“He’s bitter, Red,” Russell says softly. “It may cause him to make mistakes.”
I shake my head. “Don’t count on it. He knows almost everything there is to know about me. He got in my head and crawled around…he knows everything about us. He studied me,” I whisper, feeling like I have a rope around my neck, choking me.
“We studied them, too. While you were his pet,” Russell replies. “Let him think that I have the power of a wet firecracker being lit by a flint. He’s gonna underestimate me and then he’s gonna die.”
“He knows what you are to me, Russell,” I say, feeling panicked.
“Really, Red, and what’s that? What am I to you?” Russell asks, and I can hear the undertone of bitterness in his voice.
“You’re my soul mate…my best friend…” I trail off, biting my lip as I see sorrow in his eyes.
“Best friend...” he says, hanging his head. “I am that, Red, if nothin’ else; I am that. But, I remember so many, many lifetimes when I was everythin’ to you—all you needed.”
“I need him,” I whisper, not wanting to try again to explain my intense love for Reed. But, looking at Russell, I feel an unbelievable ache in my chest for him that won’t go away. He’s been my lover in every lifetime but this one and my soul knows him as its match. “I’m bound to Reed for eternity. I swore a vow to him. He’s my aspire and its irrevocable.”
“Well, we were married in just ‘bout every lifetime we had together and I’ve heard that being a soul mate is pretty much irrevocable, too,” he replies softly.
A crack of thunder makes us both look over at the horizon as dark, rolling storm clouds gather offshore. I pale, seeing the azure sea darkening underneath them. “It’s supposed to rain today,” Russell assures me softly in my ear. I can’t stop the shiver of dread that courses through me, remembering how the sky had been even darker than that when Brennus had found me here. “Don’t worry…it’s not Brennus.”
I nod, trying to hide my fear. “What are the odds of us not training with Reed and Zephyr after lunch if it rains?” I ask, turning to look at him again and hoping desperately that he’ll let me change the subject.
“Vegas wouldn’t bet on it,” Russell replies, getting to his feet. He reaches down, extending his hand to me to help me up. “C’mon, we better go eat somethin’ before the angels start poundin’ on us and call it trainin’.”
“Thanks,” I say with relief, allowing him to steady me on my feet as we walk hand-in-hand to Zephyr’s huge plantation house on the hill for lunch.
When we arrive at the house, he leads me through the elegant, winding halls to the ornate dining room. The white, plantation shutters have been closed over the open windows, but they are open enough to allow the breeze in to cool the house. Walking with me to the table, Russell holds out a chair for me next to Reed. He then seats himself in the empty chair next to mine.
“Thanks, Russell,” I murmur as I attempt to look normal. I don’t want Reed to know that I’m still a little dizzy because he’ll want to examine me himself and I’d rather not go through a battery of tests now.
“We were just about to discuss security,” Buns says, directing her attention to Russell and me. She nudges a heaping basket of rolls in my direction, eyeing me closely. “You look tired, sweetie,” Buns comments with a frown.
“I’m fine,” I assure her hurriedly, taking a roll and putting it on my plate.
Selecting white fish from the myriad of entrées in the center of the table, I listen while Buns, Brownie, and Zephyr continue discussing recent intel from the Reaper angels stationed on the outlying islands. They haven’t seen any activity from the Gancanagh yet.
Feeling Reed’s eyes on me, I’m not very surprised when he says, “You look pale.” His strong fingers brush against mine as they rest on the table.
Smiling at him, I reply, “I’m a redhead, remember? We’re supposed to be pale, but I prefer the term ‘pigmently challenged.’”
Reed’s eyes soften at my comment and his perfect face makes my cheeks flood with color and my pulse quicken. “There…that’s better,” Reed breathes near my ear.
“She had another series of nose bleeds,” Russell says to Reed as he watches my face.
Reed’s eyes darken as his eyebrows pull together. “Evie, you’re working too hard. You need to find a balance—” he starts, but I interrupt him.
“I will—I just didn’t realize it until it was too late. I’ll work on toning it down,” I say in a placating tone, while stepping hard on Russell’s foot beneath the table for ratting me out to Reed. Russell ignores my feeble attempt to hurt him, smiling at me angelically.
