Shifter (2 page)

            Briony didn’t want to sit up right then, because the bed she was in felt like lying on clouds. It was so soft and comfortable that Briony could barely bring herself to move enough to look around the room she was in, though that was just as opulent. The walls were stone, but that stone was a mixture of swirling varieties of marble, covered here and there with elaborate tapestries showing delicate rural scenes. The furniture in the room was ornate, carved with swirls, curves and spirals, then covered in gold leaf. There was enough room for plenty of it too, because the room was huge.

            Briony got up then, and seeing a dress laid out at the base of the bed, put it on. It was a mostly cream dress with an intricately worked black and silver bodice and delicate silver stitching around the hem. She put it on, and it felt like it had been made for her. When she went over to a gilt framed mirror in one corner, the effect was spectacular. Although maybe that wasn’t just the dress. Her hair shone like spun gold, falling loose almost to her waist. Her blue eyes shone back like sapphires and even her skin seemed to shine with them. Briony had known that she was good looking, but here, like this, she looked better than she ever had.

            There was a set of double doors at one end of the room, opening out onto a balcony. Briony stepped out onto it, enjoying the feel of the sun on her skin, then looking down as she heard the roar of water beneath her. It took a moment to understand what she was seeing, because there were layers of what looked like mist between her and it, but then Briony saw it. A waterfall. Her balcony was directly above a waterfall that stood spectacularly high, water roaring over it, with the sunlight forming rainbows as it fell to whatever lay beneath.

            Briony looked around more then, seeing smooth white stone standing above sheer white cliffs. A castle? While she’d been in castles before, they’d been nothing like this, and if she was in one, then that meant… she looked up to see the sky tinged as much with purple and gold as with blue. Palisor.

            “So you’re awake.” Briony turned to see her great aunt staring at her. Not that Sophie looked much like a great aunt these days, since she’d come into her power as a Hugtandalfer. She only appeared a year or two older than Briony now at most, with golden tanned skin and almost white blonde hair. She was wearing a dress like Briony’s except that it was a deep emerald green. She was beautiful as she smiled.

            “Palisor has sights that are like nowhere in the mortal world,” Sophie said.

            Briony nodded. “Nowhere I’ve seen, anyway. Where are we?”

            “You don’t remember? I guess you wouldn’t. They call this the Cloud Palace. It was meant to be a retreat for royalty, built on the highest land in the kingdom. It’s so high that even the clouds pass below.”

            Briony swallowed on hearing that. “Palisor again.”

            “You don’t like it here, darling?” Sophie asked. It was strange sometimes, having her still say the kind of things a great aunt might say even when she looked more like an older sister.

            “I was hoping…” Briony hesitated a little before actually saying it. “I like Palisor. It’s beautiful, but part of me was hoping that I was still in Wicked with the Preservation Society. With Kevin. I was hoping that everything with Josh, and the betrothal and everything was just a bad dream.”

            Sophie put an arm around her shoulders. To Briony, it felt more comfortable, more like
home
, than anything had since she’d arrived back in the kingdom.

            “I know,” Sophie said. “If I’d known that the scepter and the people of Palisor could push you together with the werewolf king, I would have warned you, I swear.”

            Briony believed her, but it didn’t do anything to change the situation they found themselves in. “Is Josh here too?”

            The leader of the werewolves was older than her, college age, but everything a girl could have wanted in a man. He was handsome, charming, with preppy good looks and the charisma to persuade people to do what he wanted. He clearly cared about both his siblings and his people, and he was ruthless enough to stand up to a dangerous world. He would have made a good king, even a good husband. Just not for her. Never for her. Briony simply didn’t love him.

            “You have a choice, darling,” Sophie assured her. “They can’t make you marry Josh. You might be the heir to the kingdom, but you could still walk away. You could still reject it, and Josh with it. Or Vigor, if he wants you to push a blood claim to the throne.”

