Incendiary (The Premonition Series (Volume 4)) (9 page)

“He’s too obsessed to let you go, Eaves.
He is insane now.
I hope he never gets you back because…
it’
ll be gruesome
.
He was never
such
a tyrant before,
not like he is now. He
’ll
kill anything that shows the least resistance to his will
,
now.
Finn and I won’t be seeing each other for a while after thi
s…not until it’s over,” she says
, looking like she’s in pain. “So
,
I’m on my own...
well, not really, I’m as rich as sin now, thanks to Finn. He said he’ll fi
nd me when this is resolved
.”

“I’m so sorry…
” I trail off when she ho
ld
s
up her hand.

“Don’t say you’re sorry.
Y
ou never had a chance…not after Alfred gave
Brennus the portrait
.
” I cringe
, thinking of the portrait painted of me depicting the Goddess Persephone.

Russell was against me modeling for it. I should’ve listened to him.

“When will they
mount their attack?” Reed asks
, trying to get specifics.

“I don’t know, but it’
ll be soon. Brennus is
as
impatient
and demanding as a two
-year-old
. I do know a few things
,
though. Don’t expect them to go easy on you, Eaves. Playtime is over. All the fellas know that they’re allowed to bite you. Brennus thinks that it will help to subdue you because he is aware of how powerful you’re becoming. He said if you’re trippin’, then you’re less of a threat.”

“But that’s a huge risk for him…someone like Eion has a hard
time stopping once he
bite
s
…
he could drain me before Brennus can stop him
,
” I say
, feeling ill remembering how I felt the last time I was bitten.

A gnawing ache of hunger begins and if
I can’t find any animal blood to satisfy the blood lust, the horrific hallucinations follow soon after.
Anyone else bitten by the Gancanagh wouldn’t feel this type of pain, because the Gancanagh’s skin drugs him.
Only
Russell and I would
feel the pain intensely.

“Well, I guess that’s the risk he’s willing to take. He did warn them not to share their blood with you. He wants you as his
sclábhaí
, his slave.
No one else will be your
máistir
but him,” she says as she shivers
.
“But he’s not sure he wants that anymore. He swings between killing you slowly
,
refusing to turn you as you die by degrees
,
and waiting until the last possible moment to turn you
,
if you beg him and tell him you love him.”

My legs feel
numb with fear, he
aring the plans Brennus has
for me. If one of his men
bites me, but d
oesn’t turn me
,
I will be in so
much pain I will be praying for death to arrive…but it won’t. It will just be intense pain
,
unless I beg Brennus to end that pain for me…to share his blood with m
e. He may even refuse me at that
point. He may just leave me in i
ntense pain
—forever
.

How long will I have
to endure that kind of pain
?
I wonder
, feeling like everything is coming to an end.
All my hopes of staying with Reed
seem so feeble and naïve.

“Tell us about their forces, weapons, how will they strike?”
Reed asks
, his face going blank. He’s in war mode now.

“They’re
having problems…” Molly trails
off
,
and I can see that this is difficult for her. Her loyalties are divided. What she tells us can ultimately harm F
inn. “Your a
ngel army has been
wreaking
havoc on the Gancanagh forces. They’re actively hunting all of us n
ow…them and your buddies, the F
allen.”

“H
e made you targets,” Zephyr says
, referring to Brennus.

“You think?” Molly replies
sarcastically.
“But, it’s okay
…I’ve
actually acquired a taste for f
allen angels.
I figure they have it coming, since they have my soul.”

“
Brennus is having a hard time mobilizing his forces. Moving them without detection is diffic
ult, even with money,” Reed says
in a meditative way. “A surgical strike would be easier and quicker. Grab and go.”

“Or bite and go,” Molly replies
. “But, I wouldn’t count on Evie being the only objective. He wants revenge. He wants blood and retribution. You took something that belongs to him and no
one gets away with that in our
world.”

“Wh
at are you saying?” I ask
, feeling nauseous
.

“I’m saying you can’t be a martyr in this one, Eaves. Don’t even thi
nk about going to him,” she says
, watching my face and reading it like a book. “
You
can’t barter yourself for them—
or me. Those days are over. The only way your friends will be safe is if he’s ended. Even if he makes you his queen, and that’s a big if, they
all
die.”

Zephyr scoffs
, like the threat of the Gancanagh getting him is minimal. “He is deranged.”

“Now you
’re getting it,” Molly replies
, checking her fingernails.

