Incendiary
THE PREMONITION SERIES
Volume 4
AMY A. BARTOL
Copyright 2012 Amy A. Bartol
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 1479207128
ISBN-13: 978-1479207121
eBook ISBN: 978-1-62346-520-9
LCCN: 2012917672
CreateSpace North Charleston, SC
Also by Amy A. Bartol
Inescapable: The Premonition Series Volume 1
Intuition: The Premonition Series Volume 2
Indebted: The Premonition Series Volume 3
For my dad, John Lutz. I love you.
Contents
CHAPTER 1 – THE MOON
CHAPTER 2 – INFIGHTING
CHAPTER 3 – NICOLAS AND SIMONE
CHAPTER 4 – RUDE CAR
CHAPTER 5 – ELEVATION
CHAPTER 6 – ANYA
CHAPTER 7 – DON'T WAKE ME
CHAPTER 8 – YOU'RE WHAT?
CHAPTER 9 – MISS ME DEARLY
CHAPTER 10 – BOW TO THE CHAMPION
CHAPTER 11 – THE SPECTER OF REGRET
CHAPTER 12 – DREAMY DREW
CHAPTER 13 – REBELLION
CHAPTER 14 – I'M ON A BOAT
CHAPTER 15 – DON'T GO
CHAPTER 16 – EVERLASTING LOVE
CHAPTER 17 – IRELAND
CHAPTER 18 – WELCOME HOME
CHAPTER 19 – DINNER
CHAPTER 20 – DON'T LOOK BACK
CHAPTER 21 – DANCING IN RINGS
CHAPTER 22 – SPIES AND ALLIES
CHAPTER 23 – OLD IS NEW
CHAPTER 24 – YOUR HEART GROWS COLD
CHAPTER 25 – DOUBT THE STARS
CHAPTER 26 – STEP INTO THE RING
CHAPTER 27 – HOME
CHAPTER 28 – CRESTWOOD
CHAPTER 29 – GRACE
GLOSSARY
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
INCENDIARY – CHAPTER 01 – MY HEART WITHOUT YOU
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
EXCERPT – DEVOUR BY SHELLY CRANE
CHAPTER 1
The Moon
Evie
Opening my eyes in the darkness of the bedroom, the sheer canopy surrounding the bed sparkles with frost. I sit up against the pillows, allowing the silken sheet to slip from me. Reed, sleeping soundly next to me, looks so peaceful…angelic. His dark brown hair is falling over his brow in messy wisps. Reaching out, I smooth his hair lightly away from his face, feeling his warm skin beneath my fingertips. His charcoal-colored angel wing slips forward a little, brushing against my thigh. It, too, is warm against my frigid skin.
Something’s wrong, I shiver, exhaling a breath and seeing it curl into a white current in front of me, as wintery air will do. It’s too cold…Goose bumps rise on my arms as dread runs like icy water through me. Zephyr’s island is located in the South Pacific; it never gets this cold here.
I toss my long, auburn hair over my shoulder and wrap the white sheet securely around my body. I put my bare feet on the teak floorboards, feeling them crackle with cold beneath me. Frosty condensation covers everything in the room, causing surfaces to sparkle eerily in the hazy moonlight from the half-shuttered windows.
Walking slowly to the bedroom door, I turn and go to the front door of our small, beach bungalow. As I open it, black clouds roll and boil toward the cove of Zephyr’s island paradise. My hand clutches the doorframe, watching the ominous storm blowing in. The wind whistles against the feathers of my crimson wings, causing them to ruffle. The palm trees that line the beach are swaying in the breeze as the whitecap water churns against the white sand.
I hear cracking sounds, like someone is walking on ice too thin to sustain weight. A dark figure strides beneath the storm clouds toward me out on the open water. A thin layer of ice forms beneath his feet with each step he takes. Coming closer, the wind carries his sweet, sticky scent to me, covering me like it’s marking me as his. A terrible kind of love swells in my heart—painful and raw—enslaving and cruel.
With slow, obedient steps, I walk toward the water’s edge, feeling powdery, icy sand between my toes. Frigid water laps against my feet, wetting the bottom of my sheet, as I wait for Brennus to come to me. Wearing a dark, perfectly tailored suit, he appears outwardly calm. His steps are unmeasured, strolling over the ice as it continually branches out ahead of each of his strides beneath the wicked sky.
