“I don’t think so,” Aria replied. “Sabine only asked for Braith’s head earlier. Jack may not be as old or as powerful as Braith, but he’s still a big threat to her too. She’ll want him eradicated as well.” Aria turned to face Melinda. “And there’s no reason she would know that you’re not Atticus’s child. She would have asked for your head too, if she believed you could come back.”
Melinda clasped her hands before her, twisting them into her cloak when they began to tremble.
“She’s right,” Ashby said and Xavier nodded in agreement. “This is something to do with the first born in the line. Sabine, Atticus…” He glanced at Braith. “Even when he was young, there was always more power in Braith than in Caleb or you, Jack, or many of the vampires who were older than he was.”
Jack pulled at his face, rubbing his hand over the stubble lining his jaw as he stared at his brother. “He’s always been more powerful than most,” Jack agreed before focusing on Aria again. “What if you’re wrong and it’s not Sabine?”
Aria couldn’t stop her gaze from falling to Braith. “If I’m wrong and he dies, then he will remain dead, but either way, I have to leave here in order to keep him from being discovered.”
“I’m not letting you leave here,” Jack stated.
“I am your queen. You have no say in this.”
“Aria—”
“Someone has to lead them away from Braith and the others from Badwin and Chippman who are still out there depending on us to get them to safety. If they’re discovered, they will be slaughtered.”
Hannah released a choked noise as her eyes darted toward Jack. Tempest stepped closer to William and gripped his arm. Many of Hannah’s friends and family were with those waiting for them to return. The children Tempest had rescued from the orphanage, along with some other residents, and her best friend, Pallas, were also with them.
“We can’t leave them out there alone,” Aria continued. Her gaze ran over those gathered within before landing on Melinda and Ashby. They had faired pretty well during the battle and were well known and liked within the palace. “After I go out to lure Sabine’s followers away, Ashby and Melinda can return for the survivors and lead them safely back to the palace.”
“I will go out and lure the vampires who attacked us away,” Jack said.
“You made it here, but you’re limping badly. Hannah isn’t going to stay here without you, and neither of you will be able to traverse the forest with the speed it will require. These are my woods—”
“I know these woods well too,” he interrupted.
“Yes, but not as well as I do, and you know it.”
“And if he wakes up while you’re gone?” Jack demanded.
“If anyone will understand why this has to be done, it is Braith.”
“What if you get killed and he wakes up? You think Atticus was vicious, do you know what Braith will do if he wakes up to discover you dead? How do you think he’ll handle that?”
“He will do what he must,” she replied. “He is not your father.”
Jack and William exchanged a troubled look. “I’ll go,” William said. “I’m not as badly injured as everyone else, and I know these woods as well as you. You will stay here, Aria.”
How entirely tempting that sounded. She could curl up in Braith’s arms and simply wait. If he did wake, they could be together again. She would be here to kiss him, to hug him, to laugh and cry as he finally hugged her back and cradled her to his chest. If he didn’t wake, then someone would have to take mercy on her and put her down.
A lump clogged her throat, and she turned away from them before they could see the tears burning her eyes again. She had to stay strong. She was a queen, and so many lives depended on her. She couldn’t stay here and wait. She had to lead her people.
Right now, protecting the many who needed it and destroying Sabine were all she had to drive her onward. That and the possibility Braith would survive this and come back to her.
“They will not expect us to part,” she whispered as she gazed at Braith’s unmoving form. “They will believe he’s with me, if I lead them away.” She turned back to William and gestured down the front of her shirt. “His blood is all over me. It is inside of me. It will be our scents they trail from these caves. He is as much an intricate piece of me as I am of him. You can’t say the same.”
She recognized the stubborn set of his jaw. “Then I will come with you.”
Tempest’s hand trembled on his arm, but she didn’t protest his words. Aria glanced between the two of them. “I’d prefer you stay,” she replied.
“Since when have I cared what you prefer?” he retorted.
“What about what Tempest prefers?” she countered, knowing it was the one thing she could use to deter him from this decision.
Some of the fight went out of him as he took hold of Tempest’s hand. Aria didn’t blame him for staying behind; Tempest’s life depended on his now. He had to protect what they shared between them.