dragon, Archer, had incinerated some of Pietre’s creatures.
Fal on grimaced. He thought that psycho vampire he had fought for an hour and then final y staked, was the last of Pietre’s evil fol ower. There were a few of Pietre’s vampires left. A couple kept his brother Kevin’s wolf form at bay, while the smal er form of Briony’s brother Jake snapped at their heels. Of Briony herself, there was no sign. That meant one of two things. Either she had gone through the gate, or…
Sudden anger touched Fal on, and he charged forward at the remaining vampires. He heard the sound of someone yel ing at the top of their voice, and only realized as he struck at the first of the vampires that it was himself.
The creature turned enough that the first blow did not go cleanly through the heart, and it struck out at Fal on. Fal on didn’t care. With Briony gone, it simply didn’t matter. He took the slash of claws on his arm and attacked again, in a furious assault that the older creature nevertheless managed to fend off, twisting and parrying again and again, its fingers forming a web of sharp edges.
Jake hit it from the side, rending and tearing at the vampire, but Fal on brushed him off.
“Where is Briony?” he demanded. “Where is she?”
The other vampire laughed and lashed out with a kick that forced Fal on to stumble back. It charged forward, forcing Fal on to block attack after attack.
Even then, some of his hits made it through, scoring deep lines on Fal on’s shoulders, his chest, and his back.
Jake snapped at the creature’s legs, going in low to slash at their tendons with his teeth. The vampire turned, aiming a kick at the smal wolf, and Fal on had al the opportunity he needed. He stepped in close; so close that it might have seemed like an embrace to anyone watching, and drove his stake into the creature’s back, angling up under the ribs.
For a moment it wasn’t deep enough. The creature tried to spin and fight, but Fal on clung on.
With a mighty effort, he forced the stake home, letting go of it as the vampire died.
The other one was stil struggling with his brother. It was doing wel , too, because it had managed to wedge an arm under Kevin’s throat, keeping the werewolf from baring his teeth. With enough time, the old vampire might even have been able to win.
A treacherous, primal part of Fal on wanted to urge the vampire on…wanted the vampire to win and end Kevin. Kevin was always there. Always in the way.
Things would be so much simpler between him and Briony without the added distraction of his brother to contend with. Fal on wouldn’t even have to do anything. It would be so easy to just stand there. So easy to just-From beside Fal on, Jake gave a low growl.
“I know. I know. It was just a thought.”
He retrieved his stake from the battlefield’s freshest pile of ashes, stepped over to the struggling pair in one smooth burst of speed, and plunged his stake into the other vampire’s heart. It froze in place for the second before it died, and Fal on had plenty of time to push it from his brother.
That done, he stood and simply stared out over the meadow. There was stil no sign of Briony. Nor of Archer, the dragon-shifter. Did that mean that they had gone through the gate? Fal on had urged Briony to do it if there was no other choice, but had it actual y come to that?
Or was her body out there somewhere, hidden in the grass? Had they failed, had h e failed, to keep her alive? Just that thought was enough to make something ache within Fal on, as deep and hard as if he had been staked. He started off around the glade, wanting to make sure. Needing to make sure.
In the time it took for him to start that, the other two had transformed back into their human forms, that of a young boy of thirteen for Jake, and Kevin’s familiar tal , muscular, dark-haired frame.
“Did you see what happened to Briony?” Fal on demanded.
Kevin shook his head. Fal on didn’t want to think about the hurt expression on his brother’s face in that moment.
“I think…” Jake began. “I think she and Archer went through the gate.”
“You think, or you know?”
Kevin moved up next to Jake, putting a