Veritas

Chapter 65

Aislinn's embarrassment changed to alarm in an instant. She looked at Drystan, realizing the King wasn't going to understand that they were rescuing him. Drystan merely nodded and moved to the wall to set the King down with his back resting on the secure surface. After he was seated, Aislinn knelt down in front of Darius while Drystan backed away; but, he remained within distance to help her if needed.

Chewing her bottom lip anxiously, Aislinn decided her best bet was to try to get ahead of the situation. "Hey, can you hear me? Are you awake?" She asked gently.

Darius rolled his head from one side to the other with another groan, slowly regaining consciousness. In response to Aislinn's question, he grunted a bit.

"My name's Aislinn...You were kidnapped by vampires, and we are trying to break you free, do you understand?" She continued with a soft voice.

Darius just let out a pained groan. With his consciousness returning, his injuries were making themselves known to him. After a moment he nodded, went rigid, then jerked his head up to look in Drystan's direction. He was sniffing the air, his wolf's golden eyes glowing in the darkness of the cave as a low growl began to rumble in his chest.

"Hey, hey! No need for that!" Aislinn insisted, scooting between Darius and Drystan so she was blocking the King's view of the vampire. "He's a vampire; but, he's a friend! He's helping us" she explained sincerely, willing him to make eye contact with her.

Her explanation did little to calm Darius, who bared his teeth at her, his canines beginning to grow longer. Not wanting to have all of their efforts to this point lost, Aislinn stood her ground and frowned at him before calling back to her friend.

"Drystan, maybe you should take a walk to see if the exit is close" she suggested, her eyes never leaving Darius.

"I don't believe that's a wise decision—" Drystan began to counter, not wanting to leave Aislinn alone with a King on the verge of losing control.

"I promise you I can handle him. Go!" Aislinn ordered, following the King's eyes so she was continuing to block Drystan from view, despite Darius trying to see around her.

Drystan hesitated, but after another insistent "go" from Aislinn, he took off down the tunnel at a run. With the vampire gone, though, the growling from the King's chest continued with his attention now shifting to the she-wolf before him. Without warning, he lurched forward and clawed at her, his fingernails having hardened further and extended into claws.

Thanks to her short rest, and the King's rough shape, Aislinn was able to jump out of the sluggish attempt to attack her. Although the blow didn't land physically, her temper did take the hit.

"Listen here, you asshole!" She yelled, growling loudly. "If I wanted to kill you, you'd be dead by now. If I wanted to hurt you, I'd have left you rotting in that silver cage I rescued you from! If that vampire wanted to harm you he wouldn't be leading us out of the prison we were locked in! I'm not going to allow you to hurt me, or my friend, so give Darius control back so I can talk sense into you instead of beating it into you!"

The wolf seemed surprised by her outburst, and stopped growling momentarily. He examined her, his glowing eyes slowly taking her in from head to toe, as if assessing whether she could follow through on her threat. He cocked his head to the side, a low rumbling beginning in his chest again, but this time it was barely audible.

In response, Aislinn narrowed her eyes and growled back. "Darius. Now."

Still seeming to be calculating how to proceed, the wolf King stopped growling entirely, smirking slightly at the girl before him. He closed those beautiful golden orbs for a long moment, and when he opened his eyes again, they had returned to the cold green of the man she'd demanded to speak to. Aislinn let out a breath of relief before placing her hands on her hips. Before she could get a word in, though, Darius spoke.

"I...Apologize for...My wolf" he rasped, wincing as his dry and painful throat.

Shocked to get an apology, Aislinn raised an eyebrow suspiciously before speaking. "I understand he's on edge, waking up in a tunnel in the dark after probably feeling like you've been burned alive...But I need you guys to know we're on the same side. I got kidnapped, too, and we're all trying to escape together, okay?"

Darius nodded his understanding once, then leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes. "Water?" He asked quietly, trying to avoid speaking more than necessary.

Frowning, Aislinn was confused by his apparent acceptance of the situation so easily. She was preparing herself mentally for a fight to convince him they weren't trying to hurt him, or that they weren't the cause of his injuries. Having him acknowledge and calm down so quickly was not at all something she'd imagined would occur, and it made her very uncomfortable.

"Sorry...We ran without any supplies. I'm hoping my friend comes back with news of an exit nearby, and we can find water from there" she explained.

Darius nodded once yet again, but didn't open his eyes or speak any further. Aislinn watched him cautiously for a long moment before finally deciding to take advantage of his silence.

"My name is Aislinn. I just want you to know what's going on...We were both probably drugged, kidnapped, and thrown in cages. You were in a silver cage when I found you, and in rough shape...I imagine you'll need a fair bit of time to fully recover. My friend's name is Drystan, he's a vampire now; but...He wasn't always. He's an ally to werewolves, and a friend to me, and I trust him with my life. He saved us, and found this path for us to escape through. We had been taken to a witch's coven, likely to prevent us from escaping easily" she explained, not sure what to say specifically, so just babbling on about what happened while fidgeting with her fingers.

Eyes closed, breathing steadily, Darius once again gave a single nod in acknowledgement. Despite being acknowledged, Aislinn was still put off by the King's lack of reaction to what she was saying. It gave her a foreboding feeling, and made her wonder if he was just biding time until he had his strength back to fight them. She chewed on her bottom lip while pondering what she should say or do next; but, the sound of footsteps coming from behind them startled her.

"Shit, we have to go!" She hissed to Darius, who remained seated and calm. When he didn't so much as open an eye, she growled at him. "Now!"

Darius opened his eyes, levelling Aislinn with a stare that held a challenge in it. "You said...You'd beat it into me" he said, his words slow and painful. It seemed the more he spoke, though, the more lubricated his vocal chords and throat became, so it was a bit easier for him to continue. "Only one set of footsteps...Prove it" he ordered with a smirk.

Aislinn's jaw dropped, realizing what he was saying and thinking. She'd told his wolf she'd beat sense into him, so now he was challenging her to take on the single opponent that was approaching them. Time was running out as the footsteps echoing were quickly growing nearer. From the sound and pace of them, she could tell it was the steps of a vampire, and she wanted desperately to avoid fighting another vampire in a one-on-one battle. For a brief moment, she considered abandoning the stubborn King where he sat, and making a run for it on her own. Still, she knew she'd eventually be caught up to if she tried that, so she should preserve the small amount of energy she had.

With a huff, and a nod, Aislinn prepared to meet their opponent. She took a defensive stance and waited, knowing the vampire was just around the bend. Darius sat up straighter, his eyes that were still clouded with pain gained a little clarity as he focused on the scene that was going to unfold before him. He smirked, thinking that his problems may resolve themselves if he left the opponents to their fight and made an escape on his own. He didn't believe anything that Aislinn had said; but, given his circumstances, it seemed foolish to put up a fight when the enemy was pretending to be his friend.

So, he watched keenly as the vampire rushed towards Aislinn, finally coming into view.