Silver (Wicked Woods #3) Read Online Free PDF Page A

crossbow sight. Ahead, Fal on could see figures crowding the road, and his superior senses al owed him to get at least a vague impression of who they were.

    They were split into two groups. One, on their feet, consisted of vampires, some of whom Fal on recognized.
    Most were far older than him, though a few he was less certain about.
    “That’s Mr. Johnson who owns the bakery,” Aunt Sophie said as she kept staring down her binocular.
    “George gets his hamburger rol s from him. And that’s Marjorie Simpson. Her husband is on the local council. No wonder they have been giving the Society so much trouble recently, if they’re al in with Pietre.”
    Fal on watched the people out on the road for a moment longer. “They’re more than that, Mrs. Edge. They’re vampires. Look at how they move.”
    “You’re right, and that just makes it worse. I should have spotted this, Fal on.”
    Fal on did not reply, because he was too busy watching the second group of people. They were obviously captured werewolves, judging by the way the vampires kept them kneeling on the muddy road. As Fal on watched, the vampires started moving among them, separating them into two groups.
    “What are they doing?” Fal on asked.
    “I don’t know,” Aunt Sophie admitted. “It looks like they’re asking them some kind of question. Honestly, George, why couldn’t you get some proper binoculars? I can’t see a thing. Fal on, can you see Briony down there?”
    Fal on had to shake his head. “It’s too far to be sure.
    I’l have to get closer.”
    He started to move forward, and found Aunt Sophie’s hand on his arm. “Don’t be foolish, young man.
    They hate you as much as any of us now. You’l be torn to shreds if you just wander up and start asking about my great-niece.”
    Fal on shook his head. “I can’t see Pietre or his main lieutenants. If I’m lucky, the others won’t know who I am.
    They’l just see another vampire, and they’re too busy guarding the werewolves to pay attention.”
    “It is stil too dangerous,” Aunt Sophie insisted.
    “It’s for Briony. She has to be safe.”
    “Then I wil have to come closer too, to cover you.”
    Fal on shook his head. “That’s a bad idea, Mrs.
    Edge. I’m one of them, but your scent wil be different. Too human. Wel … almost human.”
    There was a long, awkward silence.
    “You shouldn’t listen at doors, young man,” Aunt Sophie said at last.
    “It explains a few things though.” Fal on kept his eye on her now that he had said it. This was the kind of secret that might make her want to lash out. “Even when I was at the Inn, Briony’s parents said that she was special. What is she, Mrs. Edge?”
    Aunt Sophie shook her head. “I’m not going to tel you that. Not with what you are. Maybe Briony wil one day, but I wil not. Assuming that she is even like me. It can be hard to judge, given that our strength comes as we age.”
    The crossbow she held lifted, just a fraction. “Is that why you have been hanging around her then, vampire?”
    “You know it isn’t, Mrs. Edge.” Fal on didn’t move. “If you real y thought that, you would already have pul ed the trigger, after al .”
    Aunt Sophie lowered the crossbow again. “True.”
    Fal on looked over to the waiting crowd of creatures.
    “I love Briony,” he said. “Would you tel her that? If I don’t…”
    “You’l be able to tel her yourself if you make it back in one piece,” Aunt Sophie said firmly. “So cut out that kind of talk, young man, and do what you need to.”
    Fal on nodded and crept forward, doing his best to stick to the cover of the trees. He found his first corpse a minute later; a strong looking man who had fal en with dozens of wounds. The stench of blood was almost overwhelming. So close, Fal on had to fight the smal part of him that wanted to taste it. To abandon his search and drink it down. He forced himself to walk on quickly.
    Ahead, he could see that the other vampires had