Incendiary (The Premonition Series (Volume 4)) (103 page)

Reed’s fingers are tender on my brow, brushing my hair from my face.
“Let go, Evie,” Reed whispers to me.

“I can’t,” I say through gritted teeth. “They’ll kill you!”

“Whatever happens, love, we
’ll be together,” he says in a gentle way
. “Let go.”

With
most of my remaining strength, I open a gap in the barrier
above us, enough for him to fly up and pass through. “It’s open—
please go
—you have to get away from me. Something’s wrong with me
,
”
I whisper.
Reed shakes his head no
. “Please—
” I beg him
.

“Not without you. Never without you,” he says. He looks into my eyes and mouths
silently
, “I love you.” Then, his lips
l
ower to mine
and I have no choice.
I let go.

Crestwood

Reed

God
, please protect
her...

Rippling, w
hite light rolls outward fr
om Evie in a fiery shockwave. The
blinding energy
impacts me;
it pulsates througho
ut my body and I feel as if I’
ve been set aflame
.
My jaw clenches in an ef
fort to retain
the air within my lungs
and m
y arms close
tighter
around E
vie to keep her with me, but I’
m not strong enough. When I’m torn from her, I’m blown
within the undulating
energy, tumbling
in the
chao
s of the
inferno. The deafening
euphony
of thunder eulogizes silence
, leaving my eardrums muffled when its noi
se is spent.
Within seconds,
I come to rest
o
n a patch of charred earth.

Evie...
My fingers twitch
on the smoldering
ground.

Breathe
...
with effort I manage to expand my
collapsed
lungs. T
he sound of my gasping inhales are
alm
ost inaudible to me
.
The aching-
tear of scorched membrane
within my lungs
makes me want to rebel against my need f
or oxygen. I stamp down the desire I have
to hold my breath
and
I
forc
e myself to
inhale
again
.

The sweet smell of
crackling flesh hangs in the
air
. Soon, however, that scent is replaced by a burnt odor
of skin. I lie on the ground in confusion until something soft touches my cheek. Opening my eye
s
, I brush away a gray flake of ash only to have it replaced by several flak
e
s that drift down like fall
ing
snow from the sky.

Evie...

The light around me
has extinguished; the lampposts have all fallen over in inanimate heaps of melted
iron. The ground surrounding me
is a large, blackened circle reaching out in at least a fifty-meter radius. Blinkin
g, I try to clear away the soot from my eyes
.

Evie...Evie...

I attempt to sit up; my eyes close involuntarily and I slouch to the ground once more.
The pain is
nearly
insuperable. Dead, blackened skin
hangs from my arms in places; n
ew flesh is rapidly forming beneath, but it
’
s pink and tender, barely covering muscle.

Pain is ephemeral.
..cont
r
ol it...GET UP...

My arms must have somehow protected my face because my skin
is intact there;
it’s just my
arms,
legs,
chest
,
and abdomen that are in the process of healing.

EVIE...

I move my head, searching for my angel. Dark shadows sprawl out on the ground and it takes me moments to
recognize
what they are: they’re the ashen
silhouette
remains of the Gancanagh sold
i
ers.
T
he fella
s
h
ave
disintegrated into
embers
, blanketing the once snow-covered ground with
their essence
.

FIND
EVIE...
GET UP! EVIE...

Ignoring the agony it takes to bend forward, I get to
my knees. I hang my head
as I compartmentalize the pain. My hands draw into fists. I push up to my feet and feel my wings unfurl to balance and
stabilize
me.
I begin to shake: the result of
trauma.
I ignore that, too.

Where are you now...be here...please...
be here...Evie...

A soft luminescence draws my eyes to it. Brennus stirs to life on the ground several yards from me. His skin is glowing, lighting the very air and pushing back the shadows. He brings his radiant hands near his face, examin
in
g them like he’s never seen t
hem before. Something moves behind his back
,
a
nd as he seems to feel it, he sh
ifts, peer
ing over his shoulder.
Brennus’ wings knit out behind him; t
he rapid meshing of their velvety-texture weft
s
in
spiraling
, symphonic patter
n
s as the
y
reach to points above
his head. At the conclusion of their regeneration, t
hey float for just a moment, entirely white and
resplendent
.
His skin glimmer
s golden
, taking on the
healthy
veneer of a faerie. But in moments, d
ark spl
otches appear at the tips of Brennus’
white wings, running like dye
down them until they turn as ebony as his hair.
Hi
s skin pales a bit too, it does
n’t revert to the star
k pallor of a Gancanagh, but neither
does it retain it
s faerie
-like
glow.

