Embrace, Entice, Emblaze (139 page)

I was breathing hard and working to stay upright, but I

couldn’t help smiling back. We both turned and watched as the

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last of our group, Griffin and Spence, leapt aboard and we pulled away from the shore, leaving exiles clambering toward their

own vessels.

Josephine pushed ahead to the bow, hands raised. Seconds

later, one of the boats exploded, casting exiles into the water, arms flailing, drowning.

“They hate the water,” I said as Josephine walked back past us.

A woman on a mission.

She glanced at me briefly, a small smile betraying her steely

exterior. “I know.”

Our boats were now positioned in a row between the volcano and

Santorini. The other boats, presumably filled with the remaining exiles, sped toward Santorini.

I hated that they were getting away, but then I saw the line of people on the shore. Not people, Grigori— waiting for them.

“Who are they all?” I asked in disbelief.

“The Rogue,” Lincoln answered.

“Here she comes!” Josephine called out and, in a domino effect, one person from each boat repeated what she said to the next,

ensuring everyone heard.

Lincoln wrapped an arm around me. I cried out as it pressed the cotton of his T- shirt into the raw flesh on my back, cutting into it like blades of fire.

“I’m sorry, but we have to move back,” he said.

I nodded, crying with every step. Now that I’d stopped fighting, the pain was only getting worse.

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“What are they going to do?” I asked once we stopped moving

and I could breathe again.

“Just watch. It will either be the most amazing thing you’ve ever seen or the last.”

“You did this.”

He looked at me, something new in his expression. “You knew?”

I rolled my eyes and tried to pull off mock surprise. “Which

part? That you purposely didn’t let me know what the plan was

because you knew I’d go with Phoenix? Or that you knew ‘the

highest command’ meant me and ‘the heart of man’ meant you?”

Lincoln’s expression changed from surprise to respect and he

nodded. “Actually, it wasn’t all me. After you left with Phoenix, I told Steph you had to be the highest command and she worked

out that I might be a candidate for the other. Griffin confirmed it.”

“And the rest?”

“I couldn’t be sure of Phoenix’s intentions. But I knew he’d

come to you.” He paused. “And I also knew it wasn’t Kaitlin who told you about the ginseng drink.”

I grimaced, but he just smiled.

“It wasn’t until that night on the rooftop that I figured out he wasn’t after civilian kills— we know any other exile would consider that a priority— but when he asked me to kill Gressil, I knew it couldn’t be just to protect you.”

“And you were so sure I’d go with him?” I asked.

He moved to pull me closer, but hesitated when he saw my

body contort in pain. “I know you. And Phoenix knows you too.

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Your reaction to him taking Steph was enough for him to realize he could use that threat over you again. You’d do anything to protect the people you care about.”

“So, why didn’t you just tell me?”

“Because he would’ve found out everything, even if just sensing it through you— we couldn’t take the risk.”

I remembered Phoenix’s fury when he couldn’t probe more

information out of me.

“If he knew what we were planning and it didn’t agree with his

own plans, he could’ve taken it out on you or Steph or anyone

else, and you would’ve never forgiven yourself. This way, you didn’t know anything that could be used against them, anything that you’d blame yourself for later. But…” He dropped his head, running his hands through his hair. “I had no idea he’d take you for so long.

I…I looked everywhere, Vi. Nearly lost my mind searching. I’m so sorry…I can’t even begin to imagine— ”

I put a hand on his bare chest, cutting him off. “I was asleep

almost the entire time, until the sacrifices. He didn’t touch

me— except for when I attacked him.”

Relief flooded Lincoln’s face, and his hands wrapped around

mine and squeezed. Beside us there was more commotion, people

running up and down the deck. He motioned toward the volcano

that was now erupting violently. We wouldn’t be safe here for long, though I didn’t think escape was an option now either.

He squeezed my hand again. “Here we go.”

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had been controlling this whole situation from the moment we

arrived in Santorini. Griffin had been right to leave him in charge.

The volcano lit up the sky, blood- colored fireworks detonating from its top, fire raining down as it continued to leap from the rim, lava surging down the slopes. The entire island was now

almost covered in rivers of fire, while beyond, a power just as great had surely been building since I’d made those first three sacrifices. Now we could see its prize: a swell in the sea so enormous it looked not like water but as if the very edges of the world were closing in on us.

I gripped Lincoln tight, despite the pain. “‘A swell of death…’

A tsunami!”

“Now!” Josephine screamed.

Zoe threw her hands wide, her head back. On the boat beside

her, several other Grigori I didn’t recognize did something similar.

In the water around the edges of the island, whirlpools started to swirl. Other Grigori started tossing something into the vortexes.

The tsunami drew nearer, building in size.

If
this
thing
hits, we’re all dead.

“Griffin!” Josephine yelled.

Suddenly the whirlpools exploded, fountains of water forced

up from the sea’s depths in succession from left to right, creating momentum and a new tsunami.

When I looked at Griffin again, I saw he was holding some kind

of remote control. They’d been using explosives.

