Tempt (Ava Delaney #3) (9 page)

Unsettled, I followed Peter to the car. “Car’s looking
better,” I remarked.

“
She’s well able for a vampire-monster tantrum,” he
scoffed.

For some
reason, the air filled with tension as soon as Peter pulled away
from the curb. Although we had been relatively comfortable around
each other beforehand, his heartbeat began to race, and that sent
off alarm bells.

“
It’s getting really hot in here,” he gasped, winding down his
window.

I did
the same, noticing a bead of sweat trailing down his temple. “Are
you okay?”

“
Yeah, it’s just… warm today.”

I
shrugged and stared out of the car window. I watched people walk
by, all wearing heavy coats and scarves. “Warm” was probably not
the best adjective for the day’s weather.

By the
time we got to Peter’s place, he was fidgeting like crazy and
scratching his arm. It sparked a reminder of Carl for some reason.
I brushed against Peter’s hand as we headed into his home and was
shocked by the heat of his skin.

“
Are you sure you’re not sick? You’re burning up.” I pressed
the back of my hand to his cheek.

“
I don’t feel sick. Just a bit warm.” He very carefully took
my hand away from his face. “You go on downstairs and get warmed
up. I’ll be down in a few minutes.”

I
pretended to work out a bit, but I found it hard to make an effort
without Peter barking at me. When he came down, his hair was wet
and his eyes feverish.

I
gestured to his long sleeves. “I thought you were hot.”

“
Cold now. Let’s get on with this. Today, I figured we’d
practice some moves, and do some cardio. You should try to build up
some stamina with daily runs. You seem to recover quickly, so you
should be able for a hunt in the evenings if you run in the
mornings or afternoons.”

“
Don’t people get rest days?” I mumbled.

“
Yeah, humans do. You don’t. Not until Public Enemy Number One
is tied up.”

He
gestured toward the mats and did some stretching.

“
Think capturing her is really the best idea?” I
asked.

“
Nope. But it’s not up to us.” He flexed his muscles to psyche
me out. It usually only served to distract me, but that might have
been what he was going for.

“
I don’t like the idea of them testing on her.”

He
rushed at me and lifted me over his shoulder before slamming me on
the mat. “I thought you hated Becca. And pay attention.”

“
I am!” I jumped to my feet and tried to keep moving. “Yeah, I
might hate her, but I think she’s suffered enough. I mean, look at
her. If we were hunting to kill, this would all be done by now.
Maybe. The whole ‘taking her in’ bit has never really sat well with
me.”

He threw
a punch, but I blocked and kneed him. He surprised me by wrapping
his arms tightly around me, although I could see the pain in his
expression. I shimmied upward, squirming out of his grip and over
his shoulder, but he caught hold of my leg and knocked us both to
the ground.

“
Stop doing that!” I kicked out at him, but he only
laughed.

“
Make me,” he said, and the look in his eyes made me
shiver.

“
Can’t. I pity your puny human strength too much. It wouldn’t
feel fair.”

He
snorted and let me stand. I was determined to stay standing, or
force him down. He tried to grapple me, but I avoided his
grasp.

“
You’re right,” he said. “It would be over with Becca, but we
agreed to a capture unless her death is absolutely
necessary.”

“
Well, maybe we force the necessary,” I said, ducking out of
his way.

“
They could be watching,” he warned.

“
I hate everyone.” I waited for him to strike again. That
time, I ducked under his arm and stood on the back of his knee to
reach around his neck. He tripped and fell on his face, much to my
glee. I kneeled on his back, but he elbowed me off and managed to
pin me.

“
Christ, I hate this position,” I said.

“
I don’t know. I kind of like it.” His laugh was too husky,
his heartbeat too fast. I should have known something was
up.

“
Get up now,” I said, catching his scent and realising how
close he was to me.

He
pulled me up after him, forcing me against his chest. His scent,
the pulsing of his arteries, I couldn’t help myself. My fangs shot
out before I could think. I threw my hands to my mouth, apologising
profusely.

“
Forget about it,” he said, very un-Peter-like.

Pushing
him further away, I managed to retract my fangs, then attacked
Peter, hoping hitting him would dissipate some of my embarrassment.
He bent his knees and lifted me up before I could react to his
shift.

“
Ugh, why can’t I stop you from doing that?”

He let
me slide down, but tightened his grip. “Because you don’t want me
to stop.”

The heat
in his eyes was my undoing, and I realised too late he had led me
backward.

Then, we
were against the wall, and his mouth was on mine, and my head was
shouting stop, but my body was running straight for him. His
cinnamon scent was all over me, his pulse drummed against me, and
my body ached for him in every way.

The
lately absent cold presence blew all over us suddenly, so
forcefully, we flew apart.

“
What was that?” he gasped, running his hands through his now
exceptionally tousled hair.

“
My ghostly friend.” I tried to calm the beating of my own
heart, tried to forget the heat of his body pressed against mine. I
had almost lost control without even considering the cons of the
situation. That wasn’t me. “Think they were trying to tell us
something.”

“
Yeah,” he said, looking thoroughly confused. “Not that I
didn’t enjoy that, but what the hell just happened?”

My chest
heaved. “I have no idea.”

“
It was like I could see what I was doing, but I had
absolutely no control over myself,” he said, half to
himself.

Embarrassingly enough, I did have control. I had just chosen
to kiss him back. “Uh, yeah, me, too. Weird.” I tried to laugh.
“It’s probably just the hunting and everyone freaking out over
Becca. It has everyone acting crazy. Maybe we should take a break
from this, though. I’m a little thirsty.” My voice went high enough
for him to see the danger.

