“Arianna?” his voice, so deep and beautiful was ragged with feeling.
“It will be ok,” she promised fervently. His eyes, hard and desperate, softened. In their bright depths she saw his pain and confusion, but she also saw his need, his desire; his love. “We can do this, we can do anything.”
“It’s not that simple,” Ashby said softly. “Braith knows that. You aren’t a vampire, that’s why I am so surprised this has happened to him with you. It’s never happened with a human before, never.”
“I think you need to tell me exactly what is happening here,” Braith said coldly.
“Can I untie him first?” Melinda inquired.
“No.”
Anger flared through her steely gaze, her hands fisted at her sides in futility. They may be siblings, but it would not be an equal fight. Braith was older, stronger; he radiated a depth of power that Melinda did not seem to possess. “Imagine if it was her that was tied up; imagine how you would feel then Braith!” she pleaded.
“It’s not her, and it never will be.”
“Braith!” Melinda’s frustration was mounting; her eyes were growing darker, redder. Her emotions were swinging wildly toward the breaking point.
“Easy love,” Ashby said softly. “It’s ok, I’m fine. Braith doesn’t know how to tie someone up all that well anyway.” His eyes were gleaming with amusement, but Aria could sense the tension beneath his lighthearted façade. The last thing he wanted was to see Melinda try and fight her way through her brother.
Melinda remained wary; she leaned over and placed a soft kiss upon Ashby’s mouth. Aria pitied them, she wanted to let Ashby go, wanted them to be able to hold each other. She couldn’t imagine being kept from Braith. Yet there were two of them, separately they were not much of a threat to Braith, together they would be.
“Let your brother know what is going on, maybe then he won’t look like he wants to go on a rampage and slaughter us all,” Ashby urged.
Aria stepped closer to Braith; she needed to feel more of him, needed to touch more of him. She had a feeling she wasn’t going to entirely like what Melinda and Ashby had to tell them. He wrapped his arm around her waist. His body was cooler than hers, but heat still flooded through her as her chest was brought up tight against his side. His hand stroked briefly over her, his eyes burned into hers for a long moment.
“Have you ever heard the term bloodlink?” Melinda inquired softly, breaking into their moment.
Braith turned reluctantly away from her, his hand tightened briefly on her stomach. “No, I haven’t.”
“Neither had I,” Melinda admitted. “Until I met Ashby.” Her gaze traveled slowly to him, she reached out a delicate hand, clasping hold of his outstretched one. They fit well together; they seemed to take relief from the feel of one another as their fingers stroked each other. “And then the whole world was completely right, and so completely wrong.”
“I was already married to Natasha,” Ashby continued.
Melinda’s face scrunched up, anger and disgust flitted briefly over her delicate features. “If you recall, I was with mother when their wedding occurred. I was too young to stay behind when father banished her; he did not want the responsibility of having to take care of me. It wasn’t until she was killed that I was allowed back into the palace.”
“I had been married to Natasha for five years at that point,” Ashby said softly.
“I remember,” Braith interjected coldly.
Ashby grinned at him. “We used to have fun in those days. Before the war, when everything was still easy. You were the reigning heir and I was a vampire with a title, money, women, and a wife that cared as little for me as I did for her. Ok, well the wife part may have sucked, but mostly avoided each other. All we needed was to conceive a son in order to make your father happy, and then we wouldn’t have to be with each other again. It just wasn’t working for us.”
Melinda’s eyes had grown darker; her face was as stormy as a tumultuous sea. It was more than apparent that she did not want to hear about Ashby with her sister. Ashby brought Melinda’s hand to his mouth, kissing her softly as he sought to ease her tension. “Then the war broke out, mom was killed, and I was sent back to the palace,” Melinda said tersely.
“Your father was always greedy, always wanted more. He just never banked on so many vampires being content with their way of life. He never even considered the fact that some of the other powerful families might not want to go along with him. And he never expected that I would want out of my marriage from one sister, because I had lost my soul completely to the other one.”
They stared at each other for a long moment before Ashby turned his attention back to them. “A bloodlink is something that happens between vampires, and apparently with humans also. It happened to my parents; that is how I knew about it, and what the signs of it were. Most vampires believe it is a myth because it is so rare, but I knew that it was true, I just never thought it would happen to me. My parents were fortunate enough to find each other, and not have any obstacles in their way. Unfortunately we weren’t, and neither are you.
“My parents saw the war as a chance to escape the tyrannical rule of your father; I saw it as a chance to break free of my wife. A chance to start anew, and build a better life with Melinda. I took that chance. You were caught in the crossfire Braith, but I really didn’t mean for you to get hurt. As retribution for our mutiny my family was killed, but your father thought this was a better punishment for me.”
“Thankfully,” Melinda breathed.
“What exactly is a bloodlink?” Aria inquired.
“It’s a deep and instant connection between vampires. Our blood calls to each other, it needs each other. We grow stronger off of it, feed off of it. The connection is instantaneous, as Braith well knows, and it is unbreakable. It will eat you alive if you’re kept from each other, something else that Braith seems to have discovered.”
“Stronger,” Aria mulled.
“Of course dear,” Ashby purred. “It’s why Braith can see again, but I’m guessing it’s only when you are near.”
“What?” Melinda gasped, her eyes widening, her mouth dropping. “Braith?”
