And I knew what I had to do when he did.
We reached the base of the stairs and hit a wall of exiles fighting each other. Lincoln glanced at me and I nodded; we both knew that the exiles could sense the Grigori up there – our nature users – and wanted to take the fight to them. That was something we could not allow. Those Grigori were the only thing holding the hurricane at bay right now.
Lincoln leaped into the fight, quickly taking out two exiles as he did, but another five promptly rounded on him.
I’d just stepped towards him, ready to back him up, when a strong hand gripped my neck from behind and dragged me beneath the shadow of the stairs, throwing me against the wall. My head hit the brick hard and I felt the trickle of warm blood run down my neck.
Blinking until my vision held, I looked up expecting to see the insane eyes of an exile, but instead I was met with the vicious intent of Drenson.
‘Adele is dead!’ he snarled, his hand wrapped around my throat holding me against the wall as the other moved his dagger firmly over my heart. ‘All of this is your fault! I’m the head of all Grigori and I will end this now!’
My eyes darted right, to where Lincoln was still fighting off a horde of exiles. I could hear him screaming out for me between hits and knew he was feeling me through our connection. I tried to calm my thoughts and my body so that he wouldn’t lose his concentration, and I looked back at Drenson.
‘I’m sorry about Adele,’ I rasped, struggling to speak with his hand tightening around my neck. I considered my options but he had me. Anything I did would cause the dagger to slide right in.
‘You should be! Without her voting favour it’s only a matter of time before I lose my seat. It was enough to have that bitch Josephine control me at every turn, but not you!’ he spat. ‘I have hundreds of years ahead of me; I won’t live in shame while you steal everything that is mine!’
A figure dropped from above into a crouched position, landing a few metres behind Drenson – as if it had fallen from the sky. I couldn’t make it out but even if it was an exile, it couldn’t make my situation any worse, so I kept my eyes on Drenson so as not to draw his attention to it.
‘I know how to stop this!’ I said.
‘Even more reason to finish you,’ he hissed. And just as his arm flexed and he made his move, I saw the glint of silver and then Drenson’s eyes cloud over, his arms losing their grip and falling limp along with the rest of his body as he fell to the ground face down. A Grigori dagger was embedded between his shoulderblades.
Spence stood over him.
His fierce, warrior eyes looked up at me sharply. ‘Always got your back, Eden.’
I threw my arms around him and squeezed tightly before letting him go.
He delivered a roguish smile and gestured knowingly to the stairs. ‘Do what you have to do,’ he said, giving me a nod before bending down and reefing his dagger free. ‘Chloe and I will make sure the building is protected.’
I saw her then, running up behind him, out of breath.
I shook my head. ‘Don’t worry about us. Go and help Gray and Carter. They’re a hundred metres up the road and need to get out of there.’
Without another word, Spence grabbed Chloe’s arm and they ran.
And I knew it was time to do exactly what I was put on this earth to do.
I called out for Lincoln and turned in time to see Griffin and Josephine’s team jump into the fray where Lincoln was still fighting, freeing him to come with me.
‘Where were you?’ he asked as we ran up the stairs.
‘Dealing with Academy politics,’ I replied.
On the low rooftop – and neighbouring rooftops along the river – the nature users continued to fight the storm, calling on their strengths and pushing back with all they had, but the hurricane was just too powerful.
At the front, calling out orders and holding the weight of the wind, stood Phoenix, looking every bit the unearthly creature he was. His black shirt was ripped and flying in the air. Wind encased him and I gasped.
‘He’s channelling the hurricane. Pulling the power to him and trying to send it back out to sea.’
‘It’ll tear him in two!’ Lincoln yelled as we watched Phoenix’s body being brutally lashed by invisible whips of air. Zoe stood beside him, her focus on the rising river. It had already lifted over the levies and was now pouring into the city streets even as she and those beside her worked at creating new currents to send it away.
I looked around frantically. We were heavily outnumbered; there were at least twice as many exiles to our Grigori. My knees weakened at the thought.
Lincoln grabbed my shoulders to steady me.
‘What now?’ he screamed over the wind and rain, over the cries of madness below.