Incendiary (The Premonition Series (Volume 4)) (70 page)

I creep
back from the doors, breathing hea
v
ily and hoping that Xavier will
pass right by this darkened room.
Coming to rest
against the back wall, I wait
, trying to slow my bre
athing. But, when the doors
are
push
ed
in
ward
and Xavier’s large frame fills it, there is
no controlling it.

Hide
, I think, and i
nstantly, my clothing tears
from me
; t
hey fall in tatters to the floor
as my skin
flatt
ens
and
takes
on the tone
s
and contours of the wall behind me.
Rigidity engulfs
me a
s I press
into the stone
of the wall
.

“Evie,” Xavier’s voice echoes
in the cavernous room.

I ca
n’t answer
him, even if I wanted
to; m
y skin, cold and gray,
camouflages me from his sight. Xavier sniffs the air like a wolf. M
y heart beat
s
faster.

F
o
llowing his nose, Xavier scans
the room, his eyes passing over me without seeing me. “
I know you’re in here,” he
says
, turning in circles. “I can sm
ell your scent…” he glances
toward me
again. Closing his eyes, he takes
a ste
p in my direction…then another.
“I would know you anywhere by scent alone…
so light
, sweet…”
h
e comes
nearer
, “y
ou’re beginning to
remember me, aren’t you?”

I try to move, but I only manage
to tear away a small seam where my arm me
e
t
s
the wall because
I’m mortared in place
.
“Don’t be afraid
of me
,” he says
,
like a c
aress. “
I only want
for you to know me again.”

Nearing me, he open
s his eyes again and spots
my shredded clothing on the f
loor in front of me. His eyes rise from them
as if following the contours of my shape against
the wall. Leaning down he picks up my clothes
before saying softly, “That is a brilliant façade, Evie, and if I hadn’t
been the one who suggested this sort of trait be added to your arsenal, I may have been fooled by it.
”

His hand reaches out and traces
my shape up, following
my silhouette. His fingers are
soft against my hardened, rough exterior. He w
hispers
somethin
g to me in Angel before he adds
, “Amazing.”
His fingers trace
my face,
and
finding my lips, he caresses
them with his thumb.
“I want to be you
r love
again, but for now, I’
l
l have to be content with being your mentor
.
You’ll be safe with me, I promise.
”

He lean
s near
, touching his full
lips to my stony
ones, kissi
ng me with a gentleness that mak
e
s
me want to cry.
In the next instant, I change
shape again, shedding my rock-like prison to burst forth into a swarm of swirling, bright-red butterflies.
Shimmering around Xavie
r in a storming color of crimson
,
I ratchet
up
ward
in a twisting stream
away fro
m him.

“No, Evie, don’t go…
”
Xavier says
in a voice full of pain
, “I won’
t
become
just a part of
your past…”

Ignoring Xavier’s order
, I fly
in a m
ass of fluttering, velvety wings
toward
the broken glass doors that le
a
d
outside. As I escape
through a shattered
window
pane, I pass
swiftly into
the cold, night sky.

Th
e air
i
s crisp with the icy aroma of the sea.
Spiraling around
the outer edifice of the
South Tower,
I’m swept
and tossed
by the salty wind. D
rawn to a corner
garden
room by a
different
s
cent, one
that i
s like nectar to me,
I fly
above a sleeping
, walled
garden and stone path to a set of lead-glass windows.
I use
magic
to unlatch
its
wrought
-iron clasp
.
The wooden-framed glass
opens
en
ough to fly through
.

Reed
, reclined on a massive, four-poster bed, reading an old
,
leather-bound book, si
t
s
up when
the first of my butterflies l
and
on
his chest.
One-by-one,
I cove
r
him in scarlet-winged
creatures
. G
ently
,
Reed
l
ays
his book aside. T
hen, when the last of me flitters
to rest upon him,
my shape implodes
to become my tr
ue form. L
ying
on his chest,
I shiver
from the cold
before
his arms snake
possessively around me.

I kiss
him
with a panic-filled
passion that only the
fear of loss can elicit. “Never
let me go,” I breathe
against his mouth.

