Entice

by Jessica Shirvington

  “Jordan,” Nyla said.

  “Jordan?” we all repeated simultaneously.

  “The country?” Spence added.

  Griffin nodded and then gestured to Rudyard to speak.

  Rudyard cleared his throat. “Yes, Jordan. We believe the Rules the exile we captured at the farmhouse was referring to are the Ten Commandments.”

  My mouth wasn’t the only one to drop open and all but hit the table.

  Rudyard smiled, looking positively thrilled at the reaction to the developments. “I know it’s a lot to get your head around. We believe that when Moses received the Ten Commandments almost three and a half thousand years ago, he in fact received two sets of three stone tablets. On the first tablet were the Ten Commandments, as we know them; the second and third, intended for Grigori and exiles respectively, were supposed to be held for subsequent discovery. Each tablet was believed to hold a key to power.

  “When Moses realized humans were not the only potential rulers inhabiting the earth and that exiled angels exist and, even more concerning, that angels exist in the angel realm in both light and dark capacity, he was enraged. He smashed a complete set of tablets and never revealed anything more than the Ten Commandments for humans. For humans, the second tablet with the Ten Commandments was uncovered and stored away. What remained were hidden for safekeeping and eventually translated into scripture, only to be revealed by their own kind. We believe that the Scriptures for Grigori and exiles are in this same place—concealed somehow—waiting to be discovered.”

  “And that’s in Jordan?” Zoe asked again.

  “Yes, we think Moses was buried in a tomb beneath his place of death and that some time after this, the Scriptures were placed in that tomb too. A prophet, Jeremiah, was sent on an angelic quest with the Ark of the Covenant, within which the Scriptures were concealed. Jeremiah was charged with delivering the Ark and its contents back to their original owner. If our information is correct, he took the Ark to Jordan.”

  “It is a very old legend, not one widely told. Over time, the legend has been almost completely lost,” Griffin added.

  “Yes,” agreed Rudyard, placing an ancient-looking leather-bound book on the table and opening it to a yellowed page. “Allow me to read a small passage from the Second Book of Maccabees,” he cleared his throat.

  The prophet, Jeremiah, having received an oracle, commanded that the tabernacle and the ark go with him, he went forth into the mountain, where Moses climbed up, and saw the heritage of God. And when Jeremiah came thither, he found an hollow cave, wherein he laid the tabernacle, and the ark, and the altar of incense, and so stopped the door. And some of those that followed him came up to mark the way, but they could not find it.

  When Jeremiah learned of it, he blamed them, saying: As for that place, it shall be unknown until the time that God gather his people again together, and receive them unto mercy.

  “Well, I have no idea what that meant,” Zoe said, slouching back in her chair.

  “We believe the Ark of the Covenant may be hidden in the tomb of Moses, which is in Jordan.”

  “So we’re going to Jordan,” I echoed.

  Rudyard nodded.

  “Well, it’s about time something went in our favor,” Zoe said.

  I got the feeling I wasn’t the only one who agreed with her wholeheartedly.

  “So,” Griffin said, clapping his hands together to get everyone’s attention. “We need to get organized. Dapper overheard some exiles in here last night. They were talking about flying out tonight, so we have to assume it’s Phoenix. I’ve got Archer and Beth taking care of things here. Violet, you need to clear things with your dad somehow; we need you on this trip.”

  I nodded. Finding a way around Dad was the least of my concerns.

  “Nyla and Rudyard are heading straight to the airport to get a plane organized, and the rest of us need to be there in two hours. Since we now know that Phoenix has a military plane, we have to assume that if he is going to Jordan himself, he will be flying into the military airfield in Amman. The Academy is owed a few favors, so Nyla is confident she’ll be able to get us a military plane too.”

  Nyla and Rudyard stood up simultaneously to leave, unwittingly intertwining their hands, and at that moment, I felt like standing up and putting my foot right through their beautiful connection.

