He disappeared.
I turned in time to see the other exile in an all-out brawl with Lincoln. The exile was holding a large piece of glass and he’d already managed to use it against Lincoln, judging by the gash on his forehead.
I shook my head, anger bubbling to the surface. I’d had the situation under control and if Lincoln had just trusted me for a few seconds instead of barging in to save me, none of this would’ve happened.
Wincing, I pulled the long shard of glass out of my shoulder and pulled back the clasp on my wristband, piercing the skin with the tip of the glass and watching some of my silvered blood join the already thick coating of red.
Just as Lincoln took a hard hit to his temple Gray jumped down from a nearby window and landed beside me.
‘I see I missed more fun. Any others?’ he asked.
I shook my head.
‘Well, he’ll probably wrap this up in a few,’ Gray said, watching Lincoln fight. And yes, he was getting the upper hand. But …
‘We don’t have a few,’ I said, knowing that more exiles and suicidal humans could turn up at any moment. I walked towards the exile fighting Lincoln, and lined him up. When Lincoln delivered a blow to the exile’s side, causing him to stagger back, I took the opportunity and threw the shard of glass towards the exile’s leg.
It was anything but a kill shot, but then, the glass was coated in my blood. The exile blinked, stumbling back into the wall, no doubt confused as to why he was suddenly so sure he was dying.
Lincoln quickly looked between me and the exile, who in the next moment disappeared just like his buddy had done.
I didn’t need to look to know that Gray was already on the move behind me. He never needed to be told when it was time to leave.
Lincoln jogged after us. ‘I didn’t need you to do that. I had him.’
I spun, feeling my blood boil. ‘No, Lincoln, I had him! If you’d taken two seconds to look at the situation before charging in you would’ve seen I had them exactly where I wanted them. It would’ve been finished minutes ago my way and without you needing to get hurt. Unnecessarily! Jesus! You just can’t stop yourself!’
He looked at my bleeding shoulder, his eyes like daggers, his voice low and threatening. ‘You were hurt and on your knees. Two exiles had you. On. Your. Knees. I was—’
I put up a hand, stopping him. ‘I know.’ I sighed. ‘I know exactly what you were doing and it’s fine. Just forget it. You can’t help yourself and I accepted that a long time ago.’
Defeated yet again, even though I should have probably just been grateful for the in-the-face reminder of why there was no future for Lincoln and me, I left the alley ignoring his yelling after me to explain what the hell I was talking about.
CHaPteR tHIRteeN
‘I would believe only in a God that knows how to dance.’
Friedrich Nietzsche
It took an hour to debrief.
Lincoln, who had travelled in a separate car and disappeared as soon as we arrived back at the Academy, had ever so kindly left me to deal with Josephine by myself.
‘They just shot themselves?’ Josephine asked, again, as appalled now as the first time she’d asked.
I nodded, returning my attention to her after taking a few minutes to heal my shoulder wound. ‘Well, one of them shot the other one and then himself. But it was like they were completely fine with it. As if death was of no consequence for them.’ I shook my head, equally disturbed by the memory. There was something about the way the men had so fearlessly relinquished their lives.
‘And they said Sammael has Spencer in New Orleans?’ she went on, covering more of the same questions and gripping her pen tightly as she documented every word I said.
‘That he will have Spencer in New Orleans,’ I corrected. ‘They must’ve recaptured him at the airport like Chloe suspected. I’d say they’re on the move but, yes, he said Spence would be in New Orleans the night before the full moon, which is five days from now.’ Steph had looked up the lunar calendar before I’d even made it back to the Academy. ‘So, that leaves us with four to get to New Orleans and figure out what the hell is going on.’ I stood up, rotating my shoulder, which still felt the phantom wound. ‘Josephine, it’s been a really long day. I need to get out of here for a while and clear my head. I’ll be back tomorrow morning.’
Zoe had already taken Gray back to Ascension. They’d promised to stop by the infirmary on their way to bring Chloe up to speed. And I desperately needed some alone time.
‘You’re welcome to stay here, you know,’ she said, sounding surprisingly genuine, though equally cautious.
‘Thank you, but no.’ I headed for the door, hoping she wouldn’t push.
‘Violet, what’s it like?’ Josephine blurted as I neared the door.
‘What?’ I asked. But I knew. She was pushing.
‘Seeing him again.’