Incendiary (The Premonition Series (Volume 4)) (58 page)

Reed says
, “There were some comfortable-
looking sofas i
n the l
ibrary we pas
s
ed
in
the North T
ower. Let’s go find one for Anya.”

“Do you
think she’ll be okay?” I ask
worriedly
. I’ve seen soldier
s
with stares like hers before…in many, many, lifetimes, but I’ve never seen it happen to an angel.

“Yes. We’ll locate some clean blankets
and we’ll
keep her warm,” Reed assures me.

Reed collects
his armor before walkin’ next to Anya and me in the corridor.

“Damn, Reed, do you
kno
w what this means?” I ask as we walk
.

Lookin’ puzzled he asks
, “No, what?”

“It means you’
r
e
not the stiff, emotionless
, soul
mate-stealin’,
a-hole I thought y
ou
were,” I reply
with irritation in my voice.

Reed’s brows come together as he thinks about what I’ve
just said.
“And you are not the—” and he says somethin’ in Angel I do
n’t know, “that I thought you were.”

A
reluctant smile touches
my lips. “Well,
s
hhhheeeeeeeit, right?” I ask
,
as we turn
down another long corridor together.

“Yes, exactly
,” he agrees
, noddin’.

Welcome
H
ome

The
cloudy night sky lends
little light to the surrounding grounds of Brennus’ estate, but my angel vision is such that
I can see everything very well—
t
oo well. S
pent s
hell casings
l
itter the ground like acorn
s from an ancient oak tree
,
while uprooted
pine
s and torn sod remain like fallen soldiers in
the aftermath of
a horrible war.

Under my own power,
I fly
past the cliffs
from the ship moored off the
Irish
coastline
. I can still see the fading
telltale tire tra
cks
across the
lawn,
a testament to my
desperate escape
from this prison. The
st
arry sky had
broken
open for Reed and me
when we had dri
ve
n
over the
e
dge of the rock face and entered the portal
leading to
London
.
Now, the same sky
that had been a co-conspirator in my quest to be with Reed
seems to be coldly disapprovin
g
of my presence
. The wind,
lashing
my
hair into my face, seems angry with
me for
returning
after it had given
its
last
,
best effort to save my life
.

Touching down, m
y feet crunch
the grav
el on the circular drive in front
of the massive
gray,
stone
f
açade of Brennu
s’
fortress. Interior lights shi
ne through panes of glass
,
while the fr
oth of white curtains waft
in the open a
ir from the shattered ones.
I concentrate
on putting one f
oot in front of the other. It’
s a simple plan that should requ
ire very little effort. Should.

Approaching the imposing
stone gargoyles
at the
illuminated front
en
trance
, I fa
lter
for a moment, losing my single-mind
edness when the damp chill from
one falls
upon me.
Flanked by Tau on one side of me and Xavier on the
other, Xavier wastes
no time in smashing
his fist into
the iniquitous snarl of the gargoyle
. Pieces of stone shower
the ground at my feet.

“Not a fan of the
arts?” I ask
him with a
wry smile, trying to cover
my hesitation.

Xavier flashes
me a perfect smile, saying, “No, just not a fan of evil.”

Glancing through the doors o
f the front entrance,
Power
s
are
moving everywhere I look
. Recognizing none
of them, I hesitate
again.
All I want to do is find Reed, Russell, and Zee and make sur
e they’re okay, but
I don’t know
how the
se
unfamiliar angels will rea
ct to m
y
presence, so I start
plotting
an alternate route
.

“Is there a problem?” Tau asks
in a gentle voice.

“Do
yo
u know them?” I ask
him. M
y gra
y eyes me
et his and my hand gestures
in the
general direction
of the war-like angels
inside
as
they move
around the fort
ress
,
like a swarm
in the nerve-center of a hive.

“The Powers?” Tau asks
for clari
fication, his auburn eyebrow arching in question.

