I waved a dismissive hand. “Take as long as you need.” Even though you have a house and an office, I might have added.
I headed over to Carl’s place to check on Jess. She was there with Parker and Adam.
She jumped to her feet when I entered the living room. “Any news?”
“Not so much. Everything okay here?”
She and Parker nodded, but Adam just stared into space.
“You doing okay there, Adam?” I asked a little nervously.
He didn’t look at me. “Nobody will let us leave. She’s not safe when we stop running.”
I snapped my fingers in front of his face, but he had gone into an almost catatonic panic mode. “Jess…”
She smiled. “I’ll stay with him and Parker. You don’t have to worry.”
“About what happened,” I said. “That’s not typical of living here. Well, sometimes things get crazy, but that’s usually when there’s a war of some kind going on.”
“I’m sorry about those people,” Parker said. “I’m staying inside because I don’t want to remind anyone of what I can do.”
“Those people were brave even beyond the end,” I said. “And don’t worry, Parker. Nobody would link you to that kind of behaviour. Seth is emotionless. We have to think like him to predict what he’ll do next, and I don’t think that’s possible for anyone with half a heart. I’ll be back around later. If you need anything, just shout.”
I went to Anka’s place next. She was making cookies with Leah, Dita, and Emmett.
“Hey,” I said. “Smells good in here.”
“Keep working while I talk to Ava,” Anka told the children. “You’re doing a great job.”
Leah gave me a look that said she knew how serious things were. The younger kids waved at me and carried on, the previous night probably mostly forgotten in their childish minds.
Anka drew me into the hallway. “Are we safe?”
“Yes, as long as you’re in here, you’re okay. You saw it last night. They couldn’t come in, couldn’t do anything to us.”
“That was a threat.”
I sighed. “I know. I’m going to handle it as best I can. This new government is doing most of the leg work.”
“But it’s always up to you to clean up the mess. What does this man want? And why now?”
I leaned against the wall. “Adam reckons it’s my fault, that I called Seth out when I took everything public. I just wanted people to be protected, to know that there was a way to fight back when the beasts came. I didn’t think about the first vampire or being tainted or any of that crap. I just thought about saving somebody on that night.”
“He was already after that girl. She found you. What if more come? I think that’s why Seth is here. He sees you as a beacon. If there are more of you and you gather to make an army of your own, what’s left for him?” She patted my shoulder. “I must get back before Emmett puts salt in Dita’s batch. Be safe, Ava.”
That hadn’t occurred to me before—an army of people like me. That would give us something pretty close to invincibility, if Daimhín’s reluctance to kill me—just in case—was anything to go by. I shook off the thought. I didn’t need or want an army. I didn’t want power.
Next up was the twins’ home. In there, I found the twins, Peter, Val, and Carl.
“Nice little gathering you have here. Can anyone join or do I need a handwritten note?”
Carl left his seat by the table and hugged me. “How did it go?”
“You know.” I shrugged. “What’s going on here?” I took a seat next to Lorcan.
Peter pushed a pile of books my way. “Research. Lucky you.”
I made a face and opened a book, but I couldn’t face reading the words. “Phoenix said most of the emergency calls were made within a small radius in North Dublin.”
“The vampire queen should know more,” Val said.
I nodded. “I’m planning on asking her to interrogate some vamps, but maybe I should take a look at the area today, before the vampires wake up and start warning their slaves that the vampire queen has been asking questions.”
Val said, “I would be happy to go with you.”
I glanced at her. “Let’s see if we pick up anything here first. Maybe Phoenix will get more info from his paper explosion in my kitchen.”
Lorcan raised his head and stared at me.
“I got home and saw him there. Don’t blame me.” I cleared my throat. “So Anka said something funny to me just now.”
Everyone turned to me. I already regretted bringing it up.
I folded the corner of a page and earned a slap on the hand from Carl. “She said some things about an army of people like me, and I got to thinking, what if more of them come here looking for me? Jess did, and she’s just a kid.”
“What if somebody led Jess here?” Carl asked.
I frowned. “Like Seth?”
“Maybe. Maybe something a little… different. It just doesn’t make sense to me how the two of you were born here, and the two of you were hidden. What if there’s more to this?”
Everyone fell silent. Some of the others went back to the books, desperate to find some paragraph that would give up Seth’s kryptonite.
“How’s Shay?” Peter asked. “He doing okay?”
I shook my head. “Looks like it’s all sinking in now. This world. The things that have to be done. I don’t think he was quite prepared for last night.” I yawned. “Neither was I. He’s gone back to work. He said he didn’t want to go home when he could be helping. I’m not sure what he’s doing, but if it keeps him busy when he needs it, I guess it’s a good thing.” I made a face. “The families got to him. He’s too soft for this life. He’s a garda. He needs to get used to sadness.”
“It happened in front of him,” Peter said. “And he couldn’t do a thing about it. That’s not usual for him.”
“He’s right,” Carl said. “This must be tough on Shay. He had to watch his people burn and know that he could never arrest their murderers.”
“Let’s hope he gets to watch the killers die then.” I yawned again. “Seriously, I need to sleep. Val, wake me if you want to go hunting volunteers with me.”
