Embrace, Entice, Emblaze (102 page)

chapter
seven

“Through pride we are ever deceiving ourselves. But deep down
below the surface of the average conscience a still, small voice
says to us, ‘Something is out of tune.’”

CarL JuNG

Exchange night.

It had been in the making for six weeks, since that fi rst text from Phoenix after he’d discovered Jude had betrayed him and handed

us the Exile Scripture.

It took nearly four weeks to simply agree on the method of exchange.

A simple face- to- face had been quickly ruled out in week one— too easy for Phoenix to use his power over me and reinstate the wounds he had once healed. He could bleed me out as soon as he got hold of the Scripture, or, if I got in fi rst, he knew I could harness my abilities, disabling him completely. And this was only one of the problems we faced in a potential minefi eld. Almost every scenario had a similar bad ending based on the mutual distrust each side had for the other.

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The drive- by drop would never work with Phoenix’s speed

advantages, and his suggestion of using normal humans was quickly tossed. The fly- by drop— Spence’s idea, need I go further? Even the idea of the public place and intricate treasure hunt— as suggested by Steph— had flaws.

Of course, we didn’t
really
care. We had our own plans in place, but we couldn’t appear as though we didn’t think this exchange was important. We’d even gone as far as to stage a few heated conversations at Hades and outside Lincoln’s warehouse, arguing over my safety, given the role I would have to play. We knew Phoenix had exiles watching. I could sense them lurking.

In the end, we had agreed upon the exchange particulars,

a combination of some of our earlier suggestions and Phoenix’s

all mixed into one. Two tall buildings, far enough apart that our powers wouldn’t cover the distance, and a solitary high- tension cable connecting the two. The idea was fairly simple; with one

person traveling from each side, neither force would be as quick to cut the line. In addition to Phoenix and I, we were each permitted to have two people on the roof and one on the ground, just in case.

We had Beth stationed below, though if it came to it, a fall from that height would be fatal, so her services would be more about containing the scene than recovery.

I’m not usually scared of heights, but standing on the rooftop, looking over…Well, it was a
lot
higher up than my apartment building.

I shivered and wrapped my arms around my waist. I’d given my

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ahead as another blast of high- altitude air sent cold right through to my bones. I tugged my beanie over my ears and crouched back

down, out of sight.

It
won’t be long now.

Lincoln was readying the heavy crossbow that had come in on

special request from the Academy’s weapons department. He was

all business tonight and he was a crack shot. I watched as he and Griffin carefully fed the cable into the bow’s anchor that, once released, would lock onto its target. Coils of wire cable lay carefully arranged at his feet so when he fired, they wouldn’t tangle or snag.

Lincoln checked and double- checked everything. Griffin, beside him, triple- checked. When they seemed satisfied, Griffin said

something to Lincoln that I couldn’t hear and made him laugh— a light, excited laugh by the expression on his face. One he never gave me. Not anymore.

My airways tightened as I crouched in the shadows, the Exile

Scripture tucked securely inside my backpack, which had remained strapped to me since the moment it had been transferred to me two hours ago. Every day since we had acquired it, the Scripture had changed hands between Grigori— different partners responsible for keeping it safe for each twenty- four- hour period. Locking it away just hadn’t been safe enough.

Spence moved up behind the others and Lincoln slapped him

on the shoulder before covering up the guy- like gesture by giving him an awkward embrace. I could tell Spence was totally grossed out, but he played along. This was important.

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Lincoln moved to the edge and aimed the crossbow that all of

them had been drooling over since it arrived last week. He released the shot. It was good, clean. I followed the flash of silver to the Brighton building and smiled as it landed perfectly on point.

Right at Phoenix’s unflinching feet.

The Brighton building was mirror height to the Maddox, but

there was a great distance separating the two— Steph had worked out that it was over half a mile in a straight line. Lincoln had outdone himself to make such a perfect night- shot on the first go.

Then again, he was just that good.

I tried to keep my eyes on Phoenix, just visible thanks to the

small amount of roof lighting, as he hooked himself up to the

harness and rolled the Scripture into a canister that he then raised above his head. I tried to look for something that would alert us to any sign of sabotage, since we knew he’d be planning something, but my eyes wandered of their own accord, drifting back to the

Maddox, back to Lincoln as he stood on the edge of the building.

He was magnificent. Even from this distance, I could feel the pull toward him.

He, of course, didn’t look in my direction once. He knew not to.

None of them so much as glanced my way. Spence was strapping

himself to the cable, now taut at both ends, and I could see that Phoenix was ready to go.

It was almost time. Five minutes till eleven, and on the hour,

both Phoenix and I were due to start the move toward the center.

I worried for the millionth time that this plan wouldn’t work.

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Spence was good; he was really good. Standing on top of the

Maddox, he looked exactly like me, wearing not only my body,

but my mannerisms and expressions, as practiced, as well as my

real clothes— backup in case the glamour slipped at any time.

Spence could conjure anything to complete his look, but having

the support of real props only helped. He would have been able to fool anyone, even my father, but Phoenix was…Phoenix. He
knew
me, knew my emotions in ways no one else did. I was willing to bet they were very different from Spence’s.

Lincoln and Griffin fussed over Spence— glamoured as me—

careful to ensure they reacted to and treated him in the same way they would me. Everything they did would be scrutinized from afar as Phoenix and his crew tried to see what our reserve plan could be.

