They all took a step back when red eyes blazed at them from the darkness of the tunnel before Braith emerged from the shadows once more. “Now,” he growled at them.
Jack took hold of Hannah’s hand and, keeping her securely behind him, he walked toward the tunnel. A tremor went through her and into him when they slipped passed Braith. Maeve stood by the gate, her arms folded over her chest while she watched them.
“I really hope Aria is still alive,” Maeve whispered to Max when he bent to retrieve the key.
“We all do,” he replied and unlocked the gate.
CHAPTER 31
Braith
The icy rain beating against Braith’s skin did nothing to cool the wrath and terror clawing at his chest. Dead. He’d been dead for nearly two weeks. Aria had been out here, alone, in danger.
She is alive.
He kept telling himself this, but with the emptiness stretching out before him and the hole the breaking of their bond had created in him, he couldn’t quite believe it. She felt dead. He felt dead. His fingernails tore into the palms of his hands. Blood dripped from the wounds, but he found himself clenching tighter and tighter, regardless of the pain. He’d thought the pain would help to ground him, help him to feel alive in some small way again, it didn’t.
Would he become his father? At one time, he’d have said no, without a doubt, that could never happen. Now madness slithered through his mind, creeping deeper and deeper until all he craved was sinking his fangs into someone and tearing them to shreds. He’d thought he understood what had caused his father to snap and become the man he had. He’d believed he’d understood it, but had known it could never be him.
No, now he understood. Now, he felt the complete disconnect of his soul from his body. For the first time in his life, he completely comprehended what his father had gone through and why he became the way he did. He would not become like his father, he couldn’t, but right now the temptation was nearly as tantalizing to him as Aria.
Blood and death, he wanted it so badly he could taste it. He’d once told Aria he’d go on without her, he would rule and he would make sure her loved ones were safe. He intended to uphold those words to her the best he could, but how long that would be or how well, he had no way of knowing. He could barely think straight right now; he couldn’t think about what years of this emptiness would do to him.
Nor could he entirely process all of the changes he felt in his body now.
He could see. Somehow, while he’d been dead, he’d healed. He had no idea what to make of that, or the increased power he felt flowing through his veins. It felt as if something deep inside of him had been tapped, as if some well of strength had been loosed when the arrow had sliced through his heart, and now it would never be stemmed again.
His gaze slid to Jack at his side as he stood protectively in front of Hannah. He should feel bad for what he’d done to his brother, for what he’d done to Daniel. He felt nothing beyond this yawning desolation and impending insanity.
Brushing back the wet hair and rain streaming down his face, he turned to look at Daniel, Max, and Timber. He had no idea who the girl was, but the three of them kept her between them.
“Aria, is she… how was she when you last saw her?” He nearly had to shout to be heard over the storm.
Did she feel this hollow and this looming insanity? Had she been suffering through this clawing sensation in his chest for almost two weeks? The idea caused fresh fury to swell through him and the four humans came to an abrupt halt. Braith stopped, his head bowing and his shoulders heaving as he tried to maintain control.
“She is… coping,” Daniel replied hesitantly.
More blood spilled from his palms as he heard the doubt in Daniel’s words. Aria was in pain. He’d caused that pain; he’d left her. He’d been dead! And now very much alive again and stronger, but she could be dead. She could have been killed since they’d last seen her. He shook his head to clear it of the disconcerting thoughts filling his head.
Keep it together until you know for sure.
When he’d first woken, he couldn’t remember anything. He’d felt empty; all he’d wanted was Aria, and she wasn’t there. His passing had fractured their link. Now, as he struggled to piece together what had occurred, more and more of the events leading up to his death started to come back to him.
“And the woman who attacked us, where is she?” he demanded.
“We have confirmed that her name is Sabine,” Max said. “And we believe she is your grandmother. Apparently, the first born in your line make it a habit to come back from the dead even if you’re pierced through the heart.” His gaze ran pointedly over Braith’s healed flesh before landing on where his heart would be located in his chest. “Before we left the others, Sabine was planning to make a move against the palace.”
“And Aria is near the palace?”