Empower

Book 0: Violet Eden Chapters

by Jessica Shirvington

Genres: Fantasy; Dark Fantasy; Occult & Supernatural; Magical Realism; Sagas; Contemporary Romance

Synopsis

Who will Violet choose?

It has been two years since Violet Eden walked away from the city, her friends, her future and - most painfully - her soulmate, Lincoln. Part angel, part human, Violet is determined to stand by the promises she made to save the one she loves.

Living with the perpetual coldness of a broken soul she survives day to day as a Rogue Grigori in London. But when an unexpected visitor shows up at her door, the news he bears about someone she swore to protect forces Violet to confront emotions she'd sought to bury.

Even worse, she fears that this might all lead back to the night she tries hardest to forget. And to what was taken without her permission.

Violet is returning to New York . . . and she knows exactly who is going to be there.

With Phoenix in her dreams and Lincoln in her heart Violet knows it is only a matter of time before the final choice must be made.

Empower is the final explosive book in The Violet Eden Chapters.


The Violet Eden Chapters

Book One: Embrace
Book Two: Entice
Book Three: Emblaze
Book Four: Endless
Book Five: Empower

Release date: November 12, 2013

Publisher: Hachette Australia

Print pages: 464

Sample

‘But I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep.’

Robert Frost

my sweater was coated in a layer of mist – again – a byproduct of life in London. I barely noticed the constant drizzle any more. It’s not as if the cold bothered me. Not when I was the very definition of cold.

What was bothering me was the smell. There is something rank about a meat market at night. Especially when you’re wedged into the eaves wondering what, over the years, has been sprayed about and never cleaned away. I shuddered.

The Smithfield Market was currently in vogue, but a gritty sense of history thickened the air, giving it a density that made me sure this wasn’t the first time the site had been used for wicked intent. And right now, it was hunting hour.

At least I was the hunter.

I watched quietly as the exiles came into the centre of the massive terminal-style space, vaguely interested to note that there were six of them, instead of the four I’d expected. No bother, I suppose. I still had the element of surprise on my side.

The past two years had taught me not to let the everyday hiccups get to me. Sure, the additional muscle would hurt, but only in the physical sense and I could cope with that. Rolling with the punches is necessary when you are a Grigori – a human–angel hybrid – a weapon against the ever-increasing numbers of exiled angels on earth. For me, even more so since they gave me such a colourful nickname. I’m the Keshet – the rainbow. I didn’t ask to be, but I made my choices and I stand by them.

So, there I was. Although I was still trying to figure out exactly what being the rainbow meant, mostly I found that the desire to know conflicted with my continuing need not to think about it at all. One thing I did know was that somehow I could create space with the angels – an unknown place where we were able to take form and communicate. My angel maker – whose name I still didn’t know – said it was a place of new possibilities. For what, I was not sure.

But I know this is what I am. It is what I will be.

The final two exiles sauntered up to the four already waiting. It used to be impossible for me to be this close to exiles without them going into a frenzy, sensing my presence. But I’d learned many lessons over the past year, the most useful of which had been how to keep my guards up and locked so tight that even exiles couldn’t sense me when I was truly concentrating.

Which – judging by the thin film of sweat on my forehead – is now.

The exiles dumped the huge calico sack they had been dragging along the floor and pulled it open, revealing three mutilated bodies to join the two maimed ones already on display.

From my position it was difficult to tell how old the corpses were, and if the smell was able to give a clue, I wouldn’t have known, the stink of death and flesh being an overall theme of the place.

It was no wonder the exiles liked it so much.

Normally, exiles wouldn’t bother with the clean-up – leaving evidence was of no concern. Normally, the exiles enjoyed the mess and despair they left behind. But not these ones. These dark exiles were working for someone else. They’d been following a plan, using a hit list, and it was all too well-constructed for any one of them to mastermind. Our intel told us they’d been hired. Such behaviour would usually be considered beneath them, but apparently this group of exiles had decided the job was thrilling enough to suffer the humiliation of working for the highest bidder – even if that was a human.

As for the billionaire businessman, well, that’s not my department, but someone will pay him a visit. Right after all the evidence of his wrongdoing – minus the exile activity – is handed over to the authorities and his bank accounts are heavily syphoned to pay for the futures of his victims’ families. And our fee, of course.

