Inescapable (The Premonition Series)

by Bartol, Amy A

  My heart beats faster. “Me?” I ask, feeling a warm sensation wrap around my heart, surprising me. “I’m your family?”

  “Yes,” he says gently, “and I will protect my family against anything that threatens it.” He brings my hand to his lips, kissing the back of my fingers gently.

  “Just about everything threatens it,” I reply with a sad smile.

  Reed’s fingers tighten on mine. “Zee and I are working on some strategies to change that, Evie,” he says in a serious tone.

  “You are?” I ask, feeling a small spark of hope grow inside of me.

  “You shouldn’t worry; I will take care of you,” he says with so much conviction that I feel myself beginning to believe that he can.

  Concern clouds my eyes. “Maybe you shouldn’t,” I say, wanting to protect him, too.

  “Evie,” he says my name like a gentle caress, “I love you… and I’m not asking for your permission to protect you,” he says with a smile.

  My eyebrow quirks at his arrogance, before I say, “No, you’re not. I guess I’ll have to let you then, because I love you, too.”

  “I guess you will,” he grins, too happy to hide it. Slowly, he pulls me to him, brushing his lips gently against mine, and for the first time in weeks, I feel completely safe.

  Coming Soon

  Intuition: The Premonition Series

  BOOK 2

  EVIE

  CHAPTER 1

  New Year’s Eve

  “Okay, sweetie, it’s time to get up now,” Buns says in a brisk manner as she breezes into my room at noon. Heading immediately to the windows to open the curtain, she dispels the cavelike atmosphere. Light bursts into the room, causing me to squint at her and cover my eyes against the glare.

  “Buns, what are you doing here?” I ask her groggily, shielding my eyes with my arm. I love my room in Reed’s Crestwood house, but the windows let in a lot of light. “Aren’t you supposed to be at Russell’s house until next week?” I ask in confusion as I grip my pillow and pull myself up to a sitting position.

  “Aren’t you amped to see me, Evie?” Buns counters with her hands on her hips, assessing me. I’m sure I look really bad because I haven’t brushed my hair today so I probably have major bedhead.

  “Of course I’m psyched to see you, I missed you. How was your down home holiday?” I ask, thinking about how warm and beautiful Buns had described Russell’s family to me on the phone.

  “It was a lot of fun, very endearing—I was having an amazing time. Scarlett, Russell’s sister, is just like us. She’s ready to stir up some trouble at a moments notice,” Buns says, eyeing me shrewdly.

  “Is Russell back, too?” I ask her, sitting up straighter in bed and rubbing my eyes.

  “Russell is still at home with his family. Brownie stayed with him. They’re fine. They’ll be back in a few days, just before classes start. I came back early because Reed called me,” she says with a disapproving look.

  “He did? Well, you should’ve stayed with Russell. He needs you. What if something happens?” I ask, feeling uncomfortable with the fact that Russell is still several states away with only Brownie for protection; even though Brownie is strong and vicious in a fight, it still worries me because fallen angels are even more vicious.

  “Nothing will happen. They’re fine. You, on the other hand, are not. Reed said you aren’t getting out of bed. He’s worried,” her reply is stern as she looks at me like I let her down.

  “I get out of bed.” I say with a frown, trying to remember when I was last up. It was yesterday I think—or maybe not. “I’m just tired,” I finish defensively.

  “No, you’re doing that self-helpless thing again like you did before when Reed wouldn’t talk to you. I don’t think I can live through another one, so you’re getting up now,” Buns says, pulling me out of bed without effort because she is really freaking strong—angel strong. “I don’t want to hear another word about this until you’ve showered and gotten dressed. The clock is ticking, let’s go,” she says in a militant way.

  “FINE!” I retort, and storm toward the bathroom feeling harassed. After I take a shower and dress, I rejoin Buns. She is sitting on my bed waiting for me.

  “We’re getting you out of the house today. What do you want to do?” Buns asks me as she gets up and moves towards where I stand by my closet door.