She nodded and waved me off. When I got back to my place, Phoenix was still there.
“I’m just going to sleep for a bit,” I told him.
He followed me into the living room. “Fine, I just need to tell you this first.”
I sat on the sofa with a sigh. Then I laid my head on the side of the couch and listened to him talk. He didn’t get past the first sentence before I conked out.
~ * ~
Phoenix woke me a couple of hours later. “Ava,” he whispered. “Val is here to go somewhere with you.”
I gazed into his eyes before abruptly sitting up. “Shit. I thought it was dark for a minute.” My dreams had been screwed up, and when Phoenix woke me, I had been convinced that I was too late to a battle.
“Still daylight,” Val said from the doorway. She looked uncomfortable. “Are we heading out, or do you need more sleep? I can go alone. Or with Lorcan.”
“No, I’ll go with you.” I stretched. “Just give me twenty minutes.”
I ran upstairs to have a quick shower and change. When I came back downstairs, Val and Phoenix were sitting in total silence.
I raised my eyebrows. “Okaaay… Val and I are heading out to check on those emergency calls. Any specific streets or hangouts we should visit?”
Phoenix found a clean sheet of paper and wrote down some names. “One is a pub. Supposed to be a place that turns a blind eye to the whole blood-sucking lifestyle. It might be a good place to start.”
That reminded me of another bar. “Cool, thanks.”
We borrowed Peter’s car and got on the road. He was way less possessive about the thing lately.
As I pulled out of the cul-de-sac, I said, “This is probably a complete waste of time, but I feel like I need to be doing something.”
She didn?
??t reply.
“There’s somewhere I’d like to go first. Is that okay?”
She shrugged.
“This journey would go a lot faster if you decided to speak today.”
“I’m thinking.” She sounded surprised. “I didn’t realise you needed to fill every gap in conversation with inane chatter.”
“I don’t. I’m just nervous.”
“Ava, where are we going?”
I sighed. “Gabe’s bar. Finn’s bar now. It’s the first time I’ve been since…”
“Oh. Perhaps one of the others would be a more… sympathetic companion.”
“I don’t want sympathy,” I snapped. “Or pity. Or a knowing look. Shut up, Val. You’re a crap conversationalist.”
To my surprise, she laughed. “You’ve become too predictable.”
I ignored that. “The bar is a neutral hub of information. If anything is going on, Finn will know about it.”
“The bartender?”
“Bar owner, now. The siren said she would find out more, but I want to see Finn’s reactions to my questions.”
I couldn’t imagine walking into the bar and not catching Gabe’s scent. As we approached, sweat ran down my spine. I didn’t want to go in. If I did, everything would feel more real, and I didn’t have time for more emotion. But I needed Finn.
“This is the place where I got info on that tattoo artist,” I said to fill the silence and distract myself from the impulse to run. “I really thought it would be Raven.”
“Just Raven’s apprentice,” Val said. “I’m almost certain Raven escaped somehow. I’ll find her someday.”
“What’s the deal with you and Raven? Is this something that could upset Lucia? Because if so—”
“Raven is in my past,” Val said. “I’m free because of her. Leah is free because of her. A lot of people would not be free if she hadn’t helped us back then. She gave me strength that I had been too terrified to wield. She gave me… more than I can ever thank her for, and she paid too high a price for it.”
I pulled into the parking lot, but left the car running. I gripped the wheel, taking deep breaths for way too long.
“Oh, let’s get on with it,” Val said, stepping out of the car.
I turned off the engine and followed her. When we reached the door, I barely hesitated before walking in. The place looked the same. Even Gabe’s scent lingered, though faint enough that few would catch it. I saw Finn at the bar and made a beeline for him. He hadn’t seen me yet. I wasn’t sure what his reaction would be.
He came around the bar and hugged me. Shocked, I patted his shoulder nervously. Fae didn’t hug, especially not when mongrels were on the receiving end.
“I’m glad you came at last.” He pulled away from me. “You were with him when he… and I wanted…” He cleared his throat. “What can I do for you today?” He led us to the bar where we took our seats.
“I suppose you’ve heard about Seth,” I said.
“That’s all anyone is talking about. Is he really here?”
I nodded. “I saw him.”
“Then it’s true that he killed some of the new agents last night?”
“Two,” Val said.
Finn glanced at her nervously before turning back to me. “And you want to know what exactly?”
“If you’ve heard any rumours we could use,” I said. “Someone’s been making prank emergency calls, most of them coming from North Dublin. We’re thinking vampire volunteers. Is there a coven you know of in North Dublin? Large enough to be useful to Seth.”
“There is one, but it’s not a large coven,” he said thoughtfully. He wrote something on the back of a beermat. “This is the territory they own. They’re pretty low ranking. Their volunteers should be around during the day, but most will be sleeping.”
I took the beermat from him and shoved it into my pocket. “Thanks. What’s the word on the street? General opinion on what’s going on?”
“Oh, you know how it is,” he said. “Some of ’em hero worship him; others don’t believe in him. Some are terrified; others are eager to see the new government fail as they deal with him. It’s a mixed bag.”
