“She taught ye magic?” Declan accuses, like Red betrayed him personally.
“You’re surprised?” I ask him. “She’s my soul mate.”
“And our queen,” Faolan counters grimly.
“And my aspire,” Reed replies.
Reed, standin’ next to me, looks like he walked through a meat grinder. Pieces of flesh and blood cling to his dark armor, but I can’t see his face ‘cuz it’s covered by a black, assassin’s hood.
“Da aingeal,” Declan calls. “How is it dat ye haven’t killed da other yet?”
“He grows on one,” Reed replies smoothly.
“Like a callus?” Declan asks with a sneer.
“Something like that,” Reed replies as he starts stridin’ in an invisible stream of speed at Declan.
With his sword drawn, Reed hefts it to strike the Gancanagh in the hallway, choppin’ through everyone in his path to Red’s former bodyguards. Declan, seein’ him comin’, pulls out a small, jeweled compact from his pocket.
“Ye’ll give her our regards, won’t ye?” he asks, before flippin’ open the lid of the compact.
Instantly, Declan and Faolan distort, shiftin’ into the mirror, like someone flushed them down a toilet. The mirror drops to the floor where their feet had been, and stands wide open.
Reed comes to a halt in front of it, before throwin’ his powerful sword in an uncharacteristic display of anger. Zee flies past me, followin’ Reed, and I watch in disbelief as Reed explodes into a swarm of angry, buzzin’ honeybees.
The swarm hovers over the mirror, circlin’ it in preparation of followin’ the dead guys to their lair. Zephyr, reachin’ the mirror, picks it up and snaps it closed before the bees have a chance to enter it.
“You are going to let them taunt you into following them?” Zephyr angrily asks the swarm hoverin’ in the air.
The bees morph into the shape of Reed’s outline, before implodin’ into his angelic form again. Grimly, Reed pulls the assassin’s hood back from his face, revealin’ his clenched jaw while he glares at Zephyr and the mirror in his hand. Zee sees him look at the mirror, so he crushes the metal under his fingers without blinkin’ an eye.
“ZEE!” Reed explodes with frustration in every line of his demeanor. “That was a direct line to Brennus!” he shouts, pointin’ his finger at the now useless metal pebble in Zee’s palm.
“And now, it’s a paperweight,” he replies. “Since when do we do anything on their terms?” he asks Reed rationally.
Reed tenses. “I could’ve killed him—killed them all on my terms!” he shouts at Zee. I haven’t seen Reed this out of control since Brennus took Evie.
“NO!” Zephyr yells back, pointin’ right back at Reed. “You don’t know what was waiting for you at the other end of this portal.”
“The perfect opportunity,” Reed replies heatedly.
“Or your perfect demise,” Zephyr counters coolly.
“What am I supposed to do now?” Reed asks Zee roughly. “He’s a coward that won’t face me.”
“For now, rejoice in this deliverance from evil,” Zephyr replies in a calm tone. “Sorin, Tycho, Elan—let us find the rest of the newly turned Gancanagh and dispose of them. Evie will be upset if she sees them.” To Reed he says, “Stay with Russell and help him protect Anya.”
As Zee walks away to hunt Gancanagh, Reed reaches down and picks up his sword. Then, he leans it against the wall and reluctantly pulls the blood-smeared, black armor off of him.
“You okay?” I ask Anya, whom I’ve pressed tight to my side.
She nods her head solemnly, not sayin’ a word. I lean down and kiss her temple lightly, wantin’ to do more but not knowin’ how she’ll react to me kissin’ her lips.
“It is fortunate for me that they were not as interested in me as they were in Evie,” Anya says in a soft, shaky voice.
“Huh?” I mutter, rattled by the very scent of her skin. It makes my heart pound harder in my chest as my hand runs lightly over the contours of her soft wings. The crickets in my stomach are reactin’ wildly to holdin’ her. I want to crush her to me now, as I think of what could’ve happened to her only minutes ago.
Her hand shakes as she puts it to her forehead. “It would have solved two of your problems with one, small solution,” she replies, pullin’ away from my side. “Lucky for me, they were not interested in a trade.” She exhales like she has been holdin’ her breath in dread.
