Taunt (11 page)

She glared at
him, like he was daring something she had forbidden. The human
woman beside Eddie nodded. The black man did the same.

Fionnuala glanced
at Gabe, who inclined his head slightly. “Fine,” she said. “In a
week’s time, the trial will begin. If you speak for her, arrange
her testimony. As should the vampires,” she added, narrowing her
eyes at Gideon.

“
What
do the vampires accuse her of?” the transparent old man
asked.

“
Koda,
we accuse her of instigating war, deliberately exposing us to
humans, murder, treason, and the worst charge of all, being a
daywalker.” Gideon waved his arms around.

A gasp rose
around the room. And no wonder, Gideon had made it sound like I was
a mass murderer or something. It seemed like Gabe and Eddie were
the only ones who didn’t react.

Koda looked me
over with a small smile on his lips. “This little thing managed all
of that? Very well. This better be good, Gideon.”

“
This
creature betrayed us. She murdered a few of our number while we
were busy settling a dispute with another coven. She came into our
home under light of day and murdered our leader. A few nights ago,
she killed again, publicly. She carries a dagger, one that kills us
almost instantly. She is a threat to us; she must die.”

“
A
weapon like that is uncommon.” Gabe folded his arms. “Next we’ll
hear she’s some sort of ninja assassin.” He rolled his eyes as if
bored.

“
Perhaps she has a vendetta,” Gideon said, ignoring the
laughter at Gabe’s remark.

“
Why
have we not heard of this one?” Fionnuala’s hair sparked around
her. “She has hidden in the shadows, perhaps she was underground.
Perhaps
she is a Féinics.”

“
You
are too paranoid, Fionnuala,” Eddie said, but the way his heart
raced gave me pause. “She fights for no rebel cause; remember, she
was raised by a human.”

“
Then
why does she fight at all?” Gideon sounded like he was enjoying
himself.

“
Hold
on a second,” I protested, almost forgetting about the flames and
running straight through them. “You all attacked me first. Maximus
kidnapped my grandmother and tortured me to find out how to make an
army of people like me. You tortured me too, you dick!” The lack of
sleep didn’t do me any favours. Eddie gestured wildly, urging me to
sit down.

Fionnuala’s frown
deepened, and I felt something malevolent in the air. Thunder
rolled in the sky until Koda touched her shoulder
gently.

“
I’m
sorry. She means no disrespect. She’s recovering from a recent…
injury and is still on painkillers. What she means to say is she
was justified in defending herself. Gideon’s coven did kidnap her
grandmother,” Eddie covered. “They tortured Ava to force her to
reveal how she was created and only let her go when Daimhín
interfered and took Ava into her employment.”

“
Hold
on, she’s Daimhín’s employee?” Koda asked, leaning forward with
interest.

“
Yes,”
Gideon butted in. “They both should be punished. They have upset
the balance. Daimhín probably created her. The mongrel changes
everything just by existing. We can’t let her go around destroying
our kind. It’s not like we can create any more of us.” Wow, Gideon
totally sold Daimhín out.

“
Wait
a minute!” I jumped when I heard Peter’s voice from the other end
of the marquis, I didn’t realise he had attended, or even that he
would have been allowed. “Gideon’s been injecting humans with a
formula meant to trigger the change, just like Maximus before him.
That’s against the law. That’s what’s upsetting the balance. Ask
him about that!”

The Council
collectively appeared interested, but Koda was the one who spoke.
“Bring me proof, Brannigan. Then I can do something about it.” He
stared meaningfully at Peter, whose face grew
determined.

“
Why
did you kill Max? In daylight, without a fair fight?” Erossi
asked.

I shrugged.
“Daimhín told me to do it that way. He deserved it
anyway.”

“
For
kidnapping your grandmother or torturing you?” Gabe looked at the
other Council members. “We should speak on this.”

After a long
whispered discussion, Koda spoke for the other Council
members.

