There was no time to delay. This shadowing mission had just turned into a rescue and none of us was about to turn our back on what needed to be done. This was what we were made for.
Zoe flew across the street and into the building while Spence and I followed Olivier.
Olivier hailed a taxi and took off in the direction of Manhattan. We almost lost him while we waited for our own taxi, Spence all but hauling a woman, who was still paying, out of the first one we could find.
‘Follow that cab!’ Spence said to the driver, throwing all the money in his pocket at the taxi driver.
We leaned back as we headed over the bridge and into lower Manhattan. Spence looked positively exhilarated.
‘You’ve always wanted to say that, huh?’
‘Every man’s dream!’ he said, not taking his eyes off the taxi ahead.
While he kept watch I used the opportunity to text Lincoln the name of the street where we’d left Zoe and told him to send fire engines and a clean-up crew, just in case.
He texted back.
On the way. Where r u?
I chewed on my lip.
In taxi. Following Olivier. Don’t be mad.
Now wasn’t the time to lie.
Lincoln’s reply was instant.
NO! 2 dangerous! Wait for me and Griff.
DON’T follow on foot!
I showed the message to Spence without saying anything. This was his choice too.
‘If we wait, we’ll lose him.’ He kept his eyes on our target. ‘Eden, you need to decide. Are you going to be the Grigori everyone else tells you to be or the Grigori you know you are? He’s going to City Hall!’ He yelled the last part to the driver. ‘Look, I get my partner in a couple of months. I’m going to have to bring her into this messed-up world and hope she can survive. I’m scared shitless that I might let her down, or that she might get hurt, but this is what we do.’
Spence never talked about his partner-to-be. He wouldn’t even tell anyone her name. In case she decided not to embrace, he wanted to leave her with anonymity. He was good people.
My phone buzzed.
Violet?
It really was that simple to Spence. He was part of the Academy but he would not be defined by it. He had one objective and that was to be in the fight – to be Grigori.
I texted Lincoln.
He has a kid. Gotta go.
I shoved my phone back in my pocket. I felt it buzz again but ignored it.
‘Here, stop here!’ Spence instructed the driver. He pointed to Olivier who was now on foot and walking into a park. ‘City Hall Park. Are we following or not?’
I opened the door. ‘What do you think?’
He gave me a megawatt smile. ‘Never doubted you, Eden.’
‘Keep your guard up or he’ll sense us,’ I reminded Spence. He nodded and we let ourselves fall back as far as we could, just to be sure.
As Olivier walked through the park, past a water fountain, we hid in the bushes and I let my power flow from me to reveal what he was showing the rest of the world. He was hidden in a glamour. No normal humans could see the kid – not that there were many people around at this time.
‘He’s dressed himself in some kind of uniform.’
Spence nodded. ‘As one of the City Hall guards. He can go wherever he wants. Look, he’s heading down those stairs.’
‘Where do they go?’ I asked.
‘Not sure. There’s supposed to be some old subway station round here. It got shut down a while back – security risk or something.’
I could see why. Wherever Olivier was headed, it was right beneath City Hall.
Spence started looking around our immediate surroundings.
‘There,’ he said, pointing to a square metal manhole about fifteen metres away. ‘That would get us down in the area. Better than trying to follow him past the guards and into the unknown.’
‘Agreed.’
We moved out into the open, Spence putting a hand on my shoulder so he could glamour us both and keep us hidden. The large metal cover was locked in place with two padlocks.
I slipped my fingers beneath the edge of the cover until I had a good grip and glanced at Spence, making sure he was ready. We would have to move quickly.
He nodded, taking hold of the other side.
We yanked.
The padlocks snapped apart with our supernatural strength and the metal cover flew open. We slid down into the hole quickly, making as little noise as possible, easing the cover back into place above us.
Thankfully there was a ladder, but unfortunately there was no light, so we had to fumble our way blind until we hit a dimly lit junction. I pushed out my senses, looking for Olivier, and found myself pointing towards a brick wall.
‘I don’t know how we get there – but it’s like he’s inside the wall,’ I said, increasingly confused.
‘Power?’ Spence suggested.
I walked up to the wall and put my hand on it. It felt real and solid. I moved back a couple of steps. ‘Only one way to find out.’