“What about the assassins?” Val asked. “Has there been talk about them? About people with their tattoos?”
I looked at Val. “Her tattoos would be similar but not exactly the same. Can you keep an eye out for anyone sporting something magically similar?”
He nodded, staring at Val as if surprised. “Anything else?”
“If you hear anything that might be useful, let me know,” I said. “This vampire is the source of the formula that creates those beasts. It wouldn’t be a bad thing to pass that info around to the right people.”
He smirked. “The panickers. The big-mouthed ones. Don’t worry. I’ll keep an eye out. I always do. It’s hard not to soak up rumours and gossip in this place. You should come in one night, you know. Callista’s signed up for a few shifts.”
I looked around the room. The memories I had expected to haunt me weren’t present. “Yeah, maybe.”
Val and I turned to leave. Before we reached the door, Finn called my name. I looked back questioningly.
“Good luck killing the first vampire.” He grinned.
I nodded and returned his smile. That was exactly what was going to happen.
Chapter Nineteen
Finn had been even more specific than Phoenix, but we checked out the broader area first. We found a park and wandered through it.
Val sniffed the air, looking bored. “I thought Phoenix said this was a busy neighbourhood.”
“There’s a line of nightclubs and pubs a couple of streets away. The place is dead during the day.”
“Interesting choice of words.”
“This could be a wild goose chase.” I kicked a stone. “Why would they lead us here?”
“Perhaps Seth didn’t realise the humans weren’t as obedient as he liked to think. People are lazy when it comes down to it. It was just a phone call. Perhaps many of them assumed it wouldn’t make a difference where they called from. Why go out of their way when they can do the exact same thing from here?”
“I assumed he was there when they called.”
“More likely the assassins were there, if they didn’t call by themselves on their own time.” Val sniffed the air. “The assassins have had quite a few leaders now. Maybe they’re disbanding and doing their own thing.” She stopped walking and spun around in a circle. “There’s definitely blood around here.”
I couldn’t smell anything, but when she strode off the path and into a copse of trees, I followed. Then I caught a scent, too: dried blood, urine, and alcohol.
“This might not be what we think it is,” I murmured.
I heard a moan, and Val gestured for silence. A homeless man lay huddled under some blankets, a few empty cans scattered around him. His neck was grimy and badly shaved. There was a definite bite mark there.
“Hey,” I said. “Are you okay? Do you need some help?”
His eyes opened slowly to reveal confusion and fear.
“We’re not going to hurt you,” I told him.
He shook his head and started crawling away. Val leaned down and gripped him by the collar of his coat. She hauled him into a sitting position against a tree. The stink of fresh urine filled the air. The poor chap was terrified of us… or rather, of Val.
“Val, can you get a coffee and a breakfast roll from that shop we passed on the way?” I asked.
She grunted in response then turned and left.
I knelt in front of the man, holding my breath. “Do you need me to take you to hospital or a doctor? That cut on your neck looks painful.”
With trembling hands, he pulled the blanket up over the wound. He moved his head from side to side, his eyes never leaving mine.
“Do you have somewhere to stay tonight?”
“No,” he croaked. He licked his dry lips.
“Okay, give me a minute.” I pulled out my phone and ca
lled Moses. “Hey,” I said when he answered. “Do you know of anywhere I can take a new friend of mine to sleep tonight? Somewhere he can have a shower and a hot meal?”
“What are you up to?” Moses asked. “Where are you?”
“The Northside. Not too far from town.” I gave him my exact location and smiled reassuringly at the man.
“There are a couple of places out that way. Best one’s in the city centre, but it’s first come, first served. Not a lot of beds, but plenty of food and hot water. Want me to call in?”
“Would you? That’d be great.”
“I’ll see if I can cheat the system for you.” He hung up.
I nodded at the man. “My friend is looking for a place you can stay.”
He stared at me then licked his lips again. “Never make it in time. They always push me to the end of the queue.”
“Let’s see them try tonight, eh? What’s your name?”
“Lar. Everyone just calls me Lar.”
“Who bit you, Lar?” I asked softly. “Who hurt you?”
“I was dreaming.” His eyes grew wild again. “It was impossible.”
“Anything’s possible. If somebody bit you, you can tell me. I’ll make sure they don’t hurt you again.”
“They bring me things. They make me drink. Then they bite to see if they can taste the alcohol. They said I’m more alcohol than blood.” He laughed sharply. “They think that’s funny.”
Val returned, and Lar clammed up again. She laid a bag and a large cup of coffee at his feet. He looked from her face to mine and back again. Then he reached for the bag and greedily dove in. There was definitely more in there than one breakfast roll. I looked at Val, and she shrugged. I tried not to laugh.
Lar opened the breakfast roll, pulled out pieces of sausage, and shoved them into his mouth. He smiled, displaying his brownish-yellow teeth, then lifted the coffee and sipped.
“You’re nicer than the others.” He looked worried. “Are you going to taste me now?”
He looked a little ill. I felt worse.
“No,” I said firmly. “Nobody is allowed to taste you, Lar. Where are they? Where are the people who hurt you?”