Indebted

by Amy A. Bartol

  “Does a bard count?” he asks with a spreading smile.

  “Yeah, that counts,” I nod.

  “Then this should be nothin’ at all,” he replies.

  “Okay,” I say, putting my hands on his where they rest against my hips. “I’ll help you pull some energy to us and then you can try your spell.” I feel him nod behind me so I begin pulling energy to us. When it is burning me I say, “Okay, try it now.”

  Russell’s voice is low and sad as he sings, “Losin’ ya is like the death of the sun And I’m crawlin’ all alone in the dark. If I can’t say a word, not any, not one, Then how do I hold onto yer heart?”

  I lose my grasp on the energy I once held as the emotion of what he just said hits me. I release all of the energy in a rush. Dark, storm clouds immediately turn the sky gray as they boil up over us, blotting out the sun that had shone so brightly only seconds ago; it is almost as if the sun is being eclipsed.

  “Uhh…Red…” Russell breathes in fear and wonder as darkness falls around us, “did we just do that?” he asks.

  “Uh huh,” I breathe, feeling goose bumps forming on my arms and legs.

  “We’re in trouble, aren’t we?” he asks.

  “Uh huh,” I agree.

  “We’re gonna scare the crap out of everyone…even the good angels,” he surmises, beginning to see our problem more clearly.

  “Yes, we are,” I nod. “I’m sorry, Russell…for all of it—everything. We’re so completely toast! I don’t even know what to—who lives like this—why…” I say in a raspy voice as I begin to tremble, looking up at the total darkness overtaking us.

  “Shh…” Russell says, holding me closer. “We’ll figure it out—we’ll stay low for now, and then we’ll figure it out,” he hushes me in my ear and I nod, willing myself to remain calm as fear creeps over me.

  This is no parlor trick. We are a huge threat, Russell and me, and when other beings realize just what we can do…we will have to fight so that they don’t use us like weapons or destroy us because of the fear we will inspire. We just went from “dangerous” to “lethal.”

  “We are really powerful together,” I say, looking up at the sky that is as dark as twilight. “I don’t think I could’ve done this alone.”

  “We’ve always been stronger together,” he says, rubbing my arms and looking around him. “Can ya fix this before we have every evil freak here trying to figure out what’s up?” Russell asks.

  “I don’t know…” I trail off, thinking. “Help me, Russell! Pull as much energy to you as you can.” I say, closing my eyes and concentrating on amassing energy. When it’s burning me inside, I whisper, “Sun, sun, sun, let it come…” Releasing energy, it works instantly, dispelling the dark, ominous clouds, and melting them as points of light shine through.

  Russell’s arms relax a little as he says, “Well, that feels a little bit like stealin’ yer parent’s car keys for a joy ride and endin’ up crashin’ it, huh?”

  I glance over my shoulder at him like he is completely crazy. “We kind of hijacked the sun, Russell,” I say.

  “Yeah, the scale of things is a little harder to deal with than I expected,” he replies.

  “You think?” I ask, looking over my shoulder again.

  “It’s a good thing, Red,” Russell says with assurance. “It’s gonna help us survive. If I could’ve done somethin’ like this when I was with Valentine, then he wouldn’t have…I could’ve—it’s good. We’re gonna keep workin’ on this every day. We’re gonna make it so no one can hurt us again.”

  “There will always be something stronger than me,” I say.

  “Yeah, but maybe not us…maybe together we’ll put the hurt on anythin’ that comes for us,” he says. “We’ve gotta stick together, no matter what.”

  “Yeah,” I whisper, knowing he’s right.

  “Don’t let yer love for him tear us apart,” Russell whispers in my ear. “I need ya.”

  “Russell—” I whisper in anguish.

  “I know what ya feel for him. I felt it…when I was talkin’ with ya…when my clone entered yer body,” he admits as I look straight ahead at the almost infinite expanse of water in front of us. “But…I could hear yer soul, too. Ya love me, too. Just… don’t go away. We need each other—for survival, if nothin’ else.”

  “We have to stick together. I’ve always felt that,” I assure him. “This world is going to try to crush us, Russ.”

  “Well, then…it’s time for us to get defiant, now isn’t it?” he asks me softly, and his words have a magic of their own. I feel reassured, knowing he’ll fight with me.

  Reed’s masculine voice interrupts my thoughts. “Are you finished playing with the lights?” Reed asks in a calm tone, while hovering next to Zephyr above us on the water, their wings causing a breeze to blow on Russell and me.

  “For now,” Russell replies, letting go of me and slipping from my surfboard to his.

  “Which one of you did that?” Zephyr asks with awe in his tone that he can’t hide.

  “It was Russell’s spell, but we did it together. I couldn’t have done that by myself,” I reply, looking at their stunned faces.

  “What do you call that spell, Russell?” Zephyr asks.

  “I call that one a whole can of whoop ass,” Russell replies.

  “Pandora’s box,” Reed says in a gentle tone, looking at us with a serious expression that makes a shiver run through me again.

  “That, too,” I whisper back, my eyes connecting with Reed’s.

  “I think we have got a shot now, Reed,” Zephyr says with a broad smile.

  “I think we are going to win,” Reed counters, like he’s relieved.

  Did he believe it was just a matter of time before something annihilated us? I wonder. It would be just like him to stay to the bitter end of a fight…for me.

  Reed reaches down and plucks me off my surfboard. He hugs me to him and the sky above us begins to lighten.

  Glossary

  A ghra – beloved

  Aingeal – angel

  Aontaigh – unite

  Ceann – head

  Dún do chlab – shut your gob (mouth)

  Gob – mouth

  Ifrit – shapeshifting demons who hunt divine angels

  Iniqui – demons who reside in a the corpses of other beings, especially humans

  Kevev – ogre-like creatures who are incredibly strong and wear

  flesh-like skin over their own gray skin

  Laoch – warrior

  Máistir – master

  Mo chroí – my heart

  Mo shíorghrá – my eternal love

  Nevarache – lizard-like creature with black scales, yellow eyes, and long talon-like claws

  Na – not

  Póg mo thóin – kiss my ass

  Rua – red-haired

  Sclábhaí – slave

  Sin é – That’s it

  Síorghrá – eternal love

  Wans – human women

  Werree – demons who steal body parts of other creatures to wear over their own shadowy figures

  Acknowledgements

  Chapter 22 – Quotes from Joe Lewis

  COMING SOON

  INCENDIARY

  THE PREMONITION SERIES VOLUME 4

  CHAPTER 1

  The Moon

  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 ic
y 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 towards 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 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 towards 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 towards 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. But, he had also enslaved me, keeping me from everyone that I love.

  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. “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. 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, ya 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, ya 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 yer 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.

  Russell holds up his hand. “Just one second, Brennus, ya 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 ya, Red.”