CHAPTER 1
Aria didn’t have to look up to know that Max had arrived. He had been joining her here, at the
same time, everyday for the last month. Even if he hadn’t settled into that routine, she would
have detected his presence by his subtle smell and nearly silent step. He settled onto the ground
beside her, remaining silent as he picked up a rock and skipped it leisurely across the lake. Aria
handed him the fishing pole beside her, the hook was already baited and ready for him. He took
it from her, casting it easily into the center of the lake.
Aria swung her feet slightly back and forth, her toes skimming along the lake. It was early
summer now; the cool water was wonderful against her overheated skin. Using the back of her
arm, she wiped away the sweat beading along her forehead. They sat for a long time together,
wordlessly reeling in fish. They kept the ones that were good to eat, and tossed back the ones that
were too small.
Aria had started retreating to this spot soon after her escape from being a blood slave, and her
return home. Max had found her here two days later. They rarely spoke, they didn’t need too.
They had both been inside that place, both been owned and used, and hurt by the vampires that
had possessed them. The monsters that had owned them. Though, decidedly, Max’s experience
had been far worse than hers.
She had been owned, led around by a leash, and used, but the extent of her use was her own
fault. She had willingly given the prince her blood, mistakenly thinking that she was falling in
love with the deceptive bastard, but that had been before she’d learned that he was engaged.
Though she hated the prince now, she could not deny the sharp stab of pain that pierced her at
the thought of him marrying another woman. It was an awful thought, horrendous, and it brought
tears to her eyes every time it crossed her mind. Which was far more often than she cared to
admit.
But, no matter how badly she’d been hurt, no matter how much she’d been betrayed, her
experience hadn’t been anywhere near as awful as Max’s. Though they did not talk about it, she
knew what was done to blood slaves. They were used, abused, and discarded when their owners
grew tired of them. Even though Max always wore long sleeves, every once in awhile his shirt
would ride up and she would catch sight of the scars and burns that marred his fair skin. She
would see the haunted look that sometimes filled his bright blue eyes when he didn’t think
anyone was looking.
She had suffered abuse while within the palace, but it had come from a human servant, and not
the vampire prince. He had broken her heart, but he had never intentionally inflicted bodily harm
to her that she not asked for. In fact, he had been unfailingly gentle with her.
Though she hated to acknowledge it, she knew that if the prince had not taken so much of her
blood on her last night, leaving her incoherent, she would have given him far more than just her
blood then. She also would have given him her body, and her last piece of self respect. It was a
fact that she hated herself for, and tried not to think about. Especially since the thought still left
her oddly shaken and longing for something that had been unfulfilled, and always would be.
The prince may not have been physically cruel to her, but Max’s owner had been just as cruel
and brutal as they had always heard the vampire’s were to their slaves. Aria’s neck was only
marred by one bite mark, one that she had wanted so badly that her whole being had ached for it.
A bite that had nearly stripped her soul from her, and left her a far different person than the one
she’d been before he fed from her. A mark that was fading faster than she wanted it to, and yet
nowhere near as fast as she wanted it to. She didn’t want to lose the mark, it was her last
connection to the prince, and no matter how much she hated him, she could not deny that he
would always own a piece of her heart. But it could only be a small piece as he had succeeded in
shattering the rest of it.
She wanted the mark gone. Wanted it off of her skin. She hoped that once it was gone she
would be able to forget about the prince. That once it was gone, she could move on with her life,
and not hurt so much all the time. That she would not ache constantly, that the dreams would
stop haunting her, and she could stop just existing, and actually start living again. She wanted to
take pleasure again in the woods again, but since her return she had found little joy in the
wilderness she’d once loved so dearly.
Max reeled his line in, deftly unhooked a decent sized bass, and added it to their growing
catch. Aria pulled her dark pants up more, baring her legs to her knees. She squirmed her way
closer to the edge of the lake, dipping her legs up to her shins in the water. She wanted to go
swimming soon, wash her hair, and clean herself. One of the few things she missed about the
palace, besides the prince, was the wonderfully hot showers and baths she had taken. Diving in
the lake was not the same cleansing experience, though she did it far more often now than she
had before she was captured and claimed by the prince. Being clean every day while in the
palace had left her with the same desire now that she was home.
After about an hour, Max finally spoke. “You had another bad dream last night.”
Aria sat silently, she didn’t know how to tell him she didn’t have nightmares like he did. She
did not relive violent beatings and torture. Her dreams were about the last night she’d had with
the prince, the wonder she had felt, the joy and love that had suffused her. His feeding from her
had been so breathtaking, and amazing, that she had never wanted to end. It had been painful for
Max when his owner had drank from him, but for her, it had been a moment of pure ecstasy that
had touched her profoundly. It was the loss of that joy, the loss of him that caused her to cry and
moan and awaken at night. For her, the night was not a reliving of torment like it was with Max,
but a reliving of heartache.
She had never deluded herself into thinking that anything between herself and the prince could
last. She would have had to die eventually, the rest of the royal family, his wife, would have seen
to her death eventually. She had deluded herself into thinking that he might actually care for her
too though. But that was before she had learned that he was already engaged to someone else.
