Intuition: The Premonition Series (46 page)

“How long?” I ask, interrupting what Alfred has been saying. I want to know when they were taken by Dominion.

“A month ago,” Alfred replies.

A month–an entire month! Would they have been put on trial? Did they get interrogated
—
they wouldn’t even know where I have been. Would the divine angels believe them, or have they been tortured for information they couldn’t possibly give?
I wonder as my arms coil around Brennus, hugging him tight to me as I try to anchor myself to reality. My brain, spinning feverously, struggles hard to remain lucid enough to ask Alfred for more information.

“Are they alive?” I ask.

“There is no way—Dominion would never let them…” he says, but I stop listening to him because I just deciphered that he doesn’t know for sure.

He doesn’t know if they are dead or alive. There is a chance they are alive. I can still save them. How? Brennus said the only way I’m getting out of here is as a Gancanagh. What if I let him make me a Gancanagh? He will let me out then. I will be able to go wherever I want. I could then get away from Brennus and find Dominion. If I turn myself in to the Divine, they could see that I am not a Nephilim. They can kill me and Reed and Zee can go free. I will pretend like I never knew them
—
I will have to figure that part out later. Right now, I have to get out of this cave and get to Dominion.

Lifting my head from Brennus’ chest, I search the room. Alfred is still talking, but I don’t care, it’s background noise. “Whah are ye looking for,
mo chroí?”
Brennus asks me in my ear as his fingers stroke the side of my face lovingly.

“I’m looking for Finn. He has to cut you so that I can become a Gancanagh,” I tell him in a near whisper. “You have to promise me one thing, though,” I say when I spot Finn coming toward us.

“Anyting,” Brennus replies, and his green eyes are the most brilliant I’ve ever seen them.

“Alfred never leaves this cave alive,” I murmur, tracing his lips with my trembling finger.

“I promise,” he breathes, just before I lean forward and press my feverous lips to his cold ones.

“Thank you,” I say, after lifting my lips from his. I have to put my head back down on his shoulder because it’s almost impossible for me to do anything else now. I’m so weak from pain that I’m having trouble staying focused.

Finn looks grim as he approaches us at the table. Leaning down, he whispers something in Brennus’ ear that has Brennus on his feet immediately with me cradled in his arms. He turns toward the stairs that lead down to the floor beneath this one. I look at Finn in confusion. Then, I hear a deep, low growl and a voice that I thought I might never hear again in my life. Tears of anguish spring to my eyes because he should have run! He should never have had to see this place. He should have lived!

“Where do ya think yer goin’ with my girl?” Russell calls out from across the hall.

CHAPTER 14

Crashing

Brennus, looking livid as he turns back to Finn, scowls at him like he can’t believe what is happening. I have seen him angry, usually because of something I said, but this is different, this is rage. I want to lift my head up to see what’s happening, but the cramping in my belly isn’t allowing me to move without incredible pain. So, I stay curled in Brennus’ arms as we sit back in his seat at the head of the table. I do manage to twist a bit on his lap, so that I can look ahead to see what everyone else is seeing, and the image of Russell walking across the hall is nothing short of breathtaking.

Russell’s tawny hair is shining in the light of the fires as he walks toward us from the entrance of the hall. His huge frame is almost dwarfed by his bright, crimson wings as they stretch out like wide, arching symbols of vengeance. The set of his brow is making me think that violence is now an innate instinct to his character. He looks like a Power angel hunting a demon and my breath catches in my throat because he is no longer just the Russell I had met at Crestwood on a walk to a lake. No, he is much more than human now. He is a dangerous and lethal assassin. He is a Seraph.

The Gancanagh have lined up on either side of him, intimidating and hostile, but Russell is walking boldly past each one. He is refusing to give them the respect of making eye contact, which is not the wisest thing to do in the presence of dangerous predators. Russell is looking straight ahead and his eyes are locked on mine. I can tell he’s freaking out inside. For one thing, all of the light golden hair on his arms is standing straight up like the bristles of a wire brush. His nostrils are flared from his increased respiration and heartbeat, and his wings are spreading out like he might fly to us. I know he can’t fly yet, so that just means his wings are doing it on their own out of agitation. But, those indications are things that I know, and I’m not sure if the Gancanagh will recognize all of those signs, because other than that, Russell looks relatively cool for someone who has just walked alone into a lair filled with over a dozen undead monsters.

