Renegade (The Captive Series Book 2) (17 page)

He bit hard into his wrist, holding his
arm out to her as his blood trickled slowly out of his wounds. “It
will help you heal faster,” he said softly.

She hesitated for a brief moment, there
had been enough blood today, but she could not refuse him. Not when
every part of her hurt and not when he was looking at her with that
pleading expression. She took his wrist, pressing it against her
mouth as she drank slowly. His blood was sweet, delicious, and
healing as it seeped into her system, flowed through her wounded
and bruised muscles and dislocated shoulder. After a long moment,
he pulled his wrist slowly away from her. His lips were soft upon
her forehead as he released her. “Keep your eyes closed
Arianna.”

“Braith,” she whispered, fighting the
chills and tears that burned her eyes.

“Just keep your eyes closed, it will be
over quickly and I don’t want you to see this.”

She closed her eyes, unable to resist
obeying him. She did not want to see what he was going to do, and
she would not be able to stop him either. She bit on her bottom
lip, forcing herself to remain calm as she tried, and failed, to
block out the sounds of the ensuing slaughter.

CHAPTER
11

Arianna curled against his chest, her
hand entwined in his shirt as she slept soundly within his grasp.
Braith had hoped that they would be at their destination by now,
but the fight with the other vampires, and the tending of her
wounds, had put them behind schedule. It was night again; she was
exhausted, and beaten. His blood would help her to heal faster, but
she still moaned every once in awhile, and her face was still
scrunched slightly with pain.

He watched her as he moved; still awed
by the fact that he could even see her. Still surprised by the fact
that he had not found her beautiful at first. Yes, she was thinner
than he liked, even now he wished there was more weight upon her,
and he had always preferred lighter hair color, and a more refined
beauty. But her features, though sharpened by her thinness, were
soft, gentle, and yet possessed a strength and character that was
entirely captivating.

They certainly captivated him anyway.
He could not take his eyes away from her full mouth, slightly
pointed nose, and dark eyelashes as they curled against her lightly
freckled cheeks. When she had been in the palace, out of the rays
of the sun, those freckles had almost disappeared
completely.

She stirred, her eyelids fluttered
open. Her sapphire eyes blazed up at him, a soft smile curved her
mouth as she cuddled tighter against him. That smile was painfully
rare, yet stunning and achingly beautiful. He knew that she had
been shocked and horrified by what she had witnessed earlier, but
she had not held it against him, or blamed him for his dark nature.
She had not turned away from him in revulsion and fear.

“We’re almost there,” he told
her.

She winced slightly as her wounded
shoulder was jarred slightly. Anger spurted through him, but he
swiftly buried it before she could see it, or sense it. She had
seen enough mayhem today without needing to see anymore from him
right now. She stared around the forest, her delicate forehead
furrowed in confusion. It didn’t look as if the woods were going to
end, but they would soon.

“I can walk,” she said
softly.

“That’s ok.”

She turned back toward him, her dark
eyebrows drawn tightly together. “Your arms must be
tired.”

“I’m fine Arianna; you weigh as much as
a feather.”

Displeasure flashed across her face. He
bent over her to press a soft kiss on her nose, hoping to ease her
irritation with him. “Are we going to be safe?”

He wanted to tell her that, yes, they
would be. He wanted to be able to give her that much, but he
couldn’t. She had never known safety, had never known a place to
call home where she could feel secure, and one day he would give
her that, but unfortunately it would not be today. It probably
would not be for a long time. Sadness crept into her eyes, she
leaned her head against his chest.

“We’ll stay together, right?” she asked
softly.

“Yes.”

“That’s all that matters
then.”

His hands clenched tighter around her,
he would try to give her the moon if she asked for it, but she had
never asked much from him, if anything. She did not want money and
jewels, did not want clothes; she only wanted safety, a place to
call home, and him. He just didn’t have the ability to give her
everything she wanted right now. But one day he would, he promised
himself that. The woods gave way, opening into a large clearing.
The house stood in the center of the clearing, lights blazing from
the windows lit the ground around it.

