CHAPTER 7
“Lauren?” The small blond rose swiftly to her feet, a bright smile lighting her pretty features.
“Yes your highness?” she asked softly.
He leaned against the doorway, studying the girl as he fought against the anger surging through him. Other than the few times she had arrived to tend to Arianna, he had seen her only briefly before. He may have fed off of her in the past, he did not recall doing so, but her reaction to Arianna’s presence here led him to believe that he had and that she had thought far more of it than he had realized. “I’d like to know why you think you have the right to lay your hands on my blood slave, for anything other than to help her in the way that I told you to?”
She looked puzzled, confused as she frowned at him, but Braith had not missed the flash of fear that darted swiftly through her eyes. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“Don’t play with me,” he growled, swiftly losing patience with the girl. “I will not hesitate to rip your throat out.” Her eyes widened in true fear, her mouth parted slightly. “Now tell me, why did you feel you had the right to hurt her?”
Her mouth opened and closed for a moment, she did not know how to respond to his question. “Your highness, I uh… I uh…”
“Have we encountered each other before you were summoned here?”
The color drained from her already pale face, he could see the tears that bloomed in her eyes just as her lower lip began to tremble. Her reaction gave him the answer to his question. He did not feel bad about the fact that the encounter obviously had meant more to her than it had to him. What he did feel bad about was the fact that Arianna had suffered abuse because of his forgetfulness, and extreme lack of caring about the girl before him.
Her head fell back, her eyes widened as he moved to stand before her. Fear radiated from her, but beneath it all he could sense her hurt. “And you felt that gave you the right to treat my property poorly?” he grated.
A single tear slid down her face, her lip began to tremble even more. He was indifferent to her obvious distress, her race meant little to him, and she meant even less. “I am sorry.”
“Yes, you are. You are not to return here.” He grabbed hold of her chin, drawing her attention sharply back to him as her gaze darted to the doorway behind him. He knew that Arianna had entered the room; her presence caused it to brighten considerably. “Don’t look at her,” he growled. Lauren’s eyes widened, for the first time terror began to radiate from her as she began to shake within his grasp. “You are to leave here and never return, if you step foot in this palace again your life is forfeit.”
The girl gasped, the color drained from her face. Being barred from the palace was a social punishment that would haunt her for the rest of her life. Not only that, but she had just lost the wages and prestige that this job had awarded her. “Do you understand me?” She managed a small nod, batting back the tears that swarmed her eyes. He released her, disgusted by the feel of her skin beneath his hand. “Get out.”
The girl scurried away, shooting only a brief glance at Arianna before she fled the room. He turned toward Arianna, surprised by the fierce frown marring her features, and the dark anger simmering in her eyes. “You didn’t have to be so mean to her.”
His eyebrows shot up as he stared at her over top of his glasses. “Are you defending the girl?” he inquired, trying to keep the disbelief from his voice.
Arianna tilted her head slightly. The light streaming through the windows highlighted the deep red of it. She was still wearing the nightgown, but in the daylight he could see through some areas of it. Something new began to curdle through him, rising up out of the hopeless pit that had been his soul for so long. He did not know what was going on with this strange girl, why she affected him like she did, but for the first time he admitted to himself that whatever she did to him was deep, profound, and something that he had never experienced before.
He knew that she was special, that she always would be to him, but for the first time he admitted that he was not going to want to part with her. He had been keeping her here, under the delusional assumption that he would one day trade her off. He realized now that he never would. He may not be using her in the way that a blood slave was supposed to be used, but he wasn’t ever going to allow someone else to use her in that way either.
What it all meant, he didn’t know. But for now, he simply knew that he wasn’t going to let her go and he wasn’t going to let anyone else near her, especially someone that might hurt her.
“I’m not defending her,” she said softly. “But you didn’t have to be so mean to her. You were the one that forgot about her and brought her here to take care of what she mistook as her replacement. That’s an awful thing, you hurt her.”
His eyes narrowed upon the frail slip of a girl. Was she really scolding him? Was she really questioning his way of life, and the things he did? She was a child for crying out loud, a human child. His hands fisted at his side, he fought the urge to go to her, to shake some fear into her because he was beginning to realize that she did not have a healthy enough dose of fear for him.