“Maybe you shouldn’t train this afternoon,” Reed says seriously, setting his fork down near his plate.
“I’m fine, really,” I reply with indifference, because if I look too anxious, he’ll make sure I rest and I don’t want to rest. When I try to relax, all I can think about is Brennus and his promise to teach me all about pain when he gets me back.
I touch the onyx locket around my neck, feeling the smooth, opal moon affixed to the surface of it. It’s really a portal, a transport to another place far from here. I know exactly where it goes, and so does Reed. I plan to use it if I have to escape the Gancanagh. Our portals, Reed’s and mine, will go to the same place. Zephyr’s and Buns’s portal’s will arrive at a different location from ours. We’ll have to meet up with them, which we plan to do by using the Internet. Russell and Brownie are paired together again, which makes me extremely nervous, knowing that they had been captured and nearly killed the last time they were left alone to fend for themselves.
“You should prepare to get wet,” Reed says, looking out the open windows. Sheets of rain are falling on the tropical paradise of Zee’s island.
“Sweet,” I say sarcastically. “I better hurry up and eat before it becomes a monsoon.”
**
Standing in the heavy downpour on the beach, I let rivulets of water stream down my face, dripping in torrents from my bottom jaw. I angle my chin downward and slightly to the left so that I can see any movement Reed might make toward me.
Th-thump…th-thump…th-thump...my heart wants to increase its beat, but I’m trying to control it as I wait like a statue for him to make a move. The clang of swords being clashed together near me fades to the background because I know the lethal threat is the one just ahead of me. My fingers twitch on the long-handled dagger in my left hand while my hand tightens on the sword hilt in my right.
I take a deep breath, and as I begin to exhale Reed makes his move, instantly cutting in half the distance between us. I tense for a millisecond, waiting for him to get closer before I spring forward, running at him with all my speed. I jump up and over the swing of the sword in his right hand, planting one foot on his arm. I feel the whistle of air from the dagger in his left hand blow upward, inches from my cheek as my other foot steps on his shoulder. I launch into the air, using my planted foot to kick off from his shoulder, and hopefully, knock him off balance. Stretching my crimson wings out and gliding back to the sand, I spin around, facing my opponent again.
As I stare into Reed’s dark green eyes, a slow smile twitches on the corners of his lips, causing me to narrow my eyes at him. Then, I feel the severed left strap of my tank top slip from my shoulder. The fabric of my shirt slouches over, but still clings to my wet body. Looking at it, my eyes narrow more before I lift them to Reed’s face again. Both his eyebrows rise quickly before he lets them fall, making his face go blank.
I wait a half a second, and then, as if on cue, the front pocket of his t-shirt droops over and falls to the ground at his feet. Reed looks down at it and then over at me. I lift my eyebrows quickly before letting them both fall.
Reed’s charcoal-gray wings unfold from his back menacingly, as a frown touches his lips. Tensing, I wait for him to make another move toward me. In an instant, he shoots straight up in the air and seems to dematerialize. Turning in circles, my heartbeat kicks up as I
try to see where he went, and more importantly, from which direction he’s going to pounce. Pulling energy to me rapidly, I whisper words quickly, erecting a transparent wall of energy around me as a shield, I feel safe for maybe a millisecond. Then, warm arms wrap around my waist, startling a scream from me as Reed comes from behind me, pulling me against his chest. Shifting in his arms, he grins down at me in triumph before leaning down and kissing my lips.
“How did you get through my shield?” I ask breathlessly, feeling my heartbeat increase as his warm lips trail lower.
“I was already here by the time you employed it,” he says, reaching out and tapping on the invisible energy field around us. “But, it was impressive, nonetheless.”
I drop my weapons to the sand, putting my arms around Reed’s neck lightly and touching his dark brown hair. It’s dripping wet from the rain. “I should’ve built a wall around you instead,” I whisper, brushing my lips against his jaw and over his cheek to his lips, tasting the salty water on his skin.
“That would’ve been a better strategy,” he agrees, his fingers tracing a path from my waist up my side. “One I would’ve had to outrun.”
