Read Indebted: The Premonition Series Online
Authors: Amy Bartol
“Shall we?” Brennus asks me as the chaos of the fight pushes closer to us.
Adrenaline is coursing through me now because I don’t know which way I should be going, toward the fight or away from it.
Does Reed want me to leave here and get away from the fray or move towards it where he can get to me?
I wonder in confusion.
“Where are the tunnels?” I ask, taking Brennus’ hand and following him down the corridor.
“Dere is one in da kirk—da Knight’s Bar,” he says, smiling at me.
We enter the chapel and walk to the suit of armor located directly beneath one of the rosette, stained glass windows. When the armor is pushed aside, a spiraling staircase appears, leading below. Brennus gives me the after-you gesture. I step into the stairwell as flashes of memory hit me that this is like being in the caves in Houghton with all of its stairways to torture.
Damp, salty air coming from below causes me to pause on the first step to ask, “Does this lead to the sea?”
I don’t hear Brennus’ answer because the roar of a gun’s report along with searing pain blots out his response. A single bullet rips through my thigh, forcing my leg to fold beneath me. Casimir catches me in his open arms before I fall more than a few steps down the dark stairway. I cry out in agony while Casimir whispers in my ear, “It hurts, doesn’t it?”
I brace myself against Casimir’s chest so that I don’t go crashing down the steep, endless staircase that leads to the sea. I have to close my eyes against the bitter pain throbbing in my thigh. The bullet has gone right through it, but it burns like it’s lodged in the muscle. As I breathe shallowly, tears cloud my eyes and I grit my teeth, trying not to faint.
Casimir’s voice is cold as he says, “That was a warning, half-breed. What you do unto me, I will do unto you—twofold.” Casimir fires his gun again and shoots my other thigh at point blank range.
I almost lose the ability to breathe as he clutches me to him. I can no longer stand on my own and the pain is unreal. Turning me around, so that I’m shielding him, he pulls me the few steps to the top of the stairwell, entering the Knight’s Bar.
Casimir drags me just beyond the stairwell. His entourage files in behind us, taking up positions within the room. At least fifteen angels are with him; they are all covered from head to foot in body armor to protect them from the touch of the Gancanagh. They, too, must’ve been away from Sheol for a while because their odor is not very pungent; otherwise, I would have smelled them before I saw them. Training their weapons on the Gancanagh, the angels outnumber them in the room.
Brennus, who is also bleeding from both of his thighs as I am, is still standing on his own. Fierce pain enters Brennus’ eyes when he sees me, pale and broken, in Casimir’s arms. I gaze back at Brennus, knowing that there is nothing that he can do now to stop what is about to happen.
Casimir directs his comment to Brennus, saying, “I admire your lair. It is just like a labyrinth down there with tunnels and caves that lead from the sea. You should know, just for future reference, that it is not very difficult to get in here when one has the ability to fly.”
“I will remember dat for next time, Casimir,” Brennus says slowly.
Casimir, sounding bored, states, “You know what I want. Release her from the contract or you both die.”
The fellas in the room begin hissing menacingly at Casimir, but he ignores them. Brennus holds up his hand, indicating that he doesn’t want them to try to attack.
“Dere are worse tings den a true death, Casimir,” Brennus replies, hiding the pain in his eyes.
“Yes, there are and I know them all,” Casimir agrees, before kissing the top of my head gently and smoothing my hair. “Give her to me and I will not have to show any of them to you.”
“’Tis really na me decision ta make,” Brennus replies, watching my face.
“Excuse me?” Casimir asks, sounding surprised instead of bored.
“’Tis her decision,” Brennus replies, staring into my eyes and seeing my confusion.
“You will let her decide your fate?” he asks Brennus, like he doesn’t completely understand what is being said. “You are willing to die for her?”
“I am, but I am already dead…’twill jus be da end of me,” Brennus replies, never taking his eyes off of me. “If she decides she is na going wi’ ye, den she is na going wi’ ye, no matter whah ye do.”
My lower lip trembles as tears escape my eyes. I begin to understand what Brennus is saying to Casimir. If I decide that dying here is the better option to being Casimir’s slave, then Brennus won’t break the contract, forcing Casimir to kill us both. He will effectively be dying with me—for me, so I won’t have to be a slave.
