Reborn

Chapter Twenty

"It's a possibility," Marl said. "But it's a risk we are willing to take."

"You're not taking the risk though, are you? I am." I shot back, unable to control my own frustration. Neither Vince nor Marl were taking the risk by doing this, it was all on me. If I was caught faking the grimoire, it would be my life that would be ended, not theirs. I'd be the one handing the damn thing over to the hybrid, knowing full well he could decide to kill me anyway for murdering his friend.

Yeah, I was beginning to see why Shadow couldn't find out about this now. There was no way he'd let me agree to a plan such as this; there was no way he'd let me endanger my own life to save anyone, even if I was saving his life too.

"Violet, if you do not want to do this," Vince started to speak and I turned back to face him to see he was leaning forward, eyes meeting my own. "If there is a part of you that does not want to do this, then tell me now and I will take you back. But know that if you do, the hybrid will attack and I cannot guarantee anyone's safety."

I shook my head immediately. "I'm not backing out. Yeah, I'm worried it won't work but I know you're both right. This is the only chance to get the hybrid away from us, at least until we come up with something better. And if it means that I can save everyone then of course I'll do it."

Vince's eyes narrowed, searching my face for something, though I wasn't sure what. I kept my eyes on him, wanting him to see that I was serious about going through with this. They may have taken me from London without telling me anything and they have told me not to tell Shadow anything but I knew that they were right; faking the grimoire was our only option at this point.

"Then you can call Shadow." Vince pointed at my phone. "But do not tell him where we are, please. He will come straight here and try to kill both Marl and myself for bringing you into this."

I smiled, picking up my phone. "Shadow won't think to come here because truthfully, I never wanted to come back here."

"This is your hometown." Marl stated, frowning at me. "Why are you not pleased to be back?"

"Because I've had a lot of bad memories here." I answered, not wanting to go into too much detail. I was sure Vince knew about my past but I knew Marl didn't and he was too much of a gentleman to pry into my life. That was the one thing I'd learnt about Marl in the short time I'd known him; he was a perfect gentleman. Sometimes.

Marl accepted my answer easily and just as I'd suspected, he didn't ask further questions about why I wasn't happy to be back in Scarborough, nor did he ask what bad memories made me hesitant to be here. I was grateful for that.

"I'm gonna call Shadow." I got to my feet, keeping a tight grip on my phone as I left the hotel room. The three of us were sharing a hotel room because apparently, according to Vince, just because he had money didn't mean he wanted to throw it around carelessly when he had no reason to. I failed to point out the fact it wasn't a careless move to at least get me my own damn hotel room, purely because I didn't want to piss him off. He's still a hybrid, after all, and could quite happily kill me in seconds.

I didn't leave the hotel to call Shadow but I did want a little privacy, which was the sole reason for leaving the hotel room in the first place. I ended up going over to one of the chairs near the front entrance and sitting down so I could call my boyfriend, knowing full well how the conversation was going to go.

He picked up instantly.

"Violet!" He exclaimed, the relief clear in his voice. "Where the hell are you? Please tell me you're okay, that you haven't been hurt?!"

"Hurt? No, Shadow, I haven't been hurt." I assured him, confusion running through me for only a second before it dawned on me. "Oh god, you thought the hybrid got to me, didn't you?"

"You've had us worried sick, you know that?! You have no idea how terrified I was to get back and see that you were gone. Why didn't you answer any of our calls?! I thought he'd gotten to you, Vi, I thought he had-" He stopped short, unable to finish his sentence but it didn't matter; I knew what he'd been about to say and I mentally cursed Vince and Marl for not letting me let him know I was okay sooner. I had known they would be wondering why I hadn't answered any of their calls but I hadn't thought for a second they would assume I was in danger.

"I'm so sorry," I whispered, running a hand through my hair as I stared at my lap. "I wanted to call you, I really did but they said it was better I didn't and I-"

"What do you mean? Where are you? What's going on?" He fired the questions at me, not even giving me the chance to speak before he was asking me another. "You're with Vince, aren't you? What's he up to?"

"Yes, I'm with him and Marl but I can't tell you where we are..." I felt awful telling him that when I knew how worried he must have been. I hated keeping things from him, especially important things such as this but I had no choice. If he knew what we were up to, he'd stop us. I knew that for a fact.

"Why can't you tell me?" He spoke through gritted teeth.

"All I can say is that we have a plan," I hurried to explain, hoping that the lack of details would be enough, even though I knew it probably wouldn't be. "I really think it could work, Shadow, I do. You just have to give us the time."

"And what is your part in this plan, Violet?" He was still angry, that much was obvious and I knew he was trying to fit the pieces together.

"I can't tell you what the plan is either..." I felt even worse at that. "But you have to trust us. You have to trust me."

"I do trust you but I don't trust this plan when you can't tell me a single thing about it."

"Please, I know it's hard but you-"

"I thought you were dead, Violet." He suddenly snapped, causing my eyes to widen in shock. "Fuck... you have no idea what thoughts were running through my mind when you didn't answer your goddamn phone and then I started thinking you were dead and that I couldn't save you. Do not tell me that you know it's hard when you have no idea what I've been going through."

I winced, knowing he was right. It had been a whole 24 hours since I'd left with Vince and Marl, so he had a right to be angry. I wished that I could tell him what was going on because his opinion was the one that mattered to me most. It was actually pretty scary how much I trusted and valued his opinion but it only served to prove just how much I love him, how deep my feelings had become.

"Vi," He breathed out, taking my silence the wrong way. "I'm sorry for getting angry but... I don't think you realise how hard this is. I love you so fucking much it drives me insane so to get back to see you were gone and you weren't answering your phone... I freaked out."

"I'm sorry, I really am." I apologised. "I wanted to tell you, I still do but I know if I do, you'll be straight here and Vince is right. If you knew, there's no way you'd let this happen and it has to happen, Shadow. It's the only plan any of us has come up with that actually stands a chance of working. You just have to trust me."

There was a long pause and then, "I do trust you so I'll let you do whatever it is you have to do but I want to know where you are. I need to know, for my own sanity."

"You can't come and find me." I stated, knowing Vince and Marl wouldn't be best pleased if Shadow turned up unexpectedly. "You have to promise me you won't turn up here."

"I promise." He responded with a bite to his tone that indicated he wasn't happy to have to stay away. I wouldn't be surprised if he broke his promise and turned up here anyway but it was a risk I'd have to take. I wouldn't have him worrying about me when there was no need to. If there was any way he could feel more at ease, I'd just have to do it.

"I'm in Scarborough."