Taken (Ava Delaney #4)

by Claire Farrell

“We’ll stay here,” he said reluctantly.

  I hugged Emmett before leaving, hoping I was right and that he was safe. I made phone calls on the way, tried to cover all of the bases, and headed to an emergency meeting I arranged with the Council.

  They weren’t going to be happy.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Erossi didn’t show up. Neither did the witch. I thought that significant. Eddie was there, and I avoided eye contact with him as much as possible. Carl had left the shop in Eddie’s absence, and Eddie was probably not going to be overjoyed by that.

  It was late evening by the time everything got settled and whoever was going to turn up arrived. We met in a white-walled room and sat around a circular table, many pairs of suspicious eyes on me.

  I sat forward. “I have news about Esther.”

  Aiden began to say something, but Gabe stopped him. “What news?”

  “She’s alive, but she’s hurt. Trapped. She’s stuck with the people who hosted me when I was in Liverpool.”

  “They’ve kidnapped her?” the demon asked. Elathan, I remembered.

  “No. They’re slaves. The vampires own them. But they’re part-fae, and they’re good people.” I ignored Fionnuala’s telling glare when I said part-fae. “They have a place that’s protected, kind of like the magic over the trial.”

  “Impossible,” Fionnuala said.

  Koda, looking dreadful, silenced her. “Now is not the time.”

  “Anyway,” I continued, feeling a little nervous. “The place is protecting them, shielding them, but they’re surrounded. I’ve heard there’s a war going on, and that getting her back in one piece is practically impossible.”

  “How do you know?” Aiden asked.

  I felt Eddie’s curious gaze on my skin. “I… I can’t say.”

  “And we’re supposed to believe you?” Aiden sounded incredulous, and I didn’t exactly blame him, but I couldn’t reveal what Emmett could do.

  “This is ridiculous,” Fionnuala said.

  “Oh, give it a rest.” I was frustrated and annoyed. I couldn’t think of a way to help Esther, but they probably could, if they would just believe me. “Why would I make this up? I got a tip, okay? I’m not telling you anything else about it. But Esther needs help, and you should all probably face up to the fact that the BVA are about to roll over the UK. If they win, they’re coming here next. You can bet your arse on it.”

  “She’s right.” A shiver ran down my spine at Daimhín’s words. It was bad enough having a creepy demon and a creepy ancient vampire in the room without my creepy ancient vampire boss showing up as well.

  “I thought you were out hibernating, or something,” I blurted in my nervousness.

  She narrowed her eyes at me. She was accompanied by Yvonne, her day assistant and Emmett’s aunt. Zion, her rather large and impressive bodyguard, stood behind her. Eloise, the child vampire who also happened to be a seer, and Jules, my least favourite vampire ever who had a major yen for my blood, stayed by the door.

  “Eloise had a vision,” Daimhín announced. “And plenty of confirmation has come through. There is indeed a war going on, and we have little hope of surviving it if we don’t act now.”

  There was a lot of discussion after that, most of it pointless arguing.

  “I don’t trust her,” Aiden said.

  Gabe stared at me for long, awkward moments before finally declaring himself on my side. I let loose a sigh of relief and waited patiently for the arguing to stop. Gabe rarely failed to get his own way.

  “I need to return to my coven,” Daimhín eventually declared. “I will take the tainted one with me.”

  “I’ll take her home,” Eddie said softly.

  “Why would you do that? She’s my employee. Come along.” Daimhín clicked her fingers, and I and her entourage followed her like trained puppies. What my life had come to…

  In the car, Daimhín gave me one of those looks. “Is it true? You found the boy alive?”

  “What boy? Emmett?” Yvonne asked. Daimhín knew and hadn’t told her. Ouch.

  “Yeah, it’s true. Someone put him in our path, trying to cause more problems, but it worked out.”

  “They’ll try to take him if he’s alive. They would rather him dead than allow another to have him.”

  “Who are they?” I asked.

  “Whoever took him. It’s what I would do.”

  Her words chilled me to the bone, but I had to think straight. “What about Esther? Any suggestions?”

