Incendiary (The Premonition Series (Volume 4)) (90 page)

I feel like I’
m between heaven and hell when I have to lift
my mouth
from hers as I rest her on the
dark wood-grain
surface of the desk.
One hand slide
s
down he
r
side resting on the curve of her hip where her armor stops my descent.
I
growl in frustration, pullin’
energy to me more from instinct then premeditation.
Energy leaks out fr
om my fingertips, spreadin’
in
burnin’
ember
s of
glowin’
orange to turn
the black armor to gray ash as it travels down her sides and over her thighs. The armor ra
pidly disappears from Anya as
a
sh falls and floats
a
way,
leavin’
just
the soft
,
dark leggings behind that she must
’
ve had on beneath the armor.

A soft gasp comes from Anya as she looks down and sees the
disintegra
tion
of her defensive combat attire
.
Lookin’
up quickly with uncertainty in her eyes, a slow smi
le curls on my lips because I’
ve
managed to startle her
again
. I take control, raisin’
my hand and swiftly sliding the ponytail
holder from her hair, makin’ the black waves spill ‘
round her should
er
s as it flows down her back.
I brush stray strands of it away
from her soft skin.
Beautiful
,
I think before
I kiss the spot where her
hair meets her temple only to discove
r that the scent of her hair compel
s the butterflies
inside
me
to
increase in force.

“Russell,”
Anya
say
s before I can kiss her again, “wait.”
She presses her hand
s
flat against my chest.

It takes me a second to understa
nd what she just said because I’
m wrapped up in the sexy way she said my name: in a
raspy
groan-like whisper.

My lips
tease hers, “
Hmm...
”
I murmur against them.

“
Wait,
”
she repeats
as she tenses in my arms.

My brow furls.
“
Why
do you
have to
know
that
word,” I growl, lookin’ in her eyes. “‘Wait’
is the worst word in the English language in a situation like this.
”

“
You have to wait...this is
confusing—
y
ou’
re not...
”
she manages to say before
she looks away from my stare.

“I’m not what?”
I ask her gently.

“You’re not...you,”
she says with her eyes searchin’
mine.

“I’
m sorry?”
I murmur
with equal confusion. “
I’
m not me?
”

She looks so lost
before she glances away again
. “
You just ripped away my armor, like it was nothing
, then you melted it
.
”

“Is that a problem?” I ask. “
We can get you another—
”

“
You ripped it off with your
bare
hands,”
she murmurs.
“
It’
s
more...
”

My eyebrows draw together in confusion as I try to make eye
contact with her again. “
More?
What’
s more?”
I ask.

“
You
are more!”
she accuse
s, meeting my eyes.

My eyes narr
ow as I try to understand her. “I’m more? How am I more?”
I ask.

She bites her lower lip for a m
oment before she says, “Look at you,”
she flicks her hand to indicate my
chest, “you’
ve never been this...
this...big
.”

“Big,” I say, my eyebrows raisin’
in surprise.

“
And s
trong,”
she adds
.
“
We ne
ver had this attraction before,” she says, lookin’
at me uncertainly.

“The butterflies?”
I ask and she nods.

Her fingertips trail o
ver my abdomen for a second. It’s makin’
me want to growl again. My muscles tighten with the need to pull her to me.
“
And this—
this is unreal,”
her tone is accusatory again.

“Unreal?”
I ask, frownin’
.

“It’
s like
someone carved you from stone,”
she says with a frown.
H
er hand lifts and her fingertips skim over the feathers of my wings. I inhale a breath bec
ause her touch is incredible. “
And y
ou have wings—
Seraphim wings.”

“
Is that
bad?
” I ask, hopin’ she’
ll say
“
no.
”

“
You outrank me
,
”
she admits.

“I do?”
I ask,
feelin’
a surge of warmth in my belly that I try to hide
from her
.
It makes me feel powerful
and I lik
e that. I have this overwhelmin’
need to protect her and if she has to listen to me then that will help.

“Seraphim, Cherubim, Throne,”
she ticks of
f each rank using her fingers, “in that order,” she admits with a scowl. “
Right now I am Throne-Seraphim, equal to your rank. When you remove our binding, then I will be Throne only.
”

“
I though
t that bindings were permanent,” I say with narrowin’
e
yes. The thought of her removin’ my wings from her is makin’ me want to crush somethin’
.

