Incendiary (The Premonition Series (Volume 4)) (31 page)

“I’ll
go do some recon,” Russell says
, i
nstantly sending out his clone
. His body sags and I catch it before it falls
on the ground. Gently pulling Russell to the floor
with me, I ho
ld him
as his consci
ousness travels
with his clone.

The instant Russell returns, I know it because he lurches
forward
out of my arms
, saying stoni
ly, “We’re not goin’ anywhere.”

“Why,” I ask
, feeling Reed standing by our side.

“Y
ou
ever see that old movie—
the one with all the
black
birds?” Russell asks
, his hair standing up like wires on his arms. “Hitchcock?”

“
The Birds
?” I whisper
.

“
T
hat’s the one.
Well, it’s kinda like that out there,
‘cept instead of birds
lurkin’ ‘round
, we
’ve
got f
allen
angels
and Gancanagh linin’
the pitched rooftops, waitin’
for us to come out,” Russell reports
, looking pale
. “It’s just gettin’
dark and the Fallen are
flyin’ ‘
round like they could give a crap that they’re among humans.”

“We
’
re dead,” I
choke
, feeling oddly calm about it.

“No, we’r
e in a good position,” Reed disagrees
, crouching down to look in our eyes. “Russell, you did a good
job picking this bar. It’s
an underground fortress with only one access point. It’s hollowed out of st
one—
lacking incendiary properties. Even if they try to burn us out, you and Evie can bring the rain and extinguish it. We are the bait now
and the trap is set.” Reed gives us a smug smile
, his green eyes shining with anticipation.

“Tau,” I say
, feeling scared and hopeful all at the same time.

“He’s going to bring a reign of terror on them the likes of which they’ve never seen,” Reed
says
, studying the clock on the wall
as if calculating when the reign will begin.
“Zephyr is going to be
disappointed.”

“When is Tau
gettin
’ here?” Russell asks
, bu
t the phone behind the bar begins
ringing, causing me to jump at it’s shrill tone.

Wetting my lips, I glance
at Reed, asking, “Tau?”

“I gave Tau
my private number
,” Reed replies
, letting the phone continue to ring.

“Well, maybe—” I say
, watching Reed shake his he
ad slowly.

“N
o, that’s Brennus,” Reed says
. W
alking toward the ph
one
,
Reed crushes
it
, silencing it in mid-ring
.

“What do y
ou think he wants?” I ask with a cold shiver
.

“You,” Reed replies
.
“Russell, can you handle the door while I conta
ct Tau?”

“
I’ll growl if there’
s any movement,” Russell replies
.

“Do you want to
speak to Tau?” Reed asks
,
moving to me and
cupping my cheek
.

“No, I’m
going to clean myself up, then I’ll help
guard the door,” I reply
, feeling adrenaline
burst through me
again.

“I’ll be r
ight here
,” Reed says
, kissing my forehead before
letting me go.

Quickly I go to the bathroom, cleaning myself the best that I can in the sink.
I glance
in the mirror and notice that I’
m really pale. It’
s probably f
rom being bitten; my blood hasn’
t had a chance to fully replenish. I
still feel really weak. Brennus’
magic could
snap me in two right now and I’
d barely be able to fight back.

When I return to the room, Russell is
behind the bar
,
wiping his dripping hands and face on a towel. As he comes around from the bar, he carries a bag of
pretzels and water
with him
.
Tossing me
a bottle of water, he sits
ne
xt to Anya on an elegant
couch and
offers
her some pretzels
.
She snuggles
into his side, resting her head on his chest and he doesn’t seem to mind h
aving her there as he watches
the entrance
ahead of him.

“
Lei-cha-ih-yil-knee-ih il-day
,” Ru
ssell says
to Anya, “
b
e-al
-doh-tso-lani al-tah-je-jay
Gancanagh.” He strokes
her hair soothingly.

I sit down by them on an adjacent sofa.
“What di
d you tell her?” I ask.

“I said ‘the army will arrive—
many big guns to attack the Gan
canagh
,
’
”
Russell replies
.

“
Ne-tah
,” Anya says with the intimacy of a secret.

Russell squeezes
her to him and
smiles cunningly.
“That’
s right, we’ll fo
ol them, Anya” he replies
.

“Wha
t language is that?” I ask
, taking a ha
ndful of pretzels when he turns
the bag toward me.

“Navajo,” Russell says
, munching on his pretzels. “We were Apache, but we traded with the Navajo
once in a while
,” he adds, and then he gives
me a crooked
,
little smile.
“Y
ou
were a purdy squaw
.”

