Incendiary (The Premonition Series (Volume 4)) (5 page)

“Like wh
at?” I wonder aloud
, not knowing how he and I
differ from them.

“They read body langu
ag
e. They expect to know what you’
r
e
gonna do before you
do it ‘cuz a lot of them have tells. But, I’m part human…I wasn’t raise
d with them. I didn’t get their
angel imprinting branded on me. They
can’t read me yet,” he explain
s
.

“So…it made Tycho almost blind when h
e was fighting you?” I ask
, trying to understand.

Russell nods.
“
But
,
h
e still had a w
icked right cross,” he
says
, rubbing his chin as if remembering the pain.

“That was stupid, Russell. He could’ve killed you. You’re not
even fully evolved yet,” I say
,
growing white thinking about what could’ve happened.

“I had a lot of rage at that moment, Red,”
Russell says
, looking away from my eyes.
“I fluctuated between pretendin’
T
ycho was
that Ifrit,
Valentine
,
to pretendin’
he was Brennus.”
I flinch
, hearing Russell say Brennus’ name.
“I’m
sorry…I didn’t mean to use the v
ampire’s na
me in front of you
,” Russell says
in a low tone, b
rushing his fingers in my hair soothingly.

“He’s not a v
ampire, Russell,” I reply
, try
ing to be normal as my hand
shake
s
a little. “He’s an
undead F
aerie.”

“He’s gonna be an all-
dead F
aerie whe
n
I see him again,” Russell state
s
, sweeping a stray hair back from my face.

Gripping
Russell’
s arm
, I look into his eyes.
“Russell, y
ou need to be rea
lly cautious around him.”

Russell’s face relaxes.
“His skin doesn’t work on me. He can touch me and I w
on’t go all zombie and do everything he tell
s
me to do, like the angels will if h
e touches them,” Russell replies
. “That makes me the perfect candidate to take him on.”

I frown at his obvious disregard of my warning. “No, it doesn’t,” I say
.

Russell’s eyebrows pull together in anger.
“He wants to see you
on your
knees, crawlin’
back to him. He’s gonna kill you
for sure if he get
s
you
back and you’
ll
be his
ice-cold, undead…” he trails
off.

“Gancanagh
lover
…his queen
,” I finish
for him.

Russell’s expression darkens.
“I’m
not gonna let him do that to you
. I’m not gonna let him send you
r soul to Sh
eol for eternity,
not for those f
allen monst
ers in Hell to torment,” he says
, his face flushed with anger.
“Why hasn’t he come yet? He said he was
comin’
soon. It’s been
a couple of weeks! H
e should’ve made his move by now.”

“He’s really intelligent, Ru
ssell. He’s been around forever—
he doesn’t act until he h
as the advantage—
t
he entire advantage,” I explain
, knowing just how Brennus operates because I’d spent the last few months as his captive queen. “Then,
when he does act,
it’s like a snake striking…it’s so fast, you almost never see it coming.”

“He’s bit
ter, R
ed,” Russell says
softly.
“It may cause him to make mistakes.”

I shake my head.
“Don’t count on it.
He knows almost everything there is to know about me. He got in my head and crawled around…he knows everything about
us. He studied me,” I whisper
, feeling like I have a rope around my neck, choking me.

“We studied them, too. While
y
ou
were his pet,” Russell replies
.
“Let him think
that I have the power of
a
wet firecracker being lit by a
flint. He’s gonna underestimate me and then he’s gonna die.”

“He knows what
you are to me, Russell,” I say
, feeling panicked.

“Really
,
Red, and w
hat’s that
?
What am I to you?
” Russell asks
,
and I can hear
the undertone of bitterness in his voice.

“You’re my soul mate…my b
est friend…” I trail off, biting my lip as I see sorrow
in his ey
es
.

“Best friend...
” he says
, hanging his head. “
I am that, Red, if nothin’
else;
I am that.
But, I remember so many, many lifetimes when I was
everythin’ to you
—
all you
needed.”

“I need him,”
I whisper
, not wanting to try again to explain my intense love for Reed. But, looking at Russell, I feel an unbelievable
ache in my chest
for him
that won’t go away.
He’s been my lover in every lifetime but this one and my soul knows him as its match.
“I’m bound to Reed for eternity.
I swor
e a vow to him. He’s my
aspire
and its irrevocable.”

“W
ell, we were married in just ‘bout every lifetime we had together and I’ve heard that being a soul mate is pretty mu
ch irrevocable, too,” he replies
softly.

