Violet Eden Chapters 04 - Endless

headed for the lift.



CHAPTER EIGHT
    ‘No man chooses evil because it is evil … he only mistakes it for happiness, the good he seeks.’
    Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
    T hecar trip was silent – Griffin leaving me to my thoughts as I stared out the window, wondering how things had come to this.
    He cleared his throat, bringing me out of my thoughts as we pulled up outside Lincoln’s warehouse. ‘Are you going to be okay?’
    I clutched my bags. ‘Sure. Tell the Academy I won’t go unless Dad is allowed to escort her.’
    ‘They might not agree.’
    I shrugged. ‘Then I won’t go. Tell them those are my terms for full cooperation.’
    He nodded. ‘Okay. I’ll do that.’
    I looked out the window and Griffin began to tap his hand on the steering wheel. It was starting to rain and steam was rising from the road.
    ‘Violet, he didn’t mean it.’
    I wasn’t so sure. Dad had been tested in so many ways and his loyalty to Evelyn had shone through above all else. I swallowed. ‘Has she really been in Hell?’
    ‘Yes,’he said, with the kind of certainty only Griffin, a seeker of truth, could deliver.
    ‘Why did she do it?’
    ‘She’s a warrior. She knew what was at stake. I think she thought doing things this way would give you the best chance.’ He gestured a hand towards Lincoln’s front door, which was already open. Lincoln had obviously sensed my arrival. ‘Is this the best place for you?’
    Yes. No. Maybe.
    Lost for an answer, I opened the car door.
    Griffin grabbed my arm before I stepped out, his eyes full of promise. ‘Thank you, Violet. I know you’re only going to the Academy because I asked. I want you to know that you won’t be alone. You’re one of mine, and my Grigori stand together.’
    I knew it was true. One thing about my friends: not a coward among them.
    ‘Thanks, Griff,’ I said, honoured but keen to change the subject. ‘So, do you think Dapper will be able to find all the ingredients?’
    By the time we’d left Dapper’s place he’d found – among the hundreds he had hidden in his concealed library – the book he believed would point us in the right direction. He had, however, remained tight-lipped on his theory about the poisonous thirteenth ingredient, insisting he needed to consult with his brothers before sharing.
    ‘If anyone can, it’s Dapper.’ Griffin sighed. He was exhausted. ‘Let’s meet with him in the morning and make a plan.’
    I nodded. ‘Breakfast at Hades?’
    ‘Yes. And just us for this one,’ he said, letting me know I wouldn’t have to see Evelyn.

    Lincolnstood by the door as I walked up the stairs, his eyes on my bags.
    I threw my shoulders back. ‘I’m moving in,’ I said simply. ‘For tonight, anyway.’ But as I walked past him, with all my false bravado that he saw right through, he grabbed my wrist and pulled me into a hug – into which I sank helplessly. He knew me too well.
    ‘Dad slapped me,’ I said into his chest, tears now flowing.
    Lincoln tensed, the way he did when he was trying to control his anger.
    ‘And apparently Evelyn’s been stuck in Hell for the past seventeen years,’ I added.
    He pulled me tighter and I was struck by the realisation that he’d already figured it out.
    Was I the only one who hadn’t?
    And then came the sickening thought … Deep down, had I known, too?
    ‘Can I stay?’ I asked, my nerves now breaking through. Lincoln’s hand stroked my hair. ‘I’ve already told you, you’ll always have a home here.’
    With that he relieved me of my bags, pointed me towards the espresso machine, and took my things straight to his room. ‘Where’s Spence?’ I asked when he came back.
    ‘Staying at Zoe and Salvatore’s,’ he answered. ‘You hungry?’ I smiled sheepishly. ‘Starving.’
    It was almost two in the morning and it had been a long night, but Lincoln made pizza and we sat on the sofa watching anaction flick, laughing at all the special effects between steaming mouthfuls of heavy-on-the-cheese pizza.
    He didn’t say anything about what had happened and we didn’t talk about what was to come. We were still on our ‘fun night’ it seemed, and I was grateful for the reprieve. We pretended to be normal and some time after we’d polished off the rocky-road ice cream we fell asleep on the sofa – his arm draped around my body – guarding me from the world. It hurt – that soul-deep pain surfacing. And it was worth it.
    ‘You’re becoming increasingly difficult to track