“The other Guardians are still in place,” Gabe said.
I looked at him. “Yeah, but for how long?”
“Come,” he said. “We’ll deal with it.”
I glanced back at my friends and Emmett, hoping they would be okay. Most of them looked sullen at being left behind, but Peter’s eyes flashed with anger.
I nodded at Gabe. “Let’s go.”
When we reached the top of the stairs and were safely in the centre of the garage, Gabe held my arm and refused to let go.
“This is important,” he said, answering the question in my eyes. “Stay away from Cami’el.”
“Cam? It’s not like we’re best buddies. What’s your deal?”
“Have faith in me on this one, Ava. You cannot trust him under any circumstances.”
“He told me the truth when nobody else would.”
“About yourself? That will always be guesswork. You’re a hybrid. A mongrel. You have bits and pieces, so you’ll always be unpredictable. He told you something important, yes. Something possible, yes. But ask yourself why.” His grip tightened. “I can’t explain. I physically cannot give you a reason. That should make you worry. That should tell you there are bigger things going on.”
“There’s always something bigger going on,” I hissed. “What about my grandmother? She was told to punish me to make me hate evil. Or did he really mean for me to hate humans? And Peter…” I shook my head, unable to continue.
“What about Peter?” he asked urgently.
“Look at you, getting me to argue over Folsom’s body like this.” I bit my lip to stop the sob that desperately wanted to jump out of my mouth.
“You’re upset.” He sounded astonished.
“Of course I’m upset. I have a heart!”
“Well, yes. But Folsom died a hero. You understand that, don’t you?”
“Nobody even knows his name,” I protested. “He died for nothing! He wasted his life.”
“You’re trying to change things. You now have yourself a martyr.”
I slapped him across the face and left the garage, but he caught up with me.
“I won’t let you strike me a third time,” he warned.
I flipped him off, unable to speak.
“Ava!” He gripped my shoulders to stop me from walking away. “You have to be stronger than this. You can’t let something like this ruin everything.”
“As if you care. You don’t want us to win.”
He stared at me through that impenetrable mask of his. I hadn’t a clue what was running through his mind.
“If I’m forced to be on your side, it had better be the winning one,” he said. “Come to me when you want to talk tactics. When you’re ready to be an adult about it. A warrior. A leader.”
“I’m not a leader. I’m just a person who’s sick of what’s going on. We’re trying to survive, Gabe. That’s all. We’re holding on by our fingertips. I can’t let them come after these people again. If that had happened to Emmett, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation right now.”
“If it was the boy’s body in that garage, you’d be too busy trying to stop Peter from setting fire to the world,” he said. “What were you going to say about Peter before?”
“He… I… the policeman your Guardians are supposed to be watching over, he knew Peter. He knew him from… back then. He knows there’s something going on.”
“So why are you protecting him? Why not tell him the truth?”
“Because it brings trouble. Anyone who knows can’t hide. Once you know the truth, you can’t ever unlearn it. It’s permanent. I can’t be the person who does that to him.”
“It might protect him.”
“Or make him a target. Shay’s a good person. Being around us will taint him, too. Carl and I found him to ask about the night Emmett was taken. In case there was something that could help find Emmett.”
“And this was before Emmett showed up in your lap? Interesting.”
“A little too interesting,” I said. “Shay told us that Peter kept talking about a light, something that protected him from the demons. After Peter’s uncle visited him in the hospital, he forgot all about it. Never mentioned the light again.”
“So?” But he looked uncomfortable.
“So Peter doesn’t have an uncle. And a light protecting him? I’m supposed to think that’s not connected?”
He looked away and took a deep breath. “I don’t know why Peter was spared. I don’t know why you, of everyone, were protected. I don’t know what it’s building up to, but I know, without any doubt in my mind, that there are people you cannot trust. We all have our roles, but our priorities can be easily swayed. Not all of us do as we are supposed to.”
