04 Silence (6 page)

Aunt Sophie looked at Briony for a second, and then burst out laughing. “What do you look like?”

“Me? We
both
look like someone’s idea of princesses.”

Still,
it wasn’t like they had time to do anything about it, and Briony had to admit that they looked pretty good, so they headed back to the main tower, where the banquet would be held. It took them a couple of false starts, but they fina
lly
found something that looked like a banqueting
hall.
Certainly, there were tables set out for food.

Except that the room was empty…

Or not quite empty. Aunt Sophie walked over to one of the tables and picked up what looked like a crooked dagger. She took one look at it, grabbed Briony by the hand and ran as fast as she could with Briony in tow, only stopping when they were
well
clear of the room.

Out of breath, Briony looked up at her great aunt. “What was that about?”

Aunt Sophie actua
lly
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
will
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
l.
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.

With Pietre gone, Kevin,
Fallon
and Jake could only stand there. Kevin knew as
well
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.

Fallon
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
’ll
start with the diner to check in with George,”
Fallon
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
all,
they probably want to as much as Pietre.”

Kevin thought for a moment, cocking his head to one side. “If you’re wrong, they
’ll
kill
y
ou.”

“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
fall
when they fina
lly
did.
Fallon
was his brother.
Fallon
was a vampire.
Fallon
was trying to help them.
Fallon
was far too close to Briony. It was an impossible
not
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
tell
us more about Palisor in general, but if we want anything useful,
we
’ll
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
all,
it hadn’t been so long since Josh had been declaring Briony a prisoner. Though hopefu
lly
, 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
small
creatures in the undergrowth, the scents of patches of flowering plants, the marker scents of larger animals, trying to
tell
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,
no
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 pointed out.

The werewolf king nodded. “You’re right there. I was… hasty, deciding that they had betrayed us.

When you see them again,
tell
them that they are welcome here.”

The others nodded behind him, though Carol was perhaps a little less enthusiastic than her brother.

She looked like she had been crying, though so soon after losing her twin brother Channing, that was probably understandable.

“Where is Briony?” Josh asked.

“That’s sort of what I wanted to talk to you
about, talk
to t Kevin replied. He looked at the other two. He wasn’t sure how much he should trust them.

Brian had already made it clear how interested he was in Briony, while Carol had never liked her. He certainly didn’t want to spread around the knowledge of the gate to Palisor any more than he had to. “Can we talk in private?”

Josh might have caught the flick of Kevin’s eyes to them, but he nodded. “We can talk in my office.”

He led the way through to the
small,
pin neat room, gesturing for Kevin and Jake to take seats on comfortable armchairs that sat in front of an antique desk. Josh sat behind it, looking to Kevin a little like a principal who had agreed to
allow
a couple of kids to speak to him. But then, Josh had always been big on reminding people of his position.

“What did you want to speak to me about?”

Josh asked. “I take it that this is something to do with what happened to Briony and Sophie Edge? My sources
tell
me that Mrs. Edge hasn’t been seen in a while, and if you’re here without Briony…”

He left that hanging. A gap that just demanded to be fil
led.

Kevin looked straight at the werewolf king.

“Have you ever heard of Palisor?”

Josh’s eyes flickered, just a little. “What about Palisor?”

Kevin didn’t flinch. “So you
have
heard of Palisor?”

Josh shrugged. Kevin wasn’t sure how much he believed that casualness. “Only from my parents.

Bedtime stories for young werewolves.”

“What did they te
ll y
ou about Palisor?” Jake asked.

Josh paused. “If I
tell you
,
you
’ll
allow
me some questions of my own?”

Kevin nodded.

“Good,” Josh said. “Then Palisor is supposed to be a paradise for
all
supernatural creatures.

Somewhere they don’t have to worry about what humans think. Somewhere that they
all
seek, consciously or unconsciously. As I said, it is simply something my parents told me.”

“And their parents before them,” Kevin guessed.

“True. And if I remember
well,
there was a distant rumor about a way through being near Wicked, but you know how these things go.” Josh stopped.

“Now it’s my turn to ask questions. How did you hear of Palisor?”

“From Sophie and Pietre,” Kevin said. “And you’ve seen the dragon shifter.”

The Werewolf King nodded. “Yes
, I have seen the dragon shifte
r. He became friendly with our kind, blending in so flawlessly that we
all
thought he was a werewolf at first. You’re saying he’s from Palisor?”

