My eyes grew wide, my mouth quickly dry. I was about to explain, to say that we knew it was too risky, when I looked at Lincoln. He was smiling.
„We"re hungry, Rudy, we"l talk later," Lincoln said and started to pul me towards him again. Rudyard kept hold of my wrist. He didn"t say anything, he just held it for that extra moment, squeezed a bit tight and then slowly let go with a thoughtful smile that I couldn"t decipher.
Lincoln stopped at the larder at the end of the cabin and handed me a banana I knew was for him and crisps I knew were for me. I was somewhere between astonished, elated and …
petrified. Lincoln looked happy. He grabbed a couple of bottles of water and we settled into the back seats behind Zoe and Salvatore, who were each saying a quick hello, left us in peace.
Is this possible? Does Lincoln mean to keep his hold on me for more than just now?
I went through the motions, buckling up and eating my crisps in a daze, trying to work it all out. We were soulmates – I was almost sure of it. But as always, there was that voice, the one that pulls everything apart, whispering in my ear.
Are you sure enough? Sure enough to let him risk his power? I stared out the window.
Damn.
Phoenix was probably on his was to Jordan, too. No one had sensed him or any other exiles at the airport – they"d gone somewhere. It was never going to be easy. We were Grigori – angel warriors who dealt with the angel realm"s cast-offs. The egotistical riff-raff –
but now, for the first time, there was a possibility we could face it together. Partners in every way.
If you"re right. And if you"re wrong, he"ll never forgive you.
Lincoln snacked on his banana, stealing one of my crisps every now and then, we chatted for a while. I tried, unsuccessfully, to focus when he asked me how my Dad was doing on his trip, which only reminded me I needed to call him. We talked about how I would miss school and that it was good Steph could help me catch up. As we sat there, in a military aeroplane on our way to fight exiles for Scriptures that have been lost about a rock-climbing trip he"d seen advertised. He thought we could go together and use it for training.
I don"t know when I fell asleep, only that his arms stayed wrapped around me the entire time. For the first time I could remember, when I dreamed the sun shone brightly and the world was as it should be. A dream.
In the end, though, we all wake up … don"t we?
-
Lincoln had to coax me awake when we landed. I was surprised that I hadn"t woken up when we touched down.
„Where are we?" I asked, groggy.
„Jordan. You slept through the refuel," Lincoln said.
I guess I was more exhausted than I"d realised.
„Did you get any sleep?" I asked, taking big gulps of water, sure I had awful morning breath.
He gave a small shake of his head. „Doesn"t mean I wasn"t dreaming, though." He smoothed my hair down at the back.
I must have looked hideous.
„You look beautiful," he said, smiling.
„Ha ha."
„You do. You"re most beautiful just after you"ve woken up. It"s always my favourite time, when we go for a run in the morning and I get to see you first thing." He kept playing with my hair.
I got the feeling he was relishing saying these things out loud. Liberated. There were a lot of things I wished I could say out loud.
But I couldn"t. so, I hit him in the arm instead and he laughed.
Zoe and Salvatore were hauling bags out of the cargo area when we headed down the stairs.
„Bout time you two joined us, we aren"t your packhorses you know," Zoe said, stomping around tossing bags to Salvatore. I think she was actually aiming for a very sensitive area.
„Ah … Zoe, we didn"t bring any bags with us," I said, throwing her a bitch smile Steph would have been proud of.
„We packed for you!" She catapulted a duffle bag at my head so fast I had to duck.
Lincoln caught it. „Easy, Zoe," he said, catching the second bag that came zooming towards us, but he was laughing.
Nyla and Rudyard walked past with their bags and Griffin was soon loading them into the minibus, waiting on the tarmac.
Lincoln carried both of our bags and we headed out of the plane, but as soon as I hit outside air, I felt something strange. Not strange, exactly, it was the senses, but they were …
raw!
