Magic Binds (34 page)

I let Cuddles meander her way through the streets until I raised my head and saw we were in front of my old apartment building. I stared at it. When I worked for the Order I would be coming back exactly like this, except riding Marigold. I'd have to punch my aunt for killing my mule. Too bad she wouldn't feel it. I must've unconsciously given Cuddles some cues. Where to turn, which way to go . . .

Just as well. I put Cuddles into the apartment's stables, went upstairs, and unlocked the door. I hadn't had a chance to set any wards after Curran had it remodeled post-my-aunt-wrecking-it, but at least we had put a new door on it. I didn't have the best luck with doors.

I went inside, pushed the door shut, and sat at my kitchen table.

This used to be Greg's apartment, and then it was mine. There were memories here too, but a lot of them were mine alone.

I sat at the kitchen table and tried not to think. I felt too bruised inside. Numb.

This is where it all started. When I came to Atlanta to investigate Greg's death and eventually ended up in this apartment. Life was so much easier back then, when I was a simple merc. Even working for the Order wasn't too bad. The job wasn't always straightforward, but I helped people more than I hurt them.

Fuck it.

I got up and went into the living room. It was a one-bedroom apartment and even after Greg's death, the bedroom belonged to him and his memories. It was his space. When I lived here, I always slept on the couch in the living room, which was why Curran had put a bed here. And of course, it was almost four feet high, and you needed a ladder to crawl onto it.

I would give almost anything for him to be on that bed right now making fun of me.

I opened the windows, unlocked the bars, and let the night in. Why the hell not. It wasn't like anyone would come to bother me anyway. I took off the leather harness with Sarrat in it and put it on the night table. I pulled off my boots and sat on the bed. I kept thinking my father would wreck my life, but no, turned out it was all me.

A hand gripped the windowsill.

Now I was seeing things.

Curran vaulted into the room, human and dressed. He came over and sat next to me.

“Stopped by the house?”

“I tailed you to make sure you got there in one piece. Talked to the kids after you left. Thought you would be at Cutting Edge, but you weren't. This was the next place. Would've gone to the Savannah house after that.”

“Trained detective.”

“That's right.”

We sat side by side. Outside the window the stars winked at us.

“I leave to clear my head and you run away from the house,” he said.

“I didn't run away.” Yep, I totally did.

We sat quietly for a few more moments.

“I wanted to tell you about Adora.”

“I understand why you might want to hold things back. We both deal with fucked-up shit and we try to shield each other. I don't like it, but I get it, because I've done it before and I can't swear I won't do it again. But I don't understand why you hid
her
. Derek and Julie tried to explain it to me, but neither of them made sense. Did you think I wouldn't listen to you? I've always been cool. I might not like things that you did, but I always listen, Kate. What made you think I would lose it?”

I sighed. “I hid her, because I would have to explain why I didn't kill her.”

“Why didn't you?”

“Because her existence made me so mad, my hands shook. I wasn't mad because what was done to her was wrong. I was mad because my father dared to send her into my territory to take what was mine. I wanted to hurt him. If I'd had a knife and could've reached him in that moment, I would've sliced all the flesh off his bones. You have no idea how much I wanted to do it. I took her away from my father, because I wanted to send a big ‘Fuck You' his way. Her life at that point didn't matter to me. I didn't care that she was a person. She was a thing. She was my father's toy and I took her away so I could taunt him with her. I almost made her into a slave. I only stopped because some switch flipped in my brain and I realized you wouldn't like it. Enslaving her goes against everything I stand for. That's not me. That's not who I am. I should've stopped because of that. I didn't want to explain it to you. I didn't want you to know this about me.”

I didn't look at him. There. It was all out.

“Why didn't you let her go on the bridge? Would've ended all the questions.”

