Tempt (Ava Delaney #3) (19 page)

“
We
can do the testing, once we
retrieve the beast,” Gabe said

Winston
smiled, and it was probably one of the most terrifying things I had
ever seen. “Oh, no. If she’s on our soil, we decide what happens to
her. As you sent her to us, you can help us capture her. But we’re
keeping her.”

I had a
bad, bad feeling about that.

“
We don’t have Guardians to spare,” Fionnuala said. “Too many
were taken out in the hunt for the mutation. It’s too much to
ask.”

“
This has to stop,” Winston warned. “If you don’t deal with
this, we’ll take it further. Do you feel like a war in these times?
You have until tomorrow night. We’ll be leaving then.”

“
You dare threaten us?” Erossi scoffed.

“
There are many more of us. And the higher Councils will take
our side. War will come your way, you arrogant fool. Some of us are
more than willing to take the fight to you. Remember that. This is
not a choice.”

“
We’ll send the girl,” Koda said. “She can handle the
creature.”

“
Alone? When our warriors couldn’t?” Cass sounded as if her
head might pop off her shoulders with shock.

“
She knows its movements. She has experience,” Koda said
tiredly.

“
Are you quite mad?” Gabe managed to sound even more irritated
than I felt.

Koda
rose to his feet. “No more of this. We send the girl. That’s all.
If you think she can’t handle it, assign her some help
yourself.”

“
We can discuss it tonight and give you our final demand
tomorrow,” Cass said, but there was hatred in her eyes.

I looked
directly at Gabe. “I don’t want to go to Liverpool.” He shook his
head slightly, but I really couldn’t leave. “I have things to deal
with here, things that are urgent. A succubus is killing my friend,
I have to—”

“
Our final demand will be delivered tomorrow,” Winston
insisted. He acted as if I hadn’t spoken at all.

“
Fine,” Gabe snapped. “I’m sure Daimhín will accommodate you
past dawn. We’ll meet again.”

The
vampires all left, but Gabe grabbed my arm and held me
there.

“
I’ll take you home,” he said under his breath. “Are they
gone?” he asked a nearby Guardian.

The
Guardian headed outside, leaving the room full of tense
supernaturals. I shifted uncomfortably, and Gabe’s grip on my arm
tightened.

“
They’ve left,” the Guardian said from the doorway.

“
Good. Koda, what are you thinking?”

The
Dryad shrugged. “I’m tired, Gabe. We can’t afford a fight. Let the
girl deal with it. They can’t bring a war if we comply.”

“
We can protect our land,” Erossi said, the veins in his neck
straining against his skin.

“
Now is not the time,” Fionnuala said, siding with Koda. “It
will happen, but not now. Not over this. We can’t afford to lose
any more Guardians to this. The girl is no loss to us.”

“
Great, thanks,” I muttered.

Gabe
said goodbye to the others and dragged me to his car. He turned the
key so violently, I was sure it would break. The wheels squealed as
he pulled away and sped dangerously along twisting country lanes to
get back into the city.

“
Don’t ever speak up like that again. Not in front of others
and certainly not if you’re going to act like you have a
choice.”

“
You can’t make me go,” I said.

“
I don’t have time for this, Ava. Do you want to fight in a
war? Do you want everyone you know to die, everything you know to
be destroyed? Because that will happen. This is an excuse. They’re
already fishing for a battle for some reason. Problem is, Becca has
given a reason for every other supernatural over there to back them
up on this. None of us have a choice. We have to be seen to take
action.”

“
But the succubus—”

“
I don’t care about the damn succubus. I don’t care about your
human friend, either. All I care about right now is avoiding a war.
You’re leaving tomorrow. Get your head in gear and deal with Becca
once and for all. They want her alive for a reason, but they can
deal with the mess that will surely follow. We’re here to protect
this territory. If you want to survive, you’ll have to make hard
choices, just like we have by letting Becca go to them. Could you
really live with yourself if you could have prevented a war? Do you
really think the humans here are equipped for anything close to a
war?”