“Am I supposed to care?” he grated.
She blinked in surprise, her crystalline blue eyes widened in disbelief. Then, she shook her head, her eyes cleared and her chin jutted slightly. Her hands folded demurely before her, but he was beginning to realize that it was just an act. There was nothing demure or weak about this girl, she may play it off well, but there were many layers beneath her docile exterior. “I suppose not,” she said softly, even her voice had taken on that decorous tone.
“She also hurt you.”
Arianna shifted slightly; though she remained outwardly meek he sensed the raw anger that spiked through her. “That doesn’t make what you just did right. You took her job and her pride away from her. Two wrongs don’t make a right, or at least that’s what my dad always told my brother’s and I.”
Despite his frustration with her, and his growing urge to shake her, his interest was piqued by her words. It was the most she had talked about her family since arriving. “How many brothers?”
She shrugged absently, her fingers nervously played with the sleeves of her nightgown. Her eyes were sad, distant as her thoughts turned toward her family. It was the first time she hadn’t looked angry or frustrated with him this morning. He found her preferred the anger to the sorrow that engulfed her. “Two. Anyway you did not have to frighten her. She was simply jealous because she thought that I was a threat to her, when it came to you.”
“And why would she think that?”
Arianna shrugged again, sighing softly as she folded her arms over her chest. He did not miss the slight wince of pain the action caused her. “I don’t know. She was wrong of course; I mean I am most certainly not a threat to her, or anyone else. Especially when you were feeding from her…”
“I was what?” he interrupted her rush of words sharply.
Arianna’s blue eyes widened slightly, she began to fiddle with her nightgown sleeves again. “Feeding from her.”
“I don’t know where you got your information, but it is wrong.”
“Oh,” she said softly, her forehead furrowing slightly. “Oh, I see. I thought…” her voice trailed off, she shook her head slightly. “I must have misunderstood her, or you. I simply assumed that though you may have forgotten about her, that the wounds on her were from you.”
“You think I would forget her that quickly.” She shrugged softly, but there was a hint of remorse in the set of her shoulders. “You really think that little of me?”
Her mouth parted, she bit hard on her bottom lip as she watched him with new interest. “I don’t know what to make of you,” she admitted honestly. “I really don’t. This whole situation…” She held her hands out before her, her gaze darted over the room before turning back to him. “I don’t know what to make of any of it. It’s scary and it’s disconcerting, and I am so far out of my league here that I have no idea what is going on. I don’t know if you’re playing with me while plotting my death, I don’t know what the hell is going on here. I’ve heard the stories and I’ve seen the damage your kind can do. I don’t know how to play these games; I don’t understand the anger and resentment that festers here! How the hell am I supposed to know what to think or what to do?”
Her voice was ragged and filled with raw emotion by the time she stopped speaking. Her shoulders were heaving, her eyes wide and earnest. For the first time her fa?ade completely crumbled and he was able to see the terrified, angry girl beneath the timid exterior. She took a ragged breath; her shoulders bowed again as she folded her hands before her once more, but they both knew that she could not un-ring that bell.
For the first time he began to understand how she truly felt. She had kept so much of it hidden from him, but in that one brief moment she had laid it all bare. He started to see her in a new light, and though he had known something more lie beneath her prim exterior, he began to truly see the pride and heart of this trapped, cornered girl. He felt the stirrings of a new emotion and was surprised to realize that it was sympathy, something that he had never felt before, and had never thought to experience.
“Well, anyway, she thought more of what transpired between you,” she finished softly.
Braith clenched his fists, struggling against the strange feelings stirring within him, feelings that would only make him weak. Feelings that he could not allow himself to experience. “I don’t care.” The words were sharper than he had intended, but he didn’t like the thought that the girl had even mentioned such a thing to Arianna, and he didn’t like the fact that it even bothered him.
It also served to remind him of the fact that he was hungry. There were a few different women that he would often visit when the need came upon him, but he found that the idea of feeding from them wasn’t appealing at the moment. Especially not when he had Arianna standing across from him looking unbelievably innocent and striking, and smelling deliciously wonderful.
