Refugee Page 0,85

threat within the woods, another part of him, the part that had been honed to rule one day, was irritated. They should be on guard no matter what, even if they felt safe and were far from the palace, they should be prepared for any threat at all times. Their lack of awareness was about to get them killed.

Jack appeared in the woods, his head poked up from behind a large fallen tree. Braith nodded toward his right, Gideon and Ashby were somewhere over there, while Xavier was on the other side of Jack. The guardsmen came into view. None of them were paying attention to their surroundings as they continued to exchange stories. They may be outnumbered seven to five, but the guardsmen didn't have a shot of walking away from this alive.

Braith waited, watching for awhile to make sure there weren't others out there. They could not take the chance of one of them escaping and returning to the palace, if it wasn't for the swampland he wouldn't engage them at all. When he was certain that it was only these seven men, he nodded to Jack and waved his hand toward the last place he had seen Gideon and Ashby.

They simultaneously burst free of the woods. Braith seized hold of the first guardsman and took him down before he was able to make a sound. He had a brief glimpse of wide, terrified eyes before he smashed his fist into the guardsmen's chest. Bone gave way beneath the tremendous blow, crumpling as easily as paper beneath the force of his fist. His hand wrapped around the heart and he ripped it free.

Braith launched to his feet, Gideon and Jack were encircling one of the last two guards, but the other one had turned and bolted into the woods. He raced after him, pouring on the speed as the guard ran toward the area where he had left Aria. The vampire ran faster as he sensed his impending demise. Concern for Aria drove Braith to levels of speed he'd never achieved before.

They came around a turn in the woods; Braith was honing in on the guard as a path opened up before them. Aria was standing there, her bow raised. The guard was stunned; he hesitated for a brief moment. Aria didn't. She released the arrow with deadly accuracy. It was only the small sidestep of the guard at the last minute that saved him from a killing blow to the heart. It drove into his shoulder, knocking him back a step.

The guard lurched forward, his hands curved as he dove at her. Braith surged forward and seized hold of the back of his shirt. He ripped the guard back, all sense of reason vanished as he drove his fangs deep into the guard's neck. The man bucked, a gurgled sound of surprise escaped him as he clawed at Braith over the back of his head. Disgust filled him as the man's life pumped into him.

This was not the way he liked to kill. This was not the way any of them liked to kill, very few of them allowed another vampire to feed from them. It walked a fine line between remaining completely in control, and becoming something unspeakable. But his desperate need to protect her had driven him to this.

He pulled away from the vampire, grabbed hold of his head and snapped his neck with a sharp, jerking motion. The guard crumpled before him, weakened by loss of blood and the severe injury but not yet dead. Braith seized hold of the arrow, ripped it from his shoulder and drove it deep into his heart. He remained kneeling over for him for a moment, struggling with the influx of vampire blood in his system and what he had just done. His actions had been bad enough, but he had just carried them out in front of her.

Slowly, guardedly, he lifted his head to look at her. He knew what he was, knew what he was capable of, especially when it came to her. He had tried to keep the worst of it hidden from her but it was too late now. Now, she could see it all, had seen it all.

She stared at him, her bow hung limply at her side. He had expected censure and disgust in her eyes, instead there was simply shock. Seeming to sense his need for her to accept him, even like this, at his most evil, her expression changed slowly