Enticed (28 page)

Lincoln took the lead and we ran to the back end of the plane, which was still open. Griffin was standing there with a guy dressed in head to toe in camouflage greens.

„You the last two?" the army guy called out over the roar of the engines.

„No!" Lincoln yelled back. „One more on the way!"

We looked back behind us, but could see no sign of Magda.

The soldier looked back to Griffin. „Sorry, but we have to go or we"l lose our slot! Your friend will have to get on a later flight. We have a transport plane headed to Jordan tomorrow

– any stragglers can get on that."

Griffin clearly wanted to argue, but the army guy was too busy pushing us all towards the stairs as a military truck was driven up the ramp.

„That"s all of „em!" yelled the drive as he jumped out and started back down the ramp.

„You"re good to go!"

The soldier ushered us further inside and hollered into his radio.

„Al clear for take-off! Doors up!"

Then he gave Griffin a salute, which Griffin aptly mirrored in response, and disappeared up towards the front of the plane,

When the doors closed things became much easier to hear.

„Right," said Griffin, looking at Lincoln and me, and the down. We were no longer holding hands but somehow, without noticing we"d moved so close, we were touching from shoulder to elbow. „You"d better tel me what the hel "s been going on," he said, as we followed him through to the upstairs section of the double-decker plane.

It was amazing, not as big as the Antanov Phoenix had been using, but it was still cool.

Spence would have been in heaven. The cargo area was pretty standard. But upstairs was more similar to a commercial plane, though the seats were a lot bigger and there were desks scattered between them Griffin stopped at the first set of seats arranged like a four-seater booth. Everyone else was already on the plane, seated and buckled. Nyla and Rudyard were opposite Zoe and Salvatore a couple of rows behind them.

Lincoln and I filled Griffin in one what had happened with Nahilius. I became nervous when had to mention the guns, but Lincoln stepped in and explained. He took responsibility for everything and didn"t skip over anything. He really was feeling himself again – always the martyr.

Griffin honed in on the most significant issue instantly. „So Magda has guns these days,"

he said, in a flat tone.

Poor Griffin. He looked exhausted. He"d been running all over town trying to organise us as well as the entire city. Magda should have been helping him, not putting a gun in Lincoln"s hands.

„Griff, this is one me. Don"t blame Magda. I was out of control. She was only trying to help me," Lincoln confessed, bowing his head in shame. I fought the urge to contribute my opinion on the matter.

„Yes, well, we"l deal with that later. Let"s just get to Jordan and find these Scriptures."

Griffin pulled a file from his bag and sat down. From the looks of it, he wanted to be left alone.

„
Buckle up for take-off
," a male voice said over the PA. It was weird to hear what sounded like an order instead of a polite airline flight attendant.

Lincoln took my hand again and I exhaled, as if sated by just one touch. He pulled me towards the back of the plane. When we passed Rudyard, he put his hand out and grabbed my free wrist.

„Are you sure?" he said to Lincoln as much as to me.

My eyes grew wide, my mouth quickly dry. I was about to explain, to say that we knew it was too risky, when I looked at Lincoln. He was smiling.

„We"re hungry, Rudy, we"l talk later," Lincoln said and started to pul me towards him again. Rudyard kept hold of my wrist. He didn"t say anything, he just held it for that extra moment, squeezed a bit tight and then slowly let go with a thoughtful smile that I couldn"t decipher.

Lincoln stopped at the larder at the end of the cabin and handed me a banana I knew was for him and crisps I knew were for me. I was somewhere between astonished, elated and …

petrified. Lincoln looked happy. He grabbed a couple of bottles of water and we settled into the back seats behind Zoe and Salvatore, who were each saying a quick hello, left us in peace.

Is this possible? Does Lincoln mean to keep his hold on me for more than just now?

I went through the motions, buckling up and eating my crisps in a daze, trying to work it all out. We were soulmates – I was almost sure of it. But as always, there was that voice, the one that pulls everything apart, whispering in my ear.

Are you sure enough? Sure enough to let him risk his power?
I stared out the window.

Damn.