His veins thrummed with hunger, his hands fisted at his sides. He recalled her words about having to take anything from her by force, he wondered if she still felt the same, or if maybe, just maybe, she might allow him to feed from her. He didn’t think that was very likely, not when she still looked at him with fear and distrust most of the time. And not when she believed that he tossed women, and especially humans, aside like they were nothing. Though, if he were to be honest with himself, he usually did.
He had tried to be as gentle with her as possible, but after the events of today he realized it was going to take a lot to earn her trust if he wanted it. And he was beginning to understand that he just might want it. He wanted her trust even more than he wanted the blood he could hear thrumming through her veins, and smell in the suddenly stifling air of the room. If he was going to get that blood, then he was going to have to get her trust.
It was strange to realize this; he was used to getting what he wanted, whenever he wanted it. He was used to women throwing themselves at him, not ones constantly challenging and refuting him. And she wasn’t even quite a woman, not yet anyway. She was young, and she had known so little in her short life. Yet she was strong willed, vibrant, and far more willful and alluring than any woman he had ever known.
“How old are you Arianna?”
She was startled for a moment and then her mouth curved into a soft smile. “Far younger than you, I’m sure. But I’m seventeen.” Though he had thought her older, he was not surprised by the tender age. “How old are you?”
“Far far older. Nine hundred and fifty two.”
Her eyes widened considerably. Her mouth parted slightly. “Wow.”
He managed a wan smile. “Yes, wow. I am the oldest of my siblings.”
Curiosity lit her features. “How many siblings do you have?”
“Two brothers and two sisters. This is not common knowledge in your world?”
She shook her head. “There is little known about the royal family. It is mostly just rumors and guessing. We don’t give much thought to the people that have taken so much from us, other than trying to survive from day to day.”
“I see.”
“Do you?”
She met his gaze head on, a trait that he admired even though her stubbornness and inability to look past what he was were beginning to aggravate the hell out of him. He decided to let it go for now, to continue to bicker with her would get neither of them anywhere, other than frustrated.
“Come here; let me take a look at your ribs.”
She sighed softly, and for a moment he thought she was going to defy him, but instead she came slowly toward him. She stopped before him, her hands folding in front of her. He examined her carefully, admiring the fact that she did not flinch when he pressed against her wounded ribs. “They should be good in a few weeks.”
“I know.”
His hands lingered against her sides, holding her lightly for a moment. If he gave her some of his blood she would heal quicker, but he knew that she would not take it, and though he was drawn to her more than anyone else he had ever met, he wasn’t ready to create the bond between them that sharing his blood would produce. He had never shared his blood with anyone before, never mind a human.
Her eyes came slowly toward him, bright in the light of the room. Her dark eyebrows drew sharply together as she studied him for a moment. He felt an overwhelming urge to kiss her, to know what she would feel like against him, what she would taste like.
Before he knew what he was doing, he moved slowly toward her, pressing his mouth lightly against hers. She stiffened beneath him, her heart lurched violently, and he could hear the rapid pace of her pulse as it raced through her veins. Excitement tore though him, hunger gripped him tight as the delicious scent of her blood assailed him. He struggled to keep control of himself, struggled to keep his teeth from elongating as the tantalizing desire to bite into her, and savor her, ripped through him. He would frighten her if such a thing happened though, and that was not what he was looking to do at the moment.
He pulled slightly away from her, waiting for her to shove him away, to tell him to stop, or to leave her alone. She did none of those things as she stared up at him in wide eyed wonder. She blinked rapidly for a moment, her head tilted slightly as she seemed to be trying to decide what exactly it was that he intended. And as long as she did not tell him to stop, he knew exactly what it was that he wanted from her.
He searched her crystalline sapphire eyes before bending down and kissing her again. Her surprise was palpable, he could sense some fear underneath it all as she remained stiff against him for a moment more. He believed that fear was more from the unknowing of what he wanted, than from the actual kiss or from him. Then, to his surprise and delight, her hard mouth yielded slightly and he could feel the heat of her breath against his mouth. He pulled her closer to him, careful not to scare her as he slowly deepened the kiss.
