Incendiary (The Premonition Series (Volume 4)) (101 page)

Brennus
’
expression beco
me
s
soft.
“Ye see…
’
tis
just like ye
:
alone. Ye need an army ta protect ye. If na, den ye are j
us an animal…trapped.” I watch
as Brennus’
tall,
sinister tapers
near
and
surround
us;
they use
their
garish,
illuminated heads to cast
pools of light over the snowy courtyard
.
Beyond the
glowing circles
, shadowy figures of Gancanagh
e
merge
from everywhere I look; t
he
ir
hisses of yearning when they catch my scent resonate
in the air.

“Our army,
” Brennus says
like an intr
o
duction
while sweeping his hand and
gesturin
g to the hordes of icy, undead F
aeries
. “
’
Twill make a fine nest.
Dere are many
advantages
in Crestwood
.
”

I choke
, seeing their numbers; there
are legions of them. I wonder
briefly if I recogniz
e
any of them from my time among them
or if he had brought them from somewhere else.
In the next moment, elf darts erupt from the fellas, hitting the
r
econnoître
,
knocking it out of the sky. When if falls to the snowy ground, the fellas closest to it tear the beast to pieces.

“All dey need now is a queen. Dey,
like me, jus want ta share deir
existence
wi’ ye,” Brennus admits
in a low
tone.

Panic, overwhelming an
d
sickening, hit
s
me.
Rememberi
ng my personal portal, I touch
my neck
with my fingertips
, expecting to feel the
smooth,
onyx pin at my throat. But, what I
feel
instead
are slick t
rails of blood streaking it
.

“Ye
’re
looking for dis?” Brennus asks,
holding up the black ribbon with the onyx portal attached to it. “Where does it
lead?” Brennus asks
with a sublim
e smile. “
’
Tis my guess dat
’
tis
somewhere nearby…
at
da
aingeal’s
house
, perhaps?
’
Tis where he to
ught ye’
d all go—
should ye escape
. H
e knows ye well…a
lmost as well as me.
Perhaps we’ll go d
ere next…after ye join us
…”

Black dread pounces
on me, and without think
ing, I lift
my hand toward Brennus
, sending out a pulse of white, hot energy. It hit
s him where he stan
d
s
beneath a pool of light from the hovering
lampposts, lifting him off his feet and sending him hurtling into
the darkness beyond. He sprawls
flat on the ground, coming to rest in a drift of snow.

“
N
o one touches my family
,
” I murmur
.

Immediately
, Brennus lifts
up to his feet:
not by bending in the way a human would, but by magically levitating up from the ground in one, fluid motion. Hi
sses resonate from the fellas, who
inch toward me in anticipation of blood
.
A feral growl elicits
from Brennus, staying the fellas from c
oming any nearer to me.

Brennus’
eyes turn and lock on mine.
“
Ye understand nu
t
ing. Ye’
re
so naive
—’ti
s
like speaking ta a child. Ye have no idea whah da
aingeals
are after, do ye?”
he asks
rhetorically
. “
Dey need ye to fall
, Genevieve. Dey need ye
to join da Fallen. Do ye na see dat?
”

“What?” I cringe. “
You’
re insane
! Everyone has been trying to protect me—protect my soul from you.
”

“
D
at is because d
ey have
other
plans for ye, Genevieve!
Dey need ye to remain as ye are, a half-breed when ye fall.
Dey can na
afford ta have me separate ye
r soul from ye
r body.
The Fallen are only int
erested in ye as ye are now. Ye
r soul is a prize, ta be
sure, but it is na powerful wi’
out ye
r
a
i
nge
a
l
body.
I can only save da
aingeal
part of ye
from Sheol. If dere was a way ta
sa
ve yer soul as well, I’
d
do it," he says in a tense tone
.

“
Yo
u’
re talking about
fallen an
gel
s
—”
I say

He cuts me off, “
I’
m speaking of divine
a
ingeals
, too!
”

“
Why wou
ld
all of
the
angels want me to fall?”
I ask, f
eeling sick with dread because I
know
Brennus
. He believes what he’
s telling me.