Braith was silent for a moment; the tension in him was growing by the second. “Yes, I can see when she is near. What about the two of you?”
Aria swallowed nervously. Braith could see, and it was a miracle, but could they also perform miracles? Had she completely misjudged this situation, was Braith weaker than them? She glanced between Melinda and Ashby, and then turned slowly back to Braith. No, it was obvious who the strongest was, but if Ashby were to get free…
Melinda was frowning intently. “Ashby…”
“I know love.”
“Melinda, you may be my sister but if you don’t tell me I will rip his throat out,” Braith growled.
Aria shuddered, her hands tightened on Braith’s arm. She wanted to promise that she would never let that happen, the last thing she wanted was to ruin their love, but if there was any chance they might hurt Braith, she was not going to say anything. It was better that they were afraid of Braith, if that was the case. Melinda’s eyes widened in horror, she took a step closer to Ashby.
“We don’t have anything like that Braith. We’re stronger because we have each other; we’re stronger because the bond between us has made us stronger. We feed off of each other, which is something that most vampires will not allow to happen, our blood helps to enhance our power and speed. As a united front we will prevail over a lone vampire, and death is the only thing that will divide us. But you…”
“You are different,” Ashby finished for her. “Maybe because she is human, maybe because you are the prince apparent, the first born, and your blood is more powerful than your siblings but you’ve had a stronger reaction to the link than any I’ve ever heard of.”
“You’ve actually had a physical strengthening reaction,” Melinda said softly.
“Imagine if she becomes a vampire?”
“Is it possible?”
Aria frowned at the two of them, startled by the intense conversation that suddenly became just between the two of them. “I don’t know,” Ashby admitted. “But I think they have more than a bloodlink. I think they may have an even stronger bond.”
“You may be right,” Melinda agreed. “For him to get his eyesight back like that. So strange.”
“It is,” Ashby confirmed.
Aria sensed Braith’s mounting aggravation. She wished to soothe him, but she was growing just as frustrated by the couple as he was. “Enough!” he snapped, causing Melinda to jump slightly. “Enough, the both of you, enough. If you are so close, then why is there another vampire here?”
They both frowned in confusion then their gaze drifted slowly to the girl who had stayed utterly silent, though she was listening raptly to them. “Oh her,” Melinda replied, giggling softly. Ashby brought her hand up to his chest, holding it tight with his. Aria could feel Braith’s rapidly unraveling composure. They didn’t know what they were messing with right now, didn’t know that he was close to losing all control. Aria knew though. She had seen him in the woods with those vampires. She had seen what he was capable of, the punishment and death he could deal out so swiftly and without remorse.
“Melinda,” Aria reprimanded softly.
The smile slipped from Melinda’s, her eyes widened slightly as she finally focused on Braith again. “She’s just a girl from town; they knew that I would be coming back soon.”
“How?” Braith growled. “And why would she come here?”
“I manage to sneak out of the palace more often than you know. As the youngest and most ineffective child, no one ever pays attention to my comings and goings. I bring back blood slaves with me when I can, in order to keep the people in the area quiet about the fact that there are no guards anymore. She is here in the hopes of returning to town with whatever I have managed to smuggle out.”
“Why?” Braith demanded.
“To keep Ashby safe of course. I killed the guard’s years ago, but Ashby could not escape. There was nowhere for us to go. Every village knows who Ashby is, father made certain of that, and the reward on him is large enough for any starving vamp to hand Ashby over, no matter how much they may hate father. But only one person, or one family, could get that reward not the entire village. And no matter what, there was no guarantee that father would actually give them the money. I bought the loyalty of the people closest to here by promising them a steady supply of blood if they kept their mouths shut. It was more than father could promise all of them. She came to see if her dinner had arrived.”
Aria bowed her head beneath the implication of those words, nausea twisted through her. She was certain she was going to be sick. Her people had been used to buy silence; their lives had been freely traded away as if they meant nothing. “Awful,” she breathed.
“Life is not roses and sunshine dear,” Melinda retorted, her grey eyes as hard as steel as they focused sharply on Aria. A chill crept down Aria’s spine, she found herself unable to hold Melinda’s cold gaze. “And I would do anything to keep Ashby alive, just as I am assuming you would do the same for Braith.”
Aria bit on her bottom lip, she couldn’t look at any of them. She would do anything for Braith, but to freely trade lives for his, she didn’t think she could do that. But then, she was human, and they were not. They thought little of her species; humans were beneath them, they did not care what happened to them. And Aria knew she would freely trade a vampire life for his, she was certain of that.
“There are things that need to be done in order to secure the bond between bloodlinks,” Ashby explained.
Braith squeezed her hand gently. He was trying to soothe and comfort her, but Aria could not shake the horror and fear rolling through her. This was not her world, she did not belong in this place of blood and death and strange bloodlinks that allowed the blind to see. What the hell was she doing here? How did she get involved in all of this?
But the answer to those questions was standing before her, willing to die for her, as he used his body to block her from whatever attack might come their way. Her heart swelled, tears burned her eyes. She did not belong in this world, but she realized now that she would never be leaving it again. She hadn’t realized at the time, but when she’d chosen to leave the woods with Braith, she had sealed her fate. There was no turning back, and even though she was frightened by the uncertainty of their future, she was willing to endure the hardships that were still to come.