Enticed (25 page)

Nyla and Rudyard almost fell over. „Wel , that"s … very grown up of you," Rudyard said.

But as they walked out the door and Spence gave them another smile and a wave, I could see the doubt on their faces.

Spence was up to something, but right now I couldn"t have cared less.

Everyone else stood up and started to get organised, planning trips back to the hotel and to get supplies. I felt them to it. Instead, I zeroed in on Griffin.

„I"m going to get Lincoln," I said in a way that didn"t leave room for negotiation.

„We don"t have time, Violet." He barely looked up from his papers. „I"ve left them a message. If they miss our flight they can get a commercial plane."

„No can do, Griff. Lincoln"s not himself and if I leave him in Magda"s any longer it"s gonna be all bad."

„What are you talking about? They"re trying to wrap up an old case. Don"t get jealous over sil y things," he said, shaking his head at me, trying to fob me off.

But I didn"t have the time, or the patience right now. „Griffin, open your eyes! Lincoln and Magda have been off on some covert op since she got back. You have no idea what they"re doing and Magda never hangs around long enough to give you any more information than the bare necessities. They"ve gone after Nahilius!"

At the mention of Nahilius" name, Griffin"s eyes grew wide the way they always did when something major was dropped in his lap. He steadied himself, putting a hand on the back of a chair. Of course, the second he learned of anything that he hadn"t already been fully aware of he blamed himself.

„It"s not your fault," I tried to reassure him. „They"ve been sneaking around behind everyone"s back, but the thing is. I think Lincoln is losing perspective and I also think that Phoenix is the one doing this. He wants to keep Lincoln and me apart."

Griffin opened his mouth to speak, but I didn"t let him.

„I know you think we don"t have time to wait for them but I"m not going without him. I can"t leave him – not now, not when I know he needs me." I grabbed the backpack I"d stashed under the table.

„Go," Griffin said.

„I"l be at the airport in two hours. I promise."

I wasn"t sure what Griffin said, something about watching my back. I didn"t wait around.

The clock was ticking. If I was going to get to Lincoln it had to be now. I knew must have known where Nahilius was staying. As I walked out of Hades I spotted Onyx unpacking a case of Vodka. „You stealing or helping?" I asked, not slowing.

I wasn"t sure what griffin said, something about watching my back. I didn"t wait around.

The clock was ticking. If I was going to get Lincoln it had to be now. I knew he must have known where Nahilius was staying. As I walked out of Hades I spotted Onyx unpacking a case of vodka. „You stealing or helping?" I asked, not slowing.

„Haven"t decided yet," he said. „How about you?"

I smiled. „Just going to get what"s mine! Thanks for the info – I owe you one."

I was halfway through the door and expected to hear a demand for more bourbon, but there was nothing. He was probably working out a shopping list.

I ran a few streets, keeping an eye out for an empty taxi. Finally, I spotted one and jumped in. just as I shouted out the address of Nahilius" hotel and reached to pull the door closed, Spence flew in beside me.

„You promised," he said, closing the door behind him.

Shit.
„Spence, I"m sorry, but things have changed. They have guns. For all I know so does Nahilius. I can"t risk it – you might get hurt."

„Damn it, Eden! I heard you give the address to the driver. I know where you"re going.

Don"t make me pay for my own taxi."

Here"s the thing about priorities. When your main one is on the line you find yourself doing things you would usually put in the „questionable" box. Normally, I wouldn"t risk Spence"s life just to help my own cause; normally, I would kick up a fuss and try to negotiate my way out of this; normal y … but nothing was normal about this situation and well …

priorities.

„Okay," I concealed. „But if you get dead, it"s on you."

„Hey," he shrugged, „I wouldn"t have it any other way." He buckled up and smiled with victory.

I"d deal with my conscience later.

„
Well! Evil to some is always good to others."

Jane Austin

When the taxi pulled into the kerb, Spence and I all but scrambled out the windows, heaving for fresh air.