Which, thanks to certain people, is exorbitant.

Two of the exiles were dressed impeccably: one in a steel-grey suit and sporting villain-typical slicked-back hair; the other wore a slim-collared black suit that hugged his tall figure and set off his of-the-moment tousled light brown hair. The remaining four were less striking in casual wear, though nonetheless picture perfect. All six looked over the bodies like fishermen comparing the size and quality of their haul. My hand grazed my dagger, the blade that had been given to me after I first embraced my powers and became a Grigori warrior three years ago. I was never without it. I even had a sheath attached to my bed for a quick draw if needed.

I’d learned the hard way – through the death and suffering of people I loved and, strangely enough, through my own death and suffering – exiles stop at nothing. Their insanity and misguided missions know no bounds and they take pleasure in causing great pain and suffering to humankind.

At least tonight I would only face exiles of dark. A couple of years ago the two opposing sides, light and dark, had called a truce. Of course, I tried not to think back to that time.

I tried constantly.

The discovery of the scripture that could end all Grigori had found its way into my hands. That in itself was part of the reason the Assembly had rejected me. They blamed me for trading with the dark exile, Phoenix. My decision had allowed him to resurrect Lilith – his mother, the first dark exile – from the dead, and she had taken control of the Grigori Scripture. But at the time my choice had been a simple one. Phoenix had Steph, my best friend, and I wasn’t about to take any chances with her life. I’ve never regretted that choice.

Not like so many others I’ve made.

In the end, that made it easier to walk away from a place in the Academy when Josephine decided to change her mind. Of course, that was after I’d given my life, Lincoln’s soul had shattered and Phoenix had died – proving that not only was he the son of Lilith, but he was also the human son of the first man, Adam – all so that I could kill Lilith. And those reasons weren’t even the ones I tried not to think about.

But I can’t go there right now.

I caught myself: I was working and the last thing I could afford to do was acknowledge that I was thinking about him.

The six exiles started to shift the remains of the bodies towards the incinerator, tossing them with supernatural strength and no care. I half expected them to try and mince the meat and load it onto trays for sale tomorrow. I wouldn’t put anything past them.

‘Make sure you take the index fingers,’ one of the suited exiles instructed. ‘Mr George is expecting me to deliver them to him tonight.’

That’s a shame. Though I’m sure Mr George will receive a knock at his door nonetheless.

‘I still don’t understand why we don’t just kill him, too,’ another said.

‘Are you challenging me?’ The exile who had spoken first stepped forward.

His questioner mirrored his actions.

Here we go.

‘If I must.’

Exiles never back down. Their pride and egotism combined with their unique brand of insanity is just too much to ignore. Angels were not created to take corporeal forms on earth. Though they have existed for eternity, in human bodies they manifest emotions in ways their innate nature can never process. It makes them unstable. And almost unstoppable.

I wriggled into a better position and waited patiently, knowing that this would work in my favour.

Sure enough, the exile who had spoken out first also struck out first, engaging with the suited exile. It didn’t last long. The suit, clearly the older of the two and a true fighter – my guess was he had once been either a Domination or a Power – overpowered his opponent, snapping his neck and making quick work of removing his heart.

We had our methods of ending their immortal existence, they had theirs.

Happy days. I now have one less exile to take care of.

I checked the time and sighed. If I didn’t get this show on the road I’d lose my window. And fighting alone was always my preference.

The drop to the ground was at least two storeys high, but I landed behind the group of exiles lightly, thanks to my angelic enhancements.

Breathing calmly, I let go of the power I was holding tightly within, just enough to lower my shields.

The exiles, who had been preoccupied with their boasting, stiffened instantly and spun around to face the new threat. It was almost comical, the look of surprise on their faces. I guess a Grigori had never snuck up on them before.

Responding quickly, the suited exile stepped forward, shoving two of them to the side, the five of them quickly forming a semi-circle around me.

So nice of them to stand in single file.

But the way he studied me – with trademark exile insanity and undisguised raw desire – made me think that this one recognised me. It happened from time to time.

I wanted to sit around and chew the fat. Really. I couldn’t think of anything I’d rather do with my time than hear about how they intended to rip me limb from limb and how that would make them as great as gods and me the most pathetic of humans. But when you’ve heard it all before, and always walked away – or, at the very least, been carried – while they were returned for their ultimate judgement, it gets old. So, I cut to the chase.

