Author: Erica Stevens
Category: Vampires
Go to read content：https://readnovelfree.com/p/1242_10
If he wasn’t certain he would be killed before he could get to her, he’d have gone after her without the rest of them. If he thought they would set her free in exchange for him, he would gladly walk up to the palace gates and hand himself over. He would gladly die for her, but his death would do nothing to save her from this, and she would never forgive him for ruining everything they had worked so hard for. Truth be told, he’d never forgive himself either. There were too many lives at stake, too much was at risk. There were people that he cared about…
That was the worst part of it all. He had come to care for them. Ashby pissed him off, but Melinda loved the idiot and he wasn’t entirely obnoxious. Jack infuriated him to no end, but he was still his brother and Braith had always been fond of him. He’d even come to like and admire Aria’s family. He couldn’t let them all down. He couldn’t bring himself to destroy the only chance at happiness and peace that they’d ever hoped to attain, that Aria had ever hoped to attain. She would forgive him for not coming for her immediately, he knew that, but she would never forgive him if he ruined everything.
Aria was alive; he could feel it in his bones. By now his father had realized that she was important to him, he’d probably detected his blood inside of her, seen the marks Braith had left upon her skin. He would use her against Braith; he would torture her until she was broken beyond repair, but Braith knew his father would hold out on the worst of that torture until Braith was present. He would intend to make sure that Braith witnessed the worst of what was done to her. At least that was the hope that Braith clung to, otherwise he knew he would leave these woods and go to the palace now. Otherwise, he would ruin everything and Aria would be lost.
He wouldn’t allow that to happen to Aria, even if it meant giving himself over to the darkness that lurked within him, and was so close to consuming him now. He just had to keep it at bay until they were ready to move. He could give into the darkness when he found his father and brother; he could let it rule him in order to destroy them. Maybe, if he and Aria both survived, he would be able to salvage whatever was left of himself after.
He felt no compunction about killing his father and brother. They wouldn’t feel any about torturing him, killing him, and making the only thing he cared about suffer. The only difference was he would make their deaths quick, they wouldn’t return the favor with him.
Defiance - BDSMCheck out the best interactive novels on Whispers: Interactive stories.
“What do you know?” Braith demanded.
“What do you mean?”
“Don’t play stupid with me Xavier. You know more of our history, and of the human’s history than any of us. I see the way you watch Aria, the way you study her. If I thought it was because you had any interest in her as a woman I would have put a stop to it long ago, but we both know women are not what you desire. I know you’re not watching her because it’s me you’re interested in.”
“How do you know that?”
“Xavier,” Braith’s patience was reaching its end. Whatever crush Xavier may have had on him had vanished years ago when Xavier had accepted the fact that Braith wasn’t interested in men.
There was a minor rise in his shoulder that Braith took as a shrug. “You are a good looking man…”
Braith leaned into him, causing Xavier to take an abrupt step back into the tree behind him. “Do not play with me Xavier. There is no one, and nothing, I will not go through to get her back. I am in no mood for your devious games or your manipulations.” Xavier didn’t cower before him but Braith sensed the vampire’s trepidation. “What do you know?”
“I don’t know anything.”
Braith’s hand slammed into the tree. Xavier’s followers would be irate if he killed him, they may leave, they may even turn on him, but he was getting to the point where he would willingly take that in order to assuage some of his fury. He didn’t think he could survive much longer like this. He was going to snap; like a bow string wound to tight he was going to break. He just didn’t know what was going to happen when he did, or how many he would take with him.
“There are some things I suspect though,” Xavier continued calmly.
“Xavier, not now.”
It took all of his patience to deal with Xavier’s roundabout way of explaining things. Xavier seemed to sense this as he grasped hold of his arm. “You have to keep it together Braith, there are far more lives at stake here than hers.”
“Why do you think I’m still here? Why do you think I haven’t gone after her, yet? But you have to tell me what you suspect.”
Xavier bowed his head. “Keep in mind that I truly know nothing for sure. I would like to speak with her father.”
“Fine, but what is it…”
Braith broke off as something else caught his attention. He released the tree he’d been so desperately grasping as he moved toward the edge of the hill. Below him the forest spread out in a blur of dark shapes and mounds. Amongst the solid objects, shadows moved and coalesced as they glided through the trees. He heard the approach of the others, but he didn’t have to turn to know that Gideon was in the lead. His step was somewhat louder than Ashby’s slighter frame and Jack’s more experienced movements. William, Daniel, and David barely made any noise as they approached; it was their scents he picked up instead of their sounds.
“They’re coming,” Gideon stated flatly.
“They are,” Braith agreed.
“We should retreat to the caves until they move past.” Braith folded his arms over his chest as he leaned back. The shadows moved through his blood red haze, he could barely see them slinking through the trees as they climbed steadily up the hill. Jack stood behind him, while Gideon moved to the front. “There are at least fifty of them,” Gideon remarked.
“We’re here to start a war,” Braith reminded him. “Do you propose we retreat every time there is a threat?”
“We do not want to confirm our presence in these woods.”
“He knows that we’re here anyway, why else do you think there are fifty some-odd soldiers creeping through the woods right now?”
“I don’t understand why there are so many,” William muttered. “They only saw four of us in the town.”
Gideon folded his arms over his chest as he pondered the hill before him. “Perhaps Aria told him there were more here.”
“She’d never do that!” William retorted.
“You don’t know what goes on in that palace, what the king is capable of.”