“As if you could outrun my magic,” I reply sarcastically, kissing his lips gently.
“As if I could,” he agrees, deepening our kiss.
Tap, tap, tap…Knocks sound on the invisible barrier surrounding us, startling me. I look over to see water dripping from Zephyr’s disapproving face staring down on us. His startling-blue eyes narrow as my cheeks redden.
“It does not appear to be dinner time, yet,” he says, showing us his watch and reminding us that we have more training time left before Reed and I can have some private time together.
“Uh…sorry,” I mutter, pulling energy back to me so that the shield I erected around us melts away to nothingness.
“We are switching partners,” Zephyr says sternly to Reed as I pick up my weapons from the sand. “You go train with Russell,” he orders Reed, while his light brown wings unfold in agitation.
“Naw, Zee, I’ll train with Evie,” Russell says from behind him, his face growing dark.
“That will not work, since I want the two of you to learn how angels fight,” Zephyr argues. “I want you to study what to look for in an angelic opponent. You cannot learn that from Evie.”
“C’mon, Zee,” Russell says, scowling at Zephyr.
“We need to bring Evie up to your level, Russell,” Zephyr explains. “She had no real training in fighting while she was with the Gancanagh.”
“Uh…I trained a little…” I trail off when I see the frown on Zephyr’s face.
“They trained you to fight like a Faerie. We will have to break you of all the bad habits they taught you,” Zephyr replies, sounding superior. He lifts his wicked broad sword and looks down the hilt of it as he points it at me. “You cannot concentrate with your current partner.”
Looking at Reed, he gives me a sensual smile. I lose my train of thought for a second as my mind wanders to the way he kissed me just a few seconds ago. In the next moment, I am jolted out of my revelry by Zephyr again. “Did you hear what I said?” he asks.
“Uh…bad Faerie habits?” I ask, looking as his eyebrows draw together, indicating he probably said something I completely missed.
“Reed,” Zephyr says in a stern tone as water drips from his brown hair.
Reed steps reluctantly forward, putting his arms around me and hugging me to his chest. “We’ll have time alone together tonight, love,” he whispers in my ear, and I nod.
As Reed walks over to Russell, each of them begins sizing the other one up. They haven’t been training together, not really. They barely speak to one another, as the bond between them that had formed when I was a captive of the Gancanagh keeps dissolving by the day. Brownie and Buns have both noticed it. We’ve discussed it a few times when I took my flying lessons with them in the evenings after dinner. It worries me to see them spar now, like this is a real battle over a coveted prize.
“Zee,” I murmur, watching Russell’s sword cut dangerously close to Reed’s neck. “Is this a good idea?”
“Time will tell,” he replies, picking a position on the beach in which to start instructing me on using the broad sword he holds. I’m having a hard time focusing on anything he’s telling me, since my eyes keep drifting to the intense fighting taking place between Russell and Reed.
“That’s not—sshheeeeze,” I inhale between clenched teeth, seeing Russell’s sword cut a thin line in Reed’s cheek. I make a move toward them, but Zephyr grabs my upper arm, holding me back.
“Do not even think about getting in the middle of that fight, Evie,” Zephyr says. “It has been coming for too long now and there needs to be some lines drawn.”
“What lines?” I ask numbly, trying to make him let go of my arm.
“Dark, thick ones with pain and menace,” he replies. “Perhaps you should go now—you do not need to see this.”
“See what? What are you talking about, Zee?” I ask, fear oozing into my tone. I glance over to see Reed’s sword cut a large gash in Russell’s upper arm, causing blood to course from it in rivets with the rain.
“REED!” I shout, feeling Zephyr’s arms go around me to lift me off my feet so that I can’t run to them. Reed ignores me as his features remain blank, not giving away any of what he’s thinking.
In an instant, Russell begins to morph, his bright red wings being replaced by the orange and black stripes of a jungle tiger as he springs toward Reed, his jaws going for Reed’s throat. Reed manages to avoid being bitten by the tiger’s fierce teeth, but he doesn’t avoid the sharp claws that dig into his back, dragging jagged lines of blood into his flesh. A millisecond later, Reed morphs into a panther, pouncing on the tiger as they roll around on the shore.