“I have na been able ta
discover da
‘
why
.
’
Maybe da divine
want ye ta
get close ta
someone in Sheol. One way ta do dat is ta fall from grace
—become
one of dem,”
Brennus s
ays as his hands become fists. “
Ye trust dem blindly
, even after I told
ye na ta
!
”

“I
can’
t trust you, Brennu
s. You just want to control me,”
I retort, struggling to remember that he is truly my enemy.

“
I do want ta control ye
. Ye have no idea whah is comin’. ’
Tis bigger d
an ye. Ye balk at being me queen
, but ’t
is da only way I can see ta save ye,”
he s
ays with an earnest expression.
“
’
Tis as I said before. Da only ting dat ye respec
t is strength. So be it,” he spi
t
s
out. “
I will show ye strength.
”

“Show me mercy, Brennus,” I breathe. “
Please...mercy...
”

“Ye are
achingly
lovely,
mo chroí
,” Brennus says
as if he shares my pain
.
“
Ye tink I want ta change ye
?
I
’m more like me old self when I’
m wi’ ye
—I’m like da
being
I was before Aodh changed me
.
Ye do someting ta me. I can remember whah it is to be good
when ye are wi’ me
.
I
do
na want ta lose any part of ye, but dis
is
mercy. Sheol will na get all of ye...because if dey do, dis world ends.
Y
e’
ll destroy dis world and
every livin’
t
ing in it.
Come wi’ me now. I’ll protect ye. I won’
t chan
g
e ye until it become
s
absolutely necessary. Ye’
ve me word.
”

Reed’s
unmistakable
voice
comes from behind me
,
saying, “
Go hIfreann leat
,
” the rough translation of which means: to hell with you, Brennus.
Then,
Reed’s strong arms wrap
around my waist, pulling me
against him
, beyond Brennus’
reach
.

“Reed,” I breathe
with churning emotions of relief and
heart-stopping
fear.

Hol
ding me tight
against his warm, bare chest
, Reed
’s
face
ben
ds
near my ear. His soft bre
ath stirs my hair as he whispers
, “I want to kill
him slowly, painfully, for you, love, but I
don’t think I’ll be able to restrain myself. Will you forgive
me if I do it quickly?” he asks
.

My throat constricts
.
“
Reed
,
wait, he has an army
,” I counter
through trembling lips.

Reed’s strong a
rms press
me tighter to him a
s he says
against my hair, “I promise
you that he’
ll
die
before me
.
I need you to switch on, Evie,
lik
e y
ou did in Torun,
”
he murmurs against my hair. “
B
e ready to fight,
” he breathes
in a low tone
.
Then
,
Reed
shifts
me behind him
so that he stan
d
s
between Brennus and me. Glancing over my shoulder, the fellas surrounding us
are creeping closer, closing in.

“
’
Ti
s
obscene da way ye manage
d
ta escape me thrall,
aingeal
,” Brennus says
with
a
severe twist of his lips.
“Genevieve is unpredictable—
”

“She’
s unparalleled,”
Reed counters
, his hand te
nsing on the small letter-opener
in
h
is hand, but otherwise
he remains
unmoving.

“
SHE’
S ALL I WANT,” Brennus bellows
, startling me with his unsuppressed rage.

In a soft tone, Reed states
, “
And
she’
s
the only thing I need.
Should I fail to kill you
,
Brennus, she will
finish you
. Can you feel it,
t
he lack of oxy
gen as she pulls energy to her? S
he’s
fierce,
” he say
s
with a small smile
touching his lips as he glances
back at
me.

Brennus
loses his scowl. “I taught her dat,” he says
.

“And she learned it well—
ask Lonan…oh
wait
, you can’t. S
he turned him into ash
es
…”
Reed replies
.

Brennus smiles
. “Why do ye
na tell her whah is coming
aingeal
?” Brennus asks in a low tone.

“I
don’t know what’
s coming,” R
eed says with no inflection
.

“Dat is
na entirely true. Ye e
x
pect someting
...remember, we discussed it?” he asks
in a
cajoling
way
.