The new surge sucked in the water surrounding Santorini and

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moved out toward the open sea and the oncoming tsunami, which

looked like it could eat our man- made wave for a snack.

Something flashed with lightning speed behind our wave,

moving back and forth so fast, it was just a blur. The wind picked up, lifting the ridge of water even higher.

“Phoenix,” I whispered. But it wasn’t enough.

“Hiro!” Josephine yelled.

I watched as, just as the others had done, he and two other

Grigori started coordinating their powers to move large boulders from the backs of their boats, sending them flying toward our

wave, now headed on a collision course for both the melting island and the oncoming tsunami.

The volcano, as if sensing the threat, roared with another explosion, lava now flowing into the boiling water, turning the ocean floor red.

The tsunami crashed over the volcano effortlessly, like it was no obstacle. I gripped hold of Lincoln.

This
was
it.

When our wave— so tiny in comparison— was yards away from

impact, Josephine called out again, “Now!”

The boulders flew one by one into the wave as the tsunami

crashed over it. And, like a perfectly conducted climax, Josephine exploded the rocks into billions of atoms, forcing the entire tsunami up and into the sky.

Our
feeble
wave— David to a mighty Goliath.

At that moment, the wind came again, this time from Santorini.

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It blew hard and fast, Zoe and the other nature users adding to its strength until it picked up the rain clouds that would have surely drenched the entire island, blowing the tsunami back out to sea, swooping low to silence the volcano, turning its remaining red

glow to smoldering black on its way.

The sun broke through the darkness as we stood in the down-

pour. Griffin looked up, watery soot coursing down his neck. “I think all eyes are wide open now.”

“No wonder they’re crying,” I said quietly, because I could

already feel it. Something else, something that didn’t belong, was with us.

But also, I couldn’t deny it: Phoenix had helped us save Santorini.

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chapter
thirty- six

“Destiny has two ways of crushing us —
by refusing our wishes
and by fulfilling them.”

HeNrI F. aMIeL

In the aftermath, our boats returned to assess the damage. Groups of Grigori used their various powers to help put out the hot spots and contain the gases coming from the site, while others started preparing notes that would be handed anonymously to the Greek authorities later.

I felt relieved that the fi ght between exiles and Grigori had been successfully hidden from the outside world. It had been a massive group eff ort and now that everyone was starting to converge, I could see more than a hundred Grigori on the volcanic island and in the boats, and the same again back on Santorini.

Some, however, had not survived. Th ough they had fought for

the cause, I couldn’t help but feel the weight of responsibility as I watched Grigori carry the lifeless bodies of their partners aboard the waiting boats.

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Lincoln explained to us that Griffin had brought large numbers

of extra Grigori from mainland Greece, along with the Academy

arrivals, to build our army. The Rogue had taken up position

guarding Santorini from incoming exiles and placed their nature users strategically, some sent as far as the surrounding islands to guard against any flow- on effects from the tsunami.

Lincoln had left no stone unturned.

I hobbled off the boat, despite his objections. He wanted me

to stay aboard so he could heal me, but I insisted so he followed, only to be bombarded by Grigori, congratulating him on a stellar attack. Lincoln shrugged off the compliments, redirecting credit to the Conductors and Josephine instead.

I left him to do his thing as I saw another boat sailing

in— Steph, Dapper, and Onyx all aboard. They must have been

behind the firing line. I was relieved to see them safe and returned a wave to Steph.

“Vi! Are you okay?” she yelled out.

I nodded, not really feeling up to hollering, and pointed in

Salvatore’s direction when I saw her eyes scouring the island. She smiled in relief. I noticed she was wearing Irin’s necklace that I’d left under her pillow. Nothing had been shielded from her today. I hoped it was a good thing.

As I waited for their boat to anchor, a sound made the hairs on my arms stand on end. The roar was unmistakable: my lion. The

same one that has visited me in my dreams and first awoken my

angelic essence. And suddenly I understood even more. This was

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not just my lion— this was my angel maker. They were one and the same and somehow I knew— when he was in animal form, he was

there to help me.

I followed the sound until I found him. Larger than any normal

lion, almost as tall as me, his mane was fiery bronze, like his eyes in my dreams. He stalked me and I knew I should be afraid. He

moved closer, hesitating as he took those final few steps, a wild beast trying to control his ferocious nature.

When I could almost reach out and touch him, he stopped and

lowered his head. I looked back over my shoulder. Lincoln was still encircled by Grigori, Steph and the others still stuck on their boat.

I returned to face my lion, noticing that the ground where he stood was red hot and yet he remained still, patient.

I took a cautious step closer, grateful Phoenix had at least left me with my sneakers, and slowly reached a hand toward his mane.

Just as I was about to make contact, his head snapped up, the look in his eyes a clear warning. I dropped my hand.

Got
it. No patting.

He shook out his mane, his tail swishing from side to side, and stood tall as he roared, his breath blasting over me. The relief that caressed my injured body was instant.

He shook his head again and began padding back around the

foot of the volcano, not bothering to avoid the hot spots. He

stopped and looked up toward the peak before disappearing out