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Her struggles increased but it was like pitting a lion against a larowled low and bit down harder Even half dead, he was ten ti as hers weakened She put every ounce of power she had into her legs and arave one final attempt to shove him off of her

A startled cry escaped, she dropped onto her butt as the king abruptly released her She looked up in ti him one handed across the stall by his shoulder The wooden wall gave way, collapsing beneath the i’s body as it shattered around hie as ruined wood continued to topple down on the king

Aria’s hand fumbled at the trail his teeth had raked across her throat as she tried to staunch the flow of blood Braith was suddenly before her, his hands on her cheeks as he turned her head toward him "Are you ok?" he demanded

"I’m fine," she assured him "I’m fine"

"Who did this?" His upper lip curled as his eyes shiasped He shook his head as he pulled her hand away to examine her neck "Braith it’s your…"

She broke off as the broken fragments of wood exploded outward Braith enveloped her with his body as splinters, boards and bearunted beneath the ierous wood crashing against him

Silence filled the broken stall as the last board clattered to the ground Braith’s face arh on her cheek as he waited to see if there was anythingat them "Hold onto me"

Her hands encircled his biceps; his ainst hi her, he planted both hands on either side of her head and pressed closer as he turned his head to face the new threat

The s extended over his bottom lip He actually did a double take as his father stepped froe with far s and stillappeared refreshed and better than he had before, thanks to her blood He wiped the blood froone Straightening the remains of his shirt, he eyed them both with amusement

"Father," Braith finished for her

Chapter 25

Braith couldn’t keep his astonishment hidden as his father took another step away froined he would ever see, never mind actually experience There was a part of hi beneath his father’s heavy hand, unable to defend himself from the repeated blows, unable to escape the abuse that his father so jovially inflicted upon hi one, the one shielding Aria, wanted to rip the entire barn down and shred the ht Red shadowed his vision as the scent of Aria’s blood drifted up to hiain and Braith was going tothis man had done to Aria, to him, and countless other innocents, Braith knew that he could not let him survive this There was no way he would allow this ain; no way he would allow hiood they had already created here

Braith just wasn’t sure there was any way to stop him His father had taken a stake to the heart, and with no sustenance to sustain and revitalize hied to heal itself It was obvious his father hadn’t hadto the palace, but Braith suspected he’d looked far worse than this when he’d first crawled fro around, but the fact that he’d returned here h to be a threat to Braith, and anyone else he ca corpse, but beneath the rotten exterior, Braith felt the vibrant pulse of power that he still possessed His body was rapidly healing itself, his shoulders were straightening as he thrust them back and quirked an eyebrow in alistened in the h her chin was raised and her eyes narrowed, a sh Aria and into hiaze and licked his lips

A lol rose up Braith’s throat as he pushed Aria back a little The tension in his body notched higher, bloodlust began to curl through him as he shielded her He had far more control over his hter the creature across from him before he ever allowed his father to touch a hair on her head again

"Xavier!" His father’s head tilted to the side as Gideon’s startled cry echoed through the stable Braith had seen Xavier’s prone figure in the shedrow, but he hadn’t taken the ti by the , Braith suspected that Xavier was gone Aria’s blood alone couldn’t have caused the changes that were rapidly transfor his father

"He was delicious," his father murmured

Aria shuddered; a small sound of distress escaped her "Xavier," she breathed

"Alood as your whore here," his father purred

Aria’s hands tightened on his ar as he pulled her closer to hiainst his body, his hands splayed across the hollow of her lower back He stood for ain the feel of her while he still could

Aria’s gaze darted behind hi to a halt outside the stall door "Holy shit!" William blurted