Embrace, Entice, Emblaze (56 page)

Do you know why that is, Violet?”

“It weakens us.”

“Lincoln?” Nyla pressed.

“Sometimes we can lose our powers altogether, sometimes

just one partner does, sometimes both are left without defenses.” Lincoln concentrated on his hands, inspecting his now splayed

fingers on the table. “It’s always a bit different, but ultimately, the partnership is altered and weakened overall. Partners that…get

involved…reduce their chance of survival.”

“Very good, Lincoln. I can see you have considered this,” Nyla

said kindly, though it seemed to upset Lincoln and he threw his hands down and twisted his body in the chair away from us.

“Right,” I said, starting to realize the enormity of what they

were saying. “So, if partners are ever…”

“Physical,” Rudyard offered again.

“Yeah. It’s…bad. I mean, really bad.”

Nyla’s look turned to one of sympathy. “It is a likely consequence.

101

Entice.indd 101

12/18/12 4:57 PM

Jessica shirvington

But as we said, it seems Rudy and I are the exception. With all things in life, there are always different ends to a scale. We are the very opposite.”

Rudyard reached over and closed his hand over Nyla’s. “When

Nyla and I first became partners, we fell in love quickly. But unlike many others, though we tried, it was simply not an option for us not to explore our love. It was part of us, and in the end, no matter what the cost, we believed in that love. When we first became

intimate, instead of it pushing us apart, it brought us together—

completely. Nyla and I are partners through our angelic essence and as Grigori, but we are also partners through our human souls, linked in every way.”

My eyes went to Lincoln. He had turned back toward the table

and was already staring at me. I knew what we were both thinking, and my heart started thumping so hard I was sure everyone could hear it. Remembering when we had kissed on my birthday, the way our bodies and souls had seemed to intertwine so perfectly. The way my healing always seemed to work through a physical connection.

“And your powers?” Lincoln asked Rudyard, not taking his eyes

from me. It was as if he couldn’t.

“Fully intact, and through our connecting souls, they are in fact amplified within one another.”

“I…I don’t understand,” Lincoln said.

“It’s hard to explain. The best explanation I can give is to ask you to imagine a tunnel. Like there is an invisible tunnel between Nyla and myself and we can each, at any time, walk through or reach

102

Entice.indd 102

12/18/12 4:57 PM

Entice

through that tunnel to one another. So can our powers. We can

always feel each other and each other’s powers.”

And then…I got it. “You’re soul mates,” I said, my voice

trembling.

Nyla nodded and squeezed Rudyard’s hand, and I felt the stir-

rings of something very, very dangerous. Hope.

“Are there other Grigori like you? I mean…is it possible that…” I asked quietly.

“That you and Lincoln are kindred souls?”

“Yeah,” I said, blushing that I had to ask this question in front of Lincoln.

“It is,” Rudyard said. “When I felt your power at the airport,

it seemed to gravitate strongly toward Lincoln’s essence. I have not seen one person’s powers pull on those of another so strongly since…” He looked at Nyla. “But it is more likely you are not.

In all our years, we have never met another set of partners that have been bonded in soul. And if you are, while it is amazing, you should know, it is greater than any other kind of commitment.

Greater than any kind of marriage in any culture, so think carefully before you…explore.”

Oh
my
God, this is the weirdest sex talk ever!

“Okay. Well, thanks for the heads up.” Lincoln stood, clearly

sharing my awkwardness. “I’m going to make some dinner. Would

you like to stay?”

“Thank you but no. We’re a little worried Zoe may try and put

Salvatore back on a plane to Italy if we don’t get back to them soon.” 103

Entice.indd 103

12/18/12 4:57 PM

Jessica shirvington

“Yeah. Poor guy,” Lincoln agreed.

“Zoe’s a good girl; she just had expectations for her partner—

Salvatore was not it. But I believe she will be surprised, in time,” Nyla said, as she and Rudyard stood and instinctively wrapped an arm around each other.

Now that I knew they were soul mates, I could see how every

little movement was somehow catered to by the other. They truly were connected, and when they looked at each other, although it was only brief, their eyes mirrored each other. Perfect love.

And
look
at
me
and
Lincoln; we can barely look at each other. Every
time we get close, something gets in the way. Would that happen if we
were meant to be?

————

Just Lincoln and me— for the first time in what felt like ages. He set about making dinner. I didn’t bother offering to help. We both knew unless it involved the espresso machine, there was little point.

“I’m just going to throw on some steaks and make a salad.

That okay?”

“Yeah. Great,” I said, feeling more uncomfortable than I had

since I first found out about being Grigori. I walked around the massive open area that was now cluttered with gym equipment, the floor strewn with mats. I started putting some bits and pieces away in the buckets that sat at the base of my wall— I’d been trying to paint a mural on one of Lincoln’s large blank spaces, but I hadn’t got very far. It was a time issue more than anything. That and I’d hit a block. Every time I thought I knew what I wanted to paint, 104

Entice.indd 104

12/18/12 4:57 PM

Entice

something changed my mind. Right now, there was a huge sheet

covering it.

“Here you go.”

I jumped a little; caught in my thoughts, I hadn’t noticed

Lincoln come up behind me.

“Thanks,” I said, taking the glass of Coke he held out.

“I’m sorry about last night,” he said. “I shouldn’t have gotten so angry.”

“I’m sorry too. We should never have gone in there. It was stupid.”

“True,” he said, smiling now and appearing just as relieved as I was that we weren’t headed straight for an argument.

I rolled my eyes but then got serious again. “Linc?”