She was one of the most wonderful things he had ever tasted. She was sweet and giving, her body warm against his as she succumbed even more, pressing closer to him. He had not expected this from her, he had expected some resistance, a fight even, but there was none of that. In fact, she was far more yielding than he had ever imagined she would be, and she felt far better than he had ever thought she would. It felt right to hold her, to touch her. His hand entwined in her loose hair, it was as soft as silk beneath his fingers.
Her hands curled around his forearms, she gasped softly as he ran his tongue along her lips. He wanted to lift her up, to carry her from this room, but he knew he could not move too fast. And her ribs. He had to remember her ribs. He had to remember that she was injured, even as his control began to swiftly unravel.
He pulled away, before he couldn’t. Pulled away before he lost complete control and either hurt her, or rushed her into something that she was not ready for. She was breathing heavily, her eyes wide with wonder as he rested his forehead against hers. He was trembling, nearly shaking with the effort that it was taking for him not to touch her again, not to kiss her again.
Not to drain the wonderfully tempting blood from her.
“I didn’t expect that,” she said softly, her voice tremulous, her grip on his arms fierce.
“Neither did I.”
He brushed the hair lightly back from her face, cradling her cheeks gently within his grasp. What was this girl to him? Why did she affect him so? What the hell was going on here? The questions raced rapidly through his mind, but he couldn’t answer any of them. There were no answers from him. He could not deny that she was special, that he was supposed to have found her, because he knew both of those things to be true.
He was, however, beginning to doubt that he could keep her safe in this world, or even from himself. He knew that he could not keep her happy, she did not belong here. This was not her place, this was not her world, and she would never be safe here. If anyone even suspected that he might have feelings for her, they would kill her. Blood slaves were used, drained, tortured, and tossed away. They were not treasured, they were not taken care of, and they most certainly were not kept alive for extended periods of time.
What the hell was he going to do with her?
She peered questioningly up at him, her fear and hesitance evident. He forced himself to become expressionless; she had obviously seen something that troubled her on his face. “Prince?”
“Braith.”
She blinked at him, her forehead furrowing in confusion. “Excuse me?” she asked in surprise.
“Braith, my name is Braith. You never say it. I want you to use it.”
Her mouth quirked in a small smile, her eyes lit with amusement. “Forgive me your majesty; I am not used to being around royalty.”
Aggravation spurted through him at her words, until he realized that she was teasing him. He didn’t think he had ever been teased before, he wasn’t entirely certain that he liked it, but it seemed to make her happy. And he had to admit that he did enjoy seeing her happy. “I see. I would prefer if you said my name though,” he told her abruptly.
His brisk attitude did not seem to bother her as she shrugged her shoulders. The lack of fear she showed to him was truly amazing, he had never experienced it before. Even other royal vampires were fearful and weary around him. “Braith, why do you always wear those dark glasses?”
His hand darted up to the dark frames. For the most part he didn’t even remember that he was wearing them, they were like another extension of his body. He shrugged, unsure of how to respond, unsure how much he really wanted to reveal to her right now. This situation was strange enough without heaping even more strange onto it.
Thankfully he was saved from responding by a soft knock on the door. He released Arianna and took a small step away before inviting whoever it was to enter. The small brunette he remembered seeing before stepped slowly into the room. Braith bristled, his shoulders straightened as he prepared to take this girl on to.
Arianna rested her hand gently on his arm. He glanced at her, surprised by the calming affect such a simple gesture had upon him. “Hi Maggie,” she said softly, offering a small smile for the obviously frightened girl.
Maggie nodded at her, but her gaze lingered over Arianna’s hand on his arm. Braith pulled slowly away from Arianna, not wanting to hurt her feelings, but knowing that they had to play it safe. He had to be careful with her. “I was told to come up,” she said softly.
“Yes,” Braith responded coldly. “Your friend has been dismissed. Permanently.” The girls brown eyes widened as the implications of those words sank in. “The same will happen to you if you step out of line in anyway. You will take care with her ribs.”
