Renegade (The Captive Series Book 2) (23 page)

“Braith,” she breathed.

He turned slowly toward her, his arm
was shaking even more; the muscles within it were trembling in her
grasp. “You know how dangerous that is,” Ashby said
softly.

But Aria was fairly certain that Braith
had not heard him. His attention was focused upon her, his entire
being was connected to hers, linked with hers. She could become a
vampire and stay with her family; they would forgive her
eventually, maybe. She would also be a strong ally for them; Braith
would be a powerhouse on their side. She could become a vampire and
stay with him forever. She could give him this, if it was what he
so desperately needed. She could give him this, because he would
give her anything that he could.

He had not chosen whatever was
happening to him, to them. He did not want to hurt her, did not
want to feel like this. Braith prided himself on control, on
stability, and self reliance. He prided himself on the fact that he
was powerful, yet understanding. Since she had left the palace
though, he had been none of those things. He had become angry,
unstable, and the murderous monster he despised his father and
brother for. Melinda and Ashby understood what was going on, and
perhaps if Braith did he would be a little more stable, but right
now his confusion over his wild emotions was only adding to his
volatility.

“Arianna?” his voice, so deep and
beautiful was ragged with feeling.

“It will be ok,” she promised
fervently. His eyes, hard and desperate, softened. In their bright
depths she saw his pain and confusion, but she also saw his need,
his desire; his love. “We can do this, we can do
anything.”

“It’s not that simple,” Ashby said
softly. “Braith knows that. You aren’t a vampire, that’s why I am
so surprised this has happened to him with you. It’s never happened
with a human before, never.”

“I think you need to tell me exactly
what is happening here,” Braith said coldly.

“Can I untie him first?” Melinda
inquired.

“No.”

Anger flared through her steely gaze,
her hands fisted at her sides in futility. They may be siblings,
but it would not be an equal fight. Braith was older, stronger; he
radiated a depth of power that Melinda did not seem to possess.
“Imagine if it was her that was tied up; imagine how you would feel
then Braith!” she pleaded.

“It’s not her, and it never will
be.”

“Braith!” Melinda’s frustration was
mounting; her eyes were growing darker, redder. Her emotions were
swinging wildly toward the breaking point.

“Easy love,” Ashby said softly. “It’s
ok, I’m fine. Braith doesn’t know how to tie someone up all that
well anyway.” His eyes were gleaming with amusement, but Aria could
sense the tension beneath his lighthearted façade. The last thing
he wanted was to see Melinda try and fight her way through her
brother.

Melinda remained wary; she leaned over
and placed a soft kiss upon Ashby’s mouth. Aria pitied them, she
wanted to let Ashby go, wanted them to be able to hold each other.
She couldn’t imagine being kept from Braith. Yet there were two of
them, separately they were not much of a threat to Braith, together
they would be.

“Let your brother know what is going
on, maybe then he won’t look like he wants to go on a rampage and
slaughter us all,” Ashby urged.

Aria stepped closer to Braith; she
needed to feel more of him, needed to touch more of him. She had a
feeling she wasn’t going to entirely like what Melinda and Ashby
had to tell them. He wrapped his arm around her waist. His body was
cooler than hers, but heat still flooded through her as her chest
was brought up tight against his side. His hand stroked briefly
over her, his eyes burned into hers for a long moment.

“Have you ever heard the term
bloodlink?” Melinda inquired softly, breaking into their
moment.

Braith turned reluctantly away from
her, his hand tightened briefly on her stomach. “No, I
haven’t.”

“Neither had I,” Melinda admitted.
“Until I met Ashby.” Her gaze traveled slowly to him, she reached
out a delicate hand, clasping hold of his outstretched one. They
fit well together; they seemed to take relief from the feel of one
another as their fingers stroked each other. “And then the whole
world was completely right, and so completely wrong.”

“I was already married to Natasha,”
Ashby continued.

Melinda’s face scrunched up, anger and
disgust flitted briefly over her delicate features. “If you recall,
I was with mother when their wedding occurred. I was too young to
stay behind when father banished her; he did not want the
responsibility of having to take care of me. It wasn’t until she
was killed that I was allowed back into the palace.”

“I had been married to Natasha for five
years at that point,” Ashby said softly.

“I remember,” Braith interjected
coldly.

Ashby grinned at him. “We used to have
fun in those days. Before the war, when everything was still easy.
You were the reigning heir and I was a vampire with a title, money,
women, and a wife that cared as little for me as I did for her. Ok,
well the wife part may have sucked, but mostly avoided each other.
All we needed was to conceive a son in order to make your father
happy, and then we wouldn’t have to be with each other again. It
just wasn’t working for us.”

Melinda’s eyes had grown darker; her
face was as stormy as a tumultuous sea. It was more than apparent
that she did not want to hear about Ashby with her sister. Ashby
brought Melinda’s hand to his mouth, kissing her softly as he
sought to ease her tension. “Then the war broke out, mom was
killed, and I was sent back to the palace,” Melinda said
tersely.

“Your father was always greedy, always
wanted more. He just never banked on so many vampires being content
with their way of life. He never even considered the fact that some
of the other powerful families might not want to go along with him.
And he never expected that I would want out of my marriage from one
sister, because I had lost my soul completely to the other
one.”

They stared at each other for a long
moment before Ashby turned his attention back to them. “A bloodlink
is something that happens between vampires, and apparently with
humans also. It happened to my parents; that is how I knew about
it, and what the signs of it were. Most vampires believe it is a
myth because it is so rare, but I knew that it was true, I just
never thought it would happen to me. My parents were fortunate
enough to find each other, and not have any obstacles in their way.
Unfortunately we weren’t, and neither are you.

