Tithes (Ava Delaney

by Claire Farrell

  “Maybe. Maybe not. Hypothetical situation. Imagine somebody found a newborn baby with a slave brand, fresh, still seeping. Where would they go to find the mother?” I scowled. “Or the owner.”

  He wrapped up his roll and set it down, a sickened look on his face. “A baby with a slave brand—and you come to me for answers. Do you think my brothers are behind this? That’s not… I can’t see any of them having interest in that kind of… business.”

  “You all seemed pretty interested before.”

  The skin around his eyes creased. “Not interested. Ordered. We obeyed our orders. We had no choice.”

  “And yet there you sit, having made your own choices.”

  “You know what I had to do to make this life. I wouldn’t give this up—not now, if that’s what you’re trying to say.”

  I leaned back and studied Nate. I doubted he had made a good assassin, but I could never fully trust him. Still, if he was involved with the slave trade, he certainly wouldn’t be stuck in an apprenticeship, of all things.

  “All right,” I said. “What if somebody else is giving the orders?”

  He shook his head. “They would have come for me, too. I’m still useful.”

  “Then why can’t you be useful for the right side?”

  He snorted softly. “Maybe when I find the right side, I will be.”

  I could see I needed to ask the right questions. “What about money? Think these brothers of yours need an income? ’Cause the way I see it, the slave trade is a fairly lucrative business.”

  “Because it’s so easy to fall into?” He let out a short, harsh laugh. “Mother…” He squeezed his eyes shut for a second before correcting himself. “Fionnuala had centuries of connections and influence behind her. She didn’t just wake up one day with the notion. If anyone has taken over her business, it must be someone ancient, because who else could get away with it?”

  “Know of any ancients?”

  “My best guess would be her son,” he said.

  I tried to look relaxed. “The son who killed her. The son whose children were kept in the slave markets. Nope. Not buying it.”

  “Maybe he killed her to take over the family business. I’ve heard about young, wild fae, the way they play at a different life for a century or three. Maybe this one finally grew up and decided it was time to be a fae prince again.” He shrugged again. “Or not. I’m just saying it has to be someone who’s a big deal to pull this off unnoticed. Although…” He frowned. “If a baby was found, then maybe they’re not getting away with it, after all. If you’re digging into it, then it’s not worth the money. You’re like a dog with a bone. You’ll never let it go. Maybe somebody knows that, too.”

  I frowned as I processed that. “You think this is a distraction from something bigger?”

  “Why not? What better way to push your buttons?”

  “What’s bigger than the slave trade?” I shook my head. “I don’t care anyhow. I want to find out who’s responsible for this baby. If any of Fionnuala’s cohorts survived the war, we need to find them before children start being abducted again on the off chance that they’re special!”

  “What?” a young male voice said from behind me. “They’re slave trading again?”

  I winced before turning to face the speaker. “Noah, you shouldn’t eavesdrop.”

  “I wouldn’t have to if you told me the important things!”

  I lowered my voice. “I found a baby with a slave brand, but I’m dealing with it, okay?”

  His freshly tanned cheeks turned bright red. “Why didn’t you say anything to me?”

  “Because I don’t know anything for sure yet,” I said. “Take it easy, kid. I’m still trying to work this out.”

  His fingers tightened around the wrench in his hand, his knuckles turning white. “You don’t understand what it was like. We have to stop this.”

  “I’m going to,” I said.

  “I can help you. So can Ari. There are plenty of us who can help!”

  I exchanged a glance with Nate, who shrugged.

  “Look,” I said. “I don’t want this getting out. We know somebody’s trading in people, and we don’t want them to suspect we’re after them. We don’t want to give them a chance to run. This is my fight, and I’ll deal with it, Noah, the best way I know how. I was the one who started this, and I have to finish it. If I’d done more before, then maybe this wouldn’t be happening right now.”

  “But, Ava,” he all but whined.

  “If I find a job for you, I’ll call you; I swear,” I said. “But right now, I’m just asking questions. If you really want to help, pick Nate’s brains and see if you two can come up with a lead for me. All right?”