My
stomach turned because I understood. One life or many lives. I
didn’t even know for sure how to help Carl. All I knew was that
time was of the essence. He didn’t have days left. I had less than
twenty-four hours to come up with a solution, and I wasn’t even
close to a solid, workable idea.

My
fingers shook uncontrollably. “All I need to know is if it could
work.” I looked up at the two men standing before me, unwilling to
accept the doubt in their eyes.

“
I don’t know if an experienced vampire could do such a thing,
never mind you. It could go wrong. Badly wrong,” Eddie
said.

“
It’s going to go wrong for Carl if I don’t try something.
Daimhín called me herself before dawn. A private jet will be ready
at midnight. If I’m not there, everyone’s screwed. It’s not even
that. I should go. They need the Guardians here, what’s left of
them. They’re still recruiting replacements. They won’t have a
decent system in place for a while. If I can deal with this, it
might give them time if something else does happen.”

“
Maybe anarchy’s the best thing that could happen to this
country,” Eddie said. “Starting fresh could work.”

“
Is he serious?” I asked.

Peter
shrugged. “Carl doesn’t have time for us arguing about anything
besides him. He’s going to die. Is there any way she can stop
it?”

Eddie
tapped his fingertips against his chin. “She has prior claim. If
she tried, and managed to make Carl hers again, it might negate the
mark.”

“
Well, good. I’ll try it.”

“
Think about this, Ava. Think how hard it was last time. For
both of you. This will be much worse. He’s still recovering from
that. Now, he’s weakened further by this succubus, and you’ll be
taking his mind again. There’s only so many times you can twist
someone’s mind before they lose it completely.” Eddie’s face
reddened. “When you break the bond, it’ll hurt more than before
because it will have solidified. He could die when you dissolve
your ownership. And that’s if you even manage to do it. You’ve
never done it on purpose. You can’t control it, and you needed a
vampire to dissolve the bond last time. It’s very risky. If he dies
while bonded to you, you will suffer. That won’t help your chances
against Becca.”

I
blushed. “Actually, I sort of did practice with it before. Kind
of.”

“
On me?” Peter blurted, horror clearly on his face.

“
What? No! Jesus, are we really back to that?” I was deeply
offended by his automatic response.

“
Sorry, old habits. But even you have to admit how off you’ve
been lately.” He cleared his throat. “Who, then? The copper at the
checkpoint that night?”

I
shuffled my feet. “Him, too.”

“
Ava!”

“
Okay, don’t judge me. I was desperate. My landlord kept
coming around for money. I asked him for more time, and he said
okay. Then, he changed his mind and came back. I just used my
influence a teeny, tiny bit, and got him to go away. It didn’t
last, and it wasn’t a full bond or anything, but it was definitely
some of the same thing I used on Carl. I understand it now, and I
think I can use it.”

Eddie
nodded as though my explanation was satisfactory, but Peter had a
disappointed look on his face that killed me.

“
Why are you so hard on me?” I demanded, unable to keep my
thoughts to myself anymore.

“
I thought you were better than me.” His words hit hard, but I
had to push it out of my mind. For Carl.

“
If I… own Carl again, can you protect him while I’m gone?
Here, where the succubus can’t get to him? I won’t break the bond
until I know he’s gotten his strength back up a bit. Don’t say it.
I already know the longer he’s bonded, the worse it will be, but it
could be the only thing that saves him. Daimhín’s tried, Gabe’s not
interested, and nobody else sees a way out for Carl. Because he’s
just a human, and that freaking sucks.”

Eddie
leaned his hand on my shoulder, and I felt something cool penetrate
my skin. It calmed me down, but I shrugged him off, hating when he
used magic uninvited.

