Incendiary (The Premonition Series (Volume 4)) (77 page)

A slow smile forms
on Brennus’ lips.
“Ye will?” he asks
.

“
I will!
Don’t turn Reed—promise me!” I beg
him.

Brennus’ eyebrow arch
es
in question, “Why na?” he asks
.

My fingertips slid
e
down the barrier
between us
as I croak
, “Because…because I want him fo
r my
sclábhaí
,” I lie
. “He’ll
make a good slave.”

Brennus’ smile deepens
.
“
He would, indeed,” Brennus grins
indulgently
.

“Brenn, we must go now,”
Finn says, indicating the commotion building behind us. When he sees Brennus nod, he disappears inside the portal.

“Ye know where I’ll be
,
”
Brennus says with a small smile.

“I do,” I agree, knowing just where to go—
the Knight’s Bar.

“Hurry
…I do na plan ta keep
him for ye long,” he advises
.

“I’ll come, I promise…
” I say
, sp
l
aying my hand
s
against
the barrier between us.

“Until den,” he nods
, before jumping into the portal and disappearing from the night.

Spies And
A
llies

The portal that Brennus uses
to
make his
escape fa
ll
s
to the frozen ground and lay
s
there as an enticing invitation
for me
to follow them. Russell frees
himself from the
energy shielding him and walks to it. As he picks it up, I plead,
“Don’t—
” but he smashes
it tight
in his fist, before waving his hand at me to release me from my invisible prison.

I’
m
driven to my knees under a weigh
t of sorrow so heavy that I ca
n’t remain standing. Tears co
me i
n
racking gasps while I cover
my face with my hands to try to contain them.
I have to—
to plan…I have to…I have to…Reed!
My heart gi
ve
s
a painful lurch.
He took Reed from me!
I silently scream as my mind struggles
to surm
ount the torturous emotions overtak
ing me.

“Red,” R
ussell’s soft voice penetrates
my frantic brain while angels with fierce weapons and ev
en fiercer expressions assemble
in a circle around us, scanning the terrain for threats.

I ho
ld up a trembling hand to him to stop him from reaching out and taking
me in his arms. I don’t want Russell
to
comfort me. There is no comfort.
I need Zee—
h
e’s brilliant, resourceful—
he’ll help me save Reed
,
I
plot
frantically
, while
rising to my feet.

I grab
onto
the
first Power angel I encounter
, clutching the front
of his armor, I ask
him
in a frayed voice, “Zephyr King?
I need to find him!”

His hands go
to my upper arms to steady me because
I sway
when
my world begi
n
s
to spin. Without
thought, a glowing clone emerges
from me, causing the Power’s eyes to widen in amazement. The image of me sho
o
t
s
through the crowd of angels, eliciting murmurs and musical commentary. Diso
rientated and confused, I back
away from
the watchful Power
s
and
turn to
stumble
alon
g on the garden path. Russell i
s at my side, attempting to help me by putting his arm around me.

“No!” I say bitterly, as I try to shrug his arm off, but he ho
ld
s
on to me.

“
I had to stop you,” Russell
’s
voice pleads
, struggling with me to make me look at him. “‘Cuz I know what
it feels like after they take you
and I couldn’t live through that again.”

I turn
on him, shovi
ng my finger in his face
. “NOT YOUR
DECISION!” I growl
in a croaking voice because Declan
has
left deep bruis
es on my throat
.
Declan! Declan’
s dead,
my mind is screaming.

Russell, loo
king beaten up too, straightens
, pointing his finger back at me. “I’m makin’ it my decision! Reed w
ould’ve wanted me to stop you
. You’
re
in no condition to take Br
ennus on now!” Russell counters in an angry voice
. “And don’t tell me you
could’ve healed Reed before Brennus tri
ed to eat you
again, ‘cuz I’m not
buyin’ it.”

“Don’t talk about Reed
in the past tense!” I
snarl
before the pa
inful twist of my heart remind
s
me that I’m wasting precious time. Time is finite now; there’s
almost no time
left for Reed. Br
ushing Russell aside, I
run toward
s
the estate to search for Zee.

“EVIE!” Russell shouts, following
me.

Xavier descends
from the sky with a flouri
sh of his powerful wings and
lands
directly in front of me with
a scowl to match my own. I try
to
maneuver around him, but he’
s
equally fast, catching me up in his a
rms. “We need to talk,” he begins
, before he
really looks at me. When he does, his eyes grow darker. He grips my chin, turning it so he can examine my blackening neck.

