Renegade (The Captive Series Book 2) (6 page)

“Have you come to take me back then?”
she asked softly.

“No.”

She swallowed heavily, her chin tilted
up a notch. He had not forgotten about her defiance, her
willfulness, but he did not find it as delightful as he once had.
In fact, it was aggravating the hell out of him right now. She
should be cowering, trembling with fear. She had to know that she
would not survive this meeting, and yet she did not show one ounce
of trepidation. “To kill me then?” she asked quietly, her voice far
steadier than he had thought it would be.

“Perhaps,” he murmured still uncertain
as to what exactly he did want to do with her. He had wanted to
take her back, to make her pay, but then she would be killed, and
looking at her now he wasn’t sure he was willing to lose the
strange sight she brought back into his life. What was he going to
do with her then?

There was no tremor of fear in her. He
knew there wouldn’t be. Recklessly fearless, it was how she had
described herself, her brother. And it was true. She was possibly
looking her death in the eye, but she was not going to back down
from him. She was not going to cower or beg for mercy. She was
going to stand there and meet him head on, and she was going to
fire that arrow. Of that he was certain; he just needed to be
prepared for it.

“I see.” Her eyes flickered briefly,
darting swiftly around the forest. He could see the wheels in her
brain spinning as she tried to formulate a plan of escape. They
both knew it was useless; she would not be able to get away from
him.

“Where is Jericho?”

Her gaze came slowly back to him.
“Wasn’t my day to watch him,” she retorted sharply.

Frustration and anger built rapidly
inside him, he was used to her defiance, but he didn’t like it. And
he sure as hell didn’t want to have to deal with it after
everything that she had done to him. “I’m surprised you’re
separated at all, but then I’m sure you’ve moved on to someone else
by now.”

Arianna nodded at him, a cynical smile
twisted her full mouth. “You always did want to believe the worst
of me,” she said softly, but there was no hurt in her gaze, only a
fiery rage that turned them a darker, fiercer shade of
blue.

“And you never failed to
disappoint.”

True fury twisted her features; her
hand shook slightly on the bow. Then she straightened her shoulders
and rose slowly from her crouched position. “I’m glad I hold up to
all of your expectations.” Her back foot twisted in the earth,
digging in slightly, she was preparing to make her move soon. “I
hope your fiancée does the same.”

He was mildly surprised that she knew
about that, but then he should have known that his brother wouldn’t
keep his mouth shut. “Jericho told you.”

“Someone had to, don’t you think? It
certainly wasn’t going to be you.”

“When?”

“When what?”

“When did he tell you?”

“What difference does that make?” she
snapped for the first time looking slightly
disconcerted.

He took a step toward her, but she
didn’t move away, didn’t even flinch. He’d had enough of her
defiance, enough of her hostility. She should be fearful; she
should be telling him everything that he wanted to know. She should
be begging for her life like she had begged for Max’s, but she
wasn’t, and she wasn’t going to. “Do you have no common sense
whatsoever?” he inquired, his voice a low growl as he watched her.
“No survival instinct?”

“I live in hell every day,” she grated
through clenched teeth. “A hell that you monster’s created for us.
The only sense I have is for survival, but since you’ve pretty much
admitted that you’re here to kill me I see no sense in worrying
about anything else right now, do you?”

He took another step toward her. “I’ll
shoot this, I swear I will,” she hissed.

He quirked an eyebrow, amused by her
idle threat. She would shoot it, but it would do her little good.
“Will you now?”

Her eyes narrowed, her hand clenched
tighter around the bow. “Your lackey bastards were near here the
other day. They raided one of our encampments. I’m sure you already
know that though because I’m assuming one of them spotted me
somehow. That’s how you knew where to start looking for me.” She
continued to glare at him as she broke off, waiting for him to say
something. When he didn’t, she continued on. “There were children
in those caves!” she snarled. “Children!”

“There are laws, and you and your
people are breaking them.”

Her eyes fairly sparked with rage, he
could sense her rapidly unraveling control. He had always enjoyed
baiting her, watching her response, but this was different, this
was not the girl that had stayed in his apartment at the palace.
No, this girl was stronger, harder; colder. This girl fairly
vibrated with anger and hostility. She looked like a warrior, she
was a warrior, he realized. She had always been a fighter, but now
she was so much more than that.

She was not the girl that had offered
him her vein. She was the woman that was going to fire that arrow
at any moment.

“Laws,” she snarled. “Laws! You’re a
worse bastard than those monsters that came here to hunt us, and
kill us. You sit there in your golden palace and you use us as your
food, and your slaves, and you keep us starving and on the run. And
you judge me you hypocritical son of a bitch!”

He knew she was going to let the arrow
fly seconds before she did. He had pushed her to a breaking point,
pushed her control to the edge. The string of the bow twanged as
the arrow sliced through the air. He moved swiftly, darting out of
the way of the lethal projectile moments before it slammed into the
tree behind him. It would have been a fatal shot if he had still
been standing there, that fact was not lost on him. She had shown
no mercy, and neither would he.

He lunged at her. He had expected her
to run, to try and flee on foot. It would have been pointless, but
it was human instinct after all. What he hadn’t expected was for
her to take to the trees like a monkey. Heaving the bow over her
shoulder, she seized hold of a branch over her head, and heaved
herself easily into it. She shimmied swiftly up the large tree,
moving rapidly through the branches. Braith lunged for her, nearly
catching hold of her pant leg. Her eyes were wide when she glanced
back down at him, but it did not slow her down as she scurried up
the tree.

