Fal on slumped back against a tree.

  Nothing. He’d had nothing for so long. Ever since Briony had chosen his brother over him. This had been his one chance to make things better. His one chance to show Briony how much he cared about her.

  He’d failed. And because he had failed, he didn’t even have time to stop the rest of it. Fal on sat there and shut his eyes, breathing heavily.

  And that’s when he heard the wolf start to growl in the undergrowth beside him.

  Chapter 15

  The growling intensified, becoming a rumble that carried through the trees as a wolf stepped out in front of Fal on. It was large and black, with yel ow eyes that shone with reflected light. Fal on tensed, knowing that the werewolf would attack.

  He saw its muscles bunch, ready to leap, but it didn’t get a chance. A second werewolf form leapt out from the bushes, placing itself in the way and snapping at the first one. The black wolf clearly didn’t like that, because it snapped back at the newcomer, their jaws locking against one another’s for a moment.

  Yet it seemed that the black wolf wasn’t strong enough to win, because after a second it backed away, and the new werewolf transformed.

  It was Kevin, who stood there with his arms folded as the first wolf also changed, becoming a blond-haired man Fal on didn’t know. He was in his mid to late twenties, and he clearly wasn’t happy.

  “What do you think you are doing stopping me from kil ing a vampire, Kevin?”

  “Josh, this isn’t just any vampire. This is Fal on. My brother.”

  “You stil shouldn’t have moved to stop me like that. I’m the King here. Not you.”

  Kevin bowed his head slightly. “I’m not disputing that, Josh. It was just the only way to stop you kil ing him.” Kevin turned to Fal on. “Hi. You surprised us. We thought you were one of them.”

  “Them?” Fal on asked. “Have Pietre’s vampires come out this far?”

  Kevin shook his head. “No, something worse. A new group from the West.”

  Fal on’s chest tightened then. He knew some of the vampires Kevin meant. After al , hadn’t he just spent enough time around them?

  It seemed that the first wolf, Josh, wasn’t happy at being snubbed like that. He approached Fal on, looking at Kevin al the while. Josh sniffed the air, and looked menacing for a moment. “We do not tolerate vampires, Kevin.”

  “He’s my brother,” Kevin said. “I don’t like what he is any more than you do, but he hates Pietre, Josh.”

  The other werewolf hesitated. Fal on thought for a moment that he might say Fal on should be kil ed anyway, but he final y nodded, with another glance at Kevin. This Josh had cal ed himself a king, but he didn’t act like he was in charge here. He acted like he was taking his cue from Fal on’s brother.

  “Is that true?” Josh demanded of Fal on.

  “Do you hate Pietre so much that we should ignore what you are? Would you help werewolves against your own kind?”

  “Yes,” Fal on said. “I would.”

  Josh looked at Fal on with scrutinizing eyes.

  “And why should I believe what you say to me, vampire?”

  “Pietre has done horrendous things,” Fal on said. “Especial y to the ones I love. He destroyed Briony’s parents, who were the only good vampires I knew of, and has tried to destroy her, too. Why wouldn’t I hate him for al that? Why wouldn’t I do everything that was necessary to protect Briony?”

  Josh looked from Fal on to Kevin and back again. He seemed pleased. “And so it gets complicated. Hmm… Briony does have an interesting effect on the young men around her, doesn’t she?”

  “Josh.” Kevin’s voice held a warning note, which earned him an unpleasant look from the werewolf king. Then though, Josh smiled.

  “The effect that Briony has on people isn’t enough for me to risk everyone, Kevin. I’l need your word. No, I’l need more than that. You’l stand surety for him. You’l vouch for Fal on before he goes anywhere near the others.”

  “Why would Kevin have to do that?” Fal on demanded.

  “You said it yourself, vampire. Pietre and his ilk have done evil things. Our kind has lost so much at their hands, including my brother Channing. Even now, my sister Carol is recovering from both that loss and the torture she suffered at the hands of vampires. And our kinds have never been inclined to trust one another. Do you real y think that a vampire could walk into our camp unprotected right now without being ripped to shreds?”

