He"s the ultimate escape.
For someone who has spent a long time denying herself the right to run or quit or anything of the sort, Phoenix was like the biggest wagon I could ever fall off.
I"d turned wrinkly and the water was starting to run cold when I heard a knock on the door. I jumped and wrapped a towel around me, expecting to see Zoe on the other side of the door collecting me for dinner. When I opened it, it wasn"t Zoe standing there.
„What are you doing here?" I asked.
„Did I or did I not help you make your plan work with Lincoln?"
„Yes," I said slowly.
„Have I or have I not backed you up on a number of cases of questionable judgement lately?"
„I guess."
„Well, it"s time for payback. Where do I sleep?" Spence said, pushing past me and walking right into my room. „Nice towel, by the way – I"m not big on wearing clothes in my room either. This is going to work out well." He dumped his bag on the bed, unzipped it and started unpacking.
„Whoa! Hang on. How did you get here? I mean – hang on!" I said, ducking back into the bathroom and wrapping a bathrobe around me before I reappeared. „Okay, explain," I demanded.
Spence leapt onto the bed and recline, putting his hands behind his head. „It was genius, really. I stowed away on the army truck they loaded onto the plane at the last minute. I had the truck waiting for me round the back of the airport. While you lot were all comfy upstairs, I rummaged through Rudyard"s bag and found the address for the hotel. Took me a while to get here, had to get a local bus and then hitch part of the way, plus get past the security, which took a while, but here I am. Did you miss me?"
I should have protected but instead I collapsed next to him.
„Yes," I said, realising how much it was true. Spence was crazy, unpredictable and had a serious death wish at times, but I wasn"t his keeper and right now I really needed someone to talk to. „You are going to die when I tell you what"s been going on."
„Like I said before …" he began, making strained noises as he reached over me to grab a bottle of water, „never a dul moment with you, Eden." He cracked the lid open, took a sip and sighed dramatical y. „Spill."
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
„ Thou art to me a delicious torment."
Ralph Waldo Emerson
„Hey, you get there okay?" Steph asked, sound worried.
„Yeah. And thanks to you, we got to Lincoln in time, too," I said, hovering by the window that looked out over one of the hot springs … and more mountains. The mobile reception wasn"t great in my room.
„No problem. I take it he had made the plane, then."
„Yeah, we all did, even Spence, though no on else knows that little gem of information yet."
„Is Magda there?" she asked.
„Actual y, no. She didn"t make the flight. Why?"
„Oh, just wondering. I, umm … I"ve been looking through some more of Lincoln"s mother"s company details."
„Why? Steph relax! Lincoln"s okay and Nahilius is gone, Magda returned him." There was silence on the other end. „Steph?"
„Yeah, sorry, it"s just there"s something that doesn"t add up. I"ve stil got Lincoln"s spare key, I was going to go back there after school."
„I guess, if you want. Just don"t mess anything up."
I could hear her smile. „He won"t even know I was there. When do you think you"l be back?"
„Couple of days."
There was a knock on the door. „Dinner!" Zoe called out.
„Steph, that"s Zoe, I"ve gotta go. I"l say hi to Salvatore for you and give you a call as soon as I can."
„Okay. Stay alive."
„Working on it."
Zoe banged on the door again.
„Send Zoe my warmest," she said sarcastically, before hanging up.
Spence walked out of the bathroom, showered, changed and looking ready for anything.
He"d probably used all the clean towels. He struck a pose, hands on hips hero-style. „Let"s do this."
I rolled my eyes. „. He struck a pose, hands on hips hero-style. „Let"s do this."
I rolled my eyes. „ You do this. Don"t speak like there"s an “us” involved. I"ve got enough to answer for tonight without having to explain how you stowed away."
„Point," he said pulling the door wide open and greeting Zoe with a massive smile.
„Holy crap! You"re dead," Zoe said, smiling like the fun had just begun.