As the shimmer
of Brennus’ skin
dims, he casts his hands in small circl
es while
his lips move silently. Orbs of light float up above us, illuminating the ruined lawn of Central Hall.
Ashes continue to float down and it would be beautiful if it
weren’t
repulsive.

Tear his ears from him and push the
m down his throat. Pluck
out h
is eye
s
from their sockets. C
rush his cranium between my fists
...
no, that death is too
expeditious
...
he must suffer...
why didn’t Brennus die along with his soldiers...

I take a step in his direction.
Butterflies flutter
in my abdomen; I lose my breath
.

Evie
...

I pause and
scan the terrain
. Lying still and broken
on the ground
in the spot where we’d
last
been together
, I find my love
. Her dark-feathered wings are a stark contrast to h
er
pale skin
as
they
fan
out, framing her. I can detect no movement coming from her
and since I cannot hear her heartbeat, I cannot ascertain if she lives
.
The acri
d taste of fear burns my throat as I immediately change direction to go to her. My muscles feel like inflexible wires as I force my knees to bend, limping forward. I stretch out my wings, they lift me off the ground easily and I fly to her, touching down on the ground by her feet.
I sink to my knees by her side before I gather her to me in my arms. Her cheek rests against my neck and I blanch at how cold it is.

She’s not breathing...

My lips move near her ear and I can hardly speak past the tightening in my throat as I whisper, “Evie, don’t go. Stay with me. I’m lost
here
without you...
” I glance up at the s
ky, seeing the moon shine white with indifference
against the night. “Don’t take her
from me
...please
,” I manage to say
,
as my jaw grows taut,
“
and if that is too much to ask, then...take me
,
too.
Forever is too long
...
”

I feel her breath stir against my skin.
The blood from her bite wounds pulses from her and smears on my chest.
She
’s
alive...

“That’s it, love,” I say coax
ingly
, fighting the need to crush her to me.
“Breathe.”

“She is bleeding out,” Brennus’ deep voice states beside me.
It sounds as desol
ate as the burnt, leafless trees
behind him.

Kill him.
A low growl rips fro
m me as I pull Evie closer
to protect her from him.

“She’s dying!
” Brennus says in an urgent
tone
I can barely hear
. He knee
ls down beside us
with an anxious expression.
“Give her ta me.”

“Attempt to take her from me and you die now. I will neve
r let you change her,” I growl.

Brennus scowls
as he reaches
his long, white hand
out
. He brushes
h
is fingers against my
cheek. “Give Genevieve ta me,” he orders in an even tone.

“Never. Going. To. Happen,” I growl back between clenched teeth
as I snatch Evie back further from him.

Brennus
’ eyes widen as he
states,“Ye’re na ent
h
ralled.”

“No,” I reply as it registers in my mind that either Brennus has lost his ability to
enthrall
his victims, or I have become immune to it...or both.
I draw back my fist and punch him in the face, knock
ing him back from Evie.
With one eye still closed,
Brennus
shakes his head, a bit s
tunned
before he ru
bs his chin ruefully. Then, both eyes open and
narrow as he studies me.

“Ye’
ll let her die?” he asks in
an
angry tone.
His black mot
h
-like wings move then, extending in agitation.
The
glow from the hovering orbs above reflects
on his wings
and cast
s
garish shadows
behind him.

“I will save her
soul
from
you—from
Sheol,” I murmur, feeling panicked at my own words.
Can I save
more than
her
soul
?
Can I save her life?
Overwhelming sorrow
crushes my heart and I can hardly breathe.

“She’s moin,” Brennus hisses with venom
as his face coils, ready to strike
. “Ye can
n
a keep me from her.” His lips move
silently
,
as he casts his hands in my direction.

My arms open involunt
arily when
a powerful force
seizes me
.
The a
ir is quickly being drawn out of
my lungs as I feel a force shoving me back. Evie begins slipping from my arms. Her ha
ir slides over my palms like
unraveling
kite strings
. My empty hands feel frozen when she’s no longer in them.
When she is in
Brennus
’ arms, he holds her to him, kissing her temple. In the same instant,
I’m
magically
thrown back
away from them. Losing her again is
suffocating
me
; the
loss
of her
is excruciating
.