The thought still caused a bolt of fury, betrayal, and pain to jolt through her.
Max wrapped his hands lightly around hers, trying to steady them as they shook on the pole.
“The fish will know you’re here.”
She managed to return his wan smile as she struggled to breathe, struggled to regain control of
her wounded pride and broken heart. “I don’t think my nightmares are as bad as yours,” she said
softly.
He squeezed her hand gently before slowly releasing her. They had never spoken about their
experiences, though it was obvious that they had both been changed forever. But Aria had gained
weight while in captivity, Max had grown even thinner, his bones were still sharp against his
pale, drained skin. He exhibited far more bruises, scars, and bite marks than she did, though her
scars were mainly inside. His experience had been far more physically taxing, and just as
mentally abusive, and toxic, as hers had.
“That’s a good thing,” he murmured.
She tilted her head, offering him a small half smile. His clear blue eyes were soft, tender. His
sandy blond hair hung about his handsome face and stark features. It was her fault that Max had
even been placed in that whole awful situation. He had allowed himself to be captured after she
was taken with the hope that he would be able to get them both free. Unfortunately, he had not
anticipated just how much of a lockdown blood slaves were placed on. Though, she had been
afforded far more freedom than he had.
She glanced down at her wrist, the one that had been scarred by the leash she had tried to rip
from her. Unfortunately, once placed on, the golden leashes could only be removed by the
vampire that had placed them there. In a moment of panic, frustration, and fear for Max’s life,
she had tried to rip it off of her. All she had gotten for her efforts was a bloody wrist, bloody
fingers, and a pissed off prince who had been so unbelievably tender afterwards.
She forcefully shut the thought down. Recalling the prince as tender and loving only reopened
the raw and jagged wounds still festering upon her heart. “You never should have been there
Max, I’m sorry.”
It was the first time she had apologized to him for her role in his capture; she hadn’t been able
to get the words out before. She had wanted to apologize many many times, but neither of them
wanted to be reminded of their time there. They both wanted to keep it to themselves, wanted to
deny that it had even happened. And they were both failing miserably at it. It was obvious to
anyone that knew them that they weren’t the same; that they never would be. No matter how
much they wanted to pretend that their captivity hadn’t happened, they couldn’t succeed at it.
He was silent for a moment, his gaze distant as he stared across the lake. He turned slowly
toward her, his eyes haunted, but there was something else in them, something more. Something
she had never seen before. Or perhaps she had seen it, but she hadn’t wanted to acknowledge it
before. She couldn’t deny it now.
She couldn’t deny it, but she also didn’t want it. There had only been one other man that had
ever looked at her like that, and in the end he had made her like this. He had left her shattered
and broken, and barely able to breathe through the pain that continuously clawed at her insides.
He had ruined her, and Max did not fully understand that yet. She hoped that one day he would.
The last thing she wanted was to have Max hurt because of her again, but with the way that he
was looking at her she felt it was inevitable.
“I made the choice to go after you Aria, it was my fault that I was caught, not yours. Even
knowing what I do now, I wouldn’t change anything. I would never leave you alone Aria,
never.”
She stared back at him, searching his face. She had always found him handsome, and she still
did, but it was not the dark, dangerous ruggedness that the prince had possessed. Instead, Max
was blond, with clear blue eyes, and an open sweet face that made many girls swoon. At one
time he had even made her swoon. So much so that Max had been her first and only kiss, before
she had met the prince. And then, she had known that no matter what feelings she had once
possessed for Max, they had been nothing compared to what she felt for the prince.
And now the prince was gone, lost to her forever, and Max was looking at her with the same
longing expression that the prince had stared at her with. She swallowed the lump in her throat,
fighting against the tears that wanted to fall. Unlike the prince though, Max would never leave
her alone, never betray her, never use her like the prince had. He would never destroy her as the
prince had. Max would do everything in his power to keep her safe, to build her up again, and
would sacrifice himself over and over for her. Even if the prince could have located her, even if
he had wanted to, he never would have come for her. He had a fiancée he had to take care of
now. A vampire to build a life with, and to have children with. She was nothing but a pitiful,
human, toy to him.
Why did she still love the murdering bastard then? Why on earth couldn’t she love someone as
wonderful, caring, and sweet as Max? But she didn’t, and she knew that she would never be able
to.
Aria shook her head, trying to deny his words. “Max…”
“It’s ok Aria, one day you’ll forget him, you’ll move on.”
“You know about him?” she whispered, unexpected shame flooding her body.
She felt like a traitor, a monster, a fool. Her father was the leader of the rebels; her brother’s
and Max were some of his strongest fighters in the cause, just as she had been before she had
been broken. They had been willing to risk their lives for her, and she…
Well she had given her heart to a vampire, the oldest son in the royal family no less, the heir to
the throne. They had been willing to die for her, and she had been falling in love with one of
their greatest enemies. She thought of the prince as a monster, but she had also come to accept
the fact that she was one too.
