Taunt (20 page)

As we drove to
Becca’s flat, I tensed up even more, remembering how Peter had
reacted the last time we went there. Granted, I’d been in full-on
attack mode, but he hadn’t handled it well.

We headed
straight for Becca’s flat and knocked on the door. After a minute,
she opened it and then tried to slam it shut again, but Peter
stopped her. She rolled her eyes in resignation and let us in
without much comment.

“
What
now?” she asked, her hands on her hips.

“
Christ, you look worse than earlier,” Peter blurted out. Becca
scowled, but she really did look terrible.

“
Is
that what you came to say?” she said, her sarcasm hiding her
fear.

“
No,”
I said. “You need to tell us everything you know about the
formula.”

She lounged on
her sofa and lit a cigarette. “Or not.”

“
Remember what happened last time I paid you a visit?” I
asked.

She made a face,
and her fingers trembled around the cigarette. She grinned
suddenly, and I noticed that her teeth looked different. Not
fanged, just different somehow. Her eyes were redder than before,
and her heartbeat was incredibly slow. With a pang, I realised she
was very close to death. Whether she kept living or not was another
issue.

“
There
you go again with the threats,” she said. “And you make out they’re
the monsters?”

“
That’s enough.” Peter took a seat across from Becca. “It’s
time to do the right thing, Becca.”

“
Oh,
and I’m doing the wrong thing right now? Says who? You and your
daywalking girlfriend? Bullshit, Peter. I’m not hurting anyone, you
sanctimonious prick.” She stubbed the cigarette with angry stabbing
motions.

“
I
thought you cared about Maximus,” I said.

She glared, her
eyes glittering. “Don’t talk about him. You don’t know him. He was
special
.”

“
Yet
you hang around with Gideon now.” I shook my head with an
exaggerated sigh.

“
What’s that supposed to mean?” She sat back, but I could see
the spark of interest in her eyes.

“
You
do know that he helped set Maximus up, right? I mean, he was never
loyal to Maximus anyway, and the dust had barely settled before he
took over. He was a little too on the ball. He made sure nobody was
around to protect Maximus.” I waited, but she stayed silent, and I
lost hope. I glanced at Peter, but he wouldn’t look at
me.

Becca rubbed her
forehead so hard, it left a pink dented mark. “He destroyed all of
Max’s precious things. Max kept his human belongings for so long
that they turned into artifacts. Gideon. That traitorous—I knew
it!” She slammed her hands on the coffee table, and it collapsed,
startling Peter and me. She got up and paced the room, shaking her
head every now and then. When she finally whirled around to
acknowledge us again, I was ready for her to lose the plot
completely.

“
I
need that formula. If it stops now, I’m screwed. I can’t even take
it late. I’m going to keep taking it, and then I’m going to make
sure I repay Gideon for everything he’s done.” She sat back down
and closed her eyes. Her arms looked floppy and weak, like she was
suddenly out of energy. When she opened her eyes again, they were
watery and dazed.

I decided to keep
asking questions until she answered. “I want to know about the
testing going on and the formula the vampires are using. Do you
know what’s in it?”

Her words slowed.
“I hardly asked, I don’t care.”

Peter sighed.
“Where do they keep it?”

“
They
don’t keep it. They use it straight off. It doesn’t keep, or they
don’t want to get caught with it. I don’t know.”

“
Can
you get us some of it?” Peter asked.

“
No.
Only a tiny bit arrives. I need every drop.” She sighed and rubbed
the back of her head against the chair.

“
Why
would you want to turn, Becca?” I asked. “Last in, first out,
especially when the quota gets a little tight.”

“
Yeah,
well, the way I hear it, there won’t even be a quota for much
longer. I ain’t worried, love.”

Peter and I
exchanged glances. Was Gideon honestly planning on staging a
rebellion against the Council?

“
I’m
tired.” She yawned. “I need a lot of sleep these days.”

“
We
should go,” Peter said, and headed for the door. He held it open
for me and hesitated as I passed him by. I heard him tell Becca she
could come to him if she needed help. I looked at him quizzically
when he joined me, but he pretended not to notice. I wondered if he
was being soft or if he had another plan.

We got back into
the car and drove back to Eddie’s place.

“
So
what do you think?” I asked.

“
It’s
screwed up. She’s all over the place. She was the same earlier, up
and down. I think you got to her about Gideon though. I might just
be able to persuade her to speak to the Council about him.” He kept
nodding like he could hear her already.

“
She
doesn’t have long left, Peter. I’m sorry,” I said, hesitant to ruin
the mood but wanting him to know.

“
She
barely looks human anymore.”

“
Do
you think there’s a chance? That she’ll turn?”

“
Maybe. But I’m more worried about what she’ll turn
into
,” he replied.

I gave him a
pointed look. He clarified, “What I mean is, vampires were made
from a type of human that doesn’t exist anymore. Technically,
because our bodies have adapted enough to ward off their poison,
we’re a new variation, and we don’t know how the poison will react
with our systems. I’m concerned that she’ll turn into something we
don’t know anything about.”

“
I’m
sure she won’t.” I tried to sound confident, but he was right.
Technically, we didn’t know what we were dealing with. But if
anything had gone wrong in Spain, then surely they wouldn’t be
selling the formula to vampires abroad. Not unless they
wanted
it to go wrong. I bit my lip, worrying.

“
Hey,
it’s okay,” he said, noticing my concern. “It’ll be
fine.”

“
We
all keep saying that, but nothing’s fine. That was some screwed up
stuff in Eddie’s shop, and yesterday he tried to attack me. I
swear, it looked like he was using people’s souls or something.
Then the thing with Esther and the shifter who committed suicide.
Lots of strange things are happening. It seems like something
bigger is going on while we’re hung up on the little
things.”

