‘What happened at yesterday’s meeting?’ I asked, worried I missed the arrangements.
‘It was rescheduled for today. They should be heading to the hall now, in fact.’
I stood up, trying to hide the shaking in my legs. ‘Well, we’d better get going, then. They can’t assemble our team unless we’re there, right?’
Lincoln huffed, clearly not finished with this conversation – or lecture. I ignored him and walked carefully to the door, unable to hide a few sharp winces.
‘You know I could help with that,’ he said from behind me, his voice suddenly low.
I froze, knowing exactly what he meant. When we connected our healing powers were much stronger, but it was always confronting, sharing our emotional as well as our physical abilities.
I shook my head. ‘I’d prefer not.’
I am a pathetic liar.
‘Hmm,’ he said, brushing against my side before opening the door for me. ‘We’ll see.’
When I passed him to go through the doorway, he grabbed my wrist, holding it tight. ‘Next time you decide to do something so reckless, at least tell someone you might be on your way to die. You know, just so we can find you,’ he said, unable to disguise the bitterness in his tone.
I licked my lips. ‘Sure. Next time I’ll do that,’ I snapped, trying to pull my arm from his grip.
‘Be sure you do. Maybe then it won’t be so hard to tell you that what you did was just damn amazing.’
My breath caught. I stared as Lincoln simply dropped my wrist and stormed ahead towards the hall.
Only when I heard the chuckling did I notice Steph standing in front of me.
‘What’s so funny?’ I asked.
She shook her head. ‘You two. You’re just so … annoying.’ She laughed again.
‘We can’t seem to stop yelling at each other.’
‘Maybe you should try doing something that doesn’t involve talking,’ she said with a wink.
I looked to the ceiling. ‘Please. Not you, too. Come on, we’d better get to that meeting before Lincoln has another reason to yell at me.’
She snorted. ‘You have some housekeeping to take care of first.’
I looked at her, confused. ‘Such as?’
‘Such as where Phoenix is going to be staying.’
‘Steph, Phoenix is an angel. As in incorporeal.’
She rolled her eyes and pointed behind me. ‘Well, Vi, honey, you might want to explain that, then.’
My heart skipped a beat and my breathing practically stopped completely as I turned slowly on my heel to see Phoenix, in the flesh, sitting on one of the waiting-room chairs with his elbows on his knees and his head slumped forward, looking at the ground.
‘What. The. Hell?’ I breathed.
‘If that was our only question it would be easy. He hasn’t said much, but according to Rainer you weren’t going to make it. So, Mr Self-sacrifice here brought you back.’
‘He … he …’
Steph placed a supporting hand on my shoulder. ‘He exiled, Vi. For you.’
CHaPteR tweNty
‘But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you!’
Revelations 12:12
‘Of course he did,’ I mumbled, feeling closer than ever to losing my mind. ‘Of course he did,’ I repeated, delirious.
How can this all be happening?
My crazy laugh caused Phoenix to look up. He was tired and, for the first time since we’d met, he looked unsure.
Steph murmured, ‘I’ll let them know you’re on the way,’ as she left.
I sighed as I sat down next to him. ‘Tell me this wasn’t for me,’ I said softly.
His lips twitched before he looked back down to his feet. ‘This wasn’t for you.’
‘They won’t let you go back again,’ I said.
He nodded. We both knew it was true.
‘What are you going to do?’ I asked.
He shrugged. ‘I have no idea.’
I closed my eyes. Once again everything was completely out of control and it all seemed to be because of me. I should have thought it through more before racing ahead to save Nyla.
What have I done?
‘I’m sorry,’ I whispered.
‘Don’t be,’ he said. ‘You and I know it was only a matter of time.’
I blinked. ‘I realised you weren’t happy but I don’t think either one of us knew you were going to do this.’
He shrugged again. ‘There’s no perfect place for me. At least as an exile I have choices. There was a time when I believed being an angel was who I was.’ He looked at me briefly before dropping his eyes again. ‘I’ve changed.’