“I suspected,” he said softly. “You can’t blame yourself Aria, it was an awful time. Things
were twisted and wrong in there. It’s not your fault that you wanted to trust him. Of course you
did, it was frightening, and you became confused. He had a month to twist you to his way of
thinking, to make you think that you could trust him, that you could love him.”
“Oh Max,” she breathed, wishing that the explanation was as simple as that, but she knew it
wasn’t. The prince had not twisted her; he had not turned her terror and confusion against her.
He had been kind and caring, and he had needed her, she knew that. Though he’d had an
unknown fiancée the whole time, she knew that she had at the very least been a little special to
him. But she still should have fought against her feelings even more, he was her enemy, he
would always be her enemy, and they had never had a chance at a future. She had known all of
that, and yet she had still gone to him willingly. Still offered him her blood with no reservations,
and no fear.
She had given him her heart willingly also, it had not been twisted and distorted the way that
Max believed it had. She hated to pop Max’s bubble of her, but he could not go about thinking
such things. He had to know that she had not been corrupted in there, but a willing, even eager,
participant. He had to know that she was a horrible person. He had to know these things so that
he would stop looking at her like that, so that he would understand she could never care for him
the same way that he cared for her.
“I’m sorry Max,” she whispered. “But that’s not what happened. He didn’t twist me, he didn’t
corrupt me. He was kind to me, he took care of me. I may have been his blood slave, but he only
treated me as such when it was absolutely necessary. I wish I could say that I hadn’t come to care
for him, that I had remained loyal to you and everyone here, but I can’t. I loved him Max…” She
broke off, unable to speak through the pain that clawed at her. “I still love him,” she choked out.
He stared at her for a moment, his eyes wide in disbelief, and then he shook his head rapidly.
His sandy blond hair fell across his forehead, curling around his bright eyes. “But don’t you see
Aria that is how he twisted you. He knew that you’d always had nothing, that your life had been
hard and unkind. He knew that by being kind, by giving you the things that you’d never had, you
would come to rely on him, need him, and trust him. That way it would be more fun when he
destroyed you, it’s why he never told you he was engaged.”
Aria’s hands clawed into the edge of the river bank, the moss dug underneath her fingernails.
She wanted to believe Max’s words, wanted to make them true and maybe, just maybe, she could
move on if she believed them, but she couldn’t. Yes, the prince had kept his fiancée from her,
yes he had been dishonest, and yes he had broken her heart, but something between them had
been real. Max knew that the prince was blind; he did not know that whenever the prince was
near her, he could see again. There had been a strange connection between them from the very
beginning, one the prince had recognized instantly upon seeing her, one that she hadn’t
acknowledged until later.
And though the prince had omitted things about his life, she knew he had not been lying about
the fact that he could only see when he was around her. He had been completely blind for over a
hundred years, until he had seen her standing on stage being auctioned off as a blood slave. The
fact that he could see her was the reason that he had claimed her, the first blood slave that he had
ever owned. No, Max did not know about that, and as far as she was concerned no one ever
would, not even Jack, the prince’s brother. That was one secret that would stay completely
between the two of them. It was the one thing that she clung to, the one thing that made her
believe that it had not all been a lie. The one thing that helped to ease her self disgust just a little.
For although she knew she would never see him again, never feel him again, and even though
he had hurt her so badly, she needed to believe that he had cared for her, at least a little bit. That
she had not been a complete and utter idiot. It probably wasn’t the best idea for her to cling to
that, not when she needed to let him go, but she couldn’t help it. Right now it was the only thing
that was getting her through the awful pain that clung to her every day.
“I don’t think so Max,” she said softly.
“I do,” he replied with more confidence than she had. “And one day you will realize it too. You
just need time for his psychological games to wear off, and when they do, I’ll be here.”
Aria shook her head. “No Max…”
Her words broke off as he clasped hold of her chin, turning her so that she had to face him. He
wiped the tears gently from her face. Tears she had not even known she was crying. “Yes Aria.”
Before she could react, he was leaning forward and kissing her. Aria started slightly in
surprise, she didn’t know what to do, how to react, but before she could do anything he was
already pulling away from her. She stared at him in wide eyed surprise, he smiled wanly back at
her. “Just thought it was time for our second kiss.”
She couldn’t have disagreed more, but she didn’t say so. She was being selfish by not telling
him that, she knew, but she had already lost so much in the past couple of months, she couldn’t
bear to lose Max’s friendship as well. Yet she knew that once he realized who she truly was, how
little she deserved his love, he would turn swiftly against her. “We should be going,” she
managed to choke out.
He nodded, climbing swiftly to his feet; he wiped the moss and dirt from the river bank off of
his pants. Holding out his hand, he helped her to her feet. Aria followed him back through the
forest, her forest, listening silently to the sounds of the animals surrounding them. She had
always taken solace, and refuge within these thick woods, but she hadn’t been able to find either
of those things as of late.
***
Aria leaned against the wall of the cave, staring out the entrance at the dark night. In the
shadows of the evening, she could just barely make out the figures of a few guards, but she only
saw them because she knew that they were there. If she had not known, she never would have
been able to see them amongst their strategic hiding spots. The caves were good shelter, but
without fair warning that an attack was coming, it was easy to get trapped within the thick walls.
