Tempt (Ava Delaney #3) (22 page)

Lorcan
had already turned back to Lucia, their palms still pressed
together. Lucia’s eyes rapidly flicked from left to right, making
me feel slightly dizzy. I cleared my throat, but they acted as
though I weren’t there. Lorcan squinted, his heartbeat racing.
Lucia’s fingers dug into his hands, and her nails broke the
skin.

“
Excuse me?” I said, anything to make them stop acting so
freaky.

Lucia
dropped her brother’s hands. He blinked a couple of times, rubbing
his palms together. When he looked up at me, he acted as though
nothing had happened. “Are you hungry? We can get you something to
eat.”

“
How about I take you two to breakfast?” I said, determined to
get some actual information out of them. “My treat.”

They
looked at each other for a couple of seconds. Lorcan frowned, but
they finally agreed. Or at least, Lorcan agreed. Lucia just kept
staring at me. She was kind of creepy.

They
took me to an ATM at my request—I hadn’t had a chance to exchange
my euro into sterling—then we headed to a small café near the
docks. It was one of the few relatively empty places to eat in, but
it looked clean, and that was all I cared about. I was starving,
partly from stress.

I
ordered huge breakfasts for all of us, thinking it would give us a
while together, but the twins seemed hungrier than I was as they
wolfed down their food.

“
So do you two work or anything?” I asked, unsure of how to
start a conversation with them.

“
We’re working right now,” Lorcan said, but he
smiled.

“
Do they pay you?”

Lorcan
shook his head, still digging into his food.

“
They didn’t pay me at first, either,” I said. “The scabby
little… anyway, they have to now. The Council kind of made them
agree to it.”

“
You’re lucky, then.” But his eyes had lit up.

“
How about you tell me what’s going on?” I said, realising I
had to be frank with the twins because they weren’t going to
volunteer much information.

“
The beast is here, and you have to catch it.”

“
I meant with you two and the vampires. It’s weird. I don’t
like it, so explain please.”

He
shrugged. “Nothing to explain. We’re part fae, and the fae don’t
like mixing the blood. It’s forbidden. I don’t know how long we
were with our mother, but we ended up on the market at a young
age.”

“
Market?”

“
Potentially useful children get sold. It’s in the blood. The
vampires bought us in case we could do something special. We can’t
really. Well, Lucia can. She knows things, hears things. That’s how
we track the beast. She sees random images, important ones, and
hears things sometimes. She tells me. So that’s why I’m useful. The
vampires keep us because they don’t want anyone else to have us.
And we come in handy every now and then.”

“
That’s so screwed up, I don’t even know where to begin. It’s
slavery!”

“
Life is what it is. You just have to make do with what you
have,” he said, seeming not at all upset.

“
Why don’t you run away?” I persisted. “Just leave, and be
free. You’re living in a hovel, when the vampires have private jets
and shit. That’s ridiculous.”

“
They would find us. It’s not that they want us. They just
don’t want anyone else to have us.”

“
I can relate to that one. But isn’t there anyone who can help
you?”

“
We don’t have friends out there. The fae won’t acknowledge
us, and nobody else cares. The vampires take care of us. In their
own way. Before them, we were stuck in a place that was much, much
worse.”

“
There has to be a way to leave. You could come to Ireland
with me when I go home. I could hide you or something. Anything’s
better than this. Even their pets are treated better.”

“
Lucia knew you would think that, but there’s nothing you can
do. You’re one person. You can’t change the world.”

“
I don’t even get what that means,” I said, grumpy. “You’re
kind of like me. Mixed, I mean. Except you work better together.
Otherwise, it’s like half a gift or something, right?”

A
flicker of amusement almost reached those sad eyes that resembled
green-black marbles. “Something like that.”

“
Is there a Council here? Guardians? Isn’t there anyone to
protect you?”

“
Do they protect the Irish?” He gave me a knowing
look.

“
No,” I whispered. “Not really.”

“
We have a Committee here. And Enforcers. There are seven
species on the Committee at any given time, and the seats are voted
on once in a decade. Whoever has the most power, be that money or
loyalty, gains a place. For a decade, those species who don’t have
a seat connive to ensure they make it next time. The Committee
tends to make decisions in a biased way. It’s hard to break into
it, but the vampires have been trying for the last three decades.
If they make it, they’ll ally with whoever they feel will help
them. What they’re doing now, dealing with the beast, that’ll help
them. They’re desperate to trap it.”

“
Why? To figure out how it’s done? To make more like
her?”

He
shrugged. “Maybe. They’ve sent vampires to observe the beast, see
what she can do, and bigger numbers would definitely help them out.
Although, if you don’t manage it, they’ll be able to lead a war
against the Irish, and that would help their reputations. Either
way, it’s win-win.”

“
For them.” I stared at Lucia. “Does she know anything useful?
Like which win-win is less detrimental to everyone
else?”

He
smiled easily, but his eyes still carried pain. “It’s never that
simple.”

We spent
a good chunk of the morning discussing politics and how they
affected the little people, like us. The twins were pawns as much
as I was, but at least I had a little freedom. Granted, I had been
forced into leaving my home on Council business, but for the most
part, I did what I liked. I couldn’t imagine what it was like for
them.

When I
called home to check on Carl, Peter didn’t sound
enthusiastic.

“
Eddie’s had to medicate Carl more than expected, and he’s
trying to break free a little. He hasn’t eaten much yet. Not sure
how to make him.”

I got
Peter to put the phone next to Carl’s ear. I ordered him to eat and
to stay put, and I hoped for the best. It might not work over the
phone, but Peter told me my voice had calmed Carl a
little.

“
So, how’s it going over there? Vampires treating you
okay?”

