Taste (Ava Delaney #5) (17 page)

Emmett ran from the hallway, where he had obviously waited to listen, and threw himself at Peter, fists swinging. “I won’t let you! I won’t go with you!”

Peter stood there in shock, letting his son pummel him.

I wrapped my arms around Emmett and carried him over to the couch. I sat down with him in my lap. “What are you doing?” I whispered. “Emmett, stop it.”

He clung to me, his arms around my neck. Emmett turned to glare at his father, his eyes a perfect image of hate. “I. Won’t. Leave. Ava.” He clenched his teeth, and he looked different. Older. Scary.

My heart raced, and I exchanged a worried glance with Peter. “Emmett, calm down,” I said firmly. “That’s not how we act.”

“He wants to take me away,” he whined, finally sounding like a little boy. “Are you going to let him?”

“I don’t have a choice.” Tears sprang to my eyes as I fought against the lump in my throat. “He’s your father. I’m not… I’m not anybody.”

“You could take him,” Emmett said viciously. “You could kill him, easy.”

I set him on the floor and pinched his shoulders with trembling fingers. “Don’t
ever
say that again!
Never
again, Emmett.”

He gazed at me with innocent eyes.

“That’s
not
how we do things here. Your father loves you. He loves you, Emmett. He wants to keep you safe. People keep dying around me. Do you want to
die
?”

He shook his head, his ire leaving him. Peter’s face was white as chalk, and he went into the kitchen. I didn’t blame him. I wanted to leave, too.

“Unless somebody is trying to kill you, you can never raise a hand to another person in any way. Do you understand me?”

He nodded, chastened.

“I… the way you’re acting… he’s right, Emmett. You need to get away from this. I don’t want you to leave, either of you, but I can’t protect you. Not like this.”

“I’ll be good,” he said in a panicked voice, clinging to my arm. His eyes filled with tears, and my heart ached at the sight. “I’ll be so good, Ava. I promise I’ll never do it again. I
promise
.”

I hugged him, wondering if it would be the last time, wondering when Peter planned to leave. But more than that, I wondered what else was going through Emmett’s head. His reaction had been unexpected.

“Get some sleep now, okay?” I said gently. He nodded, giving me one of his rare smiles, and I watched him go up the stairs before I joined Peter in the kitchen.

“You okay?” I asked.

“Do you see?” He whirled around to face me. “Do you see what you’re doing to him?”

“Me? What the fuck am
I
doing? I’m the one who calmed the kid down. You’re the one who’s taking him away from the first place he’s ever felt safe!” I covered my hands with my eyes. “I need to sleep. I can’t… I just need to sleep.”

I heard him leave after I went up to bed. I had expected it, but my stomach still churned when the front door slammed. Carl returned a few minutes later, and he hesitated at the bottom of the stairs. Hoping he would leave me alone, I clung to the sheet until I heard him move back into the living room.

I didn’t want to talk to anyone.

Chapter Fourteen

I awoke to agitated voices coming from downstairs. I brushed my teeth and washed my face before going down, hoping to free my head of the fuzziness. It didn’t work. I needed more sleep.

And chocolate. I definitely needed chocolate.

And possibly a Peter-shaped punching bag.

“What now?” I asked when I shuffled into the kitchen and turned on the kettle for some coffee.

Gabe, Esther, Val, Carl, and the twins sat squished around the table, all of them glowering at each other.

“Gabe here wants to throw you to the Council,” Esther spat.

“Oh, is that all?” I muttered. “Where’s Emmett?”

“He and Dita are colouring in the living room,” Carl replied.

“Anka okay?”

“She’ll be fine,” Val said. “She’s busy cooking and organising.”

“Organising what? Oh.” I realised too late she meant the funeral. Another one. In the midst of a war. Soon we would be doing as we did in Hell: leaving bodies behind. That still haunted me.

Gabe shook his head. “I am
not
going to throw her to the Council.”

“Well, that’s a relief,” I said, and I yawned, wide and unladylike. “Anyone see Peter?”

“He stormed off,” Carl said. “Anything we should worry about?”

I ran my hands through my hair. “Nothing much. He said he was taking Emmett away, and the kid basically threatened to kill him.” Silence loomed. I made a face. “Yeah, well, the kid has been in Hell most of his life. Whaddya expect?”