            Vigor was kind of like Briony’s step-brother, taken in by the king as a suitable candidate for the throne. His only disadvantage was that he didn’t have any real royal blood, or the connection to the scepter at the heart of Palisor’s power that came with it. He was handsome and strong, in a blunt, no nonsense way. 

            Briony smiled. “I thought he was more interested in you.”

            Sophie returned her look. “I think maybe he is, but for the throne of Palisor? To help the kingdom, as he sees it? He’ll want you. And then there’s Fallon, of course.”

            “Fallon’s here,” Briony said brightly. “At least I have that.”

            Fallon. She loved him. She had been torn between Kevin and his vampire brother Fallon for so long. She loved both of them, and at one point, she thought she may have loved Fallon as much as Kevin. There was no doubt she cared for him, though. Enough to come here looking for a way to help him. Her mind raced, thinking about the possibilities.

“Sophie, I told Fallon we’d find a cure for him…a way to turn him back into human. There are stories… I heard something from Marcus’ vampires about how when the scepter is found and placed back into the hands of the rightful heir in Palisor, the prophecy can be fulfilled. Marcus’ brother said that was the reason why vampires try to cross into Palisor in the first place; to find their vampire paradise, to get their dreams fulfilled… to become human again.”

            “I hope so,” Sophie said.

            “Me too.” Fallon was at the door. He looked beautiful, slender, golden haired and perfect as he stood there. He was still wearing modern clothes, dark jeans and a hooded top, and those made him look out of place against the old fashioned splendor of the palace.

            “I’ll leave you alone with Briony to figure it out,” Sophie said, stepping past the young vampire with a smile. Briony suspected that Sophie would have liked Briony to choose Fallon, if it was up to her. When had Wicked’s most dangerous vampire hunter gotten to like him enough for that?

            Fallon didn’t wait, hurrying over and taking Briony into his arms. He kissed her, his tongue entwining with hers in a kiss so searing, she couldn’t help kissing him back for a second or two before she pulled back.

            “Briony,” Fallon said, breathlessly, moving his lips down to her neck and her shoulders. His gaze drifted over to the bed. “Finally, I get a chance to be alone with you.”

            Briony shook her head gently. “No. We can’t.”

            “You don’t want to?” He nibbled at her ears, causing her to arched her back closer to his chest, while his hands pulled her closer.  He turned her around until his lips captured hers and they continued kissing more passionately as Fallon led her gently to the foot of her bed.

            “I want to
help
you,” Briony said. “I want… I have the scepter now. I want to help you, and I can actually do some good here in Palisor.”

            “Haven’t you done enough for everyone else?” Fallon said. “I know you’re thinking about this crazy plan of Josh’s just because it would be what’s best for the kingdom, but what about what’s best for
you
?” He searched her face earnestly. “What do
you
want?”

            How had he managed to turn it around to that? Briony wasn’t sure. She wasn’t even sure that she had an answer. “I can’t help myself. The people here see me as the blood heir. Even the scepter reacts like I am.”

“And what does that mean?” Fallon asked.

Briony tried to look like she’d made her mind up. “I have to fulfill this prophecy. I have to find out what I’m meant to do with the scepter. There has to be more to it than just having it, or so many people wouldn’t have died over it. My father…”

She tried not to think about finding King Waltham after Marcus’ vampires had attacked to try to take the scepter.

“I know,” Fallon said. He looked thoughtful for a second or two. “I’ve been trying to find out more about the scepter, trying to help, but… well, I’m a vampire among the fanged elves. I get the feeling that it’s hard enough for most of them not to try killing me.”

            “I’m just glad you’re here,” Briony said. She kissed him, gently, even though she knew she probably shouldn’t, as confused as she was, with loving both him and his brother Kevin.

            “At least I’m in the same world as you this time.” Unlike Kevin, Briony couldn’t help thinking with a tiny stab of something close to pain. Fallon kept going. “I don’t care who they think you should marry. I don’t care about anything. I love you, and I’m going to do everything I can to be with you.”

