Refugee (The Captive Series Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page B

snarled. Ashby remained where he was, his
shoulders heaving as his fangs sliced into his lower lip. William’s
hands had stilled on the cloth he was trying to rip into shreds.
Aria was immobile against him, her breath frozen in her lungs. “Now
Ashby! Now!”
    His brother-in-law shook his head; his
fangs retreated as his eyes flickered wildly between red and green.
Ashby managed a small nod as he took a step back, and then another
before he finally turned away. Relief filtered through Braith; he
didn’t want to have to kill Ashby but he would to keep Aria safe.
He wanted to try and regain his trust in Ashby. Jack and Melinda
trusted him, Aria and William seemed to, but Ashby was the one that
had blinded him, and Braith was still uncertain about
him.
    William shredded the rest of Aria’s
ruined sleeves and began to slowly wrap her brutalized arms in the
coarse material. She squirmed in his lap; her eyes squeezed shut as
her mouth twisted. Braith bent closer to her hair, inhaling her
sweet scent as he tried to calm himself. As her pain suffused him,
he kept reminding himself that William was helping. Even though
Braith told himself this, his emotions were swinging on a
precarious pendulum between rage, dread, and famine. He was
unstable, deadly if unleashed, and the only thing that helped to
soothe him was her. He savored her scent, the feel of her teeth
against his skin, the gentle pull of his blood seeping slowly into
her system. His blood would heal her, it would be enough. It had to
be, there were no other options. She would die if it
didn’t.
    Aria jerked against him. Braith’s head
snapped up, an involuntary snarl escaped him. William flinched but
continued to wrap her arms in the cloth. “I’m sorry,” he whispered
his gaze worriedly darting to Braith.
    William tied the last knot and sat back
on his heels as he studied his sister. Aria squeezed William’s arm
briefly before slipping lifelessly away. It took Braith a frantic
moment to realize that her chest was still rising and falling. Her
heart was beating, slowly and far too erratically for his liking,
but it was there and it was getting stronger.
    Braith was painfully aware of the fact
that she had managed to stay conscious long enough for her brother
to finish what he was doing. 

CHAPTER 3

    “You’re awake.”
    Was she awake? Aria took stock of her
body as she tried to figure out exactly what had happened. She
blinked at the ceiling, an actual ceiling; she couldn’t quite
remember the last time she had seen a ceiling over her head. Where
was she? She turned her head slowly, her muscles throbbed; she felt
drained, tired and a little nauseous. William blurred before her,
there were two of him at first but the more she blinked the clearer
he became.
    “I am,” she confirmed.
    His shoulders slumped in relief, his
hand rested lightly upon her upper arm. “You had me
worried.”
    Her throat was dry, it was difficult to
swallow but she finally managed to form words. “I feel awful,” she
admitted.
    “That’s because you almost died, and
you would have…” William’s voice trailed off, his gaze drifted
somewhere behind her.
    “William?” She was worried by the
perplexed look on his face.
    “He gave you some of his blood.” He
sounded almost as equally disgusted as awed.
    Aria sighed, she wanted to stay where
she was, wanted to lie on the cool floor forever, but she had a
feeling she had been out for awhile. It was time to get moving.
William lurched awkwardly forward as she braced herself on her
forearms. Pain instantly tore through her, she nearly fell back to
the ground but he grabbed hold of her and helped her into a seated
position. She sat for a minute, panting as the copper taste that
preceded vomit filled her mouth. She shuddered, swallowing heavily
as she struggled to keep her stomach from revolting.
    After a few moments of taking deep
breaths, she was finally able to gain enough control to realize she
was not going to toss the meager