The girl looked slightly stunned, and more than a little confused. “Of course, yes your highness, of course I will,” she stammered out.
“Good.”
Braith moved swiftly past the woman. Grabbing hold of his cane, he left the room with Keegan trailing behind.
***
Aria popped the grape into her mouth, chewing the sweet fruit eagerly as she picked at the tray of food. She was starving from not having eaten yesterday. She heaped more fruits onto her plate, then some breads and meat. There was so much, and it all looked so good that she didn’t know where to start. She popped a handful of grapes into her mouth as she made her way to the window seat. She had not read in over a week, she’d missed it and was eager to continue with the story, but she wanted to wait for Braith to come back. She was afraid that she would miss something, or would get something confused whenever she read on her own. Though, he said that she was making good progress, and was doing well on her own.
Truth be told though, she simply enjoyed curling up next to him and listening to the deep rumble of his voice as he slowly read with her. She stared out the window, slowly rolling the fruit around in her mouth as she thought over the implications of that admission. What the hell was the matter with her? Had becoming a blood slave caused her to completely lose her mind?
Was she actually beginning to have feelings for a monster? Feelings for one of the creatures that she had hated, and fought against her entire life? That was crazy, it was simply insane. It could not be possible, it really couldn’t.
But she truly believed that she was, and she didn’t understand any of it. She had thought that he had turned against her. That he had purposely set Lauren on her in punishment, but he hadn’t. And not only had he not known that Lauren was hurting her, but once he had found out about it he had been attentive, caring, protective of her and worried about her safety.
And then he had kissed her.
And that damn kiss had almost been her undoing. She thought back to the kiss she had shared with Max, it had been sweet and kind and it had left her feeling safe and warm. Braith’s kiss hadn’t left her feeling any of those things. It had left her shaken, torn, bewildered, on fire, and longing for more. Longing for so much more. She wanted him to hold her, and kiss her, and touch her forever. Yet it wasn’t possible, none of it would ever be possible.
She was a blood slave; she was supposed to die eventually. What was going to happen to her?
She chewed on a piece of cheese as she watched the light play over the gardens. Though she didn’t think he was, she knew there was still a possibility that he could be playing with her. That he was toying with her emotions only to make her emotional breakdown even more pleasurable in the end. But if that kiss was a sign of anything, she thought it was definitely a sign that he would not purposely be cruel or mean to her.
She just didn’t know exactly what he was going to be to her. She was far from certain of anything these days. A few weeks ago she would have been terrified by this realization; she was surprised that she was not terrified now. And she felt that it was because of him. It was hard to be terrified when he was there, looking out for her, taking care of her, protecting her.
Aria frowned as she realized that she had never really been sheltered before. Her family loved her, and had always tried to keep her safe, but she had been on her own far more often than she had been under their wing since the time she was a young child. In her life, children could not be sheltered, not once they were old enough to start helping out. Every hand was needed in order to try and feed the many hungry mouths, and to help keep everyone safe.
Hunger, it was a foreign concept to her at the moment, as she munched on some more cheese and fruit. But it was not a concept that was foreign to her family, to her friends right now. Guilt tugged at her, for a moment she could not swallow the food as it stuck in her throat. She was daydreaming about something that could never happen, a life she could never have, and her family and friends were still struggling, still fighting for their lives every moment of every hard day.
Arianna managed to choke down the food, but she dropped her half full plate back on the tray. Her appetite was gone now anyway. Though she had been given this brief moment, this reprieve from the hunger, death, and struggle that had constituted most moments of her life, she knew that it could not last. It could never last. His world would never allow it to last. And she was a foolish child for even thinking that it might. A foolish child for not realizing the futility of this whole situation.
Aria touched the leather binding of the book, her fingers trailed slowly over it as she admired the simple beauty of the thing. “Do you need me for anything else?”
Arianna lifted her head; she had forgotten that Maggie was here. She had been working on Arianna’s dresses; some of them had needed to be let out as she had put on weight. “Oh no, thank you though. Would you like something to eat?”
