Enticed

by Jessica Shirvington

  Spence moved like a pro – probably an advantage of living in the Academy and training every day to be Grigori. I was a little more awkward, forgetting to always check behind and not positioning myself in the most defensive positions. But I watched Spence and tried to follow his spy tactics.

  We hid on our side of the doorway, which led into a massive area of military planes.

  Everywhere else we had been housed commercial aeroplanes or private jets. This room was filled with planes of a tell-tale army green colour and some even bore the splotchy camouflage design.

  A guy was walking around the largest of the planes, taking notes in a book. He had sandy-coloured hair that went down to his shoulders and looked young – too young.

  Everyone else in the factory looked at least thirty. They were probably all qualified personnel. Most workers would have had engineering degrees of some sort and getting that kind of stuff took time. This guy, who looked no more than eighteen or nineteen, had on a white lab coat and was flicking through the plane"s outer control box as if he real y knew what he was doing.

  Spence gave me a knowing look and I nodded. This was our guy. I was willing to bet that to anyone else he would look different, older and less striking, but we could see past the illusion,

  Spence turned to me and mouthed, „Just one?"

  I was about to nod when I felt something else. It was very faint and didn"t feel like the senses normally did. It was like I was experiencing a kind of lethargy version of them. I put a hand up in the air to stop Spence launching into combat. He gave me an impatient look. I raised one finger, pleadingly. He nodded.

  As we watched the exile press some more buttons, the front of the aircraft started to open, the entire room lifting into the air. Spence"s eyes lit up delight. I knew something about it opening from the front like that had impressed him. I was starting to think he may not have been the best person to bring along.

  „Whoa!" I gasped, before I could stop myself. The senses hit me so hard I had to brace a hand on the wall. I looked over to Spence between flashes of morning and evening and could tell he was feeling it too. We looked back to the plane and out walked another exile form inside. Tall, like many of them but he was also very slender with slick black hair. He looked like a stereotypical lanky villain.

  The two exiles started to talk.

  „Al done," said the lab-coat one.

  „Yes. This wil work – the titanium is all in place. We can send it out once we"ve loaded it with supplies. Where"s this one going?"

  The first one shrugged. „Don"t know yet. They won"t tell us til the last minute, you know that."

  The tall exile harrumphed. „Yeah, yeah. Get it finished off this month so we can get going on the next one."

  „Won"t be a problem. The mechanics here don"t know what they"re doing. They just bring in the military planes, do the work in a daze and then they leave. We even use them to fix

  „em up and they don"t remember a thing! No one comes in here otherwise – morons don"t think the room exist. It"s the perfect set-up," said the exile, laughing wickedly.

  Horrified, I looked over to Spence. Correction, I looked over to where Spence was supposed to be … and wasn"t. My eyes darted around frantically until I found him crouched under the tail of a nearby army plane. He was waving me over.

  This is so not going to end well.

  I scurried across the floor, crouching as low as I could an trying desperately not to make any more noise than necessary. It wouldn"t be long until they sensed us. In fact, I was surprised they hadn"t already.

  I stopped beside Spence, who was almost laughing out loud at my commando effort.

  „Shut up," I whispered. „Why are we hiding under this ugly plane anyway?"

  It hadn"t brought us any closed, just to another viewpoint the same distance away.

  He looked at me like I was an idiot. „It"s a better vantage. We can come up behind them from here. And by the way, don"t diss the plane. This is a B1 Bomber, you have to treat it with respect."

  „Ah, Spence … I hate to burst your bubble but this thing doesn"t look like it can fly."

  „ Ah, Vi! It has no wings yet. When this baby is finished it will be the baddest thing in the sky," Spence whispered, putting a reverential hand on the underside of the aircraft and bowing his head in praise.

  Give me a break!

  „Okay, all hail the wingless plane. Let"s go." Knowing that we only had seconds left until the exiles sensed us, there was no point trying to surprise them.

