Incendiary (The Premonition Series (Volume 4)) (67 page)

“A
re you worried for m
e?”
Tau asks
, sound
ing
amused.

“Why is that funny?” I furl my brow
,
while gestu
ring to him with a frown to come back
.

“I do
n’t know, it just is,” he smiles
, coming closer
to me, but
stopping just inside the room
. “You were saying it wo
uld be enticing if…” he prompts
.

“If it didn’t
also
fee
l like this room was made for only one type of species: Gancanagh
,” I explain
.

“Ahh
,
depauperate
,” he says
, his eyes lifting toward
s
the rosette window
s
.

“
Uhh…yeah, that…l
et me put it to you another way
.
E
verything I see
inside
it
beckons
me
in—
I’m almost dazzled by the
elegant
details—i
ts ethereal glow
. But, it i
nstinctually freaks me out
, too
.
”

“I see,” he says
thoughtfully.

“You do?” I counter
.

“Yes,” he nods, “you a
re attracted to t
he magical mimicry and repulsed
by it.”

“It’s more than that,” I admit
.
“This room is drawing low
level
energy
to it
like dead meat attracts flies.”

“
Low
energy
?
”
he asks.

My forehead wrinkle
s as I try to think. “
Umm, that’
s hard to explain. Low energy feel
s
cold and it acts cold. It’
s slower and it feels more solid—like ice. Higher energy burns and is quick like water slipping over the falls.
”

“
The
room is filled with low energy?”
Tau asks.

“
Yeah, but t
he problem with the magic in this room is that it
’
s not holding still to disguise its contours from me
—i
t
’s
almost fluid
…watery.
It’
s acting like high energy
.
”

“Maybe Brennus
doesn’t know how sensitive you a
re becoming to his magic
,” Tau says
. “He may have thought the room wou
ld charm you enough so that you woul
d walk in here
…and once in here, it could trap you or harm you.
”

“Maybe…or maybe it’s the opposite
, a
d
eception to serve
as a disguise. You’re a stealth-hunter, so you don’t usually require camouflage. But, what if…what if he planned for me to notice
its confusing
energy
?” I ask
with a raise of my eyebrow. “What if he doesn’t want me in this room?” I
near
the threshold.

Tau stands
in my way, “Confound the adversary
in
to enter
ing
,” h
e says
softly, not letting me walk around
him into the room.
“It is nothing like
you described, Evie. It’s dark—
the only light in it is shed from the stars through the sha
ttered windows.”

A shiver passes
over my skin, while th
e empty shape
in my heart s
eems
to grow bigger.
“What if his plan is to be counterintuitive?”

I wa
nt
t
hat to be true. Suddenly, I feel
a bittersweet urge to go in, to
see if it’
s different from the
nightmares
I’ve had about it since my escape
.
I inch
closer
as the hazy
fabric of magic dances and waves
.
The
effect i
s hypnotic, making me feel languid.

“What?” I ask
the murmur of secretive voices coming
from the room. “Yes, I hear you…why have
you
been waiting so long
?
”

“Evie
,
” Tau says
, standing directly in front of me and
blocking my way with
his tall frame. Slowly, I crane
my neck to see his face. “No one’s there.
To whom are you speaking?
”

“The one
true lover
…
he has a
hundred
kisses
for me,
” I
say
softly
as my breath comes from me in cold swirls
.

Instantly, Tau
closes
the doors
and then
ta
k
es
my elbow and
mak
e
s
me walk with him to
one of the suits of armor. Pulling the lance from it
s grasp
, he
let
s
go of me
an
d walks
back to the doors, t
hrust
ing
the lance
through
the
handles and
essentially barr
i
n
g
them
.

With
the
doors closed, I fi
nd it easier to think. “W
ow, that was a trip,” I say
under my breath.

Pointing his fin
ger at me with a f
rown, Tau says adamantly, “You’
re not allowed in there.”

“Yeah…okay,” I agree
in confusion, feeling muddled.

“You’
re not allowed in this
corridor eithe
r,” he orders
, “a
nd I want no less than two bodyguards with you at all times.”

