Renegade (The Captive Series Book 2) (5 page)

He looked over the stage once more, but
still nothing popped out at him. No other women appeared to him, no
one else gave him sight again. “Is there anyone up there that could
be her family?”

Caleb was silent for a few moments.
“Not that I can see. I’m going to grab a few of them, I’m sure
they’ll eventually tell us more. And if they don’t,” Braith heard
Caleb’s shrug of indifference. “I will enjoy trying to make them
talk.”

Braith stood silently, listening as
blood slaves were brought forth and auctioned off. Caleb claimed
four of them. Braith briefly contemplated taking a few more of his
own, but decided against it. He had enough for now.

He turned away, if there was anything
to learn, Caleb would do it. He made his way back toward the
palace, wondering where Jericho had been during the raid, wondering
who it was that she had been with. Another man? Just how many damn
men did she have in her life? He tried to tell himself that he
didn’t care about the answer to that question, but he knew he did.
He could not deny it. The bitch had betrayed him, and now she was
running free, wrapping even more men around her devious finger in
order to get them to do whatever she wanted them to. He hated her
for making him one of those men.

He made his way easily through the
crowd, his mind churning; anger simmered hotly inside of him. He
needed a new plan. He couldn’t simply sit here and allow her to get
away with everything that she had done. He could not allow his
brother, the youngest, to be sitting amongst the humans, laughing
about how he had managed to deceive his eldest brother, and his
family.

Braith had made the decision to let
them be, he was now beginning to rethink that decision. They should
pay for what they had done, and he could make them do that. They
may be able to avoid his men, but they could not avoid
him.

Especially not her.

***

Rain dripped softly onto the makeshift
tent. The piece of canvas offered little protection against the
elements, but Aria didn’t care. The air smelled wonderful, it was
freeing after all the time in the caves. It helped to ease the
sense of claustrophobia that still clung to her, but it did little
to wash away the lingering screams that had woken her every night
for the past week.

She could retreat to the shelter and
warmth of the caves, but she knew that she would not. She couldn’t
bring herself to go back in them now, if ever. So instead she sat
in silence, listening to the plop of the water upon the tent. Max
and William sat beside her; they had been her constant companions
since the night of the raid. William would wander out once in
awhile to gather food but Max would not leave her be, and she
wasn’t sure that she wanted him too. He moved closer to her,
dropping a blanket around her shoulders. His hands lingered upon
her for a moment, and she didn’t shrug him away. She found she
needed his comfort, his loyalty, his unwavering love right
now.

She leaned into him, resting against
his legs. “You need to get some sleep,” he told her.

“I will.” They both knew she lied, but
he didn’t argue with her.

When she shivered, he wrapped his arms
around her, pulling her against his chest and cradling her gently.
Though her heart did not thump with excitement, as it had when the
prince touched her, his strong embrace was wonderful. She felt safe
in his arms, cherished. No, he did not affect her as the prince
had, but he was a good man, he loved her, and he would do anything
for her.

Maybe one day she would love him too,
even if that day couldn’t be now. Now she just wanted to feel
something other than shock and anger and despair. Now she just
wanted to sit with her friend, content in his arms as she listened
to the rain fall. “It smells good,” she said softly.

Max nodded, nuzzling her hair gently
for a moment. “Yes.”

Aria closed her eyes, concentrating on
the beat of his heart. The prince had not had a heartbeat; in fact
he hadn’t had a heart at all as far as she was concerned. But Max
did, and he used it freely. He pulled the blanket tighter around
her, the heat of his body, and the soft splatter of the rain slowly
lulled her into a fitful sleep.

When she awoke again, the sky was just
beginning to lighten; the birds had not even begun to sing yet. She
stared silently at the growing dawn against the walls of the tent.
Max’s arm was wrapped around her waist. She slipped from beneath
his embrace, moving to the edge of the tent to pull the flap aside.
It was going to be a warm day; the air was already muggy with heat.
She sighed softly, slipping from the tent. She wanted to bathe, and
then perhaps do some hunting with Max and William.

She gathered some of her clothes,
scooped up her bow and quiver. Max and William were still sleeping;
the sun had just poked over the horizon, when she dropped the flap
back into place. She moved swiftly through the forest, winding her
way toward the river they were camped near. She knew she shouldn’t
be doing this on her own, that she should have awakened someone to
come with her, but she needed some privacy today. She needed some
time alone to try and sort through the multitude of emotions
swarming her.

She made her way swiftly to the river.
She would have preferred the lake, but after the raid they had
moved far from the caves, settling in a new area of the forest. It
would be a long time before they went back near the lake again.
Reaching the river, she stripped quickly and plunged into the
chilly water. Not for the first time she missed the hot water of
the palace, and the delightful spray of the shower. The lake had
been tolerably warm and comfortable, but the river was fresh water
from the mountains, and it did not warm up.

Aria bathed as quickly as she could,
her teeth chattering and shivering the whole time. She was glad to
escape the frigid water, glad to put some clothes back on so that
she could warm up. Grabbing her bow and quiver, she tossed her
towel over her shoulder and slung the quiver onto her back. The sun
was breaking over the mountains, casting bright rays of light over
the forest. She stood for a moment, her head tilted back to allow
its warm rays to caress her, to soothe her, if only just a
little.

She didn’t know how long she stood
there for, but the snap of a twig pulled her away from the healing
sunlight to the world around her. Aria frowned, listening as she
heard another soft snap. Moving behind a tree, she dropped the
towel on the ground, and drew an arrow from her quiver. Kneeling,
she slid the arrow easily into the bow. She didn’t have to wait
long before a buck wandered out of the woods, heading toward the
river. Aria admired him, he was beautiful, but even though he was a
gorgeous animal, he would also provide enough meat for the
encampment to last a few days. He would feed the hungry children,
and herself she realized as her stomach rumbled eagerly.