When I nod
,
he scans the crowd. Some a
re removing
b
roken furniture, while others a
re repairing the glass ceiling
that had been shattered by
Casmir’s army of f
allen angels when they had attacked Brennus to get to me.
But some, upon sighting us, a
re already staring
with blank expressions
.

Tau says
patientl
y, “I recognize several, but I’
m not acqu
ainted with the majority
.”

“
D
o t
hey know I’m coming?” I ask
. M
y nails d
i
g into my palms because
I ca
n’
t
disc
ern if they’re “friendlies” as they move
around at preternatural speeds
.

“Yes, w
hy?”
he questions
, puzzled. I happen
to glance from his face to that of Xavier’s and when he read
s my body language, he frowns
.

I shrug
, saying as calmly as I can, “B
ecause the ones that don’t know
about
me usually freak when they see me
.”
Xavier’s
eyes ru
n the length of m
e, which mak
e
s
me lift
my chin.
I shift
agitatedly
as I think
of
other less populated entrances than this one
.

“Things aren’t like
they used to be,” Tau responds
while
his fingers lightly take
mine.

“Then, w
hy do I
feel like a criminal
about to walk
into a
law enforcement convention
?” I counter
.
I refrain
from
mentioning that just going inside is
like walking into one of the cellar rooms of Bren
nus’ cave in Houghton, but I do
n’t want
to
discuss that with them.

“We’re he
re to protect you now,” Tau says
in a serious tone.

“
As I recall,
you wouldn’t even tell me th
e homework assignment for
Calc
whe
n I missed class,” I counter
with an edge in my tone
. “And, i
f you have
n’t noticed, there are only two of you and t
here are over a hundred of them,
maybe more
—
n
ot great odds if things turn ugly.”

“You’re
a d
ivine Seraph
,” Xavier answers
for Tau
. “You out
rank them.
And, skipping class to go sledding with cafeteria trays is not behavior we reward.
”

“
How d
id you kno
w about that?” I ask
suspicio
u
s
ly
,
but then
I
hold
up my hand to stop him from answering. “Never mind. Being Seraphim is a
matter of degree
to them
.
I’m also flagrantly human.”
Feeling un
comfortable, I pull
my hand
from Tau’s.

Xavier’s frown softens
.
“You are a refinement
of both
an
d I will kill anyone who doesn’
t agree,” he replies
.

Rolling my eyes at hi
m, I ask
, “C
an you
please
be serious?”

“
I am serious,” Xavier says
soberly
.
“Show me those
who
object and I will end
them.”

Startled by his
demeanor, I reply
, “Let’s not
act
crazy
—
most angels
are just used to
the same old thing—
status quo
. W
e shouldn’t hurt them if it can be avoided.
”

“Do you thin
k that I’
m
misguided
?
You really don’t remember anything
about
Paradise
, do you
?
” Xavier asks
pointedly.
When I shake my head and look down, he says
,
“I int
end to establish supremacy here—
our supremacy
.”

“Why does it have to be
like that
? They probably already
think
I
’m a nightmare,” I sigh
.

Xavier ignores
my sigh
,
saying
,
“Powers are st
r
ong
—
warriors. Everything is about power
.
I’
l
l make sure they know your
s
extends with mine.
”

Moving with purpose, he stri
de
s
into the middle of the medieval foyer that
I have always regarded as the “lobby”
of the castle. Standing
near
a twisted, wrought-iron pillar
beneath
a clear view of the turrets
, Xavier begi
n
s
to speak in Angel to the Powers surround
ing him.

Entering the hall
with Tau
,
the heat of the stone fireplace at my side
warms me as I observe
Xavier in the center of the room. His enormous wings spread out around him in a magnific
ent, crimson exhibition of strength
. A r
ipple of nervous energy envelopes
me seeing them thus displayed.

“What’
s he saying
?” I ask Tau while he looks on with an approving smile
.