Indebted: The Premonition Series (8 page)

I feel brittle, like I’m made of glass and all of my cracks are beginning to show. I nod slowly to Reed because I would like nothing more than to get away from all of this and just sit and talk with Buns for a while. “Okay,” I exhale the word. Pausing, I look at Preben and say, “I am grateful that you have come to help me.” Preben nods to me once in acknowledgment of my words. He looks like he wants to say something else, but he holds back.

I turn back to Reed as he says, “I’ll walk you over to Buns and then I’ll come and get you when we are finished here.”

“Sure,” I reply, taking his hand that he offers me.

Reed looks past me over my shoulder and his brows draw together. In an instant, he pulls me behind him, trying to shield me from what he is seeing. Peering over his shoulder, I see Russell moving towards us at the speed of a bullet. I brace myself for impact as Russell runs into Reed, but Reed doesn’t fall down because Russell passes right through him like a ghost. Russell’s image hits me full force and I absorb his ghostly light into me as he evaporates from sight. Then, pain like I have never felt before tears through me and I scream in agony.

Russell

CHAPTER 4

Torture

“Tell me where she is…where is my Alya?” he asks, pullin’ a sharp pointed implement from among the many he has already used.

“Not Alya, her name is Red—never yers…” I whisper, closin’ my eyes and thinkin’ of Evie’s beautiful face.

The perfect curve of her neck—the way it sweeps cunningly to her shoulders. The incredible scent of her hair—I can still smell her on me.

Thump, bright light. Searin’ pain.

Groan.

Her bare shoulders—the delicate line of her clavicle under her supple skin.

Crunch, dizzyin’ nausea.

Heave.

Her eyes…gray and blue with small flecks of violet near the center of the irises.

Slice. Dark spots.

Shakin’.

The sensual contours of her silhouette, the shape of a goddess, as I run my hands over the silk of her skin. The way her body rises to meet mine.

Rip. Choke.

Driftin’…floatin’…fallin’

Red…I love ya…I’m gonna go home now…

Blackness.

Evie

CHAPTER 5

Echoes

As my eyes flutter open, I feel ice-cold and nauseous. I gaze at the ceiling from my position stretched out on top of one of the low tables in the gathering room. In the next instant, I lean over the side of the table and heave repeatedly. Reed, sitting at my side, holds my hair back from my face as I retch. After a few minutes, I moan and lay back on the table, closing my eyes. Most of the angels in the room are conversing, all speaking at once, except for Reed and me who are silent. I cannot speak because all of the fortress walls that I have been trying to build around me are tumbling down as my entire body shakes. It’s as if I have experienced the most gruesome torture first hand and not just an impression of it carried on the wind by my soul mate’s spirit.

“Russell,” I whisper and all of the voices around me cease. Pushing myself up on my elbows, I manage to sit up a little before Reed gently pushes me back down.

“Evie, wait,” Reed says.

“I can’t. I have to…go’” I reply, sitting up again.

“What did Russell send you?” Reed asks.

“You didn’t feel it?” I ask him as the terror of what I just experienced comes back to me full force, crushing me with echoes of pain and leaving the taste of desperation in my mouth. Reed shakes his head, so I say, “Someone is torturing him. He needs help…”

“He was asking for help?” Reed asks, trying to piece together what I’m saying.

“No…he was…” I stop, covering my mouth. I struggle to get to my feet, but Reed isn’t letting me get up.

“What?” he asks me with a grim look.

“He was trying to warn me…they know about me…he can’t hide me from them…too much pain…”

Reed’s hands grip my shoulders. “Who are they? The Gancanagh?” Reed asks in an urgent tone.

“No…I don’t know…no…” I choke.
This is not really happening,
my mind tries to reason with my heart, but my heart knows better.
Balance
, the thought flitters through my mind like an accusation,
you chose Reed…you can’t have both. Here is the flip side to your happiness…choke on it.

“Evie, focus…” Reed is saying, holding my chin in his hand and looking into my eyes. “What else did you feel? Is Brownie still with him?”

“I don’t know…” I say. “This isn’t Brennus’ style—I don’t think. He would be much more poetic, much less…brutal.” I grasp my head to block out images of flesh being shredded from Russell.

Reed’s eyebrows come together in a scowl. “Did he tell you anything else?” Reed asks me in a grave tone.

