Violet Eden Chapters 04 - Endless

ear. ‘No matter the price, when you have the chance to destroy her, you take it! No second thoughts.’
    I swallowed, and nodded even as her words sickened me.
    Because when Lilith is returned – it might mean the end of Evelyn, too.
    Like mother like daughter. She was possibly tied to Lilith just as much as I was tied to Phoenix.
    ‘Good luck in your testing,’ was Evelyn’s parting comment before the door closed and I was escorted back to the top level of the Command building.



CHAPTER TWENTY
    ‘What you are comes to you.’
    Ralph Waldo Emerson
    T he Assemblyhad scouts looking up and down the Hudson for the estate where Lilith was hiding out thanks to Evelyn’s intel. Nevertheless, the next few days went by with little progress, our frustration levels reaching breaking point as we dreaded what might be happening to the captured boy Spence and I had seen and every other missing child who was possibly being held captive by Lilith.
    Nothing but dead ends so far.
    Although the Assembly still refused to confirm that Lilith had taken the children, Griffin and Lincoln had been collecting all the data on disappearances, presumed deaths, unexplained kidnappings and more. So far, there were over sixty children on the list whom they believed Lilith had been responsible for taking from around the world.
    It was tragedy enough for the children and their families, but for the Grigori population, it spelled disaster. These children were future Grigori recruits and our numbers were simply too few to endure such devastation if Lilith was successful.
    The Assembly hadn’ttaken kindly to being delivered this information by Griffin. Drenson and Josephine had gone as far as to call into question Griffin’s loyalties. But every time I asked Lincoln and Griffin for more details they became cagey. It wasn’t that they didn’t want to tell me, but I was still restricted to the Academy buildings and therefore under constant surveillance.
    And they’re protecting me, as always.
    But for today, at least, I had other things to concentrate on. It was my official testing day and if I passed I’d be able to join in the hunt for Lilith and Phoenix, so that was what I planned to do.
    I was in the training area with Rainer, the only person permitted to escort me to the Assembly. Apparently today was momentous, it being the first Grigori testing in over three centuries where all members of the Assembly would be present.
    I do love being special.
    ‘Why does the whole Assembly come together so rarely?’ I asked Rainer, after finishing my warm-up.
    ‘Seth and Decima deem very little to be worthy of their presence. They vote on some issues, but have not sat in their Assembly chairs in over one hundred and fifty years. Plus, Wil and I are usually based in London. We only moved here after …’
    I nodded. She didn’t need to finish for me to know she meant – after Nyla .
    We started walking towards the main hall.
    ‘There will be a lot of people watching. Try to ignore them. It’s Drenson’s choice who you will fight so I can’t tell you what to expect, but I’m sure even if they throw a senior Grigori at you, you’ll be fine.’ I couldn’t hide the smile at her praise. ‘The mental obstacles will be more difficult, but you can do it. At the end, the Assembly will vote for your position as an official member of the Academy and of the Grigori population.’
    ‘Howdo you see that working?’
    Rainer’s eyes exposed her apprehension. ‘Unfortunately, Drenson and Josephine are unlikely to be swayed in your favour, so that means you need to get Seth and Decima on side as well as Valerie and Hakon if you want to be sure of a win.’
    ‘What about Adele?’
    Rainer didn’t even consider before answering. ‘She’s never voted against Drenson. She never will.’
    I could understand that, although it didn’t help me much. Valerie had made it clear I wasn’t her nearest and dearest and I’d been in history lessons with Hakon for the past three weeks and we hadn’t exactly bonded. Probably my fault since I was guilty of paying more attention to his sheer size than listening to the history he’d been attempting to bring me up to speed on. As for Seth and Decima – they were almost primordial; I had no idea what I could do to win them over. I was too scared to even look in their direction.
    Rainer and I carried on in silence until we reached the double doors to the Assembly. ‘You ready?’
    I nodded.
    Rainer pushed the