Incendiary (The Premonition Series (Volume 4)) (62 page)

“Yes…hard,” I reply
in a shallow voice.

“How do you say
:
to
give up something valued to you—
something without compare in worth to
do what is right?” she asks
.

“Sacrifice,” I say
softly.

“Very hard sacrifice for
her,” Anya murmurs
, “and for him, too.” She
li
fts
her chin in the dire
ction of the doors where Tau has
just entered.
“She
said she
died in his arms.”

Rising from my seat on the floor
, I see Reed greet Tau while I ru
n my hands over my jeans to straighten them.
Russell gets up
too, holding Anya at his sid
e as Tau and Reed walk
casually o
ver to greet us. After Tau nods in acknowledgement of Russell, he speaks
a few wo
rds to Anya in Angel. She smiles, and nods
, looking a little awe-st
ruck at being in his presence.

Turning
to me, Tau asks
, “Are you ready?”

“Uh
, yeah,” I say
shyly, feeling color flood my cheeks
as my eyes nervously shift
to Reed’s. “I’ll come find you when we’re finished.”

“I’ll be waiting,” he says
with a smile.
He steps forward and hugs
me
, while whispering in my ear, “Relax.”

“
Trying,” I whisper
back
before letting him go.

“Shall we?” Tau asks, and when I nod
, he le
a
d
s
me to the doors of the library.

Dinner

“
Where are we going?” I ask
Tau
, following
next to him
as he turns
toward the East corridor.
Things are beginning
to become unfamiliar
to me because I was never
allowed in this part of the estate
when Brennus was in charge
.

Tau slows as we co
me upon black
-
lacquer
ed
doors
, each design
ed
with
ornate
scrollwork etched into t
he veneer. Massive, gold door knockers in the shape of fangs ha
ng grotesquely in the center of each door.

“Should we knock?” I ask
, raising my brow.

“That
won’t be necessary,” Tau smiles as he pushes
the doors open.

Ges
turing for me to enter, I walk
in front of Tau
across the black, polish
ed hardwood floor. A beautiful
,
round table
, set for the two of us,
is
in the center of the room beneath a black ch
andelier. Gilded, C
eltic infinity knots embellish
the cathedral ceiling.
Soft pools of light
fa
ll upon the crisp,
white table
c
loth, while elegant bone
china
,
edged in black and gold
, compli
ment
the centerpiece of dark
red roses
.

Tau p
ulls
out one of the large, red-
velvet covered chairs for me
to sit in. My fingertips brush
over the golden nail heads that
secure
the fabric
as I sit and glance
around the room.
A sophisticated, black wi
ne rac
k encompasses
the entire w
all behind the stylish bar.

“Are you hungry, Evie?
” Tau asks me after he takes
his seat across the table.

“Yes,” I manage
to say with a nod,
while
picking up my napkin and placing it in my lap.

“I am as well
,” Tau smiles
and l
ooks
over my shoulder at the angel that just entered the room from the door
behind the bar. “Ah,
Aldo.”

As Aldo co
me
s
a
breast of the table, I stiffen
when a buzz, the rapid flutter of his paper-like dragonfly wings, vibra
tes
with the intensity of a
mechanized
saw.
The eerie sound causes
adrenaline
to intoxicate
my muscles, while my wings tear
out of my back
with a snap
.

Freddie!
I think as a sick dread invades
my mind.

Without thought, I grasp
my
dinner
knife, spinning out of my chair
at a dizzying speed to press
the
sharp
point
to
Aldo’s throat
from behind him
.
His wings buzz
again, making me almost insane
with a need to tear them from
him.

“On your knees,” I
order
between my teeth near the Reaper’s
ear. He complies immediately
by
kneeling
in supplication.
“What do you want?” I ask
him, pressing the knife deeper
to his neck
, but I haven’
t cut him yet
.

“I’ve come to meet you and to discern what I
can prepare for you…” he
trails
off
.

My gaze shifts
to
Tau’s as my breathing continues
at a steady pace. I’m in control here, not the Reaper. I can rip his head from his body if I need to with just a flick of my knife.

Tau’s eyes narrow as if reading my mind.
“Evie, put down the knife,”
he murmurs
in a calm tone. Then
,
he speaks
i
n Angel
to Aldo
.