Lifting
a pretzel to my lips, my hands shake
. I show them to Russell and say
in a self-effacing way
, “You’d think that I’d be used to this by now.”

Anya
studies
my hands
,
and t
hen she lifts her trembling one
s
, saying, “
Toh-bah-ha-zsid
.”

“What did she say?” I ask, feeling relief
that she’s not scowling at me
now
.

“She said
she’s afraid, too” Russell answers
with a grim frown, clearly bothered by
the last exchange
.

Anya’s deep green
eyes hold mine and
I want to tell her I’m sorry, but I’m
not sure exactly for what. However,
in the next moment
, a prickli
ng cold touches my skin. Swirling patterns of frost form on t
he walls b
eyond Anya, running up over the ceiling to crystallize the glass chandeliers. M
y breath comes
out of my mouth in hazy clouds as the temperature i
n the room drops
severely
. Russell, Anya, and I
stand
u
p at once.
Reed
instantly
appears
by my side again, taking my hand casually
in his
. Hearing
the sound of
cracking, like thin ice when someone walks on it, Br
ennus appears
at the doorway of
the pub.

Still in his dark suit, Brennus is polished elegance
, a king,
as he surveys
us beneath him. His eyes stop
o
n me, taking in every inch of my body
. “Genevieve,” h
e says my name like a prayer, “m
e queen…me living darkness.”

The Specter Of Regret

“It never seems ta
lessen
,” Brennus says
to me, while stepp
ing with
regal grace down the staircase toward our position in the cellar bar
below. “Dis
stabbing thrill
of desire
dat
bleeds t
rough me
whenever I behold ye,
mo chroí
.” The icy path is expanding around him, covering the surfaces of the
pub with frost. Knowing that this
is only an image of Brennus—
a ma
gical spell projected to us through
his vast power, I still feel
almost paralyzing fear that he has
found me again.

“Keep him
talking, love,” Reed says
in my ear. “Try to draw him in. We need him
to physically come
here.”

I feign composure as I reply to Brennus,
“Come in and get your
over
dose then.” I straighten my shoulders and prepare
for war. “I’m surprised that you’re not tired of the hangover.”

Brenn
us’ light green eyes rivet
on me, like he’s scouring me for any minute changes that might have occurred since I was last within his embrace.
“Ye’ve a devious wee mind. I tought for sure dat we had ye trapped on yer i
sle in da blue sea,” he remarks
,
coming ever nearer to me and
ignoring everyone else.

“I’m sorry, it must have been so disappointing sifting through the carnage and not
finding pieces of me,” I reply
, seeing my breath forming i
cy tendrils in the frigid air.

“
’
Tis whah I
tought I wanted, too, Genevieve—
ta see y
e extinguish
ed
from all existen
ce
.
’
T
was my only ambition, truth be told
. However, when yer wee isle incinerated and I believe
d
dat me fellas had
annihilated
ye, someting happened ta me
,” Brennus breathes
, his image coming close to me
. He leans very near, trying
to inhale the scent of my hair, only to frown and look dissatisfi
ed in the obvious fact that
he cannot.

“Y
ou were sorry it wasn’t you who
pulled the trigger?” I ask, confused by the contradictory behavior he is displaying
.

“I learned dat dere is a raging depth of pain dat I had ye
t ta experience,” he explains
, watching my reaction.

“
You mean
you had a
moment of remorse?” I ask
, quirking my
eye
brow in disbelief.
“What a vexing situation for you
, Brenn
:
to be at the pinnacle of your triumph and to be daunted by the specter of regret.”

“
’
Twas na remorse,” he replies
in a harsh tone. “
’
Twas loss on a scale I
had
never imagined possible.
’
Twas an agony dat even da death of me
own
heart
, or da heart of me b
r
udder,
could na equal.”

“Well, you appear to hav
e recover
ed
fully from it
,” I reply
, raising my chin.
“
J
udging by the Werree you sent to me, you’re
lea
ning toward killing me again
?” I ask
, trying to sound calm, but hearing the accusation in my tone.

“Dey were na
here by me orders!” Brennus hisses
, looking outraged. “
’
Twa
s Lonan dat banjaxed me orders.” Seeing the deep scowl on his face and the way that his lower lip is thinning menacingly, I can tell he means it.
“
’
Tis his hatred for da othe
r dat has him blind ta whah is truly i
mportant here.
”