Refugee (The Captive #3)(42)
They had more soldiers on their side right now, but if things went wrong, and one of the king’s men happened to escape back to the palace, everything they had worked for would be ruined. They needed to stay hidden until Braith decided it was time to make their presence known. But that would be impossible with the herd following them.
With their attention distracted, Aria plunged rapidly out of the tree, dropping from branch to branch until she released the final limb and plummeted toward the ground. She would have been fine if she’d hit the ground, but she didn’t mind at all when Braith’s arms wrapped around her. He held her for a brief moment, cradling her within his embrace. She allowed herself to relax, to feel the strength of his body beneath her hand before he set her smoothly on her feet.
Ashby was gaping at her, his bright green eyes astonished as he looked from her to the top of the tree. Behind him Gideon and William were watching her anxiously. “Dad?” asked William.
“That way, about two miles there’s a marker.” Taking a steadying breath, she turned slowly and pointed to the west. “That way about a mile, are the king’s men.”
Braith’s hand stilled in the hollow of her back, his eyebrows drew sharply together over the bridge of his nose as his nostrils flared. “Are you certain?” Gideon asked.
“They’re wearing his colors.”
“What the hell are we going to do?” Ashby demanded.
“There are caves.” William inhaled sharply at her words, his eyes darted uncertainly toward her. She stared hard at her brother, understanding his trepidation and hesitance. But it was too late for that, they had brought these vampires into their world, there was no turning back now. William looked hesitant for a moment more before he nodded slowly. “Less than a mile from here. They’re large enough to hold everyone but with so many it will be cramped.”
“They’re not going to like being forced into those caves.” Aria started in surprise as Xavier separated from the shadows of the trees. She hadn’t seen him standing there, but Braith seemed to have known as he didn’t react to Xavier’s sudden appearance. She was even more surprised when Braith didn’t remove his hand from her back, didn’t separate himself from her. A tremor of trepidation shuddered down her spine as Xavier pinned her with his dark, knowing eyes.
“They knew this wasn’t going to be an easy undertaking,” Gideon stated. “That there would be sacrifices when we left. This will be one of those sacrifices. It’s painfully obvious that we cannot move them all through here, this hasn’t been their environment in a hundred years, and some have never experienced it.”
“These caves will be safe?” Braith inquired.
Aria forced herself not to shudder at the thought of the darkness, the confining space, the chill that came with the underground hollows she had grown to hate after nearly being trapped in a separate system with William and Max. “All the cave systems have iron gates, some sort of alarm, and traps in them,” William explained. “Though there is no way to know if they have been discovered since we left.”
“I don’t think we have a choice,” Ashby said.
Braith was silent as he pondered the situation. “Neither do I. Gideon and William go back to round them up, try to get them to be a little quieter if it’s possible. Don’t engage with my father’s troops, but if it becomes necessary make sure there are no survivors. Xavier, Ashby, Aria and I will go to the caves and make sure they are safe.”
Aria remained silent, she didn’t want to go to the caves, didn’t want to step foot in them but she had no choice. “Go,” Braith commanded. Gideon nodded and slipped silently into the woods with William. “Get us there quickly Aria.”
She swallowed heavily and nodded firmly. “Follow me.”
***
Braith followed silently behind Aria as she led them with an ease that was fascinating. She was quiet, far more so than Xavier as she moved like a wraith through the trees. She covered the distance to the caves in less than ten minutes. Standing at the edge of the woods he studied the cliff face twenty feet away that appeared entirely impenetrable to him.
“That’s them,” she stated.
“Where?” Xavier inquired in disbelief.
Her jaw clenched, there was a darkening of her eyes that only he would have recognized as fear. The last time she’d been in the caves, he had taken her from them. Just when he thought she was going to balk against telling them exactly where the caves were, she slipped silently from the woods.
They followed her, fanning out around her as she knelt before the rock wall. Her head tilted as she examined a cropping of bushes against the rock wall with an intensity that was a little unnerving given the fact it was simply a group of ferns and wild scrub. Then her small hands slid forward and parted the brush to reveal a sliver in the rock wall that was nearly indiscernible even without the brush covering it.
“No one has been here in months.”
“How do you know?” Xavier asked her.
Her smile was fleeting. “I know.”
Ashby looked about ready to protest but Xavier simply nodded. “Lead the way then.”
“I’ll lead the way,” Braith told her. Xavier quirked an eyebrow at him, his head tilted to the side.
“I know the system Braith. Its fine, I’m certain no one has been here, at least not through this entrance, and the only other one is two miles from here.”