“Will he send his men
or will he be comin’ himself? D
o we need to s
tart huntin’ him?” Russell asks
quietly
,
from the doorway of the ballroom. Startled by how stealthily he ca
me in, I glance at him and
my jaw
falls
open. His face is bruised and swollen from his fight with
Reed;
one eye
is
almost completely closed.

“Russell,” his name
escapes my lips as my stomach clenches. He ignores
me, watching Molly.

“I don’t know. M
aybe
you should get some more men…
unless this isn’t
the position
you intend to defend,
” she says,
tilting her head like she’s
assessing us all. “You don’t seem like you plan on being here when he makes his move.
”

“How old are you?” Zephyr asks
suspiciously
.

“Nineteen and a half
,
but I had
brothers
growing up
and they played
every combat game known to man
,” Molly replies
. “It was kinda freaking me out that you allowed me to get this close to you. I was think
ing that this was amateur hour
with a neon sign
that blinks
: VICTIMS HERE.
But, you’re not lame, are you?”

“
Oh, there’s z
ero lameness
here
, s
weetie
,
” Buns replies
, smiling
derisively
at Molly.

“Epic
, do me a huge favor
and kill him for me. I ca
n’t be
with Finn as long as Brennus
live
s so he has to be ended
,” she replies
, showing
a cold, calculating
ulterior motive for coming here.
“I don’t think we’ll be seeing each other for a while, Eaves,” Molly
says
, back
ing toward the doors.

“Molly, wait!” I say
, my hea
rt t
wisting in my chest
as I pull
against Reed’s grasp on my arm
. “
Remember me and I’ll remember you
—
remember
...
crawling out
of
your bathro
om window so we could
look at the stars and talk all
night. No matter how old we get,
we’ll be under those same stars.”

“I won’t forget,” she says
softly. “Maybe you’ll think of me now, when it rains, too. May the road ris
e up to greet
you, Eaves.”

“May the wind be alw
a
ys at your back, Mols,” I choke as tears fa
ll from my eyes. S
he backs
away from us to the door, watching Zep
hyr suspiciously as he continues
to train his weapon on her. The instant she hit
s
the cover of
darkness, she turns
and run
s
from the house.

“She’s on
to the plan,” Ru
s
sell says
softly, not moving
from the doorway of the ballroom. “We should probably go and take care of her.”

“Nobody touches her,” I state
numbly. “She wants Brennus dead. She won’t tell them anything.”

“She might tell her boy
to keep him from comin’ here, know
in’
that’s what we want them to do
. If Finn doesn’t come, chances are he’ll keep his brother from comin’, too
,” he replies
, wanting me to see that the plan has a loose end now. “They’ll just send their men.”

“I don’t care,” I reply
, refusing to see it any ot
her way but that she stays unharmed
.
“Anyway, good luck finding her now. She’s probably twenty leagues un
der the sea as we speak,” I say
, hoping I’m not bluffing. “The beauty of our plan is that it only
,
really
,
needs one person to be here when the fellas arrive and that has to be me
, since I’m the one they’re the most focused on
. You guys should leave
now
. I can execute the plan and escape
through my portal when it’s done.”
I touch the moon-
shaped locket on my neck, making sure it’s still with me.

Every face in the room
frown
s
at me.
“Were you
listening to Molly?” Reed asks
, still holding my arms that are now beginning to shake as the numbness in me is wearing off. “She said you
couldn’t
martyr
any of
us out of this. They want revenge. They will
hunt us all until we kill them.”

“
I heard that…so
I will kill them all,” I reply
, looking into his eyes
.
“They don’t get to hurt my family.”

“She
’s
back!” Zephyr grins, looking at me proudly
. “Welcome home, Evie.”

“Swee
tie!” Buns cheers as she and Brownie both run to me and hug
me,
forcing Reed to let me go.
“
W
e thought we lost a part of you to them
, but it’s back!”

“I learn from my mistakes, Buns,”
I say
, all
owing them to hug me as I look
over their heads at Ree
d.
Wondering briefly i
f he can see the pain in
side of
me
, I continue
,
“You’re never going t
o be safe while they survive…so they have to be ended
.”

My heart contracts
in pain
like I
’
ve just
lost something,
something
that
I love
. There are
fragmented piece
s
inside
of
me that no longer fit
where they
once did.
I feel betrayed by them—
by Brennus
. He told me that he loved me, but his version of love is not my version of it.