Embrace, Entice, Emblaze (101 page)

It didn’t take long to find him, and when I did, I was surprised.

I’d assumed it would be one of Phoenix’s crew, but now I wasn’t so sure. Phoenix kept his followers on a tight leash. If he’d sent this exile after me, he wouldn’t be dragging a petrified woman to the back of the park instead.

I stopped behind a tree, testing my arm again, straightening it out to be sure it wouldn’t be a problem when I needed it. It screamed with pain, worsened by its recent workout, but it was functioning.

I closed my eyes and used a tiny bit of power to see what everyone else was seeing. Sometimes it was the other way around. Sometimes the exile was so strong that I’d be seeing what he was putting out into human imaginations and I’d have to use my power to break it down, show me the truth, but in the case of the weaker ones, which this one was, it worked the other way. A light misting of my power filtered out into the night sky; the purple glitter was absorbed in the darkness quickly and allowed me to see the glamour being used.

As far as any normal human was concerned, the exile was just

some well- dressed guy walking through the park with a woman, as if they were out on a midnight stroll. I closed my eyes again and reopened them to the reality. He had her by the hair, dragging her as she clawed at the ground and screamed for help.

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She’ll be dead in minutes.

I felt for my dagger again, apprehensively. The only way to get the exile away from her was to give him something better to play with. It hadn’t exactly been my plan heading out tonight. But it was now.

I took a step out from the cover of the trees and felt him instantly.

I froze, biting down on my lip as I realized my mistake. I’d let myself get distracted by the exile and hadn’t felt him approach.

Now, his nearness washed through me, making me rigid yet like

jelly at the same time.

I
guess
the
original
plan
is
going
to
work
out
after
all.

“You shouldn’t be here,” Lincoln said, his voice low and gravelly.

I couldn’t stop it from vibrating through my whole body, teasing me beyond belief.

I didn’t turn. I needed to keep my eyes on the exile who still

hadn’t sensed us. And it was easier not to look at him.

“Look who’s talking,” I replied quietly. “Do you even sleep anymore?” The exile pushed the woman into a tree and she crumpled to

the ground.

“Just staying fit,” he said.

“So I hear.”

He sighed and then said something bad under his breath,

followed by Spence’s name.

“Don’t blame Spence,” I said.

“I don’t,” he said. I wasn’t really sure what he meant by that.

Maybe he blamed me. Taking in the scene ahead of us, he added,

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“She’s covered in shadow. He’s been preying on her for a long time.” And now he was angry.

Lincoln was a shadow- finder. He could see the marks left on

humans after exiles had penetrated their minds. The residue. It made him one of the best people for tracking exiles. Find the shadowed humans and you could bet on finding exiles soon after. But there was a price— he carried the burden that came with knowing their victims’ pain.

The exile moved above the woman; he was going to hit her.

Suddenly, the image of Claudia popped into my mind, remem-

bering how defenseless my old classmate had been when an exile

had attacked and murdered her.

It’s now or never.

I dropped my shields quickly and completely.

“Violet!” Lincoln growled, unhappy with my decision.

I didn’t care. I wasn’t about to let that woman get hurt, and

neither was he. I’d just beat him to it.

The exile’s attention sprang up like a dog that had smelled a

bone. He turned, his interest in his victim now fully extinguished.

He started for me and his victim crawled away, fast.

Smart
woman.

The exile, tall like so many of them, stepped into the glow of

light from the street. He was strikingly handsome, also like many of them. Dressed in a well- fitted suit and with perfectly fixed hair, he looked like a metrosexual. It was easy to see how he’d lured that poor woman into his hold.

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He stalled on his approach, feeling my power.

“What? You need an invitation?” I asked, sounding as angry as

I felt. It was a shame that having this kind of power didn’t mean they ran away and hid from me. No, instead, it meant he leapt into the air with freakish speed and height and headed straight for me with what could only be described as malice- fueled determination.

I stepped out of his way just in time and had my fist in his face before he’d even landed both feet on the ground. Of course, that barely slowed him. He spun, going for the obvious target— my neck.

I let him take it— I was better off if he was one hand down— and quickly delivered a knee to his groin. In that split second, when his head dropped and his grip on my throat loosened, I followed through with a flat palm up and into his nose. It was neat and efficient, and I had him.

“Choose,” I demanded, holding my dagger that had slid into my

hand smoothly.

He stumbled back and laughed. “I know who you are.”

“Good, then you’ll know to choose quickly,” I said, getting ready.

They never
choose
humanity. None of them believe they will truly be beaten, narcissists that they are. And even if they do, they could never live without the power that comes with their

exile status.

He spat at the ground. Blood. I saw that as a compliment. It

took a lot to get blood from an exile. I’d probably smashed his nose right back into his throat.

“You’re Phoenix’s whore,” he said, laughing again.

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I shrank back in shock. Part of me wanted to run and hide; the

other wanted to make sure his nose was headed for his stomach.

Lincoln put a hand on my shoulder.

“Violet?”

“It’s only a matter of time. We have numbers beyond what you

could dream of. Grigori are all but extinct!”

