Taunt (8 page)

He closed his
eyes while he spoke, rushing his words like he couldn’t stop.
“Everything I do is about my family, Ava.
Everything
. Lisa
and I were too young when we had Emmett. I remember thinking my
life was over. I didn’t appreciate what I had. I ended up moving in
with Lisa’s parents. Yvonne hated me; she couldn’t wait to leave
once I stuck around. She still hates me, actually,” he added with a
humourless laugh. “Her parents were great to me, though. Treated me
like one of their own, even though they thought I messed up their
daughter’s life.”

He paused, and I
wasn’t sure if he wanted me to speak so I stayed silent and
waited.

“
One
night, Lisa and I were supposed to go out together, but Emmett had
a temperature. We argued about it because she wanted to stay home
with him. I thought we should still go; we hadn’t had any fun in a
while. Even her parents said he’d sleep it off. I went out anyway;
I was twenty and didn’t have a clue. But I stopped sulking after a
while and went home to apologise.”

His fingers
gripped his wallet tight, his knuckles white. “The lights were out.
I thought that was weird. Then I tripped over Lisa’s dad’s body. He
and his wife, lying together; I found out later their necks had
been broken. I wasn’t like this then. I was terrified. I swear, I
almost lost my mind right there.”

He shook his head
and rubbed his cheeks before continuing. “I went upstairs. I don’t
remember walking, just that I got upstairs and saw Lisa. She was
slumped against the wall outside Emmett’s room. Her eyes were open,
her throat slit, and her blood all over the walls.”

He let out a
shaky sigh. “I didn’t touch her. I needed to find my son. I knew I
wasn’t going to see him alive; I just didn’t want him to be alone.
He was just a baby. He couldn’t be by himself.” His voice cracked,
and I thought my heart might break for him.

“
I did
see him alive, just for a second,” he said. “A monster had him. A
real monster, a green scaly demon like something you’d see on
television, just lifted him out of the cot. I froze, didn’t move a
muscle. It was like my brain couldn’t understand what it was
seeing.” He shook his head, looking disgusted.

“
What
happened?” I asked, unable to help myself. Entranced by the story,
I saw the real Peter crack through the shell of hate surrounding
him.

He looked at me
with empty eyes. “Then everything went black. I woke up in an
ambulance. Emmett was gone. Nobody believed me about the demon, and
they all thought I had killed Lisa and her parents. But there
wasn’t a speck of blood on me, and the time frame was all off.
Still, Yvonne wouldn’t talk to me, not even after they took me off
the list of suspects.”

His laugh was
humourless. “At first, I thought I was really insane. Demons?
Right. Then I dug around, went places, met Eddie, asked stupid
questions, and found out there was this big bad world that couldn’t
be explained away.”

“
So
that was it? Nobody found him? What about the demon who took him?
What was it?”

His jaw clenched.
“Not even a trace, not a clue, not a hope of finding what happened
to Emmett. Nobody can tell me what the demon might be, doesn’t
exist, or so they say. But I’ve been looking ever since. I wouldn’t
leave Yvonne alone until she let me prove it to her. She wouldn’t
stay in her parents' house again, so she rents it to me. We only
speak to exchange information and try to find a way of getting to
whatever took Emmett.”

I ran everything
through my brain as quickly as I could. “He was alive when you saw
him, though. Could they have him still?”

He shook his
head, looking more broken than I could put into words. “I’d do
anything,
anything
, for that to be true, but there’s no hope
anymore. Why would they want him? I just hope he didn’t suffer,
that it was quick. It’s been eight years now. You know, when I
found out that these things were real, I went crazy, tried to kill
as many of them as I could. I didn’t think. I was mad with grief;
if I had been at home, I might have stopped it.”

“
You
would have been killed, too, Peter.”

He stared into
the distance like he had forgotten I was there. “Eddie helped me
then, made me see there’s a smarter way. That’s why I owe
him.”

