Taken (Ava Delaney #4) (28 page)

For me. For
now.

The waiting was
the worst part, waiting for news, waiting for other people to make
decisions. Carl and Peter were slowly growing stir-crazy staying
with me for so long. I didn’t blame them. Part of me was desperate
for them to leave. Gabe had been ringing me seemingly incessantly,
asking question after question, and by the stress in his voice, I
knew he was doing his best to make the idea of finding the market
work.

Four extremely
long days later, Gabe called me to an informal meeting at his bar.
Everything happened at his bar, it seemed. Maybe because it was on
such neutral ground.

I was surprised
to see Aiden there, his face as stern as usual when he caught sight
of me. Esther was beside him, but her expression gave nothing away.
The four of us sat around a table in the empty bar, distrust and
suspicion ripe in the air.

“There have
been a lot of discussions over the past few days,” Gabe said. “The
Council have decided to help, as long as you stick to your word.
The decision wasn’t unanimous, so my only advice to you is to
beware.”

“And the
protection?”

“The hell
hound’s pup will be protected,” Gabe said. “As will your seer.”

“The seer is a
double act,” I said.

“Esther already
offered our protection to them,” Aiden replied, barely controlling
his rage. “That should be enough. Don’t you realise how insulting
you are?”

Shrugging, I
kept my gaze on Gabe. “I trust Esther. But she isn’t alpha, is
she?”

Aiden stood
abruptly, but Esther pulled him back down. “Enough,” she said.
“This is about doing some good, not moping over dented egos.” She
looked back at me. “If we call them friends, it’s enough.”

Aiden closed
his eyes, and when he opened them again, he was noticeably calmer.
“We’ll take the shifter into our pack. That’s more than
enough.”

“I don’t know
about—” I began.

“This is the
way it’ll be,” he said quietly, and I knew he meant it.

“She won’t be
part of your pack,” I said. “She has responsibilities of her own.
Promises of her own. Deals of her own.”

“It’s not a big
deal,” Esther said.

“And if she’s
not of the pack, she will be arrested as soon as I lay eyes on
her,” Aiden added.

“That’s unfair.
The people down there—”

“We know. They
know no better. It’s a tough world.” But he had pity in his eyes
for a split second.

I glanced at
Gabe, but he said nothing. “I can’t guarantee she’ll lead the way
if we put demands on her,” I tried.

“Then innocent
children will suffer,” Gabe said. “It’s your call, Ava.”

“It’s
not
my call,” I protested. “I can’t make decisions for
anyone else.”

“I won’t let
anyone hurt her,” Esther said.

“So what
happens now?” I asked, defeated. I was tired, and if they thought I
would play along with their little plans for the rest of my life,
they had another think coming, but I would deal with it in my own
time, when lives weren’t at stake.

“We’ll regroup
on Saturday morning,” Gabe said. “Where do you plan on opening the
gate?”

I rubbed my
eyes hard with my knuckles. “Um, the place where we had the trial
turned out to be the easiest way. It’s a pocket; I can open it
up.”

Gabe stiffened.
“A pocket?”

“Yeah, the
magic around it is the same as… where we were. The magic is sort of
meant to steal a piece of another place, or allow it to shroud us,
or something. I’m still not clear on it. In this case, it’s
Hell.”

“And you say
you were in another place like this?” There was something tight
about Gabe’s tone.

“Yeah. It’s the
only way I know that works. I know you talked about hotspots, but
I’m wary of trying that when there are already some reliable
pockets that I can use. Why? Can the person who created that one
make another? Maybe in a less obvious location?”

Aiden cleared
his throat. “The fae who worked that magic was Fionnuala’s son. He
was talented, but he can’t help us now.”

I squirmed in
my seat, my heart racing. “What happened to him?”

“Fionnuala was
training him to take over from her some day. But he disgraced
himself, and he hasn’t been heard of since,” Gabe said, carefully
watching me.

I was sure my
face was burning red. Holy shit! Fionnuala was probably Lucia and
Lorcan’s grandmother. Did she even know?

