Incendiary (The Premonition Series (Volume 4)) (100 page)

Catchin’ Anya before she hit
s the floor, I ho
ld her cold body against mine.
Shoutin’ and screamin’
echoes
all ‘round me
while angels and Gancanagh are clashin’ together in battle
. We’re back in the Knights Bar in Ireland. The undine magic that has kept us separated from it has dissolved away.
Anya chokes and sputters
as the poisoned blood she ingested
is slowly workin’ it
s
way through her veins. I bring
her cheek to mine, pressin’ it against me an
d feelin’ how cold she
is
already
.

A whimper of pain is forced
from between her icy-blu
e lips. “Russell,” she whispers
, her teeth chatterin’ from the cold. “I’m
m
ss
sorry.
”

My throat constrict
s so I ca
n’t even speak.
I brush
her hair back from her face before
I pull
her
c
loser t
o me as m
y jaw tightens
. Then, bendin’ down, I gently
lay
her on the cold, flagstone floor. Stan
din’ and reachin’ out, I grasp the first Gancanagh I can
find. Rippin’ him off
his feet by his neck, I hold
the front of his armor and tear
it away from hi
s chest. As he struggles
to try to knock
my
hand from his throat, I slam
him down on the floor next to Anya
, petrifyin’
him with magic so he ca
n’t move
.

Breathin’ heavily, more from emot
ion than from exertion, I place my hand on Anya as I ho
ld the Gancanagh soldier down with the other one.
When my eyes me
e
t her
s
, I ca
n’t look away.
M
y hand on Anya begi
n
s
to heat up and glow,
and then
I whisper
, “
Hush now, d
arlin’. You
never have to be sorry.
”

Home

Evie

Softly falling snow drifts
around me as my cheek lies
against Brennus’ ch
est. Holding me close to him, Brennus
murmurs
tender,
unintelligible words
to me
. S
weeping his fingers gently over my forehead,
he smoothes
my hair away from it
. After h
e shrugs
off his jacket,
he drapes
it over my wings and shoulders
as
we stan
d on a sidewalk beneath the
soft
, yellowish
pool of light from
a black-iron lamp.

“
’
Tis okay
,
mo chroí
,” Brennus says
softly. “Ye’re home.”

“Home?” I ask in
a murmuring
tone
while lifting m
y head off of Brennus weakly. I gaze around; ev
en in the dark, I
see a distinctive
clock tower rising starkly against the
silent,
starry sky.

“’Tis sorry I am dat I hit ye. Ye can never speak of healing any of us. ’Twill make some of the fellas desperate ta make ye t
ry, and should ye fail, dey would
go mad,”
Brennus says.

“But what if I could?” I ask him.

His expression turns pained. “Ye can na try. It would likely kill ye.”

“You don’t know that,” I counter.

“I know enough ta know dat ye can na save me. ’Tis ye who needs saving,” Brennu
s says, stroking my cheek. “
I have
a gift
for ye
."

"What can you possibly give me, Brenn
us, that would replace what you’
ve stolen from me?" I ask, shivering in his arms.

"
I have stolen nu
t
ing. I have re
placed whah ye tink you need wi’
whah I know ye need.
I told ye once dat yer blood reveal
s all of yer secret desires. It told me dat dis is
da place ye call home now…where ye l
ong ta be. I’ve brought ye home.
”

“Crestwood,” I whisper
feebly
,
glancing around at the familiar building called Central Hall
.
The grounds are deserted. It must be really late.

“
’
Tis
. W
e can live here for as long as ye desire
. We will make it our home—
together.
”

“This isn’t
my
home without Reed
. Y
ou know that—m
y blood must be
screaming it
,” I say softly,
taking a step back from Brennus.
His coat fa
ll
s
from my wings to the
carpet of snow.

Brennus’
eyebrows draw together
over his sea-foam green eyes
. “All of dat will end soon.
I promise ye. Ye’
ll no longer
be tormented by yer need for da
aingeal
—
”

“My need for him
?” I ask
, seeing his jaw grow tight
.

“Da
st
ring dat binds ye both together. H
e told me of it—’
t
is a terrible pain for ye b
oth. I will sever it
. I know a way ta
make it so dat
ye
no longer ache for him
,” Brennus
replies
with a pained expression
as soft
white snow
cling
s
to his beautiful, black hair
.

