Endless (8 page)

‘Where is it then?’ Evelyn snapped.

Dapper gave her an unfriendly look. I understood completely.

‘You’re all going to have to move back from that wall,’ he said.

We all stood and shuffled back – Lincoln moving closer to me. Protectively.

Dapper closed his eyes and started to say something quietly – chanting.

‘Gaelic,’ Lincoln whispered in my ear, sending a shiver down my spine.

After a minute or two, the living-room wall started to move towards us, the mantelpiece splitting in the middle, opening up like two massive doors.

‘Open sesame,’ Zoe said, her voice filled with awe.

Spence was grinning ear to ear. ‘I know, right! I’m waiting for the troll to come out and ask for a magic password.’

I smiled at him. Griffin didn’t. He smacked Spence over the head instead.

Dapper, ignoring our banter looked around the room solemnly. ‘My oath is now your oath. If any of you betray it, you would be betraying me, and my people would come with
strength and in numbers that would surprise you. They would slay you.’ He half smiled. ‘It wouldn’t be right if I didn’t warn you.’

Dad gasped. The rest of us looked around, unsure, until Spence took a casual step towards the open wall.

‘Same old,’ he said.

Lincoln put a hand on the small of my back, pushing me forward. ‘They’ll have to be comfortable with a first-come first-served situation,’ he – the normally so grave – said, as we moved into the secret room.

Spence slapped a hand on Lincoln’s back as he pushed ahead. ‘Truer words were never spoken, mate.’

Lincoln smiled at my expression and my heart melted. ‘You said you wanted a night of fun. Just holding up my end of the deal.’

When I didn’t immediately smile back, as if sensing all of my fears for our tomorrows and my sadness about the things I –
we
– had to leave behind, he grabbed my hand.

Honey and spice and all things dangerous are nice.

CHAPTER SEVEN

‘Fate is not satisfied with inflicting one calamity.’

Publilius Syrus

S
alvatore
and Steph disappeared quickly for some ‘alone time’ after we left Dapper’s, then Zoe and Spence invited me to join them for ‘ice cream’ which – judging by the not-so-subtle winks – I strongly suspected was code for shenanigans.

I opted to stay with Dad. He was basically trembling from the sheer volume of new knowledge. The kind of awareness never intended for humans.

Outside Hades, he’d watched Steph casually walk away arm in arm with Salvatore and shook his head. ‘How does she take all of this so well?’ he’d asked. ‘Isn’t she afraid?’

Among my many confessions to Dad I’d told him how Steph had been taken captive by Phoenix.

‘Sometimes I think Steph was destined for this world more than any of us. She might not be Grigori but she’s chosen to play her part. I’ve had to learn to accept that, Dad.’

Dad looked at his feet, his shoulders slumping forwards. ‘Is that your way of telling me that’s what I have to do – accept
your
place in this … world of exiled angels?’

I
put a hand on his arm briefly, wishing I was better at being consoling. ‘It would make things easier for you if you could.’

When Evelyn and Griffin joined us, I couldn’t help but be irritated. I never had any time alone with Dad these days.

As if reading my mind, Lincoln opened the back passenger door to his car. ‘Mr Eden, how about I give you and Violet a lift home? Griffin can take Evelyn in his car – I’m sure they have some things to discuss.’

Dad looked between Evelyn and me and nodded, slipping into the back seat.

I moved in beside Dad and if my eyes could have said thank you a million times to Lincoln, they did then.

As we drove, Dad’s erratic breathing settled and he relaxed enough to talk.

‘I just can’t believe I never knew all these things. Evelyn has lived for over two hundred
years
.’ He shook his head. ‘How could I not have known?’

I put my hand on top of his. ‘Dad, there was no way you could’ve. Judgement aside, there’s no denying she’s a master at her work.’ I bit my lip and moved my hand away awkwardly. ‘She’s a manipulator. The only thing we can possibly know for certain is that she
chose
to lie to you for the entire time she was with you.’

‘That doesn’t mean it was all lies,’ Dad said defensively.

‘No, it doesn’t,’ I conceded. ‘And I’m sure her feelings for you were real – it’s just … She puts her Grigori status above everything and everyone else. Us included.’

‘And you don’t?’

I couldn’t help glancing at Lincoln in the front seat. His face was expressionless as he stared ahead, but his hands had that tell-tale
white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel that told me he was listening intently.

I gnawed at the inside of my cheek and decided on the truth. ‘No. I don’t. There are things that are more important to me.’

Dad slumped back into the seat, exhausted. ‘Will she ever age?’

‘Probably not in your lifetime.’ It was a grim reality, but he deserved to know.

He sighed and I noticed the dark circles rimming his eyes. ‘It’s so strange. I look at her, hear her speak – her mannerisms are the same but she’s different as well.’

He ran his trembling hands through his hair and again, I wished I was better at connecting with him.

‘I hear her in the night, tossing and turning – whatever haunts her dreams … It’s awful, Vi.’

I find that hard to believe.

Then again, maybe it was waking up to discover she was back with us that led to the screaming. It didn’t inspire much sympathy.

‘Dad, I know it’s hard, but she’s a liar. She traded our futures, our happiness, for her place in Heaven. I don’t know why she’s back or for how long, but I think you need to be prepared for the possibility that if she has the opportunity to help herself, she’ll ditch us without another thought.’

Dad stayed silent. But I’d been there for the last seventeen years, I’d seen what losing her did to him. I just couldn’t let him go through it again.