  “Spence,” Nyla said, standing over him. “You will stay here. I’m sorry, but this trip is too dangerous. We don’t know what’s ahead.”

  Contrary to his tight-fisted hand, Spence surprised everyone by looking up at Nyla and Rudyard and smiling.

  “No problem,” he said. “Have a good trip. Bring me back a souvenir.”

  Nyla and Rudyard almost fell over. “Well, that’s…very grown up of you,” Rudyard said. But as they walked out the door and Spence gave them another smile and a wave, I could see the doubt on their faces.

  Spence was up to something, but right then, I couldn’t have cared less.

  Everyone else stood up and started to get organized, planning trips back to the hotel and to get supplies. I left them to it. Instead, I zeroed in on Griffin.

  “I’m going to get Lincoln,” I said in a way that didn’t leave room for negotiation.

  “We don’t have time, Violet.” He barely looked up from his papers. “I’ve left them a message. If they miss our flight, they can get a commercial plane.”

  “No can do, Griff. Lincoln’s not himself and if I leave him in Magda’s hands any longer, it’s gonna be all bad.”

  “What are you talking about? They’re trying to wrap up an old case. Don’t get jealous over silly things,” he said, shaking his head at me, trying to blow me off.

  But I didn’t have the time or the patience right then. “Griffin, open your eyes! Lincoln and Magda have been off on some covert op since she got back. You have no idea what they’re doing and Magda never hangs around long enough to give you any more information than the bare necessities. They’ve gone after Nahilius!”

  At the mention of Nahilius’s name, Griffin’s eyes grew wide the way they always did when something major was dropped in his lap. He steadied himself, putting a hand on the back of a chair. Of course, the second he learned of anything that he hadn’t already been fully aware of, he blamed himself.

  “It’s not your fault,” I tried to reassure him. “They’ve been sneaking around behind everyone’s backs, but the thing is, I think Lincoln is losing perspective and I also think that Phoenix is the one doing this. He wants to keep Lincoln and me apart.”

  Griffin opened his mouth to speak, but I didn’t let him.

  “I know you think we don’t have time to wait for them, but I’m not going without him. I can’t leave him—not now, not when I know he needs me.” I grabbed the backpack I’d stashed under the table.

  “Go,” Griffin said.

  “I’ll be at the airport in two hours. I promise.”

  I wasn’t sure what Griffin said, something about watching my back. I didn’t wait around. The clock was ticking. If I was going to get to Lincoln, it had to be now. I knew he must have known where Nahilius was staying. As I walked out of Hades, I spotted Onyx unpacking a case of vodka. “You stealing or helping?” I asked, not slowing.

  “Haven’t decided yet,” he said. “How about you?”

  I smiled. “Just going to get what’s mine! Thanks for the info. I owe you one.”

  I was halfway through the door and expected to hear a demand for more bourbon, but there was nothing. He was probably working out a shopping list.

  I ran a few streets, keeping an eye out for an empty taxi. Finally, I spotted one and jumped in. Just as I shouted out the address of Nahilius’s hotel and reached to pull the door closed, Spence flew in beside me.

  “You promised,” he said, closing the door behind him.

  Shit. “Spence, I’m sorry, but things
have changed. They have guns. For all I know, so does Nahilius. I can’t risk it. You might get hurt.”

  “Damn it, Eden! I heard you give the address to the driver. I know where you’re going. Don’t make me pay for my own taxi.”

  Here’s the thing about priorities. When your main one is on the line, you find yourself doing things you would usually put in the “questionable” box. Normally, I wouldn’t risk Spence’s life just to help my own cause; normally, I would kick up a fuss and try to negotiate my way out of this; normally…But nothing was normal about this situation and well…Priorities.

  “Okay,” I conceded. “But if you get dead, it’s on you.”

  “Hey”—he shrugged—“I wouldn’t have it any other way.” He buckled up and smiled with victory.

  I’d deal with my conscience later.

  “Well! Evil to some is always good to others.”