“How?” I ask while I struggle
to remain on my feet. Blood is
still seeping from the bites
covering my body
that I took from Reed
. Looking down at the snow b
eneath my feet,
the
re is a
speck
l
ed
line of blood
between us
as it falls from my hands
.

“Me blood will cure ye
of it
,
m
o chroí
.
’
Twill wipe away da d
esperate yearning
dat ye feel for yer
aingeal
.” As he says this, he lifts his wrist and shows
me his
pale
skin that has already healed, but his blood still covers his once white shirtsleeve.
“Der is a new
life
awaiting ye in
death—
no more pain, or bein’ hunted by
aingeals
—
dey’ll
all
bow down ta ye
.”

“
You’
re
suffocating
me. It’
ll
only
be a new lif
e for my body, not my soul. You’
ll hand
me
over to Sheol and
I’ll only be an
empty shape for you to love
.
I’d rather die
!” I say
, while lifting my chin and try
ing to straighten my shoulders
.

“Would
ye now?” he asks
in a sad
tone
. “Look at yerself.
I kn
ow how strong ye are, but
w
hah will ye do when da hallucinations begin?
’
Tis jus a matter of me openin’ up me fl
esh and I can make dem all go
away...’tis time
—
”

As if on cue, the cl
ock tower tolls
out the hour. BONG…BONG …
BONG…

“
Let me give ye
everyting
,
Genevieve,
” Brennus smiles
loving
ly
at me, before he rips
open
both of h
is wrists, allowing his blood to flow.
“
Táim i ngrá leat
,” Brennu
s intones
, telling me that he’s in love
with
me. “
Ye’re me heart, me only love.
Ye
’
r
e
moin,” he says
, while extending his wrist
s
to me. H
e waits
,
unmoving
,
for me to come to him.

My trembling hands ball into fists as I try
to resist the
scent of his blood that floats
in the air
,
surrounding me.
It calls to me, like the
aroma of baking bread to a starving person.
My vision
distorts
as I look
away from him
, feeling desperate to stop the craving
. The
glowing lamp
post
near me
begi
n
s
to
sway; it bends in my direction
like a tree in the wind
.
Radiance from it brings hideous shadows swooping all around me
. I shy
away from it, un
aware if it’
s a halluc
ination or Brennus’ magic that’
s making it do that.

From the corn
er of my eye I catch sight of a blacked-winged creature as it dives past the lamppost; the ruffle of it
s lea
thery
gargoyle
wings makes
the sound of a sheet
billowing
on a clothesline.
My eyes w
iden in fear. “Brennus!” I gasp,
feeling my chin be
ginn
ing to tremble.

Brennus tracks the flight of the gargoyle
-like phantom
as it weaves
a path around us.
“
’
Tis a
r
econnoître
,
dat ting ye see
.
Sheol searches for ye even now. Dey’ve sent out scouts ta all da corn
ers of dis world,” he says
with a pitying-look. “’Twill na
enter da light. ’
Tis nocturnal; it can na abide it.”

Trying to think of a spell
, I focus
it on the lamp
post
. Instantly the
tall,
tapering light
brightens
, while
the
black
base
sprouts
legs. It
pries
itself from the ground with a shower of powerful sparks
and the sizzle of electricity
.
It stumbles
forward on squeaky, iron limbs
while my wavering hand directs
it toward B
rennus
and me
. H
is smile deepens as he faces
down my creation
,
unafraid
.

“A light-pole
craitur
?” Brennus asks
me,
like he fin
d
s
me amusing. “
’
Tis
someting I’ve na seen before,
but
’
tis jus
one,
mo chroí
. Ta
survive, yer craitur
wi
ll need an army.
” Brennus raises his hand
toward
the row of
ironclad
lampposts
that line the sidewalk. A score o
f poles begi
n to struggle, unearthing
themselves fr
om the ground
.
S
parks
shower down
and the kin
etic zing of electricity crackles
in the air.
Yellow light cast
s
eerie glowing shadows on the sidewalk as they
lurch
forward, approaching
the light-pole I
had
conjured
.