Renegade (The Captive Series Book 2) (14 page)

“He might not have seen you. He said
himself that his vision comes and goes; we have no idea of knowing
how good it is when he does have it.”

“I know he saw me,” Aria insisted
unwilling to discuss how she knew this.

Jack leaned back, biting on his bottom
lip as he closed his eyes. He shook his head before pacing away and
coming rapidly back. He stopped before her. “I don’t know what this
bond is between the two of you, I don’t know what to say about it,
but I do know that it has put us all in danger. Especially if Caleb
is here.”

Aria’s jaw clenched, her eyes narrowed
as she glared up at him. “Did you stop to think that maybe Braith
is here because Caleb is here? Did you ever think that he is here
to offer what protection, and help, he can?” she demanded fiercely.
“You say you and Braith were close, and that you were good friends,
yet you have no faith in him. You have no idea what kind of a man
he truly is!”

“And you do?” he growled.

Aria stared defiantly back at him. “I
know better than you.”

He studied her for a long moment before
cursing loudly and pacing away again. “We need to get these people
somewhere safe.”

“Yes.”

He cursed again before retreating
toward the caves. Aria was unwilling to follow him into that dark,
cavernous zone though. The last thing she wanted was to be trapped
within the caves again, but that was where everyone had retreated
to in the hope that they would stay safe. He turned back to her,
but she remained unmoving just feet from the cave.

“Aria!” he hissed.

She shook her head, trying hard to keep
breathing, but finding it very difficult through the constriction
in her chest. She had never truly liked the caves, but now she
found herself terrified by the prospect of going back in there. Her
skin was clammy, she was shaking. She found she would almost prefer
to be in the hands of Caleb than back in there, trapped amongst the
cold rock.

She took a small step back as Jack came
toward her, frowning in puzzlement. “Aria?”

“I can’t,” she whispered. “I can’t go
back in there.”

His eyes widened in disbelief. “Aria
you must,” he insisted.

She shook her head again, taking
another step back. Her heart was thrumming, her whole body was
shaking. His gaze raked over her, then turned back to the caves.
“I’ll be fine in the trees,” she told him.

“Like hell,” he hissed.

“I’ll be safer in the trees than in
there!” she retorted sharply. “I can move through the trees faster
than I can through the caves.”

“You can’t stay out here Aria; we
cannot take the risk of you being captured again.”

He was coming at her before she even
had time to blink. A scream welled in her throat, but his hand was
over her mouth as he lifted her up and forcefully carried her
toward the caves. Aria struggled against him, wanting nothing more
than to be free of his ironclad hold. Then he entered the cave and
all she wanted was to be free of the confining space, and stale
air. She couldn’t breathe, she couldn’t think as her head began to
spin rapidly. She went limp against him, struggling to inhale
through her nose as she watched in wide eyed horror as he carried
her deeper into the earth.

They were a half a mile down before he
finally released her. Aria fell to her knees, gasping the thin air,
struggling to control the rapid beat of her heart as a scream rose
in her throat. She didn’t know what was wrong with her, what was
happening to her, but she couldn’t control the wild, frantic sway
of her body. She tried to choke back the scream, but she could not
keep it bottled within her any longer.

It ripped free of her, echoing loudly
through the caves, bouncing off of the rock walls in an endless
wave that pierced sharply though the air.

CHAPTER
9

Braith froze in mid step, his foot hung
in the air as his head turned slowly to the side. He tuned out the
normal sounds of the forest, filtering through the noise as he
strained to hear what had caught his attention. He was certain that
it had been a scream, certain that it had been Aria’s scream. His
foot dropped upon the forest floor, crackling the leaves and sticks
beneath his boot. The men with him stopped walking, turning back to
him.

“What is it?” Caleb
demanded.

Braith shook his head. His brother had
not heard the scream, neither had the others. He didn’t know if it
was because they weren’t as attuned to Aria as he was, or if it was
the fact that his hearing was more acute due to his blindness. At
his side, Keegan bristled, turning to survey the area of the forest
Braith was certain that scream had come from. “It’s nothing,” he
replied.

Though it was far more than nothing.
That scream had been echoing and terrified. And it had come from
the one person that he cared about. “I have to go.”

“Wait what!?” Caleb
stammered.

Panic was beginning to seize hold of
him, clawing at his chest, tearing through his insides. He had to
get away from his brother, and he had to find her. He had seen her
in the tree with that boy if he had done anything to hurt her
Braith was going to rip out his throat. He moved swiftly through
the trees, blurring as he raced across the forest. Though he could
not see his surroundings, he could sense the obstacles in his way
as he swiftly dodged them. Keegan was unable to keep up with him,
but Braith sensed when the wolf broke off, going deeper into the
woods.

The others tried to keep up with him,
but he was faster and stronger than them, and he lost them easily
amongst the forest. He jumped on top of a boulder, racing up the
side of it before reaching the top and leaping off. Trees began to
blur into focus, wavering on the outskirts of his vision. He could
smell her blood, taste it in his mouth again. He was getting closer
to her.

Hunger spurted through him, his veins
burned with the almost intense need to feed that engulfed him. He
had not fed since he had left her here a week ago, he had returned
briefly to the palace, but no one appealed to him anymore, not even
the willing humans he had fed from before. In fact, he was
surprised to realize that the mere thought of feeding from anyone
else repulsed and sickened him. It was her blood he wanted, her
blood he needed, and until he could feed from her again, no one
else would do.

And then Caleb had insisted upon going
on one of the searches, had insisted upon going into the forest
with one of the hunting parties. Braith had known that he’d have to
go with him, he couldn’t take any chances that Caleb might
accidently find her, that he might stumble across her. The thought
was horrifying to him. He’d come with Caleb to make sure that such
a thing didn’t happen, and it nearly had earlier, and might still
happen if Caleb was somehow able to track him.