“
They’re not treating me at all. They basically dropped me off
in an empty car park and washed their hands of me. Two of their
slaves—I mean that literally, they actually bought them—are hosting
me in a derelict building. It’s odd here, Peter. I think the BVA
want Becca so they can find out more about the formula, for their
own gain.”

“
There’s a slave market in Britain?” He sounded surprised,
which I thought a little naïve.

“
And Ireland. Kids who are mixed breeds, or show signs of a
power, get snapped up. What the hell is the Council for if they
can’t stop crap like that?”

I waited
as the line fell silent. When Peter finally answered, his voice was
tight and strained. “Sometimes I wonder the same thing.”

After
the phone call, I felt empty and alone. I missed home, and it was
weird making decisions without having to listen to Peter trying to
talk me out of them. Lorcan was nice enough once he got chatting,
but the twins were eerie in a very distinct way that I didn’t think
they even realised.

In the
afternoon, we visited parts of Merseyside. Following the trail of
death surprised me because it seemed as though Becca darted in and
out of places to leave a scattering of randomly placed bodies
behind her. Back home, she had fed on anyone she saw. In England,
she seemed to be oddly selective.

“
Have you seen her?” I asked Lorcan.

“
The beast?” He sounded shocked. “I’m alive, aren’t
I?”

Before
dark, we gathered in the twins’ home. I wondered what they did for
entertainment without books or a television. The building they
lived in was so sparse and lonely, it made me uncomfortable to
think that their only company was each other. Did they sit together
in silence every evening?

“
I’m off to the chippie,” Lorcan said. “I’d like a last meal
before we invite the beast to snack on us.”

“
You’re not going to die.” I rolled my eyes, but I only half
believed it.

“
Are you mad? Of course we’re going to die. It’s the beast.
Lucia and I can’t battle that monster. And you’re just one little
thing. If they wanted us to capture her, they’d have at least
provided us with some help. We’re dead. The vampires probably want
their building back.”

He left
me with that chilling assessment. And Lucia, who was probably just
as chilling.

She
stared at me with those almost-white eyes, and I felt as if I had
to speak or I would drown in the silence.

“
Think we’re going to find her tonight, Lucia?” I asked, not
expecting an answer.

She ran
to me and clasped her hands on my cheeks.

“
What are you…?”

I gasped
and shut up as a sea of images popped into my head—one after
another, too fast for me to cling onto any particular one. One
stayed long enough for me to see a woman who looked vaguely
familiar, then it passed, only to be replaced by a dozen more.
Lucia faded before me, and it was as if I stepped right into one of
the images.

A
housing estate, late at night. Deathly dark and still, streetlamps
flickering. Becca, her face bloodied, her fangs bared.

I saw
myself, my expression determined, my stance ready for an attack.
When she ran, I ran, too, my dagger gleaming blue in a sudden
stream of moonlight. Instead of attacking me, Becca leapt over me,
leaving me scrambling to stop. I looked back in horror as she moved
for Lorcan. I raced after her, but she gripped him and tore out his
throat before I could reach her. I watched myself grab her—Lorcan’s
blood spurting over me—and slice her throat. The blood and gurgling
stayed with me long after the vision faded.

“
Holy fuck.” I spat, feeling as if there was blood in my
mouth. Lucia had let go of me, and I wiped my face. My hand came
away bloody. A little blood dripped from Lucia’s eyes, too. “Holy
fuck.”

I
cleaned myself off at the sink, breathing deep, unable to stop
shaking. It had been as if I were there. I had felt everything. I’d
been sure of the cool night air, the scent of blood, the life
leaving Lorcan’s body.

“
Can I stop it?” I asked when I joined Lucia again. She stared
at me then sat on a mattress, her shoulders drooping in a picture
of pure despair.

Waiting
for Lorcan to return, I decided I wouldn’t tell him what had
happened. I didn’t know how Lucia had shared her vision with me. I
could only hope it wasn’t set in stone. I might not have known the
twins well, but I didn’t want to watch one of them die. Peter had
said catching Becca might ultimately require bait, but I couldn’t
do that to anyone.

Hours
later, I realised one of the images I had seen had been of Lucia as
a child. In the arms of a much younger, very terrified
Helena.

“
You could just leave me with the map,” I said. “No real
reason for you two to be out here.”

“
It’s our responsibility to accompany you,” Lorcan said,
pulling Lucia along.

I walked
fast, trying to figure out a way to get rid of them. Through
Lorcan, Lucia had revealed the name of an urban council estate
where Becca was supposedly about to hunt. I had no way of knowing
if Lucia was lying about the estate, or sending her own brother to
his death. Either way, I had to be on my toes.

I still
hadn’t shaken the painful sensation of Lucia’s vision. I had
absorbed her misery completely. All I could do was hope I managed
to keep her brother alive. After all, the vampires wouldn’t need
half a gift.

We wound
through a number of identical-looking streets until I suspected we
were completely lost. Everything looked the same.

“
We’re almost there,” Lorcan said, excitement making his voice
high. The twins looked only a little younger than my age, but
Lorcan sometimes acted like a teenager. His excitement was
infectious because my own body felt ready to take off.

The
twins weirded me out, but I didn’t want Lorcan to die ,
particularly if his death occurred from my mistake. Lucia would be
forever alone in the world if anything happened to him. She
couldn’t function without him. The odd time he left her alone, she
retreated into her silent shell, apart from when she sent me
disturbing visions. I saw how useful someone like Lucia could be.
Unfortunately, the vampires did, too, and yet still didn’t value
her.

Lucia
kept her silent eyes on me, and the sensation of her stare was like
ice chips down my back, as though she silently screamed at me not
to let her down.