Incendiary (The Premonition Series (Volume 4)) (105 page)

“EVIE
!”
Russell howl
s
next to us
.
“ZEE, THEY’RE HERE!”
I know his shout is from fear rather
than to necessitate the presence of Zephyr
, since a whisper
would suffice
to get Zee
’s attention
wherever he is in the house
.

Zephyr enters the media room on the tread of panther feet, silent. With him, clutched in one glove-covered fist, is a flailing Gancanagh soldier. He is no threat to Zee, having had his arms cut off at the elbows, but Zee is taking every precaution with him anyway. He must have tried to touch Zee otherwise Zephyr would have left him intact. The Gancanagh’s death-white, twisted face changes as he catches the scent of blood pouring from Evie; it turns hungry with yearning eyes as his fangs gleam under the soft ligh
t
ing in the room. I feel nothing for him, the evil soul-skinner—the animated corpse. He would destroy Evie in seconds if he were to be turned free. He can end now.

Like the scent of rain, the shift in the air alerts me to the storm coming. Russell is pulling energy to him and I wait for the ripple of thunder to roll silent as the lightning from his hands already begins to warm.

“Put her down over there, Reed!” Russell indicates the wide, cracked media table in the middle of the room.

I feel a soft touch on my elbow as Brownie materializes next to me. She puts her other hand on my wing, gently urging me forward to the table as her lips curl in a smile of encouragement, but her eyes are glassy with unmitigated fear.

My tread is centipede-
like,
as my will to move must wait for my body to comply. I lurch forward but seem to get nowhere. A chair falls to the floor as I bump into it. Buns’s eyes widen from her position across the room at my uncharacteristic lack of fluidity. In the next second, Buns touches my other elbow, helping to guide me to the table. When we reach it, I place Evie upon the surface as gently as I can. I stroke her tangled hair away from her pale face. Her eyelids never move.

C
rouch
ing down close to her ear,
I want
to beg her for her forgiveness
for all that she’s been through
—for this. Instead, I whisper, “
I’m
lost without
you, Evie. I’m only found in your eyes
.
”
Something in my heart squeezes painfully.

Do I pray
for her life or
for mine? They’
re one in the same.
..
Be this soul
in T
hine hands
...
I stop, unable to pray for her
ascension
.
I cannot let her go
, I think in agony.
I try again,
May
this soul in Thine hands be with me...always...

Zephyr slams the Gancanagh down next to Evie on the table. The soldier’s neck thrusts
and rears forward, his fangs
sn
apping at her in his desire
for her blood
as she
remains just out of
his
reach.
Russell’s hand covers the Gancanagh’s chest and he
simultaneously
motions Zephyr to step away from them. Ze
phyr glances toward me
, his jaw clenches at his inability to help further. Like me, t
here is nothing else
he can do.

“Reed,” Russell casts me
a
meaningful look
; he needs me to back away from Evie so that he can lay his hand on her.

Tearing myself away from her now is nearly impossible. I feel like she’
ll ascend
if I’m not touching her
and the guilt of wanting her to stay with me is crushing
. My throat tightens and it’s almost impossible to speak, but I force myself to whisper,
“The most fortunate day of my life
,” my voice falters and I have to pause before continuing,
“
was when I stumbled across you, Evie. I need
you to stay with me...
please...
I will love you every
day until my last.
I promise you that
I will.” Then I do the hardest thing I’ve ever do
ne in my life: I let go of her.

T
he fear that has been at a
manageable
level oxidizes: it turns rancid. I quietly shake, rooted to the floor, unable to move.
Russell’
s fingers
begin
to glow with
the gold
, diamond-
fire
light
of raw en
e
rgy
.
In moments, Russell’s hand
fuse
s
to Evie while
his
other
hand
does the same to the Gancanagh. Russell’s face contorts in pain, like a
pianist with his hands upon
ivory keys as he pounds out an exquisite melody.

Evie’s face is placid
,
and it
s lack of any expression of pain
causes sweat to form on my brow.
I fear that she’s already dead, even when I can still feel her.
Bite marks
slowly
recede
on her pale
skin,
as they
break open on
Russell’s neck and forearms. Russell’s
wounds only last for moments before they heal, but t
he Gancanagh thrashing on the table begins to bleed in
earnest, black blood oozing from his undead flesh
. And then, what I’ve been waiting for happens.

“Gah ah,”
Evie arches her back in agony while inhaling an enormous gasp of air. Her eyes open wide as her hands come up to clutch Russell’s hand on her c
hest, attempting to knock it away
, but she’s weak. Russell’s eyes connect with Evie’s and he grits his teeth, silently communicating that he feels her pain.
Next to them, the Gancanagh’s
eyes grow blac
k and bow out like an albino
frog.
His eyes burst and black blood runs from them
while
dust billows up
in
a black cloud
from his mouth
.
It smells like the smoke from a peat fire.

