Refugee (The Captive Series Book 3) (26 page)

“You’re not going to do anything crazy
are you?” she inquired worriedly.

“Me? Nah, I’m not angry enough for
something like that anymore, but it will be nice to free some
others.”

“It will,” Aria agreed. She wanted to
ask if he would ever stop being so angry at her, but the words
froze in her throat. She couldn’t bring herself to utter them,
mostly because she was frightened of the answer. “I’m glad you’re
doing better. I know it was awful for you in there.”

His smile had fallen away; he was
staring at the target again. “It’s been an awful time for all of us
recently. Hopefully that will change soon.”

“Yes,” she whispered, knowing it wasn’t
going to change for her.

“Are you happy Aria?”

If he had asked her that question four
hours ago, she would have given him a resounding yes, that despite
everything that was going on, she was happy. She was frightened of
the future and the possibility of losing a loved one, but happy.
“Yes.” It was the first lie in the web she was now
creating.

“That’s good.” He rocked back on his
heels again. The awkward tension was enough to make her want to
scream. “I’m sorry about what happened the last time we saw each
other. I lost my temper, I never meant for that to
happen.”

“It’s ok.”

He shook his head, his forehead
furrowed as his clear blue eyes turned turbulent. “It’s not ok. I
still feel this is a situation you shouldn’t be in. That’s he too
old for you, too different, it’s not natural…”

“Max,” she whispered. Her heart ached
and her body felt as if it were starting to shred into a thousand
pieces. She knew they were all valid points, but to her they had
never mattered before. They certainly didn’t matter after the
conversation she’d just had with Jack and Ashby. She couldn’t stand
here and listen to even more reasons why she shouldn’t be with
Braith, why she couldn’t be with him.

He seemed to sense this as he nodded
slowly. “But even so, what I did never should have happened. I
could have killed you. I feel awful about it, it really made me
rethink everything, made me look at what I was becoming and I
didn’t like that person.”

“You’re a good person Max. You had some
terrible things happen to you, any person would be different
after.”

“I suppose.”

“It’s my fault. You were in there
because of me…”

“No. I could have escaped being caught;
I chose to go in there with you. I chose to let myself be captured.
That’s not your fault.”

“But it didn’t go the way you
expected.”

He finally looked at her again, finally
met her eyes head on; finally seemed to see her for the first time
in awhile. “Does anything?”

She pondered that for a moment.
“No.”

“I thought I’d be the one that rescued
you, but then neither of us knew what Jack was, and I honestly
didn’t know how awful it was going to be in there, how drained I
would be.” He shied away from her touch as she squeezed his arm.
Feeling as if she had been slapped Aria went to pull away but he
seized hold of her hand. “It’s not you; it’s been awhile since
someone touched me. I don’t like being touched much since being in
there.”

For the first time since she had spoken
with Jack, she felt something else unraveling inside of her,
something strong and determined. She realized then that no matter
how devastated she was, no matter how much she was going to hurt
Braith, it was the right course to take. No one should have to go
through what Max and countless others had been forced to go
through. “What happened to you in there, it will never happen
again, to anyone, if we win.”

Max’s smile was tremulous. “That’s the
only thing keeping me going.”

“Max…”

“It’s ok Aria.” His eyes had become
distant again. His fingers tightened briefly around hers before he
slowly released her hand. “I’ve come to accept it. I can see that
you love him, that he loves you. I’ll move on, I didn’t think I
would, but there are things I never thought I would get over and
I’m already starting to come to terms with them. I’ll get over this
too.”

“You will,” she assured him. “I never
meant to hurt you.”

“I know. You tried to tell me how you
felt; I just didn’t want to hear it. It’s my fault too.” He nodded
toward the target. “How bout we forget some of this for a bit and I
kick the crap out of you in some target practice.”

“As if,” she snorted, chuckling as she
handed her bow over to him. For the first time a semblance of
normalcy settled over them as he grabbed an arrow from her and
stepped to the line she had created in the dirt.

***

Braith followed her laughter around the
corner of the building. The sound of it caused his lips to twitch
involuntarily upward. Stepping around the corner of the house, he
froze at the sight of Aria standing in front of Max, smiling smugly
as she handed the bow over to him. For a moment Braith was too
stunned to move, and then rage tore through him. Beside him, Jack
groaned.

“I thought you were watching her!”
Braith snarled.

“Braith.”

His brother went to grab his arm but he
was already storming across the field toward them. Aria turned
toward him, the smile on her mouth froze in place, apprehension
flashed across her features but she remained otherwise immobile.
Max dropped the bow to his side, but Braith was well aware that the
boy would like nothing more than to fire one of those arrows into
his heart.

Aria’s paralysis broke. She grabbed
hold of the bow as she stepped in front of Max. “What is going on?”
he demanded, never breaking eye contact with Max. Even without the
bow he was a threat.

“We’re just taking target practice,”
she answered.

“You shouldn’t be with him.”

“He’s my friend, Braith.”

“He nearly killed you the last time you
saw him.”

“It was an accident. A mistake, we’ve
talked about it.”

“And that makes it better!?” he
barked.

Her hands twisted on the bow. He became
aware of the fact that she might also like to take a shot at him.
“Yes,” she grated through clenched teeth. “It does.”

Max shifted nervously behind her. “I
should probably go.”

“Yes,” Braith informed him at the same
time that Aria snapped, “No.”

Frustration filled him. As he reached
for her, she smacked his hand away. “Aria…”

“He is my friend Braith and that’s not
going to change, no matter how much you disapprove.” He didn’t get
a chance to argue further as she slammed her bow into his chest and
stormed off. Jack stepped swiftly out of her way as she stalked
past him, shooting him a dark look as she went.