Haven’t we all.
I rubbed my face, tired too. But I knew I had to say it. ‘Phoenix, I can’t … you know that I …’
He leaned back, looking ahead blankly. ‘That you love Lincoln?’
I flinched. ‘It’s not that. I just can’t be with anyone.’
He half smiled. ‘Because you love Lincoln.’
‘I’m not the girl you first met. And with all the history between us … I don’t know how we handle this.’
His smile widened. ‘Is that your way of saying you don’t want to be my BFF?’
He’d caught me by surprise and I pursed my lips to hold back my smile, but it came anyway.
With that, Phoenix stood up and put his hand out for me. ‘Don’t worry. I’m not planning a repeat of history. I don’t think the world would survive.’
‘That’s probably true,’ I said, deadpan, but as we walked up the stairs towards the hall, I chewed my lower lip.
Phoenix reached out and gently touched his thumb to my chin. ‘It’ll be okay. How about we just concentrate on getting your friend back and this problem solved? Then we’ll get drunk and work out what to do with the rest of my eternity.’
I smiled. ‘Okay,’ I said, realising that I was glad he was here to help. ‘So, they actually let you in here?’
‘I do have an arsenal of persuasive skills,’ he said with his more familiar cocky smile. ‘And I did return with a few of their valued possessions, so, for now, no one has tried to kill me.’
‘Has Lincoln seen you?’ I asked hesitantly.
‘We shared a moment. Grunts were exchanged.’
When I just stared at him, he sighed. ‘Violet, he doesn’t like me. He never will. The feeling is entirely mutual. But we have an understanding, and since I returned you, it bought me some time before he insists that I beat him into the ground.’
I rolled my eyes. ‘If anyone is beating up either one of you, it will be me,’ I said, stopping again outside the doors to the hall, breathing deeply as I redirected my concentration. Phoenix chuckled beside me.
‘You know,’ he said, ‘I know what you’re doing, and you’re not helping yourself like you think you are.’
I glanced up at him as soon as I had my emotions under control and muted. I knew my eyes were cold and hard, but I was fine with that. ‘Thank you for saving me. What you did was … incredible. But I’m warning you, don’t interfere with this stuff, Phoenix. I mean it.’
‘I know you do,’ he said, shaking his head and holding the door open for me. ‘But that doesn’t make you right,’ he added as I walked past him.
The hall was already full. The Assembly were in their places – although I noticed that in addition to Seth’s and Decima’s vacant seats, both Rainer and Wilhelm were also absent. I could feel Drenson’s eyes on me as I walked towards the front of the room where Steph was waiting for me. As I moved I noticed a couple of Grigori drop their heads as I passed.
Zoe and Salvatore were beside Steph and when I reached them, they pulled me into tight embraces.
‘Thank you, Vi,’ Zoe said, her voice thick with emotion that I heard but, fortunately, did not have to feel. ‘Nyla is the closest thing I have to family. Thank you so much.’
I nodded and moved away from them with a small smile. Phoenix had taken up position just
behind me, next to Gray.
‘When you are ready, Violet,’ Drenson said, sounding distinctly irritated. ‘May I remind you that there are many people in this room who have more pressing issues to deal with than your reunion with friends.’
I decided not to bother with a response. Instead I stood and stared at the man who, I was realising more and more, was not a nice person and was a terrible leader.
Satisfied he’d belittled me, Drenson redirected his attention towards Phoenix. ‘He must be removed. This is Grigori business and he is an exile who has already launched one attack on this building.’
Lincoln stepped forward from the other side of the room. ‘He is an angel who fell to save a Grigori life. You call him an exile, but what exile has ever done such a thing? We owe him a debt of gratitude, and he has also offered to help us find Spence. I’ve asked him to come with us.’
Drenson’s face bloomed red and his jaw clenched. He flinched when Josephine placed a hand on his shoulder. She didn’t speak, but her touch seemed to be enough. He turned away from Lincoln and moved his shoulder to shrug off Josephine’s hand.
