Intuition: The Premonition Series (21 page)

Zephyr is watchin’ us closely, lookin’ concerned. He is watchin’ Evie, too, tryin’ to see if there is somethin’ he is missin’ that I’m pickin’ up on, but I doubt he can tell, since she confuses the crap out of the angels. There’s no doubt that she’s up to somthin’, but maybe now is not the time to drag it out of her. Not while Zephyr is listenin’. “You were good with a bow when y’all were Aoibhe, much more accurate than I was and ya loved to make sure I knew it, too,” I reply. “Let’s see…y’all can also try a dagger, scimitar, sling, chakram—”

“What’s a chakram?” Evie asks, lookin’ relieved that I have taken her bait and not probed further with my questions, but had been diverted by her.

Zephyr answers her, “It is a disk you can throw that has a sharp edge.” But he is on to us, I think, ‘cuz he comes closer to see if I will say more. Evie turns to Zephyr and asks, “Do you have any daggers?”

“If it is a weapon, then Reed will have it,” Zephyr states clearly. “I will choose some weapons for Evie to try. Later, I will show you the weapons room and the security precautions you will need to know to enter.” Zephyr is gone then in a blink of an eye. I look at Evie who has casually picked up one of the swords that Zephyr had brought. She tests the weight in her hand as I pick up the other weapon.

“Show me how you hold it correctly,” Evie says, comin’ up next to me. I hold out mine to show her and when she mimics my stance, I walk behind her to reposition her hand, so that it’s choked up more on the hilt to compensate for her shorter arm length.

With my hand on her waist and the other hand on her outstretched arm, I say in her ear, “You want to keep yer grip firm, but relaxed so that you can have flexibility in your movement. If yer grip is too tight, yer movements are more rigid and if yer grip is too loose, ya run the risk of losin’ control of yer weapon…what’re ya up to, Red?” I ask again, holdin’ her arm tighter and leanin’ into her body, tryin’ to see her face.

“Shh, Russell!” Evie says, closin’ her eyes briefly. She turns to look over her shoulder, to see if any of the angels are close. Not seein’ anyone nearby, she says in a whisper near my ear, “We have to talk, but not here. This has to be a private conversation… just you and me. I’ll come to your room later tonight, okay?” she asks, lookin’ at me pleadingly.

“Yeah…okay,” I agree. She’s up to somethin’ and it is serious— dead serious ‘cuz she obviously doesn’t want the angels to hear ‘bout it.

“Thanks, Russell,” she replies, exhalin’ a breath. Her hand is shakin’ a little, so I cover it with my own, tryin’ to comfort her.

She’s really upset,
I think, watchin’ her struggle to keep her composure.

Zephyr returns then and I begin to practice with the sword again, while Zephyr shows Evie how to battle with the long daggers. He places one in each of her hands. Slowly, he begins to show her how to use them, but in just a few minutes, Evie is ruthlessly wieldin’ them like she had done so all of her life. I am gettin’ a fair sense that Zephyr is in trouble when I watch her spin the daggers in her hands 360 degrees and then catch them in her palms with just a supple flick of her wrist. Then, they begin to spar. Lungin’ and twistin’ to throw Zephyr off his assault, Evie meets his attack with her own, not givin’ him an openin’ to go in for the kill.

When Zephyr backs her into a corner, she evades his trap by leapin’ over his head, effectively tradin’ her position for his. She’s lethal, and even if she doesn’t remember any of her past lives, she seems to still possess the innate knowledge of those lives. It’s the only explanation I can come up with for her ability to fight like a warrior without havin’ had trainin’ for it in this lifetime.

Evie’s speed with the weapons is unparalleled. She is able to swipe the daggers faster than Zephyr can, even with his immense knowledge and experience. I think the realization of that fact is just now dawnin’ on him as I see his frown deepen. She presses forward, catchin’ Zephyr by surprise as she forces him to the corner he had tried to put her in earlier. Lashin’ out, Evie tries to check her swing at the last second, but Zephyr brings his arm up to protect himself from her assault. Evie scores the blade of her dagger over his forearm. Zephyr’s blood drips from his arm while the horror of what had just happened registers on Evie’s face.

“Oh my God, Zee! I’m sorry!” she says, droppin’ the blades on the ground with a clatter. Before either Zephyr or I can react, Evie rushes forward and places her hand over Zephyr’s wound. The lights above our head flicker. Lookin’ up at the lights and then down again, I hear Evie’s soft gasp. Her hand on Zephyr’s begins to glow. Her legs buckle out from under her and Zephyr catches Evie with his other arm before she falls.