  I stood up and started to move towards them. Spence followed. I was glad I wasn"t relying solely on the element of surprise when my phone beeped with a message. Both exiles spun round with super speed.

  „Jeez!" I said sarcastically. „I thought you guys were never going to notice us."

  Good one, Vi. Piss off the already mentally unstable exiles!

  „And I thought today was going to be boring," the tall exile said as he flung himself towards me.

  I knew he was going to do it. One thing about exiles, they don"t hesitate, but even so, I was thrown off-balance by the sheer speed of the onslaught.

  Spence launched into action against the sandy-haired guy. The sounds of punches and kicks popped and echoed throughout the large cement room along with the squeak and screech of rubber-soled shoes on the painted cement floor.

  The tall exile got in a few early hits when I was caught off-guard but it didn"t take long for me to find a good rhythm. I might have been having a problem finishing them off, but overpowering them and generally beating them in a contest of strength and ability, came naturally.

  I drew the exile in, allowing him to think he was getting the better of me. It meant I had to take a few solid punches to the gut and one to the side of my face, but I absorbed them and he was getting cocky. As soon as I saw my opening I was in, he launched a wide arm at me, leaving the rest his body unguarded. My foot was in the air before I even thought about it and kicking hard into his chest.

  There was a time, a more human time, when I would never have been able to make a move like that – not in speed or agility. Today, it was just about making it happen.

  The exile went down. He wouldn"t be there for long.

  This is my chance.

  My hand went to my concealed weapon. As it did, the exile looked up at me and his eyes widened as his nostrils flared. Something was wrong – very wrong … he was scared.

  I paused, confused. Exiles do not get scared, not like this, anyway. They fight tooth and nail until the very last moment – he wouldn"t think I"d beaten him just because I was reaching for my dagger.

  His shock transferred to me and our mutual surprise gave him enough time to scurry to his feet and scramble back. His eyes were fixed on me – switching from one wrist to the other.

  I smiled. Tough. „You know who I am, don"t you?"

  „I know enough to know you"re as good as dead," he said, stil backing away.

  „Come on – don"t tell me you"re scared," I teased.

  I noticed the other exile shoot a glance towards us – he obviously wasn"t expecting this turn of events either. Spence used full advantage and hurled his entire body on top of him in an overly dramatic but effective move that was becoming something of a trademark for Spence.

  I smirked at my target and raised my eyebrows, daring him.

  His mouth twitched at the corner. I could tell he wanted to go on the attack, but he restrained himself, moving away with each step I took towards him.

  At my back I felt the glow of Spence"s power and heard him yell out the usual spiel –

  offering the exile a choice. No surprise, the exile told him to eat shit.

  The tall exile in front of me had full view and I could tell his instinct was to retaliate. He didn"t much care for the other exile but he liked the idea of inflicting pain on us. That was obvious.

  My phone beeped again. I was distracted for a second and then … I was foggy, like all logic dropped out of my mind for a moment a
nd I couldn"t quite remember what I … was. It was just a second, then all the doors in my mind re-opened and I was myself again. But it was enough. The exile had disappeared.

  „Hey, why"d you let him go?" Spence asked from beside me.

  „I … I didn"t. he must have used some kind of mojo on me. One second I had his number, the next I was … I don"t know – and then he was gone and you were beside me."

  „Memory?"

  „I think so. He only got through my defences for a moment – I wasn"t keeping my guard up," I said, now cross with myself. I should have been better prepared but I"d been concentrating on the physical instead of the internal.

  A rookie mistake, Vi.

  „Don"t beat yourself up, you did something right if he was running away."

  But that was the point, I hadn"t. and one more thing I realised, this wasn"t the first exile id"

  seen flee. Outnumbered or not, the exile at the farmhouse had taken off, too. But it just wasn"t in their make-up to run.

