She was beginning to realize that there was more to his clipped tones than trying to appear distanced from her. Something had aggravated him. “That will make things easier. Even if he’s gone into regions that we’ve never explored, I can find him in a week.”
“Are you certain of this?” he asked.
“Two, tops.”
“Which is it?” Barnaby inquired sharply.
Aria’s gaze darted nervously to him. “I think she’s already answered that question,” Ashby told him. “The longest it will take her is two weeks.”
“So that means it could be almost a month before you return. And if there is a large group of them, even longer,” Calista replied coldly.
“We were raised in these woods, we know them well. A group of us is far easier to move than you think. It will not be a month,” Aria said firmly.
“Even if it is a month Calista, you will survive. It’s not the most ideal situation but we knew it wasn’t going to be easy,” Braith informed her.
Calista shifted, her dark eyes narrowed for a brief moment before she gave a quick nod. “We can make do and the human knows the caves.” Aria’s head snapped around, a small gasp escaped her. There were only two humans here who knew this cave, and she didn’t want either one of them staying here. Braith shifted slightly and she suddenly understood the tension in him, the terseness of his words. William didn’t know how to track their father as well as she did, he wasn’t a big fan of the trees, and he wouldn’t be as quick as she would. William glanced anxiously at her; she seized hold of his hand again. “He’ll come in handy for getting us out of here if it becomes necessary.”
Aria was finding it difficult to breathe. She could feel Braith’s gaze boring into her, pleading with her to understand, to do this, to not fight over being separated from her brother, again. She tried to be strong but she was terrified of leaving William with a bunch of vampires.
Everything in her body screamed against it. The other humans were used to the vampires surrounding them, she and William were not. The rigidity in her brother made it clear that he wasn’t too pleased by the idea either, though she didn’t know if it was because he was staying, or because she was going.
She swallowed the heavy lump in her throat. “Who will be going with me?” she inquired with far more strength than she felt.
“Ashby, Gideon, and I.” Braith’s voice was still cold but some of the strain had eased from it.
“I plan to go also,” Xavier informed him.
Braith showed no surprise at his statement, but Aria felt a flicker of it deep in her belly. “Fine,” Braith grated. “William will be staying behind with the others to help keep order, and to help find food if it becomes necessary. If they’re forced to abandon these caves will you be able to find each other again?”
“Yes,” Aria answered.
“Then we leave at nightfall.”
Aria knew he didn’t mean to be harsh, but that knowledge did little to ease the knot of sorrow in her chest. She craved his comfort more than anything but she reluctantly accepted that he couldn’t give it to her right now, maybe not ever.
“Are you ok with this?” she asked William when the others turned away from them, shutting them out again.
“I’d be more ok if I was going with you, but it doesn’t seem we have a choice.”
“No, it doesn’t.”
CHAPTER 13
After eight days Aria was exhausted, aching and feeling a little disheartened. She was also in desperate need of a blessed shower, or at the very least a bath. Her hair was a matted mess she wasn’t certain she’d ever be able to untangle, and she had more mosquito bites than hairs on her head. She loved her woods but despised this area of hell they had wandered into.
She’d never ventured into the swamplands before, and she couldn’t believe her father had chosen this part of the forest to take refuge in. She would like nothing more than to find him and escape as swiftly as possible from this land of muck and filth. Her feet were blistered and her shoes hadn’t been dry in three days. Yet they trudged endlessly onward through acres of dirty water. Ashby had given up complaining, but Gideon had taken to muttering about how he wished he killed humans. Xavier remained blessedly silent, though he grimaced often.
She could handle the mud and dirt, it wouldn’t last forever, and she’d been filthy plenty of times in her life, but the smell… The smell was enough to make her want to vomit, and it had definitely induced more than her fair share of gagging. She couldn’t get away from it and it twisted her stomach in ways that she had never thought possible. But then again, that could also be the incessant hunger that was tearing at her. She’d only planned on seven days of supplies; she had realized three days ago she should probably start rationing her food. She was growing increasingly hungry and she was beginning to agree with Gideon’s craving to kill something.
Braith was becoming steadily agitated. Then again, they were all becoming short tempered and frustrated. He’d carried her more than a few times but she didn’t want to seem weak in front of the other three, so she insisted upon walking most of the time.
The suction from the thick mud caused her feet to make a loud popping sound as she stepped onto solid ground. A dying pine lifted its branches to the fading light and she tilted her head back to peer into it. Light refracted off of something within the branches. Heaving a tired breath, Aria’s shoulders slumped wearily.
Braith grabbed hold of her arm as she grasped the scratchy bottom limb. “Are you ok to do this?” he demanded gruffly. She managed a small nod and a smile. “I’ll go…”