  “We’re allowed to leave the house?” I ask her in shock because I haven’t been out for most of winter break.

  Buns frowns. “You are now and I’m gonna lose it if they have a problem with it. No wonder you’re so depressed, sitting here with nothing to do but dwell on everything that has happened. Those Powers can’t figure that out?” she asks rhetorically. “They’re going to have to compromise their need to have every angle covered and keep in mind that you’re part human, too. You need to be out doing stuff. You’re a teenager!” she says as if that would explain everything.

  I’ve been on virtual house arrest since waking up from my injuries a few weeks ago. Just thinking of what happened then sends shivers down my spine and I have to lean up against the wall by my closet door. I can hardly think about the massacre at the 7-Eleven without feeling a wave of panic hit me. Being FUBARed by my ex-friend, Alfred, has taken a serious toll on me.

  “What are we going to do?” I ask her, feeling like I can crawl into bed and go back to sleep.

  “Let’s start out with a run, and then we’ll plan what we’re gonna do tomorrow night.” Buns says with girlish excitement.

  “What’s tomorrow night?” I ask her in confusion because I don’t even know what day it is.

  “Evie, tomorrow’s New Year’s Eve. You didn’t know that?” she asks me with a worried look.

  I shake my head. “Things have been a little out of focus for me since you left—kind of abstract. Reed and Zee have been great. I feel really bad that I let them down,” I reply.

  “You didn’t let them down. They just don’t know what you need. It’s just like when you didn’t know you were an angel. You had Reed menacing you and you were evolving abilities you couldn’t possibly comprehend—you needed a distraction, so Brownie and I tried to provide that whenever we could, so you wouldn’t dwell on it,” she says, smiling at me.

  “I’m still floored that you knew all along what was going on and I had no clue that you and Brownie are Reapers. You could’ve let me in on it,” I say.

  “Sweetie, we couldn’t tell you, and since we are really good at fooling humans, you just never guessed,” she says, shrugging. “I doubt you would’ve taken it well if we just announced to you that we were angels of death. That’s kind of a dark freak flag to be flying as far as most humans are concerned. Even though we knew you’re both human and angel, we kinda reasoned that you weren’t really aware of that.”

  “Why did you decide to help me out?” I ask, since I don’t understand just why they have been so good to me.

  “Like we said before, Evie, you’re a kindred spirit. You have a bit of a wild side in you, just like Brownie and me. Not all angels are like that, at least, the divine kind of angels,” she says, handing me my running shoes from the closet. “And, we thought it was kind of lame that you had to go through your evolution into angel here on Earth with all of the dangers clawing at you, while every other angel we know of has gotten to evolve in Paradise, safely tucked away with no care or fear to mar the event.”

  “Oh, that sounds nice…I didn’t know I was getting completely gypped,” I reply with sarcasm, wondering what it would’ve been like to feel completely safe while all of this is happening.

  “Evie, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but if you had been a Seraph in Heaven when you evolved, you would’ve been completely pampered,” she says with a sheepish smile. “You would’ve been the darling of the Seraphim, I’m sure.

  I give Buns a skeptical look. I doubt that any of them would ever think I’m darling. “Pampering is for wimps,” I say, trying to make light of it all.

  “Exactly!
” Buns replies happily. “So, we’ll just go tell the boys that we’re going for a run, and then we’ll plan New Years. We’ll probably have to stay somewhere around here because I doubt Reed will let us go to London or Paris for it. He’ll probably have a problem with New York, too. Maybe I can convince him to let us go to Chicago. That would be epic,” she says, beginning to get excited about getting out of Crestwood.

  “Good luck with that. I couldn’t convince him to let me out past the courtyard,” I reply, giving her a pessimistic smile. Reed has been extremely sweet, but unbending when it comes to what he considers dangerous and risky.

  “Well, this conversation will have ‘awkward’ written all over it then, because I plan on getting my way,” she says with heat in her voice.

  But as it turns out, Reed is very accommodating when it comes to Buns’s requests. He just retrieves his shoes and coat when he hears we plan to go running and follows us out of the house without a word. I am surprised until I realize that he must really be worried about me.