Apple sliced into my tongue. I dropped Lincoln"s hand, which had somehow ended in mine again.
„Vi!" I heard him say before the birds circled so close to me I could practically feel them swoop and the branches were whipping so manically I was sure they were lashing me.
My hands were at my face – trying to stave off the overpowering scent of flowers, like fleshy stems left in water long after they had perished – and tried to hold back the intense visions of morning and evening as they melted in and out of each other, working with the cool heat that now flowed through me; ice for bones and lava for blood.
Someone was dragging me back into the plane.
„Violet. It"s me." He held me tightly from behind and spoke right into my ear. „I"m here. I"m going to help you, give the senses to me," he said smoothly. „Okay?"
I couldn"t answer, I could only scream, but Lincoln wasn"t waiting, anyway. He spun me in his hands – as he"d done once before – crashed through the senses, finding his way to me through a kiss. It happened quicker this time than it had before. We knew what we could do together, we trusted it. We trusted each other.
I fed the senses to him and one by one they moved through me, into him and beyond. My vision returned. I could breathe in Lincoln"s sun-baked smell, that hint of honey that came when he was using his power on me and taste his lips on mine.
He pulled me close and kissed my cheek. „I got you," he whispered, sounding drained.
„Do I have real y bad breath?" I asked shakily, saying the first thing came to mind.
He gave me a low chuckle which sounded a lot like relief. „Al I could taste was apple," he reassured me. I was pretty certain he was lying, but I squeezed him tight.
„Something"s out there." I couldn"t hold back the tremble in my voice.
„I gathered. Exiles?"
„Exile," I clarified. „And not like anything I"ve felt before." And yet, the moment I said it aloud, I couldn"t stop the feeling I wasn"t entirely right. I had felt something similar before – I just had no idea when or where. I shivered.
„It was old. When the senses hit me, it felt like they were only meant for me. Did you feel anything?"
„No, not until I was feeling them through you."
„None of us did," said Nyla, who was standing back a bit with the others.
„But I know what you mean," Lincoln said, stil holding me. „They had an edge to them."
„Yeah – like the senses had been locked away for a real y long time like they"d built up all this pressure and had gotten old and musty. When they reached me, they just exploded."
Nyla looked at Rudyard. They were worried. Not a good sign.
„Violet, we need to get to the hotel. We can"t defend ourselves here. Can you try outside again?" Nyla asked, as Rudyard pushed the others ahead.
I looked at Lincoln nervously.
„I won"t leave your side." He took my shaking hand, holding it firm to give me strength.
I nodded.
„Come on!" called Griffin from the tarmac, holding open the doors to the minibus.
We all headed out. Lincoln on one side of me, Nyla on the other, but this time when I walked outside it was different.
„Nothing," I said, though I couldn"t relax.
„Keep your defences up, just in case," Nyla said.
Once we were all piled into the minibus we started making our way to the hotel.
Salvatore leaned over his seat in front of me and passed ne a bottle of water.
„Thanks," I said, even though I wished he hadn"t. My hands were shaking badly and now everyone could see.
Lincoln sat back, giving me space. He knew not to smother me when I was like this – that I hated feeling like I was too weak to look after myself. Nyla didn"t do the same, but the death-stare she got when she started patting my arm stopped her in her tracks.
Honestly, I"m not a dog.
„Where are we going anyway?" I asked as we drove past a sign saying Amman, keen to move the focus of attention away from me. I knew they were all waiting for answers, but I didn"t have them and I was starting feel claustrophobic.
Griffin turned to face us from the front where he was studying a map with Rudyard.
„We"re going to a Grigori safe-house in the mountains, outside the city of Madaba. Grigori own hotels all over the world, like the one where Nyla and Rudyard are staying. It"s the safest place for us, but …"
„Here we go," Zoe said, voicing exactly what I was thinking.
„… they are a different breed of Grigori. This is a sacred place and the local Grigori see themselves as guardians of the land. You will have to try and understand and respect their ways, otherwise they will not help us."
