Tempt (Ava Delaney #3)

TEMPT

Ava Delaney #3

By Claire
Farrell

Edited by
Lynn
O’Dell

There’s a
monster running around Dublin, and it’s up to Ava to catch it. The
pressure’s on, and she’s becoming as cynical as Peter. But when a
demon marks her friend, and a possible threat from England spells
war, Ava’s left with a huge choice to make. The lives of one or
many.

With a little
help, Ava has the chance to win all of her battles… if the darkness
doesn’t take her over first.

Smashwords
Edition

Copyright ©
Claire Farrell 2011

[email protected]

Book cover
image provided by
Konradbak
@
Dreamstime.com

Licence
Notes

This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only.
Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Blood
dripped down her chin so slowly it felt as though time itself had
come to a standstill. She stared at me, face contorting, managing
to appear even uglier than the last time I had seen her. Her lips
drew back, revealing her stained teeth. Fangs really. Oversized,
misshapen mutations of teeth.

Hearing
the growl deep in her throat, I took the warning and matched her
crouch. I tried to concentrate, knowing she had already drunk her
fill and would be even stronger than the times she had slaughtered
entire Guardian Circles with ease.

Becca
let the drained body in her grip slump to the ground. She slunk
toward me, deceptively slow and awkward. I’d chased her before,
knew how fast and agile she could be.

She
lowered her head and gave me what might have been a grin. Time to
play.

“
You’re coming with me, Becca,” I said, readying myself. “The
Council can help you.” Not that I believed it.

She made
a sound that could have been either a laugh or a derisive snort.
Turned into a monster by the vampires, Becca was further away from
human than they were. A mutation that had become a nuisance to
every species of being in the country, Becca was wanted under lock
and key. I wondered if she had any idea that death would be the
better option. For the hundredth time in the last few weeks, I
reminded myself why capturing her was the better choice, although
it still didn’t make much sense to me.

A jerky
movement from Becca caught my full attention. Knowing she had
blocked herself in by feeding in the small closed-in space behind a
large building, I took a confident step toward her. She had moved
too far into the city, made it too easy for me to zone in on
her.

I kept a
tight hold on the dagger hidden in my sleeve, ready for her to
pounce. Waited for her to make a move.

She
dashed to her right and managed to scale an eight-foot wall using
her bare hands and feet as I watched open-mouthed. She somersaulted
over the barbed wire topping the wall and disappeared into the lot
behind the neighbouring warehouse.

“
Shit!” I had no hope of climbing the flat wall and actually
managing to keep the skin attached to my hands, so I headed for a
drainpipe further along the building instead. If I got up high
enough, and close enough, I might have a chance at getting over the
wall. If I didn’t fall and break my legs…

I rubbed
some heat into my numb fingers, then jumped, gripping with my knees
as I tried to haul myself up the pipe.

“
You had her, Ava. Why didn’t you go for it?”

I
refused to look down and kept inching my way up the pipe. A vampire
could have jumped it; an angel might have flown. I hadn’t inherited
any of the good stuff.

“
Not now, Peter,” I hissed through my teeth.

I sensed
him gesturing in annoyance behind me, but I was too busy hanging on
for dear life to care.

“
I’m going around the other way. I’ll try to cut her off with
the car. Be careful.”

His
footsteps grew faint as I came level to the upper windows with a
grunt. Glancing below as my body swayed of its own accord, I
seriously considered climbing back down. There would be nothing to
grab onto once I let go of the drainpipe. Lots of the older
buildings in the city still had bars attached to the windows, but
the business estate was too modern for fire safety
hazards.

Taking a
deep breath, I swung my leg out and edged myself onto a windowsill,
unwilling to look down again. Heights had never been my strong
point, but hunting Becca meant I had to take chances.

Counting
like crazy in my head, I inched my way across the ledge and swung
my leg again, almost missing the next window. I pressed my forehead
against the section of brick between two windows and clung to the
wall, my feet barely stable on each ledge. Sweat rolled down my
back as I fought to keep my balance, my hands feeling impossibly
slippery all of a sudden.

I
steadied myself at last and moved along to the last window without
any trouble, but the racing of my heart never slowed. The gap to
the security wall that Becca had jumped over was further than the
spaces between the windows, plus it was a little lower than the
ledges, and I knew a mere step across wouldn’t cut it. Even if it
did, I still had to contend with the spiked barb wire on top of the
wall.

Unable
to believe what I was about to do, I bent my knees and swallowed
hard. Multiplying rapidly aloud as if praying, I jumped hard and
fast, pushing my body, willing myself to make it without tumbling
to the ground.

Both of
my feet landed on the tiny barb-free surface of the wall, but all
of my weight moved onto my toes, and I swayed dramatically. One
foot slipped off the edge, and I scrambled, grabbing the barbed
wire to balance myself. The pain didn’t kick in until I was sure I
wouldn’t fall. Then, the intense stinging came, almost as bad as a
vampire bite. I had no time to nurse the ribboned skin because
Becca was likely long gone.

Unless
she happened to get distracted by a human or two.

I stepped over the barbed wire carefully but still managed to
get my trousers caught. Pulling a patch clean away, I jumped from
the wall, landed badly, and tumbled to avoid the worst of it. For a
few seconds, I sat on the ground, trousers ripped, hands bleeding,
and wondered what the
hell
I was doing.

