„You have to decide!" he called after me.
I stopped and turned back to him. The look on his face was almost genuine.
„The only person who will ever get close enough to him to make a strike is you. Lincoln has the capability but we both know he will always hesitate …" His confident look morphed into one of fear. „She is … trust me, Lilith is the epitome of evil. She will annihilate everything and everyone in her path. She was always demented, but after the time she has been …
Where
she"s been … she will have no intention other than destruction."
„As opposed to you!" I sniped.
„Oh, believe me, Rainbow - I had vision, right or wrong. But anything I have ever done will be a mere breeze in comparison to the hurricane she will unleash."
My breath was smoky in the cold as it left my shaking body. „What are you saying?"
„She will be impossible to stop, possibly immune to our blades. The only chance we have is to kill Phoenix before he opens the gates and you"re the only one who can do it."
Once again - great to be special
.
„Why are you telling me this?" I snapped.
„Because … no one else is going to."
I bit my lip, absorbing his words, which seemed to provoke a small smile, or maybe it was a grimace, from him. He turned and walked into Hades, locking the door behind him.
I don"t know how long I stood there, but it was long enough for the coldness in my body to turn to numbness.
It wasn"t like I hadn"t thought it myself - when Phoenix had taken Steph I had to accept it might be my only option. But Onyx and his new-found need for self-preservation was the first to say it aloud and somehow that made it different, more real.
The truth was - I didn"t want to die.
But that doesn"t mean I won"t.
No wonder Lincoln wanted me to stay behind.
-
I sat on the couch where I had been waiting for the last two hours. I"d expected Dad home right after school hours and thought we"d have time. But Steph was due to be outside in less than half an hour and I was still waiting. I had no idea how we were going to get through this conversation. There would be no elaborate manipulation this time, there was no way to make this easier. I couldn"t just lie.
My duffle bag was packed and by the door, my backpack beside me on the couch. I flipped through its contents once again. I"d done as Griffin had instructed and replaced all of my forms of identification with the ones he had given me. My wallet was now filled with a membership to a library I didn"t recognise, a new student card, driver"s licence and passport
- all of which identified me as Violet Eden, aged twenty-one.
When I tried I could pass for nineteen, maybe twenty, but twenty-one was a push. I guess the Academy figured such precautions would make things easier for everyone.
I pulled out my mother"s wooden box and tried to ignore the wave of senses that always overcame me when I touched it. I opened the now-familiar letter she had written to me seventeen years ago and wondered if I would ever be able to think of her without resentment.
Unlikely.
I picked up her wristband and felt the senses build within me like an orchestra before I dropped it again. No one knew what had happened to the other one but I could tell Rudyard had had suspicions before he"d … I didn"t like touching the leather, it always felt wrong.
Twister. Like it was generating some kind of energy of its own, even now, all these years after she"d died.
The door clicked open and Dad walked in. finally. He was saying goodbye to someone on his phone. From the smile in his tone, I was willing to bet it was Caroline.
I wondered if it was planned or just fortuitous that he had her now that it looked like he might lose me. Not that he knew yet. I scrunched my hand, digging my nails into my palm to stop myself from thinking about it. The idea of angels, both light and dark, messing with my Dad was more than upsetting.
„Violet!" he yelled as soon as he was off the phone. He hadn"t even made it into the living room, but I could see him standing by the door, looking at my bag He stormed into the room.
„What"s going on? And why weren"t you at school today?"
I wasn"t surprised the school had called - I"d made no attempt to cover up my non-attendance when I realised what was happening. I didn"t get up and I didn"t raise my voice.
Instead I looked at him, honesty in my eyes, and love.
„I have to go away for a few days. I"ve been waiting for you to get home so I could see you before I left."
„And just where do you think you"re going?" he barked, incredulously.
„Dad …" I stood up and wiped my hands up and down my thighs, anxiously. I didn"t want to hurt him like this. „I wish I could tell you everything but please trust me when I say I"m doing the right thing. I know you think I"m part of some cult or something - but I"m not. I"m a good person and I wouldn"t do this to you if I didn"t have to. Dad …" My throat tightened, but it was the only chance I had of helping him understand. „I"m doing what Mum asked me to do."
