Beside her, she could feel William's growing resentment at being ordered around and having to maintain a subservient demeanor. Her shoulders slumped, her gaze focused on the dusty, pitted road. 'Keep your head down.' Braith seemed to have sensed her wish to look around. Her heart leapt in her chest, longing spread through her as her toes curled in her battered shoes. Immediately her skin heated to his touch, and though they were in this awful place a low sigh of pleasure escaped her. She started as Braith suddenly grasped her upper arm, swallowing it within his massive hand. No matter how badly she wanted to look, she wasn't about to endanger the men surrounding her by disobeying. 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. She had to fight against the urge to look up. 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 didn't know what to do with her hands as they walked silently down the street. Braith was stiff beside her, his shoulders squared as his body thrummed with tension. She could feel the curious stares burning through the dull gray cloak of the servant's class covering her.

Sweat trickled down her back as she kept her head bowed and the hood pulled low over her brow. Aria wasn't used to such emptiness, not after being surrounded by trees and caves for most of her life.Īnxiety twisted within her belly. The town was frightening enough, the lands beyond were overwhelming. That was, if they could ever find these mysterious vampires amongst the vast expanse of emptiness that unraveled beyond this last border town.

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.Īristocrats that Braith now sought to gain support from for this upcoming battle. The supposed new home of the vampires that had at one time been some of the most spoiled aristocrats. They had traveled hundreds of miles through her forest to this godforsaken land of sun and sand. Few believed the extent of the stories, but even fewer wandered into The Barrens after hearing them.Īnd now they were here, preparing to jump head first, straight into hell. 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. There were few people that had entered The Barrens and ever come back. They were desolate, somehow cold, even with the sun relentlessly pounding the earth around them.

The place where horror stories were born, cautionary tales were exchanged and people were frightened by the mere thought of entering them.

Refugee the captive series book 3