Taste (Ava Delaney #5) Read Online Free

mentioned it before, but when I saw Gabe last, he said there have been fights amongst the children. Bad ones.”
    “Kids fight.”
    “No,” I said. “Not like normal kids. Like… warriors. Animals even. Pick an adjective, but it’s definitely not going to be normal or childish.”
    “You’re worrying too much again.”
    “And you’re not worrying enough.”
    We glared at each other for a few seconds.
    He picked me up then, surprising me. “Stop nagging,” he muttered as he nuzzled my neck.
    “Let me down, you big bully.” But I didn’t struggle. I ran my hands along his biceps, wishing we could have one uninterrupted night.
    As if he were reading my mind, he said, “We should get Carl to mind him for a night. We could go somewhere, do something. And I don’t mean kill things.”
    I burst out laughing. “You’re a strange man, Brannigan.”
    He let me down with a growl. “You know you love it.”
    Our eyes locked, and he shifted uncomfortably. “You should probably get going then.”
    I sidestepped out of his way. “I’ll just say bye to Emmett.”
    Emmett was busy packing a bag with little things I had bought to cheer up the inmates in the sanctuary: magazines, books, chocolate, nail polish, whatever they asked for or I could think of to brighten their day a little. They were trapped, and although the place was safe, it was probably dull.
    “Thanks,” I said, taking the bag from Emmett.
    “S’okay. Think I could go with you some time?”
    I thought about it. “Maybe, if your dad said it was okay. You might not want to, though. Kinda close to… you know.”
    “Yeah, I know. I was just curious.”
    “Have fun today,” I said.
    “Be careful, Ava,” he said, sounding a little like me.
    I grinned. “I’m always the careful one around here. Take care of your dad for me. Make sure he doesn’t get himself into any trouble.”
    Emmett giggled, and my insides warmed at the sound, which never got old. Peter surprised me at the door with a long kiss.
    “What’s that about?” I asked when he finally let me go, not that I was complaining.
    He shrugged. “Nothing.”
    We gazed at each other again. “Okay then,” I said, bemused.
    “Ava,” he called as I walked down the street. I glanced back, shielding my eyes from the sun.
    “Be careful,” he said. There was something in his voice that I hadn’t heard before.
    “I will.” I couldn’t stop smiling as I walked away.
    I went shopping to pick up some more things for the gang. Esther was having a hard time between struggling to fit in, controlling the instinct to dominate, and still feeling upset over the reasons she had to go into hiding. Her brother’s betrayal and the violent murder of the mother of one of the children she’d tried to rescue had cut her deeply.
    Worse, Gabe had been clear that the Council wanted Esther in custody. Bullshit charges, probably, but she wasn’t safe outside.
    I wanted to help Esther feel better, and I knew I hadn’t been visiting the sanctuary as often as I could have. I kept getting distracted by Peter and Emmett, and being with those in hiding was a little depressing.
    My phone rang, and when I saw it was Shay, the nosy policeman, I didn’t know whether to be happy or annoyed. “You rang?”
    “Ava,” he said in his lovely lilting voice, but it sounded tighter, harder than normal.
    “You okay?”
    “You ready to tell me the truth yet?”
    “Truth about what?” I held my breath.
    He groaned. “Not you as well. I’ve been looking into a lot of things. There’s some freaky stuff going on in this city. More than I expected.”
    Walking along Henry Street, one of the major shopping areas in Dublin’s city centre, I reached out with my other sense, the one that let me see energy. Lots of non-humans around.
    “You got that right,” I said.
    “This isn’t funny.” He sounded mad.
    “Of course not. Sorry. So is this a specific lecture, or just whatever pops into your head as you go?”
    He laughed,