„I am not understanding," Salvatore said, sitting forward in his seat. „This different breeding?"
I did. „Religious, right?"
„Devout," Griffin said.
„Okay," Salvatore said, nodding as he pul ed a chain out from under the col ar of his shirt.
Somehow, I doubted a small gold cross was going to make much difference.
As the conversation petered out I turned my attention to the army guy driving the minibus and another army officer, a female, sitting next to him. They had a pretty full-on commando look, the guy big and scary, the girl smaller but compensating with a serious armoury hanging off her. They had the don"t-even-look-at-me message sounding loud and clear.
Lincoln was talking with Salvatore. Well, trying. Zoe and looked back and caught me staring at the commando guy.
„Nice, huh? I got dibs," she whispered.
„You can have him, but what"s the deal? How come they"re helping us?"
She put her feet up on the seat in front and popped a few m&m"s, which she had dug out of her backpack, into her mouth.
„Rudyard told them exiles were tampering with their aircraft. There are Grigori all through the military."
„Why?"
„You need to read a book or something! They figured out a long time ago that exiles would go for the power job and one way to get there is to go through the army ranks. Plus, that"s how they can get their hands on all the fun toys. Anyway, it draws too much attention when civilians like you and me run in with daggers raised, so Grigori have people stationed within all military sectors, who deal with exiles along the way. Cool, huh?"
„I guess," I said, gripping the handrail as we drove over a bumpy patch.
„What"s the plan once we get there?" Lincoln called out to Griffin.
„We need to talk with the local Grigori. They"re expecting us, but they don"t know exactly why. We thought it best to keep everything quiet as possible until we were here. This is a big thing. Where we went to go is a sacred place. It may not be asy."
Like any of this ever is!
-
We reached the city of Madaba and kept driving through. I"d never been to Jordan before, I"d never really been anywhere. It was fascinating. I pushed down the window the tiny amount it would allow. Searing heat blasted through the opening dry and crisp. The town was busy and not what I would have expected. The streets were full of cars and small trucks that were open at the back with locals sitting on the edges, feet dangling. The whole city was the colour of desert sand, all the buildings stone or concrete and not more than a few storeys high. Every now and then we would pass something more modern, made of brick – usually a hotel – but they just looked out of place.
Everything was king of monochrome. Even the signage was predominantly dark brown with white words written in Arabic and some other languages I didn"t recognise. The only ones in plain English? The bright red Coca-Cola signs.
„Madaba is famous for its mosaics," Rudyard said, looking back at us. „There is an entire school here dedicated to restoring and preserving the mosaic discoveries that have been made in recent history."
I loved mosaics. I"d done a study on them in art last year. Somehow, though, I was betting we wouldn"t be doing mush sightseeing.
We drove on in silence, but as we reached the edge of the city, I tasted apple. Oddly, I didn"t feel the other senses. I looked out the window, trying to see what or who I was sensing. We drove past the last corner building and a man in faded brown robes stood hunched over, all alone. As our minibus rattled by, he raised his head. He was wearing a hood so I couldn"t see his face, but I could have sworn I felt his eyes on me.
Before I could even think to say anything to the others – before I had any idea what it was I would say – we turned the corner and hit open road again. I looked back to see the man in the robes had followed us around the corner and watched as we drove away. I stared through the dirty glass, watching Madaba and the stranger disappear as the lingering flavour of bruised apple slowly dissolved in my mouth.
„Oh. Come. On!" Zoe called out, breaking me from my trance.
I swung around to see her pushing her way to get to the front of the minibus. Obviously, I"d missed something. Nyla and Rudyard were laughing hysterically.
„You need to appreciate all types of music, Zoe," Rudyard said, blocking her path to where Griffin was guarding the stereo controls.
„Here – I brought my iPod. You can pick any song from is, any song at all – just turn off that crap you"re listening to. I swear, you people have to move with the times!"
