“I’m sorry Max,” she whispered. “But that’s not what happened. He didn’t twist me, he didn’t corrupt me. He was kind to me, he took care of me. I may have been his blood slave, but he only treated me as such when it was absolutely necessary. I wish I could say that I hadn’t come to care for him, that I had remained loyal to you and everyone here, but I can’t. I loved him Max…” She broke off, unable to speak through the pain that clawed at her. “I still love him,” she choked out.

He stared at her for a moment, his eyes wide in disbelief, and then he shook his head rapidly. His sandy blond hair fell across his forehead, curling around his bright eyes. “But don’t you see Aria that is how he twisted you. He knew that you’d always had nothing, that your life had been hard and unkind. He knew that by being kind, by giving you the things that you’d never had, you would come to rely on him, need him, and trust him. That way it would be more fun when he destroyed you, it’s why he never told you he was engaged.”

Aria’s hands clawed into the edge of the river bank, the moss dug underneath her fingernails. She wanted to believe Max’s words, wanted to make them true and maybe, just maybe, she could move on if she believed them, but she couldn’t. Yes, the prince had kept his fiancée from her, yes he had been dishonest, and yes he had broken her heart, but something between them had been real. Max knew that the prince was blind; he did not know that whenever the prince was near her, he could see again. There had been a strange connection between them from the very beginning, one the prince had recognized instantly upon seeing her, one that she hadn’t acknowledged until later.

And though the prince had omitted things about his life, she knew he had not been lying about the fact that he could only see when he was around her. He had been completely blind for over a hundred years, until he had seen her standing on stage being auctioned off as a blood slave. The fact that he could see her was the reason that he had claimed her, the first blood slave that he had ever owned. No, Max did not know about that, and as far as she was concerned no one ever would, not even Jack, the prince’s brother. That was one secret that would stay completely between the two of them. It was the one thing that she clung to, the one thing that made her believe that it had not all been a lie. The one thing that helped to ease her self disgust just a little.

For although she knew she would never see him again, never feel him again, and even though he had hurt her so badly, she needed to believe that he had cared for her, at least a little bit. That she had not been a complete and utter idiot. It probably wasn’t the best idea for her to cling to that, not when she needed to let him go, but she couldn’t help it. Right now it was the only thing that was getting her through the awful pain that clung to her every day.

“I don’t think so Max,” she said softly.

“I do,” he replied with more confidence than she had. “And one day you will realize it too. You just need time for his psychological games to wear off, and when they do, I’ll be here.”

Aria shook her head. “No Max…”

Her words broke off as he clasped hold of her chin, turning her so that she had to face him. He wiped the tears gently from her face. Tears she had not even known she was crying. “Yes Aria.”

Before she could react, he was leaning forward and kissing her. Aria started slightly in surprise, she didn’t know what to do, how to react, but before she could do anything he was already pulling away from her. She stared at him in wide eyed surprise, he smiled wanly back at her. “Just thought it was time for our second kiss.”

She couldn’t have disagreed more, but she didn’t say so. She was being selfish by not telling him that, she knew, but she had already lost so much in the past couple of months, she couldn’t bear to lose Max’s friendship as well. Yet she knew that once he realized who she truly was, how little she deserved his love, he would turn swiftly against her. “We should be going,” she managed to choke out.

He nodded, climbing swiftly to his feet; he wiped the moss and dirt from the river bank off of his pants. Holding out his hand, he helped her to her feet. Aria followed him back through the forest, her forest, listening silently to the sounds of the animals surrounding them. She had always taken solace, and refuge within these thick woods, but she hadn’t been able to find either of those things as of late.

***

Aria leaned against the wall of the cave, staring out the entrance at the dark night. In the shadows of the evening, she could just barely make out the figures of a few guards, but she only saw them because she knew that they were there. If she had not known, she never would have been able to see them amongst their strategic hiding spots. The caves were good shelter, but without fair warning that an attack was coming, it was easy to get trapped within the thick walls. There were many escape routes throughout the underground system, but there were just as many dead ends.

She glanced behind her, but the cave was dark. The fires were lit much further beneath the earth, where they could not be seen from the woods. She did not fool herself into thinking that she was alone out here; her father had people watching her like a hawk since she had been taken, but at least she had a little sense of peace and quiet. Well, that was until she felt William coming.

She turned as her twin emerged from the dark of the caves. She would know him anywhere and often felt him coming long before he arrived. He leaned against the wall opposite her, his arms folded over his chest as he gazed at 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. “Hurry!” she gasped, a sense of doom descending over her as her breath came faster.

Her hand clenched upon William’s, when they were far enough from the entrance, they broke into a run, their feet flying over the hard rock of the cave. They might already be too late if the vampires were already upon them. With the vampire’s exceptional eyesight in the dark, and their rapid speed, it would be almost impossible for her and William to escape. They took a side tunnel on the right, ducking low as the ceiling became lower. William turned back, grabbed hold of one of the heavy iron gates that had been built into the wall.

“The guards!” she hissed, grabbing hold of his arm before he could close the gate.

“It’s too late for them Aria,” he said softly.

Her eyes widened, horror filled her as the low pitched warning whistle pierced the air. William froze for a moment; the gate was still partly open when they sensed, more than heard, something approaching. William jumped into action, rushing forward to close the gate as quietly as possible. There were many other tunnels leading through here, it could take awhile for the vampires to find the right one, and the gate should withstand an attack for long enough to give them extra time to escape.

They retreated, moving as quickly as they could through the stooped tunnel. Aria’s heart pounded rapidly in her chest, a crushing sense of time running out seized hold of her as something large and heavy slammed into the gate, rattling it within its frame.

Chapter 2

Aria was panting for air as the raced forward. She could barely see William in front of her; they were going on instinct and memory alone, to afraid of what was behind them to grab one of the unlit torches from the walls around them. There was no way to know where their pursuers were, it was too much of a risk to light something right now. William led her around another turn, the ceiling thankfully expanded again.

William paused, turning back to slide another gate shut. They weren’t far from the main room now. He pulled her forward; she stumbled over a loose stone, her ankle rolling out beneath her. A soft cry of pain escaped, but she hurried on, refusing to be hindered by the throbbing pain that raced up her leg.

The tunnel became narrower, William slid another gate home. The fire of the main room became visible as the maneuvered another turn, soft laughter reached them. Aria’s heart hammered, she could barely breathe. She had never felt claustrophobic within the tunnels before, now she felt like a caged rat running aimlessly along. If they got out of this she swore she would never return to these caves. Then again, they could never return to them anyway, they were no longer safe.

They had been discovered.

William and Aria stumbled into the main hall. Everyone became silent as William spun around to slam another gate shut. “They’re here!” Aria breathed.

There were a good hundred people in the room; panic claimed over fifty of them. Screams rang out, children began to cry. Though they had run drills, and practiced for this sort of thing, it had never happened before. Aria was dismayed and horrified to see the chaos that swiftly took over. Her mouth dropped as people began to run about, trying to gather as many of their things as possible. Others kept their heads enough to shut the other three gates that blocked the tunnels from the main room.

She wished that her father or Daniel were here, they would have an easier time at keeping everyone calm, but they had gone to meet with another group of rebels stationed about a mile away in another set of caves. “Everyone! Everyone! You have to calm down!” She raced into the center of the room, holding her hands up as she tried to soothe the fray. No one paid her any attention as they began to push and shove their way toward the only remaining exit. “Wait!” she cried, trying to stop them before they hurt each other. Trying to stop them before they ruined everyone’s chance at escape.