Or me.

No. The best thing I could do for Dad was prepare him for her departure.

‘Dad,
please, look at the facts. She’s using you.’

I closed my eyes briefly, sensing his hurt, but I needed to look after him. He was my father.

‘Have you even spoken to Caroline since Evelyn came back?’ I asked, reminding him of the good things that had started to happen in his life recently with his PA. Finally, Dad had been acting like he was ready for a relationship.

He shook his head. ‘I … I told her I couldn’t keep seeing her. It just didn’t feel right and I had no other explanation.’

Poor Caroline.

I hadn’t been thrilled about her interfering in Dad’s and my relationship, but she was a good person and I knew she genuinely cared for Dad.

‘What did she say?’

His hands combed his hair again. ‘She resigned. Said it was for the best.’

‘Oh, Dad.’

It made me so cross. Dad was turning his world upside down for Evelyn and I knew it could only end badly.

‘Just promise me you’ll keep your guard up,’ I urged.

And, as if accepting the cruel truth, he nodded. ‘I … I can’t go through this again. You’re right, Vi.’

I breathed out a sigh of relief.

‘I’ll keep my distance, but what happens now? I can’t just let you go off to face this Academy on your own.’

‘She won’t be alone, Mr Eden,’ Lincoln said.

Dad sent a dubious look in his direction. ‘If any harm comes to her–’

‘I’ll look after her,’ Lincoln jumped in. ‘I’d never let any harm come to her.’

I
rolled my eyes. ‘When you two are finished …’ I pointed out the window. ‘We’re home.’

Lincoln didn’t get out so before I closed the door I looked back at him as Dad crossed the road. ‘Thanks for the outrageously fun night.’

He winked. ‘I aim to please.’

‘Then we’re going to have to reassess your pleasure standards.’ At the smile on his face and raised eyebrow, my cheeks pinked. ‘Ah … I mean …’

‘Goodnight, Vi.’

I bit my lip. ‘’Night, Linc.’

Dad and I rode the lift together and walked hand in hand to our apartment. For the first time since Evelyn had reappeared I felt as though we were back on the right track.

The front door was ajar. I could sense the others inside already – that faint buzz of Grigori. Clearly Griffin and Evelyn had arrived before us.

Dad paused outside the door and pulled me into a hug. ‘I love you, Vi.’

‘You too, Dad.’

But as we stepped apart and I moved to push the door open, we heard Griffin’s voice from inside. There are times when you just freeze – times when you somehow know that whatever it is you’re seeing or hearing is important.

‘To be pulled back to earth in a ceremony like that – I’ve thought of it from every angle and I can only come up with one explanation.’

There
was a long silence before Evelyn spoke. ‘Don’t do this, Griffin.’

‘You made terms, didn’t you? When Violet was born?’

I knew that tone. Griffin was on a mission.

I looked at Dad. He was listening intently.

Why is my heart pounding?

There was another delay before Evelyn responded. We both heard her heavy sigh.

‘It was the only way I could protect them. Lilith is eternal. She will always find a way to return. I always knew that Violet may have to face her. I was the one who sent Lilith to Hell and she is vengeful. She’ll come for Violet.’

‘Is that why you wanted Violet to be Grigori? So she had a chance at defending herself?’

‘No,’ she responded sharply. ‘Never. I would’ve taken her and James far away if there had been any option. I would’ve kept them safe on my own but …
They
needed her.’

I swallowed hard.

‘You made a deal with the angels?’ Griffin pushed on.

‘Two things. That Violet be partnered with a Grigori who came from a Power and that if Lilith returns in Violet’s lifetime, that I would return with her.’

My eyes went wide and I felt myself shaking my head at her revelations, refusing to let the words sink in. She couldn’t be trusted.

‘And the price?’

‘This isn’t the time,’ Evelyn replied, the warning in her voice clear.

‘I think it’s well overdue, actually. Where exactly have you been for the past seventeen years, Evelyn?’

Dad
was frozen in place, his palm flat on the door.

‘Not now,’ she insisted, but I knew Griffin wasn’t about to let it go. I had a terrible sinking feeling.

‘If the deal was for you to be resurrected when she was, then you had to have been connected to her life-force. It’s the only way, and we both know it. Evelyn, stand in front of me and tell me you have not spent the last seventeen years trapped in the pits of Hell.’

There was the sound of movement and I guessed she must have started to pace the floor. It helped to cover Dad’s whimper.

‘There’s no point lying to you. You already know the truth,’ Evelyn said.

I practically stopped breathing. Griffin
would have
known if she was lying but I couldn’t accept it. It couldn’t be true. It couldn’t.

She traded me in, gave me away. Not … this. No. No!

I looked at Dad. I’d never seen him so stunned, so
blank
. His eyes met mine and I shook my head.

‘She’s lying,’ I whispered. ‘She’s lying!’

His expression changed, eyes welling, looking at me with something new – a darkness filled with fear and anger. No … with blame.

I shook my head again. ‘You can’t trust her!’ I heard myself saying frantically. And that’s when it happened.

Rage took over and he slapped me across the face.

I saw it coming. I knew what he was doing. And it didn’t even occur to me to move out of his way. His palm struck high on my cheek – the sting greater than from any blow I’d ever received.

Dad
gasped, his hand dropping into his other as if to restrain it, his expression filled with shock.

I stumbled back into the wall, one hand covering my cheek.