Embrace, Entice, Emblaze (81 page)

to answer, Lincoln walked through the open door and sat down

on the end of my bed. I put a finger to my lips. He nodded and

remained silent.

“James Eden,” Dad answered.

“Dad, it’s me.”

“Hi, sweetheart. Your number didn’t come up on the phone.

Where are you?”

“I took my caller ID off earlier,” I said too quickly. “I was, umm, playing a prank on Steph.”

“Oh, sure. Is everything okay?” He sounded busy and I could

hear papers being shuffled about.

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“Yeah, fine. I just missed you and thought I’d call,” I said, staying in the good corner of the room for reception, hoping he wouldn’t be able to tell I wasn’t at home. I turned my back to Lincoln and ran my finger along the windowsill, trying to stay focused on the conversation with Dad instead of the fact that Lincoln was
sitting
on
my
bed!

“That’s nice, sweetheart. I miss you too. I can’t wait to get home.

We’re almost all done here so I’m trying to get on an earlier flight.

I could be home in a couple of days.”

Shit.

“That’s…great news.”

“Are you sure everything is okay? You know the Richardsons— ”

I cut him off. “I know, I know, Dad— are right next door if I

need anything.”

“Okay,” he said with a small laugh. “Just look after yourself. I worry about you. Have you been seeing much of Lincoln?”

“Oh. I, umm…” Lincoln kept looking in the other direction,

but he was too still. I was sure he would know what we were talking about. “Umm…Yeah, a bit.”

“Well, you be careful. You know…Steph is the only one that has

permission to stay overni— ”

I cut him off again. “Dad! I know. Look, I have to go.”

“I’ll call you tomorrow,” Dad said.

“Okay, bye.” I hung up. Mission accomplished—
for
today
, anyway.

I put my phone down and rummaged through my bag in the

hope that someone might have bothered to throw in my charger.

No such luck.

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“So,” Lincoln said, a smile creeping to his lips. “Why does Steph get permission to stay over?”

“Because she can be trusted,” I said, throwing a pillow at him.

“Hey, what’s that for?”

“Eavesdropping!” But before I got the word out, Lincoln was

right in front of me, his arms wrapping snugly around my waist.

“I can’t help it if I have supernatural hearing.” He sighed deliberately. “You know I didn’t actually come up here to listen to you talk to your dad.”

My insides exploded despite the lingering bitterness of guilt nestled within. Lincoln moved a hand up my arm and across my face.

“Do you know how many times I’ve…”

I wanted to say,
What?
I mean, damn it, I wanted to know this stuff. But my mouth had gone so dry I couldn’t speak. Everywhere his hands went felt like they were awakening that part of my body for the first time.

“A lot,” he said. As if somehow I knew exactly what he was going to say and this was the answer. “You know, I should tell you. When you and I have kissed before, it’s been different.” His hands kept moving over me and I was struggling to remain upright, let alone focus on the words.

This
was
too
much
multitasking.

“Except for that time on your birthday, I don’t count any of the other kisses. I mean we’ve already established that healing kisses don’t count, right?” he asked, the edges of his mouth turning up. I needed to turn the air-conditioning on.

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“Uh- huh,” was all I could manage.

“Uh- huh,” he mimicked, but much lower. Much sexier.

Damn, he was enjoying this.

“And then there was earlier, but that doesn’t really count either.

I wasn’t myself and I think that kiss should be written off as warm-up. That okay with you?” His smile increased ever so slightly.

“Ahem,” I think I mumbled.

“Good. And when I really think back to it, that kiss on your

birthday was…amazing, but we did get cut short, didn’t we?” His fingers moved down my neck and along my collarbone.

I nodded, mumbling now beyond me.

“So unless you have an injury that I don’t know about, if I were to kiss you now, in some ways, it would be our first real kiss.” I stopped breathing.

“Do you have any…” His lips were barely moving as they got

closer and closer to mine.

Pull
it
together, Vi. You’re shaking!

“…injuries that need healing, Violet?” His lips grazed mine as

they spoke my name.

I didn’t answer, but— thank the heavens— he didn’t wait.

His lips, delicious as ever, found safe landing on mine, and the second they did, my frozen state melted in the absolute steaminess between us.

I don’t know how much time passed. It felt like moments. But

somehow my legs had found their way around Lincoln’s waist and

my back was against the wall. For once, neither one of us pulled 326

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away. Even when we smashed into the bookshelf and it cracked in two. If anything, it made the whole thing better.

Our powers found their way to each other. We didn’t ask it of

them; it just happened. A natural progression and yet more confirmation that this was what was meant to be. And somehow through

it all, my soul found his and they reached for one another like fingers stretching desperately, almost— but not quite— touching.

My breathing quickened, as did his. We both pulled back at the

same time. “We should— ”

“Stop,” I finished for him.

“Yeah,” he said heavily.

We both knew that a few seconds more and clothing would be

coming off.

And
the
problem
is?

But then I remembered. There
was
a problem. I straightened my top and moved to the far side of the room.

“Griffin will be waiting for us,” I said.

“That’s true,” he said, cocking an eyebrow at the distance I’d just put between us.