  Fal on could feel the truth of that in his sudden urge to argue, or better yet, to fight outright and teach this werewolf a lesson in manners. He only control ed himself with difficulty, clenching his hands into fists so tight that his knuckles whitened even beyond their usual pal or.

  Josh the werewolf king continued as if nothing had happened. “Whereas if Kevin vouches for you, I wil place you under my protection and the others wil leave you alone so long as you behave yourself. After al ,” he glanced at Kevin again then, “who would dare to cross the King of al the werewolves?”

  Fal on didn’t know what there was between his brother and this man, but he wasn’t sure he liked it.

  Even so, he nodded. “Yes, of course, Werewolf King, I wil behave myself in your presence.”

  “Good,” Josh said. “Kevin?”

  “Yes, I’l vouch for him.”

  Josh nodded, seeming satisfied. “Then he has my protection. We need to get back to the others now,” Josh explained to Fal on. “A few of us are out looking for some of the new vampires we have heard about in the area. Carol, Brian and I obviously want to stop the threat they represent.”

  “So do Jake and I,” Kevin said, and Fal on got the feeling that he was walking in on an argument there. “We just want to see if they know anything about Palisor too.”

  Josh shrugged. “I guess we could al do to learn more about it.”

  “Fal on wil make things easier,” Kevin said.

  “He can act as a scout for us, and can sense another vampire easier than we can.”

  “Good,” Josh said. “Let’s head back to the camp. We should be around the others.”

  Josh led the way as the three of them made their way through the woods, until they came to a smal clearing where Jake was waiting along with another couple of werewolves. One was a young woman, while the other was male and around Fal on’s age. They were similar enough that they were obviously related.

  Presumably they were Carol and Brian, Josh’s siblings.

  Carol looked up as Fal on approached, and her transformation into a wolf was almost instantaneous.

  Her growl wasn’t as deep as Josh’s had been, but it was every bit as menacing.

  “Stop!” Josh said, stepping closer to Fal on.

  “That’s an order, Carol! Fal on here is under my protection.”

  The wolf looked at her brother quizzical y.

  “This vampire is Kevin’s brother,” Josh explained. “He is apparently as against Pietre as any of us, and wishes to help find Briony.”

  At Briony’s name, Carol growled louder.

  “He and Briony are close friends,” Josh said in a tone Fal on didn’t entirely understand. “Very close.”

  That was enough to get the werewolf girl to change back, her hair wild from the transformation.

  She walked over to Kevin as though she hadn’t just threatened his brother.

  “He’s not as handsome as you,” she said, putting a hand on Kevin’s chest. “But if he’s handsome enough to give me a clear run at you…” Kevin just shook his head and Carol let her hand fal .

  The male werewolf, Brian, stood then, looking Fal on up and down. Apparently, the same words that had just defused a little of his sister’s hostility had only served to increase his. At least he didn’t seem to be about to attack though.

  “Close?” His tone said that he couldn’t believe it. “Before you became a vampire or after?”

  “After.”

  The werewolf snorted. “What would a girl like Briony see in a vampire?”

  “As opposed to you, for example?” Fal on asked, taunting the young man just a little.

  Jake chose that moment to speak up. “Fal on’s okay,” he said. “He and Briony might be kind of…

  complicated, but he’s never let us down. He even helped Aunt Sophie escape from Pietre.”

  “He’s stil a vampire,” Brian said. “Are you real y asking us to leave him alone, Josh?”

  The werewolf king shook his head. “I’m not asking. Kevin has vouched for him, and Fal on is under my protection. You wil not harm him.”

  Brian nodded, obviously reluctantly. “I’l abide by your decision. You know I wil .”

  “Carol?” Josh asked. “How about you?”

  “I hate al vampires, but I figure, if he’s going to be the one taking Briony away from us werewolves, then I can hold back.”

