Steph cast a suspicious look my way. „And since everyone else knew this stuff I guess it was mostly for your benefit, Vi. The question is, why?"
I already knew the answer. It was a warning.
-
I was relieved to be back on the boat and rushed to take my same position at the bow, facing the wind. There was little I could do on the volcanic island and being stuck over there had brought my old escape instincts to the surface.
Despite Kaitlin and Samuel"s efforts, when we disembarked at the marina we had to push through dozens of tourists demanding to know why they were not allowed to visit the famous landmark, especially angry now they"d seen us sail in from that very place. We put our heads down and walked through, spotting Salvatore waiting for us halfway up the steep path that would take us back into town.
I had sensed exiles as soon as my feet hit land, So many people surrounding us made me nervous. Looking at all the faces, knowing I could sense the exiles but not being able to pick them out clearly was disconcerting.
„Steph!" I yelled. She was hurrying ahead, trying to get to Salvatore, and didn"t hear me over the people traffic.
„Violet?" a voice cam from behind.
I closed my eyes briefly, partly in dread and partly in pleasure soaking up his presence -
sun first, then melting honey. Of course, Lincoln didn"t need to hear me to know something was wrong - he would have felt the spike in my anxiety.
He came up beside me. „What is it?"
I shook my head to tell him now was not the time to discuss it. „Back at the hotel."
He nodded and I was grateful he didn"t push. „How about I walk with Steph?" he suggested, giving me a look of understanding that made me want to cry. My recent anger with him slipped away. He didn"t need me to explain I was worried for her safety here, he didn"t need to ask for answers. He just knew, knew me.
Unable to manage words, our eyes lingered on each other, sending my heartbeat into overdrive before he broke contact and hurried to catch up with Steph. He whispered in her ear that made her look back at me and make a show of linking her arm through Lincoln"s.
I lagged behind staying where I could keep a good watch on things. I thought I was the only one who had fallen so far behind until Josephine appeared by my side as if she"d always been there. How she managed that I had no idea.
„Violet, is there anything you would like to discuss with me?"
I looked straight ahead. „Nothing I can think of."
„I expected you to say something about last night," she said, but that wasn"t what she was really asking,.
„I heard enough last night. You had a job to do. You did it. Right?"
I glanced at her and then looked ahead again. Her lips were curled. "I"m glad you understand. It gives me hope that we might be able to get on after all."
No chance of that.
I forced a tight smile.
„Given your abilities, I assume you are aware of the increased presence of exiles?"
I nodded, wondering what her sense was.
„When did you plan on alerting us to this?"
I fought the urge to put distance between us and held my steady pace. "I only just felt them. I might"ve been able to sense them earlier but I wasn"t feeling myself this morning," I said, unable to resist the dig.
She stopped walking, taking hold of my upper arm as she did. I froze, doing nothing but staring at the hand restraining me. Lincoln had grabbed me in the same way this morning, he"d been rough even, but Josephine"s hold was different. Cold, rigid fingers and sharp nails dug into my skin, eager to break the surface. Yeah, she wanted to … badly.
„I am not one of your devoted recruits, Violet. I have no intention of bringing my people into this mess you have created and risking their lives simply to save yours. I am fully aware that the lost opportunities to eliminate Phoenix are predominantly due to efforts to protect you. I won"t suffer such hesitation for my people." She squeezed my arm, assuring me of her strength. "If I find out, at any stage, that you are lying to me, I will have you detained and removed from the island."
Her fingers tightened, nails now cutting into my skin, and she pulled me close to herself, adding, „
And
from Lincoln."
I clamped my jaw shut and fisted my hand. I kept my head down but lifted narrowed eyes to meet hers. „Are you finished?"
„Quite," she said, holding my arm for another few seconds before letting go and proceeding up the path before me. Mia and Hiro quickly appeared by her side.
I don"t know how long I stood there, people moving around me as I watched Josephine hike back up to the hotel. She had just drawn the lines and I was now more certain than ever - I couldn"t risk involving anyone else in my plans.
