Embrace, Entice, Emblaze (18 page)

Embrace

I wrapped my hands around my mug of coffee, glad to have the

comfort of my old dependable. “Why are you so evasive when it

comes to talking about yourself?”

He didn’t respond.

“You’re not going to tell me, are you?”

“Have I proved to you that I’m not here to hurt you?” he asked

through raised eyebrows. Phoenix didn’t drink coffee. He didn’t seem to have any little rituals like me. Everything he did was always so different— and extreme. He would order the strongest- tasting food, the sweetest or the most unusual he could find. Today he

was eating a steak sandwich with beets— because he liked the

color— and a side of pickles and fresh chilies. I almost wished the same waiter who’d turned his nose up at my breakfast soup and

coffee combo were here.

“Yes. I think so,” I admitted, crinkling my nose as I watched

him eat a small red chili in one gulp.

“Then can’t that be enough for now?” he asked. I watched him

as the impact of the chili hit his system. To my disbelief, only the smallest lift in the corner of his mouth gave it away.

I didn’t think that I would ever accept a relationship that

involved secrets again. After everything that had happened with Lincoln, it seemed hypocritical to accept that Phoenix should be allowed to keep the truth about himself a secret. But then again, it wasn’t like we’d been hanging out for long. I couldn’t expect him to trust me with everything instantly— not unless I was willing to do the same.

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“Will you tell me one day?” I asked, suddenly realizing I saw

Phoenix as a part of my world now, part of my life.

He smiled and I could see he was reading me. I blushed and

smacked him on the shoulder.

“You know, if you were a Grigori, you would pack a lot more

punch.” He laughed aloud and the sound made my heart beat a

little faster.

Who
would’ve known— it still beats after all!

“One day, Violet”— he stood and then pulled me up to leave,

entwining his fingers with mine and tugging on the tip of my baseball cap— “I’ll tell you everything.”

————

After a couple days of Phoenix following me around, I let him into the apartment. It was no small thing for me to let him into my

private space. The only outsiders I had ever invited in before were Steph and Lincoln. But Phoenix’s pestering had worn me down. He seemed so enthralled with me, so interested in me. I knew on some level it was because of the whole Grigori thing, but a lot of the time I was around him, it just felt like hanging out with any other friend.

Phoenix had little regard for my personal space— something

that left me rethinking my decision to permit entry on more than one occasion. It took less than a day before he started lounging around in my bedroom, reading my limited selection of books,

and messing with everything as if it were his own. I did, however, stand my ground when he tried to follow me into my art studio.

No one, not even Dad, went in there. But I couldn’t deny that

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having Phoenix around made me feel better. I knew it might just be because of his empath abilities, but there was also another reason: I liked him.

I asked him a lot of questions. He gave me a lot of answers

too. Not always full answers, of course, and often they only led to more questions, but he tried and asked me questions in return. I answered some and avoided a lot. Every now and then he would

try to encourage me to go see Lincoln, saying it was for my own good. I still hadn’t seen or spoken to Lincoln since storming out of his car a couple of weeks ago. He didn’t even know about what had happened to Claudia. I considered, briefly, calling him to tell him, but hadn’t managed to pick up the phone yet. All in all, I had ignored the issue as much as possible…until now.

It was mid- morning and Phoenix had come over to take me to

the movies. We were sitting in the kitchen eating breakfast when Dad walked through the door.

“Hey, Dad. Is everything okay?” I asked.

“Morning, sweetheart.” He kissed me on the head. He smelled

of shaving cream and aftershave. He had been loyal to the one

brand for as long as I could remember. “Just popping in on my way to a client. I left one of the blueprints here last night.”

Dad’s attention drifted to Phoenix and then back to me.

“Oh, sorry. Dad, this is a friend of mine, Phoenix.”

Dad’s hands froze on the pile of papers he was rifling through

as if he had just realized two things: someone else was in the apartment and that someone else was male.

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He straightened and squared his attention to Phoenix. “Hello,

Phoenix, nice to meet you,” he said, though the look on his face said otherwise. He was giving him the cautious berth that only a father can.

“You too, James,” Phoenix said, barely looking up from the

magazine he was casually flipping through at the breakfast bar.

Dad and I shared a brief look before I quickly broke the father-daughter telepathy. Phoenix was the first of my friends to ever call Dad by his first name. Even Lincoln called him Mr. Eden, though Dad had told him to call him James. Somehow I didn’t think Dad

would have offered the first- name basis to Phoenix had he not just assumed it anyway.

“Coffee?” I asked. Diversionary tactics 101.

“No, thanks, I have to go, but you do remember we have that

fund-raiser tonight. You’re coming, aren’t you?”

I had actually forgotten. It was a project Dad had been working on for a while. His firm had become a big contributor to a charity group for homeless kids. They designed buildings and houses on

a pro bono basis that were built on the outskirts of the city where there was cheap land. Once kids were allocated a home, they then had to work with the building crews to put up the next one. It gave them a home, a job, an income, and a purpose. It was a good system.

“Yeah…of course,” I said, fumbling a bit.

“You forgot,” Dad said.

The look of guilt on my face ruined any chance I had of lying.

