Tempt (Ava Delaney #3) (21 page)

I
shifted uncomfortably in my seat, even more when Victor sat across
from me. He glared at me, and I spat out the first thing that
popped into my head.

“
Why are we flying at night if the windows are blacked
out?”

“
Can never be too safe,” he said, then looked as though he
felt sick at responding to a question coming from me. The BVA had
serious ego problems. “When we arrive, you’ll be taken to your
escorts. They’ll provide a place to stay and show you the main
locations the beast has visited, as well as provide some further
leads. Capture the beast. That’s all you have to do. You’ll be
provided for as long as you stay there. Take as long as this needs.
But don’t kill it, or we will consider it a slight on our
hospitability.”

“
I can’t stay. I’m in and out. Two days tops. I have to get
back.”

“
To put your pet out of its suffering? Bloody Irish cretins.”
He made a disgusted noise and took his seat with the others,
grabbing the air hostess from Cass’s arms in the process. She
hissed at him, baring her bloody fangs, but he ignored her, and she
leapt to her feet. That side of her was a lot more relatable to
Becca. Winston pushed her back into her seat without even glancing
toward the incident. Cass flopped in her chair and licked blood
from her fingers with savage movements.

“
Even dogs can be taught how to share,” I muttered. Winston
narrowed his eyes at me, and I took it as a warning. Victor flung
the hostess to the floor, where she sat looking dazed for a few
minutes. A second hostess, a petite brunette, appeared and stepped
over her colleague as if she didn’t exist.

The
blond crawled to the back of the plane and disappeared from my
sight. I couldn’t help feeling a little rattled.

The
plane took off shortly after. I clung to the arms of the chair as I
felt the atmosphere change and my stomach flip upward. I didn’t
particularly like heights, but the feeling that my head might
explode sent me into a panic. Indulging in some rapid mental
arithmetic, I breathed heavily, causing the vampires to turn in
their seats to look at me. I didn’t care, I just wanted off the
thing.

I stayed
crouched low in my seat until the plane landed. It felt as though
I’d been trembling in my chair for two days.

“
I’m getting the ferry home,” I muttered as I stepped off the
plane, my legs still shaking. The BVA trio stood apart from me as
the waiting car was checked over—paranoid vampires—and I remained
on edge because every time I glanced at Victor, he was staring at
my throat.

I was so
disoriented that I didn’t notice much of the car ride, aside from
the seemingly endless turns through city streets. The vampires sat
together in the back, wordless throughout the journey, while I sat
in the front, next to the human driver. His neck had so many bites
that I was afraid he might keel over and crash the car.

The limo
finally pulled into an empty car park. I stayed in my seat, waiting
for something to happen.

Cass
leaned forward. “Take your bag and wait here for your escort. We
won’t be dealing with you any longer. Once you capture the beast,
you can return home.”

She sat
back and stared out of the window as though I were no longer in the
car. I gazed at the vampires in disbelief, but when the driver
cleared his throat, I shrugged and got out. I had a little bit of
money, a passport, and my dagger. I was sorted, no matter
what.

I heaved
my bag away from the car and watched as the only people I knew in
the country drove away and left me alone. Straddling a low wall, I
rummaged in my bag for a bar of chocolate and waited. At least it
wasn’t raining. I was about to give up and find a way home when I
sensed something behind me. Yet nothing was there. Or at least,
nothing visible.

I
switched to my other sight. A weird greenish energy came toward me,
nothing malevolent about it. It almost seemed human but didn’t
quite fit. Understandable, considering the invisibility.

“
Who are you?” I asked.

“
You see me, then?” a surprised voice said in what could only
be described as a thick scouser accent.

“
Sort of,” I said. “Show yourself properly.”

A haze
crossed my eyes. I blinked, and to my surprise, two slight figures
appeared, holding hands.

“
That’s weird,” I said.

A male
and female stood before me. He had black hair and dark eyes that
might have been green, but it was hard to tell. Her snow-white hair
was plaited to her waist. Her eyes were the palest colour I had
ever seen. They were both pretty light-skinned, with identically
sloped noses, heart-shaped faces, and clefts in their
chins.

“
Related?” I asked.

“
Twins.” He released his sister’s hand, and I tried to see
them on that other plane again. The weird energy had separated into
two relatively normal ones.

I
frowned in confusion. “You’re my escorts?”

He
nodded. “I’m Lorcan. This is Lucia. She doesn’t talk. Except to
me.”

They
both looked quite young, and obviously not human, but they
definitely weren’t vampires.

“
I’m Ava. I don’t have much time, so let’s get on with this,
yeah?”

Lorcan
looked surprised by my words. “Not much time? Have you ever met the
beast?”

“
Her name’s Becca. And yeah, we’ve crossed paths a couple of
times. Many dead?”

He
nodded. “Loads. It’s kept under wraps, but Lucia’s heard a fair bit
‘bout it. Come on. I’ll show you where you’re staying, and then
pinpoint a few places of interest on a map.”

“
A map. Right. Fantastic.” That was my help. A walking
navigator.

He gave
me a funny look, put his arm around his sister’s shoulders, and led
us out of the car park. I tried to take note of where we were
going, but was soon overwhelmed by the sheer number of crowds and
strange streets. Although it was late, the city still buzzed, and
we were soon surrounded by drunken people. I felt my own mood
buoyed by the atmosphere. Lorcan never let go of Lucia, and neither
twin made a sound.

We
turned down a dark street and were instantly shrouded in eerie
silence. It reminded me of that other plane, as though we had
stepped into another world. I could no longer hear the shouts and
laughter that had filled my ears only seconds before.

“
When you said ‘except to you,’ you meant some kind of
telepathy?” I asked, mostly to make a noise.

