Embrace, Entice, Emblaze (136 page)

I took in my surroundings, squinting into the strong sunlight.

We were offshore, but I could still see Santorini in the distance and its white cliff tops reflecting the sun. The ocean was an amazing, rich blue— the type you usually only see in the movies— except for the water encircling the boat, which was as dark as tar and uninviting. It lapped against the hull menacingly, hiding something awful deep below.

“Where are your exiles?” I asked, my voice croaky and my throat sandpaper dry.

“Busy drawing straws.” He glanced up at me, a small look of

amusement in his eyes, then, just as quickly, went back to his papers.

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“Not many of them like the water. Drowning is uncomfortable. Being immortal and trapped at the bottom of the ocean even more so.”

“How long have I been asleep? Why am I here?”

He picked up a jug that was at his side and poured what looked

like water into an empty glass, sliding it in my direction. “This is your fourth day with me.”

“How have I not starved?” I asked, subconsciously patting

myself down. I was definitely slimmer but thought that was more a general result of the past few months.

He hitched a shoulder. “While you’re under, your body conserves its strength and resources. Now drink,” he commanded.

I took a step toward the water glass before shaking myself out of it. “No. I let you bring me here, but don’t think you can influence me without my permission.”

He shrugged. “If you’re thirsty, you know where it is.” He studied the map again and tapped his pen on the table. “I need to know

what they’re planning, Violet. I’m sure Griffin will try to launch some kind of attack as soon as we arrive at the volcano. What are they going to do to stop me?” He pushed as much compulsion as

he could into the question.

I laughed briefly. “Well, I really was the wrong person to take!

I wasn’t even invited to the war room. I have no idea, only that it’s not Griffin calling the shots at the moment. But if I know Lincoln, I’d have to agree with you.”

With
any
luck, he’ll be waiting for you with a great big
welcoming party!

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Phoenix studied me for a time. “You really don’t know.”

It wasn’t a question— he’d been trying to read me and seen I

wasn’t hiding anything.

“Let me guess. That was Lincoln’s doing?” he said, frustration

leaking from his tone and showing in his snarl.

I blinked. “What do you mean?”

He threw his pen down now and sat back. “Leaving you out of

the loop was smart. I’ll give him that.”

“Why am I here, Phoenix?” I repeated, not needing a reminder

that Lincoln had been keeping secrets from me yet again.

“I need your services.”

“Well, you know what, you can go stuff yourself!” I said,

suddenly having serious second thoughts.

He just smiled. “I could. But I don’t think so.”

Had I made a huge mistake coming with him? Maybe I had— to

think I could stop him from the inside. Plus, being on this small boat was making me feel claustrophobic. I started looking for a way out.

“I’m leaving,” I said, searching my pockets for my phone before remembering he’d taken it. I stormed to the edge of the boat,

leaning over the railing.

“More dramatic threats?”

I glared at him and started to climb the steel wires. “I’m a

good swimmer.”

Santorini didn’t look
that
far. I’d have a better chance of survival trying to get back to the island than staying out here with him.

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“That may be, but there are things in this water that move much faster than you today, especially if you’re bleeding.”

The threat was loud and clear.

I spun, but he was already right there. Before giving it any more thought, I kneed him in the groin and moved myself into a better defensive position. I knew he was right about the water, but with him and I alone like this, it might be my only chance. We were

both awake now, both strong. He wouldn’t hesitate to hurt me if it served his purposes.

Phoenix folded over in pain, even though he tried to laugh it off.

I held my position.

“Okay then,” he said, straightening. Then, like lightning, he hit me across the face.

Fighting on a small boat is challenging. Every time you move,

you bump into something hard. But I kept my focus. I was strong and tactical and I used everything I had— Lincoln’s training to stand still and wait for the attack was particularly handy in the confined space.

Phoenix was cocky to start with, lazy in his defense. He thought he’d have me easily. But I dodged his strikes cleanly and returned hits, making contact. When I finally managed a kick to his gut, forcing him hard into the railing and giving him a good view of the dark waters, his expression changed. He’d come dangerously close to taking a bath and the exile in him raged, fueled with a sense of pride and superiority. Now, the fight really began.

He delivered a full- force hit to my stomach, which threw me back 373

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as he grabbed my arm and swung me around so that his next kick

went into the small of my back and made me fall on my face. I got up fast. My back was spasming in horrific pain, but I didn’t stop. I moved forward, knowing he would try to finish me with his fists, but I ducked in time, hitting him as I came back up, then stepping away from him enough to ensure my next kick caught him in the

side of his ribs. When he moved to protect the area, my knee went up, without thinking, to strike his face. But Phoenix was too fast. He caught my leg, pulled it out, and spun me so hard, my entire body pretzeled until I lay twisted on the ground, one of my feet in his hold.

He crouched on top of me, straining my leg backward at the

knee before dropping it. Then, he sat on top of me.

“Well,” he marveled, as if perplexed. “That…took longer than

I expected.”

I squirmed under his weight, but I was pegged facedown.

“And that…” He slammed his fist down on the boat decking.

I flinched.

“Wouldn’t be the wisest thing to do right now!”