-
The dining room was – no surprises – beautiful. All of the tables and chairs were wooden, of a heavy design and made it look somewhere between an ode to all things natural and harmonious, and a tavern. By the time Zoe and I walked into the room, everyone was there.
The scene struck a chord, the room full of part-angel warriors wearing silver leather wristbands made by angels, readying for the unknown.
My eyes found Lincoln"s and my entire being relaxed. As I watched, he seemed to exhale as well, and my heart forget itself and skipped a beat.
About two seconds later, Lincoln"s eyes, along with everyone else"s turned to Spence, who was standing behind me. I was quite sure I shared their look of surprise. Only I wasn"t looking at Spence.
Magda.
How the hell did she get here?
Everything had felt so much easier without her around. But there she was, tucked in close to Lincoln, looking devastatingly perfect. The rest of us were dishevelled and exhausted, but Magda looked fresh in a recently pressed white sleeveless shirt and perfectly blow-dried golden hair. She was looking straight at me, an annoying smile playing on her lips as she fondled the sapphire on her necklace.
Zoe, the great friend she is, took a seat and pretended she"d been none the wiser. I couldn"t leave Spence standing there alone, so I just awkwardly hung beside him.
Rudyard looked at Nyla and then back to Spence. I was waiting for the eruption, for the massive blow-out that was almost guaranteed. But Rudyard just picked up his fork and stuffed something that looked like it was wrapped in leaves into his mouth.
Nyla picked up some flat-bread and broke it in half. „Hello, Spence," she said, between mouthfuls.
„Hello, Nyla," Spence said, gulping.
Griffin and Lincoln were exchanging glances and then I couldn"t help but feel guilty when I saw Lincoln look back at me. I wished I"d been able to tell him about this somehow. But then he gave me a crooked smile. I didn"t know what to make of it. My eyes kept darting to Magda, I couldn"t real y muster my own smile right now. Interestingly, I noticed Salvatore was looking at Magda with similar confusion. I wondered what problem he had with her.
„Did you enjoy your trip?" Nyla asked, stil munching on her bread and reaching for the wine.
„I … um … it was fine."
Poor Spence. This wasn"t going to plan. I knew he"d been expecting a big blow-up, where he could just stand his ground, throw a hissy fit and storm out.
„Rudy and I once did a stake-out in one of those military trucks. They can be awfully uncomfortable. Are you sure you"re okay?"
Busted.
„How did you …? I mean, yes. I"m good."
Nyla took a sip of wine and passed the carafe to Rudyard who proceeded to pour himself a glass. Every movement between them looked like some kind of perfect dance.
„And tell me, Spence, how did you get here from the airport?" Nyla asked, remaining tauntingly calm.
„I … umm … bus, and then caught a ride to a few miles out. I walked the rest of the way."
„And the security – how did you get past the security?"
„Oh, well … I … I used a glamour," Spence said, increasingly nervous.
„Hmm. You must be hungry. Are you hungry, Spence?"
This was torture.
„I"m okay," Spence said.
„Get a bite to eat while you were in Violet"s room, did you?"
Holy crap! Look at the ground, look at the ground, be invisible.
„I umm … Violet didn"t kn
ow I was coming."
„No. She didn"t," Nyla said.
Nyla and Rudyard smiled at each other and then raised their glasses to Griffin. „You were right."
Griffin looked up at Spence. He was on the verge of laughter. „You can" lie to me, kid. We were onto you from the moment we told you you couldn"t come."
Not the most encouraging news, given the secrets I was juggling.
„But then – why? Why didn"t you didn"t stop?"
Griffin shrugged. „We can try and protect you but in the end you have to make your own choices."
„Griffin reminded us, Spence that what"s it"s all about, after all. We can advise you – while we are right and you are wrong – we decided in the end if you were determined enough to find a way into battle, we may as well let you be of use," Rudyard explained.
„So … I"m not in trouble?" Spence asked, looking seriously suspicious.
