Endless (15 page)

Total power wench.

Josephine took her seat.

‘Griffin, I believe you have met the members of the Assembly before?’ she began, every word oozing satisfaction.

Griffin nodded respectfully. ‘I have. Though I must admit, I have never known of the entire Assembly to come together for such an … informal occasion.’

That was Griffin’s way of highlighting to us, just in case we’d missed it, that something was up. Big time. If, in all his years as a Grigori leader, Griffin thought this was major, I wasn’t about to argue.

Josephine smiled, clearly enjoying herself.

Another bad sign.

‘Well then, allow me to make the introductions, for Lincoln and Violet’s benefit. In the centre is Drenson, the head of the Assembly and the ultimate face of Grigori around the world.’

According to Griffin, Josephine specifically chose not to be the head of the Assembly. She didn’t want to be the face of all Grigori. She was a strategist and a fighter, and enjoyed getting bloody too much for such a detached role.

Drenson looked like he was in his late twenties, but I knew he was old, in his many-hundreds. His hair was long, past his shoulders, and auburn, almost red in the light that filtered through the opaque glass. He wore a modern double-breasted suit in steel grey. Not the type of suit Onyx would be caught dead in but one that screamed power and money nonetheless. His brown eyes looked down on Griffin first, then Lincoln, before finally settling on me. He inclined his head slightly. I nodded back.

‘We have waited a long time to meet you,’ he said, his voice so deep it echoed through the room. A very faint accent hinted at Spanish being his native tongue.

‘I’m honoured to be meeting with you,’ I said, reciting the words Griffin had told me to use.

‘Beside Drenson is his partner, Adele,’ Josephine said, gesturing to a slight woman who sat rigidly in her seat. Long black hair almost covered her mouse-like features.

She cast a sweeping gaze over all of us and said, ‘Welcome,’ before turning her attention straight back to Josephine.

‘Sitting next to Adele are partners Seth and Decima. The oldest serving members of the Assembly,’ Josephine said.

In
turn they both cast their emotionless eyes over us and nodded in introduction. A shiver ran down my spine.

So old. So powerful.

We nodded back – but I noticed Lincoln’s nod seemed more of a bow. Seth and Decima were both tall and incredibly slender, both dressed in light flowing garments. Decima in all white – in contrast to her long black hair. Seth in all black – in contrast to his long white hair.

Griffin had told me about them on the plane. Seth and Decima were the most religious members of the Assembly – which apparently made them two of the most vicious warriors. They came from a time when religion meant fighting to the death – though demonstrations were now very rare. Seth and Decima felt their presence necessary only at times of great war. Perhaps that alone was the reason it seemed so strange they were here today.

‘On my right,’ Josephine continued, ‘sit partners Hakon and Valerie, who also run the training academy. You can expect to see more of them in the near future.’

I suppressed an urge to object to this. Griffin had warned me that it would be unlikely the Assembly would permit my stay unless I agreed to attend some Academy classes. I wasn’t happy about it. Something about conforming to their structure rubbed me the wrong way. Josephine didn’t try hard to hide her knowing smile.

Glad to see she can entertain herself.

Hakon was
huge
. I wouldn’t have been surprised if one of his previous names had been Hercules. He had short blond hair that made me think he might be Scandinavian. His light brown
eyes, almost topaz, met mine. He didn’t look impressed with what he saw.

His sheer size was mind-boggling. I didn’t realise muscles could
be
that big and it wasn’t as if he was trying to hide them. He was wearing only a strip of brown leather over his top half. I could see his entire chest. It was …

Lincoln cleared his throat.

Crap. I’m staring.

Embarrassed, I blinked, nodded to Hakon and quickly turned my attention to Valerie, who looked tiny beside him despite the fact she was probably the most athletically built of the women on the Assembly, notably dressed down in black leggings and a white sweater. She looked like she’d just come off a training session, which made me kind of warm to her. Then she gave me a full up-and-down and – by the judgemental glance she shared with Hakon – made it obvious she wasn’t impressed with what she saw either. I felt my cheeks flush.