  Running out to Lake Arden, I feel like I can breathe for the first time in days. It’s cold because it’s the middle of winter but that doesn’t bother me like it would’ve before I started evolving. I am beginning to acquire the armor-like angel skin that protects me from things like cold and extreme heat. The transformation has been seamless, happening a little bit each day. Reed said it would take several more months to complete the transformation.

  After we run around the lake, Buns pauses on the trail that leads back to Reed’s house. “Sweetie, I’m going to head back and see Zee. I’ve missed him,” she says, smiling, as she looks from me to Reed. “I want to start planning for New Years, too. You should stay—get some more exercise.”

  “Okay,” I reply, watching Reed. She nods her head, and then she is gone in a fraction of a second, leaving behind only her light footprints in the snow.

  “Do you want to walk this time?” Reed asks, falling in step beside me on the path.

  “Sure,” I reply, trying to concentrate on the scenery around me, so that I won’t stare at his profile. The beautiful angles of his face makes me want to reach my hand out and touch him.

  Reed puts his gloved hand in mine, tucking my arm securely in his. We walk for a while, not talking. The butterflies that pull me toward him are ever-present, but it’s more reassuring than sensual at the moment. I turn my face toward the lake, feeling the breeze coming off of it. Smoky breath rises from us, mixing together above our heads like lovers entwined.

  Finally, I break the silence. “I’m sorry, Reed,” I say in a strained tone that disturbs the quiet hush of the snow-blanketed trees.

  Reed looks surprised when he turns toward me, his green eyes searching my face. “For what?” he asks.

  “For not being able to deal with this better,” I say with regret. He squeezes my arm tighter as we walk closer together.

  “Evie, you have nothing to be sorry for,” he says quietly. “I am the one who should apologize. I have caged you up to protect you, only to discover it’s killing you,” he says, sounding contrite.

  “No, it’s not that really—it is just that there is not a lot to do but sit and think about Alfred…or my uncle.” I say in a hush voice, thinking of my Uncle Jim and the fact that I will never see him again. Alfred had made sure of that. He had made sure that my uncle suffered before he died.

  We walk a few steps more before I can say, “It just seemed easier to sleep and not think about anything.” I pretend as if the nightmares that haunt my sleep don’t exist. “You must’ve been worried to call Buns.”

  Reed frowns. “I don’t have very much experience with human emotions. This is all new to me. I’m trying to understand your emotions and mine, too. I’ve felt a different range of emotions since meeting you,” he smiles down at me as we continue walking arm-in-arm.

  “A different range?” I ask, raising my eyebrow.

  Reed studies our clasped hands. “Let me think…” he sighs, “well, elation is an emotion that I have not experienced for sometime, not since I’ve been here and I don’t remember it being so—intense,” he says, smiling and shaking his head.

  “What made you elated?” I ask him, breathless as his beautiful smile melts my heart.

  “When you told me that you would never love anything more than you love me,” he says in a soft tone. A blush of happiness warms my cheeks and I listen intently as he continues. “Desire is also stronger, more—potent.”

  I nod knowingly, because I share the same unquenchable desire for him.

  Reed’s eyes darken as he continues, “Well, Powers are often jealous, but I have never felt that emotion so strong as when I had to watch you with Russell—thinking that I would have to wait for the next eighty years until he died to call you mine,” he says as his jaw clenches. “That was more than jealousy… that was sorrow.”

  It is my turn to squeeze his arm as we round the far side of the lake. “And then, there is an emotion that I don’t ever want to experience again. That one is called agony,” he says, scowling a little when he names it. “That is what I felt when I thought you were dying.”

  I find it hard to breathe all of a sudden and I have to take several deep breaths to try to slow down the beating of my heart. He notices and stops to sweep me up in a hug that lifts me off my feet. “And then, there is love,” he says in a voice soft with affection, “an emotion I have never really believed existed. But it does exist and it has a name…and her name is Evie.” He hugs me tighter. “And I can’t live without her, now that I have found her. So tell me what to do to make you come back to me and I will do it.”

