Embrace, Entice, Emblaze (119 page)

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Jessica shirvington

“And far away from me,” Dapper grumped, pushing the two of

them into a set of seats at the front.

I don’t think Steph noticed or even came up for air.

“Oh come, Dapper, let them have their young love,” Onyx teased.

“It makes the buildup to tragedy so much more entertaining.” He glanced in my direction and raised a hand. “Exhibit A.”

“Onyx, it’s not too late to throw you off this plane,” Lincoln

muttered under his breath, but Onyx heard and shut up, sitting

down next to Dapper, who passed him one of his alcohol miniatures.

“Isn’t this interesting?” Josephine said, looking at Onyx in

disgust as he sipped on his drink. “Is he mentally stable?” Intrigued by him, she had difficulty hiding her contempt.

Griffin reached Josephine and graciously gave her a kiss on each cheek. My mouth almost fell open.

“It is so good to see you, Jossie. It’s been too long.”

Jossie? She does
not
look
like
a
Jossie!

Josephine blushed, but it looked as though she did it on purpose.

Why was I suddenly sure that nothing she did was ever
not
on purpose?

“It has been too long, old friend. I’ve told you too many times your place is at the Academy— not out in the wild. After everything that happened to Magdalena— tell me you have come to

your senses.”

Griffin took Josephine’s hands in his. “Perhaps you were right.

Maybe it is time to give it some thought again.”

Josephine smiled. “You’re teasing me, Griffin.”

Griffin turned back toward us, now aligning himself beside

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Josephine. Another strategic move, I suspected. The eyes of the black- clad Grigori surrounding Josephine were immediately fixed on him.

Josephine laughed lightly and turned a less friendly eye on them.

“Please, relax. We are all on the same side on this plane. Except, perhaps, the human exile and his…intriguing companion,” she

said, making sure we were all aware she’d noticed Dapper wasn’t just human. She flicked a hand at two of her bodyguards. “Go sit near them.”

They scooted to the seats behind Onyx and Dapper.

“Oh, splendid,” Onyx said, sounding drunker by the second.

“Company by way of assassin.”

“The rest of you can relax and enjoy the flight,” Josephine said to the others. But none of them shifted their eyes from me, so I didn’t think those were their real orders.

“Why don’t you take a seat with Lincoln, Violet? Josephine and

I have much to catch up on.” Griffin steered Josephine toward the back of the plane while I felt Lincoln’s hands on my hips, spinning me on the spot and pushing me toward the front seats, the farthest possible from her.

“You know her?” I asked, keeping my voice down, as soon as he

was sitting beside me.

“I spent a couple of years at the Academy, remember?”

I nodded. Lincoln had spent time there, completing mandatory

training before taking a position under Griffin and waiting for his partner— me.

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“How old is she?”

“No one knows.”

He gave me a quirky look and held out a hand. “If you want to

ask her, go right ahead.”

“Got it.”

His smile widened, and I had to look away before it hurt too much.

I twisted my hands in my lap and played with my bracelets.

“Dad saw my markings.”

Lincoln’s eyebrows shot up. He knew how major this was. “Are

you okay?”

I tucked loose strands of hair behind my ear. “I hate her, Linc.”

“No you don’t,” he said, quietly, knowing who I was talking about.

“I do. And now Dad will never forgive me. Even if I make it

through this alive, I…I saw the look on his face when he saw my wrists— it was like he was scared of me. I don’t know if I’ll have a home to go back to.”

We were both silent for a while. I had started to close my eyes when I felt him, so tentatively, reach over and brush a strand of hair away from my face. His touch left a searing trail in its wake.

“You’ll make it through this and…you’ll always have a home to

come back to.”

I closed my eyes tight to hold back the tears. I wished he hadn’t said it. It felt like my heart might explode. If possible, in that moment, I loved him more than ever.

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chapter
nineteen

“To die and part is a less evil; but to part and live, there, there is
the torment.”

GeOrGe LaNsDOWNe

I drifted off , letting the motion of the plane lull me to sleep. Lincoln stayed silent beside me.

Eventually, I woke up to the sound of voices.

“Oh, get over yourself. You’ve been guarding her for hours. If

she knew you weren’t letting us talk to her, she’d hit you in the face,” Steph said, sounding pissed.

I kept my eyes closed, listening to Lincoln’s laughter, and fought the urge to open my eyes.

My
own
personal
sentinel.

“Probably,” he said.

“She’s my best friend, you know. I could just yell at her to wake up.”

“You could try,” Lincoln said, and from his tone, I could imagine the challenging look plastered over his face.

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Steph made a huffing sound. “We’re landing soon enough

anyway.” I actually heard the flick of her hair. “And don’t think I can’t see you gawking at her all doe- eyed.”

Lincoln didn’t say anything else, but he must have done some-

thing because I heard Steph quickly shuffling away with a high-

pitched, “I’m going, I’m going.”

I waited until I heard her chatting with the others.

“That was mean,” I said, opening my eyes.

He glanced at me but looked away quickly. “You needed rest.”

“Are we landing?” I could feel the plane descending.

