Taste (Ava Delaney #5) (23 page)

“Are you asking if it was me?” he said sharply.

“Is that what I
should
be asking?”

He taped on a fresh bandage with a smirk. “Of course not. We’re partners, are we not? Have you heard from your boss recently?”

“Who, Daimhín? No, she’s hiding. Or holidaying. One or the other.”

“I wondered which side she would stand on.”

“She went neutral. Figured it was safer. Which it probably was.”

“For her,” he said in a stern voice. “Not a wise choice for the rest of us. We could have used her vampires.”

“We have
werewolves
,” I said in a little girl’s voice.

He smiled. “Who knows if they even fight? We haven’t heard much of these werewolves.”

“Why are they caged up like that? It’s creepy. And who is their trainer? Does he live there? With the werewolves?”

“He’s Fionnuala’s son,” he said. “He embarrassed her years back, and he was sent away. Turned out he was training werewolves all along. I wonder how long he’s been locked away with them. He must be very… loyal.”

I frowned. The more I learned, the more questions I had. Our world frequently unsettled me.

“Are you ready to leave?” he asked softly, almost affectionately.

“Suppose. Not much choice.”

He stroked my hair, and I froze to the spot.

“Stay alive,” he said. “I’ll need you.”

I hurried out to Gabe’s car and let myself in. “Thanks a bunch for leaving me with Creepy Eddie.”

He made a dismissive sound. “Don’t you mean Evil Eddie?”

“That, too. What’s the freaking plan then?”

He shook his head. “The plan was to bring you to the werewolves. I don’t know anything else. I don’t
want
to know anything else. I don’t want to be involved in any of this.”

“What’s up your nose?”

He waved me off. “Shouldn’t you be giving orders to people?”

“I dunno. I have no idea what’s going on. Where did the vampire say the fight was going to be?”

“At the headquarters,” he said. “They’ve given up what they’ve tried so far, and now they’re going straight to the source.”

“As if the Council had anything to do with keeping them at bay. I never get credit for anything.”

“Not today, Ava,” he said wearily. “I don’t have the energy for this.”

“So what should I tell everyone then?”

“Tell them to meet us there if you want. We’ll need the backup. Make sure they’re ready to leave before it’s over in case the Council get their act together and start to make arrests.”

“What about the humans?”

“Let them defend their own tonight,” he said. “No sense in them being slaughtered for a group of people who don’t care about them.”

“They’re coming after you, too,” I said, suddenly realising. “Is that what’s wrong with you? That you’re on their shit list?”

“Does it feel like a good night to die, Ava?”

I shrugged. “Last night felt like my night, Gabe. What do I know?”

“I thought you were going to give up for a moment there. I thought you were about to let go of my hand.”

“I couldn’t do that.”

“It might have been easier. The pain would have stopped soon.”

“You helped me,” I said. “You didn’t have to. You could have saved yourself a lot of hassle if you didn’t.”

He stared out the window. “Go tell your friends to meet us at the headquarters if they’re interested in joining the fight. I can’t imagine they will.”

“Elathan has to be there, right? I think Esther will go, too. Maybe Val.”

“But not the twins,” he said, the corner of his mouth curving upward.

“Definitely not the twins. Not on this night.”

“If tonight is the night. If it is the night to die, I want to say it’s been
interesting
knowing you.”

“Likewise. Hold on, and I’ll go talk to everyone.”

“Hurry.”

I left his car and ran around the houses, asking everyone to gather together on the street so I could give them all an update at once. They took the news as grimly as I expected.

“So if anyone wants to fight, they can, but don’t feel like it’s a requirement. This place needs fighters, too.”

“I’ll come,” Lorcan said immediately.

“I’m sorry,” I told him. “I need you here.” He looked impatient, but I had an extra reason for keeping him at home. I didn’t want him near the fae until I figured out more about Fionnuala and her son. “Esther, you up for it?”

She nodded, but she seemed low.

“Hey,” I said. “We’re all alive. Let’s keep it that way. Don’t get distracted. Elathan might need you later.” I winked at her, but her smile was weak.

“I can come with you,” Carl said, despite knowing how I would answer.

“No,” I said anyway.

