Incendiary (The Premonition Series (Volume 4)) (83 page)

I smile
despite everything. “Wicked-damn-sexy is, well, the most beautifully alluring being you can imagine.”

She gi
ve
s
a soft snort of frustration, before whisper-shouting, “
Not all of this is in Webster’s—
if he would just adhere to English I wouldn’t want to kill him all the time!”

“You’re
English has improved,” I point
out.

“I’
m very intelligent,” she replies stiltedly, like she doubts I think
so.

“I know,” I agree
. “You must be to get in here.”

“That was easy,” she shrugs
off my compliment. “Xavier believes that I’m at odds w
ith you over Russell. He trusts
me to watch you l
ike prey and keep you from them
while he searches for Reed.”

“You’re not at odds wi
th me over Russell?” I inquire
.

“No,” she answers
. “We both want the same thing.”

My eyebrow ri
se
s. “What’s that?” I murmur
.

“For Russell to be safe—
and that moron, Brennus, is
threatening that,” she whispers
, whi
le focusing on the ropes. I feel them loosen as she twists
them back and forth. Then she mutt
ers
, “Ugh, Xavier must be desperate to keep you safe. He bound this with his heart strings.”

“What?” I ask, hoping she i
sn’t speaking literally. “Please tell me that was a metaphor.”

“Yes—
a metaphor. Xa
vier…he is afraid of losing you—
he is also insane
for you,” she breathes
, using my words absently. “Insane for you without the soul to join yours or the deep attraction to awaken you…but with the devotion to endure this Godless place for you.”

“I didn’t ask him t
o come here!” I whisper-retort
.

“Are yo
u sure about that?” she inquires
softly.

“Why would I want him here when he does stu
ff like this to me?” I ask
rhetorically, lifting my wrists an inch to indicate that they’re tied behind my back.

“Because your guardian angel is fierce and
scary—
i
ntelligent and
venerable…and uncon
trollably virile,” she responds
easily.

“Don’t forget overbearing and cruel. He dru
gged me and tied me up!” I rage
softly.

“I did not
say he was perfect,” she replies
calmly. “I just meant that he loves you. He has always loved you, ever since your s
oul was created,” Anya whispers
, pulling tight
on the rope.

I wince
, but not from the rope. “Did
I…did I love him, too?” I ask in a
whisper.

“Of course,” she sighs
in f
rustration as the rope tightens
again. “The t
wo of you had your own language—
you spent more time together than if you were soul mates. I warned him about it.”

“What?” I ask
, holding my breath.

“I told him it was bad karma to try to come between soul mates. I suggested that he reassign
to protect another soul—
he wasn’t a very good guardi
an angel for you,” she whispers
ruefully.

“He wasn’t?” I murmur
my question, trying to see her face.

Anya shakes
her head, explaining in a low tone, “Well, he was outstanding if your mission was to face extreme danger and to be thrown into harrowing situations. You found your way into more revolutions, upheavals, and catastrophes than the average soul. He said that you could handle them, but I think he was just trying to get you back to him sooner and away from Russell.”

“How did he re
act to your warning?” I wonder
aloud.

“Xavier made it seem like you two ha
d some kind of mission together—
covert. It had always seemed like a mission from the start, but then, he grew so close to you…he wouldn’t discuss it with me. It was easy
to see that there was something—
”

“What was easy to see
? What was suspicious about the
fact that he wa
s assigned to me?” I interrupt
her.

“He’s a high-ranking Seraphim, performing the duties
of a Virtue
,” she explains
. “A
nd, his only assignment was you—
he guarded no other soul in all that time. There was no rotation between your lifetimes to ensure that he wouldn’t bond intrinsi
cally to you. It was unheard of—
” T
he rope around my wrists slips
off me, leavi
ng just the ropes strung tight
around my ankles and wings to tackle
. “It is a good thing I know Xavier
so well, or I’d never have
gotten this off!” she whisper
s
in triumph
.

“How do you know him
so well?” my curious whisper ri
ng
s
in my e
ars like the
accusation
of an ex-girlfriend
as I use
my hand to rub the circulation back into my aching wrist.

“We were bor
n of the same fire,” she replies
in a gent
le
tone, while making me sit up, “
a
nd
I saw him often.
I
crossed paths with
him because of
you and Russell
. K
arma tends to erupt around you
.
”

I almost can’
t speak...almost. “
Okay, I have
so many questions.”
I stretch my aching legs and arch
my back, trying to remove the knots in my muscles. “
Let me start small and work my way up. Okay?
What does it mean to be born of the same fire?”

