Silver (Wicked Woods #3)

by Kailin Gow

  “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.

  “Relax, Briony,” Fal on said, rubbing her back to ease her tension. “I won’t bite you, although it would add to your pleasure. I’ve learned to control myself as much as I can around you with the biting, but I’m having a hard time control ing how much more I want, Briony.” His voice grew hoarse and thick. “It can make us sensual creatures, Briony.

  Every time I want your blood, for example, I just remind myself of how much I would rather have you. ”

  Briony felt herself start to blush. “I suppose it’s better than wanting to drain me dry.”

  “Yes,” Fal on chuckled deeply, then his eyelids lowered, and his eyes smoldered with his desire. Briony could see how much he was struggling to keep control. He pul ed her to him firmly and lifted her so she was straddling his hips and his head disappeared under her shirt, where he was trailing his tongue against her bare stomach, gently and slowly making his way up.

  Her eyes closed in the unbelievable pleasure he was creating with his tongue against her skin. She felt her stomach flutter, and started pul ing him in tighter with her legs. She heard a moan, and didn’t realize it was hers until Fal on’s face was against hers, and his mouth had captured hers in a deep kiss. “Oh, Fal on…” she sighed. “I want…”

  He silenced her with another kiss. Then she felt his hands unclasping her bra and making their way to the front.

  She started to pul back, but found Fal on’s hold on her tight. She pul ed back again. “Wait, Fal on. I… this is too fast for me.” When he final y let her go, his expression was ful of regret.

  “I wish you wouldn’t pul away from me, Briony. I want you now, more than anything,” his fangs were ful y elongated now. “I know you must think the same way about me.”

  “Fal on, please…”

  “Tel me, Briony. Tel me that you don’t want to take things further.”

  “I’m not ready for it.”

  Fal on’s expression twisted for an instant. “I bet if it was Kevin standing here, you wouldn’t be saying that.”

  “Fal on, stop this.” Briony said. “Nothing has happened

  between

  me

  and

  Kevin,

  and

  you’re

  embarrassing me, doing this.”

  “We wouldn’t want that, of course.” Fal on stopped himself, standing there with his eyes shut for several seconds. “I’m sorry, Briony, but I can’t do this. Being here to look after George was a mistake. I can’t be around you like this and not want you physical y, too. I already love you so much it hurts, and then…”

  “Don’t say it,” Briony warned. “I love you, Fal on, but I can’t right now…not when I have feelings for Kevin, too.”

  “Then why should I hang around waiting for you to make a choice?” He said, clearly hurt.

  “Fal on, I do care for you… “

  “But you want Kevin instead, is that it? You want his body more than mine… Briony, if you give me a chance, as a vampire, I can give you the most unbelievable pleasure.

  You’d forget about Kevin…”

  “But I don’t want to forget him. And that’s not the point, Fal on.” Briony took a deep breath. Her body stil wanted him and wanted to continue where they left off, but… “I can’t. Not until I’m sure.”

  Fal on’s face looked like it was slapped. “What?

  What can you not be sure about Briony? That I love you?

  Because you can know right now… I do. I would risk my life for you, and I have. And I thought.” His voice broke off, and he looked away. “That you loved me too. At least I thought you did.”

  “Fal on…” Briony started to say, wanting to run to him so he could hold her tight like he did before. “I love both of you. Perhaps that’s why I love you two… because you are brothers and are alike in ways, but different. I’m sorry, Fal on, but I can’t help loving Kevin, too.”

  “Wel , the jealousy is kil ing me, Briony. You were my girlfriend first. You were mine first…” Fal on said, his voice thick with emotion. Then he looked at her, his face contorted in pain. “Then it’s over. It’s obvious you don’t love me the way I love you.” Fal on turned and fled away, leaving Briony standing there alone in the open behind the dine
r.

  She tried to keep herself from fal ing apart and failed, the first tears fal ing even before Fal on had completely fled out of view.

  Chapter 13

  The worst part was that Briony couldn’t just go home. With Fal on walking out like that, every fiber of her being wanted to just head back to the inn, curl up in her room, and pretend that none of it had ever happened. She couldn’t, though. She couldn’t just walk out in the middle of her shift at the diner, especial y not with George so close to the edge.