“I don’t know,” Val said. “I don’t know if it will be safe to leave Leah. Or my hosts.”

“It’s totally up to you,” I said. “But maybe I’ll feel better if you stay here. There’ll be other fights. We don’t want the Council to learn all of your tricks.”

In the end, only Esther came with Gabe and me. I was kind of relieved, but I did fear that things would get awkward between Aiden and Esther if they crossed paths. Or between Aiden and me when I tried to pay him back for almost getting
me
killed.

The Guardians seemed surprised to see me when I arrived, and Gabe gave me a secret smile.

“I didn’t discuss last night’s events with anyone,” he said. “Rumours of your demise have been repeatedly exaggerated.” Gabe led me straight into a meeting room just below ground.

Fionnuala almost fell off her chair when she saw me. “You’re
alive
?”

“Oh, didn’t you know?” I said as I took a seat. “I come back to life. Resurrection is one of my superpowers.”

Esther smothered a giggle and sat next to me. Coyle stood by the far wall, and I ignored the nausea he provoked. He left the room abruptly, and I wondered if he was going to warn Aiden to keep out of my way. Lucky Aiden, if so, but I made a mental note to ask Gabe when Coyle had resurfaced.

“We were told you died last night,” Koda said. “I’m glad to see those whispers were false.”

I stared back at him, wondering if he was being truthful; I thought he just might have been. “Thanks,” I said. “So where are my werewolves?”

“Can’t believe you get a pet,” Esther whispered, and I elbowed her in the ribs.

Gabe took a seat on the other side of me. “Yes, where
are
her werewolves?” He raised his voice, drawing attention from the entire room.

“Well, we didn’t think—” Fionnuala began in a prim voice.

“But you said,” Gabe interjected. “And now you
know
.”

They exchanged icy glares. It was nice to be around someone Fionnuala approved of even less than she did me.

“We’re running out of time.” For once, Erossi didn’t sound cocky, and I wondered if that was because the BVA were after him, or because I was alive when he thought he had killed me already.

Gabe had been right a long time ago. There were too many possibilities when it came to the Council. They were too unpredictable for me to work out without more evidence. For the billionth time, I wondered how I had come to be involved in so much crap. And I tried my very best not to think about Peter
or
Emmett.

“How can we be sure she won’t join the rest of her kind?” Fionnuala asked in a snooty voice.

“There are very few trustworthy people in this room, but I happen to be one of them,” I replied, trying to sound just as snooty. “And they are not
my
kind.”

“I’m having second thoughts about this,” she said as if I hadn’t spoken. “I don’t trust her with our weapons.”

“It was
your
idea,” Gabe said. “May I remind you of that?”

“Yes,” Koda added. “It
was
your idea, Fionnuala. Why the change of heart?”

“The creature reminded me of her personality,” she said, a look of disgust on her face as she stared at me.

“I’m not so keen on you either, Thunderstruck. But let’s get on with it, shall we?”

“Time’s running out,” Koda said, but he seemed unconcerned. Was tonight
his
night to die? “Someone bring her through the tunnels if they won’t come to us.”

Fionnuala started to stand. “This is—”

“As you wanted it,” Gabe said firmly. “Come, Ava. Let’s go meet your team for the night.”

I grabbed Esther’s hand, determined she see for herself. We hurried into the hidden tunnel and walked briskly to the werewolf cells.

Esther’s pulse raced in the darkness. The cages, the werewolves, the enclosed quarters all horrified Esther, but her fingers squeezed mine a little tighter when she laid eyes on the infamous trainer.

“Once I let them out of the cage they will be pure animal,” he warned. “I’ll need the rest of you to leave because the change means they are uncontrollable. They are beasts.”

“We saw one change the last time,” I reminded him as the others made a hasty retreat.

“That wasn’t a complete change,” he said. “They can’t in those cages. Be prepared, little one.”

I nodded. “So what do I do?”

“Both of us will bring two werewolves each on silver chains,” he said.

“Only two?”

“Two is enough for anyone. The longer they are in close proximity to each other, the greater the chances of a dominance battle.”

“And… what if they want to eat me?”

