Tempt (Ava Delaney #3) (12 page)

“
You think something was in that shifter?”

“
No need to sound so condescending,” I said, but I couldn’t
stop myself from carrying on with the story. “I saw something, or
felt it, I don’t know. But it was in Peter, too, afterward. He was
acting weird, and I saw it. Like black shadows trying to get into
his soul.”

“
Really. Peter has a soul full of black shadows.” His mocking
tone pissed me off.

“
No. I burned them away. But thank you. Now I remember why I
can’t bloody well stand you.”

He
looked entirely unconcerned, and I didn’t say another word until he
pulled up outside my home. I barely thanked him and hurried inside
before he could annoy me further. I could hardly stay awake long
enough to shower and ended up falling asleep with wet hair. My last
thought was of Gabe’s annoyingly smug face, and that he hadn’t
given me back my souvenir fang.

I awoke
to half a dozen missed calls from Peter. At first, I figured they
were about Becca, but then I remembered the marks on both him and
Carl. The urgency of that situation had paled in comparison to the
real danger provided by Becca, and I figured Eddie had sorted it
all out with the men.

When I
called Peter back, he picked up on the first ring.

“
Hey,” I said. “Is everything—”

“
You need to meet me at Eddie’s.”

“
Um, okay. I’ll be over in a while.”

“
As soon as possible, Ava. It’s important.”

“
Fine,” I said, barely concealing my impatient sigh. “I’ll be
right there.”

Grumbling to myself, I left as soon as I had finished
breakfast. I wasn’t entirely up to seeing Eddie again, but I
obviously couldn’t avoid him forever, and Peter had sounded freaked
out on the phone.

Peter
was already at Eddie’s bookshop when I got there. Eddie greeted me
warily, and I tried to find it in myself to be polite and pleasant.
It wasn’t easy.

“
Where’s Carl?” I asked.

“
That’s part of the problem,” Eddie said.

“
What do you mean?”

“
He’s gone,” Peter said, looking as if he had earned a few
extra grey hairs during the night. “He snuck out of the house while
I slept. I’ve no idea where he is.”

“
Why do I get the feeling this is the calm before the storm?”
I asked, looking at the two stern faces in front of me. “What else
is wrong?”

“
Eddie knows what the marks are,” Peter said. “Mine’s nearly
gone, but Carl’s had gotten worse last night. I wouldn’t let him
leave, and the mark kept burning him. It was bizarre. Then when I
woke up this morning, he was gone.”

“
Right. So? Don’t keep me in suspense.”

“
It looks as though a succubus has gotten her claws into
Carl,” Eddie said. “It’s not too recent, either. Time’s running out
for him.”

I stared
at Eddie for a few minutes before glancing at Peter in disbelief.
“A succubus? A… demon?”

“
A sex demon,” Peter clarified. As if I needed to know that
part.

“
So what does this mean, then?”

“
You might want to sit down,” Peter said, looking a little
sheepish.

“
Take a look at this.” Eddie pointed at an open book on the
counter. A horrific-looking demon appeared to be sucking the life
out of a glazed-eyed human. “A succubus feeds on energy,
specifically sexual energy, but other kinds will do. Sometimes they
taste, but to survive, they really need the occasional… overdose.”
He gave me a pointed look. “You remember what Reuben said about
virgins? Most species have their own version of that. The succubi
mark a human, which makes him theirs, meaning no other succubus can
touch that human. They’re connected to them, see through them, and
call them back whenever they need a feeding. They slowly drain
them, eventually sucking all life out of them.”

I had an inappropriate urge to laugh. “And you think this is
happening to Carl? I think we might have noticed
that
.” I pointed at the
picture of the demon.

Eddie
tutted with frustration. “Ava, this is serious. A lot of beings
hide their true face. You know this. Carl’s more susceptible to
this kind of thing since you messed with his mind. Yes, we know. It
was an accident. That’s all well and good, but you opened his mind,
and now he’s more vulnerable to all sorts of things. The succubus
makes the human become obsessed with them, forcing them to keep
running back to her. Until the human dies, that is.”

“
What about Peter?” I glanced at his arm, but he wasn’t
scratching it anymore, and he seemed calmer.

“
He’s protected. She took a small dose, that’s all. Carl has
been taken over by her almost completely now.”

“
Fine. I’ll just kill her, then. Just another freaking day’s
work.”

“
That’s the thing, Ava,” Peter said. “We don’t know who the
succubus is, for one. And for another, she’s probably well within
her rights.”

“
We know who she is, Peter. Wait, what? What rights? How can
they just go around… oh, crap. Don’t tell me. They have quotas,
too.” I rubbed my temples when I saw Peter nod. How on earth did
those demonic creatures have more rights than humans?

I paced for a few minutes while I let the news sink in. Carl
was screwed. Again. “Carl’s been in my building lately,” I said, my
heartbeat pounding in my ears. “Not to see me. To see
her
. I’ve seen him with
her before this, before the trial. Yesterday, she brushed against
Peter and me. It was only afterward that Peter started to
itch.”

“
Your neighbour?” Peter looked aghast.

I
thought I knew why.

“
I’ve been living next to a demon, and I didn’t notice.”
Neither man said a word, and I guessed I had just voiced what they
both had been thinking.

“
If it’s been that long… Carl doesn’t have much time left.”
Eddie’s voice softened and held a note of closure that I didn’t
like. It wasn’t over yet.

“
Okay. I can’t kill her?” I asked.

Eddie
shook his head, his face solemn.

“
So, what are my options?”

I hated
the look in his eyes, the one that clearly said I didn’t have any
options.