            “Everything?” Josh asked from the doorway.

            Briony was starting to wish that the doors were locked, but that was one of the things about being a ruler in a castle like this. Privacy was something that happened to other people. She tried to compose her features as she looked at Josh, trying to keep her expression polite and composed even though the king of the werewolves had more or less set her up when they’d come here. He’d known that only one werewolf would be allowed into Palisor, but he’d also guessed that it would put him in a good position to become her consort and gain power there.

            The trouble was, it was difficult to stay angry looking at Josh. He was a very handsome man with short brown hair and well defined, athletic features. He had the body to go with it, not as heavily built as some of his brothers, maybe, but still strong and good looking. He’d found a light colored tunic and hose to wear that came close to matching Briony’s dress. She found herself wondering if that was deliberate.

            “What are you doing here, Josh?”

            Josh laughed.  “A deal is a deal, Briony. You’ve fulfilled yours. But I’ve yet to fulfill mine. I thought I should.”

            Briony tried not to look surprised at that. Of course Josh would keep his word. That was the thing about him. He could manipulate people one moment and be a perfectly nice guy the next. He wasn’t evil like Pietre, he just liked to make sure things turned out his way. He had also been a good ally to her and the Preservation Society against the vampires who terrified the Wicked Woods.

            “What do you mean by keeping your word?” Briony asked, wanting to check anyway.

            Josh nodded as if he’d been expecting her to say that. “I’m going to help you find the power in Palisor to get rid of both the vampires here and those back in Wicked, of course. Together we’re going to make sure that your people don’t have to worry about vampires like Marcus again, while mine will be safe from Pietre. We’re going to do it, Briony. Together.”

K
evin ran with the rest of the werewolves following him, eating up the ground in his wolf form, the distance disappearing in easy strides. Beside him, Carol’s dark furred wolf form kept pace with him, while on the other side the smaller form of Jake bounced along, keeping up despite the difference in their sizes. The rest of the werewolves from Wicked’s pack followed behind him, and that was a strange kind of feeling, but a powerful one. All those wolves were following
him
, ready to fight just because he’d ordered it, looking to him for orders.

            They came to the edge of the trees near the town, transforming back into human form and adjusting clothes rumpled or torn by the change. Carol reached over, starting to straighten out Kevin’s shirt, and Kevin pulled back, even though he could see the hurt look that he got from her.

            He had other things to concentrate on right then though as they made their way to the diner, walking down Wicked’s quiet streets. Things like the danger to all the people he’d come to know at George’s diner. They were good people there, all members of the Preservation Society, all trying their best to make sure that the town stayed safe from threats like Pietre and other human-hating vampires.

            The diner came into sight. It had an old fashioned look to it, like someone might be able to walk in from nineteen fifty and feel right at home, with a big sign out front saying
George’s
, the big windows showing an interior with booths and tables spread out in front of the counter, and the pictures on the walls that Kevin couldn’t see at this distance but he knew mostly showed moments from George, the owner’s life. Though not from his life as a vampire after he’d been turned by Pietre.

             The hardest part about being at the diner was the people who weren’t there. People, he admitted to missing. Briony should have been there, waiting on tables and smiling at customers as they tipped her. Her great aunt should have been there too. Despite himself, Kevin liked Mrs. Edge a lot now that she’d gone from hunting both vampires and werewolves to focusing on the fight against the vampires. Even as an old woman, she’d been able to fight better than almost anyone thanks to her Hugtandalfer heritage. Now that she had transformed, it would have been useful to have her around for the fight to come. Her and Briony, two of the best vampire slayers in Wicked.

            But they weren’t here, which meant that it was up to him and the other werewolves to defend the diner against Pietre’s vampires. Kevin’s eyes narrowed slightly as he thought of that. Pietre had attacked them so many times, in so many different ways. He was going to make the vampire pay for his constant harassment of the town. He and the other werewolves got closer to the diner, spreading out in a rough line to defend it.