Shifter (Wicked Woods #6) Read online

  Carol looked away. “Yes, my king.”

  “I’m not anyone’s king,” Kevin said.

  Carol shrugged. “Maybe you should be.”

  Kevin ignored that, leading the way to the school’s gym, he crept forward quietly, signaling to the other werewolves to keep low. Most of them did that by transforming, padding along silently behind him. They couldn’t afford to alert the vampires to their presence. Not that Kevin believed the vampires would be able to stop them, but if they were in the school, then there was too much of a chance that they would have kids nearby, and Kevin knew Pietre wouldn’t hesitate to hurt any hostages he had if he saw the werewolves coming.

  So they moved as quietly as they could around the side of the school gym, working their way to the entrance. There was a figure there, standing out in the open. Carol started forward, but Kevin put a hand on her shoulder.

  “What?” she asked.

  “The guard on the gate wasn’t in plain view like that.” He stopped, sniffing the air and then shifting shape as easily as breathing. In his wolf form, the colors of the world faded to black and white, but his other senses were so much sharper. He shifted back, looking over to Jake. “Do you sense him?”

  “The other one?” Jake asked. He nodded.

  “Take him when I take the obvious one then,” Kevin said. He changed again, creeping forward until he was in striking range of the young man, the vampire, on the door. His muscles bunched and he leapt.

  One on one, werewolves were stronger than vampires. The problem was always finding a way to actually kill them. Tearing them apart completely might work, but generally it was a question of attacking the neck and hoping for the best. The trouble was that most vampires who saw the attack coming protected their throats instinctively. In this case though, Kevin didn’t have to worry about that. He hit the vampire in front of him perfectly, his jaws closing on its throat, killing it in silence.

  A second figure appeared, a girl who opened her mouth as if to scream a warning to the vampires inside. She didn’t get the chance. Jake hit her from the side, his smaller but still powerful jaws clamping down to end her existence. Kevin shifted back and opened the door to the gym just a crack. What he saw inside made his stomach knot in anger.

  There were kids in the bleachers. Dozens of them, maybe more. Several classes’ worth at least. They huddled together in quiet groups, whispering to one another, or praying, or just looking terrified as they had to watch what was going on down on the basketball court. There were vampires there. Old vampires. They stood around in a half circle on the three point line, and there were students on the floor beside them. One was bent over a girl who looked to be around Briony’s age, his fangs sunk deep into her throat. Another, a female vampire, had her wrist out over the mouth of a boy who didn’t seem any older than Jake, blood dripping from it as she forced him to drink in turn.

  Pietre stood at the heart of it all, looking so ordinary. So utterly banal. The master vampire appeared to be in his early forties, and he wasn’t handsome. He wasn’t stunning. His hair was short and neatly cut, and he wore a suit that had probably cost a small fortune, but the overall effect was of the manager of some small business, not of one of the most powerful creatures of evil in the area.

  In this case, he was a manager overseeing a kind of horrific production line. One by one, the vampires there drained their victims, giving them back blood, only to move onto another student plucked from the bleachers, and another. Kevin heard a low growl beside him, looking down to see Jake there, peering under his arm at the scene.

  “We have to stop them,” Jake whispered, and for a moment Kevin could hear the pain there. The pain that came from having been changed into a monster at such a young age, and knowing that he would never, ever, be any older than he was now.

  “We will,” Kevin promised. He slipped back outside to the other werewolves. “Jake and I are going inside,” he said. “When it starts, you all have just one job, and that is to get the kids out of there.”

  “Our job is to keep you alive,” Carol countered, “not to protect a bunch of humans.”

  Kevin looked at her until she flinched. “A minute ago, you were calling me your king. I’m not that, but I am in charge here. Which means you’ll get those kids out. Or do you want Pietre to populate Wicked with an army of transformed school kid vampires?”

