Incendiary (The Premonition Series (Volume 4)) (107 page)

“Reed...are you...did they—”

“I don’t want to speak of it. It’s over
,” Reed says, picking up my hand and bringing my fingers to his lips. He kisses them, his lips sliding lower, kissing my wrist. It caus
es a shiver to pass through me.

“How can you not
?” I ask, but I know it’s
possib
le to be hurt and then not
want to
talk
about it.

“I should say that I never
dwell on it. When certain outcomes are anticipated, it’s not overly surprising when it comes to
fruition
. I was prepared to die. It was a blessing that I did not.”

“Don’t do that,” I s
ay in a hushed tone. Lifting his lips from me, Reed stops kissing me to raise his eyebrow
in question.
“Don’t die for me.”

“I could say the same words
to you, but I know you won’t listen, just as I won’t listen.
I swore to protect you with my body.
I broke that vow.”

“You didn’t—”

“I did, Evie,” he says in a pain-filled tone.
“You should never have done
what you did. I could’ve killed you.”

“Then I would’ve died with you,” I murmur.

Reed’s response is a deep growl of frustration before he says,
“How did you even come to be in the Knights Bar? Why didn’t your father protect you?”

“He wasn’t interested in saving you, Reed. He wouldn’t have been able to get you away from Brennus. I had to go!”

“Did he try to stop you?”

“Yes,” I answer
.

“And you defied him?” Reed says in a concerned tone.

“He’s lucky that’s all I did to him,” I reply as my eyebrows draw together. “Xavier drugged me a
nd
tied me up. It was Anya who freed me. You’re here with me no
w because your family loves you:
Zee, Buns, Brownie, Russell
,
and Anya.”

“
And you,” he add
s
in a soft tone
.

“And me.
I’m your family, your
aspire
,” I say in a quiet voice.
“I have
to protect you.
You’re mine.
”

“And
you’re mine,” he say
s.

“I am,” I agree in all seriousness
.

“
Do you tr
ust me?” he asks me
even
ly
.
His green eyes, fringed by the dark, m
asculine lashes,
bore into mine
.
”

“
Do I trust you? Reed, you’re the
only
one I
trust.”
I sit up to face him. I kneel in front of him
on the bed
.

He nods once, and then
gets to his feet and drags the sheet
with him
to wrap
a
round his hips. He moves toward the bedroom door and slips out. I have a need to follow him; it’s more than an impulse, it’s bone-deep panic to protect him.
I make myself stay where I
am.
He returns in moments, allowing my heartbeat to come down to
an
acceptable level.
In h
is hand, he has a si
mple
,
medieval
dagger
. He crawls back on the bed and kneel
s
in front of me.

Reed holds the sharp end of the b
lade in his
closed fist
nonthreatening
ly
between us
,
like a cross
.
He speaks in Angel, his sexy voice clear and unfaltering. Then he pauses. He
switches
to English and say
s
, “Genevieve Ava Claremont, with my
blood, I pledge my fidelity,
my loyalty
, and my
allegiance
to you
,
and
only you
,
under God.”

With his free hand, he grasps the hilt of the dagger,
dragging the blade over the
closed
fist
that clutches it. When his hand begins to bleed, he opens his palm showing
the cut; it
s
rusty s
cent fills the air between us.
He lays the dagger aside and reaches his uncut hand to pluck a silky, gray feather from his wing. He dips the spine of the feather in his blood before he reaches over, inserting his feather among the
crimson
ones on my wing.

Reed leans forward, resting his forehead in the hollow of my breast while his arms wrap around my waist. I pull him closer, my hands entwining in his hair.
His wings are magnificent, stretching out around us.

“Reed?” I ask
,
wondering what just happened.

Hearing the question in my voice, Reed says, “Now your father can’t
come between us, Evie. I swore
my allegiance to you. You are
my authority
.
The only one above you for me is God.
You were created
Seraphim—m
y
natural
leader. Only a
direct
messenger from God can break it
now
.
”

“What?” I say, my mouth becoming dry.

“I knew it could
come to this.
There will be a
struggle
for power. Your father is a leader. He will fight you for control of
you—of
the army that will come to align with you.”

“Align with me?”

“
Divine angels have s
cattered the world over, they’ll come and decide who they’
ll follow.”

“I don’t want to lead them.”

“You have no choice unless you want to be at Tau’s mercy. He may not allow us to remain together. We have to find a way to get him to align with you without giving up your power. And you
will
have an army
, whether you want it or not.
”

“Here, give me the knife—I’ll swear my
allegiance
to you—”

“You can’t
,
love,” he says, pulling back to look into my eyes. “
It has to be you who leads, but y
ou’
re not alone.
”

“I’m afraid,” I whisper.

