Tainted

by Claire Farrell

  “Politicians.” Peter snorted. “Let’s wheel out some old people and newborns for them to fawn over.”

  I punched his arm.

  Shay reached us and nodded at Peter. “When are you going to send Emmett to the club?”

  “I’m not sure if boxing is the right thing for him,” Peter hedged.

  “He’ll make new friends and have a good way to release his tension. What’s the big deal?”

  “I’ll think about it,” Peter said. I could taste his lie, but I wasn’t completely sure what his problem was.

  Shay gave me a weak smile. “Sorry about that meeting. It got out of hand.”

  I shrugged. “Nah, I’m used to it. But Mac told me he’s going to come here for Esther. That’s not going to be pretty.”

  He looked around. “Is she here?”

  “No idea where she’s staying. She’s keeping a low profile because of Mac.”

  “I’ll talk to him.”

  I curled my upper lip. “Ugh! Don’t bother. He’s too desperate to punish somebody to listen.”

  Phoenix joined us. “I wanted to give you an update on what we’ve found out.”

  Shay frowned. “We wanted to give you an update.”

  “An update already?” Peter’s sardonic tone made me shiver. “Quick work.”

  All of a sudden, I really wanted to be anywhere but next to those three. I stepped out of the little pinned-in semi-circle they had created around me. “I think some of the others might want to hear this.”

  I ran off, wondering when I had turned into such a massive chicken. I gathered Carl, Val, Lorcan, and Adam to hear whatever Phoenix and Shay had to say. I missed Esther. The place was getting way too testosterone-y.

  “We’ve been researching, too,” Carl said. “What have you come up with?”

  Shay nodded and said, “Daimhín’s been looking into the likeliest vampires in her domain to have defected to Seth. Some have gone into hiding, and that says it all to her.”

  “Unsurprising, really,” Carl said. “From what I’ve been reading, Seth is practically a religion to many vampires. That’s probably why they agreed to create the beasts in the first place—to please him.”

  I wasn’t convinced. “Vampires are pretty much in it for themselves.”

  “That’s true,” Carl said, “but think about it. They were created by Seth. He’s the sire of all sires.”

  “Except for Lucifer,” Peter added.

  Carl pointed at him, looking excited. “True, but Lucifer is a fallen angel. The vampires can’t relate to that. They can relate to this supervillain first vampire as a godlike creature though. He’s made from the same thing as they are. He’s just a little angelic, too. Lucifer took a human and created the first vampire. That vampire populated the earth with his own kind. Sure, they aren’t the same quality, but it’s close enough for them.”

  “Why didn’t Daimhín tell us any of this?” I asked.

  “Because she’s not in on it,” Carl said with a grin. “She thinks of herself as their ultimate ruler, like that master she’s always whining about who led the way before her. She was always part of a clan, a line of leaders. She wasn’t the lone vampire on the street feeling like nobody was on their side but their original creator. I mean, Daimhín’s terrified of the tainted, but vampires who follow Seth covet them.”

  I made a face. “I suppose it makes a weird, upside-down kind of sense.”

  “To a species who can never reproduce, Seth must be their only hope,” Shay said.

  “Okay, so he’s their god-religion-all-father-whatever. Great. How does that help us?”

  “It doesn’t,” Shay said in a grim voice. “It means the vampires who follow him will be crazy. They’ll do anything to please him. Anything at all. We’ll have to watch out. So will Daimhín.”

  “It’ll do her no harm to feel as vulnerable as the rest of us,” Peter said. “Can we track down these missing vampires?”

  “Daimhín gave us info on their pets,” Phoenix said. “In the daytime, we might be able to pursue them to find out where the vampires are hiding. It won’t be easy, of course.”

  Val nodded at Peter. “We can do this.”

  “I’ll send someone over with the relevant information tomorrow,” Phoenix said. “But there’s more. There have been more emergency calls lately. But when our people arrive, there’s nothing going on. In the rare cases when there is, everyone is already dead. It looks like the work of the beasts, but it’s been so controlled so far that we aren’t sure. But the rumours will spread. People will panic.”