“Don’t worry. Steph is coming round later so I can borrow a dress.

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I’ll be there.” I had a sudden thought. “Umm, Dad?” I put on my sweet voice he knew all too well.

“Yes,” he said, raising his brow.

“Do you mind if I bring a couple of people?” I didn’t see why I should have to stand around all night on my own. Dad and I both knew that he would be busy entertaining colleagues and clients. I was just there to show the united family front.

Dad looked at me, then at Phoenix. He sighed. “Who?”

“Just Steph and Phoenix,” I said.

Phoenix looked up, showing his first glimmer of interest in our conversation. He was trying to hide it, but I saw the smile.

The look on Dad’s face wasn’t so elated. “I guess that will be fine.

I’ll let them know.”

Dad grabbed his blueprints and slowly headed for the door,

jangling his keys by his side. He took hold of the door handle but stopped before opening it. “Vi, you should probably know that

the organizers sent through their guest list yesterday.”

“And?” I said, taking a bite of stale croissant and spitting it back out. I really had to get out and do some grocery shopping.

“And I noticed Lincoln’s name was on it.”

“What?” I screamed, jumping off my stool.

“I swear I didn’t know until yesterday,” Dad defended.

“Well, I’m not going.”

“Violet, you know I wouldn’t ask you if it wasn’t important. It’s a really big event. You probably won’t even see him.”

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hardly ever asked anything of me. The last person in the world I wanted to see was Lincoln, but I couldn’t let Dad down. I couldn’t push him away as well.

“Fine, fine, I’ll go,” I said.

“Thanks! I’ll see you…both there.” He darted out the door.

I stood staring at it. Phoenix started moving toward me, but my mouth was so dry I couldn’t even tell him to leave me alone. He put a hand on my face. Tiny sparks of energy flickered between us like little electric shocks.

I was still staring at the door, trying to make sense of what

had just happened. All my hard work at avoiding everything that reminded me of Lincoln, everything that could put me at risk of bumping into him, had just gone out the window.

It wasn’t until Phoenix’s lips actually pressed against mine that my body shocked me into the here and now. As soon as our lips

touched, any control I had of the senses was ripped away from

me. The cool heat hit my entire body. He tasted of apple, and

my eyes instinctively closed. The flashes of light intensified, and I was almost sure there were split- second images of day and night rotating through my vision.

Then there was Phoenix, kissing me. He was surprisingly gentle.

Unlike Lincoln’s intensity, this was vulnerable and frightened me more. I was kissing him back…I think.

Before I could pull away, I got a flash of his desire…for me. I stumbled back, dizzy from the combination of sensory overload

and my own head screaming at me.

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“I…I…You said
I
had to be the one to kiss you.”

“I lied.” He said it so easily, not repentant in the slightest, that it struck a nervous chord.

“You’re enthralling,” he continued. “It’s as if you become each of the senses and can affect them in me. Through you, I feel birds flying around me and even feel morning and evening manifest

their power.”

That got my attention away from my creeping sense of guilt. “Is it day and night?”

“In a way. It’s the power that creates them.”

“Like the sun?” I prompted.

“No. Like the force that creates and powers the sun.”

“Wow,” I breathed. How could I be feeling these things? How

could my body be reacting this way?

“By the way”— he stepped toward me, closing the distance I had

just created— “it’s okay.” He ran a finger down the line of my face.

I looked away, suddenly very self- conscious. I didn’t know what he was talking about, but I dreaded what was coming.

He didn’t give me time to prepare myself. “You’re allowed to like kissing me.” His expression was so penetrating. His usual cocky look had gone, replaced by something totally male.

I gave a shaky half laugh. “You’re reading me?”

“Just enough.” He ran his finger down the opposite side of my

face and then slowly to my neck, following the line of my collarbone. I didn’t know if the tingling down my whole body was the

senses or just me…or him.

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“You promised you weren’t going to do that.” My words were

breathy.

His mouth curled at the sides, pleased with my reaction. He

spoke slowly. “What I
said
was that I wouldn’t influence you and…I haven’t.”

I blushed, wanting desperately to get out of this conversa-

tion. I had no idea what that kiss meant to me— or him, for that matter— but I knew it wasn’t something I could try to figure out with an empath reading my every emotion.

I stepped back again, breaking our contact. It helped clear my

mind enough to stumble quickly through my next words. “Can we

just…go to the movies?”

It was pathetic, I knew, but it was the most I could muster.

“Sure,” he said, heading for the door and holding it open for me.

As I walked past him, he rapped his fingers on the doorframe.

“Well, that went well anyway. I think your dad likes me.”

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chapter
seventeen

“It is an awful, an appalling thought, that we may be, this
moment and every moment, in the presence of malignant spirits.”
richard whateLy

Th e day sped away from me, leaving no real time to prepare. I was glad, and worked at keeping busy so I didn’t have to think about seeing Lincoln that night.

Phoenix left during the afternoon, promising to return to pick

up Steph and me at seven. We had successfully managed to avoid

talking any further about our “moment,” and I was relieved he’d let it go…for now.

Steph turned up with a ton of dresses cradled in her arms. For