by Kailin Gow
Briony couldn’t help feeling a little sorry for Josh there. Almost his first decision as the ruler of the werewolves, and it had cost the lives of so many of his subjects. That had to be hard.
Josh moved closer, lowering his voice. “Briony, I have to ask. Do you know who tipped off the vampires?
They knew we were coming, and there are only so many people who could have let them know. So do you have any guesses? Either of you?”
His eyes swept over her and Kevin, and Briony had to fight against the urge to voice the thoughts that she’d had during the battle about why Aunt Sophie wasn’t there. About why she had wanted to keep Briony out of the danger.
“I don’t know anything,” she said instead.
Josh nodded. “I can understand that. You want to protect the people closest to you. So do I.”
He didn’t say Aunt Sophie’s name, but Briony knew whom he meant.
“She wouldn’t betray us like that,” Briony said. Even to her own ears, it didn’t sound entirely convincing.
“Emotion can make us do funny things.” Josh kept his voice low. “Make us ignore reason. Take my brother over there. You’ve told him how things are, and someone you care about is standing right next to you, yet he stil looks at you like you’re the whole world.”
“That’s not the same thing as Aunt Sophie sel ing you out,” Briony countered.
“Isn’t it? My point is this: what do you think Brian would do for you if you asked him?”
“He didn’t even bother stopping Carol from attacking me at the diner.”
“He didn’t know about that until afterwards,” Josh said. He looked at Briony intently. “Now don’t dodge the question. What would someone like Brian do for you?”
Briony knew the answer to that one. If she let him think that he had a chance with her, he would do almost anything.
“That isn’t the same thing, Josh, and you know it.”
The werewolf king shook his head. “I’m not sure I do.
Are you certain that you don’t know anything, Briony?”
“She told you that she didn’t,” Kevin put in. His tone was as calm as Josh’s, but Briony could hear the 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 harming me?”
Kevin shrugged. “He has already taken you as some kind of captive, just because he suspects Aunt Sophie.”
Briony nodded. She couldn’t disagree with that.
Josh seemed pleasant enough, but she didn’t doubt there was more to him than that. He had been quick to go into battle against the vampires, quick to involve himself in the thick of the fighting. He wasn’t someone to wait around while there was a threat to those he ruled. Briony had no doubt whatsoever about what that could mean for her.
“Al right,” she said, “stay.”
Kevin kissed her, softly, gently. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Kevin.”
“I never do. Now come on. Your little brother must be wondering where you have gotten to.”
Briony let him take her hand and lead her through into the living room. It was indeed time that she saw how Jake was doing. The answer was… wel , what was it? He was sitting up on a sofa, and he didn’t seem to have any obvious wounds left, but that probably just said something about the speed with which his combined vampire and werewolf physiology was able to repair itself. He looked pale, and tired, as Josh stood beside him. Brian was nowhere to be seen.
“Jake?”
“Briony.”
“What’s wrong with him?” Briony
asked Josh.
The werewolf king shrugged. “I told you before that he was badly wounded. If my brother had not been going past when he was…”
“How bad is it?” Briony asked. She wasn’t sure if she was asking Jake or Josh.
“Too bad,” Jake said. “You need to stay back, Briony.”
“Why?” The answer came to her, unbidden. “You need blood that badly?”
“Enough that I would probably kil you.” Jake smiled grimly, and his fangs were easy to see. “And it’s not like the werewolves wil let me feed on them.”
Josh put a hand on his shoulder. It looked like a comforting gesture, but Briony noted that it also made sure that Jake wouldn’t be able to try leaping forward out of his seat at her. If even the werewolf king was worried about how Jake would react, things had to be bad.
“Why won’t any of you let him feed?” Briony demanded. “I thought you said that he was your friend.”
“He is.” There wasn’t any anger in Josh’s voice at the accusation. “Jake is one of us, and we would give a lot to one of our pack members, but being fed upon…”
“Briony, you saw how hard it was the time I had to let Fal on feed on me,” Kevin said, sounding uncomfortable.
He obviously didn’t like Josh hearing about that moment. “I only managed it because of who he was. Because of you, too. Do you think any of the others would be able to go that far?”
Briony didn’t know what to say. “Jake’s m y brother, Kevin.”
“I know. I wish I could help.”
Josh held up a hand. “There is no need to worry.
Brian has gone to make alternative arrangements. He wil not be long. For now though, Kevin, I suggest that you head out to the back of the house. After a battle like that, I imagine Jake is not the only one who needs to feed, and a few of the others are there.”
Briony saw Kevin glance at her, just briefly.
“I promise you that no harm wil come to her.”
“Even so…”
“Do you doubt my word?” The same even tone of voice, but Briony heard something behind it. Anger, perhaps, at being chal enged like that? No, something else.
Something harder to explain. Fear. Josh was afraid of Kevin?
“I’l be fine,” Briony said, practical y pushing Kevin towards the door. He went. Briony caught the way Josh stared after him for a moment.
Briony decided to try the direct approach. “Are you going to tel me why Kevin bothers you now? He didn’t seem to before.”
Josh smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“That’s…”
“Let’s just concentrate on Jake.”
It was clear that he wasn’t going to talk about it, and Briony had better things to do. Things like sitting with her gravely injured brother. She took up a spot as close to him as she dared, though not close enough that Jake would be able to spring at her. Not that he looked like he would be able to. Jake was barely wel enough to speak, so that they spent half the time in silence. Minutes passed, almost half an hour grinding past as he lay there, getting weaker by the second.
Final y though, Josh looked over at the door. “From the sounds of it, dinner is almost served.”