  So she had to work through the rest of it, aware al the time of the way some of the customers were staring.

  They had seen her pul ing her boss off Jil , then kissing Fal on, and probably figured out she and Fal on had broken up when Briony walked back into the diner after crying. Stil she worked her shift, fetched their orders, and made sure that they were having a good time.

  It wasn’t easy. A couple of the younger ones, whom Briony recognized from school, smirked in a way that made it clear that the night’s events would quickly be al around the school rumor mil . Some of the other diners looked at her with everything from annoyance at disrupting their meals to pity. Briony wasn’t sure which was worse.

  Final y though, the last of them left, they were able to close up, and Briony went home. There was no sign of Jake. Not that Briony had time to miss him, because she stil had homework and catching-up to do for her classes the next day. By the time she was done with it al , she was ready to col apse into bed.

  She showered and got ready to sleep, wrapping her robe around her as she headed downstairs to get a last glass of water. Though Briony suspected it would take a lot more than that to make her feel better at the moment.

  Currently, her emotions were knotting and twisting inside her every time she thought of Fal on. How could he assume that she was sleeping with Kevin? How could he pressure her like that?

  Briony was stil thinking about it as she padded upstairs to her room. Maybe that was why she ignored the smal feelings of wrongness in the pit of her stomach.

  Maybe that was why she didn’t notice that her bedroom door, which she had left ajar, was now careful y shut. She swung it open and stepped inside.

  “Hel o, Briony.”

  Briony gave a smal scream of shock. There, perched on the very edge of her bed, was Pietre, Wicked’s master vampire. He looked as immaculately ordinary as ever in a wel -cut suit, and sat there with his fingers steepled like an accountant about to deliver bad news. Only the sense of utter vileness radiating from him betrayed him, undercutting the smile he flashed.

  “Did I startle you? Oh, perhaps Sophie didn’t do such a good job of training you after al .”

  “Good enough to stake you if you don’t get out of my room.”

  Pietre’s smile only broadened. “Real y? Without any weapons at hand?” He nodded to the dresser, where Briony’s cross lay. She had forgotten she had removed it, and now, the odds of her getting to it in time were simply too long. “With you so utterly… helpless?”

  Fear blossomed in Briony then. She had seen some of what Pietre could do, and right now, there wouldn’t be anything she could do to stop him. Slowly, deliberately, Pietre stood. He moved close to her, not quite touching her, but making it clear that he could any time that he chose to.

  “Jake wil be back soon,” Briony tried.

  Pietre shook his head. “Your abomination of a brother wil be back eventual y, but not in time to be relevant to this. We’l be al alone for a good while yet, girl.”

  “What do you want?” Briony forced herself to say.

  “Surely the question is what you want, Briony.”

  “I’m not afraid of you.”

  “Yes you are. I can hear your heartbeat, remember?”

  Pietre stood there a moment longer, letting the tension build, and Briony resolved to fight him regardless of her lack of weapons. To at least try to protect herself. At exactly that moment, Pietre stepped backwards with a laugh and resumed his seat on the bed.

  “You’re brave. It’s a start. Now, what did you want with me?”

  “What?” For a moment Briony couldn’t think. “You’re the one who has broken in here.”

  “And you are the one who has been looking for me,”

  Pietre pointed out, “ever since that debacle at my previous home. You even helped reopen that sil y little diner to do it.

  How is George, incidental y?”

  Briony bit back an angry response.

  “That good?” Pietre’s tone didn’t vary. “Oh, you think I should have shown him kindness, after he spent his life trying to kil my kind. After he let my beloved Sophie escape. She nearly got me back at the lair, you know. It is just as wel that she found herself distracted at just the right moment.”

  “I wish she h a d staked you.” Briony couldn’t help letting some of the anger she felt into her tone.

  “Of course you do. Just as I wish that the situation al owed me to spend the next few hours making you beg me to turn you into one of us.” Pietre examined his fingernails in a bored fashion, as though he were discussing stock market prices rather than the possibility of torturing and murdering her. “Apparently though, we need one another.”

  one another.”

  “What do you want, Pietre?”