Phoenix was probably on his was to Jordan, too. No one had sensed him or any other exiles at the airport – they"d gone somewhere. It was never going to be easy. We were Grigori – angel warriors who dealt with the angel realm"s cast-offs. The egotistical riff-raff –

but now, for the first time, there was a possibility we could face it together. Partners in every way.

If you"re right. And if you"re wrong, he"ll never forgive you.

Lincoln snacked on his banana, stealing one of my crisps every now and then, we chatted for a while. I tried, unsuccessfully, to focus when he asked me how my Dad was doing on his trip, which only reminded me I needed to call him. We talked about how I would miss school and that it was good Steph could help me catch up. As we sat there, in a military aeroplane on our way to fight exiles for Scriptures that have been lost about a rock-climbing trip he"d seen advertised. He thought we could go together and use it for training.

I don"t know when I fell asleep, only that his arms stayed wrapped around me the entire time. For the first time I could remember, when I dreamed the sun shone brightly and the world was as it should be. A dream.

In the end, though, we all wake up … don"t we?

-

Lincoln had to coax me awake when we landed. I was surprised that I hadn"t woken up when we touched down.

„Where are we?" I asked, groggy.

„Jordan. You slept through the refuel," Lincoln said.

I guess I was more exhausted than I"d realised.

„Did you get any sleep?" I asked, taking big gulps of water, sure I had awful morning breath.

He gave a small shake of his head. „Doesn"t mean I wasn"t dreaming, though." He smoothed my hair down at the back.

I must have looked hideous.

„You look beautiful," he said, smiling.

„Ha ha."

„You do. You"re most beautiful just after you"ve woken up. It"s always my favourite time, when we go for a run in the morning and I get to see you first thing." He kept playing with my hair.

I got the feeling he was relishing saying these things out loud. Liberated. There were a lot of things I wished I could say out loud.

But I couldn"t. so, I hit him in the arm instead and he laughed.

Zoe and Salvatore were hauling bags out of the cargo area when we headed down the stairs.

„Bout time you two joined us, we aren"t your packhorses you know," Zoe said, stomping around tossing bags to Salvatore. I think she was actually aiming for a very sensitive area.

„Ah … Zoe, we didn"t bring any bags with us," I said, throwing her a bitch smile Steph would have been proud of.

„We packed for you!" She catapulted a duffle bag at my head so fast I had to duck.

Lincoln caught it. „Easy, Zoe," he said, catching the second bag that came zooming towards us, but he was laughing.

Nyla and Rudyard walked past with their bags and Griffin was soon loading them into the minibus, waiting on the tarmac.

Lincoln carried both of our bags and we headed out of the plane, but as soon as I hit outside air, I felt something strange. Not strange, exactly, it was the senses, but they were …

raw!

Apple sliced into my tongue. I dropped Lincoln"s hand, which had somehow ended in mine again.

„Vi!" I heard him say before the birds circled so close to me I could practically feel them swoop and the branches were whipping so manically I was sure they were lashing me.

My hands were at my face – trying to stave off the overpowering scent of flowers, like fleshy stems left in water long after they had perished – and tried to hold back the intense visions of morning and evening as they melted in and out of each other, working with the cool heat that now flowed through me; ice for bones and lava for blood.

Someone was dragging me back into the plane.

„Violet. It"s me." He held me tightly from behind and spoke right into my ear. „I"m here. I"m going to help you, give the senses to me," he said smoothly. „Okay?"

I couldn"t answer, I could only scream, but Lincoln wasn"t waiting, anyway. He spun me in his hands – as he"d done once before – crashed through the senses, finding his way to me through a kiss. It happened quicker this time than it had before. We knew what we could do together, we trusted it. We trusted each other.

I fed the senses to him and one by one they moved through me, into him and beyond. My vision returned. I could breathe in Lincoln"s sun-baked smell, that hint of honey that came when he was using his power on me and taste his lips on mine.

He pulled me close and kissed my cheek. „I got you," he whispered, sounding drained.

„Do I have real y bad breath?" I asked shakily, saying the first thing came to mind.

