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

In that detached, dark state he wanted only to lash out at the world and crush those who had brought pain into his life. He was older and wiser than when he’d last felt this way, but that wasn’t why he was able to control his anger and spare the Nazis his wrath.
    It was Gavner.
    “I want to kill them.”
    In the Hall of Osca Velm, as Larten lowered the bowl of broth and drank from the mug of ale again, it was as if Gavner were speaking now, face illuminated by the light of the open fires.
    “I want to crush those damn Nazis like ants.”
    Larten had turned to his assistant and squinted.They’d scouted the area around the house and found no trace of Randel Chayne. Dawn was a few hours away. There was plenty of time to find and deal with the Germans. Larten had been thinking about them since he’d turned his back on the bloodstained wall, trying to decide which methods of murder to employ. But he was surprised to hear Gavner echoing his inner thoughts.
    Gavner’s eyes were red and his lips were twisted as he faced Larten. “We could have saved her if we hadn’t been wasting our time on the Nazis. You said we had to—it was our duty—and maybe you were right. But everything’s changed. If we kill them, we can focus on Randel Chayne, hunt him down and make him pay for what he’s done.”
    “We do not have to kill them to do that,” Larten said. “We could simply outrun them.”
    “But they deserve to be killed,” Gavner snarled, fingers knotted into fists.
    Larten felt the same way, but as he studied Gavner’s face, the tempest in his head died down. He saw shades of himself in his assistant. The young vampire was about to make the same mistakes that Larten had made in the past. If he did, he would have toendure the guilt and shame that had tormented Larten for so many decades.
    “It will not take the pain away,” Larten said softly. “Killing them will not bring Alicia back. It will only lower us to Randel Chayne’s level. The Nazis are without honor, but they have not harmed us. Some have wives, children, loved ones of their own. If we slaughter them, others will feel what we are feeling now.”
    “Good,” Gavner snapped.
    Larten held his gaze. “If we kill them, women will weep. Boys and girls will ask when their father is coming home and nobody will be able to answer. Innocents will suffer. We will bring misery into the lives of people who have done nothing amiss. Is that what you truly desire?”
    Gavner blinked. “Of course not, but…”
    “We would be doing it for ourselves,” Larten said, “not for Alicia. We would take their lives to make ourselves feel better. We would become mindless animals for a time, and in the heat of the slaughter we would not have to think about our loss or the future. It would be easy. It would be a relief. But it would also be wrong.”
    Gavner stared at Larten miserably, fresh tears welling in his eyes. The killer’s sheen had disappeared from them and Larten was proud of the way Gavner could so swiftly turn his back on monstrous temptation. He was a better man than Larten had been at that age.
    “You must leave with Sylva before daybreak,” Larten said, setting his dark desires behind him, triumphing over his baser instincts for the first time in his life. “She cannot stay, even for a couple of days. If Randel Chayne or the Nazis found her, they would use her to hurt us.
    “Go to her by yourself. She will listen to you when I am not there. Rendezvous with her young beau and travel with them. Take them far away and stay with them until they are safe. I will continue to lead the Nazis astray.”
    “And when Sylva’s safe, I’ll link up with you again and we’ll go after Randel Chayne.” Gavner nodded fiercely.
    “No,” Larten said. “I must string out the game with the Nazis for as long as I can. It will be months, maybe years before I finish with them. We have to forget about the vampaneze for now.” Gavner’s face darkened again, but Larten