‘You have a choice. Make it or I will make it for you,’ I said, knowing that of all Grigori, I alone had the right to put it like that. ‘Consider wisely,’ I reinforced. After all, I could return them like any other Grigori with one of our blades, but if I willed it I could also strip them of their angelic strengths and leave them human – a fate exiles considered worse than an eternity in the pits of Hell. As far as I was aware, I was the only Grigori who could do this without requiring the exile in question to first choose such a fate. Which, of course, never happened.

‘You brought Lilith to her end,’ the suit said, his head tilted to the side, as if confused.

Yeah, that’s right, little ol’ me.

And it only cost me everything that mattered.

I raised my eyebrows. ‘Time’s almost up,’ I said, refraining from closing my eyes briefly as I felt a surge of power within, something that had been happening increasingly. I was getting stronger, and exactly what that meant and how to harness it wasn’t the kind of knowledge I was excited to discover.

I could strip them all, make their choice for them and be done with it, but I’d only done it twice. Onyx had been my first and I’d seen the pain it caused him. I didn’t like knowing I was the one who took away his choice. Who was I to do such a thing? The second had been a demonstration, and had resulted in the exile in question meeting a quick death. I can’t say I regretted it – he’d been one of the exiles so happy to see me strapped to a crucifix and tortured for hours – but still …

Anyway, tonight was more like training, and I’d been taught to be thorough. So, when the suit threw the first exile at me – knowing he’d be nothing more than a momentary distraction while I took him down and he lined up the next one – I got to work.

I braced, grabbing my dagger and moving into position. By the time the exile came within range my dagger had sliced through his heart and he was no longer there. Simply gone. Where did their physical forms go? Beats me.

I was already spinning by the time the second one was sent flying through the air towards me. My foot stopped his momentum and threw him back. I was on him in an instant, my dagger going straight to his heart. It didn’t need to be the heart to return them, just a killing blow inflicted by a Grigori weapon. You could slice into exiles all day long with your garden-variety knife or shoot them with a gun but neither option worked. I’d never seen a Grigori manage to rip out an exile’s heart barehanded, and even though the trick worked for exiles taking out other exiles, something told me that it did not alter our rules. Permanent results for Grigori over exiles only came via the blades of angels.

Or my blood.

The third exile went much the same way and soon enough I was left being circled by the two suits. To my surprise, they actually worked together – exiles aren’t good at that – boxing me into a corner. The brown-haired exile in the black suit moved in on me when the other one feigned a move to my right. I took a closed fist across the face and a foot to the stomach.

I heard a crack. Broken rib. But I didn’t register the pain. That kind of pain was barely a tickle compared to the agony I carried inside, every moment of every day.

My pause gave the other exile the chance to take a swing. His foot collided with my hand so hard that my dagger went flying across the room. I kept my eyes on my attackers but my ear on my weapon, listening to the reverberations as it slid along the concrete floor and eventually hit the far wall with a clang.

The exiles smiled.

I sighed.

Then I leaped into the air, gaining enough height to grip the brown-haired exile’s throat between my knees. Twisting my body as I fell through the air, I dragged the exile down with me, his neck breaking with a loud crunch.

It wouldn’t keep him down for good, but a broken neck buys time.

The exile in the grey suit grabbed me roughly from behind and threw me into the wall.

I groaned as I slid down the metal piping my back had hit. It was the opposite wall to my dagger.

Damn it.

It wasn’t an ideal situation. And I wasn’t fool enough to delude myself into thinking I could make it to my dagger. I was regretting my decision not to wear any other weapons tonight, but my dagger was the only weapon that, when sheathed, was invisible to human eyes.

Think, Vi.

I’d come down behind a wall of old crates. I was considering how I could use them to my advantage when I spotted a piece of the slim metal piping I’d broken in my fall. It lay by my foot.

I could hear the exiles moving towards me. They were cackling.

‘We should take her body with us to the tournament tonight,’ one said.

The other one laughed. ‘That would definitely put dark in the lead.’

‘And everyone would know that we were the ones who killed her.’

Can anyone say: premature victory?

