Refugee (The Captive #3)(53)

“Are there often people within them?” Ashby inquired, glancing nervously at Braith.

“What do you mean?”

“The cave system where the troops are hiding had a man inside of it.”

“That’s not unusual, many know about the caves and the food supply,” David told him.

“It looked like he’d been there for awhile.”

“I suppose some may stay below hoping to avoid the king’s troops. It’s why we retreated into the swamplands. The king’s raids have become more frequent and aggressive since you left the palace.” Braith held David’s steady gaze. “The man in the cave, what did he do?”

“He attacked Aria,” Braith growled.

David’s eyes widened, he leaned forward on the table. Braith lowered his head and inhaled her sweet scent. The soap she’d been given smelled of honey. Beneath it he could smell the faint hint of his blood as it flowed through her veins. She was the most enticing thing he’d ever smelled, and he needed her soothing effect right now.

“Why would he do that?” David inquired.

Ashby glanced nervously at Braith, but seemed satisfied that he would remain calm while holding Aria. “Apparently he hadn’t seen a woman in awhile.”

“Did he harm her?” Daniel demanded.

“He tried, but she’s fine.”

“And what of the man?” David inquired.

“Dead,” Braith said unremorsefully. “Anyone that injures her will meet the same fate.”

David sat back as he studied them. “What exactly is it that you intend for my daughter? What do you think you can give her?”

“Anything she desires.”

Gideon and Ashby shifted nervously, well aware that this conversation was drifting into treacherous waters. Xavier leaned forward, his dark eyes eager as he absorbed the discussion. “I can see that she loves you, and though it’s baffling and astonishing to me, I think you love her too. But I don’t see how any of this can work. Will your people accept her? Do you have plans to make her a vampire?” David nearly choked on the word vampire but somehow managed to get it out. It was apparent the man found the thought abhorrent.

“Most do not survive the change; I have no intention of inflicting that upon her.” Gideon, Jack and Ashby winced, Xavier quirked an eyebrow as he gazed at Aria.

David’s frustration was nearly palpable. “Then what do you intend? To watch her grow old and die? To have her be an outcast among your people? Tell me Braith, what will you do when she dies?”

“I’ll find a way to die also,” he said simply.

Gideon groaned as he shook his head, dropping it into his hands. Ashby closed his eyes as Jack folded his arms over his chest and sat back in his chair. Xavier remained unmoving, he’d known there was a bond between them but he hadn’t known the extent of that bond until now.

“But you have been voted the leader; your people will follow you…”

“Or Jack,” he interrupted sharply. Despite his every intention not to, he found himself leaning forward as he met David’s incredulous gaze, and Jack’s completely aghast one. “I will lead them into battle, I will lead you all into battle, but I have not hidden the fact that I do not intend to lead afterward. Not unless Aria is at my side. I will stay long enough for whatever leader you elect to settle in, and then she and I will leave. I will not expose her to a life of unhappiness.”

“I don’t want it,” Jack blurted.

“Neither do I,” Braith snarled in frustration. “I never have, but I accepted it, and I did it. I’ve done my duty for the past nine hundred years, I’ve done everything expected of me and I will continue to do it until this is over, but someone else can step up afterward.”

“It will be difficult on her, to grow old while you don’t,” David told him.

“I know that.”

“You could let her go.” Braith stiffened as fury ripped through him. Aria’s fingers slipped beneath the buttons of his shirt to press against his flesh in an attempt to soothe him. They had woken her. “It would be best, for both of you, for everyone involved if you let her go.”

“It’s too late for that.” He had managed to regain enough control to answer without smashing the table before him.

“I don’t understand why. I know it will be tough, the last thing I want is to see my daughter unhappy, but she’ll be hurt no matter what. There’s no way to stop that now.”

Her heartbeat had increased; the scent of her fear assailed him. “Ashby can explain it to you,” he said bluntly. Aria gasped as he rose swiftly from his chair. Staying here was only going to annoy him further and he had promised her that he would try to be nicer. “Does it matter what room we take?”

David’s jaw dropped. Aria’s lashes flickered against his neck as she opened her eyes, he could feel the heat of her skin against his neck. He bit back a groan, he didn’t understand these human customs, or perhaps they were simply family customs, but he was becoming increasingly frustrated with them.

“I’ll sleep on the floor,” he grated, hoping that would help to ease some of the tension that filled the room. He swore that once this whole mess was over he was going to build her a house that no one else would ever be invited to.