Magic Binds (17 page)

Of all the times to not bring the flaming sword.

“Get inside before he hurts himself!” Barabas pointed at the door.

“Himself?” Teddy Jo turned purple in the face.

Christopher plummeted from the sky and landed in front of the doorway, blocking the entrance with his wings.

The car. It was our only option.

“Stay behind me.” I put myself between Teddy Jo and Christopher and began moving sideways toward the Jeep. The back row of seats was down. If he folded his wings, he'd fit.

“Chris.” Barabas approached Christopher, his arms raised, open palms up. “Hey. It's me. Calm down. It's okay.”

Christopher pulled his wings to him, covering himself completely. The wings snapped open and he took off into the air. The wind blast knocked Barabas off his feet.

“Run!” I pushed Teddy Jo toward the Jeep.

He sprinted across the lawn. Christopher swooped over him. Teddy Jo landed by the Jeep, pressing against it. I covered him, trying to block Christopher's access. Julie crouched next to me. Teddy Jo pushed us aside and dashed around the car, wedging himself into the narrow space between the two vehicles. Christopher dived at him, but the gap was too narrow. He flew up, circling. I saw his mouth open and clamped my hands over my ears.

Christopher shrieked and the world drowned in fear. My thoughts scattered . . .

So afraid . . .

Have to run.

. . .

I heard myself screaming.

Barabas was screaming next to me, abject terror turning his face into a bloodless mask. Julie was on the ground, curled into a ball.

Curran leapt over the seven-foot fence and ran to me.

“Help!” I yelled.

He looked up, his eyes following Christopher back and forth as he circled us in the air. Curran's muscles tensed. He gathered himself, jumped up as if shot out of a cannon, knocked Christopher out of the air, and landed on top of him on the ground.

Christopher tried to rise. Curran's body twisted into warrior shape, packing on muscle and pounds. He strained, keeping Christopher down.

I threw myself on him, adding my weight to Curran's. Barabas landed on the other side, clamping Christopher's left arm. Julie grabbed Christopher's leg.

“Christopher,” Barabas called. “We're all safe. You don't have to hurt anyone. Nobody's in danger . . .”

Christopher snarled, baring his fangs, and stood up, heaving all of us up with him.

“Curran!” I yelled.

“I've got him.” Curran's body thickened again. He was almost completely lion now. Hundreds of pounds of weight, but Christopher was still standing.

“Chris!” Barabas called.

Christopher screamed. Every nightmare I'd ever had came together and punched me in the face.

. . .

I had to stay. I had to hold him down. I had to or he would kill Teddy Jo.

I had to protect Teddy Jo.

Tears wet my cheeks.

Behind me Maggie shot out of the house, barking at the top of her lungs, and bit Curran's ankle.

“Julie,” he growled.

She let go of Christopher, grabbed the little dog, and carried Maggie back into the house. Every muscle in my body shook under the strain of keeping Christopher down.

A rider on a black horse galloped up and dismounted.

“I've got this,” Roman called out. “I've got this!”

He reached between us and stuffed a clump of dark fabric into Christopher's mouth.

Christopher flailed. My legs left the ground and I swung free above the grass.

Roman's staff opened its eyes. He thrust it into the ground. Magic shifted around us.

“Syra mat zemlya, ne dershi ty ego!”

Christopher sank into the ground up to his hips. Curran grabbed his right arm, while Barabas wrapped himself around his left.

“That ought to do it,” Roman said. “Greeks and their wings. Flying here, flying there, screaming their heads off, scaring the horse.”

The fashion division of Clan Nimble applauded from the doorway. Nice of them to help.

“Christopher,” Barabas called. “Christopher!”

Christopher ignored him.

Sometimes an educated guess is the best you've got. “Deimos?”

Christopher's face snapped toward me.

“Deimos?” Barabas asked, his voice hitting a high note.

“Son of Ares, the Greek god of war, and Aphrodite, the goddess of love.”

“A god?” Barabas asked. “What is he a god of?”

“Terror.”

