Enticed (17 page)

I moved forward. Griffin put a hand out to stop me, but I pushed it away. I was closer to the exile than was wise, but I figured he had been sufficiently petrified about what I could do to him and so wouldn"t be overly stupid now.

„I"m going to ask you to one more question. Griffin over there is going to know if you tell the truth. If you do, you can go. If you don"t …"

The exile"s eyes darted between us all. I didn"t need to turn around to know the threatening looks he would be getting right now – they had my back.

„What?" he growled.

I spoke slowly. I knew what I was about to say was potentially major. I needed to keep my voice steady even though the very idea of what I might be suggesting was horrific. „You said there were rules for the three who existed. You said
Scriptures
not Scripture. What else is with the Grigori Scripture?"

His smiled broadened. „He"s been waiting for you to figure that out."

„Who?" I snapped.

„You said one question – which one?"

I swallowed hard. „The first."

„Humans found their rules, close to three and a half thousand years ago. The others, one for the Grigori and one for the Exiled, remain in their original place of belonging," he sighed,

„though not for much longer." He bowed his head at me, then looked at Griffin.

„That"s all he knows, Violet," Griffin confirmed.

„I"l be on my way then," he said as he took off running, super-fast. We all just watched, a little dumbstruck.

„God help us," Griffin spoke quietly. „We need to find those Scriptures before they do.

Now, more than ever."

„Let"s start by getting Violet cleaned up," Nyla said, putting an arm around me as we started the walk back to where we had left the car.

I hadn"t taken much notice until that point, but the cuts on my legs were deep and my knees were starting to swell.

The drive back was quiet. There was a lot to talk about, but right now I couldn"t do it and I knew everyone else respected that.

I gave Steph a call to let her know I was on my way home.

„No worries," she said. „We caught up with Spence and Zoe after the rant ended they fil ed us in. I came back to your placed just in case your Dad. He hasn"t yet, but if he does, I"l just say you"re in the shower or something."

„Thanks. Be back there in about half an hour," I said.

„Are you okay? You sound wasted," Steph said, concern growing in her voice.

„Yeah. I"m just exhausted. I"l fil you in when I get home."

After I hung up, Griffin turned to me. „Don"t you want to go back to Lincoln"s? Get those knees healed?"

„Oh …" I looked at my knees. The bleeding had mostly stopped. They"d hurt like hel tomorrow, but it would be the weekend and I just couldn"t cope with any more tonight. „No.

it"s just a few scratches. They"l heal on their own."

„If you say so," he said, bot buying it, but not pressing.

As we neared my street, Nyla inched a little closer and spoke quietly. „Violet, do you want to talk about it?"

I knew what she was asking but even acknowledging the fear the exiles had reawakened was more than I could handle.

„No," I said, working hard to remain focused on nothing. I"d taken enough visits down memory lane today.

„Okay," she said, realising I wasn"t a share-share kind of girl but giving my hand a pat anyway.

Just one more block and then I"m out!

Getting into my building took a while since I had to loiter outside, waiting for the security guy to go for a wander down the halls, so I could slip unnoticed.

When I finally made it inside my apartment, I closed the door and locked the deadbolt, just like any other day. I held myself together and opened the door to my bedroom. There, sound asleep in my bed, lay Steph.

I whispered, „Steph!" checking she was asleep, hoping she wouldn"t wake up.

She didn"t.

I moved on autopilot back out to the living room, turned on the TV softly to mask what was coming and slid down to the floor matching the speed of the tears that poured from my eyes. I tucked my knees, sore and swollen, close to my chest and wrapped my arms around them.

For too many hours, I cried silently, and screamed inside.

„
The terrible thing about the quest for truth is that you find it."

Remy de Gourmont

I woke in the morning, stiff, tender and swollen, curled up in the corner of the couch, to a serious glare from Steph.

„I left you for as long as I could, but Vi – you need a shower," she handed me a coffee,

„and this."

I took the mug gratefully. The situation must have been bad for Steph to have tackled the coffee machine. I sat up and took a sip.

