Empower

Chapter 12

‘The quarrels of lovers are the renewal of love.’

Jean Racine

While everyone else went into research mode that afternoon, I slipped across the glamoured walkways, marvelling yet again as I walked between buildings on an invisible bridge over to the Academy classrooms in building D. I found Simon eating his lunch in the cafeteria.

It was strange to look at him. Just two years older than when I’d last seen him, looking malnourished and far younger than his age, he had changed from a boy to a young man. His blonde hair was styled into a messy heap and his glasses made him look more Clark Kent than Wimpy Kid. He glanced up from the book he was reading and when he saw me his fast-changing expressions from wide eyes, to mouth agape, to huge smile, made me laugh.

I sat down beside him. ‘Hey there, stranger,’ I said.

‘You’re really here,’ he said, keeping his eyes on me as if worried I might disappear if he blinked.

‘Passing through,’ I explained. ‘I wanted to see how you were doing.’

He put his book down. ‘Great. I’m great. I mean, it’s … you know, life is different and I miss my family, but … I like it here. I embrace in a year – well, actually closer to two years, but still …’ he said, stumbling over his words.

‘I heard that. It sounds like you’re pretty excited about it all.’

He nodded proudly. ‘And once I embrace I’m going to come and work for you,’ he said suddenly.

I found myself watching him with an odd sense of pride. Simon had been little more than a child, caged and doomed to a terrible fate at Lilith’s hands. I had been there to save them, but even after they were freed, Simon had come back for me, his determination and calmness igniting my will to survive, even though I knew I’d lost everything. To see him now …

See. It wasn’t all for nothing.

Simon was the perfect reminder.

I put my hand on his shoulder and looked him in the eye. ‘I heard you might be thinking something like that, and that’s part of the reason I’m here.’

Simon smiled.

‘Listen to me, Simon. You have a great set-up here. You’re going to have more training ahead of you once you embrace and before long you’ll have a partner to think of too. Where I am … it’s not the right place for you.’

His smile slid away and I wanted to take it all back but I knew I couldn’t. He needed to hear this.

‘But you’re the one,’ he whispered.

‘The one?’ I asked softly.

His big blue eyes looked suddenly as young as they had the night he and the other children had lifted me through the fire. ‘The one who changes everything.’

I bit my lip.

And what exactly am I supposed to say to that?

‘Okay, well, how about we make a deal? You stay here after you embrace and complete all of your training with your partner then, and only then, if you still want to come and fight at my side, we’ll talk about it again.’

His eyes narrowed and he pressed his lips together while he watched me. ‘You promise?’

‘I promise.’ Now I just had to hope that by that time he would have lost any interest in getting mixed up in my crazy world.

‘So,’ I said standing up. ‘Are you going to show me around and introduce me to your friends?’

Simon beamed, scrambling to his feet.

Hell, even I know I’m quality show and tell.

Lincoln insisted that Gray and I wear earpieces so he wouldn’t miss anything.

Let’s hear it for bad ideas.

I rolled my eyes, not seeing why the tech was necessary before reaching the clear-as-day conclusion that it was because he simply didn’t trust us.

Wow. The hits just keep on coming.

The last of the daylight had just disappeared behind Manhattan’s skyscrapers and Lincoln stood with Gray and me a few blocks down from the building we were targeting on 46th Street. Mia and two conductors lurked behind him as he shoved the earpiece and mic in my direction.

‘Put them on.’

I glared at him as I snatched them, walking down the road a little to fit them – and put some distance between us. He was really starting to test my patience. And worst of all, I was mad with myself for being so completely affected by his nearness while he was so clearly immune to mine. Especially when I needed to be on my game.

I took a minute to get myself under control, pushing my emotions back. The city was abuzz in the way only Manhattan can be. Taxis dominated the traffic and lights flickered on in office buildings, where people would continue working long into the evening. Shadows loomed, moving towards me like creeping memories, just waiting for me to step into them, to ensnare me.

