Violet Eden Chapters 04 - Endless

are.’
    I knew Hag was another term for Lilith.
    ‘I know who my allies are.’
    ‘No. You know who you can trust, but there is one who would give his life, his very existence, for you. You must see him before it is too late,’ Nox said, smiling. ‘The dark beckons you.’
    ‘Phoenix,’ I whispered.
    ‘We have been granted permission to aid you. If you can command Lilith in her physical form, fully subdued, we can take her from you. But …’ Uri stood now and took a few steps towards me. ‘We can’t take her from your world. You must bring her over to us.’
    ‘Me? How? I I don’t know how to cross the realms.’
    Uri blinked at me and seemed to go somewhere else in his mind. I turned to Nox.
    He shrugged. ‘You have already proven you can carry things between the realms.’
    ‘Yeah – grains of sand and a button!’
    ‘We will open the connection, like we have done before; you simply need to cross into our space. It will be like when you first learned to move, in Santorini. How do you think you did that?’
    ‘Strength.’
    Nox scoffed. ‘Hardly.’
    I took offence, which he enjoyed.
    I looked at the mirrors again, wanting to see myself. I thought about it so hard that out of nowhere, my reflection suddenly appeared, repeated up and down the entire length of the hall as it bounced off the mirrors.
    That was my answer.
    ‘Willpower,’ I said.
    ‘Yes,’ Uri said from my other side. ‘Always.’
    ‘Where do you go when you do that?’ I asked.
    ‘Where do you go?’ Uri replied.
    ‘I don’t …’ But I stopped. I did go places when I tapped into the ability we called Sight. I moved away from my body and went to the places I needed to.
    ‘Oh,’ I said.
    ‘There is one more thing,’ Nox said. ‘When you cross the realms, you’ll need an anchor.’
    I thought about the times Uri and Nox had crossed the realms. They had only ever come one at a time, the other always having to stay behind to work as an anchor.
    ‘How does it work?’
    ‘It must be someone more than human and near to your body, and one with whom you share significance. Their very existence in your world allows you to be drawn back there when you are ready, though it isn’t pleasant for your chosen anchor,’ Uri said, giving a rare twitch of his nose.
    ‘Significance?’
    Nox turned his back to me and began to walk away down the long corridor. ‘Love, blood,’ he glanced over his shoulder at Uri. ‘Insufferable hate.’
    I caught an uptilt at the corners of Uri’s mouth. ‘One that invokes the passions.’
    ‘Soul?’ I asked.
    They didn’t answer.
    ‘Lincoln?’
    Was what we had strong enough?
    Still no answer.
    ‘Would our souls have to be bonded?’ I called out.
    To this Nox chuckled and threw a hand over his shoulder as if to say goodbye. ‘Excuses, excuses.’
    They were gone.
    I bolted upright in the bed.
    My wide eyes fell on Lincoln’s. He was standing in the doorway, his expression guarded and intense.
    I pushed the hair back from my face. ‘How long have I been asleep?’
    And how long have you been standing there watching me?
    He swallowed. ‘A few hours. Not long.’
    I nodded, still getting my bearings. Lincoln shifted as if he was going to leave.
    ‘Linc, do you hate me? Do you think I’m weak and cruel to you?’
    ‘No. Why would you …’ But then his eyes dropped.
    ‘Did you think I was the only one allowed to struggle with this? Come on.’ I gave him a quirky smile. ‘To be honest, I’m kind of relieved.’
    He looked up, caught my expression and raised an eyebrow. ‘Oh, yeah?’
    ‘Totally. It’s been kind of crushing my self-confidence. You know, me falling all over you all the time, and you seeming to have it all together.’ I was teasing now, kind of.
    Lincoln grinned. ‘Well, I guess we’ve solved that problem then.’
    ‘I believe so.’
    He just shook his head as I laughed, but his green eyes said only, Thank you , and hazel ones replied only, Of course .



CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
    ‘I hope you have not been leading a double life, pretending to be wicked and being good all the time.’
    Oscar Wilde
    A fterordering Lincoln to sleep, I headed out to walk the perimeter just as he had. Everything was silent. When I returned to the cabin I subconsciously reached out to him with my powers and felt his heart beating rhythmically.
    Home.
    When I found the sandwiches he’d left in the fridge – which he’d obviously turned on – I snorted a laugh but fell on them gratefully