  He put that in so it wouldn’t just be about giving her an order, but he could see that he didn’t need to. From the moment he gave her a command, Carol was nodding, and so were the other werewolves. Again, it seemed to be enough for them that he was an alpha wolf, although maybe it was more than that with Carol. Maybe he should be careful when it came to that.

  There wasn’t the time to think about that then though. They had to act before Pietre could condemn more kids to an un-life of eternal darkness. Taking a deep breath, Kevin threw himself through the door to the gym, running forward at Pietre and the vampires with him, transforming as he ran.

  He hit the first of them, the woman, as she was straightening up from feeding blood to the boy. His paws struck her in the chest, knocking her sprawling. With so many vampires though, Kevin couldn’t follow that attack up, so he spun, ripping at the next of the vampires. Jake shot past him to attack another of them.

  Kevin shifted, turning to land a kick on the knee of a vampire approaching him, followed by a punch to the jaw that had the creature briefly reeling. He saw Jake’s teeth clamp down on the throat of one of the newly risen vampires, killing it before it could even join the fight.

  There were more dangerous things to worry about than new vampires though. Pietre swept forward, his nails lengthening to their familiar, knife-like length. He swiped at Kevin, and Kevin reacted by shifting forms to throw his weight against Pietre’s legs. The master vampire fell, but one of his fellow vampires was there, swinging a foot at Kevin’s side so fast that he barely got out of the way. He spun, then changed direction to attack a third vampire who was trying to break free of the brawl to stop the young people who were starting to stream from the hall. Kevin caught his throat in his jaws, crushing it.

  He changed back as Pietre attacked with strike after strike, but Kevin managed to get out of the way. Finally though, he pulled back.

  “If I wanted to,” he said, “I could have my vampires tear you apart.”

  “I doubt it,” Kevin replied. “You lost too many vampires in the battle by the gate. You don’t want to lose more, and I have my wolves.”

  He didn’t have to gesture. The other werewolves were just there, beside him.

  “Then we will have to make it another time,” Pietre said. “I can’t waste time here.” He looked around at the vampires with him. “We’re leaving,” he continued. “Go into the town. Take any humans you can. The end is coming, and we need as many vampires as we can to fight them.”

  “Who?” Kevin asked. “The Hugtandalfer?”

  Pietre snorted. “You really are a fool, wolf. I’m not worried about them. I’m worried about what they control. What will be unleashed if they come here. When Palisor has an heir, the scepter, and a powerful consort for the heir, creatures will come that will make mere fanged elves look like nothing. I will not let my children be destroyed.”

  Kevin smiled. “I don’t think you get a choice about that.”

  “Oh, I do,” Pietre promised. “With enough vampires… but why am I wasting time talking to you? It’s time to do what I should have done decades ago. By this time a day or two from now, every human in Wicked will be one of my kind. Then what will you do, wolf?”

  Kevin started to lunge forward at Pietre, but he was too slow. The master vampire leapt back, wrapping the shadows around him. One by one, his vampire followers did the same. Soon, they had vanished completely, leaving Kevin and the rest of his werewolves alone in a gym full of frightened students.

  “Do you think it’s true?” Carol asked him. “Do you think something big is happening?”

  Kevin shrugged. “Even if it
isn’t, you heard Pietre. Unless we stop him, we’ll have a whole town full of vampires to deal with.”

  Chapter 4

  Briony looked from Fallon over to Josh, trying to judge the werewolf king’s expression. Josh was impossible to read right then though.

  “When you say ‘deal with the vampires’…” Briony said.

  “I mean that we can destroy them,” Josh replied, apparently unconcerned that Fallon was right there. “There is the power in Palisor to destroy all of them, if only we have the courage to unleash it. If only we have the strength to do what we need to do for both our worlds.”

  “All the vampires?” Briony asked.

  Josh nodded. “All of them, all at once. Imagine it, Briony.”