I jolted myself away from my thoughts and walked back to the group.

‘There’s a perimeter set up in the block surrounding the building and we have people on the neighbouring rooftops. Get in, do whatever it is you think you can do and get out. If I tell you to abort, you get out of there immediately, no questions asked. Do you understand?’ Lincoln ordered.

‘Of course,’ I said. Gray cleared his throat, and though he nodded I could see his nostrils flaring. Gray did not take orders well.

‘You have thirty minutes, starting now.’

‘We have an hour,’ I corrected.

‘I reconsidered. If you haven’t achieved anything within thirty minutes you’re just kidding yourselves anyway. Thirty minutes, and that’s it.’

Desperate for some form of mediation I glanced at the conductors. ‘Are you supporting this?’

The female conductor – I didn’t know their names – crossed her arms. ‘If it were up to me, you wouldn’t be going in at all.’

Mia remained noticeably silent with her eyes cast down.

Perfect.

‘I can see why you keep them around,’ I said to Lincoln.

‘Yes.’ He crossed his arms with a look of satisfaction. ‘As opposed to your fan club they actually understand rank.’

I shook my head. ‘They’re not my fan club, Lincoln. They’re my friends. They were yours once, too.’

He pressed his lips together, his eyes flicking to Gray. ‘Many things were mine once. You’re down to twenty-six minutes.’

I swallowed and started to walk. ‘Let’s go,’ I said to Gray, who was already beside me.

‘You’re going to have to deal with that, you realise,’ he said as we made our way to the side of the ten-storey stone building.

‘He hates me, Gray. And he has every right. It won’t help him to try and deal with anything at this point. I’m just here for Spence.’

‘Yeah, well, I wouldn’t mind if you clarified my role in all of this if you get a moment. I actually value my life.’

Gray was pointing towards the alley that ran behind the building when Lincoln’s husky voice sounded in my earpiece.

‘I don’t hate you.’

My breath caught hearing the unmistakable pain that accompanied each tight word.

Shit.

I’d totally forgotten we were wearing mics.

‘And I can assure you that I am well aware that you are only here for Spence. And exactly what your role is in all of this, Gray. So while we all appreciate hearing your conversation I would be immensely grateful if we could please get on with the task at hand.’

Kill. Me. Now.

Gray cleared his throat uncomfortably and mumbled, ‘Sorry ’bout that.’ Then he looked at me guiltily and pointed to his mic. ‘Forgot,’ he mouthed.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. When I opened them I started walking again. ‘We should move around the corner,’ I said, humiliated and desperate to end the conversation that Lincoln and God knows who else was listening in on.

We chose a well-shadowed area at the back of the building and began to climb the wall, leaping between windowsills, using the stonework as footholds to scale the building. It wasn’t overly difficult. I considered what Lincoln had said earlier, referring to Gray as my partner. I could see how that would hurt, thinking I had replaced him as my Grigori partner – even though that was not the case at all. We worked together but in no ways like a partner team.

And then there was the kiss. It had helped me gain an edge in the fight against Lincoln, sure, but if I’d known what Gray was up to I never would’ve agreed.

I brushed that thought off quickly, telling myself that there was no way Lincoln would think there was more to the kiss than tactics. But maybe Gray had a point. Maybe I should at least set Lincoln straight on the partner issue.

Or maybe I shouldn’t.

Maybe I should just let him think what he wanted to.

It might make it easier for him – hating me. Maybe that’s why he’s been able to move on so completely.

‘Head in the game,’ Gray murmured behind me as we slid through a top-floor window. I looked down suddenly, realising I hadn’t even noticed we’d climbed the entire building.

I nodded quickly, silently chastising my runaway mind.

We climbed into an open-office workspace filled with sleek glossy desks and Aeron chairs – the type my father had obsessed over when he had his own office in the city. Clearly this company was doing well.

