Incendiary (The Premonition Series (Volume 4)) (102 page)

“We discussed my deepest fears,” Reed replies easily.

“Same ting,” Brennus
shrugs
. “Whah ye fear most will come to pass. Why do
ye na tell her
dat
ye fear dat she will fall
—
dat she’
s
meant
ta
fall
?”
Brennus asks
with scorn
. “All da signs are dere. He
r
sire is a negotiator wi’ Sheol. Her soul mate bond has be
en severed
—dat can only happen if ’twas negotiated as
part of a mission. S
he’d
only do dat
ta save her soul mate from
tristitiae
—
sorrow as
the result of her
eventual
fall
. Ye found her alone
—
u
nprotected. Sheol was upon her—
she barely escaped dem. She was
like a sacrificial
lamb. Ye f
ear d
at she is a compromise from Heaven ta
Hell.
”

“Heaven doesn’t compromise,” Reed states.

“Heaven already did!
Look at her!
S
he’
s an
aingeal
wi’ a human soul.
Dere has never been a greater compromise,” Brennus argues
as he gestures in my dir
ection
.

“L
ook again
, Brennus
. She’
s growing more pow
erful by the hour,” Reed states
, undaunted by what Brennus is revealing.

“She is weak
—
ye
mak
e her weak. H
er blood spills from her wi’ each passing m
oment.
’
T
will
na be long before she’ll
be too frail ta stand,” Brenn
us replies
, but his eyes
are
focusing
on me
.

Reed frowns
, still standing m
otionless between Brennus and me
.
“Her only weakness is that she’
s young…
she doesn’t
yet
know what she’
s capable of, but I do. I’ve seen her potential and up to th
is point, she has been merciful. T
he time for mercy is over.”

All aroun
d me,
Gancanagh soldiers creep
closer
. They’re waiting
for
Brennus’
signal to
attack
. My heartbeat thumps
painfully in my chest. Struggling to pull every ounce
of energy out of the air, I
feel the t
ug-of-war for it as the undead F
aeries try to keep it from me.
My chin trembles
in fear and suppressed emotion
as my breathing becomes
labored.

“Ye can na win dis,
aingeal
,” Brennus
snarls
.

“
She loves me.
I cannot lose,” Reed says
with a sublime smile.

“She’
s moin. I will kill for her. I will die for her,
”
Brennus
promises
. H
e
strips
his shirt off slowly, revealing his p
ale chest that resembles
carved, Grecian marble. Without looking
away from Reed, Brennus extends
his hand toward a
Gancanagh
soldier near
est
to him. Immed
iately, the soldier relinquishes
his knif
e to his
máistir
.

“Then, I a
ccept your challenge
and you can die for her. Here. Now.
” Reed says
with a satisfied smile.

In the next instant, I can’t
breathe
as Reed and Brennus both tense
before rushing toward each other i
n
the
blinding speed
of blurring shapes
. Brennus raise
s
h
is arm in a wide, arcing, sweep
before bring
ing
it down near Reed’s neck. Reed burst
s
apart in the next instant, exploding into a swarm of bee
s
that engulf
s
Brennus in a shroud o
f pestilence. The bees collect
behind Brennus, morph
ing back into Reed as he plunges
the letter opener into Brennus’ back, wrenching it viciously down to carve a deep, bloody line in
to
him. Then, Reed kicks
Brenn
us forward,
sending Brennus stumbling to remain
on his feet
.

The mass of fellas assembled around us begins to push forward, surging in to protect their king. With all my remaining
strength, I
create a
magical
barrier
, surrounding
Reed, Brennus
, and
me
within
it
.
As it pushes back the snarling horde, sweat forms on my brow. The Gancanagh nearest us throw elf darts
that strike hard against the wall
, making energy surge b
ack into me and then pull it away
as I try to maintain the inv
isible edifice
. A shower of magical fire rains around us as other spells are being continually cast at us.

Brennus
readjusts his
knife, flicking it
around in
a
circular motion against his palm. His eyes close briefly as his lips move in a silent spell. The next time the knife spins Brennus spins with it. He becomes a blurring
whirl,
as pieces
of him
break off
, fallin
g away to become several
Brenns
standing beneath the glow of the lampposts
.

