Unbound (The Captive #7)(10)
Rolling over, he discovered Ashby and Melinda rising to their feet beside him. Usually immaculate, Ashby had leaves and pine needles sticking to his face and dark blond hair. His green eyes were flashing with red when they met William’s. Melinda’s knee-length, golden blonde hair was a tangled mess as she pushed it back from her forehead. Her normally dove-gray eyes were the color of rubies.
“They’re coming,” Melinda said as she stared down the hill. “When the time comes, I’m going to enjoy killing every one of these bastards.”
“All in due time, dear,” Ashby replied in his unruffled manner as he slid his arm through Melinda’s and hurried her forward. “But first let’s work on getting you away from them.”
William glanced back down the hill at the vampires already making their way up. Their white cloaks were far more noticeable in the growing night. They were as loud as if they were riding a dozen horses through the trees.
“You won’t have to carry anyone. We’ll lose them easily in the dark,” Daniel said from beside him.
“Yes,” William agreed. “Let’s go.”
He reclaimed Tempest’s hand and fled through the forest. All of those with him were accustomed to having to move through the trees with stealth. He barely detected their movement. Behind him, trees and branches snapped as the vampire’s trailing topped the hill and came for them.
***
Aria
It took Aria almost two hours to safely navigate all of Daniel’s traps inside the cave with Braith across her shoulders. Despite the cool air surrounding her, sweat covered her body and adhered her clothes to her skin. Every inch of her hurt in ways she hadn’t believed possible, but her physical discomfort was nothing compared to the growing pain in her chest.
Finally, she reached the end of the narrow cave. The iron gate built into the wall there was closed and locked, but like all the cave systems in the area, she knew there was a key hidden nearby. Unless someone took it with them…
She broke the thought off. There was no need for humans to hide within these caves anymore. Or at least there hadn’t been a reason before that vampire woman had arrived. If that woman won, the humans would be forced into a life of slavery or back to a life hidden in these caves once more.
Her father had given his life in the last war to help attain peace. Many more would die and the peace would be shattered if that woman had her way. Aria wouldn’t allow her father’s death, and all of the other lives lost during the war with Atticus, to be for nothing.
Walking back ten feet, Aria bent and pushed aside a small rock tucked within the cave wall. She reached her fingers in and pulled out the key hidden behind the rock. Drawing it out, she kept her ears attuned for any hint of someone approaching, but the cave remained hushed. Not even the drip of water could be heard amongst the rocks enclosing her.
Enclosing… Stop it!
She’d gotten much better with her fear of confined spaces. However, every once in a while, it would creep back in. She couldn’t allow this to be one of those times. The mineral scent of the rocks surrounding her filled her nostrils, but she kept her attention focused on her task and Braith’s limp body around her shoulders. Her hand enveloped Braith’s wrist, seeking comfort from touching him.
Turning away, she walked back to the gate, slid the key into the lock, and pushed it open. The hinges squeaked from disuse and she had to shove at the gate to get it to open enough so she could slip past. She put the key back in its hiding spot before returning to the gate, slipping inside, and closing it behind her.
On the other side, about twenty feet in, she shifted Braith’s weight as she knelt to retrieve some matches hidden within a small hole years ago. She pulled the matches free of the hole and pulled back the protective, waterproof canvas they’d been wrapped in. Rising, the jagged, cool rocks brushed roughly over her fingertips as she made her way forward until she came across a torch propped against the wall. With her enhanced vampire vision, she could see far more than she ever had as a human, but no light penetrated this deep into the caves, making even a vampire blind.
She could navigate the rest of this cave by memory and touch alone, but she much preferred to have a torch with her. For some reason, the idea of light made her feel not quite so alone.
“Please work,” she whispered as she pulled a match from the box and struck it against a rock.
It took a few fumbling tries with her numb fingers, but eventually a flame sputtered to life at the end of the small head. She held it up to the cloth around the torch and watched as it blazed to life. Walking back, she replaced the matches in their hiding spot in case someone else, who had once lived and survived within these caves, might one day need them.
She adjusted Braith on her shoulders, before dashing down the cave. The flame of the torch flickered and danced over the walls as she held it before her. Shadows danced sinuously over the gray rock surrounding her. The crackling fire warmed her chilled cheeks, but it did nothing to warm the rest of her.
The next gate she came to was open; she closed it behind her. After traveling another quarter of a mile beneath the earth, she stepped into a large cavern and gazed at the small, smooth bottom of the cavern fifty feet below her.
Along the edges of the center, black and gray rocks rose up from it like seats in an auditorium. The jagged rock formations circled the flat center all the way around and offered more protection from anyone looking to enter. It was impossible for someone to descend the rocks quickly, and anyone in the center would have plenty of warning and time to getaway if someone entered from above.