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Why did he come to me? Was it just to torment me?

My hands shook and my thoughts raced.

Why do his final words keep replaying in my head? And that look in his eyes …

Eventually, sleep impossible, I got up and pulled back the drop-sheet on the wall that Lincoln had set aside for me to paint.

Somehow I knew I was standing on a precipice, that this was a now-or-never moment. The blank space that I’d bugged him to let me paint for so long and that sported nothing other than a solitary white lily stood before me. For the first time, I knew what I wanted the wall to represent.

By the time I’d finished painting it was 9 am. Today we would leave for New York and who knew what would follow. I repositioned the drop-sheet and cleaned up.

Lincoln woke shortly after. ‘I can smell paint,’ he said as he stretched. I tried to look away from the exposed band of skin between his T-shirt and sweat pants and felt the blush when he caught me peeking.

‘Are you okay?’ he asked cautiously.

‘Coffee,’ I said, passing him a cup. ‘Griffin wants us to meet him at Hades in half an hour.’

He groaned, taking a grateful sip, then glanced at the now-covered wall. ‘Do I get to see?’

‘Once
all this is over, okay?’

He opened his mouth to argue, but must have seen the plea in my eyes, and simply nodded.

Have I mentioned, I love you?

I put my empty mug down and sat beside him casually. ‘So, Phoenix visited me during the night.’

CHAPTER NINE

‘Absence from those we love is self from self – a deadly banishment.’

William Shakespeare

G
riffin
hadn’t changed from the night before. He was already sitting at what had become our usual table in Hades, Dapper beside him, a book between them as they spoke in hushed tones.

Onyx was behind the bar. Shock of all shocks; he was making coffees. When he saw Lincoln and me walk in, he didn’t say anything, just passed me a cup over the bar-top. It was way too passive a gesture for Onyx.

‘Griffin told you,’ I said, taking the drink, embarrassed that everyone knew what Dad had done.

Onyx shrugged, flicking his dark hair back from his eyes.

My, my – he’s speechless.

I gave him a deadpan look. ‘You feeling sorry for me doesn’t work for me.’

‘Oh, thank Christ,’ he exclaimed with relief. ‘I thought I was going to have to pretend all day.’

‘You’re an ass, you know that, right?’

He bowed. ‘I do, thank you.’ He eyed my drink. ‘Enjoy that,
there’s more rum in it than coffee,’ he said with a wink before sauntering off to sit beside Dapper.

I turned to Lincoln, a look of puzzlement on his face as he watched Onyx. ‘Do you think there’s something going on between Dapper and Onyx?’ he asked me.

I looked at them again. They did seem very comfortable around each other. Dapper had never said out loud that he was gay and to look at him he didn’t fit any stereotype – well, apart from his eye for interior design and diamanté-studded accessories. And, now that I thought about it, I’d never seen Onyx take up any of the offers made to him by the girls who hung around Hades.

‘Definitely,’ I said, realising I was happy for them.

Lincoln looked at them again and nodded. Enough said.

Griffin waved us over.

‘Time to save the world,’ I said to Lincoln, putting my ‘rum’ coffee back on the bar.

Lincoln made a show of looking at his watch. ‘Already?’

‘Ha, ha,’ I said, as we walked over to join them. But I noticed his smile faded quickly. He was putting on a good show, but Lincoln had not been happy since hearing that Phoenix had found a way into my dream. The only reason he wasn’t completely freaking out was because I’d managed to pull myself out of it.

‘Anyone else coming?’ I asked when we reached the table.

‘Just us this morning,’ Griffin said. ‘I thought we could do with a little privacy. Once we enter the Academy we may not get another chance to talk privately.’

This was Griffin’s way of saying we’d be watched like hawks once we arrived in New York.

Lincoln
studied the book Dapper and Griffin had been looking at. It was old – the paper thick and worn at the edges, the spine peeling away.

‘This is it?’ he asked.

Dapper nodded. ‘It took most of the night to translate.’ Unlike many of the books, this one had not been translated into English. It had only made it to old Aramaic. ‘Could’ve used that girl’s help,’ he added, meaning Steph. But ‘that girl’ had had other plans last night and not even her utter joy at discovering Dapper’s treasure trove of knowledge would have persuaded her to postpone her time with Salvatore.

‘Anyway, the book does reference a potion named Qeres. It’s not easy to decipher but there is a list of twelve ingredients,’ Griffin said.

‘What are they?’ Lincoln asked.

‘Some we still need to get translations for, but nothing too drastic. Frankincense, myrrh, cedar oil, the blue lotus, mostly flowers and herbs native to Egypt, which would make sense, given the time this was documented.’

‘Easy,’ I said with a shrug. ‘We can probably get most of it online, if not at a health food shop.’

Dapper took off his glasses and stared at me. ‘Do you really think we could just pop down to the local store and collect the ingredients for a mortalising potion?
Please
tell me that comment was a misinterpreted joke.’

