Refugee (The Captive Series Book 3) (4 page)

“Candy?” Aria inquired.

Ashby shook his head. He shoved back
strands of shaggy dark blond hair as it fell across one of his
bright green eyes. “Just something humans used to enjoy
eating.”

“Oh. Did you like it back then?” Braith
glanced down at Aria as she gazed up at him from beneath the
hood.

“I never really minded it.” In fact,
there were a few things he actually missed.

“I’ve heard stories about it,” William
mused. “It seemed wonderfully extravagant. I’ve heard there was
plenty of food, homes everywhere, and that people had everything
they required.”

“Depends on who you were, where you
lived,” Ashby informed him. “Not everyone was so lucky, but there
were many people that had such things, and many that didn’t. Like I
said, it wasn’t all roses and candy.”

“But it was better,” Aria
pressed.

“It was,” Ashby finally
agreed.

Braith stopped abruptly; pulling Aria
up beside him he searched the stark landscape. Dilapidated
buildings dotted the desert area. They were hollowed out remnants
of what they had once been, with gaping windows and doorways. Most
sagged beneath the weight of disuse and abuse.

The wind howled around them, blowing
sand up, coating his glasses with fine particles of dust. They were
deep into The Barrens now, far from the fertile lands they all knew
well. Survivors out here were unpredictable and
remorseless.

And there was something out there right
now.

“Ashby,” he said tensely.

Ashby had already stopped too, his head
tilted to the side as he listened. Braith’s hand tightened briefly
around Aria’s as he drew her back another step, pushing her behind
him. It would do little good, he knew that she wouldn’t stay there,
but for now he was at least mostly in front of her. He heard the
rustle of her cloak as she pulled her bow free.

“Aria,” he growled in
warning.

She didn’t say anything but there was a
low clink as she rested an arrow against the bow. The explosion of
motion seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere at once. He
didn’t have time to alert Ashby and William, it was too late
anyway. Braith grabbed hold of Aria, spinning her out of the way as
the first vampire slammed into his back. Braith was knocked forward
beneath the impact of the weight; he braced himself as the creature
tore ferociously at him.

Aria grunted as his arms momentarily
constricted before he was forced to release her. He grasped at the
creature clawing up his back, spilling his blood. Teeth snapped as
it reached his neck, the scent of it was fetid and harsh. He
finally managed to seize it; clutching its head as he pulled it
over his shoulder and threw it away from him. The creature
squealed, squirming on the sand as its attention was torn from him
and focused solely upon Aria.

She took a startled step back. Her hand
shook on the bow as the vampire launched to its feet and rushed at
her. All of her fear vanished as she straightened her shoulders and
lifted the bow. Her hand was steady as she released the
arrow.

The vampire fell back beneath the
impact of her clean shot, its hands clutched at its chest as it
gurgled and squealed. Braith seized the creature, determined to
spill its blood as rage overtook him. Fury swelled through him,
ripping through his cells, and enhancing his strength. For a moment
he teetered on the edge of madness, for a moment it felt so
unbelievably good that he almost let go completely, almost gave in
and let the monster take over.

And then the smell of her blood hit
him. She pressed flush against his back as she sought to protect
him. A shudder rocked through him as she brought him back from the
brink he’d been standing upon. Even though it was dying, the
vampire launched itself back at him.

He felt her elbow against his back as
she took aim again; he was keenly reminded that there were more
creatures out there as she let another arrow fly. He seized hold of
the creature, and with swift brutality, finished it off. Aria let
out a startled cry. Terror shot through him as he spun around. One
of them had reached her, but not before catching her arrow in its
shoulder.

She caught the creature under the chin
as she swung her bow up, but it was too late. The pale, thin
monster was already upon her, its hands grasped at her arms. The
hood of her cloak had fallen back; her hair was the color of blood
in the bright light. That ominous sign terrified Braith as the
sweet scent of her blood hit the air.

