Incendiary (The Premonition Series (Volume 4)) (80 page)

One sorrowful clone enters
X
avier, disappearing into the contours of his broad chest
. His eyes widen
in agony, while
all of my crazed emotions from the past few hours
assault
him. T
he
fiery
glow of ano
ther of my clones
swamp
s
Tau
before disappeari
ng within him. His face blanches as he bends
forward with a feveris
h grimace. Cole and Phaedrus have
similar reactions to the clones th
at hit them and dissolve away.

Xavier shifts
his arm beneath
my knees, lifting
me up while
whatever he blew a
t me mak
e
s
me as docile as a favored pet.
He
coos
in my ear, “I’m sorry, but y
ou’re safe
now
.”

My numb
cheek rests
against
his
chest as I sl
ur, “Never…forgive…” but I ca
n’t continue.

As I stare
hazily
at my father, Tau addresses
the room in Angel, presumably giving orders and instructions to those asse
mbled. My focus slips
again while
the chemicals
continue
to press down on me.
When
my eyes readjust
, Tau i
s by my side
. Reaching out to me, he strokes
my hair gently.
“This is for your benefit
, Evie,” Tau murmurs
in an appeasing way.

“Liar,” the word fa
ll
s
from my lips in a
whisper
,
causing
Tau’s eyes
to darken
before
mine
shut against him.

**

My eyes open
slowly to the dim
light of dusk. Shadows stretch and pull
over the elegant side table next to the carved poster bed in Brennus’ room
.
Sluggishly, I try
to mov
e my aching muscles, but I ca
n’t s
tretch my arms
because they
’
re
twisted
together
by a downy, supple cord behind me.
So too, my wing
s a
re
lo
cked in one position by a rope
wound around them near
my back
, refusing to allow them to bend
or move
much
.
I groan
. T
he pounding
ache in my head forces
it
wearily
forwa
rd onto the soft
pillow sham.

Straightening
my bent knee
s
an inch
,
the silken rope tied around my
ankles tightens
. Linked to the
ropes at my wrists, the cord
locks
me in a hog-tied
position on top of the coverlet
. A gag cut
s
into the corners of my mouth,
stifling my gasping breaths of panic.

I still
, willing myself not to be sick when frigid memories of Reed’s
dull, drugged expression comes to
mind,
causing
a
surge of adrenaline
to jerk me fully awake.
Then
I realize
what the shadow
s mean; they indicate
that several hours
must’
ve passed
and the sun i
s again setting on the horizon.
I struggle
to tear the ropes bindi
ng me, feeling sure that they’
ll be shredded at any moment and I’ll be freed, but th
ey hold firm
, biting into my flesh
.

Breathing
hard, I stop
struggling for a second, trying to think.

Shapeshift
,
I t
hink. I concentrate
,
trying to imagine myself distorting i
nto the swirling mass of wings.

My wings mak
e a lurch to retract a
nd I begi
n to feel the shift from
mammal to Lep
idoptera, but then searing pain stabs
me near the base of my wings
where they connect to my back. I
t feels
like someone tried to sheer them from my body with an axe.
The rope wrapped there
is
cut
ting
into my wing
s with vicious intent and I’
m sure that I will
lo
se them if I try to shapeshift
again.
With a pathetic whimper, I cry
weakly
before struggl
ing some more. Managing to flip
onto my back, I look up at the ceiling and free
ze instantly
as the gag in my mouth silences the scream that erupts
from me.

Levitatin
g above me, Brennus cli
ng
s
to the ceiling just like a spider stalking his prey.
His
handsome face studies
me as
his mouth
slowly
forms
a sensual smile. I stare
back at him while
broken thoughts of Reed mak
e my heartbeat triple, threatening to smother me in darkness again.
Reed needs me—
appease him
, I think
, while
I inhale
raggedly through my nose, trying to calm
my erratic breathing so I wo
n’t faint.

