Tempt (Ava Delaney #3) (11 page)

She was
further out than usual, closer to the countryside. If she pushed
too far outside Dublin city, I would lose her for good. I couldn’t
see that far, no matter how useful my extra senses were. I needed
to herd her back into the city, despite it meaning more possible
targets. Tonight had to be her last night of killing in my home
city. The rules weren’t protecting the people. Maybe it was time I
broke them.

I broke
into a sprint, surprising a loved-up couple in a doorway, and
concentrated on Becca’s energy in my other sight. I honed in on
her. I could almost smell her, and I didn’t falter for a step. I
was fully prepared to take care of business, once and for
all.

Every
inch of my body itched to reach her, to finish it. It was as though
something deep inside pushed me straight for her, desperate to
reach her. People who had helped me were dead or injured. Who would
be next if I didn’t fix the mess?

Spring
was upon us, and that meant fewer hours for Becca to hurt people,
but fewer hours for me to track her down, too. That was if she
didn’t hibernate, mutate, or travel north for the summer. In every
sense of the term, I was running out of time.

Becca
tried to move across farmland to get away from me, but not even the
stench of manure could cover her scent, or distract me from
searching for her energy with my other sight. I wondered if she
really could sense me coming for her.

I hoped
she did.

I hoped
she was scared.

When I
finally spotted her, I wanted her to fight. For a split second, I
wanted that confrontation. But she kept running, and I sped up, the
blood filling me with the same thing that kept Becca
going.

When I
began to gain on her, she doubled back and tried to get past me
again. She looked even more horrific than a couple of nights
before. Even if I didn’t catch her, I couldn’t see how her body
would continue to function. She had lesions on her neck and arms. I
grinned, hoping they were from bear claws.

“
It’s time, Becca,” I called. “No more running.”

She
gurgled a few sounds and tried to hit me, but I ducked and lunged
at her. A flicker of indecision crossed her face, long enough for
me to pound my fist in her mouth, knocking her down. She scurried
away on the ground, then leapt to her feet and ran again. At least
she ran back toward the city. It would be easier to get
transportation when I caught her.

For the
first time, I was able to chase her without feeling winded. She ran
for miles without stopping, even through sprawling housing estates,
without her getting distracted by the many beating hearts. It was
the first time I had ever seen her focus for so long, and I
wondered what her thought processes were like, if there was any
humanity left in her at all.

I caught
up with her a couple of times, but they just resulted in our
tumbling around for a few seconds before she managed to slip out of
my grasp again. I didn’t care. I wasn’t tired, and I fully intended
on following her until daylight. She couldn’t run forever. Not in
the sun.

Closer
to the city centre, a heady yeasty smell filled my nostrils as
Becca made a dash toward the Guinness factory. I could never have
climbed the flat-surfaced gate without having to use my less than
stellar climbing skills on the adjacent walls and buildings, so I
sped past the neighbouring church, wishing I could drag Becca in
there where there was bound to be at least one gigantic
cross.

I
reached Becca as she leapt, grabbing her hair and slamming her down
on her back. She pulled out of my grasp with an inhuman shriek,
alarming a gang of teenage boys out past the curfew. Their shouts
distracted me, forcing me to let her run in the opposite direction
so they wouldn’t see what would surely be a bloody
fight.

She
raced away, running on the tram tracks and down a long hill toward
the train station. Still determined, I followed, slowly gaining
ground. She ran along the River Liffey, making weird howling noises
all the way, and as I caught up to her, she made as if to jump
straight into the murky waters.

Thankful
for the curfew that caused the streets to be uncommonly deserted, I
slammed her into the bridge, then pulled back when I saw a homeless
man watching us. His eyes widened with surprise as he focused on
Becca’s mangled features. She knocked me down as she sped
away.

“
Alright there, love?” the man asked, peering after
Becca.

I waved
at him and hurried after her. I wasn’t about to lose her. I kept on
her tail, albeit from a distance, passing straight through the city
centre. From southside to northside, we ran together, and as she
ran an almost straight path, I had to wonder if she knew where she
was going.

Finally
realising we were heading toward the beach where she had accepted a
shipment of the formula, I tried to close the distance. She might
have been leading me to more vampires, or straight into the sea,
but I wasn’t planning on stopping. I couldn’t let her hurt anyone
else I knew. I’d been moping around for long enough. It was time
for me to snap out of it.

My breathing still easy, I pushed harder than before, and
Becca kept glancing behind her, looking
panicked
. She had to know what I was
doing, that I was changed. It was the first night I had kept up
with her for so long. Baring my fangs, I couldn’t stop grinning at
how she reacted. It made me feel powerful, as if nobody could stop
me. That was the problem with blood. It gave me a sense of
invincibility that took a long time to wear off.

By the
time we got onto the sand, I had a serious amount of bloodlust. My
heart pumped loudly, and I felt more alive than ever. I was ready
for her.

Until
she jumped into the water.

She dove
under the waves and didn’t rise back up again. I dropped my jacket
and boots on the sand to swim after her, but I had to turn back. I
wasn’t a strong swimmer, and unlike a vampire, I had to breathe.
Never mind the fact the water was absolutely freeing. I swore
loudly and sat on the shore, wringing wet, just in case she came
back. Then, I realised dawn was about to break. She couldn’t come
back.

“
Where the hell are you?” I muttered. The sea puked something
small onto the sand, something that caught my attention. Scooping
it up with some water and sand, I gazed at Becca’s fang, feeling
horrified and fascinated in equal parts. The tooth was at least
four times the size of my own fangs, of which I had only two. Becca
had a whole mouthful. The fang looked ancient, pocked with
decay.

