Incendiary (The Premonition Series (Volume 4)) (86 page)

“I’ll help
y’all
later,” I say
, never takin’ my eyes off Zee’s, waitin’ for him to get distracted for a millisecond.

Buns’
s
frustrated tone
rings
out, “We can’t start on the clean up
because we’ve had to guard you from trying to get in
to
that portal. I don’t know why we’re bothering, it won’t open on the other end until they’re ready to come through.”

My eyes shift
to hers, k
nowin’ she’s right. Slowly, I si
t back down in my seat.
I ask
softly,
“Y’all have other portals back to Brennus’ es
tate, right?”

Brownie nods
.
“Of course
—
we s
tashed them right near…” she
trails
off when
Zephyr sho
o
t
s
her a war
nin’
glance.

“Where?” I prompt
her.

“We’
ll tell you later,” she mutters,
lookin’ away from my piercin’ stare.

My leg resumes
its bouncin’.

Buns relaxes
a little
be
fore sayin’
pleading
ly, “Sweetie
, let me fix you something to eat.”

“Whatever,” I breathe
sullenly.

“Good!” Buns says
quickly, before skippin’ out of the room like a deranged sprite.

“I’ll help
you
!” Br
ownie calls
after Buns, exitin’
in quite the same way.

Zephyr goes
bac
k to his seat cautiously, eyein’
me the entire time.

“
You
never should’
ve—” I growl, but Zee interrupts
me.

“Do not start with me again. I
am at my limit, too,” he growls
back, squeezin’ his fists like he wants to crush somethin’. “I ha
ve been working on another plan—
one that includes j
ust you and me
,” he says
in a tight voice.

“Wha
t’s the plan?
” I
ask
, mirrorin’ his tone, while leanin’ toward
his seat, givin’ him my full attention.

“We
go back
—
f
ind Brennus,” he says
laconically
.

“And then…” I trail
off, waitin’ for more from him.

“That’s it,” he says
grimly.

“No exit strategy?” I ask
quietly.

“We either leave, or we do not
,” he replies
, his voice strained
. “We take out as many as we can. If we get the head, Brennus, the body of the Ganca
nagh will divide and fall apart—
easy for the others to conquer.
We just make sure t
hat neither of us leaves undead.
”

“And Reed?” I ask.

H
is
eyes close briefly. “I may need you to he
lp me kill him,” Zephyr admits
. “I
may hesitate. I cannot be sure,
” h
is tense voice stops
abruptly, while
he fi
ght
s with emotions he’
s completely uncomfortable
‘bout havin’.

“I can heal him,” I say
, reachin’ out and puttin’ my hand on Zephyr’s shoulder for a second before I let it drop.

“Reed is
a killer, Russell,” Zephyr states
softly. “He can move faster than any angel I’ve ever see
n. You have to get close to him—
touch him. The second you enter the room with him could be the last one you have.”

“Then
,
I’ll make sure that I
don’t waste any time,” I reply
with exaggerated confidence.

Zee does
n’t smile.
“
If it comes down to it,
you will need to kill him for your
own
survival.
He will hunt you with the precision of billions of years
of experience. There will be no
where on Ea
rth for you to hide,” he utters
,
and goose
bumps ri
se on my forearms.
“You have to think of Evie.
”

“I am thinkin’ of her. She w
on’t survive it, Zee,” I reply
with absolute certainty.

“She is stronger than you think
,” Zephyr replies
. “Buns and Brownie will keep her alive until she can recover herself
...if Reed and Brennus are both destroyed, she will pick up the pieces
in time
.
”

“You
forgot to consider how you
r
death would affect her,” I say
softly.
“You’
re
like a brother to her.”

Zephyr’s chin raises
a notch as his fists
ease
. “You are right, she may
never recover,” he says
arrogantly
.

The
reluctant smile on my face
fades as I face
the portal across the room. “I’m ready to g
o, just say when,” I murmur
, thinkin’ ‘bout all the weapons in Reed’s private armory
.
Then, I think of Anya again. My face falls
more.

Readin’
my mind, Zephyr says
,
“The Seraphim will keep them safe until you and I
end this.”

“You
think Anya failed?” I ask
him with a tight voice.

“I think she should have be
en here already,” he replies
agitated
ly.

