Indebted: The Premonition Series (47 page)

“We’re giving Dominion the slip?” I ask.

“For now, Evie,” Reed says. “We trust a few of them, Preben, Sorin, Elan, but Dominion really wants Russell. We have been able to stall them, mainly due to Preben’s help, but we need some leverage. We can gain that if they don’t know where he is. We can make them negotiate with us and agree to terms, so they don’t just seize him as their weapon.”

I begin to shake my head slowly, trying to process this new information. “Dominion wants to make sure the Fallen don’t get their hands on Russell and he doesn’t have anyone to bind to him to stop them,” I murmur, seeing that both Brownie and Buns don’t have the rank to stand up to Dominion. Reapers don’t have the clout to trump a legion of Powers.

“Sorry, love, I’m already bound to someone, so we have to protect him this way instead,” Reed replies, giving me a cheeky smile.

Leaning over, Buns kisses my forehead before getting up from the bed. “We have so much to tell you, but you need to get some sleep first.”

“I don’t want to sleep, Buns,” I reply, holding on to her hand.

“You need to heal and you can’t do that if you don’t rest. Plus, the Powers will try to wring every last detail out of you about the Gancanagh and the Fallen. They want to know how your plan went with Casimir,” Buns says, not knowing that it failed miserably as the bullet holes in my thighs signify. “Its all Zee could talk about…” she trails off when I feel myself grow paler.

“Great,” I murmur, not looking forward to briefing them on anything that has happened in the last few months.
Anything
.

“We will let you know as soon as they get here,” Buns says, moving to the bedroom door.

“Thank you,” Reed says, but I’m still numb from what they just said.

“We will talk later, Evie,” Brownie says in a low voice, squeezing my foot gently before following Buns out of the room towards the beach.

The breeze that enters as they leave feels so light. It lacks the kind of sweetness that, although not offensive to me anymore, was definitely a hallmark of living with the Gancanagh. I close my eyes and inhale deeply. The bed moves as Reed leans against the pillows next to mine. I turn towards him and rest my head on his shoulder, snuggling into his side. His scent is even better than the scent of the tropical plants carried on the wind.

“I’ve spent so many days wanting this, Reed,” I murmur, staring at his eyes that are trained on my face. “To be in the same bed with you and able to respond…but I’m almost afraid that this isn’t real.”

“It has to be real because I can finally breathe,” Reed says in a soft tone, reaching out and touching my hair.

“How did you find me?” I ask, searching his face.

“You mean today? In the car?” he asks. Seeing me nod, he says, “I felt you. The butterflies led me to you. You didn’t feel them?” he asks, his green eyes looking concerned.

“I…” I pause, not wanting to tell Reed anything about what happened at Brennus’ estate because I don’t want to see the dark pain in his eyes when he hears it. I shake my head no and look away.

“Don’t do that,” Reed says with a grimace, lifting my chin gently and looking in my eyes again. “Don’t hide things from me. There has been so much that has happened to you that I don’t know about. There are broken pieces of you that I can’t see and I need to know.” Reluctantly I look into his eyes again. “Why didn’t you feel me?” he asks gently.

“He…hit me,” I admit in a low tone, biting my lip so I won’t cry and willing the tears not to come to my eyes.

I try to look down again, feeling all of these fierce emotions swirling around in me: guilt, rage, pain, fear, and intense hurt. Reed leans his face near mine trying to keep eye contact with me.

“Who hit you? Casimir?” he asks, his voice is calm enough, but his eyes can’t hide his pain from me.

I nod again.

“Where did he hit you?” he asks, scanning my body.

My throat feels tight, so I take his hand and place it on my abdomen.

“Here?” he breathes, his hand lightly skimming my middle. “Does it still hurt?” he asks as his brows rise a little in question.

He inches my shirt up gently, exposing a large, yellowish bruise left behind by Casimir’s fist. I shrug, not knowing how to answer because it isn’t like getting shot or magically stabbed—it hurts a lot less, but it’s more…personal. Being hit with a fist is…intimate.

