‘Nothing that wasn’t in the best interests of the future of the Assembly.’
Rainer, Wilhelm and Hakon kept their attention on Adele, so I did too. When she inclined her head slightly, as if accepting what Griffin had said, I wondered if she was a truth teller, like Griffin. Whatever she was, her nod seemed enough for those who’d been paying attention to her.
‘Have it your way, Griffin, but we will not allow Violet to leave without at least submitting to a small power gauge first. Drenson has offered his services for today.’
Griffin looked at me, his expression grim. ‘Do you remember when you first met Rudyard?’
Did I ever! He had taken my hand and pushed his power into me, taking me over in a completely intrusive way. It wasn’t something I ever wanted to experience again.
I nodded, looking back at the Assembly. It was easy to see who my adversaries were – they were the ones smirking. I swallowed down the bitter taste at the back of my throat and nodded to Griffin again.
He closed his eyes briefly and it set off every panic button in my body.
Seth stood up and moved to the centre of the room. He took off his loose-fitting shirt to reveal a slender body with tight muscles that reminded me of a racehorse. He turned his attention to Lincoln.
‘Perhaps you would like to take your shoes off,’ he said in a strong accent that I couldn’t place other than knowing it was European. It made me nervous to consider that I possibly couldn’t place it because it was simply that old.
This place is like the United Nations.
I looked between them as Lincoln took off his shoes and then his shirt. When I caught his eye he shook his head and said under his breath, ‘Don’t watch. Concentrate.’
What the hell does that mean?
I looked at Griffin, who was backing away, and noticed a white box marked out on the floor – a sparring field. I’d just spent hours being told that Seth was a master fighter – ‘unbeatable’ and ‘unstoppable’ were the words thrown around.
‘Violet,’ Josephine’s voice sang out to me, ‘would you please join us up here? I’m sure you’d agree the sooner we can have what we need, the sooner we will all be able to get on with our day.’
I walked towards her, keeping my focus on Lincoln and Seth as they started to circle one another like predators.
Shit.
‘I don’t understand. Are you making Lincoln fight?’
Drenson stood up and walked towards me. ‘I’m afraid a little distraction always helps get this side of things done more swiftly,’ he said. He held out his hand, just like Rudyard had done, and I knew that whatever Rudyard had done to me the first time we met would be nothing compared to what was about to happen.
At my hesitation, Josephine nodded to Seth and in less than a second he had launched himself metres into the air and come back down spinning with inhuman speed and strength, his foot colliding with Lincoln’s face, sending him straight to the ground before he’d had a moment to react.
Lincoln leaped back onto his feet quickly, as my breath caught at the sight of the blood pouring down the side of his face.
And that had only been the first hit.
‘Your hand, Violet,’ Drenson said.
Oh, God. What have we walked into? These people are insane.
Lincoln took another hit and barely managed to stop himself from going down again. Before he righted himself, Seth, at lightning speed, delivered another terrifying blow that I suspected dislocated Lincoln’s shoulder, from the awkward angle of his arm afterwards. I heard a whimpering sound and realised it was me.
‘The sooner you give me your hand willingly, the sooner we can stop this,’ Drenson said.
So that was it. I had to give my hand willingly to Drenson or his power wouldn’t work. I bet it had been Josephine’s suggestion to beat the shit out of Lincoln until I cooperated.
Just her style.
Lincoln landed a fist in Seth’s gut. The Assembly members seemed to stiffen as a unit. I smiled at Josephine’s look of surprise. They’d underestimated Lincoln. Unfortunately though, Seth still had the advantage.
I put my hand in Drenson’s.
It was slow to start and I concentrated, as Griffin and Evelyn had instructed me, on keeping up my barriers. But I couldn’t keep my attention away from Lincoln and Seth, fighting like gladiators in the middle of the room. Lincoln was covered in sweat, Seth delivering lethal blow after blow. If Lincoln had been only human, just one of those hits would have killed him. But he kept getting up, kept fighting back, putting serious power behind his punches.
Then Drenson’s true power hit, as if he’d only been peeking from behind a curtain before. He kicked open the front door and charged into me. My body would have fallen back with the impact, but his vice-like grip on my hand held me in place.