Embrace, Entice, Emblaze (72 page)

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Jessica shirvington

“Ha, no wonder you seem to be partner- less these days. Wardrobe counts, especially when your face looks like that.” He snapped his fingers in my face.

“Go to hell, Onyx,” I said, not stopping.

“Already there, thanks to you,” he called after me. I ignored him.

Griffin was deep in conversation with Nyla and Rudyard when

I approached. I got the distinct impression from the look on his face that I wasn’t invited to be part of the secret whispers. Neither was Zoe, Spence, or Salvatore, who were all jammed down at the

far end of the table, playing with coasters. I’m pretty sure it was a drinking game, the one where you balance the coaster on the edge of the table and have to flick it up in the air and catch it on the spin in one movement; otherwise, you drink.

Steph and I had tried it one night, but never got past the first attempt. It probably wasn’t the best game to play when we’d already had too much to drink and didn’t know what we were doing. We ended up in hysterical laughter. Steph, who can’t hold her alcohol at all, actually fell off her chair and stayed under the table laughing until we got kicked out of the seedy little bar where underage kids could get away with drinking. I can’t even remember how we discovered it, but Steph made the place famous at our school, and now it’s where everyone hangs out.

Except
us. We’re stuck in Hades.

I felt a twinge of guilt. I’d been asking so much of Steph. Just because
I
was bound to this life didn’t mean she had to be. I wouldn’t be surprised if she ended up hating me. I made a mental note to do something really thoughtful for her to say thank you.

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What
gift
really
says,
“Thank you for tracking down the insane
exiled angel that is tormenting Lincoln”?

“Hey,” I said, pulling out the chair beside Zoe.

Zoe and Salvatore exchanged a glance when they saw me.

“What? What now?” I asked. But I already knew it wasn’t good

news. They kept looking at each other, as if waiting to see who would draw the short straw. Zoe hitched a shoulder and flung her hands on the table. Her wristbands made a blunt whacking sound on impact.

“We went to the farmhouse with Beth and Archer and it was

all cleared out. We couldn’t really sense anything but definitely felt something odd as we got closer to the airport. Anyway, there wasn’t much else we could do without tipping them off, so we got back early and decided to see if we could fit in a training session over at Lincoln’s…”

Zoe looked down nervously.

“And?” I prompted, while dreading where this might be going.

“Well, when we got there, the door was open so we just kinda

walked right in— we didn’t think to knock.”

Salvatore coughed loudly. Zoe rolled her eyes. “I didn’t think

to knock,” she corrected, giving Salvatore a cold glare. “I mean, everyone’s just been coming and going from there, so I didn’t

expect to interrupt…”

Oh
no…please, God, don’t do this to me.

Spence shifted in his seat. He was dreading the same thing I

was— he knew how much it would hurt me. I bit down hard on the

inside of my cheek and stared at the spot just over Zoe’s shoulder.

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“Was he with Magda?”

“Yeah,” she said, but then taking in the look on my face and the trepidation on Spence’s, she straightened in her chair and started waving a hand in the air. “Oh…Whoa. I don’t mean…yuck! I

didn’t walk in on them naked or anything…Yuck! Now I’m going

to have freaky mental images all night!”

“Then what?” Spence and I asked together.

“They were loading up,” Zoe said with a shrug, as if compared

to the alternative this was now simple.

I had no idea what she meant and looked around to the others.

Salvatore shimmied closer in his chair.

“They were armoring themselves. Guns, in fact,” he said in his

Italian English.

What
was
Magda
thinking? Is she really that desperate to get her
claws into Lincoln that she would drive him to murder?

“Do you…” I swallowed through a suddenly dry mouth. “Do

you guys know what happens to exiles if they’re shot?”

“It doesn’t return them. I know that much,” Spence said.

“I think it’s meant to hurt like hell, not kill them, but it’s a kind of torture,” Zoe offered. “Some Grigori use them— guns— to help get the upper hand, but it’s frowned upon.”

“Cowardly,” Salvatore said.

I shot him a fierce look.

“I am sorry, Violet. This may have been the not right wordings.” And yet, I had a feeling it was exactly what he meant. As much

as I wanted to defend Lincoln, I couldn’t.

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Griffin, Nyla, and Rudyard chose this point to move down to

where we were sitting.

“Sorry to keep you waiting. We were just trying to double-

check our research. We believe we know where the Scriptures are.” Griffin looked at me. “Are you okay? Spence filled us in on the plane situation.”

“Yeah. I’m good,” I lied, knowing he would let me.

Even when you can tell someone isn’t being honest, you have to

pick your times, decide when you will and won’t call them out on it. This was one of the
won’ts
.

“Is it commonly known that titanium does something to shield

exiles against our senses?” I asked, embarrassed for not knowing more.

Griffin sat down beside me. “No. It’s not general knowledge and we had no idea it could be harnessed in this way.”

“So
you
knew about it?” I asked, wondering how many other things weren’t “general knowledge.”

Griffin spun a glass of Coke in his hand. “I knew. But up until today, we believed the only people who knew were Grigori leaders.”

“So how did Phoenix figure it out?” Spence piped up before I

could ask.

“I’m not sure,” Griffin said plainly. Then he looked around and his expression turned quizzical. “Where’re Lincoln and Magda?”

I shrugged and tried to play it cool. “Your guess is as good as mine, boss.” Which was as close to the truth as I could get.

“Well, we can’t wait for them,” Griffin said, shaking his head but not really surprised.

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“Back to the Scriptures,” Zoe said impatiently. “Where are they?” Nyla, Rudyard, and Griffin all looked at one another and then

back to us.

“Jordan,” Nyla said.

