Empower (7 page)

His handwriting was shaky over the final lines. Spence wasn’t just scared, he was terrified.

Oh, Spence. What have you done?

I folded the note, not willing to share all of this information with Onyx yet.

‘Has anyone heard from his partner?’ I asked. If this letter was written more than a week ago, a lot could have happened since.

Onyx hesitated before speaking. ‘Well, that’s the other reason I’m here.’

I closed my eyes briefly, knowing that this was going to end up being a very tangled story.

‘She’s at the Academy in New York. When they found her she was in a bad way. She’s in a coma. And since the last known person with her was Spence and she can’t tell anyone what happened …’

‘They think
he did it to her,’ I finished incredulously.

‘They’re not ruling out the possibility. Grigori aren’t immune to corruption, and Spence went AWOL. Plus, the one time Chloe did come around she refused to tell them what had happened.’

‘Why the hell would she do that?’ I snapped.

Stupid girl.

Onyx gave a small smile, knowing what I was thinking. ‘She must have had her reasons. All she said was. “Find Eden”.’

My stomach somersaulted. Only Spence called me Eden. I needed to speak to Chloe.

I braced my hands on my thighs, trying to settle my heart, some beats thumping hard, others fading to nothing. Spence had said that Lincoln would be looking for him. He obviously believed they had leads in New York that I didn’t. If I started from scratch I’d be too far behind. And if Spence had found himself the kind of trouble it sounded as though he had, then I was going to need access to intel. And numbers.

I looked at Onyx. ‘You came to take me back.’

Onyx raised his eyebrows. ‘The girl thought you’d want in,’ he said, again using Dapper’s term of endearment for Steph.

I looked around my tiny flat: bed, treadmill, cupboard-sized bathroom and not much else. I’d hidden here for the past year. It was just a place. Not a home. No attachments. I knew what Onyx was here for – to take me to New York. To the Assembly. To everything I’d run away from.

And I knew exactly who’d be there.

Mouth dry, I walked
over to my grimy window and grabbed the bag that was always half packed and ready to go.

Spence was family. I loved him – no questions, no strings – and I’d made him a promise that I’d always have his back like he’d had mine.

I made my way around the flat, shoving extra bits and pieces into my bag as my memory flashed back to that night. The estate. Lilith. Phoenix on the ground, lifeless. Lincoln, soul shattered, gone. Life draining slowly from my body.

And then there was Spence, who’d refused to let me go into the fight without him. Who’d been focused and strong. Who’d fought by my side and saved Lincoln from the fire when I could not.

Afterwards, he’d driven me to the cliff without question – he’d been the only person I could cope with being around. And it was Spence who’d carried me home.

Onyx watched me curiously as I jammed my passports – I had four – along with weapons and what clothes I could be bothered with into my bag before pausing and stuffing in more weapons.

Spence
had
said not to pack light.

I threw the bag over my shoulder and grabbed my mobile phone, sending a quick text message before looking back at Onyx.

I can do this.

‘The girl was right,’ I said.

Onyx tapped his fingers on the table a few times and nodded before standing. ‘We have a plane on standby.’

I raised my eyebrows, but
quickly let my question go. I didn’t need to know how Onyx had managed to get his own plane. I flicked off my only light and left a note for Karen, telling her I had to leave for a family emergency. I also left most of the cash I had to cover my rent for the next few weeks. Just in case.

On the footpath, Onyx hailed a black cab.

‘If I’m going back there, I’m doing it my way. Understood?’

Onyx beamed his familiar, wicked smile. ‘Oh, I’d expect nothing less.’

I ignored his obvious amusement. ‘Who else knows you’re here?’

‘Dapper, the girl and no doubt her Italian.’

I nodded, aware that if Salvatore knew he’d probably told Zoe too. ‘Well, let’s keep it to that,’ I instructed, sending another quick text. ‘And we need to make a stop to pick something up on the way to the airport.’

Onyx slid into the taxi, still smiling even as he shook his head.

‘What?’ I asked sharply.

‘Honestly?’

I narrowed my eyes. ‘Yes.’

‘I’m just giddy with excitement,’ he said, his eyes alight. ‘It’s as if someone has rebooted my favourite movie just for me and I get to sit back and watch all over again.’

‘Still a bastard, then,’ I mumbled.

He laughed openly. ‘Why fight what works?’ He leaned a little closer, and dropped his voice. ‘But I’m sure you’ll find that not everything has remained quite the same.’

I looked away, fighting my nerves. Did he mean the Academy? Or Lincoln? Or me?

I shook my
head. With any luck I’d be in and out of that place in a day or two. I probably wouldn’t even see him.

Yeah. Right.

I sat a little taller.

Correction:
he
won’t see
me.

‘My way,’ I reinforced.

‘My dear, your way is
always
the most entertaining.’

My eyes narrowed in on him again as the taxi pulled over to the kerb.

‘What are we collecting?’ Onyx asked.

I looked out the window and saw Gray stalking towards the car, army-green duffle bag slung over his shoulder.

‘Reinforcements,’ I said, opening the door for him.

After a long look at Onyx, Gray settled his eyes on me. ‘You’re going to owe me for this, princess,’ he said, dumping his bag by his feet.

I was conscious of Onyx’s eyes darting between Gray and me, followed by a discreet but clear chuckle as he stretched back into his seat.

‘Yes, rainbow,’ Onyx
practically sang. ‘Most definitely, let’s do this your way.’

‘How well it suits all men, on the subject of chaos, to say that it is a kind of darkness!’

The Nag Hammadi

I
recognised the jet the moment I caught sight of its sleek black wings.

‘Who managed this?’ I asked suspiciously as the three of us stood on the tarmac, bags at our feet, waiting to board.

Onyx snorted. ‘Do you really think we could steal a jet from under that tyrant’s nose?’

