04 Silence by Kailin Gow Read Free Book Online Page A

for heading into the room. There were dresses prepared on all sides, all exquisitely beautiful, but all also more formal than anything Briony had seen before, let alone worn. She walked right through the room and out onto the balcony.
    The view there helped to take away a little of the sudden tightness in her chest. It wasn’t home, but it was more than breathtaking enough to make up for it, being on the side of the tower that faced the outside world, rather than the rest of the castle. From where she was, Briony could see the hills that she had flown over, and she thought back to the creatures she had seen staring up.
    “It’s strange, isn’t it?” Aunt Sophie said.
    Briony nodded. “But beautiful. I don’t think I’ve seen anywhere as beautiful.”
    Aunt Sophie walked to her side and looked out from the balcony. “ Well, it’s not quite like Wicked, but Palisor certainly lives up to its reputation. There’s a reason so many non-humans want to come here, after a ll. I suspect even Pietre might be able to appreciate this beauty.”
    Briony shuddered at the mention of the master vampire’s name. She found herself wondering why her great-aunt would bring him up, but now that she had, there were things Aunt Sophie needed to hear.
    “Pietre was still causing so much pain in Wicked when I left, Aunt Sophie.”
    “Yes,” the other girl said with a sad note in her voice, “he would.”
    “It’s bad,” Briony went on. “The war between the werewolves and vampires isn’t over, and now more people are caught in the middle. After Pietre set fire to his own coven, he relocated somewhere we couldn’t find him. He’s been gathering more and more vampires into Wicked, hoping to break into Palisor.”
    “Not to mention the fact that Kevin, Fallon and Jake are still stuck there,” Aunt Sophie said. “Look Briony, I know how much all of this is for you, being here when everything else is going so wrong back there. I know, darling.”
    “You do?”
    Aunt Sophie nodded. “I do. This must be the craziest thing you’ve ever heard or seen. But you have to remember that Palisor is the reason why you were brought to Wicked in the first place. You were meant to come here, Briony. I know it is hard leaving everything else behind, but you have to try to remember that.”
    Briony felt her eyes widen. Aunt Sophie was talking as if she should just forget Wicked. Briony wasn’t sure she could do that. “I just keep thinking about all the people there. The ones I won’t get to see again while I’m here. Fallon and Kevin, obviously, but also Jake and George, Maisy and Steve, even just the kids from school. I mean, it’s not like they can just come here, is it?”
    Aunt Sophie placed a gentle hand on Briony’s shoulders. “I’m afraid not.”
    Briony lent against the balcony rail, pursing her lips. “I have to go back to Wicked, Aunt Sophie.”
    Her great-aunt stretched in the sunlight like a cat. “Are you rea lly in such a hurry, Briony? Do you rea lly want to give up all this so soon?”
    Briony stared at the new, younger Aunt Sophie.
    Just for a moment, she wondered what happened to the one she knew. The one who was a vampire slayer, a devoted citizen of Wicked, someone who wouldn’t give up on her friends. “There are people back there who could be hurt,” Briony pointed out. “I can’t just abandon them.”
    Aunt Sophie shrugged. “You might not have a choice, Briony. You know that getting back is at least partly down to chance. Besides, you’re needed here right now. The timing couldn’t be more perfect, with Waltham so i ll. Do you want that stony Prince Vigor to rule here?”
    “You seemed to like him,” Briony shot back.
    “Yes, well, it’s not like we’re actua lly related, so I can ogle him all I want.” This rea lly was a new Aunt Sophie. Or was it? Even in the old one, there had been a mischievous glint in the eye. Maybe this one was just what you got when you put that into a nineteen-year-old