There were many escape routes throughout the underground system, but there were just as many
dead ends.
She glanced behind her, but the cave was dark. The fires were lit much further beneath the
earth, where they could not be seen from the woods. She did not fool herself into thinking that
she was alone out here; her father had people watching her like a hawk since she had been taken,
but at least she had a little sense of peace and quiet. Well, that was until she felt William coming.
She turned as her twin emerged from the dark of the caves. She would know him anywhere and
often felt him coming long before he arrived. He leaned against the wall opposite her, his arms
folded over his chest as he gazed at her. They both had the same bright blue eyes, the same dark
auburn hair. Though they had come from two different eggs, they were even more similar than
most identical twins. Right down to their quick tempers and impulsive actions.
Her impulsive actions had finally gotten her enslaved, and though she’d like to say that they
were both more thoughtful now, she knew she would be lying. The only thing that had changed
was she was sadder and more mature than she had been before going into the palace, and
William was angrier. He blamed himself for not being with her that day, even though he had
been hurt and unable to accompany her on the hunt. He blamed the vampires for taking her, and
he especially blamed the prince for claiming her as a blood slave.
She had tried to explain to all of them that she had not been hurt, that it was only her heart that
had been wounded, but none of them believed her. She supposed it didn’t help that she was more
like the walking dead, than a living person, since she had returned. She most certainly wasn’t the
same girl that had been taken from the woods, and they blamed the prince for that. They didn’t
understand that he had saved her from a more awful fate than the one she’d experienced. It had
been another vampire that had claimed her originally, if it hadn’t been for the prince far worse
things would have been done to her. She had been lucky; they felt she had been tortured.
“Have you ever been in love?” she asked quietly.
He turned slightly toward her, his eyes bright in the dark. His dark eyebrows drew sharply
together as he studied her. “Is that what you think you were?”
She was silent as she thought over her next words. She had never kept anything from William,
they had always shared everything, always been together, but he had been so angry lately that
she was afraid her words might send him over the edge. But she could not lie to him, and she had
started this conversation because she needed someone to talk to, and William had always been
that person. “Yes.”
He swallowed heavily as he ran a hand through his disordered, shaggy hair. She could tell he
was trying to keep hold of his temper, struggling to his fury from her. “Arianna, things happened
in there, things I can’t even begin to imagine…”
“Don’t William. Max may want to believe that, but you know better. You know me, you know
who I am. Do you really think I don’t know what I felt in there?”
“I believe that you think you do.” Aria’s hands fisted in frustration, her jaw clenched tightly. It
seemed that no one wanted to listen to her; no one wanted to understand her feelings. But she
supposed that if it were William telling her these things, she wouldn’t want to believe them
either. “And no, I have never been in love.”
“Oh.”
He moved away from the wall, striding slowly to her, he threw his arm casually around her
shoulders. He grinned down at her, his straight white teeth bright in the moonlight. She couldn’t
help but grin back at him. For the first time in their lives he may not understand her, but he
would always love her. No matter what. She dropped her head to his chest and wrapped her arm
around his waist. She listened to the sound of his heart as they stared out at the night. She had
been so intent upon the reassuring beat of his heart that it took her a few moments to realize that
all of the animals, and insects, had gone quiet.
Aria lifted her head slowly, her heart thumped wildly as she gazed out at the darkness. She
searched for the guards amongst the trees, spotting their prone figures amid the darkness.
“William,” she whispered.
“I know. Come on.”
He pushed her deeper into the cave, keeping his hand in her back as they made their swiftly
through the well familiar terrain. The guards still had not raised the alarm, a low pitched whistle
that could easily blend in with the chirruping of the insects, but Aria strained to hear it. It had to
be coming soon. “Hurry!” she gasped, a sense of doom descending over her as her breath came
faster.
Her hand clenched upon William’s, when they were far enough from the entrance, they broke
into a run, their feet flying over the hard rock of the cave. They might already be too late if the
vampires were already upon them. With the vampire’s exceptional eyesight in the dark, and their
rapid speed, it would be almost impossible for her and William to escape. They took a side
tunnel on the right, ducking low as the ceiling became lower. William turned back, grabbed hold
of one of the heavy iron gates that had been built into the wall.
“The guards!” she hissed, grabbing hold of his arm before he could close the gate.
“It’s too late for them Aria,” he said softly.
Her eyes widened, horror filled her as the low pitched warning whistle pierced the air. William
froze for a moment; the gate was still partly open when they sensed, more than heard, something
approaching. William jumped into action, rushing forward to close the gate as quietly as
possible. There were many other tunnels leading through here, it could take awhile for the
vampires to find the right one, and the gate should withstand an attack for long enough to give
them extra time to escape.
They retreated, moving as quickly as they could through the stooped tunnel. Aria’s heart
pounded rapidly in her chest, a crushing sense of time running out seized hold of her as
something large and heavy slammed into the gate, rattling it within its frame.
