He gave me a salute and picked up the drink Onyx poured him.
“So?” I tried again, walking into the apartment with Dapper. “Why the move?”
Dapper flicked on lights as we walked through. The apartment was different from his one above Hades, but it once again showcased his outstanding flair for interior design and love of Italian furniture.
“I’ve still got Hades,” Dapper said, taking my bag into a stylish bedroom decorated in a cream palette with splashes of chocolate and lime. He opened a door to show me the neat en suite bathroom and took two folded white towels from the cabinet below the sink, resting them on the vanity unit.
“I’ll head back there one day. But I decided to give New York a try for a while. Someone had to watch the girl,” he continued. “Plus, she tried to steal half my books when she left. I figured it was easier to bring the whole lot.”
I smiled to hear Dapper speak so lovingly of Steph. “So you just bought Ascension?”
“I saw the opportunity.” He winked. “Near-immortal regulars who can seriously hold their liquor make for good repeat business.” Then, before he seemed to realize it, he had enveloped me in another hug. “It’s good to see you, kid. Things just aren’t the same.”
I wriggled free of Dapper’s arms, overwhelmed by the emotion behind his words but also annoyed with myself for my reaction.
Get a grip, Vi.
Dapper gave a small nod as if he understood. “You need anything, just yell out. Kitchen’s down the hall if you’re hungry, though don’t get your hopes up. Onyx’s idea of shopping consists of bourbon and Pop-Tarts.”
Actually, a Pop-Tart sounded kind of delicious.
“So, you and Onyx? You’re happy?” I asked, surprising myself. Generally, I avoided these types of conversations and I knew Dapper wasn’t a big sharer of personal information, but there was a part of me that was desperate to know.
Dapper stared into space for a time before a small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “It hasn’t all been a yellow brick road, if you get my drift, but yes.” His eyes softened. “We’re happy.”
I nodded, pleased that they had one another.
He waited a beat before asking, “Do you want to talk about it?”
I knew “it” translated to “Lincoln” and to how I’d run away.
I looked down and unfastened the belt holding my sheathed dagger, setting it on the bedside table before looking back at Dapper. “I’d really rather not.”
• • •
I sensed Phoenix in my room that night as I tried to sleep. I couldn’t see him. I didn’t need to. I could feel his anxiety, but I was already on absolute overload, and it was taking all my energy to hold back the cold and constantly keep my walls up.
I could feel his sadness eating away at him and it only intensified my own soul-deep pain. I wondered if we were doomed to feel each other’s agony for all eternity. What a way to live.
“Just give me tonight, Phoenix. I can’t deal with any more right now,” I whispered shakily to the empty room.
His presence faded away. Unfortunately, the dreams, just like the one I’d had on the plane, did not.
• • •
The infirmary was on the level below the main operations, which occupied the top floors of the Academy skyscrapers, and was not far from where Josephine had once held my parents prisoner. It was early and Steph—dressed in a killer pair of apricot skinny jeans and an off-white peasant-style shirt—had met me outside the Academy first thing with a couple of to-go coffees.
God, I’ve missed my best friend.
“Where’s Gray?” she asked.
I followed her through the back entrance and toward the private elevators, where I took the opportunity to throw on the cloak I still had from the previous night. I knew it was now a futile disguise, but that didn’t stop me from clinging to it. I could already feel Lincoln nearby and my insides were flipping like a fish out of water.
“He and Onyx bonded over bourbon. I tossed a glass of water on his face before I left this morning. He won’t be far behind.”
“Got it,” she said with a snicker.
I noticed as we walked through the halls that no evidence of the damage caused the day Lilith and Phoenix blew up the majority of the Academy remained. It all looked new.
Pity you can’t cover up memories with a fresh coat of paint.
When we reached the entrance, I wasn’t surprised to see that the infirmary was well guarded by Grigori. I didn’t, however, expect them to immediately stand aside as we neared. At first I wondered if Josephine had informed them I would be coming down, only to remember they wouldn’t be able to recognize me beneath my black hood.
It wasn’t me for whom they stood aside so quickly. It was Steph.
“I see Lincoln isn’t the only one who’s moved up in the ranks,” I said. “Last time I was here, a human would never be allowed any authority.”
Steph smiled and I didn’t miss her pride. “Griffin gave his seat of power to me a while back. He didn’t want to leave our city unprotected, but the Assembly kept pushing for him to play a part here.”
I tried not to react to her mention of our home city and all the memories it stirred.
“In the end, he sent me as a kind of proxy until he could find the right Grigori to take over from him there. Spence had already left to bring Chloe here for her training, and I knew Sal and Zoe were anxious for us to all stay together. I didn’t have anything else holding me to home, so…” She shrugged. “Here I am.”
“What about Jase?” I asked, knowing that she might not have stayed behind for her dysfunctional relationship with her parents, but she and her brother, Jase, had always been tight.