  Oh, she was imagining it, all right, and with some vampires, the thought of them being gone just like that was an appealing one. If they had a way to stop Pietre, for example… Yet the way Josh put it, it sounded like they wouldn’t be able to choose which vampires were killed. Which meant that Fallon would be every bit as vulnerable. And what about George, down at the diner? What about Jake? Her brother might be half werewolf, but he still had plenty of vampire blood in him. Could Josh really be suggesting something that might kill Jake?

  Briony stared at him, trying to understand how he could say it. Trying to work out what he had planned. Josh just stood there, looking like he was enjoying her gaze on him, and seeming as comfortable in the opulence of the palace as if he’d been born to it.

  “This is why you talked me into bringing you over into Palisor, isn’t it? You’ve known about this all along?”

  Josh nodded. “I’ve known what the prophecy says, and I’ve known what we need to do to bring about the end of the vampires. I’ve known what we need to do ever since I first found out what you were.”

  “And what’s that, Josh?” Briony demanded. “What do you think we need to do? What have you been planning all this time? Why did you really come to Palisor?”

  Josh smiled then, and it seemed such a simple, straightforward smile. Yet Briony knew there was nothing either simple or straightforward about the werewolf king.

  “Isn’t it obvious, Briony?” he asked. “I came here to marry you.”

  “What?” Briony said in simple shock. “No! No way! I mean… you can’t actually mean that, Josh. Why would you possibly think that I’d marry you?”

  That made a spark of annoyance flicker across Josh’s features.

  “And why would you want to marry me?” Briony added. “I thought you were the one guy around me who genuinely wasn’t interested in me that way.”

  Josh laughed then. “Oh, I wouldn’t go that far, Briony. Those pheromones you put out are pretty appealing, especially to an alpha male drawn to a mate, and you’re a beautiful girl. I’m not blind.”

  “Yet,” Fallon said softly from Briony’s side. He clearly didn’t like the way the conversation was going.

  Josh took a step forward. “Don’t threaten me, vampire. Not here. I’m a werewolf in Palisor. You know what that means? One bite. One tiny bite, and it’s over. And even if that didn’t do it, who do you think the Hugtandalfer would side with? Me or you?”

  “I think they’d side with their queen, Josh,” Briony said, pushing him back with one hand. “So you need to stop trying to pick fights with people I care about. You haven’t even answered my question yet. Why would you think we’re going to get married?”

  “Because you want the vampires stopped as much as I do,” Josh said. He caught Briony’s pushing hand and held it, turning it over to lower his lips to the palm. The movement was soft and unexpectedly sensual, causing Briony to gasp in surprise. “Because it will give power back to the Hugtandalfer in Palisor, save the people of Wicked from the creatures that have been terrorizing them for centuries, and finally fulfill the prophecy.”

  Briony tried to force herself to think. “You mentioned this ‘prophecy’ before. Tell me about it. Stop playing games and just tell me what it says.”

  Josh shrugged. “Who’s playing games?”

  “Josh.”

  Josh half closed his eyes as though reciting from memory. “When the rightful heir to Palisor marries her powerful consort and the scepter is in her hand, then a great power will be unleashed to wipe the vampires from the land.” He opened his eyes again. “I guess rhyming was compulsory in prophecies in those days, but this is our chance, Briony.”

  “So you want me to marry you because of one piece of bad poetry?” Briony demanded.

  Josh put his hands on her shoulders, turning her away from Fallon, forcing her to focus on him. “I want you to marry me because the prophecy is true. I’m sure of it. I can feel it.”

  “You can feel it?” Fallon asked from the side.

  Josh appeared to ignore him, focusing on Briony instead. “Is it so hard to believe that it might be true, Briony? They prophesized that you’d find the scepter, didn’t they? They said that the rightful heir to Palisor would find it, and you did.”

  “I found it because it called out to me,” Briony countered. “Not because of some prophecy.”

  Josh shook his head. “And why do you think it called out to you rather than someone else? Because you were meant to have it. Because you were meant to have the power that goes with it. The power to reshape Palisor and rid it of the vampires, if you can only unlock it. You know that power is there. You know that you have a connection to that power. Why is it so hard to believe that the rest of it might be true as well?”

