And then, slowly, they became separate entities again. She could make out his hunger, his thirst, his need as he consumed her, drinking deeper than he had ever drank from anyone before. And somehow, though he did not say it, she knew that was true as his thoughts seemed to mingle at the edges of her conscious. He had never drunk like this before. Had never swallowed and consumed and wanted more than this before. He wanted all of her, could not get enough of her, he would never get enough of her. And she did not want him to.

He pushed against her, shoving her harder into the mattress as he bit down sharply. She heard cartilage snap, her cartilage, but she didn’t care. It did not hurt; she didn’t feel anything above the sucking greediness of blood being pulled eagerly from her. She knew she should be afraid, knew that this was going far beyond her control, or his, but she wasn’t scared. As long as she was in his arms, she knew that she would never be scared again. If he killed her now she would not know a moment of fear, even though she could feel her blood being gulped eagerly into him. She could feel it running down her neck to stain the mattress and her slip, but she still did not feel one moment of fear. Instead, her heart swelled with love, her body boiled and swelled with it until it was overflowing from her.

It wasn’t until he growled low, and bit down even harder, that she realized the words I love you were spilling from her in a monotonous chorus that she could not stop until a wave of blackness washed up to ensnare her. She drifted in and out of consciousness, pleasant memories washing up to engulf her, before slipping ever so slowly away again. Dreams came and went, shadows spun throughout her mind. Braith was holding her, cradling her, whispering for her not to leave him, but she felt he should know that she would never leave him, and she told him so repeatedly.

He offered her something, it was on his wrist. But she pushed him away, telling him that she had all she wanted, she had him, but he made her take his wrist into her mouth, made her swallow whatever was on it. It was sweet, and it tasted like him, and though she hadn’t wanted it at first, she found herself taking more of it into her, clinging to him as she consumed what it was that he was offering. She thought she heard him whispering I love you as she drank greedily until she drifted slowly back into a profound bliss that she knew could never be pierced.

Chapter 13

“Aria! Aria! Arianna!” She groaned softly as she tried to roll away from the incessant hands shaking her, but they were clinging to her, refusing to let go as they shook her again. This time harder. “Arianna!”

She batted at the hands, trying to break free, but she was so tired and they just wouldn’t let her go. “Stop!” she protested.

“Get up Aria, you have to get up!” It was the urgency of the voice that finally pierced through the haze of bliss and exhaustion that clung to her. She cracked open an eye, frowning at the blurry face before her. It was too much effort to concentrate on the face, instead her eye drifted back shut and she snuggled deeper into the delightful bed beneath her. The voice swore loudly, then, before she knew what was happening, she was heaved up out of the bed and tossed over someone’s shoulder. She sputtered in disbelief as she was spun around in a circle and then dumped on the bed once more. “Get up Aria or I’m going to throw you in the tub.”

She blinked in surprise, trying to clear her blurry vision. Eventually her eyes began to focus; she frowned in surprise and disbelief as Jack came into focus. She gaped in horror, bolting upright in the bed as she pulled the comforter tight against her chest. “Jack!”

She was completely disoriented, out of sorts, and lost. She was in Braith’s bed, wasn’t she? But where the hell was Braith and what the hell was Jack doing here? “Where’s Braith?”

Jack had turned away from her, he was searching for something, but she didn’t know what it was until a pile of clothes was dropped in her lap. She stared at the pants and cotton shirt in disbelief. They were similar to the clothes she had worn in the woods, except these were pitch black instead of brown or light green. “He was called to a council meeting with our father. Get dressed. We have to go quickly, before he gets back.”

“Wait! What?” she gasped.

“We have to go Aria! Now!” he snapped impatiently. “Get dressed before he gets back.”

Horror flooded through her. Go? Now? Leave Braith? No, no she couldn’t. Not after last night, she could never leave him after last night. “No Jack, no I can’t.”

“Aria…”

“No, you don’t understand Jack. I can’t leave, I simply can’t.”

He seized hold of her cheeks, thrusting his face into hers. “You don’t understand Aria. This is our only chance at escape, if we don’t leave now then you will remain here, and your father will come for you and he will die. Now get up, and get dressed.”

She gaped at Jack, then at the clothes, then back at Jack. Her mind spun, her heart was thrumming. She couldn’t leave Braith, she couldn’t. She loved him! And though she wasn’t completely sure, she thought he might have said he loved her too last night. But it was all so hazy, so distorted and confusing, and it was all so wonderful that she could barely contain her excitement over it. Until the horror of this situation, right here and now, came surging back to the forefront.

“Aria…”

“No Jack, no. I want to stay. I can’t leave him, I don’t want to.” Jack’s eyes widened in surprise, the blue flecks in them were more clearly visible as he gawked at her. “Jack, please…”

“You cannot stay here Aria, I can’t let that happen. No matter what, your father will come after you.”

“No.” She seized hold of Jack’s hands. “Not if you tell him I’m dead Jack, that I’m gone.”

“Max…”

“Tell Max the same thing.”

Jack’s jaw clenched, his nostrils flared. He was staring at her as if he didn’t recognize her, staring at her as if he didn’t have a clue as to who she was. And truth be told, she didn’t really know who she was anymore either. All she knew was that her heart was with Braith and she could not leave him. “Max is here Aria, he knows you’re alive. He’s keeping lookout right now.”

Her eyes widened, her gaze darted rapidly around the room as she searched out Max, but she didn’t see him anywhere. Disappointment filled her; she wanted to see her friend again, at least once more. She wanted to make sure that he was ok, but she couldn’t leave.

