Taken (Ava Delaney #4) (20 page)

“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.

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
clouds 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.

Stairs led
downward, and I took a couple of breaths before I let myself get
eaten up by the dark. I stood and walked as soon as I could, my
fingers trailing the stone wall.

Cool air hit
me, and I heard murmurs that could have been trickling water or the
whispers of hidden voices. I couldn’t see a thing, and my own
heartbeat drowned out the thumping in my head.

I tried
counting my steps, but soon lost count. The darkness distracted me.
The steps were a little slippery, as though slimy mould grew on
them. The only scent was faint, and I had the feeling I was getting
close to the barrier that protected whatever was hidden there.

A sound made me
freeze to the spot, then a hand gripped my ankle, and I was
falling, my head striking the stone steps, my mind sinking into
oblivion.