Stopping in front of me, only a breath away, Brennus smiles. He scans every inch of me with his assessing gaze. His black hair, which contrasts starkly with his pale, white skin in the moonlight, doesn’t hide his eyes as they darken with pleasure. “Mo chroí,” he breathes, calling me “my heart.” “Ye seem ta have escaped da fallen aingeals quite well.”
I nod numbly, whispering, “You survived, too, I see.” There is fear and relief in my tone, betraying my feelings for him. Looking into his light green eyes, they’re registering his relief at finding me.
Brennus shrugs. “I’m a good swimmer, so I survived da spell ye cast ta scatter da fallen aingeals and wi’out Casimir ta lead dem, da Fallen lost deir focus and began ta recognize dat dey were losing da battle,” Brennus replies with an angelic expression on his beautiful face.
Seeing him smiling, it’s hard for me to remember that he’s truly a killer—a lethal predator. It’s difficult for me to think of Brennus as evil now because he protected me, not only from the Ifrit, Valentine, who would’ve killed me, but also from the army of fallen angels who stalk me still. But, he had also enslaved me, keeping me from everyone that I love so that he could make me his queen: a queen to reside over the Gancanagh—his race of undead, magical Faeries with enthralling, toxic skin.
Brennus adds, “I tought dat ye were taken by da fallen aingeals. Dat’s where we’ve been looking for ye.”
His words evoke images of the last time I saw him a few weeks ago. Casimir and his army of fallen angels had cornered us at Brennus’ estate in Ireland. I had used magic to save us by summoning the sea and drenching us all in a churning, swirl of ocean water. It had separated me from Brennus, washing me away from him and into Casimir’s control.
“How’s Molly? Finn? Declan?” I ask, not able to stop myself from inquiring about Brennus’ brother, Finn, and my Gancanagh bodyguard, Declan…my prison guards.
“Molly is grand. Finn is better. ’Twas Declan dat we were all worried about. He took losing ye very hard. He improved a wee bit when we found Casimir’s corpse in pieces on the lawn of da estate. Was dat ye who killed him?” he asks with approval.
I shake my head, “No. Reed killed him,” I reply, seeing a flicker of jealousy enter Brennus’ eyes at the mention of Reed’s name. He warned me never to speak my angel’s name in his presence, so I try to cover my slip by asking, “How did you find me?”
“Ye took me blade wi’ ye. ’Tis moin…it calls for me, jus as ye do, but ye do na know dat, do ye?” he replies. I close my eyes, feeling my heart begin to race as I think of the knife I’d taken and shoved into my boot when we were escaping from the army of fallen angels. “Come, we’ll find a way for ye ta leave dis island now. Yer family misses ye. I miss ye,” Brennus says softly. “’Tis time we had ye home.”
Opening my eyes and staring into his, they reflect absolute certainty that I’ll follow his orders and return with him. As his captive for the last few months, I had done my best to act like I was one of them, a Gancanagh, in order to survive. But now, I’m no longer his hostage. Now, I have a chance of staying with Reed, my love. Moistening my lips that have become very dry, I say, “I can’t come with you, Brennus. I’m sorry.”
“Why na?” he asks me patiently, like
he has all the time in the world to sort this out.
“Because my family needs me and I need them,” I reply, seeing his brows turn down as his mouth slants into a frown.
“We are yer family, mo chroí. Ye’re our queen,” he says calmly enough, but his pale face looks stern. “I am yer king.”
I shake my head at him, taking a step back from the edge of the water and from his outstretched hand. My heart is beating so fast now that it’s pounding in my ears. “I belong here, with them…with him,” I say quietly, watching Brennus’ frown turn into the darkest anger. A click sounds from Brennus as his retractable fangs shoot forward in his mouth and he bares their razor-sharp points menacingly.
“Ye would leave me alone wi’ whah I feel for ye? I would die for ye. Is dat na enough for ye ta see dat I love ye?” he asks, sounding wounded and hurt.
“I know that you love me, Brennus. I even know that you would protect me with your life if I’d let you, but I can’t let you. I can’t be with you,” I say, feeling tears coming to my eyes.
“Ye can and ye will,” he retorts, reaching out to take my arm. His fingers pass right through me, leaving a frigid gust of air where his hand had been. Amazed, I look at his face, seeing his frustration.
