Free Iniquity (The Premonition Series Book 5) by Amy A. Bartol

windows behind him are blown out. As Tau’s hands curl into fists, I notice the wink and shimmer of a platinum ring on his finger. I can’t be sure, but from this distance it looks very similar to the one that Xavier now wears—like the ring that I buried in the yard.
    “They work,” Tau growls through his teeth to Xavier.
    Cole materializes from the house and stands beside Tau. With his crimson Seraphim wings out, he’s ready to defend his leader. Assessing the situation, he frowns at Tau. “Stings, huh?”
    Tau exhales a deep breath. “A bit.”
    “EVIE!” Xavier barks my name. I flinch at his obvious censure, my panic doubles. I raise both my hands with my fingers spread out wide, whispering a hasty spell. Closing my fingers, I pull my fists toward me. I wait a second hoping to see them drop to the ground as magic squeezes oxygen from their lungs. Xavier, Tau, and Cole each grasp their chests, struggling to take a breath, but none of them fall to the ground as I’d intended. Inhaling deep gulps of air, they manage to stave off my charm. It only serves to infuriate them.
    Reed has moved behind me to protect me from the Powers who continue to approach us with cautious strides. He pulls the spade-shaped blades from his pockets, gripping the notched handles in his fists. I close my eyes, pushing energy outward. It creates a barrier surrounding Reed and me; the Powers come up short when they bump into it, becoming unintentional mimes. A flood of relief swamps me that my spell works on them, rendering them useless in this arena. Reed, recognizing the shift in power, turns and faces the Seraphim, moving in front of me to protect me from them.
    “So those rings protect you from me?” I want to scream at how unfair that is.
    Tau holds his hand up, displaying a platinum band fashioned into an intricate sword over a shield, much like Xavier’s ring. “They’re divine; they make us impervious to all types of magic. Do you know where I found mine?”
    I shake my head.
    “It was outside your window at school, lodged between the wall and the rusting hull of your fire escape in Crestwood.”
    “How did it get there?”
    “I lost it when I ascended—the day you moved in. It must have fallen off me right after you cut your hand. Cole’s was harder to find. It came off him in the front yard of this house. Someone found it and pawned it. We suspect one or more of the Murphy boys next door. It took us awhile to track it down. Then, all that was left was to find Xavier’s.”
    I school my features to reflect Tau’s blasé mask. “Can’t leave that stuff laying around.”
    “Come inside, I’ll explain it to you.”
    “No, thanks. We’re good right here.” I cross my arms in front of me.
    “What I need to impart requires secrecy for your protection,” Tau says with a neutral stare.
    “I don’t want to hear anything you have to say.”
    “You’re still such a child,” Tau sighs. He gives me a dismissive look before speaking to Reed in Angel.
    Reed takes my hand in his again, warm fingers weaving between mine causing a current of love to swell in my heart. “I’m afraid I can’t comply with your orders. My allegiance is to Evie. I swore a blood vow to her. We won’t be willingly separated again.”
    Xavier tenses before taking a threatening step toward us. Tau puts his hand on Xavier’s arm and stays him, before giving Reed a pitying look. Xavier is barely restraining himself as he rocks from foot to foot like a caged animal. “She has a hold on you. She builds like floodwater until you drown in her.”
    “I’m not drowning,” Reed replies. “I’ve only just begun to live.”
    Xavier grows still. “You should remember that you’re here for one purpose: to kill fallen, not to interfere with our mission.”
    Reed doesn’t back down. “She’s my mission. That couldn’t be more plain to me if it were written in the stars.”
    Tau speaks again in Angel, this time to the Powers behind us. They retreat,