Taste

  “Are you serious?” Peter demanded. “Actually serious? You let that thing take from you? Did you see her?”

  “I tried not to look too closely,” I admitted. “And you’re the one who introduced us, remember?”

  “I wanted you to have a place to live, not become a hag-donor, Ava!”

  I rolled my eyes. “It was no big deal. I had a nap, and I was fine. She needed a little extra power to defend the place, that’s all.”

  “Bullshit.”

  “It’s not the point anyway. She’s helping us. That’s all that matters. We have to stick together, no matter how annoying some people are.” I gave Peter a pointed look.

  This is getting out of hand,” he said. “Too many people. Too many loose ends. I don’t feel comfortable with this setup.”

  “What do you—”

  “Okay, that’s it,” Carl said. “Get out of my new bedroom and go to bed. This circling around the real problem crap is bugging the shit out of me, so cut it out.”

  “Sorry,” Peter and I said in unison, and then we glanced at each other and burst out laughing. If Carl was lecturing us, we had to be bad.

  We headed to our room, the air well and truly cleared. Peter held my hand as we walked up the stairs, and in bed, we talked for a while.

  “They can’t all stay here forever,” he said.

  “I know.” I shivered as his fingers trailed across my stomach. “But this is working for right now.”

  “I don’t think it was Koda. But I’m pretty sure he runs secret operations. I mean, that’s what I was, after all.”

  “That puts a black mark against his name. All of them have agendas, right? Any of them could be doing worse things than this. They’re in positions of power.”

  “Yeah, perfect for corruption.”

  “Even the vampires are deserting the sinking ship,” I said. “Maybe we should, too.”

  He sat up to look at me. “You would leave?”

  “No. I couldn’t leave now.” I sighed. “But sometimes I wish I could disappear and let them take it out each other. Eddie wants to involve Elathan in this. I mean, the dude got kicked out of Hell.”

  “Esther seems to like him.”

  “Which makes me want to separate them forever,” I said, smiling.

  “Can’t control everything.”

  “I know. Unfortunately. Do you think if—”

  A knock on the front door interrupted me. My heart racing, I glanced warily at Peter. He jumped out of bed and got dressed. I followed suit. By the time we got downstairs, Carl was up, too.

  I answered the door to see Gabe standing on the porch, looking physically sick.

  “It’s started,” he said. “The army’s arrived.”

  Chapter Nine

  One beast had been seen. Just one. That didn’t mean more wouldn’t come.

  “They called me to say at least one beast was spotted in a housing estate along the east coast,” Gabe announced to a living room crammed with interested people. “Reports of unconfirmed deaths so far.”

  Peter raised a brow. “Thought you were on the shit list.”

  Gabe shrugged. “We’re still recovering from the last beast. We need all of the bodies we can get to finish this.”

  “And if more are coming?” I asked.

  “We may not hear about it until it’s too late. The other Council members are hiding out in the headquarters. They aren’t taking anyone else in.”

  “Horrible sods,” I said. “Anything more specific than near the coast?”

  “Not yet,” he said. “Wait for more news before you leave.”

  “I’m going with you,” Val insisted.

  “No,” I said. “Wait here in case this is some kind of screwed-up trap. I mean, what better way to get us out of hiding, right?”

  “She’s right,” Gabe said. “Until we can confirm it ourselves, it’s best if most of us remain here.”

  I thought of having another battle with a beast. Becca had been formidable. I barely survived against her. “Lorcan, Lucia, any ideas?”

  The twins held their palms together, Lucia’s eyes fluttering from side to side as she saw. There was a look of surprise on her face as she nodded, and I realised it was because she hadn’t had a real vision in a while. Part of me had wondered if it had to do with Helena’s death, but maybe that someone was managing to block her visions was more realistic.

  Lucia let go of her brother and slipped her hand in mine. While he described where to go, Lucia secretly showed me a male running along the back gardens of identical houses. He reached the street, passing a sign that would help me find the exact spot. I blinked rapidly, focusing on my real surroundings as the vision clouded. Val stared at me, frowning.