„Rough night. What time is it?" I didn"t know how much sleep I"d had. The only way I knew there had actually
been
a period of real sleep was the dream.

It had been vivid, almost real. When I"d first opened my eyes I could still almost reach out and touch it, almost bring it back to me, but with every waking moment it drifted further away.

I couldn"t remember the dream at all now, not one detail, other than that I was sure I needed to and that I had an odd feeling of … loss.

„Ten. I would"ve left you to sleep but we"re supposed to be taking that stuff to Onyx and I figured we should get that done before you"re due at class."

I gave a tired sigh, remembering that I"d agreed to do classes with Nyla and Rudyard on the weekends from midday.

„What happened, anyway?" Steph asked, taking in the state of my stil dirty and bloodied legs.

„I fell over."

She half laughed. „Am I supposed to believe that?"

„It"s true. I was being tormented by two exiles who specialise in the fear department when it happened, but I
did
fall."

„Bad?" Steph added, unsure how much to ask.

I stood up and quickly grabbed the end of the couch for support as I handed her the mug with my other hand. „Bad. I"l go have that shower."

-

When I came back into the living room, Steph had tidied up a bit. I didn"t say anything, didn"t thank her. I knew she wouldn"t want that. Instead, I found myself standing at the door to the balcony in the softest, baggiest sweats I could dig up. The ones I usually save for veg-out days. I parted the curtains and slid the door open.
Unlocked. Again.

I let a morning breeze filter in through the open door and closed my eyes, letting the breeze glide over my face lifting loose strands of hair. I soaked in the promise of a new day and let it deceive me for a selfish moment, before I closed the door and accepted that it was unlikely today would be any different.

We took a taxi to Hades. I had insisted on walking, even though my legs were hurting more than I would admit. After the first block Steph had made a ridiculous huffing noise and hailed a taxi.

During the day, Hades is pretty low-key. A much older clientele in the restaurant having business lunches. Dapper must have been a good businessman to be able to attract such a range of customers. Surprisingly, it also didn"t look too seedy, the way lots of night-time hang-outs do during the day when the lights are up. The scarlet velvet curtains were pulled back, which helped to brighten the place and give a golden glow to the chandeliers that twinkled in the light. Combined with the whitest of white table cloths and crisp shirts of the waiters, the overall effect was very fresh.

Steph and I looked around of Dapper and were directed to the cellar. We went through the staff-only door and down the stairs.

„Get out!" Dapper called as we approached.

„Okay," I said, suddenly nervous we had done the wrong thing. We quickly turned and started heading back up.

„Hang on, hang on. That you, Violet?" Dapper, asked sounding closer.

I stopped halfway up the stairs, my legs on fire, and called back. „Yes. Sorry, the bar guy told us we could come down."

„Yeah, yeah, come back. I thought you were Onyx. He"s always trying to slip down here and pilfer stock."

„Sounds like something he"d do," Steph said to me, making her way back down the stairs.

I didn"t follow.

„What are you two here, anyway?" Dapper asked, as he opened a case of wine and started loading the bottles onto the floor-to-ceiling racks.

„We have Onyx"s shirts and shaver," I said, still annoyed that I had to pay him for his information.

„Well, you won"t find him down here. Check upstairs."

„Actual y …" I started.

Dapper put down the bottle in his hand and took a good look at me. „Let me guess, you want me to play delivery boy?"

„Come on, Dapper. Look at her. She barely got down these stairs, are you really going to send her on a search mission?" Steph asked, sticking up for me as always.

Dapper glanced down at my legs as if he could see the injuries, despite my loose sweats.

„You find more trouble, did you?"

„A bit."

„Where"s your knight in shining armour?"

„Huh?"

Dapper shook his head at me. „Lincoln? Your fella who can
“hocus-pocus”
you – fix you all good as new."

„Oh."
Thanks for the reminder
. „I don"t know. Look, are you going to take this stuff or not?"

I asked, fed up with constantly having to explain myself to everyone.

Dapper put a hand out. „Give it here."

Steph handed over the shopping bag.

