Incendiary (The Premonition Series (Volume 4)) (51 page)

“Okay,
let’s say I believe you,” I say
skeptically, which mak
e
s
him frown at me again.

“Are you questi
oning my integrity?” he asks
in a stern tone.

I
hold up my hand to ebb the irritation caused by my last comment.
“Fine—
you didn’t know where I was or what I was doing. So, you went t
o Dominion for help?” I prompt
him to continue.

He relaxes a little, but his jaw remains tense when he says
, “Yes, we sought council with
Dominion, and then…” he trails
off, turning h
is back to the ocean
, he leans
against the bent railing to look at the ship behind me.

“And then what?” I ask
.

“And then Tau and
Cole had to stop me from te
aring Gunnar apart,” Xavier says
in
a dark tone
as his arms cross
over his chest.

My mouth falls open at the mention of
Gunnar
’s name. Gunnar is the
Power
who was against me in my trial at Dominion
—Pagan’s special friend on the war council
. “Why
would you do that?” I ask
, still not comprehending him at all.

“Because Gunnar made your binding ceremony with Reed a realist
ic course of action,” he replies
in a sullen tone.

“And you don’t approve of my
aspire
?” I ask
, not sure if I find him amusing or offensive.

“No,” he retorts
through gritted teeth.

“Why not?” I ask
with growing anger, decidedly offended.

“You o
we Reed nothing,” Xavier replies
in a bitter tone, “certainly far less than the forever that you promised him.”

“You don’t know what you’re t
alking about, Reece,” I retort
, using his last name to sever some of the familiarity between us.

“Reece…Reed…isn’t that a silly coincidence?” he
asks
, his mouth twisting in a
grim smile that neither reaches
his blue eye nor his green one.

“What are
you talking about?” I ask while my mouth goes dry and dread
creep
s
over me like a cold sweat.

“You don’t remember what I’m talking abo
ut,” he replies
in a
n intense tone, while he points
his finger at me. “And you bound your heart and so
ul to Reed without even knowing—” He doesn’t finish, but clamps
his teeth toge
ther tightly. Slowly, he drops
the finger he’d been shaking at me.

Knowing that my face has gone f
rom flushed to pale, I ask
, “Without even knowing what, Xavier
?” The need to hold my breath i
s
almost irresistible as I wait
for him to answer me.

He push
es
away from the railing
while saying, “I’
ll take care of
it.” He begins
to stride away from me toward the entrance of the ship.

“Yo
u’ll take care of what?” I ask
his broad, retreating back.

“E
verything,” his response drifts
back to me.

I allow
him
to
take five more steps toward the
interior of the
ship before I cast my spell.
Xavier stops abruptly, brought up short as he bumps into the invisible wall of energy I created in front of hi
m
.

“Evie!” he growls as he turns to look back at me
.
He rubs his nose like he would if he had just run into a
closed
door.

“I’m sorry, but your last comment sou
nded eerily like a threat to me. W
hat did you mean when you said that you’d take care of
everything, Xavier?” I ask
calmly.

He just glares at me
before
he takes a few steps in my direction
. I flick my wrist and his forward progress is halted as he collides with another invisible wall.
“Reve
rse your s
pell,” Xavier demands
.

I take a step back in response to his anger
.
“Answer the question,” I reply
.

“No,” he rejects
stubbornly.

“What did you say?” I ask
, before closing my eyes and whispering lyrical words to myself.

W
hen I open them,
I slowly
move my hand laterally. Xavier’
s eyes widen as he stumbles sideways. He pushes back against the
moving
energy
that continues to edge him toward the railing of th
e ship. As he resists my magic
, I feel
the sheer force of his strength as he literally
push
e
s
back. It causes
some of the power to surge
at me, stinging me inside. “Last chance, Xavier,
”
I grunt, forcing him closer to the side of the ship.

When he shakes
hi
s head
“
no
,
”
I dri
ve
both my hands sideways
in the air
,
pushin
g him to the railing
.

Xavier
holds on tight to it
.
“Evie,” he
grow
ls my name
, causing goose
bumps to break
out
over my skin.

“Sorry, I ca
n’t hear your answer,” I respond
with
faux
calm,
cupping my hand to my ear.

