Embrace, Entice, Emblaze (52 page)

After she pushed me into the bathroom to fix up my dishevel-

ment, I filled her in on the newbies— who I refused to refer to as the God Squad— while sifting through her cosmetics bag- of- everything.

“The Rudyard guy sounds weird. You should be careful, Vi.

Just because they’re Grigori doesn’t give them a free pass down Trustworthy Street.”

I nodded while attempting to comb out a stubborn knot and

was once again glad to have Steph on my side. For all her banter, she made solid points and was always in my corner— a true friend.

One of the very few.

“Yeah. I guess I’ll find out more this afternoon. I start training after school. You wanna come?”

Steph looked a bit unsure. “Do you think I’ll be allowed?”

I put my hand on hers for a quick second. “Steph, you’re my

best friend. I don’t care what they think. If you want to come, they’ll have to deal with it.”

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She beamed at my reflection in the mirror. “Are you sure, Vi?”

Then she handed me the mascara.

I smiled back, even though there was a part of me that worried.

Who was I to bring Steph into this world of immortals and eternal wars? She had no power to defend herself. Getting her mixed up

in it all was selfish and I knew it, but I couldn’t push her out of my life. I needed her. She was one of my people.

“Hey, how’s Marcus?” I asked, suddenly realizing she hadn’t run off to meet him or even mentioned him today. The two of them

had been joined at the hip for the last few weeks. I was sure it would be any day now that they made their relationship official— if they hadn’t already.

“We broke up,” Steph said, heavy on the blasé.

I put down the makeup bag and gave her my full attention, wide

eyes and all. “Why? Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I was the one who…did the breaking.”

“Oh, well…Why?” I didn’t understand. Steph thought that

Marcus was the perfect guy. He ticked all the boxes. He was preppy good- looking, mega smart, came from a socially “in” and highly funded family,
and
he worshipped her.

“Let’s just say I learned a thing or two when I saw what you went through with Phoenix. I mean, I just figure…I don’t want to do

something that…You know…”

“That you’ll regret,” I finished for her, looking down at the

grubby bathroom- floor tiles.

“I’m not saying you should regret what happened. I…I just

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mean…Seeing how that all affected you…helped me make a few

decisions of my own.”

“So Marcus wanted to…” I raised my eyebrows.

She nodded. “It was fair enough too. I mean, I thought that was what I wanted as well, but in the end I just knew, although he was good on paper, I didn’t love him.”

I was surprised. Steph rarely expounded. She was a “doesn’t

explain, doesn’t complain” girl. I wasn’t sure what to think. I was glad for her, that she felt confident to make the right choice. Marcus was a nice guy, but if she wasn’t with him for the right reasons, then I was relieved she hadn’t done something with him that she would have regretted.

I knew all too well how that felt after what had happened

between me and Phoenix. I still felt the residue of the connection it had formed. And although that had broken, I wasn’t entirely sure if the price for that one bad decision had been fully paid. Seeing Lincoln’s reaction when Onyx raised the subject of Phoenix last night made me wonder if Lincoln would ever truly get past it.

Could
I
ever
really
ask
him
to?

————

The afternoon got better, marginally. I zoned out in religious studies and finished the day with art and a study period, which actually gave me a chance to catch up on homework. Within twenty minutes of

last bell, Steph and I were getting off the bus near Lincoln’s place.

Because Lincoln had the biggest space, it had been set up as a

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for so quickly volunteering the warehouse. We had even pushed

back half of his furniture to set up the training arena.

Steph and I walked up the few steps to his front door, and I got the same exhilarating buzz that I always did when I knew he was near. I knew it was partly the angel in each of us recognizing the other, but to me, it was mostly human. I wanted things to work out for us so much— even though I knew it went against Grigori code.

There
had
to
be
a
way.

Griffin let us in and didn’t spare me the disapproving look

when he saw Steph. “This isn’t a social gathering, you realize. Your training is already limited by your hours at your other school.”

“Steph is a part of my life. She has a right to see this and understand it. It’s not like I’m bringing in cheerleaders, Griffin,” I said, giving him a tight- lipped smile.

He wasn’t impressed but stood aside so we could enter. Steph,

unfazed by Griffin’s concerns, brushed straight past. “Hello,

Grandpa,” she quipped.

I couldn’t help but smile when I saw Griffin’s expression.

My eyes scanned the room quickly. Everyone was there, right at

home it seemed.

All
except
one.

Nyla and Rudyard were sitting close together on one couch.

Too
close
for
just
friends
or
Grigori
partners.

Spence and Salvatore were on the other couch, engrossed in the

PlayStation. Zoe was in the kitchen pouring herself an orange juice.

After I got through the introductions with Steph and had

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relaxed a little when Rudyard didn’t try any more power tricks on me, I turned back to Griffin.

“Where’s Linc?”

“Talking with Magda. She got back last night. I think they’re in his room.”

“Oh, okay,” I said, starting to walk in that direction.

“Hey,” Griffin snapped. “We start in two minutes. Zoe and

Salvatore spar first, then you and Spence.”

Wow, it will be weird sparring with someone other than Lincoln.

“All right. Two minutes,” I echoed.

I went to Lincoln’s room. Magda had been away visiting an

old friend. She’d been gone almost two weeks. I could see Griffin was glad to have his partner back. I just hoped Lincoln wasn’t too excited himself. Magda wasn’t exactly subtle at hiding her feelings for him, or her dislike of me. If it hadn’t been necessary for me to become Grigori to save Lincoln’s life, my guess was that she would have preferred it if I hadn’t embraced.

