Incendiary (The Premonition Series (Volume 4)) (96 page)

“Dat’s right, she’s come ta take ye from
me,” he says
coolly.

Reed’s
eye
brows pull
togethe
r abruptly and he leans
toward
s
me in an aggressive posture, spreading his bro
ken wings as wide as
they’ll
go. “I do not wish to b
e parted from you,” Reed replies
with
an air of menace in his tone
while h
is predatory eyes scan
me ruthlessly.

“She is jealous of
whah we share,
a
ingeal
,” Brennus lies
.
Reed growls
at me, low and scary, causing the hair on the back of my neck to rise. “Ye’ll need ta fight her if ye wish ta
stay wi’ me,” Brennus explains
i
n a tone that implies
regret. “Ta p
rove ta da fellas d
at ye should be da one ta remain wi’ us.”

A slow, cruel smile forms
in the corners of Reed’s perfect lips. “I am prepared to fight.”

“I knew
dat ye would be,” Brennus smiles
wickedly. “Ye need bu
t choose a weapon,” he commands
, sweeping his hand toward a wall adorned with evil, hand-to-hand combat weapons.

Reed’s head tilts to one side. H
e scans
the array of wickedness
, searching
for the perfect weapon
with which
to kill me. I stand
perfectly still, continuing to find and draw trickles of energy to me.
But, it
does
n’
t take Reed
long to find what he’
s looking for
,
and moving w
ith surprising speed, he plucks
two short daggers from the wall.

Brennus’ smile deepens
, enjoying h
is game. Turning to me, he asks
, “Which weapon will ye choose?”

I d
o
n’t look toward the
weapons
wall, but lift
my hand, mu
rmuring soft words that strain
to rhyme.

Anger
enters
Brennus’ eyes when t
he front of his suit jacket tears
open as the dull, steel blade of a letter opener he had
hidden
there emerges
from his interior pocket. It comes to me,
striking
the
palm of my hand as if I’
m
a
high-powered magnet.

“There you are,” I say
to it softly.

Uncertainty
enters Brennus’ eyes as he notices
that my hair
is no longer hovering
around me
weightlessly
. His eyes sho
o
t immediately
to
the ga
llery above us. My eyes follow his and I spy
a few familiar faces from th
e dozen or so youthful-looking u
ndines lining the arching
loft.

Safira stands
out among them, her long
,
golden hair falling in waves around her, m
aking her appear every inch the
mermaid
-like creature
that she resembles. But, there a
re subtle differ
e
nces in her appearance from
when I had s
een her last. Now, she has
the dopey façade of one under the thrall of the Gancanagh. Her sister
s
, Marlowe and Kendall
,
do
n’t look much better as they breathe
heavily between their sharky
teeth, trying to wrest the ener
gy that I’ve
stolen from them back again
.

“Your u
ndine
s are growing weak,” I comment
to Brennus. “Maybe you should feed them better.”

Brennus regains
his calm quickly, smili
ng back at me when my hair
float
s
up from my shoulders
, indicating that they’
ve
regained control of me once again
.

“Dere is no need ta
attend ta dem. I do na plan ta be h
ere much longer. Once we’
ve finished here
, I will na need dem.”

“
They’ll be so bummed,” I reply
, letting my eyes fall again on the wicked creatures who
are creating
this
magical
room that separates
us from th
e angels
.
Brennus shrugs
indifferently. “Why not
just
turn me now?” I ask out of curiosity,
toy
ing with the little letter opener
in my hand.
Memories of how I had thrust the tiny blade into Brennus’ foot in my attempt
to escap
e from him in Houghton flicker
in my mind.

“Ye might enjoy
killing
yer
aingeal
after ye’ve
been turned. Dis way, da pleasu
re is all moin,” he says before he caresses
my cheek.

A ghost of a
smile touches my lips when my eyes find what I’ve
been look
ing for in the gallery. The tall, silvery
flash of F
aerie armor, standing
just below the rosette window
, mak
e
s
my heart swell with pride
.

“You should leave this ho
us
e of cards now, Brenn,” I warn
. “Before you’re
rendered irrelevant.”