Aria didn’t have to look up to know that Max had arrived. He had been joining her here, at the
same time, everyday for the last month. Even if he hadn’t settled into that routine, she would
have detected his presence by his subtle smell and nearly silent step. He settled onto the ground
beside her, remaining silent as he picked up a rock and skipped it leisurely across the lake. Aria
handed him the fishing pole beside her, the hook was already baited and ready for him. He took
it from her, casting it easily into the center of the lake.
Aria swung her feet slightly back and forth, her toes skimming along the lake. It was early
summer now; the cool water was wonderful against her overheated skin. Using the back of her
arm, she wiped away the sweat beading along her forehead. They sat for a long time together,
wordlessly reeling in fish. They kept the ones that were good to eat, and tossed back the ones that
were too small.
Aria had started retreating to this spot soon after her escape from being a blood slave, and her
return home. Max had found her here two days later. They rarely spoke, they didn’t need too.
They had both been inside that place, both been owned and used, and hurt by the vampires that
had possessed them. The monsters that had owned them. Though, decidedly, Max’s experience
had been far worse than hers.
She had been owned, led around by a leash, and used, but the extent of her use was her own
fault. She had willingly given the prince her blood, mistakenly thinking that she was falling in
love with the deceptive bastard, but that had been before she’d learned that he was engaged.
Though she hated the prince now, she could not deny the sharp stab of pain that pierced her at
the thought of him marrying another woman. It was an awful thought, horrendous, and it brought
tears to her eyes every time it crossed her mind. Which was far more often than she cared to
admit.
But, no matter how badly she’d been hurt, no matter how much she’d been betrayed, her
experience hadn’t been anywhere near as awful as Max’s. Though they did not talk about it, she
knew what was done to blood slaves. They were used, abused, and discarded when their owners
grew tired of them. Even though Max always wore long sleeves, every once in awhile his shirt
would ride up and she would catch sight of the scars and burns that marred his fair skin. She
would see the haunted look that sometimes filled his bright blue eyes when he didn’t think
anyone was looking.
She had suffered abuse while within the palace, but it had come from a human servant, and not
the vampire prince. He had broken her heart, but he had never intentionally inflicted bodily harm
to her that she not asked for. In fact, he had been unfailingly gentle with her.
Though she hated to acknowledge it, she knew that if the prince had not taken so much of her
blood on her last night, leaving her incoherent, she would have given him far more than just her
blood then. She also would have given him her body, and her last piece of self respect. It was a
fact that she hated herself for, and tried not to think about. Especially since the thought still left
her oddly shaken and longing for something that had been unfulfilled, and always would be.
The prince may not have been physically cruel to her, but Max’s owner had been just as cruel
and brutal as they had always heard the vampire’s were to their slaves. Aria’s neck was only
marred by one bite mark, one that she had wanted so badly that her whole being had ached for it.
A bite that had nearly stripped her soul from her, and left her a far different person than the one
she’d been before he fed from her. A mark that was fading faster than she wanted it to, and yet
nowhere near as fast as she wanted it to. She didn’t want to lose the mark, it was her last
connection to the prince, and no matter how much she hated him, she could not deny that he
would always own a piece of her heart. But it could only be a small piece as he had succeeded in
shattering the rest of it.
She wanted the mark gone. Wanted it off of her skin. She hoped that once it was gone she
would be able to forget about the prince. That once it was gone, she could move on with her life,
and not hurt so much all the time. That she would not ache constantly, that the dreams would
stop haunting her, and she could stop just existing, and actually start living again. She wanted to
take pleasure again in the woods again, but since her return she had found little joy in the
wilderness she’d once loved so dearly.
Max reeled his line in, deftly unhooked a decent sized bass, and added it to their growing
catch. Aria pulled her dark pants up more, baring her legs to her knees. She squirmed her way
closer to the edge of the lake, dipping her legs up to her shins in the water. She wanted to go
swimming soon, wash her hair, and clean herself. One of the few things she missed about the
palace, besides the prince, was the wonderfully hot showers and baths she had taken. Diving in
the lake was not the same cleansing experience, though she did it far more often now than she
had before she was captured and claimed by the prince. Being clean every day while in the
palace had left her with the same desire now that she was home.
After about an hour, Max finally spoke. “You had another bad dream last night.”
Aria sat silently, she didn’t know how to tell him she didn’t have nightmares like he did. She
did not relive violent beatings and torture. Her dreams were about the last night she’d had with
the prince, the wonder she had felt, the joy and love that had suffused her. His feeding from her
had been so breathtaking, and amazing, that she had never wanted to end. It had been painful for
Max when his owner had drank from him, but for her, it had been a moment of pure ecstasy that
had touched her profoundly. It was the loss of that joy, the loss of him that caused her to cry and
moan and awaken at night. For her, the night was not a reliving of torment like it was with Max,
but a reliving of heartache.
She had never deluded herself into thinking that anything between herself and the prince could
last. She would have had to die eventually, the rest of the royal family, his wife, would have seen
to her death eventually. She had deluded herself into thinking that he might actually care for her
too though. But that was before she had learned that he was already engaged to someone else.