“Put me down,” I order
in a r
aspy whisper. “I can’t talk now!
”

“I’m surp
r
ised you can speak at all,” comes
Xavier’s
retort.
“Who did this to you?”

“Gancanagh,” I say,
pointing to Declan’s still body
for expediency
. “You sho
u
ld go have a look—
”

“You were attacked?” he asks
for confirmation.

“Yes,” I say
, wiggling to
get out of his grasp.

Zephyr
’
s voice reaches me then.
“Evie,”
he murmurs
in a desolate tone.

“ZEE!” I breathe as my face distorts
in
anguish when my eyes me
et his ice-blue ones. I reach
out to him, putting my arms
around his neck. I try
to pull myself out of Xavier’s grasp
while giant,
racking sobs
shake
my body.

As I cli
ng tight
to
Zephyr, Xavier finally relents
by h
anding me into the Power’
s arms. I try
hard to speak, to tell him exactly what happened and what he needs to know to help Reed, but
all that i
s coming out of me are indiscernible
words interrupted by heaving sobs.

“Shh...” Zephyr
says gently,
stroking my hair. “I received your messenger, Evie. I know Brennus atta
cked you...I know Reed…was lost—
”

“No,” I shake
my head, “not lost—
”

Xavier turns
on Zephyr with menace. “Br
ennus attacked Evie?” he snarls
.

“Yeah, t
ry to keep up,” Russell retorts
, fielding the question for Zee.

Xavier’s expression turns
dark
as he leans aggressively towards Russell
. “Tell me what happened befo
re I shred you!
”

“XAVIER,” Tau barks
a w
arning as he joins
us with Cole at his side. Tau’s eyes me
et mine while his expression goes completely blank. I turn away from him
, burying my face in
Zephyr’s neck. “Evie,” Tau says
my name with merciful softness, “you’re hurt. Zephyr, bring her inside.”

“I’m not hur
t,” I manage to say, “it’s Reed—
” I have
to pause to hold back the urge to violently retch as my stomach tw
ists
like I had been bayo
neted in the abdomen. I squeeze my eyes shut.

“Inside,” Tau repeats
grimly to Zephyr, not waiting for me to finish.

Chilling wind flows
over my already
numb limbs as Zephyr transports me in his arms. He follows
Tau through the maze of corridors at dizzying speeds. Looking over Z
ephyr’s shoulder, my eyes rest on Russell’s who follows
close behind us.
The burn of betrayal constricts
my throat,
making me glance away from Russell
to Xavier edging closer to me.

The ghostly hint of
an expensive fragrance lingers in the air when Zephyr carries
me through a sitting room to Brennus’ office. The perfume had been a gift from Brennus, bought for me when I occupied the suite of rooms connected to this office.
Pus
hing past the office door, I can see that the room i
s largely untouched by the battle that had damaged most of the estate. Brennus
’
enormous
mahogany desk i
s still here, graced by silk-
covered chairs.

Zephyr pass
es
t
he small table where I once ate my breakfast
every morning, t
aking
me directly to an elegant sofa beneath the large, arching window
s
with their view of the sea.
Placing me upon the cushions
,
he
immediately starts assessing my injuries. Tau stands
beside him, speaking
to him in Angel and
following
every detail of the examination.

“No time for this!” I rasp
laconically
to Zephyr. “Reed needs us
.”

“What happened?” Tau asks.

I try
to speak, to tell him every
thing that happened, but I can’t; my lips twist
in an anguished expres
sion. Quickly, Russell co
me
s
to my rescue, recounting the night’s events in g
ut-wrenching detail. When he’
s done, they all seem
to be in shock.

“She w
as forced to drink
Gancanagh
blood
and
then you healed her?” Tau asks
Russell.

“Yeah,” Russell replies with a grimace
, adding, “but it was my fault she was
out there in the first place—
”

“How could she have ingested Bre
nnus’ blood, Russell?” Tau asks
quietly. “She’s alive and she still retains her soul.”

“I don’t know,” Russell answers
honestly. “I was hopin’
one of
y’all could tell me how it works.”

Ignoring them,
I whisper
in
Zephyr’s ear, “We can save him—
I
need to get close—
t
ouch him—
t
ake away his thrall—
”

Tau interrupts
me, “How do you know that you can heal the thrall of the Gancanagh in an angel like Reed?”