Incendiary (The Premonition Series (Volume 4)) (98 page)

“Wicked,”
I breathe
,
lookin’ at my arms and chest protected by shiny, lightweight armor.
“Finally, somethin’ that
fit
s
.” I smile
.

“You
look like a Faerie,” Buns sa
ys next to me
.
She taps
the
shiny, silver
helmet on my head
lightly
, addin’, “
I have to admit that Brennus has
style.”

“Buns,” I say
, glan
cin’ at her and seein’
bruises and swellin’
‘round her mouth. A low growl co
me
s from Zee as he engulfs
her in his arms.

“I’m okay,” she murmurs
to Zephyr.
He presses
her closer to him.

Zephyr’s eyes pierce
Xavier. “When this is over, I will find you.”

“You would’ve done the same thing. I regret that i
t has come to this,” Xavier says
with little exp
ression.

Zephyr’s eyebrows narrow
dangerously. “Still
…hand on my heart we will meet.
”

“You are not w
here you belong,” Xavier replies
.

“I think you are mistaken, Seraph,” Z
ephyr replies
. “That is you. Evie
has moved on.”

“Then why does Evie
need
me
more
than ever?” Xavier counters
Zephyr darkly, no longer unemotional
.

I interrupt
them to ask,
“Buns
, where’s Brownie?”

Bun
s
’s bruised
lip
s spread in a wide smile, “Oh, s
weetie, Cole couldn’t catch her. She’s
probably with Preben now
.”

“Good,” I b
reathe
. “
Then,
I do
n’t have to worry ‘bout her
.”

I begin
murmurin’
a spell and
rhymin’ ‘
the
reekin’ smell of rotten candy’ with the phrase ‘it’
d come in handy’.
Then, a scent
wea
ve
s
‘round me that’ll guarantee that I blend in among the Ganc
anagh
. Xavier ta
k
es
a step back f
rom me with his nose wrinklin’.

“Excellent,” I inhale
, smelli
n’ the air ‘round me and thinkin’
that
I got the odor just right.

Z
ephyr does
n’t shy away from me.
“You will need to pull your wings in immediately upon entering the kirk.” Ze
phyr advises.

Lookin’ over my shoulder, I see the
bright crimson of m
y wings. “You’
re right
,” I nod. “I will.”

“Then I will see you when y
ou remove the haze,” Zephyr says with no sign of doubt.

“Remember, you
owe me a new car when
this is over…so make sure you
make it,” I say gruffly.

“I remember,” he replies stoically.

“Then, there’s no sense in hang
in’ here any longer,” I murmur. Buns gi
ve
s
me a quick h
ug before releasin’ me. I smile at her and then look
t
oward the rosette window above.

“I will reward you, should you sa
ve my daughter,” Tau says next to me.

As I glance
at Tau
, I see somethin’ in his eyes that mak
e
s
my gut cl
ench. Regret, sorrow, confusion—h
e’s her dad. No
doub
t. “Don’t worry,” I
assure him
. “The Gancanagh can’t stop me now.
Just be ready.
”

I take
off, leapin’ into the air and flyin’ back up to the window. Glancin’
in, I see
Reed kneelin’ in front of Red and Brennus.
My heart thumps
in relief that he’s alive.
A gr
im smile touches
my lips ‘cuz
every eye in the place is riveted on the scene playin’ out on the flagstones below. I won’t get a better opportunity to enter than this.
Lowerin’
the face
plate on my he
lmet, I whisper
, “God
,
be with
me.”

Takin’ a deep breath, I draw all the energy that I can
hold to me. Then, I pu
sh
my head th
r
ough the cold
window, feelin’ it immediately p
ull me in
. As I retract
my wings,
I lurch forward,
shiftin’ laterally,
like
I’m goin’ sideways down a
n
icy,
flow
in’ river.
In seconds,
I land
on top of
a couple of armor-clad
,
stinky fellas
stationed along the balcony below the window
.

The sound of our armor clatterin’ together
would be
deafenin’, if I hadn’t r
eleased some of the energy I’m
holdin’ to draw the sound back to me before anyone else
can
hear it. As I straighten, the
two Gancanagh that I'm stompin’
on
move
to attack me
with soundless growls
. I wave
my hand in their
direction, petrifying them where
they stan
d.
Rigid from
my magic, only their eyes move
.

