Embrace, Entice, Emblaze (96 page)

I walked over to Whitey, slumped against the wall. He could

hear me and could talk if needed. He watched me coming, knew

what I could do to him. The very same thing that had led them

to me let him know just how powerful I was. Yeah, apparently…I

radiate the stuff.

He was young. Not just in looks but in experience. I was willing to bet he hadn’t been here much longer than a year, which was more than I could say for the other two. Millennia of existence as angels really didn’t prepare them for taking human forms. This one looked awkward in his body, like it was the wrong fit. No surprises, he was male. They all chose to be male, at least
almost
all. From their point of view, males were superior and females the lesser gender, with no power and the added disadvantage of monthly bleeding.

Idiots.

This one didn’t look more than my age, his bright white hair

standing tall. He’d used one of those granny hair dyes and it

was turning purple. I almost laughed, imagining him becoming

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human and then spending the next few weeks experimenting with

hair colors.

Miss Kinkaid rose to her feet, shaking like a newborn foal against the wall, leaning against it for support.

“V- V- Violet, put…put that w- weapon away. We need to

call the…police,” she said, losing almost every other word in a hiccupping sob.

I sighed. This wasn’t good. And even though we had it covered,

I wondered if we might be causing some kind of psychological

damage to these people later in life. Griffin, the head Grigori in the city, assures me not, but still…

At least the art studios are in a separate building; otherwise, the entire school would have charged in on us by now. As it was, I could hear people moving in our direction already.

“I wish it were that simple,” I mumbled, not taking my eyes

from the exile who would have killed me while smiling, before

finishing off everyone in the room out of a misplaced sense of righteousness and, more practically, to cover the evidence. Exiles were thorough if nothing else.

“Do you want me to make you human?” I asked, glancing at

the other two exiles. During an outright attack like this, we weren’t required to make the offer and I knew what their response would be anyway, but I still felt the need to verbalize it.

Yeah. Sentimental.

The exile didn’t respond; he just continued to look at me like he was envisaging ripping my head off. I tightened my grip on my dagger.

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Archer cleared his throat. Unfortunately, I knew why.

I held back a sigh of frustration. “Do any of you have a message for me?” I asked, sticking to our latest protocol.

The exile didn’t pause to consider his words, while the other two simply growled.

“I exceed you in every way! I’m more powerful than you can

imagine, and when I kill you, others will bow at my feet!” he

exclaimed, unable to contain the anger in his human form, an

emotion that his previous, incorporeal self could not process. He was already well down Delusional Way.

Not exactly the message I was looking for, but good enough.

In time with Miss Kinkaid’s shriek, I ran my dagger through his chest, being sure to make it a fast killing will. It didn’t need to go through the heart; lots of other places would ensure an exile’s end.

The only essentials are that a Grigori blade inflict the injury and we make it count. Otherwise, exiled angels are damn near impossible to get rid of.

Archer didn’t hesitate, taking out one of the exiles and then

spinning on the spot to face the other, his blade slashing straight across his neckline.

I looked away. Archer is old school and very good.

Two of my classmates, Jeff Willis and Meredith Faro, chose that moment to break out of shock and into hysterics. Jeff’s pitch was the highest. At least no one was trying to bolt this time.

It wouldn’t last long. Beth had already moved in on the other

students. Every Grigori has a particular strength and we are all a bit 15

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different. Beth’s strength is memory. Like all of our gifts, though, it isn’t endless. She had about a ten- minute window of opportunity and only about a half hour “wipe” capacity
and
she needed to have touched her target in each case.

She started with Miss Kinkaid, who was now silent, despite her

mouth being wide open and paused in a potential tense scream.

Beth brushed her hand comfortingly.

“It’s okay. Everything is okay now.”

Beth moved by her, then on to the next, touching everyone in

some way, even those who cowered from her, before moving to give them each a good stare.

“Help is on the way,” she said soothingly. “Would you all look

at me for a moment?” she continued, pushing a little sweetness

into her voice, which had everyone slightly entranced. Beth is old school too.

Archer jumped back out the window and disappeared while

I walked around, making sure all evidence of the exiles’ pres-

ence had gone. Their bodies were the easiest part; as soon as they were “returned,” whatever magic had given them a physical form

quickly disappeared along with their remains, but every now and then, other remains were left behind. Weapons usually, but more recently, we had started to check for other things that might hide a message, even though I knew Phoenix wouldn’t bother with such plotting. He liked to deliver messages in person.

“You have all been in art class, like any other day. Vandals have been causing havoc in the area and just like they did on Friday last 16

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week”— Beth shot me a loaded glance— “a gang of guys rode by on their bikes, hurling rocks through the windows. It was just lucky Miss Kinkaid was so quick to act that you all managed to huddle into the corner in time. A few of you were hit by flying glass, but you’re all okay and know you are safe now. Unfortunately, none

of you managed to get a look at any of the perpetrators. Does

everyone agree?”

My teacher and peers all began to nod.