“
This
case is more complicated than we first anticipated. Therefore, we
are allowing one full week for both sides to bring forth a full and
detailed account of each incident.”

Gideon leapt to
his feet. “We don’t need a week, Koda!” For the first time, he lost
the cocky look on his face.

“
I
don’t care what you need. This is what you’re getting. Both of
you,” he added sternly, looking from me to Gideon.

“
But
she’ll remain in custody?” Gideon asked, almost
pleadingly.

“
No,
there’s no reason for that. She will remain under the custody of
one of our consultants; therefore, we know she will be back for the
trial.”

Eddie got to his
feet. “Of course, Koda. She can stay with me, and I’ll keep my eye
on her and make sure she arrives on time.”

Unsure if that
was a better solution than being imprisoned, I glanced up at Eddie.
He had lost the stress line on his forehead so I figured the
hearing had gone better than he expected. Or at least, no
worse.

The Council all
stood, Fionnuala declaring the proceedings over. Most of the
observers left, each of them making sure to get a good look at me.
The circle of fire died away, setting me free, and the remaining
Guardians dragged me back to the building. They were rough about
it, even though I was allowed leave.

One of them, a
broad-shouldered man with glassy black eyes, pushed me into a room
and followed me in. He stood by the door and waited.

“
This
is the bit where you let me go,” I said, more than ready to
leave.

He kept his focus
on me, and I could have sworn I felt insects crawling all over me.
A wave of nausea hit me when I tried to look into his eyes again.
Wrapping my arms around myself, I kept as far away from him as
possible and waited for Eddie.

The door opened
after a couple of minutes, but only so someone could hand in my
clothes. The Guardian threw them at me. “Change,” he said, and I
dropped my things to the floor in fright. His voice did something
to me, something bad, and he knew it.

With trembling
fingers, I picked up the clothes, realising too late that he
planned on watching me dress. Humiliated, I avoided his eyes and
threw my clothes on as quickly as possible. I felt myself withdraw,
felt numbers come to the tip of my tongue. I shook myself mentally.
No more scared little girl.

I looked the
Guardian in the eyes, ignoring the shuddering awfulness in the
blackness, and made a scornful noise. The smirk dancing on the
corners of his lips vanished.

“
I
hope that was more thrilling for you than me,” I said. “I’m sure
the next time we’re alone will be far more exciting.”

He gripped my
shoulder and pushed me outside the room. I expected to come up out
of the ground, but the headquarters of the Council seemed to be a
warren of entrances and hidden rooms. Finally, we made it to a set
of double doors that led outside. Glancing around, I saw we were
surrounded by unfamiliar countryside. Without a word, the Guardian
released the tag from my wrist and waited in front of the doors. I
stood a few paces away from him, shivering with cold, until Eddie
and Peter pulled up. I got into the car without a word.

My favourite coat
lay on the seat, and I gathered it in my arms, smiling when I felt
the comforting shape of the dagger. I looked back at the building,
seeing it now looked like a disused barn. The black-eyed Guardian
still stood in front of it, staring at the car.

“
Exactly how much trouble would I be in if I went back to
murder him?” I was only half-joking.

“
Guardians giving you a hard time, huh?” Peter
asked.

“
Something like that.” I wasn’t about to tell him I had to
undress in front of one of them.

“
Ava,
don’t even joke about something like that. It’s big trouble you’re
in. Don’t you get it?” As usual, Eddie had to put a damper on the
one thing keeping me going. Revenge.

“
I
know I’m in trouble. They’re all freaked out about the daywalker
thing. How come?”

“
They
don’t know what to do with you.” Eddie’s words sparked a memory.
Leah had pretty much said the same thing about herself. “It isn’t
often they’re faced with the likes of you,” he continued in his
pleasant lilt. I almost liked him when he spoke that way; it made
me forget what he was capable of.

“
The
likes of me? What
is
the likes of me?”