I sank back in my chair. Nothing like being put in your place. Dapper was normally rude, and gruff, but that was …

He sighed, looking at the ceiling for a moment. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said eventually. ‘I’m sorry. I have no right to speak to you like
that.
You
of all people.’ He bowed his head in shame and I wondered why he’d said ‘you’ in that way.

‘Oh, stop your fussing,’ Onyx threw in. ‘She likes it when we’re mean to her, she said as much on her way in.’

I rolled my eyes, but at least he’d broken the strange tension.

‘Here,’ Onyx said, passing Dapper a mug and looking at me, trying to cover what looked suspiciously like concern. ‘He’s just pissed off because if you lot want to get your hands on these ingredients, then he’s going to have to go home.’

‘Home?’ Lincoln asked, taking the word from my mouth.

Dapper grimaced. ‘The ingredients must come from the earth and from their rightful place. Most will be found in Egypt, along the Nile to be exact.’

I shook my head. ‘Dapper, we can’t ask you to go traipsing around the world looking for flowers and herbs. We don’t even know if there’s any truth to this tale and you said yourself, we don’t have the thirteenth ingredient anyway.’

Dapper stared at me for a long time and I couldn’t help but feel he wanted to say something. But it was Griffin who spoke up.

‘Until something better presents itself, this is the closest thing we have to a plan.’

Dapper sighed. ‘I never thought I’d go back there, but this potion could end up making the difference. Travel in Egypt requires connections and a guide. I can provide both.’

I wondered how many years it had been since Dapper was last in Egypt.

‘You’re a good girl to give me the choice. But we both know it won’t mean a happy world for anyone if we don’t stop Lilith.’

I
shook my head and looked at my lap. I still struggled to believe it, that my relationship with Phoenix had ultimately led to this. It was a cruel twist of fate and now everyone was paying the price. Finally, I lifted my head and looked to Dapper.

‘Thank you,’ I said, because what else could I say?

Dapper smiled weakly. ‘Griffin, with your permission, I’d suggest I take the girl with me. She’ll not be permitted with your lot and I could use her.’ He coughed, trying to hide his genuine concern. ‘God knows she won’t agree to stay behind.’

Griffin drained his coffee. ‘If Stephanie is willing, I have no objection. We’re already going to have enough trouble trying to get James in with Evelyn.’

They both looked at me.

‘On one condition,’ I said, determined to at least make sure Steph had this. ‘Graduation is tomorrow. You wait until after that to leave. She’s the valedictorian, for Christ’s sake. And since I won’t be here, I expect you,’ I looked at Onyx sternly, ‘will
both
be there throwing confetti.’

Lincoln gripped my hand under the table. Yeah, it sucked I wasn’t going to be there.

Dapper nodded. ‘We can use the time to translate the rest of this text and make arrangements. We’ll be at her graduation.’

‘Speak for yourself. I’d rather take a loaded weapon to my head,’ Onyx said.

‘Actually, I believe I
can
speak for you, since I’m imagining you plan on coming along on our little trip as well.’

Onyx rolled his eyes and gulped down the rest of his drink.
Yep. Definitely more than friends if Dapper can make him turn up to a high school graduation.

‘See
what you’ve reduced me to?’ Onyx glared at me. ‘My only comfort is knowing you’ll be stuck with your treat of a mother for the foreseeable future.’

I glared back at him.

‘Oh,’ he said, throwing a hand to his chest. ‘Is that your evil stare? I’m quivering.’

I looked at Linc, incredulous. The traitor was hiding a smile.

‘What’s so funny?’ I asked.

He shrugged. ‘Now all you have to do is separate Steph from Salvatore long enough to convince her not to stow away on our plane.’

‘Oh, crap.’

‘Actually, that might not be the case,’ Griffin said, capturing our attention again. Something told me there was another reason Griffin had decided we should have today’s powwow in private.

CHAPTER TEN

‘Wild, dark times are rumbling toward us
…’

Heinrich Heine

‘I
don’t need a babysitter!’ Steph said. Again.

She collapsed onto Onyx’s sofa bed. We’d commandeered the small flat for our conversation that was probably not so private given the volume level.

‘I know you don’t,’ I said. Again.

Now I knew why Griffin had thought it would be better if I had this conversation with Steph in private. I was going to be sure to repay the favour at the first opportunity.

‘It’s bad enough that you’ve stuck me on the farming expedition with Dapper and Onyx, but now you’re going to take my boyfriend out of the action he has every right to be a part of so he can hold my hand! He’ll never forgive me, Vi.’ Her attack mode was starting to crumble as her eyes became teary. ‘You can’t do this to us. We’re only good if he doesn’t have to worry about me all the time.’

I sighed. ‘We want to keep you safe. Is that so wrong? Please, Steph, we’re family. I’m not telling you what to do and neither is Griffin. But sometimes being in a family means putting your safety first, even if you think Salvatore might think
of you differently. Because that’s what families do – survive for each other.’

Steph quickly wiped away the tears that had slipped down her cheeks. ‘And what about you? Are
you
going to survive? Don’t think I don’t know what you did on that volcano.’