Beth waited until she was satisfied. “Okay. Now sit silently until we are gone. Do not pay any attention to us, and you will not

remember us once we have left, all except for Violet, who is your classmate and was huddled in the corner with the rest of you.”

They all nodded again.

Archer made me jump when he came bounding back through

the window with a number of brick- sized rocks hammocked in

his Road Runner T- shirt. He scattered them around the room to

explain the shattered glass, dropping a couple on top of the desk I had broken with my forehead.

“It’s just lucky your school doesn’t have video cameras; other-

wise, this would be a lot more difficult,” he noted.

Rapid footsteps sounded down the hall. Beth and Archer

both tensed.

“It’s okay. Just Spence,” I said. I could sense Grigori. Not as easily as I could exiles, but I ran with Spence every day— I knew his gait well enough to be sure this was him.

Spence almost slid into the room, then looked at my classmates, 17

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saw they were held in a momentary daze, and took about one

second to put all the pieces together. He snorted. “I’ve missed it, haven’t I? Jeez, Eden, you could’ve at least called me!”

Yeah. I felt bad. He’d been close and Spence loved a fight.

“Sorry. I barely had time to call in Beth and Archer.”

We all knew they were first call in these instances. Beth’s ability to make problems…go away was essential.

“Shields?” Spence asked, just as I started to feel the purr of

another arrival.

“Yeah,” I admitted, hating that I still wasn’t strong enough.

There was another thump as two more feet were propelled

through the window. I raised my eyes to the roof.

Did
everyone
have
to
be
here?

Lincoln took in the scene in much the same way as Spence. His

eyes landed on me immediately after. “You’re hurt,” he all but growled.

I sighed. “No. I’m fine. Stupid but fine,” I said, trying not to focus on him, not that it made any difference. His very presence sent every part of me, human and angel, into overdrive.

He looked like he wanted to come closer, but after a considering look at my head, he must have deduced the wound wasn’t that bad and instead turned to Beth. “How long do we have?”

“About thirty seconds until this group comes around,” she

said, taking Tristan’s phone from his hand, no doubt deleting his recent footage.

“And about a minute until the school rains down on this

building,” Spence said.

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I grabbed a few tissues from Miss Kinkaid’s desk and started

mopping the blood from my face. It really wasn’t bad.

“Violet, are you okay from here?” Lincoln asked.

I sheathed my dagger and tied my hair back into its original

ponytail. “Yep, you guys go.”

Spence went back out the door the way he’d come. Archer

and Beth leapt out the window. Lincoln moved to follow but

paused briefly.

“Is that yours?” he asked, gesturing to my charcoal drawing,

now on the ground.

“Yeah.”

His brow furrowed. “It’s beautiful…and awful too. What is it?”

“It’s me.”

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chapter
two

“The defects and faults of the mind are like wounds in the body.

After all imaginable care has been taken to heal them up, still
there will be a scar left behind.”

FraNCOIs De La rOCHeFOuCauLD

I didn’t know if I’d ever truly be able to function again after our trip to Jordan. Or if I wanted to. Losing Rudyard…and Nyla— the way

their souls had so beautifully intertwined and then been so savagely torn apart. Th e scream, the last noise that fell from Nyla’s lips, sounded in my ears constantly. Haunting me. And even though I

pretended I was fi ne, it took everything I had to force myself not to scream along with her.

Th e hardest moments were when the thoughts I’d failed to hold

at bay snuck into my mind. Th e selfi sh ones that made me wish Lincoln and I hadn’t waited, that we had allowed our souls to come together completely before Rudyard’s death, before knowing that to do so would be damning each other to a tormented fate like Nyla’s.

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I shivered, wrapping my arms around my waist and quickly

pushing those feelings that made me hate myself from my mind.

Steph was already waiting for me at my locker. She was talking

to Marcus, her ex- boyfriend. Somehow, they were still friends.

Only Steph could manage that situation so well.

Maybe
I
should
get
some
pointers
.

When I arrived, he was already saying good- bye, planting a kiss on her cheek and giving me a charity peck too before dashing off to catch up with his friends.

I smiled when I looked down at the folder resting in her arms.

She had an English paper on top, and a big A+ was circled in red.

With all her extracurricular work lately, you’d expect things might have slid in other areas, but Steph stayed on top of everything with her particular brand of Steph- finesse.

She moved in close to me, lowering her voice.

“I heard about your art class. Are you okay?” she asked, looking over her shoulder nervously as if she expected secret agents to drop from the ceiling at any moment.

I held back the sigh. “Yeah. It was my fault.”

“Was there, you know…did Phoenix send a message?”

“No,” I said a little more forcefully than I’d intended. It seemed like the only thing people asked me these days.

She nodded, looking worried but also sensing my need to

move on to a different topic. “Sall sent me a text today,” she said, expertly transitioning. “They’ve asked for permission to return, but it’s not going well.” She frowned. “Spence’s decision to stay 21

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here without consulting the Academy didn’t exactly smooth the

way. He thinks it’ll take another couple of weeks before they

decide what to do.”

It had been six weeks since Salvatore and Zoe had returned to