Violet Eden Chapters 04 - Endless

perfect, but caffeine is caffeine.
    We sipped in comfortable silence. If felt normal and I pretended for a while that we were just ordinary people, even boyfriend and girlfriend, away for the weekend, enjoying each other’s company. Lincoln must have been thinking the same thing, or just sensed my feeling, because he jumped into small talk and we bantered back and forth while munching on a packet of Oreos.
    Finally, our make-believe chat ended when Lincoln asked, ‘Have you had any thoughts about next year? Do you think you’ll try for university?’
    I lifted a shoulder.
    ‘I know you had to give up your place on the Fenton course. I’m sorry, Vi. I’ve been meaning to tell you that I know a few people who could probably help get you a place there next year if you’d like.’
    There was a time when I definitely would like . But I shook my head. ‘Thanks, but don’t bother. Even if we make it through this, there’ll always be something.’
    ‘That’s not true. You don’t have to give up on your dreams just because you’re Grigori.’
    We were silent again for a while. Lincoln checked his watch and I could tell he was thinking he should patrol again soon. I knew I should tell him what I’d done, about my crazy, impulsive act out in the woods earlier, but when I opened my mouth, something completely different came out.
    ‘I don’t love him,’ I blurted.
    I heard Lincoln’s breath catch. But then he relaxed back into his chair. ‘Did you?’
    I swallowed, nervous now. Why had I opened this floodgate? ‘I I cared about him. I think I saw a side to him that no one else got to see and I don’t think it was all fake. There is good in him and even for all the bad I know he cared.’
    ‘Not exactly an answer, Vi.’
    ‘No. Iknow.’ I sighed. ‘I was so mad at you and I wanted to stop loving you, I wanted to love him. I was confused and angry and about to jump off a really big cliff. You had just told me that we could never be together and …’
    ‘And?’
    ‘And he made it better.’ The confession stung. ‘He made the pain go away, replaced it with other things. I think I became kind of addicted to him, to his abilities. But,’ I looked at Lincoln now, letting out the vulnerability I always tried to keep hidden. He needed to see the truth. ‘The answer is no. And I’m sorry for everything that happened. I’m sorry to you and I’m sorry to him, too.’
    Lincoln studied my eyes, gazing at me with nothing short of admiration – which I knew I didn’t deserve – and possibly more.
    ‘Violet Eden, you have nothing to apologise for,’ he said.
    I felt his presence only a split second before he spoke.
    ‘Speak for yourself,’ Phoenix said, stepping out from the nearby tree-line, hands in his pockets. ‘I’d rather like to have that apology.’



CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
    ‘For the son of man has come to save that which was lost. ’
    Matthew 18:11
    E verythinghappened so fast.
    Lincoln leaped up from his rocking chair and over the railing of the verandah, landing on the lawn in front of Phoenix, who moved into striking zone with the speed of wind.
    Phoenix grinned wickedly at Lincoln, his hatred on show. ‘No dagger.’ He made a tsk’ing sound. ‘Sloppy.’
    I was on the lawn by then, too, and stepped up beside Lincoln. ‘But I have mine,’ I said.
    Phoenix didn’t take his attention off Lincoln, the two of them circling each other.
    ‘I’d be lying if I said I haven’t dreamed of this moment – taking you down once and for all,’ Phoenix said, tauntingly, moving in short gusts of wind.
    Lincoln tracked him, keeping up. ‘Funny. You don’t seem to make it into my dreams.’
    ‘That’s because you’re busy dreaming of things I’ve already had,’ Phoenix said, gesturing to me but not taking his eyes off Lincoln.
    ‘Stop it,’ I warned him.
    Phoenixsmiled at Lincoln. ‘Just wake up, did we?’
    ‘Violet, go inside,’ Lincoln ordered.
    He did not just say that.
    ‘You heard him, lover. He obviously has a lot of pent-up frustration.’ Phoenix’s smile broadened. ‘Understandably. Best to let him try. You should run along while he gets a beating for his efforts.’
    My eyes narrowed in on the two of them but as I did, I pushed out my senses, scanning the area as far as I could. There were no other exiles nearby.
    Phoenix darted me a look before returning to Lincoln. The hate fuming between the two of them was dense in the night air.
    Shit.
    ‘I invited him!’ I