He cloned himself!
I gasp, seeing Reed halt his forward progress, glancing around at each of the
dozen
dark-haired killers that resemble the Gancanagh leader.

Reed growls as his eyebrows slash together.
His chin drops in a
predatory
stare while four exact copies of
Brennus launch
forward to attack him. Reed slashes the firs
t, cutting a deep ga
sh into his chest. The
wounded
Brenn
is pulled backward into the Bren
nus
standing
at
the back in the poo
l of light; his face is etched in pain before he’s
absorbed into the other, cau
sing them to merge into a single being. A
laceration
breaks
open
on Brennus’
chest;
his face blanches as
he touches his chest
with the tips of his fingers, welding the injury closed with the light of magic.

I glance at all the
Brenns
one-by-one.
They’re not magical clones. They’re pieces of Brennus
, I
surmise
.

Vicious cuts
break t
hrough Reed’s defenses as the
Brenn
s
mob
him from every angle. Reed’s chest bleeds with jagged s
lashes, blood running
f
rom his perfect chest.
Reed hacks
t
hree
Brenns
back at once
, dispelling them from him. They w
eave a path back to
Brennus, fitting back into him with
devastating
effects. Wounds appear, marring Brennus’ abdomen and face.

In my distraction, my barrier
falters
, allowing a handful of Gancanagh soldiers to slip through it. I grunt, concentrating again and closing the gap.
An
a
gonizing stab of pain
breaks in my chest
as I see
Reed get shot in
the back by a gun-wielding
fell
a
. Reed cuts the arm of
f
of
a
Brenn
he’s fighting while wrenching his
knife
blade from the hand
before the append
age
hit
s
the ground. Never hesitating Reed pivots, throwing the knife at the fella who shot him; i
t slices the fella’s head
off.
As the pieces of the destroyed
Brenn
collect and shift
back to the original, the other
Brenns
hesitate.

Reed breaks free
from the
remaining
Brenns
attacking him
and focuses on the fellas.
In less time tha
n it take
s me to breathe in and out, the
fellas
in our sanctum
are dead,
strewn
like dirty laundry
up
on the ground
, killed by the letter opener in Reed’s hand
.
I’m panting now as my entire body shakes with a need to give in to th
e pressure being exerted on it.
A whimper escapes from between my parted lips
and I close my eyes
.
I’m connecting to the energy flowing
through the fellas on the other side of the barrier. They’re trying to steal it from me, but it’s as if th
e
energy
is magnetized
,
accruing in
me as if by choice: cho
osing me
, not them
.

I groan
as the
flames inside me become excruciating
. When
I open my eyes, I glance at Brennus, only two
Brenns
remain, the rest have been reconnected with Brennus. He’s a mess, his body a roadmap of abuse. He’s bent over, holding his
bloody
abdomen, but he’s also healing quickly. Brennus’ eyes meet mine and he tries to hide his pain from me as he calls the remaining
Brenns
back to him.
In that moment,
his pain makes mine more intense and I cry out.

“E
vie?” Reed says, turning his full attention to me
.

“Burning,” I say desperately
, feeling a tear trickle d
o
wn my cheek
.
Reed moves to my side,
but
as he extends his hand to me
he
winces
as heat and en
ergy
flo
w
in
a current into him
, but he doesn’t let me go, instead, he picks me up in his arms.

“Reed, run,
” I warn him
,
“I’ll open up a gap and you can fly—
”

“I’m not leaving you,” he growls.

“Something’s happening to me,” I g
r
oan.

In the same moment, t
he magical wall I created to ho
ld everything back slips
near
er to us, caving in as it draws closer. Soon it will no longer exist. I try to hold it, but the energy I’m
using to create it wants to swirl
into me instead.

“Ye have
ta let go of da energy,
mo
chroí
!” Brennus sa
ys in a harsh tone
.
He doubles over in pain, unable to move toward me.
“’Twill kill ye
if ye do na!”

I shake my head as suffering
contorts my face.
Hostile soldiers lurch in our direction
when the curtain that keeps them back hops forward a few feet. Anticipation at getting to Reed shines in their eyes like lust. Hands splay, aching to touch
Reed with thei
r toxic skin
,
and fangs extend with resonating
clicks
.
They’
re primed to tear
him apart; he won’t escape
again.