„Oh, you"re in trouble," Nyla said, now a little more stern. „You"l be stuck with double theory classes for the next month and, trust me, a world of pain awaits you in prac training, since I"l be your new sparring partner. But for now, you"re here, so rest, eat, catch up on the intel and be ready. You came looking for a fight," she took a sip of wine, „congratulations – I believe you"re going to get one. But not from us."
Lincoln pulled out the seat beside him. I didn"t need asking twice and quickly sat down.
„Did you know?" I asked quietly, suddenly wondering if everyone had been in on it.
„Griffin just told me before dinner," he whispered back. His breath was warm and as he spoke the hairs on the back of my neck spike and a shiver ran through my body. „Should I be jealous?"
I was suddenly nervous – I guilty. I knew he was talking about Spence, but that wasn"t the cause of the guilt.
„We need to talk," I whispered, before standing and walking to the corner of the room.
Lincoln followed.
„What"s happened?" he asked as soon as we stopped.
„It"s not Spence – I"m not, you must know …"
„I know. Tell me," he cut me off.
„What"s Magda doing here?" I asked, unable to hold it back.
„Oh, she caught a commercial flight and arrived a few hours after us. Azeem sent a car to collect her, she got here about an hour ago."
Then, before I could stop myself, I had to have a dig. „What is it with her and that necklace anyway? Dos she real y have to parade how rich she is here?"
Lincoln looked over at her as if only noticing this now. „I don"t know," he shrugged. „It"s a family heirloom or something. She used to wear it all the time."
I took a few calming breaths – I was being immature. She had every right to be here, but I was stil angry at her for putting that gun in Lincoln"s hands and for always looking like she"d just stepped out of a salon and … other things.
„Vi?"
„Oh … sorry," I was supposed to be telling him something. I took another deep breath and gripped my hands tight. „I saw Phoenix," and before Lincoln could launch into whatever panicked conversation he was about to, I put my hand up. „Let me explain."
He nodded, but his hands went into his hair before he threw them back down. He wasn"t happy. Not that I expected him to be cheering.
„I sensed him earlier, when I went out to do a security check with Nyla. I knew he was waiting for me and I knew he wouldn"t hurt me.
I didn"t know how to say this – to admit to everything and then I realised … I couldn"t. I"d rather pay for my sins later.
„I was just his messenger, that"s all, but before I told everyone else, I wanted to give you the heads-up."
„No more secrets, hey?" he said with a worried smile.
„Yeah," I said, hating the fact that a better person would have told him everything.
Lincoln wrapped a hand around the back of my neck and drew me in, kissing my forehead. „Thanks."
I wanted to throw myself in front of a train.
His hand moved down and wrapped around my waist as he walked me back to everyone.
„Griffin, Violet saw Phoenix – he has a message."
Just when I was expecting Griffin to launch into a demand for a full play-by-play, he simply turned his attention to me.
„What do we need to know?"
The entire table was focused on me. Everyone thinking something different. Judging me. I wanted to crawl into a hole.
„He said to do what we need to do but by tomorrow night he will have the Scriptures and if we want any chance at getting our hands on them, we"l meet him there in the evening. I think he needs us somehow to get them."
„Makes sense if he isn"t worried about us finding them before him. They must be protected somehow," Griffin said.
„One other thing – he"s been playing us the whole time. He gave us that information about the location on purpose. He wanted us to be here now."
„Only more proof that he needs us."
„Maybe we would be better off just leaving, then?" Salvatore suggested.
I wished I could agree.
„We are Grigori, Salvatore. We do not have the luxury of leaving things up to chance,"
Nyla said.
Salvatore nodded and averted his eyes, ashamed for even considering it.
Griffin stood up. „Azeem has a team who are going to take us to the place of Moses" final resting in the morning. We hope to discover indicators there that might show us the way to the Scriptures. Spence, a room has been made up for you – Ermina will show it to you after you have eaten. Everyone rest up, we leave at 5 am." He threw his napkin down and looked over at Ermina who was standing in the doorway to the kitchen. „Thank you, Ermina. Dinner was superb," he said with a nod and then looked at Lincoln and me. „I"l see you two in my room in thirty minutes." It was not a request.