“Gotta refuel.”

I sat up urgently, looking out the window. “In the
ocean
?” Lincoln laughed and leaned over me, his arm going around my

body, his chest pressing into my back. He pointed out the window to a massive ship. It looked like a navy boat, all flat on top, and as we got closer, I could see helicopters and other small aircraft lined up. I couldn’t speak and neither did Lincoln, as if he’d acted before thinking and now we were so close, touching, that neither one of us knew what to do.

The burning that always came when we were near each other

reached fever pitch and I fought for breath. My heart beat so

rapidly, I considered the chances of a heart attack. It wasn’t me; it wasn’t some stupid crush; it wasn’t even love. It was more— much, much more. It transcended anything he and I could ever be individually and was all about what we were together. My soul was

screaming for him, demanding that it have his.

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And
I
want
to
give
it. Oh so much.

Lincoln moved closer, his body shaking, and I couldn’t stop

from leaning back, letting myself melt into his arms.

I
have
to
turn
around. I have to kiss him. I have to…

I shifted, starting to turn, but his hands, now firm, held me still.

He spoke right into my ear.

I
can
smell
him. Sunshine and honey.

“Put up your guards.”

I knew what he meant, but I just inhaled again.

Mmm…more honey.

“Do I taste or smell of anything to you?” I murmured.

“What do you mean?” he asked, but I knew he knew what

I meant.

“You smell like hot days at the beach, the sun— like you’re the sun. And you smell sweet, like honey, when you use your power,

creamy honey when it’s melted onto toast— I can taste it.” He

faltered, the pads of his fingers kneading my arms, sending shivers through my body. But he recovered, clearing his throat. “Violet, put up your defenses.”

“You’re not going to tell me, are you?”

“That’s not what you need from me right now. Put up your

barriers, trust me.”

I wanted to argue, to fight against his hold so I could face him, but when that man asked me to trust him— what else could I do? I started to put up my defenses.

It was like what I did to keep Phoenix at bay but different.

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Phoenix’s power seeped into me like poison. Using my power to

block Lincoln was like bricking up the windows and boarding the doors. It was hard work and it felt…wrong.

I’m blocking out the sun.

Every fiber in my being, my soul, begged me, told me this was

wrong, that there had to be another way. But I didn’t know what that way was, and neither did he, so I forced my defenses up and pushed the sun away.

After a few minutes, I started to become aware of my surround-

ings again, heard the air-conditioning whirring and voices chatting behind us. Lincoln’s hold on me softened, and when I didn’t move, he released me slowly and moved back to his seat.

“I’m sorry, Vi,” he said, so softly I almost missed it.

“Me too.” I wrapped my arms around myself, rubbing them,

trying to adjust to the lonely chill that was now creeping over me.

He nodded. “I’ll sit with Spence on the next flight.”

I took a steadying breath and tried to speak without my voice

shaking. “How long have you been using your power against me?”

“Since the night in the park with that exile you hunted. I…

when we healed each other, I didn’t think I’d be able to make my legs move away. I pulled into my power, not really knowing what I was doing until I’d put a wall between us.”

I nodded. “It’s good.”

And
terrible.

————

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on the stopover. They had another jet waiting that was going to take them directly to Athens.

Before he left, Griffin called Lincoln and me back to him and

Josephine. Lincoln stayed close to me but not too close, and we tried our best to keep everything as normal as possible.

Josephine watched us with a glint in her eye, as if she knew just how difficult it was for us to be close to one another, as if she got some kind of satisfaction out of it.

“Josephine, I have explained to everyone that you will be leading the operation while I am in Athens.”

“And after you join us in Santorini,” she said sweetly.

Griffin gave a nod. “Of course.”

Yeah, right. Once Griffin’s back, there is only one person any of
us
will
be
taking
orders
from.

“We should only be a couple of days behind, but hopefully I

will gain the support of the Greek Grigori and find some soldiers for our cause.”

“I have every confidence you will deliver in spades, my friend,” Josephine said.

Griffin smiled. “Thank you, and in my absence, I would ask

that Lincoln speak on my behalf both to my Grigori and before

the Assembly.” But he spoke as much to me as Josephine. Was he

asking me to let Lincoln lead me?

“Well, well, Lincoln— how far you’ve come,” Josephine said

snidely, like she was talking about something else altogether, but then quickly added, “I’ll look forward to receiving your counsel.” 227

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“Thank you,” Lincoln said.

Griffin kissed Josephine on the cheek, shook Lincoln’s hand,

and hugged me, positioning himself to whisper, “Be careful.”

I took my seat again, and after Lincoln walked Griffin off the

plane— I assumed for some final instructions— he stayed away,

sitting with Samuel and Kaitlin. Once back in the air after the refuel, I squeezed in next to Spence and for the next few hours we played Bullshit, our favorite card game. Zoe banned Salvatore from playing after the first game. Unfair advantage.

Eventually Spence figured out how Steph kept winning—

counting cards— and took her hand too. She wasn’t upset; she was happy to move to the other seat and cuddle with Salvatore.

“So how did you guys manage to get away from the Academy?” I