“You’re a clone...a spell,” I breathe, looking at him. “You’re not really here!”
“Ye’re surprised?” he asks, losing a little of his anger as he sees my astonished expression. “Ye live wi’ an extraordinary craitur, such as yerself, for long enough, ye learn a ting or two. ’Tis a spell, Genevieve. I liked whah ye can do wi’ yer clones…da images of yerself dat ye create. I tought I would try it meself. Do ye want ta see more?” he asks, but he doesn’t wait for me to answer as he casts his hands in waves about us.
A rippling echo of energy billows out around us. Murky forms of Gancanagh begin emerging from the depths of the sea and striking out in legions onto the beach. These undead Faeries swarm around us, looking very real beneath the light of the moon. Fear and anger sweep through me, seeing the army he would bring down upon me, but I try to hide it as I say, “They’re not here either.”
“Na yet,” he replies darkly. “Do na make me bring dem ta fetch ye back ta me. I tought we had gotten past dis. Chasing ye is beginning ta take a toll on me, mo chroí. I do na know how ta make ye understand dat ye are me heart. Wi’out ye I do na exist…and wi’out me, ye will na exist.”
“So you’re saying that if I don’t come back to you, you’ll kill me?” I ask him, feeling cold inside.
“I will bleed ye dry,” he threatens, showing me his gleaming, white fangs. His image leans closer to my neck, allowing icy air to radiate near me. Remembering the gut-wrenching pain of being bitten by him, I cringe.
“If you bite me, you’ll have nothing,” I retort, feeling betrayed by him. “I won’t drink your blood and become one of you.”
“I have nuting now! When I bite ye, ye’ll be Gancanagh,” he counters. “Me true queen. Ye’ll be unable to resist me blood.”
“No,” I reply, shaking my head. “I’ll refuse,” I say bravely, trying to mean every word.
Anger makes him sneer, “Ye may, and ye may na. I’m willing ta take dat chance.”
“Are you?” I ask, feeling like every word he ever spoke to me was a lie.
“I am,” he affirms, staring back at me with a predatory gaze.
“You’d give my soul to Sheol? To those monsters for eternity?” I ask him, feeling crushed. If I do drink his blood, then my soul will be surrendered to Sheol, to the fallen angels for eternity. I’ll die and be reborn an evil, undead creature…like him.
“If ye make me, I will,” he replies without a hint of doubt.
Russell’s voice interrupts us as he nears. “Brrrr, you feel that, Red? Now that’s cold,” Russell says, swinging his five-iron to dispel the imaginary Gancanagh that Brennus has conjured on the beach.
As their sinister images ripple and fade away, Russell rests the golf club on his shoulder. When his tall frame towers over me, he doesn’t hesitate, but drops his club and engulfs me in his arms. Picking me up off my feet, he gives me a bone-crushing hug that takes my breath away.
“Russell,” his name escapes me like a prayer as I look into his chocolate-brown eyes. His tawny hair looks almost golden in the moonlight.
Russell grins broadly at me. “Ah, you know I’ve been wantin’ to do that for so long, it hurts,” he admits, loosening his grip on me, but not putting me back on my feet. “Am I interruptin’ somethin’?” he asks, looking at Brennus’ livid face. “Ah, it’s the stalker again. I should’ve known, but your stink is not so bad out here…maybe all y’all should move somewhere tropical,” he suggests in a smart-ass tone. Seeing Brennus’ eyebrows draw together, he adds, “I’m just sayin’.”
“Da other, I—” Brennus begins, using the name he has attached to Russell. Brennus calls Russell “the other” because Russell is the only other being just like me: a human-angel hybrid. He could also mean the other half of my soul, since Russell is my human soul mate.
Russell holds up his hand. “Just one second, Brennus, you total freak,” Russell says insultingly. “I just gotta get a little smackerel from my girl.”
Russell’s hand snakes up to weave in my hair at the base of my neck, while his lips press firmly to mine, kissing me with an intensity and longing that I’m not expecting. A low growl comes from Brennus, and an instant later, another growl answers his from Reed. Reed directed it at Brennus, I’m sure, but I push against Russell anyway, trying to make him stop kissing me. However, Russell is really freaking strong now, stronger than me, so I can’t budge him an inch.
When Russell ends the kiss, he looks into my eyes, like we’re alone and says, “I missed you, Red.”
