The vision that had once been taken from him had become sharper during the time when he had been dead. His eyes were more than making up for the time they hadn’t seen anything by picking out every minute detail within the woods. Right down to the vamp nearly buried in mud behind the oak tree to his right.
“Be prepared,” he said to them as the first one moved to the edge of the clearing. The tip of an arrowhead swung toward them. “Not on our side,” he hissed.
Malicious joy filled him as he realized he would get a chance to unleash the savagery building within him.
The vampire didn’t have a chance to fire the arrow before Braith swooped down on him like a hawk on its prey. Braith yanked the vampire out from behind the tree and had his heart in his hand before he even realized he’d covered the distance between them with such rapid speed.
A grim smile spread across his mouth as the coppery tang of blood filled his nose and for a second the clawing sensation in his chest eased. As he turned to take on the next vampire stalking them, death became all he craved.
***
Jack
Braith moved so fast through the woods that he became a blur as he uncovered and slaughtered vampires Jack hadn’t even known were there. Some of the vamps turned to flee from him, but they were nowhere near fast enough to escape the wrath descending on them.
Jack swallowed as his hand tightened on the stake he’d pulled free, but he realized he wouldn’t be using it. He wouldn’t get the chance to. Beside him, Daniel lowered his bow and returned his arrow to his quiver.
As Braith disappeared behind a tree, a startled yelp abruptly cut off and then a head came rolling out to rest against Max’s feet. Max took a step away from the head, but he didn’t truly seem to see it as his gaze remained riveted on the macabre scene unfolding before them.
In all of his many years, Jack had never seen anything like the savagery Braith unleashed. He was like a ghost, disappearing in and out of the trees. Despite the pounding rain washing away the smells of the forest, the scent of blood permeated the air. The screams of the dying were briefly heard over the howling wind and the clacking of the tree branches.
Beside him, Hannah began to shake and she moved closer to press her body against his. “What have we done, Jack?” she whispered. “What did we help to unleash? Who did we unleash on this world?”
“It’s Braith,” he said.
“Is it?” Daniel inquired.
He’d been in many fights with Daniel over the years, but never had he seen the stark terror on his friend’s face that was there now. He had no idea how to answer that question. He wanted to insist it was his brother, that beneath the increased power, speed, and healing ability it was still Braith with them, but was it?
Braith had always been ruthless when he needed to be and stronger than most other vampires. He’d seen Braith kill without remorse before, but he’d never seen the eager gleam in his brother’s eyes that had been there before Braith had gone after his prey. And he knew that Braith had thought of these vampires as nothing more than prey before he’d attacked.
Still, he wasn’t ready to give up on his brother. He wouldn’t give up on him.
“Yes, it’s Braith,” he said.
“But is it the Braith we all knew, or is it someone else entirely?” Max asked and brushed back the hair sticking wetly to his forehead.
“He’s different.” Jack couldn’t deny it. They had eyes and ears too; they could see him and hear the screams of those falling within the woods.
“He’s terrifying,” Hannah whispered. “How will any of us ever stop him if he loses himself to the blood and to the killing?”
“Aria will stabilize him. He just woke from the dead, their link was severed by his death, and he has grown vastly stronger in a short period of time. He’s understandably out of sorts right now, but she will help him to regain control.”
Jack had to believe that as another scream abruptly cut off. When he’d agreed to help protect Braith, he’d done it because he thought it would be the best thing for all of them. Now, he was beginning to fear that it may have been the worst thing.
Braith said he wouldn’t become like Atticus, but what if there was no help for it? What if it became inevitable the minute the bloodlink was severed or the second he rose from the dead again? What if their keeping him alive had sentenced Braith to this uncontrollable need for death?
Jack could feel Daniel’s gaze boring into him, but he couldn’t tear his attention away from the woods as Braith emerged from between the trees. He didn’t appear the least bit fazed or worn down from having just slaughtered a dozen or so vampires as he strode purposely toward them.
Braith’s reddened eyes were stark against the blood coating his face and chest. The rain washed the blood from his hair and down his cheeks in red rivulets. The torrential downpour should have cleaned the blood quickly from him; instead there was so much of it that it continued to streak over his body.