Iniquity (The Premonition, #5)(78)

“Reed,” my voice breaks.

The look he gives me is one of despair. “Do you remember him?”

“Xavier?” I ask. He nods. I can’t look in his eyes, so I look up at the ceiling. “There’s so much time…when I think back…I can’t see a time or a memory without him in it.”

“You’re still in love with him and I’m still in love with you.”

“I came here to find you, Reed—”

“I found you. I didn’t slaughter you because I love you.”

“When we finish this, you’ll get to go home to—”

“Then we finish it.” He turns away from me, shifting me off of his lap. He swings his legs to the edge of the bed. Rising from the mattress, he walks from the bedroom.

“Wait!” I drag the rumpled sheet with me as I scramble off the bed and follow him. I pull my wings inside me so the sheet fits snug.

“You don’t have to say anything. I know how it is.” He’s already up the stairs and in the library room at the top of the house.

Rushing through the doorway, I find him buttoning his black pants. He picks up his shirt off the floor and retracts his wings into his back. “Then you know I don’t want to finish this!”

“Why not?” he asks, all business now. He’s acting like the Reed I first met at Crestwood and it’s scaring me. “It’s what you asked for, right? We kill your inescapable and his wicked guardian and you and Xavier are together for eternity.”

“That’s not what I want!”

Reed balls up his shirt. “No? Did I miss something?” His handsome mouth twists with anger. “I thought you made it all clear in your negotiations.”

“It’s what Simone wanted! It’s not what I want! I’m not her anymore.”

“I’m sorry,” he says cuttingly, “if you’re not Simone, then who are you?”

“I’m me, Reed!” I put my palm to my chest and pat it. “I’m Evie! I’m not just a soul anymore! I have this angel body!” I hold up my hand, letting him see the angel shine of it. “I have fire inside of me.” Opening my hand palm up, I ignite a ball of fire in it. “Simone is only a small piece of me! She may still love Xavier, but Evie—me—I love you, you stupid angel!” I let the fire go out in my hand. “You have no idea what losing you will do to me, do you?” I turn away from him.

His voice is rough as he says, “I’m not stupid. I’m stubborn and I’m not going anywhere without you.”

My shoulders round. “You won’t have a choice. It’s part of the bargain. You ascend if we win. Period.”

“Not if we win—when we win.” I feel Reed’s arms wrap around my waist from behind. “And you don’t know for sure what will happen when we do.” His voice resonates through me like sex.

“I do know,” I whisper, leaning back against him. I may be a new being, but I’m also ancient and I know how things work.

“Heaven could allow you to ascend with me.”

“Reed, they’ll never allow me to come with you.”

Reed places his hand on my chin, turning me in his arms to face him. “You’re my aspire. I’m not leaving here without you. We’ll end Emil and Byzantyne, and then they’ll have no reason to keep you here.”

“If we win, I’m here until something kills me,” I murmur. “You know it as well as I do.” He knows I’m right. I’ve traded places with him. He knows Heaven will never call me back as long as I live and can fight for them.

“You asked for a love of your own choosing. You could choose me.” Could I choose him? Could I deny him Heaven? It’s the only thing he had ever wanted before he found Simone broken on the floor of the carriage house.

My hand reaches out and touches his cheek. “I do choose you. You’re everything to me. It’s your wings that are branded into my flesh, Reed,” I say, tugging the sheet lower, exposing the binding mark of his wings above my heart. “I chose you.”

“There is no heaven without you, Evie. I cannot say it any plainer than that.”

“So we fight?”

“We fight and we win.”

And then we say goodbye, I think, because I know it’s true and my heart bleeds because of it, but aloud I say, “We win.”

Reed leans down near my ear, “This is the beginning of us. I won’t give up. Not ever.” He nuzzles my earlobe. The seductive feel of his body pressing to mine is almost more than I can take. He loosens the sheet around me. His fingertips trace my skin, but his hand stills as a golden light bursts into the room in the form of Russell.

The clone of my soul mate slows when he nears us. His brown eyes, although made of light, shoot daggers at us. “Seriously, Red? I’ve been worried ‘bout you since you left Crestwood and now I find you two goin’ at it.” He throws a disgusted look at Reed. “What happened to ‘Wait for Evie, she’ll contact you’? Meanwhile, you two are gettin’ freaky and I’m a mess ‘cuz I can’t find either of y’all. So thanks! Thanks a lot for that!”

“I’m sorry, Russell—”

“You should be!” he retorts.

“Did Phaedrus locate you?” Reed asks, holding me at his side.