Even though he came in alone, he has a strategy all mapped out. I can see immediately what his plan is and I don’t approve of it at all. It’s the worst plan I have ever seen! Completely asinine! Tears spring to my eyes because I can’t believe he would do something like this, after all we talked about regarding his survival and how important it is to me.

Russell is wearing the pair of jeans that I had picked out for him at one of the local shops in town. They are not designer, but it doesn’t matter because Russell can make anything look good. He opted to forgo a shirt, probably because his wings would be out for this mission and it’s easier for him not to wear one. That is not to say that Russell isn’t wearing anything above the waist, it’s just that what he is wearing isn’t clothing. Strapped to two canvas, military harnesses that crisscross his body are at least a dozen hand grenades, fastened to him with military reinforced straps. In his hand, he is carrying a hand grenade with the pin already pulled. His finger is resting lightly on the safety clip of the hand-held bomb.

“Bad plan, Russell,” I whisper to him as he comes nearer to us. The smell down here must be getting to him a little because he begins to rub his nose lightly with the hand that is not holding the grenade. I feel bad for him because I know how it reeked when I had first woken up in here.

“Naw, Red, it’s an excellent plan, ya see, ‘cuz both of our souls are gettin’ outta here, one way or another,” he says in a confident tone, his chocolate-brown eyes scanning me. “I missed ya at the library, Red, I’m sorry I was too late to save ya there,” he rasps as his eyes stare into mine. All of the fear and worry that he has been going through since I have been taken is etched in that one look that passes between us. Then his eyes shift from mine, as he looks me over again, coming to rest on my neck. His face transforms into a scowl. Staring at Brennus with sharp eyes, Russell’s scowl deepens while he surveys Brennus holding me tight in his arms.

“Ya bit her! Ya filthy vampire!” Russell says in anger as he stops near where we are seated. Brennus stiffens, probably because Russell called him a vampire, and not because he cares at all how Russell feels about him biting me.

“I did. She will soon be Gancanagh, but since she obviously has some feelings for ye, her soul mate, I will allow ye ta leave now. We will give ye a head start, Seraph, and den we will see if she can find ye—ye will make a good first kill,” he says, toying with a strand of my hair.

My head is spinning at the thought of hunting Russell.
Will I completely lose all of my heart along with my soul? Will he just be prey to me?

Russell’s expression turns doubtful as he shakes his head. “Ya lie. She has to drink yer blood for her to become a vampire, and since I can still feel her soul, I’d say she isn’t that into ya,” Russell says as Brennus squeezes me tighter, like he wants to hold on to me. I stare at Russell now because I can’t figure out where he got his information, but it’s very accurate.

“If ye care for her, and I can see dat ye do, ye will let her ease her pain wi’ me blood. Ye can na stop whah is happening to her—she will die wi’out it,” Brennus warns, stroking my cheek with his hand.

“That’s one thing I really hate ’bout ya stinky devils—ya lie and ya lie and ya lie ‘til someone beats the tar out of ya, and then ya tell the truth,” Russell says, shaking his head again. “But I think I’m gonna have to wait until my girl is safe before I get to beat the snot out of ya—unless ya decided we’re all dyin’ here now. Then, I’ll just have to move on to the next life with her, and I gotta tell ya, I’m not that upset ’bout dyin’ ‘cuz she’s comin’ with me and we’ll never see ya again—or smell ya,” Russell says, wrinkling his nose and rubbing it with his hand again.

“Where did ye get yer information?” Brennus asks in a calm tone, but I can tell he is completely irate by the way his jaw is clenched.

“Zoltan and Crisco told me,” Russell replies with a bored look.