Lookin’ at her pale face, there is fear in her eyes as she tries hard to avoid mine. My eyes narrow when what she just said registers.
“You think—you believe I’d give you to them if they agreed to the trade? Your life for Evie’s?” I ask her, afraid that I’m right—that that is what she believes.
She stumbles away from me on shaky legs, goin’ to where she had dropped her golden bow. Pickin’ it up, her fingers are stiff and she has trouble adjustin’ an arrow on it.
“Are you gonna answer me?” I ask her angrily, now completely offended by what she implied.
She stiffens even more. “I did not know,” she replies with the numb voice of someone who just experienced trauma. “I do not know to what lengths you will go to be rid of me. I am merely the other’s other.”
“AHHH, C’MON!” I say with exasperation while my stomach twists into knots. “You can’t listen to them—you can’t really believe that I’d give you to those monsters, Anya!”
Her bow trembles in her hand as she stammers in a haunted voice, “I…I was next to you…listening. I hear what they say to you…that you greedy to want two angels. I close my eyes and I hold my breath because they do not know that you do not want me—that I am nothing to you,” she breathes, and a small tear falls from the corner of her eye. Her hand comes swiftly up to dash it away before she continues. “And this fear—fear like I do not know before is making me sick—ache.” She holds her fist against her heart before finally lookin’ at my face. “Not fear that they will kill me, but fear that you will betray me and I will welcome their death.”
“I would never do that,” I say grimly. “You must know that I’d never do that to you.”
More tears fall from her green eyes as she looks ‘round at the bloody walls, appearin’ more afraid than I’ve ever seen her look. “I want…I need…” she swallows hard against the obvious lump in her throat.
“Anya,” I say her name softly, ‘cuz she looks so lost and I did that to her. I made her afraid of me…and maybe afraid of her love for me.
Somethin’ squeezes tight in my chest. But, when I step closer to her to pull her into my arms, she backs away from me. With her teeth clenched, she raises her bow, pointin’ it at me while she continues to back away from me.
“Anya,” Reed says her name gently. “I know it’s very tempting to kill Russell, but please don’t. I need him to sniff out the portals that the Gancanagh have stashed all over this estate.”
Dressed now in just a t-shirt and black, athletic pants, Reed approaches Anya slowly. Holdin’ his hand out to her, she weakly lowers her bow, like she can’t hold it up any longer.
“She has battle-fatigue, Russell,” Reed says to me in a low tone. “She’s in shock—this has to be the first time she’s ever been witness to this kind of slaughter.”
I glance ‘round at the floor, seein’ body parts everywhere. The last battle we were in was bad, but this is just plain gory.
My eyes narrow, not only ‘cuz of what he just said, but ‘cuz Anya just walked into Reed’s open arms, lettin’ him comfort her against his chest. A low, mean growl rumbles in my throat, makin’ a smile immediately appear on Reed’s lips. His hand slips to Anya’s back, holdin’ her against him.
“There is nothing like a Throne to bring just the right amount of karma,” he says, when she leans her pale cheek against his shoulder. “I’ve watched you comfort Evie just like this and felt the same way—like I could tear your heart out through your back.”
“I was thinkin’ of just crushin’ yours and leavin’
it where I’d found it,” I reply in a salty tone.
His grin widens. “Yes…karma,” Reed says in a knowin’ voice.
He speaks softly in Angel to Anya, but she doesn’t respond. She looks numb. Liftin’ her up into his arms, he tries not to smile again when another growl comes from me. Reed walks the few feet to me. Shiftin’ Anya into my arms, her head rests against my chest and I try not to squeeze her too tight.
Reed says, “There were some comfortable-looking sofas in the library we passed in the North Tower. Let’s go find one for Anya.”
“Do you think she’ll be okay?” I ask worriedly. I’ve seen soldiers with stares like hers before…in many, many, lifetimes, but I’ve never seen it happen to an angel.
“Yes. We’ll locate some clean blankets and we’ll keep her warm,” Reed assures me.
Reed collects his armor before walkin’ next to Anya and me in the corridor.