“Bodyguards?” I groan
, finding it hard to think. “I hate bodyguards.”

“You’
ll adjust,” he says
, glancing at the doors grimly.
“Their magic is
rampant in this house and you’
re susceptible to it.”

S
canning his face, I see
he’s bothered by my vulnerability. “Don’t worry, they’re susceptible to mine, too.”

“Don
’t worry, she says,” Tau replies
exasperatedly
, looking toward the ceiling like he’s talking to Heaven.
Frowning at me,
he continues
, “You were just speaking to the magic in that room.”

“
Weird, huh?
It’s
even stranger when you hear
it
speak back,” I reply
with a grim smile.

“What did it say?” he asks, looking like he i
s gearing up for an interrogation.

My cheek
s burn while I straighten and shrug
, “It asked me to look upon the room with lover’s eyes…to see the aesthetics as a
reflection of what will become mine if I just take the steps to seize it…something like that.”

“You’
re aware that it’
s merely a
beau
tiful theatre?” he asks
tensely.

“It’s
more like a peep-show,” I reply
.
“The Gancanagh aren
’t sentimental—
they’re sensual and mercurial.”

“This estate is strong—
contradictory. You cannot become
compl
acent
here,” he cautions
me.

I want
to roll my eyes. Havin
g lived here with the killers gi
ve
s
me
some insight as to what I can
expect.
“I’m aware
it’s not the setting that the postcard makes it out to be. And, may I add
,
that the lance you used to bar the door isn’t
going to keep anyone from gettin
g out of th
ere,” I point
out
.

“It’s
not a lance, it’s
a type of
polearm called a
bardiche
, not to be confused with a halberd
—
t
hat resembles
an axe-head.
I had
meant
the bardiche
more as a warning
to angels not to enter,” he states
.

“Oh
,
well
, it’s very subtle—
you’re message
,” I say
for clarity
, before pulling energy to me and then releasing it in
the direction of
th
e hollow armor
enshrin
ed in their alcoves
beside the doors.

The loud screech of metal rubbing against metal s
ounds as the armor animates
;
the knees
of the dull
iron
bend
outward.
The
n, h
eavy boots
clamor
against the floor when
the ancient warriors
both
jump
down from their stone niches
. Straightening up, they march
forward, much
like the guard
s of Buckingham Palace, to block the doors and serve
as a deterrent to anyone plan
ning to investigate this room.

I glance
at Tau to gauge his reaction
to what I’
ve
just done
and see
his eyebrow
arch. “What, too much?” I ask
innocently
, as both my eyebrows ri
se
, too
.
He shrugs
,
while
leading me away
from the doors
with his arm linked to mine
.
“You didn’t think that was
stellar?” I as
k
i
n
an
attempt at playfulness
. “I made them march
—
”

“I know, I saw them
,” he says
with as close to an eye-
roll as I’
ve ever seen from him
, but I also see
the
suppressed smile i
n the corners of his lips.
“Your
soldiers
seemed a little innoc
uous,” he states, and then he grins
when he sees
my eyes narrow.

“But, it’s hard for you to judge as a casu
al observer, right?” I ask
, knowing he’s teasing me.
“No, no, don’
t answer that,” I advise
, seeing the gleam in his eye.

As we walk
farther down the West C
orridor, I fi
nd it harder and harder to breathe,
let alone
trade insults
with Tau.
Memories of Eion dragging Lachlan from the attacking Werree destroy
any pleasant feelings that my sanctuary used to evoke.
Passing through the doors carved
with angel wings, I pause
when
Tau stops
just inside
. His expression, usually so sedate, now appears rattled, like he hadn’t expected this.

The
furniture from the hou
se that I grew up in
with Uncle Jim
i
s still
here, largely untouched. Buns and Brownie had helped Zee, Reed, and Russell pilfer the room of many of my pictures and sentiment
al
items from my childhood. They had also taken the
portrait that Mr. MacKinn
on had pa
inted of me, too
.
But some things still remain:
things that Tau clearly recognizes.
M
y focus is not on the distant past. It’
s centered on the mantle. The crystal box is still h
ere, gracing the space just above the grate.