Arianna was staring at it in wide eyed
wonder, her hands curled tight in his shirt as she gazed up at it.
The house was on stilts, high up in the air, parts of it were
actually built into the trees surrounding the clearing. The sides
were all clapboard, though parts of it looked far more weathered
than others. The house had been built up even more since the last
time Braith had seen it; it seemed to disappear into the woods
behind it now, spreading outward in a ramble of buildings and
rooms.

Someone had been busy.

“Wow,” Arianna breathed. She wiggled in
his arms, and this time he allowed her to drop to her feet. Her
mouth was parted slightly, her eyes wide as she tilted her head
back to stare up at the giant tree house. She was most comfortable
amongst the trees; this was something spectacular, and wonderful,
to her. “What is this place?”

Braith stared at the growing ensemble
of buildings and hallways connecting them. “It belonged to my
mother’s family originally.”

She turned toward him, her gaze
questioning. “And now?”

“And now it belongs to my brother in
law.” Arianna’s mouth dropped, she turned slowly back to the tree
house.

“Where is your sister?” she asked
softly, apparently deciding not to press the issue.

“You met Natasha, briefly. She did not
leave the palace when Ashby was placed here.”

“Not even for her husband?”

Braith slipped his hand into Arianna’s,
pulling her closer to him. “Not all relationships are like this
Arianna, not everyone chooses who they want to be with. Natasha and
Ashby were forced together by their families. Natasha is spoiled,
rich, and well accustomed to the lap of luxury. Even if she had
come to care for Ashby in their time together, she would never
leave that behind for him. She wouldn’t leave it behind for
anyone.”

Her mouth was slightly parted, her eyes
brimmed with tears. “You left it for me.”

He nodded, stroking her cheek briefly.
“I’d do anything for you.” A single tear slipped free. He brushed
it gently away before bending to kiss her softly.

“Why was Ashby put here?” she asked
softly.

Braith turned slowly back to the tree
house, and its ramshackle buildings. “During the war with the
humans Ashby’s family took the side of the humans. As punishment
they were all slaughtered, but Ashby was sent to live in exile
here, where he was to stay alone, and starving. Though it appears
he has decided to add even more buildings to the original
structure.”

“Why was he kept alive?”

“My father felt that this would be a
better punishment for him. No luxury, no ready human blood, and no
women. Ashby was well known for his love of women and blood. All
people, and vampires within the area, were ordered to stay away.
There used to be guards here, but they seem to have disappeared, or
perhaps Ashby is not as weak and deprived as my father had
intended. At one time the guards had reported that he was so
famished and decimated that he was no longer capable of movement.”
Fear flashed over Arianna’s face, she glanced sharply back at the
buildings. “I won’t let him anywhere near you Arianna.”

She nodded slowly, but still looked
fearful. “Why wouldn’t they come here to look for you, if it was
your mother’s home?” she asked softly.

A shadow passed across one of the
curtained windows, moving swiftly across the room. Braith stiffened
slightly as he watched Ashby move through the house. His gate, and
swift stride, proved what Braith had already suspected. Ashby was
no longer too weak to be a threat. “Because Ashby is the reason I
was blinded.”

Arianna inhaled sharply, her gaze slid
slowly back to him, her eyes bright in the light of the moon.
“Braith…”

He took hold of her hand, pulling her
closer to him. Pulling her hair forward, he draped its thick waves
around her neck, trying to mask the scent of her blood, though that
would be impossible. The sweet smell was hard to miss. He wished
that he had something to cover her with, but the summer months
didn’t allow for much extra clothing. Though it appeared that Ashby
had been feeding, Braith didn’t know how well, or the last time.
Arianna was a fierce temptation that he wasn’t sure Ashby wouldn’t
go after. And Braith did not want to have to kill him, at least not
immediately.

“Come.”

