Empower (10 page)

I held my breath.

Zoe crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair. I couldn’t help but smile a little to see she seemed much the same with her light brown hair – currently with cherry-red ends – and military-style jacket. ‘Just gibberish.’

‘Gibberish?’ he repeated, his tone now flat.

‘Yep,’ Zoe said, popping the ‘p’ casually, though I could tell she was wary of Lincoln’s mood.

He
is
different.

Steph cleared her throat. ‘Lincoln, we’ve narrowed down the likely possibilities by checking outgoing flights at the time he was at the airport and we’ve had maps drawn up. Also, since he was in one of the domestic terminals he was almost certainly headed somewhere in the States. We’ve set out the most probable options on these grids. I suggest that we put some conductors to work and see if they can scour the areas. Scouts could also start fielding the perimeters for exile activity. You never know, locating a spike in exile presence might lead to something.’

Steph was … wow. I was so
proud of her. She’d just taken on a full room of Grigori warriors. She was human and one of the youngest people in the room but where they failed to find direction she had offered it. They were so lucky to have her.

Lincoln, however, took a deep breath and I noticed that he didn’t look at her once, even as he listened.

Finally, he nodded to her. ‘Set it up.’ Then he addressed the room. ‘Spence is one of ours. He’s stood by each and every one of you without hesitation at some point. He’s family.’

My heart clenched.

Lincoln cleared his throat. ‘I’ve heard the speculation, and while nothing will be overlooked, make no mistake: this is a rescue, not a hunt. We bring him home. We do it right. We do it smart. Call in your sources, contacts, allies; anyone you know. He’s out there and someone knows where. You have until nine o’clock tomorrow morning, then we meet back here.’

I straightened as everyone quickly started to file out, leaving Gray and me wedged in a bad spot, making it difficult for a quick escape.

Come on, come on.

I looked up at Gray, who knew I needed to get out. But causing a scene to push through everyone was not a good idea.

‘What now?’ he whispered beside me.

My eyes darted around anxiously but I ignored the flight instinct that was gnawing at me and stood still. ‘Let’s wait for Josephine to get us out of here and take us to Chloe.’

We stayed in the corner. Steph spoke quietly to Salvatore and Zoe. I was tempted to approach her but knew it was smarter to wait until she was alone. None of them had noticed Gray and me yet.

Rainer and Hakon
were visibly upset as they kept Josephine back in a hushed conversation.

I edged back into the wall as I watched Lincoln collect his files from the table and then stride towards the door, Mia in step behind him. It struck me how in charge he appeared, and even though his face looked so familiar, barely aged, he seemed somehow older.

He was going to walk right by us. Slowly, trying not to arouse any attention, I turned towards Gray to shield myself even more. But I flinched mid-turn when, from behind, a hand, blazing hot, wrapped tightly around my upper arm. A voice I knew better than my own spoke quietly into my ear from the other side of the silk hood.

‘Would you think me such a fool that you could be here, in this city, this building, this
room
and me not know about it?’

I swallowed, frozen. I couldn’t turn to face him. I couldn’t lift my head. Even my soul was stunned.

Lincoln didn’t seem to be bothered by our proximity, nor by my failure to respond. His grip only tightened to the point of almost painful. But it wasn’t, it was just … strong and maybe something else. My breath caught.

‘Lincoln!’ Josephine’s sharp voice carried out across the room. ‘I’ll ask you to remove your hand from my guest.’

I felt Lincoln’s body go rigid behind me. He dropped his hand from my arm and spun. I turned too, keeping my hood down to cover my identity from the rest of the room. From beneath, I watched what I could.

‘You
brought
her here?’ he asked, his voice disbelieving.

I watched Josephine’s
patent black high heels move closer as she strode towards us. ‘An invitation was extended,’ she answered smoothly.

I could see Steph’s feet now too, as she moved towards us. I looked up a little to see her face, a picture of concern as she put the pieces together. She knew it was me.

‘And three guesses who she brought with her,’ Lincoln said, his words barely audible.

‘Do you think she has no right? As I understand from the many stories I’ve heard, she saved Spencer’s life once before.’

Lincoln looked down and half laughed, but there was no humour in the action. ‘Yes. Well, whose life hasn’t she saved?’

He spun back towards me. I dropped my head, reeling, and froze in place as his words hit me.

‘Do what you must to satisfy whatever curiosity brought you here. Stay out of my way. I have people who rely on me and I don’t have the luxury of being able to turn my back on them.’ And with that final barbed comment he stepped out of the room, Mia following silently.

Josephine, noticing I still hadn’t lifted my head, cleared her throat. ‘Zoe and Salvatore, will you please make the necessary arrangements to escort our guest to the infirmary first thing in the morning? If you’ll excuse me for now, I have to confer with the Assembly. Rainer and Hakon, could you please join me?’

I wanted to argue with Josephine, insist on visiting Chloe now, but speaking required more control than I had at the moment.

I could sense
Rainer’s reluctance to leave the room. She wanted to be sure it was me beneath the cloak. She’d been my mentor and we’d grown close when I’d been here last. But I couldn’t show her. It was taking everything I had to hold still.

Once they had cleared the room and it was just Salvatore, Zoe and Steph left, Gray nudged my arm. ‘That’s your girl there, isn’t it?’

When I failed to respond, he just nodded as if he understood. He pulled back his hood and spoke to Zoe and Salvatore. ‘Couldn’t show me somewhere I could clean up a little, could you? We had a long flight.’

