waiting for?
Let’s get out of here.”
Chapter 3
Falon found that he didn’t have to slow down much for Briony’s Aunt Sophie to keep up with him as they fled the diner. The old woman was faster than she looked, and they had quickly made it out into the street. While they did it, Aunt Sophie was busy making phone cal s.
“I’m serious Jil . George is one of them now. No, I haven’t kil ed him. I’l explain later. Just don’t go to the meeting, al right?”
She seemed determined to tel each member of the Preservation Society personal y, rather than leaving it to someone else. It took Fal on a moment to guess why.
“You’re worried that Pietre might have turned more of them, aren’t you?”
Aunt Sophie nodded. “Perceptive, young man. The truth is that, while I hope none of them has been turned, I can’t know for sure. It’s why I have to make sure that I tel each of them separately.”
“And why you haven’t told them where we are going.”
Fal on saw her nod.
“I told George everything,” Aunt Sophie said, “and look where that got us.”
Fal on could hear the anger there. “You couldn’t have known.”
“I should have known,” Aunt Sophie snapped back.
“I
know exactl y how cunning Pietre is, yet I keep underestimating him.”
“It isn’t your fault.” Fal on doubted that the words would have much effect on Aunt Sophie. After al , he was only her great-niece’s vampire boyfriend. Stil , it was what Briony might have said if she had been there, and Fal on owed it to her to make the effort. “Sooner or later, you have to trust someone.”
“Yes.” Aunt Sophie looked serious for a moment, but then smiled. “And who would have thought that the someone in question would ever be you, young vampire?”
“Here we are though.”
“Indeed. Now, to find my niece before something happens to her.”
Fal on nodded. “You know where she wil be, then?”
Aunt Sophie shrugged. “I know where the battle site was. It is somewhere to start looking. If she is not there, then she might be with the wolves, or with that brother of yours.”
“Or captured,” Fal on said, his hands screwing into fists. “Or dead.”
“But we wil not think like that until we know for sure.
Wil we, young man?”
Fal on was a little taken aback by the sharpness of that rebuke, but he shook his head anyway. “No, ma’am.”
“Good.” Aunt Sophie gave Fal on a long look. “We wil be heading for a battle ful of blood and death. And werewolves. More werewolves than you have met in your life. Wil you be able to handle that, Fal on?”
Fal on hadn’t even considered that. With the scent of blood on the breeze, would he be able to control himself?
With so many werewolves about, would he be able to keep his instinctive hatred at bay?
“For Briony, I wil .”
“Very wel then.” Aunt Sophie looked around. “First, we need transport.”
It didn’t take them long to find the old truck George used when he was on business. It was a dul , rusty red, and looked like it had been through at least one smal war at some point. There were boxes in the back, and, at a faint twinge from the part of him that responded to silver, Fal on took the time to open one of them.
“Weapons, Mrs. Edge. It looks like George might have been getting ready for a battle.”
“More likely, he was restocking the weapons cupboard when they took him,” Aunt Sophie said. “And then they couldn’t move them out of the truck. Poor man. Now, let’s hope this thing is as old as it looks. Modern ignition systems take forever to get going when you don’t have the key.”
Fal on watched in amazement as she broke the window on the driver’s side with her elbow, unlocked the door, and had the truck hotwired in less time than it took him to get around to the passenger side. It was not the kind of skil you expected someone like her to know. Or at least, not someone like she appeared to be.
“You may wish to buckle up,” Aunt Sophie said, revving the engine. “I don’t exactly intend this to be a gentle jaunt.”
Fal on caught the serious note in that, and did as he was told. He was glad of the extra restraint when Aunt Sophie set off at a speed that made a mockery of the local limits, taking corners so fast that Fal on was frankly