Embrace, Entice, Emblaze (109 page)

chapter
twelve

“Temptation is like a knife, that may either cut the meat or the
throat of a man; it may be his food or his poison, his exercise or
his destruction.”

JOHN OWeN

Phoenix appeared relaxed, leaning back, legs extended and crossed at the ankle, as if he didn’t have a worry in the world. It looked as if he was the only person at the table, but I knew there was something else there from when I’d scanned the café earlier.

I walked slowly but confi dently, scoping out the other customers, getting a good look at the staff . Tonight, I didn’t want any surprises.

Phoenix watched me draw closer, an amused look on his face

that had me clenching my fi sts. I squeezed between a few chairs and fi nally reached his table at the very back. He’d already taken the seat with the best vantage point. I didn’t sit.

“Good evening, lover,” he said, smirking. His hair seemed

almost alive, like black and purple fll ames with embers of silver. I Emblaze.indd 130

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wondered if normal people saw it the way I did and if they were as distracted by it.

“It’s nice to see you.” His smile widened. “In the flesh.”

So he
had
sensed me earlier.

Well, good
.

At least he’d know I was learning how to control it, whatever

it
was.

“Where is she?” I asked, keeping my emotions in check, only

letting a little of my disdain for him creep out.

“Right here,” he said, looking to his side. He patted the chair to his left. “How about you take a seat and I will reveal her to you.” His eyes wandered, pretending to give a damn. “People are looking.” I sat down, not because he wanted me to, but because I was

desperate to see Steph. “Show her to me!” I demanded and quickly regretted it.

He relished having power over me and it was enough that he’d

already proved he could keep her hidden from my view.

“Please, Phoenix,” I added, softening my voice significantly. My change in tone must have caught him off guard. He waved a hand

through the air, as if disappointed things hadn’t gone differently, and revealed Steph.

I gasped.

She was unconscious and had a large blue- green bruise on her

cheek, while the blood in her veins showed prominently down the side of her face. I shot a look of hate back at Phoenix and was halfway to my feet with every intention of slamming my fist into 131

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him when he raised one hand, looked me right in the eyes, and

said, “It wasn’t me.”

It stalled me long enough for him to add, “They did it before I got to her. I gave you my word I wouldn’t hurt her, and from the moment she’s been with me, she has not been touched or harmed

in any way.”

“Why is she unconscious, then?” I snapped. But I sat back down.

“Not unconscious— asleep. Just until we’ve made the trade. I

thought it might be better for everyone that way.” His eyebrows lifted. “She doesn’t always know when to shut up.”

“How? Have you drugged her?”

“Didn’t need to.” He leaned in a little and lowered his voice.

“I’m much more powerful than you give me credit for.”

The guy was as comfortable with lying as with telling the

truth and history showed a bad track record, yet I found myself believing him.

But
I
can’t trust my instincts around him
.

He raised his eyebrows, reading my confusion.

“Is she going to be okay?” I asked, my strong exterior wavering a little even as I tried to shut my emotions down. Steph looked so fragile. Her small frame— usually held up with a whole lot of sass— was folded over in the chair. I fought the urge to go to her. I knew that wasn’t in the cards yet.

“Other than the bruise on her face, she is untouched. She’ll

be fine.”

Again, I wanted to believe him. Then I noticed something

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strange. He wasn’t influencing me, pushing his powers into me. I looked at him suspiciously.

“I just want this done,” he said, again reading my emotions.

I nodded. But this time, I didn’t have the same faith in his words.

“Promise me you’ll let me get her out safely.”

He looked around the café, clearly uninterested in the conversation. “I have no use for her after this.” It was as good as I was going to get.

Without him pushing and pulling at my emotions, I saw an

opening, something that reminded me of who he used to be.

“Why won’t you just give me the Grigori Scripture? You know

it’s not meant for exiles.”

He laughed, genuinely amused, and shook his head. “I don’t

care about your stupid Grigori Scripture. I haven’t even looked at it.”

I scoffed in disbelief.

He shrugged like he didn’t give a damn what I thought.

“It’s true. Nor has any other exile. It is hidden well and I already know the names and faces of the Grigori I intend to destroy. I’m not interested in tracking down half- breeds for the rest of my life, but…” He seemed to relax and tense at the same time as he glared at me, like he wanted me to understand the importance of what

he was saying. “I had to pay a price to get to where I am today.

Those who follow me believe chasing Grigori is very important.

I can’t successfully go against them for no good reason. It is the way it is.”

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“So you
don’t
plan on using it?” I asked, confused.

“Not if I can avoid it. Perhaps down the track you might find

something worth trading it for.” His eyes roamed over me in an

intimate way. “I can think of one thing I would be willing to trade it for…”

“Son of a bitch! I’m coming in,” I heard Lincoln say in my ear.

“That’s not happening,” I said quickly to both of them.

Phoenix smiled. “But until then, if it should become in my best interests to utilize it…”

He didn’t need to finish. I knew the ending. Phoenix was self-

serving first and foremost.

I waited with bated breath but Lincoln didn’t burst through

the doors.

“What do you expect to happen if you bring her back?” I

continued. I’d seen the timeline from the exile records Griffin had managed to access. Phoenix had spent hundreds of years in human form before Lilith was returned, and he’d barely crossed paths with her. For all intents and purposes, it seemed likely one or both had disowned the other.

“Sometimes you don’t know what you’ve got until you’ve lost it.” I had to look away. I felt a trickle of intense emotion I was sure he hadn’t intended to leak.