„
Thus saith the Lord God; An evil, an only evil,
behold, is come."
Ezekiel 7:5
Dapper came to our room that afternoon. He"d been confined to the hotel with Onyx and he and Steph had just come back from reporting their latest opinions on the Scripture to Josephine and Lincoln. I left them to the braniac business, locking myself away in the bathroom for a shower - where I noticed Josephine had been successful in her mission, crescent-moon-shaped cuts from her nail"s remaining as evidence on my arm.
I considered trying to cover them up but I"d spent enough time trying to conceal such things in the past and I was damned if I was going to protect her. When I emerged from the bathroom in cargos and a black singlet, Onyx was sauntering into our room, carrying a bottle and two glasses. Dapper didn"t even look up as he poured them each a drink. As odd as their weirdly synced, alcohol-fuelled friendship - which I suspected might be a little more
- seemed, it was becoming comfortable. Onyx had changed. not only did he show fever signs of his previous insanity, but it was also becoming apparent that he wasn"t as immune to us as he would have us believe. Onyx and Dapper, unlikely a pair as they were, had unwittingly become my allies. I trusted them more than some of the Grigori.
I leaned on the bathroom doorframe, draying my hair with a towel.
„You"re looking better," Dapper commented.
„On top of the world," I replied sarcastically. „What"s the latest?"
„Shouldn"t we be asking
you
that?" he countered, a lilt I his words.
I rolled my eyes. Of course - that explained why no one had been very chatty with me when they first got in. „Josephine told you the exiles are here," I deduced.
„And that you knew it," Steph added, voicing her disappointment. „That"s why you sent Lincoln to walk me back to the hotel. I don"t need a bodyguard, you know."
I decided to ignore her comment - nothing I said would make it better while she was in a mood.
„Has anyone seen them yet?" I asked, causally.
„Nah," Dapper said. "They"re being sneaky. Staying out of
almost
everyone"s range. But she assumes they"re all here, Phoenix included."
The way he said - he was clearly looking for my reaction, which I ensured remained completely neutral. "Probably," I hedged. „So where are we with the Scripture?"
Dapper put several pieces of paper down on the coffee table and then put on his glasses. „We have the majority worked out. The first prophecy is fairly clear. “Awaken Tartarus and blanket day, to hide their eyes and Heaven"s ray” basically means just that; when the volcano erupts it will bring the attention of Tartarus and deliver a cloud of ash that will cover the sky. “Ash will fall as fire will rain,” requires no real imagination. It"s the next line we"re stumbling over. “Delivering to one” is very general. Perhaps it means the one who opens the gates or is somehow responsible for them. In short, we don"t know. The rest …
well, flames, death, water and resurrection - that"s all to be expected, given the ultimate goal.
„And the second one?" I asked, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. This might be my last chance to absorb this information.
„Aren"t we keen?" Onyx quipped as I noticed Steph watching me pensively.
Dapper picked up the next piece of paper. „The first three lines hold no surprise. It was the location. The next part is the instructions. Our best guess is that this is a description of sacrifices - three to water and three to fire - but it also had requirements for who should perform those sacrifices and clearly describes more than one person."
„So who, then?"
Dapper shook his head, frustrated.
„We don"t know," Steph said, taking over and keeping it simple. „We all have different theories - powers, angelic ranks. But the thing that really stumps is the “Three at the hand of the heart of man”."
„Why?"
„Because exiles are not men. Not truly. Humans are."
When none of us said anything, Dapper resumed speaking.
„The rest seems to relate to Phoenix"s direct role as “the admirer”. Basically, if he ensures the sacrifices, one will be delivered from Hell. With an offering of pain the gates will open and such an offering at Phoenix"s hand - most likely his own blood - will guarantee his desire is fulfilled."
Because otherwise, any one entity from Hell could be release - Phoenix" and his stated desire was the key to ensuring it would be Lilith.
„What about the water line?" I leaned over his should. “And water stand high to cradle the course”," I read.
„Water is always the path between one world and another. It resembles the crossover. It could be as simple as that," Dapper said, but there was something else - a tone in his voice that implied he had another theory he wasn"t sharing.
