Incendiary (The Premonition Series (Volume 4)) (47 page)

“I’m s
orry. I didn’t mean that—i
t just came out—” I begi
n.

“I know—it is
instinct. She is definitely your
aspire
. You must speak with her, Russell. She put he
rself at risk to come here,” Zephyr says
.

“Don
’t you
think I get that?” I ask
him in frustration. “She’s vulnerable here. She’s not gonna get a second chance, Zee! If I die, my soul
still has a shot at Paradise. All y
’all
just…” I trail
off, unable to put into words what I’d feel if she or any of them were harmed.

“It is worth the risk to our lives,” Zephyr
replies
calmly.

“Is it?” I sho
o
t back.

“You have seen Brennus. Y
ou tell me if it is better
to ignore his evil,” Zephyr says
.

“I’m not planni
n’ on ignorin’ him,” I respond
in a low tone. “I just don’t think we need all y’all to come with us to Ireland. Buns and Brownie should take Anya somewhere else.”

“You want
to tell them that?” Zephyr asks
, while watchin’ the girls chattin’ it up.

“They might listen, if i
t was comin’ from you
,” I say
, lookin’ for his help.

“And I might get called back to Paradise i
n the next few seconds…” he says, and then he pauses and looks
up
at the ceilin’. “Nope.
That’s not going to happen either.”

“When did
you
learn sarcasm, Zee?” I ask
sullenly.

“It was forced upon me whe
n I began associating with half-
humans,” he replies
smoothly.

“Well, it’s unbecomin’ of an a
ngel of you
r stature,” I retort sourly, while his grin widens
.

“We fought them in Irel
and before this,” Zephyr points
out, indicatin’ when Evie was in Ireland with the Gancanagh and we stalked them, lookin’ for a way to rescue her.

“I know,
but this feels different to m
e. We’re not in control,” I say
, tryin’ to see if he’s pickin’ up what I’m layin’ down. The Seraphim are callin’ the shots now.

“Yes, t
hat is a problem,” Zephyr agrees
in a low tone.

Lookin’ across the courts,
I see
Cole lean in close to Anya and whisper somethin’ in he
r ear. Another low growl rumbles from me as my eyes narrow
to slits
and killin’ scenarios flicker
through my brain.

Zephyr grasps
my upper arms, sayin’, “You are going to be living on raw
emotion where Anya is concerned—
like anyone would who is newly committed.”

“Why are you
so sure she’s my
aspire
?” I retort
in a snarl.

“One need only to look
at you now to know,” Zephyr says, his ice
blue eyes borin’ into mine. “If your goal is to make her go away, you will completely rule that out if you show her that you are jealous.”

“I can take him,” I state as my hands beco
me fists.

“I have no doubt, after all
, I trained you,” Zephyr replies
with a genuine grin.

“Naw, I think I’ll go pick a fight
,” I reply
, tryin’ to pull away from Zephyr.

“That is not
indifference, Russell,” he says
in a determined tone.

“Indifference has never been
a weapon in my arsenal,” I admit
, takin’ a deep breath and tryin’ to calm down.

“I did not come up with this
plan. I a
m merely attempting to help you execute it if this is what you believe
you have to do,” Zephyr replies
, while soundin’ like a true wingman.

“Yeah, okay ” I growl
, before l
ightly shruggin’ off his hand from
my arm. “Maybe I should go back to my cabin
then,” I add
, while searc
hin’ for the nearest exit. I’m
just in
time to see Evie arrive
.

D
ressed for the party in a white bikini top
, Red
smoothes
her
hands nervously over her matchin’ wrap
skirt. Loose, auburn hair flows
down her back between her crimson wi
n
gs and a white, exotic flower
peeks
seductively
from
behind her ear. As
she searches the room
, she worries
the long strand of wooden bead
s ‘round her neck.

“Evie’s here,” I tell Zephyr
.

“
Yes, and she has an escort,” Zephyr
replies. My eyes narrow as I look behind Red
to see Xavier trailin’ her. He’s even bigger and broader without his body armor on and his powerfu
l, crimson wings make mine look,
well, small. Dressed for the party in board shorts and wooden necklace equippe
d with a shark tooth, I wonder briefly what he’s up to.

Xavier leans
in cl
ose to Red’s cheek and whispers
somethin’ in her ear while gesturin’ towa
rd the dance floor. She wrinkles
her nose
at him and says
“
no
,
”
which makes
a slow grin tug a
t the corners of Xavie
r’s
mouth.

Glancin’ ‘
ro
und again, Evie spots
B
uns and Brownie, but she ignores them and continues
to search the room, until finall
y, her eyes rest on Zee and me
. A moment after that, she i
s at my side with her hand on Zephyr’s arm.