  Fal on let out a breath. “Good. Then there’s something I need to tel you. I saw something.”

  “What?” Jake and Kevin asked it together.

  “Something that might help us find Briony and get her back. A dragon. A dragon came through the gate from Palisor. At least, I guess it did. I saw it flying overhead and I tried to fol ow, but it was just too quick.”

  “I wonder why it was there,” Josh said. “From the notes my ancestors have left, dragon-shifters general y only appear in our world for a very good reason. There isn’t enough magic here to make it comfortable for them long term. If this dragon is like the last one, the golden one, then he wil be here to open the gates and bring someone back through into Palisor. Perhaps if we could work out whom, we could find it more easily.”

  “Perhaps it wil find us,” Brian suggested. “The golden one was drawn to us as fel ow shifters, wasn’t he?”

  “It’s possible,” Josh said, “though we can’t know for certain.”

  “Let’s hope that’s the case,” Kevin said. Fal on noted that he moved a little away from Carol. “But we can’t risk it not happening. We should track the dragon. It’s our best shot at getting Briony back.

  People wil be missing her by now. People at school.

  People at the diner.”

  “People like you, you mean,” Carol added, obviously not happy at the sudden distance between her and Kevin. She smiled and looked between Kevin and Fal on. “Tel me, when she gets back, which one of you gets her?”

  “Stop trying to cause trouble, Carol.” Josh’s tone was firm.

  Carol mimed locking her lips closed and throwing away the key before stalking off.

  Josh sighed and looked after his sister.

  “Brian, make sure she doesn’t do anything stupid.

  Kevin, I’m sorry, but we can’t just go chasing around looking for dragons. You’ve heard the rumors about the new vampires coming in from the west. We need to focus our efforts on them, or who knows what wil happen?”

  Jake spoke up then. “If the dragon’s here, and the vampires are coming here, maybe the vampires are here because they know something about why the dragon’s here. Maybe they’l lead us to the dragon.”

  “Maybe,” Josh said. “Though it would help if we had some idea of what they were here for.”

  Fal on’s eyes widened then as he realized that he had forgotten al about the warning he was supposed to deliver. How could he have been that foolish? No, the answer to that was obvious. He’d been too caught up in the possibility of getting Briony back. Yet now, he knew he had to say something.

  “I think,” he said, “that I might know something about what they’re planning next.”

  “And how would you know that?” Kevin demanded.

  Fal on looked at his brother. “Because they told me, Kevin. They told me exactly what they’re going to do.” He hesitated. “And now I think it might be too late.”

  Chapter 16

  “What is it you need to tel us?” Josh asked.

  Fal on hesitated, just barely. What would Josh, Kevin and Jake think when they heard? Stil , he had to tel them.

  “I was running to deliver a warning when I spotted the dragon,” he said. “I found out that the vampires were planning something. Something big.

  And Wicked is involved somehow.”

  “But you let yourself get distracted,” Josh said.

  “It was for Briony.” Fal on looked at his brother, and Kevin nodded. He, at least, could understand that. “But now I need to get back. I need to get to the diner and warn as many of the Preservation Society as I can about the new wave of vampires coming in. I just hope I’m not too late.”

  “So do I,” Josh said, and Fal on wasn’t quite sure whether it was a threat. The Werewolf King turned to Kevin. “I’m going to head back to the mansion with Carol and Brian. You and Jake are welcome to come. I would ask Fal on, but he obviously has other things to do.”

  “And in any case,” Fal on said. “I don’t feel like having my throat ripped out by a bunch of angry werewolves. Now can someone point me back in the direction of Wicked?”

  Kevin nodded towards the trees, and from somewhere, Fal on got the impression that his brother was actual y a little sad to see him go. If so, it would be a first now that he was a vampire.

  “I’l be over in Wicked as soon as I can to help,” Kevin said. “Now that Briony’s not there, she’s counting on al of us to help take her and Aunt Sophie’s place.”

  Jake nodded. “I’l help too.”

