Unbound (The Captive Series, Book 7) by Erica Stevens Page A

of her way.”
    Melinda turned a shade of green. “I think you’re right.”
    “Mention nothing about Braith being shot or his… his…” Jack couldn’t bring himself to say the word death. “This,” he finished. “Tell only Gideon about this. There is no reason to create a possible panic or mutiny between The Council members if we can avoid it. Gideon will know how to handle them and will keep this quiet.” He hugged Hannah closer to his side when her hands curled around his forearm. “You should go, now.”
    Melinda broke away from Ashby and made her way around the others to stand before him. They embraced each other before she knelt by Braith’s side and leaned forward to kiss his cheek. “I will see you soon.”
    She said her good-byes to everyone else in the room before returning to him.
    “Be careful,” Jack said as he took hold of her hands. “You can do this and they will follow you.”
    She may have been removed from the palace by his father when she was a child, and she was far younger than him or any of his siblings, but he’d always liked and cared for Melinda. She was kind and she was far stronger than many gave her credit for, including herself. Even knowing her heritage, he didn’t consider her a half-sister. She was his blood.
    “Do I tell The Council that Atticus wasn’t my father?” she asked.
    “If you feel you must, but I wouldn’t. There is no reason for them to know, and you are still our sister and, therefore, entitled to rule as I have instructed.”
    She tilted her chin up as pride blazed in her gray eyes. “You’re right. I will see you soon.”
    “You will,” he promised.
    “I’ll lead them to the surface,” Max offered.
    “Thank you,” Jack said and turned to look at his brother again. They couldn’t leave him there like this. “We have to get this cavern set up, weapons made, food and water found. We may be here for a bit.”

CHAPTER 9
    Aria
    William finally set her down in another cave about ten miles from where she’d lost her mind. Aria still wasn’t sure she had it back, but at least the desire to rip her own heart from her chest with her bare hands had passed. Her legs shook as she walked over to a boulder and sank down to sit on it.
    William grabbed her hands when she lifted them to her chest again. She jerked them away from him. “I won’t.” Those two words were all she could manage to get out right now. Her hands fell into her lap as she bent forward. Tears burned her throat but refused to fall; there was no way to soothe the aching rawness of her emotions.
    She would never be able to escape the emptiness coursing through her. The stark realization made her fingers curve with the urge to tear out her heart once more. Her fingers dug into her thighs as she resisted the impulse. The only thing that would ease this barren, hollow sensation was Braith’s arms around her. Right now, all she felt was the absolute certainty that would never happen again.
    “What do we do now?” Tempest asked.
    “We wait here until we can return to the others,” William replied. “We lost Sabine’s followers about five miles back, but they’ll still be in the area, fanning out and searching for us.”
    “We’re not going back to the others,” Aria grated.
    “Why not?” William demanded.
    Her body felt as if it were made of glass and would shatter apart at any second when she lifted her head to look at him. “Because we need to know more about that woman. We need to know her every weakness, and trust me when I say, she won’t have many. We have to be prepared for her and we have to destroy her.”
    Her hand fluttered to her chest, and her fingers dug into her flesh once more as her heart clenched. She didn’t understand how an organ that had ceased beating on the day Braith had changed her from human to vampire and granted her eternal life could hurt so badly.
    Eternal life, without him.
    Madness loomed before her, spiraling around like a whirlpool looking to