“Never,” Reed promises
me without question.

Dancing In Rings

Lying on top of Reed in the
luxurious, four-poster
bed, h
e flips
me over with
carnal strength, pinning me beneath him.
Gr
een eyes, so perfect to mine, a
re covered in a fall of dark hair over his br
ow. Reaching up, I gently push
it to the side, feeling the icy chill in my heart warm at the sight of him.

“Your entrance was poetic
, love,” Reed says
softly
,
as he smiles
down
at me. “I could just make out your delicate lines w
ithin the soft wave of scarlet,
a
nd
not a minute too soon. I was
tr
ying my hardest not to search
for you.” Then he fro
wns
,
“Why are you unaccompanied
?
”

“Dinner didn’t go as I planned,
”
I respond
with a frown.

“You’re shivering,” he says
while wra
pping a thick blanket around me
.
“What happened?”

“What i
f I told you that we have
to leave
as soon as this i
s over,
what would you say?” I ask with my eyes searching
his.

Reed’s eyebrows dra
w together in
concern,
“You want to leave without the Seraphim?”

I nod
solemnly.

He exhales
, concern clouding his beautiful green eyes. “I’d say that I trust your judgment, but I’d wonder what brought you to that conclusion.”

“Can it be done?” I ask
.

“Yes,” he says
as
the concern on his face gro
w
s
. “That’s not the hard part, Evie. The hard part is remaining one step ahead of them. They’re very resourceful.”

“But, we can d
o it, right?” I ask
with
desperation in my tone.

“If it became
necessary, we could,” he agrees
grimly.

Throwing m
y arms around his neck, I hug him
to me. “Good,” I
whisper-
bre
athe
. “Let’s have a contingency plan. Ke
ep it between us
, just our group—
Zee, Russell, Bun
s
, Brownie, and Anya.”

“W
hat about Preben?” Reed asks, and then he shrugs
at my raised eyebrow, saying, “He and Brownie have a thing.”

I bit
e
my thumbnail.
“I don
’t know…let’s work out the details
with Zee and Russell, and then we can appro
ach Preben later, okay?” I ask
anxiously.

Reed’s frown deepens
.
“Evie, what happened at dinner?”
he
asks
.

I
shrug as I try
to downplay what must look like a complete fre
ak
out in Reed’s eyes. “I got the distinct impression that their plans for me may not in
clude my friends,” I answer
.

Reed relaxes
a little. “We knew that they would have their own ideas about other angels. It’s rare for Reapers to be involved in fighting. They don’t know Buns and Brownie
,
yet. They’ll see the b
enefit of having them around as
companionsh
ip for you,” Reed replies reassuringly
.

“No, you don’t understand…I mean
all
of my friends…
” I trail off as anger mak
e
s
a b
lush come to my cheeks. U
nderstanding filters
into Reed’s expression.
“They out
r
ank us, don’t they?” I ask
.

“They do,” he agrees
.

Quickly, I tell him
what happened at dinner tonight.
“If you wanted to tear us ap
art, what would you do?” I ask Reed
feebly.

“I’d send us on
separate missions,” he responds
without hesitating.

“Could we say no?” I ask
.

“No, but
Tau will see reason,” Reed says
, straightening. “He hasn’t had an opportunity to observe us together. You’re his daughter. He’s concern
ed
about the circumstances of our binding.”

“Why should we have to explain o
urselves to anyone?” I ask
. “It’s not his decision.
It’s ours and we already made it.”

A sexy smile twists Reed’s lips
despite the seriousness of our discussion. “Ye
s, we did, didn’t we?” he agrees
.

Leaning forward, he slips
the blanket from my bare should
er. H
is lips trace
where the blanket had been
, causing me to l
ose
my breath
.

“We need a plan,” I whispe
r
as I lay back against the soft mattress.
Reed follows me.

“We’ll hav
e an egress
if diplomacy doesn’t succeed
,” h
e says,
trailing kisses over my sensitive skin
.
“Let’s just hope that we won’t need it.”

“Why?” I ask
.

“Because there will be a price to pay if they catch up to
us,” he replies
in a low tone.