The girls brown eyes widened slightly, her mouth curved in a small smile. Though she had not commented upon the bruises marring Aria’s skin, Aria had seen the shock and dismay in the girl’s tender gaze. Aria had wanted to tell her that the bruises were not from Braith, that he had not done this to her, but the words stuck in her throat. It was probably best if people began to believe he was mistreating her, though Lauren’s dismissal might negate that fact. She imagined rumors and gossip were already flying around, and she found that she didn’t care.
“No, thank you, I have other things I must attend to.”
“Oh,” Aria said softly, feeling a twinge of guilt over taking the girl away from her work. “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to keep you.”
“Oh no, it’s fine,” Maggie assured her. “You are my number one priority. The prince has seen to that.”
“I see.”
“I’ll see you later.”
“Yes.”
Maggie was at the door, her hand upon the handle before she turned back to Aria. “The prince has never had a blood slave before, did you know that?”
Aria felt her eyes widen, her mouth parted slightly as she stared at Maggie in disbelief. She recalled her encounter with Braith’s sister. The woman had asked what he was doing with her. She had thought the question odd at the time, had wondered if she was the first but she had never given much credit to the notion. This revelation did little to ease the confusion inside of her. In fact it made it even worse. “No, I didn’t know that.”
Maggie nodded. “It’s true, he has never had one.”
Arianna frowned, her eyebrows drawing sharply together as she thought over what Maggie had just revealed. She didn’t know what to make of the words, or what they might implicate. Why would he choose her then? What was it that he wanted from her?
Before Aria could ask any of these questions Maggie slipped out the door, leaving her alone with her thoughts. She sighed softly as she settled onto the window seat, torn and guilt ridden. It was an awful mess that she was in, that they both might be in right now. She didn’t know what the rules for a blood slave were, but she imagined she was not supposed to be treated so kindly. And she was fairly certain that she was not supposed to live for long.
That realization turned her thoughts back to Max. He was out there somewhere, going through God only knew what and possibly on the verge of losing his life already. Sweet, gentle Max who deserved far better than what he was probably enduring right now. Sweet, gentle Max who was only here because of her. Aria sat silently, her thoughts turning over the situation. Max had vowed to try and rescue her, they had both known that it would be a slim possibility, but was there any chance that she might be able to get to him?
Her gaze traveled over the beautiful apartment, and all of its wonderful things. She was lucky to be here, she was lucky that Braith had rescued her from that other, vile creature, but no matter how lucky she was, how well she had it, and how angry it would make Braith, she knew that she had to break free of here. She had to get to Max, and she had to get them both to safety before it was too late. Because no matter how safe and secure she felt now, it would not last. It could not last.
It was only a matter of time before this all crumpled around her, she had to do something before that happened. She had to save her friend before they were both doomed. Arianna sighed softly, her gaze slid slowly back to the tray of food. If she was going to plan an escape, going to get them both free she would need as much food, energy, and strength as she could get, but the idea of an escape was enough to make her stomach twist. She needed the food, but there was no way that she could force it down her throat right now. She was too frightened and lost right now to even attempt it. Tomorrow she would start taking better care of herself, for now she simply wanted to sit in silent misery as she tried to formulate some kind of a plan to get out of here.
The first thing she had to do was locate Max. It would do her little good if she was able to break free, yet unable to find her friend. If she got out of here, she would have to know where he was so that she could get to him swiftly, and safely. It would be hard, she knew that, but she was fairly certain that she would be able to do it.
She hoped.
Her attention was drawn to the door as Braith returned; his loyal wolf close to his side. She knew immediately that something was not right. His shoulders were too stiff, his jaw clenched tight. Arianna’s eyes widened, her hands clenched tight before her as she braced herself for whatever it was he had to say.
“Caleb will be here shortly. I need you to go to my room and stay there until I call for you.”
Aria swallowed heavily, she managed a brief nod for him. “Of course.”
“Arianna.” She turned back at his soft word. His knuckles were white as he gripped the head of his cane. “I mean it; do not come out of there.”
Her temper bristled slightly, she wanted to rebel against his command, but she was able to keep her mouth shut as she nodded again. She didn’t particularly want to see his brother again anyway; there was something about the man that frightened her on a primal, instinctive level. She slipped silently from the room.