Without stopping to think I pulled off the bracelet from my left wrist, using the specially designed clasp to cut open the flesh around my silver marking, currently swirling in the presence of exiles, and let it spill onto the end of the metal bar.

It took just a few seconds and as soon as I palmed the pipe, the exiles started to throw the crates aside then came into view, their smiles wide with anticipation.

I stood. I didn’t return their smiles. I didn’t bother to do anything other than what needed to be done.

I lunged, raising my elbow into the face of the black-haired exile as I spun, the metal pipe striking his companion through the heart. He was gone. I turned back to the first exile and, hoping that there was still enough of my blood on the pipe to do the trick and using my supernatural speed for all it was worth, I jammed the pipe straight into his neck.

His face wore an expression of pure surprise.

I’d seen that look before.

I sighed and my shoulders slumped forward, unfulfilled. This was my job, one that I would do for as long as I existed, which could be a significantly long time. But two years ago I’d accepted that there was no longer any satisfaction to be had in my world.

No fairytales.

Only the cold.

Turning towards where I thought my dagger had landed, my surroundings suddenly changed.

I was no longer seeing the warehouse. There were flashes of white, moving fast, pounding hooves. Horses. Silver streaked through the air like a dance. Swords. Slashes of red painted the sky. Something sharp and deadly ripping through flesh – wet and gruesome. Claws. Thousands and thousands of beings as far as I could see fought ruthlessly, with no sign of tiring. In the centre, two warriors battled beneath a blinding light. I could not make out their faces.

I blinked hard.

The image was gone and in its place Gray stood against the wall of Lincoln’s warehouse, casually flipping my dagger in the air. ‘Would you like me to applaud?’ he asked.

Leaning against a metal support pole, he had that mid-twenties look I’d come to associate with the older Grigori – though I had no idea how old he really was – and was dressed in his usual black jeans, black T-shirt and black leather jacket. Black really was the only colour worth investing in – blood stains everything else. He sported about a week’s worth of growth on his face, though his head was shaved, the scars that ran over the top of his skull telling of a history both terrible and secret. Grigori did not generally scar, so I knew that whatever had caused these had occurred before Gray had turned seventeen.

I swallowed over the lump in my throat and glanced around as I composed myself. The whole … hallucination … had lasted only a couple of seconds. I clenched my jaw.

Christ. It was nothing. I’m just imagining things.

I snapped my bracelet back in place over my marking and shot him a dry look. ‘Should I be charging a spectator fee?’

My voice sounded normal but my ears felt like they were still ringing with the echoes of battle.

‘Not if the show is going to be over so fast, princess.’

I glared at him for persisting with the stupid nickname. ‘You know, you could’ve stepped in and given me a hand.’

‘Sure,’ he said with a solemn nod. ‘And you could’ve waited until the meet time we’d all agreed on, too.’

I looked away briefly. ‘So, why are you here early?’ I asked, hoping to divert the conversation.

Gray tilted his head. ‘Because I know you.’

I shrugged off the veiled accusation, even though it was true. To a degree.

‘It was easier this way.’

He threw my dagger into the air and I caught it by the hilt and slipped it back into its sheath.

‘Well you can explain that to the others, since they just arrived.’



‘Children, it is the last hour, and just as you heard that Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared: from this we know that it is the last hour.’

1 John 2:18

gray and I found the other Rogues waiting in the designated meeting place around the corner from the market.

Spotting us, Carter took one look at me and hoisted himself onto the bonnet of his car, shaking his head. ‘Bloody hell, fellas, she’s done it again.’

Milo and Turk set hard looks on me. The first time I’d been on the receiving end of their stares, it almost made me think twice about fighting solo again. But then, the alternative was even less appealing.

I wished I could explain it so they would understand. Hell, I wished I could understand all the reasons why it was easier to fight alone. I could say it was because of my blood. That since none of them – apart from Gray – knew what I could do with it, I was merely protecting one of my many secrets. Rogues were a law unto themselves, and I was still learning all the rules that operated under the guise of having none. I could also argue that if one of them was hurt I would feel responsible and have to heal them, creating a bond that, although nothing like that between Phoenix and me, still suggested some kind of ongoing commitment. Keeping my distance from people had become paramount to my day-to-day survival.