I touch my fingertips to my lips, feeling confused and overwhelmed. “I missed you, too,” I respond softly. We haven’t had much time alone together since I’d been rescued from Brennus’ estate in Ireland. Most of my time has been spent with Reed. There is still a lot left unsaid between my soul mate and me.
“You still here, Brennus?” Russell asks, not looking at him, but just at me. “Why don’t you give up now? Go on and find someone else to haunt, ya creepy, dead bastard.”
“I will enjoy killing ye,” Brennus says intently.
“Well, that’s really easy to say, when you’re not really here, isn’t it?” Russell replies, smiling into my eyes, like it’s a private joke between us. “Next time, you should come in person…you get more respect that way.”
“What are you doing,” I whisper to Russell, feeling fear wash over me at his provoking words.
“I’m pickin’ a fight I know I can win,” he replies with a cocky grin.
Looking at Brennus’ face and smiling unabashedly, Russell’s crimson, Seraphim wings stretch out menacingly from his body. They remind me of the fierce strength that Casimir showed with his.
Brennus turns his eyes to mine. “Do na hide from me, mo chroí, and do na make me come ta ye. I do na want ta make ye beg,” he says, ignoring both Reed and Russell as they growl at him.
My skin pales, feeling like my whole world is caving in on me. I feel as bad as I did in the cell in Houghton—when Brennus first tried to turn me into an undead monster like him. No, I feel worse. I hated Brennus then. He was never my friend then. Now…it’s like Freddie all over again. I let him into my heart and he’s tearing it apart.
“Why are you such a major tool, Brennus?” Russell asks, scowling as he puts me back on my feet.
“He can’t help himself, Russell,” Reed replies, holding his hand out for me to take. Taking it and holding it tight, I feel Russell reach out and take my other hand.
“Red,” Russell says, using his nickname for me, “just tell him that things weren’t working out, that he’s a really bad boyfriend. Tell him that it’s definitely not you—it’s him,” Russell says, smirking at Brennus’ image.
The air around us is growing colder. I can feel it and see it as my breath makes
smoky plumes.
“Open up yer eyes, mo shíorghrá,” Brennus warns me. “I’m coming closer and ye know whah I can do. When I find ye, ye had better be ready ta submit ta yer true family. Do ye need more tellin’?”
My hands are shaking, like he’s really here. Both Reed and Russell tighten their grip, feeling my fear.
“Come and die, Brennus,” Reed says, stepping between Brennus and me.
Brennus sizes up Reed, saying “I have one ting ta say ta ye. Cogadh.”
I pale at the word. It means “war.”
“Tuigim, Brennus,” Reed replies casually, saying “I understand.”
“Póg mo thóin,” Russell grins, telling Brennus to kiss his ass. “Now run along. I wanna talk to my girl.”
“Carnage. I like it,” Zephyr says from behind us, making me jump. I hadn’t heard the stealthy way my Power angel mentor had approached us. “When will you get here? I grow tired of waiting.” Zephyr asks as the light-brown feathers of his angel wings ruffle in the ocean breeze.
“Soon,” Brennus replies coolly to Zephyr, not taking his light green eyes from mine.
“Don’t do this. Please,” I whisper to Brennus.
Brennus’ image nears me and it feels just like he’s here. “Ye’re such pretty pain, Genevieve. Beautiful poison.” he says as his eyes fill with the bitterest regret.
“Then let me go,” I beg him as a pain in my chest begins to ache.
“Why would I do dat when I enjoy pain…all types of pain?” he asks as his eyebrow rises in question. “Ye’ll be my lover and ye’ll learn all about pain, I promise ye.”
Russell growls. “Look at the dead guy trippin’, Zee,” Russell says with an undercurrent of menace in his tone “He must not know that we have more game than Mattel.”
“I was going to crash your party as soon as I found you, Brennus. Consider yourself invited to ours, if it’s more convenient,” Reed says lightly. “Just make it soon.”
“I will, aingeal,” Brennus replies to Reed, trying to keep his cool.
Gazing at me, the light from the moon causes Brennus’ black hair to shine with a silvery glow. “Ye were right…ye did end up doing me wrong. I gave ye everyting. Ye’ll spend eternity making dis up ta me,” Brennus whispers in my ear with the harshness of betrayal.
Incendiary (The Premonition Series (Volume 4)) Page 1