Iniquity (The Premonition Series Book 5) (19 page)

“What happens if I fail?”

“Then you cease to be and everyone you love falls prey to your inescapable.”

“What about my soul mate?”

“You need but ask him and he will move a mountain for you. Do you understand what I’m telling you? We don’t have much time!”

“Can you give me the tune you want Reed to use one more time?” I beg, feeling completely desperate.

Atwater whistles it for me again. When he finishes, he asks, “Do you have it now?”

I nod, overwhelmed by all he’s said. He straightens then, turning toward the silver doors. “We should not be seen together. Wait a bit before you return inside.” Atwater leaves then without a backward glance.

I wander around, covering up the tracks that had led to the ice figure of the avenging angel before making new tracks to other ice statues in the courtyard. Something stirs in my abdomen. It tugs me toward the silver doors. I have a sharp intake of breath.
Reed!
I think as I touch my hand to my belly. Forgetting the tracks on the ground, I round the last sculpture. I pause when I see Xavier’s dark shape in the light of the doorway. As I near him, I notice he’s without a coat and his skin is turning rosy from the chill. “What are you doing out here, Evie?” he asks.

Snow falls around me, trapping us in a shaken snow globe scene at the top of the world. “How did you know I was out here?”

“You never returned to the table. I have angels looking for you. I saw Atwater. He said he saw you, but wouldn’t tell me where because he said you wanted to be alone. I noticed his nose was red from the cold. Did you speak to him?”

“Yes. I wanted to talk to him about Brennus, but he was in a hurry to get away from me. I think he’s the one who wants to be alone.”

Xavier nods, distractedly. “Your father has arrived,” he says with a guarded look. His breath curls away from him like smoke.

“Oh?” I ask. “You look upset about that.”

“I would like you to go to your room until I come to get you.”

“I’d like to speak to my father.”

“And you will. I want to speak to him first.”

“Why? Is something wrong?” I ask.

“He plans to give the boatswain to Atwater.”

“And you believe that’s a bad move?”

“I do. I saw what it did to you. I’m never letting that happen again. I’ll destroy it before I see it in another angel’s hand.”

The wind is so cold that I can believe that we’re living at the edge of the world here. I shiver. “Do you think Heaven has a plan, Xavier?”

“I know they do.”

“Do you trust them?”

“The end game is all that matters to them. How they get there is what matters to me.”

“Maybe the courage is in letting go, Xavier.”

“If only I could,” he murmurs, “but I can’t.” He takes the hat from my head. My hair falls and frames my face. His hand finds its way to the nape of my neck. His fingers thread through my hair. He leans down and whispers in my ear, “Reed is here. Tau insists that he remain alive for now; so do not make me kill him. Go to your room and wait for me.” He kisses my cheek and lets me go.

I walk through the door he holds open for me. Tens of thousands of angels reside here ready to do whatever Xavier tells them. It would only take them minutes to kill Reed. I shrug out of my white coat and hand it to Xavier. He gives it to a Power who has come to attend us. It occurs to me that I’m a lethal woman. I could kill them all. I glance at Xavier. I don’t want to hurt him. I love him, even if he acts jealous and arrogant. And we need his cooperation and his army in order to defeat Emil. I’ll have to be smart and use my head instead of force—or, in this case, magic and genetics.

Xavier looks away from me. He begins speaking in Angel to the Power by his side. I don’t know what he’s saying exactly, but I can guess it something like, “She’s to go directly to our suite. Follow her and report to me if she leaves or has any visitors.” I frown at them, but they ignore me.

I turn away from them. I take a few steps and lift off into the air, flying in the direction of my room. When I’m out of their view for a moment, I duck behind a massive column. Creating a clone, I release her to continue on in the direction of my room. I whisper a hasty spell to make myself invisible. My Power bodyguard passes me, following my clone. Hopefully she can make it to my room and through the door before he gets there, or my ruse won’t work for very long. I peek around the column and see Xavier flying in the opposite direction. I follow him, avoiding angels who nearly collide with me. I may be invisible, but I’m solid, so if they bump into me, they’re going to realize something is wrong.