The driver and his taxi stank. The combination of garlic-charged body odour festering for hours on end in terry-towelling seat covers with no air conditioning, was pungent. From the moment Spence closed the door we"d been holding back the gag reflex as we tried desperately to stick our heads out the small openings the jammed windows permitted.

Stumbling onto the footpath, my head was spinning with a combination of car sickness and repulsion.

Spence took in a few deep breaths. „Wow, that was …" he scrunched his face while flapping his T-shirt – aerating.

„Yeah," I said, gasping for breath for a few cleansing intakes of fresh air, too.

Spence waited patiently while I took a moment to right myself. I hate riding in the back of cars at the best of times.

„Okay," I said eventual y as I stood straight and started to register my surroundings. „We must be close. I can sense exiles."

Spence nodded and looked around. He couldn"t sense anything yet.

We were outside the hotel Onyx had directed us to. The Luxe Grand, a five-star hotel with all the trimmings. Standing to attention in crisp white shirts beneath tailored grey waistcoats, were three doormen – one to open car doors, one to take any luggage and one to open the hotel doors for guests. It had the clichéd red carpet out the front edged with gold pillars and heavy velvet rope. It sent out a simple message –
If you can"t afford to be here, go away.

Spence and I paused. I heard him scoff under his breath. He was in the same pair of baggy jeans he always word when he wasn"t in training gear and a faded green T-shirt – as opposed to his faded blue T-shirt. Spence wasn"t wel -off. I looked down at my own very average ensemble – black cargos and black long-sleeved T-shirt. At least we weren"t wearing flip-flops.

We spared each other a glance, both thinking the same thing, and shrugged simultaneously before moving towards the red-carpet entrance.

The doormen each gave us a snooty up-and-down look, but we didn"t stop. We needed to get up to Nahilius" room. Unfortunately, Onyx"s text had only said „top floor". No room number.

We powered through the lobby not wanting to draw any more attention to ourselves than we already had, and bee-lined for the lifts, deciding to take a chance that Onyx was right.

And
that he wasn"t setting us up!

The top floor, which turned out to be the twenty-sixth consisted of two penthouse suites.

Spence and I pressed the number in the lift and waited.

Nothing happened.

„It"s got one of those swipey things for the top floors," Spence said, pointing to the electronic swipe machine, which was not dissimilar to the one I have outside my apartment building.

„How are we going to get one of those?" I asked, feeling everything was against ours.

Spence looked over to the reception area and then to where a maid was busy tiding up some of the lobby tables. He pulled out his mobile phone then dashed over to one of the coffee tables and grabbed a hotel notepad. He dialled a number and, after a short delay, he coughed and started talking in a deep voice.

„Yes. Hello, I"m staying in the penthouse on twenty-six. I"ve been in meetings all day and am on my way back to the hotel now. I"d like someone to go up and check that the air conditioning is on. Last time I walked in it was unacceptable." Then he just ended the call.

I held my hands up as I walked towards him. „I don"t understand," I said.

But then Spence dragged me back to the lifts. „Just wait," he said with a wink.

One minute later, a maid came rushing towards the lifts and pressed the up button.

Spence, who had a hand on my shoulder, put a finger to his mouth to tell me not to speak. It was then that I realised, he had us under a glamour.

The lfit bell sounded and the maid ducked through its doors. We were closed behind.

Inside, she swiped her key card and pressed the number twenty-six. Finally – I got it. I also saw what kind of glamour Spence had used – nothing. Literally, when I looked in the mirror I couldn"t see anything other than the maid. No wonder Spence wanted me to stay silent.

Who needs an invisibility cloak when you"ve got a Spence.

The ride took a lifetime. I didn"t breathed I was so scared of exposing us. Finally, the lift stopped and the doors slid silently open. Level twenty-six.

We snuck out and waited in the hall as the maid went up to one of the two doors and knocked. Spence hadn"t clarified which penthouse he was „staying" in – it was perfect. She was going to have to check both.

The door opened and a scantily-clad woman answered the door.

„Da?" she said, in what I thought was a Russian accent.

„Madam, I"m sorry but I"m just checking to see that your air conditioning is running to your satisfaction?"