‘And finally,’ Josephine spoke up again, after we’d exchanged nods and awkward hellos with Hakon the Hulk and Valerie, ‘closest to you are Wilhelm and Rainer.’

It didn’t take a genius to realise that these two were her least preferred Assembly members from the way she brushed over them so quickly, barely gesturing in their direction.

I guess that makes them my new besties!

‘You can call me Wil,’ Wilhelm said kindly, nodding at Lincoln and me. ‘Welcome to the Academy.’ His glance moved to Griffin. ‘Good to see you, old friend. You’ve been sorely missed.’

Griffin nodded, a smile spreading. ‘And you, Wil. You too, Rainer.’

The
woman stood up – the first of the Assembly to make any kind of move – and walked to Griffin. She kissed him on each cheek and took his hands, emotion passing between them.

‘I’m sorry for what Magda has done. Her actions have hurt us all, but you the most. She was lucky to have you as a partner and wrong to have betrayed your trust.’

I liked Rainer.

‘Thank you,’ Griffin said, his head bowed humbly.

I could tell his respect for her was genuine and his gratitude heartfelt. Rainer leaned in again and whispered something in his ear. Griffin nodded again and I was sure I spotted a tear in his eye before he blinked it back.

Rainer turned towards Lincoln and me. She was about my height. She was beautiful. Glossy black hair cut straight and sharp at shoulder length. She had an exotic look to her, more so than Adele’s. In fact, her eyes were so striking she reminded me of …

‘Nyla,’ I whispered. The name fell from my lips before I could stop it.

She smiled. ‘Nyla is my sister. My twin sister, though not identical, obviously.’

I stared at her – the similarities now clear. The way she conducted herself and the warmth in her eyes left no doubt she was Nyla’s kin.

Nyla had never told me she had a twin. But then again, older Grigori rarely spoke of their families – it was a no-go subject. More often than not they’d either been lost or outlived.

‘I … I … Nyla was … She was amazing,’ I stuttered.

Rainer’s smile broadened as I fumbled with my words. ‘She was amazing. And I have every confidence she will be again.’

At
that, a steely determination that was gone as quickly as it came flashed in her eyes, leaving me in no doubt – Rainer, like her sister, was a fierce warrior.

‘You’ll have to pay her a visit during your stay,’ she said, returning to a lighter tone as she went back to her seat.

‘Well, now that all the introductions have taken place,’ Josephine said, looking decidedly bored following Rainer’s interruption, ‘there are a few matters we would like to discuss. The first of which is identifying exactly which rank Violet Eden has been created from. As exciting as the rumours have been, I believe it’s time to put this issue to rest once and for all.’

Griffin stepped forward. ‘Josephine, it has already been a long day for us. Surely Violet is entitled to some Academy training before any testing is carried out.’

Josephine’s upper lip twitched. ‘We’ve waited long enough, Griffin. Don’t think we are not aware that you have been withholding information from us as well.’

Griffin dipped his head. ‘Nothing that I believed was cause for imminent danger to my Grigori brethren or to the Academy.’

‘And what about to the Assembly, old
friend
? Have you withheld any information that could be detrimental to the Assembly?’

Griffin took his time. He looked at each member, some returning his gaze, some, interestingly, averting it. Their reactions didn’t give me confidence about what was to come.

‘Nothing that wasn’t in the best interests of the future of the Assembly.’

Rainer, Wilhelm and Hakon kept their attention on Adele, so I did too. When she inclined her head slightly, as if accepting what
Griffin had said, I wondered if she was a truth teller, like Griffin. Whatever she was, her nod seemed enough for those who’d been paying attention to her.

‘Have it your way, Griffin, but we will not allow Violet to leave without at least submitting to a small power gauge first. Drenson has offered his services for today.’

Griffin looked at me, his expression grim. ‘Do you remember when you first met Rudyard?’

Did I ever! He had taken my hand and pushed his power into me, taking me over in a completely intrusive way. It wasn’t something I ever wanted to experience again.

I nodded, looking back at the Assembly. It was easy to see who my adversaries were – they were the ones smirking. I swallowed down the bitter taste at the back of my throat and nodded to Griffin again.