Briony’s ears weren’t as sharp as the werewolf king’s, but a second later, she caught the sound of muffled scuffling from beyond the far door. It opened to reveal Brian dragging in what appeared to be a young couple in their early twenties. Both were dressed as Goths, with multiple piercings and tattoos. Both had their hands bound, and rough gags were stuffed into their mouths.
“What is this?” Briony demanded, unable to keep from raising her voice.
Josh ignored her, looking over at Brian. “It went okay?”
“We snagged them on the edge of town,” Brian replied. “No problems.”
Briony couldn’t contain herself. “But-”
“If it helps,” Josh said, “they are some of the ones who help Pietre and his like.”
“No, it doesn’t help. What are you going to do? Just feed them to Jake. He’l kill them.”
Josh shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe not.”
Briony couldn’t believe that he could be so cal ous.
She looked past him to Jake, in the hope that he at least would be sensible about this, but his eyes were red with the hunger, and they didn’t so much as flicker from the two humans he’d been brought.
“No,” Briony found herself saying. “I won’t let you do this. I’l -”
Josh nodded to his brother. “Brian.”
The werewolves were quick. Briony had to give them that. They grabbed one of her arms each and lifted her without effort, hauling her from the room. Brian held her pinned against the far wal as Josh let go.
“You wanted your brother wel . This,” a muffled cry came from the other room, “is how he gets wel . We don’t like doing this kind of thing, but those two are our enemies.
Now, you can stand there, or you can go outside, but do not try to tel me that this wasn’t the only option.”
Briony knew she couldn’t stand there. Knew she couldn’t stay thinking about what had to be happening just the other side of that door, so she hurried outside. Maybe she could find Kevin. Maybe he could help her stop this madness before…
She turned the corner of the house to see a scene of utter carnage. Wolves snarled and snapped at one another as they scrabbled over the remains of something.
Something large and red and bloody. For a moment, Briony’s heart leapt into her mouth. It wasn’t… it couldn’t be human.
It wasn’t. Another second’s scrutiny made it clear that it was just a deer, but even so, the scene was a terrible that it was just a deer, but even so, the scene was a terrible one. Was Kevin in there somewhere? Even if he wasn’t, other people she had met would be. Unable to take it anymore, Briony ran back around to the porch, huddling down on it as she tried to get the images out of her head.
She tried not to think about what her own brother had to be doing at that moment. She put her head in her hands, trying to drive the thoughts out, and stayed huddled in that position until the yipping of the wolves faded.
“Briony?” It was Kevin. Briony wasn’t sure that she could look at him right then. “Briony, what’s wrong?”
Briony shook her head. “Just… Did you want something, Kevin?”
Kevin walked over to Briony and folded her into his arms. “You look a little pale. Is there something…”
Briony forced herself not to say anything about what Josh had just done. Either Kevin would lash out on her behalf, and that would get them both kil ed, or he wouldn’t see the problem, and that would be far worse. Better to ignore it. Better to pretend it didn’t happen. Even if it did.
“I’m fine, Kevin. Real y I am. Maybe just shaken up a little from the battle, but I’m okay now.” She looked directly into Kevin’s eyes. “You wanted to tel me something?”
“Josh wants us.”
“What does he want?”
“He says that if you want to prove yourself, you might get the chance. It seems that Carol is alive.”
Chapter 6
It wasn’t easy, going back in there after what Briony knew had happened. It wasn’t easy seeing Josh standing there like everything was normal. It certainly was not easy having to look Jake in the eye after what Briony suspected he had done. Yet she didn’t dare ask him outright. He was her brother, and she loved him, but she wasn’t about to ask if he was kil ing people now. It was a coward’s way out, and Briony knew it, but if it was the only way to be able to stay in the same room as her own brother, it was the one she was going to take.
Not that there would have been time to ask him anyway. No sooner had Briony arrived in the werewolves’
living room than Josh started to speak, addressing a rag tag crowd of his people who fil ed most of the space.
“One of us managed to creep close to the spot where we now know the vampires have their lair,” he said.
That got no response beyond a ready silence.
Everyone in the room clearly knew what their king was going to say next.
“We cannot just leave them there. Any of them. We wil be leaving for their lair as soon as possible.”
“Why so soon?” Kevin asked.
Josh stared at him. “You think I am going to leave my sister in there one minute longer than necessary?”
“What I mean is shouldn’t we be coming up with a plan?”
“That is why you and the hunter are here.” Josh turned his gaze to Briony. “You have been inside the lair, correct?”
Briony nodded. She stil didn’t trust what she would say if she tried to speak to Josh right then.
“Then you wil guide us inside. Once there, we wil retrieve our people and escape.”
“What about the vampires?” It was Jake who asked.
“He’s right,” Briony said. “There wil be a lot of them inside, particularly if they have prisoners.”
Josh shrugged. “There aren’t enough of us for an al -
out battle now, so we’l try to avoid them. If we can’t… wel , we wil see how good with that silver blade of yours you are, won’t we?”
Briony nodded, and that seemed to settle it, though it al seemed to be moving far too quickly for her liking. So soon after losing a major battle, and they were already planning to attack the vampires’ home?
“You don’t have to go, you know,” Kevin said softly as the others rushed about, trying to get ready. “I know the way to their lair just as wel as you do. Better, probably.”
Briony shook her head. “Do you real y think Josh would leave me here on my own? Besides, Jake is rushing around with the rest of them, and I’m not going to let my little brother run into something when I won’t.”
“Your incredibly tough, half-vampire little brother.”
