Endless (39 page)

It was a long twenty minutes and yet every one of those minutes had become precious.

‘Will Lincoln and I be held together?’ I asked Phoenix.

‘No,’ he replied. ‘Lilith will lock up Lincoln on the far side of the estate, where Evelyn is imprisoned. She’ll most likely put you down in the dungeons until the ceremony tonight.’

I nodded, trying to ignore the spark of fear.

‘This is it,’ Phoenix said, pointing towards a massive estate coming into view.

When we neared I realised why no one had been able to pinpoint Lilith’s location. She and her cohorts held a glamour over the entire building, which made it look like an ancient castle, with crumbling walls and large sections of the roof missing. To passers-by it would be considered a ruin.

It was genius. Hidden in plain sight.

The reality was quite different. The building stood in perfect isolation, with massive stone walls and wroughtiron gates. It was indeed a castle-like estate, but unlike its glamoured appearance, it was pristine.

It wasn’t difficult
to spot, and sense, the numerous guards patrolling outside. I pushed my senses out a little further and gasped.

Lincoln glanced at me. He had felt it too.

There must have been at least sixty exiles in there, both light and dark, and almost all of them were powerful.

We pulled over behind the first car. Lincoln grabbed my hand before I could open the door. ‘Remember, you’ll need to open yourself up to me completely so I can send you all of my power.’

I opened my mouth to argue, but he cut me off.

‘This isn’t about you or me, Vi. If things get that far, it’s about saving as many of those kids as possible.’

Resigned, my mouth closed.

‘I’ll take the fear from you where I can,’ Phoenix offered quietly from the back.

I nodded.

‘Both of you,’ he added.

Lincoln pressed his lips together as he too gave a small nod.

He dug out the phone from his pocket and passed it over to Phoenix. ‘Griffin’s number is in there when you need it. Tell him we did everything we could and that I’m … sorry.’

Phoenix took the phone.

‘Get Evelyn out, okay?’ I added. ‘She’s your best hope at killing Lilith. Tell her I’ve left some letters in my bag at the cabin. And tell her to look after Dad.’ Evelyn was the only one who had ever defeated Lilith. I knew she would do everything she could to bring her down again.

Phoenix
swallowed, looking away. ‘I swear it.’

We stepped out of the truck and Lincoln came to my side, pulling me into him. It was strange to think we had only had this closeness for the last twenty-four hours. It was so complete I couldn’t imagine life any other way now.

Lincoln tilted my head up to his. Shining green eyes looked down on me with so much adoration and respect that I felt my own eyes begin to well.

‘You have more power than any Grigori that has come before and perhaps, of any that will come again.’ He leaned down as I pushed onto my tippy toes. Our lips met and we were in perfect harmony. When his kiss deepened I felt the stirrings of the magic that bound our souls and shivered.

‘It’s my privilege to love you,’ he said, his lips grazing my ear with each word. ‘Don’t ever forget, no regrets.’ He kissed the spot behind my ear and breathed in deeply. ‘Not one.’

Something slipped in my stomach. I leaned back from him and searched his eyes.

But he simply stared back at me with nothing but the truth and love of his words. My hands moved up to cup his face. ‘Me neither. I love you, too. With everything that I am.’

Phoenix, who had walked ahead a few paces to give us a moment, cleared his throat. ‘It’s time,’ he said.

We followed him to the massive black gates, flanked by the exiles that had escorted us. It felt like we walked a mile just to reach them, climbing a sloping manicured lawn that declared money and power. Fleetingly, I wondered who had been living here or maintaining it during the years Lilith had been gone.

Once through the front doors the sheer volume of exiles inside struck us. They sneered, excited and dangerously stimulated to see us in their territory. Phoenix continued to shield us, not missing a beat when one of the exiles lost control. It was incredible that he commanded as much rule over them as he did, but even so, by the time we reached the end of the hallway, Phoenix had left four exiles writhing on the ground. As per an agreement, Lincoln and I had refrained from assisting.