“
Something like that. We’re over there.” He pointed at what
looked like an abandoned building.

“
You live there?”

“
Yeah. It’s where you’re staying as well.”

“
Oh.” I was definitely curious about those two.

We
walked up the stone steps to the door of an old Georgian-style
home. As soon as I saw the number on the door, my blood ran cold,
and I stopped short.

“
What’s the matter?” Lorcan asked.

“
I… it’s… you live at number 6?”

He
stared at me as if I were insane. “Are you okay? You look a little
ill.”

“
I don’t… I don’t like that number.” The last time I had
pushed past my number six fear, Becca had taken a chunk out of
Peter, and I had almost drained her dry in return. Sixes
were
never
good.

Lucia
jerked at Lorcan’s arm, then turned the six upside down. I saw then
that it was an unhinged number nine, but as soon as she let go, it
fell back down, swinging to and fro, taunting me with its evil
connotations. I stepped back with a little shriek.

Lorcan
covered his laughter well. “Maybe we should get inside, then,
eh?”

Gulping
hard, I inched by the evil six. We huddled into the dark hallway
together, and I struggled to catch my breath. “I have to… I’ll be
right back.”

Cursing
myself, yet incapable of stopping, I went outside and yanked the
number off the door. I knew I was acting like a crazy person, but
all of the drama had finally gotten to me. Shuddering and muttering
to myself, I held the number upright at arm’s length with two
fingers, but still felt as though it were a six, mocking me. I ran
down the steps and threw it into an old-fashioned-looking bin,
before spending at least five minutes shuddering and wiping my
hands on my jacket.

I turned
back to the house and saw the shocked pale faces of the twins
peering out of the window at me. Ava Delaney, mistress of first
impressions.

Heaving
an embarrassed sigh, I headed back up the steps and glanced to my
right for no reason at all. The road we’d entered from was covered
in a weird cloudy substance, and if I squinted, I could see all of
those crowds of people outside. We were in Liverpool, but not
really, and I was pretty certain the vampires couldn’t protect an
area like that. Lucia and Lorcan had a lot more to them than I
first thought.

Back in
their house, both twins kept a straight face when I gave them a
sheepish shrug. They lived in a couple of rooms, not much bigger
than my own flat. The building was falling apart, but they had made
a cosy corner for themselves. Lorcan hurried around lighting
candles until a comfortable glow filled the room.

“
Are you squatting here or something?” I asked, baffled by the
lack of electricity.

“
No.” Lorcan sat on a mattress on the floor. “The vampires own
it.”

“
And they let you live here?” I kept trying to make sense of
the relationship.

“
They own us, too. If you need blood, we don’t taste very
nice, I’m afraid. There are plenty of people nearby, but it would
be great if you could use your will to keep them calm before you
bite them. I know some of you get off on the fear, but things are
crazy enough over here right now.”

“
Hold on. Back up. I’m not a vampire, so forget all that. But
what do you mean, they own you?”

“
Aren’t you in a hurry?” He grinned up at me.

The
conversation moved on to a discussion of the areas where Becca had
hunted. She moved around Merseyside, but seemed to return to
Liverpool’s city centre even when she left the county. We had a
huge territory to cover, but Lorcan reassured me that we would find
Becca easily the following night.

“
How do you know?”

“
Someone will tell us,” he said simply.

“
Like who?”

“
It doesn’t matter who. We’ll hear where she is. It’s too late
to go after her tonight. You should probably get some rest. You’ll
have to sleep on the floor, but I put a curtain up to give you a
bit of privacy. Tomorrow, you can explore the city a
little.”

I called
home.

“
There’s not much change,” Eddie told me. “I’ve given him
something to keep him going through the night. Hopefully, you won’t
be long over there.”

“
I’ll try and check back in tomorrow from a payphone. I need
to preserve the phone battery, no lecky in the palace I’m staying
in.”

“
Picking up the slang already?”

“
Have to fit in. How’s Peter?”

Eddie
laughed. “Like a caged animal. It’s lucky you’re not here. Speaking
of which, I’m working on finding an empath to speak to you. One
might help you from being a walking emotional
wonderland.”

“
Oh.” I was flustered by the odd turn in conversation. “I
suppose that would be good.”

“
Last thing. Nancy showed up today. Said it was
important.”

“
Life or death?”

He
hesitated. “More like love or hate.”

“
Then it can wait.” I hung up feeling dissatisfied.

I
thought I would never sleep on the thin mattress, but I only
stressed about home, Becca, and the strange twins for a few minutes
before conking out. My dreams were troubled. I kept seeing Lucia,
but instead of being deathly silent, she kept screaming at me to
listen to her.

My time
in Liverpool was definitely working up to be a strange
one.

The next
morning, I didn’t get up until I heard the twins moving around.
After I washed and dressed, I spotted them sitting on the floor,
facing each other, palms together. Things were getting too freaky
for my liking. I wasn’t sure if I should say something or not, so I
just moved around a little noisier than normal.

Lucia
faced me suddenly, staring at me with her disturbingly pale
cloudy-green eyes. I stepped back, startled by her unwavering
gaze.

“
She killed seven last night,” Lorcan said, his voice
sad.

“
Becca? All in the one place?”

“
No. Scattered. The usual.”

“
Weird. Not how it worked before. Low numbers, too, compared
to the biggies she was pulling back home.”

Lorcan
shrugged. “Maybe she isn’t as hungry anymore.”

“
That still worries me.” I kept thinking back to Esther’s idea
of another mutation. It was a possibility.
Anything
was possible when it came
to Becca. Yet everyone was determined to take her home and tame
her. It sounded less like the right idea every single
day.