While I wiped my dirty hands on my black jeans we moved towards a doorway at the back of the room and found a small kitchenette. The area was deserted but all the lights were still on. Someone was home.

‘Do your thing, princess,’ Gray said, keeping a lookout.

‘I really wish you wouldn’t call me that.’

Gray grinned. ‘And I wish I was lying on a beach in the Caribbean.’

I rolled my eyes but I was already concentrating on the well of power in my stomach. I mentally willed it up and out of me, sending it through the building.

I didn’t like using my Sight. But I’d also made a point of learning how to control it in small doses. On some levels it had been successful and become a handy surveillance tool. I could scope an entire building, or even a city block, with little more than a thought. But still … I was ever aware there was so much more in me that remained unexplored. And at that very moment, I could feel the power surge through me, as if it were looking for somewhere to go or even … for something specific to do.

Mum’s warnings on the matter had been clear. She wasn’t certain, and I continued to doubt her suspicions, but she believed that there was a chance that I was some kind of evolution-in-progress. As angels had learned to fall to earth and become human, I might be the first human who could evolve into an angel. She constantly warned me not to separate from my corporeal body for long, fearing that the lure might become so intense that I could forget to return, and I would lose myself.

Just the possibility that she might be right was enough for me to limit the use of my Sight, despite the pull.

The furthest I ever ventured was in that time just before sleep when my soul took over and sought him out.

And that was never a conscious choice.

Using my Sight, I roamed the levels of the building, quickly identifying a number of humans. There was, however, a darkened area on the level below us, which gave me a chill.

I returned to my body.

‘There are about two dozen humans in the building. Half a dozen on this level and I think they’re the ones we want. There’s also a dark zone,’ I said thoughtfully.

Gray was staring at me and I hit him on the shoulder, breaking him out of his daze. ‘Sorry,’ he said. ‘It’s just, you’re one weird lass, you know that, right?’

‘What’s a dark zone?’ Lincoln asked in my ear, causing goosebumps to rise on my arms.

‘Something I can’t see through. It could be titanium.’

‘Hiding exiles within it?’ he shot back.

‘Possibly, but I can’t say for sure, and anyway, it’s a small area. It couldn’t be hiding an army or anything.’

‘I don’t like it. You should come back out,’ Lincoln instructed.

I looked at Gray and he pointed to his watch.

‘We still have fifteen minutes. Out,’ I said, pulling free my earpiece and shoving it in my pocket. He could listen in all he wanted but I couldn’t do this with him talking to me. ‘Tell me if he says anything worthwhile,’ I said to Gray.

‘Right now he’s using several four-letter words,’ Gray said wryly before leaning close to whisper in my ear. ‘Do you think there are exiles in here?’

I nodded.

Gray threw a little bounce into his step. He was in the mood for a fight. I smiled at him. I was too.

It didn’t take long for us to make our way down the corridor and towards what looked like a large boardroom. Through the glass doors we could see close to a dozen humans, sitting in an Armani, Prada and Gucci showdown of who had the slimmest tie and shiniest shoes. Chloe had been spot on; clearly these people were wealthy. And they didn’t display that distant unaware look that usually accompanied humans under exile control. They looked motivated.

Time wasn’t on our side thanks to our clock-keeper outside, but Gray and I settled back out of sight behind an open doorway and waited for a few minutes. It paid off when we saw two of the humans leave the boardroom and come towards us. We let the two men walk straight by us into a nearby office.

Before the door swung closed, my foot was stopping it and Gray had his arm around the first human’s neck from behind. I followed in time to see the second man already with his hands raised in surrender. They didn’t scream or try to fight.

I hesitated. Alarm bells were already going off.

They’re expecting us.

I looked at the man standing with his hands up. He was calm. No more than forty and typically good-looking in a tall, neat, tailored kind of way. He wore a gold ring on his wedding finger and on the desk before him was a framed picture of him with a woman and two children.