“It’s shocking what
you don’t remember,” she mutters
. “Maybe it is a little like sharing the same womb, although, I don’t know
if that’s true,” Anya responds
, sounding puzzled.

“So
, you and Xavier are
like siblings?” I ask
her.

“Again, I don’t kno
w what that’s like,” she replies
.

“Do you w
ant to kiss Xavier?” I ask
.

“Pa
h!” she wrinkles
her nose like Russell does. “I’d rather kiss the stinky, dead moron!”

“Siblings,” I decide
quietly.

“
So, the karma thing
?
What do you mean by that?”
I ask.

“
You always bring
out extremes
in others, Evie,”
she states like it’
s a fact.

“
I do
?”
I ask
.

“You do,” she affirms. “
You are notorious in my circles.
”

“
I am
?”
I ask.

“
You are
,
”
she replies.

“
Why?
”

“I don’t understand,” she says. “
What do you me
an
, why?
”

“
Why?
Why am I notorious
?”
I ask
.

She snorts, like something I said
is
offensive. “
You question everything. You are never satisfied with how things are
.
When you attempt to change things, you cause others to react, sometimes negatively, sometimes positively, but they always react. Thrones trail in your wake, sometimes rewarding the behavior of others and sometimes meting out justice.
”

“How?”
I ask.

“
Karma—good fortune, misfortune. Whate
ver is required.
We
dispense
reward and retribution
.
..earned fate and recompense.
”

“
Is th
at how you fell in love with Russell
?”
I ask.
“
He al
ways tries to do what’
s right.
”

“There is no one like him,”
she says.

“I know,”
I agree.

“
I follow
ed him too long...I couldn’t help myself,”
she says. “
I attempt
ed
to change my assignment because of my feel
ings. I was ignored. It was as if
they wanted me to fall i
n love with Russell. It must ha
ve been worse for Xavier. He has
been with you so much longer.
”

“You’
ve followed us...
Russell and me? H
ow come you couldn’t speak our language?”
I ask.

“
I came on my own. I did not get imprinted for a mission. It is taking me longer to recall all that I have learned in the pas
t,”
she says.

She tugs
on the rope lashed to my wings. I bit
e my bottom lip so that I wo
n’t gasp in pain as the silken strands cut deeper into me around the base of my wings.
Anya’s quick intake of breath is soft, before she hisses
, “Did you try to shapeshift while you were tied up?”

“It didn’t work,” I winc
e
.

“O
f course it didn’t,” she scolds
. “I’m surprised it didn’t tear your wings off!”

“Me, too,” I grunt
, trying to catch my breath.

“You can’t shift when your wings can’
t retract. Hold still,” she says
in a very gentle way. “Didn’t anyone teach you how to be an angel?”

“Well…we’ve
kind of
been in reactionary mode—
playing defense. Everything’s on a
need-to-know basis,” I whisper
. “I just learned to shift. I’m sure someone would’ve thought to tell me eventually.”

Anya groans
. “I forget th
at you’re just a baby,” she says
, sounding contrite.

“I’m not a baby,” I retort
, somewhat offended.

“Your soul is not, but the ange
l part of you is,” she comments
wistfully. “Old is new, just like your mission here…”

My breath catches
in my chest. “What do you know
about my mission here?” I rasp
, trying to keep my voice from raising several octaves.

“I kno
w what you told me,” she replies absently,
concentrating on the knots again.

“Why would I con
fide in you?” I ask
.

“Because we had a common interest
,” she whispers, her voice str
aining.

“A common interest
?” I counter
.
“
Russell?
”

“Russell
,” she agrees
.

“
It must not be a very strong alliance.
You tried to shoot me with
your arrow in Torun,” I point
out.

“You tri
ed to keep my
aspire
,” she replies
sullenly. “How does R
ussell say it…I was ‘pissed off
.
’
That is the karma I felt you deserved.
”

“Really
?” I reply
sarcastically. “An
yway, he’s my soul mate,” I say
with equal sullenness.

“He will always be your soul mate, but he is my
aspire
now. You pushed him away and now, you cannot have
him back,” she whisper-retorts
, pulling on my win
g a little harder than I think is
necessary.