“We already have many weapons stored away, Your Highness,” a woman said to her.
“Please just call me Aria,” she said for what felt like the thousandth time. “I am simply Aria.” Now. But she always kept that word to herself. “We also need time to recruit more fighters for our cause, and to learn more about this woman and her troops. We have to be careful about gathering so many in one place right now. We can’t take the risk of our forces being slaughtered because we don’t fully know what we’re up against yet.”
They nodded enthusiastically as they looked around the room at each other. Aria pulled on the collar of her shirt as sweat slid down her back. Despite the cool dirt pressing against the walls, the heat of so many bodies within made it nearly unbearable to stand in here. Not to mention all of those annoyingly alluring heartbeats and the blood pulsing through their little blue veins.
Saliva rushed into her mouth, her fangs tingled with the need to sink them into someone and ease this turmoil inside her. Blood, it would center her, it would make her forget if only for a minute everything her world had become.
Atticus killed, and when he did, it eased the agony.
She craved a second of peace from her reality, and often wondered how long she could hold out for. How long could she keep going when the only thing driving her was death and vengeance?
For as long as it takes! I will not harm another!
Before, she’d only fed from Braith. Now she fed from animals, but the lure of human blood was becoming more and more enticing with each passing day.
Though it was tempting, she couldn’t retreat further into the shadows of the room in order to put some distance between her and the heartbeats calling out to her. She had to be strong, had to present an impeccable fa?ade of leadership and stability no matter how volatile she felt.
William glanced over at her as she rubbed her forehead. She was keeping it together, but she feared her brother sensed her unraveling. Of course he did. She would sense it in him as well, even if he acted as if nothing was wrong.
“How will we know when it is time to gather and move?” another man inquired.
“We will be sending runners out to the safe houses when it is time to move,” William answered. “Most likely it will be in seven days.”
“Plenty of time for us to recruit more to the fight,” a woman said and everyone in the room gave a brisk, decisive nod.
“I know of some vampires we can bring in,” a man near the back of the room declared. “Ones who can be trusted.”
“I don’t expect you to bring them here, but I would like to speak with them,” Aria said. “Soon.”
The rebels at the other safe houses had been willing to bring vampires in too, but none had offered to divulge their newest locations. Aria didn’t blame them for keeping the safe houses a secret. If she hadn’t once been human, the daughter of the fallen rebel leader and the sister of their representative on The Council, they most likely wouldn’t have revealed the locations to her either. The title of queen didn’t matter to these humans; it hadn’t mattered to her either.
“I will get them and bring them to the waterfall in an hour,” the man replied.
“We can bring you there,” a young woman at the front offered.
“Thank you,” Aria replied and the man left the room.
“What if something happens before the week is over? If this woman attacks the palace or the nearby towns?” a man at the back of the room asked.
“There is nothing we can do about that,” Aria replied. “The palace will be able to fend off any attackers for a time, and I’m sure the towns closest to it have either been evacuated or informed of the risk to them.”
“If this woman has more vampires on her side, how will we ever be able to defeat them?” the woman before her inquired.
Don’t look at her neck. Don’t look at her neck.
“The vampires may be stronger than humans,” Aria said as her fingers dug into her palms. “But we rebels survived in these woods for a century. We are lethal, fast, and best of all, we know these woods better than they do. She, and many of the vampires following her, underestimate humans, and we’re going to show them how wrong they are to do so.”
An excited murmur ran through the crowd. “Damn right we will,” the woman beside her said.
Despite her every intention not to look, Aria’s gaze fell to the woman’s neck. Thump. Thump. Thump. Every beat of the woman’s heart pulsed within her vein.
She had to get out of this place, soon.
“We will gather many others,” another man said, “and be ready to go within a week. The peace will be protected.”
“Thank you,” Aria said.