  Nate lifted his shoulders into a nonchalant shrug, and Noah looked pissed, but I didn’t want him getting too involved, not when he was finally earning himself some freedom.

  “And Nate,” I said, “whoever’s involved in this is automatically my enemy. Don’t go making yourself my enemy, too.”

  A flash of anger flared in his eyes. He picked up his food again. “I’m not interested in making enemies. I just want a quiet life.”

  “So do we all. Doesn’t mean we get it.” I got up and faced Noah. “Can I trust you?”

  “You know you can!”

  “You once worked in the slave market.”

  “I didn’t have a choice!” He ran his hands through his floppy black hair. “Fine. I get it. I won’t go off on one. I won’t tell anyone except Ari.”

  “Oh, come on.”

  “I trust her,” he said. “And she might have ideas. Ari always had the best ideas. She could help us find out where the baby came from.”

  “If I get really desperate, I’ll ask Ari for help,” I said sardonically. “Until then, keep quiet. Don’t let on that you know anything about this. Not even to Alanii or Phoenix.”

  “No problem,” Noah said, looking older for a moment. “I won’t let you down.”

  My phone buzzed in my pocket. “Hold on,” I said, seeing the name on the phone. I answered. “Wes?”

  Shouting in the background set my teeth on edge. “Ava, they’re back. It’s getting heated, and one is waving a gun around. We called the emergency hotline twenty minutes ago, and there’s been no sign of help coming our way.”

  “I’ll be right there,” I said. “Try to calm the situation until I get there. I’ll bring help.”

  “Thanks,” he said, then the phone call was abruptly cut off.

  “Shit,” I muttered, still staring at my phone.

  “Trouble?” Nate asked.

  “Probably just human problems. I have to run. Remember what I said!” I called out over my shoulder as I hurried to catch a taxi to help my ex-boyfriend.

  5

  On my way to my old neighbourhood, the taxi got severely stuck in traffic. I called Shay, silently praying he would pick up.

  He did, but again, the background noise was ridiculous. “Ava, I don’t have—”

  “Shay, this is serious! Those thugs looking for protection money are back, and this time, they’re armed. As in, with bullets. Emergency services hasn’t turned up, so I’m heading there now. You need to send someone to help.”

  “I… All right,” he said. “I’ll do what I can. Be careful, Ava.”

  I hung up.

  “You don’t expect me to drive into a gun fight, do you, love?” the taxi driver said worriedly.

  “Nope. You can let me out here.”

  I paid, left the taxi, then sprinted away. I wasn’t too far from Wes, and I was faster than a car stuck in traffic anyway. By the time I reached my old neighbourhood, sweat was dripping down my back. The place looked deserted. I hazarded a guess and headed for Mr. O’Brien’s home, and on the way, I came across a large group of people, several of them blasts from the past, facing off against the gang who had likely murdered Mr. O’Brien.

  Wes was in the centre, desperately trying to calm the situation, but even at a distance, I could see h
ow riled up everyone was. Some of my old neighbours looked ready to burst as the gang taunted them. I just hoped Shay’s people arrived soon.

  I raced over and reached Wes, who automatically tried to push me behind him.

  “Supernatural, remember?” I murmured.

  “I don’t care, remember?” he said under his breath.

  “The police are on their way,” I said loudly. “You need to leave.” I looked over my shoulder at my old neighbours. “Get out of here before something goes wrong.”

  A couple of them obeyed, but most kept staring at the gang. I faced forward again, ready to talk down the gang. The group of eight idiots consisted of two women and six men. None of them looked older than I was, and most of the males could have passed for teens. That deflated my temper somewhat.

  The brunette with the gun was still waving it around. “There’s no police coming here,” she scoffed. “They don’t come here anymore.”

  “Is that why you keep coming back?” I asked. “Because you think the police won’t be here to stop you?”

  Her smile turned cunning. “No, that’s not why.” And then she aimed the gun at me and pulled the trigger.