“Damn, Reed, do you know what this means?” I ask as we walk.
Lookin’ puzzled he asks, “No, what?”
“It means you’re not the stiff, emotionless, soul mate-stealin’, a-hole I thought you were,” I reply with irritation in my voice.
Reed’s brows come together as he thinks about what I’ve just said. “And you are not the—” and he says somethin’ in Angel I don’t know, “that I thought you were.”
A reluctant smile touches my lips. “Well, shhhheeeeeeeit, right?” I ask, as we turn down another long corridor together.
“Yes, exactly,” he agrees, noddin’.
CHAPTER 18
Welcome Home
The cloudy night sky lends little light to the surrounding grounds of Brennus’ estate, but my angel vision is such that I can see everything very well—too well. Spent shell casings litter the ground like acorns from an ancient oak tree, while uprooted pines and torn sod remain like fallen soldiers in the aftermath of a horrible war.
Under my own power, I fly past the cliffs from the ship moored off the Irish coastline. I can still see the fading telltale tire tracks across the lawn, a testament to my desperate escape from this prison. The starry sky had broken open for Reed and me when we had driven over the edge of the rock face and entered the portal leading to London. Now, the same sky that had been a co-conspirator in my quest to be with Reed seems to be coldly disapproving of my presence. The wind, lashing my hair into my face, seems angry with me for returning after it had given its last, best effort to save my life.
Touching down, my feet crunch the gravel on the circular drive in front of the massive gray, stone façade of Brennus’ fortress. Interior lights shine through panes of glass, while the froth of white curtains waft in the open air from the shattered ones. I concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other. It’s a simple plan that should require very little effort. Should.
Approaching the imposing stone gargoyles at the illuminated front entrance, I falter for a moment, losing my single-mindedness when the damp chill from one falls upon me. Flanked by Tau on one side of me and Xavier on the other, Xavier wastes no time in smashing his fist into the iniquitous snarl of the gargoyle. Pieces of stone shower the ground at my feet.
“Not a fan of the arts?” I ask him with a wry smile, trying to cover my hesitation.
Xavier flashes me a perfect smile, saying, “No, just not a fan of evil.”
Glancing through the doors of the front entrance, Powers are moving everywhere I look. Recognizing none of them, I hesitate again. All I want to do is find Reed, Russell, and Zee and make sure they’re okay, but I don’t know how these unfamiliar angels will react to my presence, so I start plotting an alternate route.
“Is there a problem?” Tau asks in a gentle voice.
“Do you know them?” I ask him. My gray eyes meet his and my hand gestures in the general direction of the war-like angels inside as they move around the fortress, like a swarm in the nerve-center of a hive.
“The Powers?” Tau asks for clarification, his auburn eyebrow arching in question.
When I nod, he scans the crowd. Some are removing broken furniture, while others are repairing the glass ceiling that had been shattered by Casmir’s army of fallen angels when they had attacked Brennus to get to me. But some, upon sighting us, are already staring with blank expressions.
Tau says patiently, “I recognize several, but I’m not acquainted with the majority.”
“Do they know I’m coming?” I ask. My nails dig into my palms because I can’t discern if they’re “friendlies” as they move around at preternatural speeds.
“Yes, why?” he questions, puzzled. I happen to glance from his face to that of Xavier’s and when he reads my body language, he frowns.
I shrug, saying as calmly as I can, “Because the ones that don’t know about me usually freak when they see me.” Xavier’s eyes run the length of me, which makes me lift my chin. I shift agitatedly as I think of other less populated entrances than this one.
“Things aren’t like they used to be,” Tau responds while his fingers lightly take mine.
“Then, why do I feel like a criminal about to walk into a law enforcement convention?” I counter. I refrain from mentioning that just going inside is like walking into one of the cellar rooms of Brennus’ cave in Houghton, but I don’t want to discuss that with them.
“We’re here to protect you now,” Tau says in a serious tone.
“As I recall, you wouldn’t even tell me the homework assignment for Calc when I missed class,” I counter with an edge in my tone. “And, if you haven’t noticed, there are only two of you and there are over a hundred of them, maybe more—not great odds if things turn ugly.”