Lowering Evie gently to the ground, Zephyr follows her, as he seems to need to sit down suddenly. “Evie?” Zephyr groans.

I can see what is happenin’: Evie’s healin’ Zephyr. I know it ‘cuz I remember what it felt like when she had healed me after I was stabbed in the chest—the fire that had torn through me hotter than molten lead and my inability to move while I was bein’ incinerated from the inside out.

Kneeling by them both, I say in an urgent tone, “Don’t struggle, Zee. I don’t think she can stop.”

Zephyr closes his eyes tight against the burnin’ sting that I am sure is tearin’ through him. I’m not as worried ‘bout him as I am ’bout Evie, since he is healin’; his wound is disappearin’ before my eyes. It is Evie that has me feelin’ panic. She’s beginnin’ to bleed in earnest; the blood is seepin’ out of the slash that has just broken open on her forearm. In the next moment, Reed enters the room and kneels down next to Evie. His face is grim as he is tryin’ to pull Evie’s hand off of Zephyr. The heat from the glow between them is scaldin’ Reed, but he relentlessly continues to try to break them apart.

“Evie…love, can you hear me?” Reed asks in a gentle tone. Her face turns toward his. “Let go of Zephyr, love,” Reed continues, but she doesn’t move her hand, she just shakes her head.

“Can’t,” she manages to say. The glow from her hand is dimmin’ now, becomin’ less intense, and since Zephyr is showin’ no sign of havin’ ever been hurt, it’s probably almost over—for him anyway.

The second that Evie’s hand falls away from Zephyr, Reed has Evie in his arms and is out of the trainin’ room. I sit down next to Zephyr and reach my hand out to him to pull him up to a sittin’ position. Leanin’ back against the wall, Zephyr looks weak, like Evie has stolen all his energy.

“I do not ever want her to do that to me again,” Zephyr says in a slow, methodical way, rubbin’ his forearm.

“Yeah, it’s freaky, isn’t it?” I agree, noticin’ that my hands are shakin’. “Watchin’ her do it isn’t as bad as livin’ through it, but it’s no picnic either.”

“She is dangerous,” Zephyr states, still rubbin’ his arm. “It is like magic, what she can do. Did you see her with the daggers?” he asks me, dazed.

My eyes soften. “Yeah, she was gonna whoop yer ass,” I say as lightly as possible. “She was trained in daggers a long time ago. In Egypt.”

Zephyr cocks his brow as he glances at me. “Did she guard a Pharaoh?” he asks with a serious expression.

“Sorta, she was the Pharaoh’s concubine and he really loved her. He made her his pet and trained her to spar with daggers for his enjoyment. She was really good at it. She was his favorite until she met me and I persuaded her to run away with me—not one of our better lives. We got caught and executed,” I admit, tryin’ to block out the horrific images of her death in that lifetime. “Y’all should’ve seen her, though—she looks the same except her skin was like honey and so soft… her hair was jet black. Irresistible.”

“Personally, I like her wings,” Zephyr confides, and I smile ‘cuz it makes sense for him to find the angel part of her more attractive than the human side of her. Then he frowns, “Do you think she is okay?” he asks as he struggles to get to his feet.

I nod. “Yeah, it’s just a cut. She survived a gapin’ chest wound, so the knick she gave ya should be no big deal,” I reply as I help him up. It is strange to see him so weak. He looks like he barely has any energy at all. “Let’s go check on her.”

We find Reed and Evie in the kitchen. Reed is just finishin’ up wrappin’ Evie’s forearm in a gauze bandage. I stop just inside the doorway while Zephyr walks over to Evie, and kneelin’ down next to her chair, he gazes into her eyes. “Do not ever do that to me again. I much prefer a flesh wound to whatever it was you just did to me,” he says in a military tone. Evie hangs her head in guilt. Reed continues placin’ tape over the bandage to secure it in place. When Reed finishes he steps back. “That being said,” Zephyr says as he wraps his arms around Evie, pickin’ her up off the chair in a hug, “thank you for trying to help me.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to cut you,” she says, continuin’ to hug him.

“She cut you, Zephyr?” Reed asks in confusion as if he hasn’t heard her right.

“Yes,” Zephyr replies, puttin’ Evie back down on the chair.

“How?” Reed asks with a searchin’ look.

