Violet Eden Chapters 04 - Endless

go,’ I said.
    ‘Where?’ Spence was looking around, no idea what to expect.
    ‘Back to Lincoln’s.’ I turned to the front and dropped my face in my hands. Gradually, all the things I’d pushed aside were coming back and it hurt. Overwhelmed, I let out a moan.
    ‘Jesus, Vi, what the hell happened to you out there?’
    I shook myhead, bracing a hand on the dashboard. ‘We have to go,’ I gritted out.
    But Spence wasn’t having it. ‘Come on, Vi, you gotta give me more than that. Griff’s gonna have my ass on a platter for this. What happened?’
    I shook my head again. ‘Please, Spence ,’ I begged, because every word – every second – hurt, and would for the rest of my life, but I had to put this one thing right. And having Lincoln’s soul so close to me – in me – where it had once belonged … I could barely hold myself together.
    Spence shifted from one foot to the other. ‘Okay, Eden, we’re going, we’re going.’ He jumped into the driver’s seat and we took off while he mumbled something very imaginative about exactly what he suspected Griffin was going to do to his ass.



CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
    ‘What shall a man give in exchange for his soul?’
    Mark 8:37
    w hen Spence and I walked backinto Lincoln’s apartment, everyone was there. Even Onyx.
    They watched me, barely breathing as I made my way to Lincoln’s room. When I didn’t close the door behind me they seemed to take it as an invitation and followed. I didn’t mind. I had no idea what was about to happen and I might need them.
    Griffin pulled Spence into the corner of the room and started demanding answers. Spence stuttered a series of defences that began with, ‘Don’t blame me,’ and finished with ‘I don’t know.’
    Onyx and Dapper stayed at the back of the room with Zoe and Salvatore. Steph came up behind me. ‘We’re here for you, Vi. Whatever you need. We’re here,’ she said.
    They thought I had come back to finish things. They were wrong, but I suppose in other ways … they were right.
    I turned to face Steph and she gasped.
    ‘What?’ I asked.
    ‘Your eyes; they’re green!’
    I just stared ather, unwilling to fully contemplate what she was saying.
    ‘They’re not mine,’ I said, eventually, turning back to the bed where Lincoln lay.
    ‘Well, whose the hell are they?’ Steph shouted, her voice high-pitched.
    I didn’t reply. Instead, I leaned down, knowing what I had to do. ‘It’s always a kiss,’ I mumbled. And then I pressed my lips to his and let him go.
    As I kissed him, his soul broke free. It was so painful, as though my very insides were torn away as it leaped from my body and back into its rightful owner. I screamed into his mouth, but I stayed there, forcing myself to keep going, to keep pushing his soul from me until it was all gone.
    The moment I knew it was done, I sank to the ground, gasping for air.
    Steph dropped beside me. Her hands were shaking as they clung to me. ‘Vi, what was that?’
    ‘Eyes are the window to the soul,’ Dapper said from the doorway. ‘The girl went and found his soul. Insane as those damn exiles. She should be dead.’
    ‘What do you mean?’ Griffin pushed. ‘Lincoln?’
    Dapper grunted, as Steph held me tight, trying to calm my shakes.
    ‘Ask her yourself, but I’m betting she just pulled off something only the likes of her could do.’
    Griffin crouched in front of me. ‘Violet, is Dapper right? Did you …’ But he couldn’t finish the sentence. Lincoln was his best friend and I knew he blamed himself on some level for telling us torun that day, felt responsible that he hadn’t been there in the end.
    I looked up at Steph and saw her sharp intake of breath; my eyes were back to normal. Not that I needed her reaction to tell me that, I could already feel the change. The emptiness in me had returned and I could feel a presence I hadn’t felt in weeks.
    Griffin watched me anxiously.
    ‘He’s back,’ I said.
    We could have heard a pin drop. No one knew what to say. Perhaps they thought I’d finally lost it completely and was having delusions. Maybe they thought it was too good to be true.
    But not Griffin. He stared right at me. He was a truth seeker; he knew what I said was right. I suspected he simply couldn’t talk. Instead he pulled me from Steph’s arms and into his.
    ‘You’re a miracle.’
    I was stiff in his arms. Just like with everyone else … I couldn’t. Gradually, I wriggled away from him.
    ‘Phoenix said it will