Vengeance (The Captive #6)(97)

“I know.”

“No,” he said and leaned toward her. “I feel like she brought me back to life, after the change…” he looked at the wall behind her head. “I felt hollow, devoid of all emotion except for a thirst for death. I originally wanted her to take me to Badwin to destroy Kane, but somewhere along the way that changed.”

“She became far more important.”

“She did,” he confirmed.

“She is your bloodlink; you wouldn’t share your blood with anyone else. Unless they were your brother,” she added with a half-hearted smile.

“The rules may be different for us. We’re not exactly pure vampires, or at least not according to some,” he reminded her.

“True, but Tempest is.”

William bowed his head in agreement. “You’re right.”

“You’d die for her.”

“I would.”

Wordlessly, she rose to her feet, picked up one of the piles of journals and papers, and placed them before him. “I think it’s time you met Genny and found out what really happened to turn Atticus into the man he was.”

She tapped her hands on the papers before turning away from him. His upper lip curved in a sneer at the idea of touching anything of the insane, murderous king who had tried to destroy them all. “I’m not sure I care what turned him into the bastard he was.”

“Trust me; you want to read what is in there.”

He stared at the massive pile, feeling more than a little daunted by the amount of them. “I’m not the best reader,” he reminded her.

“Timber managed to get through them, so can you. Some of the writing is difficult to read at times, I’ll help you with those if you need me too, but read them.”

“Is that your queenly command?”

A small snort escaped her. “Like I could command you to do anything.”

“You always try.”

“Not this time. This is important, William.”

He glanced back at her before heaving a sigh and pulling a journal from the top of the pile. Aria sat again and began to shuffle through some of the papers still before her. He had no idea how much time passed before he set the last journal aside and lifted his head to look at his sister, but the candles were almost nubs and their flames flickered weakly against the walls.

He sat for a few minutes, thinking over everything he’d learned from the documents. His gaze went to the ceiling. He wished he could see Tempest now. He’d give anything to pull her into his arms and hold her close.

“So you forgive Atticus for all he did?” he inquired after a few minutes, uncertain of how to respond to what he’d read.

Aria’s head was bowed, her gaze focused on the hands in her lap as she spoke, “For some things, I do. I understand him better now; I know what drove him to become the monster he was.”

“I can understand that,” he said, his mind going back to Tempest. What would he do if something happened to her? His fangs tingled; he’d tear someone apart limb from limb if they ever tried to hurt her. He would do whatever it took to give her the happiness, security and love she deserved. “I’ll kill anyone for her.”

Aria lifted her head to look at him. “I told you so,” she whispered.

His forehead furrowed as he stared at her. The color had faded from her face again; she held herself so still it seemed she feared she might break apart if she moved. His concern for her buried his irritation over her, I told you so. “Aria, what is wrong?”

“You should understand better how deep the bloodlink bond runs,” she replied instead of answering his question. “Atticus was a good man in the beginning.”

“I understand it more now than I ever thought possible since meeting Tempest, but I also watched it unfold with you and Braith, then Jack and Hannah. I saw how powerful it was as a human, and I can feel how powerful it is as a vampire. I could feel the strength of those connections before I met Tempest. I’ve also experienced the strength Tempest’s blood has given to me.”

He’d known how powerful the bond was before she’d handed him those documents, but it truly hit him then what he and Tempest were to each other. It explained his accelerated healing and speed, how he’d managed to climb that mountain, and what had driven Tempest into a burning building after him. Just like Braith could see around Aria, and Hannah could walk in the sun with Jack, he and Tempest made each other stronger and better.

“I know what it is, Aria,” he murmured. “She’s everything to me.”

The smile she gave him didn’t light up her eyes. “Good. I’m so happy for you, William. I’m so glad to see you really smile and laugh again; I was terrified I would never see you happy again. She brought you back to us.”

He frowned at her, feeling as if he’d somehow missed something. “But…”

“But I needed you to understand what a vampire can become when the bloodlink is jeopardized or broken.”

Her gaze fell to her hands in her lap again. His mind spun as he tried to figure out where she was going with all of this. “If you’re worried about Braith, I can’t ever see him becoming like his father. He understands the damage he could inflict if he did. Maybe he wouldn’t be able to continue on without you, though I think he would because he knows he must, but he wouldn’t become a monster, Aria.”