“Then tell them I’m happy Jack, because I am. I… I…” She broke off, her fingers clutched at the blanket. She heaved a soft sigh before she turned back to Braith’s brother. “I love him Jack.”

Jack’s eyes widened, he sat back as his mouth dropped in horror. “Aria…”

She seized hold of his hand as she leaned forward. She was desperate for him to understand, desperate for him to hear and believe what she was saying. She knew what Jack was now, but she was surprised to realize that she still trusted him; that she still believed in him, and he was the only one that could help her right now. “I know it makes no sense, but I do love him and I want to stay with him.”

Jack’s gaze turned pitying. “Aria…”

“Please Jack, I…”

He seized hold of her face, his hands lightly cradling her cheeks. “He has a fiancée Aria.”

Her words broke off, sputtered, and died. Horror curdled through her, she couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move. She could only sit there and stare at him, her mouth open, and her heart no longer beating as something within her curdled and died. “No, not possible, he… No.”

“Yes, Aria. They’ve been betrothed for over a year. They are getting married in six months.”

She couldn’t breathe; she was choking on the air she so desperately needed to get into her lungs. Strange sounds were coming from her, they weren’t human. She didn’t feel human anymore as her heart shredded, her chest constricted, and a moan of pain died within her. Jack held her as she rocked forward, unable to fully comprehend his words, unable to function through the agonizing pain consuming her.

“I’m sorry Aria, I am so sorry, but you can’t stay here. She’ll have you killed as soon as the wedding is over and he won’t be able to save you. He’s my brother, but he will never go against my father. It’s the curse of the first born I suppose to be the one reared to one day rule the roost, and to do as expected. Now, you have to pull yourself together, we have to get out of here.”

He pulled her out of the bed, depositing her on her shaking legs. “Don’t make me have to dress you Aria.” She shook her head numbly, tears streamed down her cheeks as she grasped hold of the clothes he thrust at her. She could only gaze numbly, brokenly up at him. She hated the awful pity in his eyes, hated the fact that she looked so weak and pathetic right now. “We have to go, get dressed.”

Jack turned away. Her hands shook as she pulled the slip over her head. She was still wearing the crazy undergarments from yesterday, but she was shaking so bad she knew she would never be able to get them off. He was engaged? He was engaged! They were the only words running through her head, the only thing she could concentrate on. He was engaged and he had never even told her. He had slept beside her, held her, kissed her, and he had fed off of her. He had used her, and all the while he had known that he had a fiancée. She had never kidded herself with dreams of a future for them, but she had never expected this betrayal. If he had told her, she never would have allowed things to go this far, she never would have allowed him to touch her and hold her. And she sure as hell wouldn’t have allowed him to feed off of her.

Tears streamed down her face, she couldn’t get the buttons together. Jack was back before her, his eyes sad, the sympathy in them almost more than she could bear. “You let him feed from you.” Aria blinked at him as he buttoned her shirt swiftly. She was not embarrassed that Jack was seeing this much of her, nothing else could faze her at this moment. He grasped hold of her shoulders, shaking her gently. “Aria, you need to listen to me, and you need to focus on me for a moment, it’s important.”

She managed a nod, and she just barely managed that. “He fed from you.” It was not a question. In fact it was quite obvious that Braith had fed from her as her slip was stained with blood, so was the bed, and she could still feel it against her neck. She winced slightly as Jack brushed at the blood on her neck, rubbing against the sore wounds upon her. “Did he give you any of his blood?”

“Excuse me?” she asked in surprise.

Jack was growing frustrated with her. “Think Aria! This is important! Did you feed from him?” he enunciated clearly.

Aria blinked as she tried to recall the night, but her mind and body shied away from the painful memories. It was too much. She couldn’t think about it. It had all been a lie. A cruel, brutal lie that she had thought meant so much more, when in fact it had meant absolutely nothing to him. She was nothing but a blood slave after all. She didn’t know why he had waited so long to feed from her, and she didn’t want to think about it. There was no way that she could figure out what he had been thinking, or doing, or why. She was not cruel and manipulative like him, she would never understand why he had done this to her. It didn’t matter anymore. It all meant nothing. For the first time in her life she had been a silly fool who had allowed her defenses down, and she had gotten what she had always expected. Nothing.

“Aria!” Jack growled.

She blinked him into focus, shaking her head slightly. “No, I… No. What does it matter anyway?”

“It matters. Are you sure?”

She bit on her bottom lip. There had been dreams, so many wonderful dreams of peace and love and security. There had even been a dream about something sweet and wonderful tasting, but they had been nothing more than dreams. They couldn’t have been anything more, he was engaged after all, and therefore he never would have told her he loved her. Because his heart already belonged to someone else. Dreams, nothing but awful, shattered dreams.

“No,” she whispered. “No, I didn’t.”

Jack heaved a sigh of relief as he nodded. “Good, good. We need to go.”

She didn’t respond as he seized hold of her arm, pulling her through the library, sitting room, and then into the bedroom she had first used upon arrival. Max was standing by an open doorway that she had never seen before. It seemed to have magically appeared in the wall next to the bed she’d slept in. Max’s eyes widened as he caught sight of Aria. For a moment, the sight of her friend was enough to make her forget her pain. A soft cry of happiness escaped her as she raced forward, throwing herself into his open arms. He had lost weight, his face was gaunt, his eyes were far wiser and sadder, but his arms were still warm and secure as they wrapped tightly around her.