Breathing heavy, I push against Reed’s chest so that I can run. I have to leave now. Russell needs me; he can’t withstand what’s happening to him. If I don’t find him, he will be lying under different stars—his soul will leave. “He said ‘goodbye,’” I choke. “How do I find him, Reed? I have to find him,” I beg, putting my forehead against Reed’s chest as his arms pull me to him.

“Zee, find out their last known position. Track the cells. Try to get in touch with Brownie. When you target the area, find out whom we have there to investigate. Take Preben and Phaedrus with you, keep them updated on whatever you discover,” Reed says, while scooping me up in his arms, carrying me to the door. “You four, follow me,” Reed orders the Powers who are standing just outside the room. Nodding they fall in behind us.

“Wait, we can start towards the Ukraine, to wherever they were last and Zee can call us and let us know where they are, while we’re on the way. We can keep in touch,” I say, trying to use logic to overcome the panic that is making it hard for me to breathe.

“No,” Reed replies in a firm tone, continuing to carry me in the direction of our room.

“No?” I ask because he can’t be serious. My best friend is being tortured. There is no way I’m staying here while that is happening.

“We will find Russell. I will send angels to look for him. We will get Dominion involved because we have no choice. They are the logical choice. Powers are created to track and annihilate the Fallen.”

“Dominion will keep him if they find him. They will use him like they want to use me,” I say, grasping his arm.

“I think he will prefer Dominion over the Fallen,” Reed says with grim conviction.

“You think that the Fallen have him?” I ask, feeling fear stab me.

“It would make sense. Someone is torturing him, but they haven’t killed him. They want answers—about a being that is exactly like him that they have been looking for, a female—that was his warning to you. He can’t keep you from them, he will have to tell them about you because of the pain,” he replies with regret. “Every type of demon is looking for you—the Gancanagh haven’t been discreet in their inquiries. The fallen Seraphim already knew about you—they had Alfred watching you, but he failed to report back. They have begun their search for you in earnest.”

“And now someone has Russell, but you think what they really want is me?” I ask, feeling sick.

“I’m sure they won’t kill him until they get you,” he says. “The fact that they don’t have you yet is what will keep him alive.”

“Why do they want me?” I ask weakly.

“Evie, there are so many, many reason to want you, I don’t know where to begin,” he says as we arrive at our pagoda. He lays me gently on the huge bed, saying, “You will need to stay here for now while I take care of some things. I will send Buns to keep you company.” He doesn’t wait for my reaction, but turns towards the door again.

“
What
! No, Reed, I have to…” I say, scrambling off the bed to follow him back out.

Reed turns back around abruptly. “You have to stay here, Evie. If you leave and stumble into whoever took Russell, then he is dead. Do you understand? You are the key to keeping him alive. They need him to get to you.”

Zephyr enters our pagoda just then with Buns slung over his shoulder.

Buns is saying something in Angel that sounds really lovely, but by the look on her face, I can tell she is really telling him off. Zephyr seems to be ignoring her and waiting for her to stop speaking.

When Buns pauses, Zephyr asks her, “What will you do if I put you down?”

“I’m going to look for Brownie and Russell, Zee—this is so shady—you can’t stop me! I know tons of Reapers who can kick Fallen ass. If one of those evil half-wits is torturing them, then I’m in,” Buns says flailing her feet, trying to get free. Zephyr looks like he can hold her all day with his one hand. She is not moving him an inch.

“You are not designed to fight Fallen, Buns,” Zephyr says in a patient tone. “And neither are your friends.”

“Ha! Like you guys are the only ones able to go toe-to-toe with them,” Buns says with sarcasm. “Just because we’re Reapers doesn’t mean we can’t fight this war alongside you. It just means we have to be a little craftier than Powers. They’ve got my family, Zee.”

“You are going to tear them apart, are you?” Zephyr asks with skepticism.

“
No!
I’m going to light ‘em up,” Buns retorts, “
after
I get Brownie and Russell out of wherever they are. I can find them. I have contacts.
Reaper contacts!”
she says significantly.

“Good. Find them. That will be very helpful. You can work the phones, get your people involved, but you are staying here and your people are not to engage the enemy. They are to report their findings to us. Do you understand?” he asks Buns in a grave tone.