  Jane Austen

  When the taxi pulled up to the curb, Spence and I all but scrambled out the windows, heaving for fresh air.

  The driver and his taxi stank. The combination of garlic-charged body odor festering for hours on end in terry cloth seat covers with no air-conditioning was pungent. From the moment Spence closed the door, we’d been holding back our gag reflexes as we tried desperately to stick our heads out the small openings the jammed windows permitted.

  Stumbling onto the sidewalk, my head was spinning with a combination of car sickness and repulsion.

  Spence took in a few deep breaths. “Wow, that was…” He scrunched his face while flapping his T-shirt, aerating.

  “Yeah,” I said, gasping for a few cleansing intakes of fresh air too.

  Spence waited patiently while I took a moment to right myself. I hate riding in the back of cars at the best of times.

  “Okay,” I said eventually, as I stood straight and started to register my surroundings. “We must be close. I can sense exiles.”

  Spence nodded and looked around. He couldn’t sense anything yet.

  We were outside the hotel Onyx had directed us to, the Luxe Grand, a five-star hotel with all the trimmings. Standing to attention in crisp, white shirts beneath tailored gray vests were three doormen—one to open car doors, one to take any luggage, and one to open the hotel doors for guests. The entrance had the clichéd red carpet in the front, edged with gold pillars and heavy velvet rope. It sent out a simple message—If you can’t afford to be here, go away.

  Spence and I paused. I heard him scoff under his breath. He was in the same pair of baggy jeans he always wore when he wasn’t in training gear and a faded green T-shirt—as opposed to his faded blue T-shirt. Spence wasn’t well off. I looked down at my own very average ensemble: black cargos and a black long-sleeve T-shirt. At least we weren’t wearing flip-flops.

  We spared each other a glance, both thinking the same thing, and shrugged simultaneously before moving toward the red-carpet entrance.

  The doormen each gave us a snooty up-and-down look, but we didn’t stop. We needed to get up to Nahilius’s room. Unfortunately, Onyx’s text had only said “top floor.” No room number.

  We powered through the lobby, not wanting to draw any more attention to ourselves than we already had, and beelined for the elevators, deciding to take a chance that Onyx was right. And that he wasn’t setting us up!

  The top floor, which turned out to be the twenty-sixth, consisted of two penthouse suites. Spence and I pressed the number in the elevator and waited.

  Nothing happened.

  “It’s got one of those swipey things for the top floors,” Spence said, pointing to the electronic swipe machine, which was not dissimilar to the one I have outside my apartment building.

  “How are we going to get one of those?” I asked, feeling everything was against us.

  Spence looked over at the reception area and then to where a maid was busy tidying up some of the lobby tables. He pulled out his cell phone, then dashed over to one of the coffee tables and grabbed a hotel notepad. He dialed a number, and after a short delay, he coughed and started talking in a deep voice.

  “Yes. Hello, I’m staying in the penthouse on twenty-six. I’ve been in meetings all day and am on my way back to the hotel now. I’d like someone to go up and check that the air-conditioning is on. Last time I walked in, it was unacceptable.” Then he just ended the call.

  I held my hands up as I walked toward him. “I don’t understand,” I said.

  But then Spence dragged me back to the elevators. “Just wait,” he said with a wink.

  One minute later, the maid came rushing toward the elevators and pressed the up button. Spence, who had a hand on my shoulder, put a finger to his mouth to tell me not to speak. It was then that I realized he had us under a glamour.

  The elevator bell sounded and the maid ducked through its doors. We were close behind. Inside, she swiped her key card and pressed the number twenty-six. Finally, I got it. I also saw what kind of glamour Spence had used—nothing. Literally, when I looked in the mirror, I couldn’t see anything other than the maid. No wonder Spence wanted me to stay silent.

  Who needs an invisibility cloak when you’ve got a Spence?

  The ride took a lifetime. I didn’t breathe, I was so scared of exposing us. Finally, the elevator stopped and the doors slid silently open. Level twenty-six.

