“No one, outside of this room, can know Braith is dead, not yet,” Ashby said.
Gideon poured himself another whiskey and sipped it as he contemplated Ashby’s words. “I agree. I trust the members of The Council, but the death of a king will cause chaos, and the more who know about it, the more likely panic will spread through the masses. Many might turn to who they feel is the strongest leader in order to survive. If this woman is who you believe she is and is as powerful as you say, they could turn to her. That cannot be allowed. Braith’s death will be kept from everyone else, and if he does manage to rise again, no one else will ever have to know it occurred.”
“What if he doesn’t awaken?” she asked.
“Then we will let the others know, when Jack is here and can help to keep everyone calm. As the next oldest of the royal line, they will look to him for guidance,” Gideon replied and finished his whiskey.
Jack was currently the only living member of the line, but Melinda kept that information to herself.
“Jesus, not Braith.” Gideon set his glass down on the sidebar. “We must prepare for an attack.”
“I’ve already ordered more guards on the wall, and to have the residents of the outer town brought inside. I don’t know what to do about the border towns. Sending more of the king’s guard out there for them will only weaken our forces if they are attacked too,” Ashby said.
“We’ll send out a few to tell the border townspeople to come in, and let them know their safety is in peril, but we can’t risk many soldiers,” Gideon agreed. “We will do what Jack said and tell The Council that Braith, Jack, and the others are recruiting more soldiers as we speak,” Gideon replied.
Melinda squeezed Ashby’s hand. Exhaustion tugged at her eyelids. She felt like she could sleep for a week, but there would be no rest, not for a while. “We must wake the rest of The Council and gather them together,” she said.
“Yes,” Gideon agreed as he poured himself another whiskey. “I’ll get dressed and join you in the private solar where we hold Council meetings.”
“Very well,” Ashby said and turned her away.
“Melinda.” She turned back to find Gideon watching her. “Your brother is the strongest vampire I know. If his ancestors came back, he will too.”
She couldn’t help the hot wash of tears flooding her eyes. How badly she wanted those words to be true.
“We will defeat this woman just as we defeated Atticus,” Gideon assured her.
“You didn’t see her, Gideon. She was terrifying.”
“And from what you said, she had you greatly outnumbered, yet only one of you fell. Next time, if he is prepared for her, and with a bloodlink to fuel him, Braith will be more than a match for her.”
“You’re right,” Melinda agreed.
She thought she heard Gideon whisper, “He has to come back. He’s the only friend I have,” as she walked out the door, but she couldn’t be sure.
CHAPTER 14
Aria
After a week, Aria still couldn’t get her eyes to return to normal, but at least no one questioned her about the ever-present sunglasses she wore, or her short periods of sleep. The only time she slept was when exhaustion took over and her body gave her no other choice but to rest. Often times that happened when she was sitting in a chair, but then her chin would hit her chest and she’d jerk awake again.
She hated sleeping for any length of time as she always dreamed, and all of her dreams were of Braith and what they had once shared. Most times, she woke crying from the dreams of Braith holding her.
Either from lack of sleep, or because she so badly wanted him back, she would often think she saw him somewhere too. When she turned to look, he would be gone and she would once again be left with her emptiness. Sometimes, she would smell him and the scent would be so vivid she could almost believe he was there. Then the smell would fade away to be replaced with whatever surrounded her.
Madness threatened to consume her in those moments when reality became almost too much to bear. It took a concentrated effort for her to wrap her mind around her mission to destroy Sabine.
Now, she stood within another one of the safe houses, talking with the humans who had been brought in to hear what was going on and what they should prepare for. This was the fourth safe house they’d been to, the next one would be the last one, and the one closest to the palace. Those gathered within listened raptly as she outlined the new threat they faced. Many of the faces paled, but all of them assumed a resolute expression. They would fight; there had never been any doubt in Aria’s mind about it.
“Do you plan for all of us to go to the palace now?” a man inquired.
“No,” Aria replied. “Weapons must be gathered or forged first.”