“
You should eat, right?” His voice was too calm, too
nonchalant, considering what I had just told him.

We went
upstairs to his kitchen, where I sat at the table while he made me
a sandwich.

“
We need a better plan,” I said as I watched him move and
tried in vain to forget about how his lips had felt, how his pulse
had ticked against me in a way I had almost forgotten existed. We
might have flirted occasionally, but that flash of heat had come
out of nowhere.

“
What do you mean?”

“
Nothing’s working with Becca. We need to figure out something
completely different, or we’ll be chasing her for the next five
years.”

He
stopped and took a deep breath. “The only way we’ll ever catch her
is if we purposely sacrifice someone. I can’t see us getting close
enough to her otherwise.”

“
I could be bait.”

He
turned around. “You can’t be bait, Ava.”

I made a
face. “Why not?”

He took
a step toward me. “She won’t go for you. I could be bait, though.
She’s into human blood.”

“
No
way
.”

“
Careful, people might think you care.”

I stared
at him, startled by his proximity. I stood and inched backward
because his eyes were feverish-looking again, his heartbeat was
absolutely tantalising, and I didn’t know how to stop
myself.

He
closed in, his arms encircling me so his palms reached the counter
behind me, all the while holding my gaze. I couldn’t break away, no
matter how hard I tried. His face dipped toward my neck, and as I
felt his warm breath on my skin, I knew I was done for.

Brushing
his cheek against me as he raised his face to greet my eyes, he
lifted me onto the countertop incredibly slowly, and I couldn’t do
a thing to stop him. Not that I wanted to. I held my breath as his
fingers found their way past the nape of my neck, winding through
my hair.

The look in his eyes unsettled me, and I raised my hand to
his wrist to pull him away, but he surprised me by stealing one
heart-stoppingly soft, lingering kiss, and I forgot about
everything except how absolutely
right
it felt. His heartbeat seemed
to slow, and I wasn’t sure who grabbed who, but all of a sudden we
were in the middle of a passionate kiss—again—and I had forgotten
all about being careful. The heat of his lips against mine, the way
he ran his hand up my spine… thoughts of anything else flew out of
my mind.

The
front door slammed, and Carl’s voice carried through the room. “You
home?”

I pushed
Peter away and jumped down, heat burning my cheeks. He just looked
confused.

Carl
opened the kitchen door and faltered when he saw me. “Oh. Hey.” He
plastered a smile on his face and went to the fridge.

“
Hi,” I said, distancing myself further from Peter. “What have
you been up to today?”

“
Nothing much,” he said over his shoulder, rubbing at his
chest. “Visited the parents, like you’re always telling me to
do.”

My hands
closed into fists, and Peter cleared his throat, but when I glanced
at him, he was scratching his arm. Carl stopped moving, as if he
sensed the danger, and I tried to focus on the biggest problem at
hand.

“
How about the truth this time?” I hadn’t planned on being so
aggressive, but the day with Peter had rattled me.

“
Are we really back to this again?” Carl headed straight for
the door.

I
grabbed his shirt in anger, and to my surprise, it easily ripped. I
really was out of control, impulse-wise. Forgetting the argument, I
gaped at his chest.

“
What the hell is that? Peter, look at this.” I stared at the
mark in confusion. “Is that a hickey?”

“
I’m allergic to her lipstick. That’s all,” he said, trying to
cover up, but Peter wouldn’t let him. The mark looked like a love
bite except it was raw-red and raised, a little like ringworm. My
skin tingled at the sight of it.

“
He’s been scratching this,” I said. “Peter, you’ve been
scratching your arm today.”

Peter
lifted his own arm and pulled up his sleeve, his eyes wide with
disbelief. “I saw this when I was in the shower.” He showed me his
forearm. It bore a similar mark, albeit smaller and a lot less
infected-looking.

I
touched it with one finger and jerked away as a stinging sensation
shot up my arm.

“
This is freaky. Definitely something supernatural.” I sighed
heavily. “I have to go to Eddie for help again, don’t
I?”

The car
ride to Eddie’s bookshop was awkward. Carl wouldn’t talk to either
of us, Peter was freaking out and scratching at his arm at every
opportunity, and I was completely baffled. I secretly checked my
own body for marks but found nothing. I should have seen that
something was wrong. Both Peter and Carl had been acting strange. I
had just conveniently enjoyed Peter’s flavour of
strange.

“
Could you please stop grunting, Carl?” I asked in
frustration. “We’ll ask Eddie to take a look, just in case. Stop
being such a baby.”

“
I haven’t turned up for work in a while, okay? He isn’t going
to want to see me.”

“
What have you been up to?” Peter said.

“
I met someone.”

I gave
Carl a scathing look. “Apparently. Did you really have to go for my
neighbour?”

“
There’s nothing wrong with Alannah. And it’s my business.
You’re not supposed to interfere.” Something was off about Carl’s
tone of voice. It didn’t sound like him talking. The more I thought
about it, the tighter the fear clung.

I kept a
firm hold of his arm as we entered Eddie’s shop. I almost walked
back out when I saw Gabe standing there in the middle of a
conversation with Eddie. Both men looked serious, and I knew it
couldn’t be good news.

“
Probably a good thing you’re here,” Gabe said. “Last night’s
team came across Becca. It didn’t go well.”

“
Anyone I know?” Peter asked.

“
It was Esther’s Circle,” Eddie said.

“
Esther’s dead?” I cried, guilt overwhelming me.

“
No, but she’s badly injured,” Gabe said. “Two of her Circle
sacrificed themselves so the others could get Esther
away.”

“
Can I see her?” I asked.

“
I’ll take you with me,” Gabe said. “We need to
talk.”