He skidded on a patch of leaves as he
came to an abrupt halt outside of a narrow crevice between the
rocks. He would have missed it if he hadn’t been tracking her
scent. He slipped into the hole, barely fitting in between the
boulders surrounding it. His eyes adjusted swiftly to the
blackness, picking up the small bits of light within the
enshrouding dark. Her sweet scent became stronger; her terror was
nearly palpable within the confines of the cave.

Braith moved swiftly through the
winding, tight turns, keeping his senses attuned to other
presence’s as he wound through the cave. He needed to get to her,
but he had to proceed with caution. He had just placed himself
right into the heart of the lion’s den, he was certain of that. He
was surrounded by rocks, walls, and his enemies. He was completely
silent as he slipped through the narrow tunnels, keeping himself
highly attuned to his surroundings. He felt like a rat trapped
within a maze as he stalked her scent. He couldn’t believe that
they lived down here. That Arianna lived down here.

She hated to be confined, hated being
trapped anywhere. She was everything that the woods were, open,
wild, and free. It was confounding to him that she could be beneath
the earth within these stale confines.

Her scent was enveloping him as he
turned another corner. Voices began to reach him, drifting softly
through the tunnel. He stopped, his head tilting to the side as he
picked up three separate sets of male voices. One of them was Jack,
but the other two he didn’t recognize. He crept closer, straining
to hear the words.

“What the hell happened?” one of the
strange voices demanded.

“I don’t know,” Jack responded. “But we
have to get her out of here. We have to get moving,
now.”

Braith bristled, he assumed the her was
Arianna as her scent was exceptionally strong here, and his vision
was nearly perfect again. He lingered within the shadows. “Be
careful with her Jack! Watch her head!” the other strange voice
snapped out. “Damn it, give her to me.”

“I’ve got her Max.”

“Give me her!” Max snapped
back.

“Just give her to him Jack; you’re
going to need to keep your hands free if they come in
here.”

Braith’s eyes widened, and then
narrowed sharply. It was bad enough that his brother was touching
her, but he sure as hell did not want that boy holding her. There
was a soft rustling, and then Arianna made a soft, disgruntled
sound. “Put me down!” she ordered. “Max, put me down!”

“Aria…”

“Let go of me! Let go of me!” her voice
was nearly hysterical, it trembled and shook with the fear choking
it. “I want out of here!”

“Aria…”

There was the sound of scuffling and
then she gasped loudly. “Stop, please.” Her voice was a low moan of
pain and anguish. And it was more than he could take; he was going
to kill someone.

He stepped around the corner, his eyes
narrowing and his hands fisting as he took in the sight before him.
Jack was standing toward the back of the small opening, his face
hard, and his jaw clenched tight. Arianna was struggling against
the boy holding her, Max, as she tried to tug her hand free of his
restraining grasp.

“Stop Max, let her go.” The other boy
stepped forward, reaching out for Arianna as her struggles to break
free became more frantic. “Aria, you have to calm down.
Please.”

“Let me go!” she snapped. Tears
streaked down her face as her breathing came in rapid pants. Braith
had only ever seen her like this once before, and it had been when
she’d thought that Max’s life was in danger. Then, she had been
terrified for her friend. Now the terror was for herself; something
that he had thought impossible until this moment.

“Let her go.”

Their heads snapped toward him, their
mouths dropped in surprise. “Braith,” Jack whispered in shock and
horror.

A small cry escaped Arianna; she was
finally able to tug her hand free of Max’s relaxed grip. She ran at
him, flinging herself into his arms. He lifted her, cradling her
against his chest as she clung to him, burying herself against him.
He wrapped his hand around the back of her head, threading his
fingers through her silken hair. She pressed tighter against him,
her tears wetting his shirt as she shook within his
grasp.

“Shh Arianna, shh,” he soothed gently.
“What happened? Did they hurt you?”

“Braith what the hell are you doing
here?” Jack demanded.

He bowed his head briefly to hers,
pressing his mouth against her soft hair as he eagerly inhaled her
sweet scent. She was the best thing that he had ever felt, the best
thing he had ever held. Jack moved away from the wall, the shock of
Braith’s appearance was swiftly wearing off of the other two. He
did not miss the stake that appeared within Max’s grasp. Jack
grabbed hold of Max’s arm, holding him back as his sharp eyes
narrowed upon Braith.

“You know what I’m doing here,” he said
to his brother, adjusting his grasp on Arianna in order to keep his
body in between her, and the growing hostility of the men across
from him. He grasped hold of her face, gently pulling her out of
his chest. Her eyes still swam with tears, but she was no longer
openly sobbing and she seemed to have regained some control of
herself. “Are you ok?”

She managed a nod, her bright eyes
questioning as she studied him. “It’s not safe for you here,” she
whispered.

“I know.” He looked back at the others,
his eyes resting upon the redhead who was gaping at the two of them
in shock. His gaze turned slowly toward Arianna before coming back
to Braith. Max looked like he was about to snap, fury radiated from
every inch of him as he glared furiously at the two of them. “Did
they hurt you?” he growled. He didn’t care if they were her friends
and family, he was spoiling for a good fight.

“You shouldn’t be here, you need to
leave,” she whispered fervently, her hands clutching at him as her
eyes became frantic. “Braith…”

“It’s ok Arianna,” he said softly.
“I’ll be fine.”

“She’s right Braith, you need to
leave,” Jack insisted. “Where is Caleb?”

“Elsewhere.”

“Braith…”

“He doesn’t know where I am,” he
interrupted sharply.