Incendiary (The Premonition Series (Volume 4)) (39 page)

“Any sign of Brennus?” I
interrupt
them, holding my breath.

“He either never made
it here, or he left soon after the battle
began because we haven’t seen him. Nor have we seen any of the Gancanagh since you took care of the o
nes in the street,” Reed replies
, gauging my reaction. I don’t know how I feel about it, so maybe he can tell me later.

The huge, arching doors t
hat open to the street swi
ng i
n, emitting a legion of d
ivine angels.
Attired from head to foot in white
armor
,
spatter
ed
in blood
, the leader in the front stands
out from the rest not only for his extremely long set of crimson wings, but also for his short, auburn hair that is the exact same color as mine. Knowing that this incredibly confident angel striding toward me is my father, I bec
ome mute as I stare
at him
.

Sparin
g only a glance around, he speaks
to Reed, “I see you have loc
ated Russell and Anya,” Tau says
in a direct way, nodding toward
s
Russell.

“Evie found them, we just
secured the area,” Reed replies
,
just as directly.

Tau pauses
before
turning his face to loo
k at me for the first time. R
ecognition creep
s
over me as my jaw fa
l
ls
open.
He has gray eyes, too, almost like mine, but mine are darker…and his face hasn’t changed…it’s still like an angel’s, beautiful and perfect in every way…
just like I remember
it…

“Drew…
D
reamy Drew is my father…”
I whisper
, before m
y clone dissolves into the air and I open
my eyes to look at Phaedrus by my side.

“AHH,” I breathe
out, feeling really, really confused. Getting up
from the floor, my hands in
fists
,
I
pace around the small, medieval office
of the Bridge Gate
.

Holding his head, Phae
d
r
us says
, “Can you slow down, I can’t keep up with
all those pictures in your mind
.”

“
Then get out of my head,” I retort in anger
, putting my hand to my forehead.

“Tau was the
high school Homecoming King?” Phaedrus ask
s
, a small smile forming
on his lips, like he can’t help himself.
H
e’s probably reliving that
cool
,
September night with me in my mind
, watching the halftime celebration on the football field as Drew, I mean Tau, was crowned king while standing next to Stacy Hingus.

“H
e was everything. He was class
president, captain of the cross-
country team,
and
ca
ptain of the soccer team—debate. H
e
sat right behind me in calculus.
I TOLD MOLLY THAT HE LOOKED LIKE AN ADULT IN THE NIN
TH GRADE!” I yell
,
gesturing wildly while
freaking out.
“NOBODY LOOKS LIKE HIM AT FOURTEEN!
THAT’S WHY EVERYONE CALLED HIM ‘DREAMY DREW’
BECAUSE HE WAS–IS–
INCREDIBLY HOT
.
”

“Technically, he’s much
older than an adult,”
Phaedrus replies
in a rational tone.

“You think?” I retort
sarcastically.

“So, you’ve known
him for a while,” Phaedrus says
, prompting me.

“NO! N
ot really
—
since freshman year of high school
. H
e w
as always mean to me,” I reply
in a small voice
, com
pletely pissed off when tears come to my eyes. I try
to stuff them back down.

“He
was mean to you?” Phaedrus asks
, frowning
.

“Yeah, I’d say ‘hi’ to him because he sat by me in a lot of my classes
…every class
and he’d just ignore me
, like I was a total loser
. And then…
I’m pretty sure he
spread some
stupid rumors about me,” I say
in a scathing tone.

“Rumors?” Phaedrus asks
.

“Not important,” I reply
, my face flushing.

“Cheesy?” he asks
me
, reading my thoughts
. My head tilts back as I look
at the ceiling in frustration
.

“He told everyone I smell...like cheese, so for a while, kids called me ‘cheesy’ in the hall
s
instead of Evie,” I explain
, feeling humiliated all over again.

“You don’t smell like che
ese—
far from it,” Phaedrus says
, looking confused.

“
THANK
YOU!” I answer
, while feeling a little vindicated. “I didn’t then either, but once you get a label, forget it, you’re done.”

“Done?” he asks
.

“It’s like a s
tigma. W
ho wants to date ‘cheesy
?
’
” I question
.

“Bu
t, it has to wear off?” he asks
.

“Oh, t
here was more, trust me,” I say
, wringing my hands. “I have to get out of here.”

“What? Why?” he asks
, his eyes widening
.

“Becau
se all of my illusion
s are gone, Phaedrus,” I reply
, trying to explain the unexplainable. “He’s this…and I’m just…and he hates me.”

“Why would
he hate you?” Phaedrus asks
in a reasonable tone.