I could feel the tremor running through him as he held me

down. I waited for him to do something, go on the attack. I was his captive and he clearly wanted to prove it. I stayed still, barely breathing, and closed my eyes.

Waiting can be worse than anything else in the world.

To my surprise, a few minutes later, he seemed to rein himself

in and his breathing settled. When he spoke, his voice was even.

“Now, here’s how it’s going to go. In about fifteen minutes, three 374

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exiles will be brought before you and you will return them as and when I instruct you. Do you understand?”

“Never!” I spat out, grimacing under his weight.

“And if you don’t, not only will I be forced to hurt you, badly, but I will finish what I started with Steph.” He leaned over me until his body covered mine and his mouth was at my ear. “I give you

my word on that.”

I clenched my jaw. Phoenix might not, for whatever reason,

want to kill me yet, but he would kill Steph and anyone else I cared about if he had to.

“Do we have an agreement?”

“Yes.”

————

Another speed boat appeared shortly after, pulling up alongside us.

Olivier was on it, plus half a dozen exiles, three bound tightly in lashings of metal chains. Phoenix tied their boat to the back of ours but didn’t invite them to climb aboard. I wondered if they were really that afraid of the water or if that was just an excuse for why he’d been keeping them away. I suspected he was either protecting me in some bizarre way or staking his claim on me.

After being curtly instructed, Olivier pushed the first exile into our boat and over to Phoenix, who yanked him closer. The way

Phoenix handled him was…strange— with a kind of contempt, as

if he was pleased to be destroying him.

“These are three of our strongest. Are you sure you want these

ones?” Olivier asked.

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“Absolutely,” Phoenix said with a growl.

Why
is
he
destroying
their
most
vicious? Is that a requirement of
the
sacrifice?

I didn’t think so. In fact, the more I thought about it, Phoenix seemed to take every opportunity he could to destroy an exile. He needed them, but he also despised them. Even now.

Does
that
mean
there’s still hope?

He hauled the exile toward me, forcing him to his knees.

“Return him and throw him to the water before he is gone.” I

took my dagger in my hand, wondering why it hadn’t occurred to

me to use it when I’d been fighting with Phoenix. I hadn’t even considered it.

“I can’t just execute him!” I pleaded.

But Phoenix simply pushed the exile closer to me, moving

nearer himself at the same time, and speaking quietly, so the other boatload could not hear.

“He kills women only. None older than twenty. He rapes them

until there is no life left in them and then he burns their bodies, roasting his dinner on the flames.”

Phoenix held my eyes, making sure I understood that he was

telling me the truth.

When I drove my dagger into the exile’s heart, I didn’t feel as bad as I thought I would. In fact, I felt almost entitled. I pulled it out and threw him to the water as instructed, not willing to risk Steph’s life with another delay.

Whatever lurked within the shadows pounced quickly, wrapping

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itself around the exile like silken evil, pulling its catch deep before disappearing entirely. Without another word, Phoenix started up the engine and took us in a straight line to the second sacrificial site. I looked at the map again. We were traveling to the points of the outer triangle.

Three at the hand of the highest command.

The second exile targeted children, taking them from their parents for ransom and then delivering them back afterward. In pieces.

I killed him fast.

The third one, from the look in Phoenix’s eyes, was the worst.

He didn’t tell me what this one did; he just appeared envious that I was the one who got to return him. That was enough for me.

Each time we stopped, the waters darkened around us until I

threw overboard the dying exile and something sinister moved in their depths, swallowing its victim whole.

I felt little remorse for returning these monsters. No fate could be too awful for them. But still. With each thrust of my dagger, I hated Phoenix for making me do this, forcing my hand to bring

about their ends and using their demise to help unleash something even worse.

When the last exile had been taken and Olivier’s boat was headed toward land, I turned on Phoenix and hit him across the face with the hilt of my dagger. He stumbled back. I hadn’t expected to injure him, not that way, anyway. I had hit him so he’d know.

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“It will never be you. You will never break me!”

He stood up straight. “Oh, believe me, Violet, I know that.”

He shook his head, more to himself than me. “I feel you…All the time, even when you are not near. I know where your emotion is

vested and who has the power to break you. I know it is not me.

But thank you for the reminder.” He wiped a drop of blood from

his lip.

“I’ll do it again if you like,” I said, wondering if this would be it, if this would be the moment his intentions changed. I’d

done as he had bidden, made the sacrifices. My worth to him was quickly diminishing.

“You could try.”

I made a quick decision— I wouldn’t get another opportunity.

If I could stop him now, they still had a chance. Six sacrifices were needed. Three had been made, I couldn’t change that, but there

were still three more.

Three at the hand of the heart of man.

With the full force that my power could bring, I urged it forward with all my will to stop him— amethyst mist surrounded me

instantly. But Phoenix was ready and swift.

I didn’t even see what it was, fist or weapon— it could have been the entire boat he brought down on my head. I dropped to my

knees and struggled to hold on to consciousness.

“Who is the heart of man?” I whimpered as my vision blurred.

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“A man in love,” he said.

And as my eyes closed, two things happened: I moaned Lincoln’s

name, and I saw a tear fall from Phoenix’s eye.

He was right.

Love
will
kill
us
all.

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