We both nodded. I guess he did have more questions and I was instantly nervous. I might be able to omit certain things when talking to Lincoln but with Griffin it was another story.
-
Magda didn"t even say hel o to me. She spoke at some point to everyone else at the table but never once did she acknowledge me. I guess I didn"t say anything to her either – but still.
The only thing that made me feel better was the odd looks Salvatore kept giving her. There was definitely something about her that he didn"t like. Maybe Steph had said something to him.
Good, one down six to go.
Thinking of Steph made me think of my normal life, which made me think of Dad. Which made me panic.
„I have to go, I have go call my Dad," I said to everyone, quickly pushing my chair back and making loud scraping noises on the ground. „Sorry," I said turning to Ermina, remembering my manners. „Thank you very much for dinner."
I hurried out and down the hall towards my room. I was due to call Dad. Transferring the home phone to my mobile wasn"t a trick that was likely to work too well in Jordan so my only hope was to call Dad myself. Steph had stopped by my house and left the phone off the hook. We figured if Dad tried to call there he"d just get the engage signal and think I was gossiping to her. He didn"t have the commitment to keep ringing. Either way, I was hoping if I called him first he wouldn"t bother trying to call home at all.
When I got into my room, I grabbed my phone.
„Shit," I said to myself, noticing how low the battery was getting.
I punched in Dad"s number and while I was waiting for him to answer, Lincoln walked through the open door and sat down on the end of my bed. I put a finger to my lips. He nodded and remained silent.
„James Eden," Dad answered.
„Dad, it"s me."
„Hi, sweetheart. Your number didn"t come up on the phone. Where are you?"
„I took my caller ID off earlier," I said to quickly. „I was umm, playing a prank on Steph."
„Oh, sure. Is everything okay?" He sounded busy and I could hear papers being shuffled about.
„Yeah, fine. I just missed you and though I"d call," I said, s
taying in the good corner of the room for reception, hoping he wouldn"t be able to tell I wasn"t at home. I turned my back to Lincoln and ran my finger along the window sill, trying to stay focused on the conversation with Dad instead of the fat that Lincoln was sitting on my bed!
„That"s nice, sweetheart. I miss you, too, I can"t wait to get home. We"re almost all done here so I"m trying to get on an earlier flight. I could be home in a couple of days."
Shit.
„That"s … great news."
„Are you sure everything is okay? You know the Richardsons-„ I cut him off.
„I know, I know, Dad - are right next door if I need anything."
„Okay," he said with a small laugh. „Just look after yourself. I worry about you. Have you been seeing much of Lincoln?"
„Oh. I, umm …" Lincoln kept looking in the other direction, but he was too still, I was sure he would know what we were talking about. „Umm … yeah, a bit."
„Well, you be careful. You know … Steph is the only one that has permission to stay overni-„
I cut him off again. „Dad! I know. Look, I have to go."
„I"l call you tomorrow," Dad said.
„Okay. Bye." I hung up. Mission accomplished – for today, anyway.
I put my phone down and rummaged through my bag in the hope that someone might have bothered to throw in my charger. No such luck.
„So," Lincoln said, a smile creeping to his lips. „Why does Steph get permission to stay over?"
„Because she can be trusted," I said, throwing a pil ow at him.
„Hey, what"s that for?"
„Eavesdropping!" But before I got the word out, Lincoln was right in front of me, his arms wrapping snuggly around my waist.
„I can"t help it if I have supernatural hearing." He sighed deliberately. „You know I didn"t actually come up here to listen to you talk to your Dad."
My insides exploded despite the lingering bitterness of guilt nestled within. Lincoln moved a hand up my arm and across my face.
„Do you know how many times I"ve …"
I wanted to say, What? I mean, damn it, I wanted to know this stuff. But my mouth had gone so dry I couldn"t speak. Everywhere his hands went felt like awakening that part of my body for the first time.
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