“Ye’d have
me
miss seeing ye kill d
a
a
ingeal
? I remember how
ye
sorted out Keegan down in da caves.
’
Twas y
er first kill…I would
na dream of
missing dis,
”
he replies
.

“
Maybe he’ll kill me,” I murmur
, trying to buy more time
. “As you said, I’m playing in adagio.
My speed will definitely be a factor. All of my movements are
so much slower
—it’
s like you
’
ve rendered me human again
. Even Reed
has quicker reflexes than me.
”

Brennus’
eyes darken as he warns
, “Do na tink dat I’ll allow ye
ta escape into
a true death…dere will be
suffering should ye try.”

Brennus turns
from me to
Anya who has
n’t moved from the spot where we’d fal
len earlier. Several fellas still hover around her, displaying their fangs to increase her terror. Brennus brushes
by them
, coming
close
r
to her. Fear pours
from Anya;
her eyes lurch
from Brennus to me and then back to Brennus again.

“She is exquisite,
mo chroí
,” Brennus says
to me over his shoulder. “Perhaps I will shar
e her with ye later…” He reaches
out to her then, touching her cheek.

A soft sigh come
s
from
Anya’s lips as she relaxes
in an instant, her eye
s roving over Brennus like he i
s the most
beautiful creature she has ever seen
. Taking
Anya by the hand, Brennus guides
he
r
away from me toward the apse where
an elegant chair
awaits
him.
When Brennus si
t
s
in it
, he positions
Anya to sit at his feet, her head resting lovingly a
gainst his knee while he strokes
her long, dark hair like a favored pet.

Brennus waves
his hand in the air, toward whe
re Reed and I stan
d facing him.
“Ye may begin,” he says
, like a king upon his throne.

The weightlessness that I’ve experie
nced since I entered this plac
e immediately fa
ll
s
away. My ha
ir no longer hovers
, but
lies
plac
idly against my shoulders. I can
suddenly move f
aster than slow motion, which i
s really fortunate be
cause the moment that I realize this, Reed’s dagger slashes
through the air, cutting a long slice in
to
my
arm
.

Feelin
g my skin burn as blood drips
fro
m the edge of his blade, I hear
the room erupt with
click, click, click
as
f
angs engage
. The Gancanagh have
c
aught the scent
.

I grip
the lette
r opener more firmly in my hand as I try
circling
away from Reed while he assesses my every move. He stalks
forward
slowly, mirroring my step
s as if he kno
w
s
what I’
ll do as I do
i
t.
I back
up
and bump
against an invisible wall the u
ndines
have
created to keep me within the sphere of their control.

Mome
ntarily distracted, I’
m
jus
t able to spin away from Reed when
his dagger slashes
toward my neck. It cut
s the air as it misses
me, but
th
e blade in his other hand doesn’
t; it leaves
a small
,
painful cut on my cheek.
Brennus hisses
in anger.
I
ignore him, but Reed doesn’t; he looks
toward Brennus
in question. The distraction i
s j
ust what I’ve
been hoping for.
I reach
my hand out to touch Reed’s
chest.

As my finger’s graze
Reed’s
skin, I whisper
to him
, “Doubt thou the stars are fi
re…” M
y hand glows
as if it’s being
lit from within, drawing some of the poison fr
om Reed’s flesh. Something breaks within my wing, while I see
his
wing
straighten.

Reed stumbles
back from me, break
ing the connection before I can
bond
to him
f
ully
. He’
s stunned, shaking his head, like he’
s shak
ing the cobwebs from it. I move
to
him again, saying softly
, “Doubt
that
the sun doth move…” I rest
my
hand on his shoulder and see
the
bloody
punctur
e wounds marring his skin close
up
and smooth
over
, leaving it
flawless
once again
.

“Doubt truth to be a li
ar…” I fa
ll against Reed
. His arms encircle me, holding me to
his chest. “But never doubt that I love…”
My v
oice falters as blood oozes
from
the opening puncture wounds along my neck
and chest. The strength drains from me as I gaze
up at Ree
d’s perfect green eye
s
.

And
then, I hear
Reed whisper near my ear
,
“
But never doubt that I love…
I love thee best, O mo
st best, believe it,” while c
lutching me tightly to
him
.