Violet Eden Chapters 04 - Endless

it became a church. The original tunnels have been down here over four hundred years and have been added to over time. Some of us managed to add our own hidden entrances without the exiles noticing. When all else has failed, these tunnels have saved me. Just move fast and kill anything you see.’
    ‘That’s do-able,’ Lincoln said.
    I smiled, keen even, for a little confrontation that I could actually handle.
    Father Peters pulled the heavy door back that probably would have taken six human men to shift. ‘You’ll hear the trains when you get near the subway. Head down the east tunnel – it will take you all the way to Grand Central. You can jump a train up the Hudson from there.’
    ‘Howwill we know when we’re at Grand Central?’ I asked.
    He winked. ‘Because there will be a door with a sign above it saying “Grand Central Station”.’
    ‘Oh.’
    He pushed us into the tunnel. ‘This door doesn’t open from the inside so don’t rely on getting back in through here.’
    ‘Phones?’ Griffin ordered.
    Lincoln and I handed them over. We didn’t have anything else electronic on us. Griffin gave us a replacement mobile. ‘Untraceable. But short calls only, just in case. Don’t do anything foolish,’ he cautioned, also offering us a couple of flashlights from the wall.
    We both nodded.
    ‘God be with you,’ Peters said, right before he slammed the massive door shut.
    Flooded by the darkness we quickly turned on our flashlights. We stared down the old tunnel and I pointed in the direction I thought was right. ‘East?’ I checked.
    Lincoln nodded, his hand reaching down for mine. ‘East.’
    We ran.

    The tunnels changed shape and size as we crossed from one to the next in the complex network, having to regularly stop and use our abilities to reveal the hidden way. Grigori may be able to use these paths but there was no mistaking the dominating exile signature that pulsed around us.
    Every now and then thepath opened into a broader tunnel or crossed over a subway track, we even found ourselves running through what seemed to be an abandoned aqueduct at one point.
    We noticed a few marked doors along the way – one labelled Central Park, and another, the Empire State Building – before we finally reached one with an engraved plaque reading Grand Central Station.
    We slipped through the door, which opened into a garbage room. The rotten stench was more than offensive but I was relieved to be out of the tunnels. We made our way through the bins to the other side, where there was another door.
    ‘This is disgusting,’ I said, while Lincoln carefully opened the door just wide enough to scope out our new surroundings.
    He glanced at me. ‘Yes, but imagine how disappointed you would’ve been if it had come out in a janitor’s closet.’
    He was right. That kind of cliché would have just annoyed me.
    I smiled, even as my nerves were fighting the jitters. Things had become very bad, very fast, and now we were on the run. Again. Lincoln peered through the crack in the door, looking for an opportunity for us to slip out. Watching him, I felt sick to the gut.
    Lincoln valued his role in the Academy, as a Grigori, and now he had turned his back on everything he knew to help me escape. Josephine would already have Grigori out there looking for us. And God only knew what Lilith was up to.
    What will happen to him after all of this? Will he lose his place in the ranks of Grigori?
    I couldn’tlet thathappen.
    ‘Linc …’ I said, tugging his arm and drawing his attention. ‘I think you should go back.’ I bit my lip.
    He blinked. ‘Excuse me?’
    ‘You heard me. I think you should go back. I’ll be fine on my own and then you won’t be in as much trouble.’
    Still watching through the gap in the door, he must’ve spied an opportunity to move because he grabbed my hand, opened the door and pulled me through behind him. Suddenly, we were in the very public Grand Central Station. Lincoln didn’t slow, dragging me along until we turned a corner. There, we stopped, Lincoln checking back around the corner in case anyone had followed us. Satisfied, he turned a severe look on me.
    ‘Let’s get this straight right now. I’m not going anywhere.’ But even as he stared at me, I noticed his breath hitch as he became aware of just how close our bodies were.
    His expression softened. ‘You don’t need to protect me, Vi. I’m by your side and nothing you say will get rid of me.’ His voice became