Refugee (The Captive Series Book 3)

Books by the
author

The Captive
Series

Captured (Book 1)

Renegade (Book2)

Refugee (Book 3)

The Kindred
Series

Kindred (Book 1)

Ashes (Book 2)

Kindled (Book 3)

Inferno (Book 4)

The Ravening
Series

Ravenous (Book 1)

Taken Over (Book 2)

Special thanks to my husband for always
believing in me,

my parents for always being there for
me,

and Leslie from G2 Freelance Editing
for helping to make this book even better. 

Refugee

Erica Stevens

Copyright Heather Cox 2012

Published by Gilmour-Cox Publishing at
Smashwords

PROLOGUE

The figure slipped silently into the
room. The deep gray cloak it wore covered most of its body; the
hood shielded its features as it moved with inhuman silence. But it
was not inhuman; Gideon was reminded of that fact by the solid beat
of its heart, and the alluring scent that pricked his appetite. But
this human, especially this one, was completely off limits if he
was to keep his life. Although he couldn’t see the features, he
knew that it was female, knew who it was by the sweet aroma she
emitted.

No, no matter how hungry he may be at
the moment, he would not touch this one. He valued his life far too
much to do such a thing. He’d eat rats first.

She stopped before his desk, her head
bowed as she inhaled a small breath. Slowly, ever so slowly, she
lifted her head and drew back the hood. Her dark auburn hair was
the color of blood in the candlelight that flickered over it. Her
features, though pretty, were not stunning, especially not under
the pallor that now marked her normally healthy hue. Her hand
trembled, but there was a steely resolve about her that Gideon
couldn’t help but admire.

“I spoke with Jack and
Ashby.”

Gideon froze for a moment, his hand
tightened around the pen he was holding. “I see.”

Her mouth was pinched, her eyes steady
despite the tumultuous fear and anguish he sensed rolling just
beneath her seemingly calm exterior. “I understand what needs to be
done.”

Gideon let go of the pen before he
snapped it in half. He didn’t care about the instrument, but he was
far too meticulous to have ink coating him. “You do?”

For a brief moment tears shimmered in
her eyes before she blinked them back, thrust out her chin and
nodded firmly. “I do.”

“He cannot know about this.”

“He won’t.”

Gideon was silent for a long moment.
“The bond cannot be completed.”

She winced as a flash of grief struck
her like lightening. For just a moment her composure seemed to
crumple. “It won’t,” she whispered.

Gideon didn’t know what to say, he
hadn’t known what to expect from her or how she would react to what
Jack and Ashby had to say to her. He realized now that he should
have known this was the path she would take, that she would not shy
away from this. She turned away from him, but her step wasn’t so
sure, or as silent, as she made her way to the door.

“You know what this may mean for you?”
he inquired before she could escape.

She stopped in the doorway, her head
turned back to him as she studied him over her shoulder. She
swallowed heavily as she managed another stiff nod. “If we are
unable to dilute his blood in me my death may be the only solution
to separating us for good.”

He was immobile, struck by the fact
that this young girl was able to see what the others refused to.
“And you accept this?”

“It’s what I came to you for,” she
breathed.

That answer didn’t surprise him either,
he was the only one she could turn to in order to ensure such a
thing was carried out. “No one else can know about
this.”

“They won’t,” she vowed. He realized
he’d just made a deal with the devil as she slid the hood back over
her head and slipped from the room. 

CHAPTER 1

The Barrens. The place where horror
stories were born, cautionary tales were exchanged and people were
frightened by the mere thought of entering them. They were
desolate, somehow cold, even with the sun relentlessly pounding the
earth around them. There were few people that had entered The
Barrens and ever come back. The ones that did often ranted of
strange creatures, monsters that hunted within the sand, appeared
out of nowhere, and were even more vicious than the vampires. Few
believed the extent of the stories, but even fewer wandered into
The Barrens after hearing them.

And now they were here, preparing to
jump head first, straight into hell. They had traveled hundreds of
miles through her forest to this godforsaken land of sun and sand.
The supposed new home of the vampires that had at one time been
some of the most spoiled aristocrats. They were the aristocrats
that had stood against the king during the war, and fled the palace
when it became clear that they were not going to win and their
lives would be forfeit.

Aristocrats that Braith now sought to
gain support from for this upcoming battle. That was, if they could
ever find these mysterious vampires amongst the vast expanse of
emptiness that unraveled beyond this last border town. The town was
frightening enough, the lands beyond were overwhelming. Aria wasn’t
used to such emptiness, not after being surrounded by trees and
caves for most of her life.

Anxiety twisted within her belly. Sweat
trickled down her back as she kept her head bowed and the hood
pulled low over her brow. She could feel the curious stares burning
through the dull gray cloak of the servant’s class covering her.
Braith was stiff beside her, his shoulders squared as his body
thrummed with tension. She didn’t know what to do with her hands as
they walked silently down the street. She ached to reach out and
touch him, to somehow connect with him but it was a move she knew
she couldn’t make.

She had to fight against the urge to
look up. She itched to see the town they had entered, to take in
the details of it, but she had been told repeatedly not to make eye
contact. No matter how badly she wanted to look, she wasn’t about
to endanger the men surrounding her by disobeying.

