spotted it, a small glimmer halfway up a tree about two miles away. Her father didn't climb as high as she did, but he could also navigate the trees well. Smiling with satisfaction and relief, she was about to shimmy back down the tree when something to the right snapped her head around. Eyes narrowing, her hands dropped down to grab the two branches supporting her weight. She brought them sharply together, lifting herself higher and earning an angry hiss from Braith.
She didn't care though. She didn't even care that she was pushing her luck as she scooted another foot higher. Only about a mile away there was a movement in the woods that was not made by any animal, but she couldn't be certain if it was human, or something else, until a break in the trees revealed the group of men. Though they were too far away to discern much about them, they were all wearing the royal colors of the king.
Aria's heart leapt into her throat, panic flared through her body as two of the men turned to scan the horizon. She didn't move, didn't even breathe. They turned in a complete circle, seemingly oblivious to the brim of her head over the tree as they bent to confer again.
They had more soldiers on their side right now, but if things went wrong, and one of the king's men happened to escape back to the palace, everything they had worked for would be ruined. They needed to stay hidden until Braith decided it was time to make their presence known. But that would be impossible with the herd following them.
With their attention distracted, Aria plunged rapidly out of the tree, dropping from branch to branch until she released the final limb and plummeted toward the ground. She would have been fine if she'd hit the ground, but she didn't mind at all when Braith's arms wrapped around her. He held her for a brief moment, cradling her within his embrace. She allowed herself to relax, to feel the strength of his body beneath her hand before he set her smoothly on her feet.
Ashby was gaping at her, his bright green eyes astonished as he looked from her to the top of the tree. Behind him Gideon and William were watching her anxiously. "Dad?" asked William.
"That way, about two miles there's a marker." Taking a steadying breath, she turned slowly and pointed to the west. "That way about a mile, are the king's men."
Braith's hand stilled in the hollow of her back, his eyebrows drew sharply together over the bridge of his nose as his nostrils flared. "Are you certain?" Gideon asked.
"They're wearing his colors."
"What the hell are we going to do?" Ashby demanded.
"There are caves." William inhaled sharply at her words, his eyes darted uncertainly toward her. She stared hard at her brother, understanding his trepidation and hesitance. But it was too late for that, they had brought these vampires into their world, there was no turning back now. William looked hesitant for a moment more before he nodded slowly. "Less than a mile from here. They're large enough to hold everyone but with so many it will be cramped."
"They're not going to like being forced into those caves." Aria started in surprise as Xavier separated from the shadows of the trees. She hadn't seen him standing there, but Braith seemed to have known as he didn't react to Xavier's sudden appearance. She was even more surprised when Braith didn't remove his hand from her back, didn't separate himself from her. A tremor of trepidation shuddered down her spine as Xavier pinned her with his dark, knowing eyes.
"They knew this wasn't going to be an easy undertaking," Gideon stated. "That there would be sacrifices when we left. This will be one of those sacrifices. It's painfully obvious that we cannot move them all through here, this hasn't been their environment in a hundred years, and some have never experienced it."
"These caves will be safe?" Braith inquired.
Aria forced herself not to shudder at the thought of the darkness, the confining space, the chill that came with the underground hollows she had grown to hate after nearly being trapped in a separate system with William and Max. "All the cave systems have iron gates, some sort of alarm, and traps in them," William explained. "Though there is no way to know if they have been discovered since we left."
"I don't think we have a choice," Ashby said.
Braith was silent