“And anyway,” he said, snapping out of wherever he had been,

shutting whatever door had drifted open, “I was a different exile then. Confused. I no longer question my place.”

“A little late in life to be seeking Mommy’s approval, isn’t it?” 134

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“Careful…” I heard Lincoln whisper in my ear.

Phoenix’s face hardened— a frightening determination that left

me with no doubt. He would stop at nothing to bring Lilith back.

My eyes darted to Steph, who was starting to drool. I wondered

if the sleeping state Phoenix had imposed on her was hurting her the longer she remained in it.

“Let’s get this done,” I said.

He jerked his head toward my backpack. “Is it in there?”

He was anxious now.

I shook my head. “It’s inside my jacket.”

I started to undo the zip, but he grabbed my wrists.

“Ow!” I said, before I could stop myself, then recovered quickly, twisting my hands to escape his hold but only managing to get

one free. He kept a grip on my right wrist, the one that had bled into the chalice in Jordan, pushing my bracelets up and running his thumb firmly over the faint scar that remained there. I didn’t know why that one hadn’t healed fully— maybe because I didn’t

truly want it to. It was a reminder. I pulled my arm away from him again, and this time he released me so I could stand.

“Violet? Are you okay?” Lincoln spoke urgently in my ear.

“What the hell are you doing?” I snapped at Phoenix, keeping

my voice down. People were looking.

“Sit down,” he said, voice distant.

I did but pushed my chair back, increasing the space between us.

“I’m not an idiot, Violet. I’m not letting you reach into your

coat to pull out something I cannot see. I have exiles stationed 135

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around the café. One on the roof looking in and one watching

through the back window.”

Both not lies.

He sighed, but I could see he wasn’t altogether upset.

“If you pull something from your jacket, they will come in. If

you want to do this trade,
I
will open your jacket and take the Scripture.” He rested back in his chair.

Jesus.

“Violet, listen to me, he’s playing you. Once he has his hands

on you, he will have all the power. Don’t let him do this,” came Lincoln’s hurried words.

“Promise me as soon as you have it, you’ll release her and leave,” I said through gritted teeth. “In that order, and through the back door,” I added, wanting to give Lincoln a clue as to which area we needed to cover. With any luck, they’d take him down when he left.

“As you wish.”

“Glad to see you’re listening to me,” Lincoln said, sounding pissed.

Oh
well, I’d deal with him later.

Phoenix leaned in. “You’re going to have to come a little closer, lover.” I could almost hear Lincoln fuming on the other end.

Note
to
self: next time, have Griffin on comm unit.

I moved my chair closer.

“Hands on the table,” Phoenix said, enjoying himself now.

“Just hurry up,” I said, reminding myself I could do this because it was for Steph. I cleared my mind and focused on keeping my

guard up.

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Phoenix unzipped my jacket, slowly. “From memory, you don’t

like things too fast.”

I didn’t respond. I didn’t even look at him. One thing he
didn’t
know was that this kind of behavior only inspired memories that fed my hatred toward him. Until, that is, his hands slid inside my jacket and I felt the familiar conflicting urges that always came when he was close— that urgent need at the same time as repulsion and hatred, causing an intense hunger. The Scripture was rolled tightly in a slim canister that sat diagonally across my chest.

He found it immediately but didn’t remove his hand, instead

sliding it down the canister to my hip, skimming my top and

the band of exposed skin just beneath. The second his skin made contact with mine, a stampede of emotion, of intoxicating and

alluring lust, rushed over me, impossible to escape and igniting the desire that I was trying so hard to ignore. A wave rippled through my body as sparks flew from his fingertips.

I didn’t care what Griffin said about it having to be me
wanting
to stop him— nothing could have stopped this freight train.

I groaned before I could stop myself. All my worries, all the

pain, lifted, to be replaced by something simple and blissful. It was both passionate and selfish.

Sensing he had the control, Phoenix inched his chair closer, his fingers moving around my back while his other hand cupped my

face. His dark brown eyes swirled with a hunger that I could not describe but also…understood.

“Violet,” Lincoln whispered in my ear. I couldn’t answer.

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“Violet,” he said again, but no one was home. I was somewhere

else. Somewhere easy.

“Violet, look across the table. Steph is there.” His words melted into me.

Honey, he’s like honey.

“Steph needs you, Violet,” the honey voice whispered again. I

could taste it in the back of my throat, like swallowing paradise. He was saying something important, but his words slipped away too

quickly, sinking into the pot.

Phoenix was so close, his hair sparkling like a tiny fireworks display.

“You could still come with me,” he said, as he bled more and

more emotion into me. Canceling out all that hurt, replacing it with a desire—
his
desire.

It’s so easy here
.

“Violet!” Lincoln said, then sighed. “You don’t love him. This

isn’t real. You know what’s real and it’s hard and it hurts and we can’t…Damn it, Vi— we’re real! Now snap the hell out of it and get your best friend out of there!”

Flashes of another type of desire burned through the lust. An

awful, gut- wrenching, soul- deep need that would never be fulfilled, that was painful instead of delightful and much more difficult than anything Phoenix offered me. I felt a tear slip from the corner of my eye.

Phoenix was so close. I could see the bead of sweat trick-

ling down his forehead. He was working hard to hold me. But

my feelings for Lincoln were too strong and they kept burning

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through Phoenix’s seduction, disintegrating everything he sent

to me.

I bit hard on my lip and tasted blood. That helped too.

“Move back in your seat now or I swear to God, power or not, I

will ram my dagger into your heart because I would rather die than be your prisoner.”