Incendiary (The Premonition Series (Volume 4)) (14 page)

Reed growls
and a
few seconds
later
, Zephyr and Russe
ll appear
in the
door
way
to the kitchen
. They halt
just inside
it, staring
at the
open
glass
doors
that lead
to the patio. S
tepping to Reed’
s side
, I still
,
seeing Hati,
the head chef and her staff
,
standing outside. They
all
look pale and
zombie
-like
with
blood trailing from punct
ure
wounds in various areas of
their
flesh.

Hati stumbles
in
to the kitchen
, looking only at me as she co
me
s
closer.
Her face is old and weathered, not at all the normal prey of the Gancanagh
, but one chosen because she is familiar to me.
The bite wounds on her
neck look particularly deep, con
tinuing to ooze blood
ceaselessly.

Hati’s eyes dart around
as she shifts from foot to foot like a junkie in need of a fix.
“My master commands me to give you a message
,
” Hati
hisses
with her thick,
South P
acific accent. Seeing he
r
like this is
making my skin crawl because I know she is under the thrall of the Gancanagh and unable to resist their will. “Br
e
nnus
says he will ho
ld you in his arms while you beg
for the death of your heart
and you will know that this is all
of
your
own
making. He will kill your lover—y
our angel
,
and his death will be on you…all on you.
He draw
s closer—
c
loser now
. C
an you feel him? H
e is
coming and
with him
the pain he will bring
will have no end
,
”
she breathes, while she produces
a knife from her pocket.

“No! Please
,” I whisper
, f
eeling
the blood draining from my face.
I watch as she plunges
her
knife into her own chest, twisting it with a satisfied smile
before she fa
ll
s
limply
to the kitchen floor. Looking outside, the rest of Zephyr’s staff has followed suit, stabbing them
selves to death in front of us.

My mind wants to pretend that this is all make-believe
, but I know that I’m just waking up. Everything I thought was Brennus was make-believe and this is reality. Tea
rs of regret fill
my eyes because
he has opened them
and I want to go back into the d
ark. He knows what terrifies me;
he has been privy to
my deepest fears. When I had aske
d him before
about what would
d
estroy me, he had said, “
Tristitia
e
,
” meaning
,
“sorrow
.
”
Losing Reed would be the death
of my heart, more so than if Brennus
stopped my own from beating and he know
s
that, too.

“Evie…love,” Reed says gently, holding my chin and
trying to get me to look at him instead of Hati’s inert body.
“It’s psychological warfare…he wi
ll try to erode your defenses by causing fear.”

“Spider…” I say
numbly.

“What, love?” he asks
, searching my face.

“He’s a spider…he enjoys it when I struggle in his web. It make
s him want me more,” I reply
, feeling
cold in the heat
.

“Your
heart is too pur
e for him to hold onto
,
” Reed says
. “It has broken free of his web and he cries for
the death of his own heart. It’
s here;
in the rage he’
s showing us. We will end him soon and this will all be over.”

“He’s so depraved, Reed,” I say, feeling
tears falling from my eyes. “I didn’t know
—
I couldn’t see, I…” Reed pulls
me against
his chest.

“Souls,” Buns
says
, e
ntering the kitchen. Zephyr holds
her back near t
he door as she and Brownie try
to go
to
the bodies
sprawled
in front of us.

“Stay,”
Zephyr warns
Buns, creeping forw
ard
stealthily
and investigating
the patio. Taking flight outside, he sweeps
the
immediate area. Russell follows
close behind him, scanning for Gancanagh.

Buns and Brownie both kneel
by Hati
. “What happened?” Brownie asks
Reed.

“They were all under the thrall of the
Gancanagh,” Reed answers
.

“You need to get Evie and Russell out of here. Hide them until we can negoti
ate for the souls,” Brownie says
in a commanding tone, rising from
Hati’s
side.

“You
have to do that now?” Reed asks
, while stroking my hair.

“Of cou
rse,” Brownie says.

“It’s our job, s
weetie,” Buns replies
. “We’re Reapers.”

Reed frowns.
“Yes, but this is
a volatile situation. We didn’
t intend to complicate our position with
the presence of the F
allen. Is it possible to just…
claim them fo
r Paradise without summoning a f
allen Reaper?” Reed asks
, looking concerned.