Gabe looked uncomfortable. “The Council want to see you. To regroup.”

“Who needs regrouping? Pretty sure we’re winning,” I said lightly, but I turned away and pressed my palms against the counter.

“Ava, last night was them gathering strength. More will come, stronger than ever,” Gabe said, but his voice was kinder than usual.

In fact, he had been a lot nicer to me lately. Everyone had. No, not nicer. That was the wrong word. Everyone had been
deferring
to me, as if there was a silent message going around that I was in charge. I didn’t want to be in charge, but somehow, it kept being me coming up with ideas, me putting myself at the front of everything. And that was why Peter was taking Emmett away.

There was always a price to pay.

“I don’t think I should be anywhere near the Council,” I said.

“They’re not angry,” Gabe said. “At least, not all of them. Honestly? The PR on this alone has been amazing. I mean, amazing. We’ve been getting reports of other beasts around the country being defeated by humans and supernaturals. People are actually working together, Ava. You did it.”

“I did nothing. I can’t believe anyone listened. I mean, I can’t believe they thought I was telling the truth. I assumed it would end up as one of those myths. Some kind of…” I waved my arm, losing the thought.

“Shay made a statement,” Carl said. “In his uniform.”

“Which was hot, by the way,” Esther said, winking at me.

“He made it sound as though he were speaking on behalf of the police force,” Carl continued. “Because he was with the same gardaí who were at the flats with you. They gave exclusive interviews, eyewitness reports, all kinds of legit crap. Wear a uniform, and people believe every word, apparently.”

“Let me guess, the only interviews were with the people who were at the flats and stuck in the church,” I said, grinning.

“At first, yeah,” Carl replied. “But then reports started coming in from everywhere, and some Chief Superintendent made a statement, too. Nobody can ignore it now. Everyone’s talking. It’s crazy out there, Ava.”

“You’re famous,” Esther said.

“So did I balls up or do a good thing?” I asked, confused.

“That depends on who you speak to,” Gabe said, glaring at Esther. “Come to the Council with me, Ava. It’s a war. We’re all on the same side in this.”

“So they can arrest her?” Val asked in her low voice. “Throw her in the cells again, just as they did to Leah?”

“I won’t allow it,” Gabe said.

“And what if they want to arrest both of you?” Esther asked. “What if this is a trick?”

“They can’t let Ava stay underground,” he said simply. “They
need
her to fight.”

“I can’t go until Peter comes back,” I said. “In case… I just can’t.”

“Somebody get that idiot back here,” Gabe said. “We don’t have a lot of time. We’ve heard rumours that even more are coming tonight. Vampires, too. Last night was but a taster.”

“Where did the rumours come from?” I asked.

Gabe’s smirk was annoyingly smug. “The BVA aren’t the only ones capable of buying off traitors. We’re confident that we’ll hear plenty in advance.”

“I think there were more vampires around last night,” I said, remembering. “That’s the only thing I can think of to explain how the beasts ended up where they did.”

“Are they truly trainable, I wonder?” Gabe said. “Able to follow a master?”

“They seem in a better state than Becca,” I said. “She was falling apart by the end. Her hair, her skin. She decayed. Most of the new beasts have been male and in good shape. Large, strong. But not as strong as Becca. They’re too contained. Yeah, they have lapses, but they aren’t as uncontrollable as Becca, which is almost better for us. I reckon they were fighters even before the formula. Plenty of them seemed able to concentrate, despite the massive amount of walking blood bags around them. This is a big plan. A well thought out plan.”

“You don’t take over a country with anything less,” Gabe said. “We need to speak to the Council, Ava. Convince them to cover more areas with Guardian protection. I’ve managed to keep a Guardian near your grandmother and one close to Shay Whelan. He might be important. He’s been heard now. It’ll be harder for those in charge to shut him up. This might have saved his life.”

Or dragged him further into trouble. “I’ll get ready to leave, but I’m not going until Peter’s back. I need to speak to him.”

When I finished getting ready, Peter still hadn’t shown up, so I made the rounds around the cul-de-sac, making sure everyone felt safe, but still remained on their guard. Anka had Mrs. Yaga laid out in her bedroom, but the body was going to be burned in the cul-de-sac. A flaming sending-off. Anka said it was tradition. I didn’t want to be there, but I would have to stand strong. That was what Gabe had said, anyway. He became impatient, following me listlessly as I chatted with the people.