Shaking
my head, I took my time linking to my other sense and viewed the
world another way, on a different level. Becca should have been
long gone, but I saw her mangled essence nearby, gaining ground on
some pulsing lifelines. She wasn’t the nothingness that made a
vampire stand out on that plane of sight, but she wasn’t anything
close to a human, either.

I got to
my feet and broke into a jog, a little unsteady, but sure of where
I was heading. I pushed myself through the empty lot, passed the
lifeless body of a security guard, and finally found Becca crouched
atop the empty security hut. She stared upward at an open window in
an adjoining apartment building.

Hunting.
Her only weakness. She couldn’t pass a source of human blood
without stopping.

I ran
noisily, so she must have heard me, but she didn’t react. I made it
to the hut just as she leapt upward, and threw myself at her.
Catching hold of her ankle, I sent us both crashing to the ground.
Quickly recovering, Becca lashed out with a fist, connecting with
my jaw. I had flashbacks of the first time I met Peter and blinked
on cue to see her come at me with an open mouth.

I rolled
over, balancing my palms on the ground to kick out at her chest,
sending her flying. We both got to our feet at the same time and
danced around each other. I waited for her to make a move, but she
didn’t. She just kept her eyes on me, wary even in the intensity of
her glare.

I had
never seen a vampire with eyes so red. Pure scarlet orbs signalled
the deaths of many innocent people, as well as a few not so
innocent beings. In mere weeks, she had racked up a number most
vampires would envy. If any of the vampires stopped toeing the line
and followed Becca’s lead instead, anarchy would ensue. Reason
Number 537 why I was on her trail.

Remembering my purpose, I rushed toward her, trying to work
up some outrage at the damage her misplaced loyalty and vanity had
caused, but she was more than ready and wrestled me into the centre
of the road, her fangs snapping. Her jaws were strong and backed
with an unusual density, and I couldn’t afford to let her clamp
down on me.

Still, I
could tell she held back. Perhaps an old memory from life made her
cautious, but she didn’t come at me with the ferocious fervour the
Guardian Circles had reported. They were the supernatural
equivalent of a police force, yet they hadn’t figured out a way to
deal with Becca. For all the mistakes I had made, I knew I should
be dead already. I also knew she could tear me apart without
warning. I had no idea what it was she feared about me, and even
less of a notion as to why I hadn’t managed to take advantage of
her hesitation yet.

Gripping
the dagger, I pulled away from her, darting in and out, puzzling
her. When she stopped batting out at me, I slashed across her face
with the dagger. The wounds weren’t deep enough to be fatal because
the Council wanted her alive, but deep enough to hurt. Deep enough
to enrage her, I realised too late.

She put her head down and barrelled her way at me, connecting
with my stomach so brutally, she forced a wheezy
oof
sound from me. She
lifted me over her shoulder, ignored my frantic blows on her head
and back, and kept running until she slammed me into a wall. Harsh
pain drove through my back and chest. Winded, I made sure her mouth
stayed well away and flashed my own fangs for good measure,
startling her enough to create some space between us.

We both
eased off but, not for the first time, the thought occurred to me
that the Council didn’t need her alive. That I might not have a
choice. If it came down to my life or hers, I’d pick mine every
time. I shifted the dagger free, letting the glowing blue blade
gleam in the moonlight. It was a beautifully dainty weapon, but
every vampire seemed to instinctively know to avoid it. When Becca
saw it, she didn’t seem bothered. In fact, she looked more worried
about my fangs.

Taking a
chance, I flexed my wrist and threw the dagger. It spun in the air
and struck her in the shoulder. She howled with pain but, as I
suspected, it didn’t kill her instantly. Real vampires were
consumed by the blade, their dark poison burned away by the
dagger’s light. The blade wasn’t a serious threat to Becca. It hurt
her, but she didn’t die. Something we had in common.

But a
cross might do her some damage. One had burned her before the
change. I asked Peter about it one night, but he hadn’t been able
to explain why a symbol of faith had evoked such a severe
reaction.

Deciding
to test the theory, I edged closer to her, unwilling to let her
keep the dagger she was about to pull out of her shoulder. I
grabbed the weapon first, whipping it out in one swift movement,
and backed away as thick, black blood oozed from the wound,
bubbling nastily. Becca screeched and rushed me, but I held up the
cross that hung around my neck and pushed it against her fingers
before she could grab me. She cried out again, and I heard the
sizzle as the metal burned into her skin.

She
limply held out her hand but carried on with the attack. Her fangs
were still fine enough to bite me, but for a split second, I lost
my concentration and wondered if my grandmother saw me as something
like Becca.

The kick
came before I realised she had moved. I was on my back within half
a second, and she leapt on me, teeth flashing.

The
cross came to my aid again, but Becca handled the pain, suddenly
intent on the pulsing in my neck. I hit her forehead with the blunt
handle of the dagger, then rolled, elbowing her in my attempt to
get away. She grabbed my leg and sank her teeth in, puncturing my
skin through my jeans.

Instantly, my scrambling stopped. I felt my life ebbing away,
as if I were watching my own death from somewhere above.
Excruciating pain seared through me; I couldn’t move to defend
myself. My entire body began to shut down with paralysis, but I
still felt the pure torture of Becca’s teeth connecting with my
skin. I wanted to curl up and wait for the pain to go away, but I
couldn’t move, and the agony didn’t fade at all.