“You
are
powerful,” Casimir breathes in my ear, before he speaks louder. “You do realize, Brennus, that whereas she will undoubtedly be back in one form or another, you will not.”
“I know dat better dan ye do,” he replies, unaffected by the information. “’Twill na matter. I know ye intend ta end me before ye leave. Ye canna leave me here since ye know dat I will never stop hunting ye. I’ll use all of me influence ta find ye and break ye ta pieces. Ye canna have dat, can ye?” he asks rhetorically.
“You paint me in such a sinister form,” Casimir replies, sounding bored again. “All I want is the half-breed. You do not have to make this an epic battle. She was never yours. She has always been ours.”
“She’s moin,” Brennus retorts angrily.
“I could just take her…torture her and subsequently you at my leisure anyway…” Casimir says. He produces a knife and holds it to my throat, pulling it down slowly so that it cuts a thin, shallow line in my skin. I clamp my lips together, trying not to make a sound. “But, then I won’t be able to hear her cry and that will take all of the fun out of it. With the contract still in play, she won’t respond at all.”
When his hand passes in front of my face, I notice burn marks on them that are healing. He must not have enjoyed the fire I threw at him earlier through the portal. My body stills as I realize what that means.
My magic works on him
, I surmise, feeling my pulse kick up.
“Declan, if he tries ta leave wi’ yer queen before we resolve dis issue, ye make sure I’m ended. We canna have him torturing her,” he says, looking at me.
Declan, looking grim, chokes, “I will,” knowing he will be killing both of us if that happens. Gazing at me, Declan says, “Lass, I figured it out. ’Tis both, lass…’tis both.”
It takes me a second to realize what he’s saying to me. He once said he didn’t know if it was courage or naiveté that made me do all the brave and foolish things that I do. I guess he decided that it’s both.
Casimir hands me over to the angel next to him and puts his knife back in its sheath. “So, I will need to convince Genevieve that it is in everyone’s best interest that she leaves with me quietly?” Casimir asks, looking up at the ceiling calmly, like he is contemplating nothing more than the architecture of the room. “That shouldn’t prove to be too difficult a task, knowing her soft heart.”
In a heartbeat, Casimir draws out his gun and points it at Finn. Pulling the trigger several times, he sends bullets into Finn’s chest. Finn steps back, grimacing, but he doesn’t fall down, which attests to the fact that he is really freaking strong and already mostly dead. Brennus manages to remain standing, too, looking even whiter than he did before.
“The next round goes in his head, half-breed,” Casimir says to me insultingly, while sliding another magazine into his gun. I close my eyes against the sight of Finn’s blood trickling from him.
“I want you to break the contract, Brennus,” I whisper.
When I open my eyes, I see pain contort Brennus’ face as his eyes shift from his brother to me. Brennus knows what I’m doing. I’m agreeing to be Casimir’s slave so he will spare Finn.
“Your feelings for these creatures is appalling, Genevieve,” Casimir says with a grim look, like he finds me unsavory. “I should kill them all to teach you another lesson about being loyal to the wrong ascendency, but the stench in here just makes me want to leave as soon as possible. Brennus, she has made her decision, now unshackle her.”
“Is dat yer decision?” Brennus asks me for clarification.
My eyes cloud with tears of fear, knowing what this will mean for me. It will be brutal. Casimir wants revenge and he has eternity to see that it’s done to his satisfaction. I swallow hard, nodding my head to Brennus.
“Den I will release ye. I love ye,
mo chroí
, forever,” Brennus says, like I’m the only one in the room as his hands form fists.
With tears on my cheeks, I whisper back, “Goodbye, Brennus.”
Casimir growls. “From now on, you will speak only to me,” he says, pulling me back into his grasp and shaking me roughly.
Brennus and all of the other fellas in the room begin hissing menacingly. I think Brennus would attack Casimir if Finn had not grasped his arm to hold him back. Finn scowls at Brennus, “She has a chance ta survive dis, Brenn. Give her dat chance.”
Pain, like I’ve never seen from him before, crosses Brennus’ face as he stills. He wipes his hand over his mouth and settles down a little. Then, staring into my eyes again, he begins pulling the energy in the room to him and whispering words I don’t understand. I am not really listening to what he’s saying, because I’m concentrating on stealing the energy from Brennus as he gathers it to him. My hope is that Casimir won’t know what I’m doing—that if he can feel the energy in the room, he attributes it to Brennus.