The thought still caused a bolt of fury, betrayal, and pain to jolt through her.
Max wrapped his hands lightly around hers, trying to steady them as they shook on the pole.
“The fish will know you’re here.”
She managed to return his wan smile as she struggled to breathe, struggled to regain control of
her wounded pride and broken heart. “I don’t think my nightmares are as bad as yours,” she said
softly.
He squeezed her hand gently before slowly releasing her. They had never spoken about their
experiences, though it was obvious that they had both been changed forever. But Aria had gained
weight while in captivity, Max had grown even thinner, his bones were still sharp against his
pale, drained skin. He exhibited far more bruises, scars, and bite marks than she did, though her
scars were mainly inside. His experience had been far more physically taxing, and just as
mentally abusive, and toxic, as hers had.
“That’s a good thing,” he murmured.
She tilted her head, offering him a small half smile. His clear blue eyes were soft, tender. His
sandy blond hair hung about his handsome face and stark features. It was her fault that Max had
even been placed in that whole awful situation. He had allowed himself to be captured after she
was taken with the hope that he would be able to get them both free. Unfortunately, he had not
anticipated just how much of a lockdown blood slaves were placed on. Though, she had been
afforded far more freedom than he had.
She glanced down at her wrist, the one that had been scarred by the leash she had tried to rip
from her. Unfortunately, once placed on, the golden leashes could only be removed by the
vampire that had placed them there. In a moment of panic, frustration, and fear for Max’s life,
she had tried to rip it off of her. All she had gotten for her efforts was a bloody wrist, bloody
fingers, and a pissed off prince who had been so unbelievably tender afterwards.
She forcefully shut the thought down. Recalling the prince as tender and loving only reopened
the raw and jagged wounds still festering upon her heart. “You never should have been there
Max, I’m sorry.”
It was the first time she had apologized to him for her role in his capture; she hadn’t been able
to get the words out before. She had wanted to apologize many many times, but neither of them
wanted to be reminded of their time there. They both wanted to keep it to themselves, wanted to
deny that it had even happened. And they were both failing miserably at it. It was obvious to
anyone that knew them that they weren’t the same; that they never would be. No matter how
much they wanted to pretend that their captivity hadn’t happened, they couldn’t succeed at it.
He was silent for a moment, his gaze distant as he stared across the lake. He turned slowly
toward her, his eyes haunted, but there was something else in them, something more. Something
she had never seen before. Or perhaps she had seen it, but she hadn’t wanted to acknowledge it
before. She couldn’t deny it now.
She couldn’t deny it, but she also didn’t want it. There had only been one other man that had
ever looked at her like that, and in the end he had made her like this. He had left her shattered
and broken, and barely able to breathe through the pain that continuously clawed at her insides.
He had ruined her, and Max did not fully understand that yet. She hoped that one day he would.
The last thing she wanted was to have Max hurt because of her again, but with the way that he
was looking at her she felt it was inevitable.
“I made the choice to go after you Aria, it was my fault that I was caught, not yours. Even
knowing what I do now, I wouldn’t change anything. I would never leave you alone Aria,
never.”
She stared back at him, searching his face. She had always found him handsome, and she still
did, but it was not the dark, dangerous ruggedness that the prince had possessed. Instead, Max
was blond, with clear blue eyes, and an open sweet face that made many girls swoon. At one
time he had even made her swoon. So much so that Max had been her first and only kiss, before
she had met the prince. And then, she had known that no matter what feelings she had once
possessed for Max, they had been nothing compared to what she felt for the prince.
And now the prince was gone, lost to her forever, and Max was looking at her with the same
longing expression that the prince had stared at her with. She swallowed the lump in her throat,
fighting against the tears that wanted to fall. Unlike the prince though, Max would never leave
her alone, never betray her, never use her like the prince had. He would never destroy her as the
prince had. Max would do everything in his power to keep her safe, to build her up again, and
would sacrifice himself over and over for her. Even if the prince could have located her, even if
he had wanted to, he never would have come for her. He had a fiancée he had to take care of
now. A vampire to build a life with, and to have children with. She was nothing but a pitiful,
human, toy to him.
Why did she still love the murdering bastard then? Why on earth couldn’t she love someone as
wonderful, caring, and sweet as Max? But she didn’t, and she knew that she would never be able
to.
Aria shook her head, trying to deny his words. “Max…”
“It’s ok Aria, one day you’ll forget him, you’ll move on.”
“You know about him?” she whispered, unexpected shame flooding her body.
She felt like a traitor, a monster, a fool. Her father was the leader of the rebels; her brother’s
and Max were some of his strongest fighters in the cause, just as she had been before she had
been broken. They had been willing to risk their lives for her, and she…
Well she had given her heart to a vampire, the oldest son in the royal family no less, the heir to
the throne. They had been willing to die for her, and she had been falling in love with one of
their greatest enemies. She thought of the prince as a monster, but she had also come to accept
the fact that she was one too.