“We’re back to Cam? How is he different from you?”
He wheezed out a breath, and I felt his anger. “I have to go. I’ll send people to deal with Folsom’s body, so try not to kill them if they startle you. Go check on your pets.”
“Fuck you.” I stalked away more angry than upset. Folsom was gone, but it wouldn’t be for nothing.
I wasn’t going to be the arsehole who used his death to further their cause, but I wouldn’t let him be forgotten. Worse was the fact they had come after Emmett and Peter. They hurt the boy, marked him. They had to pay. The only way we could protect ourselves was by being fiercer than our enemies. If only I knew exactly who those enemies were.
Shay finally texted me, asking what I was on about, so I told him to watch his back.
I rang Nancy to ask if she was okay. My grandmother snapped at me on the phone, a sure sign that she was fine. I would have to bite the bullet and visit her eventually, but not on that day. I didn’t have the energy.
That left the cul-de-sac: Anka, Dita, and Mrs. Yaga.
Having to explain I had possibly brought trouble to the cul-de-sac scared me even more than my grandmother.
Chapter Four
I gazed at my feet, feeling like a bold child.
Mrs. Yaga was mightily pissed. “So you not only bring a child from Hell here, you also lead enemies from the Council to us?”
I preferred her sweet little old lady routine.
She stood up straighter, her eyes flashing with anger. “And they killed him. For helping you?”
I nodded. “They tied him to the gate. Probably as a warning.”
“Animals.” She swore. “If they come here…”
“Call me. I’ll deal with it, I swear. I understand that you want me to leave, but—”
She tutted. “Leave? Nonsense. You can help protect the place.”
“But I have to watch over the sanctuary. With Folsom gone—”
“With Folsom gone, the hidden need to be moved. Had you found an alternative hiding place before he died?”
I sat on the edge of the pavement at the mouth of the cul-de-sac, wearier than ever. “He was still working on it.”
She nodded. “You need everyone together. Safety in numbers. There needs to be trust; the wrong person could cause havoc. Are you sure where the attack came from?”
“I’m guessing it had to do with the market. They went after Emmett.” I swallowed hard. “Which makes it obvious to me.”
“Or obvious that they wanted to hurt you. Distract you.”
“You’re not the only one who believes it was a distraction. From what, I don’t know.”
“I don’t have to tell you what your weaknesses are.” She patted my arm gently. “Stay strong. The boy is fine.”
I nodded. “Hurting me may be an added bonus. I’m pretty certain someone in the Council was… is involved with the slave market. I’m sure one of the Guardians infected the humans with shadows.”
“Shadows?”
“I’ve seen it a couple of times before. We think it might be some kind of demonic possession. The first time I really spoke to Esther was when a shifter, a Guardian, attacked her. She knew him, but he was suffocating with these shadows on his soul. Made me want to vomit, exactly the s
ame effect the Guardian I suspect has on me. Another time, it was Peter. The shadows tried to attach themselves, but they couldn’t because he was protected. Then there was one more.”
I hesitated, and she stared at me expectantly.
“With Peter, I realised I could burn the shadows away the same way my dagger burns up the poison in a vampire’s bloodstream. I figured I could kind of soak them up myself and cleanse them from my own body. I had some kind of compulsion to destroy them. Anyway, a human came at me one night, totally gone to the shadows. He tried to kill me, and I knocked him out to get rid of the shadows. It worked perfectly, except it was too much for him, and he… and he died.”
She nodded. “When you did this, cleansed the shadows, were there any after-effects? On you?”
“I think I got a nosebleed. No big deal.”
She gazed at me. “Get nosebleeds often?”
“Occasionally. Everything has its price.”
“That’s true, but the price can sometimes be bigger than our body can deal with. Do you understand? You can’t keep hurting yourself.”
“I’m not hurting myself. I’m helping.”