“
Normally, there are very few reaso
ns for a binding to be revoked,” she says. “
One reason would be if t
here was a fall,”
she say
s. “
If one angel were to fall from grace, a case could
be made to remove the bi
n
ding between them. In our case, you m
ade it a stipulation of
this mission.
”

“So right now, we’
re equal ra
nk, but if I were to unbind
you, I’
ll outrank you and
you’
ll
have
to listen to me?
”
I ask for clarification.

“Grr,”
Anya give
s
a sex
y growl with her eyebrows comin’ together again, “
you see!
You are different now that you are part angel
,
”
she says.
“
My
Rus
sell would not want me to follow his
orders
.
My
Russell would want m
e to be his equal in all things!
”

M
y eyebrows come together, too. “
Well
,
that’
s great for
your
Russell.
Your
Russell got you in Paradise where it was safe.
This
Russell
,
me
,
new
Russell
,” I retort, pointin’ at my chest, “
has you here
on Earth where just ‘bout everythin’ ‘
round us is a threat.
”

“
Maybe
I
don’
t like
new
Russell,”
Anya says with an incredibly sexy pout.

“Well, darlin’
,
new
Russell is
the only one
here at the moment,”
I say
grimly. “So let me get this straight, we’
re equal right now
because
you have my wings, but
if I take them off you, then I’
ll have authority over you?
”

“Yes,”
she nods
stiffly. “
You outrank everyone here but Evie.
”

“You’
d be disobeying an o
rder if you tried to execute your
plan without my permission?”
I ask.

“
In
theory
?
”
she counters.

“Yeah, in theory,”
I repeat.

“Yes,”
she says sullenly.

“Then I'm orderin’
you to stay here
while we take care of Brennus,” I say, feelin’
relief like I’
ve never felt before.

Anya’
s scowl grows darker.
“You can’
t
order
me. I still have your wings and yo
u need a Virtue to remove them,” she says, while stabbin’ her finger at me. “
Unless you can locate a
Virtue in the next few hours, I’
m going
back to Ireland.
”

She wiggles out of my arms and climbs off the desk, straig
htening the little white halter-
top that is hardly coverin’ her because of the way it’
s almost entirely backless. I focus on the tight black leggings that accentuate her shape and I
call myself every kind of idiot as I watch the sexy way she crosses the room and slams the library door closed behind her.

I shuffle ov
er to the cou
ch, fallin
’
onto it. I grab a pillow and
pull it over my face. A few minutes later I hear the door to the
library open up. I sit up
, hopin’ it’
s Anya,
but instead, I see Red standin’
by the door.

I frown at her and ask, “What?”

“
We had a meeting,” Red says
in a quiet tone
, lookin’
really sad
.
“
Anya has just as much to lose in this if Brennus succeeds as the rest of us.
So, w
e’ve decided that she
’s
part of the team, Russ.
If she wants to come, she’s in.”

Fear and anger vie
f
or supremacy within me. Anger wi
n
s
within seconds. “I don’
t get a say in this?” I demand
between my teeth.

“It would just make th
e vote five-to-one,” Red replies,
straightenin’ her shoulders.
"And I’
m an equal rank to you."

“And there’s nothin’ I can
say to change you
r mind?” I ask
, pointin’
accusing
ly
at her
.

Shakin’ her head
, Red murmurs
, “No.”

My e
yes bore into Red’s and I can
tell that she’s strugglin’ not to look away
from me
. Quietly, I say
,
“Anythin’ happens
to her and I’ll never forgive you
.”

Palin’, Red breathes
, “I know.”

Doubt The
Stars

Evie

S
lowly, I si
nk
down on the larg
e bed
while
my eyes touch
upon the destruction in Reed’s
disheveled
room
.
Ancient paint
ing
s and works of art lie
like carcasses
of
dead flesh upon the floor along with
s
hards of glass piled beneath the broken frame
s
of the
once elegant mirrors
.
Reed’s clothing i
s shredded bey
ond recognition, strewn like kite tails under
diamond
shapes of
broken plaster from the pockmarked walls.