“Can you teach me how to protect myself on the inside when it’s impossible to protect myself on the outside?” I whisper, trying to keep the tightness from my tone.

“Evie,” Reed groans in pain. He leans over, his perfect lips kissing my bruised abdomen gently. “I don’t want you to have to learn how to feel nothing when someone is hurting you. I will show no mercy to anyone who tries to hurt you again.”

“I’m sorry, Reed,” I whisper, feeling sorrow for causing him so much pain.

I thread my fingers through his hair, feeling the poignancy within the sensual kisses he’s raining gently on my sensitive skin.

His body stills and I can feel his breath tickling my skin and causing a shiver of pleasure to rush through me. “For what?’ he asks in a low tone.

“I’m sorry for…for not telling you what I was going to do…” I trail off. I can’t apologize for going. I had to go, but I should’ve told him everything before I went. He shouldn’t have had to hear it from Phaedrus.

His hands tighten again as he rests his cheek against my abdomen. “I would never have let you do it,” he says honestly.

“I know,” I whisper, my voice straining.

“I have never had to…” he trails off.

“You have never had to what?” I ask, looking up at the ceiling fan slowly turning above us.

“I have never had to fight so hard to take a breath. When I found out what happened…that Brennus had you and the circumstances of the contract…” he trails off again, sounding hollow.

I close my eyes, feeling tears slip from the corner of them. “I’m sorry,” I say again, feeling the misery of that moment through his eyes.

“I did not intend for you to conclude that the only option open to save Brownie and Russell was for you to go in there alone,” his tone is tight, filled with self-accusation. “Not only did you feel you could not tell me, I made it so that you had to face a monster with nothing more than your clever mind.”

“You act like you stranded me there. It was what I had to do—it was my mission. I had to go before it was too late,” I explain with desperation in my voice.

“I nearly lost you…so many times,” Reed says with his body tensing. “I had moments when I was sure that there would be no way you could survive what was happening to you.”

“You were with me—in my blood. I will always fight to be with you,” I whisper.

“I don’t know if I can change, Evie. I’ll always need to do whatever I think is best to protect you,” he admits, lifting his head from my abdomen and looking at me grimly.

“Okay,” I say in a low tone, touching his cheek with my fingers. “I can live with that.”

“What?” he asks, his expression softening a little.

“I’ll take you as you are. All I care about is being with you. I need you,” I say, leaning forward and brushing my lips against his cheek. “I want you,” I whisper, moving my lips to his other cheek and pressing them to it. “Only you,” I breathe, kissing his lips tenderly. “Reed,” I whisper, feeling his lips moving over mine, making me want him despite the pain I’m in.

“Evie,” he says my name like a prayer, pulling me closer to him. He lies back against the pillows, letting my head rest on his shoulder.

“I don’t want to close my eyes,” I admit, snuggling against Reed’s side, trying hard not to let the warmth of his body lull me.

“Shh, I’ve got you, my angel,” he whispers, gently stroking my hair as he speaks in Angel, lulling me to sleep with his soft voice that is like a caress.

When I awaken, my eyes adjust to the almost total darkness of the room. Lying on my stomach, I grasp my neck and rub it because it’s sore from sleeping in one position for hours. As I sit up in bed, the sheet slips down and I realize that I’m no longer dressed in the clothes I had on before. I’m wearing a large, white t-shirt that definitely belongs to Reed because it smells like him.

Looking around, everything is so quiet. The only sound is the water lapping gently against the beach outside. I rise from the bed and cautiously move to the hallway. There is a glow from the dim lighting in the small kitchen of the bungalow, but it’s empty.

A shiver passes through me because it feels very strange to be alone here. Bodyguards and fellas have surrounded me for months. Even when I was in my room at Brennus’ estate, I never truly felt alone.

Something must be wrong,
I think, moving stealthily to the front of the villa.

The front doors are wide open, allowing me to scan the beach for threats. I don’t find any, but I find Reed alone on the sandy edge of the water. He looks completely human, lying on his back in the sand and gazing up at the night sky with his arms crossed behind his head. I smile seeing his sexy body only covered by a pair of loose fitting, cargo shorts.

