Endless (30 page)

‘How
will we know when we’re at Grand Central?’ I asked.

He winked. ‘Because there will be a door with a sign above it saying “Grand Central Station”.’

‘Oh.’

He pushed us into the tunnel. ‘This door doesn’t open from the inside so don’t rely on getting back in through here.’

‘Phones?’ Griffin ordered.

Lincoln and I handed them over. We didn’t have anything else electronic on us. Griffin gave us a replacement mobile. ‘Untraceable. But short calls only, just in case. Don’t do anything foolish,’ he cautioned, also offering us a couple of flashlights from the wall.

We both nodded.

‘God be with you,’ Peters said, right before he slammed the massive door shut.

Flooded by the darkness we quickly turned on our flashlights. We stared down the old tunnel and I pointed in the direction I thought was right. ‘East?’ I checked.

Lincoln nodded, his hand reaching down for mine. ‘East.’

We ran.

The tunnels changed shape and size as we crossed from one to the next in the complex network, having to regularly stop and use our abilities to reveal the hidden way. Grigori may be able to use these paths but there was no mistaking the dominating exile signature that pulsed around us.

Every now and then the
path opened into a broader tunnel or crossed over a subway track, we even found ourselves running through what seemed to be an abandoned aqueduct at one point.

We noticed a few marked doors along the way – one labelled Central Park, and another, the Empire State Building – before we finally reached one with an engraved plaque reading Grand Central Station.

We slipped through the door, which opened into a garbage room. The rotten stench was more than offensive but I was relieved to be out of the tunnels. We made our way through the bins to the other side, where there was another door.

‘This is disgusting,’ I said, while Lincoln carefully opened the door just wide enough to scope out our new surroundings.

He glanced at me. ‘Yes, but imagine how disappointed you would’ve been if it had come out in a janitor’s closet.’

He was right. That kind of cliché would have just annoyed me.

I smiled, even as my nerves were fighting the jitters. Things had become very bad, very fast, and now we were on the run. Again. Lincoln peered through the crack in the door, looking for an opportunity for us to slip out. Watching him, I felt sick to the gut.

Lincoln valued his role in the Academy, as a Grigori, and now he had turned his back on everything he knew to help me escape. Josephine would already have Grigori out there looking for us. And God only knew what Lilith was up to.

What will happen to him after all of this? Will he lose his place in the ranks of Grigori?

I couldn’t
let that
happen.

‘Linc …’ I said, tugging his arm and drawing his attention. ‘I think you should go back.’ I bit my lip.

He blinked. ‘Excuse me?’

‘You heard me. I think you should go back. I’ll be fine on my own and then you won’t be in as much trouble.’

Still watching through the gap in the door, he must’ve spied an opportunity to move because he grabbed my hand, opened the door and pulled me through behind him. Suddenly, we were in the very public Grand Central Station. Lincoln didn’t slow, dragging me along until we turned a corner. There, we stopped, Lincoln checking back around the corner in case anyone had followed us. Satisfied, he turned a severe look on me.

‘Let’s get this straight right now. I’m not going anywhere.’ But even as he stared at me, I noticed his breath hitch as he became aware of just how close our bodies were.

His expression softened. ‘You don’t need to protect me, Vi. I’m by your side and nothing you say will get rid of me.’ His voice became rough. ‘This whole thing would be easier if we could get along, okay?’

‘Getting along isn’t exactly our problem, in case you’ve forgotten,’ I mumbled.

But he kept his eyes fixed on mine until I sighed. ‘Okay, okay. Got it. We’re in this together.’

His hand went to my face, warm and all-encompassing. ‘We’re going to make it through this.’ His forehead dropped to meet mine and we stayed like that for a few precious seconds before we were moving on again. Lincoln knew the station and led with purpose. Within minutes we had tickets and were boarding the first available train, taking our seats at the back of the last carriage after doing a walk-through of the entire train, monitoring every other person who stepped on after us. We were relentless in our focus. Now was no time for dereliction of duty.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

‘This is how it will be … The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous.’

Matthew 13:49

L
incoln only
bought tickets to get us half way. Due to the predawn hour and Lincoln’s paranoia that we’d be followed, he decided to ‘borrow’ a car for the remainder of the trip.

In spite of our frantic situation I found myself fascinated by the prospect of seeing Lincoln hotwire a car. And, he put on an impressively stealthy show, selecting a well-blending four-wheel drive parked close to the train station, and managing to start it in less than thirty seconds before tearing up the freeway like a madman while I searched for a map in the glove box.

I grabbed hold of my door handle as we took a sharp corner.

Lincoln finally slowed down when we merged with the other traffic, suddenly making us one of the many.

‘Who
are
you?’ I asked, as I stared at the normally by-the-book Lincoln.

He kept his eyes on the road. ‘Mum taught me to always be prepared for desperate times.’