The creature, enthralled by the
prospect of fresh food launched itself forward. Braith wrapped his
arm around Aria’s chest, pulling her back as he seized the creature
by the throat. It squealed as its hands swung in the air trying to
grab hold of her again. He was going to kill it, going to destroy
it, but he couldn’t bring himself to release her, not quite yet.
Her chest heaved against his arm; he could feel the rapid staccato
of her heartbeat. Even over the squealing noises coming from the
monstrosity he held, he could hear the subtle splash of her blood
as it hit the sand.

She was bleeding, this creature had
caused it.

Fury tore through him. His hand on her
chest tightened, pulling her further back. In one violent motion he
snapped the creature’s neck and shoved it back. It was not dead,
but for the moment it was disoriented by pain. Braith was more than
happy to put it out of its misery.

And then he heard it, the stutter in
her heartbeat.

His head snapped around, she was still
standing in his arms, but her face had gone deathly pale, her lips
were nearly white. The sleeves of her cloak had been shredded; the
cloth hung in tatters. Blood slid down both arms, pooling at the
ends of her fingertips before dripping onto the sand. Her arms were
laid open nearly elbow to wrist.

Panic tore through him; he grasped hold
of her, spinning her around as she staggered a little. Her normally
bright, crystalline blue eyes were dull, almost
lifeless.

He bit deep into his wrist, catching
her as her knees buckled. He was shaking as they slid to the
ground. He didn’t even care about the creature still staggering
before them, didn’t look up to see if there were others coming.
“Blood Aria, drink it!” They were the only words he could get out
through the constriction of his chest and throat.

She closed her eyes for a moment before
they sprang open. It seemed as if she was having difficulty
focusing on him. “I’m fine Braith, the others. There are more of
those things.”

“I don’t care.”

He didn’t wait to hear more of her
protests; she was stubborn enough to keep offering them. He shoved
his wrist into her mouth, desperate, praying that this would be
enough to stop the flow of life he felt rapidly seeping from her.
There was a moment of nothing, and then he felt her teeth nipping
at his skin. Despite their circumstances, ecstasy tore through him
at the sensations that suffused him. Her hands clenched around his
arm as she drank deeply.

He couldn’t stop the low moan of
pleasure that escaped him as he leaned over her, embracing her
against him. “Stay with me,” he breathed into her ear.

She nodded as her eyes dazedly met his.
The creature was already healing as it staggered back toward them,
its eyes a vibrant red in its hollow face. Its sagging skin had
taken on a yellowish, sickly hue. Lack of food and the sand and sun
had turned this creature into a morbid version of a normal vampire;
one that apparently had no sense of self-preservation
anymore.

He pulled her against his chest,
cradling her with one arm as he tried to shift himself into a
better fighting position. It wasn’t much use; he couldn’t pull his
arm away from her. If there was any chance for her survival, she
would require his blood.

The creature was only feet from them
when Ashby rammed the bony thing from behind, flinging it a good
ten feet through the air. Ashby didn’t hesitate as he rushed after
it. William was suddenly before them; his upper lip was cut and
bleeding. One of his eyes had already started to darken, and the
sleeve of his cloak had been ripped, but otherwise he appeared
uninjured.

Unable to stand the thought of someone
else touching Aria, Braith almost ripped her away from William. He
stopped himself from doing so, but couldn’t stop the low growl that
escaped him. William leaned back as he studied Braith warily. Aria
tried to tug his wrist from her mouth as she squirmed against him
in an attempt to get to her brother.

“It’s alright,” Braith grated through
clenched teeth. “I won’t harm him. Stop. Please Aria, you need my
blood, he’s safe I swear.”

Aria relaxed against him but there was
a lingering tension in her body. William continued to watch him
suspiciously as he leaned slowly forward. He pulled Aria’s arms
toward him, finally looking away from Braith as he focused on her.
Braith couldn’t bring himself to look at her damaged and battered
flesh again. The smell of her blood was enticing enough without
seeing it too. Neither he, nor Ashby, had been feeding well; he
shuddered, his fangs elongated instinctively. He closed his eyes as
he fought against his baser, more driving urges.