‘As I was saying,’ he went on, as if the previous exchange had not happened, ‘we have received reports from Grigori in Mexico, Texas and Georgia who have all witnessed dramatically increased exile activity in the past two days. It seems these recent battleground wars between light and dark have developed into a kind of travelling tournament. One of the humans working for the exiles was captured in Florida last night and our Grigori managed to extract Sammael’s name from her, confirming that he is behind the tournaments, before she …’ He trailed off.
Before she killed herself.
My eyes were on Josephine who, at the mention of Sammael, had paled.
I glanced at Steph, who looked deep in thought.
Drenson put his hands up to stop the murmured speculation that had already begun. ‘There are many stories about Sammael and his terrible deeds but he, like every other exile, now wears a human body. He is in our world and we will stop him. We can safely assume at this stage that Sammael is holding Spencer captive, and since there is a chance Spencer is also holding intel we could use, our primary objective is to recover him. Lincoln and—’ He cleared his throat, ‘our visitor, Violet, will run the task force. Some of you will be put on standby, others will be sent to neighbouring cities to collect further intel and work with local Grigori on containing the human element we are now dealing with. Questions?’ He returned to his seat, and something about the arrogant look on his face put me on alert.
‘Yeah,’ called someone from the back. ‘Since when are we letting a Rogue lead us?’
Drenson cast a smug look in my direction.
Oh, hell.
Josephine surprised me by standing up. ‘Because the Rogue is the best-equipped to get this job done.’
‘Is it true she can cross into the angel realm any time she wants?’ another voice called out.
‘Is that how she brought Nyla back?’ a girl asked from the upper level.
‘How can we trust her when she doesn’t even want to be one of us?’
‘She has no code!’
‘She abandoned her own partner!’
That one hurt.
I stepped forward, unwilling to let this go any further, and faced the crowd, relieved that I had my emotions in check. ‘I don’t answer to the Assembly or the Academy. That is a choice I was free to make. And I had my reasons. I fought with you all against Lilith’s exiles. I fought until I almost died. I fought with you after the Assembly rejected me and told me I was not good enough. You’re all free to make your own choices as I have done and after this is finished you will never have to see me again, but Spence is one of my people. I don’t care who I have to take down on my way, I will get him out. That is the reason your Assembly found me unworthy of being one of you. And I’m A-okay with that because I don’t intend on changing. So, if you have a problem with me, or think you are better-suited for the job, take your shot now. I’ve got a few minutes to spare between people trying to kill me, but make sure you have your partner on standby ready to heal you, because I don’t have enough time to be careful.’
I stood tall and looked back to see Phoenix’s amused grin. Gray was beside him, looking resigned, hanging his head. Clearly he didn’t think I’d done as well as I’d thought.
And, clearly, he was right, since half a dozen Grigori walked towards the sparring area ready to fight. I shrugged, not missing Drenson’s self-satisfied smirk or Josephine’s irritation.
Petty politics.
The five men and one woman who’d stepped up to fight were all well-established warriors. They all fought hard. But my emotions were shut off and the constant judgement was only making me restless.
Lincoln had moved closer to the sparring area, but he kept his distance, watching silently, and I was relieved that he didn’t attempt to control the situation. These Grigori needed this. One by one I took them down, trying, despite my earlier warning, not to hurt any of them too badly. It was a purely selfish decision. I still had no idea what we would face in New Orleans and figured it was best to keep all fighters capable of performing their duties.
Just as I turned around to the now-quiet Grigori I let in enough emotion to feel pretty damn good about myself … then my eyes fixed on a woman standing by the doors. My internal congratulations came to a sudden halt.
Decima, the mightiest and most ancient of all Grigori warriors apart from her partner Seth, strode towards me, panther-like.
I adjusted my stance, preparing for sheer brutality.
She stopped in front of me. My pulse quickened, knowing that this fight was about to hurt. A lot. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Lincoln step forward; I dared to take my eyes off Decima long enough to shoot him a hard look, effectively stopping him in his tracks.