Griffin turned up the volume. He was playing some old song I recognised but didn"t know the name of. It was one I could remember being tortured with as a kid when Dad actually had control over the radio. I fully agreed with Zoe. Even Salvatore seemed offended by the music selection.
Zoe slumped back into her chair, muttering something about how she would whip up a sandstorm. I just leaned my head against the window, which was warm and uncomfortable, matching the feeling from the vinyl seat coverings, which had stuck to my thighs. I had little doubt that wherever we were headed in the mountains was going to be a bare-minimum kind of place.
My mind drifted again as we continued through the desert. It was impossible not to think of the last time I had been in a place like this. Death felt dangerously close. At least I wasn"t alone this time. Then again, this time I knew who was waiting for me and I had no idea what I was going to do about him.
Or, what he was planning to do about me.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
„ This who hate most feverently, must have once loved deeply; those who want to deny the world, must have once embraced what they now set on fire."
Kurt Tucholsky
„Wow."
I don"t know who else said it. It sounded like a chorus though – maybe all of us.
Wel , when I"m wrong, I"m totally wrong.
„Are you sure this is where we"re staying?" I asked, standing in front of the most incredible building that I"d ever laid eyes on. Nestled in the gigantic stone mountains with waterfalls cascading behind it, the entire place – palace is the only word for it – was built of heavy sandstone blocks and crowned with domed rooftops. It was somewhere between Aladdin"s Palace and Steph"s ideal getaway.
„Steph is going to flip," I said, thinking of her.
Salvatore nodded, looking around confused. I followed his gaze.
The only thing there wasn"t, was people.
„I"l go find someone," Griffin said, heading towards the massive wooden entry doors.
Lincoln gave my shoulder a squeeze.
„Hang on. I"l come with you," he said, running after Griffin.
He was final y letting us be what I"d always dreamed of. So why was I freaking out?
Once he and Griffin had gone through the main doors, the rest of us slowly followed with the bags. When
we made it into the main lobby area, again, I was amazed at how beautiful it was. We were in the middle of nowhere and yet here was this spectacular hideaway.
We dumped the bags just as Griffin and Lincoln walked over with a man and a woman both wearing a similar kind of outfit. Not exactly robes, like the ones I had seen covering some of the women in town, more like baggy yoga-wear or something. Black wide cotton pants that finished above the ankles, revealing the almost matching sandals underneath and a wide-cut top with half-length sleeves in the same fabric. I didn"t know if it was a culture thing, a religious thing or just … comfy.
„This is Azeem and Ermina. They are Grigori partners and the owners of the hotel. Azeem is of a Seraph."
Azeem was freakishly tall and well built. Everything about him seemed huge, and when he put his hand out in offering, everyone else"s seemed to get swallowed in his hold. Ermina was the opposite, petite in every way.
We all said hello and understood that since Azeem was of the Seraphim, Griffin had just introduced us to the leader in these parts.
„We are not open for normal business at the moment. We have been taking a break from the public – some time for prayer. We are not due to re-open until next month. The hotel is almost entirely locked up but we have arranged for the northern wing to be opened for you.
You will find everything you need there and meals will be served in the dining room," Azeem said, in a deep, rounded voice.
Rudyard gave a small bow of respect. „Thank you, Azeem. We were sorry to impose and wil not be here for long."
„It is no trouble, though we would like to know your intentions."
Nyla stepped forward. „We"d be happy to discuss this and hope we may then ask for your assistance. Perhaps we could get settled and then have a walk through your security systems first, though."
Always thinking tactically, Nyla was going to make sure we were safe first. I had to admire her direct approach.
Azeem and Ermina exchanged a glance and for a moment I thought we might have a problem but then they nodded.
„Ermina will show you to your rooms and then I wil arrange for a tour," Azeem confirmed.
-
Enticed Page 22