Really, though, I knew that it had more to do with not wanting to rely on anyone. And not being able to watch one of them take a fall.

Not that I was about to admit to any of that. These guys would eat me alive.

So instead, I shrugged. ‘I got here early and saw an opportunity, so I took it. Don’t we have somewhere else to be tonight anyway?’

Carter lit a cigarette, inhaling deeply. Of all the Rogues, Carter was the most … unpredictable. And the biggest. The guy was built like a freight train and had the strength of one too. When he pushed his hand roughly through his overgrown brown hair and narrowed his amber eyes at me, it was not in jest.

I rolled mine in response, to which I am fairly certain he growled.

‘We all know that job ain’t paying anything like this one,’ he said, not even attempting to keep his voice down.

I folded my arms, unperturbed. ‘You’ll all still get your cut.’ This was never about solo profiteering. ‘This way we can get on with the other job and you’ll all be able to start drinking earlier than planned.’

Milo threw me a wink and Turk ruffled his bleached mohawk. I read both actions as signs that they were happy enough with my offer. Carter, however, was still eyeing me off. He’d put on his full-length leather coat for nothing and was pissed he’d missed the fight.

I sighed. ‘I’ll buy you all a round,’ I offered, to which Carter grunted but tossed his cigarette and slid off the bonnet.

‘You’ll be buying at least a few, purple,’ he said, getting into the driver’s seat as Milo and Turk filed into the back. ‘Where we headed?’ he asked Gray.

‘Round the back of King’s Cross Station. That big building they have all those billboards around,’ Gray answered.

‘The new Schrager hotel?’ I asked.

Carter curled his lip. I suppose he didn’t really care who the designer was. I might have left my artist days behind, but I still noticed things like that.

‘That’s the one,’ Gray said. ‘You know the drill. It’s a London Academy job and they’re paying us to be there as back-up. Tread on their toes and we don’t get paid. Got it?’

Everyone nodded except Carter, who grunted and started his death-trap car. He didn’t offer me a lift, which sucked, since now I’d have to ride on the back of Gray’s bike. It was nothing personal, but I would have preferred the death trap. Of all the Rogues I was closest to Gray, but letting people into my space – and hanging onto them on the back of a bike classified as such – wasn’t my idea of a good time. It reminded me of things I’d never again have.

Things broken beyond repair.

Taking part in Academy business was something I preferred to avoid, but this job had come in carrying an additional request from the New York Academy, and as much as I didn’t owe them any favours, I agreed to the occasional contract. When Gray first told me about this one earlier today, I’d felt that chill on the back of my neck that I’d learned to respond to, and signed up.

‘You really should invest in some helmets,’ I said, not for the first time.

Gray gave me a flat stare and got on his Harley. ‘Feel free to walk.’

Like that was going to happen.

I hooked my leg over the seat, careful to maintain a distance between our bodies, and made a scoffing sound.

‘Well, don’t expect me to heal you if you come off and land on your head.’ As soon as the words left my mouth I froze, remembering the scars on Gray’s head.

Was that what had happened to him?

Gray’s shoulders shook for a moment before he flashed a knowing smile at me. ‘Not even close, princess. And if I’m not gonna wear a bucket on my head when I fight exiles, I sure as hell won’t be bothering when I ride my bike.’

As he started the engine and pulled out, I knew I’d lost my fight. Gray loved his bike and the freedom that came with it.

I couldn’t deny him that.

We followed Carter’s souped-up Fiat and pulled up behind him a block away from the building. We walked the final distance, spotting a group of about a dozen Grigori huddled together not far from the construction site, as planned. They were beneath a ‘glamour’, hidden from human eyes. It was reasonably constructed but I’d seen better and stronger. It worried me.

Exile activity only seemed to be increasing, and while Grigori were strong and capable, we were limited in number. Although new Grigori continued to come through, it took seventeen years from first being given the essence of an angel before we could embrace our powers, and then even more time to train. Our numbers were simply not holding up. Had the angels not foreseen this problem?

They must have.

And yet I feared that the time when we would finally be overpowered was closer than we knew.

I stayed behind the guys. They didn’t think anything of me pulling on my worn Yankees cap – a gift from Zoe – and moving into the shadows. We were Rogues. Anonymity was our right. And a lot of Rogues had serious trust issues with the Academy.

