Free Taste (Ava Delaney #5) by Claire Farrell Page A

of Folsom’s funeral, rain poured down heavily, washing away blood and guilt. I hadn’t told anyone about my grandmother or the hag, and I tried to push them both to the back of my mind.
    By the time Folsom was put into the earth, the rain had stopped, and the air felt fresh and clean. I felt different, too, determined not to have to watch another funeral.
    We buried the goblin under a willow tree, the branches caressing the ground, protecting what lay beneath, the rain-drenched leaves dripping as if crying. My eyes felt wet, but I did not cry. Not on that day. Tears were a waste of my energy. Sadness and regret were a waste of my time. I needed strength, maybe anger. More importantly, I needed focus.
    The people from the sanctuary huddled around the makeshift grave. One, the small man whose brother had committed suicide in the Council’s cells and who I had only come to know as Ry, spoke on behalf of everyone. He said the most beautiful words, but I couldn’t concentrate on them. I was too busy watching, waiting for something to come.
    I had refused to allow Emmett out in the open to be a sitting duck. I couldn’t help it when we made the move, but I wouldn’t risk it twice. Peter had remained behind with him.
    Carl moved closer to me, and I could tell he was worried.
    “You doing okay?” he asked when I stepped away from the crowd.
    I kept an eye on the perimeter. I wasn’t the only one. “I’m okay,” I said, avoiding his eyes.
    “Come on. There’s something eating you. Tell me what’s wrong.”
    The rain began to fall again, drizzling onto my face. I blinked away the moisture. “I went to see Nancy. She’s going senile, Carl. I can’t bring her here. Not like she is. When I was there, she acted like I was a teenager again. It was spooky.”
    “So what are you going to do?”
    I turned to check on the mourners. Lucia had her arms linked with both her brother’s and Val’s. Kate, the young woman who spent most of her time with Cam, stood as close to Lorcan as she did to the angel. Leah stood apart, her hands shoved into her pockets and her hood pulled so far over her face that I couldn’t see her eyes. The teenage girl hadn’t ever had a chance at being normal. I would have loved to offer it to her. And Esther… Esther mourned many things.
    “Someone else was there,” I said at last. “At Nancy’s place.”
    Carl gazed at me. “Sounds ominous.”
    “Not really. Just a blast from the past.”
    “Who?”
    “My ex.” Numbers ran through my head, and I squeezed my lips together to stop them from shooting out of my mouth. I shrugged. “Wesley.”
    “Wow.”
    “Yeah. And he said he’d take her to his house.”
    “He knows everything?”
    I shook my head. “I told him there was something dangerous happening, and she needed to be someplace safe.”
    “And he went along with it?”
    “That’s the kind of person he is, or at least was when I knew him.” I rubbed my eyes, trying to control the panic that crept around my head. “He thinks I left because he hurt me. All these years, and he didn’t have a clue what really happened. He wasn’t hurt. I must have… must have healed him or something. Weird, eh?”
    “That’s one word for it. You okay?”
    “Just odd, seeing him out of the blue. He looks the same, except broader. And his hair’s different.” I smiled. “It was kind of nice to know he’s okay.”
    “I get that. I hope Maria feels the same way about me some day.”
    When I glared at him, he winced, but the fight left me in an instant. “Tell me what’s happening.”
    “Look at me. I’ve disappeared again, and I don’t have an excuse to give her.” He glanced around. “I can’t keep doing this to her. It’s not fair, and it’s not workable. The only way she and I could maybe last is if I told her the truth, and I can’t do that to her. Even if I could tell her, how would she react? I’m a completely different person now. I’m not the man she fell in love with,