  „Hmm," I said, not up to speculating with Spence right now. Instead, I fished my phone out of my pocket. Onyx would be delighted when he found out his text caused me so much trouble. „It"s the address for Nahilius."

  „This day just gets better and better."

  „Spence … you need a hobby." I scrolled down my phone to the next message. It was from Griffin.

  We have a lead on the Scriptures. Can"t find Lincoln or Magda, let them know if you hear from them. Everyone at Hades now!

  „Shit," I said under my breath.

  „Bad news?"

  „No, good maybe. Just bad timing. We have to get back to Hades," I said as I walked towards the plane from which the exile had come. We were running out of time and there was still so much to do.

  „But what about Nahilius?" Spence persisted.

  I spun, close to falling off the emotional ledge I was already balancing on so precariously.

  „Do you think I don"t want to go after Nahilius? Do you think I don"t want to help Lincoln? I can"t be everywhere at once, Spence!" I yelled.

  Spence looked down and didn"t respond. I turned around again and proceeded into the mouth of the plane, getting back to business.

  Push it aside, Vi. Remember – no quitting!

  „Somehow, when the exile was inside here, I couldn"t sense him as well."

  That"s why I couldn"t sense them at the airport.

  „Yeah, I couldn"t sense him at all," Spence admitted, a little deflated.

  „What kind of plane is this?" I asked Spence.

  „This plane? Oh, Violet, how can you not know what this is? U mean, this isn"t a plane, this is an artwork. This is a moment in time, an extreme piece of machinery that will-„

  „Spence!" I cut him off.

  „You have no appreciation," he said, now glum. „It"s an Antanov, the biggest military transport plane in the world. You need a tank in a hurry, this is your baby!" He over-emphasised every word with a supportive hand gestures.

  „Do you need a moment alone with the plane?" I asked, on the verge of being sick.

  „Umm … no. it"s okay," he said. I think he actual y thought I was being genuine.

  We walked inside. The inner shell was covered in silver metal panelling.

  „This is new," Spence said, inspecting the panel ing. „It"s everywhere." He disappeared into the cockpit. „Even up here!" he yelled. „And there are shutters that pull down over the windows as well!"

  „It"s what they were talking about …" I said, joining him. „It"s titanium. Somehow it distorts the senses. It"s why I couldn"t sense them clearly at the airport and why that exile seemed to appear out of nowhere. They must be in one of these planes."

  „Well, that narrows things down considerably. Antanov planes are few and far between.

  I"d be surprised if there was more than one at the airport, though …" he trailed off.

  „What?"

  „This is a military plane, which means it"l be a restricted area. It won"t be easy."

  „Lucky I have someone around who pul off a wicked disguise then," I said.

  „Too true, Eden," Spence said with a wink.

  -

  I sent Spence to meet up with everyone at Hades, telling him I needed to run home first and I would meet him there.

  Once I was on my own I called Steph – she was a the library, so I jumped in a taxi.

  I found her sitting at one of the big communal tables though I noticed no one else was sharing the space. It was strewn with books which surrounded her laptop. Steph had claimed the whole area for herself.

  I took in what, to me, was a windstorm of papers, highlighted photocopies and newspaper clippings and felt more exhausted than ever. It looked like it would be difficult to make any sense of the material and impossible to actually get to it all. But I should have had more faith. Steph is, after all, a genius of sorts. Not to mention her super-handy photographic memory she never willingly flaunts.

  „Dare I ask?" I queried nervously, worried that she would snap at me. This workout definitely went above and beyond the normal call of friendship.

  Steph barely looked up from a newspaper clipping she was reading. „Wel , let"s just say the guy doesn"t have a Facebook page. It"s not that it"s difficult so much as there is not any one piece of significant information about him. Only a few words here and there. I"ve had to trace him through other people I think he has done this kind of corporate stuff to – you know, other victims.

  „Wow, I never would have thought to do that." Or known how.