The light from Russell’s hands slowly dies and he sags against the table as he moves them to help prop himself up. When he looks up at Evie again, she begins to cry.
“NOOO!
REEEED!” A wailing scream rips from Evie. “REED! RUN!” She struggles to move as gasping screams fly from her.
Her elb
o
w
s
flail, trying to move her to a sitting position, but she’s too weak.

“Red!” Russell says weari
ly. His strength is gone; it took most of what he had to heal her. His brown eyes connect with her lovely gray ones.

“No, Russell, Nooo!” She wails again. Her hand reaches up to cover his mouth as her own mouth takes on the shape of agony. “I killed him, Russell!
I killed Reed!
” Evie cries like I’ve never heard her cry before—
not even for her uncle. This is excruciating,
unconcealed
terror wrapped in guilt. This is
n’t the heartbreak of loss;
it’s
the sickness of
tragedy and
sorrow.
Tristitiae
.

I have to move because it’s too painful not to.
I
force myself forward into Evie’s line of sight
. Her breath catches in mid-sob when she sees me, but tears continue to run unchecked from her eyes.

“Reed,” she whispers
,
her torment interrupted by the thread of hope
as her eyes rove over me, taking in my torched skin.
Her fingers reach out to touch my chest, but she hesitates. She bites her lip and her fingers tremble because she doesn’t know where she can touch me without hurting me.
I reach out and take her
hand in mine, bringing it to my cheek. When I lay her hand upon my face, I close my eyes in relief.

I
exalt
in the language that comes naturally to me—Angel.

I hear Evie choke, trying to
stifle
another sob. My eyes open and I reach
for her, taking her in my arms.
I pick her up and hug her to m
e. Her arms slip around my nape as her cheek rests against my neck.
She’s crying again, huge wracking sobs.
I glance at Russell who’s watching us as he leans
exhaustedly
against the table.

“Thank you, Russell,” I say.

Russell shrugs. “For what? Oh, that? Pshh, that was nothin’,” he says with a slow smile full of hubris, but his eyes tell another story.

I frown. “Whatever you have left, Russell, you have to direct it out to protect the house,” I say in a low, deadly serious tone.

Russell immediately straightens, becoming fully alert once more. “Why?” he asks with dread in his voice.

“Because if you don’t, Brennus will
try
to
kill us all,” I reply, unable to say it any plainer. “Everyone but Evie.”

Zephyr’s voice breaks the silence that hangs in the air. “He lives?” he asks.

My jaw
clenches and I can hardly speak.
“He’
s more powerful than he was before
—his magic works on me now
. Evie’s blood p
rotected him and when she annihilated
his soldiers with energy...i
t changed him
.
Can you protect us, Russell?
”
I ask him pointedly.

Russell
says
in
a h
o
arse whisper
, “I can. I’ll shield the house now. Nothing will get in.”

Shock and haunting stares meet my glance as I look around the room at each of the members of my family
: Bu
n
s
, B
r
ownie, Zephyr, Russell, and
Anya
. I know they want an explanation, but I just can’t give that to them now. Instead, I turn away from them and leave the room with Evie in my arms. I make my way slowly to the stair
s in the foyer
and climb them.

When we
reach my room, I hesitate at the threshold. It’s been destroyed.
I should have some emotion for what I’m seeing, but I don’t;
it’
s the smallest of
trespasses
in all of this. Turning, I move on to the bedroom
that Evie once occupied. I walk
through it
to the
attached
bathroom, closing the door behind us.

Cold water falls like rain
from the ceiling mounted shower
head
when I turn it on
.
I don’t bother to try to take our clothes off,
I
only
wait a moment until it becomes warm and then I enter the
glass enclosure with Evie in my arms. Water beats down on us causing the ashes in our hair to make dark trails of black tears on our cheeks. The soot mixes with blood to form swirling patterns as it washes away into the drain.

After a few minutes, I sink to the
wet
floor and lean against the tiled wall with Evie on my lap. Gently, I s
t
r
oke her wing.
The wate
r soothes my skin, helping me to heal.
I flex my
hand, watching the raw hue fade to a normal, healthy tone
.

“I thought I killed you,” Ev
ie
whispers.
She hasn’t lift
ed her forehead from
the hollow of my throat
.

“Not today,” my abraded voice
whisper
s
in return.
I
squeeze her reassu
r
ingly.
“Today, you saved me.”

“He didn’t die?” she ask
s without breathing.

“No,
he didn’t,
” I answer.

“Then h
e’ll come
for me
,” her tone
holds no hint of doubt
.

“He’
ll
try
,” I murmur
.
I won’t
deceive
her.