I almost lose Xavier in a crowd, but I manage to locate him near the entrance of a tunnel. It really doesn’t matter anymore though, because butterflies are careening inside of me, begging me to follow them to Reed. Xavier turns down a corridor that has images of Heaven carved into the very walls. When he enters the room at he end of it, I have to cover my mouth and hold my breath to keep from gasping. It’s a huge round room carved from the gray rock of the mountain. An X-shaped cutout bisects the floor and ceiling in a crisscross pattern. As I look up, the cutout goes clear up for several stories to the moonlight and stars far above my head. When I look down over the cutouts in the floor, the drop goes on so far I cannot see its end for the darkness below. White recessed lighting glows almost blue, causing everything to have a soft, ethereal glow.

Tau stands on the other side of the abyss with Reed. They’re both dressed in black long-sleeved shirts and black utilitarian trousers. They look like human assassins without their wings out, but still very much like they’re ready to kill something. Tau’s attention is on Xavier, with his hands behind his back and chin up, he has perfect military form. Reed has a similar stance, but his eyes are not on Xavier, he’s looking at the door behind us.
He feels me. He’s waiting for me to come through the door
.

Xavier flies over the abyss in front of him, speaking to Tau in Angel. Reed doesn’t look at them. He keeps watching the door. An argument quickly breaks out between Xavier and Tau. I’ve rarely seen either of them in anything but full agreement with one another. The last time they argued in front of me was in high school and it was about me—about the amount of time Xavier had been spending with me and not with his friends. It was the time Tau had walked in on us in Xavier’s room and we were doing a little more than just talking, of course, he was Drew then. I don’t know what they’re fighting about now, but I can guess it’s about me again.

As quietly as possible, I fly over the cavern in the floor. Nearing Reed, I watch his pupils dilate when he picks up my scent. His nostrils flare. He doesn’t move an inch otherwise. I circle behind him. My first touch is to his sides as I slip my arms between his arms and wrap them around his waist. He stops breathing for just a second, but it is a testament to his control that he doesn’t flinch. I press my cheek to his back for a moment as I hug him and breathe him in. The riot of butterflies inside of me is chaos. I want to tear his shirt from him and feel his skin against mine.

I distinctly hear Xavier say the name “Atwater” during his Angel tirade. Tau is calmer than Xavier, but not by much. Xavier turns away from Tau. He strides to the hole in the floor, leaping over it to the other side without even having to fly. Tau calls to him, saying something more. I splay my invisible hands over Reed’s chest, holding him as I hide behind him at the same time. Xavier leaves the same way he came in. Tau follows him, jumping the huge X in the floor. He says something over his shoulder to Reed before he leaves the room as well.

“Are they gone?” I whisper.

“They’re gone,” Reed turns in my arms and wraps his around my invisible body. I let go of my spell and watch his mouth curve in a beautiful smile when he sees me. He leans down and kisses me hungrily.

“Where did they go?” I ask him between kisses, my hands skimming over his firm biceps. “How much time do we have?”

“Not much.” Reed relents and lifts his lips from me. “Tau told me to wait here. Xavier went to bludgeon Atwater and let him know that he will never allow Atwater to have the boatswain here, in Heaven, or in Hell. Tau went to make sure Xavier doesn’t kill Atwater.”

“But Tau still wants you to kill Atwater?”

Reed’s eyebrows pull together. “How did you know that?” I hold onto Reed’s wrists and feel something beneath his shirt. My grasp shifts to just one wrist, while moving his sleeve up, exposing a leather wrist holster. Clasped inside the holster is a spade-shaped blade. I move my hand to his other wrist and find another one.

“Atwater told me Tau wants you to murder him for the boatswain.” I pull his sleeves back into place. “You don’t have to kill the Cherub. He’s going to give the boatswain to you. Heaven wants us to have it. He’s going to make Tau give it to him, and then he’s going to leave it in the shield of the ice angel in the courtyard. It’s the one that has it’s arm aloft and looks like it’s about to smite something.”

“And once I retrieve it?”

“Find me and we’ll leave.”

“How?”

“I haven’t figured that out yet, but it has to be just you and me. Atwater wants you to use the whistle. There’s a special tone he made me learn.”

“A tone?”

“It will make me remember some kind of deal I made.”

Reed grips my upper arms. “I’ll bring it to you.” He kisses me again and it feels as if I’m living on the edge of a blade with him, sharp with painful longing.