‘Did your mum also teach you how to boost a car?’

He smiled
, keeping his eyes on the road ahead. ‘Not exactly, but I’m sure she wouldn’t argue under the circumstances.’

I had to agree. I started unfolding the map I’d found, twisting it around until I figured out where we were. ‘Okay, what’s the name of this town?’

‘Cold Spring,’ Lincoln replied. ‘We should be about twenty minutes out.’

I searched the map. ‘Got it,’ I said.

Well, it sounded nice enough. ‘Stay on the US-9,’ I instructed.

It didn’t take long and when we arrived in Cold Spring, it was still pre-dawn. The small town was misty and silent. The main street – the
only
street really – was deserted and we knew it would still be a couple of hours before any shops opened. We considered trying to find Evelyn’s safe-house but the instructions had told us only to get to Cold Spring and then to the general store.

We parked the car in a small side street and tried to rest, but despite our lack of sleep neither one of us could relax. In the end we settled for a walk along the river, the sky slowly brightening as the sun rose.

‘It’s beautiful here,’ I said, taking in the picturesque scene. Cold Spring was perched along the river, walkways, small boats and huge old weatherboard homes lining its banks. I stared across the river into nothing but greenery. The view was so natural – untainted by human development.

‘There are towns like this up and down the Hudson,’ Lincoln said, an ease in his voice that reflected our environment. ‘I used to try and get away from the Academy and explore whenever I could. I never made it to this place, but I think it’s popular for its antiques.’

We walked
back through an underpass beneath the train line and into the centre of the town.

‘I can believe that,’ I said, taking in just how many quaint little shops edged the street.

‘Look,’ Lincoln said, pointing across the road to where a window glowed and, above, soft plumes of smoke escaped a vent. ‘Can you smell that?’

I sucked in a deep breath and almost moaned. ‘Fresh bread.’

He grinned. ‘Yep.’

We made our way over to the bakery and pressed our faces against the windows until we caught the attention of the tiny man pulling first-of-the-day bread from the ovens. After he had recovered from the fright he opened the door.

‘Travelling through?’ he bellowed in a deep voice that seemed far too powerful for his size.

We nodded. ‘Any chance we could buy a few loaves of bread?’ Lincoln asked.

A few minutes later we walked out with a bag of five-grain rolls, a loaf of sourdough and a slice of still-warm pumpkin bread hanging from each of our mouths.

Delicious!

While we were there we had asked the baker if he knew what time the general store opened. He told us we had another hour’s wait ahead, and looked amused as he warned us that the owner, Merri, wouldn’t take kindly to us leeching onto her windows.

But we
were done waiting and headed to the shop anyway, knocking on the weathered green door, rattling its glass pane inserts.

A light came on in the upstairs window and we heard some moving around. Footsteps sounded and finally came to the front door. Lincoln put a hand on me as if to move me behind him. I cut him a look. He dropped his hand.

I should think so
.

‘You realise you can be very difficult,’ he whispered.

‘I do,’ I replied, batting my eyelashes and making him laugh.

A slim woman answered the door. Her grey wiry hair was heaped in a messy bun, an old yellowed robe was wrapped around her and a very pointed scowl was focused on us.

‘We ain’t open for another hour,’ she said, pointing at the trading hours sign.

‘We’re sorry to bother you …’ I started. But somewhere in those words she straightened, her eyes narrowing.

‘You look awfully like someone I used to know.’ She studied me a moment longer, her expression suspicious.

‘My name is Violet. Are you Merri?’

The woman coughed as she nodded, a hacking, unpleasant sound.

‘I believe you knew my mother, Evelyn.’

She surveyed us for a moment longer, staring at Lincoln then back at me. She shook her head and opened the door for us. ‘You’d better come in.’

We followed her up the stairs and into a small kitchenette, where she dropped her robe on the chair, revealing that she was fully dressed in brown pants and a white shirt. She smirked when she saw my surprise and sat down before a cup of tea.

‘If
folks round here knew I was up and about at this hour I’d have people expecting me to open the store earlier. Sit. I’ve got tea and I can smell you’ve already got the bread.’

We sat, accepting her offer of tea and handed her our loaf of bread. Merri put butter and jam on the table, passing us each a knife. We didn’t hold back.

‘So, you’re Evelyn’s daughter?’

I nodded.

She smiled at that, as if pleased by the idea.

‘You headed to her place up here, then?’

I nodded again. ‘She told us to get here and that you’d be able to tell us the rest of the way.’

‘Why didn’t she tell you the way herself?’

I shrugged. ‘Things have been complicated. She had to be careful what she said. She knew if we could get this far, you’d help us with the rest,’ I said, hoping that was the case.

‘Humph, things were always complicated with that woman. You have a car?’

‘Yes,’ Lincoln replied. ‘An off-roader.’

Merri nodded. ‘Good.’