“Hmm?” He was walking back into the kitchen.

“Um…” I was going to ask him about Magda, but I couldn’t.

“We should go check on Onyx tonight.”

“Yeah, I know. I’ll do it.”

He said it casually, but it was a brush- off.

“Can’t we go together?” I pushed.

He glanced at me then took a bite of raw carrot. “Not tonight. I have to go out in a bit and there’s no point in you waiting around.”

“Where are you going?”

“I’m…just helping Magda with something.”

“Magda?”

He raised an eyebrow at my tone. “Yeah.”

“And you’re not going to tell me what it is?”

“Vi, I just need to do this thing myself. It’s…personal.”

105

Entice.indd 105

12/18/12 4:57 PM

Jessica shirvington

I actually took a step back. A slap in the face would have been kinder. “Personal? For Magda or for you?” Because the way he was talking, it didn’t seem like it was Magda’s problem alone.

Lincoln closed his eyes and rested a hand on the bench as if

trying to find the strength to deal with me, which just pissed

me off. “Violet, just trust me. I don’t want you involved in this.

You’re…a distraction.”

My jaw clicked to the side while I tried and failed to remain

calm. “But Magda isn’t,” I said between deep breaths, unable to look at him.

“No. She isn’t.”

“Great. Well, you and Magda have fun.” I handed him back the

glass of Coke and started collecting my things.

“Violet, you’re acting like I’m out having fun without you. This exile we’re tracking,
he
— ” But he stopped mid-sentence.

“He what?” I snapped.

Lincoln looked away. “He needs to die.”

“You mean be returned.”

“If that’s the best I can do,” he said, his voice distant and rigid.

I stared at him, trying to hear what he wasn’t saying, what I was clearly missing.

“So, just you and Magda.”

“Yes.”

“Well, I’ll leave you to it then.”

“What are you talking about?” he asked as he watched me grab

my bag and head for the door.

106

Entice.indd 106

12/18/12 4:57 PM

Entice

“You and Magda obviously have things under control and I just

remembered Steph is staying at my place tonight, so I should

probably get back there and have dinner with her. I might see

you tomorrow.”

“Wait. Violet!”

I slammed the door on my way out.

107

Entice.indd 107

12/18/12 4:57 PM

chapter
ten

“The heart is perverse above all things, and unsearchable. Who
can know it?”

JeReMIah 17:9

Steph came round after I called her and begged for company.

After her afternoon playing with Salvatore, she’d been planning on popping into Hades to see her brother, but after I pulled the best-friend card, she promised to be over in twenty minutes.

Steph brought pizza and got comfortable for what she knew was

going to be a long night of me retelling the evening’s conversation and analyzing why Lincoln would suddenly only trust Magda.

“Vi, you don’t even know if something is going on between them.”

“Yeah, well, he didn’t even mention what Nyla and Rudyard had

said about the soul mate thing after they left.”

Th at was even harder to understand because I was sure Lincoln

had seemed genuinely intrigued— even excited.

“From the sound of it, he didn’t have a chance.”

Entice.indd 108

12/18/12 4:57 PM

Entice

“Steph!”

“Sorry. I think he was totally in the wrong and you have every

right to be pissed with him. And no one likes Magda anyway. She’s a cow.”

I threw a pillow at her.

“What? Too much?”

I was just getting up for more ice cream when I heard a thump

outside on the balcony.

“What was that?” Steph asked.

“I don’t— ” But I didn’t get a chance to finish my sentence before someone (or something) was knocking on the glass doors.

“Steph, get back! Behind the couch!” I ordered, slipping into

fighter mode.

“What’s wrong?”

I raised my eyebrows. “Apart from the fact that someone or

something is knocking on the balcony door to my apartment that

is
twelve
stories high?”

Steph’s face paled in the same time it took for her jaw to drop and to catapult herself behind the couch.

I switched off the lights, pulled out my dagger, and moved to the wall beside the balcony door. In one quick movement, I yanked the curtain back. My heart leapt into overdrive and I let out a squeal when I saw the figure standing outside the glass doors.

“Jesus Christ!” I yelled, jumping up and down to shake out

the fear as I opened the sliding door, frowning when I realized it wasn’t locked.

109

Entice.indd 109

12/18/12 4:57 PM

Jessica shirvington

“Nope, but you’re not the first to make that mistake,” Spence

said, grinning mischievously.

Steph stood up from behind the couch. Spence burst out laughing.

“Seriously. Girls.”

“What are you doing here anyway?
How
are you here? I mean, did you scale the walls or something?” Steph snapped.

I bit back a smile. Not many people throw Steph off- balance.

He shrugged. “It was easy, and anyway, I’m here to collect you, Violet. In fact, we were hoping you might both be here. It saves the extra trip. You’re just lucky it was me that came up. Zoe wanted to use the tree outside as a slingshot.”

“We?” Steph’s eyes lit up. “Who else is here?”

“Slingshot?” I asked, a lot more interested in how that could

have worked.

Before he could answer either one of us, there was another thud on the balcony. Spence groaned and spun around.

“I thought I told you to wait!”

Zoe pranced in, hands on hips. “You were taking too long. Plus, you’re not in charge.”

“You know, I do have a front door,” I offered.

“Aw— that’s no fun, and anyway, Steph told Salvatore you were

under military watch or something,” Spence said, shrugging as

both he and Zoe laughed. They knew Steph’s description of the

doorman keeping an eye on things had been lost in translation.

I looked at Zoe. “Did you
slingshot
up here from a tree?”