“If you’re bleeding, then it’s possible your body is rejecting it, that you don’t have enough power. Too much human.” She smiled. “The one thing you’ve never been accused of.”
I sighed. “A nosebleed isn’t going to kill me, Mrs. Yaga. Can we get back to the point?”
“Another thing to leave for another day.” She clenched her hand, and I realised she was missing her walking stick. Her eyes looked different, too; the deep brown hid shards of white. “So you believe a Guardian is involved with these shadows, how?”
“He’s a demon. He provokes the same reaction in me as the shadows do. I think he’s doing something to somehow pass on the shadows and infect people. I haven’t figured it out yet, but I figured he was finding some way to transport demons or something.”
“To take you down?”
“Maybe. I threatened him, and nothing’s happened since, but there’s a complication. Or at least there was. Esther’s brother is a good friend to this Guardian.”
“The alpha? I’ve heard rumours, but no matter, shifters are loyal regardless. Strange that he and his sister haven’t been reunited.”
“She’s not ready. She’s still hiding in case the Guardians pick her up and take her to the cells.” It had been a while since Esther’s and Aiden’s beliefs and morals had converged onto the same path. “Same with Val and the rest. All good fighters, all needing to hide away.”
“It may seem like a waste, but their time will surely come.”
“I have to deal with the Council first.”
“I’m on your side,” Mrs. Yaga said. “I will be a friend to you, but I need your help. When the time comes, the cul-de-sac may need your protection. Can I count on you?”
“Of course,” I said, but I was confused. Mrs. Yaga was plenty strong. I doubted anyone would get into the cul-de-sac without her say so.
“How is Peter?” she asked.
The rapid change of subject made me dizzy. “Not great. I don’t know how long they’ll be able to keep him down there, but it’s safer for everyone. Less distractions for me.”
“You need to go to Brogan. Make sure he feels involved. You need to play your role with him.”
“Why are you helping me? What’s in it for you?”
She appeared confused. “Why does anything have to be in it for me? The sooner you deal with this, the sooner you can be the person you were always meant to be. I’m happy to hurry that along before I get too tired.”
She dismissed me, and I knew I had to go back to Eddie.
On the way, I tried to think of options, ideas, suspects, anything. The more I learned, the more things looked connected, but how were the shadows connected to Emmett? From Esther to Peter to me to Emmett, we had all been attacked by the shadows. We were all in somebody’s way, and I feared I had been asking the wrong questions all along.
It all fell back to the Council and my suspicions that someone important was involved in the market. There were too many empty patches, too many ideas I couldn’t tie together neatly. Every theory ran into a brick wall; every suggestion left an empty thread hanging.
When I opened the door to Eddie’s shop, I sensed a darkness in the air. Something thrummed against my skin as soon as I stepped over the threshold. It reminded me of the living book of magic that Eddie kept hidden in his upstairs room, a book I felt sure answered at least one of my questions.
Marina stood across from Eddie at the counter, and I hesitated to speak in front of her. If the sensation running through the air was any indication, Eddie was allowing Marina to mess with his creepy book of mojo. I didn’t want her to know anything about my problems.
“Oh, you can tell me,” she said, sticking out her chest when she noticed me falter. “He’ll tell me later anyway.”
I glanced at Eddie, and he nodded, but also rolled his eyes.
I explained everything as briefly as possible: that Carl, Peter, and Emmett were hiding, that the Guardians had vanished, that Folsom had been murdered, and that a lot of people wanted revenge.
“Good,” Eddie said. “Vengeance will give them strength. Something concrete to fight for. Everyone needs a cause. There’s never been a stronger one than revenge. Peter is proof of that.”
I stared at him, suddenly suspicious. “This has nothing to do with you, right? You didn’t have him murdered to make him a martyr, to create a lot of angry rebels?”