Zephyr grins. “Daggers. Russell said she was in Egypt—a concubine of a Pharaoh.” Zee repeats what I had told him and I see the reaction on Reed’s face before I hear him growl.

Reed doesn’t like the visual he just got of another man havin’ Evie.
Yeah, try seein’ it in yer head, pal. It sucks worse than that when it’s a memory,
I think heatedly.

“Show me,” Reed says to Evie.

Evie cringes. “No. I don’t want to hurt anyone,” she says, touchin’ her arm lightly. A meaningful look exchanges between Reed and Zephyr. Then, Reed kneels down so he can look in Evie’s eyes.

“You have to. You cannot let what just happened sink in. You have to push through it so that you do not hesitate in the future, when you really need to use your abilities,” he says, while he touches her hair. My hands squeeze into fists so that I won’t attack him for touchin’ her. “Show me,” Reed says again, before holdin’ out his hand for her to take. She puts her hand in his with a little reluctance. I step aside as Reed leads her back down the hallway to the trainin’ room. Zephyr and I follow them.

When they get to the trainin’ room, Reed picks up the daggers that Evie had dropped and wipes the blood off of the one that struck Zephyr. He hands them back to Evie.

Fear. She’s afraid,
I think as I see the look on her face. Reed picks up the other daggers that Zephyr has been usin’. He looks like a killer. A shiver of dread runs through me as he faces off against Evie. He isn’t playin’, but appears deadly serious. “I’m your enemy. Stop me,” he says in a soft tone, and then he springs toward her with a snarl on his lips.

Evie has just enough time to spring backward from Reed’s vicious swipe that causes the air to whistle. Reed’s dagger misses her abdomen by centimeters. I shoot forward to pounce on Reed, but am held by Zephyr who whispers in my ear, “Do not go there. He will kill you.”

I struggle for Zee to let me go, but he has gotten some of his strength back, enough to restrain me. My teeth clench as Reed stalks Evie, lookin’ for an openin’ to strike. She isn’t givin’ him one, stayin’ well back from him, but neither is she attackin’ him, which she clearly should be doin’ ‘cuz she needs to be aggressive. Reed seems to realize this as well and he changes his tactics. Instead of watchin’ Evie, his eyes drift to me. A slow smile registers on his face as he switches direction and comes toward me. In the next instant, Evie stands in his way.

“No…” she murmurs to him. He ignores her, his eyes remainin’ on me just long enough to let her know he will do whatever it takes to get her to engage him in this fight.

“Yes,” Reed replies with menace.

Evie tenses and goes on the defensive, totally engaged now in whatever fight is gonna occur. She cuts off his access to me, and in a blink of an eye, she tosses one of her blades up in the air. As the blade arcs upward, she runs to the wall before the blade even has a chance to start comin’ back down. Usin’ the wall as a springboard, she pushes off of it, catchin’ the blade in midair and droppin’ toward Reed with the speed of a bullet. He is just able to evade the full impact of what she would have given him as he lunges to the side at the last instant, so that the blade Evie has extended in front of her doesn’t embed itself in his chest. She tumbles on the ground, rollin’ back onto her feet in a crouch, before she swivels back to face him.

If Reed is shocked, he hides it well, but Evie doesn’t give him much time to contemplate his next move. She is off again, flippin’ toward him like a gymnast, but a gymnast who can nearly defy gravity with the speed of a tumblin’ cyclone. Reed catches her foot that she would’ve planted in his chest and flips her back in the opposite direction, which to my amazement, seems to be what she had intended him to do. The change in momentum causes her head and arms to flip back up, so that she is able to twist and stretch out just enough to bring the daggers she still holds within inches of Reed’s neck. He catches her intentions at the last second, pullin’ back as the blades kiss his neck. The knives leave small, red scratches in his skin, but don’t cause him to bleed. In retaliation, Reed kicks out with his foot, connectin’ with Evie’s abdomen. He pushes her away from him. She tumbles back, but she is on her feet in a fraction of a second, runnin’ to the wall. She is up on the ceilin’ in the time it takes me to exhale the breath I was holdin’, thinkin’ she might have been hurt from Reed’s kick.

She drops from the ceilin’ before I know what she is doin’, but instead of evadin’ her, Reed drops his weapons. His wings unleash out of his back as he springs up, catchin’ Evie in his arms in midair. She wraps her legs around his waist, droppin’ her daggers, too. They embed loudly in the wooden floor below them. Evie presses her body to his, wrappin’ her arms lovingly around his neck. Reed captures her lips in a passionate kiss that sends ice right through my body.