The door handle rattles. I let out a little squeak before I whisper another hasty spell. I think for a second that Tau sees me as he pauses at the door and gazes at Reed’s back. Reed has resumed his military posture, but he’s unable to turn around right away and face Tau because of what I’ve done to him with my kisses. I look up at Reed’s eyes. I know he can’t see me anymore. I place my hand on his heart, right where I know my wings to be branded. It’s beating furiously in his chest. With a small smile, he winks at me.

I let go of him. I wait until Tau jumps the cavern in the room. I time it so that I land on the other side just as he touches down. Behind me, Tau murmurs something I recognize in Angel to Reed, “Be ready.” I’m almost to the door when Xavier comes through it with Atwater trailing him. I skitter to the side out of their path. They’re all speaking Angel now. As they pass me, I creep to the door. Behind me, Atwater and Xavier join Tau and Reed on the other side of the room. Tau lifts his arms and pulls a chain from around his neck, attached to it is the boatswain. He hands the whistle to Atwater. The moment that it is in his palm, Reed’s wings unfold out from his back. He rushes Atwater and tackles him, falling with him into the hole in the middle of the room.

Xavier growls. His red wings extend as he dives into the cavern to follow them. In the chaos I bolt through the door and out into the corridor. I have to find a portal. It doesn’t matter where it leads as long as I find one in the next few minutes.

Navigating unfamiliar hallways, it takes me awhile to figure out where I am, but I eventually find the aisle that leads back to my room. Flying through the door to Xavier’s room, I land and quickly open bureau drawers and dresser drawers. I almost scream when I notice the Power angel, who must be guarding the door to my room, get up from a chair. His deep voice asks, “How did you—” He looks at the door to my room. Going to it, his gray wings spread wide as he scans my bedroom for me, but my clone has long since evaporated into the air. He closes the door and turns to look at me.

I shrug. “I won’t tell Xavier if you don’t.” He scowls. Hurrying past me, he leaves the room in a rush. “Tattletale,” I mutter.

The time for a delicate search is over. I go to Xavier’s bookshelves and pluck books off one by one, flipping through their pages and dropping them on the floor. Vases are searched, the laptop is opened, rugs are shaken out, bed is looked under, and the mattress too—sheets stripped. Nothing. On my hands and knees, I blow a strand of my hair out of my face. I get up and run to the closet. Clothes fly off hangers as I shove them aside to look inside shoes, open sock drawers—toss out underwear. Nothing.

Outside this suite of rooms, angelic voices are beginning to rise. Powers are flying around like they’re mobilizing for something. I pop my head outside the closet to listen. Panic makes my hands shake.
I have to find a portal!
The room looks like a typhoon hit it when as I return to it. Slumping down on the bed, I look up at the ceiling, trying to think. What I know about Xavier is he is used to hiding in plain sight. He blends in as human. I glance over at the bedside table. His headphones are attached to his digital music player.
Who uses one of those when you can stream music on your phone?
I know he prefers vinyl. We used to listen to records in his room for hours. Picking up his on-ear headphones I switch the power on to the music player. My hand that holds the headphones distorts. Instead of playing music, the small phone-like player tries to suck me into it.
A portal!
I have no idea where it leads, but it’s somewhere other than here, so I’ll have to take my chances.

Now, I have to find Reed. I still feel him faintly, the butterflies inside me pointing me in the direction of my room. He’s somewhat nearby. I hold onto the portal as I move to my room. The tug comes from the door that leads outside onto the icy mountainside balcony. I sprint to it, opening the heavy metal door. It whines in protest from the cold. Stepping out onto the porch, I see nothing at first but darkness and the drift of snowflakes. The butterflies become more intense until, out of the darkness, the shape of my angel takes form. He lands beside me on the stone balcony. His exposed skin is red from cold and he’s quivering from the chill. I wrap my arms around him, hugging him to me. “Did you get the boatswain?” I ask.

“I have it here.” He pulls it from beneath his black shirt. It’s a good thing that his shirt has a detachable panel in the back made for angel wings because without it, he’d be a shirtless popsicle by now.

I waste no more time. “This is a portal. I have no idea where it goes.” I rise up on my tiptoes to put the headphones on him.