If only I could completely block myself from myself.
The sound of his voice caused me to freeze. ‘You’re all speculating,’ he said – the first words I’d heard directly from his mouth since the night I was strung up to a cross as Phoenix shot arrows into my body and Lincoln sent me all of his power through our soul bond. He’d kept giving it to me until there’d been nothing left. And just before he’d collapsed and I’d closed my eyes, he’d screamed his final words: ‘I’m yours. Always. Always!’
Those words had haunted me ever since.
I could sense him still, on the far side of the room. And hearing his voice, I couldn’t stop myself from looking through the tiny opening in my hood. My eyes did not need to sift, they found him as easily as the sun finds day. He stood with his back to the room, hands in his pockets. Wearing a navy shirt that was tucked in at his waist, he was broader and clearly stronger than ever.
Slowly, he turned and I braced.
But as he faced the room, his eyes did not move in my direction. Not once. And with a broken breath, fraught with emotion, I realised he was oblivious to my presence. I glanced at Gray, who gave my arm a reassuring squeeze. My shields were blocking him.
Another person stood up at the far end of the table and I saw that it was Max. Morgan sat beside him, and beside her, I recognised Mia.
‘Lincoln, it’s the best we have right now. Until Chloe wakes up, at least.’
‘When can we expect that?’ he snapped, spinning his attention towards Salvatore and Zoe. I was shocked to see such harshness coming from him.
Zoe spoke up. ‘She came around two days ago for a few minutes and that was it. She could wake up at any time.’
‘And she said nothing when she woke?’ Lincoln was watching them carefully, as if he knew she was keeping something back.
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.