  That was the problem. When Josh explained it like that, so carefully, so reasonably, it was easy to see how it might be true. After all, she’d only gone looking for the scepter because she’d thought it might have the power to help Fallon. So why couldn’t it also have the power to destroy vampires?

  “If what you’re saying is true,” Briony asked, “then why didn’t the kings and queens before me destroy the vampires? Are you telling me that none of them had powerful consorts and the scepter?”

  Josh shrugged. “Maybe they did and maybe they didn’t. Maybe they figured that it was enough to just drive back the vampires, or maybe they weren’t prepared to do what they had to do to make both of the worlds safe. It doesn’t matter, Briony.”

  Briony smiled. “But you know what does matter, right?”

  “What matters is that we can make our worlds better, and do it so easily,” Josh insisted. “We need to get married, Briony. We have to get married.”

  Briony shook her head. “No, we don’t, Josh. Did you really think it would work like that? That you’d trick me by keeping this kind of news from me, demand that we get married, and then we’d both live happily ever after? I thought you were cleverer than that. You have to know that I can’t do this.”

  “Why not?” Josh demanded. “I thought you’d want this as much as I do. Oh, I know you aren’t in love with me, but what does that have to do with anything? True rulers have to put their feelings aside when it comes to the good of their kingdoms. I thought you knew that. Or are you still some silly little girl hoping that everything will be fine rather than working to make it happen?”

  Briony stepped back from him. “You aren’t making any friends here, Josh.”

  Josh seemed to struggle with himself for a moment, but then stopped. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe I could have handled this better. But can’t you see how important it is, Briony? Can’t you see how much good it would do to marry me?”

  The hard part was that she could see it. She could see just how much getting rid of the vampires would change things, both for Palisor and in Wicked. People could live normal lives again, without the constant fear of being dragged into the darkness and fed upon. The Preservation Society wouldn’t face a constant war against creatures too fast and strong to stop. Everyone could go back to normal. Almost everyone.

  “If we did this, what would happen to Fallon? To Jake? All the vampires who have worked so hard not to feed on people?”

  Josh shook his head. “You know what would ha
ppen, Briony.”

  “And you’re okay with that?” Briony demanded.

  “The vampires have taken everything from me,” Josh snapped back. “Everything. I’ve lost my parents, my brothers. I’ve lost the life I had planned out for myself because I had to come back to Wicked to fight them. I’ve been forced into battles and I’ve had to send my people to their deaths against them. All that, because vampires were out there. I thought you’d feel the same way.”

  “Why?” Briony asked. “Because I lost my parents? Pietre made them vampires, Josh. If he hadn’t staked them afterwards, this would have killed them too. It will kill my brother. So how can I feel the same way?”

  Josh looked her in the eye. “Aren’t you sick of the constant fighting? Aren’t you sick of never having the life you wanted? You didn’t sign up for any of this, Briony, and neither did I. This could end it.”

  “It could kill some good people,” Briony shot back.

  Josh raised his voice for the first time. “You didn’t seem to care about that when you were sending my wolves to die battling the vampires! Your precious town needed protecting and you came to me with your aunt without a second thought. You spent the lives of my people like they didn’t matter, but now it might be someone close to you, you aren’t prepared to go through with it.”

  Briony reached out to put a hand on his shoulder. She could feel Josh actually tremble with his anger. Or maybe not just with anger. “I’m sorry, Josh. I know what you’re saying, but I just can’t do it. I won’t do it.”

  Josh shrugged. “I don’t think you’re going to get a choice.”

  Briony shook her head, holding out an arm to stop Fallon as the vampire started forward. “You can’t force me to marry you.”

  “I can’t, but your people might. The scepter has already chosen me as your consort. And then there’s the question of the gates. Can you control them yet, Briony? Fully control them?”

  “I opened and closed the gates to bring us here,” Briony pointed out.