I wanted to tell
him how sorry I was, but I had a feeling it was something he
couldn’t hear.

I closed my eyes
and thought it over. I was right about him using me, setting me up.
What had happened to his family was heartbreaking, so I could
understand his motives. I still wasn’t sure what Eddie wanted with
Peter, but if I could help this man get some kind of closure, then
I would do it willingly.

“
Why
did you tell me this, Peter?” I asked, confused by some of his
words.

He moved to the
window and stared outside. “I’m not the man I used to be. I’ve used
people without thinking twice. Look at you. You’re constantly
trying to be the best you can be, but Eddie and I have helped mess
up your life completely. I’ve felt differently about a lot of
things lately. I lost my heart a long time ago, Ava, lost any
compassion I might have had. I stopped asking for help and just
took what I wanted. Sometimes I wonder what they would think of me
now, if they would even recognise me.”

“
I’ll
help you,” I said. “If I find out anything at all, I’ll let you
know. That’s not… I would do that.”

“
Thank
you,” he said. “Maybe I should have explained it to you before, but
I just couldn’t find the words. You have to understand who I am. If
I thought murdering a million innocent people would lead me to that
demon, I would do it. I’ll do whatever it takes to make them pay.
Do you see? Do you see what I am now?”

He looked me
right in the eye and let me see through his pain and bitterness. I
knew he would do whatever it took, but that didn’t make him a bad
man. I couldn’t blame him for feeling the way he did, and at least
now I had a why. I couldn’t think of Peter as bad, even when I
should. He let me know, in his own way, that I could never really
trust him, and I appreciated it, despite how much it hurt to
accept.

“
I’ve
had such trouble with you,” he said, almost smiling. “You’re part
of what I hate, yet you’re nothing like them. I feel like we could
have been friends, but we only spend time together when something
life or death is going on.”

“
I am
like them,” I admitted. “I’m thirsty again. It’s like, the more
stressed out I get, the more like them I become. I feel like
there’s this darkness in me, and it’s getting stronger. I do
things, and I don’t even know why. I don’t trust my own emotions
half the time.”

“
It’s
the world we live in, Ava. Spend any amount of time here, and it
blackens your soul. Ten years ago, I couldn’t have ended a life.
Now I don’t think twice about it. What does that say?”

I got out of the
bed to stretch. “It says that we have to make hard decisions
sometimes. Right and wrong doesn’t seem as clear anymore to
me.”

He stared out the
window again, lost in a memory.

Eddie returned
with food. I felt better after eating. My wound was healing nicely,
and the pain had toned down. Eddie was right about taking blood. It
would help me recover quickly, but I still battled against that
kind of thing. I wasn’t going to willingly drink blood if I could
help it. Eddie told me I was being stubborn to spite myself, but I
had to stay human in my own mind.

“
What
do you think is going on?” Peter asked Eddie. “Since when do
vampires use guns?”

Eddie frowned,
deep in thought. “A volunteer might have taken the
shot.”

“
I bet
it had to do with Gideon
and
Daimhín,” I said, standing to
stretch again.

“
How
do you know?” Peter was back on form, his past pushed into the
background.

“
Daimhín’s been acting strange with me, and Gideon’s been
sending vampires, and even Becca, to stalk me. To freak me out.
Besides, Gideon used to be part of Daimhín’s coven.”

His brows
furrowed. “All we know is Yvonne overheard Daimhín talking about
you on the phone. She made it sound like you were going to be
attacked, so Carl and I looked for you.”

“
Carl?”

“
Yeah,
he’s staying with me now,” Peter said. “We split up to find you,
but we never expected you to get shot.”

“
Maybe
it’s a test,” Eddie said. “Should they ever come up against you in
the future, they’ll have a better idea of what you can do, isn’t
that right?”

