Silver (Wicked Woods #3) (11 page)

Final y, Jake came back out.

“He’s ready.”

George was. When they went back into the office, he was standing, and the redness had faded from his eyes.

“Thank you,” he said. “Al of you.”

“You’re feeling better?” Briony asked.

“The hunger is stil there, but I can manage it.”

“We al have to,” Fal on said.

Jake nodded too. “But if you feed often enough, you can keep from kil ing people.”

Briony had to ask. “George, do you know anything about where Pietre might be? About what he is doing now?”

George shook his head. “He left me here rather than help me. I have heard nothing since.”

Briony sighed. From the moment she had seen George, she had been worried about that.

“What is it, Briony?” George asked.

Briony told him. She explained everything that had happened as clearly as she could, from the battle to losing Aunt Sophie.

“And you think Pietre could be the key to getting her back?”

Briony nodded. “He’s the most likely one to know something. But I don’t know how we’re going to contact him if he and his vampires are in hiding now.”

“Why,” George said, and just for a moment, it seemed that the old George was back there, “that should not be hard. We’l start by re-opening this diner, for one thing.”

“How does that help?”

“If Pietre’s vampires are hiding, then they wil wait until things have gone back to normal before they make an appearance. So we wil
make
things normal. You wil go back to school. Your friends wil behave as they did before the battle. Soon, the vampires wil be out. They cannot steer clear of the town for long if they want to feed.”

That raised one obvious question, of course. “And how wil you feed, George? What’s to stop your customers from becoming your dinner?”

George stood very stil . “I know what I am, and I would rather die than become that. If I harm anyone here, the other members of the Preservation Society wil kil me. I would expect them to.” He looked at her. “I would expect
you
to, Briony.”

Briony forced herself to nod. “But until that point, we just have to go on as normal?”

“As normal as possible,” George agreed. “Though in one sense, things wil be different. I cannot be a part of the Preservation Society any longer. Not as I am. And your great aunt isn’t here. That leaves you, Briony. You wil have to make sure that it stays strong. I have a feeling that the town wil need it before very long.”

It wasn’t easy, putting everything back the way it had been. It took Briony and the rest of the diner’s staff most of the rest of the day to get it into a fit state to open again, even with Fal on and Kevin helping out. They had to thoroughly clean every surface, get new stock into the large freezers off the kitchen, and work hard to get the whole place into a condition where they could feel ready to open the doors to diners once more.

That wasn’t the hardest part of it, though. The hardest part came with every look Jil or Pete or Percy gave George, in the little hint of suspicion and fear that came with it. They had al agreed to come back to work when George had asked them, or at least when Briony had assured them that it wasn’t a trick, yet none of them seemed to be able to forget what George was now.

Not that Briony was doing much better. She found herself glancing across to the diner owner whenever she thought he wasn’t looking, just checking that everything was al right. Or, to put it another way, checking that he hadn’t turned into a rampaging monster in the time since she had last looked. Briony knew that she needed to trust George more than that, but after everything that had happened, could she?

Towards the end of the day, she voiced her fears to Fal on. “I’m worried about what wil happen with George,”

she said. “Wil he be strong enough to contain himself once there are more people in here, do you think?”

Fal on shrugged. “There’s no way to tel , but George is strong.”

“Even so…”

“Would it help if I were around?” Fal on asked. “I could help contain him if things went wrong. You could al feel safer then.”

Briony didn’t want to nod. Doing so felt like a betrayal. Yet she did it anyway.

They reopened for business that evening, and the diner was surprisingly busy, given that it had shut with no warning. People came in, looking around as though they expected some major refurbishment, but then shrugging and ordering what they always ordered when it wasn’t there. There were so many that soon, Briony and Jil were rushed off their feet, and Briony found herself more than grateful when Fal on started to lend a hand. It was fun, watching him charm customers as he waited on them, and seeing him carry orders through with that effortless grace of his.

The arrival of the next day meant a return to school.

In the face of questions about where she had been, Briony pretended that she had been il at home. It seemed like the best way to deflect attention, though it meant that once again, she found herself facing a smal mountain of notes to catch up with in every class. Couldn’t the supernatural world attack at a convenient time just
once
?

Despite the work, it felt good to be back. To have something normal in her life, even if it was just talking to Maisy and Steve by the lockers between classes, or explaining to people that no, she was fine now. Briony was actual y slightly surprised by how many people had missed her when she had been gone. Several of the others from the Drama society made a point of welcoming her back, while even Claire gave her a quick hug when she thought Pepper wasn’t looking.

Briony caught up on some of the gossip with Maisy when she got a moment. Apparently, Maisy was doing wel in the cheerleading squad, despite Pepper’s occasional unpleasantness. Other people, whose names Briony hardly remembered, had hooked up, or broken up, or managed to get themselves into trouble around the school.

“I suppose it al seems a bit mundane next to werewolves and vampires,” Maisy said towards the end of it.

Briony smiled. “No, I think it’s perfect. It’s nice to know that there is a normal life out there, even if I’m not the one living it.”

Yet for the next few days, that was exactly what Briony did. She went to classes. She did her work at the diner. In fact, she did slightly more than her fair share of work at the diner, because that meant that she didn’t have to go back to the inn quite so often. Even with Jake taking one of the rooms there, it stil felt too empty. Working, there were moments, just moments, when Briony could almost forget al about that.

The moments didn’t last long, though, and by the end of the week, Briony was beginning to feel a little frustrated.

Surely there should have been some sign of vampires around the diner by now? Some sign of them in the town, at least? Yet they simply weren’t there. To the people of the town, it must have seemed that several of Wicked’s more prominent citizens had al decided to go on vacation at the same time, yet nobody seemed to think it was odd. Maybe they had just become that good at ignoring things.