“I suspected,” he said softly. “You can’t blame yourself Aria, it was an awful time. Things
were twisted and wrong in there. It’s not your fault that you wanted to trust him. Of course you
did, it was frightening, and you became confused. He had a month to twist you to his way of
thinking, to make you think that you could trust him, that you could love him.”
“Oh Max,” she breathed, wishing that the explanation was as simple as that, but she knew it
wasn’t. The prince had not twisted her; he had not turned her terror and confusion against her.
He had been kind and caring, and he had needed her, she knew that. Though he’d had an
unknown fiancée the whole time, she knew that she had at the very least been a little special to
him. But she still should have fought against her feelings even more, he was her enemy, he
would always be her enemy, and they had never had a chance at a future. She had known all of
that, and yet she had still gone to him willingly. Still offered him her blood with no reservations,
and no fear.
She had given him her heart willingly also, it had not been twisted and distorted the way that
Max believed it had. She hated to pop Max’s bubble of her, but he could not go about thinking
such things. He had to know that she had not been corrupted in there, but a willing, even eager,
participant. He had to know that she was a horrible person. He had to know these things so that
he would stop looking at her like that, so that he would understand she could never care for him
the same way that he cared for her.
“I’m sorry Max,” she whispered. “But that’s not what happened. He didn’t twist me, he didn’t
corrupt me. He was kind to me, he took care of me. I may have been his blood slave, but he only
treated me as such when it was absolutely necessary. I wish I could say that I hadn’t come to care
for him, that I had remained loyal to you and everyone here, but I can’t. I loved him Max…” She
broke off, unable to speak through the pain that clawed at her. “I still love him,” she choked out.
He stared at her for a moment, his eyes wide in disbelief, and then he shook his head rapidly.
His sandy blond hair fell across his forehead, curling around his bright eyes. “But don’t you see
Aria that is how he twisted you. He knew that you’d always had nothing, that your life had been
hard and unkind. He knew that by being kind, by giving you the things that you’d never had, you
would come to rely on him, need him, and trust him. That way it would be more fun when he
destroyed you, it’s why he never told you he was engaged.”
Aria’s hands clawed into the edge of the river bank, the moss dug underneath her fingernails.
She wanted to believe Max’s words, wanted to make them true and maybe, just maybe, she could
move on if she believed them, but she couldn’t. Yes, the prince had kept his fiancée from her,
yes he had been dishonest, and yes he had broken her heart, but something between them had
been real. Max knew that the prince was blind; he did not know that whenever the prince was
near her, he could see again. There had been a strange connection between them from the very
beginning, one the prince had recognized instantly upon seeing her, one that she hadn’t
acknowledged until later.
And though the prince had omitted things about his life, she knew he had not been lying about
the fact that he could only see when he was around her. He had been completely blind for over a
hundred years, until he had seen her standing on stage being auctioned off as a blood slave. The
fact that he could see her was the reason that he had claimed her, the first blood slave that he had
ever owned. No, Max did not know about that, and as far as she was concerned no one ever
would, not even Jack, the prince’s brother. That was one secret that would stay completely
between the two of them. It was the one thing that she clung to, the one thing that made her
believe that it had not all been a lie. The one thing that helped to ease her self disgust just a little.
For although she knew she would never see him again, never feel him again, and even though
he had hurt her so badly, she needed to believe that he had cared for her, at least a little bit. That
she had not been a complete and utter idiot. It probably wasn’t the best idea for her to cling to
that, not when she needed to let him go, but she couldn’t help it. Right now it was the only thing
that was getting her through the awful pain that clung to her every day.
“I don’t think so Max,” she said softly.
“I do,” he replied with more confidence than she had. “And one day you will realize it too. You
just need time for his psychological games to wear off, and when they do, I’ll be here.”
Aria shook her head. “No Max…”
Her words broke off as he clasped hold of her chin, turning her so that she had to face him. He
wiped the tears gently from her face. Tears she had not even known she was crying. “Yes Aria.”
Before she could react, he was leaning forward and kissing her. Aria started slightly in
surprise, she didn’t know what to do, how to react, but before she could do anything he was
already pulling away from her. She stared at him in wide eyed surprise, he smiled wanly back at
her. “Just thought it was time for our second kiss.”
She couldn’t have disagreed more, but she didn’t say so. She was being selfish by not telling
him that, she knew, but she had already lost so much in the past couple of months, she couldn’t
bear to lose Max’s friendship as well. Yet she knew that once he realized who she truly was, how
little she deserved his love, he would turn swiftly against her. “We should be going,” she
managed to choke out.
He nodded, climbing swiftly to his feet; he wiped the moss and dirt from the river bank off of
his pants. Holding out his hand, he helped her to her feet. Aria followed him back through the
forest, her forest, listening silently to the sounds of the animals surrounding them. She had
always taken solace, and refuge within these thick woods, but she hadn’t been able to find either
of those things as of late.
***
Aria leaned against the wall of the cave, staring out the entrance at the dark night. In the
shadows of the evening, she could just barely make out the figures of a few guards, but she only
saw them because she knew that they were there. If she had not known, she never would have
been able to see them amongst their strategic hiding spots. The caves were good shelter, but
without fair warning that an attack was coming, it was easy to get trapped within the thick walls.
