Taste (Ava Delaney #5) Read Free Page B

one of the original fae. A different bloodline. When Fionnuala’s ancestors invaded, he was sent to Hell because they didn’t know what else to do with him. Of course, he made enemies in Hell, too, and eventually, he was spit back out. The Council had no choice but to deal with him. That was a long time ago, and Elathan’s an expert at keeping under the radar. If I know the Council, they’ve already forgotten what he can do. Which works for me.”
    “What is it you want?” I blurted. “What do you get out of this?”
    “Power. Power is all I need to get what I want. I’m a man of simple tastes, Ava. I don’t need a lot to survive.”
    I thought of his sparse bedroom, how the only decoration was a painting of a woman. There was nothing else to mark it as his, aside from the living book of magic hidden in his drawer. I believed he didn’t want a lot, but the things he wanted weren’t necessarily safe for the rest of us.
    “You’re not planning on enslaving the world or anything, right?”
    He laughed, his eyes gleaming. “I don’t need to do that. I just need a little bit of power.”
    A shiver ran through me as a cold breeze blew against the back of my neck: Maeve, one of the spirits he had trapped to use for his own needs.
    Eddie straightened, looking annoyed all of a sudden. “If you don’t have any news, then you should get home. Wouldn’t want to leave your boys unprotected.”
    I wasn’t about to volunteer the fact that they weren’t there. Eddie had a knack of making the most innocent sentence sound like a threat.
    ***
    That night, Emmett crept into my room in the middle of the night and shook me awake.
    I pressed my hand against his forehead. “You okay?”
    He nodded, but there was pain in his eyes.
    “Can’t sleep?”
    He shook his head.
    “Want a hot chocolate?”
    “Yes, please.”
    We managed to sneak downstairs without waking Peter. I made us some hot chocolate and waited for him to talk.
    “The woman came to see me,” he said at last, licking chocolate from his lower lip. “Maeve.”
    “Oh.” I sat up straight. “Is she okay?”
    He shook his head again. “I think she’s sad. Or maybe angry. She keeps saying it’s dangerous to help him. That it’s getting closer to the end. She scared me.”
    I wrapped him in a hug. “She didn’t mean to scare you. She’s just worried about me.”
    “I’m worried, too. Don’t do dangerous things, Ava. Stay home with me. We’ll be okay. We’ll forget about everything else.”
    “Emmett, I need to keep you safe.”
    His forehead creased into a frown. “But who will keep you safe?”
    “I can take care of myself, but there are people who will help me. Don’t worry. I know what I’m doing, Emmett. I have a plan. There isn’t anything that I can’t get myself back out of. And when I’m done, we’ll have a normal life.”
    I wanted him to believe it so badly. I wanted to believe it.
    I hoped I could pull it off before Eddie finally played his hand.
     

Chapter Three
    Emmett moped around for a couple of days, forlorn for reasons he couldn’t quite explain. To cheer him up, Peter decided to take him to the pictures for the first time.
    “It’s huge,” Peter told him. “You’ll love it.”
    “Can you come?” Emmett asked me hopefully.
    “Not today. I need to visit the sanctuary. Bring them some of the treats that you haven’t stolen yet.”
    He grinned. “I’m a kid. I’m supposed to eat junk. So Dita said.”
    “I’ll be having words with Mouthy Dita. Don’t you worry.”
    He giggled. “She also said you’re not scary at all.”
    I raised an eyebrow. “I hope you told her she’s wrong.”
    “Nah. I agreed with her.” He ran out of my reach, still giggling.
    “Peter, your son’s bothering me,” I said in a singsong voice.
    “God, would you two ever give it a rest,” Peter said, but he was smiling.
    “I should head on anyway,” I said, but I pulled Peter aside before I left. “I probably should have