Intuition: The Premonition Series (63 page)

“You radiate a different kind of light than an angel or a human does. It is like you are giving love in the form of energy,” he says in a serious tone. I squirm a little in my seat, uncomfortable with what he is saying. “You are so concerned about the ones you love, but it extends to others as well. That is probably why you have the Gancanagh after you. They can feel the love you emit indiscriminately. It is so appealing to be near you,” he says with a smile.

“You’re joking, right?” I ask with my mouth hanging open a little in shock.

“No,” he shakes his head. “I can see why they want you. You are a light for them. A being who gives love to the damned, highly intoxicating and as we can see by their reaction to you, highly addictive.”

“That’s bad. How do I stop doing that?” I ask with frank concern. “I don’t want to be a light for evil,” I add in all honesty, while I lean forward in my seat, waiting for him to give me the answer so that I can stop all of the craziness from happening again.

Phaedrus shakes his head at me. “It would be like asking me how I can make my eyes a different color. They are black. I could disguise them in some way, but that will not change the fact that they are black,” he says, trying to explain it to me. “Some things we cannot control.”

“I can’t accept that,” I say, disappointed with his answer. I have to find the angle that gets me out of being an unwilling demon lover.
Brennus called me the brightest light and the darkest night. Is this what he meant?
I wonder sadly.

“Ah, that is very poetic, maybe Brennus is right. I will have to think about it. You can look at that several different ways,” Phaedrus says, having read my thoughts and answered my question. “Instead of asking yourself how you can change that aspect of you, maybe you should be asking yourself why you were created that way. For what purpose do you exist the way that you are?” he says in a gentle tone.

His words are so poignant that they bring tears to my eyes. “I don’t know,” I reply gravely.

“Maybe it’s okay not to know why, today,” he says reassuringly. “Maybe it’s enough to know that God has a soft spot for you,” he adds without a hint of doubt.

“What?” I almost scoff, but I don’t because I see that he is being sincere.

“You have been given incredibly hard tasks. Only the elite are given those kind of tasks,” he says with earnestness. “You are not alone in this either. Look at the angels that have aided you in your missions. They are the best at what they do. And the tools that you have to accomplish your tasks, they are perfectly matched for the job.”

“What tools have I been given?” I ask him, feeling stunned.

“You have too many to name, but I will point out one of the obvious for you,” he says rapidly. “Do you find it odd that you are the only being that we know of that does not react to the skin of the Gancanagh, and you were the one to draw them out? You do not believe this to be a coincidence, do you?” he asks.

I blush because it does seem a little more than coincidence to me. “That’s a different perspective than I’m accustomed to hearing, Phaedrus,” I say, while I think about what he is telling to me.

“Can I say one more thing?” Phaedrus asks, studying his glass.

“Of course,” I reply, wondering what he can possibly say that can top what he has already told me as I wait for him to speak.

“I heard your thoughts right before I sat down to speak to you,” he admits, looking at me in the eyes and it takes me a second to realize he heard me plotting my contingency plan. I pale a little because I thought that those thoughts had been private.

“Oh. You don’t approve?” I ask, feeling a little like a coward for not wanting to get caught by Brennus again. “I’m trying to figure out how to protect my soul, should it become necessary.”

“Yes. I see your dilemma. But if you find yourself in that situation, perhaps you should pray for a miracle instead,” he says, looking me in the eyes again.

“Maybe I will,” I reply, considering what he is saying. “Phaedrus… how are you feeling right now?” I ask casually, but my heartbeat kicks up a notch.

A smile shows at the corners of his lips. “What do you mean?” he asks, but I can see that he already knows what I’m asking him. He probably heard my question before I spoke it.

“Do you feel hot or cold?” I ask, pressing the issue.

“It’s a little stuffy in here,” he replies evasively. “Let’s just say that I do not normally visit with the angels at Dominion.”