He closed his eyes briefly and it set off every panic button in my body.

Seth stood up and moved to the centre of the room. He took off his loose-fitting shirt to reveal a slender body with tight muscles that reminded me of a racehorse. He turned his attention to Lincoln.

‘Perhaps you would like to take your shoes off,’ he said in a strong accent that I couldn’t place other than knowing it was European. It made me nervous to consider that I possibly couldn’t place it because it was simply
that old.

This place is like the United Nations.

I looked between them as Lincoln took off his shoes and then his shirt. When I caught his eye he shook his head and said under his breath, ‘Don’t watch. Concentrate.’

What the hell does that mean?

I
looked at Griffin, who was backing away, and noticed a white box marked out on the floor – a sparring field. I’d just spent hours being told that Seth was a master fighter – ‘unbeatable’ and ‘unstoppable’ were the words thrown around.

‘Violet,’ Josephine’s voice sang out to me, ‘would you please join us up here? I’m sure you’d agree the sooner we can have what we need, the sooner we will all be able to get on with our day.’

I walked towards her, keeping my focus on Lincoln and Seth as they started to circle one another like predators.

Shit.

‘I don’t understand. Are you making Lincoln fight?’

Drenson stood up and walked towards me. ‘I’m afraid a little distraction always helps get this side of things done more swiftly,’ he said. He held out his hand, just like Rudyard had done, and I knew that whatever Rudyard had done to me the first time we met would be nothing compared to what was about to happen.

At my hesitation, Josephine nodded to Seth and in less than a second he had launched himself metres into the air and come back down spinning with inhuman speed and strength, his foot colliding with Lincoln’s face, sending him straight to the ground before he’d had a moment to react.

Lincoln leaped back onto his feet quickly, as my breath caught at the sight of the blood pouring down the side of his face.

And that had only been the first hit.

‘Your hand, Violet,’ Drenson said.

Oh, God. What have we walked into? These people are insane.

Lincoln took another hit and barely managed to stop himself from going down again. Before he righted himself, Seth,
at lightning speed, delivered another terrifying blow that I suspected dislocated Lincoln’s shoulder, from the awkward angle of his arm afterwards. I heard a whimpering sound and realised it was me.

‘The sooner you give me your hand willingly, the sooner we can stop this,’ Drenson said.

So that was it. I had to give my hand willingly to Drenson or his power wouldn’t work. I bet it had been Josephine’s suggestion to beat the shit out of Lincoln until I cooperated.

Just her style.

Lincoln landed a fist in Seth’s gut. The Assembly members seemed to stiffen as a unit. I smiled at Josephine’s look of surprise. They’d underestimated Lincoln. Unfortunately though, Seth still had the advantage.

I put my hand in Drenson’s.

It was slow to start and I concentrated, as Griffin and Evelyn had instructed me, on keeping up my barriers. But I couldn’t keep my attention away from Lincoln and Seth, fighting like gladiators in the middle of the room. Lincoln was covered in sweat, Seth delivering lethal blow after blow. If Lincoln had been only human, just one of those hits would have killed him. But he kept getting up, kept fighting back, putting serious power behind his punches.

Then Drenson’s true power hit, as if he’d only been peeking from behind a curtain before. He kicked open the front door and charged into me. My body would have fallen back with the impact, but his vice-like grip on my hand held me in place.

I fought to keep my guards up, tried to hide who I was,
what
I was, but all the while I could see what was happening to Lincoln. He was being beaten to death and his pain was taking
me over even as Drenson pushed into me – all I could concentrate on was Lincoln.

And that’s when I realised –
that
was the other reason they were doing this. Seth was pounding Lincoln not just to force me to let Drenson look into my power – but to force me to lose my concentration and let down my guard. When that happened – they would see everything.

Lincoln took another punch to the face, his head jerking back. I was sure he’d already had his nose broken and a number of ribs.

But instead of screaming for them to stop, instead of running in to fight with him, I fought every natural instinct and … I closed my eyes. I blocked out the sounds of his body being pounded. One by one, I put back the bricks that had slipped from my defences. I put back the barrier that kept me safe. That kept us all safe.