“You’re a divine Seraph,” Xavier answers for Tau. “You outrank them. And, skipping class to go sledding with cafeteria trays is not behavior we reward.”
“How did you know about that?” I ask suspiciously, but then I hold up my hand to stop him from answering. “Never mind. Being Seraphim is a matter of degree to them. I’m also flagrantly human.” Feeling uncomfortable, I pull my hand from Tau’s.
Xavier’s frown softens. “You are a refinement of both and I will kill anyone who doesn’t agree,” he replies.
Rolling my eyes at him, I ask, “Can you please be serious?”
“I am serious,” Xavier says soberly. “Show me those who object and I will end them.”
Startled by his demeanor, I reply, “Let’s not act crazy—most angels are just used to the same old thing—status quo. We shouldn’t hurt them if it can be avoided.”
“Do you think that I’m misguided? You really don’t remember anything about Paradise, do you?” Xavier asks pointedly. When I shake my head and look down, he says, “I intend to establish supremacy here—our supremacy.”
“Why does it have to be like that? They probably already think I’m a nightmare,” I sigh.
Xavier ignores my sigh, saying, “Powers are strong—warriors. Everything is about power. I’ll make sure they know yours extends with mine.”
Moving with purpose, he strides into the middle of the medieval foyer that I have always regarded as the “lobby” of the castle. Standing near a twisted, wrought-iron pillar beneath a clear view of the turrets, Xavier begins to speak in Angel to the Powers surrounding him.
Entering the hall with Tau, the heat of the stone fireplace at my side warms me as I observe Xavier in the center of the room. His enormous wings spread out around him in a magnificent, crimson exhibition of strength. A ripple of nervous energy envelopes me seeing them thus displayed.
“What’s he saying?” I ask Tau while he looks on with an approving smile.
“He has just announced your arrival,” Tau replies.
“Oh…is that all?” I ask skeptically, “Because it sounded to me like he said a lot more than ‘we’re home.’”
“He also declared today as ‘Ruination Day’ for all who oppose you,” Tau adds, his lips twitching while his gray eyes turn to mine.
“Ruination Day? Who talks like that?” I ask as
my narrowing eyes go to Xavier again. “What does that even mean?”
“It means that anyone who objects to your presence is invited to fight him in order to demonstrate his dissention,” Tau replies with an undeniable degree of satisfaction. “They respect strength, so he’ll show them strength.”
My eyes drift back to Xavier who is staring down every other angel in the room like a ruthless dictator at a book burning, while the light from the fireplace dances over the planes of his skin. Every line of his body denotes the fact that he is ready to pounce on someone at the least provocation. My skin prickles, assessing the several tiers of angels within the room.
How long could he last against them? I wonder as dread fills me at the mental image of it.
“They also respect being treated as equals,” I reply matter-of-factly.
I walk over and I stand beside Xavier. “Um, can I just say something?” I ask in an exasperated voice. Every eye in the hall is already on me, so I continue. “Hi, I’m Evie,” I introduce myself uncomfortably, looking around. “There’s a slight change in plans—there’ll be no ruination today,” I glare at Xavier, “instead, I’d like to thank you all for coming to help us. Maybe once you’ve all been around me for a while, you’ll see that I’m not creepy and then we can all be…uh, friends?”
A ripple of musical voices sound around us as the angels study me like they’d like to melt me down to see what I’m made of, but thankfully, Tau steps in to address them. He speaks in Angel so I have no way of following him, but it sounds like he’s giving them orders. The unmistakable look of respect is on every one of their faces as they listen to him.
Xavier’s eyes dance as he leans near my ear and says, “Was that your best attempt to win them over?”
I frown at him. “No, I was just trying to give them a reason not to attack you,” I whisper back. “But now I’m not sure why I bothered.”
Xavier’s cheek brushes against mine as he leans closer. “So you came to save me?” he asks with a hint of humor in his seductive tone. “You have so much courage. I had forgotten some of what it’s like to be near you—your vicious appeal—the savage longing you create. I find that I have to learn how to breathe again.”
Incendiary (The Premonition Series (Volume 4)) Page 27