  We snuck out and waited in the hall as the maid went up to one of the two doors and knocked. Spence hadn’t clarified which penthouse he was staying in; it was perfect. She was going to have to check both.

  The door opened and a scantily clad woman answered the door.

  “Da?” she said, in what I thought was a Russian accent.

  “Madam, I’m sorry but I’m just checking to see that your air-conditioning is running to your satisfaction?”

  The woman, who was dressed in a clingy leopard-print dress, looked at the maid like she was something she’d stepped in. Spence was shaking a little, and I elbowed him to stop him from laughing out loud.

  “’Tis fine,” the woman said.

  “Certainly, madam. Sorry for the interruption,” the maid said, backing away and giving a little curtsey as she did. I had no idea how much a night in the penthouse cost, but judging from the woman and the sheer amount of jewelry she was draped in, I was willing to bet it was a lot.

  Spence and I flattened ourselves against the wall as the maid moved over to the other door, now flustered. This was it. If Onyx was right, Nahilius could be behind this door. My stomach jumped into my throat as we watched the maid give three polite knocks.

  Waiting.

  Will Nahilius be able to see through the glamour?

  Waiting.

  I felt for my dagger and wondered if today would be the day.

  Waiting.

  No answer. He wasn’t in.

  The maid tugged on the swipe key hanging from one of those coil key rings around her waist and opened the door.

  Spence and I quietly glided through the door before it closed. We watched silently as the maid checked the air-conditioning unit, pressed a few buttons, and again waited.

  We gave each other a look. What was she waiting for? But then, the air-conditioning made a sound and kicked in. We felt a breeze of cool air, which gave me a different type of chill, filter into the room. The maid nodded to herself, checked the digital control monitor one more time, and left.

  Spence took his hand off my shoulder. I knew the moment he did, the glamour would lift, but I didn’t feel anything as it happened. Weird.

  “Holy crap!” Spence said, taking in the gigantic suite we were standing in. I mean, you think you’ve seen penthouses before, on TV and stuff, but this was something else altogether. It was easily three times the size of my apartment and was only one bedroom.

  The living area was a new kind of huge—it had a plunge pool right in the middle. Steph would have freaked. Or may
be just felt at home.

  Spence charged from one end to the other, stopping only to pull out his phone again. I was about to ask when I saw him start to line it up and take photos.

  “Spence, we really don’t have time.”

  He just shrugged and put away the phone. “Well, he’s not here. Where to now?”

  “I don’t know.” I hadn’t thought beyond getting here. I looked around, confused. “I could’ve sworn I sensed an exile. I still can.”

  “You’ve got a pretty wide range and this is a dense area. You could be sensing other exiles nearby.”

  He was right, and it wouldn’t be the first time. But still, I couldn’t shake the feeling. Something was off.

  I called Steph. My only hope was that she might have found a lead.

  “Hey,” Steph said, answering on the second ring. “I was just about to call you.”

  “Please tell me you have something, Steph. I’m nearly out of time,” I said, feeling as desperate as I sounded.

  “It’s not much, but I found one thing. It’s the building Lincoln’s mom owned. It’s abandoned now, but from what I can see, it was one of the main assets of her business. The deeds for the property were set aside before she died. I’m guessing somehow Nahilius got her to sign it over to him.”

  “And?” I prompted.

  “Well, I did a search and the building went on the open market a few weeks ago. I think he’s trying to sell it while he’s here.”

  I remembered the text message on Lincoln’s phone. “City Comm Realty?” I’d given Steph the name, but we’d had nothing to link it to at the time.

  “You got it.”

  “Where?” It was the best shot we had.

  I moved to the window as Steph was talking and looked down at all the people crowding the city sidewalks far below, the cars streaming by. No one knew what was really going on in this world. It’s funny, but at that moment more than any other, I knew that if I couldn’t find my way back to Lincoln, then both of us were going to be very lonely. It wasn’t about being together; it was about sharing this life together, about being the partners we were destined to be.