I started for the door, trying to steady my wobbly legs as I

dodged the piles of books that had fallen to the ground.

“Ermina is not going to be happy with you,” he said, not trying to stop the chuckle that followed.

Like
I
give
a
damn!

All moral dilemmas aside, that was the most amazing kiss I’d ever had.

————

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Lincoln and I sat on the sofa in Griffin’s room while he asked me a million questions about Phoenix.

I told him most of everything and avoided anything that could

lead to me having to admit that I’d let Phoenix bleed emotion into me. I told him how I’d followed the senses to the opening behind one of the waterfalls, how Phoenix had said he’d been waiting for us to arrive. How he had admitted he’d been responsible for sending Lincoln after Nahilius.

“But I don’t understand. Magda told you that she found out

about Nahilius while she was away,” Griffin said to Lincoln,

seeming more interested in this than anything else.

“Yeah. Phoenix probably arranged that too,” Lincoln said,

brushing it off. “And it almost worked. If Violet hadn’t made it to me in time, I would have done something I just…” His tone

dropped. “Something I couldn’t have lived with.”

Griffin shook his head as he paced the room, confused. Anxious.

“Violet, there’s something you’re not telling us. I’m sorry—

normally I try not to pry into people’s lives, but right now I cannot afford to be tactful. You’re not giving the entire truth.”

There was only one way around Griffin’s ability. You had to

believe
what you were saying. It was the flaw in his strength— he could see truth from people, so if they didn’t believe in what they were saying, it was clear to him, but if they
believed
in it, even if they were wrong, he was fooled.

“Griffin, the truth is I…I don’t know if I can…” I dropped my

head, embarrassed to cry over Phoenix.

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Lincoln tried to console me even though it must have been hard

for him. “It’s okay, Vi. Did you think we all expected you to return Phoenix? It’s not a possibility at the moment, anyway. Not until we can break his connection with you.”

I pushed aside the thought that baited me, the fear that there

were some connections that may never be broken.

“Lincoln’s right. If we fight tomorrow, we will find a way to stop him without returning him,” Griffin said.

I kept my head down and nodded. I held on to the truth in my

words rather than my lies by omission, and I didn’t risk looking at Griffin. I tried not to let my thoughts drift— whether it was about the connection or not, could I really stand by and let him be returned?

“So,” Griffin said, changing tone and sounding uncomfortable.

“You two…”

Lincoln stood and I followed. It was definitely a good time

to exit.

“The subject of
we
two
is not open for discussion right now.”

“Right, then your choice is made,” Griffin said, sounding

worried, even defeated. Good to see he was so thrilled by the idea of us actually being happy.

“Either way, Griffin, we’re not currently inviting outside opinions!” Lincoln called out as we continued walking into the hall.

“Five a.m. tomorrow!” Griffin yelled after us.

Lincoln walked me to my room but didn’t come in. “I think it’d

be best if I…”

“Went back to your own room,” I said, smiling.

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“You need to sleep,” he said.

I was exhausted. “You too.”

“Anyway, Ermina probably patrols the halls at night.” He was

so right. As much as I wanted him to come in, I knew if he did, he wouldn’t be leaving and, apart from already having one broken bookshelf to explain, I wasn’t sure that I could be trusted.

He kissed me lightly on the cheek and then pulled me close.

“I love you, Violet Eden.”

My mouth wasn’t dry now and I knew exactly what I wanted

to say.

I prayed to God— prayed in that moment, desperately, that

there might
be
a God and that that God might be listening and willing to do one thing for me that would actually reflect well on him.

Please, please, please, let there be enough of my soul left to give.

As, once again, the fear that I gave up something very vital in that desert plagued me.

“Heart and soul,” I whispered.

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chapter
twenty- six

“I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of
God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

JohN 1:51

By six o’clock the next morning, we were back in Madaba’s city

center and there was only one thing on my mind. Coff ee.

You’d think I would have already had several considering I’d

been up since dawn, but Ermina doesn’t believe in it and looked at me like I was the devil’s progeny when I told her that every hotel needs a seriously large espresso machine.

Lincoln had dragged me onto the minibus, promising he’d fi nd

me coff ee as soon as we reached the city. But we’d been there twenty minutes and I was still caff eine free— not a state that agreed with me.

Th e last thing I needed was another one of my addictions dangled in front of me while I endured a killer headache from withdrawal.

Finally, Salvatore, who shared my love of coff ee, found a little café— if you could call it that. Anyway, it served coff ee. While Zoe, Entice.indd 331

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Magda, and Nyla walked down the street with Azeem to wait for

his local Grigori, Salvatore and I ducked into Ayola.

We were given a choice: Turkish coffee or instant. Salvatore had to snap me out of my stunned state. He ordered Turkish coffees for both of us because they were short and fast. Griffin and Rudyard hadn’t looked impressed by our detour, so he figured that’d be the best option. They just didn’t understand that I couldn’t function without a hit.

The coffee was disgusting. It tasted gritty and bitter with a very strong flavor of cardamom. But I was dedicated to the cause and desperate for my headache to go away, so I closed my eyes and