“What are my other options?” Buns asks coolly.

“I can sit here with you and babysit you, if you like, but that won’t help find Brownie or Russell,” Zephyr says and I watch Buns scowl.

“Fine, Zee!” she retorts with heat. Zephyr relents then and puts Buns down and she immediately crosses her arms in front of her, tapping her foot as she scowls at his face. “When I find them, I’m going to go and get them,” she says in anger.

“And, I will go with you,” he replies with calm.

I put my hands to my eyes to cover them in frustration. I inhale a breath and smell Russell on my hands. Pulling my hands back from my face, I lift the sleeve of my shirt to my nose and inhale again. His scent is covering me, like I have been pressed up against him and it fills me with a longing that I have come to know as the yearning of my soul. Buns sees me and says softly to Zee, “I’ll work the phone, you get to your contacts. We have to get them back.”

“It’s definitely not the Gancanagh that has him,” I murmur, looking up and seeing all of their eyes on me. “Smell me. I’m not sticky sweet, like someone who has been with the Gancanagh. There is something about this smell that is different from how Russell smells. It’s Russell, but it’s something else…something…” I trail off because I have no idea just what I’m smelling. It’s not Sheol because I know what the Fallen smell like: rotten and grotesque. This is something else. It smells like—a gas main smells—like natural gas or sort of like the hallway smelled near the boiler room at my old high school when the janitors left the door open.

Reed comes close to me again, inhaling the scent from my hair. Stepping back from me, his face pales. He speaks rapidly to Zephyr in Angel and Buns gasps as she drops the phone that she had clasped in her hands. Instantly, she is hugging me, inhaling deeply. When she lets go of me, her eyes fill with tears. Without a word, she turns towards the door and begins to leave. Zephyr steps in front of her quickly, catching her in his arms before she can make it out the door.

She speaks brokenly to him in Angel as Zephyr sweeps her off of her feet, murmuring to her in her ear. Their reaction to what I just said scares me more than anything else I have experienced today. It’s as if they have just gotten the worst news of their lives.

“Who do we know?” Zephyr asks Reed, his deep voice resonating in the quiet room. “I haven’t…I have little experience with them. You?”

“Some,” Reed says faintly. “We will need magic, powerful, ancient…some humans possessed the knowledge—the Bedouins, we would need someone with knowledge of the…” he breaks into Angel, apparently because it does not translate to English. “Or, possibly an Undine…”

“You want to bring a wraith into this?” Zephyr asks as his frown turns grim.

“Undines have a natural defense against Ifrits—it makes sense,” Reed replies with equal grimness.

“What’s an Ifrit?” I ask them, honing in on their conversation. My question is met with silence, and then blatantly ignored.

“Do you have anyone in mind? Have you had any dealings with Undines recently?” Zephyr asks.

I want to ask what an Undine is, but I’m holding back because they are working the problem out and I don’t want to interrupt their thought process.

“Yes,” Reed admits with reluctance. Zephyr’s eyes widen, but he doesn’t say anything. When I look at Reed, he looks a little flushed, like he is blushing. “Sort of—define your idea of recent…”

Seeing Buns’s phone on the floor, I pick it up, bringing it to her. She doesn’t take it from me when I try to hand it to her. “Aren’t you going to call your contacts, Buns,” I ask in a soft voice, watching her face as she rests her cheek against Zephyr’s chest. She shakes her head no, looking like she is in shock.

“She can’t involve the Reapers,” Reed says in a gentle tone, taking Buns’s phone from my hand and setting it on the desk.

“Why not?” I ask.

“It’s not safe for them,” he replies.

“Safe?” I say, like it’s a foreign word that has no meaning to me. My head is spinning.
Buns was talking about kicking Fallen ass only minutes ago, now it’s not safe for Reapers
.

“That leaves finding them difficult,” Zephyr continues. “We have to be careful regarding who goes. They will have to work in teams—take precautions—have alternative methods to employ if they get pinned down. Dominion should be advised—with such a threat in the area, no one is safe.”

No one is safe?
I hear the words from one of the most powerful creatures in the universe and beyond.

“What in the
Hell
is an
Ifrit
?” I demand, seething. “I have been led to believe that angels are the most powerful beings around, but you act like theses Ifrits are invincible.”