  “Chaos,” Adam said. “He’s inviting chaos, so he can walk in unseen.”

  “He can’t just walk in here,” I snapped. I was so sick of Mr. Pessimistic.

  Adam squared his shoulders. “You know nothing.”

  Shay cleared his throat. “There are other rumours. People have reported hooded figures causing riots in the streets, instigating violence but rarely taking part.”

  “You think it’s the assassins?” Peter asked.

  “Possibly,” Shay said. “They’ve re-banded before under Reuben. Why not under an even more powerful vampire?”

  “I’ve been waiting for that,” Val said. “It makes the most sense. He needs to gather allies in this country. With two tainted nephal here, he could make it a base. I doubt his intentions are as clear as he pretends.”

  “There was a media report in Spain last night,” Shay said. “They called Ireland the Devil Country.”

  “Isn’t that just great?” I asked. “The formula to create beasts originated over there. How can they talk about us? The new human government is so going to blame me for destroying tourism. Again.” I looked around at their solemn faces. “Oh, come on. You don’t really think—”

  “We don’t know for sure,” Phoenix said. “Two nephilim were born here in a very short period of time. That must have some significance.”

  Darkness fell. Some of the guys piled the wood and made a bonfire. A half-hour later, Emmett raced over and pulled on my arm, panting as he tried to spit out words.

  “Calm down,” I said. “What’s wrong?”

  His eyes were wide with fear. “It’s bad, Ava. It’s really bad!”

  “What’s up?” I asked. “You break something?”

  “He’s here!”

  “Who?” I asked dully, already knowing the answer.

  “Seth! They wanted me to warn you. This is just the beginning. He won’t stop until he has what he wants.”

  “Who told you that?” Peter asked.

  Emmett pointed toward the mouth of the cul-de-sac. “Them.”

  We all looked to where he pointed. For a second, my eyes couldn’t adjust to the darkness. I walked around the bonfire to see more clearly. I heard a sound, something almost like an explosion, and the mouth of the cul-de-sac burst into flames.

  I stared in horror. Two crucifixes, each holding a body, were attached to a wooden sun. The entire tableau was all aflame.

  “What the hell?” I whispered.

  I saw movement to my right. Jessica was headed right for the fire.

  “Jess!” I ran toward her.

  Her jaw was slack, her eyes half-opened. She was following some compulsion, a voice the rest of us couldn’t hear. I reached her and grabbed her arm. She swung out and hit me. I flew back, barely avoiding landing in the bonfire.

  I was vaguely aware of shouts and screams. I scrambled to my feet, ran for Jessica, and tackled her to the ground. She fought back, but Parker appeared and helped me. He grabbed her hands and whispered her name pleadingly. I heard sounds all around me, people running into action, but I focused solely on Jessica. I couldn’t let him have her. I couldn’t let her walk away.

  I slapped her cheek, begging her to look at me. But it was Parker who broke through the haze.

  After too many tense minutes, she stopped struggling. “What’s going on? What’s happening?”

  “Take care of her,” I told Parker as Adam reached us. I ran wi
th the others to the mouth of the cul-de-sac. Peter and Carl were doing their best to extinguish the fire from inside our perimeter of neutral territory.

  “We need to get them down,” Shay shouted. “We need to help them.”

  “They’re dead,” I stated flatly.

  He looked as though he was about to run right outside, so I gripped his arms and made him stay still. “If Emmett saw them, they’re already gone, Shay. You can’t go out there.”

  His face creased with pain and anger. “What do I do?”

  “Just make sure no fire brigade comes out this way. Phoenix, check on the emergency calls.” I moved as close to the fire as I could, trying to see past the flames.

  The burning stack of wood was huge, but farther on the other side, I saw a lot of people. One of them waved at me. I shoved my middle finger up in the air in response. And then they were gone, and the heat of the flames beat me back. I tried not to look at the two bodies, but it was hard to avoid them. They were the main event, the highlight of the show.

