Violet Eden Chapters 04 - Endless

myself.’ With that, he spun on his heel and headed towards Dapper’s apartment.
    ‘You’re damn lucky she didn’t kill you,’ Dapper mumbled as he followed him.
    ‘He’s seriously messed up,’ Spence said behind me.
    ‘Completely nuts,’ Steph reinforced.
    But it wasn’t nuts at all.
    Onyx had been helping me, and he was right. If Onyx could weasel his way into my emotions, then Phoenix still could, too.

    Therest of the day panned out as expected. Much discussing and not much new. Griffin had to retell the story to date a number of times as groups of the city’s Grigori stopped by Hades for their instructions in his absence. Griffin put Beth and Archer in charge in his place and told Nathan and Becca to be ready to join us in New York at a moment’s notice. As warriors, they were not happy about being left behind, but I could tell Griffin was worried about leaving the city unprotected, plus he didn’t want it to look like we were going into the Academy with troops. Sends the wrong message.
    Once he’d seen to most of his Grigori he sat down with Zoe, Spence and Salvatore. He made Spence agree to be on his best behaviour back at the Academy – apparently it had taken Griffin’s word for them to even allow him back in. It wasn’t long ago that Spence had left the Academy without permission before his training was completed.
    Then Griffin explained to Salvatore that he wanted him to accompany Dapper, Onyx and Steph on their quest for the ingredients for the Qeres potion, in case they encountered any problems.
    Salvatore nodded and seemed enthused by his mission. I could see it had more to do with being entrusted with such a responsibility than anything to do with body-guarding Steph. From across the room I could see Steph biting her nails anxiously as she also assessed his reaction.
    ‘It would be my honour. Although, I am concerned to be separating from my partner,’ he said, looking at Zoe.
    Griffin nodded, happy with Salvatore’s reaction. ‘Good man.’ He turned to Zoe. ‘The choice is yours to make.’
    Zoe was no fool. Separating partners is never ideal, but if Salvatore was with Dapper that meant he could heal him if needed and if Zoe stayed with me, I could offer the same reassurance to her. That said, there was always a danger of being separated from one another, especially given my tendency to find trouble.
    Zoe pondered her options. When she looked up, it was with resolve. ‘We all need to be where we are needed most right now. If Salvatore escorts Dapper’s crew, then I’m not needed there. As long as Sal’s okay with it, I’ll go to New York.’
    Salvatore nodded. ‘And we’ll meet you there as soon as we have the potion.’

    When Dad and Evelyn arrived later in the day, I didn’t know where to look. It was obvious to see there had been a change. Dad was walking closer to Evelyn, more protectively than he had been before, and they both looked tired, as if they’d been up all night talking.
    Lincoln, who was sitting beside me, settled his gaze directly on Dad and didn’t move his eyes away. I nudged him a couple of times, but he ignored me.
    I felt my phone buzz with a message while Dad made a feeble attempt to encourage everyone to stay until after my graduation, but even he knew it was useless.
    Evelyn was happy with the progress Dapper had made in finding exactly what the components of Qeres were, but she maintainedthe potion would be useless without the mysterious thirteenth ingredient.
    While they pondered options, I pulled my phone out of my jeans pocket and checked my messages.
    I know what you’re planning, lover.
    I’ll be seeing you soon.
    I sighed and passed my phone to Lincoln, who tensed, before passing it on to Griffin.
    ‘What is it?’ Dad asked.
    ‘It’s a text from Phoenix. He knows we’re coming,’ I said calmly, still not making eye contact.
    Griffin studied the screen and looked confused. ‘It doesn’t make any sense. He’d know the message wouldn’t serve him. All it does is inform us that exiles are tracking our movements.’ He settled his gaze on me until I began to squirm in my chair, then sighed. ‘His motivations are often twisted when it comes to you.’
    You can say that again.
    ‘We leave in three hours,’ Griffin said, ending the meetings for the day. He turned his attention back to Dapper to discuss logistics.
    ‘He needs a new partner,’ I said to Lincoln as I watched them walk away. ‘He carries too much on his