There were many escape routes throughout the underground system, but there were just as many
dead ends.
She glanced behind her, but the cave was dark. The fires were lit much further beneath the
earth, where they could not be seen from the woods. She did not fool herself into thinking that
she was alone out here; her father had people watching her like a hawk since she had been taken,
but at least she had a little sense of peace and quiet. Well, that was until she felt William coming.
She turned as her twin emerged from the dark of the caves. She would know him anywhere and
often felt him coming long before he arrived. He leaned against the wall opposite her, his arms
folded over his chest as he gazed at her. They both had the same bright blue eyes, the same dark
auburn hair. Though they had come from two different eggs, they were even more similar than
most identical twins. Right down to their quick tempers and impulsive actions.
Her impulsive actions had finally gotten her enslaved, and though she’d like to say that they
were both more thoughtful now, she knew she would be lying. The only thing that had changed
was she was sadder and more mature than she had been before going into the palace, and
William was angrier. He blamed himself for not being with her that day, even though he had
been hurt and unable to accompany her on the hunt. He blamed the vampires for taking her, and
he especially blamed the prince for claiming her as a blood slave.
She had tried to explain to all of them that she had not been hurt, that it was only her heart that
had been wounded, but none of them believed her. She supposed it didn’t help that she was more
like the walking dead, than a living person, since she had returned. She most certainly wasn’t the
same girl that had been taken from the woods, and they blamed the prince for that. They didn’t
understand that he had saved her from a more awful fate than the one she’d experienced. It had
been another vampire that had claimed her originally, if it hadn’t been for the prince far worse
things would have been done to her. She had been lucky; they felt she had been tortured.
“Have you ever been in love?” she asked quietly.
He turned slightly toward her, his eyes bright in the dark. His dark eyebrows drew sharply
together as he studied her. “Is that what you think you were?”
She was silent as she thought over her next words. She had never kept anything from William,
they had always shared everything, always been together, but he had been so angry lately that
she was afraid her words might send him over the edge. But she could not lie to him, and she had
started this conversation because she needed someone to talk to, and William had always been
that person. “Yes.”
He swallowed heavily as he ran a hand through his disordered, shaggy hair. She could tell he
was trying to keep hold of his temper, struggling to his fury from her. “Arianna, things happened
in there, things I can’t even begin to imagine…”
“Don’t William. Max may want to believe that, but you know better. You know me, you know
who I am. Do you really think I don’t know what I felt in there?”
“I believe that you think you do.” Aria’s hands fisted in frustration, her jaw clenched tightly. It
seemed that no one wanted to listen to her; no one wanted to understand her feelings. But she
supposed that if it were William telling her these things, she wouldn’t want to believe them
either. “And no, I have never been in love.”
“Oh.”
He moved away from the wall, striding slowly to her, he threw his arm casually around her
shoulders. He grinned down at her, his straight white teeth bright in the moonlight. She couldn’t
help but grin back at him. For the first time in their lives he may not understand her, but he
would always love her. No matter what. She dropped her head to his chest and wrapped her arm
around his waist. She listened to the sound of his heart as they stared out at the night. She had
been so intent upon the reassuring beat of his heart that it took her a few moments to realize that
all of the animals, and insects, had gone quiet.
Aria lifted her head slowly, her heart thumped wildly as she gazed out at the darkness. She
searched for the guards amongst the trees, spotting their prone figures amid the darkness.
“William,” she whispered.
“I know. Come on.”
He pushed her deeper into the cave, keeping his hand in her back as they made their swiftly
through the well familiar terrain. The guards still had not raised the alarm, a low pitched whistle
that could easily blend in with the chirruping of the insects, but Aria strained to hear it. It had to
be coming soon. “Hurry!” she gasped, a sense of doom descending over her as her breath came
faster.
Her hand clenched upon William’s, when they were far enough from the entrance, they broke
into a run, their feet flying over the hard rock of the cave. They might already be too late if the
vampires were already upon them. With the vampire’s exceptional eyesight in the dark, and their
rapid speed, it would be almost impossible for her and William to escape. They took a side
tunnel on the right, ducking low as the ceiling became lower. William turned back, grabbed hold
of one of the heavy iron gates that had been built into the wall.
“The guards!” she hissed, grabbing hold of his arm before he could close the gate.
“It’s too late for them Aria,” he said softly.
Her eyes widened, horror filled her as the low pitched warning whistle pierced the air. William
froze for a moment; the gate was still partly open when they sensed, more than heard, something
approaching. William jumped into action, rushing forward to close the gate as quietly as
possible. There were many other tunnels leading through here, it could take awhile for the
vampires to find the right one, and the gate should withstand an attack for long enough to give
them extra time to escape.
They retreated, moving as quickly as they could through the stooped tunnel. Aria’s heart
pounded rapidly in her chest, a crushing sense of time running out seized hold of her as
something large and heavy slammed into the gate, rattling it within its frame.
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