Decima tilted her head as she studied me with interest. ‘I am not here to challenge you. You have grown, I see. It intrigues me and I admit that I do not know if you would better me in combat, but I do not think so.’
That makes two of us.
‘Go on your mission. Bring back your friend,’ she instructed.
‘Then why are you here?’ I asked cautiously.
‘Because I heard a name I have not heard for centuries. I came to tell you that if you come up against Sammael, you will not win.’
Oh, got it. You’re here for a morale boost.
‘You cannot beat him in strength. Not the way I see you fight. Sammael has fought without heart for much longer than you.’
I flinched at her accusation. Was I heartless?
‘If you cannot be human, you cannot defeat him,’ Decima said, her ancient eyes looking through mine as if my ultimate demise were near.
I stared back at her. ‘I know who and what I am. I’m a weapon and I’ll be used as such. If Sammael wants a fight I guarantee you, Decima, he will have one.’
Decima laughed, the sound like troubled wind chimes. ‘Still a child in so many ways. Let me keep it simple for you – sometimes one is best understood by the world when the world can first measure the value and power of one’s greatest enemy. You may not know who Sammael is, but I have no doubt you have heard of his nemesis the angel Sammael fought and almost dragged to earth with him?’
I swallowed, a chill running down my spine. My mouth had gone suddenly dry and my eyes darted to Phoenix, who would not look at me.
‘Who?’ I asked.
Decima did not look happy to be the one to share this information. If anything, she looked resigned. ‘The Viceroy of Heaven. Commander of all the armies. The one to whom our last judgement stands. Sammael’s arch-enemy is the Prince of the Elect, Michael.’
My brow furrowed, processing everything she’d just said. ‘But I … I thought God had the final judgement. Or Jesus.’
Decima tilted her head and then gave an aloof smile. ‘And there are those who would believe that Michael and Jesus are one in the same.’
I shook my head
, confused. ‘But isn’t Lucifer supposed to be Michael’s enemy?’
‘Lucifer is Michael’s perfect opposite. As Michael is the Prince of Light, Lucifer is the Prince of Dark. They serve a purpose, their functions at the opposite ends of the spectrum, but they have always remained true, unlike Sammael who believed his purpose entitled him to more than his function.’ Decima pulled her hood over her head and gestured to someone to open the doors for her. ‘I will leave now. Seth waits.’
She began to walk down the aisle, people moving away from her as she did.
‘Wait!’ I called out. ‘What was Sammael’s purpose?’
When she reached the door, she paused, though she did not turn around. ‘Sammael was the angel of death.’
Splendid.
CHaPteR tweNty-ONe
‘… in Heaven and in Earth, are a double Nature; in Heaven they are unchangeable and incorruptible; but on Earth they are changeable and corruptible.’
Hermes Trismegistus
Decima’s brief appearance and inspiring speech left even fewer Academy Grigori pleased about my presence. I wanted to point out to them that while she might have stated that I couldn’t win, she didn’t suggest any of them could either, but it was probably time to keep quiet.
I waited for whatever was coming. Drenson was smiling, which meant he had more cards to play. But before he had a chance to speak, Lincoln walked towards me and stopped at my side, turning his attention back to the Assembly.
If it were possible, the tension in the room immediately went up a notch. I sent him a sideways glance. ‘You don’t have to do this,’ I said under my breath.
He didn’t respond, but I knew he’d heard.
Lincoln was making a stand. By my side. And it felt like a knife wound to my heart. Even after I’d walked away and left him, he was still willing to stay beside me as my partner. He was loved and respected within the Academy and he was a tool of the Assembly. His support could not go unnoticed.
‘I can speak for myself,’ I insisted.
He sighed, but only handed me a piece of paper.
I glanced down to see the list of names of the proposed team. It showed almost everyone I would have wanted, including Phoenix. I wondered why Mia’s name was missing then put it together that it must be because she was partnerless. There were also a few names I didn’t recognise.
Empower: Violet Eden Chapters: Book Five Page 18