Taste (Ava Delaney #5) Read Free

“I don’t know what’s going to happen to me. To Emmett. To any of us. I don’t know how to hold in what I am. I don’t know how to fake it.” His voice shook.
    I kissed the top of his head, caressing the back of his taut neck. I didn’t have the words to make him feel better, and his frustration rolled off him. It was hard for him to fit into the little box I had created for him, but Emmett had to come before his urges. Emmett had to be number one, or the kid would be lost. I knew what it was like to fake it. I wore a mask most days. I would pull Peter through anything if he let me.
    “There’s a lot coming our way,” he whispered.
    “But not today.”
    He raised his head to look at me, and I wanted so badly to heal the pain in his hazel eyes. But what ailed him was complicated, and sometimes talking didn’t help. When I kissed him, it was different. Not him taking something from me. Not aggressive. Not dominant. Deeper, softer. He showed me his vulnerability for the first time, letting me share it.
    He carried me up to bed, and my hope sparked again.
    ***
    I waited until he had fallen asleep to put away the weapons, counting like a prayer.
    He didn’t mention it the next morning, but he spent the day outside with Emmett and Dita, and every now and then, I caught him staring into the distance. Each and every time, my stomach dropped.
    My imagination went into overdrive, so I waited until Carl came over before I went to see Eddie as I had planned.
    “Keep an eye on him, okay?” I warned Carl at the door.
    “What’s going on?” He looked better lately, as if his body had finally begun to heal. Sometimes the scar tissue never healed.
    I shrugged. “I don’t know. He’s going stir crazy, probably. Being here, not being out there.”
    Carl’s expression turned stern. “You mean he’s getting agitated because he can’t hurt something. Ava, I don’t like this.”
    “What’s not to like? We all go through things, Carl, and we’re all still here because we have each other to help us through the bad days.”
    “That’s not what I’m saying. I’m worried he’ll take it out on the wrong person. Maybe he needs to work off some steam.” He gave me a pointed look. “Before it’s too late.”
    I frowned. “What? Let him go back to what he’s been doing since Emmett was taken from him? Making enemies everywhere? He has his son to think about now.”
    “ You’re making enemies.”
    I grinned. “But I’m making bigger allies.”
    He rolled his eyes. “Yeah, we’ll see where that gets you. Eddie’s getting antsy, speaking of allies and enemies.”
    “Yeah, well, I get held up here sometimes. I haven’t been to the sanctuary all week either. Anything strange at the bookshop?”
    He shook his head and moved into the living room to sit down. “Marina’s been in and out. Doing something witchy, I suppose. Sometimes I think I can smell it. Ever since…” He shook his head. “I’m pretty sure she’s using magic at his place.”
    “Black magic.” I shivered. “Gross.”
    He raised a brow. “Because Helena told you so?”
    “Don’t talk about her like that. She helped me. She helped Emmett in Hell. It’s not her fault that her children and husband were stolen from her. I don’t blame her for anything she did.”
    “She tried to use you. You keep forgetting that bit.”
    “Everyone tries to use me. It’s figuring out what they want me for that’s the problem.”
    “You have issues,” he said. “You can’t live life expecting people to use you.”
    I stared at him blankly, and he threw his hands up in the air. Carl was like a brother to me, but he aggravated the crap out of me half the time.
    He sighed. “We seriously need to deal with this self-esteem thing. Stop trusting people who admit to using you.”
    I had a feeling we weren’t talking about Helena anymore. “Well, whatever,” I said. “I believe her about Marina. There’s something way wrong there.”
    “You think