Her smile slipped. “After everything that went down, he knew too much to leave it alone. In the end, I gave in and told him and he…he just couldn’t accept it. He didn’t want to be part of this world and he didn’t want me in it either. He gave me an ultimatum: him or Grigori.” She shook her head. “I tried to explain that it wouldn’t make any difference to just pretend exiles and Grigori didn’t exist and I told him how I loved Sal completely and that meant I couldn’t ever leave him.”
My eyes dropped.
Steph briefly covered her mouth with her hand, looking mortified. “Oh, Vi. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. You and Lincoln are different; I know that.”
I shook my head. “I know. So, what happened?”
“It was gradual. He called me less and less. I spent more and more time staying with Sal, and Jase spent more and more time avoiding home. Finally, one day I called him and he didn’t answer. He never called me back.”
“Oh, Steph, I’m so sorry. Why didn’t you tell me?”
She grimaced. “I don’t know. We’ve spoken so little and I never really knew what you did and didn’t want to hear. I guess I just tried to stick to the good stuff, hoping it might make you want to come back.”
Guilt gnawed away at me from the inside. “I’ve been such a terrible friend—to you and Spence.”
“Don’t, Vi. Spence and I, above anyone else, understood you did what you had to do. We’ve never blamed you for anything.”
I nodded, feeling ashamed anyway. “So,” I said, reverting to our original subject. “How did Josephine react when you showed up in New York?”
“She went nuts, of course. She called an Assembly vote to veto Griffin’s decision, but Griffin has a lot of support, and the votes in his favor won out—so much so that he’s been approached more than once to consider moving for a seat on the Assembly, but he insists he isn’t interested. Anyway, since then, Josephine has had to accept my position here.” Steph grinned. “We have our run-ins every now and then, but I think I’ve grown on her.”
I absorbed all of this. I was so proud of Steph for standing her ground and carving out a place for herself in this r
eality. Mostly, I was impressed to see she really believed in her position within this world, and not because I’d brought her into it, but because of her own endeavors.
“Do you ever regret it?” I asked. “Wish you could go back to that day I told you everything and just not know?”
“Never. Not even for a fleeting moment,” she answered. And her sureness left me envious.
“God sends meat and the devil sends cooks.”
Thomas Deloney
As we approached Chloe’s room, a closed door to our right drew my attention. Holding my coffee in one hand, my other rested flat on the door, but I made no move to open it. I looked over my shoulder to where Steph watched silently.
“Nyla?” I asked.
Steph nodded sadly. “Rainer won’t let her go. She says she’ll know when the time is right and when all hope is gone. She says she’ll feel it.”
I nodded, my hand slipping away.
Another wave of guilt crashed over me. I’d meant to visit Nyla when I’d last been here, but I’d put it off constantly. And then it had all been too late.
I knew that, before I left New York this time, I would return to this room. Even standing on the other side of the door, I could feel an odd pull.
But right now, I needed to focus on Spence.
“Let’s see Chloe,” I said, dropping my hand.
Steph showed me into Chloe’s room, where Salvatore and Zoe were waiting.
“Holy shit, is it really you?” Zoe blurted the moment I stepped into the room.
I lowered my hood. “I guess so.”
Salvatore came straight at me, encasing me in a warm hug. “Welcome home,” he said.
I moved stiffly out of his too-close embrace. “Thank you, but this isn’t my home.”
He nodded somberly, putting a protective arm around Steph. “That may be the case, but it is your family.”
I didn’t know how to respond, so I took a sip of my coffee and placed the paper cup on the table where a few vases of flowers and get-well cards were displayed, and turned to Zoe. “Long time,” I hedged.
Silence met me.
I braced. Zoe wasn’t the type to just forgive and forget, and whatever she was about to dish out, I knew she was well within her rights.
Finally, she put her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes. “Well, it’s about damn time you showed up,” she said, her expression blank for a few seconds before it morphed into an easy grin. “God, if Lincoln had known all he had to do to get you here was put Spence in mortal danger, he would’ve had him hog-tied and locked in a dungeon two years ago.”
My mouth fell open. I had no idea why everyone—well, almost everyone—was being so kind and understanding.
I don’t deserve this.
The corners of my mouth lifted and I tried my best not to flinch when she pulled me into a tight hug. Apart from when I was fighting, I hadn’t had so much physical contact in a long time. It felt foreign. Confusing.
And nice.
“I’m just here until we get Spence back,” I said, looking at them all.
Steph was the first to speak. “And that’s what we’re all going to focus on,” she reinforced as I nodded.
Chloe lay unconscious in the bed. She was pretty in a traditional way—neat, blond hair that, though currently dull, naturally fell in soft waves around her face. Even covered in bruises fading to green and yellow, her gentle features were recognizable and her clear complexion shone through. But the amount of bruising still present highlighted how badly she’d been beaten.
“Was she really in the convent?” I asked, picking up on one of the things Onyx had mentioned on the plane.
Zoe snorted. “Yep. Crazy, right? She would’ve ended up being a nonviolent, life-of-chastity nun if Spence hadn’t knocked on her door.”
“It must have been a hard decision for her to make,” I said quietly, knowing just how hard it had been for me to face a life of violence, and I certainly hadn’t had the same life planned out as she had.