  “Leave her there. It might teach the shifters some humility. As for the British vampires, it may come to us having to leave the country rather than get involved.”

  “Why would you leave?”

  “The Council will expect our assistance. Winston will give us the chance to stand next to him. Both would result in our final deaths. We will leave if he tries to take Ireland. You may join us.”

  “Thanks, but I still need to find a way to—”

  “The darkness rises,” Eloise said. “She’s hiding in darkness. One pocket is always connected to another, and the key to the door is tainted by blood. The only way to reach her is through the darkness. The smallest mice can make it through the shadows unseen.”

  “What do you mean? Can I get to her somehow?”

  “Eloise, what have I told you?” Daimhín chastised.

  “He’s alive. And nobody told me?”

  Yvonne’s delayed reaction grated on my nerves. “Well, if you would answer your goddamn phone every once in a while, you might have known already.”

  “The paths between the hiding holes can only be crossed when the gates are opened. All manner of things can cross,” Eloise whispered.

  “Is he okay? I mean, did they hurt him?” Yvonne asked.

  “That’s enough, Eloise!” Daimhín exclaimed.

  The noise was too much. And all through it, Jules kept his scarlet eyes trained on me, and I knew he was drinking my blood in his mind.

  “Everyone, just shut up!” I shouted, creeped out beyond measure.

  Daimhín squeezed her lips together and smoothed down her short, grey hair. The others didn’t make a sound.

  Knowing I was on very sketchy ground, I carried on in a hurry. “Thank you! Now for the last time, Emmett is alive and well. He’s safe. But he won’t be if the ones in charge of the market keep trying to shut us up. I just don’t think it’s a coincidence that war comes as soon as Esther’s in the path of it. And everything is connected together, so I need a bloody minute to think. Eloise, you’re talking about places like where the twins are hiding, right?”

  She nodded with a scary smile as her curls danced with the motion.

  “So I need to find another one, open a gate, and make a pathway somehow?”

  “Some things are simple,” she sang. “But most are not.”

  “This is my car,” Daimhín reminded me. “I am a queen. I am your boss. I am an ancient. I will not be told to shut up by a tainted nephal.”

  “Sorry,” I said begrudgingly. My phone rang, and I ignored Daimhín’s terrifying expression to answer it. It was Carl.

  “Nancy won’t come with me, Ava,” he said. “She reckons she doesn’t know me. She keeps getting upset and crying. I’m sorry, but I didn’t know what else to do.”

  “It’s fine. I’ll have to get her.”

  I hung up and asked Daimhín to let me out. She made the driver stop the car and set me free shockingly quickly. I knew I would be in for it later with her and Yvonne. And probably the entire Council, too. I was on extremely thin ice.

  I ran to my grandmother’s house, sick at the thought of not only facing her, but spending time with her in my own home. My place was going to get pretty crowded while I figured out what the hell I was supposed to do. Too much was going on, and I didn’t think I could deal with everything properly with her as a distraction. I opened her front door with the spare key she insisted on hiding under a stone turtle in her garden, again struck by the idea she had ever managed to keep me
hidden.

  “Nancy!” I called out. “What are you playing at? We have to leave right now. It’s not safe here any—”

  I stopped short, surprised to see her on her knees in the living room.

  “Nancy?” I asked, puzzled.

  She turned around, a frown drawing her eyebrows together. “Oh. Ava. I didn’t expect you.”

  “Yeah,” I said hesitantly, unsure of what her game was. “Why didn’t you go with Carl?”

  “Go where?” she asked, getting to her feet slowly.

  “Uh… to safety? To my place?”

  “That tiny flat? No, thanks.”

  I pursed my lips. Was she being purposely stupid? “I moved. Remember?”

  She nodded, the colour leaving her face. “Of course you did. Why am I to leave?”

  “Because it isn’t safe here anymore,” I said impatiently. “I’m in the middle of something sort of awkward. You can’t stay here while it’s going on. Just in case.”

  “You don’t want me to stay with you,” she said in a low voice.

  “No, I don’t, but I don’t want you to die either, so get your stuff, and we’ll leave.”