  “Why?” I whispered. “Why is he doing this?”

  “He’ll do whatever it takes to get what he wants,” Val said.

  That shook me into action. “The kids—”

  “Already inside,” Val said. “Everyone’s safe.”

  Except for the bodies on the weird pyre, I wanted to scream, except for them.

  ~ * ~

  Jessica was curled up into a ball next to Parker on Carl’s sofa. Adam sat in a chair, looking helpless.

  “I’m sorry,” she said when she saw me approach. “I’m so sorry.”

  The anguish in her eyes was almost physically painful to me. I knelt at her feet. “What are you talking about? None of this is your fault.”

  “If I hadn’t come here, that wouldn’t have happened. If I hadn’t come to you, then—”

  “Then all of this might be happening to people less equipped to deal with it,” I said firmly. “Powerful figures are working with us, Jess. The entire country is going to stand by your side. Yes, there will be a few of Seth’s believers making a hack of things, but as long as you’re safe, he doesn’t get what he wants.”

  She stared at me, her green eyes wide with fear. “I don’t even remember what happened,” she whispered. “I don’t know what he did to make me try to get to him. I’m weak. I can’t fight back against him.”

  “That’s what he wants you to believe,” I said. “But you won’t be fighting alone.” I glared at Adam, daring him to contradict me. “Nobody fights alone around here. We’re a team, a family. And as long as the rest of us are around, you’ll never make it into Seth’s clutches, no matter what he does to you.”

  Parker squeezed her hand, concern written all over his face. He was a lovely kid, I decided. Dependable. “She’s right,” he said softly. “It doesn’t matter what he tries, we’ll be there to stop him.”

  “Who were those people?” she asked. “The bodies in the fire.”

  I sucked in a breath. “One of Shay’s units. A pair of agents sent out to investigate an urgent emergency call. They walked right into an ambush, apparently. They never had a chance. The rest of the men under Shay are now determined to help us get rid of Seth and his buddies. Don’t you worry.”

  “Those poor people.” She shook her head. “What a horrible way to die.”

  “They were already dead,” I said, my voice cracking. “Their spirits came to Emmett to warn us.”

  “The little kid?” Jessica blinked a couple of times. “He must have been scared.”

  “Everyone is scared,” I said. “All of the time. If there wasn’t some vampire after us, we would be scared of something completely different. It’s okay to feel scared. Just don’t let it consume you. Don’t let it eat you up.”

  She fidgeted with her sleeve. “I’m kind of tired. I just want to sleep if that’s okay.”

  “Yeah, of course. Parker and your dad can stay with you if you want.”

  She nodded, and I left to check on the others. The night had been crazy. We had managed to put out the fire, but we couldn’t call anyone to pick up the bodies out of fear of Seth ambushing them, too. We were stuck until morning, and even then, the hooded assassins could be lying in wait.

  Val and the twins were standing outside of Anka’s house.

  “Kids okay?” I asked when I reached them.

  “All asleep,” Val said.

  “Even Emmett,” Lorcan said. “Best not to wake him.”

  “Let me know if he has a nightmare,” I said. “It might freak him out to wake up in a strange place.”

  “Peter’s with him,” Lorcan replied.

  “Oh.” That surprised me. “Well, good. That’s great.”

  I spotted Shay standing alone at the mouth of the cul-de-sac. His sleeves were rolled up, his shoulders hunched. He had managed to pull the burned structure within my territory. As I approached, I saw that he had taken down the bodies and laid them on the ground. Their bodies were damaged by the fire, but the female was intact enough to tell how young she had been.

  I stood next to him. “I’m so sorry, Shay.”

  “They were the only pair who were actually excited to work together,” he said in a husky voice. “I had high hopes for these two.”

  “We won’t let this happen again.”

  He looked at me, his face drawn and tired. “How can we stop it? I thought I could make a difference, but since I started, all I’ve seen is violence and death. There’s so much suspicion and hate.” He shook his head. “How do we change that?”