I was already on my way back up the stairs by that time. I just didn"t have the energy today. She caught up with me and called out a thank you to Dapper. She didn"t say anything.

She knew I couldn"t talk it out right now.

-

Everyone was at Lincoln"s by the time we arrived. A feeling of disappointment overwhelmed me. It was great having everyone around and I had never had so many friends, but at the same time, I wasn"t used to a constant invasion. It felt like everywhere I turned, someone else was there. I barely had any time on my own anymore. It was all too much.

I went through the motions, involving myself in conversations when necessary. Mostly, the talk revolved around the night before, recapping the story or asking questions. Luckily for me, it seemed no one had gone into the role I had played in too much depth.

I was aware of Lincoln sitting at the dining table with Magda closed beside him. At one point I"d made a hesitant move towards him, but he"d seen me coming and turned away so I, pathetically, kept on walking past them to the coffee machine. Spence was rummaging through the fridge, clearly unhappy with its contents.

„Any milk?" I asked, grabbing a mug.

„Milk, yes. Snacks, no," he said, emerging with the milk and nothing else. He passed the carton to me and must have noticed the tears welling in my eyes.

„Hey, you okay?" he put a hand on my shoulder, but something caught his attention and he dropped it again. „Oh man, I"m gonna …" he jabbed his thumb over his shoulder and walked away.

I turned around to see Lincoln, arms crossed as he watched Spence move to the sofa. He didn"t even look at me.

I took up a spot on my own near my wall, wishing I could slip behind the drop-sheet and disappear. Every time I looked over to Lincoln, Magda was whispering something in his ear, then breaking into sly grins I was sure were meant only for me. She was so smug, sitting there, looking perfect in white jeans and a caramel-coloured sweater. Her clothes were always immaculate and she wore the kind of labels rivalled only by Steph. She was absent-mindedly playing with the sapphire necklace she had been wearing ever since she got back from holidays, apparently some rare and valuable gemstone from Kashmir according to Steph, who"d made a point of knowing these things.

Everyone chatted away as we waited for Griffin to arrive, the last person due. I talked to Nyla for a while but had the feeling she was formulating too many opinions of me so I moved away when I could. My legs were throbbing badly and I felt blood seeping through my pants.

I hoped the fabric wasn"t sticking to the wounds as the blood dried.

When Griffin arrived, he greeted Nyla and Rudyard and then headed straight over to where Magda and Lincoln were huddled. Magda stood, gave him a brief embrace and talked quietly with him. I inched closer but couldn"t hear much, other than that she was leaving and it was something she couldn"t get out of – though she hadn"t seemed keen to go anywhere just a minute ago. She was brusque with Griffin and within moments landed a quick – and annoying – kiss on Lincoln"s cheek before she basically flew out the door. I was guessing her abrupt departure was the reason she didn"t have the chance to say goodbye to me.

Yeah right.

„Is everyone here then?" Griffin called out, returning his attention to the room.

We all nodded. He was about to convene a meeting. With the information we gathered last night it was now more important than ever to find those Scriptures. I knew they would have been working on strategies all morning. He was about to lay it out for us – what was going to happen, how it was going to happen. The problem was Griffin didn"t have all the info.

„Right, come and sit down," he went on, readying to start the spiel of a leader. I was glad we had him. The burden he must carry was huge. I was exhausted from just a week of having to deal with these people, I couldn"t imagine how difficult it would be for him at times.

Everyone dutifully moved in around the couches, squeezing together. Steph looked cosy tucked in with Salvatore. I smiled at her, noticing as I did that she was looking back at me with a worried expression. Lincoln moved closer too but kept a slight distance from everyone else, remaining at the end of the kitchen bench. It could have been because there was no room left on the sofas, but I was certain it was more than that.

More to do with staying away from me!

Griffin made himself comfortable in the main armchair and since there was no room left for me I just sat on the floor, which suited me anyway. My legs were on fire and at least there, laying them out straight didn"t draw any extra attention.

„Okay, I know you were all planning on training today, but instead – we need to work out how we are going to deal with the new information we have," Griffin began.