Silver - By Kailin Gow Page 0,13

implied threat there.

“Very wel ,” Josh whispered, before raising his voice. “You’l have to come back to the mansion, Briony.”

“If Jake’s there, I’l be happy to,” Briony said.

Kevin let go of her shoulders. “I’m not sure that’s what he means.”

Briony was about to laugh, but she caught sight of the werewolves’ expressions. “You can’t be serious, Josh.

You’re taking us prisoner?”

For his part, Brian looked apologetic. “I told Josh no, but Josh is the king, and he did make sense…”

The werewolf king shot his brother a look, and Brian shut up.

“You have to see things from our point of view, Briony. Your aunt does seem to have every reason to betray us to the vampires.”

Briony shook her head. “But she hates Pietre.”

“Hates?” Josh laughed bitterly then. “That might be what she told you, but if she hated him that much, she wouldn’t have married him, would she?”

Briony couldn’t stop her mouth from dropping open in shock. “Married him? You’re trying to tel me that Aunt Sophie is Pietre’s wife?” It was her turn to laugh then. It was mad. Aunt Sophie wouldn’t… she would never… “You’re making it up.”

One look at Josh’s expression told her that he wasn’t. The werewolf king held out a hand to Briony.

“Come on. It’s time to go.”

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Briony hadn’t anticipated coming back to the mansion like this, a prisoner watched closely by Josh and Brian at every step. The place was as huge and opulent as before, but now it seemed that there was a darker edge to it. It wasn’t the place that she was returning to triumphant after the battle; it was the place that the werewolves would keep her until they decided what to do with her.

At least they were being polite about it. Brian, in particular, was talking to her like it didn’t matter what her great aunt might or might not have done, and Briony suspected that only Kevin’s continued presence next to her kept him from moving close to her. Josh was warier, staying a little aloof on the trip back, and replying with brief formality the few times Briony had asked questions. She got the feeling that he was being very careful once more to show nothing of how he felt.

“You can have the same room as before,” he told her once they got inside. “And of course, you have the freedom to wander where you wil through the house. You may also go into the garden with one of us accompanying you.

Please don’t try to go further than that, though.”

Briony didn’t ask what would happen if she did. She didn’t want to inflame the situation any further. Kevin was already giving the other wolves angry looks at this treatment, even though he wasn’t the one being kept as a captive.

There was a thought.

“Josh, Kevin is free to go if he wants, right?”

The werewolf king nodded. “He can come and go as he pleases. I only stipulate that you must stay. It is the price of being Sophie Edge’s niece, I am afraid. If you want Brian, or me we wil be through in the living room with your brother. Please don’t try to run off.”

Briony waited until they were gone before she turned to Kevin, but the werewolf raised a hand before she could speak. “I know what you’re going to say, Briony, but I’m not leaving you.”

“I think you should,” she countered. “You can help find out what is going on out there.”

“Am I so useless to you here?”

He kept his voice neutral, but Briony could tel that she had managed to hurt his feelings. She put an arm around him, enjoying the feelings of safety and warmth that came from being so close. “I can think of plenty of uses for you. I’m just not sure that any of them wil help sort this situation out, Kevin.”

Kevin was quiet for a second, but shook his head.

He glanced across at the door the others had gone through.

“I don’t want to leave you alone with them, Briony.”

Briony raised an eyebrow. “Them or just Brian?

Because we’ve already been there, and you know it is never going to happen, right?”

“Oh, I trust you. Though whether I trust him so much…” Kevin shook his head. “It’s his brother I’m worried about. Josh is more dangerous than Brian, by a long way. I don’t think Brian would hurt you deliberately. Josh is king though, and from what I can see, he’l do whatever he thinks he needs to for his people.”

“Including