He smiled in a businesslike manner, one that said he was a smooth talker and accustomed to getting his own way. But his eager eyes told a less predictable tale.

‘He told us you might come. I’d hoped I’d be the one to get to see you,’ he said, his eyes skimming me and lingering on my wrists. ‘He wants you to know that he’s looking forward to seeing you.’

I knew he was talking about Sammael. I remembered that Lincoln was listening to all of this.

‘Where is Spence?’ I demanded.

The businessman smiled again, well aware he held a trump card. ‘He has your friend and he wants you to know that if you want to see him again he will be in New Orleans the night before the next full moon,’ he replied.

Gray groaned.

I glanced at him but he just shook his head. ‘Nothing good ever happens in New Orleans.’

Gray nudged the first human towards the door. ‘Let’s take these two back with us. They clearly know more, and Lincoln wants to question them about the tournaments.’

‘It’s all him, isn’t it?’ I pushed, keeping my eyes on the man behind the desk. ‘Sammael? He’s running the tournaments through your companies?’

The man shrugged. ‘There are a lot of wealthy people who are willing to bet large amounts of money. It’s profitable entertainment.’

I stared at him in disgust. ‘Humans go to the tournaments? Willingly?’

He nodded and pointed to his computer. ‘Live feeds. One of which you two starred in recently, if I recall.’

They’d watched us in London. But that realisation paled in comparison to the appalling reality of what was going on in the tournaments. ‘You watch people slaughter one another?’

He smiled coolly. ‘They are all willing participants. We merely provide the arenas.’

‘And what about the humans who are murdered for sport?’ I spat out. ‘Are they willing participants too?’

The businessman’s expression did not falter, not even for a second, and it made me sick.

Does he even have a conscience?

‘Violet, we should move them out of here,’ Gray said.

I nodded, stepping closer to the businessman, but before I had a moment to react, he raised his hand, revealing a gun we hadn’t spotted. He aimed it straight at Gray and fired, and I gasped when I saw he’d shot not Gray but the other human right between the eyes. In the time it took to look back at him, he had the gun to his own head.

‘Wait,’ I said, holding up my hands. ‘Don’t!’

‘Death is no longer of consequence. He has promised our ascension regardless of our crimes,’ the man said, right before he killed himself.

‘Oh my God,’ I said.

Gray was already moving, grabbing my arm. ‘Not God’s work, Violet. This is something else. We’ve got to get the hell out of here before they all come running and start offing themselves.’

I gaped at Gray. Did he really believe the other humans would do the same thing? I was damn sure I didn’t want to find out. We hurried towards the corridor and headed back through the communal work area to the window we’d left open.

‘Oh, and by the way,’ Gray said. ‘You were right. This is definitely a trap.’

‘Gotta love being popular,’ I said.

‘Say that again in about ten seconds,’ he said, looking over his shoulder.

Two exiles were behind us, moving in fast.

Working in practised sync, we spun to face the threat, Gray automatically lining up with the one on the right while I continued backing up, drawing the attention of the one on the left. The latter wore a business suit and looked unnervingly like Agent Smith from The Matrix.

Weird.

He took off at a run, heading right for me. When he got close enough I kicked his chest hard, halting his momentum. He quickly corrected his balance and spun, grabbing me by the shoulders and throwing me so hard I smashed right through the tenth-storey window. As I fell through the air I tried to right myself, and using my speed and strength I managed to get into a good enough position to roll through the impact of landing.

But that doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt like a bitch. Especially since a large shard of glass had joined the party and embedded itself in my shoulder.

I barely had time to stand before the exile who had followed me straight out the window – though with a touch more finesse – was there, lining me up for another round of hurt.

Fine by me.

In fact, I felt more in my element than I had since stepping foot in New York. Since embracing fighting had always come naturally to me. I let the exile come at me and didn’t flinch when I saw another one round the corner, stalking towards us.