“
I’ll take care of him,” Eddie said. “I can give him something
that’ll help him sleep. It’ll be the only way he won’t go looking
for you. I’ll keep him safe, but I can’t guarantee your actions
won’t kill him. If you die while you’re bonded, he will, too.
Remember that, Ava Delaney.”

“
Do me a favour,” I said to Peter.

“
What?”

“
Stay with Eddie while I’m gone. Don’t go near that succubus.
Or Coyle.”

Peter
paused. “Something you’re not saying?”

I
glanced from one man to the other, wondering how much I could trust
Eddie. I got up and paced around the room, trying to figure out
what to say. “Yeah. Yeah, there is. I killed a man. A
human.”

“
What? When? What are you talking about?” Peter stuttered over
his words. Eddie sat down and waited, but something crossed his
eyes, enough surprise for me to be sure he had no clue what had
happened.

“
It was the shadows,” I said, seeing the man’s face again.
“Eddie, what do you know about demon possession?”

“
A fair amount. It’s been a while. Is this something I should
be brushing up on?”

I
glanced at him and saw that, for a change, he was extremely
worried.

“
I’m not sure. Peter, can you explain to Eddie about the
shadows? I need to get moving. Just be careful. I think Coyle sent
that man after me. The shadows had totally taken him over. When I
got rid of them, he died. I think maybe your tattoo protected you
that day, at least a little. This man had no chance. I didn’t mean
to kill him. I had no choice. I had to get rid of the
shadows.”

I
couldn’t look to see his reaction. I left the shop, but instead of
going to the succubus, I headed straight for the clinic again. I
had already made a phone call earlier that day and found out Esther
was about to be released. Coyle and Aiden were supposed to
accompany her home—Guardian policy.

“
Ava! I’m finally breaking out. Were you coming to see me?”
Esther stood in the hallway, looking perfectly made up.

I
brushed past her and faced Coyle, barely containing my rage—for me,
for my friends, for the man who had needlessly died.

“
See, this is what I can’t work out,” I said, heaving a little
as I stared into his eyes. I felt a million creatures grabbing at
me, trying to coax away my soul. “Is it me you’re trying to kill,
or just the innocent people who keep dying?”

He
blinked a couple of times, his eyes stormy at the confrontation.
“I’ve no idea what you’re talking about, impure one. Shouldn’t you
be getting ready for a flight out of my way?”

“
What’s going on here?” Aiden tried to get between us, but I
held out my arm.

“
So, you’re a coward as well,” I said. “You can’t even be
upfront about yourself? You keep sending the shadows, you keep
sending the possessions. I’ll keep getting rid of them. It isn’t a
problem.”

“
Shadows? What shadows?” Coyle smirked, his head cocked to the
side. I had the sinking feeling the conversation was going exactly
how he wanted.

“
Ava, are you feeling okay?” Esther asked.

Aiden
scowled at her. “See? She’s unstable. I knew I shouldn’t have
listened to you.”

“
Are you two blind?” I asked, baffled. “Can’t you smell it?
Can’t you see the shadows at all?”

“
Ava, there’s nothing there,” Aiden insisted.

“
Seriously, if this is what passes for a Guardian,” I
muttered. My eyes rose to meet Coyle’s again. “They may be blind,
but I’m not. And as long as I can see… oh, my God. That’s it, isn’t
it? I can see! That’s why you’re trying to get rid of
me!”

“
I’ve no idea what the wretch wants with me,” Coyle said to
Aiden, ignoring me. But his eye twitched. Ever so slightly. And it
gave me reassurance. Even when Esther looked at me pityingly. Even
when Aiden warned me not to make accusations or threats without
substantial proof.

“
It’s not my fault you’re lacking the ability to see exactly
what’s in front of you,” I shouted in frustration. “Send one more
shadow to me, and I’ll come for you. The shadows don’t come back to
you, in case you haven’t noticed yet. It’ll be a lot worse for
you.”

I
stormed off, but Aiden followed me.

“
Wait, Ava. You need to calm down. I know you’re worried about
your human, but you can’t—”