Incendiary (The Premonition Series (Volume 4)) (10 page)

“No one
expects
you to do it, Evie,” Reed says.
“I’
ll be the one. It’s my mission.”

“Naw, that stone-cold freak is mine,” Russell counters in a menacing voice, while walking into the room. As the light of the chandelier touches his face, I cringe, seeing his broken nose that is now beginning to heal.

Approaching Russell, Zephyr says, “Hold still.” He places his thumbs on either side of Russell’s nose and straightens it for him with a loud
crack
.

“Thanks,” Russell says, not even flinching.

“I’
m her
aspire
,” Reed says in a quiet tone, facing Russell.

“Well, I’m her soul mate,” Russell replies. “Brennus is gonna suffer for tryin’ to make my girl grovel.”

“And making him grovel in return is my right. Didn’t we just establish that she’s not your girl?” Reed asks, his brows drawing together.

“She’ll a
lways be my girl. She may be you
r angel…but she’ll always be my girl,” Russell replies, crossing his arms over his chest.

“She’s made her choice. It’s time for you to begin to accept it,” Reed counters in a cool tone, his fingers touching my arm as he trails them gently down to hold my hand.

“Someone always tries to come between us, but they don’t last long…we always end up together, sooner or later,” Russell replies with a certainty that makes me frown.

S
eeing Reed’s brows begin to knit
together
again
, my eyes sho
o
t to Russell. “Can I talk to you
, Russ
?” I ask
, not waiting for him to answer.
I let
go of Reed’s hand
and walk
to Russell
, trying
to pull him with me toward the door.

“Sure,” Russell says
,
“w
e can talk at my villa.”

“We should remain in the
big house for now,” Zephyr says
, stopping us. “You can collect your gear in the mo
rning and move it
to a room here. I belie
ve it is time to make this head
quarters
. N
o one
wanders around alone
.”

“Alright
, Red, do you
wanna
be my buddy
so that I can go to the kitchen and get some f
ood?
I’m starvin’,” Russell asks
, tucking my arm in his
, like nothing out of the ordinary has happened
.
I frown
at him, showing him m
y irritation with his behavior.

“Fine,” I say
to Russell
,
then I frown
at Reed
“
Don’t think you’re off
t
he hook, Reed. We’ll talk later.”

He looks
surprised by the edge
in my voice
, until he see
s
that I'm going with Russell
. “
Evie
,” he says
as
he begi
n
s
to look deadly
.

“W
e’ll talk l
ater,” I reply
, trying to ignore
how sexy Reed
looks when he narrow
s his eyes at me like that
.

“Yes, we will,”
he agrees
with an equal
amount of edginess
in his tone.

I follow
Russell to the kitchen. We pass
through
the arching doorway
that
looks like something out o
f a designer home magazine. The
enormous
area is lit by firelight from a stone
hearth
,
reflecting
on the glass doors that lead
to a stone terrace dining area
outside
. The doors a
re
closed now
against the pouring rain
. Russell let
s
go of me, turning on the lights that hang directly over the stone countertop
island
. I go
to the
stainless steel
refrigerator, scanning the contents to see what’s in it.

“There’s l
e
ft over fried chicken,”
I say
over my
shoulder, “o
r that barbeque
from last night
?”

“Yes,” Russell says
, joining me at the door and pulling
out both the ch
icken and pork. “
Are there anymore of those muffi
ns left?” he asks
, loading his arms with food and
hauling it with him to the bar
stools by the counter.

“Let me check,” I say
, open
ing the storage container where
Hati, the head chef, keeps all the fresh baked breads. “Cranberry or ma
n
darin?”

“Uh huh,” he replies
.
I roll
my eyes, taking
several muffins out of the bin
.
I bring
the muffins to him, placing them on a
napkin.

Pouring myse
lf a glass of orange juice, I si
t on the stool next to Russell, toying with t
he glass in my hand while he eats
. “Don’t wo
rry ‘bout it, Red,” Russell says when I glance
at his face. “I should be purdy again in a couple of hours.”

“
You were never pretty, so I wouldn’t count on it. That’s not what I’m
worried about
, Russell,” I
sigh
, not looking up from my glass.
“I’m worried about why you and Reed
are fighting.”

“Just check
i
n’ the barometer,” he replies
.

My brow wrinkles as I ask,
“Am I supposed t
o know what that means?”

“Reed
is the epitome
of
strength and agility. I needed to know where I measure up on the scale
,
” he says
quietly
, before taking a bite of chicken.

“
Why not fight Zee then?” I ask
, knowing tha
t there’
s more to their fight than he wants me to know.