  “I’ll stay,” she said. “Take my chances. He… one of the neighbours takes care of me, makes sure I’m okay.”

  “That’s fantastic. Can he protect you from demons?” I snapped.

  “The angel will save me,” she said in a distant voice, staring at a sacred heart picture on the wall behind her favourite armchair.

  I rolled my eyes. “I doubt that. Look, I don’t have time for this. I’ll give you money to stay in a hotel. Go away for a week or something. I can’t be thinking about you, too. I’ll come get you when it’s over. I promise.”

  She gathered her arms around herself, trembling a little. “It’s so cold in here lately. Why do I have to go?”

  “Because it’s… are you okay?”

  She nodded, but her body was swaying back and forth. I didn’t have time to deal with that.

  “Get some things while I ring around and find you a hotel.”

  She turned out to be way pickier than I expected, but eventually, I was able to pay a hotel a week in advance, and I ordered a taxi to take us there. It was a busy hotel in the middle of the city, but I figured having so many people around would keep her safer than sitting in her house, the first place anyone would look.

  I rang Gabe again, requesting some kind of protection for Nancy. He agreed to send a Guardian over to keep an eye on her.

  “This is a one time offer,” he said. “And I better get some answers from you soon.”

  I couldn’t shake the idea that he could be the person I had been looking for all along.

  Chapter Eighteen

  When I returned to my house, Carl was amusing Emmett with a list of supposedly funny, but truly gross jokes. Peter had a strange look in his eyes, his shoulders hunched, and I wondered what had happened.

  “I need help,” I said as soon as they noticed me watching. “Everything’s screwed up again. Nancy refused to come here, so I persuaded her to stay in a hotel, and Gabe managed to get a Guardian to act as a temporary bodyguard, but of course, that will probably end up in me owing him another favour. In other news, the Council won’t believe me about Esther, and Eloise keeps giving me hints about opening gates and pockets and all kinds of weird crap. Somebody needs to tell me what to do before my head explodes.”

  “You tell us. You’re the one with all the answers, right?” Peter said.

  I narrowed my eyes, but he didn’t elaborate. Ignoring him, I turned to his son, wishing I had thought to make the boy leave the room before I started blurting out everything in my head. “Emmett, any more updates from Maeve?”

  “She hasn’t come back,” he said. “I think she’s trapped, too.”

  “Carl? Any idea of how to make sense of Eloise’s words?” I asked after I properly explained what had been happening.

  “Do you know of anywhere like that house in Liverpool?” he asked. “Because that would be the first step unless you know how to open portals at will. I’m not exactly sure what you’re supposed to do with Eloise’s info.”

  I thought about it. “I’ve felt the same vibe from Lorcan and Lucia’s home elsewhere. Twice, actually. Once at the trial, which we can rule out because Fionnuala would never even try to help us, and once while I was working for Daimhín. I picked up some money at a house, and it was covered by that shroud thing. I remember it so clearly because it completely blocked me, and that doesn’t happen very often. It felt almost exactly the same as the one in Liverpool, probably a closer match than even Fionnuala could do.”

  “Then maybe that’s where you need to go,” Carl said. “But even if it is the same, we still need to figure out what to do next.”

  “I’m just going to trust that Eloise gave a hint for a reason, and that there is a way of doing this. I’m not going to sit around waiting for the Council to act while Esther’s in trouble. And if there is a shroud over the goblin’s place, then someone knows how it got there, and maybe they know how to make a path from one to another. Or whatever the hell it is I’m supposed to be doing. Maybe it’s even the same person who created the other one.”

  “Ava.” Emmett wrapped his arms around my waist, and I held on tight. The kid managed to give me second thoughts, but I couldn’t sit down and wait.

  “Remember what Mrs. Yaga told you,” I told Emmett. “About what I do. This is one of those times.”

  “Maeve said it’s dangerous.”

  “Yup. Maybe I’ll tell you about all of the way more dangerous stuff I did before you came along.” I winked and ruffled his long hair. “But right now, I’ve a few promises to keep.”

