Salvation (The Captive Series Book 4) by Erica Stevens

had despised the lack of control that had consumed him, the death and misery he had rained down upon the innocent. He couldn’t take it back though, and right now he welcomed the thrumming power that came with the knowledge that Aria was being threatened, that came with letting the darkness creep in to take control again.
       He stepped into the room that had been Aria’s upon first arriving, not at all surprised to find the tunnel near the bed barricaded. He suspected that at least part of the tunnel had also been demolished. He refused to look at the nightgown spread out on the bed as he turned on his heel and left the room. Keegan remained at his side as he made his way into the main living area.
       At the door of the suite, he pressed his hands to the wood, and his eye to the peephole. He saw nothing out there, and sensed no one as his hand rested on the knob. He turned it bit by bit and stepped into the hallway. There was no one about, but he could hear running footsteps in the massive foyer below and shouts echoed off of the cavernous walls.
       There were some walls breaking the openness of the hallway before him, but for the most part it was an open balcony to the main entryway below. They would be far too visible to the soldiers and people beneath them. Unfortunately, it was also the fastest way to the dungeons.
       He turned and went the other way, disappearing deeper into the palace as he moved toward the servant’s corridor. It would take longer, but this part of the hall was hidden in shadow, and sheltered from view by massive walls. He had to turn sideways to make it down the stairs at the far back of the hall.
       It did n’t become any more comfortable as he finally stepped out of the stairwell and into the hallway the servants used to transport supplies, and had their rooms in. A man, stepping from his room, spotted them. His mouth dropped as recognition lit his eyes. “Intru…”
       Braith snagged hold of him and snapped his neck before the man could finish the shout that had started to erupt from his throat. Daniel let out a low curse as William made a strangled sound. He turned back toward them, Max had his bow raised, but to Braith’s surprise the arrow wasn’t aimed at his heart, but at the human he had just destroyed. They stared at each other for a prolonged moment before Max grinned at him and lowered the bow. He didn’t know when it had occurred but Max seemed to have started to put some faith in him, some trust. Or if not trust, Max had at least decided that Braith would be the one to get Aria back.
       Braith stepped negligently over the servant’s body as he continued down the hall. The further they moved down the hall the more candles started to cast shadows across the dark rock wall. Though the palace had electricity, his father had never installed it in these lower areas as a way to exert his control, and torment the servants forced to reside in the dark.
       The hallway opened up as they stepped into a room filled with tables and a large stone fire pit at the end. Burnt logs were still in the pit, fresh heat radiated from it but there were no servants lingering around it. Everything seemed to be going to plan but there was a sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach that he couldn’t shake.
       He just had to find Aria, he’d be able to think better and be less on edge if he could just see and hold her right now.
       He was moving faster as they accessed another small hallway and the staircase that led to the lowest bowels of the palace, the dungeons. Even as he took the stairs he knew that something was wrong. He knew, before he even saw the ruined door that Aria wasn’t within the dark cells below. A low growl escaped him; his hands trembled as he pulled the heavy metal gate away from where it had fallen across the bottom of the doorway.
       A snarl curved his upper lip as he bypassed the steps and leapt into the depths of the dungeons below. The smell