Incendiary (The Premonition Series (Volume 4)) (89 page)

Anya’s wings droop forward and h
er beautiful, sooty eyelashes co
me together briefly, like I’d hurt her wi
th my comment. My heart squeezes
in my chest again
before she
speaks
with cold assurance
,
“You won’t be letting me down—
e
ither way—
if it works or it doesn’t…it won’t matter.
”

The
sadness in
Anya’s
voice
chills
me enough to make me ask
,
“What do you
mean
it won’t matter?
”

Her jaw i
s set too tight
, like she’s tryin’ too hard to show no emotion.
“It won’t matter because with or without you, Evie is going into that room…and s
o am I,” she says
, straightenin’
her shoulders.

I see
somethin’
then,
deep in Anya’s
eyes
that causes
my gut to ache like someone kicked me there. I don’t know how I
know what it is, maybe it’s because
I’ve had that look
before, when I tho
ught I had nothin’ left to lose—
when Red was dyin’ in Brennus’ caves.

“It matters to me,” I r
eply
in a gentle tone.
“I care ‘bout what happens to you
.”

Anya’s eyes widen a little before they narrow
again. “G
uilt
inspired by a
stranger s
houldn’t pain you
too long, Russell,” she replies, usin’ my words that take
on the sharp edge of a knife twistin
’ in my chest. “I’m bound to
Earth now—
p
inned-down here on my own
. I don’t regret coming; I wouldn’t change it if I
could, but this is not my home
.
” S
he looks
away from my eyes.

“So, you’
r
e
sayin’ that there’s no point i
n stayin’?” I ask
, knowin’
that we’re not talkin’ ‘bout her goin’ somewhere else, but dyin’ in Brennus ar
ms with his cold lips destroyin’
everthin’ that’s perfect in her.

“I’m saying that I be
l
ieve the sacrifice is worth it
,” she says
, avoidin’ my eyes.
“
Revenge
for what he’
s done.
”

A chill runs through me and I’
ve never felt so cold in my life.
“
I
need a second alone with Anya,”
I sa
y to no one in particular because
my eyes never leave her face.

Red’s voice is urgent as she says, “But we need to plan—”

“
I
said
I need to talk to my
aspire
. Alone,”
I say forcefully
, my eyes leave Anya
to look at the gray
eyes
I feel I’
ve known forever
.

Evie argues,
“There’
s almost no time left—
”

Buns puts
her arm ‘round Red’
s shoulders.
“
We’
ll start getting
ready, Evie,”
Buns states firmly, while
pullin’
her away
. “
I have just the right weapons for you. Black silk, I think.
”

Buns
and Brownie move
with Evie
toward the
library door. After they
file
out,
Zee
gives me a “be cool”
look. My chin raises just a notch in recognit
ion of his silent advice. When
the door closes
behind Zee
, I
turn back to look at Anya, but her hand connects lo
udly with my chee
k in a
slap
that turns my face away from her for a moment. My eyes narrow instantly, as it registers in my mind that she just hit me.

“
What the hell?
”
I growl.
My shirt rips from me as my wings fly out of my back and sp
r
ead out wide ‘
round me.

“So NOW I’
m your
aspire
!”
she growls back with her eyes even narrower than mine.

She
storms
towards the door of the library
to leave
, but I’
m faster than her, gettin’
in fro
nt of her and blockin’
her way.
When I put my hands on her shoulders to stop her
, she grabs my finger, wrenchin’ it back. I grunt as I’
m driven
down on one knee in front of her.
“And I’
m
not
a
moron
. I can make
decisions that affect my life,”
she says in a silky tone.

A
n ins
tant later, I spring up, pickin’
her up off her feet and
heftin’
he
r
ove
r
my shoulder,
movin’
to pr
ess her against the nearest built-in bookcase. Books topple and fal
l from the shelves as Anya thrust
s her hands to them, tryin’
to gain some leverage against me
.

“Stop,”
I growl.
Then I look into her eyes. The churning butterflies in my gut make it imperative that I get
even
closer to her.
My body
shift
s to hold her to the bookcase
. Her hands fall
to my shoulde
rs to push me away, but she can’
t m
ove me at all
.
I’
m havin
’ trouble breathin’
now because
she may be
the most beautiful creature I
’
ve ever seen.
Her cheeks are flushed and her breat
h is comin’
out of her in short gasps. Black lashes make her green eyes sparkle in comparison as her beautiful eyebrows scowl at me.