  “You going alone?” Peter asked gruffly.

  “Best if it goes that way,” I said, wondering why he looked so annoyed. “Emmett, you be good while I’m gone, okay? If I’m not back tomorrow, ask Dita to come play.”

  “Emmett,” Carl said. “Why don’t you go back to bed?”

  Emmett glanced at me, but I nodded, realising how late it was.

  “When should we worry?” Carl asked when Emmett had left the room.

  “Now,” I joked, but nobody laughed. “Okay, I don’t get what the weird tension in here is all about, but it’s making me uncomfortable in my own house.”

  Nobody said a word.

  I sighed impatiently. “Fine. I’m going. Carl, take care of Emmett for me.”

  “He’s my son,” Peter growled.

  “Your priorities haven’t exactly been the right way around lately, and I can trust Carl,” I said. “That kid is number one. Do you understand that yet? He doesn’t leave this cul-de-sac. Not until all of this is over. He’s safe here. Out there… not so much. Something’s been watching us, and people already know he’s here with me. But whatever’s watching can’t get to us here.”

  “Is Mrs. Yaga that strong?” Carl asked.

  “Strong enough to defend her own territory. Look, I need to go. We don’t have a lot of time.”

  Carl gripped my arm, and I winced. With a stern look, he pulled up my sleeve and examined the brands. Peter made a few sounds of surprise, but I couldn’t concentrate while Carl poked at the tender scars.

  I finally pulled away, frustrated by the concern in his eyes. “Like I said. Not a lot of time.” I left without looking back, but something crept after me, a horribly twisted premonition of impending disaster.

  I headed straight for Folsom’s home. Whenever I had picked up the goblin’s debt repayments for Daimhín, there had been something odd about his setup, and he had frequently acted suspicious, but there was more, that blackness, something that completely shrouded the place against my own senses. It felt like the pocket the twins lived in. It was time I found out exactly what it was.

  By the time I reached his garage, I was terrified. No lights. Not anywhere. The cottage and garage were both shrouded in darkness, and even on the street, there was little light. The moon seemed to disappear behind cl
ouds right when I needed it to guide my way.

  Trying and failing to build up my courage, I decided to break into Folsom’s garage. I couldn’t sense any life in his cottage other than him, and no other heartbeats were within my range, so whatever he was hiding was probably in his garage. Maybe.

  A single padlock held the garage door closed. It seemed ridiculously easy to break the lock. In fact, I was pretty sure the lock had been purely for show. So what was really guarding the place?

  I slipped inside, determined to keep going until I found something worth taking to the Council. I couldn’t fight an entire country of vampires, but maybe they could. Or at least, they could use my information to find a way to free Esther.

  Dark shadows covered every inch of the garage. I moved slowly, afraid of knocking things over, but the path was clear, too clear for a working garage. Feeling braver, I switched on a light, and the shadows were erased with one swoop. The place was clean and tidy, which set me on alert. I had often heard noises from the garage, but only one car was propped up on a ramp, apparently ready to be examined for repair.

  I tried to use my other sense, but the way was still blocked, and that gave me the push I needed to keep going. But to where? There was nothing in the room except for carefully placed tools and one big car. I wandered over to the car and spotted a lot of dust all over the car.

  “What am I doing?” I muttered, then jumped at a rumbling vibration under my feet. Hearing footsteps from under the garage, I hesitated. Gathering my senses, I ran back to switch off the lights, then hid in a suspiciously empty cupboard because I didn’t know what the hell else to do. But nothing happened. Nobody came into the garage, nobody left it, and the footsteps died away completely.

  Frustrated, I switched the lights back on and crawled around on the floor, trying to figure out if there was a way to get down. I got to my feet when I spotted a half-full bottle of water on a shelf. I opened the bottle and poured the water on the floor. The liquid flowed toward the car and disappeared.

  I followed the small stream and lay on my belly to see under the car. The water had found its way through a crack in the floor. No, a door, I realised, a doorway hidden under the car. I pulled the hatch open easily, slipped under the car, and crawled through the trapdoor, feet first.