Eddie sighed.
“That’s what they’re trying to find out. You have to understand,
the Council is ancient, made out of necessity. The rules are
archaic, mostly. You have to fit in, or know how to play the rules.
Lucky for you, I consult, so I know the rules.”

“
I
shouldn’t have to play by the rules. I’m not in the wrong!” The
whole thing frustrated me.

“
But
you see, that’s the thing. By the rules, you
are
in the
wrong. Lack of knowledge is not an excuse. They have to make their
point with you. I think I’ll be able to talk them around; they
won’t put up much of a fight.” I sensed his tension. There had to
be a but coming.

“
But…”
I tried to help.

“
But,
I can’t do much about your genetics, and that is your biggest
problem. That is the one thing that could kill you.” The strain in
Eddie’s voice was obvious. “I’ll play it down, but I’ll be the only
one.”

We all fell
silent. I gazed out of the window, seeing plenty of nondescript
fields. I had no idea where we were, or even what time it was.
Being in a windowless room had screwed up my system. I thought over
the hearing. It had been a mess of confusing phrases and
opinions.

“
Féinics,” I said, remembering. “Fionnuala called me a phoenix?
What was that all about?”

“
Fionnuala’s paranoid about rebel sects. That’s not your
concern; you have plenty of other things to worry
about.”

“
The
other stuff is bullshit, if you ask me,” Peter said.

“
What
do you mean?” I had done the things they accused me of. Well,
mostly, but in context, I had had no choice.

“
None
of it fits. Anyone else apart from you, and the charges would have
been laughed at. Vampires sort this stuff out amongst themselves.
Fionnuala should have locked Gideon up for wasting their time. So
why did he even take up the charges against Ava?”

“
To
bring up the daywalker issue,” Eddie responded.

“
Exactly. He wants her out of the way, or maybe as a
distraction. It’ll take any steam off his arse about the human
testing he’s been involved in.” Peter sounded confident. I didn’t
doubt his theory too much. Gideon had looked altogether too smug at
the hearing.

“
You
know, Eloise kept dropping hints that make me think I’d been set up
somehow,” I said, drumming my fingers on the dagger. It sparked
blue at my touch.

“
Who’s
Eloise?” Peter asked.

“
The
child vampire,” I told him. “Gideon was one of the vampires who
helped Maximus, when they… when I was there. Thing is, there was a
whole lot of atmosphere between Maximus and his coven. Most of them
were barely obeying him; it was a bit unsteady. I don’t get why he
would want to avenge Maximus, or whatever; he didn’t exactly seem
to like him. Plus, Gideon used to be part of Daimhín’s
coven.”

“
This
is making more sense,” Peter said. “Maybe Gideon wanted his own
coven, maybe he left Daimhín because he knew there was no chance of
promotion.”

“
Or
she sent him away,” Eddie butted in. “Perhaps he gained too much
favour within her coven, or perhaps she sent him out to spy on
Maximus.”

“
I’m
betting on that one.” Peter’s voice rose in excitement. “Gideon
leaves Daimhín to spy on Maximus and stirs up shit in the coven.
Maximus is put to sleep, so Gideon takes over and gets a taste of
power, maybe thinks Maximus was on to something all along. Maybe
he’s using Ava to take down Daimhín in a way that keeps his hands
clean.”

“
But
remember who ordered Ava to kill Maximus,” Eddie said.

“
The
same person who made us leave Ava with Maximus for an entire night.
The one who made sure she had reason for revenge. And what came of
it? They pushed Ava to her limits and found out blood heals her
rapidly.” Peter looked around at me. “Has this whole thing been a
set up?”

I was lost in a
swirl of memories and conversations. Some barely remembered
recollections were connecting and becoming more
concrete.

“
Arthur told me not to trust anyone. I think he was right. All
of these bullshit jobs have been like tests, like they’re all
seeing what I can do, what I can withstand. They’re looking for my
weaknesses, seeing what they can set me up for. And I’ve been the
idiot who let them have a front seat.”