She leapt onto another limb; she sat
upon it for a moment before rising gracefully to her feet. Holding
onto the trunk, and the branch above her head, she steadied
herself. She stared down at him with narrowed eyes, her breath
coming rapidly, and yet she still showed no fear. He had no
intention of going up there after her, and she couldn’t stay up
there all day, but it was only a matter of time before someone came
looking for her, or came to the river. He had to get her out of the
damn tree. And once he did, he was going to throttle
her.

She stared down at him for a long
moment, and then she turned and ran. His mouth dropped, he watched
in wonder as she sprinted easily across the thick limb. She didn’t
hesitate, didn’t pause as she dove off the limb, flying out across
open ground before she caught hold of a branch from the tree next
to it. He was too stunned to move for a moment, he could only watch
as she swung herself easily onto the branch, hopped to her feet and
sped across the newest limb. He recalled Jericho’s words that no
one knew the forest like she did, but it appeared that not only did
she know the forest she seemed to have mastered it. He was still
gaping after her when she leapt easily into another tree, vanishing
from sight.

It was her disappearance that drove him
into action; he rushed through the woods, following her as she
leapt and dove and ran through the trees with the agility of a
squirrel. He had never seen anyone move like she did, so
effortlessly and easily. She was heading deeper into the forest,
drawing him farther away from the area she had been walking toward
when he found her. She was trying to lead him away from her family,
and friends.

She raced down another limb, he watched
in horror and amazement as she leapt fearlessly out of the tree.
Except there wasn’t another tree to catch hold of this time. She
folded in on herself, curling her arms around her legs as she spun
through the air. He had no idea what she intended until she hit the
ground. She landed easily, bouncing swiftly up. She darted through
the woods in a zigzagging pattern, easily avoiding any obstacle in
her way. It was amazing to watch her, amazing to see her sleek
agility, and her profound knowledge of the world around
her.

Though he was fascinated by it, and
felt that there were still many things she could do, many secrets
and abilities that she had hidden, he was tired of being avoided.
She was heading toward another large tree, if she got into it they
would continue to play this game of cat and mouse even longer. He
poured on the speed, rushing after her. She had just thrown her
arms around the tree branch when he caught hold of her. She did not
cry out, did not scream as she planted her legs against the tree
trunk and shoved off it with all of her might.

He stumbled slightly backward as she
lurched sharply against him with the full force of her small
weight. He kept hold of the collar of her shirt though, clinging to
her as she tried to dart forward, tried to pull free of his hold.
She was far more stubborn, wild, and determined to escape than he
had thought she would be. He knew she was a spitfire, but she was a
lot more volatile than he recalled her being. She flung herself
forward; the thin material of her clothing tore within his tight
hold.

She staggered, seemingly just as
surprised as him to be momentarily free of his grasp. He dove at
her, wrapping his arms around her waist as he caught hold of her.
She cried out softly in surprise as they tumbled to the ground.
Though he didn’t care about her, he shifted his weight away from
her, trying not to crush her beneath him as they rolled over the
ground. She was frantic now, squirming against him, her terror
evident as she tried to escape his ironclad grasp.

He was surprised by the brief moment of
guilt that tugged at him. He wanted her to pay for her perfidy, but
he had not meant to terrify her to this extreme. She tried to
stagger to her feet, but he kept hold of her waist, pulling her
back underneath him as he flipped her over. Her eyes were wide, her
hair a straggling mess around her flushed face. She was panting
beneath him, her fear palpable as she continued to try and squirm
out of his hold.

He seized hold of her hair, his hand
wrapping into the thick, wet mess. She pushed at his chest, shoving
against him as a soft whimper escaped her. He didn’t know what he
was thinking, what he was doing, but instead of burying his teeth
in her neck and draining her dry as he had imagined doing for the
past couple of months, his lips descended upon her mouth, seizing
hold of it. Her hands flattened against his chest as she went still
as stone beneath him. He pressed tighter against her, wanting some
sort of response, needing something from her, anything.

Needing to break her in some small way,
just as she had broken him.

Then, her hands curled into his shirt,
her fingers dug against his skin. A small gasp escaped her as her
soft lips parted beneath his. She clung to him, her body melting
against his. He invaded her, savoring in the taste and feel of her
as he pulled her tighter. He forgot everything, all of her
treachery, all of the anger and hurt as he held her. It was hard to
remember anything when she was so right, and good in his arms. He
had never felt anything as wonderful as she was, and as long as he
held her, he didn’t care what happened around them.

It wasn’t until he tasted the saltiness
of her tears upon his lips that he realized she was crying. It
wasn’t until he pulled away to wipe her tears from her silken
cheeks that he realized he cared for her far more than he had been
willing to admit to himself. It wasn’t until she rested her
forehead against his chest and began to sob heavily that he
realized they were both doomed.

***

Aria watched silently as the prince
threw another log on the fire. She folded her hands before her,
clasping them tightly between her legs. Her eyes felt heavy, sore
from crying. Her chest still hurt from the force of the sobs that
had wracked her. Despite the heat, she was cold, freezing really.
Numb with the shock, and horror, still clinging to her. He turned
away from her, the muscles in his hard back flexing as he grabbed
another log and tossed it onto the fire.

Aria glanced around the small house he
had brought her to. She didn’t know why she was here, how he had
known about it, but it was a quaint little cottage. He turned back
to her, studying her for a long moment before he made his way
slowly back to her. “You need to dry off, you’re shivering.” She
didn’t tell him that she wasn’t shivering because she was still wet
and chilled from the river. They both knew that it wasn’t the
reason. “Arianna?”

She managed a small nod before rising
to her feet and moving toward the crackling fire. She settled
before it, holding out her numbed hands to the flames. He settled
onto the arm of the sofa behind her, drawing his long legs up onto
the cushions as he watched her. She pulled her hair before her,
trying to dry it out and untangle it as she worked slowly through
the thick, wet mess.