She followed silently behind him, both
of her hands clasped tightly around his, a tremor ran through her.
He led her up a set of rickety steps, clenching his jaw as they
creaked and swayed beneath them. He had not wanted to alert Ashby
to their presence, but it was already too late for that. The stairs
swayed beneath them as they stepped off them and onto a wobbly deck
that he wasn’t entirely certain would hold up beneath their
weights. He wouldn’t have been surprised if Ashby had set up booby
traps. When Arianna tried to walk beside him, he pushed her gently
back with a soft admonishment to walk only where he had. She
frowned fiercely at him, but for once did not argue.

Braith wondered again where the guards
were. He should have left Arianna in the woods, but even if he
could not sense the guards, that didn’t mean they weren’t still out
there. He couldn’t risk it; he couldn’t take that chance with her
life. He held his arm out, keeping her behind him as he reached
forward to try the knob. He was not surprised to find it
locked.

He waited for a moment, trying to
decide if he wanted to break in, or knock. He glanced back at
Arianna, she was biting her bottom her lip nervously, her eyes wide
with fear. He squeezed her hand for reassurance, but he could tell
it did little to soothe her. In the end, he decided on knocking.
There was something about this situation that he found strange and
offsetting, for some reason he felt that knocking might be the
bigger element of surprise here.

From inside he could hear the
approaching sound of footsteps; a soft whistling pierced the air.
Braith was jarred for a moment, thrown back to a time when they had
all lived together in the palace. Ashby had always whistled, not a
loud piercing whistle, but a soft rhythm that had drifted
cheerfully through the halls. It had been lively and carefree, as
upbeat and easygoing as the man that issued it. All of the women
had loved Ashby; they had thrown themselves at his feet, enchanted
by his good looks, and his charming demeanor.

Now that whistle drifted easily through
the air, lazy and casual, not at all the sound that a prisoner
fighting for their lives should be making. This whistle was happy,
easy, and so unbelievably joyful that it set Braith’s teeth on
edge. The two of them had once been good friends, more than
brothers-in-law, but actually brothers. Then Ashby had betrayed
them, Braith had been blinded, and their friendship had been
forever severed. Ashby was supposed to have been punished for that
betrayal, but it was more than obvious that he was no longer
serving that punishment.

The door was flung open; Braith came
face to face with the man who had once been his best friend, and
was now one of his greatest enemies. The grin on Ashby’s handsome
face froze, he stood motionless for a moment; his eyes were bright
with merriment before reality began to sink in. He looked much as
Braith remembered; he had not wasted away, did not appear starved,
and in fact appeared to be slightly heavier than he had been in the
palace.

Then, Ashby’s grin faded, disbelief,
shock, and finally panic flitted swiftly over his face. Braith was
moving forward even as Ashby was trying to slam the door shut. The
hard wood slammed off of his hand, bouncing back against the wall
with a loud crash that shattered wood and caused Arianna to gasp
loudly. Ashby was scrambling backward, trying to escape when Braith
seized him by the throat, lifted him up, and slammed him off of the
wall with enough force to shatter the plaster.

He hadn’t seen Ashby in a hundred
years, but the knife of betrayal that stabbed through him was just
as fresh and sharp as it had been back then. This had been a bad
idea. Braith had come here knowing that no one would look for him
here; he had come here thinking that Ashby may still have contacts
that would help him keep Arianna safe. He had come here expecting
Ashby to be paying for his sins, not thoroughly enjoying his
life.

The full force of his hatred for Ashby
was slamming rapidly through him, and all of his reasons for being
here vanished in an instant.

Now he just wanted to rip Ashby’s
throat out. Ashby’s bright green eyes were wide and terrified, his
hands clawed at Braith’s arm, trying to dislodge Braith’s fierce
grip. His heels kicked against the wall as a choked gasp escaped
him. Braith’s fangs were fully extended, he pressed his face closer
to Ashby’s, enjoying the growing terror radiating from
him.