Silence - By Kailin Gow Page 0,44

can’t kil me,” the dragon shot back.

“You need me to get through the gate. Whereas I…”

he ducked and snapped the neck of another vampire,

“I can kil as many of you as I want.”

The leader of the Palisor vampires aimed a sword blow at the dragon that it barely dodged. “We needed you. We needed someone to open the gate.

Now that you’ve done that, we just need a shifter to go through with. The wolf wil do as wel as you.”

The vampires surged forward, and Kevin

cursed himself then, even as he snapped at another vampire, bringing it down to ground level so he could finish it off. If he hadn’t come out of hiding…

But it was too late to think about that. Al he could do was keep fighting. Fal on was beside him, trying to help, while the dragon transformed in a blaze of green and blue, knocking vampires flying before turning its flames on them. A whole line of vampires next to Pietre ignited, screaming as they burst into flames.

“Get him!” The Palisor Vampire charged forward as he said it. Other vampires rushed at the dragon too, but a quick lash of his tail sent them sprawling.

Kevin knew it couldn’t last though. There were simply too many vampires. The dragon looked over at Kevin then, and somehow, Kevin knew what he had to do if he wanted to stop the vampires from using the gate as they wished. In a blur of movement, he transformed, knocked a vampire from its feet, and sprinted for the dragon.

It blew forth another gout of flame as Kevin leapt onto its back, forcing the vampires away from it.

Then, with a mighty burst of effort, it leapt for the gate, its wings spreading even as it ploughed through the mist at the gate’s heart. Kevin clung on as best he could while the dragon flew through, not wanting to find out what kind of damage fal ing off at this speed would do.

The dragon whirled and Kevin looked down at the gate. Vampires were coming through, hurrying to fol ow in whatever wake he and the dragon had left.

Some looked like Pietre’s vampires, while others looked like the ones from the West coast. More started to appear, but even as they did so, the gate faded and vanished, leaving those on this side stranded.

Kevin wondered if that was the dragon’s doing.

Certainly, it seemed too sudden to be down to anything else. Vampires mil ed about in the meadow on this side of the gate, looking lost and out of place.

Right then, though, Kevin didn’t care. Accident or not, he was in whatever world Briony had gone to.

He could final y find her.

Chapter 18

Kevin held onto the dragon for dear life as they flew, clouds passing by beneath them, and occasional y around them. As the dragon glided on, Kevin dared to look down, seeing acres of trees give way to val eys and high pools. He gasped aloud as he saw the mermaids in them, and spotted other, stranger creatures in open spaces between the trees.

For someone who had spent so much time

around nature, someone who had spent so much time learning about the creatures of his own world, this place was incredible. Would Briony have seen al this when she came through with Archer? Would she have seen the same dramatic mountains, lush emerald grass, and silvery trees?

The beauty of the landscape didn’t last, though. Almost without Kevin noticing it, a subtle shift came over the landscape that they flew above.

Jagged mountains and outcrops stood up from the surrounding fields in dark spurs, the trees grew more stunted and twisted, interspersed with rocks. Even the air seemed cold and damp, while the clouds around them grew dark with veins of lightning flashing through.

Kevin hoped the dragon shifter wouldn’t fly through one of those.

It didn’t, but it did head down into a secluded spot largely hidden from view by overhanging cliffs, landing with a jolt that nearly bounced Kevin off its back. Kevin slid down, glad to get his feet on solid ground again, and the dragon transformed back into the shape of the young man with the blue streaked hair. His clothes, Kevin noted, didn’t get as rumpled as Kevin’s did from the transformation.

The dragon-shifter looked at him, turned around, and started to walk.

“Hey!” Kevin cal ed after it. “You can’t just walk off. What’s going on? Where are we?”

The dragon shifter looked round, seeming faintly annoyed. “Palisor. Now don’t talk.”

“Why not?” Kevin