“William, wrap her arms,” he managed to
grate out.

Sand and dust kicked up around Ashby as
he slid to a stop before them. His eyes flared red as the scent of
her blood hit him, something dark flickered over his face. “Get
away Ashby!” Braith snarled. Ashby remained where he was, his
shoulders heaving as his fangs sliced into his lower lip. William’s
hands had stilled on the cloth he was trying to rip into shreds.
Aria was immobile against him, her breath frozen in her lungs. “Now
Ashby! Now!”

His brother-in-law shook his head; his
fangs retreated as his eyes flickered wildly between red and green.
Ashby managed a small nod as he took a step back, and then another
before he finally turned away. Relief filtered through Braith; he
didn’t want to have to kill Ashby but he would to keep Aria safe.
He wanted to try and regain his trust in Ashby. Jack and Melinda
trusted him, Aria and William seemed to, but Ashby was the one that
had blinded him, and Braith was still uncertain about
him.

William shredded the rest of Aria’s
ruined sleeves and began to slowly wrap her brutalized arms in the
coarse material. She squirmed in his lap; her eyes squeezed shut as
her mouth twisted. Braith bent closer to her hair, inhaling her
sweet scent as he tried to calm himself. As her pain suffused him,
he kept reminding himself that William was helping. Even though
Braith told himself this, his emotions were swinging on a
precarious pendulum between rage, dread, and famine. He was
unstable, deadly if unleashed, and the only thing that helped to
soothe him was her. He savored her scent, the feel of her teeth
against his skin, the gentle pull of his blood seeping slowly into
her system. His blood would heal her, it would be enough. It had to
be, there were no other options. She would die if it
didn’t.

Aria jerked against him. Braith’s head
snapped up, an involuntary snarl escaped him. William flinched but
continued to wrap her arms in the cloth. “I’m sorry,” he whispered
his gaze worriedly darting to Braith.

William tied the last knot and sat back
on his heels as he studied his sister. Aria squeezed William’s arm
briefly before slipping lifelessly away. It took Braith a frantic
moment to realize that her chest was still rising and falling. Her
heart was beating, slowly and far too erratically for his liking,
but it was there and it was getting stronger.

Braith was painfully aware of the fact
that she had managed to stay conscious long enough for her brother
to finish what he was doing. 

CHAPTER 3

“You’re awake.”

Was she awake? Aria took stock of her
body as she tried to figure out exactly what had happened. She
blinked at the ceiling, an actual ceiling; she couldn’t quite
remember the last time she had seen a ceiling over her head. Where
was she? She turned her head slowly, her muscles throbbed; she felt
drained, tired and a little nauseous. William blurred before her,
there were two of him at first but the more she blinked the clearer
he became.

“I am,” she confirmed.

His shoulders slumped in relief, his
hand rested lightly upon her upper arm. “You had me
worried.”

Her throat was dry, it was difficult to
swallow but she finally managed to form words. “I feel awful,” she
admitted.

“That’s because you almost died, and
you would have…” William’s voice trailed off, his gaze drifted
somewhere behind her.

“William?” She was worried by the
perplexed look on his face.

“He gave you some of his blood.” He
sounded almost as equally disgusted as awed.

Aria sighed, she wanted to stay where
she was, wanted to lie on the cool floor forever, but she had a
feeling she had been out for awhile. It was time to get moving.
William lurched awkwardly forward as she braced herself on her
forearms. Pain instantly tore through her, she nearly fell back to
the ground but he grabbed hold of her and helped her into a seated
position. She sat for a minute, panting as the copper taste that
preceded vomit filled her mouth. She shuddered, swallowing heavily
as she struggled to keep her stomach from revolting.