Phoenix
led us into what must have once been a grand ballroom. Now it was more of a shrine. Black carpet ran down the middle towards a hugely elaborate and ugly golden throne, on which sat Lilith.

My senses registered her power and I stumbled, Lincoln’s hand was at my elbow to steady me. I had seen her at the Academy, but hadn’t sensed her like I did now. She sat tall, flanked by two exiles. One was Olivier.

He stepped forward and motioned to two other exiles. ‘Disarm them.’

The exiles were thorough and found all our hidden weapons quickly.

Power emanated from Lilith like a living breathing force that she fed to the world. Her hair was mesmerising, long to her waist and a vibrant orange-gold colour, each strand like precious spun toffee. Her eyes were a soft peach colour but lined in heavy black to look altogether striking. She watched us approach; her unflinching birdlike stare studying every movement. And not just ours. She examined everyone and everything around her with the same intense scrutiny.

She shifted on her throne. Crossing her legs and sitting a little taller. It was an understatement to describe her as beautiful. The fact that she took my breath away only gave me a small indication of what she – Lady Lust – did to the opposite sex. As if sensing this thought, the corner of her lip curled as she looked at me and then Lincoln. Dressed provocatively in a revealing blood-red dress there was no doubt she enjoyed the control she could wield over men.

I glanced
at Lincoln, half expecting to see him salivating, but his eyes were not even looking in her direction. I followed his line of sight and had to hold back a gasp.

Human men lay on the floor around her, barely dressed, exhausted and nearing death. They were chained to her throne and looked as if they had been there for weeks with no food or drink and yet each of them watched Lilith with desire. They were smothered in a dense black coating, which I suddenly realised was actually shadow. I was tapping into Lincoln’s shadow-finding abilities.

Lincoln took my hand in his. There was a time I would have shrugged free of such a display, would have thought it weak. But I no longer cared. I didn’t want to stand alone any more, or prove I didn’t need anyone. I did. And what Lincoln and I had went beyond that now.

I didn’t miss Lilith’s look of frustration when she noticed Lincoln’s attention was not on her, but she covered it quickly with a killer smile.

I glanced around quickly. Evelyn was nowhere to be seen.

‘Remarkable really,’ Lilith said, her musical voice and rounded accent timeless. She looked at me. ‘Such a plain girl – nothing striking about you, and yet I find I must compete with you. And most disturbingly,’ she turned a less friendly look on Phoenix, ‘you hold the heart of my offspring, even though you have clearly given yours to another. My, my… well, I suppose I should thank you.’

She turned
her smile up another notch and I was almost surprised a choir didn’t start to sing in the background.

‘I must assume that without your actions my son may never have discovered his backbone and brought me back. Unfortunately for you, my gratitude has always been short-lived and your heritage inspires a specifically … passionate response.’ She stood up and I braced myself for her to approach me, but she just looked down on us.

‘We’re here for the children,’ I said, seeing no point in encouraging chitchat.

‘Of course you are. And I am sure that it has been explained to you that I am not without compassion.’ She moved towards one of the men at her feet and patted him on the head. His cheeks were completely sunken in starvation yet he moaned in delight at her touch. ‘I will grant you the chance to win the lives of the children in my captivity. For as many arrows as you endure a child will be released.’

I nodded. ‘I’ve been told. But we will need someone to take the children to safety once they’ve been freed.’

Lilith waved a hand dismissively. ‘You may not bring another of your kind within these walls.’

We were ready for this. ‘What about another that was once one of yours?’ I asked.

She raised her eyebrows.

‘I know an exile who is now only human,’ I explained.

She stepped back with shock and then responded, appalled. ‘He chose this?’

Time to learn a little something about me.

I held her eyes. ‘No. I took his powers from him.’