A crack of thunder makes
us both look over at the horizon as dark
, rolling
storm clouds
gather offshore. I pale
, seeing the azure sea darkening underneath them. “It’s suppo
sed to rain today,” Russell assures
me
s
oftly in my ear. I can’t stop the
shiver of dread
that
course
s
through me
, remembering
how the sky had been even darker than that when Brennus had found me here
.
“
Don’t worry…it’s not Brennus
.”

I nod
, trying to hide my fear.
“What are the odds of us not training with Reed and
Zephyr after lunch if it rains?
” I ask
, turning to look at him again
and hoping
desperately
that he’ll let me
change the subject
.

“
Vegas wouldn’t
bet on it,” Russell replies
, getting t
o his feet. He reaches
down, extending
his hand to me to help me up. “C’mon, we better go eat somethin’
before the angels start poundin’
on us and call
it trainin’
.”

“Thanks,” I say
with relief
,
allowi
ng him to s
teady me on my feet as we walk
hand-in-hand to Zephyr’s huge plantati
on house on the hill for lunch.

When we arrive
at the house,
he le
a
d
s
me through the elegant, winding halls to the ornate dining room. Th
e white, plantation shutters have
been closed ov
er the open windows, but they a
re open enough to allow the breeze in to cool the house. W
alking
with me to the table, Russell ho
ld
s
out a chair for
me next to Reed. He then seats
himself in the empty chair next to mine.

“Thanks, Russell,” I murmur as
I
attempt
to look normal. I don’t want Reed to know that I’m still a little dizzy because he’ll want to examine me himself and I’d rather not go through a battery of tests
now.

“We were just about
to discuss security,” Buns says
, directing her attenti
on to Russell and me. She nudges
a heaping basket of rolls in my direction, eyein
g me closely. “You look tired, s
weetie,” Buns comments
with a frown.

“I’m fine,” I assure her
hurriedly,
taking a roll and putting
it
on my plate.

Selecting
white fish
from the myriad of entrées in the center of the table
, I listen
while Buns, Brownie
,
and Zephyr continue
discussing recent intel from the Reaper angels stationed on the outlying islands. They haven’t seen any activity from the Gancanagh yet.

Fee
ling Reed’s eyes on me, I’m not very surprised when he says
, “You look pale.” H
is strong fingers brush
against mine as they
rest
on the table
.

Smiling at him, I reply
,
“I’m a redhead, remember? We’re supposed to be pale, but I prefer
the term ‘pigmently challenged
.
’
”

Reed’s eyes soften
at my comment and his perfect face
makes
my cheeks
flood with color and
my pulse quicken
. “The
re…that’s better,” Reed breathes
near my ear.

“She had another seri
es of nose bleeds,” Russell says
to Reed
as he watches
my face.

Reed’s eyes darken as his eyebrows pull
together. “Evie, you’re working too
hard. Y
ou need to find a balance—
”
he starts, but I interrupt
him.

“I will—
I just didn’t r
ealize it until it was too late.
I’ll
work on toning it down,” I say
in a placating tone, while stepping hard on Russell’s foot beneath the table for ratting
me out to Reed. Russell ignores
my feeble attempt to hurt him, smiling at me angelically.

“Maybe you shouldn’t
train this afternoon,” Reed says
seriously, setting his fork down near his plate.

“I’m fine, really,” I reply
with indifference
, because if I
look too anxious, he’ll make sure I rest and I don’t
want to rest. When I try to relax
, all I can think about is Brennus and his promise to teach me all about pain
when he gets me back
.

I touch
the onyx locket around my neck, feeli
ng the smooth, opal moon affixed to
the surface of it. It’s really a porta
l, a transport to another place
far from here. I
know exactly where it goes
,
and so does
Reed
.
I plan to use it if I have to escape the Gancanagh.
Our portals, Reed’s and mi
ne, will go to the same place.
Zephyr’s and Buns’
s
portal’s will arrive at a different location from our
s
. We’ll have to meet up with them, wh
ich we plan to do by using the I
nter
net. Russell and Brownie are paired
together ag
ain, which makes me extrem
ely nervous, knowing that they had
been captured and nearly killed the last time they were lef
t alone to fend for themselves.

“You should
p
repare to get wet,” Reed says
,
looking out the ope
n windows. Sheets of rain are
falling
on the tropical paradise of Zee’s island.