She started as Braith suddenly grasped
her upper arm, swallowing it within his massive hand. Immediately
her skin heated to his touch, and though they were in this awful
place a low sigh of pleasure escaped her. Her heart leapt in her
chest, longing spread through her as her toes curled in her
battered shoes.

“Keep your head down.” Braith seemed to
have sensed her wish to look around.

Her shoulders slumped, her gaze focused
on the dusty, pitted road. Beside her, she could feel William’s
growing resentment at being ordered around and having to maintain a
subservient demeanor. From the corner of her eye she could see more
people moving to the side of the road. Well, at least some of them
were people. The others, they were something else entirely and not
at all who Braith and Ashby were looking for. These were the more
lawless vampires, and therefore more unpredictable than those
living within and around the palace, even though these vampires
still lived under the king’s laws here.

She had seen far too many of these
beaten and broken towns with their battered and starving occupants
lately. Sometimes she feared that they would never find what Braith
and Ashby sought, and that perhaps the legends and rumors of the
surviving aristocrats were just that, legends and rumors. Though it
felt like they’d walked forever, it had in fact only been two days
since they had turned the horses loose at the edge of The Barren’s.
Aria refused to bring the animals with them if there was no
guarantee they could feed or water them, so after riding for two
weeks, they had been forced to walk.

If she was honest with herself, two
weeks wasn’t that much time, she had spent far more time away from
home than this. It only seemed so awful because she was never given
a moment alone with Braith, they were never allowed to be on their
own as either William was standing protectively close, or Ashby was
quick to intervene.

Aria understood her brother, it annoyed
her, but she understood his determination to stubbornly try and
protect her virtue. It was actually a little amusing coming from
William, the man that had left broken hearts in every corner of the
forest. However, Ashby’s interference was beginning to grate on her
last nerve. It was most certainly annoying Braith as he’d
completely lost his temper with Ashby when he had unapologetically
followed them into the woods yesterday. It had only been Aria’s
interference that had kept Braith from completely losing
control.

He hadn’t even had a chance to feed
from her since they’d left Ashby’s rambling tree house. Aria ached
for the renewal of the bond, ached to establish that connection
with Braith again. She hoped that once they arrived at their
destination they would finally be rewarded with some time alone
again, but until then she was well aware that her two guard dogs,
as she now thought of them, were not going to be shaken.

Oh well, there were many things she
wished were different right now. She missed her father; she’d
barely had time to speak with him before they had been separated
again. He had been uneasy and somewhat uncertain as to what was
going on between her and Braith. Her father seemed to want to
believe that she really did love Braith, and that Braith did in
fact return that love. However, she worried that a part of him
still believed that the bond they had forged was only due to her
time spent as Braith’s blood slave.

She may be almost eighteen, but her
father had still been wary of letting her go with Ashby and Braith,
had absolutely refused to let it happen until Braith had finally
relented and agreed to let William come along with them. Even then,
her father was still hesitant to let them go. However, this mission
was necessary to try and gain some much needed vampire support for
a war against the king, and there was absolutely no way that Braith
was going to leave without her.

The whole situation nearly turned into
a debacle that had threatened to unravel the tentative plans they
had formed to overthrow Braith’s father. Cooler heads had finally
prevailed, mainly Jack’s and surprisingly, William’s. Her father
had wanted Jack with them on this journey, he trusted Jack, but so
did many of her father’s followers in the rebellion. If any of the
people in the rebellion were going to believe that the vampires
were willing to ally themselves with humans, then her father would
require Jack’s help to convince them. Jack would also be essential
to help convince the young vampire girl’s village, and other
vampire villages, to possibly aid them in their quest.

Her brother Daniel, as their father’s
second in command, had also been needed to help gather human
forces. And Max, poor Max, well he hadn’t been able to get away
from her fast enough. Tears clogged her eyes and throat. Max had
sacrificed himself to try and save her when she had been taken as a
blood slave, and now he hated her. So much, in fact, that Aria was
terrified he would never forgive her. That he would despise her and
everything she was, for the rest of her life.

She loved Max and this whole situation
broke her heart. He had been her first crush, her first kiss, her
best friend and confidante when she’d been so alone and broken by
the revelation of Braith’s engagement to another vampire. Max had
understood what she had endured as a blood slave, even if it was
nowhere near as hideous as the torture and abuse he had suffered.
And now he didn’t understand or even tolerate her existence at all.
He saw her love for Braith as a betrayal, one that she didn’t think
he’d ever forgive.

Braith’s sister, and Ashby’s bloodlink
Melinda, had reluctantly agreed to return to the palace to be their
inner eyes and ears. Aria had understood Melinda’s pain as she and
Ashby embraced and touched and cried with each other. She knew how
they felt; she couldn’t bear the thought of being apart from Braith
for so long, even if it was for a good cause. Ashby had agreed to
come with them knowing that if they succeeded in their goal, he and
Melinda would never have to be separated again, or risk their lives
in order to see one another. Ashby was almost as determined as
Braith to overthrow the regime.