Iniquity (The Premonition, #5)(32)

I exhale, trying to compartmentalize my rage. I failed to kill Tau. Cole and Xavier pulled me off of him before I was done. I only managed to slit his throat open; I didn’t go deep enough. He’ll live. He’ll heal.

In the minutes after he blew the boatswain and I attacked him, a swarm of Dominion Powers amassed to help the Seraphim. A dark hood was thrown over my head. My wings were tied along with my wrists and legs. I fought them to try to get to Evie, but I was overwhelmed and dragged off.

She was still breathing when I was beaten nearly senseless, shoved into a trunk of a vehicle, and driven off. I felt the attraction of butterflies even through the pain. I’m certain that she’s alive; it’s the only reason why I’m able to hold onto a semblance of calm. I’m clutching the invisible thread that binds me to her. I won’t let go, not for anything in this world.

A soft, golden glow appears in the corner of my cell, dispelling the gloom. Russell takes shape as his head peeks through the wall. When he sees me, the light from Russell’s illuminated clone pushes through the cold stone. His leg steps through next, followed by his arm and shoulder, and the rest of his tall frame. As he emerges, he takes a look around at the walls before his eyes return to me crouched on the floor. I don’t bother to hide my bleak expression. It unnerves him; his clone runs his hand through his hair, mimicking his normal reaction to stress.

“You in a time out?” Russell asks with his slow, southern smile that attempts to hide the growing anxiety in his clone’s eyes.

“It’s more like a time in,” I reply.

“They catch you jay walkin’ again? I’ve told you to wait when the orange blinkin’ hand—”

“I tried to kill Tau.”

Russell’s clone’s playful grin evaporates in an instant. “How come you’re not dead then?” he asks.

“They need me alive as leverage against Evie.”

“Where are ya? We’ll come get ya out.”

“Dominion—the chateau, but you can’t come here, Russell.”

“Huh?” he asks without humor. “Where’s Red? Is she here, too?”

My stomach clenches involuntarily. He would’ve sent a clone to her first. The fact that he’s asking me means he failed to locate her. “No, she’s not here—I can’t feel her. You couldn’t find her?”

“Naw,” his clone’s brows come together in confusion. “There’s no connection. I tried to send her a bunch of clones, but none of ‘em would move. It’s like she’s not here to find—I can’t feel her anywhere either. Where did you last see her?”

“Xavier had her—the last I saw of her, she was at her childhood home—unconscious.”

“You lost her to him? What’s wrong with you? You were supposed to take him apart!” Russell’s messenger glows brighter with raw emotion, as if it’s fueling the clone.

“They have something, Russell,” I reply.

“What? What’ve they got?” His clone comes nearer, squatting down in front of me so he can look into my eyes.

“What I’m going to tell you doesn’t get relayed to anyone else. Not Zephyr, not Anya, no one. You understand?”

“No,” he replies with a scowl. “What the hell are ya talkin’ bout? We’re a team here. We work together—”

“Not for this! This is too dangerous for them to know. The only reason I’m going to tell you this is because I think it will concern you as well.”

“All right! You’re freakin’ me out! What is it?” Russell asks.

“They have a key to Sheol. It opens a doorway to Hell.”

“Fffffaaaaaa—for what? Why would they need that?” Russell asks with a grim look.

I ignore Russell’s questions. “She used it.”

“WHAT? Evie’s there—in HELL?”

“Shh,” I look over Russell’s clone’s shoulder to the door before I glance back to him. “Evie took the key from Tau—she used it to open a doorway to Sheol. It tried to drag her into it, but Tau closed it before she could enter it.”

“Why would she open it in the first place?”

I shake my head. “I don’t think she knew what she was doing.”

Russell growls. “What happened after she opened it?”

“Tau took the key back from her and closed the opening, but he nearly destroyed her doing it.”

“Destroyed her how?”

“It was like a kill switch to her, Russell. It acted like a weapon that completely overpowered Evie.”

“What does it look like—the key?”

“It’s looks like a boatswain—a whistle that naval—”

Russell holds up his hand, “I know what that is—it’s used to call out orders to sailors at sea. Different tone sequences mean different things like: weigh the anchor or time to eat—I’ve lived before, remember?”

“Tau has one that has a different purpose—one of the high-pitched sounds incapacitates your kind—half-angels. It’s like a whistle that only your kind can hear—the frequency hurts you—or maybe it’s the particular tone he used on her. She bled, Russell, from her eyes—her ears—her mouth—it came through her pores...”