He glanced at me. ‘Yes, but imagine how disappointed you would’ve been if it had come out in a janitor’s closet.’
He was right. That kind of cliché would have just annoyed me.
I smiled, even as my nerves were fighting the jitters. Things had become very bad, very fast, and now we were on the run. Again. Lincoln peered through the crack in the door, looking for an opportunity for us to slip out. Watching him, I felt sick to the gut.
Lincoln valued his role in the Academy, as a Grigori, and now he had turned his back on everything he knew to help me escape. Josephine would already have Grigori out there looking for us. And God only knew what Lilith was up to.
What will happen to him after all of this? Will he lose his place in the ranks of Grigori?
I couldn’t let that happen.
‘Linc …’ I said, tugging his arm and drawing his attention. ‘I think you should go back.’ I bit my lip.
He blinked. ‘Excuse me?’
‘You heard me. I think you should go back. I’ll be fine on my own and then you won’t be in as much trouble.’
Still watching through the gap in the door, he must’ve spied an opportunity to move because he grabbed my hand, opened the door and pulled me through behind him. Suddenly, we were in the very public Grand Central Station. Lincoln didn’t slow, dragging me along until we turned a corner. There, we stopped, Lincoln checking back around the corner in case anyone had followed us. Satisfied, he turned a severe look on me.
‘Let’s get this straight right now. I’m not going anywhere.’ But even as he stared at me, I noticed his breath hitch as he became aware of just how close our bodies were.
His expression softened. ‘You don’t need to protect me, Vi. I’m by your side and nothing you say will get rid of me.’ His voice became rough. ‘This whole thing would be easier if we could get along, okay?’
‘Getting along isn’t exactly our problem, in case you’ve forgotten,’ I mumbled.
But he kept his eyes fixed on mine until I sighed. ‘Okay, okay. Got it. We’re in this together.’
His hand went to my face, warm and all-encompassing. ‘We’re going to make it through this.’ His forehead dropped to meet mine and we stayed like that for a few precious seconds before we were moving on again. Lincoln knew the station and led with purpose. Within minutes we had tickets and were boarding the first available train, taking our seats at the back of the last carriage after doing a walk-through of the entire train, monitoring every other person who stepped on after us. We were relentless in our focus. Now was no time for dereliction of duty.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
‘This is how it will be … The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous.’
Matthew 13:49
Lincoln only bought tickets to get us half way. Due to the predawn hour and Lincoln’s paranoia that we’d be followed, he decided to ‘borrow’ a car for the remainder of the trip.
In spite of our frantic situation I found myself fascinated by the prospect of seeing Lincoln hotwire a car. And, he put on an impressively stealthy show, selecting a well-blending four-wheel drive parked close to the train station, and managing to start it in less than thirty seconds before tearing up the freeway like a madman while I searched for a map in the glove box.
I grabbed hold of my door handle as we took a sharp corner.
Lincoln finally slowed down when we merged with the other traffic, suddenly making us one of the many.
‘Who are you?’ I asked, as I stared at the normally by-the-book Lincoln.
He kept his eyes on the road. ‘Mum taught me to always be prepared for desperate times.’
‘Did your mum also teach you how to boost a car?’
He smiled, keeping his eyes on the road ahead. ‘Not exactly, but I’m sure she wouldn’t argue under the circumstances.’
I had to agree. I started unfolding the map I’d found, twisting it around until I figured out where we were. ‘Okay, what’s the name of this town?’
‘Cold Spring,’ Lincoln replied. ‘We should be about twenty minutes out.’
I searched the map. ‘Got it,’ I said.
Well, it sounded nice enough. ‘Stay on the US-9,’ I instructed.
It didn’t take long and when we arrived in Cold Spring, it was still predawn. The small town was misty and silent. The main street – the only street really – was deserted and we knew it would still be a couple of hours before any shops opened. We considered trying to find Evelyn’s safe-house but the instructions had told us only to get to Cold Spring and then to the general store.
We parked the car in a small side street and tried to rest, but despite our lack of sleep neither one of us could relax. In the end we settled for a walk along the river, the sky slowly brightening as the sun rose.