“
Ava, I know you care about Carl, but this time you might have
to let him go. If the succubus wants him, there isn’t much you can
do about it,” Eddie said. “I like Carl. He’s been balancing the
books here. If I could persuade the succubus to release him, I
would.”

“
Balancing the books? That’s the only reason you can think of
to make him worth saving? Because of bookkeeping?” I couldn’t keep
the tremor out of my voice. They didn’t value life enough. They
never had.

“
You’ve risked everything for him before. When comes the point
where you say enough is enough, Ava?”

“
He’s my responsibility.” I bit my cheek. What I really wanted
to do was throw something at Eddie.

“
No. He’s your friend. There’s a big difference, and he’s an
adult. He could have walked away as soon as you let him go. He
stuck around, and the consequences are his to live
with.”

I glared
back. “This wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for me. I have to
fix it.”

He
sighed wearily. “You don’t go around saving rabbits from foxes,
Ava. Nature’s way, so it is. There’s a chain, and humans happen to
be below quite a few things. Predators need to survive, too. Humans
kill animals for food. It’s the same with demons and
humans.”

“
And what about Peter? He was marked, too! Would you just
ditch him as well?” I shouted.

“
Peter isn’t a victim. He won’t ever be. His mark had no
effect on him. But maybe you should be more worried about the
reason the two people closest to you were marked.”

“
Why, then? Why are the humans I know being targeted all of
the time?” His voicing of my deepest fears rattled me.

“
Because of you,” Peter said. I gaped at him, horrified, even
though he had stated exactly what I had been thinking.

“
Stop looking at me like that. You made yourself known for
being… soft when it comes to humans. They know you have a heart,
know what affects you.”

“
And Carl’s been in a position to hear things you wouldn’t
want anyone else to know,” Eddie added.

“
What… what do you mean?” I found it difficult to breathe all
of a sudden.

“
I told you, she can see through him. We don’t know how long
she’s been able to spy, but that had to have something to do with
her choice. I’ve been wondering how word about you spread so fast
after the trial, even when Fionnuala ordered everyone to keep it
quiet. This might be the answer.”

I chewed
on my knuckle to keep myself from freaking out completely. Yet
again, while I had been worrying about one thing, something
completely different had been going on. “Fine. I’ll find out,” I
snapped.

“
Where are you going?” Peter asked.

“
To find out what the hell is going on.”

Peter
followed me outside. “Why are you so upset?”

“
Are you mad? Carl’s gotten a death sentence, and we can’t
even help him.” I didn’t mention the vulnerability I had shown to
Carl, the things he had found out about me. The things the sex
demon probably knew, too.

Peter
bowed his head. “Ava. This is Carl. He’s always going to get into
some kind of trouble. Bit like you really. We’ll figure something
out in the end. We always do.”

“
I have some time until Becca shows up again. I’m going to see
if there’s anything I can do.” I turned to leave, furious with
myself for being so absolutely blind.

Peter
pulled at my arm to stop me.

“
What?”

He
searched my face before answering. “Need my help?”

“
I’ll be fine. I’m going to talk to Esther. See if she can
tell me anything. But Peter… I told Gabe something.”

“
What do you mean?”

“
Last night, after Becca disappeared, he gave me a lift home,
and I told him about the shadows.”

Peter
narrowed his eyes. “And what did he say?”

“
Acted like he didn’t believe me. I regret saying anything
now. It’s been bugging me because he didn’t act surprised. He
sounded like I was a little kid making up stories or something, but
it was like a story he had already heard. Think I’m making too much
of it?”

His
frown deepened. “I don’t know. Be careful around him. I don’t trust
him.”

“
He’s weird. Like, not a real person. He’s like a robot in a
human mask or something. I can’t explain it really.”

“
He still needs you. When he doesn’t anymore, then
worry.”

I tried
to smile. “That’s very reassuring, thanks. If this succubus, what’s
her name, Alannah? If she’s been spying, then she knows about the
shadows, about what I can do. Think she has anything to do with
Coyle?”

“
It’s possible. Doesn’t mean much until we find out more,
though.”

I
nodded, trying to digest everything. “I had better go. If you see
Carl… kidnap him for me, okay?”

His eyes
twinkled with amusement. “Not a problem.”

I turned
to leave, but he called me back again. “Listen. I’m sorry about
before. Back at my place, I mean. Blame the succubus.”

My
cheeks flushed. “Um, it’s not… never mind. See you.”

I felt
his eyes watching me as I broke into a run. I was so full of
thoughts of Carl, Peter, and succubi that I made it to the clinic
quicker than I expected. I hoped Esther was still there, because I
didn’t fancy knocking on Aiden’s door to find her.

Luckily,
the receptionist with purple-toned skin remembered me. She walked
me to Esther’s room, let me know she was alone, and congratulated
me on a job well done with Becca. Good news spread fast. Funny how
everyone but me seemed to think it was a result.

Esther
looked extremely bored, but brightened when I walked in.

“
Hey, I heard about last night,” she said before I made it to
her bedside. “Great news! It’s such a relief to know she isn’t out
there.” She gave a little shudder, but the grin on her face belied
her fear.

“
She could show up again tonight,” I said, confused. “I didn’t
kill her or anything.”

“
She ran away, though. She isn’t willing to face you, and who
cares why? It means she’s gone. People are celebrating today. I
mean, nobody died last night. Any night she doesn’t feed is
amazing. It’s great news, Ava.”

I
realised how much people had been living under the cloud of Becca’s
blood-draining spree. Before, it hadn’t quite hit home. If only I
had drank the blood sooner. If only I had been more determined
earlier.

“
I’m not just here on a social call,” I said. “I have a
problem.”

She
perked up immediately, as if anything was better than the boredom
of sitting in that room. “Anything I can do to help?”