Renegade (The Captive Series Book 2) (13 page)

Aria shook her head. She watched her
bare feet as they moved through the forest, avoiding any obstacle
that may pop up. She didn’t tell him that she was fairly certain
that Braith had originally come here to kill her, or at least make
her pay severely for her disobedience. “I choose your side over my
family.”

Aria glanced up at Jack, brushing aside
her damp hair. “Why?” she asked quietly, still not completely
understanding why he had taken their side.

“Because the only person I cared about
within those walls was Braith. Because once I was here, I knew that
I was on the wrong side. There’s no need for anyone to be living
like this, there is no need for the cruelty that has been bestowed
upon the humans. Not anymore.”

“It sounds like you picture a world
where we can all happily coexist,” she said softly.

He shrugged. “I’m not delusional,” he
replied. “But I do think things could have been different, maybe
even still could.”

“Perhaps.” Though she didn’t hold out
much hope for that.

“You do need to stop taking off on your
own though. Not even Braith can help you if you get caught again,
and what Caleb would do to you…” His voice trailed off, his eyes
were distant as he stared at the woods around them.

Aria didn’t want to know what Caleb
would do to her. She didn’t even want to imagine what Caleb would
do to her. He had unnerved her from the moment she had met him.
There was something wrong with Caleb, something sadistic and cruel.
Something that would take great pleasure in making her scream, in
making her beg for mercy. In making her suffer.

Aria shuddered, she tried to shut the
thought down, but it would not stop. “Ok?”

She swallowed heavily as she nodded.
She hated to be restrained, confined, monitored, but Jack was
right. “Ok,” she agreed.

He slid his arm though hers, pulling
her lightly against his side. “I think of you like a
sister.”

She managed a wan smile as she leaned
against his side. “An annoying one?”

“Yes. You are also going to have to do
something about Max.”

“Max?” she asked in
confusion.

“He’s in love with you.” Aria frowned,
her hand tightened on Jack’s arm. Jack was right, she had to make
it clear to Max that there would never be anything between them.
She hadn’t been fair to him lately, telling him no well leaning on
him to help get her through the past months. Guilt and self hatred
twisted through her stomach, she was ashamed of herself and Max was
going to be hurt. But she knew now, that even if she never saw
Braith again, he would always own her heart. “And he’s not very
stable right now.”

“That woman that held him, she was
awful to him in there, wasn’t she?”

Jack was silent for a long moment
before he nodded briskly. “She was, and Max is convinced that it
was the same with you.”

“I’ve told him it wasn’t.”

“And he doesn’t want to believe that.
It’s easier for him to think of us all as monsters. If I hadn’t
pulled the two of you out of there, he would hate me too. He still
doesn’t trust me.”

Aria frowned as she glanced up at him.
“Do you think he would do anything to hurt you?”

Jack shrugged. “He might try, but not
for awhile, not until things are more established. He knows that
I’m needed right now, but after…”

Aria stared at him in wide eyed
surprise. “And you’re not angry about this?”

He glanced down at her. “What was done
to him in there was something awful Aria. We will never know the
extent of the cruelty he experienced, of the abuse that he took. No
one comes out of that completely normal. I understand his anger and
his hatred. But if he tries to kill me, I will not hold
back.”

Aria swallowed heavily, she hated the
awful situation they were stuck in, hated the fact that she would
have to choose between Braith and her family, hating the fact that
she was becoming increasingly worried and fearful of
Max.

CHAPTER
8

“Do you ever do what you’re
told?”

Aria didn’t bother to look up from the
berries she was collecting. “Not usually.”

“You know you’re supposed to stay
close.”

She glanced up at Max as he stopped at
her side. His shadow fell across her, blocking out the sun. “I’m
close.”

“Within eyesight Aria,” he
growled.

She dropped the berries into her
bucket, trying hard to keep her patience. She hated being ordered
about, hated his high handed demeanor, but most of all she hated
the fact that he felt he had any say over what she did, or didn’t,
do. “I have my bow,” she reminded him.

“That will do a lot of good against a
group of marauding vampires.”

Aria rolled her eyes as she wiped her
hands and rose slowly to her feet. “I’m perfectly capable of taking
care of myself,” she reminded him.

“So capable that you were caught
already.”

Aria heaved an impatient sigh; she
grabbed hold of her bow as she tried to ignore the tugging waves of
guilt crashing through her. She didn’t think she would ever be able
to forgive herself for what had been done to Max, but she could not
continue to live under the weight of that guilt. She also could not
allow him to continue thinking there was any hope for them. Even if
she gave Braith up, she would not choose Max. There could never be
anyone, but Braith.

“I’m fine Max.”

“I understand your need for solitude
Aria, I do, but you have to understand that I am only concerned
about your safety.”

“I know,” she said softly, just
agreeing with him in the hope that he would back off. Aria jumped
in surprise when he seized gently hold of her chin. She frowned
fiercely at him, trying hard to keep her temper.

“I know you feel that this raid is a
bad idea, I know you think that they treated you kindly in there,
but…”

“Max I can only tell you so many times
that I was treated kindly in there. I know you had an awful time, I
know that, but you have to believe me when I tell you that I
didn’t. This raid is a bad idea, it’s an awful idea. I know you
want revenge, but risking innocent lives is not the way to get
it.”

His eyes were hard, narrowed as he
glared at her. Jack thought that Max was in love with her, but at
the moment, she felt that he might actually hate her more. She
wanted to reach out to him, wanted to explain it all to him, wanted
him to understand that she didn’t mean to hurt him, but she
couldn’t find the words to even attempt such an explanation. “Max,”
she whispered.