  I was already toppling over because Wes had blindsided me, shoving me out of the way amidst screams of fear and fleeing footsteps. I scented his spicy blood and made a concentrated effort not to do so again. Nine years later, I still remembered how he tasted.

  The shooter looked mildly shocked for a second, wringing her hand as though it hurt. I took advantage of that, tackling her and managing to knock the gun out of her hand—thankfully, it didn’t go off when it landed and skidded a few feet away. A couple of the shooter’s friends tried to help by gripping my arms and pulling me back. My attempts to fight back knocked us all to the ground. The brunette ran, and I just knew she was going to make a second attempt to use the gun on me. Then she froze to the spot and held up her hands.

  “Get away from her, or I’ll shoot,” Wes shouted, having reached the weapon first.

  “Come on,” the brunette said as sirens wailed close by. “It’s time to go.”

  The men ran, splitting up into different directions. I looked up. Wes, bleeding at the shoulder, was just about managing to aim the gun at the retreating gang.

  “Screw it.” I made chase. The young woman was slow, already breathing heavily and clutching at her side. I skidded into her—probably harder than necessary, but the gun situation warranted a little payback—knocking her off her feet. I pinned her, and she made like a ragdoll and stopped fighting back. But she gave me a knowing grin when I flipped her onto her back. “What’s the matter?” I said. “Enjoy getting locked up that much?”

  “Won’t be for long,” she sneered. “I’ll never let you hurt—”

  A car pulled up beside us, and the brunette promptly shut up. Quinn and her human partner hopped out of the vehicle. “Getting into trouble again?” she asked me with a smile.

  “Just your typical Wednesday,” I said. “This is the shooter.” I got to my feet and let them take care of her while I stopped Shay from arresting Wes, who still hadn’t let go of the gun.

  “Wes,” I said, waving my hand in front of his face. “It’s over.”

  He nodded. “Yeah, I know.”

  “So give me the gun then.”

  He looked down at his hand as though seeing the gun for the first time. “Oh,” he said. “Take it.”

  I grabbed the gun then handed it to Shay. “About seven others got away.”

  Shay directed a pair of IAs to make chase.

  “That was stupid,” I told Wes as one of the IAs checked out his injury.

  “Just skinned it,” the agent said. “No worries.”

  “I think the shock might get him first,” Shay said. “Ava, what the hell happened here?”

  “I just arrived, told the gang to leave, then Brains over there pointed the gun at me and pulled the trigger. No warning.”

  “None?” He raised his brow. “Did you happen to antagonise her with a smart remark first?”

  I sighed. My reputation wasn’t amazing.

  “No, she didn’t.” Wes managed to sound extremely offended. “They were stalling, making threats, dragging out the scene, then when Ava appeared, they just… shot at her. Like it was nothing.”

  Like she had been waiting for me.

  “But they missed,” Shay said coaxingly as Wes’s gaze went distant.

  “Uh, yeah. I pushed her out of the way and managed to get hit myself.”

  “Which was stupid.” I laid my hands on my hips. “Nobody thanks the hero, Wes.”

  “It was just a reaction,” he said. “What else was I supposed to do?”

  “Run, like everyone else, you doughnut. Jesus, you could have been killed.”

  “It doesn’t even hurt,” he said, glancing at his shoulder. “Is it supposed to hurt?”

  “An ambulance is on its way,” Shay told me. “Get him checked over, and then I expect a statement from you later. Sir, you’ll be visited for your own statement when you’re in a better condition.”

  “I’m fine,” Wes said impatiently. “And where were ambulances when Mr. O’Brien was beaten to death? Where were the Integration Agents all of the other times we’ve called the emergency numbers?”

  “I will absolutely look into that,” Shay said calmly. “But I’m afraid I’m not familiar with the situation and can’t get you any answers right now.”

  Shay continued to talk to Wes, charming him into shutting up. That gift of his had to be magical. I didn’t care what anyone said.

  The ambulance arrived, and while the paramedics were bundling Wes into the van, Shay pulled me aside. “You and I need to talk, Delaney.”

  “Big time,” I said. “When are you free?”