My teeth grind together while my leg bounces
uncontrollably. “I should’ve been nicer to her…I was awful when I left. She doesn’t even know how I feel ‘bout her. Maybe that’s better…
maybe she shouldn’t know since
I may not be comin’ back…”

“You believe
that she would
not grieve for you if sh
e wa
s unaware that you love her?
” Zephyr asks
in a calm tone.

“Well…I don’t know—” I begin, before I see
him shake his head.

“You are stupid. L
ove doesn’t work that way,” Zephyr
replies
. “She loves you
in spite of your feelings for her.”

My frown deepens
.
“
I’m stupid?” I inquire
wide-eyed. “W
hen did yo
u become an expert on love, Zee?
”

“Buns is a very good teacher
,” Zephyr replies
with a half
-
smile.

I ru
n my hand through my hair in agitat
ion, ‘cuz t
he thought of never seein’ Anya
or Red
again
i
s doin’ evil things to m
e. My heartbeat races faster, while guilt pushes
down on me.

The dust motes near the
portal jump
abruptly, floatin’
into the air and spiralin’ in a wild, tangled dance.
My leg stops
bouncin’.
I sh
o
ot to my feet at the same time
as Zeph
yr. Holdin’ my breath, I exhale
w
hen a small, fat ladybug
crawls
from th
e portal. Zephyr ho
ld
s
me back while
a swarm of
them
flitter
out
,
flyin’ into the air and castin’ tiny shadows on the floor and walls.

It takes
only seconds for the little bugs to merge together in a sexy silhouette
, i
mplodin’
into the most b
eautiful creature I’ve ever seen
. A moment after that, I have
Anya
in my arms
, pressed tight
to my chest while
I breathe
in the sultry scent of her
thick,
black ponytail.
T
he crickets that I get when she’
s ne
ar are back full force, bouncin’ ‘round inside of me and makin’ it seem like I can’
t get close enough to her.

Not thinkin’, I trail
kisses over the slender column of her neck, followin’ the soft contours over her cheek to her soft, full lips.

“Russell—” Anya protests, but my mouth ends whatever it i
s that she
was
gonna say.

I kiss
her with the intense desire
that I’ve been holdin’ back since I met her.
The passion she evokes
chews
through me, raw and
unabated
. I stan
d with her wrapped in my arms,
with
the sunlight from the glass panes pourin’
down
on us, and my soul soars
with a new l
ightness, like the
wings of a moth released from a deadly web
.

“Where is Evie?” Zephyr inquires
next to us, causin’ me
to
lift my lips from Anya’s.

I stare
at Anya, watchin’ her tak
in’ ragged breaths as she stares
back at me hazily.

“What?” she asks, while a rush of blood stains
her cheeks
.

Zephyr asks
again, “
Evie?”

A
nya’s expression turns startled
as she looks
away from me to Zephyr.
“Let me down, Russell!
” she says
in a panic
, which
causes my arms to tighten ‘
round her
. “I have to pull Evie through
the portal
! She’s holding off
Xavier and Tau!
”

Zephyr moves quickly
to
the portal on the floor. He lays
it down on i
t
s back before spinnin’
it with a wild twist of his hand
. Th
e portal whirls swiftly as it
gain
s
momentum
on its own. It lifts
up to
hover a few
inch
es
from the ground.

As the
portal contin
ues
to spin in perpetual motion,
Z
ephyr stands
right beside
it, tensin’
as
a soft, crimson feather ejects
from the port
al. The plume dances
wildly
above it
,
before
makin’ a slow de
s
cent and
comin’
to rest on the floor near the wall.
Zee
glances
at Anya in my arms.

“She’s coming,”
An
ya assures
him
, her finger
s curlin’ tight
on
my sleeve
while she watche
s
the portal for signs of Evie.

Almost on cue, Evie pitches
out of the p
ortal like a newborn filly bein’
birthed from a mare—
except
without all the
slimy,
gross stuff. Her arms flay
near the portal, tryin’
to reach for it.

T
he
portal stops
movin’ when he
r fingers grasp
its edge
. W
ithout much dexterity, she tries
to
close it by smashin’ the two side
s
of it together.
‘Cuz
of
the way it’
s still dr
awin’ matter through it, the
halves of the portal resist
each other, like two polarized magnets.