Iniquity (The Premonition, #5)(56)

“Will you walk with me?” Tau gestures with his arm extended to the adjacent hallway. I assess the Power angels amassing near Tau. They make no move to attack me. “I promise you that you will be unharmed.” I straighten from my defensive posture. Powers line the corridors at measured widths, strategic in their formations. At the smallest signal from Tau, they’ll crash in on me.

Tau sees the direction of my stare. He speaks to the soldiers closest to him, dismissing them. Their reluctance to leave him is obvious, but they obey his order, departing with vicious stares in my direction. Alone in the corridor with Tau and a handful of Powers, I unwrap the leather from my hand. I thread it back around my waist. With measured steps, I walk to Evie’s father. Face to face with him, he looks me in the eyes. His are so much like Evie’s, gray with a hint of blue. “It’s this way to the reception hall. We can speak on the way.” He starts down the corridor. “Do you need anything?”

I walk beside him. “No.”

“No? Would you like a change of clothes?” He indicates my bare chest and dirt-streaked jeans.

“I’m capable of clothing myself.”

“Still,” Tau replies. He gestures to a Power behind us, calling him over, ordering clothes and food for me to be brought to the reception hall.

We turn a corner. Phaedrus is just ahead of us, waiting. His caramel-colored, owl-shaped wings are resting behind him in a nonthreatening posture. He joins us, walking beside Tau, matching his steps. I don’t acknowledge the Virtue angel. I’m aware that Evie believes Phaedrus betrayed us by siding with the Seraphim. I know Phaedrus was only attempting to keep her safe from Brennus by letting me die. I cannot fault him for it. It was a sound decision at the time. He couldn’t have known that I was not permanently lost to the Gancanagh. Even if he had known, I still cannot fault him. He has done me a service for which I can never repay him. He performed the ceremony that bound my life to Evie’s. I’m in his debt, I think, as I touch the mark of Evie’s wings on my chest

Tau notices my hand on my heart. “I may have miscalculated your role in this mission, Reed. There are circumstances at play here that suggests you were chosen for this.” His words surprise me, but I don’t show it.

“Circumstances?” I ask. I drop my hand from my heart.

“The extra sensory gift you possess—your ability to influence humans—it’s a mystery to me. I’d like to know how you’ve used it.”

“I’m not inclined to explain,” I reply. Phaedrus is quiet, but his presence speaks volumes. He’s here to help facilitate something between Tau and me.

“Your ability to influence humans eliminates free will. Without it, humans cannot be judged for their actions. They’d more than likely go unpunished for any wrongdoing, if you were to order them to sin.”

“I don’t use my influence in that way.”

“Never? You know the rules we have with humans? We’re not to interfere in their lives.”

“I know.”

“Ever break the rules?”

I shrug, noncommittal, but my mind searches for instances. I have used my talent a few times recently with Russell, I think, but I don’t say it aloud. A thought pushes its way to the periphery of my mind. I glimpse a girl on a stone floor…I lose the thought. It evaporates and I can’t seem to call it back. We climb stairs leading up to the main level.

Tau reads my silence as reluctance to answer his question. He presses on. “You attract Evie to you.”

“It’s a mutual attraction,” I reply.

“And you’ll do anything to stay together.”

“That surprises you?”

“You’re a Power. You’re designed to follow my orders, but you would’ve killed me had Xavier and Cole not stopped you.” There’s respect and admiration in his demeanor.

“I wouldn’t have hesitated. I’ve promised to protect Evie with my life. You were threatening her life.” We reach the next floor.

“She wanted to end the fight between you and Xavier.”

“And killing her was your best solution?” I cannot hide the anger in my tone, however much I wish I could.

“I didn’t use a killing tone when I blew the boatswain. It was meant to subdue her, nothing more, and thereby get your attention and that of Xavier. I did not anticipate the damage it would do to her. It was not supposed to be that way, but it did demonstrate something to me. Now I see that she’s ready to die rather than lose either of you. I also understand that you’re both here for a purpose. I cannot allow either of you to cease to be now without fulfilling your destinies.”

“So you had me thrown in a cell here and separated from my aspire.”

“No. I’ve just recovered from getting my throat cut, and then I was gathering information before I freed you. Evie just got to you first.”

Traversing a short hallway, we enter a reception area of the Chateau. Its floor is ancient marble. The ceiling is painted with scenes of angels at war. Gilded mirrors and furniture serve as elegant accouterments to our negotiations. “You believe you know my destiny?” I ask.

“Evie chose her champion. It’s you.” He stops at a sitting area in the middle of the room.

I face him, standing in front of a chair, but neither of us takes a seat. “You know this, how?”