Braith closed the door behind him as he stepped from the room and into the main area once more. There were far less humans in here now; in fact, the only ones remaining were Daniel, Timber, Max, and the girl.
He didn’t know who she was, but he may have to kill her, he realized as he studied her pale face. The knowledge of him being able to rise from the dead was best kept under wraps. There was no way of knowing how others would react to it, how many would try to kill him because of it, or worse, how many would go after his and Aria’s child while they were still young and vulnerable.
They all knew Atticus had come back, but many believed Atticus hadn’t actually been dead when they’d placed him in the ground.
Jack lifted his head from Hannah’s hair as she slept against his chest. Tempest sat up in William’s lap, her brown eyes following his every move when he walked over to the table to stare down at the crude drawing on it. Xavier watched him with his arms folded over his chest and the light of the lantern behind his shoulder flickering over him.
“I am sorry about your throat and what happened in the cave,” Braith said to Daniel as he lifted his gaze from the table. “I didn’t mean to hurt you, or you,” he said to Jack.
“Nothing I couldn’t handle,” Jack replied.
“The bruises will fade,” Daniel said.
“Aria informed me of everything that has been going on here,” he said.
“Hopefully the storm breaks soon,” William said. “It will slow down the runners we send to gather the troops and we have to send them soon. We can’t take the risk of the palace walls being breached and those within being unable to protect themselves from Sabine.”
There had been many times Braith had envisioned throttling William over the past couple of years, but staring at him now, he knew William was a big part of the reason Aria still lived. He could never again imagine thrashing his brother-in-law.
“We’ll send the runners tomorrow and make our move against her to end this soon.” Braith glanced around the mostly empty room. “Where has everyone gone?”
“There are fifteen rooms down here. The humans spilt off into them, and some have gone to keep watch in the woods. Aria has rarely slept in the room you were just in, but they continue to let her have it to herself,” William replied.
“Has she slept at all?” Braith asked.
“Here and there, but not much.”
Braith’s teeth ground together as he contemplated what he would do to Sabine once he got his hands on her. He would thoroughly enjoy destroying the woman for what she’d put them all through.
Tilting his bead back, he gazed at the beams running across the ceiling. “Ingenious place this is,” he commented.
“Daniel designed it years ago,” William said. “We never had the chance to implement these safe houses before the war, but the rebels did after the war was over. Good thing they did too.”
“Why did they build them?”
“There may have been peace, but for a people who have been abused and mistreated by vampires for a hundred years, distrust isn’t easily buried. They felt they were better safe than sorry, and if Sabine wins, they’ll have been right.”
“She won’t win,” Braith said. He focused on the girl between Daniel and Max. “What do we do with you?” he inquired, and she lifted her chin.
“Nothing,” she replied. “Your secrets are my secrets.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes.”
Braith continued to gaze at her as Max rose to his feet. “I’ll keep an eye on Maeve, but I do believe we can trust her.”
“What makes you say that?” Braith asked.
“She hasn’t told anyone what she’s seen and heard yet, and it’s not like she couldn’t blurt it out before any of us could stop her.”
“They’d all think I was crazy anyway,” she said. “Who would believe me?”
“There are those who would,” Braith replied.
“Perhaps, but you have all worked to give us freedom. Why would I betray that? I’m a rebel.”
“Hmm,” Braith murmured. “We shall see.”
“You will see.”
He wanted to believe her. He admired her spirit, but he’d break her neck at the first sign she might betray them. Maeve held his gaze unwaveringly, refusing to back down at the same time she tried to convey she spoke the truth.
Braith turned from her. Only time would tell with her, and for now, he intended to trust Max. Max had helped to keep both him and Aria safe; he’d more than earned that trust. “Aria told me about what happened with Sabine’s stable man,” he said to Max and Xavier.
“The man was very stubborn,” Xavier replied, and Max paled.
So it was bad then. Braith rested his fingertips on the table as he rubbed his neck with his other hand. They’d done what was necessary; he just wished Aria hadn’t been a part of it. “It needed to be done,” he said.
“It did,” Xavier agreed.
The others all exchanged looks and he got the impression they didn’t know the extent of what had happened. Even with everything Aria had revealed to him, he wasn’t sure he knew the full extent of it.
“You appear more in control,” Jack said quietly.