He shook his head, his shaggy blond
hair falling across his forehead. “You don’t know what you’re
talking about Aria. What they did to you in there, it’s confused
you.”

Aria wanted to argue with him further,
but it was useless, and something else had caught her attention.
She tilted her head, her eyes narrowing as all of her senses
focused upon the forest. It had become eerily silent. Aria glanced
around the shadowed woods, panic hammered through her. The birds
had stopped singing; the squirrels no longer ran through the
trees.

“One day you will realize…”

Aria slipped her hand over Max’s mouth,
silencing his words. She placed her finger over her own mouth,
motioning for him to be quiet. He frowned at her, but Aria was no
longer paying attention to him. She could read the woods, and right
now they were telling her that something was not right, that danger
was coming. She just didn’t know what direction it was coming from,
didn’t know which way to flee. She tilted her head back, glancing
up into the high reaches of the tree.

She pointed up as she took her hand
away from his mouth. Moving silently, Aria grasped hold of the
lowest tree branch and easily scooted her way through the branches.
Max was not as swift as she was, but he followed her. Aria climbed
higher, burying herself within the thick foliage. She searched the
forest but still saw no cause for the odd silence that had
descended over it.

She reached back down, grasping hold of
Max’s hand to help pull him onto her branch. His skin was slightly
paler, he looked as if he were about to throw up. He had always
hated heights, but they didn’t have many options right now. He
opened his mouth to speak but she shook her head fiercely at him.
She still couldn’t find the danger hidden within the
shadows.

And then she saw them. They had come
from behind the tree, and were underneath it, before she knew what
had happened. She plastered herself against the trunk of the tree,
holding tight to it as Max pressed against her. Aria was shaking,
terror pulsed through her. If they looked up…

If they looked up, she and Max were
dead. Max could not move through the trees like she could, and even
she could not outmaneuver a group of vampires forever. They would
catch her eventually. Her heart was thumping so loudly that she was
certain they would hear it, certain that they would look up and
spot them within the foliage of the tree. Aria’s breath caught in
her throat, she could hardly breathe as Caleb appeared beneath
them, moving slowly behind the six soldiers before him. His head
moved constantly as he searched the woods. The excitement strumming
through his body was nearly palpable.

Terror pulsed through her; her legs
were trembling so bad that she could hardly stand anymore. Max was
frozen before her, his lean body as hard as rock as he pressed
against her. If Caleb was here then only bad things could
follow.

Aria’s eyes widened, her mouth dropped
as Braith stepped into sight behind his brother. Her heart leapt,
flipping wildly as she took in his magnificent form. Longing
spurted through her, she almost called out to him, almost flung
herself from the tree, and into his arms. And if it hadn’t been for
Caleb mere feet before him, she probably would have. For a moment
all she wanted was to be in his arms again, to hell with the other
monsters with him.

It had been a week since she had last
seen him; a long tortuous week that had been filled with
uncertainty, fear, and a desperate longing that was shaking her
thoroughly. She had gone two months without him, had spent two
months trying to forget him, but this past week had been the
longest and the hardest thing she had ever had to endure. Her
fingers twitched, she wanted to cry for the unfairness of this
whole situation. She remained frozen instead, motionless with the
terror that had locked her muscles into place.

Braith froze, his head turned slightly
from side to side. Then, ever so slowly, he tilted his head back.
She knew the minute that his shaded eyes locked onto them. Max took
a small step closer to her. She could barely breathe as she was
squished against the trunk of the tree. Though his jaw clenched
slightly, and a muscle jumped in his cheek, Braith showed no other
sign that he had seen them. However, she could sense his shock, his
displeasure, his anger.

He turned away from them, moving onward
through the forest as the small troop disappeared from sight. Max
relaxed against her, breathing a huge sigh of relief. “Good thing
your former master is blind.”

Aria was fighting against tears,
fighting against screaming in frustration and terror. She wanted to
tell Max that Braith had seen them, that he knew they were there,
and that he would keep them safe. She thought it might help him to
understand that Braith was not a bad man, that he was in fact a
very good man, and that he loved her. She thought it might help Max
to understand that not all vampires were evil, but she could not
bring the words to leave her throat. She had promised Braith that
she wouldn’t tell anyone his secret, and she meant to uphold that
promise. Even if it meant continuing to alienate her
friend.

“We have to warn the others,” Aria
whispered.

Max nodded, he moved slowly away from
her as he began to gingerly make his way from the tree. Aria
hesitated, staring out over the forest as she searched for any sign
of Braith, and the others. They had moved on though. She descended
rapidly, dropping silently to the ground beside Max. They moved
swiftly through the forest toward the campsite they had left
behind.

***

“What are they doing here?”

Aria shook her head helplessly. How was
she supposed to know what they were doing here? “I don’t know
Jack.”

“Did Braith tell you about
this?”

“No,” she retorted, anger spurting
through her. “I would have prepared people if he had. I sure as
hell wouldn’t have been hanging out in a tree with Max if he
had!”

Jack’s face was hard, his eyes cold and
thoughtful. “He may not have known.”

“Of course he didn’t know! He wouldn’t
have left me out here, unprepared.”

“Aria…”

“He wouldn’t have Jack,” she insisted,
infuriated that Jack would even think such a thing. Infuriated that
she was also thinking it, even though she knew it was wrong. Braith
would not do that to her, she knew that, but she still couldn’t
stop the doubts creeping through her.

“He knew we were in that tree Jack. If
he was here to hurt us, or to recapture us, he would have turned us
in. I couldn’t have escaped them all, and I wouldn’t have left Max
behind.”