Iniquity (The Premonition, #5)(79)

“Yeah,” Russell replies, “he told me he saw you. He said Tau wants peace with you. Is that true?”

“Peace is a subjective term. He wanted me to kill Atwater and retrieve the boatswain we discussed…peacefully.”

“Did you do it?” Russell asks, looking troubled.

“No. I didn’t kill Atwater. He slipped into a portal.” Reed leaves out the part about us having the whistle that opens Sheol. I shoot Reed a sidelong look. He acknowledges my question, answering me with a squeeze to my upper arm that says ‘don’t tell him’. I know that Atwater told me not to tell anyone except Reed about us having the boatswain, but this is Russell—my soul mate. I trust him with everything. Still, I don’t speak of it. Russell doesn’t seem to notice our omission.

“Good,” he says with a look of relief, “I’m glad you didn’t kill him. Anya told me Atwater is my guardian angel. I have to find him. He has a ton of explaining to do.” I search my mind and I know it’s true. Atwater is Russell’s guardian angel, but he hasn’t always been. Russell used to be guarded by a Cherub name Tulie, but Byzantyne stabbed her to death only a few lifetimes ago. Russell wasn’t the same after losing Tulie. He loved her. My soul mate doesn’t notice my complete shock as he continues on. “Okay, what I’m ‘bout to say is gonna sound really stupid comin’ from me, especially given our history with the Gancanagh, but I need y’all to hear me out—”

Reed holds up his hand, palm out. “We need to parley with Brennus because he has a Faerie weapon that will annihilate Evie’s inescapable’s soul. Without that weapon, we can’t kill Emil.”

Russell’s clone blinks—his image straightens up to a taller height. “That’s freaky, Reed. You’re freaking me out.”

“Russell may not know him as Emil, Reed,” I explain. “They never met in Simone’s lifetime. Russell, Emil is Ronan…Ionia…Tasha…Zanzibar—”

“Djet,” Russell whispers our enemy’s name. “You remember.”

“I do, Iah.” For a few moments, my lifetimes with my soul mate spread out in a tapestry before me. I am nearly crushed by the weight of it. In human form, Russell was always the one I wanted. Nothing and no one came between us. When I died and my soul detached from my human form, things were different. I remember everything—I was in love with my angel in Heaven, Xavier. I would do anything for my Seraph guardian, even forget him over and over and die for my angel a thousand times, and then a hundred thousand more, just for a few moments together with him in Paradise when it was allowed—when Russell still lived on Earth and I was in Heaven. I shake my head. There are so many broken pieces of me.

Russell’s clone comes closer to me, his light falling on my face. “I have a dagger that Brennus gave me. If I cut myself with it, it will bring Brennus to me. I can’t use it though. I won’t use it. I can’t allow the Gancanagh to get close to Anya or the Reapers again. We need to meet up. You have to go with me to talk to Brennus. He’ll listen to you. He’ll do anythin’ for you.”

“Of course he will. I’m his queen.” Both Reed and Russell frown. “I am his queen. I have to lead his army into battle against Emil. Brennus will give me whatever I ask for, but even if he doesn’t, I could take it from him just as easily.”

“How?” Russell asks.

“Russell, we’re the most powerful beings on Earth. We don’t even need a reason to take what we want.”

“Ah, so now you remember that you’re an ass kicker?”

“I can’t believe I ever forgot. You don’t have to come, you know? I can deal with the Gancanagh on my own.”

“I wouldn’t miss this for the world, Evie,” Russell replies.

“Okay, where are you now? I will find out where the Gancanagh have set up their new lair, and then I’ll meet you and we’ll go there together.”

Russell’s clone smiles. “I’ll come here. It’s not terribly far from where I am now. I’ll see you in a few hours.” Russell looks at Reed. “You’re in, right?’

“I’m in.” Reed nods. “Tell Zephyr to keep our Reapers away from Crestwood.”

“Why?”

“Before he slipped away from me, Atwater told me the hole Emil created between our worlds has ruptured. Evil souls and demons are escaping through it into Crestwood. Sheol’s souls will possess any humans who will let them. The demons will rampage. It will be a thousand fold worse than the angels in the 7-Eleven ever were. Reapers will be drawn there, feeling the need to reap souls. The sheer numbers of the evil dead will overwhelm them. They’ll be slaughtered. Tell them to get the word out to other Reapers.”

“We have to close that door,” Russell says urgently.

“We do. We need our armies in place first, or we don’t stand a chance. It’s a trap, Russell. Emil set it. He most likely has his angel army just on the other side of the gate, waiting for us to come to close it. When we do, he plans to meet us and butcher anyone who gets between him and Evie.”

Russell’s clone shivers. “He told me he wants to kill her last. He wants her to watch us all die first.”

“Yes, he wants to kill us, for sure, but he wants more than that.”