“Zee,” she says
, her voice full of worry, “you have to tell him
that I’
m
fully capable of going with him—
I’
m a scary monster now, you know—
y
ou’ve seen me—
”

“Wh
ere is Reed going?” Zephyr asks ‘cuz like me, he knows
by her demeanor that the only one she could be talkin’ ‘bout is Reed.

“He volunteered to go on ahead of the ship with the detail
from Dominion to Brennus’ estate
. They’re supposed to secure the position and ferret out any unforeseen comp
lications there. It’s dangerous—
he can’t smell magic like I can and they
won’t let me go too,” Evie says
in a rush of words that can only be accomplished by a female.

“Wh
o won’t let you go?” I ask
.

“The idiot Seraphim, Preben and his stupid Do
minion Powers…Reed,” she replies
sullenly, before clenchin
’ her teeth when Xavier chuckles
behind her. “Would you mind telling Xavier that if he doesn’t want to become an albatross, he sho
uld stop laughing,” she mutters, which only makes
him laugh harder.

“I’ll go,” I volunteer
, ignorin’ Xavier and focusin’ on Red.

“Thanks, Russell, but I think Zee will be able to convince Reed to let me go…he’s still a lit
tle raw about the Twinkie thing—” Red replies, before I interrupt
her.

“Naw, I mean I’ll go to Brennus’ crib. I can smell the m
ag
ic, maybe even better than you
can, and he’s not
as focused on me as he is on you
—
” I explai
n
.

“NO!” she interrupts
me with her hands on her hips. “You have to stay here.”

“Why?” I ask
, my eyes narrowin’.

“Because you’ve been bitte
n too many times for it not to a
ffect
you. Brennus’ thrall is no joke—
h
e can control you—” she starts
.

“No,
he can’t,” I reply
. “He tried to get me to kill Anya when we were in the pub, but
I didn’t do it, did I?” I ask
her rhetorically.

“He wasn’t there,”
she retorts
. “That was a hologram of him. What happens when he’s in the same room with you and he us
es magic too?” she asks
me.

“Then it will be a war of words and
I’ve been workin’ on some
spells,” I reply
.

“You’
re being ridiculous. Zee, tell him that h
e’s being ridiculous,” Evie says
, while turnin’ back to Zee with a look of frustration.

“We’ll locate body armor—
get brie
fed on the mission,” Zephyr says
to me over the top of Evie’s head.

“WHAT!” Red glares
at Zephyr.

A grin breaks
ove
r Zephyr’s face before he kisses
Evie on the forehead. “I will go and protect them both for you. There is no need to worry.”

“I
’m going with you!” she insists
, her small hands in fists.

“You will r
emain on this ship,” Xavier says
behind her in a st
ern voice that at once surprises me as it irritates
me.

“Who is this guy again?” I ask
Red in a derogatory way.

“I’m her shadow,” Xavier cut
s
in, answerin’ my question with a blank expression, not the least bit intimidated by me.

“She has a shadow, and it looks nothin’ like y
ou
,” I reply
, standin’ up to him.

“And you have an
aspire
that has been waiting for you for a long while. Perhaps it’s time you cast your
shadow beside hers,” he replies
, unruffled.

“Ah, naw! Y
ou
didn’
t just go there,” I grit out, before comin’ eye to eye with Xavier.

“But, I did,” he replies
with an easy grace that is like a hallmark of the Seraphim. “You once told me that you could see forever in Anya’s eyes, but trust me when I tell you that she’d be satisfied with you just knowing that they’re green.”

“What?” I respond
, feelin’ li
ke he just hit me in the gut
.

“Exactly
. You know very little, so don’
t interfere with how we dec
ide to protect Evie,” he replies
with the complete assurance that he has the upper hand.

“I may not know much, but I know I’m not the one that left her alone here to fend for herself, all the while not knowin’ what she was or w
here she came from,” I counter
, takin’ back some of the power he just took from me.

“It’s such a sham
e, you know even less than that—
y
ou know nothing,” he volleys
back. “If you plan to go with the contingent from Domi
nion, you had best hurry. They’
re not like Anya, they will not wait for you.”

While ponderin’ w
ays to smash his face in, I feel
small flakes of snow drift onto my face and arms, meltin’ like gentle kisses against my ski
n. Xavier, on the other hand, i
s cover
ed in big, fat clumps of slushy
snow that E
vie has
created with the flick o
f her wrist.

Xavier’s lips twitch while he turns
toward Evie to see her cross her arms over her chest and glare at him.

“Evie
!” Xavier grins
at her. In an instant, he pulls
her up off her feet in a bear-lik
e hug while he shakes
his blond hair, showerin’ large dollops of meltin’ snow onto her silky skin.

For a moment, I feel as if I’m
watchin’ two angelic lovers engagin’ in a form of adol
escent flirtation. Xavier rubs
his cold, wet cheek against Evie’s
and she gasps
as the combination of frigid w
ater and masculine skin combine
to cause an unwillin’, feminine giggle to tumble from her.