“Actually, she didn’t hesitate,” Zoe said.
I glanced at her expectantly.
Zoe shrugged. “Spence showed up, told her the way of things, and she believed him straight away, didn’t even ask for proof. It was enough to make Spence suspicious that she didn’t have all her marbles, but when he asked, she explained that she’d seen exiles before. A group of them had taken over her local church one day and held her captive as they murdered the priests in front of her.”
My eyes widened. “Really?”
Zoe nodded. “They would’ve killed her too, but one exile pulled her out of the church. She thought he was going to kill her, but then he just let her go.”
My face screwed up in confusion. Exiles do not take pity—or value human life. “That doesn’t sound…” I glanced back at Chloe, confused.
“And you know the exile who did it too,” Zoe added, leaning back against the wall and pulling out a packet of M&M’s.
When I just stared at her perplexed, she simply said, “It was Onyx.”
“What? When?”
“Before he became human. He’s really cagey about it and won’t say much, but we figure it was around the time he made the first alliance with Joel and the exiles of light.”
I glanced around the room to see Steph and Salvatore nodding in agreement.
“Wow,” I mumbled. “So she embraced, just like that?”
“Pretty much,” Zoe said.
“She’s taken a while to get her head around some aspects, and her faith is an issue at times, since Spence isn’t exactly reverent in any way,” Salvatore added.
I snorted. Reverent was the last thing Spence was.
“No shenanigans?” I asked, smirking.
“Unfortunately, no. But they seem to have found some kind of middle ground. They’re good partners,” Zoe explained.
I nodded. “What are her stats?” I asked.
Steph answered. “Her mother died in a home invasion the day after Chloe was brought home from the hospital. Her angel maker is from the Angel rank. Her sense is sound. And her strength is perfect recall.”
“Recall?”
“Every single thing she sees is stored in her mind in exact detail.”
Well, now I’m definitely waking her up.
From what I’d heard of her story, Chloe’s life had seen a lot of trauma and tragedy. Yet she seemed to still have an ability for both faith and fight.
Lucky her.
“Is she a strong fighter?” I asked.
“Fair,” Zoe said with a diplomatic edge.
Sensing there was more, I pushed. “Has she returned any exiles?”
“Not yet,” Steph said.
I wasn’t surprised to hear the answer. It was why Spence would have wanted to get her clear of the bald exile—there was no way Spence would have been able to fight him and have Chloe’s back too.
“Has she seen Onyx since she’s been here?” I asked, intrigued by their connection. In an odd way, Chloe had been a part of all our dramas since the very beginning.
“Of course,” Zoe said. “At first it was weird, but they seem to have some kind of bizarre understanding. They’re never going to be besties, but she trusts Spence’s judgment and accepts Onyx is no longer what he was. Plus, I’m pretty sure something went on that night that only the two of them understand. Either way,” she said in a lighter tone, “it doesn’t hurt that she knows she’s now the one with the power. If she wanted to take Onyx down, she could. He knows it too.”
I sat on the edge of Chloe’s bed, hoping to God she was strong enough to be the partner to Spence she now needed to be. “Chloe, if you can hear me, it’s Violet. You asked me to come and see you, and I figure you have something to say. Normally I wouldn’t do this. It feels wrong unless it’s life and death, especially without permissio
n.” I placed a hand on her forehead and the other on her shoulder. “But I need to find Spence, and I’m betting on the fact that’s what you want too,” I explained before pushing my power into her, finding her injuries and healing them.
It took some time. I could feel that she’d suffered a bad trauma at the back of her head and the internal bleeding was substantial. Without Spence to help speed up her healing, it may have been a good while until she healed herself.
When her body convulsed, Zoe took up position on the other side of the bed, holding her down. Finally, Chloe’s eyes shot open and she screamed. I slapped a hand over her mouth, not wanting to alert the entire building to the fact that she was awake.
I pulled my powers away from her. She wasn’t perfectly healed, but it was enough.
I lessened my hold over her mouth as she became more aware of her surroundings.
“Chloe, it’s okay. It’s over. You should be starting to feel a bit better. Please don’t scream again,” I urged.
Chloe nodded and I pulled my hand away as she took in a few deep breaths.
We let her take her time, but she didn’t seem to need much because it wasn’t long before words started to tumble out. “I’ve been waiting for you.”
“You’ve been unconscious,” I said.
“In and out,” she said with a small smile. “I just didn’t want anyone to know.”
I nodded, impressed.
“Is he alive?” I asked tentatively.
She nodded and I knew it was true. As his partner, she would know without any doubt. I could hear the combined sigh of relief from behind me.
“Where is he, Chloe?”
“I don’t know,” she said, her voice catching on her obviously dry throat. Zoe held up a cup of water, and Chloe took a few grateful sips. She then reached out and gently took my wrists in her hands, looking at the silver bracelets that concealed my markings. “May I?” she asked.
Uncomfortable but willing, I nodded and unclasped the cuff on my right wrist to reveal the swirling silver patterns on my skin.
“They’re beautiful,” she said. “Like watching life in motion.”
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