  “One day at a time,” I told him. “I think we should hold a press conference and explain exactly what’s going on. People have the right to know what’s happening out there. That’s what turned people against the old governments—all of the secrets and lies. We need to be different.”

  “You’ll help?” he asked, almost pleadingly. “You’ll do this with us?”

  “Shay, my hands are tied. I can’t tell you everything about me, but I can’t influence anyone. I’ll do what I can, but I can’t be part of this government. Nobody would want a tainted nephal speaking for them, anyway. You talk about suspicions. My kind are the biggest rejects the whole world over.”

  He gave a small smile before his gaze found the bodies again. “I’ll have to tell their families. Will you come with me?”

  “Do you think it’s a good idea?”

  He shrugged. “I’d like the company.”

  I nodded. “Okay, I’ll come with you. We’re all in this together, right? You should do something for these two. Honour them in some way and give the rest of the units something to work toward.”

  “There’ll be a lot of anger over this. They may not all trust each other, but this makes it personal for them all.”

  “Good. We need a little anger. He’s not going to get away with any of this.” I pounded my fist into my palm. “Not now. Not ever. We’ve fought back before. We’ll do it again. Next time, we’ll be prepared for him.”

  Shay surprised me with a hug. I had said what he needed to hear, the words that would get him through the rest of the night. We all needed that—somebody to tell us the things we wanted to hear, whether we believed them or not.

  Chapter Seventeen

  After dawn broke, an ambulance and a fire brigade entered the cul-de-sac without incident. Shay hadn’t left the bodies. He looked absolutely devastated, as if he’d finally realised that the supernatural world was full of danger that he could never win against. I stayed with him until the bodies were escorted away. He was faltering on the edge of something. I was faintly worried that he would become another Peter and decide that vengeance was the only way to deal with pain.

  “I’m going to see the families now,” he said gruffly. “Can you come?”

  I had expected a little more time, but if that was what he needed, then I would be a friend to him. “I’ll just make sure everyone is okay, and then we’ll leave, okay?”

  He didn’t answer, just stared out at the morning
sky.

  I found Carl in his kitchen. “I’m going with Shay. He’s not doing so well, and I’m worried how he’s going to react. Maybe helping the families cope with their grief will help him in turn. Can you organise shit around here while I’m gone?”

  “Of course.” He wore the same grim expression he had all night. “Ava, be careful. He’s going to push us. He’s going to do everything he can to make you face him. You know that, right?”

  “What can I do?”

  He placed his palms against the counter with his back to me. “I have no idea. If we could find where he’s hiding then… just give us time. We’ll work it out.”

  “We’re running out of time.” I left him and joined Shay.

  “Are you okay to drive?” I asked warily as we headed to his car.

  “Yes.” Without elaborating, he climbed into the driver’s seat.

  I got in and waited for him to start the car before I asked, “Who are we seeing first?”

  “The human family,” he said in a clipped voice. “Then out of the city to the supernatural family.”

  I couldn’t gauge his mood. I had never seen him like that before. I didn’t know what to do for him. I cleared my throat. “It could get worse before it gets better, Shay. He’s targeting more than me and Jess. You could be in serious danger, too.”

  “Let him come,” he said bitterly. “I want to look him in the eye.”

  “No, you don’t. Stay with us. You can sleep on my sofa. Or Peter’s.”

  “And what about everyone else? What about the millions of people who don’t live in your little cul-de-sac, Ava? Are we going to leave them defenceless?”

  That quietened me. People were dying because of my choices.

  Soon, I started recognising the passing streets. “We’re going to Moses’s place.”

  “I did him a favour. I pushed for that girl to get on the unit. And now look at her. Dead and gone before she even got a chance at life. I had talked about what a good idea it would be to have someone from an under-privileged area on the team. I killed her, Ava, just as surely as that vampire did.”

  “This is all on Seth. She happened to go to that scene with her partner. You said yourself there have been lots of bogus emergency calls. This was why—to have them eventually go into the real thing, unsuspecting and unprepared. That won’t happen again. It was a horrible price to pay for that lesson, but the rest of those agents have learned it.”