Unbound (The Captive #7)(9)
But with Tempest, his life as a vampire had finally made sense. He would have endured the agony and uncertainty of his death as a human and transition into a vampire a thousand times over again to have her in his life. Now he may lose it all if they didn’t get away from their trackers soon.
He glanced over his shoulder as the vampires in white chased them down the hill. At least the hill was too steep for their followers to get a good shot off with their bows, but it didn’t mean some of them weren’t still trying. The others in their scouting party were close behind him, laboring to keep up. He had no idea how Xavier was still on his feet, as blood covered him from head to toe.
William couldn’t fully process what had happened, and how quickly it had all unfolded. They had to regroup, plan, and get away from their attackers.
Braith looked dead. William winced as the image of the arrows protruding from Braith’s back went through his mind once more. Many of those arrows were clustered around his heart. If Braith had been lost, then that meant Aria would be too…
Don’t think it. Just keep moving.
The whistle of a fresh wave of arrows being released filled the air before someone else grunted in pain. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw Xavier tear an arrow from his thigh and toss it aside.
The trail of Aria and Braith’s blood in the snow suddenly disappeared, but Aria’s footprints continued. On the hillside opposite of the one they’d fled down, he spotted beads of blood amid the snow and his sister’s footprints going halfway up the hill.
“Which way?” Jack asked hoarsely from beside him.
“Aria didn’t continue to the top of the hill here, but she’s trying to throw them off her trail. I’d be willing to bet the footprints continuing through the gulch ahead of us stop at some point too. She wouldn’t have led them straight to the cave. We have to find where her tracks end, then go up the hill there.”
He glanced at Daniel to find his older brother’s blue eyes on him. Sweat plastered Daniel’s wheat blond hair to his flushed face. Bruises shadowed his eyes and jaw; blood seeped from his nose and bite marks marred his neck. He was beaten and battered, but his gaze was filled with steely resolve.
“You’re right. We can’t continue on this way to the cave once her tracks stop. We’ll go up the hill then,” Daniel said.
William’s heart sank at Daniel’s words. Daniel was faster than most humans. Their entire family had always been faster than normal, thanks to what was most likely partial vampire DNA from a distant ancestor. However, as humans, they weren’t fast enough to evade a pack of vampires for much longer. Daniel knew it too, knew going up the hill could spell his death, but he was much like their father with his unfailing devotion to doing what must be done and protecting those he loved. Their father was gone though, and William would not lose his brother too.
“Standing here isn’t helping,” Ashby said impatiently. “The king and queen must be protected above all else, no matter what.”
William inhaled deeply, a habit he still hadn’t managed to break from the days when he’d been a human. Gripping Tempest’s hand tighter, he fled further down the gulch. When he found where Aria’s tracks ended in the snow, he turned to face the steep hillside. Thick trees covered the embankment, allowing only a little snow to have slipped through during the last storm.
The ground would be loose beneath their feet, but at least it wouldn’t be slippery, and the trees would help shelter them from any arrows unleashed on them. Hopefully the top of the hill would be as thick with trees so they could hide their tracks and lose themselves in the forest.
Tempest’s almond-shaped, doe brown eyes were apprehensive when she tilted her head back to look at him. Her silvery blonde hair tumbled about her shoulders. The press of her full lips had caused them to thin out, and her pretty face radiated strain, but she remained stoic as she watched him.
“We’ve been in worse than this before,” he said and drew her forward to kiss her forehead.
“Yes,” she agreed.
Releasing her, he stepped back and gestured toward the hill. He kept Tempest in front of him to shelter her as he nudged her up the hillside. “Don’t look back.”
Her feet slipped in the leaves and loose dirt, but she kept her gaze focused ahead as she climbed before him.
“We’ll carry you once we get to the top,” William said over his shoulder to Daniel.
“I’m not riding anyone’s back,” Timber grumbled as he struggled up the hillside.
“I don’t think anything short of a horse could carry you,” Ashby replied. Placing his hand on the small of Timber’s back, he propelled the man faster up the side of the hill.
William had to agree. Timber was by far the largest man he’d ever seen at nearly seven feet, if not seven. His broad back and thighs the size of tree trunks made him the biggest target. Despite his massive size, he moved with relative ease up the hill, though his permanently crooked nose whistled with every ragged inhalation he made. His shaggy brown hair fell forward over his shoulders to nearly trail in the snow as he remained low to the ground.
They made it to the top of the hill as the twang of more arrows being released filled the air. Diving forward, William enclosed his arm around Tempest’s waist and shoved her to the ground. He rolled toward a white pine. The needles pricked his back when he came up against it, but no arrows pierced his flesh.