“How did he
disgrace himself?” I tried to look Gabe in the eye, but I couldn’t.
I knew he would see what was in my eyes. He always seemed to be
able to read me.

“I’ve no idea,”
he said sharply. “Why are you so interested?”

I aimed for
nonchalance. “Knowledge is power. Anyway, we meet up, I open the
gate, and then what happens? I mean, if we find them. The
children.”

“If?” Aiden
asked incredulously. “I thought finding them was a given.”

“It’s a tough
world,” I snapped, throwing his words back at him. “And things can
change.”

Esther nodded.
“She’s right. We have to be prepared for failure, too. Ava, there’s
a place organised for the children. Not the cells,” she added
hurriedly.

“We’ll care for
them, ask them questions, and see if we can find some use for any
of them,” Gabe said in an offhand way that made me want to punch
him.

“What do you
mean,
find some use
? They have families. They’re missing
children, you idiot. It’s time for them to go home to the people
who love them!”

“Is that what
happened to you when your parents were murdered?” he asked.

I punched
him.

He held his
eye, the shock on his face the first genuine expression I had ever
seen him wear.

Aiden pinned me
to the floor before I even realised he had moved. His eyes were
scarily black, and he held me down easily with one hand around my
neck. So I kneed him in the balls. He gasped, loosening his grip,
and I twisted out of his hand and jumped to my feet, kicking him in
the arm for good measure.

I was spitting
mad, unable to control the red before my eyes. My fangs were on
display, and I didn’t do a thing to stop them. I felt
inhuman
.

Aiden struggled
to his feet, but Esther got between us, holding out her hands.

“That’s enough!
Both of you.”

I nodded and
turned my back, but Aiden leapt at me, knocking me to the ground.
My cheek smacked against the floor. I swung back, elbowing him in
the face, and he growled as if he had already shifted into the
panther I had been told he turned into.

Things were
about to get worse, but Gabe did the bright light thing that cooled
everyone, mostly because we were writhing on the floor from pain.
It had to be worse for the shifters than me, but they weren’t long
getting to their feet.

“This is
ridiculous,” Gabe said, but he was back to the robot mask.

“It’s
ridiculous to think you can steal children from kidnappers and keep
them for yourself!” My temper rose again. What were they
thinking?

“How can we
send them back to humans?” Gabe asked. “Think about it. As soon as
the market starts up again—and it will, you must realise
this—they’ll be right back where they started. More kidnappings and
murders. We’ll keep them safe.”

“No,” I said,
shaking my head. “You’ll raise them to do your bidding. The next
generation of loyal Guardians. You look down on humans, but they’re
so much better than you all.” I walked away before I hit someone
again.

“Will you be
there on Saturday?” Gabe called after me.

“I’ll be
there,” I said without turning. “But you’ll regret this, I promise
you.” I hesitated. “One day.”

I headed
straight back to Folsom’s place to fill everyone in, knowing nobody
could follow me into the hiding place without an invitation. I
walked in to see Lorcan talking to the girl who had been with the
angel a lot, and she turned to me with a smile. Her skin was as
dark as Lorcan’s was light, and the pair looked curiously balanced
together.

“We haven’t
really been introduced,” she said. “I’m Kate.”

“Ava. Can you
round up everyone? I need to talk to them all.”

Looking
surprised, she scurried off, leaving me with Lorcan.

“You doing
okay?” I asked him.

To my surprise,
he hugged me. “Thank you for letting us say goodbye to her.” He
pulled up my sleeves to see the damage his deal had done. “I’m
sorry. There’s nothing I can do about this.”

“It’s fine.
Lucia doing okay?”

“She seems
better here. Happier. You seem angry though.”

I nodded. “I
am, pretty much. Every time I fix something, I seem to create
something worse.”

Folsom
approached from behind me. “I saw you from my window.”

“Are you really
rebels?” I asked. “Is there really something like that going on?
Could you do something about the Council? Rise up against them?
Stop them?”

“It’s better
for you if you don’t know everything,” he started, but we were
interrupted by everyone gathering around. Not all of them showed
up, but I figured the ones who did were interested enough to
actually listen to me.

