Incendiary (The Premonition Series (Volume 4)) (78 page)

“Russell
healed me—
toxic skin is a weaker
poiso
n than their blood,” I whisper
in a raspy voice, “and I’m immune to it.”

“Yes, but how do you know
it will work for Reed?” he asks
again
. “You and Russell share a similar physiology…not so with Reed.”

I still
at his
words
, seeing that it questions the logic of
my plan. “It will work,” I state
firmly.

P
essimism is in his tone when he replies
, “It’s a great risk.”

My heart si
nk
s
another degree. “It won’t b
e you taking the risk,” I reply
in a s
inister, gravelly voice
.

“Nor will it be you,” Tau
replies
calmly. “Your plan is flawed. It could very well end with Reed killing you when it fails…or worse, Brennus turning you into his undead queen.”

“Reed would
never hurt me,” I retort
.

“He’
s not Reed anymore,” Tau says
grimly.

My throat constricts like he’s
put a noose around my neck. “
What’re you saying?” I ask
as renewed panic heaps
upon my already overwhelming sense of fear and dread to make me feel sicker inside.

“The best we can do is hunt for Reed, attempt to capture him, and then, perhaps,
you may try to heal him if he were
properly restrained…” Tau says as he begins to
outline a totally ridiculous plan.

“You’ll never get close to him!
” I rasp
.
“
H
e’s being controlled by Brennus—
the only chance we have
is if I go to Brennus, meet him—”

Xavier’s deep growl interrupts
me.
“No!” Xavier argues
, shaki
ng his head at me
. He’
s
by Brennus’ de
sk and in his hand i
s the small statue that Reed had carved of me.

“No?” I ask
, like I do
n’t understand
the word, but my heart stumbles
on it.

Xavier set
s
the sta
tue back down on the desk
.
“You must know that everything you’re saying is completely
irrational,” Xavier says
.

“Irrational?” I ask
him rhetorically. “No, it’s
completely feasible!” I insist as cold sweat breaks
out on my brow.

“You can’t do it,” Xavi
er says
in a soothing
tone, while his fingers linger
on the figurine
. “We’ll take care of this for you.”

“How?” I ask
, feeling sick.

“I will kill him for you. He
will not suffer,” Xavier replies
with compassion in his mismatched eyes.

“What?” I ask
in shock.

“Reed has to
die before he harms others,” Xavier
answers
cautious
ly
, gauging my reaction
.

“Will you kill me next
,
then?”
I ask
in swelling fury, “b
ecause the angel that kills Reed before I can heal him will have to kill me, too. I’ll never stop hunting him. It’ll be my only mission.”

Tau speaks
to Xavier in Angel, effectively cutting me out of the
ir
conversation
. Wanting a translator, I lift
my eyes to Zee’s.
The soulful sadness in them mak
e
s
me have to bite my lip against bursting out in tears again. I feel torn at the seams.

I ask
Zephyr almost inaudibly, “What’re they saying?”

“Shh…not here,” he replies
conspira
torially. Then to Tau, he raises
his tone, saying, “Evie needs rest. I will take her to her room.”

Tau’s gray stare turns
to me again with a
n unreadable expression. He says
calmly, “I will take care of her.”
Then, T
au speaks to Zephyr in
A
ngel
.

Zephyr stiffens
. Something’s way more wrong than it was ev
en a minute ago. My hand reaches
out
to Zephyr’s, taking his, I ask
, “What, Zee?”

“They are going to for
ce me out, Evie,” Zephyr replies
in a cold tone.

“Force you out?” comes
my numb question.

“The choic
e is not mine to make. I am out
ranked,” Zephyr says
with his eyebrows drawing together in a deep frown
. “They have only to say th
at my mission here is concluded
and I must leave.”

My hand tightens
i
n his as I shake
my head. “But…I’m Seraphim, too. No one truly knows wher
e I rank, right?” I ask
, looking for a
loop
hole in their laws.

“In wha
t scenario would a daughter out
rank her father?” Tau asks
in a gentle tone.

“
Why are you doing this?” I demand
hollowly.

Reaching out, he touches my cheek
, saying, “My desire is to help you.”

Hostilely brushing hi
s hand from my cheek, I retort
, “How is sending my friend away possibly going to help me?”

“Without your friends, you will have to rely on me for help
, council…guidance,” Tau replies
with cold logic. “If they’re al
lowed to remain, you’
ll never let me in.”

“WHOA!” Russell cut
s
in angrily. “You’
re
not serious, ‘cuz no one’s breakin’ us up!”

“I am ver
y serious, Russell,” Tau replies
, unruffled.