Christopher stared at me. If looks could kill, I'd be down on the ground breathing my last breath.

“How?” Curran asked me.

Gods couldn't manifest except during a flare. “I have no idea. Deimos must've been inside Christopher and he saw Teddy Jo, recognized him as Thanatos, and lost his mind.”

The Johns Hopkins psychiatrist did say Christopher would need an incentive to want to heal. This was not what I had in mind.

Teddy Jo pushed the two Jeeps apart, marched out, and punched Roman in the jaw.

Okay. The world had really gone insane.

The volhv stumbled back a couple of steps. “What the hell was that for?”

“You know what for.”

“I didn't take it.”

“No, but
he
did.”

“I wasn't involved in any of that. It's your own fault. If you hadn't chased after naked women at night, you wouldn't be in this mess.”

“I thought she was in danger,” Teddy Jo ground out.

“Sure, you did. Keep telling yourself that.”

Teddy Jo took another step forward.

Roman's dark eyebrows furrowed. “Watch it, birdie, before I break those wings off. I already got one of you. I have no problem adding another.”

Nice to know that in a crisis his Russian accent evaporated. I stepped between them. “What's going on?”

Teddy Jo waved his arms. “What's going on is I was flying here to meet with you and you sicced the son of Ares on me. I'm a demigod. That's a full-out avatar. How is he not disappearing?”

“Nobody knew he was an avatar. You triggered his transformation. It's not my fault you left your sword at home.”

“I didn't leave it, damn it all to Tartarus!”

“Baby,” Curran called, his voice saturated with controlled exertion. “Take Teddy Jo and go. Christopher isn't going to calm down until you leave.”

I didn't want to leave. I wanted to stay and figure out what was going on
with Christopher. But he was right. Christopher wouldn't calm down until Teddy Jo was out of sight and striking range.

I ran inside, pulled off the dress, threw it at Fiona, and ran upstairs. Two minutes later I was back, wearing my normal clothes, Sarrat on my back.

Teddy Jo held out a leather swing on chains. “Sit.”

“You said a harness. That is not a harness. That's a playground swing.”

“What if she falls?” Roman asked.

Teddy Jo's eyes bulged a little. He was at the end of his patience. “If she falls, I'll catch her.”

“That's it.” Roman thrust the staff at me. “Hold him. I'm coming with. I'll be needed for negotiations anyway.”

Teddy Jo rolled his eyes.

“I'm not taking chances with this wedding. She's going to walk down the aisle, and I'm marrying her and Curran.”

Teddy Jo looked at me. “You're having him officiate at your wedding? Do you know what he does?”

“Could you please have this discussion somewhere else?” Barabas asked.

Roman stretched his arms and popped his neck, as if about to take a swim. “Take care of my horse, please.” He planted his feet, took a deep breath, and exhaled. “I hate this part.”

Bones crunched. Roman threw himself on the ground. Black feathers exploded and lay flat, and a raven the size of a human stared at me with brown eyes.

Holy crap.

I hugged Curran, who was still holding Christopher-Deimos in an arm lock. “Love you, I'll be back soon. Don't let him drink any blood.”

“Get into the swing,” Teddy Jo said.

Christopher strained, screaming into his gag. I wedged myself between Barabas and Curran and hugged him. “I'll be back. Don't worry.”

He continued to struggle against Curran's hold. He had Christopher's face and Christopher's hair, but aside from that nothing else remained. Christopher was gentle. The creature that fought so hard Curran's muscles bulged keeping it down was anything but gentle. I really hoped I hadn't watched the person I knew as Christopher die in the transformation.

Julie dashed out of the house. “Sienna called.”

Damn it all. “What did she say?”

“Beware the dragon.”

Well, wasn't that a cherry on top of my morning.

•   •   •

F
LYING WAS OVERRATED.
Heights were very overrated. Flying with wings was probably less overrated when said wings belonged to you, but when you were dangling in a swing that bopped up and down every time the angel of death carrying you beat his wings, you reached a new level of appreciation for walking. Walking was amazing and awesome, and I really wanted to do it again as soon as possible.