The woman, who was dressed in a clingy leopard-print dress, looked at the maid like she were something she"d stepped in. Spence was shaking a little and I elbowed him to stop him laughing out loud.

„Tis fine," the woman said.

„Certainly, madam, sorry for the interruption," the maid said, backing away and giving a little curtsey as she did. I had no idea how much a night in the penthouse cost, but judging from the woman and the sheer amount of jewellery she was draped in, I was willing to bet it was a lot.

Spence and I followed ourselves against the wall as the maid moved over to the other door, now flustered. This was it. If Onyx was right, Nahilius could be behind this door. My stomach jumped into my throat as we watched the maid give three polite knocks.

Waiting.

Will Nahilius be able to see through the glamour?

Waiting.

I felt for my dagger and wondered if today would be the day.

Waiting.

No answer. He wasn"t in.

The maid tugged on the swipe key hanging from one of those coil key rings around her waist and opened the door.

Spence and I quietly glided through the door before it closed. We watched silently as the maid checked the air-conditioning unit, pressed a few buttons and again waited.

We gave each other a look.
What was she waiting for?
But then, the air-conditioning made a sound and kicked in. we felt a breeze of cool air, which gave me a different type of chill, filter into the room. The maid nodded to herself, checked the digital control monitor one more time, and left.

Spence took his hand off my shoulder. I knew the moment he did the glamour would lift, but I didn"t feel anything as it happened. Weird.

„Holy crap!" Spence said, taking in the gigantic suite we were standing in. I mean, you think you"ve seen penthouses before, on TV and stuff, but this was something else altogether. It was three times the size of my apartment easily and was only one bedroom.

The living area was a new kind of huge – it had a plunge pool right in the middle – Steph would have freaked. Or maybe just felt at home.

Spence charged from one end to the other stopping only to pull out his phone again. I was about to ask, when I saw him start to line it up and take photos.

„Spence, we real y don"t have time."

He just shrugged and put the phone away. „Well, he"s not here. Where to now?"

„I don"t know." I hadn"t thought beyond getting here. I looked around, confused. „I could"ve sworn I sensed an exile – I stil can."

„You"ve got a pretty wide range and this is a dense area. You could e sensing other exiles nearby."

He was right and it wouldn"t be the first time. Btu stil , I couldn"t shake the feeling.

Something was off.

I called Steph. My only hope was that she might have found a lead.

„Hey," Steph said, answering on the second ring. „I was just about to call you."

„Please tell me you have something, Steph. I"m nearly out of time," I said, feeling as desperate as I sounded.

„It"s not much, but I found one thing. It"s the building Lincoln"s Mum owned. It"s abandoned now but from what I can see it was one of the main assets of her business. The deeds for the property were set aside before she died. I"m guessing somehow Nahilius got her to sign it over to him."

„And?" I prompted.

„Well, I did a search and the building went on the open market a few weeks ago. I think he"s trying to sell it while he"s here."

I remembered the text message on Lincoln"s phone. „City Comm Realty?" I"d given Steph the name, but we"d had nothing to link it to at the time.

„You got it."

„Where?" It was the best shot we had.

I moved to the window as Steph was talking and looked down at all the people crowding the city footpaths far below the cars streaming by. No one knew what was really going on in this world. It"s funny, but at that moment more than any other, I knew that if I couldn"t find my way back to Lincoln then both of us were going to be very lonely. It wasn"t about
being
together
it was about sharing this life together, about being the partners we were destined to be,

I realised, too, that I"d always begrudged it. Even when I"d stood on that cliff, it crossed my mind before I jumped – that by becoming Grigori, by becoming his partner, I was not only helping him but also ensuring that we"d never be together.

Thinking of him directly, I had a surge of nearness. Lincoln was close. My body reacted, my
power
reacted, knowing he wasn"t far. It was like I was starving for him. The human
and
the angel.
How could that be?

Steph rattled out the address and as she did, the craziness of it all settled I and her words slowly registered. My eyes looked up and across the road to what was now an abandoned building.

The senses erupted within, encouraged by knowledge, my angelic part on the hunt.