The senior Grigori running the mission greeted Gray. I recognised Clive and his partner, Annette, from a previous gig we’d taken on a couple of months back – not that I’d ever spoken with them. Clive and Gray shook hands and talked quietly while I looked at the team they had assembled.

Another unsettling feeling swept over me. There were more than a dozen Grigori but the majority were young. Apart from the leading pair, only a few looked prepared.

Gray returned to where we’d been standing at the edge of the pack.

‘Okay, they had a tip-off that this is a tournament site. We have the north entry and exit, which is the closest. We hold the upper level.’

I wondered if this was the same tournament the exiles I’d taken on earlier had discussed. Tournaments had been popping up all over the city lately.

‘How many?’ Carter asked.

‘They don’t know. Intel says it could be a big group.’

Milo gave a toothy grin. ‘Yeah. Bet they’re in there swapping recipes and baking bread.’

The guys chuckled.

‘Why aren’t there more Grigori here? And more senior Grigori at that?’ I asked, grimacing, as I realised my critical observation made me sound a lot like my mother. But London was a big city with an independent Academy. I was surprised they hadn’t sent in a more impressive show of force.

‘Apparently they’re spread thin at the moment with this type of operation,’ Gray said and shrugged. ‘That’s why they called us in, I suppose.’ He glanced at the others. ‘Let’s just do our bit, get our money and clear out.’

We all agreed, and I pushed my unease to the side and focused on the job at hand. Once we received the nod from Clive, we ran towards the northern entrance, which I was pleased to note was the closest, giving us the advantage of first eyes inside. Once the Academy Grigori started to filter into the building, any hope of stealth would be forgotten. They did not value our defensive shields in the same way Rogues – particularly our small group – did.

We slipped in through the side door and down a dark corridor that led towards another door. When Gray cracked it open we heard the sounds immediately, and tensed.

Flesh against flesh.

Ripping.

Beating.

Inhuman growling.

The sounds combined evoked death.

Slowly we stepped through the doorway and found ourselves looking down. The construction works had reduced the building to an outer shell that concealed nothing but a cavernous space.

Floodlights sat in the corners lighting up what could only be described as the exile equivalent of a fight club.

‘Maybe we should just leave them to it,’ Carter whispered, gesturing towards the sparring figures below.

It wasn’t an altogether ridiculous idea. At this rate the number we’d have to face would soon be considerably fewer. In Exile Fight Club there is only one rule: the loser must die. And right then, there were four simultaneous fights going on and what looked like another two dozen exiles divided into two distinct groups, champing at the bit as they waited on the sidelines.

Over the past two years, since the alliances that had been formed between light and dark in their mutual quest to destroy all Grigori had dissolved, out-in-the-open brawling had become common practice. But the ‘tournaments’, ones like this – premeditated, orderly – were new.

For all the benefits, being an angel and incorporeal had one definite drawback – no blood and guts. Dark and light have an eternal rivalry but as angels they are limited in ways that some cannot accept. In human form their eternal fantasies play out. For exiles, earth and its offerings of life and beauty come a distant second to its promise of pain and death.

I pointed to the top of the scaffolding positioned in the centre of the work site. ‘That’s why we can’t leave them to it.’

Tied to the top of the scaffolding were at least ten humans. Gagged and with their hands tied behind their backs, they were bound to the metal structure, trapped as it wobbled precariously in response to the hits it was absorbing from below.

Killing humans was the aim and prize of the game. The team that managed to take out enough of its opponents to make it to the top and savage the humans won. And somewhere in all that, some sick bastard kept score.

My gifts allowed me to differentiate between exiles of light and dark and this helped to give me a more complete view of the organised mayhem below. Most of the exiles were dressed in fight wear but the styles spanned different eras. Exiles tended to get stuck in the fashion of the time at which they first became human, so while there was typical street wear, there were also army fatigues, Roman-style weapons, ninja get-ups and, of course, for those who insisted on rising above their peers to the end, perfectly pressed suits.

As empirically beautiful as each and every one of these exiles was, this was not some fight scene in a Hollywood movie and there was no sparring. It was a show of extreme violence as they launched no-holds-barred attacks on one another, knowing with complete certainty that every fight would be to the death.

We watched in silence as an exile of dark ripped the hea