Unbound (The Captive #7)(80)
When Braith lifted his head, his face was composed into a mask of stone as he focused on Max, but a muscle near the corner of his eye twitched. Jack froze when he realized the scars that had been etched around Braith’s eyes were gone. Not only had he come back stronger, but he’d come back healed, completely.
“You can see,” Jack whispered. In the beginning of their relationship, Braith had needed to be near Aria in order to see, but as he’d grown stronger and the bond between them had deepened, he’d been able to be further and further away from her. Now Braith didn’t feel their link, yet he could still see. Jack had no idea what to make of this development, but he knew his brother had risen from the dead something more.
What that something more was though, he didn’t know. Would Braith be twisted like Atticus and Sabine now, or would he calm when he understood better what had happened and he was reunited with Aria?
Jack’s fingers twitched on the rock at the possibility his brother would never be the man he had been. That he may be as much of a threat to them as Sabine. The idea of killing his brother had never cross his mind, until now.
“Yes, I can see,” Braith said to him before his attention returned to Max. “Where is she?”
“She’s somewhere safe, about thirty miles from here,” Max answered.
“When did you last see her?”
“Two days ago.”
Braith went completely still before all of his muscles rippled and a snarl erupted from him. He dropped Daniel as if he was nothing more than a sack of grain. Daniel stumbled to the side, his hand on his bruised throat as he watched Braith stalk toward them. Jack tensed, his muscles bunching in preparation of getting Hannah out of harm’s way when Braith stopped before them. He and Max tipped back their heads to take him in.
“So she could be dead and you don’t know it,” Braith grated.
Jack rose to his feet, holding his hands out in a pacifying gesture when he suspected Braith was about to snag hold of Max. He edged closer so that he was somewhat in between them, but Braith didn’t so much as glance at him.
Because he knows I can’t stop him.
“She is in an extremely safe place, Braith. Safer than these caves,” Max replied.
“She could be dead and you don’t know!” Braith roared and Max flinched.
“Yes,” Daniel said from behind him, his voice raw from being choked. Red marks marred his fair skin. Some of them were already starting to darken into bruises. “But she’s not. William and Xavier will make sure she stays safe.”
“Take me to her, now,” Braith commanded.
“It will take us some time to get there and with the storm—” Daniel broke off when Braith swung toward him again. “We’ll go now.”
Braith didn’t acknowledge any of them when he turned away and walked into the tunnel the others had entered through. Timber hastily stepped out of his way. Keegan trotted passed them and down the tunnel behind Braith. A young human Jack had never seen before casually stepped aside to let Braith go by before turning to follow him. The girl had to be nuts if she wanted to be anywhere near him right now.
“Who is that and why is she here?” Jack asked.
“Maeve and she followed us,” Max said as he rose to his feet and gathered his bow. “What do we do if something did happen to Aria after we left?”
Jack stared at the tunnel as Hannah walked over to join him. “Pray. Atticus destroyed much of the world. Braith will level what remains of it.”
“Did he come back stronger?” Timber asked.
“Yes,” Daniel croaked out and rubbed at his throat.
They all took a step back when red eyes blazed at them from the darkness of the tunnel before Braith emerged from the shadows once more. “Now,” he growled at them.
Jack took hold of Hannah’s hand and, keeping her securely behind him, he walked toward the tunnel. A tremor went through her and into him when they slipped passed Braith. Maeve stood by the gate, her arms folded over her chest while she watched them.
“I really hope Aria is still alive,” Maeve whispered to Max when he bent to retrieve the key.
“We all do,” he replied and unlocked the gate.
CHAPTER 31
Braith
The icy rain beating against Braith’s skin did nothing to cool the wrath and terror clawing at his chest. Dead. He’d been dead for nearly two weeks. Aria had been out here, alone, in danger.
She is alive.
He kept telling himself this, but with the emptiness stretching out before him and the hole the breaking of their bond had created in him, he couldn’t quite believe it. She felt dead. He felt dead. His fingernails tore into the palms of his hands. Blood dripped from the wounds, but he found himself clenching tighter and tighter, regardless of the pain. He’d thought the pain would help to ground him, help him to feel alive in some small way again, it didn’t.
Would he become his father? At one time, he’d have said no, without a doubt, that could never happen. Now madness slithered through his mind, creeping deeper and deeper until all he craved was sinking his fangs into someone and tearing them to shreds. He’d thought he understood what had caused his father to snap and become the man he had. He’d believed he’d understood it, but had known it could never be him.
No, now he understood. Now, he felt the complete disconnect of his soul from his body. For the first time in his life, he completely comprehended what his father had gone through and why he became the way he did. He would not become like his father, he couldn’t, but right now the temptation was nearly as tantalizing to him as Aria.