“You know about that?” he asked.
“I know where the safe houses are, so of course I know about that. It’s all anyone can talk about. That and the growing rumors of humans vanishing and vampires being destroyed in nearby towns.”
“And are you planning to fight?”
“I’m always planning to fight,” she replied. “It is the only way to survive.”
“For a while it wasn’t.”
“Maybe not for you, but in these woods, we’ve always known we would have to return to what we once were.”
“No,” Max said firmly. “If we win this, there will never be the need to return to fighting. We will know freedom.”
“Until the next threat.”
“There will be no more.”
“How can you be so certain?” she inquired.
“I have to be.”
“How do you have so much faith after what you’ve been through?”
“Because I have faith in Braith and Aria to do what must be done.”
“You know them so well then?”
“Yes.”
She sighed as she drew her knees against her chest. “I hope you’re right.”
“I know I am. How long were you a blood slave?”
“I’d been bought two weeks before the last war,” she replied. “I was freed when the mad king was killed. You?”
“About a month.”
Her tiny fingers played with the stitching on the bottom of her pants. “I’ll die before I ever go through something like that again, and I’ll do anything to stop it from becoming a common practice once more.”
“That is the way I feel. It is the way many feel, even those who were never enslaved.”
She didn’t speak again as the sun crept lower in the sky and neither did he. Daniel rose and walked toward them with his bow in hand. Kneeling beside Max, he lowered his bow to the ground and rested his hand on it. “I think we should go at nightfall,” he said.
“What if they’re waiting for us out there?” Maeve asked. “They know we have to come out at some point.”
“They only know of you for certain. They won’t stick around for one human,” Daniel replied.
“You think they won’t you mean.”
“We have no choice,” Daniel said. “We can’t stay here anymore.”
“We can go another day without water. They’ll be more likely to move away by then.”
“We have to go,” Max said. “Staying here isn’t an option for us, but we can go back through the cave. They’ll never have to know where you are and we’ll lead them away from you, if they’re still out there.”
She gave him a scathing look. “I’m not going to stay hidden in the shadows while others risk their lives.”
“Well then, be prepared to climb through those roots,” Daniel replied. “I’m guessing we’re at least two hundred yards from the entrance to the cave. If they are still waiting around, they’ll be closer to the cave entrance than us.”
“You’re right. We are about two hundred yards from the entrance,” Maeve confirmed.
“We’ll leave in an hour, before the moon can rise too high.” Daniel turned and walked back across to Timber.
“I don’t know what you’re doing, but I’m coming with you,” Maeve said.
Max was surprised to realize he wanted her to come along. He wanted to know where she was and help keep her safe, but no one else could know where Braith was, or what condition he was in. “You can’t.”
“I can do anything I choose to do.” Her gaze slid over to Daniel before coming back to him. “I can help.”
“You can’t help with this. If you follow us, then know you’ll be staying with me until I am able to leave, and I have no idea how long that could be. You will essentially be a prisoner again. None of us will allow you to be free until we’re certain it won’t endanger anyone else. Go back to your people, Maeve, and prepare to go to war again.”
“I have no people anymore. My family is dead. They either died as blood slaves or were killed during the war. I have no one, and I’m fine with that. It makes things easier. I’m prepared for a new war, but I think I can be of more help to you.”
A pang of sympathy stabbed at him. He had no blood family of his own anymore either, but Daniel, William, and Aria had always been there for him, and their father, David, had taken care of him. They had all become his family. Maeve said she was fine with having no one, but she wouldn’t be trying to come with them if she really was. She put on a brave front, but he sensed her fear and vulnerability beneath it.
He hated the idea of turning her away, but countless lives depended on them now. “You can’t,” he said. A flinch so small he nearly missed it was the only indication his words had stung her. “I’m sorry.”
She tossed her hair over her shoulder. “It doesn’t matter,” she replied flippantly, but she wouldn’t meet his gaze again.
“Where will you go?” he asked.