Brennus’ fingertips let
go
of the ceiling, but he does
n’t fall; he
slowly descends
to hover only a few inches above
me.
Cold, prickly air reaches
out to me,
caress
ing
my skin
,
while I gaze
into the fire in his light green eyes.

“Da way ye struggle…
’
tis a torment ta
me,” he says as he comes
closer with a qui
et laugh.
He reaches out to
tuck my
tumbled
hair back from my forehead
before he si
nk
s
further to lie
beside me on the bed
facing me
.
He leans his cheek against his hand with his elbow against the mattress.
T
he bed sags
a little
under his weight
while
he bends
down
, kissing
a tear that
fa
ll
s
near my
bound
lip
s
.

A sultry smile twitch
es
his mouth
when
I shiver
. H
e asks
, “Did I na tell ye dat ye could na trust da
aingeals
?”

I nod
feebly
,
while more bitter tears cloud
my eyes.
He wipes them away for me
with his t
humbs. He is so gentle, it
makes
me want to cry harder
, but I resist the need to do so
.

“When ye did na come ta me right away, I tought ye had betrayed me again,” Brenn
us says
in a whisper, like he’
s telling me a secret.
His fingertips a
re soft
er than a shadow when he trails
them down my shoulder.

Something within me responds to it
and I ache for him to touch me.
More venom...I want him more—
he’
s under my skin
—inside
...
Wintery cold
ness
creeps
thr
ough my veins as dread
and desire mix to
mak
e my legs f
eel heavy, but I use
them
to try to force the ropes from me again.

“Och, do na struggle,
mo chroí
,
dat
aingeal
rope
only gets stronger if ye do,” Brenn
us says
with a soft intake of breath
.
His head tilts a little as he adds,
“
Or...
do struggle. I can na decide
.
Ye’ve made yerself bleed.”

Brennus touches
my wrists, coming away with a smear of blood o
n his fingertips that he touches
to his tong
ue. Closing his eyes, he savors
the taste of me. When he op
e
ns
them again, he
traces
his finger lightly over the silken threads o
f the cord binding me. G
ently
, he nudg
es
me over, examining my tethered hands closely.

Shif
ting me back, he says
with an
edge
in his tone
, “
’
T
is na a knot dat I know. Finn i
s da
one
who can
unravel even da most complex hitch.”

I
n the gathering
darkness of the room, I
try to ask him what he’
s talking about with my eyes. He
notices
, bringing his hand
s
to my neck, he unties
the silk
en
scarf in my mouth.
The corners of my lips throb
painfully
. I move
them gingerly, grimacing as
the bottom one crack
s
and split
s
.
Feeling like I have
a desert in my mouth, I croak
, “Untie me, Brennus.”

He
brushes
my hair bac
k, exposing my neck. My
arterial
pulse beats harder as he touches his cool lips to my throat.
“Did ye n
a hear whah I told ye?” he asks
, his teeth scratch my skin lightly
.
I inhale as a shiver trails through me.
“I do na know dis knot.”

“T
hen break the rope,” I suggest
in a breathy voice as
I look
toward the door. I could scream for help, but then Reed is dead.
If
an angel
walk
s through
that door, I will never see Reed
alive again
.
I need
to keep
Brennu
s safe
now
. He has
Re
ed.

Brennus toys with the ruby-colore
d silk strap of the nightgown I’
m wearing
.
The thin fabric
falls over the round curve of my shoulder.
He
uses his finger to follow the strap down and trace
the edge of the silk
that rests over my heart.
“
I can na break da
rope.
’
Tis
aingeal
hair—
" he
pauses
when I
bite my lower lip
to stifle the soft gasp that threatens to spill from me
.
Seeing my reaction to his caress makes
h
is eyelid
s close a little with desire. “’Da rope is called dat because ’
tis
made from
a special tree in Paradise.
I can
na break it wi’ magic and
since I do na know dis
knot, one wrong turn
would render it undecipherable
—
ye’d be tethered to it ‘til da one who tied it set
s
ye free
.”