I frowned, watching as the door opened and the stairs came down. ‘You failed to mention she knew I was coming.’

He rolled his eyes. ‘I try to ignore her existence altogether. How else did you think you’d be getting through the front door?’

Actually I’d had a similar plan myself. They just didn’t realise that I still had direct contact with the Vice of the Assembly.

‘Who are you talking about?’ Gray asked from beside me.

‘Josephine,’ I
answered, mixed feelings always rising to the surface when thinking of her. We’d started off on the wrong foot. She’d done everything in her power to stop me from being accepted into the Academy and the general Grigori community. In the end she’d changed her mind and the Assembly had voted again, this time in my favour – but by then it was a case of bridges burned and lives forever changed.

Though I would never say it out loud, there
was
a part of me that respected her. She did the things she did because of her commitment to her position on the Assembly. The problem was she was relentless with her demands and egotistical. Once Josephine decided on something, there was no swaying her or standing in her path, which was a problem, considering she was wrong as often as she appeared to be right. And that limited my respect for her.

‘That bitch from Santorini?’ Gray spat, looking like he was ready to get back in the taxi and head home.

‘Yep.’

He pulled out his phone and started to tap away.

‘What are you doing?’ I asked.

‘Putting a team on standby in New York. Last time I saw that cow she tried to lock me up.’

There were a few reasons Gray refused to deal with the New York Academy, but Josephine was the main one.

‘You too?’ I asked, my tone lightening.

Gray scowled at me. Rogues took their freedom very seriously.

‘She
still
wants me behind bars,’ Onyx said dryly from my other side.

I couldn’t hold back a small smile, surprised how easy it was to slip into old habits with Onyx around.

Gray, still unhappy, eyed me suspiciously. ‘And why would she give
you
a ticket in?’

Yeah. Gray was
good at what he did.

I followed Onyx up the steps of the jet and looked back at Gray, contemplating how much I wanted to give away. ‘We stayed in contact after …’

‘After you bailed on everyone?’ Onyx offered eagerly.

I shot him a glare and tossed him my bag to stow.

He caught it with a grunt and smiled. ‘Good thing we were able to avoid the metal detectors,’ he said, the tell-tale clinking sounds of its contents clear as he hauled the bag into one of the overhead compartments.

‘Somehow she got my mobile number,’ I explained to Gray as he followed me aboard. ‘She’s the one who sends me jobs from time to time. If I’m not working on something else, I take them.’

This interested Gray. He realised some of the jobs I’d brought him and the other guys in on must have been for the Academy, too. I worried briefly that he’d be offended that he’d inadvertently worked for Josephine, but he just said, ‘She thinks highly of you, then?’

I shrugged, taking a seat at the back of the jet, from where I could see everything. ‘More like she figures I can get the job done. Either way I’m dispensable.’

Putting his bag away in the same overhead compartment Gray smiled, satisfied with my way of thinking. Neither of us was easily fooled. ‘Does anyone else know about your arrangement with her?’ he continued.

‘No. And I want to keep it that way,’ I answered, eyeing Onyx.

Onyx’s smile widened. ‘I give you my word, I will only tell two … three people at most.’

I rolled my
eyes. ‘You haven’t matured at all, I see.’

‘Whereas you look decidedly aged,’ he quipped.

If he thought that was going to upset me, he was wrong. I was pleased that the past two years showed in my appearance. I would turn twenty in a couple of months and it was only a matter of time before things in the ageing department slowed to non-existent. The last thing I’d wanted was to spend the next ten years looking like a teenager. I caught my reflection in the plane window as we took off. Yes, I did look older. I was slimmer, my cheekbones more defined. My eyes, still lacklustre hazel, betrayed having seen more than they should though I didn’t look into them for long.

There was no doubt I was stronger, leaner and had changed in many other ways. I glanced at the reflection of my long dark hair, pulled back in a tight ponytail. It wasn’t practical. And when my life had become about little more than training and hunting, I knew it would be the logical step to chop it off, but … I hadn’t.

Because he always liked it long.

I shut down my runaway thoughts and refocused by planning how to spend the flight. The first half I decided to dedicate to drilling Onyx for every last detail he had about Spence’s mission and whereabouts. Mostly, I wanted to know more about his partner, Chloe. We’d only met that one time. Even Spence hadn’t known where I was living. Not because I didn’t trust him to keep it a secret, but because I didn’t want him to carry those kinds of secrets for me. It was hard enough asking it of Steph.

Keeping it from
Griffin and Dapper, who I knew had been hurt by my leaving the city without explaining myself, was one thing but Lincoln … he was one of Spence’s best friends.

Steph and I never spoke about Lincoln. She knew I couldn’t. But I knew that after I’d left he had been hard on her on the few occasions he’d seen her. It had reached the point where Salvatore had had to step in. Words had been exchanged. With fists.

I couldn’t bear to let the same thing happen between Lincoln and Spence. It wouldn’t be fair. Lincoln deserved to know that Spence could always be honest with him.

The one time we’d managed to meet, Steph had taken care of everything to coincide with one of Spence and Chloe’s Academy assignments in Prague. We’d had lunch at a hidden-away restaurant in Old Town and I’d been intrigued to finally meet Spence’s partner. It became obvious that Chloe was daunted by the world she was now a part of, but I could understand that. She’d seemed strong in her own way and happy to follow Spence’s lead. I could tell instantly that Spence was protective of her in that way that Grigori partners are – on a platonic yet deep and uncompromising level.

The one at which Lincoln and I had epically failed to remain.

Chloe had watched me cautiously and with fascination. I had wondered fleetingly if she was jealous of the obvious connection Spence and I shared, which in many ways reflected a Grigori partnership, but I quickly discovered she was simply too kind of heart to be that negative.