“It gave me chills when I saw it on the news,” Ry said, clasping my hand. “If only you had come along earlier.”

“I’m sorry I wasn’t here when the beast attacked,” I said.

“No, no. That’s not what I mean. I meant came along to us earlier. You’ve helped change our lives. We were
lost
before.”

I shook my head in confusion. “Um, yeah. I should keep moving, make sure everyone’s doing okay.”

He smiled at me. “We knew we wouldn’t all survive, Ava, but you’ve given us a better chance.”

As Gabe led me away, I felt weird. Lots of different things were happening, but I felt something happening to me, and I wasn’t quite sure what that was.

“We should get serious about training,” I said. “More practice would go a long way.”

“Let’s hope they won’t need it. Maybe they won’t if today goes well. This meeting with the Council needs to be friendly,” Gabe said. “Be your usual self by all means, but try to compromise this time. We need them.”

“And they need us. Is anyone else coming?”

He hesitated. “I didn’t think it would be safe. Someone involved with the Council still wants the people here to be taught a lesson.”

“Think it’s Reuben?”

He frowned. “It looks likely, but why would Guardians be loyal to him? He was tolerated rather than liked. We still don’t know who to trust, and we’re not forgetting that. We’re just getting past this one, rather large, obstacle before we deal with it. But keep an eye out. You’re the one who keeps telling me how everything is connected. Let’s not forget there’s a chance someone in the Council will turn traitor and publicly side with the BVA.”

“Why would anyone want to side with Winston and his loony crew?”

“A better offer than they have now. More power, perhaps. Reuben was likely the first, but he may not be the last.”

“Who is most likely to be unhappy?”

“Elathan is unhappy to be under a fae. Eddie is obviously unhappy with the Council in general. I no longer trust the witch. Erossi would never say no to more of anything. There’s always the chance that the BVA will leave Ireland alone once they’ve taken us over. They could promise to leave one person in charge in their place.”

“No more Council. That could suit anyone.”

“Exactly.”

“Shit. Why can’t anything be easy?”

He laughed. “Says the queen of complications. I think you were right to be concerned about your boy. And the other children.”

“Yeah. This morning was a little unnerving all right.”

“So he’s leaving then?”

I nodded, my throat getting annoyingly tight again. “They’re both going.”

“I’m not trying to anger you, but can you handle it, Ava?”

I glanced at him and saw he was concerned, so I shrugged. “I’ll keep pushing, if that’s what you mean. No giving up.”

He sighed, with relief, I thought. “Good. Honestly, I feared that would be a step too far for you. Too much for you to handle. I’m glad you’re not that kind of female.”

I raised a brow.

“One who collapses for the sake of their heart. You’re stronger than that. I’m glad of it.”

I wasn’t so sure. “How come you’ve been so helpful lately?”

“You have a power over me that nobody else has. How am I to know you wouldn’t harm one of your humans just to punish me?”

“Are you serious? Goddamnit, Gabe. I would never… you’re an idiot!”

He grinned, and I shoved him to make my point.

“Our agendas lead to the same outcome,” he said. “Me coming out of this alive. The humans might be your soft spot, or you might be lulling all of us into a false sense of security. You might be smarter than all of us realised.”

I couldn’t tell if he was joking or just fucking with me. There was a lot I couldn’t tell about Gabe. My phone rang, and when I answered, I heard my grandmother’s voice calling my name over and over again.

“Nancy? Are you okay?”

There were a few muffled sounds, and Wesley came on the phone, apologising profusely.

“Sorry, she’s been having a bad day. She saw the news and freaked out. She’s confused about keeping secrets.”

“Oh, shit. I’m so sorry. I should have warned you.”

“So it’s true? All of it?”

“Yeah, it’s true.”

He sucked in a breath. “So you bit me? That’s what happened that night?”

“I’m sorry, Wes. I can’t deal with this now. I promise you, when this is over, we’ll talk, and I’ll explain more.”

“Of course. I saw… stay safe. I still care about you.” He hung up.

My head spun with confusion. Everything was catching up to me, and I didn’t know what problem to deal with first.