The first exile started to throw a series of hard punches my way. But even with the hampered use of my right arm – thanks to my new glass accessory – I wasn’t worried. I knew I needed to draw the second exile in as close as possible before I made my move.

But the first exile took me by surprise, grabbing my ponytail and yanking it back so sharply that I cried out. I swung around hard and backhanded him across the face, but he barely flinched, and didn’t let go. Instead, the psycho once-angel licked his lips and smiled, confident he now had the upper hand.

Bask in your ego, buddy. It will be the last thing you do.

From the corner of my eye I saw a figure charge around the corner running right for us.

Lincoln.

‘Stop!’ I yelled, hoping he would see that I had things under control. Okay, so it didn’t look good. Maybe it even looked like I was at their mercy. But I wasn’t. I just needed the other exile to take two more steps towards me and then it would be game over.

But Lincoln didn’t even pause to see any of that. It didn’t occur to him that perhaps his help wasn’t actually helpful. He simply barrelled into the fray and leaped on the other exile.

Sighing, I swung my leg out and took the exile’s feet out from under him while he still gripped my ponytail. As he fell he took a large clump of my hair with him. I stood over him and delivered a round of kicks to his side, stopping him from getting up before I grabbed my dagger and dropped beside him.

‘Choose,’ I ordered.

He laughed, and spat at me.

Gross.

‘Soon there will be no choice for anyone,’ he hissed.

The spitting thing tipped me over the edge. ‘Not exactly an answer,’ I said, finishing him with a blow to the heart. ‘But I’ll interpret.’

He disappeared.

I turned in time to see the other exile in an all-out brawl with Lincoln. The exile was holding a large piece of glass and he’d already managed to use it against Lincoln, judging by the gash on his forehead.

I shook my head, anger bubbling to the surface. I’d had the situation under control and if Lincoln had just trusted me for a few seconds instead of barging in to save me, none of this would’ve happened.

Wincing, I pulled the long shard of glass out of my shoulder and pulled back the clasp on my wristband, piercing the skin with the tip of the glass and watching some of my silvered blood join the already thick coating of red.

Just as Lincoln took a hard hit to his temple Gray jumped down from a nearby window and landed beside me.

‘I see I missed more fun. Any others?’ he asked.

I shook my head.

‘Well, he’ll probably wrap this up in a few,’ Gray said, watching Lincoln fight. And yes, he was getting the upper hand. But …

‘We don’t have a few,’ I said, knowing that more exiles and suicidal humans could turn up at any moment. I walked towards the exile fighting Lincoln, and lined him up. When Lincoln delivered a blow to the exile’s side, causing him to stagger back, I took the opportunity and threw the shard of glass towards the exile’s leg.

It was anything but a kill shot, but then, the glass was coated in my blood. The exile blinked, stumbling back into the wall, no doubt confused as to why he was suddenly so sure he was dying.

Lincoln quickly looked between me and the exile, who in the next moment disappeared just like his buddy had done.

I didn’t need to look to know that Gray was already on the move behind me. He never needed to be told when it was time to leave.

Lincoln jogged after us. ‘I didn’t need you to do that. I had him.’

I spun, feeling my blood boil. ‘No, Lincoln, I had him! If you’d taken two seconds to look at the situation before charging in you would’ve seen I had them exactly where I wanted them. It would’ve been finished minutes ago my way and without you needing to get hurt. Unnecessarily! Jesus! You just can’t stop yourself!’

He looked at my bleeding shoulder, his eyes like daggers, his voice low and threatening. ‘You were hurt and on your knees. Two exiles had you. On. Your. Knees. I was—’

I put up a hand, stopping him. ‘I know.’ I sighed. ‘I know exactly what you were doing and it’s fine. Just forget it. You can’t help yourself and I accepted that a long time ago.’

Defeated yet again, even though I should have probably just been grateful for the in-the-face reminder of why there was no future for Lincoln and me, I left the alley ignoring his yelling after me to explain what the hell I was talking about.