I held my position, hidden by the night, guarding the Scripture that we had no intention of handing over. That was my job. The

Scripture had been given to me as a last resort— my condition to agreeing to this whole setup. There was no way I was going to sit back and let Spence dangle a hundred stories up in the air, sharing the high wire with Phoenix, knowing when Phoenix discovered it

wasn’t me at all, anything would be possible and the only guarantee was it wouldn’t be good.

Griffin had agreed to let me be there. I was on top of the

Atlantic, taller by five floors than the other buildings, giving me a slight advantage and better cover. I was equal distance from

both the Maddox and Brighton, forming the point to the triangle.

Obviously, I had to be far enough away that Phoenix wouldn’t

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sense me unless I wanted him to, and I’d ensured I was at sufficient remove from Lincoln, so he wouldn’t be distracted by me. Not that I was certain I distracted him like he did me, but just in case.

I checked my watch. One minute.

This
is
a
bad
idea. A very, very bad idea.

I’d half expected Steph to have called me. I’d told her if she

did, I’d let her stay on the line as it all went down. I wasn’t doing anything else.

Guess
she’s caught up with the research thing again.

Phoenix was right on the edge, and the Scripture was easily

visible, as per the rules, hanging from a strap around his neck.

Spence- as- me was on the edge too. Lincoln and Griffin had moved back into place, guarding the line and in position should something go wrong— as in, someone- cutting- the- line wrong.

11 p.m.

Phoenix dropped into open air, dangling from the high wire in

his harness, looking like he did this every day. It was a basic zip-line setup, without the zip. Both he and Spence were harnessed but needed to pull arm over arm to make the distance. Spence dropped with a little less finesse. They both started to monkey forward.

Reaching halfway to the middle, they were moving at a

similar speed.

My heart was pounding— I couldn’t shake the feeling that some-

thing was wrong, very wrong.

Phoenix moved athletically, but was it with his usual fluidity?

I looked closer, trying to figure out what had me so worried. But 72

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shielding myself like I was, I couldn’t push out my senses. It was useless. It made me nervous that Phoenix’s face was hidden by a hoodie. I wished I could speak with Lincoln or Griffin, double-check if anyone had actually seen it was him.

I turned my attention back to Spence. He was making good

headway and I knew by now he’d be working hard on control-

ling his emotions, trying to neutralize them as much as possible in the way we’d practiced. The fake Scripture dangled from a leather strap, slung diagonally across his body, and he reached down a few times to adjust it.

I glanced at my phone again, my breath leaving light wisps of

smoke in the frosty air. It had only taken them fifteen minutes to reach the center, which was impressive. I strained to see everything through the darkness. They each pulled their Scriptures from around their necks.

Everything was going according to plan.

So
why
is
something
screaming
at
me
that
it’s time to panic?

Spence held out his Scripture. That was one of the other reasons why it had taken so long to agree on the exchange. We’d been stalling.

It takes a long time to make a false ancient replica. In the end, we’d only had enough time to make the outside look convincing. When

Phoenix opened the Scripture, he’d know, but that was the other reason why we’d agreed to this particular exchange— he wasn’t likely to hang around in midair to check it. We hoped.

They made the swap slowly, as agreed. I looked over to the

Brighton. The exiles Phoenix had brought were two of his best.

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Diplomatically, one light and one dark. We’d been profiling his group for the last month, collecting information on them all, so I knew the two on the roof. Gressil, once a Power of Dark, had a particular strength in turning men against women, luring his male victims into impurity in exchange for luxurious indulgences. The other was Olivier, once an Archangel of Light. They’d both been there, in Jordan, but it was Gressil who we suspected had taken down Rudyard.

The two were an unlikely team. We had good intel that told us

they despised each other, which was interesting, given their powers were so similar. Olivier’s strength was in provoking mercilessness.

The two of them working together made a very dangerous force.

And they were now almost always at Phoenix’s left and right.

My hand was itching to press the call button on my phone.

I had Lincoln’s number up on the screen.

Something’s wrong. Why is Phoenix hiding under a hood?

I was just about to make the call when Phoenix reached up and

pushed his hood back.

Definitely
him.

I sighed. I’d almost blown it, thinking they were pulling a

similar stunt.

Spence and Phoenix both started moving back toward their

buildings. Spence was making good time while Phoenix seemed to

be taking things more slowly, almost lingering. Once Spence made it back to the Maddox, I let out a shaky sound of relief and checked my phone again: 11:45 p.m.

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Why
hasn’t Steph called?

I knew she was waiting for us at Hades with Dapper, Onyx,

Samuel, and Kaitlin. The rest of the Grigori were out patrolling, mostly in this area.

Steph had wanted to come and wait with me on the roof, but

I’d talked her into staying at Hades instead, promising I’d give her minute- by- minute updates.

Phoenix finally reached the Brighton, easily slipped back onto

the roof, and unhooked his harness. He walked to the edge of the building and pulled the canister containing the Scripture from

around his neck.

He’s going to check it.

The puffs of cold air stopped as I held my breath in panic,

dreading his reaction. But then his demeanor changed. I couldn’t see his facial expression, but somehow I could tell he was smiling.

He held the unopened scroll in front of him, moved to the edge of the building, and— I was sure— looked right at me before…he set the Scripture on fire.

My eyes shot between the sight of the burning Scripture and