Max stood uncertainly, looking torn
between wanting to bolt, and wanting to laugh out loud. Braith
glared at him. “If you hurt her again, it will be the last
time.”

Max nodded, an infuriating smile played
at the corners of his mouth. Braith fought the urge to punch him
but the boy hadn’t done anything wrong, at least not yet. He didn’t
trust him though, not for one minute. In fact he thought the best
thing would be for Max to leave and never return, but unless Max
made that choice himself, or unless he did something to Aria again,
it looked like that wouldn’t happen anytime soon. Max was important
in the cause, and for some unfathomable reason, Aria cared for
him.

Braith turned away from him and moved
swiftly into the house. She was in the room they had shared last
night. She looked exhausted and worn, far more so than the
encounter outside should have made her. He was bewildered by the
distressed look on her face, the dark circles that marred her
beautiful blue eyes.

“Did he do or say something to upset
you?”

“No,” she answered tiredly. “He
apologized, and then he tried to help mend our friendship. I miss
him Braith, I know what happened before but we were once good
friends. I wouldn’t have survived after I left the palace if it
wasn’t for Max. I was heartbroken and he helped to ease some of
that.”

Braith didn’t like to think about that
time, it hadn’t been easy for either of them. “He’s in love with
you.”

Tears shimmered in her eyes. “Maybe
then, but he’s accepted that I don’t feel the same way about him,
and he’s trying to move on. He may not approve but he knows that I
love you.”

“I don’t approve of him
either.”

“I wish you would learn to get along.
Max was an important part of my life, and I would like to have him
back in it. I’m not foolish enough to believe it can ever be the
same, but I’d like to at least see the two of you come to some sort
of understanding with each other.”

“And if he hurts you again?”

“He won’t.”

“But if he does?”

A single tear slid free. “I’ll stay
away from him then.”

“He almost killed you last
time.”

“Braith stop! It was an accident, a
mistake. I will never know what happened to him in that palace. I
was lucky that you stepped forward to take me from that other
vampire.” Braith’s hands fisted, his muscles locked as he recalled
the bastard that had almost owned her. “I can only guess at what
was done to Max. You especially should know it couldn’t have been
easy or pleasant.”

“That’s not fair.”

“Nothing is fair!” She practically
screamed the words at him. He was startled by the ferocity of her
reaction, the devastation that radiated from her; the tears that
suddenly burst free and streamed down her face. He’d seen her cry
before but he’d never seen this level of emotion over something he
hadn’t even realized was bothering her so much. She was almost
irrational, something that she never was.

“I didn’t realize this was upsetting
you so much.” He told her as she dropped her head into her hands.
Her shoulders shook as she sobbed quietly. Her cries only increased
when he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her against him.
Desperation radiated from her as her fingers dug into his back.
“Arianna…”

“I’m sorry,” she sobbed. “I’m so
sorry.”

He was unbelievably confused. He’d been
around irrational women before, not for long because he usually
left them behind if it happened, but this was Aria. His
unbelievably proud and fierce Aria was sobbing uncontrollably for
some reason that he couldn’t even begin to fathom. Her exhaustion
must be getting to her, a fact that was evident in her pale face
and shadowed eyes.

“For what?” he demanded, frightened and
uncertain of what her answer would be.

She shook her head, seemingly unable to
speak through her tears. He grabbed hold of her cheeks, pulling her
face from his chest. “What are you sorry for?”

“I just…” she broke off, swallowing
heavily as she tried to suppress her tears. “I just know how much
you don’t trust him, and I know I frightened you today. I didn’t
mean to.”

It was true, but it didn’t warrant
this. “Don’t cry Arianna, it’s ok.”

Absurdly, she began to cry more. He
pulled her back against him, rocking her as she buried her face in
his chest again. A large sob escaped her; she bit on her lip hard
enough to draw blood which he scented in the air almost
immediately.

“Braith?” Jack’s voice
interrupted.

Closing his eyes, he suppressed a groan
as he turned her, making sure she was hidden from the doorway, and
Jack. “Go away.”

“Braith, it’s time to redo the
vote.”

“Can’t it wait?” he
demanded.

“It’s fine.” Aria pulled away from him,
she wiped at her eyes as she took a step back. She wouldn’t meet
his gaze, or Jack’s, as she focused on the far wall.

“Aria…”

“I’m fine Braith. I’m just worn out,
it’s been a grueling road to get here and it’s catching up with me
now. I’ll be fine after a good night of sleep.” He was torn. He
didn’t want to leave her, not while she seemed so overcome with
emotion. “Go. Go on. Give me a minute to wash up and I’ll be
down.”

“Are you sure you’re ok?”

She smiled tremulously.
“Fine.”

Reluctantly, he left her behind as he
joined his brother in the doorway. Jack’s jaw was locked, his gaze
worried as he looked to Aria. She didn’t look at either of them as
she turned to the pitcher on the old nightstand and poured some
water into a bowl.

***

Aria slipped one of the gray cloaks
around her shoulders pulling the hood up before sneaking silently
out of the house. She knew she wouldn’t make it far before Braith
realized she wasn’t there, but luckily Gideon had taken up
residence only two doors away. She was shaking, trembling with
trepidation as she moved swiftly through the shadows.

This was the path she had always
thought she would take, the path that would lead to an early death.
She had not chosen this path but rather, it had chosen her. She
hoped that Jack was right, that they could somehow dilute Braith’s
blood in her system. It would not be a happy life without him, but
as miserable as she would be, and even if she wasn’t with him, she
was also excited to see how everything would turn out. She was
eager to see what Braith would do as a leader, the changes he would
make. She knew they would be good changes and it would be a good
world for those under his leadership.