She tilted
her head as if replaying my words, her attention flitting around the room considering them. Eventually, she turned a thoughtful look back to me. ‘And then we will have an agreement?’

‘We will,’ I replied.

She looked at Lincoln and waited. He took a deep breath and hesitated. Lilith’s smile simply broadened.

‘We will,’ Lincoln finally conceded.

Lilith’s eyes shot to Phoenix and she resumed her position on her throne. ‘Make the arrangements,’ she said to him, before dismissing him with a harsh flick of her hand. ‘Take him to the south cell and put the girl below with the children. Let her see the filth she is about to die for.’

Out of the shadows emerged dark exiles. Two dozen of them quickly surrounded us and my instincts screamed
Fight! Flight! Anything! Something!
But I forced myself to still as they approached, gritting my teeth as they pulled Lincoln and I apart and started to lead us away in different directions.

When one of them elbowed me in the side, Lilith spoke up. ‘No one harms the girl. Let her be at her best for tonight’s festivities. You may, however,’ she paused as if deciding, ‘play with her love, if you must. Just make sure he can still stand by the evening.’

I closed my eyes as the exiles hovering around Lincoln snarled.

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

‘There is no chance, no destiny, no fate that can circumvent or hinder or control the firm resolve of a determined soul.’

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

‘
G
o with
Lincoln,’ I snapped under my breath at Phoenix, who had remained by my side. He ignored me.

‘They won’t hurt me. Go.’

His eyes flashed to mine briefly. ‘I’m not leaving you. We agreed to this,’ he whispered back.

We? Not he and I … Since when have Phoenix and Lincoln been making deals?

We made it back into the halls and the exiles led me to a set of stone stairs. The exile behind me pushed me down and I almost lost my footing. I righted myself in time to see Phoenix take a step towards him in anger. I sent Phoenix a sharp look. He was supposed to be on their side after all.

When we reached the bottom of the stairs I struggled to control my reaction to what faced me, but I couldn’t stop my despair and had to close my eyes for a moment. The basement was a similar size to the ballroom we had just left, except this room was all concrete. The space had been divided into square cells by floor-to-ceiling metal bars.

There were
dozens of children.

Between five and ten per cell. A quick scan told me we had underestimated the number captured. My stomach turned. They’d been herded and locked up like animals. All seemingly alive, though some, like the men upstairs, appeared to be just hanging on. The stench was overwhelming. They’d been left with nothing more than a small bucket in the corner of each cage. There was nothing else – no beds, no blankets – nothing but a cold concrete floor and metal bars for walls.

I felt another jab at my back as I was pushed into an empty cage, then the gate closed behind me with a click and I heard a key secure the lock.

Don’t panic.

I was acutely aware of the numerous pairs of young eyes fixed on me. Some looked as young as four or five, the oldest maybe ten or eleven.

Phoenix stood by the gate, looking over the cells, surprise registering on his face. He covered it quickly and turned to one of the dark exiles.

‘She’s been busy,’ he said, his tone approving.

The exile grinned. ‘Big group came in from Canada and the Antanov flew in yesterday from Russia,’ he reported.

Phoenix nodded. ‘Leave us. Post a guard at the top of the stairs. No one in or out,’ he ordered.

Once the exiles had disappeared up the stairs I felt the blood drain from my face and leaned against the bars for support.

‘There are too many,’ I whispered frantically. ‘And what certainty do we have that she won’t just recapture the ones she releases after we’re dead?’ I wanted to take a deep breath to try and clear my head but the smell was overpowering and I was already fighting the urge to gag.

Phoenix shook
his head, leaning close to me so the children couldn’t hear. ‘She won’t if you can make her pledge on it. Angels must adhere to a sworn oath. Exiles are hazy on the issue. Some are bound by oaths and others can break them. But Lilith was such a powerful angel, her oaths are still strong. If she makes one, she will not break it. You need to make her swear to the children’s eternal freedom before the ceremony.’