  “I’ll be in my office for the rest of the day. I’ll wait for you. I know you’ll be in the hospital with him for a while. You must be good friends if he was prepared to take a bullet for you.”

  I pretended my cheeks weren’t burning. “Long story. See you later.” I hopped into the ambulance with Wes and held his hand as the shock finally kicked in. He trembled all the way to the hospital, and I figured he had just realised how close he had come to death.

  “It’s going to be okay,” I said, trying to sound reassuring.

  “The world’s gone to hell,” he muttered.

  “And it’s all my fault.”

  He squeezed my hand. “Nah. Bad things existed before you showed your face. Were they human or… other?”

  I thought back. I had barely been aware of it, but I had reached out momentarily with my senses while most of the gang members were escaping. The brunette was definitely human, as were two or three of the others, but the rest all had at least a trace of something other. “Both,” I said. “I don’t know how that’ll shake out.”

  “I’ve never even seen a gun before,” he said. “Apart from television.”

  “I was shot once,” I said.

  The paramedic shook his head as though in disbelief.

  “Seriously?” Wes stopped shaking.

  “Yeah.” I laughed softly. “A vampire wanted to see what would happen.”

  “You’ve had a strange life since you left us.”

  I pursed my lips. “I had a stranger one before I left, Wes.”

  After that, we were silent for the rest of the journey to the hospital. As his injury wasn’t particularly significant, and he had been treated by the paramedics, Wes had to wait to be seen. We sat side by side in uncomfortable chairs in a room full of people in various degrees of distress. I spent most of the time trying to come up with harmless subjects to discuss. I was pretty sure he was doing the same.

  “Hurting yet?” I asked at last.

  “Like a bitch,” he said. “You don’t have to wait, you know.”

  “Kind of feel responsible.”

  “Something was going to happen, no matter what. If there hadn’t been a gun, there would have already been violence. Everyone’s sick o
f being pushed around. And Mr. O’Brien was a part of the neighbourhood. His death was like… an attack on all of us.” He shook his head. “Things are changing. People are talking about stocking up on weapons like it’s nothing.” He gestured toward his shoulder. “Maybe I should be doing the same.”

  “I’m sorry,” I said. “Nobody should have to go through things like this.” I met his gaze. “Look, I’m really sorry about everything, Wes. You’re right. I know you’re right. I should never have tried to make that decision on your behalf back then. It was wrong, and I understand if you hate me forever. But I’d really like to explain myself. I wasn’t being cold. I swear to you, I wasn’t. In part, I was trying to stop things like this from happening. I failed, but I tried.”

  “You really think today was about you?”

  “What else am I supposed to think? It turned bad when I showed up.” I flexed my fingers. “I will always care about you, and I’ll always be grateful for the way you treated me when I lived… back home. But there are things I want to forget and people I want to protect. Knowing me can be a curse. I’m a magnet for bad shit. And if you know me, if people know I care about you, then you’re vulnerable. The quickest way to hurt me is to hurt the people I care about, and most of them are already safe. They live in… safe buildings.”

  “So make my building safe,” he said.

  “It’s not that easy. There are rules, and… it’s too hard to explain in one conversation, but you were the most vulnerable person, and I had to do something. But I was being selfish, too.”

  “How so?”

  “The thing with Nancy… I just wanted to stop spending my life being defined by the way she treated me. I wanted to move on, and at the time, I thought the quickest route was a clean slate.”

  “And she was suffering from her memories of you.”

  I sucked in a shaky breath. “That, too. But with you… I don’t know what it is, Wes, but when I’m around you, I become this scared teenage girl again, someone who needs to be protected. Even today, you basically took a bullet for me.”

  “Is that such a bad thing?”

  “I need to be able to take care of myself. I need it so badly. The girl you knew died years ago. She doesn’t exist in this world—she can’t exist. She would never survive. And I want to do more than just survive. I want to live and experience and not have to worry so much. I’m so sorry for what I tried to do to you. I just didn’t want to be that girl again, and I thought maybe your life would be better if it wasn’t tangled up in anything to do with me. You deserve so much more than that.”