“Don’t be afraid,” he mu
rmurs, wrapping me tighter in his
arms. “We’re together.
I’
ll be with you. Anyt
hing that I have is yours. I’l
l fight for you and with you until my last breath.
I’ll never again break my vow to protect you.
Whatever comes, we face it together
—as one
.
”

“As one,” I agree. There are no more words between us. We s
eal our promises with our bodies
.

**

Hunger is the one thin
g that finally drives Reed and me
from our room.
Wrapped in a towel, I let Re
ed lead me
by the hand
dow
n the hall to his room. Rifling through
his
closet, he hands me one of his button down shirt
s
. It’s the best option because the Gancanagh have taken every scrap of clothing that once belonged to me. They probably have it in Ireland...
I falter...
no, the Gancanagh don’
t have it now. I slaughtered
so many of them...my father
i
s in Ireland and he
has everything that once belonged to me.
My hands
shake in fear
, remembering
what it is I can do with them. They’re capable of
i
ncinerating
everything I see
.

Reed notices
my hand
s. He takes one in his own
, bringing my fingers to his lips and kissing them
.
I get lost in his gaze; it warms me, abating the chilling dread. When he lets go of my hand, his fingers go to the b
uttons of my shirt, buttoning them
for me so I don’t have to awkwardly try to do it myself. When he’s finished, he drags on his
own
jeans. He draws in his wings, pulling a white cotton t-shirt over his head. It falls
like water over his
rippling muscles
that are
like weathered sand,
causing me to frown
as I lose sight of them
.

I lightly grasp the bottom of his t-shirt, lifting it so that I can s
ee the contours of his
abdomen. Leaning forward, I press a kiss to the hollow of his chest and then another one, lower on his torso. The shirt in my hand rips as Reed’s wings push out again from his back, leaving the white fabric slack in my hand. I let the cotton slip from my fingers to the floor.

Reed’s fingers grasp the hair at the base of my neck, angling my face up so that he
can press his lips to mine. Hi
s kisses are crushing, making my knees weak. I have to lean into him for support. Letting go of my hair, Reed’s hands move to my collar, pulling the fabric apart so that the buttons he just closed suddenly pop off the shirt and fall to the floor in a soft twinkling of sound. His hands part the shirt and then run with a sult
r
y heat over my skin. I make a soft sound that is
somewhere between a groan and a
squeak.

“I missed that sound,”
Reed says against my skin
a
s he kisses my throat, making me shiver
.

“Hmmm?” I murmur, half in question and half in pleasure.

“The little noises you make—
I especially like that one,” he say
s. H
e kisses the round edge of my shoulder. His teeth graze my skin, and I inhale a small gasp. “I like that one, too,”
he growls. “There are several more I need to
h
ear before we
can
leave the closet,” he says.
Reed pulls
me with him to the floor
;
he elicits an array of
other
intimate
sounds fr
om me that I didn’t know I make
.

**

Dressed
in another one of Reed’s shirts and a pair of his bo
xers, I hold his hand as I trail him
to the kitchen. Pool
balls striking each other make
me glance into the
B
illiards
R
oom as Reed leads me by
it. Zephyr is hunched over the table about to take a shot and Russell is leaning against his pool stick. They both look over at the doorway as we slip by.
I also don’t fail to notice the
huge
claymores
rest
ing
w
ithin their reach,
lean
ing
against the wood-trim wainscot of the wall.
Seeing the swords, I cringe
and become alert
.
They’re expecting something, too. It makes my hand tighten in Reed’s.

In the kitchen, Reed and I go to the refrigerator. Buns and Brownie must’ve stocked
it
when they’d arrived. I
doubt Zephyr is letting them near
the foyer, let alone past it
to get
outside
.
Russell has
created a barrier around
the house; I can feel his magic there. He’s
protect
ing us.

Reed opens the freezer and sm
iles. He reaches in and pull
s out the family-size box of mac and cheese, lifting his eyebrow as he holds it up to show me. A blush stains my cheeks as I smile at him and nod. I take it from him and unwrap it. I turn away, setting
it on the counter before I prepare
the oven. Reed’s arms slip around my waist from behind, pulling
my back against him and kissing
my hair tenderly.
His hand slips upward, tr
acing the line of my breast.
I shiver.

“What’
s for supper?
” Russell asks, strolling into the kitchen with Zephyr right behind him.
They have their swords with them, which they
discretely
lean agai
n
st the other side of the counter out of my view.