  „The bottom line is, I"m not getting very far. Al I can real y tell you is that he"s been around – involved in a whole heap of extremely profitable companies and by the time he leaves or disappears they"re going under or already bankrupt. There always seems to be some scandal with the owner or a major financial controller – Skase, Conrad Black; he"s been everywhere. Someone else always ends up getting the blame and later, there seems to be a lot of mysterious deaths. One guy even jumped off the back of his yacht – Maxwell, I think, or something like that. It"s like the stuff you see on TV when a shonky businessman gets blamed for overpaying himself and stealing money on the side, but when it comes down to it the authorities can never actually find where he stashed the money and six months later you hear he had a sudden heart attack or similar."

  „Oh my God," I said.

  „Yeah, and while there"s always a fall guy, I think the one actual y getting away with the money is-„

  „Nahilius," I finished for her.

  „And?" Steph pushed.

  „And that"s why he didn"t want me involved," I said, trying to calm my heart that was now racing. Part horrified, part excited.

  „Because?"

  „Because … he cares about me the most."

  „ Because he loves your ass in the epic sense!" Steph said, giving me a little job-well-done pat on the back. This was as far as her deep and meaningful would extend. „Right," she said, standing and starting to pack books away. „What"s the plan?"

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  „ And as soon as he came near the camp … Moses" anger Burned hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain."

  Exodus 32:19

  The God squad, as Steph was still tagging them, were sitting at what was becoming the usual table in Hades.

  When I walked in I was surprised to see Onyx at the bar chatting to one of the bar staff –

  semi-civil. He was dressed in pants and a black shirts and he was clean, recently shaven and though he was sipping on what I was sure was straight bourbon I was also quite sure he wasn"t drunk. Every time I saw him lately, he looked more … human. Stil flawed in many ways, he was definitely less insane and though I wouldn"t ever want to test the boundaries he seemed less sinister. Now, well … now he was just mean.

  Right on cue, as I walked by he gave me an icy stare and looked me up and down.

  „Ha, no wonder you seem to be partnerless these days. Wardrobe counts
, especially when your face looks like that," he snapped his fingers in my face.

  „Go to hel , Onyx," I said, not stopping.

  „Already there thanks to you," he called after me. I ignored him.

  Griffin was deep in conversation with Nyla and Rudyard when I approached. I got the distinct impression from the look on his face that I wasn"t invited to be part of the secret whispers. Neither was Zoe, Spence or Salvatore, who were all hammed down the far end of the table, playing with coasters. I"m pretty sure it was a drinking game – the one where you balance the coaster on the edge of the table and have to flick it up in the air and catch it on the spin in one, otherwise you drink.

  Steph and I had tried it one night, but never got past the first attempt. It probably wasn"t the best game to play when we"d already had too much to drink and didn"t know what we were doing. We ended up in hysterical laughter. Steph, who can"t hold her alcohol at all, actually fell off her chair and stayed under the table laughing until we got kicked out of the seedy little bar where underage kids could get away with drinking. I can"t even remember how we discovered it, but Steph made the place famous at our school and now it"s where everyone hangs out.

  Except us, we"re stuck in Hades.

  I felt a twinge of guilt. I"d been asking so much of Steph. Just because I was bound to this life didn"t mean she had to be. I wouldn"t be surprised if she ended up hating me. I made a mental note to do something really thoughtful for her to say thank you.

  What gift really says – Thank you for tracking down the insane exiled angel that is tormenting Lincoln?

  „Hey," I said, pul ing out the chair beside Zoe.

  Zoe and Salvatore exchanged a glance when they saw me.

  „What? What now?" I asked. But I already knew it wasn"t good news. They kept looking at each other, as if waiting to see who would draw the short straw. Zoe hitched a shoulder and flung her hands on the table. Her wristbands made a blunt whacking sound on impact.

  „We went to the farmhouse with Beth and Archer and it was all cleared out. We couldn"t really sense anything but definitely felt something odd as we got closer to the airport.