Incendiary (The Premonition Series (Volume 4)) (33 page)

“
Yes, there is that
, and the fact that she won’t be the same after you suck out her soul
,”
Reed replies
, his eyes narrowing minutely
.

“
’
Tis disconcert
ing,” Brennus agrees
.

“You love he
r purity of spirit,” Reed states
, watching Brennus.

“Dere is na one ting dat I do na love about
her,” Brennus says
thoughtfully.

“Except
for her love for Russell and me
,” Reed replies
, his deep green eyes scanning me lovingly
.

“Except for d
at,” Brennus scowls
in agreement. “So
,
we’re
align
ed
in our t
inking.”

“You’ve f
orced her into a corner and now
she only sees one way out
,
” Reed says
. “
It was th
e same in the caves in Houghton—
she’ll evade you the only way she can.”

“So ye
’re saying dat me only option is ta let her escape now, if I
want ta have a chance of ever having
her
again
,” Brennus asks
Reed with an ironic twist of his lips.

“
Either that, or you have to arrive here and stop her before she dies…
tick, tock, tick, tock…
O
r
…you could
eliminat
e the threat outside,” Reed advises
with a cunning smile on his perfe
ct lips. “That means turning
on the Inikwi, the Fallen
,
and the Werree in order to save her
.
”

“
’
Tis frowned upon ta tur
n o
n one’s allies,” Brennus state
s
blandly.

“Tell all of your friends
‘
goodbye,
’” Reed smiles
, knowing that the Gancanagh will be hunted by the Fallen again if they betray them
now
.

“How much time d
o I have ta
clear a path for ye
r escape?” Brennus asks, looking tormented
.

“How much time do you need?” Reed
counters
, looking at the clock on the wall
.

“Several hours,” he replies
.

“How about two?” Reed asks
.

“Four,
” Brennus
returns
.

“Done,” Reed replies
.

Brennus reaches out and tries
to strok
e my cheek, but his hand slips
right through me.
“
Do na go some
where I can na
ever
find ye, Genevieve
,” he says
, his eyes softening.

“Don’t make me,” I murmur
.

Leanin
g near my ear, Brennus whispers
, “I did na understand how love can haunt...ye keep teaching me new tings.” Pulling
back, his light green eyes infiltrat
e mine.

“I
wish I could teach you to let me
go
before you get burned
,” I whisper
back.

“
I’m already burning,” h
e says
, before falling away
in
a dar
k,
shadowy
swirl
of smoke.

My breath exhales
in
a rush.
“He’s going to make the Fal
len leave!” I hiss
. I turn
in agitation to Reed
.

A small smile forms on Reed’
s lips.
“No, he won’t. He was just buying time to work out another plan. He’s too far gone to let you go now, but you rat
tled him with your suicide pact.
” R
eed walks
to
my side to
cup
my cheek. “He’
ll counter quickly
.
We need to b
e prepared for an onslaught
. I think he’ll try to
come in
en mass
e
.”

“You do?” I ask
,
feeling my stomach swirl with conflicting emotions.

Before Reed can
reply,
a howling wind streams
in through the opening from the street, bringing with it swirling, dri
fting snow. “Hooo, it is gettin
’ nasty out there,”
Russell shiver
s
. “I bet the fallen
aren’t used to this kind of cold.”

“It’s cover,” Reed murmurs, nearing
the entrance of the pub.

“Huh?” Russell asks, following
Reed.

“
We can’t wage this kind of war in the open, and yet, we
have no choice,” Reed explains, taking a position by
the staircase.

“We…you
mean a
ngels?” Russell asks
, taking a position on the adjacent wall, looking up the staircase.

“
Yes,
I mean a
ngels. The Fallen are being overt. The weather has tur
n
ed to cover the fact that they’
re here. It will drive the humans from the streets, create whiteout condi
tions so that we have a chance o
f kee
ping this from them,” he replies
, glancing at Russell.

“Who’s control
lin’
the weather?” Russell asks Reed. Not smiling, Reed uses
his index finger to point up.

“Will it tip
off
our enemies to the fact that something is about to happen
?” I ask
,
joining them and scanning the top of the stairs.