“Jordan?” we all repeated simultaneously.

“The country?” Spence added.

Griffin nodded and then gestured to Rudyard to speak.

Rudyard cleared his throat. “Yes, Jordan. We believe the Rules

the exile we captured at the farmhouse was referring to are the Ten Commandments.”

My mouth wasn’t the only one to drop open and all but hit

the table.

Rudyard smiled, looking positively thrilled at the reaction to the developments. “I know it’s a lot to get your head around. We believe that when Moses received the Ten Commandments almost three

and a half thousand years ago, he in fact received two sets of three stone tablets. On the first tablet were the Ten Commandments,

as we know them; the second and third, intended for Grigori

and exiles respectively, were supposed to be held for subsequent discovery. Each tablet was believed to hold a key to power.

“When Moses realized humans were not the only potential

rulers inhabiting the earth and that exiled angels exist and, even more concerning, that angels exist in the angel realm in both

light and dark capacity, he was enraged. He smashed a complete

set of tablets and never revealed anything more than the Ten

Commandments for humans. For humans, the second tablet with

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the Ten Commandments was uncovered and stored away. What

remained were hidden for safekeeping and eventually translated

into scripture, only to be revealed by their own kind. We believe that the Scriptures for Grigori and exiles are in this same place—

concealed somehow— waiting to be discovered.”

“And that’s in Jordan?” Zoe asked again.

“Yes, we think Moses was buried in a tomb beneath his place of

death and that some time after this, the Scriptures were placed in that tomb too. A prophet, Jeremiah, was sent on an angelic quest with the Ark of the Covenant, within which the Scriptures were

concealed. Jeremiah was charged with delivering the Ark and its contents back to their original owner. If our information is correct, he took the Ark to Jordan.”

“It is a very old legend, not one widely told. Over time, the

legend has been almost completely lost,” Griffin added.

“Yes,” agreed Rudyard, placing an ancient- looking leather-

bound book on the table and opening it to a yellowed page. “Allow me to read a small passage from the Second Book of Maccabees,”

he cleared his throat.

The prophet, Jeremiah, having received an oracle, commanded that the
tabernacle and the ark go with him, he went forth into the mountain,
where Moses climbed up, and saw the heritage of God. And when Jeremiah
came thither, he found an hollow cave, wherein he laid the tabernacle, and
the ark, and the altar of incense, and so stopped the door. And some of those
that followed him came up to mark the way, but they could not find it.

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When Jeremiah learned of it, he blamed them, saying: As for that
place, it shall be unknown until the time that God gather his people
again together, and receive them unto mercy.

“Well, I have no idea what that meant,” Zoe said, slouching

back in her chair.

“We believe the Ark of the Covenant may be hidden in the tomb

of Moses, which is in Jordan.”

“So we’re going to Jordan,” I echoed.

Rudyard nodded.

“Well, it’s about time something went in our favor,” Zoe said.

I got the feeling I wasn’t the only one who agreed with her

wholeheartedly.

“So,” Griffin said, clapping his hands together to get everyone’s attention. “We need to get organized. Dapper overheard some

exiles in here last night. They were talking about flying out tonight, so we have to assume it’s Phoenix. I’ve got Archer and Beth taking care of things here. Violet, you need to clear things with your dad somehow; we need you on this trip.”

I nodded. Finding a way around Dad was the least of my concerns.

“Nyla and Rudyard are heading straight to the airport to get a

plane organized, and the rest of us need to be there in two hours.

Since we now know that Phoenix has a military plane, we have to assume that if he is going to Jordan himself, he will be flying into the military airfield in Amman. The Academy is owed a few favors, so Nyla is confident she’ll be able to get us a military plane too.” 250

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Nyla and Rudyard stood up simultaneously to leave, unwittingly

intertwining their hands, and at that moment, I felt like standing up and putting my foot right through their beautiful connection.

“Spence,” Nyla said, standing over him. “You will stay here. I’m sorry, but this trip is too dangerous. We don’t know what’s ahead.” Contrary to his tight- fisted hand, Spence surprised everyone by looking up at Nyla and Rudyard and smiling.

“No problem,” he said. “Have a good trip. Bring me back

a souvenir.”

Nyla and Rudyard almost fell over. “Well, that’s…very grown

up of you,” Rudyard said. But as they walked out the door and

Spence gave them another smile and a wave, I could see the doubt on their faces.

Spence was up to something, but right then, I couldn’t have

cared less.

Everyone else stood up and started to get organized, planning

trips back to the hotel and to get supplies. I left them to it. Instead, I zeroed in on Griffin.

“I’m going to get Lincoln,” I said in a way that didn’t leave room for negotiation.

“We don’t have time, Violet.” He barely looked up from his

papers. “I’ve left them a message. If they miss our flight, they can get a commercial plane.”

“No can do, Griff. Lincoln’s not himself and if I leave him in

Magda’s hands any longer, it’s gonna be all bad.”

“What are you talking about? They’re trying to wrap up an old

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case. Don’t get jealous over silly things,” he said, shaking his head at me, trying to blow me off.

But I didn’t have the time or the patience right then. “Griffin, open your eyes! Lincoln and Magda have been off on some covert

op since she got back. You have no idea what they’re doing and

Magda never hangs around long enough to give you any more

information than the bare necessities. They’ve gone after Nahilius!” At the mention of Nahilius’s name, Griffin’s eyes grew wide the way they always did when something major was dropped in his

lap. He steadied himself, putting a hand on the back of a chair. Of course, the second he learned of anything that he hadn’t already been fully aware of, he blamed himself.

“It’s not your fault,” I tried to reassure him. “They’ve been