The worry flooded
out of me; I couldn’t stop it. Peter pulled over sharply, and cars
behind us beeped at the lack of a warning.

“
Wait,” Peter said, turning in his seat to face me. “Back up.
Did you say Eddie attacked you with
souls
?”

“
He
tried to. Somehow I managed to block it, but don’t ask how.” I held
out my hands. “I know it sounds crazy, but that’s how it felt at
the time. I saw something, and I was convinced they were
souls.”

“
You
said the darkness was on my soul. How would you even be able to see
a soul? Vampires can’t do that, how can you?”

“
I
don’t know! I don’t know why I used the word
soul
even. It
just made sense to me.”

He puzzled over
it for a few seconds. “If it makes sense to you, then I believe
you.”

“
Don’t
think I’m evil anymore?” I asked with a laugh, but I was only half
joking. I held my breath, waiting for his answer.

“
I
don’t care what you were born as,” he said. The kindness in his
eyes calmed my nerves. “You try to do good, and that’s what
counts.”

I shivered, but
in a good way. The air sparked with tension again; the sensation
felt perfectly normal. That was partly what I enjoyed about Peter’s
company; he brought out the human in me.

“
I
suppose we should get back to the bookshop before Eddie
spontaneously combusts. I’ve had about twenty missed calls from him
today,” Peter said, but he didn’t move.

“
Okay.”

He studied me
until I squirmed in my seat. He laughed at my awkwardness and took
pity on me. “I’ll make sure people are watching Becca from now on.
We don’t want to miss any of these deliveries. I reckon there’ll be
one before the trial. If we can’t persuade Becca to help, then
we’ll just have to catch them in the act.”

I liked the sound
of that.

We made it back
to the bookshop before Eddie’s head exploded. Peter explained what
had happened at Becca’s to Carl and Eddie before leaving to brief
Esther, who had already left.

“
I’m
sorry about earlier,” I told Carl, my face roaring red.

He smiled,
nonplussed. “It’s cool. I should have warned you or
something.”

“
You
okay anyway? Looks like Eddie did a good job on your face.” Carl’s
face was already a lot better, thanks to Eddie’s bag of tricks. He
couldn’t sort out the lisp, but at least Carl’s eyes could
open.

I couldn’t relax
around Carl. I no longer craved his blood, thankfully, but I was
embarrassed by how weak I’d been when he needed me to be
strong.

“
You’re being stupid,” he said, and made me look at him. “You
didn’t do it on purpose.”

“
I
know.” I shrugged. “You did good today. You probably made Esther
help me. But don’t do that ever again,” I added before his ego
swelled even more.

He laughed and
elbowed me gently. “It was fun, though.”

“
You’re so sick.” I hated the way he linked danger and pain
with a good time.

“
Oh, I
can’t believe I forgot. That chick, Yvonne, came here looking for
you. Daimhín wants to speak to you. I told her you were with Peter,
hope that’s okay,” he said, looking worried all of a
sudden.

“
It’s
fine. She’ll probably call him instead. I have absolutely no
intention of going to see Daimhín. I’m not going to lie for her at
the trial, and I can guarantee you that’s what she
wants.”

“
Probably. So, what now?”

“
Now?”
I sighed. “We wait, I suppose. Peter said he was going to get
someone to follow Becca, to make sure we don’t miss the next
delivery. They have frequent deliveries because they pass on small
batches, so we could be lucky enough to get our hands on one before
the trial.”

“
How
do the deliveries arrive? Plane, post, courier, what?”

“
Um, I
don’t know,” I admitted. “We kind of got overexcited about the
little stuff.”

Carl frowned.
“That’s not like Peter.”

I blushed; we
might have been distracted.

“
We’re
hoping Esther comes up with something, I suppose. And that I can
escape from Cell Block Eddie once I have to move.” I pushed past
him to wander amongst the book shelves. “Hmm, there’s a lot of
interesting stuff here.”

“
Yes,
there is,” Eddie said, startling me. “But unfortunately, this isn’t
a library. Sit down for a few minutes, Ava. I want to discuss the
trial with you.”

I heaved a sigh
and obeyed, feeling like an irritated teenager with an
overprotective father.

“
I
believe the trial will go as planned for the most part. You may be
called upon to give your version of events, but that doesn’t always
happen. Still, it’s better if you’re prepared. Go over what
happened, make sure it’s clear in your mind. Don’t exaggerate or
over-sensationalise. Be honest, concise, and… try not to be
rude.”

“
What?” I asked, surprised.

“
You
can be abrasive when you feel threatened. It’s better if you come
across as non-threatening as possible, make them see you as
vulnerable.”

I glanced at
Carl, but he looked like he agreed.

“
I am
who I am,” I said, affronted. “I can’t help how I come
across.”

“
Stop
acting like a spoiled teenager for a minute, and think about the
trial. It isn’t just the trial. This is your introduction into the
world. Think of yourself as a debutante; you have to make the right
impression. If the trial problem goes away, then there will be many
interested in watching you. If they consider you a threat, you’re
in trouble. Do you understand, pet?”

He looked so
earnest that I felt like trusting him, throwing my life into his
hands and saying, “Yes, please, manage me.” I shook myself out of
that in a hurry, fearing he was trying to cast his will or whatever
on me once again. His unnatural power terrified me. I would always
be wary of him, even when his eyes were as soft as a father gazing
upon his only daughter, even when I desperately wanted to trust
him.

He took my hands,
pleading with his eyes. “It’s not like the world you know, Ava. The
rules are old and need to be followed. You need to show them you’re
capable of doing as you’re told. You’ve lived on your own for long
enough; it’s time for you to join the rest of us now.”