  Fal on hoped it would be enough. He had seen some of what was coming, after al .

  “I might be a while,” Kevin said. “I have to go see Maisy and Steve first. They think they have a way to help us find Pietre’s new location, but now, they can probably help locate these new vampires too. If we know where they are, we might not have to sit around, waiting for them to do something.”

  “We probably won’t have to wait that long,”

  Fal on said. He could hear some of the tension he felt in his voice. Despite that, he took the time to reassure Jake. “We’l get Briony back,” he told the younger vampire. “Briony and Aunt Sophie too.”

  “I hope so,” Jake said. “They’re the only family I have left. Wherever they are.”

  Fal on nodded and left then, snatching up a wild deer as he ran, trying not to think about what he was doing as he bit down on it. The taste of fresh blood pumped through him; nowhere near as sweet or as strong as human blood, but enough to give him the strength he needed.

  He ran for Wicked, and he flew too, not caring now if any of the vampires that might have been fol owing him managed to spot him. There wasn’t time for subtlety anymore. There wasn’t time for anything but pulsing, blurring speed.

  Even with that speed, it took a couple of hours to get back to the town, and Fal on had to wonder at just how far out he had run, fol owing that dragon. Add on the time he had spent chasing after the creature, and Fal on had wasted most of the day when he could have been warning people. When the western vampires could easily have been making their move.

  Arriving in Wicked, he made for George’s diner. It was the logical place to start, even if the other members of the Preservation Society would probably be very careful about listening to instructions from their former leader now that he was a vampire. Most of the staff were members of the society, after al , while going there would also give Fal on a chance to check up on George.

  Yet another thing he had neglected. Fal on knew he shouldn’t have just left a new vampire alone like that, but what else could he do?

  Just for a moment as he approached the

  diner, Fal on was sure that he had made the wrong decision. Jil , Percy and Pete were al there, armed to the teeth with stakes and silver knives, crosses and holy water. When he couldn’t see George straight away, Fal on couldn’t help wondering if the new vampire might have lost control. Might have hurt someone when Fal on was supposed to be watching him.

  “What happened?” Fal on asked Jil . “Where’s George?”

  “In his office,” the waitress said. “He’s holed up.

  He’s not handling it wel .”

  “Handling what wel ?” Fal on asked. “He didn’t hurt somebody, did he?”

  The worst part was that a smal part of Fal on almost wished George had hurt someone, if only because it was better news than al the other things that might be going on. Or at least, news that had nothing to do with his warning.

  Jil shook her head. “It’s not George. There was an attack.”

  Fal on’s heart fel .

  “What kind of attack?”

  “On the high school.” Jil adjusted a couple of weapons. “Several students were hurt. It was definitely vampires, but not the kind we’ve seen before. These vampires weren’t worried about leaving traces of their feeding. They didn’t drag their prey into the woods like the ones before. They were happy to leave drained bodies at the school.”

  And there were two obvious absences from the diner. Fal on tried to keep a grip on his feelings. It wasn’t easy. “Maisy? Steve? I should check on them.

  Make sure they’re al right.”

  “Don’t worry,” Jil said, shaking her head.

  “They were the ones who told us what happened. They rushed over and told us to get prepared.”

  The way Fal on should have done. The members of the Preservation Society would probably stake him if they knew that he had known, but had said nothing. And right then, Fal on wasn’t sure that he would blame them.

  Jil sighed. “This is bad, Fal on. There’s an attack at school, and now it looks like these vampires are stronger, more dangerous than Pietre’s. Sophie and Briony aren’t even here to lead, while George is barely keeping it together.”

  “I’l handle George,” Fal on said. “But if these vampires are as bad as you say they are…” as bad as he knew them to be, but Fal on couldn’t say that “then wait until I can get George under control. You guys need backup that can keep up with vampires. Right now, that means me and George.”

  Jil nodded. “Trust me. I’m not about to run off fighting vampires without every advantage I can get. Just… hurry, okay?”