Hearing this, Lonan and Cavan lean menacingly toward Russell. If Brennus hadn’t said something to them in his language, I’m sure that they would have attacked Russell, grenade or not. I think that Driscoll and Ultan were like brothers to the other Gancanagh and none of them likes the way Russell has gotten their names wrong. They are warriors and to disrespect them in death like that is really a bad idea, but Russell doesn’t seem to care.

Brennus controls his men with whatever it is he says to them, but then Lonan says something to Brennus that I can’t understand. Watching Russell, he seems to be listening to them, too. Brennus then says something else to Lonan. Russell tenses, looking over to where Lonan is standing.

“Y’all can try to see if y’all can get this grenade from me and get the pin back in it before it explodes, but I wouldn’t take that chance if I didn’t have a soul, Lonan,” Russell says. All of the eyes in the room get wider. “Ah, all y’all didn’t know I speak Gaelic? Yeah, I kinda figured that all y’all thought yer the only ones who understand it when Zoltan and Crisco kept makin’ all these plans to escape me with me sittin’ right next to them. It was really kinda funny, but I guess ya had to be there,” he says, smiling into my eyes. I would have smiled back, if I wasn’t in pain. He is such a brave, stupid, and courageous smartass. “But, this is gettin’ lame and I think it’s ’bout time I get my girl home. She needs to take a shower to get the stink off of her. Come here, Red, we’re gettin’ outta here,” Russell says.

Trying to move, I can’t straighten up enough to stand. I end up hugging Brennus tighter as a wave of pain breaks over me and I groan.

“Looks like she wants ta stay,
aingeal,”
Brennus says, holding me close as he presses cold, soft kisses to my cheek.

“She’s not stayin’, freak! I told ya, she’s leavin’ here one way or another,” Russell says, but he looks really concerned now.

“Ye would kill her if she chose ta be a Gancanagh?” Brennus asks him with a menacing sneer.

“Naw, I would save her before y’all could make her an undead, evil faerie,” Russell replies with deliberate slowness, his finger twitching on the safety clip of the grenade.

He knows what they are! He has gotten some good information out of Ultan and Driscoll. He is just being completely insulting by calling them vampires.

“Den we are no different, ye and me,” Brennus says in a thoughtful tone.

Russell’s eyebrow arches. “How’s that, vampire?” Russell asks.

“We both want ta kill her ta save her,” Brennus replies, and Russell goes completely still.

“Ya think ya love her? Ya can’t possibly know who she is to have made that kind of leap,” Russell says, but he sounds sour, like the thought of Brennus wanting me like that is making him ill.

“Ye tink not? I have tasted her—she is fire and sky—life—she is as ancient as da earth and as new as an archetype—she is da brightest light and da darkest night—her blood tells her secrets—her desires. I will fulfill every one of those desires and I will love no other save her,” Brennus says softly, and it wasn’t said like a threat, but very, very much like a promise.

“No shit, psycho, get in line, everyone wants her! Y’all think I’m down here for my health? I know what she is. Ya don’t need to tell me. But, I’m takin’ her now and we can settle this later—man to man—angel to vampire—whatever,” Russell says in exasperation. I can tell he is really upset about what Brennus just said.

When Brennus doesn’t move to give Russell what he wants, Russell adds, “Ya just tipped yer hand, Dracula. I know ya love her, so ya aren’t gonna let me blow us up, ‘cuz ya won’t get a ‘do over’ with her, like I will. Maybe we should just play poker for her next time. I’ll smoke all y’all, no frickin’ game in any of y’all,” Russell finishes.

“She can na walk. Ye will need ta come and get her,” Brennus says in a low tone. “When I bit her, it caused her extreme pain.”

Russell scowls at him. “Yeah, ya love her—ya sick freak,” he snarls as he walks slowly towards Brennus.

“Ta ease her suffering, give her blood of anyting—she will begin ta feel better,” Brennus says, standing up with me in his arms, but he tenses when Russell reaches out to take me from him. Brennus hugs me to him tight, and then he places a soft kiss on my forehead that feels good to me because I’m beginning to feel like I’m on fire. The venom in my blood has brought a fever that is making me feel like I’m trapped in an inferno with no way out. “I will come for ye…yer moin,
mo chroí
.”