Kevin nodded wordlessly.

Josh drummed his fingers on the desk top.

“We’ve seen other shifters before here in Wicked, of course… jaguars, foxes, and so forth. I must admit, a dragon was a new one. I should have guessed.”

“He led Briony through the gate,” Jake said. “If you know how to find a way into Palisor, we need your help to get through to get her back.”

Josh was
still
for several seconds. “What makes you think I know how? I told you, Palisor is just a fable to me.”

Kevin shook his head. “You know
something
. Pietre has been looking for this place for centuries. That must mean something to you. It’s why he has stayed in Wicked Woods
all
these years, hoping to find a way in.”

“Why would he do that?” Josh asked, but then waved the question away. “Oh, don’t answer that. Pietre
will
always look for a way to make vampires stronger and more powerful, especia
lly
against the wolves. So Palisor has something that
will
benefit him.”

Kevin nodded. “From the way Sophie and that dragon defended the gate against Pietre, it definitely seemed like there’s a reason they don’t want Pietre to make it into Palisor. But don’t dodge the question. What do you know, Josh?”

The Werewolf King’s eyes narrowed.

“Remember whom you are speaking to.”

Jake interrupted. “Help us out here, Josh. Please.”

Josh nodded, got up, and walked over to a bookshelf. He didn’t take anything down off the shelves, but simply moved the whole thing aside to reveal a space beyond it. Not quite a secret room, just a little corner of one blocked off by the shelves. Boxes sat within. Josh took a dusty leather book from one of them.

“This room contains journals for every werewolf king since the Wickhams arrived here” he said. “This one is my great-grandfather’s. Since becoming king, I’ve been trying to learn what I can of my heritage. I can’t say that I was very interested in it before that.”

“You had other things to do,” Kevin guessed.

“I had a whole life planned out. Col
lege,
Walls
treet, life in New York.”

“And then you had to come back here to be king.”

Josh shrugged. “I wanted a normal life, but things rarely work out as planned. Anyway…”

Josh flipped through the pages of the journal, fina
lly
coming to a stop about halfway through.

He read aloud. “Palisor is the source of power and renewal for paranormals. It is meant as paradise, a peaceful kingdom where paranormals can be free.

The darker paranormals such as vampires are not
allow
ed within. The keepers of the gates to Palisor must guard against them through each generation.”

“So Aunt Sophie must have been a gatekeeper,” Jake said. “That explains why she stayed even after everyone disappeared in the Wicked Woods.”

Everyone. Such a
small
word to take in himself, his parents, his uncle. Not to mention Kevin and
Fallon
. So much had seemed to start that day, but in fact, it had already been in place for centuries.

Kevin might have asked about that, but a thought came to him.

“What about Briony? How did she figure into this?”

“If she’s related to Mrs. Edge, and we agree that Sophie Edge is one of these gatekeepers, then it is possible that she may be a gatekeeper, too,” Josh said. “My great-grandfather’s journal does suggest that it is hereditary.”

Jake shook his head. “But I’m related to Aunt Sophie. Why aren’t I a gatekeeper, then?”

“Good question.” Josh looked at Jake. Rea
lly
looked at him for several seconds. “Which makes me wonder. You two are so different. I mean Briony is…”

“Gorgeous,” Jake said bluntly, clearly unhappy about it. “And I’m not. I never
will
be. I’m awkward, and
will
always be forever awkward, stuck as half-vampire and half-werewolf for
all
eternity.”

“I didn’t mean it like that, Jake,” Josh said. “We
all
went through that awkward stage, but have you ever felt Briony was different…from you or anyone else?”

Kevin nodded. “She is.” Of course, he knew exactly how different Briony was.

Josh tapped his fingers against the book. “I’m not just talking about looks. There’s something else.

Something that I have been sensing since the moment I met her. Something I suspect we
all
have.”

“Yes,” Kevin said. “We know.”

Jake looked distraught. “I’m not sure I do. Are you saying that Briony is tota
lly
something else? That she’s not rea
lly
my sister?”

“No, I’m not
telling
you that,” Josh said.

“She’s definitely have some human in her, but she’s something else, too.”

Kevin found himself thinking back to Pietre’s taunts about Briony being closer to vampire than human. “Josh, if you know what she is,
tell
me straight. Is she a vampire?”