Inescapable (The Premonition Series)

by Bartol, Amy A

  Reed’s eyes soften. “Evie, I don’t know whether to be extremely offended that you think I’m so weak that I would allow myself to be taken by one of them, or to be pleased that you would mourn for me,” he replies with a smile.

  Pushing what is left of my food around on my plate, I say in a small voice, “It’s just that it seems like eternity would be very dull without you. But, you know, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad not to have someone around who enjoys ordering me around.” I finish with a pout. “I’ll bet you’d end up being really annoying anyway.”

  “What would you have me do?” he asks, amusement twinkling in his eyes.

  “Retire, isn’t there a pension plan for someone like you? I mean, you’re like older than the hills. It might be time to hang it up, pal, maybe take up golf or something,” I say agitatedly. “What are your hobbies? Let’s see if we can find you something else to do,” I add, crossing my arms in front of me.

  “I cannot do that. This is my purpose. I have been sent to do this job, and I will do it,” he says calmly but firmly.

  “Then, I’ll be a hunter, too. You can teach me to be a soldier, and I’ll help you,” I reply. If he intends to be out there endangering himself, then I’ll go too and try to make sure that he comes back to me.

  “No,” he says flatly, and I can tell that he thinks by saying this it’ll end the conversation.

  “Why not?” I fire back.

  “There is too much risk for you,” he says patiently.

  My eyebrow arches. “Now there is, but what about when I change—evolve—whatever I’m going to do?” I challenge his logic.

  “No,” he says more firmly.

  “Reed, if you can risk being ended, then I can, too,” I reply evenly.

  He stands then, and reaching over to my chair, he pulls it from the table with me still in it. He turns it so that we’re facing each other, then he crouches down to look directly into my eyes.

  “You are too young to understand what you are asking me to do. You have not seen violence on the scale necessary to defeat the enemy. You are so innocent; it is difficult for me even to taint that with what I must tell you, in order to help you understand what you are—what is happening to you. It is becoming more and more difficult for me not to insist that you come and stay with me here, but that would pose its own set of dangers to you,” he says, and I am intelligent enough to know he is speaking about himself as the threat, given our attraction for one another.

  Reed continues, “My need for a positional advantage has to be weighed with the circumstances of our attraction. So, we need to discuss some rules for you that will help to protect you.”

  “Rules?” I reply, wrinkling my nose. “That sounds grody. I’d much rather talk about something else,” I say, leaning forward and wrapping my arms around his neck. I rest my forehead against his.

  He groans as if in pain, “Evie, you don’t know what you do to me.”

  He closes his eyes and stands slowly, pulling me up out of the chair with him. My arms stay linked around his neck as my body presses against him. He bends his head down to lightly brush his lips to the sensitive skin just under my ear. To say it pleases me would be ridiculous in its simplicity. His arms tighten around my waist as his fingers softly caress my skin where my shirt hitched up. I want more, crave it, but it’s my turn to groan in pain when Reed gently, but firmly, pulls back from our embrace.

  His eyebrow rises as he asks, “What was I saying?”

  “I don’t know, let’s not worry about it now,” I reply, looking at his broad chest and toying with one of the buttons of his collared shirt.

  “Evie,” he says roughly.

  “Reed,” I breathe.

  “You are not helping me,” he scolds lightly.

  “I know,” I rest my head against his chest.

  “Rules,” he says firmly.

  “Fine,” I say, stepping back from him. “You can tell me what you’re thinking, but I’m not agreeing to anything.”

  “Evie, this is for your protection,” he tells me in a gentle tone.

  “We’ll see. What did you have in mind?” I ask.

  “I want to know if you choose to leave Crestwood for any reason, even if it is to go to one of the neighboring towns. Stay out of bars and taverns,” he says, stern. “No Seven-Eleven without me and nothing remotely dangerous,” he finishes in a bland tone.

  “That last one is vague,” I reply.

  “Genevieve,” Reed sighs in response to my objection.

