Unbound (The Captive #7)(18)

“We didn’t have a choice,” Jack replied.

He rested his fingers against Braith’s cool cheek. He’d never seen his brother so still before, so weak, never believed it was possible for Braith to be categorized as either of those things. He’d known it was possible Braith could die, of course he’d known it, but he’d never believed it might actually happen. He’d always been so strong, so capable.

A bomb that would have destroyed any other, had only blinded him. Braith had mastered his blindness before Aria came along and had learned to use it to his advantage as he honed every one of his other senses until they made up for his lack of sight.

Not dead. Despite the pallor of his skin, his nearly white lips and completely unmoving body, Braith was not dead. Jack could feel life within him, but it was growing weaker by the second.

“What if Aria’s wrong and that’s not Sabine out there? Or what if it is her, and Sabine didn’t actually die, but somehow faked her death? What happens if Braith doesn’t survive this?” Ashby asked. “Are you ready to be King Jericho?”

Jack tore his gaze away from Braith to glower at Ashby. “Don’t call me that.”

He’d abandoned his birth name when he’d gone to live with the rebels. It wasn’t a name he ever planned to use again. Ashby folded his arms over his chest as he gazed at him. Ashby was family, but there were times when Jack would like nothing more than to punch him in the face.

“Atticus didn’t fake his death and he came back from the dead. There is something in their blood,” he said to Ashby. “There has to be.”

“Atticus was over a thousand years old when he came back. Maybe his rising from the grave was due more to his age than his heritage.”

“Ashby,” Melinda said and rested her hand on his arm when red flashed through his eyes.

Ashby’s arms fell away from his chest. He took a minute to compose himself. “We let her go out there and we have no idea how she’ll react to his loss if he dies.”

“We had no choice,” Jack growled. “Aria was right, most of us aren’t up for travel right now and someone had to lead them away. Otherwise, we’d all be sitting ducks, trapped in this cave. We have to get the others to safety. We can’t leave them out there. That woman will destroy them if she finds them. Aria will keep it together if we lose Braith.”

“For how long?”

“For as long as she has to,” Jack said and sniffed at the air. “I can smell animals in here, bring me some blood for Braith.”

“What if he dies and she becomes like Atticus?” Ashby pressed.

“Aria will destroy herself before that ever happens!” Daniel snapped.

Ashby rolled his eyes at him. “I’m sure Atticus believed the same thing, before he went completely off the rails. He pretended to be sane for centuries. Many believed he was sane until he destroyed much of the world’s population.”

“There is no way to know the future. All we can hope to do is survive the now, and so far, we are,” Hannah said. “We will take everything else as it comes at us.”

“She’s right,” Max said and winced when he shifted his leg.

Ashby ran his fingers through his hair as he stared at the ground with a look of intense contemplation on his face. Jack winced, his shoulders hunched up when Ashby began to whistle a haunting tune. It was such a habit for him, that he knew Ashby probably wasn’t aware he was doing it, but the sound set Jack’s teeth on edge.

“Ashby, not now,” he said.

Ashby looked up at him with his brow furrowed questioningly.

“You were whistling,” Melinda told him.

“Oh,” Ashby said and looked around the cave once more.

“There was often a store of supplies left within these caves for future humans to use when traveling through.” The rebel’s willingness to share and provide for others within their close knit community was one of the things Jack had always admired about them. Aria’s father, David, had brought him into the rebellion and had been his first real friend. “We need to get these wounds cleaned and dressed. There may still be something we can use within these caves.”

“There were supplies stored in that tunnel,” Daniel said and pointed to the one behind him. “If you lift me, I can take you to them.”

“I’m in better shape. I’ll go,” Max said and climbed to his feet.

“Hannah, stay with Braith,” Jack said and rose. “I’m going to go with him. Ashby, catch me one of those animals.”

Ashby smoothed his hair and rumpled clothes the best he could as his normally composed demeanor slid back over him. Max walked toward him with a slight limp, took hold of the torch Aria had left behind, and moved on toward the tunnel. Jack followed him. He’d come to know these woods and caves well over his years with the rebels, but he hadn’t spent as much time within this cave system as he had some of the others.

Max dug the key out from a crevice in the rocks and unlocked the gate. Habit had Max returning to hide the key before closing the gate and continuing onward. Jack limped after Max as he made his way down the tunnel. The pierced skin and muscle in his thigh and calf knitted itself back together with every passing second, but he couldn’t get rid of the limp, yet.

“What will happen if Braith doesn’t wake up?” Max asked as he turned into another small tunnel. “If he does die?”