“My parents saw the war as a chance to
escape the tyrannical rule of your father; I saw it as a chance to
break free of my wife. A chance to start anew, and build a better
life with Melinda. I took that chance. You were caught in the
crossfire Braith, but I really didn’t mean for you to get hurt. As
retribution for our mutiny my family was killed, but your father
thought this was a better punishment for me.”

“Thankfully,” Melinda
breathed.

“What exactly is a bloodlink?” Aria
inquired.

“It’s a deep and instant connection
between vampires. Our blood calls to each other, it needs each
other. We grow stronger off of it, feed off of it. The connection
is instantaneous, as Braith well knows, and it is unbreakable. It
will eat you alive if you’re kept from each other, something else
that Braith seems to have discovered.”

“Stronger,” Aria mulled.

“Of course dear,” Ashby purred. “It’s
why Braith can see again, but I’m guessing it’s only when you are
near.”

“What?” Melinda gasped, her eyes
widening, her mouth dropping. “Braith?”

Braith was silent for a moment; the
tension in him was growing by the second. “Yes, I can see when she
is near. What about the two of you?”

Aria swallowed nervously. Braith could
see, and it was a miracle, but could they also perform miracles?
Had she completely misjudged this situation, was Braith weaker than
them? She glanced between Melinda and Ashby, and then turned slowly
back to Braith. No, it was obvious who the strongest was, but if
Ashby were to get free…

Melinda was frowning intently.
“Ashby…”

“I know love.”

“Melinda, you may be my sister but if
you don’t tell me I will rip his throat out,” Braith
growled.

Aria shuddered, her hands tightened on
Braith’s arm. She wanted to promise that she would never let that
happen, the last thing she wanted was to ruin their love, but if
there was any chance they might hurt Braith, she was not going to
say anything. It was better that they were afraid of Braith, if
that was the case. Melinda’s eyes widened in horror, she took a
step closer to Ashby.

“We don’t have anything like that
Braith. We’re stronger because we have each other; we’re stronger
because the bond between us has made us stronger. We feed off of
each other, which is something that most vampires will not allow to
happen, our blood helps to enhance our power and speed. As a united
front we will prevail over a lone vampire, and death is the only
thing that will divide us. But you…”

“You are different,” Ashby finished for
her. “Maybe because she is human, maybe because you are the prince
apparent, the first born, and your blood is more powerful than your
siblings but you’ve had a stronger reaction to the link than any
I’ve ever heard of.”

“You’ve actually had a physical
strengthening reaction,” Melinda said softly.

“Imagine if she becomes a
vampire?”

“Is it possible?”

Aria frowned at the two of them,
startled by the intense conversation that suddenly became just
between the two of them. “I don’t know,” Ashby admitted. “But I
think they have more than a bloodlink. I think they may have an
even stronger bond.”

“You may be right,” Melinda agreed.
“For him to get his eyesight back like that. So
strange.”

“It is,” Ashby confirmed.

Aria sensed Braith’s mounting
aggravation. She wished to soothe him, but she was growing just as
frustrated by the couple as he was. “Enough!” he snapped, causing
Melinda to jump slightly. “Enough, the both of you, enough. If you
are so close, then why is there another vampire here?”

They both frowned in confusion then
their gaze drifted slowly to the girl who had stayed utterly
silent, though she was listening raptly to them. “Oh her,” Melinda
replied, giggling softly. Ashby brought her hand up to his chest,
holding it tight with his. Aria could feel Braith’s rapidly
unraveling composure. They didn’t know what they were messing with
right now, didn’t know that he was close to losing all control.
Aria knew though. She had seen him in the woods with those
vampires. She had seen what he was capable of, the punishment and
death he could deal out so swiftly and without remorse.

“Melinda,” Aria reprimanded
softly.

The smile slipped from Melinda’s, her
eyes widened slightly as she finally focused on Braith again.
“She’s just a girl from town; they knew that I would be coming back
soon.”

“How?” Braith growled. “And why would
she come here?”

“I manage to sneak out of the palace
more often than you know. As the youngest and most ineffective
child, no one ever pays attention to my comings and goings. I bring
back blood slaves with me when I can, in order to keep the people
in the area quiet about the fact that there are no guards anymore.
She is here in the hopes of returning to town with whatever I have
managed to smuggle out.”

“Why?” Braith demanded.

“To keep Ashby safe of course. I killed
the guard’s years ago, but Ashby could not escape. There was
nowhere for us to go. Every village knows who Ashby is, father made
certain of that, and the reward on him is large enough for any
starving vamp to hand Ashby over, no matter how much they may hate
father. But only one person, or one family, could get that reward
not the entire village. And no matter what, there was no guarantee
that father would actually give them the money. I bought the
loyalty of the people closest to here by promising them a steady
supply of blood if they kept their mouths shut. It was more than
father could promise all of them. She came to see if her dinner had
arrived.”

Aria bowed her head beneath the
implication of those words, nausea twisted through her. She was
certain she was going to be sick. Her people had been used to buy
silence; their lives had been freely traded away as if they meant
nothing. “Awful,” she breathed.

“Life is not roses and sunshine dear,”
Melinda retorted, her grey eyes as hard as steel as they focused
sharply on Aria. A chill crept down Aria’s spine, she found herself
unable to hold Melinda’s cold gaze. “And I would do anything to
keep Ashby alive, just as I am assuming you would do the same for
Braith.”

Aria bit on her bottom lip, she
couldn’t look at any of them. She would do anything for Braith, but
to freely trade lives for his, she didn’t think she could do that.
But then, she was human, and they were not. They thought little of
her species; humans were beneath them, they did not care what
happened to them. And Aria knew she would freely trade a vampire
life for his, she was certain of that.