At the start of the second week, Jake announced that he was going to start looking for the vampires more actively, trying to sniff them out through the forest, and maybe asking questions of the hangers-on who stil seemed to be around the town. As dangerous an option as that sounded, Briony was wil ing to let Jake try it if it did something to improve their chances of getting Aunt Sophie back.

For her part, she simply had to keep going as she was. Keep working at the diner and going to school.

Balancing those two was difficult enough, without adding more to her load. Stil , at least things were peaceful.

And then, on the Wednesday of the second week, they weren’t. Briony was working her normal shift at the diner after school. Jil , the diner’s other waitress, was working with her, while Fal on had gone into the kitchen to fetch an order, when Briony heard the crack of a breaking glass. She turned to see Jil nursing a cut hand from where the glass had broken in it.

Briony was about to go over and offer to help with cleaning the wound up when a shape streaked past her and leapt. Briony barely had time to recognize George before he smashed into Jil , bearing her backwards as his teeth flashed out. Several of the customers cried out in shock at the sight, frozen to their seats with surprise.

Briony knew she didn’t have that luxury. She had to do something. Briefly, just briefly, she thought of the silver blade of the cross she wore. It was what George had said to do if he attacked someone, after al . But no, Briony couldn’t kil him. Not just like that.

She did take her cross out though, forcing it between Jil and George. The vampire diner owner reeled back, releasing Jil as he whirled towards Briony. His eyes were a feral red, just as they had been in the office when they had revived him. George took the smal est of steps towards Briony, but stopped when she brandished the cross at him. She would be safe as long as she stayed there behind it.

Unfortunately, that didn’t apply to the diners. George whirled towards one of them, a man in his early thirties, and Briony knew there wouldn’t be time to save him. She simply wouldn’t be fast enough.

Fal on was. He came out from the kitchen with the kind of speed only he could manage, hitting George from behind with a metal tray. As George turned, Fal on hit him again, sending the diner owner sprawling. Fal on grabbed him, hauled him to his feet, and marched him through into the office. He emerged alone a few seconds later, looking around the diner with the kind of confidence that could only be an act.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we apologize for the interruption to your dining. George hasn’t been feeling very wel recently. Your meals wil , of course, be on the house.”

That seemed to be that, though Jil was shaken by the experience. She went through to the kitchen to wash the cut out, and just the look in her eyes as she went was enough to let Briony know how scared she was.

“Why don’t you take the rest of the shift off?” Briony suggested.

Jil shook her head. “If I go, I probably won’t come back.”

Maybe, Briony decided as Jil went into the kitchen, that wouldn’t be such a bad thing. Maybe they al needed to get away from there.

Fal on moved closer to her, folding her in his arms and running his fingers through her hair. It was such a soothing gesture that Briony didn’t even mind that he was doing it in front of a room ful of customers.

“Tel me what you’re thinking,” he suggested.

Briony lowered her voice so that the diners couldn’t hear. “I’m thinking that maybe George isn’t ready for this.

That maybe he never wil be.”

“That we should stake him?”

Briony couldn’t help nodding.

“Give him a chance, Briony,” Fal on whispered. “He’l be fine with time. He’l learn control.”

“And until then? He could have kil ed Jil .”

“But he didn’t.”

“But he
could
have.”

Fal on kissed her, just lightly. Briony found herself wondering how many of the customers were watching, and then realized that she didn’t care. “But he didn’t.”

“That’s not an answer, Fal on.”

Fal on held her a little tighter, so that his lips were almost against her ear. “The thirst is always there, Briony.

Al we can do is beat it, moment to moment. Try to keep from kil ing people any way we can. I feel it, just as much as George does.”

“So how do you stop yourself?” Briony asked.

“I think of you.”

“You think of me?”

“I think of what it would be like if I ever hurt you. I think about what it would be like losing you if you discovered that I had hurt someone else.”

He loved her that much? “And that’s enough to keep you from attacking people?”

“Yes,” Fal on breathed. He paused.

“What is it?” Briony asked.

Fal on glanced around to see if any of the diners needed anything. Since the announcement that everything was on the house, they were happily eating their meals.

Fal on took Briony’s hand and led her into the kitchen where Jil was finishing up.

Jil took a look at Briony and Fal on and said. “I’l cover for you Briony. I’m alright now. Just shaken up a little because it was George, you know, but I’ve seen worse being part of The Preservation Society, right?”

Briony patted Jil ’s shoulder, and Fal on nodded.

Jil then took some plates of food and headed out of the kitchen, “Besides, looks like you two need a moment to chil , too.”

“Thanks,” Briony and Fal on said together. When Jil left, Fal on led Briony outside to the back. When they were final y alone, he cupped her face in his hands and kissed her softly and gently. When Briony began responding back, pul ing Fal on closer, and running her hand through his hair, Fal on’s hand slipped around her waist and pul ed her so close, she can feel how much he wanted her. His mouth pressed harder against hers, and she can feel his tongue against hers. She swooned with the pleasure of having him hold her so close, so tightly, his arms wrapped around her with such a ferocious need while his mouth devoured hers.

“Briony,” he whispered against her lips. “I want you so bad it hurts. But I have to fight it al the time when I’m with you. I can’t help wanting your blood,” at that Briony pul ed away, her eyes widened. “But I’ve channeled it so that I want something else more instead.” He kissed her again passionately, letting his tongue slip in to taste her. Then his mouth was on her cheeks, her jawline and then her neck where Briony could feel a slight prickling. Fal on’s fangs had extended, and she stiffened against him.