He stumbled back. I glanced at my watch anxiously. "I don"t have much time. Mum wasn"t … she wasn"t always honest with you, but I know she loved you and that you loved her. I … I don"t want to lie to you like she did so … I"m giving you this." I held out the wooden box. "It"s time you read the letter she left me and when I get home I promise I"ll try and answer your questions … if you want me to."
Dad didn"t take the box. Instead he stood, immobilised, his mouth open, eyes darting between mine and the box.
„You have no right to speak about her like that," he said in a low voice.
I smiled sadly. „Actually, I have more right than anyone." I walked to the door and opened it, realising that trying to explain to him like this wasn"t going to work.
„You are not walking out that door!" Dad ordered, taking strides across the room to intercept me.
„This goes beyond you and me, dad. I wish it didn"t, I wish I could be just your daughter and be who you want me to be but I … it doesn"t matter what you say or what I want. One way or another - I"m going.
I reached down and picked up my bag, but Dad got there at the same time, grabbing my wrist, desperately trying to force it free.
„Dad, stop!" I said, trying not to resist him. „Please," I begged, „I don"t want to hurt you."
He didn"t let go, pulling harder, confusion at my ability to block his efforts showing in his strained expression.
„Let go of this bag!" he roared.
I heard a car horn from the street. Steph was here and I had no more time.
„Dad," I held still and looked at him. „Dad, I"m sorry."
He returned my gaze for an instant, desperation flooding his eyes.
„I love you, Dad." I pulled my arm out of his hold using a physical strength he couldn"t possibly comprehend, leaving him holding only the bracelets that had covered my markings.
We both gasped, looking down at the inhuman patterns that started to churn and swirl, reflecting different - impossible - colours and then, as if rising from beneath, outlines of the feather-tip markings that matched those on the carved box my mother"s wristband. All of it entirely inhuman.
I pulled down my sleeve in shame.
„What
are
you?" he said in a daze.
My eyes welled. „I"m your daughter, Dad, but … I"m her daughter, too." I picked up my bag.
„Don"t blame this on her!"
„No," I half laughed. „Of course not."
I walked through the door, snapping off the handle when I closed it, locking him inside. I got into the elevator to the sounds of Dad pounding on the door, screaming my name.
I"m sorry, Dad.
I didn"t know if I would ever get the chance to make things right again.
-
Steph didn"t talk much on the way to the airport. She could tell things hadn"t gone well with Dad. I should have just lied to him. Steph clearly hadn"t had any major drama getting away from her place, though it hadn"t left her in the best mood either. Her Mum had helped her pack.
The taxi pulled outside the terminal. Spence was waiting for us.
He hoisted out bags under his arms.
„You"re being awfully helpful," I said, attempting to shift into a better mood.
„Hey, we might be on our way to Death Island, but I"ve always wanted to go to Greece."
He shrugged, almost dropping a bag. „And it beats another desert."
„True," I said, agreeing wholeheartedly. I never wanted to see another desert again.
My phone rang and I pulled it out of my pocket.
Home.
I pressed end and turned it off.
„Where is everybody?" Steph asked, keeping the conversation moving as she brushed a hand over my arm in silent support.
„Waiting for our plane. It just landed," Spence said, weaving through the crowds.
„Whose plan is it?" I asked, following him past the maze of people checking in.
„The Academy"s," he answered, shooting me a sideways glance.
I stopped mid-stride. „Spence, is Josephine on the plane?"
His worried look deepened and he nodded.
Perfect. This day just keeps getting better.
I"d forgotten all about the Academy sending in their pit-bull.
„Where do we check in?" Steph asked, looking around.
„We don"t - private flight. We just have to go through passport control over there." He pointed to a small tunnel with a sign saying „Private Aircraft."
We presented our passports and I snuck a peek at Spence"s. it just looked like mine, a blank cover that didn"t say anything on it.