“
Funny
you should say that,” I mused. “There’s this vampire in Daimhín’s
place. He’s tried to put me under his thrall. Plus, he bit me. I
keep feeling like they’re trying to see what has an effect on me or
something. Daimhín’s been giving me weird tasks. She sent me with
that vampire for his first feed after a punishment by the Council.
Harsh, by the way. She sent vampires to follow us, so she was
watching to see what I would do. It’s like they all want to know
how I’ll react.”

Peter’s sat up
straight, a determined expression on his face. “You said this vamp
tried to beguile you. Did it work at all? Did anyone stop
him?”

“
It
didn’t work; one of the other vampires told me what he was doing.
When he bit me, he acted like he enjoyed it. A lot. I didn’t expect
that.” I shuddered. The idea of Jules drinking my blood freaked me
out. The memory of his eyes filled with desire for my blood was
enough to make me want to go home and lock my doors.

“
That’s sick.” Peter’s face paled.

“
He
liked your blood. How odd.” Eddie sounded fascinated. I wanted to
snap at him, but a loud bang startled me.

“
Someone at the door,” Eddie muttered. “I haven’t opened the
shop yet. Stay here, I won’t be long.”

When he left the
room, Peter looked at me curiously. “They don’t like the taste of
vampire blood; it’s strange that he enjoyed yours.”

“
Maybe
I taste different.”

“
Could
be. Perhaps the way you were made has something to do with
it.”

I bit my lip. I
wanted to tell him, see what he thought, or if he knew anything
about it, had ever heard of it happening before. I wanted to know
exactly what my grandmother had told him about me.

“
Did
she tell you how it happened?” I asked.

He looked
surprised. “Who? Nancy? No. She wouldn’t say.”

“
I
want to tell you.” The cold presence blew so hard, my hair whipped
across my face.

“
Don’t,” he said, his eyes widening with surprise. “What the
hell was that?”

I shrugged.
“Something that’s been following me around for a while. Keeps me on
the straight and narrow.”

He opened his
mouth to say more, but the door burst open, and a group of
broad-shouldered men trooped in. As they grabbed me, I realised
they weren’t human.

“
What’s going on?” Peter asked, but he didn’t try to help as
the men tied my hands behind my back. It didn’t feel like rope, but
I couldn’t see.

Eddie followed
them, apologising and begging me not to struggle.

“
Ava
Delaney, you are under custody of the Council,” one of the men
said. “My Guardian Circle has been tasked to transport you safely
to the cells to await your trial.”

“
Trial? What the hell?” I struggled weakly, but they were too
strong, and my stomach still hurt from the bullet.

Peter looked
helpless, while Eddie called after us and told me he would see me
soon. Like that was reassuring.

The Guardians
half-carried me out to a black car with tinted windows. They pushed
me into the backseat, and we sped off. I tried asking questions,
but they ignored me, so I eventually gave up. I watched the city
pass by, as my stomach churned with anxiety. I didn’t know what to
do; even if I managed to run, I had a feeling I wouldn’t get
far.

Two hours later,
I was sick of looking at fields and actually felt happy when the
car finally pulled in to our destination. There were no buildings
around, and for a few minutes I felt certain I was about to be
executed.

Two Guardians led
me across a field until we reached a mound. One man waved his arm,
and the ground opened up below us. We moved briskly underground and
then through brightly lit white corridors for what seemed like an
hour.

“
Where
are we going?” I asked, but the men continued to ignore me. I
already hated the Council. My stomach and chest burned; I needed
more rest before walking so far.

The further we
moved, the less chance I had of escaping. We passed no one, and all
of the white corridors looked exactly the same. None of the doors
were marked, so I had no clue how the Guardians knew where to go.
We could have been walking in an endless loop for all I
knew.

Finally, we
reached the end of a hallway, and I was pushed into a shower room.
A towel, a bundle of clothes, and some toiletries were neatly laid
out. I showered quickly, removing my bandage gingerly. The wound
was healing well, but it still looked awful. A clean bandage was
amongst the toiletries, and I wondered how they knew to include it.
I did a sloppy job of bandaging my wound, but it had to
do.