I rang
Gabe to tell him what had happened as I watched streams of pink and
purple cross the sky.

“
Stay put until someone gets there.” He hung up before I could
say another word.

I still
sat there, shivering, preparing myself for more conversations I
simply didn’t want to have. I had learned a long time ago how to
fake it, how to get by, or how to be so abrasive that even the
chattiest of people stopped trying. Didn’t mean I had to like it.
Didn’t mean it ever felt natural or comfortable. And Gabe was
definitely on the list of people I didn’t enjoy being
around.

“
You’re wet,” he said when he finally turned up.

I gave
him a look that silenced him. “She hasn’t reappeared. I don’t know
if she kept going or just moved down the shoreline. Or even if
she’s still under there. This is all I have of her.” I handed him
the fang and shrugged, feeling painfully inadequate.

He
examined it carefully. “How can this be?” he asked, turning it over
in his hand. “I have people coming. They’ll search underwater for
her, just in case. If I had to guess, I would say she’s gone. We’ll
figure out where when the body count starts racking up
again.”

I
nodded, then flinched when he threw his coat around my
shoulders.

“
Good job,” he said, still staring out to sea.

“
I lost her,” I said, my teeth chattering.

“
She didn’t feed last night. Not even one person died. You
might have driven her out of the country. How did you keep up with
her this time?” He sounded innocent enough, but I knew what he was
getting at.

“
I went against my religion. So you’re saying she’s someone
else’s problem now?”

His lips twitched. “If she isn’t here, then she isn’t
my
problem.”

“
What about the tests you wanted to run?”

He waved
his hand. “Not my idea. I didn’t think it was necessary. Here are
my people now. Need a lift?”

“
Nah.”

He acted
as though he didn’t hear me. He moved to meet the Guardians who had
turned up, some wearing wetsuits. I couldn’t help taking another
look for Becca, but I left the sand before any of the Guardians
went underwater. The pull of the hunt was over, leaving me shaky
with the after-effects of adrenalin. More than a little
anti-climatic.

I left
Gabe’s coat on his car and began the long trudge home. At least my
boots were dry, but my jacket had gotten wet from lying on the
sand. My clothes felt as though they weighed a ton, and I was in
the middle of an enormous yawn when Gabe’s car pulled up next to
me.

“
Get in,” he said.

“
I’m wet. And sandy.”

“
Just get in.”

I
obeyed, mostly because my adrenalin had peaked and exhaustion had
taken its place.

“
Your house?” he asked.

“
Yeah. I need sleep. I’ll take care of… everything else
later.”

“
How are you feeling?”

I looked
at him like he was crazy. “Tired. It’s been a long day and
night.”

“
Of course.” After a few minutes, he continued, “Eddie tells
me he hasn’t seen much of you lately. How’s your
grandmother?”

I
gritted my teeth. “I’ve no idea.”

“
Family is important. To people like you, I mean. The people
around you keep you on the right path. Have you learned any more
about the circumstances of your birth?”

He just
kept on pushing with the reminders of everything that bugged me
about my life.

“
No,” I hissed through clenched teeth.

“
Any new skills?”

I sighed
loudly and twisted in my seat to look at him. “This your idea of
small talk? You don’t have to make bullshit conversation with me.
I’m quite capable of sitting comfortably in silence.”

To my
surprise, he pulled over and turned off the engine. He didn’t say a
word, which was unsettling.

“
Do you… do you want me to get out or something?” I hated how
confused I sounded, but the angel/man baffled me. I could read most
people by their eyes, but he had no emotions at all in his blank
orbs.

“
I thought you were capable of sitting comfortably in
silence.” He grinned, and I couldn’t resist smiling
back.

I cocked
my head to the side. “Wait. Are you the angel equivalent of my
creepy uncle or something?”

He
rolled his eyes and turned the key, then seemed to change his mind.
He stared at me for a few seconds as if debating something
internally. “Are you loyal to the Council, Ava?”

“
No.”

He shook
his head, smiling again as he started the car. “Next time a Council
member asks you that question, say yes.”

“
I’ll try to remember that. So, what now?”

“
You sleep, remember?” He checked the mirrors.

“
I meant with Becca.”

“
Keep an eye out for her. Other than that, it’s a waiting
game.”

“
Gabe…” I bit my lip to stop its trembling. “Can you see her?
The way I do? Is it… an angel thing or a vampire thing… or
something else?”

“
What else could it be?” He sounded bored. “You see her
energy, rather than a physical body, yes?”

“
That’s pretty much it.”

“
That’s an angel thing. You’re bypassing the normal planes of
existence. I wonder what you would see in Hell.” He brightened at
that thought.

“
I hope you’re joking.” My stomach tightened at yet another
mention of a place I refused to believe existed. “But you can see
her the same way?”

“
Probably not exactly the same, but close. Your range seems to
be a lot better than mine right now. And clearer.” He sounded
frustrated, and I wondered what kind of power he had lost out on by
being on Earth.

“
Can you see what’s wrong with Coyle?” I asked.

Gabe’s
hands tightened on the steering wheel. “Do I see what’s wrong? Do
you?”

“
He makes me sick. I can’t look at him. If he touches me, I
want to run away screaming. There’s something dark in
him.”

“
You’re from the light. You naturally react to those that are
unlike you,” he said, but it sounded as though he was trying to
brush me off.

“
It’s more than that. It’s not like with the vampires or
anything else I’ve come across. It’s vile, and it’s like the thing
that was in the shifter who stabbed Esther that time. The one who
killed himself in your bar.”