„Why didn"t they ask why our passports look different?" I whispered when we"d gone through.
He smiled devilishly. „Because they"re all under a glamour. Wherever we are they will present as if they"re passports of that country. No matter where we will go, when we arrive, someone will say, “Welcome home!”"
It was genius.
Then I saw something else. „Spencer Gregory -
that"s
your name?"
Spence took his passport back and put it away. „Don"t have a reason to be anything else.
No one knew my parents" last names and I"d always been Spencer Smith before that - or whatever my foster parents made me call myself." He pushed through the door at the end of the corridor. „Here we are."
Despite the easy-going explanation, I felt a history in the weight of his words, the loneliness that lurked behind them, and I had a sudden urge to wrap him up in cotton wool and keep him safe always. Instead, I gave him a gentle shoulder nudge, which he ignored, as we entered the holding room.
Everyone was there, wearing casual, easy-to-fly-in clothes. I didn"t need to look to know Lincoln was in the far corner, but I couldn"t stop my eyes travelling to him. He was leaning against a glass wall looking out over the airstrip. He didn"t turn my way, but by the tight set of his shoulders - he knew I"d just walked in.
Samuel and Kaitlin were sitting in a lounge area with Nathan and Becca. After acknowledging our entrance they went back to their conversations.
„Violet," Griffin said. He was standing with Dapper and whatever file they were looking at was quickly closed. „You"re here," he said, sounding relieved.
„Said I would be," I replied, wondering if Lincoln had mentioned something to Griffin about me not going.
Onyx was sitting at a small table with more than a dozen tiny bottles of alcohol, several already empty. He waggled a few fingers at me and then sunk another one.
I shot a look back at Griffin. He just averted his gaze as if there was nothing he could do about it.
Dapper, though, walker over to Onyx and started to pocket the bottles. „I"ll portion them out."
Surprisingly, Onyx shrugged and put up little fight.
A long sleek jet rolled along the tarmac and we all watched as it pulled to a halt. I"d seen that plan before; when we arrived back from Jordan the Academy had had people waiting to take Nyla and Rudyard. Griffin had carried Nyla aboard.
By the haunted look on his face, Griffin was reliving that memory, too.
The plane"s engines shut down and men dressed in dark blue overalls ran towards it with fuel hoses.
„We board in ten minutes," Griffin called out. Everyone nodded and started gathering their bags.
„Violet," Griffin said quietly. I followed his lead and moved towards the back of the room with him. „You"ve probably already figured out …" He looked at the jet.
„Josephine"s on that plane?" I asked rhetorically, but when he kept looking at me, I realised it was more than that. „She"s coming with us." I thought at least she might be staying to rest for a day or so.
He nodded. „Listen," he said, hurriedly. „I promise you I will do everything I can to stop them forcing you into anything. More of the Academy will meet us in Santorini. If things get to … If Phoenix is successful, we will need all the forces we can gather. There are fifteen thousand innocent civilians living on that island." He looked down.
„What do you want me to do?" I asked, putting a hand on his arm but dreading what he was about to say.
„I have to go to mainland Greece. There are Grigori there who need to be informed and complications that we must prevent. It"s the way things are done there and since I"m still officially the leader - it is my responsibility, unless we hand over the entire case to the Academy … which we won"t." He emphasised the last words. „I"ll take Nathan and Becca with me but it might take a couple of days to sort everything out. The Grigori there are hard to find - few in number and overrun by exiles. Josephine is of a Seraph so while I"m gone she will automatically assume control over any Grigori who answer to me. I can nominate someone to speak in my absence but Josephine will ultimately have rank."
„What does that mean?"
The doors leading out to the tarmac opened and a small vehicle drove a set of stairs up to the jet door.
„Do what she says," Griffin said, looking increasingly nervous. He put a hand on my back and guided me forwards. „She is very good and you can trust that she wants to stop Phoenix, but Violet …" he leaned in close, whispering now. „Lincoln told me how your senses have developed. Don"t tell her anything about your powers that you don"t need to.