  A small smile touches my lips. “What? It’s vague, and when a rule is vague, it begs to be broken,” I say, defending my position. “Let me recap: if I want to leave town I need to check with you, no bars, and no Seven-Eleven alone,” I say while ticking his list off on my fingers.

  “Nothing dangerous,” he reminds me.

  “Okay, no running with scissors,” I say, smiling up at him while adding another finger.

  Reed’s eyes narrow, “Genevieve, you have to take this seriously,” he says with authority.

  “I’m trying, Reed. It’s just that I’ve been raised to be independent. My Uncle Jim trusted me implicitly. I rarely needed permission to do anything, and for the most part, he was right to trust me,” I explain.

  “I expect you to try very hard to be good,” he says.

  My eyebrow arches. “Or else what?” I challenge, wondering just what he has in mind if I fracture a rule or two.

  “I believe in positive reinforcement, rather than negative,” he says with a sexy smile as he traces my lips with the tip of his finger, leaving a scalded path where he touches me.

  “That’s very sensible of you,” I reply as a shiver that has nothing to do with fear runs the length of my body.

  Reed lifts his finger from my lips with a reluctant smile. “We should get going now. We both have practice,” he sighs, but his eyes remain sultry as if he is plotting some forms of positive reinforcement. “I just have to change, then I will take you to your room to meet your friends.” I am disappointed that our dinner is over; I want more time with him. “I will just be a moment,” Reed says, and true to his word he is gone.

  I hardly see him move because it has been a heartbeat— a blink—my eyes only catch a vague impression of him. I am alone in the kitchen in an instant. Startled, I sit down in the chair behind me. I don’t have long to wait for him; it is maybe ten seconds before he just materializes in front of me again.

  The smile on his face shows the depth of his amusement over my astonishment. He had changed into his practice uniform and has his equipment in tow. It would’ve taken me thirty seconds just to reach the front door of his house, let alone to get upstairs where I assume his bedroom is.

  “That was quick,” I say, understating the obvious.

  Reed’s smile is ethereal. “It’s nice not having to hide what I am, or what I can do, from you. It pleases me that you are not afraid of me,” he says, extending his hand to me to help me rise from my seat.

  My heart hammers in my chest, seeing his smile. “Will I be able to move that quickly?” I ask as we leave the kitchen on the way to the front door.

  “Probably,” he says with a shrug.

  “Uh oh,” I reply, thinking that having that kind of ability could pose some problems for me.

  “What?” he asks in concern.

  My forehead wrinkles as I admit, “Well, I had a hard time pretending to limp when my knee was supposed to be bruised. I can just see me forgetting not to just pop off when I’m late for class or something.”

  Reed takes my hand to reassure me. “You need to cultivate an awareness of your surroundings and everything that exists within them. After awhile, it will become second nature to you,” he says.

  “I might have a hard time with that because the only thing I seem to be aware of is you,” I say, blushing at the admission of such an embarrassing fact.

  “That is going to be a struggle for both of us,” he states plainly. “I, too, lose sight of my surroundings when you
are near. It is a danger we will have to overcome because it makes us vulnerable to the enemies.”

  He opens the front door for me, and we walk out to his car. When I am seated, I hear a beep coming from my bag I’d left in the car. Finding my cell phone inside, I check the missed calls; there is one call from Russell and one call from Freddie. Dialing my voicemail, the first message should be from Russell, but when I listen to it, it is just a clicking sound, indicating that the caller had hung up without leaving a message. I cringe, wondering what our next conversation would be like. It will be brutal for both of us; there is no doubt.

  The next message is from Freddie. He had missed me at lunch and dinner and is worried about me. I debate whether or not to call Russell back. Holding my phone to my lips absently, I stare out the window, watching the town of Crestwood float by me. Our next conversation has to be in person.

  “Russell call?” Reed asks as if he is all knowing despite his protestations.

  “Yes,” I reply, not knowing what to say.

  “What did he say?” he asks me with concern.

