Iniquity (The Premonition Series Book 5) by Amy A. Bartol Read Free Book Online Page B

just after your return from being Simone in France.”
    “Were they happy together?”
    “They seemed to be, but he still felt an obligation to you. He insisted upon joining you for this mission. Not that he had much of a choice. Heaven requires soul mates to have a chance to meet one another in a lifetime. He had to return with you, but he didn’t have to stay. Your soul mate was separated from Anya when he was born as Russell. You followed him here soon after. Your evolution into Angel started the countdown for his death. He would’ve died some other way if not on the floor of the 7-Eleven to be with her.”
    Guilt makes my throat feel tight. “But Heaven was telling me to save him in my dreams.”
    “They were presenting you with the option.”
    My stomach clenches. “Why did they change the plan and take you away from me?”
    “I can only speculate. I was not allowed to know the mission other than that I was assigned to protect you as your guardian, like I always am. When I was taken from you, I know that without me to advise you otherwise, you clung to Russell. You made the choice to keep him—to change him—to make him like you. Heaven didn’t break their promise to you not to let him stay here...you let them out of it.”
    I nearly push the door from the hinges as I fling it open in my attempt to get away from what he’s telling me. Exiting the car, Xavier rounds the hood and is in front of me in a moment. He pulls off his shirt, his muscles flex as they come into sight. Scarlet-colored wings punch their way from his back. I glance beyond him to Reed who already has his shirt off as his dark gray wings match the aggressive expanse of Xavier’s.
    Xavier grasps me by my upper arms, forcing me to look at him again. “You have to come with me now, before you get them all killed.”
    “Russell,” Reed calls out, “let me out!”
    Russell hesitates in indecision, watching the sky as it darkens. The gray overcast day changes. Black clouds move, roiling like waves. “Y’all, I’m not makin’ the sky do that! Can you smell the magic, Red?” Russell goes to Anya, getting in front of her; his wings extend to shield her. Anya turns away from him, her black wings serrate to full extension, as she makes ready to protect his back.
    “Russell!” Reed’s hands press against the stout field of energy holding him at bay.
    Zephyr pulls knives from holsters strapped to his thighs. “Buns, take Brownie inside.”
    Buns shakes her head. “We have our sticks. We’ll be fine.” Zephyr growls a warning at her, which she chooses to ignore.
    When I glance back at Xavier, his face is turned toward the sky beyond his car. He moves to me so fast he becomes a blur. His arm slips around my waist. He pulls me close to him, whispering in my ear, “Run on now, honey, back behind your wall before the devils see you go.” He nudges me in the direction of where I came through to meet him. His macabre words chill me, leaving me frozen in place. I can’t leave him here.
    Eerie whistling sounds from the sky surround Reed’s manor house. The wild calls come from all sides—in stereo; they carry with them a sickening lullaby that raises goose bumps on my arms. The sun is gone like an unwanted guest. Its absence makes my feet heavy with fear.
    “Where’s my ring, Evie?” Xavier demands. His lips brush the shell of my ear. “Tell me quickly, and then slip back in and I’ll lead them away from you.”
    I quake as I grab his hand, tugging it. I try to make him move with me back toward the barrier. “You’re not staying out here alone. I’ll protect you—”
    But all at once, the freak show begins. The wicked black-winged shapes of reconnoîtres, demon scouts from Sheol, pour out of the shadows of the clouds. Hundreds of them fly like migrating birds, following swirling wind patterns and shifting in geometric formations until they dive en masse. Black leathery wings puncture the air with moaning soughs that disturb the