Brothers to the Death (The Saga of Larten Crepsley) by Darren Shan Read Free Book Online Page B

Paris shortly after eleven o’clock one dark, damp night. Both were dry-mouthed as they wound their way through the streets, drawing closer to the small house where Alicia and Sylva lived. They felt as if they were walking towards an area of great disaster. There was no reason for them to feel so negative, yet neither could shake the sense that they had arrived too late.
    “We’ll laugh about this afterwards,” Gavner chuckled unconvincingly. “When they stare at us and ask why we look so frightened, we’ll seem like fools.”
    “I hope so,” Larten muttered.
    “Even if Randel Chayne found them,” Gavner went on, “he wouldn’t kill them unless you were present. From what you’ve said, he loved to tormentTanish, to see him cringe. If he was planning to hurt them, he’d wait until you were here.”
    Larten considered that. “If you are right, he might be waiting for us. Perhaps he started the rumor that he was looking for me in order to draw me back to Paris.”
    Gavner stared at Larten. His hands were trembling, but he kept them behind his back so that Larten couldn’t see. “I’m ready to fight if we have to,” he said.
    “I know.” Larten smiled fleetingly. “But if we are attacked, and Randel is by himself, it will be best if you flee with the women, to ensure their safety. Their lives are more important than mine. Leave me to deal with the vampaneze.”
    Gavner nodded with relief. He wasn’t relieved to be spared the dirty business of fighting—he was eager to test himself in battle. But he was glad to see that Larten loved Alicia and Sylva as much as he did, to hear him proclaim that their lives mattered more than his own. Gavner had thought that Larten was cold and unloving. Now he saw that the older vampire simply hid his feelings better than the younger vampire could.
    They drew closer to the house in the suburbs. Thecity was asleep this far out from the center. They passed only a handful of people on the streets, and all were hurrying home to bed. The night was young if you were a vampire, but it was late for humans.
    They stopped at the front door and paused for a long, nerve-jangling second. In some ways Gavner didn’t want this moment to end. If the women had been attacked, the darkest discovery of their lives lay ahead of them. Once they entered, there could be no hiding from the truth. Out here they could at least hope.
    “Stay alert,” Larten whispered, then fiddled with the lock. The door opened and they slid inside.
    It was dark, but not to their eyes. Vampires were creatures of the night and they could see clearly in the hallway. It looked no different than it had several months earlier, that evening after their walk in the park when Gavner had twice been pushed into the pond. Larten felt his heart lift. Surely, if tragedy had befallen this house, there would be signs of struggle, grief, change.
    He checked the living room, where Alicia had often read to him on long, wet evenings. Rows of books lined the shelves. Larten couldn’t read the titles, but he knew many of them by heart. He wouldgive three hundred years of his life to have Alicia read to him from one of the leather-bound tomes again.
    Sylva’s room was next. The door was ajar. Larten hesitated before pushing it open.
She might not be here
, he thought.
If she is not in her bed, it does not mean that anything is wrong. She may have gone to stay with a friend. Be calm. Do not react hysterically. Believe.
    He pushed the door and it creaked as it swung inwards. He was so certain the bed would be empty that at first he didn’t see Sylva. Then, when Gavner sighed happily, he realized she was beneath the covers, lying with her back to them. Her shoulders were rising and falling slowly, and he could hear the soft sound of her breathing.
    With shaky smiles the vampires withdrew and gently closed the door.
    “Did you hear her breath before we went in?” Gavner whispered.
    “No,” Larten answered honestly.
    “Me neither. My