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arrow seconds before it shot a hairs width past his ear. Gideon let out a gurgled shout of surprise as it pierced through the skull of the creature that had just sprung up to grab hold of him. The thing squealed; horrible sounds of distress tore from its throat as it reeled back. Able to get in a better shot, the second arrow pierced through its heart, effectively putting the thing out of its misery.

Braith turned slowly; relief filled him as he spotted Aria. She was standing on the roof of a bar, her bow raised as she released another arrow that soared past Braith's shoulder with a sharp whistle and dull thud that indicated it had hit its target. He was given only a brief moment to savor in the sight of her though as another creature came at him and he had to destroy it.

Ashby was shoving his way toward them; he had never been much of a fighter and he'd been doing more of it than he liked recently, that was made obvious by the grim set of his shoulders and the clench of his jaw. The remaining creatures began to scatter, sensing a shift in the tide as more of Gideon's vampires emerged. Braith and Gideon managed to grab hold of a few more, but the rest were fleeing, escaping beyond the town. Gideon gestured to some of his men, pointing down the road as he ordered them to follow and bring back any survivors.

Another arrow knocked a straggling creature over as it jumped toward him. Gideon had worked his way free of the group surrounding him, he was bloody and his clothes were torn, but otherwise unscathed. The whistle of another arrow pierced a creature that had been lurching awkwardly at Gideon. Gideon didn't flinch at the sound again, but his head fell back as he looked toward where Aria stood. Surprise and amazement filtered over his features.

"Let's hope she never aims that thing at you," Gideon muttered.

"She already has," Braith admitted.

Gideon's eyes widened and then he burst into laughter. "Ah, it is amazing what life throws your way, is it not?"

Braith pondered the truth of those words. Life had been so different just a few months ago, he had been blind, alone and content to simply go through the motions of what he now realized was an empty life. Then he'd seen her standing on that stage, filthy and proud, and forcing him to see in more ways than one. "It is."

Braith took in the destruction littering the street, the mess of bodies surrounding them. Not all were those of the strange creatures, nor were they all human, some vampires had fallen here too.

He turned bracing himself as he looked up at Aria. Her bow was at her side, she had tucked the long ends of her hair into the collar of her dress. The hem of her dress was still tucked within her belt, revealing her legs to her knees. She looked wild, almost savage, but beneath it all he sensed her sadness as she stared at the carnage of the streets.

His remaining annoyance with her faded as her eyes met his. He had said once that he would not chase her into the trees she moved through with the ease of a monkey, he had assumed that would extend to rooftops as well, he'd been wrong.

He grabbed hold of a ladder, pulling it down with a clatter of metal. She was standing at the edge of the roof when he arrived at the top. He clutched her against him as he sought to ease her sorrow.

***

"Is she sleeping?"

"Finally," Braith answered in response to William's question.

William nodded slowly as he ran a hand through his disheveled hair. "She's been through so much that I sometimes forget she's not as tough as she acts." His eyes were so similar to his sisters, but they were also harsher. "She's always hated to kill things, she'd do it, but she hated it. I should have been there."

Braith bit back on the retort that William was right, he should have been there. Hell he could smell the alcohol, and the woman on him, but this hadn't been William's fault. None of them had expected the events of this night.

"How often does this happen?" Braith inquired as he accepted a glass of whiskey from Gideon.

Gideon shook his head, he was still bruised and bleeding from his split lip, but he was healing quickly and the marks would fade