“No, I don’t suppose that you would,” I reply, and I can’t distinguish all of the emotions that I’m having in reaction to what he just said. Suddenly, I feel really tired. This is all so immense; it’s on a scale of things that is so grand that it makes me feel small. It’s like realizing that an orchestra has been playing in the background the entire time that I thought that I was playing a solo piece and now their music is deafening. “What am I suppose to do now, Phaedrus?” I ask, holding his black eyes in my stare. “Because I’m no longer lost, but being found is far more frightening.”

“I don’t know, but I can’t wait to find out what you will do next,” he replies.

“Are you hanging around then?” I ask in surprise.

“It would seem you are amassing an army. I could be of some use in that, I have many contacts in my realm,” he replies.

“Thank you,” I say simply, because I’m so overwhelmed that someone like Phaedrus would want to help me.

“You are welcome. Yes…God is very good to me,” he says, taking my empty glass from my hand as he rises. When he goes to the kitchen, I watch the night sky outside and listen to the angels in the front of the plane navigate our escape. The gentle swaying of the jet lulls me to sleep. I awake in the huge bed in the back of the jet as it descends steadily. We touch down on a runway at a small, private airport, by the look of the place that I glimpse out of the window.

Buns, coming through the door, sees me sitting on the end of the bed. “Sweetie, we just landed in Iceland. We are going to stay here until we get our new passports,” Buns says, scrutinizing me with her hands on her hips. Dashing into the bathroom, she comes out with a hairbrush and her cosmetic bag. After spending several minutes working on me as we taxi to the hangar, she manages to make me look presentable enough for her high standards. Producing a digital camera, Buns makes me stand against the wall as she takes several shots of me. “For the passport,” she informs me. “Now, we are going to be spending a few hours here while we arrange for documents and bank accounts because we all need new ones. We don’t know how much Brennus knows about all of us so we are all going to get new identities from Iceland.”

“Iceland? Is that where we are now?” I ask, rushing to the window to see just what Iceland looks like, since I have never even imagined coming here. It’s dark outside, but I can see lights to a city nearby and mountains on the horizon.

“Yes, you had better do all of your sightseeing quickly because we aren’t going to be staying for more than a few hours. We’re too close,” Buns informs me. She packs up a few things that we might need into a bag. “We’re going to stay at a spa here. I’ll pack some things for you. Make sure you take everything that you need because we will probably have a different plane when we leave here.”

“Where are we going when we get our passports?” I ask, helping her put things into a couple of bags she has already started packing on the bed.

“We have to catch up to Brownie and Russell—they are in the Ukraine, heading for China,” Buns replies, scanning the closet.

“China!” I say with surprise. On one hand that sounds like an adventure, but on the other, it’s so foreign that I won’t even be able to speak the language, or read a street sign. Fear edges through me because I will have to rely on everyone else to help me. It’s like that now, but there is always a chance that I can help and play a role in my own survival.
How am I going to do that in China? How is Russell coping with all of this? It’s like culture shock on the grandest scale imaginable.

“Are you ready, sweetie?” Buns asks in a gentle tone. She is reading the panic on my face. I nod because I don’t want to be the weak link in this chain anymore than I already am.

Leaving the room, we walk to the front of the jet where the stairs are already let down so that we can debark. As I step out of the plane, I see Reed and Zephyr waiting for us at the bottom of the staircase. Attired in tailored gray trousers and white collared shirts, they have the appearance of high-class international travelers as they stand near an extremely sleek-looking car. Both Reed and Zephyr are on their phones, speaking rapidly in Angel. Reed, however, is watching every step I take down the stairs. Reaching his hand up to me, he helps me down the last couple of steps.

“Where is Phaedrus?” I ask when I look around and don’t see him.

Buns answers, “He’s going to take care of the passports for us. He has a contact. Phaedrus is an unknown entity in our group, we thought it would be the safest to use his associates,” Buns explains, while I get into the back seat of the car after Reed holds the door open for me. Buns sits in the front passenger seat that Zephyr opens for her, and then he goes around to the driver’s side while Reed sits in the back with me. Reed’s arm wraps around my shoulder, pulling me close to his side while still holding the phone to his ear with the other.

