticus was vicious, do you know what Braith will do if he wakes up to discover you dead? How do you think he’ll handle that?”

“He will do what he must,” she replied. “He is not your father.”

Jack and William exchanged a troubled look. “I’ll go,” William said. “I’m not as badly injured as everyone else, and I know these woods as well as you. You will stay here, Aria.”

How entirely tempting that sounded. She could curl up in Braith’s arms and simply wait. If he did wake, they could be together again. She would be here to kiss him, to hug him, to laugh and cry as he finally hugged her back and cradled her to his chest. If he didn’t wake, then someone would have to take mercy on her and put her down.

A lump clogged her throat, and she turned away from them before they could see the tears burning her eyes again. She had to stay strong. She was a queen, and so many lives depended on her. She couldn’t stay here and wait. She had to lead her people.

Right now, protecting the many who needed it and destroying Sabine were all she had to drive her onward. That and the possibility Braith would survive this and come back to her.

“They will not expect us to part,” she whispered as she gazed at Braith’s unmoving form. “They will believe he’s with me, if I lead them away.” She turned back to William and gestured down the front of her shirt. “His blood is all over me. It is inside of me. It will be our scents they trail from these caves. He is as much an intricate piece of me as I am of him. You can’t say the same.”

She recognized the stubborn set of his jaw. “Then I will come with you.”

Tempest’s hand trembled on his arm, but she didn’t protest his words. Aria glanced between the two of them. “I’d prefer you stay,” she replied.

“Since when have I cared what you prefer?” he retorted.

“What about what Tempest prefers?” she countered, knowing it was the one thing she could use to deter him from this decision.

Some of the fight went out of him as he took hold of Tempest’s hand. Aria didn’t blame him for staying behind; Tempest’s life depended on his now. He had to protect what they shared between them.

Turning back, Aria knelt before Braith and cupped his chin in her hand. She couldn’t stop the tears flowing down her face as she leaned forward to kiss him again before resting her lips against his ear. “I’m going to do everything I can to keep you safe. Please, come back to me. I love you.”

Closing her eyes, she rose and stepped away from him again. She never thought she would be separated from him again in her lifetime. Now she didn’t know if she would ever see him again at all. The bleak possibility shredded her heart. Her fingers bit into her palms, drawing blood as her nails tore into her skin.

She had to get moving. Those vampires would be swarming up there, lost in the woods, likely to stumble over the caves any minute now, but her feet wouldn’t move. Turn away. Do it. Now or he’ll die!

With a cry, she wrenched her gaze away from Braith and spun on her toes. “Take care of him, Jack,” she choked out. “Make sure he stays safe.”

She couldn’t look at anyone in the room again as she made her way forward. “I am co… ming with ya,” Xavier said, the words garbled and difficult to understand when he moved to block her.

Despite the blood covering him from head to toe, his face was resolute. Xavier had become more than her bodyguard over time; he was also her friend.

“No. You’re barely standing and you’ll leave a trail of blood behind you as you go. You won’t be able to make it and I can’t lose you,” she told him.

“Yer not goin’ a…lone.”

“She’s not,” William said and stepped forward when Daniel tried to rise to his feet.

Daniel slumped against a rock but straightened himself and rose. He swayed for a second until Xavier’s hand shot out to steady him. Xavier helped to guide Daniel down when his legs gave out on him and he slumped to the ground.

“William—” Aria started to protest.

“The peace must be protected at all costs,” he said. “We have always known that.”

“You have a choice,” she said.

“We haven’t had a choice since we were born, Aria.”

“Tempest needs you.”

“I’m coming with you,” Tempest said. “I’ve maneuvered through mountains and caves silently before.”

“We might be climbing through the trees too,” William said to her.

“I’m not staying here without you, and if I can climb a mountain, I can climb a tree,” Tempest insisted.

“It’s not safe out there.”

“It’s not safe anywhere right now, but I’m safer with you than without you.”

Her brother couldn’t argue with that logic and he knew it. William turned helplessly back to Aria, but she couldn’t help him on this one. She would have used the same reasoning with Braith if he’d tried to leave her behind. She didn’t like the idea of being alone, but she also didn’t want her brother or Tempest to think they had to do this.

“You can stay,” Aria told him. “I can lead them away on my own.”

“No,” he said. “I can’t stay. You need another set of eyes for your back, and if something happens…” His words trailed off as he glanced at Braith.

“There’s no telling what I’ll do,” she finished for him when he couldn’t.

“I am coming with you.”

“You may not want to be there to see what happens to me if he dies,” she said.

His blue eyes were steady when they met hers. “I wouldn’t be anywhere else.”

Aria’s shoulders slumped as she realized there would be no deterring him. William wouldn’t want her to see him if something were to happen to Tempest, but she wouldn’t be anywhere else either.

He took hold of Tempest’s hand and pulled her against his side. Aria turned away from them and squeezed Xavier’s arm. “Heal friend,” she said. “I’ll need you to protect me in the future, I’m sure. Braith needs you now.”

His brown eyes were unwavering as they held hers. “You can d-do this.”

She bowed her head before rising on her toes to kiss his cheek. “Watch over them all for me,” she whispered in his ear.

He placed his hand over hers. “I will. I think you’re ri…ght. I thi… think it is Sabine.”

Xavier was the wisest vampire she knew. If he believed she was right, it only further served to confirm her theory. She stepped away from him and hurried to Daniel next. Kneeling beside her brother, she took hold of his hands and squeezed them. “I love you,” she said and kissed his cheek.

“I love you too. Keep yourselves alive.”

“You do the same.”

Rising, she said a good-bye to the others before walking over to Melinda and Ashby. “Wait at least an hour, preferably two, before trying to go for the refugees,” she instructed.

“We will,” Ashby said.

Melinda gripped Aria’s hands within hers. “Braith will be fine, Aria, you’ll see. It will take far more than this to destroy my brother.”

“Yes,” Aria murmured.

She released Melinda’s hands and moved away from her. She didn’t look back as she made her way up the rocks and away from all those gathered below. Behind her, she could hear William and Tempest’s feet on the rocks as they followed her.

“Aria,” Jack called to her when she arrived at the top. Setting her shoulders, she braced herself before looking back at him. “What do we do if you don’t come back?”

“Keep him protected, even if he dies. Also, continue to give him blood even if he dies. It may help to keep him stronger or help him rise faster if he does come back.”

“Don’t let him awaken to discover you dead!”

“That will never happen,” she replied and turned away.