of breath, Briony looked up at her great aunt. “What was that about?”
Aunt Sophie actual y looked scared. “That, Briony, is Palisor’s worst nightmare. The vampires who have made it here, that is one of their weapons.
It’s a warning, I think.”
“I heard people mention vampires before,”
Briony said.
Aunt Sophie paused, but then nodded. “If you think Pietre is hard to fight, think again. Vampires that make it through into Palisor are older, stronger, and hungrier than he wil ever be. And since you are currently the only unchanged human here… this could get bad, Briony.”
At those words, Briony felt her heart fal . Palisor was beautiful, but it seemed that even here she wasn’t safe. Even here, she would have to be the thing that she had been forced to be back home.
A vampire hunter.
Chapter 7
With Pietre gone, Kevin, Fal on and Jake could only stand there. Kevin knew as wel as anyone how dangerous the master vampire could be, yet he had escaped once again. And with him gone, their hopes for getting Briony back seemed to be in tatters.
Kevin shook his head. No, he wouldn’t accept that. He couldn’t accept that. Though right then, he wasn’t sure what they could do.
Fal on paced back and forth. “I’m going to go.”
Kevin resisted the urge to comment on what a good thing that was, or to ask whether he was going to join up with Pietre.
“Where are you going?” Jake asked.
“I’l start with the diner to check in with George,”
Fal on said. He looked away.
“And after that?” Kevin asked.
“Pietre isn’t the only master vampire in the world. Given the activity around here, he might not even be the only one in the area. Another master wouldn’t know about me, and he or she might have what we need to get into Palisor. After al , they probably want to as much as Pietre.”
Kevin thought for a moment, cocking his head to one side. “If you’re wrong, they’l kil you.”
“You say that like you wouldn’t rejoice.”
Kevin shrugged. “Just an observation.”
Though the truth was, he wasn’t sure how he would feel. The contradictions stacked up inside him like a house of cards, and Kevin wasn’t sure which way they would fal when they final y did. Fal on was his brother. Fal on was a vampire. Fal on was trying to help them. Fal on was far too close to Briony. It was an impossible knot to deal with, so Kevin didn’t. Instead, he just stood there while his brother sped off.
“So what do we do?” Jake asked.
“I don’t know,” Kevin admitted. “I guess we should look for anything that might tel us more about Palisor in general, but if we want anything useful, we’l have to go to someone who knows about the history of our world.”
“There’s always Josh,” Jake suggested. “Even if he doesn’t know, he might know someone who would.”
That was a possibility, Kevin had to admit. The werewolf king seemed to know a lot about Wicked thanks to the histories kept by his family. Not that seeing him would necessarily be that comfortable.
After al , it hadn’t been so long since Josh had been declaring Briony a prisoner. Though hopeful y, the attack on the vampires’ home would have dealt with that problem.
There didn’t seem to be too many other options in any case, so Kevin nodded. “Let’s go.”
They ran in wolf form, cutting through the forest with clear purpose. Kevin drank in its scents as he ran.
The scent of smal creatures in the undergrowth, the scents of patches of flowering plants, the marker scents of larger animals, trying to tel the world that they were strong, and that this was their territory. Kevin would have laughed if he could have. Compared to his werewolf form, n o normal animal counted as truly strong.
Soon, the two of them arrived at the manicured square of lawn with the werewolves’ mansion at its center, changing back to human form as they moved closer. Kevin looked around cautiously as he did so.
After leaving the battle with Briony, he didn’t know what kind of welcome they would get. When the door swung open ahead of them to reveal Josh, Brian and Carol, Kevin tensed.
Josh stepped forward. “Kevin, Jake, it’s good to see you. I’m glad you came through the battle unscathed. Man, that was a victory, wasn’t it? We burned down their house, got Carol and the others back, and nearly got Pietre himself.”
“Aunt Sophie and Briony nearly got him, you mean,” Jake