Vampire Hunt (Kiera Hudson Series #3) by Tim O'Rourke Page B

Potter pushed.
    “I’m not asking you to trust them,” Murphy said. “I’m asking you to trust me .”
    Potter looked away, back down the hill, and I could see that he didn’t look happy with Murphy’s reply.
    So, changing the subject and just wanting to get Kayla out of that monastery, I said, “So how do we get in?”
    Looking at me through the darkness, Murphy said, “Like Hallowed Manor, there’s a huge wall to get over – but that shouldn’t be a problem.”
    I looked around the tree trunk and into the distance at the monastery. It looked unwelcoming and sinister set against the skyline. It didn’t look like a place of worship, more like a sanctuary for the devil himself.
    “So what’s the plan?” Potter asked.
    “Plan?” Murphy asked, one of his silver eyebrows cocked.
    “Yeah, a plan,” Potter sighed. “Like what happens when we get over the wall?”
    “I don’t know,” Murphy said with a weak smile. “I’m making this up as I go along.”
    Then he was gone, limping down the hill towards the monastery.
    “It’s a shame we don’t have any explosives,” Isidor mumbled as if talking to himself.
    “Explosives?” Luke asked.
    Then, glancing at Luke, Isidor looked embarrassed and said, “I was just talking to myself. But you know it’s a shame we can’t just blast our way in through that wall.”
    Standing, Potter looked down at Isidor and snapped, “Listen here, Houdini or whatever your name is, this is meant to be a break-in, not a break out. Explosives for crying-out-loud! This isn’t an episode of The A-Team. Jeez – you’ll be suggesting next that we build a bridge out of elastic bands and climb over the wall that way!”
    “I was only saying…” Isidor started.
    Ignoring him, Potter glared at Luke and me, and said, “I don’t know about you two, but I’m not standing here all night listening to this B.A. Baracus wannabe – I’m going to catch me some vampire.”
    Then he was off, heading down the hill towards the monastery. I looked at Isidor and he looked hurt and dejected.
    Squeezing his shoulder, I said, “Take no notice of him, Isidor. He doesn’t really mean it.”
    Standing, Isidor looked at me and said, “Yeah, he does.”
    But before I could offer him any more words of comfort, he too was heading down the hill as Luke and I followed.

Chapter Fourteen
    Reaching the wall that surrounded the monastery, Murphy signaled for us to get down again.
    Crouching, he looked at us and said, “On any other occasion I’d suggest we fly over, but we can’t risk being detected this close to finding Kayla.”
    Looking up at the wall that towered over us, I could see that it was far too tall even for Murphy and the others to leap.
    “What do you suggest?” Luke said, staring at Murphy.
    Then flicking his wrists before us, he kind of grimaced as the tips of his fingers transformed into the animal-like claws I’d seen him brandish so many times before.
    “Okay,” Luke replied, seeming to understand what it was that Murphy was suggesting. Then as one, Luke, Potter and Isidor’s hands were changing – growing as if twisting out of shape – until each of their hands had changed into long, bony claws, their fingertips capped with long, ivory-looking nails.
    Looking at my hands, Potter smiled, and holding his claws before him, he said, “I was forgetting you don’t have claws, yet.”
    “Yet!” I hissed. “I don’t ever want a set of those things!” The thought of watching my fingernails changing into those yellowy-looking claws made my flesh crawl.
    Smirking at me, he turned to face the wall. I hated the way he looked at me like that, but before I’d had the chance to react, Luke had pulled me up onto his back and was carrying me towards the wall. Looking over my shoulder, I watched as Murphy and Isidor ran, and springing into the air, they began to climb. Their ascent was rapid and swift, and despite the sheer height of the wall, they were perched on the top of it