“Reed is the best fighter, even Zee admits that and th
at’s sayin’ a lot,” Ru
ssell replies
grudgingly.

“And what did the
barometer tell you?” I ask
.

“I’m gettin’
there,” he answers
with a small smile.

“Ge
tting where, Russell?” I press
him.

“Where I need to be,” he replies
.

“If you’
re fighting because of me, then please s
top,” I say
quietly.

“
I can’t stop when it comes to you
,
” he
replies
, looking stubborn as his
jaw set
s
. “It’s my eternal flaw.”

“You can’t fight for me,” I say
, looking back at my glass.

“That’s not entirely true,” Russell replies before taking a
bite of muffin. “Normally, you’
d be right, with you bound to Reed, there’d be no way…but there are special circumstances here. Reed didn’t exactly follow all the rules
when he bound his life to you
rs—”

“What are you
talking about
?” I ask, feeling tense.

Russell finishes chewing before he says, “Number one, you were under dure
ss when you bound you
rself to him—”

“I was not under duress. I knew exactly wh
at I was doing
,
” I say, refuting his point. “I’
d never have done it, if I hadn’t wanted to be with Reed for eternity.”

“Red, you’
r
e
basically nineteen,” he says, like he’s not hearing me. “You have no idea what kind of
time you
promised him.”

“And you do?” I ask, “You’re only twenty.”

A slow, rueful smile spreads across his lips as he says, “I’m thousands of years old, ‘cuz unlike you, I remember every lifetime I’ve had on earth and most of those moments I spent with you…or
dreamin’ ‘bout you
—”

“Then you should know me well enough to know that I wouldn’t have promised Reed anything if I didn’t intend to honor every single word I spoke to him,” I reply. Getting up from my chair, I take my glass to the sink, rinsing it out. I close my eyes with my back to Russell as I continue, “So…whatever you’re fighting for is pointless.”

“Number two,” Russell says, sounding angry and hurt, “you never asked me for my permission to bind with him.”

I pause in what I’
m doing. “What?” I ask. Setting down my glass, I turn to face him, feeling my heart begin to beat faster.

“You’
r
e
supposed to ask me if you
want to bind to someone. I’m you
r soul mate. I’m supposed to be able to say no if I object,” he says, looking bitter.

“How do you know all of this?” I ask, feeling my pulse racing.

“Zee and Buns told me,” he says.

“When?” I ask.

“Just before I left and went home,” he replies. “They had to tell me ‘bout
what you
did ‘cuz you were gone with Brennus and the other vampires…Reed was a mess. How did you think I found out ‘bout it?” he asks accusingly. “You should’ve told me.”

“I never wanted you to find out from anyone but me,” I reply, not answering his question. “When was I going to tell you? On the phone?”

“It’
s probably better that Zee told me instead of you. I didn’t take it well,” he replies, getting up from his seat and taking his plate to the sink. I move around the counter away from him, feeling awkward and sad.

“Russel
l, I wasn’t getting out of Dominion
’
s c
hateau
without Reed. I made a lot of
enemies when I went there
. They wo
uld’
ve found a way to kill me,
” I say
, trying to explain.

“Yeah, I know. I got that part:
you
r
life was threatened—
th
at’s what duress means,” he says
.

“I know what duress means.
I’m
trying to tell you that maybe that’s why no one told me I had to
ask you for permission,” I say
with
exasperation
.

“No, Zee s
aid they
didn’
t ask
me because
they
were afraid I’d say no,
” he re
plies
.

“What?” I ask
, not sure I heard him right.

“Yeah, he sa
id that he and Buns were holdin’
their
breath ‘cuz
without my permission, it
shouldn’t have worked,” he says
with reluctance
.

“But it did work,” I reply
absently
,
touching my shi
rt where the mark of Reed’s wing
s lies above my heart—
a
brand
that looks like the
image of his wings appeared on my skin after w
e swore our vow to be united
for eternity.

“Yeah,” Russell says quietly, “b
ut it may not be irrevocable. I still have
at least
an equal claim to you
.”

“And whe
re am I in all of this?” I ask
, watching him rinse his dis
h and put it in
t
he dishwasher. “Don’t you think you should ask me what I want?”

“What I’m sayin’ is that you
still have time to fig
ure that out, Red,” he replies
.

“I don’t need time to fi
gure it out. I love him,” I say
, feeling my throat closing
.
I struggle
to keep the emotions I’m feeling from showing because it’s killing me to
have this conversation with Russell
. The last thing I wa
nt to do is hurt him. I love Russell
. I love him with a certainty that I’ll n
ever know a better soul than his, but he ha
s to know that Reed is my angel—
my
aspire
. “Do you…do you ever won
der why we’re here?” I ask
.