  “Nothing, he hung up.” I don’t lie. What would be the point?

  “I see,” he says sympathetically.

  “Do you?” I ask in surprise at his tone. I expected a different reaction from him.

  “Yes. I’m sorry,” he says simply.

  “So am I,” I reply sadly.

  “What will you tell him?” he asks.

  “I don’t know,” I answer him honestly.

  “Evie, you do not have to make any decisions now. You have time to figure out what you want,” Reed says softly again, and his concern for my feelings makes me want to cry.

  “Reed, I’ve put some thought into it already. If what you said comes to pass, then what kind of a life could I possibly have with Russell?” I ask sadly. “If I become as strong as you are, I would run the same risks that you have with me now, only I probably won’t have the restraint that the millenniums here on Earth have taught you. I would probably end up crushing Russell without meaning to.”

  “Yes,” he agrees evenly, but he sounds as if he doesn’t think that would be such a bad thing to do to Russell.

  “Then, there is the fact that Russell will age while I will not. What will happen to him when people start thinking he’s a dirty old man for being with such a young girl?” I ask. “He probably wouldn’t be too thrilled about that after a while.”

  “True,” Reed says sagely, but he looks as if the thought of Russell growing old is rather a funny one.

  “And then, there is you. Even if I chose Russell, I don’t think I would be able to be…” I trail off, not wanting to explain.

  “To be what?” he asks curiously.

  “To be faithful to him,” I reply, blushing. “It’s like no one else exists when you’re around.” Reed reaches over at my words and grasps my hand. Bringing it to his lips, he kisses it. “So, I don’t know what I’ll say to him,” I explain quietly, turning again to stare out the window, not seeing any of the scenery going by.

  When Reed speaks again, it is in his angelic language that I don’t understand. It comforts me with its sweetly lilting melody, and I feel calmer when he finishes.

  “What did you say?” I ask him serenely.

  “The same thing I told you when you were in my car with me after your premonition,” Reed replies quietly as his eyes meet mine, making my breath catch a little.

  I think for a second, and then say in disappointment, “Oh, yeah, I get that I’m a frustrating creature.”

  “I was not exactly truthful when I told you that was what I said,” Reed replies, smiling at me.

  “Reed, you’re capable of subterfuge? I thought you were supposed to be an angel,” I tease him lightly.

  Reed’s smile is rueful when he replies, “We are going to have to redefine your definition of angel.”

  My eyebrow quirks, and I ask, “What did you say then—in the car after my premonition?”

  “I said that you are poised to be the most perfect creature I have ever encountered, under God, and the affection that I feel for you cannot be measured on Earth, or in Paradise. That is a rough translation, but it sounds better in Angel,” he explains as his green eyes hold mine.

  “That’s what you said?” I breathe, unable to completely believe what he’s telling me.

  “Yes,” he says as his eyes soften. We pull into the parking lot of my dorm, and Reed parks, letting his car idle.

  “When did you know that was how you felt about me?” I ask him quietly.

  “At the lake, when you Tasered me,” he replies, smiling.

  My eyes widen. “What?” I ask feeling stunned.

  “You have so much courage…you were so magnificent,” he says in admiration.

  “I was terrified,” I try to explain.

  “Yes, but that is what courage is: it is acting in the face of fear,” Reed says as a justification of my emotions. “I had to reason with myself that hugging you in that moment would not produce the effect I wanted. It probably would have scared you more.”

  “Good call,” I say, thinking I might’ve had a heart attack if he’d tried hugging me after I’d Tasered him. “You still wanted me to leave after our run in at the lake,” I point out.

  “I have a duty, and I was worried that helping you would be in direct violation of that duty. I hoped the feelings that I have for you would pass in a millennium or two if you were not around,” he says. “Foolish huh?”

  “Very,” I agree, momentarily in awe of his beautiful face. Tearing my eyes away from his, I say, “We’re going to be late for practice. I better go up and change so I can meet the girls.”

