Incendiary (The Premonition Series (Volume 4)) (99 page)

Lookin
’
over my sh
oulder at the scene below,
Reed
is
holdin
’ Red in his a
rms as the room grows
still
.
The air is
stained with the shapes of the other kirk and standin’ like
waverin’
watermarks ‘round the space are the familiar faces of the angels I know.
The two realitie
s are beginning to blend into a
s
ingle
dimension
.

“DA OTHER,” Brennus calls
to me
in a satisfied tone
.

His voice causes
the hair
s
on my arms to rise.
Seein’ him still seated upon
his throne, I gnash
my teeth together as he delib
erately reaches
down to stroke
Anya’
s hair
.
Graspin’ the stone
railin’ of the choir loft, it’s tu
rnin’ to nothin’ in my hands ‘cuz
the magic that created it
is slowly fadin’. My
red wings
unfurl from my back to
spread out
‘
round me
as I
leap over the banister and glide
effortlessly to the flagstone
floor
below.

My voice is little more than a snarl.
“Your
magic is gettin’ thin, Brennus
.
” I point out,
stridin’ toward him purposefully.

“
’
Tis na me magic
,” Brennus replies
coolly.
“
’
Tis the undines and I no longer need dem, since ye’re here.”

“Aren’t you
gonna run
away now? Isn’t that what you
do when
t
hings fall apart?” I ask
, spread
in’ my arms out, indicatin’ that the angels
are comin’ in
to
sha
rper focus the closer I’m gettin’
to him.

“
We’ve jus
been waiting for ye,” he replies
with a smug smile.

“You
knew I was comin’?” I ask
.

“
I knew ye’d be here.
I have whah ye c
an na exist wi’out,” he replies
.

“Russell,” Evie gasps my name as I co
me within feet of her wrapped in Reed’s
arms. “Wait,” she begs
weakly.
Bite marks cover nearly e
v
ery inch of her exp
osed flesh. She’s pulled tight
against R
eed’s b
ody
as he’s
guardin’ her from the fellas inchin’ closer to them.

“Can’t,” I murmur
. “He’s got my girl.”

“Yer girl…” Brennus sm
iles
humorlessly. “
’
Tis na
even da right species,” he says
condescendingly. “
’
Tis f
ortunate for ye dat I claimed ye
,”
he whispers
conspiratorially
to Anya. “Dis boy
-
aingeal
tinks ye’re a girl.”

Anya giggles
, amused by his comment. “
He’s trying to shape me to fit his innocence
,” she says with a smile that can
melt any heart.

“Whah d
id ye see in him?” Brennus asks Anya while he shakes his head in pity.

Anya’s smile gro
w
s as she says
, “He is made for love.”

“Is he now?” Brennus ask
s
in a thoughtful ton
e that mak
e
s
my flesh crawl, ‘cuz he’s unafraid even with his world crumblin’ ‘round him.

“Russell,
please stop!
”
Red pleads
,
makin’ me hesitate as I glance at her again.

“Why?” I frown
at her
. “He couldn’t touch me before—
i
n the garden—
”

“He was drun
k on my blood then,” Red replies
, her eyes shiftin’ to Brennus over Reed’s shoulder. He’s watchin
’ her like he’d like to bite
her
.
“He’s not now.”

Glancin’ past her, there are scores of fellas creepin’ nearer
to
them. Reed gr
owls
low and menacing
ly at the cold freaks
, causin’ several to stop and take a
step back
. Feelin’ pulled in two differe
nt directions at once,
I glance
from Red to Anya.

“I’ll solve yer problem
for ye, da other,” Brennus says
with a sneer. “
Genevieve
is moin. If ye still want dis one, den ye
had
best come
and join me before I snap her
neck.” Brennus’ fingers shift
from Anya’
s hair to her throat
, restin’ idle on it.
It would only take seconds for him to kill her.
I fee
l frozen,
not knowin’
what to do as Anya smiles
dopily at me
.

Wit
hout my seein’ him move, Reed i
s next to me, holdin’ Evie in his arms. His back is to Brennus, w
atchin’ our back. Reed whispers
, “Can you heal Evie
?”

I gaze
at Red quickly, cri
n
gin’ inwardly at the sight
of her
. Deep, bruisin’ rings have formed under her eyes, makin’ them appear sunken-in and her lips are blue from blood loss. Her black dress is wet with seepin’ blood as it trails down her white arms to drip from her fingertips. The aroma of her is drivin’ the Gancanagh nearest us almost mad. Feral
whimper
s are comin’
from some of them as they’re shakin’
, tryin’ to keep themselv
es in check and not attack her.

“Yes
,” I breathe. “But then—”

“I’ll get Anya for you. His magic i
s useless against me,” Reed says
so low and
so fast that I barely understan
d him.

