“Oh.” Her legs gave out; she slid limply to the forest floor. “Oh.”
“He believes that he can make everything alright in the end. It’s not possible Aria.” Jack’s tone had become softer, she could hear the ragged pain in it, but it was nothing compared to the anguish savaging her soul. “We need for you to agree to leave him when this war is over.”
She knew it was the right thing to do, she knew it was the best thing for everyone involved, even if it destroyed her and Braith. But even so, hope flared hotly through her as she realized something. “But that’s not possible!” she blurted. “He can track me anywhere, his blood is in me; we are bound in that way. Ashby said I’m his bloodlink, that we can’t live without each other.”
“You have started the bond, but it’s not complete, is it?”
“No, but…”
“As long as you don’t allow it to be completely forged there is a chance that the bloodlink will not destroy either of you. As for his blood in your system, we’re hoping that if you don’t accept it again his blood will thin out and eventually leave your system.”
“I was gone from the palace for over a month and he still found me.”
Jack and Ashby exchanged a look. “We think that if another vampire’s blood is added to your system, most likely mine, it may dilute his enough so that he won’t be able to track you for long, if at all.”
She recoiled; revulsion filled her, nausea surged up her throat at the mere thought. She was shaking her head no when Jack bent and grabbed hold of her shoulders. “Aria…”
“He’ll die without me,” she groaned. She didn’t add she would die without him, she was dying now, and though she would continue to move through her days, she knew she would never live again, not without him.
“Maybe not, if the bond isn’t completely forged.”
The noise that escaped her was guttural. “He went berserk when I left him last time.”
“We hope that having so many lives in his hands will help to keep him in control. He didn’t have that responsibility before. No matter how upset and furious he is, we’re hoping that the good in him will win out because of that.”
“That’s a lot of hoping.”
“It’s all we have, and one day, you will die Aria. Your death may sever whatever bond remains between you at the time, freeing him.”
Freeing her also, she realized as she bent over, her arms wrapping around her stomach. “He will be blind again.”
“He will, but he was blind for a hundred years before you, it never slowed him down. The world was dark to him, but it was not a weakness for him. Ashby, Melinda, Gideon, and many others will be there to protect him.”
She almost laughed at the mention of Ashby, the one who had blinded him to begin with, but there was no humor in her. It was all too awful to even remotely be funny. “I know this is a lot to ask of you Aria, I know that you are young and in love, but…”
“Stop,” she whispered.
Ashby clasped hold of her hands as he knelt before her. She almost jerked away from him, but the tears in his bright green eyes held her immobile. He was actually crying, not for himself, but for her. “Jack doesn’t understand what you’re going through; I know that, you know that, but I understand. I couldn’t do this; I couldn’t let Melinda go if someone asked me to. She is everything to me. No matter what they did to me it didn’t matter as long as she was safe, and alive. I am so unbelievably sorry, I cannot…” his words broke off as tears slid down his cheeks. “I cannot imagine and I do not want to imagine your pain or his. It’s not fair, I know.”
His tears were her undoing. She wept as she fell against him, finding no solace in his arms. There would never be any comfort again. She was unable to regain control as Ashby rocked her, his tears mingling with her own. Jack stood away from them with his shoulders set stiffly, and his jaw locked as he stared into the dense forest.
Slowly, her sobs started to subside simply because there was no water left inside her to shed. Ashby continued to hold her, but he didn’t pretend that anything he offered would do her any good. Braith’s sense of rightness would prevail, she was sure of it. He may become irrational and explosive when she left, but she had faith that his good would win out in the end.
“There’s more Aria.” She could barely lift her head to look at Jack, never mind hear more of what he had to say. “He can’t know about this. You have to act normal around him.”
Horror filled her. “You mean we’re not leaving now?”
“No. He’ll tear these woods apart looking for you rather than fight. You can’t leave until the war is over and he’s been established as the leader. He has to realize he has a duty to thousands upon thousands rather than just himself and you.”
“My family?” she whispered.
“Your father will be informed of our intentions when the time is right, he will not be able to leave though.” So she would never see him again either. She’d thought she didn’t have any more tears left in her. She was wrong as agony clenched at her. “Daniel will also have to remain behind as your father’s second in command and most likely successor, but I think William will go with you.”
She nodded slowly. Yes, William would come with her, even if she told him to stay and enjoy the life that he was going to fight for, he would come with her. “And I think he should, even if you don’t. I will also be going with you.”