“Of course not,” he said, but I didn’t like Marina’s grin. “Although that wouldn’t have been a bad idea. It will be easier to spread whispers now that the Council are unmerciful, that they will take out unarmed creatures who haven’t harmed a soul. Folsom was a nobody in the grand scheme of things. There are a lot of scared nobodies out there.” His eyes gleamed. “This is exactly what we needed. Silly move on their behalf.”
“And they are, exactly?”
He frowned. “I assumed the order came from the Council, but perhaps not.”
“Either way, Folsom’s dead. That means the rebels have to move.”
“I could help with that,” Marina said. “I’d love to see what you have hidden away.”
“I bet you would,” I snapped. “The less people with access, the better.”
“But the numbers are growing,” she pointed out eagerly. “Any one of them could be a traitor.”
“Then they’ll get a taste of my fist in their mouth.” I turned to Eddie, deciding to ignore the witch. “They may come after you, too.”
“They could try,” he scoffed. “I have more protection than I need. In fact, maybe we should turn this place into a new sanctuary. A headquarters for the cause. Hiding in plain sight.”
Marina clapped her hands. “Perfect idea.”
“Yeah,” I said. “Maybe. Have to figure out how first, right?”
“I’m sure you’ll figure it out,” he said, but there was a nastiness to his grin.
I shivered, wrapping my arms around myself. “I should head on then. I have a lot to do.”
“Like what?” Eddie asked.
“Like figuring out what the hell is going on before anyone else gets hurt.”
I left in a hurry, but on my way home to gather some things for Emmett, I got a call from Yvonne, Emmett’s aunt and Daimhín’s day assistant.
“She’s requested a meeting this evening. It’s important you be there.”
I sighed. What now? “Fine. I can show up for a few minutes.”
“Do me a favour. Tell Peter to bring Emmett to my place tomorrow. I have something for him.”
“He can’t.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
I resisted the urge to hang up. “Someone came for Emmett today. They’re in hiding.”
“In hiding? Where? Who came?”
“Not sure who. Can’t tell you where.”
“You little…” She sucked in a gasp. “This
is all down to you. I hope you’re happy.”
“What?”
She made a strangled sound. “You brought this trouble to them. The sooner they get away from you, the better.”
She hung up, leaving me shaken. She had voiced my own thoughts. I decided not to go back to the sanctuary until after I had spoken with Daimhín. Then I could spend some time with Emmett and make sure he was okay. Then I could relax for five minutes.
I had to locate a new sanctuary, make sure Eddie didn’t uncover it, and find a way to protect everyone at the same time. It seemed impossible.
By the time I made it to Daimhín’s place, I was determined to hurry, to ensure that Eddie never got his hands on the people I had promised to protect.
Daimhín’s place was unusually heavily guarded. When I was shown into the living room she normally hosted visitors in, I was surprised to see Rose, her human pet, kneeling at Daimhín’s feet and holding her hand. Rose was as pale as usual, but her eyes were worried, and that in turn scared me. She normally acted as though she were invincible under Daimhín’s care. If she worried, it was time for everyone else to panic.
“Sit,” Daimhín said, her usual calm demeanour nowhere in sight.
Rose kissed Daimhín’s knuckles and left us alone for one of the few times since I had met the Irish vampire queen.
“Something wrong?” I asked, taking a seat on the couch.
She nodded. “Reuben hasn’t contacted the Council.”
“So Gabe tells me.”
“Then it’s as Eloise saw it. He won’t return. Whether he joined them willingly or by force, he won’t set foot here as a friend again. That is warning enough.”
“What do you mean?”
“There are signs that something’s coming. Eloise has been seeing a lot of darkness and blood. Gideon is untraceable, and with Reuben’s disappearance, I fear the worst. War is coming, Ms. Delaney. The problem is that both sides need me as an ally. Both sides will be quick to punish. I am stuck.”
“Do what I do. Get out of the way and let the big guys stomp all over each other.”
Her lips curved upward. “Is that what you did? To myself and Maximus? Perhaps I’m too hard on your lesser intelligence.”
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