  I wrap my arms securely around Reed’s neck, snuggling into him as I try to formulate the words that I need to say so he will know what he means to me. “I have thought a lot about you and the way that you can hear my heart. You said it sings to you, like the call of the Sirens to a sailor at sea. I think it sings to you because you were listening with your lonely heart and it calls to you because it is meant for you. I’m still here…I would’ve given up without you. You’re why I survived. I just miss my uncle,” I say, swallowing hard to get past the lump in my throat.

  “I will help and Buns is back, too. She will know what to do. I was so wrong about the Reapers, Buns and Brownie. They have been the best for you,” he says, placing me back on the ground.

  “No, you’re the best for me,” I say, taking his hand and walking back toward his house. And from now on, I’m going to try to be the best for you, I promise myself, realizing the pain he has been going through watching me in my sorrow.

  When we arrive back at Reed’s house, Buns is already in the game room researching sights on the Internet. “Oh, sweetie! There are several parties going on in Chicago tomorrow! There is one at Navy Pier! They’re having 9 different DJ’s and a fireworks display at midnight. Evie, did I ever tell you about the fireworks the Song Dynasty set off in the 9th century? I was really young then and I was just beginning to understand why I wasn’t blending in very well.” She smiles at me and I can’t tell if she’s teasing, or if she is serious.

  I look over at Reed and see him frowning. “Buns, can you find something else…something a little more feasible…tactically?” he asks.

  When Buns turns to look at Reed skeptically, Zephyr, who has been sitting close to her, decides to contribute to the discussion. “Buns, honey, that is a bad call. Do you realize how many Fallen will be at an event like that? And Reed is right; it is entrapping terrain, which appeals to me if we did not have Evie. Maybe you and I can go next year and see how many Fallen we can end before the ball drops,” he says with a smug smile that has Buns smiling back at him.

  “We’re getting out of Crestwood, that’s nonnegotiable,” Buns states flatly.

  “Okay, but maybe we avoid huge parties—something with less of a crowd?” Zephyr offers and I catch Reed smiling a little as he watches Zephyr work on Buns and her sense of celebration. “You know, for Evie’s sake, not because you are not the be
st event planner we know.” He is really good at strategy. I will have to listen more intently to his dissertations on the matter.

  “For Evie’s sake,” she agrees stiffly, turning back to the computer screen. She pulls up website after website in rapid-fire succession. “Okay, how about something a little more recreational?” she offers, and I see Zephyr’s and Reed’s faces light up with interest.

  “Recreational?” Zephyr asks, squeezing closer to Buns to peer at the screen. Reed drops his hand casually on my shoulder, caressing it.

  “Snowboarding?” she says, flashing us an impish grin. “There are a bunch of small hills with ski lifts in this general area that do midnight runs on New Year’s Eve. I’m sure there is something going on at one of them where we could either ski or board until sometime around midnight, and then head in to the chalet for a midnight toast,” she says, smiling as she watches Zephyr’s face light up.

  “That is my girl!” Zephyr says possessively, scooping Buns up off of her seat and twirling her around so fast they becomes just an impression for a moment until he sets her back on her feet.

  “It’s off the chain, right, sweetie?” Buns asks, turning to me, “What do you think?”

  “Sounds amazing,” I reply.

  “You are truly a force of nature, Buns.” Reed agrees, leaning forward and kissing Buns on the forehead, which makes her smile deepen. “Let’s decide the resort we are going to go to so that Zephyr and I can get some satellite shots of it, for strategy. Then, we will plan our assault on the slopes.”

  I try to keep my face as neutral as possible and not let them see that there is a war going on inside of me. One side is rejoicing at the prospect of getting out of the house and living again, the other side of me is scared to death of what might happen once I leave the house. My heart must be giving me away because Reed pulls me into his arms. Hugging me, he says, “It will be okay. Nothing will touch you.” He presses his cheek to mine and the heat we generate is intoxicating.