“Kate,” Teddy Jo called out. “How are you going to ride a pegasi? You're terrified of heights.”

“I'm not. I just don't like them.”

“You really, really don't like them.”

Thank you, Captain Obvious.
I stared straight ahead. Looking down made every hair on my body stand on end. I had to do it. There was no other choice.

Unfortunately looking straight ahead was boring, so I kept coming back to trying to process the whole Christopher thing and failing. If he were Deimos's avatar, he shouldn't have been able to exist. I couldn't quite get around that.

“Do you want to tell me what happened to your sword now?” I shifted my grip on the chain. If I squeezed any harder, my hands would cramp up, and I needed my hands to hold my sword.

“I was flying home,” Teddy Jo said. “It was dark. I saw a naked woman stumbling along the road below me. I landed to see if she was okay. She told me a monster was in the woods. I pulled out my sword and then I woke up in the mud, in the middle of the forest. A voice told me to bring you to the same spot within three days so a bargain could be struck.”

“What kind of voice?”

“Female. Very beautiful.”

“And what does this have to do with your punching Roman?”

“His god took it.”

“You think Chernobog took your sword?”

“I don't think. I know. Look down.”

We'd been flying north toward the Chattahoochee National Forest and then over it. I locked my teeth and looked down.

A black stain spread below us. Massive trees, so dense you couldn't see through their crowns, stood shoulder to shoulder, their leaves such a dark green they looked black. A narrow road snaked its way around the black woods.

“Did you talk to Roman about it?”

“Yeah. He says he doesn't know why that happened.”

“If Chernobog wanted to talk to me, why didn't he use Roman?”

“Nobody knows that either.”

“Why does he want to talk to me?”

“You keep asking these questions. I gave you all of the information I have.”

“Anything you can tell me about the woman?”

“She had blue hair.”

Ahead of us the enormous raven that was Roman swooped down.

“Hold on,” Teddy Jo said.

“I thought I'd throw my arms up like on a roller coaster.”

“Your funeral.”

“Better not be. I die, you might never get your sword back.”

We dived. Wind whistled past my ears. The ground rushed at us.

Below us, the raven twisted back into a human.

The ground hurtled toward me at an alarming speed.

We are all going to die . . .

Six feet above the grass I decided to take my chances. I jumped out of the swing—the ground punched my feet—and rolled upright.

Roman clapped.

“What the hell?” Teddy Jo asked, landing. “I would've set you down.”

Legs unbroken, arms unbroken, and best of all, solid ground under my feet.

“I'm okay.”

Roman laughed.

“Don't laugh.”

“Can't help it.” The smile slid off his face. “It might be the last time. Nothing good will come from your entering this forest. This isn't a place where normal people are welcome.”

“I should be right at home, then.”

“I'm serious, Kate. Here the old powers rule. Elemental powers. It's not too late to turn back.”

“It's always too late,” I told him.

“Do you remember how to talk to the gods?”

“Don't ask for anything, promise nothing, and accept no gifts.”

Roman sighed. “We shall go, then.” He headed into the woods. We followed, picking our way through the underbrush along a narrow trail.

“Why didn't Chernobog tell you that he wanted to talk to me?” I asked. “It would've made things a lot simpler.”

“He did,” Roman said. “Sometimes he wants things and I talk him out of it. I thought we had agreed to let you be. You have enough on your plate.”

“Your god went around you,” Teddy Jo said.

“He did. I tried to tell him it's a bad idea, I tried to tell Kate it's a bad idea, and nobody listens to me. And so here we are.” He waved at the darkness in the woods.

“You didn't try very hard to talk her out of it,” Teddy Jo said.

“I respect her,” Roman said. “She knows what she's doing. If she says she wants to talk to my god, then so be it. Besides, if Chernobog wants to talk to you, he'll find a way.”

Speaking of respect . . . “I have a bone to pick with you.”

“Oh?”

“Did you send my father a wedding invitation?”

“Of course I did.”

“Did you clear it with me?”

Roman bent an eyebrow at me. “You weren't available.”