Xavier doesn’t respond
, but instead, he lets go of the railing
before leaping up onto it. Poised above me, his wings spread wide as
he flies straight up when he fi
nd
s
the w
eakness in my magic; my wall has
no ceiling
.

“Uh
oh,” I breathe
.
Se
arching the sky to
locate
wher
e Xavier went, I quickly
conclude that
I’
ve
lost him. “Not good
,” I mutter
clenching my teeth in fear.

Defensive strategies pulse through my mind. I react
to the firs
t viable solution that presents
itself. Concentrating, I crouch
down on one knee as
a hundred of my clones explode from me; the perfect replicas stand
on the deck like images in a house of mirrors, camouflaging me from the menace stalking me from the sky.

I wait
a few moments bef
ore I decide that I’m
better
off inside the ship. As I inch
forward
toward the companionway, I send
my clones to wander
around ahead of me, but I pause when Xavier materializes
on the deck twenty yards away.

Dripping wet
fro
m the rain
and
thoroughly pissed off, he wipes
his mouth with the back of his hand
w
hile his huge, red wings move restlessly
. I attempt
to adopt a serene expression in order to blend in better with my clones, but my breathing is c
oming out in soft pants that I find
hard to control.

Sniffing the air like a wolf
, Xavier growls
low, causing my heart to speed up and lodge somewhere in m
y throat. While his eyes scan
all the clone
s on the deck to my left, I stand perfectly still and watch
water drip from his chin onto his
now bare chest. My knees weaken as his eyes drift to mine
and then narrow when they lock on
.

Xavier stretches his arms out wide from his sides as he walks
negligently towar
d me. Each clone that he touches on his path to me swirls
like
fairy
dust in the air, disappearing in winding billows of
smoke, but he never even glances
at
them because his eyes never leave
mine.

When he reaches me, I’m weak with fear. I do
n
’t even struggle when he grasps
the lapels of my
pea coat, pulling me the last few inches toward him.

“How did you
know which one was me?” I ask
him weakly.

“
I know you
r heart
,” he replies
.
Pulling me up to him, he kisses
me tenderly, his lips a plea
against mine. Then, he whispers
sadly
against my mouth, “Remember me.” H
is grip eases
on my lapels and he reluctantly let
s me go.

“
Don’
t ever kiss me again,”
I say as I look in his eyes
.
“
This isn’t high school. I’
m not in love with you
anymore
.
I’
m not th
e same girl
—
”

“
I’
m not talking
about high school. Remember me,”
he says again as he looks into my eyes
with his hand
s
holding my sho
u
lders.

Too stunned to r
eact for a moment, I just stare
up at him
before a flood of color rushes
to my cheeks. “Remember you? Don’t tell me that you
were my soul mate, too,” I say
in a strange, choked voice.

“No,” he replies
in an equally strained to
ne. “You only get one soul mate—
h
uman.
I’m an
a
ngel.”

“Oh,” I murmur
, exhaling deeply, “then...you’re saying, what? That we knew each other…before...when we were…”
Using my index finger, I point
up toward the sky.

Sadness enters his eyes as he gazes
at me. “I wasn’t your soul mate in Paradise, Evie…I was your
angel,” Xavier replies
.

“Xavie
r…that’s not funny,” I stutter
.

“I assure you, Evie, there is nothing
I find less amusing,” he replies
with a grim
expression as his hand reaches
up to cup my cheek.

“
Xavier, you have no bind
ing mark on you,”
I say, pointing to his chest.

“
We said we’
d wait until this was over—until we return together to
Paradise,”
he answers.

“I ca
n’t hear this right now,” I say while panic makes
my heart beat out of control. Placi
ng my hand on his chest, I try to push him away, but he does
n’t move except to cover my hand with his own. I f
ocus
on it.
S
trong
, I think.

“This isn’t going away, Evie. I’m
not leaving you again,” he says
, sounding resolved.

“You have to go away!
” I reply
in a plea, not looking at his fac
e. “I have an
aspire
!
You’
re too late.
”

His hand tightens
over mine. “The binding with Reed was a commitment exacted under duress.”

“No,” I reply,
shaking my head, “I wanted Reed.”

“It was coercion,” he counters
.

“It was free
will!
” I say plainly. Xavier’s jaw tightens as his frown deepens
.