“Who
is he?” I ask
Tau
suspiciously
, not complying with his order.

“He’s a Reaper,” Tau
says
with a blank expression. “H
e’s one of
the
best chefs I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting, but now, I doubt if he’ll ser
ve
us anything but burnt toast. P
ut the knife away before Aldo
gets the impression that we don’t like him.”

My eyes ru
n o
ver his iridescent wings that a
re not the blue-green color of Freddie’s
, but an intricate blending of purple and fuchsia
. Immediately, the blood drains
from my
face. Dropping the knife, it fa
ll
s
to the floor with a loud clatter.

I step away
from Aldo.
“I’m…sorry
. Your wings—
they re
minded me of someone…” I utter
in
a
distant voice, horrified by what I just did to him.

Tau ri
se
s
from his chair,
coming to me and pulling me
against the soft fabric of his pressed shirt. Hiding my fa
ce against his chest, I listen while he speaks
to Aldo in Angel.
Aldo ri
se
s
from his knees and walks
quietly to the door behind the bar, leaving us alone
.

Tau strokes
the feathers of my wings lightly.
“You have impressive speed,”
he
says
with a squeeze, before pulling m
e away from him so that he can
see my face.

I avoid his eyes when I mutter
, “Thanks,”
allowing him to guide me back to my seat.
Locating my napkin, he hands
it back to me.

When he takes
hi
s seat acros
s from me again, he
pours from an elegant carafe
,
filling my
g
lass goblet
.
When I sip it, it tastes
like grape juice.

“I would love some
thing a little stronger,” I say, nodding to
my glass.

“
Unfortunately, this wine rack lacks its n
amesake. It’s filled with blood—
h
uman and…other,” he says
with a frown.
I study
the wine rack that encompasses
the entire w
all. The selection of bottles i
s enormous.

Sitti
ng back in his chair, he watches me while I sip
my juice. “You
surprised me just now,” he admits
.

“Really?
You didn’t expect
me to attack the chef?” I ask
with sarcasm,
before
setting my goblet on the table and feeling embarrassed. “W
ell then, w
elcome to my world:
where the unexpected becomes the norm.”

“Why did you attack him
?” he asks
. “I perceived no threat.”

“You wouldn’t,
right?” I ask
rhetori
cally.
“H
e’s just a Reaper to you. But, if you were ever human, you
’d know that Reapers are strong—
brutally strong.”

His eyes narrow.
“You wi
ll have to explain to me what you mean. Does this have something to do with the Reaper that made a deal with the Gancanagh in exch
ange for your soul?” he asks
.

“
His name was Freddie—
A
lfred Standish,” I reply
, an
d something like recognition shi
ne
s
in his eyes
. “I met him at Cre
stwood and I thought…I thought h
e was a human, l
ike me,” I explain
, while raising my gray eyes to his.

“But,
you’
re no
t just human, are you?” he asks
, seeing my point.

“No, a
nd he knew that, too,” I reply
.

“So he stalked you,” he prompts
me to continue.

“Stalked me…beside
s
Russell, he was my best friend
. I told him everything,” I say
, hearing A
ldo approaching us again. He places
a basket of rolls directly in front
of Tau and his stiff wings seem somehow stiffer as he refuses
to look at me.

“Allow me to
order for you, Evie,” Tau states, and I nod
.

When Tau finishes, Aldo turns
to go back into the kitchen.
I stop him before he walks
past me by putting my hand on his arm.

“Aldo,” I say
softly, meeting his lovely brown eyes. “Please acce
pt my apology for
attacking you. I
was frightened by your
wings and I reacted in a way that I truly regret.”

Aldo
’s
eyes go
fr
om my hand on his sleeve to my face
.
The soft lighting from above gi
ve
s
his dark-brown ha
ir a golden glow as a smile inches
to the corners of his lips.

“You think my wings are frightening?
” h
e asks
with a smile.

“Very sc
ary,” I admit
with a serious nod, unable to discern any other similarities in him to Freddie. He’s much taller than Freddie had been. Freddie had been shorter than me with blue eyes and blond hair.

Aldo puffs up then, like I have
just given him a compliment. “I can put the
m away if it will help,” he says
.