“THEY CAN’T DO THIS, ZEE!” I plead, trying to make him let me go, but he just shakes his head. Picking me up, he tosses me over his shoulder, hauling me off the beach in a blink of an eye. He runs through the lush foliage of his South Pacific island toward his sprawling plantation house.
Crossing the sweeping veranda and entering the house, Zee says, “Buns.”
In less than a few seconds, Buns enters the foyer. Seeing me dripping wet, slung over Zee’s shoulder, Buns says, “What’s up, sweetie?”
“Buns, tell Zee to put me down! I have to go stop Russell and Reed from killing each other,” I explain frantically, not being able to really see her because Zee is holding me upside down by my feet. I catch a glimpse of her honey blond hair as she turns to Zephyr.
“Oh…Brownie,” Buns calls out. She puts her hands on her hips as she narrows her cornflower-blue eyes. “They couldn’t do this on the DL, Zee?” Brownie appears instantly at Buns’s side, looking at us curiously.
Zee shrugs, “It was coming…he’s really powerful now, Reed knew it would come to this.”
“Reed knew it would come to what?” I ask, paling.
“Reed knew it would be a fight for you sooner or later,” Zephyr replies.
“BUT, THAT’S RIDICULOUS, ZEE!” I shout, not being able to contain my anxiety. “Reed doesn’t have to fight for me!”
“Tell that to Russell. He’s as much an alpha male as Reed and he wants you just as much as Reed does,” Zephyr replies.
I cringe, feeling ill. “Fine, put me down and I’ll go tell him,” I growl.
“No,” Zephyr replies. “You have to stay here. I will go and make sure that they do not really harm each other. I just need to make sure you will not interfere.”
“Why?” I ask, not understanding why I can’t break up the stupidest fight in the history of fights.
“Because you will make it worse, Evie, trust me,” he says with absolutely no doubt in his tone.
“Here, Zee, put her down. I’ll take care of her while you go referee. Make sure they both stay in one piece,” Buns states, taking charge of the situation. “We need them.”
The blood drains from my face. Zephyr says, “I will go
referee if Evie promises to stay here until it’s over.”
“Sweetie, tell Zee you’ll stay with us and he’ll help,” Buns urges.
I pause, not wanting to promise because I’m not convinced that they won’t listen to me if I go down there. Zephyr says, “Every moment you make me stay here, they are alone together.”
I groan before saying, “Okay, I promise.”
Zephyr sets me on my feet and is gone before I gain my balance.
“You’re dripping wet, Evie,” Brownie says, putting her arm around my shoulders.
“What’s going to happen, Brownie?” I ask as she leads me up the grand staircase that seems like something out of a Civil War novel. Buns follows behind us looking a little worried.
“I don’t think Zee will let them go too far,” Brownie says, leading me to her suite of rooms on the second floor. She brings me to her bathroom, turning on the shower.
“How far is not too far?” I ask, refusing to go any further until my question is answered.
“Reed and Russell both know that we need them to fight the Gancanagh. They’re probably just trying to establish dominance…” she trails off, seeing me blush. “They’re male and they both have angel DNA. It was going to happen,” she says, testing the shower to see if it’s warm enough.
“Why is everything so complicated, Brownie?” I ask, closing my eyes and putting my hands over my face.
“Because it is,” she replies. “Take a shower. We’ll bring dinner up here.”
We eat dinner in Brownie’s lavish room. Buns tries to distract me from watching the old pendulum clock on the mantel slowly tick out the seconds. Hours pass and there is no word from the beach. The rain falls steadily outside, bringing with it loud claps of thunder and brilliant displays of lightning.
“I’m not down for flying lessons in this weather. Are you, Brownie?” Buns asks, sipping a cup of tea by the fire, her golden, butterfly-like angel wings resting comfortably behind her as she sits on the chaise lounge.
“Nope…let’s do something fun,” Brownie says, looking at me from her seat on the bed as her copper, butterfly-like wings float gracefully behind her.
Incendiary (The Premonition Series (Volume 4)) Page 3