„What about the symbols?" Onyx asked.
„Actually, it was Josephine and Conductors who figured that out. they think they"re coordinates, using the constellations with Nea Kameni as the anchor. They"ve worked out that it marks six points around the volcano"s centre."
„If you"re about to say it maps out a star, I think I"ll laugh," I said, giving up on drying my hair and tying it up in a ponytail.
„No. But maybe just as odd," Steph said. She opened her notebook to a blank page and passed it to me with a pencil. „Draw a circle."
She waited.
I sat beside her and did as she asked.
She nodded. „That"s the volcano. Now, inside it put a dot here, here and here. Then, outside the circle, put a dot here, here and here," she continued, pointing to each marker.
„Okay …" I stared at my spotty creation. „I don"t get it."
„Join the dots with straight lines, first inside, the outside."
I stared at what was a large inverted triangle surrounding the circle and a much smaller upright triangle in its centre.
„Why does that look so familiar?" I asked, trying to work out where I"d seen something similar.
„Because, circle within triangle," Onyx said, who"d been watching as I drew the symbol.
He snatched the pencil from my hand, flipped the drawing upside down and added streaks running from the edge of the circle out to the large triangle. „
That
is the Eye of Providence."
„Huh?"
Steph smiled. „The All-seeing Eye."
„Oh Right." I looked around, confused. „Isn"t that meant to be good?"
„Heaven be damned, girl!" Onyx said, standing up hastily and spilling some of his drink.
„Haven"t you learned anything yet? Nothing is simply good or evil. If all your human fantasies were true,
I"d
be good!"
I just blinked at him. That put things in perspective.
„If there is a place for this symbol in righteousness or salvation it"s possible there is a place for it in destruction and damnation," Dapper said, shaking his head at Onyx"s outburst.
„And since that circle you drew is the mark for our anchor, the volcano, it seems likely it is more a mark of great power than simply good or evil. Also, the use of the triangle is an unmistakeable - perhaps more relevant - link. In history the inverted triangle represents water, the upright, fire, and the two combined, a symbol of divine union and in some religions … resurrection."
„Jesus," I mumbled, staring at the sketch. „All that from a triangle?"
But no one smiled.
Onyx slumped down with a refilled glass. He was staring to slur his words. „Who do you think is responsible for
evil
?"
„You," I snipped.
„A generous compliment," he bowed his head. „But no, if there is one who could create all things in this world, that
one
must be capable of creating both the greatest good
and
the greatest evil. It
must
be one of the same, just as angels are both and humans are some form of disturbing sub-breed."
„Onyx …" Dapper warned.
I glared at Onyx. „You know the one good thing that might come out of Phoenix opening the gates to Hell?"
„Pray tell," he said, waving his fingers in mock anticipation."
„I"ll know where to drop you off!"
Onyx smiled and we were suddenly all on the verge of laughter.
But before we could fully relax, I stiffened - I could feel Lincoln was nearby and, unable to stop myself, I tapped into his heartbeat, which was increasing with every step as he moved closer. I concentrated furiously on slowing down my breathing and shutting myself off, but it was too late to stop the gouging feeling in my stomach and chest.
There was a knock on the door. Lincoln and Spence walked in.
„Thought we"d find you in here," Spence said, collapsing on my bed. Lincoln stayed by the door. „Honestly, after the day I"ve had the whole
day-from-hell
reference has new meaning. I"ve spent the last three hours glamoured as a science geek, pretending to be a volcanologist. Do you have any idea how hard that is when I don"t know the first thing about volcanoes? When I don"t even speak Greek?"
Dapper and Onyx chuckled taking another drink.
„Why have you been doing that?" Steph asked.
„Josephine"s orders. She wants the Greek officials to consider stopping tourists from coming to Santorini, but this place is a major drawcard. Griffin"s trying as well but without more evidence they won"t raise an alarm. I think the were getting pretty suspicious when I couldn"t answer any questions actually relating to the volcanic activity. Did you know those things release sulphur or something.