  “The same thing that you do, apparently.” Pietre gave up the pretense of disinterest and stared at Briony intently. “Sophie. At least, I assume that is why you have been trying to find me rather than running and hiding the way you should have.”

  That was true, and Briony tried to remind herself that this was what she had wanted. That talking to Pietre was her best chance of finding Aunt Sophie again. Though she hadn’t expected it to be like this; this intrusion into one of the most personal spaces she had.

  “I’m looking for her,” Briony admitted. “I thought you might be able to help get her back.”

  “She found Palisor, then.” It was a statement, not a question.

  “So you do know about it?” Briony asked.

  Pietre shrugged. “Obviously. It is the place al supernatural creatures feel a pul towards. A place for us, where we can live without having to hide. Where humans,”

  he gave the word roughly the same spin he might have given ‘cockroaches’, “do not rule over everything. Of course, those from the darker end of the supernatural spectrum are not al owed in, but with the right key…”

  Realization dawned for Briony. “So that’s why you wanted Aunt Sophie. She was supposed to be your way in.”

  “Oh, that is hardly fair. I loved her. I want her. I care about her.” Pietre stood again. “After al , if it were only a question of finding someone with the right blood, yours or your mother’s would have done just as wel .”

  Briony backed up, just a little. “There’s no point in you going anywhere near my blood. I tried to get through the gate. I couldn’t. And I don’t believe you about my mother.”

  Pietre smiled again in that disconcerting way he had. “Wel , perhaps I did try just a little with her. The trouble was, turning her seemed to be the best way to control her, and that didn’t exactly make her useful. It didn’t even work properly when it came to keeping your blasted parents in line.”

  He spoke as though it didn’t matter to him that he had turned Briony’s parents into vampires, and then eventual y staked them both. It probably didn’t. To Briony though, it was just a fresh wave of pain on so many others that day. She bal ed her fists by her side, and looked at the vampire through a blur that threatened tears.

  “I hate you,” she breathed.

  “Oh, would you listen to the big, tough slayer? You real y stil are no more than a child in some ways. But you’l help me.”

  “No.” Briony shook her head. “I won’t. Besides, I’ve already told you that I can’t. The gate closed when I tried to go in.”

  “You can. Believe me on that. Or at least believe the fact that you aren’t dead yet. You simply need the right conditions.”

  Behind al
the fear and loathing, a smal burst of hope flickered in Briony. “And those are?”

  “You need to be in the right place, you need to find the action to activate the gate, and you need the help of a dragon.”

  Right, because that would be so easy to get, given how the one at the gate had behaved the last time. Yet it made sense. Aunt Sophie had been so adamant that they needed to fol ow the creature. And then its human form had forced the rest of them to stay back from the gate until it closed. It wouldn’t be easy, but even so, part of Briony felt better knowing that there was a way through.

  A way through that meant something huge about her, of course.

  “Does this mean that I’m…”

  “Not human? Of course you aren’t. I’l admit, I wasn’t sure that this particular gift had been passed on until I saw how protective Sophie was of you, but now I’m certain. You are no more human than I am. Less, in fact, because at least I started out that way.”

  Once perhaps, Briony would have reeled at the news. Now though, with almost everyone around her turning out to be something other than human, it was no more than one more shock among so many others.

  “What am I then?”

  “And spoil the fun?” Pietre moved to the window.

  “For now, let us just say that you are a young woman who needs to find a dragon if she is ever going to get dear Sophie back.”

  Briony tried to stand firm. “I won’t do anything unless you tel me al of it, Pietre. Unless you tel me what I am, I’l … ”

  “What? Abandon your great-aunt in another world?”

  Pietre unlatched and opened the window. “That is the beauty of this, Briony. You don’t have to trust me. You don’t have to want to work with me. Yet you wil do what I want, because I want Sophie back just as much as you do. Of course, I could make threats to you and those you love, or say that I wil drag you bound and bleeding to the gate if I have to, but the fact is that I won’t have to, wil I?”

  Pietre stared at her, and eventual y, reluctantly, Briony found herself forced to shake her head. Pietre laughed once more.

  “Oh, I wish you luck, Briony. I real y do. If you need me… wel , I’l be watching.” With that Pietre hopped up onto the windowsil , gave Briony one last look, and leapt out into the dark below.