I was about to push the slightly ajar door open when I heard

them talking. I couldn’t help myself from pausing to listen.

“Are you sure?” It was Lincoln. “Absolutely sure?”

“Yes,” Magda said, sounding forlorn. I could see the back of her shoulders through the crack. She was sitting on the bed.

Lincoln wasn’t sitting. I could hear him pacing around the room, the heels of his loafers clicking against the wooden floorboards. I opened myself up to him for a moment, and through our link, I

could sense his panic.

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“How? How are you so sure?”

“Lincoln, I followed all the steps. I know how to be sure.”

“So he wasn’t lying then,” I could hear him mumble, could

almost see his hands over his face.

What’s going on?

“Doesn’t look like it. What do you want to do about it?” Magda

asked, sounding so unsure, so unlike her.

“I don’t know. Maybe we should tell the others?”

“Do you think it’s the wisest idea to involve everyone else?

People could get hurt, Linc.”

“You’re right.” Lincoln sighed. “What do you think?” he asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe we should talk to

Griffin and Violet.”

Well, there’s a good idea.

“No, you are right. I don’t want them to know about this,

especially Violet.”

WTF!
I felt myself tensing with every word.

“Okay. If that’s what you want, we can keep it quiet for now.

Just you and me— like old times.”

“Yeah, the others don’t need to be involved. Thanks, Mags,”

Lincoln said softly, the last two words slightly muffled. I was sure they were hugging.

I heard footsteps.

Oh
no, no, no.

I quickly moved away from the door and took a few hurried

leaps back down the hall to see Griffin walking toward me.

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“Come on!” he said. “We’re ready.”

Lincoln’s door swung open. He and Magda both emerged. He

looked so tense, and I could see him trying to hide it from me.

Even if I hadn’t overheard their scheming, I would have known

something was upsetting him. People who are scared of getting

found out all have that same deer- caught- in- headlights look. I should know— I was trying to hide a similar guilty expression.

He forced a smile and glanced worriedly at Magda. They were

both wondering if I’d overheard anything, though Magda didn’t

look worried so much as satisfied. Actually, she looked annoyingly elegant. Her long, blond hair rippled softly around her face and down her back, a baby- blue sweater showed off her tall, mega- slim figure, and to top it off, a stunning sapphire hung from her necklace, perfectly positioned to make everyone’s eyes go…there. Everything about Magda screamed expensive. Suddenly, my oh- so- average

presentation became all I could think about, and Magda, of course, was looking right at me as if that was all she was noticing too.

“Hey,” I said to them both, throwing up a lukewarm wave before

spinning on my heels to face Griffin. “I’m ready; let’s go,” I said in a way that made it sound as if it had been me waiting for him. My attitude wasn’t lost on him, but thankfully he let it slide.

I sat next to Steph, who, as it turned out, had found herself a new friend. I’d forgotten that she could speak Italian. When she and Jase, her brother, were younger, their father used to take them on some of his business trips to Italy. I think she even spent a year there when she was about twelve.

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Salvatore looked as if he had died and gone to heaven. Clearly, being deprived of any coherent conversation had taken its toll. I did a double take when I saw the unusually eager look on Steph’s face.

“Salvatore!” Zoe said, clapping her hands in his face. “Come!

Time to fight,” she yelled, while she mimicked boxing hands as if he were deaf and dumb.

Steph looked appalled.

I watched in a bit of a daze, Lincoln and Magda’s conversation

replaying in my mind and Rudyard and Nyla in my peripheral

view—
joined
at
the
hip
. Nothing made sense. Had Lincoln been lying to me all this time? Had he really just been making excuses for why we shouldn’t be together? Nyla and Rudyard were clearly more than just partners, and if
they
could be…

————

Zoe fought like a cat. She leapt and darted with economy of movement but freaky speed. Salvatore had a more reserved and calcu-

lated approach. Not as flashy, but you could see instantly that he was to be respected. It was all over fairly quickly. Zoe won the spar, getting Salvatore into a potentially lethal hold. But I was highly suspicious that Salvatore had let her win.

“You’re up,” Steph said and then gulped loudly beside me. When

I looked at her, all the color had drained from her face.

“It’s okay, Steph. It’s just training. Remember, we are a lot

stronger than normal people,” I said, still completely preoccupied with Lincoln. He and Magda had only just joined everyone else.

Clearly, they’d had more talking to do.

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Not
again. Please, not again. Lincoln promised no more lies.

“Violet, your turn against Spence. Nyla does a lot of the combat training at the college, but since she hasn’t watched you fight before, she will only observe tonight and then plan a program for you tomorrow,” Griffin said in his umpire voice.

“Okay,” I said, making my way onto the mat to stand opposite

Spence.

We hadn’t really had a chance to talk since first meeting at the airport. “You ready?” Spence snapped at me as if I were holding up his life.

Oh, this is going to be great.

“Yep,” I said. Punching him in the face was going to be my pleasure.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Magda lean in and whisper

something into Lincoln’s ear. Her hand rested on his shoulder and I was sure she glanced at me, looking for a reaction.

I didn’t even see Spence coming. It wasn’t that he’d done anything extraordinarily stealthy; I had just been pathetically distracted. I took a jab to the gut as punishment.

I tried to pull myself together. I knew this was important.

Rudyard already had his first impression of me, but I knew this would be Nyla’s. Not to mention that everyone was watching to see what all the fuss was about.

Barely three minutes later, I was flat on my back. I’d managed to get in a few good moves, but Spence had fought fiercely— at times even a little underhanded for a training session— and I never had a second to get myself together.