He gave me a low chuckle which sounded a lot like relief. „Al I could taste was apple," he reassured me. I was pretty certain he was lying, but I squeezed him tight.

„Something"s out there." I couldn"t hold back the tremble in my voice.

„I gathered. Exiles?"

„Exile," I clarified. „And not like anything I"ve felt before." And yet, the moment I said it aloud, I couldn"t stop the feeling I wasn"t entirely right. I had felt something similar before – I just had no idea when or where. I shivered.

„It was old. When the senses hit me, it felt like they were only meant for me. Did you feel anything?"

„No, not until I was feeling them through you."

„None of us did," said Nyla, who was standing back a bit with the others.

„But I know what you mean," Lincoln said, stil holding me. „They had an edge to them."

„Yeah – like the senses had been locked away for a real y long time like they"d built up all this pressure and had gotten old and musty. When they reached me, they just exploded."

Nyla looked at Rudyard. They were worried.
Not a good sign.

„Violet, we need to get to the hotel. We can"t defend ourselves here. Can you try outside again?" Nyla asked, as Rudyard pushed the others ahead.

I looked at Lincoln nervously.

„I won"t leave your side." He took my shaking hand, holding it firm to give me strength.

I nodded.

„Come on!" called Griffin from the tarmac, holding open the doors to the minibus.

We all headed out. Lincoln on one side of me, Nyla on the other, but this time when I walked outside it was different.

„Nothing," I said, though I couldn"t relax.

„Keep your defences up, just in case," Nyla said.

Once we were all piled into the minibus we started making our way to the hotel.

Salvatore leaned over his seat in front of me and passed ne a bottle of water.

„Thanks," I said, even though I wished he hadn"t. My hands were shaking badly and now everyone could see.

Lincoln sat back, giving me space. He knew not to smother me when I was like this – that I hated feeling like I was too weak to look after myself. Nyla didn"t do the same, but the death-stare she got when she started patting my arm stopped her in her tracks.

Honestly, I"m not a dog.

„Where are we going anyway?" I asked as we drove past a sign saying Amman, keen to move the focus of attention away from me. I knew they were all waiting for answers, but I didn"t have them and I was starting feel claustrophobic.

Griffin turned to face us from the front where he was studying a map with Rudyard.

„We"re going to a Grigori safe-house in the mountains, outside the city of Madaba. Grigori own hotels all over the world, like the one where Nyla and Rudyard are staying. It"s the safest place for us, but …"

„Here we go," Zoe said, voicing exactly what I was thinking.

„… they are a different breed of Grigori. This is a sacred place and the local Grigori see themselves as guardians of the land. You will have to try and understand and respect their ways, otherwise they will not help us."

„I am not understanding," Salvatore said, sitting forward in his seat. „This different breeding?"

I did. „Religious, right?"

„Devout," Griffin said.

„Okay," Salvatore said, nodding as he pul ed a chain out from under the col ar of his shirt.

Somehow, I doubted a small gold cross was going to make much difference.

As the conversation petered out I turned my attention to the army guy driving the minibus and another army officer, a female, sitting next to him. They had a pretty full-on commando look, the guy big and scary, the girl smaller but compensating with a serious armoury hanging off her. They had the don"t-even-look-at-me message sounding loud and clear.

Lincoln was talking with Salvatore. Well, trying. Zoe and looked back and caught me staring at the commando guy.

„Nice, huh? I got dibs," she whispered.

„You can have him, but what"s the deal? How come they"re helping us?"

She put her feet up on the seat in front and popped a few m&m"s, which she had dug out of her backpack, into her mouth.

„Rudyard told them exiles were tampering with their aircraft. There are Grigori all through the military."

„Why?"

„You need to read a book or something! They figured out a long time ago that exiles would go for the power job and one way to get there is to go through the army ranks. Plus, that"s how they can get their hands on all the fun toys. Anyway, it draws too much attention when civilians like you and me run in with daggers raised, so Grigori have people stationed within all military sectors, who deal with exiles along the way. Cool, huh?"

„I guess," I said, gripping the handrail as we drove over a bumpy patch.