Violet Eden Chapters 04 - Endless

the head, the heart and the senses.’
    Lao Tzu
    I stepped out of the limousine that had collected us from the airport. I wasn’t sure of the exact number of Grigori that had been there waiting for us – there were a number lurking in the shadows, using their ghosting abilities to follow us. For the first time, I wasn’t sure if they were there to protect us or secure us.
    The New York air was dense, thick with an energy unlike anything I’d ever experienced. People flowed along the pavements in a constant stream.
    So. Many. People .
    Cars moved surprisingly fast, considering their sheer number, dominated by the fearless yellow cabs that featured in every New York movie known to man.
    ‘Welcome to Manhattan,’ Griffin said, standing beside me.
    He had travelled with me, Lincoln, Zoe and Spence. The car in front had taken Dad and Evelyn and the four guards who had taken her into custody at the airport. And there were two more vehicles … that I knew of. Personally, I felt it was overkill.We’d already agreed to come to New York – it wasn’t likely we’d travel all that way to do a runner at the airport. Then again, this was Josephine’s turf.
    ‘Amazing, right?’ Zoe said proudly. She glowed as though just being in the city was somehow recharging her.
    ‘Did you grow up in New York?’ I asked.
    She nodded. ‘Born and bred. Wait till I take you to a Yankees game.’
    I was about to respond, when I was struck by my angelic senses. The familiar apple flavour washed through my mouth, the sounds of cars fell second to that of branches crashing and wings flapping frantically. My vision faltered as images of pure light followed by pure darkness and morning and evening flashed before me.
    ‘Exiles,’ I managed to say, desperate to give everyone some kind of warning even as the smell of flowers overwhelmed me and I started to shake with the energy flowing through my body. Ice for bones, fire for blood.
    Lincoln wrapped his arms around me, tilting my face up to his. ‘Focus, Vi. Manage the senses,’ he murmured, bypassing the senses and finding me. But there was so much, so many. I tried to tell him to run but I couldn’t speak.
    I could see he was talking again but I couldn’t hear over the sound of wings flapping.
    I began to panic.
    Too many .
    We couldn’t possibly fight them all. Had Lilith brought an army to meet us? Were they already here?
    Too many. Too many.
    Lincoln kissed me.
    Hislips were soft, warm and felt overwhelmingly right against mine. I fell into it, oblivious to anything other than the safety in his touch. One by one, the senses flowed from me as he pulled them away and set them free. It must have hurt him. The senses hurt the hell out of me.
    But he was unfaltering, taking from me what I could not manage. He was my partner, my soulmate. As my body started to weaken, he wrapped his arms around me, supporting me. He kept his focus until the last of the senses had floated from me to him and then, when it was just us, the kiss lingered as we stole a few extra seconds. We both knew it was wrong – but letting go seemed impossible.
    Lincoln started to tremble – his fingers digging into my sides, holding on to me, to us , yet also somehow trying to move away. I didn’t ever want to let him go, wanted to pull him closer. My soul demanded it of me. It made no difference that we were out in the open, in the middle of the pavement.
    But he was already shutting down – the honey from his power encircling me as he rebuilt the walls between us – and I knew I had to do the same.
    ‘Linc,’ I whispered, trying to put myself back together.
    He rested his forehead against mine. ‘It’s okay. We’re okay.’
    He took a few deep breaths. Acting as a conduit for the senses always took a hefty toll on him.
    I wrapped my arms around him. ‘I know.’
    We stayed like that for only a few seconds before he pulled away, regaining the control we both fought so hard to maintain.
    I wish I had his strength.
    ‘Let’sget inside,’ he said, his voice hoarse.
    It was only then that I looked around and saw both carloads, including Dad and Evelyn, were staring at us. Zoe was fanning herself.
    ‘Exiles,’ I blurted out. ‘They’re … they’re everywhere. The senses were suffocating me!’
    ‘We’re in New York, Violet,’ Griffin said, a smirk on his lips. ‘There are over one and a half million people on the eighty-seven square kilometres of Manhattan alone. And this is the home to the