I lower my lips to hers,
kissin
’ her like I’m askin’
her the question,
A
re you mine?

She doesn’
t respond at first, ign
orin
’
my question. My lips
brush
over hers as
they silently ask
again,
A
re you mine?

I feel the
need to hold my breath, like I’ve been waitin’
for this moment all my life.

Tentatively, h
er
arms
move from my shoulders, slidin’ ‘
roun
d my neck as her kiss
answer
s
m
e.
Anya’
s
lips part, and i
mmediately
,
it’
s as if the
radia
nce of
her skin against mine is flowin’ into me, scorchin’
me
.
I groan because the intensity of
it
is unexpected.
Her fi
ngers tangle in my hair, causin’
all sorts of things
to happen inside me that I can hardly contain.
At once the ache that I’ve had surroundin’
my heart is soothed while the ache of desire builds and threatens to tear me apart.

Her fingert
ips slip to my cheeks, deepenin’
the kiss as she holds my face in her hands. I pull her legs u
p to wrap them more firmly ‘r
ound my waist.
Her dark wings push agai
n
st the bookcase, press
ing her tight against my chest.

Before I know that they’
re there, my hands grasp the back of her body armor, sh
r
eddin
’
it at t
he seams and pullin’
the breast
plate
from her.
She gasps as her white halter-t
op beneath it is exposed. Her eyes round in surprise.

“
Sorry,” I murmur, not meanin’ it, “that was botherin’
me.”
I fling the armor away to the floor.
My lips search
hers again as a sinister desire to figure out a way to get the rest of her armor from her grows.

Anya’
s eyes narrow
again before her feet kick back
against the
wall, thrustin’
hard
while her wings
spread wide. It catches me off
guard and p
ropels us backward. I crash into
the spiral staircase
behind us
t
hat leads up to
the balcony
. My wings take most of the shock a
s I come to rest on the step
s. “Sorry,” she says not meanin’
it, “
I’
m not Evie.”
She hovers
above me
with a dangerous s
mile as she pins me down with her knee
s o
n my chest
. “
I
’
m not forgiveness and
redemption. I’
m violent retaliation and vengeance.
”

“
S
o you’
re payback, huh?”
I ask
while I use
my strength to
grasp her shoulder and haul her beneat
h me so that I’
m on top and she’
s pressed to the stairs
. “
That’
s good because
I’
m always looki
n
’
for a ret
urn on my investment.”

I think I
’
ve startled
her, but I don’
t give her time to respo
nd before
I’
m kissin’
her again. Her arms
travel up my arms and find their way behind my nape
. As he
r
fingers curl in my hair, it seems
she does i
t more from
instinct tha
n
for any other reason.

I try
to
beat down
the
lecherous
need to
growl
as it builds
in me
. This attraction is so intense
that
I
feel like I
either
have to
get close
r to her or smash somethin’
. I rise from the stairs
w
ith Anya in my arms while I
pull her legs around my
waist. Backin’
away from the stairs,
I
turn:
crash
.
M
y wings sweep the lamp off the small table behind me; it shatters on the floor. I spare it only a cursory gla
nce; my mouth never leaves Anya’
s.

Her hands clench in my hair
. S
he growls against my lips,
“
I
am not cocky.
You
are cocky,
”
she nips my bottom lip.

“Ahh,” I
groan, wantin’
her to stop, but when she does
,
I immediately want her to do it aga
in.

Her hands leave
my hair to touch
my wings. She runs her fingernails over the spines of the feathers,
thick, thick, thick
, the sound is like a
velvet warning, mak
in’
some innate instinct within me thrill as my heart
beats
stronger in my chest.

My wings spre
ad wide, like I’
m about to fly
.
Clang, smash
, Reed’
s art is swept from a shelf as
my wing level
s
things as I pass them so that
they
find
new position
s
on the floor
.
Anya’
s wings respond
to mine
, fluttering in a way that makes my fingers tighten agains
t her skin
, and ev
en though I don’
t know what that
means, it makes me feel like I might die soon
if I don’
t have her
. Then s
he gently
stroke
s
my wing; t
he mu
scles in my abdomen tighten.
I
hurry to the desk in front of us
. Using my arm, I swipe it across
the surface. A cascade of expensive
artifacts and desk accessories strike the hardwood floor in a cavalcade of sound.