“Ah
, no,” Brownie says
swiftly, not even considering going that route. “We enjoy breathing.”

“What’s the worst that can happen if you just gave the humans a by
e
?” Rus
sell asks
curiously, entering with Zephyr f
rom outside.

“The best thing that can happen is they
just shred us,” Brownie replies
. “And that’s the Thrones or the Cherubim in Paradise. We don’t even want to think about what Sheol would do to us.”

“We can’t wait much longer—
we have to release them from their bodies.
They will find a way to escape them on their own
,
if we do not.
Once that happens, the F
allen will come,” Bun
s
says
in agitation.

“It’s chill. The half-
breeds will find a place to hide out u
ntil this is over,” Russell says
, holding out his hand to me.
“C
’mon, Red, let’s go before the f
allen freaks come and find out we’re
here.”

Reed’s arms tighten
around
me protectively. “
I’
ll stay with you both. Zephyr,
you watch the Reapers,” he says
over the top of my head
. To Brownie and Buns, Reed says
, “Take nothing for granted. This is a calculated move by
Brennus. We don’
t know if the F
allen are in league with the Gancanagh
, now that we have Evie back
. If the f
allen Reaper does anything untoward, do not hesitate to end him
, Zee.”

“
Yo
u can’t do that, Zee,” Buns says with growing panic
. “Even if it’s sabotage, you run the risk of throwing things off balance.”

“Things are already of
f balance, Buns,” Zephyr replies
, sp
r
eading his hands wide at the carnage on the ground
.

“Just let Brownie and me
h
a
ndle this. We’re professional
s
,” Buns says
, sounding like she’
s trying to reason with a child
. “You go with the others
.
The humans were under a thrall. They may not remember what just happened and therefore they won’t be able to speak of why they came here and did the things that they did. It will look suspicious if we have a Power hanging around with us.
”

“
That is unfortunate, but it cannot be helped
,”
Zephyr responds
, crossing h
is arms in complete disregard of
what she just said. “I prefer that to the alternative.
”

“We’ll be fine, s
weetie,” Buns assures him
, smiling a little at Zephyr’s stern face.

“Y
ou will be because I
am not leaving,” Zephyr replies
. Looking over Buns’
s
head at Reed, he adds
, “Take them. I will remain.”

“Zee—” Buns begi
n
s
.

Zephyr takes Buns in his arms and kisses her. He breaks
off
the kiss only after Reed clears
hi
s thro
at. “Staying,” Zephyr murmurs
.
Not looking away from Buns, Zephyr
s
ays
to Reed, “The weapons room is a decent position.
”

“
Agreed,” Reed says
, guiding me to the kitchen door. With
his eyes on Russell, Reed nods
i
n the direction of the door, indicating he should come with us.

“How do y’
all
say, ‘hoo
rah’ in Angel?” Russell asks
Zephyr.

Grinning, Zephyr says
a word
in A
ngel that sounds
like “
rud
e car
.
”

“We
ll…
‘
rude car,’ Zee,” Russell replies
, putting up his
knuckles.

Knocking them back, Z
ephyr advises,
“Keep your eyes open.”

“
Knowin’ t
hose stinky devils, it’s
not
my eyes that’ll smell them
comin’,” Russell counters
.

Reed says
something to Zephyr, Buns
,
and B
rownie in Angel. They all nod as Brownie and Buns touch
the
ir
portal necklaces
nervously
.

“What did you say?” I ask
, letting Reed lead me from the room and making sure that Russell is following close behind us.

“Roughly, I wished them the absence of fea
r and Godspeed on their mission,” Reed
replies
.
Walking with me down the hall,
we
just mak
e it to the gal
lery when the first tripwire
on the island
activates
, causing all hell to break loose.

Elevation

“H
ere we go,” Reed says in a quiet
tone
beside
me, squeezing my hand as it begi
n
s
to tremble in his. “Russell, stay close. That sounded like the ince
ndiary in our bungalow. If they
were
fo
llow
ing
Evie’s scent, then they would’
ve
be
en
drawn there first.
”

“I hate this,” I whisper
, following Reed down the hall that leads to the library on one side and the weapons room on the other.