“Yes,” Reed replies
. “When Brennus ca
n’t change it, he’
ll understand and then he’
ll be even more desperate to get in her
e
and extract you.”

A
screeching
noise from
a truck’s squeaky brakes sounds
from the street above, causing Reed’s hand to w
rap around my upper arm and push
me back behind him. Scr
ap
ing and mumbling
voices issue as truck doors slam
sh
ut. I tense
, knowing that something is coming and a bead of sweat slid
es
down the side of my face despite the cold.
And then, like someone turning on a hose
in a slaughterhouse, blood begi
n
s
cascading down the staircase like a scarlet fountain.

“Is that bloo
d?” Russell asks
grimly.

“Yes,” Re
e
d answers
, his nose wrinkling in disgust.

“Why?” I ask
, feeling my knees growing weak.

“Scare tactic?” Russell asks
hopefully.

“Brennus is too p
ractical for that,” Reed replies
, sounding calm.

“Marki
ng his territory?” Russell tries
again.

“Bait,” Reed offers
.

“Ba
it…bait for what?” Russell asks
.

The truck door
s open and slam
again before the
whine of an engine revving
away quickly makes
every hair on my arms stand on end.

“That is the qu
estion,” Reed replies
, evaluating
everything in the room. He speaks
to Anya in Angel and
she collects
her bow and quiver
from the sofa, strapping them on her body.

THUMP.

“What t
he hell was that?” Russell asks
with his e
y
es wide as streams of dust fall
from the b
eams of the ceiling. We all take
several collective steps back from the entrance, while looking up at the ceiling.

Reed says, “I don’t—
”

THUMP.

The ceiling bows
and
cracks split
the sto
ne in web-like patterns, while p
ieces of
mortar
fall
to the floor, breaking like plaster.
Feeling my heart lodge some
where in my throat, my hand shoots
out to Reed’s arm, pulling him back with me. Russell, staring
at the ceiling, s
ays
, “That’s not
good—
”

THUMP.

The harrowing sound makes
us all jump and
Anya is
beside Russell
in an instant, holding on
to him
like I’m holding on to
Reed
. A wrenching sound like the roof being torn away emits from above
, causing tables and chairs to rattle and
the
glasses on the bar shelves to tumble and shatter. Pulling Reed with me, I
crouch
down on one knee
, holding my arm over my head a
s
my
wings try
to umbrella the rest of me.

“Damn, that’
s freaky,
” Russell says
under his breath, staring at the
stone
ceiling
from his crouched position near the floor
.

The
pounding crash of falling debri
s hitting
the floor above our heads, makes
my hands tremb
le. Glancing at me, Reed grasps
my hand, holding it in his before bring
ing
my cold finger
s to his lips
and kissing the
m. “I’m here, love,” he breathes
, reassuring me.

I
grit my tee
th and duck my head reflexively as a
THUMP comes from above us, like something really heavy just
fell
on the ceiling
.
Reed
let
s
go of my hand, jetting to the bar and
coming back with
an armload of expensive li
quor.

“Thanks,” Russell says
, uncapping a bottle of brown liquor and taking a huge gulp of it.

“Don
’t drink it, Russell,” Reed says
ter
sely. “Tear up some pieces
of that table cloth and stick one
in the bottle
like a wick
.”

“That’s
alcohol abuse,” Russell mutters
, before complying with Reed’s order. “Y
ou
know I ca
n conjure fire, right?” he asks
Reed
with a quirk of his brow.

“Yes, but some of us
have to do it the old-fashioned way,” Reed r
eplies
, looking annoyed as he grabs
the bottle back from Russell to store it with the ones he
has
already
made.

“Ree
d, I got you
r back,” Russell says
with zero humor
in his tone
.

“I know,” Reed replies
.
“And I have yours.”

“Well, shoot, we should
be
just fine then,” Russell says
seriously, holding Anya to his side.

“Here.” I hand
Russell some strips of tablecloth. “Wrap Anya’s skin wherever y
ou can, so the Gancanagh cannot
make her their slave.
Using a cloth napkin, I wrap
it around Reed’s face, tying it behind his head so that
he looks like a train robber.

When I finish, I stare
into his perfect eyes, feeling fear that I’l
l never see them again.
I pull
the cloth down, pressing my lips to his in a passionate kiss.