  “How long do I have?” I asked.

  “Maybe two hours,” Lorcan replied.

  I glanced at the clock. “Doesn’t leave me much hunting time before he goes to ground when the sun comes up. I’ll leave now. If I’m not back by the afternoon…”

  I heard cries of “Good luck” and “Be careful” as I left, but I was too busy trying to think of Becca’s weaknesses, of ways I could cut the hunt short. I had gone over those fights with Becca a million times in my head, cursing myself for how inexperienced I was, how slow, how naïve.

  How scared.

  “Ava, wait,” Val called. “You need more.”

  “More what?”

  She handed me her heavy broadsword. “More power.”

  Peter gave me his keys, and I ran out to the car.

  I drove toward the coast. The housing estate I headed for wasn’t particularly large, but I figured the creature had come by sea and desperately needed to feed. Part of me worried that it was a trick, that one beast had shown up in that remote area so an entire army of them could unload elsewhere while I was busy. As if the BVA worried about my strength. If I ever saw Gideon or Reuben again, I was totally going to drive stakes through their hearts. If even Daimhín, who quite frankly terrified me, was running scared, then what the hell was I doing running toward the trouble?

  At least it was only one beast.

  So far.

  I drove as fast as I could, but the end came too quickly for my liking. Peter didn’t use a GPS out of some kind of testosterone-related stubbornness, so I had to use a map. I took at least twelve wrong turns before finally finding the right estate. I had four hours before sunrise. Four hours before a creature like Becca would disappear, truly die in the light. If that happened, I wouldn’t find them, and the fight would continue to the next night, risking even more lives. I couldn’t afford to let that happen.

  It had taken me quite a few tries to make a fight with Becca last long enough for me to get the better of her. Back then, some of my energy had been stolen from me on a regular basis by a greedy succubus. Remembering only made me nervous. Facing large numbers of trained fighters earlier hadn’t exactly left me in the best shape of my life. I was tired. I was sore. I hadn’t been training as frequently. I wanted to go home. And yet, I had more to lose, more reasons to keep fighting.

  I sent out my other senses as I drove down streets that looked exactly the same as the one in the Lucia’s vision. Finally, I found the right sign. No beast. I left the car, needing the breeze to help me catch a scent. I sensed him before any signs of him appeared. My entire body went on edge, every hair standing on end, a million goose bumps plumping my skin.

  On alert, I paced beside the sign, waiting for him to appear. My other senses caught his otherness coming at me in waves of deathly aggression before my nose smelled his decay. He approached me slowly, still on two legs. Becca had been practically four-legged by the end. This one seemed a lot newer.

  His mouth opened, displaying rows of oversized fangs, and I knew he was almost exactly like Becca. Blood stained his skin, purpling at the edges of his mouth, and he panted as he approached, probably catching my scent.

  “Here, beastie, beastie,” I whispered, apprehension shuddering through me. An eagerness to hunt swi
ftly followed the fear, a well-hidden desire that only surfaced when I needed to destroy something dark and dangerous.

  His head jerked upward, and he sniffed the air. I planted my feet in preparation for his attack, but he made a howling noise and ran.

  Away from me.

  I chased him, disgusted that I hadn’t attacked already, then I realised he could easily have been trained into leading me toward a trap. Well, maybe not easily, but the vampires had to have improved their formula over time. They hadn’t been able to naturally turn a human into a vampire in a century. Their first attempts at a synthetic formula had proved unwieldy, but maybe they had found a way to control the creatures that the Irish supernatural world had taken to calling beasts.

  I ran faster, determined to end the fight before sunrise, but the beast kept fleeing, not even attempting to face me. Aggravated, I upped my pace, keeping an eye out for a way to cut him off.