He leaned over and sniffed my neck, his nose brushing against my skin. I froze, my throat drying up. “Interesting. There is a scent that will pique their interest. Who chose you for this task?”

“Your mother, apparently. You’re Phoenix, right?”

He rubbed his chest, a little agitated. “That is my name.”

“How come you never tried to find Helena again?”

His eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Who?”

I stared at him, seeing only blankness in his eyes. “Never mind.” Was I wrong? Or was there something wrong with
him
?

“I will try you with one wolf,” he said. “If you survive that, you may survive the night.”

He opened the cage containing the same werewolf I had requested. He held a whip alive with magic in his left hand, and the werewolf cowered in the back corner of the cage.

“This one is strong,” he said. “I figured we would start with a good werewolf, seeing as you requested him.” Phoenix stepped forward and tried to chain the werewolf.

The werewolf stopped struggling to stare at me, murder in his eyes.

“Hey again,” I said softly, feeling only pity for the creature. He looked like a feral human, and I could only imagine what his true werewolf form looked like.

Phoenix jerked the werewolf out of the cage, pulling the chain he had attached to the collar. The collar hung loose, and I opened my mouth to mention it when a sound rumbled under my feet. It took me a couple of seconds to realise the noise was a growl coming from the werewolf’s throat.
Uh-oh.

The growl grew into a deafening roar, and as the werewolf reared back, his body rapidly growing fur all over. Phoenix ended up on his knees. The other werewolves moved to the backs of their cages, and I took a few steps backward too.

The creature’s fingers grew into obscene claws, and his back hunched over, forcing the man onto four legs. His legs and arms ballooned in size, his skin and fur tight over the bulging muscles and popping veins. A magnificent tail swished from side to side, and the man’s face finally turned wolf-like slowly, agonisingly. His nose lengthened and darkened, fur covering it in its new entirety. His teeth outgrew his mouth, reminding me of Becca, somehow. His ears pricked upward, and even his neck expanded rapidly.

I felt tiny and irrelevant before the creature, and when he reared up again, I realised he was well over seven feet from snout to tail tip. The thing was huge. And I was supposed to walk two of them? I didn’t rate my chances.

“You need to dominate him,” Phoenix called over the constant roar of the werewolf.

“Um, how? He’s gigantic!”

“By being his boss.” He yelled at the werewolf, “Down, Icarus!” He whipped at the werewolf a number of times before the wolf lay down. He was only slightly less terrifying that way.

“Icarus?” I asked, raising a brow.

“I like to name them,” Phoenix said, a dot of pink marring one cheek. Interesting.

I had drawn the werewolf’s attention by saying his name, and I wondered just how intelligent they were. “Icarus,” I repeated, keeping my hands at my sides. “I’m Ava. I’m not very interested in dominating you or anyone else, but we have a battle to fight tonight. If we lose, your little lady and baby will be murdered, or worse. You know that, right? But if we work together, we might all survive.”

Phoenix sighed. “That won’t work with him. Not coming from you.”

“I wouldn’t judge so quickly,” I said, observing a keen intelligence in the werewolf’s eyes. “I think we understand each other better than you would expect.”

The wolf stopped growling, and Phoenix let go of him. Icarus stood and walked over to me. I tried not to freak out and run, fearing that might provoke him.

“You in?” I asked him. “Can I accompany you and a friend to tonight’s battle?”

The werewolf kept coming. I held my breath. He brushed against my hand and sat next to me.

To my surprise, Phoenix grinned. “I and my friends here would be happy to escort you.”

“You like them? Treat them like people?”

“I do what I can,” he said. “Better me than any other. I’m sorry for the theatrics earlier. I had to be sure we could trust you.”

“And if you couldn’t?”

“You may have had a nasty run-in with a hungry, wild, uncontrollable werewolf.”

“So does that mean you were joking about not knowing Helena either?” I asked hopefully.

“No. The name feels familiar when I say it, but I’m not sure why. We fae have exceptional memories. In fact, many of us royals deal with memory magic.”

“That’s very interesting, Phoenix,” I said, meaning it. “Feel like winning a war tonight?”

Chapter Nineteen

As I strode outside holding onto the chains of two werewolves, I felt invincible.