She was about to let the arrow fly when
she felt it. The hair on the back of her neck stood up, a chill
crept down her back before seeping through her limbs. She froze,
she couldn’t breathe. She didn’t move, because she was afraid that
moving would only trigger an attack. She had lived in these woods
long enough to know when a predator was near. Lived here long
enough to know when an animal was near its end, but this time she
was not the hunter and it was her end she feared. She was certain
that there was the deadliest kind of predator near her right
now.

Slowly, ever so slowly, she turned to
face the creature stalking her, watching her. It did not take her
long to spot him. Braith stood amongst the trees, his dark hair
highlighted by the rising sun. Light reflected of the dark glasses
he wore to cover his stunning eyes, but she could feel the heat of
his gaze as it raked over her. Her heart knocked against her ribs,
it flipped and beat and pounded in a rapid pace that left her
stunned, breathless. He was just as magnificent, dark and handsome
as she remembered, but seeing him here, in her world, she also
realized just how wild and untamed he was. Just how dangerous and
lethal he could be.

Excitement strummed through her, for a
brief moment all she wanted was to run to him, to throw her arms
around him, to bury herself in his strong embrace and shut out all
the horrors of the world like only he could make her do. For a
brief moment, all of the joy and wonder she had ever experienced
with him in the palace flooded rapidly back to her. She had been
terrified in that palace, lost and confused, and adrift in a world
that she didn’t know and would never understand. But she had also
been the happiest she’d ever been in her life. She’d been foolish,
and naïve. And she had been in love.

Her arm wavered on the bow, dropping it
momentarily lower; she could feel the hot press of tears burning
her eyes. He looked wonderful, he looked amazing, and he was here.
He had finally come for her. Though she hated to admit it, there
had been a part of her that had wanted this. A part that had longed
for him to come for her, a part that had wanted him to take her
away from all of this fear and pain, and keep her safe. She hated
that part of her, tried to deny its existence, but it had always
been there, hoping, waiting, praying, and now he was finally
here.

But it was obvious that he hadn’t come
because he wanted to see her.

She could see that fact in the hard set
of his jaw; see it in the tension in his broad shoulders. She could
sense it in the anger that radiated from his hard body. He was
here, but he hadn’t come for a good reason. Aria swallowed heavily,
fear trickled through her as she realized that he was truly furious
right now. She could feel the rage thrumming off of him in nearly
violent waves. She didn’t know why he was so infuriated, so filled
with anger, but she did know that it was directed at her. Well that
was good, because she was pretty damn pissed at him too.

She didn’t know why he had finally come
after her, but from the look of him it appeared that he wanted to
rip her throat out. Narrowing her eyes, she clenched her jaw as she
lifted the bow higher once more, leveling it right at the spot of
his non-beating heart. Yes, he had finally come for her, but it was
obvious that one of them would not be walking away from this
encounter.

CHAPTER
4

Braith studied her for a long moment.
He had almost forgotten how wonderful it was to see her, and
everything around her. The forest came alive with her in it; the
colors were vivid, sharp to eyes so accustomed to darkness. Though
the woods were beautiful, they were nothing compared to
her.

Her face was thinner and more mature
then the last time he had seen her. The youthful chubbiness of her
cheeks had vanished in the face of her hunger again. Her eyes were
a bright sapphire blue that rivaled the beautiful sky behind her.
There was a wisdom and maturity in her gaze, a broken air that
seemed to enshroud her, and had not been there the last time he saw
her. He did not know what had happened to her over the past couple
of months, but she appeared older, and far more wounded than he
recalled.

Her long hair flowed around her
shoulders; its wetness caused it to be darker than its normal fiery
auburn color that had always captivated him. Though she was thinner
than he liked her, he couldn’t deny her simple, sweet beauty. She
was far cleaner now than the first time he had seen her, but she
was back in the boyish, ugly clothes again. Clothes that hid a
figure that had once been lush, but was now lean again.

He saw the emotions that flashed over
her face, the hope, the joy, and for a moment something he almost
believed could have been love. But they were gone so swiftly that
he wasn’t even entirely sure he had seen them. Tears shimmered in
her eyes; her hand wavered on the bow as it dropped slightly down.
He had almost forgotten how convincing her phony pain and emotions
could be. He recalled the night she had begged him not to kill the
other blood slave she had been captured with, Max. She had been so
sincere, had sworn that he was nothing more than a friend to her.
Braith no longer believed that, he believed nothing of what she had
told him. He didn’t know girl before him, but he did know that she
was not the girl he had thought she was. That she never had
been.

He had come here to bring her back, to
make her pay for her treachery. Now all he wanted was to destroy
her himself. Her hand wavered, her eyes widened slightly before
narrowing. The hand that had been going to drop the bow now raised
it back up, leveling it at his heart. He had no doubt she would let
the arrow fly, he just had no fear that it would hit
him.

Just as he had no doubt that he would
get his hands upon her, and she would pay.

“Arianna.”

Her full mouth pinched tightly, her
eyebrows drew sharply together. “Prince.”

He moved away from the tree he had been
leaning against, taking a step toward her. Even with the bow and
arrow in her hands, he could get to her, reach her within a moment.
Have her back in his arms again, her sweet blood back in his mouth.
She had given it to him willingly last time, and he had almost
killed her in his eagerness to consume it. Now he wanted it back,
he wanted to taste it again, and have it fill him, and he didn’t
give a damn if she gave it freely or not. He found himself
relishing the idea of taking it from her forcefully, of making her
hurt as bad as she had made him hurt.