“I don’t know
,
Phaedrus, but I’l
l take a stab at it,” I retort
. “Maybe, if you’re Tau and
you’re used to being in God’s inner circle and you enjoy
killing rotten, stinky f
allen angels and going on dangerous missions to Sheol to parley with evil a-holes, you could see ha
nging out with me in some small-
town high school a little beneath you.”

“But, you a
re his daughter,” Phaedrus
says with a reverence that makes
me wish that
he
was my father for a moment.

“And what makes you sure he wanted to
be
my father?” I ask
.

“You are here,” Phaedrus replies
.

“
Yes, but do you really ever say
‘no thanks’ when God asks you to do somethi
ng?” I counter
.

“Hmm,” Phaedrus responds
, reluctant to see my point.

“Yeah,” I say with a derisive laugh
, knowing that I have one
.

“
You just
defined his role, what he does,
not who he is.
You want to leave before y
ou give him a chance to explain:
to talk to you on a level that he was probably never
allowed before now?” he inquires
.

Putting bo
th my hands over my face, I exhale in frustration
, “
Ughh
. Okay, you have a point. But, to use Russell’s words this is
‘
awkward as ass.
’
”

“Your forte,” Phaedrus replies
.

“My plate is
a little full of
awkward
right now, Phaedrus,” I reply
.

“
You can handle it,” he says with reassurance, and I narrow
my eyes at him.

“Is
this your mission?” I ask
, seeing him smile.

“Virt
ue angels get to do many things—” he begins
.

Holding up my hand I say
, “Got it. We’ll need a miracle to understand each other.”

“Perhaps,” he smiles
.

“Whatever,” I frown
back
.
“Do you hear that?” I ask
, going to the window and looking out
.
Swarms of d
ivine a
ngels are landing all around the ancient walls of
the tower. They look like they’re
celebrating victory as they boisterously greet each other.

Frowning, he moves to the window and looks
out at the crowd. He smiles
, saying, “T
he battle must be over.”

“That means we won, right?”
I ask him, looking to be reassured.

He nods. “
That means we won this battle.
”

“Where will we
be
go
ing
now
?” I ask
.

“Good question. Maybe you can ask y
our dad,” he replies
innocently.

“Sure,
and
maybe he’ll give me the keys to the car and a little money for the movies
once we get there,” I counter
.

“There’s the spirit,” he replies
.

“Should I thank him?” I ask
in a soft tone. Seeing Phaedrus’ brow
rise in question, I add
, “For saving me today.”

“Th
at would be nice.
Gratitud
e is a good ice breaker,” he repl
ies
as
we both stare
out the window at the angels reveling in victory.

“Now, I
’ll
just h
ave to try to find some,” I say
quietly.

“About the other thing…
I do not think it is a topic you wi
ll want
to
lead with,” Phaedrus says
, not taking
his black eyes from the scene
outside the window.

“Hmm?” I ask
, pretending ignorance.

“I was listening when the f
allen
one
as
ked you to help him,” he replies
.
“I felt your regret at his demise.”

“You think Tau will
be resistant to finding out if there can ever be abs
olution for the Fallen,” I ask
, my heart beating harder.

“He knows there is
not,” Phaedrus responds
.

“Ye
s, well, there’s never been an a
ngel
with a soul before either,” I reply
.

“Hmm,” he murmur
s
. “Heresy from the heretic. You
are brave, aren’t you?” he asks
in a teasing way.

Before I can
answer him, t
here i
s a nasty reverb from the
P.A. system in the phones
. Then, “ATTENTION ALL SWEETIES!
THIS IS
BUNS
SPEAKING
! WE HAVE DANCING ON
THE
PARAPETS A
ND A RAGING PARTY NEAR THE RIVER
.
BRING YOUR PARKAS!
EVIE, GET YOUR
ASS TO THE
ROOF
FOR AN INSANE
REUNION! THAT IS ALL!”

“I love her,” I murmur
.

“Yes,” Phaedrus agrees
.
“There is something reverent in her irreverence.”

“Exactly,” I say
with
a smile. “Shall we
go see her
?” I ask
.

“After you,” he says
.

Rebellion

I follow
Phaedrus
up the ancient staircase
of the Bridge Gate to the roof
. Every angel I pass steps
aside
for me. It makes
me feel like I’m back with the Gancanagh where I’m the queen and they have to defer to me.
Exiting an exterior door, I’m
blasted
by the cold, snowy air.
I
spot
Buns and Brownie amid several
Power
s all ha
nging on the Reaper’s
every word. Buns is
wearing a long
,
gra
y coat with a matching military-style hat—the kind with the
ear flaps
.
Funky m
usic that I’ve never heard before is playing from an ancient sound
system some
one
dragged out here.