Brennus shoots me a funny look as he feels me taking his energy. With the air crackling around us, something within me shifts and eases, like a heavy weight is leaving my body and I know that I’m no longer bound to Brennus or the Gancanagh.
I continue to take the energy, feeling it burning me inside. “Do you like poetry, Casimir?” I ask in a panting breath, holding as much energy as I can.
“Excuse me?” Casimir asks in elegant disdain.
“I’m creating something just for you…here, it goes like this: ‘I wish I were like the sea To pull you down, Drown you within me. Breathe wet fire, Feel your fear, Kill you slowly, Shed no tear. I’ll call the ocean from its path, To sweep you wildly within its wrath.” My voice strains before I release all the energy I have collected at once. I feel it ripple in a tremoring shock through the castle.
“What did you just do?” Casimir growls, holding on to my arm with brutal force.
A rumble beneath the floor saves me from having to answer him, while salt water roars up the stairs behind us, spewing like a water cannon. It knocks me away from Casimir as the room floods with a tidal wave of white water from the sea. In the next moment, I slip beneath the eddy. As I hold my breath, I tumble in the wildly, churning current. I bump into chairs and tables as they spin beneath the water in a chaotic mess of medieval armor, fellas, angels, and other debris.
When I brush up against the rosette, stained glass window, I press flat against it. Pounding my fist on its colorful glass, my lungs burn from lack of oxygen as I feel the panes shatter beneath my hands. I spill out the window of the Knight’s Bar, like a tealeaf being poured from a teapot, and I land hard on the ground below me. Water continues to stream from the window while I struggle to crawl away from it.
All around me, another battle is taking place. Angels, fellas, and creatures I have never seen before, are hacking at each other, locked in combat. It’s total chaos as mortar shells shake the ground, spewing dirt and body parts into the air. A pair of dress shoes stop in front of me. Glancing upward, I lose my breath, seeing a human-like figure dressed in the suit he was probably buried in standing over me. Milky-white eyes, formed by a film of cataracts, stare down at me. “Inikwi,” I shiver, gazing around to see that several of them are surrounding me.
The Inikwi speak to each other in deep, gargled voices, like their throats are filled with water.
A groan is wrenched from me and I shudder as a creepy, half-dead thing reaches down and pulls me up off the ground by the front of my shirt.
Creases form in the black mold on the corners of its mouth as its gray tongue snakes out of it to lick my cheek. My stomach clenches along with my jaw as I cringe away from it, trying to turn my face. As I dangle in his grasp, I hear Casimir’s distinct voice behind me speaking the gargling language of the Inikwi.
“I should let them play with you, half-breed. Maybe I will later,” Casimir says, watching me squirm to get away from the utterly wrong thing that is holding me.
“You didn’t enjoy the swim?” I ask Casimir. He looks a little more disdainful than normal. But, wet and dripping, he still manages to appear even more beautiful than usual—like a young surfer coming out of the water in his wetsuit.
Before I see Casimir’s fist move, he punches me in the stomach, causing most of the air to expel from my body. Gasping for breath, I feel myself being handed to Casimir’s waiting arms. “What? Nothing more to say?” Casimir asks, snuggling me close to his body. A handful of angels from Casimir’s entourage fall from the rosette window, looking equally as annoyed as he does. Casimir barks orders to them, “Find the leader of the Gancanagh. I want him. Exterminate the rest, except for maybe the brother—I will torture him in front of Brennus…that could be interesting.”
I shiver, hearing his plans for Brennus and Finn. The angels nod to Casimir before nervously gazing up at the rosette window of the kirk, probably wondering how they are going to accomplish that task with so few of them remaining.
Casimir doesn’t wait to see if they will comply, but turns with me in his arms and moves supernaturally fast towards the building that houses all of the vehicles. I rest my head on his shoulder, feeling painfully intimidated. When we enter the garage, Casimir chooses the car that looks the most like a race-car with doors that open up instead of out. The keys are in it. I guess the Gancanagh never really believe anyone will be dumb enough to try to steal from them. Opening the driver side door, Casimir reaches in and places me in the passenger seat. Then he gets into the car and starts the engine. He turns to me and takes the gun out of the holster on my side, tossing it out his window. Reaching over, he buckles my seatbelt for me.