  “See you tonight?” Reed asks when my fingers move to the door handle.

  Disappointment floods me as I say, “I can’t—I promised Brownie and Buns that we’d hang out.”

  “Oh,” he says, dropping his chin and smiling. “Tomorrow then?”

  “Tomorrow,” I agree breathlessly.

  I am on the verge of leaving the car when Reed catches me up in an intoxicating kiss. It doesn’t feel like a kiss goodbye; that is its masquerade. This kiss is more like having a gentle wind caress my lips in introduction, as if it exists just for me now. Slowly pulling back from him, I see wisdom within the stormy-green fire of his eyes, and like the wind, they, too, hold secrets unimaginable to me. My fingertips touch my lips where his had just been. I want to imprint this moment in my mind so that I can recall every single detail of it later.

  “Bye.” I manage to say breathlessly to Reed as I get out of his car.

  “Bye, Evie,” he smiles before I close the door.

  CHAPTER 13

  Coldwater

  I avoid Russell for the next few days during classes. It is tricky because we usually run into each other at meal times in the cafeteria, so I don’t go to breakfast or lunch. I know that avoiding Russell is only going to make all of this worse, but I don’t have a clue as to how I will explain something that is nearly inexplicable. Since most of the facts about what is happening to me are not only ludicrous, but also forbidden information, I’m at a loss as to what to do. Add to that my absolute inability to lie to Russell effectively, and I have a disaster in the making.

  I spend every moment that I’m not in class with Reed. He asks me so many questions, everything from my first words as a baby to whom my date had been for prom. I eat dinner with him every night in his kitchen, and we go for walks on his estate. I ask him questions, too, but he is reluctant to talk about himself or his past. I think it’s because he has had to hide so much for so long that revelations don’t come easily for him.

  We watch a few movies in Reed’s media room, but I can tell he’s not into watching chic flicks. It is funny though, seeing him try to understand a romantic comedy. His heavy sighs of exasperation whenever the male lead shows any sign of vulnerability makes me have to bite my lip so that I won’t burst out laughing. Today, however, it is amazingly simple to avoid Reed if I want to, s
ince he is not in class, and I can’t feel him anywhere on campus. Where can he be? What’s he doing?

  I am surprised to see Freddie approaching my private study alcove in the library. He shrugs off his backpack and takes a seat in the chair near mine. “You’re alive…I was wondering where you’ve been, and believe me, I’m not the only one,” he says with his warm, Freddie smile.

  “Freddie! I’m sorry. You called me and I completely forgot to call you back. I’m so psyched to see you,” I say, beaming at him.

  He looks good today. His hair is growing out; it reaches just past his brows now. Freddie is looking… cute—he’s facebookable. I think, watching him kick back in the chair. When did that happen?

  “Hiding out, Evie? Is this your new lair?” he asks, assessing the situation like my own personal analyst.

  “Hiding out? I don’t know what you’re talking about. I have really hard classes, and I don’t want to get behind,” I flounder.

  Freddie’s eyebrow arches. “Sure. I guess you don’t want these then?” Freddie says, opening his bag and withdrawing two granola bars before dangling them in front of me.

  “Freddie! I did tell you already that I love you, right?” I ask, snatching one of the granola bars from his hand and tearing off the wrapper.

  “Sure you told me, but it’s phat to hear it again,” he says, grinning as he tosses me the second bar.

  “I’m glad you’re here,” I say between mouthfuls of granola. “I need your help Freddie. I have a mission. Are you game, or are you lame?” I ask.

  “I’m game, what do you have in mind?” he asks with an expression of intrigue.

  “I have to get a firewall for Russell, but I’m kind of avoiding him at the moment. So, I was hoping that if I went and picked one up, you could hook me up with the installation?” I ask. “Maybe you can come with me to Coldwater to pick it out, too. I thought I’d go Saturday morning. You in?”

  “You know, he asked me if I’d seen you twice today?” Freddie asks with a speculative expression.