“No!” Red groans
weakly, clutchin’ him tigh
ter. “Stay with me,” she pleads
in desperation.

“Always,” Reed replies
, squeezin’ her tighter, too. “When he’s
gone. Here, Russell,” Reed says
, thrustin’
Red into my arms. “He’ll
try to take her from you—
don’t let him.”
Reed plucks
the letter open
er
out of Red’s fist
before spinnin’ away in a blurry
,
charcoal-colored streak. T
he Gancanag
h between Brennus and us start
fallin’ to the flagstone with arms hacked off, tendons sliced, and with bones left juttin’ out of bloody flesh
as Reed tears
them to pieces
.

Brennus’ voice shatters the air as he roars
, “KILL DA
AINGEAL
!”

I begi
n to understand in t
he next instant that Brennus has
been waitin’ for Reed to let Red go ‘cuz he couldn’t make Reed magically give Red to him. That, however, is not the case with me. Wrappin’ my arms ‘round Red, I s
ee
Brennus shoot to his feet, pullin’ Anya up with him to press against his body like a shield
as his hand
extends
in my direction.
Immediately, Red and I ar
e hit
with a burst of energy that mak
e
s
me almost deaf
upon impact. Feelin’ like my inside
s just got crushed, my feet leave
the ground as I levitat
e
twenty feet in the air
with Red still clutched to me.

Red is
slip
pin’
through my arms
, while I’m tryin’
desperately to hold on to her. Releasin’ energy that I’ve been drawin’ to me, I’m just managin’ to create a barrier betw
een the Gancanagh and us. I use
this energy to push Brennus
back, but his magic is sti
ll gettin
’ through, tearin’ at Red
. Pain is twistin’ her features as the agon
y of bein’ stretched taut is showin’
on her face. I can’t throw any of my magic back at Brennus, ‘cu
z he’s hidin’ behind Anya. S
train
in’ and
tryin’ to keep Red in my arms,
my wings beat frantically to hold
us back from Brennus. B
eads of sweat are runnin’
down the sides of my f
ace

All ‘round us, angels are comin’ i
nto sharper focus. Reed is
nearin’
Brennus as h
e’s f
ightin’ off swarms of Gancanagh. He’s
pilin’ them up in mounds of discarded bodie
s while
he’
s movin’ almost soundlessly
forward. Next to me,
Zephyr’s shape
is
comin
’ into focus—
his sword is drawn and he’s swingin’ it at the Gancanagh I’ve been managin’ to keep from Red and me with my magical wall of energy. His swo
rd is just waftin’ through ‘
em
like
vapor.
I
have to hold on a little longer
, I think,
pantin’ desperately for air.

Then, I glance at Brennus. He smiles
, showin’ me his knife-sharp fang
s. In the next moment, he lifts
his wrist to his mouth, tearin’ a brutal chunk out of his o
wn flesh. Dark, wet blood seeps
from his mouth and his smile gro
w
s
. Liftin’ his w
rist to Anya’s mouth, he presses
i
t against her lips. As I watch horrified, Anya begi
n
s
to drink Brennus’ blood.

A sound of pure agony rips from me as my heart burns
in my chest.

“R
ussell,” Evie’s voice penetrates
the ragin’ chaos swir
lin’ in my brain. I glance
at her face so near to my own. “You have to let me go.”

My eyes shift
back to Anya, seein’ her fingernails diggin’ into Brennus’ wrist while all the color is drainin’ from her f
ace. She looks like she’s dyin’—
her dull, dopey stare is rapidly bein’ replaced by a
fever
ish, tortured-look. “No!” I growl
betw
een my teeth
.

“You can save her
,
Russell!” Evie says
urgently. “Let me go!”

“I CAN’T!” I shout
desperately.

“DO IT, RUSSELL!” Evie shouts
back just as desperately. “YOU CAN STILL SAVE HER AND I CAN TAKE CARE OF MYSELF!”
Shakin’ my head, I close
my eyes
.
When I open
them in the next breath,
Red’s beautiful gray eye
s
stare
into mine
as
she pleads
, “She needs you Russell, p
lease,
you have to
set me free
!
”

I stop
str
ugglin’ against Brennus’ magic.
Together, Evie and I
hurd
le towards Brennus and when we a
re in arm
’s-
length of him, I let her go
. Brennus
drop
s
Anya to catch Evie up i
n his arms. Instantly, he hugs
Evie to
him as a satisfied smile touches
his bloody lips.

“
Mo chroí
,” Brennus breathes
with an enraptured smile.
Then, in
a blur of speed, Brennus pulls
a compact fro
m the pocket
of his suit coat. As he flips
open the lid,
Evie
and Brennus
disappear
f
rom sight
into the open portal. It drops
to the ground by Anya as
she
fall
s
.