Now, to collapse
their infrastructure
, I think
as a bea
d of sweat slips
down my face.
L
ookin’ t
oward the choir-like loft
, I fi
nd the
u
ndines
who a
re concentratin’
on the action below.

Followin
g the blond fish-woman’s
gaze downward
, I see
Brennus standin’ next to Anya. Reachin
’ his hand up to her, he touches
her cheek
. A torturous stab
slicin’ my heart
makes
it feel like somethin’
in my chest is burnin’
. I stop, unable to move as I clutch
the railin’ overloo
kin’ the scene below. Brennus ho
l
d
s
Anya’
s hand while h
e
le
a
d
s
her to his throne, makin’
her sit at his feet. Rage
explodes inside of me.

Breathin’ heavy, I hea
r
Brennus say, “Ye may begin.”

With those words, I’
m
re
leased from my stupor. Clenchin’
my jaw tight, I grasp
the sword from the hand of the petrified Gancanagh next to me.
Pulling it out of it
s she
ath, it mak
e
s
the most satisfyin’ sound a
s it begi
n
s
to sing for me. The sound of the
Gancanagh’s fangs engagin’ speeds
rapidly down the aisle of fellas linin’ the upper gallery. They’re reactin’ to the smell of blood from Red as Reed cut
s her. A growl escapes
from me. In the next instant,
e
very
pale-white
face
i
n the upper balcony turns
toward me
in domino-like succession.

Softly, I hear my own voice say, “Here we go
.
”

The gleam of brilliant-white fangs
from the scores of fellas
comin’ at me
mak
e
s
my muscles tighten. The first
fella to reach me raises
h
is sword, hackin’ at my chest while
his mouth lunges
for my exposed neck.
I wince
at the force of h
is sword
’s blade
as it
bounces
off my armor breastplate
, dentin’
it
.
Filled with adrenaline,
I bring
my sword down on his neck, hackin’ his head clean off his body.
The next fella’s cold stare bore
s into me as he wi
nd
s
his hand back, throwin’
magic that
’s
m
anifestin’
into a
shower of dagger-sharp
, iron n
ails. Their ebony points crush
the
silver veneer as they spatter
against my armor, soundin’ like
rain on a tin roo
f. Again, the
magical
armor holds solid
.

I taste
s
weat and the acrid tang of fear
when
s
pray
s of colorful light and fire co
me
shootin’ at me from all directions.
Deafenin
’ explosions and sparks crackle
, ignitin’
the air
in
blindin’
flashes
.
Usin’ the energy I ca
me in with, I ma
nage
to deflect other
frightenin’
lights that
morph
into the terr
ifyin’ creatures resemblin’
gray
, lichen-covered
gargoyles
.
Pushin’ energy at the fire-s
pewin’, stony reptiles, I turn them back on the fellas who
creat
ed them. Horrifyin’ shrieks tear
from the mouth
of one as it pounces
on a fella’s chest, rippin’ through his armor and go
r
gin’ on the dead flesh within
it
.

As I shift
to face another
Gancanagh soldier in the line, a sound
like a choir of angels
begi
n
s
rainin’
down on
me
. The harmonious chantin
’ mak
e
s
m
y
fingers tighten
on my sword’s hilt
with
calm and purpose
. L
ungin’ at the fellas nearest me, t
he s
pray of coal-black blood drips
from the ed
ge of the sword. And as I hack
at the undead in front of me, the
soft, soo
thin’
melody continues
chantin’, motivatin’ me to keep movin’ forward
. H
eads
fallin’ to the floor and rollin’
away like wobbly, misshapen sphere
s, are as nothin’ to me. Screamin’, the crackin’ of bone, the plastic smell of musty-sweet blood, isn’t
touchin’ me in a visceral way.
These are all just things in the
way of my goal: Brennus—
dead.

Before I know how I got
here,
I reach
the choir loft. T
he sapphire
eyes of the blond u
ndine
shift
to
me; h
er
drugged stare shows little emotion as she jumps
at me with her mouth wide, showin’ all her sharp, barracuda t
eeth. Extendin’ my hand to her,
I lay
it over her face. My hand glows
with light and l
ike a parishioner on a Sunday mo
rnin’ TV evangelist show, she fa
ll
s
ove
r twitchin’. When her sisters ru
n
at me, they ge
t the same shock. Then, everythin’ ‘round me
begi
n
s
meltin’ away.