“So it’s not
over,” I said when I finished relaying what had happened in Gabe’s
bar. “At least, not for me. The Council can’t be trusted, so I’m
warning anyone who is offered protection, say no. Actually, say
yes, and then hide as soon as you can.”

“In their pack,
I would be the lowest of the low,” Val said. “Besides, I’m no
shifter, and Leah needs me. I swore an oath, and I’ll keep it.”

Lucia inched
toward Val, her eyes glittering in obvious admiration.

“But Val,” Leah
said, “you’ll be free.”

“No, I won’t,”
she said firmly. “You heard Ava. We can’t trust those people. They
want to steal the children for themselves. We aren’t going to help
them do that.”

I cleared my
throat. “Actually, we are.”

Raised voices
shouted obscenities at me, and I felt the tension ratchet up a
notch.

“Wait,” I said.
“Let me explain. Closing down the market is a good thing. And the
children don’t have to stay with the Council forever. After all,
nothing lasts forever. Not even the Council.” The silence was
ominous, and I wondered if I had taken a step too far.

Folsom raised
his hand. “She could be the face of this. People would look to her
and want to join us.”

“Can we trust
her?” someone asked.

“We’re not
ready for this,” another said. “We’re too few in number.”

Lucia stepped
toward Lorcan, pulling her freaky twin show in front of everyone.
They all watched in awe as she gripped her brother’s hands, her
fingers pinching into his pale skin as their eyeballs moved rapidly
from side to side. It lasted longer than usual, and when it was
done, Lorcan’s fingers were bleeding.

“It’s a long
hard road ahead, but it can be done. And she can be trusted.”
Lorcan nodded at me, and as I looked around the room, I saw that
people were prepared to listen to him. Whether it was the fact that
Lucia could see things others couldn’t, or just loyalty toward
Helena, or maybe even the fae who had fathered them, it didn’t
really matter. They had power. They were slaves no longer.

I desperately
wanted to talk to him about Fionnuala and her mysterious son, but I
had no facts, only guesswork, and it would be a shame to give him
another parent only to take her away.

“Let’s deal
with one issue at a time,” Val said. “Closing the market is our
first priority.”

“Betraying the
Council is pure folly,” Cam said lazily. We all turned to see him
lounging in a chair.

“You said
yourself they’re blackened,” Kate protested.

He waved her
concerns away. “What we think about them and what we should do
about it are two very different things. I’ll help with the market
for my own reasons, but I won’t take on the Council. Nobody can
take on the Council. Look who has the power. I wouldn’t dare go up
against Fionnuala alone, never mind with the rest of the Council
behind her. And the Guardians? Their numbers might be low, but when
the vampires attack, they’ll be the ones protecting us. Do you
really think the people will let us kill their protection?”

That put a
damper on the excitement. The crowd seemed to dissipate before my
eyes.

“This place
won’t be safe anymore,” I warned Folsom. “I’ve been here too many
times. Val will be seen leaving here. They’ll stop you from coming
back and do something to keep you from bringing food.”

“We can take
care of that,” Lorcan announced.

“No,” I said.
“Stay here and be safe.”

“They expect
our assistance,” he said.

“Right, and
I’ll take the punishment, but I didn’t get you out of the UK so you
could come here and serve another master. Stay hidden.”

Lucia shook her
head vehemently, then took my hand. I caught a brief glimpse of Val
lying wounded in a dark place, but the image was blurry and
uncertain.

“I’ll stop it,”
I whispered, but she refused to let go of my hands until I agreed
to think about it.

At home, Emmett
begged me not to leave. “You won’t come back from there,” he
whispered. “Nobody comes back from the dark, Ava.”

“You did.” I
tried to sound confident. “I come from the light and the dark. I
can handle either of them, and probably fight with both. I’ll be
with a lot of people. Nobody is going to get hurt this time.”

“What about the
others? The ones like me?”

“They’ll… I’ll
figure something out to keep them safe. I’m going to do the best I
can.”

“Maeve came
back today,” he said. “She says Eddie’s angry with you, that he’s
given up on you. He’s trying to find another.”

“Another
what?”