I just nodded and watched through glassy eyes as Lincoln, who’d been respectfully letting me take point, moved forward swiftly—

showing no sign of his injury— put one hard kick into the exile’s head, and followed through, planting his dagger into his chest.

Like that, he was gone, disappeared.

“Not before you,” Lincoln said, putting his blade away.

But
words
linger.

“Was he one of Phoenix’s?” I asked, still looking at the spot

where the exile had stood. If Phoenix had sent him to attack me, he shouldn’t have been sidetracked with that woman.

Lincoln nodded. “Phoenix doesn’t have as much control as he

would have you think. A lot will never follow, despite what they promise him and no matter what the cause.” He walked toward me

and suddenly I was on the defensive.

“You can’t protect me twenty- four/seven!” I said, using my anger to cover everything else.

He didn’t respond for some time. Finally, he took another step

closer to me. Closer than was safe.

“Violet,” he began calmly. “Are you okay?”

“Am I okay?” I repeated, shaking my head at him. I took the

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last step to close the distance, and he flinched as if he wanted to back away.

Just
perfect.

I put a hand below his chest. I let my power run from me to

him. It almost galloped out of me, it was so pleased to find him. His body’s resistance dropped a notch, moving into my hand, and his chest heaved. His hand went out instinctively to my arm, returning the favor. I felt the warm honey of his power trickle through me and worked to stop myself from crying out in relief.

Stupid
powers, betraying me
.

“You shouldn’t be hunting on your own,” I said, my voice thick

with want, my hand still resting below his chest. I could feel him breathing, his firm muscles moving up and down, each breath

increasingly deep and at the end of each intake, the slightest tremor.

I couldn’t stop my eyes from traveling over that perfect chest, its contours showing through his black cotton sweater just enough.

“Like you just were,” he said, sounding like he was feeling exactly the same way as me. His hand was still on my arm, sending a lick of fire through my body.

I dropped my hand, scared of what I’d do if I left it there a

moment longer.

“I knew you were out here somewhere,” I said, defending myself.

“I’m not about to let you go out every night all Lone Ranger, just to protect me.”

Lincoln let his hand drop too and took a small step back before grumbling Spence’s name again. I felt his power pick up, the honey 63

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and cream that was unique to him and, in that, the intoxicating smell of early- morning sun on a hot day. I didn’t know what had his power working so hard, but before I could ask, he had his own question for me.

“What did Phoenix want?” he asked softly.

I should have known he’d seen, following me, playing protector

in the shadows.

“He took the Brighton building; we have the Maddox.”

He nodded, looking past me. “Anything else?”

I shrugged, uncomfortable.

He stiffened. “He still gets to you, doesn’t he?”

I’d never fully explained to Lincoln just how much Phoenix’s

power affected me, but I suspected he had a good idea.

“I can handle it. We don’t have any other choice, right?”

It had been the condition of negotiations. We had the Exile

Scripture, Phoenix had the Grigori Scripture, and the only way he had agreed to the trade was if he dealt with me.
Only
me. It was a spiteful thing to do, but we all knew that until he had the Exile Scripture, he wouldn’t kill me.

He’ll wait until after.

Which was why tomorrow night would be so dangerous. Lincoln

was watching me.

“Looking to see if I’m falling apart?” I asked, bitter as well as testing.

“No, I just know there’s something you’re not telling me. And

I’m wondering what he did to make you hit him.”

I hated that he knew me that well, could read me like no one

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else. I guess it made sense now why he above all others had that ability— I wished that was the only side effect of being soul mates.

I considered telling him what I’d discovered— that Phoenix had

ensured Rudyard was killed so we would witness what happened to Nyla— but it would only hurt him.

“It’s nothing,” I said.

“If you say so,” he said, still keeping a close eye on me. “I know you’d tell me if you thought I needed to know. And…what that

exile said, about Phoenix and you…” He sighed with frustration

and I wondered if it was at me, but then he surprised us both by stretching his arm out and letting his fingers glide over my forehead, tracing the rim of my beanie.

“It’s not true.”

I nodded, my heart pounding at his touch, but his hand fell

away as his power flared again, sending out more silken honey.

“Would you like me to walk you home?” he asked, not pushing.

I felt like I was about to burst into tears. It was hard enough to hear someone call you a whore, but to call you the whore of

someone who was killing people you cared about— and in front of the one person you most dreaded could think of you like that…

“I’d prefer to go alone. It’s just up the road,” I said, fighting to hold on to control until I could get away from him.

He nodded. “I should go and check that woman got away

okay anyway.”

I started to leave when I remembered something. “Linc, you felt me today, didn’t you?”

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He stopped midturn. “When you hurt yourself ? Yes.”

“No, I don’t mean that. I mean you felt me respond to you, like we weren’t just aware of each other, more like we were communicating.” He thought about it for a moment. “Yes…” he said uncomfortably.

As far as I had known, he hadn’t been able to do that before.

Any of it.

“Since when?” I checked.

Another delay before he answered. More honey stirring. Why

was he pulling on so much power?

“Today.”

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