Reed smiles at Anya; he has a soft spot for her: not only because she was integral in saving him from Brennus, but also because they understand one another on a very visceral level. They’re each in love with corresponding mated souls. “Have you heard from Buns or Brownie?”
Anya shakes her head. “No, but I know where they are.”
“You do?” Russell’s eyebrows rise while his shoulders sag in relief. “Where are they?”
Anya points toward the window. “They’re with Xavier.”
I take a shallow breath. Buns and Brownie are seated on the hood of Xavier’s car. Their hands and wings are restrained, but they look like they’re unharmed. Zephyr is out of our bedroom an instant later. Reed and Russell follow him immediately.
When I catch up to them, Zephyr’s standing just on our side of the barrier. Xavier is eye to eye with him on the other side. Zephyr growls low as his wings spread out menacingly. Xavier’s expression is blank. He doesn’t even display his wings.
We’re all right, sweetie,” Buns calls to Zephyr from her seat on the hood of Xavier’s black Aston Martin. The car looks like Xavier: ferocious and beautiful. “Xavier’s just being a jackhole.”
Snow falls lightly, covering us all in soft shapes of white. “Release them,” Zephyr says from between his teeth.
Xavier’s stoic gaze shifts to me. “I’m not here to hurt them. I need to speak to you.”
“Russell, let me out so he can speak to me,” Zephyr says, all business.
Xavier’s eyes lock with mine as his jaw tightens. Slowly, he pulls down the zipper of his black leather coat. Snow catches on his elegant scarf as he reaches into his coat and extracts spade-like blades; they don’t have handles, but notch-like finger grips. They look very much like the weapons Reed used to kill Pagan.
“Xavier!” I put out both my hands. My heavy breathing is evident by the white curls of smoky air coming from me. “I’ll talk to you. Just let Brownie and Buns go.”
Reed is next to me in a second. With his back to Xavier, he says in my ear, “You don’t need to do this. I can take care of him.”
I stiffen. My anger with Xavier is bone-deep. He crossed so many lines with me that I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to forgive him. Even with that, I’ll never welcome his death. I loved him in high school; a part of me knows I loved him way before that. “We have to try to sway the Seraphim to our side, right? If I can convince Xavier to help me with Tau, then we can build our army quicker.” Reed studies my eyes. “I’ve learned from the Gancanagh to never hold a grudge. Your enemy one day will be your ally the next.”
“Evil will always betray you, Evie. Remember that.” A sexy smile develops on Reed’s lips. “Xavier isn’t your enemy.” Using his finger he brushes the auburn tendril of my hair away from my face. “He’s mine.”
“He’s ours. We’re one. That makes us on the same side. Always.”
“It does.” Reed agrees and kisses me. “If he attempts anything, use your power. Fry him. Give no quarter.”
I straighten my shoulders. Reed steps aside for me and I approach the barrier, the energy from which sways back and forth within its dry riverbed like a swing of a pendulum. Zephyr is at my side; his fingers twitch in anticipation. He has every intention of joining me on the other side of the barrier.
“Zee, I got this,” I say softly.
Zephyr frowns. “That is my angel he has threatened. Twice.”
Despite the seriousness of the situation, I feel a rush of warmth over Zephyr’s need to protect Buns. “I know.” I lay my hand on his shoulder. “We need him alive. He has my father’s trust.” I need to build an army so that what Brennus said this morning doesn’t happen. I won’t survive losing a member of my family. I have to protect us.
The war is in his eyes. Finally, he says, “He lives...for now. Do not kill him. I want the pleasure.”
I breathe a small sigh. “I promise I won’t kill Xavier.”
I face Xavier. “I’ll come out after they’re in.”
Xavier studies me for a moment, and then he nods, trusting my word. He lifts Brownie down from the hood. Moving behind her, he unties the angel hair ropes around her wings and hands. It’s a good thing that Preben isn’t here to see this, but left the night we returned to begin recruiting angels for our cause. I’m not sure I could’ve reasoned with him like I had with Zephyr.
“You’re a douche, Xavier,” Brownie says as she rubs her wrists where the rope has fallen away. She touches her hand to her white-blond hair smoothing it away from her face as her russet-colored, Monarch-like wings wave away the snow that collected on them.
“You’re a Reaper,” Xavier frowns, “you should’ve followed my orders.”
He moves on to untie Buns. “We don’t answer to you,” Buns says to him over her shoulder. Her golden butterfly wings give an uncharacteristic snap. “We pledged our loyalty to the Seraph over there.” She waves her hand in my direction. “You’re just static to us.” I think for a second that Buns is going to stick her tongue out at him, but instead, she waits for Xavier to turn his back before she flips him off.
Xavier just misses catching her when he glances over his shoulder to give her a poisonous look. “That Seraph over there answers to me.”
“Prove it,” Brownie says in a singsong voice.
“In time,” Xavier frowns.
“We need our—” Brownie says something in Angel as she glares at Xavier with hands on her hips. Xavier lifts the chrome handle of the passenger door. He extracts two golden field hockey-like sticks from his car, handing them to her. The sharp blades of their Reaper scythes gleam even in the gray, overcast light of winter.
Xavier’s expression turns dark, like he has no more patience for them. “Go,” he orders.
Buns locks arms with Brownie and they move Tweedledee and Tweedledum fashion toward us. Holding up my hand, I whisper words that softly blow from my lips to swirl around the energy that drizzles from my fingertips. The barrier glows, shimmering with a spectral light. Pieces of it break away, becoming iridescent, glass-like butterflies that float around in a haphazard flock while the girls slip through the opening it leaves in the wall.
They hug me. “Oh, sweetie, you need to run from that one. He has a caveman complex,” Buns says when her eyes meet mine. Then she points at Reed, “You. We’re upping your training regimen. You’re not losing that challenge!” A smile flickers on Reed’s lips as he tries to hide it.
“Evie,” Xavier says impatiently.
Taking my time, I walk through the break in my magic. The magical butterflies mesh back into the wall when I’m through. I approach him warily, wondering what his reaction to me will be.
Xavier’s eyes study my face, like he’s memorizing it. He frowns when I shiver as the frigid air stirs my hair. Shrugging off his coat he says, “Retract your wings.”
“I’m fine,” I lie.
“You’re not fine; you’re freezing. You never take care of yourself. Now retract your wings!”
“I take care of myself.”
The stubborn set of his jaw lets me know he’s not going to take no from me on this, so in the spirit of expediting this parley, I retract my wings and allow him to drape it over my shoulders. He pulls the lapels of his coat close, engulfing me in his residual warmth and scent. It’s almost Pavlovian, my physical reaction to it. A deep-seated yearning erupts in my core. I beat it down. He’s a liar. He broke your heart and left you here alone, my ruthless inner voice reminds me. And I love Reed.