“This is about
control, isn’t it?” I ask
with narrowing eyes. “It’s about getting me to do as I’m told.”

“That would be the goal for now
until you
learn to trust me,” Tau replies
.

Gazing around at the contingent of Power angels guarding the windows and doors leading to the balcony an
d the sitting room, I calculate
the odds of my fragile situation. It’s bleak; they all answ
er to Tau. Then, my eyes shift to Xavier who watches
me grimly, in full agreement with my father.

My eyes shift
back to Tau. “I’ve
never asked you for anything.
I’m asking you now: please, please,
help me get Reed back!” I beg him. “I’ll trust you—
I’ll do anything you want me to do, I promise!”

“Every effort will be m
ade to locate Reed,” Tau replies
.

“Good,” I breathe
in a sick kind of relie
f. “Whose team am I on?”

“You won’t participa
te in the recovery,” Tau says
.

“But…
you need me to heal him,
” I say
slowly, my voice hitching.

“If we take him alive,
you’
ll be informed,” Tau says
softly.

“
If
you take
him alive?”
I ask
.

“Yes,” he affirms
with paternal tolerance.

“I’m gonna
be sick,” I groan
. “Please don’t do this. You have to help
me,” I plead
.

“I am,” Tau says with resolve
. “I will not allow your idiosyncrasies and misguided loyalty to lead you to sacrifice yourself or your soul.”

“My misguided loyalty?” I ask
in a shallow v
oice. “Wouldn’t you do anything—e
verything to save your
aspire
if you could?”

Tau frowns
grimly, looking away from me.

“Evie,” Xavier says
in a tone mea
nt to caution me. When I glance at him he shakes
his head in warning.

“What, Xavier?” I as
k
him in an anguished tone, “a
m I supposed to just let Reed die like he let my mother die? Is that w
hat we do in my family?” I ask
in growing rage. “I can’t do that!
Reed doesn’
t get another
chance. He won’
t g
o to Paradise if I let him die
.” I put my trembling hand to my chest where the pain is excruciating.

“
He is a Power. He is prepared
to make this kind of
sacrifice
,”
Xavier
says while he
edges
closer to me. He stands
just a l
ittle bit between Tau and me,
looking tense.

Tau loses
any hint of calm he had once possessed, as h
is frown grows
deepe
r. In a stern voice, he answers
me, “You will be protected in ways your mother was not.”

“I don’t want your
protection!” I retort
through my tears.

“You cannot be allowed to put yourself in the hands of your enemy. Going to Brennus in supplica
tion is in direct violation to A
ngelic law,” Tau’
s tone is askance, as he explains
his point to me. “Your plan is flawed.”

Refusi
ng to see his point, I counter
, “Is it coincidence then that I don’t know your laws o
r your language?
I’m learning that nothing is coincid
ence, so that leads me to conclude
that I don’t know them because they don’t apply to me. I’m a more effective killer whe
n I’m not hemmed in by protocol—
and isn’t that what you all want out of me, for me to be
a killer?” I ask him with my eyebrows pulling
together in anger. “Let me do what I was created to do. Let me kill Brennus.”

Tau’s eyes narrow,
“You’re delibera
tely being intransigent,” he says
accusingly.

“No! You’re the one who’s un
willi
ng to see my point!
” I deny
his accusation
, throwing it back at him.

“You cannot see clearly through your emotions. Until you can, I will be making all of the decisions
that affect your life,” he states
with an attempt at calm and order.

“No
,” I say
, stepping toward
s
the door to the sittin
g room. Cole immediately blocks
it as he crosses
his
arms over his chest. I hesitate
, seeing his resolve.
Slowly, I murmur
, “You can’t keep me here,
”

“
You will cooperate,” Tau replies
like a parent.

“No, I won’t,” I c
ounter, giving him my
severe
st
look.

“Evie,” Tau sighs
my name in exasperation.

“How can you stop me?” I ask him. “You can’t hold me here—
I
can shape
shift into butterflies an
d fly up the chimney if I want
to.”

“Phaedrus,” Tau says
softly.

“Phaedrus?” I ask
w
ith a sense of deepening dread.

“Will tell us wha
t you’re planning,” he responds
, indicating that he knows that Phaedrus is able to read most of my thoughts as I have them. He can hear them just as if I were speaking to him.

“Phaedrus would never do tha
t,” I reply with certainty.

“Phaedrus respects rank.
He will follow orders,” Tau says
with the
same kind of certainty that mak
e
s
me blush. “Now, I will give you a moment to say goodbye to Zephyr and Russell.”