‘Of course. We’ll show you to the guest bathrooms,’ Salvatore said, in perfect English, grabbing Zoe’s arm and dragging her to the door. Zoe stared at me the whole time, mouth agape.

I remained still.

When the door finally closed, I let out my breath and took a deeper one to replace it. And then my legs gave out.

Steph caught me, falling to the ground with me as I breathed in the lingering honey and absorbed the remains of the first touches of sun I’d felt in two years.

I was strong. I was a warrior. A weapon.

But seeing him, feeling
his presence, crushed my heart all over again.

‘Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.’

Kahlil Gibran

‘B
reathe, Vi,’ Steph whispered in my ear.

I couldn’t believe it. A few minutes in the same room as him had caused a complete wrecking effect on me. While he had remained just fine.

‘It’s okay. You’re allowed to care,’ Steph continued to soothe.

But that was just the thing. I
wasn’t
allowed. I’d given up my rights to him. And he’d seemed so … indifferent. And different. He was stronger but also harder. He was a leader now. No doubt a good one, but I couldn’t help but wonder – was he a kind one? The leader I’d always imagined he would be?

Christ, it hurts so much.

I took a few deep
breaths and reminded myself of all the reasons I couldn’t storm down the hall, throw myself at him and beg for forgiveness. All the reasons things had to be the way they were. I pushed into my resources and found the switch I had come to rely on for simple survival and shut it all down, feeling my emotions slip away. It was a numbing gift that had come with a warning, but the need for it outweighed any potential negative consequences.

‘I’m okay,’ I said when I was sure I had a handle on things again. I pulled back my hood and gave Steph a small smile. ‘I was just caught off-guard. Hey.’

Steph smiled back. ‘Hey yourself. So, Onyx found you okay?’ She bit her lip nervously.

I nodded. ‘You did the right thing. It’s Spence, Steph. Of course you did.’

She breathed out a sigh of relief and slumped a little beside me while I took another moment to pull myself together. ‘Please don’t tell everyone I’m here yet. I just … I can’t face all the questions about … everything.’

‘You don’t need to ask. I’ve always kept your confidence. I always will.’

I reached over and pulled her into a hug. ‘I know. And I love you for it.’

‘Ditto,’ she said, hugging me back. ‘And at least we get to see each other. Maybe when we have Spence back and we’ve all taken turns kicking his ass we can go over my wedding plans. I picked up your dress the other day,’ she said, her eyes twinkling with excitement.

I hid my cringe, not wanting to face the wedding issue yet. Or the fact that I was going to have to stand on the other side of the aisle looking at Lincoln while Steph married the man of her dreams.

I smiled. ‘Let’s just get Spence back first.’

She nodded, happy
enough to let it go for now. ‘Agreed. Why don’t we get your rooms organised and I’ll take you to see Chloe first thing. I figure the sooner the better since Lincoln won’t take long to get a clear mind and figure out that will be your next move.’

I blinked. ‘He seemed pretty clear-headed when he was speaking to me,’ I said.

She scoffed. ‘Oh,
please
. A hundred bucks says he’s bent over hyperventilating somewhere right now just like you.’

She seemed so sure. I, however, wasn’t.

‘Anyway,’ Steph went on, ‘he’s going to flip when he finds out Zoe and Sal didn’t tell him everything Chloe said, but that’s Josephine’s problem to deal with. At least I know he won’t bother
me
.’

‘Why?’ I asked, knowing I probably shouldn’t.

She shrugged. ‘He’s always known I’ve been in touch with you. He made things pretty intense in the first few months, as you know. He and Salvatore had a run-in. Eventually they worked it out and made up, but … he’s never been able to be normal around me since. I think he believes that if I’d just told him in the beginning where you were he would’ve … you know, fixed things.’

I shook my head. ‘He wouldn’t have, Steph. He would’ve just wound up more hurt. Me too. You did the right thing and I’m so sorry I left you to deal with this stuff,’ I said, realising sadly that after we brought Spence back it might really be time for me to cut ties completely. I couldn’t keep putting her in this position.

Steph watched me
as if she could see my thoughts. ‘When the alternative was never speaking to you again, it really wasn’t a high price to pay,’ she said sternly. ‘And anyway, if I hadn’t known where you were, Onyx would never have found you. It all worked out. Lincoln’s just … Lincoln.’

‘I suppose,’ I mumbled. But I was feeling better. Back in control. I stood up, pulling Steph after me, keen to close this conversation. I took the time to reposition my hood. People might already be gossiping that I was there but I wasn’t ready to confirm it yet. ‘No chance of seeing Chloe tonight?’ I asked.

Steph shook her head. ‘The infirmary’s closed for the night. Besides, you look like you could do with some sleep.’

Despite the fact even my fingernails were exhausted I didn’t think I’d be getting much sleep tonight. ‘Do you know where Onyx is staying? He said Gray and I could stay with him.’

She smiled. ‘You don’t know?’

My eyebrows crinkled and her smile broadened. ‘Onyx and Dapper own Ascension now.’

The bar hidden within one of the pillars of Brooklyn Bridge was closed for the night by the time Gray and I let ourselves in using the keypad code Steph had given us.

I barely made it three steps into the main bar before Dapper was in front of me sweeping me into a huge hug. A number of people – obviously staff cleaning up after the night – were staring wide-eyed and I knew it wasn’t at me. Dapper wasn’t exactly a cuddler.