Resting my head against Reed’s shoulder, I watch the scenery of Iceland speed by outside of my window. We soon leave the large city behind as we drive over the dark roads to the base of a mountain. “We’re here, sweetie!” Buns says with excitement, smiling at me from over her shoulder. “It’s called ‘The Lake of Earth and Sky’ and it’s built into the side of a volcano. There is a hot spring that surrounds the back of the spa, containing the best mineral water available.” As we pull up to the Nordic glass fronted building, it is literally supported by the volcano’s lava rock on one side of it. Thick, rolling clouds of steaming fog shrouds the building in mystery. Taking Reed’s hand, I step from the car.

Buns leads us in and takes charge of acquiring our suite of rooms in the VIP section of the spa. The VIP section affords us our own private access to the hot spring lagoon, which is walled from the rest of the clientele by a lava rock privacy enclosure. I gaze at the stunning pictures of the lake in daylight; it is almost sky blue in color with the scintillating iridescence of an opal. Steam rises from the water invitingly and rolls over the black volcanic sand that has a myriad of arching wooden bridges connecting the small inlets throughout the estate.

When we are shown to our suite, I marvel at the uniqueness of it. One wall is comprised of rough, black volcanic lava rock that sparkles with small particles of quartz and silica embedded within it. The opposite wall is entirely comprised of glass that overlooks the lagoon outside. I bet that when the sun shines through it in the morning, the lava wall will shimmer like twinkle lights from the reflection of the quartz. The floors of the main room are polished wood. The furniture is cut in clean lines and boxy shapes that are meant to be calming and soothing, positioned as they are around a freestanding fireplace in the heart of the room.

It’s immediately apparent to Buns and me that Reed and Zephyr intend to treat this layover as a work opportunity. Neither of them spare the rooms more than a cursory glance as they both pace around it, negotiating on their phones. Walking to the window, I look out at the patio outside to the dark lagoon beyond it. Buns, managing to get my attention, gives me a devilish grin while she crooks her finger at me, ushering me to one of the bedrooms. “I call shotgun on the room with the waterfall and spa tubs. You and Reed can play in the private lagoon outside.”

“Uh huh. How am I going to get the phone away from him long enough to do that?” I ask with skepticism. “He’s a Power and he is at war right now trying to raise an army. How am I going to compete with that?” I ask, watching her rummage through her bag.

“He’s a Power who has been dreaming about you for months. You will have no problem, trust me. Here, this will help,” she says, tossing a tiny, red bikini at me. I blush a little when I see just how much of me it doesn’t cover when I have it on. “Play it cool,” Buns says, walking to the door of the room in her sexy black bikini. Pushing the door open, she strolls out into the main room saying, “Sweetie, I’m going to check out the spa room. The concierge informed me that it’s exclusively for us and it has it’s own waterfall. Do you want to come?”

I notice the sly look on her face and quickly catch on to her game. “That sounds like fun Buns… but I want to go look at the lagoon outside first. I want to see if I can see the aurora borealis, and then I thought I would take a dip in the hot spring because it’s a little chilly here.” I have my back to Reed, so that he can see just how much of me my suit doesn’t cover.

“Oh,” Buns says in disappointment. I try to hide my smile as I see Zee watching her like she is a rare piece of weaponry that he would like to wield. “I guess I can go alone,” she sighs as her lower lip pushes out in a sensual pout. She turns, walking toward the door. When she is through the door, Zephyr follows her in a millisecond. Turning around, I find Reed a hair’s breath from me, no longer on the phone.

“Reed!” I gasp, startled because I hadn’t heard him move.

Reed wraps his arms around me and holds me to him, rubbing his hands up and down my back soothingly as he asks, “Are you upset?” he murmurs against my hair. “We need to talk about faeries and magic and what happened back at Dominion.”