  Finally, I skidded to a stop, took aim, and fired my dagger at him. It struck him nicely in the shoulder. He howled with pain and turned, trying and failing to reach the dagger with his short T-Rex arms as he circled like a dog chasing its tail. I made the most of the distraction and, using the sword Val had strapped to my back, I swung as hard as I could, embedding the blade into his neck.

  He let out an unholy roar and yanked the sword out of both his neck and my grip, but sadly, he didn’t collapse to the ground as I’d hoped. I knew I should have practised using a sword more often. He lost a finger against the sharp edge but didn’t appear to notice. He seemed to have completely forgotten about the dagger in his back.

  I swore, jumping from one foot to the other as he came at me, fangs on full display. Becca’s saliva had been full of a paralysing agent. I had the scars to prove my inadequacy when faced with her bites, and I knew I could never allow that to happen to me again.

  I barely avoided his fangs as he barrelled toward me, but I used his significant weight to keep him moving. I jumped on his back, and he fell to the ground. I yanked out the dagger and was thrown off him just as quickly.

  I rolled over as he made to grab me, but he gripped a hank of my hair and pulled sharply. I groaned at the pain of concrete connecting with my spine as I was thrown onto my back.

  Again, I was left struggling to get out of his reach, but the sword was once again within mine. I gripped the hilt with both hands and whirled around, lopping off his head in one smooth motion.

  Panting, I cleaned the sword and strapped it to me again. I dragged the body and head into a grassy area. If I left it in the darkest edges, then maybe nobody would notice before the beast disintegrated in the sun. But in the end, I couldn’t make myself leave the stupid body in case some kid found it. In case it didn’t disintegrate like Becca. In case of half a dozen other reasons that popped into my head whenever I made to move toward the car.

  I sat in the cold with the pieces of beast, staring at my phone in case word of more of the creatures came through. There was only silence. Shivering, I kept the body company and contemplated my life choices. I was a killer, but I didn’t want to be, especially not when Emmett was around to know what I was doing. More and more often, events in my life left a bad taste in my mouth. How could I ever give the kid a normal life when this was expected of me?

  When the sun began to rise, I wanted to dance for joy, but the body took its time disappearing. As soon as it no longer looked like a body, and even before the dust flew off into the wind, I was on my feet and running back to the car.

  I wanted to go home. I needed to make sure everyone was safe, but most of all, I wanted to get into my own bed and sleep.

  A little more than halfway home, I had to stop and take a nap. Whether from the fighting or the donation to the hag, I was exhausted, plain and simple. I needed to be at the top of my game if I wanted to survive.

  I slept on the side of a motorway, blissfully unaware of cars driving past. I dreamt of nothing at all, and that made me happy when I awoke.

  Fog surrounded the motorway, leaving me cold, but at least I had survived the night. Aching, I stretched as much as I could and headed home, picking up some food on the way. I was starving.

  I made it home by late afternoon and gave the basics of what happened while I ate. Everyone was interested in coming up with easier ways to kill the creatures the vampires were sending, but I was exhausted again. I knew I would be living in the dark for a long time if a whole group of the things arrived.

  After my second nap of the day, I woke up, showered, and tried to feel optimistic. The first fight had gone well, but again, it had been merely the first fight.

  “I think he was a young one,” I said for the umpteenth time.

  “So… what? After a bit of experience they become killing machines?” Gabe asked.

  I thought about how to explain. “They’re more connected. When they first change, they’re a little confused. Becca would sometimes look at me as if she remembered things, but then she’d be completely feral the next minute. The one last night didn’t seem as desperate for blood. It seemed like… it seemed as though he was trying to survive. Like survival was more important than his bloodlust. He wanted to outrun me rather than fight me. Becca was like that, but not at first. At first, her motive for killing was solely to find more blood.”

  “So they evolve? Become more intelligent?” Gabe asked.

  “They learn. But Esther reckoned it was possible that Becca was storing up blood in order to mutate again,” I replied, feeling ill. “The bigger question right now is why they sent only one? Why not all of them?”