I move soundlessly towards him and he doesn’t make a sound either as I near him. I drop to my hands and knees and crawl the last few feet to him, obscuring his view of the sky by covering his lips with mine. I feel him tense for a moment before he relaxes, kissing me deeply.

In a second, I am flat on my back, looking up at Reed’s eyes that smolder with a dark passion I haven’t seen for months.

“Hi,” I breathe, seeing the predatory glint as his eyes rove over my t-shirt clad body as it hitches up daringly on my thighs.

“You’re awake,” he says against my neck while he nuzzles my ear.

In the next second, I hear a tearing sound as my wings shoot out of my back causing my eyes to grow wider, knowing that if I move, I will be completely naked. My wings stretch out beneath me, like they have a mind of their own.

Reed lifts his head from me, watching my wings move and stretch. In the next instant, his wings answer mine, shooting from his back, blocking out the night sky as they elegantly flank him.

“My wings just told you something, didn’t they?” I ask, seeing his satisfied expression.

“Yes,” Reed answers, looking elated.

“What did they say?” I inquire, feeling my cheeks flush with color, knowing this is going to be a little embarrassing.

“You find me sexy,” Reed says, and it’s painfully obvious he is enjoying every second of this.

“Is that all?” I ask, feeling my face flush more as he shakes his head slowly, a sultry heat building in his eyes. His eyes skim my body slowly, causing the flush from my face to run the length of me.

“They also said, ‘I will fight anyone who keeps me from having you,’” he breathes, his finger tracing the collar of my t-shirt.

“Oh,” I exhale as Reed’s finger moves the torn collar lower, trailing a line to my heart. “Is that it?” I ask.

“Not exactly,” he smiles possessively, when he sees the mark of his wings on my heart.

“There’s more?” I wonder aloud, captivated by his sweet expression.

“Uh huh,” he murmurs, pressing his lips to my flushed skin above my heart, kissing the symbol of our union.

My back arches a little, responding to his touch. “They are chatty tonight,” I whisper back, biting my bottom lip in pleasure and hearing him give a low laugh.

“They
are
,” Reed agrees, nodding and looking into my eyes again. “They are also very possessive because they told me that I belong to them. They said, ‘mine.’”

“Well, they are very smart, you see?” I reply, smiling back at him, feeling the satisfaction coming from him.

“They are…brilliant,” he replies, lowering his head and kissing me deeply.

When his lips slip to my neck, I ask, “What did your wings say just now?”

“They said, ‘I love you, Evie. Just you…only you,’” he answers me in a soft tone.

“They said that?” I ask, feeling completely happy in this moment as a warm glow rushes through me.

“Yes,” he replies with a heated smile, his voice holding a note of humor at my reaction to his words.

“I’ll have to learn their language, too,” I reply as my t-shirt slips a little further down. “I love you, too, Reed,” I whisper, frowning. “I wish…” I trail off as the scruff from his chin grazes my sensitive skin. I exhale, my eyes becoming hooded as I watch him kiss me.

“You wish?” he murmurs as his hands slip lower on my body.

“I wish I had other words… ‘I love you’ is so inadequate to describe what I feel for you,” I whisper.

Instantly, Reed picks me up off the sand and holds me securely to his chest. He begins striding purposefully towards the bungalow with me in his arms.

“Then show me, Evie,” Reed says near my ear, and my arms wrap around his neck as my shirt falls to the ground and is left behind on the beach.

CHAPTER 25

Persephone
No More

Thwick
…
thwick
…the unmistakable sound of a club hitting golf balls wakes me up from the disturbing nightmare I am having. I roll over in bed, staring up at the slowly turning ceiling fan, feeling disoriented.

Sensual lips brush over the curve of my shoulder, causing me to glance to my side. Reed lifts his head from me, his dark green eyes changing from satisfaction to concern as he gazes into my eyes. “Were you having a nightmare?” Reed asks me in a low tone, his brown hair falling over his brow in an elegant mess.