Renegade (The Captive Series Book 2) Read Free Page A

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.