  “Maybe they only have one,” Peter said.

  “Or maybe he was a test. Or a decoy,” Carl suggested.

  “Send the weakest in to see how we handle it? Or to lure us into a false sense of security?” Esther said. “Or perhaps testing the reactions of the beast itself. Seeing how long it survives, or maybe trying to figure out if it will obey them even when faced with victims.”

  Rubbing my cheek, I tried to feel wide awake. The fatigue was from more than the fight or from donating to Mrs. Yaga. It was me being weary of the life I led. “Does it matter?” I asked. “Either way, more are going to come here. When they’ve picked us off and fucked up the country, the BVA are going to swoop in and take over, just like they’ve taken over Britain.”

  “If we can fight them off, Britain might stand a chance,” Esther said, her eyes gleaming. “They weren’t prepared. The vampires took everyone over there unaware. We’ve had prior warning. We can change everything. Britainneed numbers, communication, and hope. We could give them all of those. We could put the BVA back in their box.”

  “It’s more than time for vampires to be wiped out,” I said. “But we have enough going on here, remember? We can’t fight every battle.”

  “Maybe we won’t have to,” she said. “This could be about gaining new allies. Maybe we’ll convince English rebels to join the fae and whoever else is fighting against the vampires underground. Technically, that’s what they are now—rebels. Maybe the Féinics thing can be bigger than just us.”

  I sighed. “One thing at a time. I don’t have the energy for this.”

  I walked outside, chilled by the number of people who needed help. Peter came out behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. I leaned my head against him, relieved to be home.

  “It’s spiralling,” he whispered. “And Emmett’s in the middle of it all.”

  I froze. “Nothing will touch him here.”

  “Not yet.”

  I realised I was pinching his hands and released him. I was afraid to look at him, afraid to hear what was on his mind, so I went back inside and did my best to avoid him.

  Emmett was playing in the kitchen with Dita while Anka made sandwiches.

  I moved to help Anka. “You don’t have to do that.”

  “You’re protecting us. Everyone. The least I can do is make some sandwiches.” She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes.

  I took her shaking hand in min
e. “You’re safe. You and Dita both. Safe.”

  She gave me that watery smile again and continued buttering bread. “We can’t run forever. Nobody can. What will come will come. Nothing we can do about it. We’re safer here than anywhere else. I know this.” She gazed at me. “So why am I so terrified?”

  The children looked at Anka, then at me, so I clenched my jaw and tried to appear unconcerned.

  “Because you’re a mother,” I said. “That’s your job. It’s my job to make sure you’re worrying about nothing.” My smile was no stronger than hers, but she hugged me briefly.

  But Emmett’s eyes had that look in them again, the one that told me he wanted to fight.

  I winked at him. “It’ll all be over soon.”

  But I was secretly thinking we’d only had a taste of what was to come.

  Chapter Ten

  I sat up most of the night, waiting for news of another attack. Gabe accompanied me, as did Carl, Esther, Val, the twins, and Peter. Gabe had assured us we were safe during the day from whomever on the Council or their staff wanted to get rid of us, because everyone was so busy running around like headless chickens. The night was once again dangerous. We didn’t know when a beast would come, when a group of ancient vampires would attack, or when whatever the BVA were up to finally occurred.

  “There’s a boat anchored off the coast,” Gabe said, getting off the phone. “Suspect. Fionnuala wants to send Guardians out to investigate.”

  “Pointless,” I said. “If they’re going to invade, they’re already on their way. Sending a couple of Guardians onto a boat full of beasts would be suicide in any case.”

  “She’s probably desperate.” Esther picked at her nails aggressively. “She’ll sacrifice anyone to save herself.”

  I paced the room. “Why won’t they just attack already?”

  “Last night was probably a mistake,” Peter said. “If they’re moored on some boat, one might have escaped the figurative leash and went hunting.”

  I resisted the urge to count heartbeats. “We know they’ll be in Dublin, so maybe I should be out there.”