I sighed. “Because it would be wrong. Everything that happened to her was wrong. It's wrong to buy children, it's wrong to stick them into a fortress and make them into killers, it's wrong to promise them that they will get into paradise if they obey you, it's wrong to order them to kill people, it's wrong to bind them with your blood, which you told them is holy, and it's wrong to break that binding because you're engaged in a pissing contest with your father. She's a person. She is me, Curran, or at least what Voron wanted
me to be. My father didn't come up with this idea out of the blue. He watched Voron teach Hugh and he simply improved on the concept and mass-produced it.”

He waited.

“She wanted to throw away her life for me, but I don't deserve her life or her loyalty. The moment I chose to take her away from my father and let her live, I became responsible for her. You saw her. The only time she was allowed into the world was when there was a target and a handler. She deserves to have a life and to be free. If she understood things as they actually are, she wouldn't sacrifice herself for me. She'd spit in my face. I want to give her a chance. I owe her a chance. Even if you'd told me at that moment that you would leave me if I let her live, I would've saved her. It was the right thing to do. My thing. I couldn't drop her, Curran. I couldn't.”

“Of course you couldn't.”

“It's complicated.”

He shook his head. “No, it's pretty simple, actually. You didn't drop her, because that's not who you are, Kate. Because you will fight for her freedom and her life. Yes, it is a mess and it's yours to fix. Running away from all of this and pouting by yourself in your old apartment isn't the best way to deal with it.”

Pouting? I looked at him. “Why are you here? Weren't you walking away the last time I saw you?”

“I walked away because I needed to clear my head and figure out what the hell was going on. And because I was so angry, I couldn't see straight. I killed that asshole and I still wanted to keep killing. The rage wouldn't stop. Then I cooled off, I talked to Adora and the kids, and realized that tonight was the first time I had seen the real you in days. You found another misfit with no place to go and were ready to protect her with everything you had.”

“I didn't . . .”

“Yeah, you did. You're like a crazy cat lady, but you collect killers instead of fluffy cats.”

“I don't collect killers.”

“Yes, you do, and those who aren't killers turn into killers by the time you're done. You made Julie into a maniac. That child has more knives on
her than a squad of the PAD. Christopher was the only stray who couldn't fight, and now it turns out he's a god of terror. Why am I not surprised?”

“I don't need to listen to this.” I had enough guilt as it was.

He gave an exaggerated sigh. “What am I going to do with you? You're a walking catastrophe.”

“Get the hell out of my apartment!”

“Why? So you can sit here in your solitude and mope some more?”

“I wasn't moping.”

He grinned at me. “Poor sad Kate, all alone with her sadness . . .”

“Curran, stop while you're ahead, or I swear, I'll kick you until you fly right out of this window.”

He pounced on me. I tried to punch him, but it was like trying to wrestle a bear. He gathered me up and pulled me to him.

“Go away!”

“I love you,” he said.

I stopped struggling.

“Where the hell would I go without you, Kate? No matter where I went, you would be there in my head. I would miss you every moment of my life.”

“I would miss you, too.”

He squeezed me to him, his gray eyes laughing. “I brought you something.”

He pulled out a folded piece of lined paper and held it in front of me.

New Plan

1. Get Awesome Cosmic Powers.
   
2. Nuke my dad.
   
3. Retire from the land-claiming business.
   

Below in his handwriting, he'd added several lines.

1. Get married and start a family.
   
2. Have children. Hopefully not screw them up too badly.
   
3. Live a life we're proud of.
   

He squeezed me to him.

There was nothing about the Guild there. Nothing about power or wealth. It was just him and me.

“Am I enough?” I asked.

“Always,” he said. “Come on, baby. Let's go home. It's late.”

“Do we have to go home right now?”

His hold on me shifted. “No, we don't. But there is a bed here and no children, so if we stay here, I can't guarantee your safety.”

I looked at him. “How much danger do you think I'm in?”

Little golden sparks flared in his gray eyes. “You have no idea.”

“We've been together for two years. I think I have some idea.”

He leaned over me and kissed me, his mouth sealing mine. It was more than a kiss. It felt like a promise and I kissed him back, making promises of my own. His hold on me tightened. His hands gripped me. The kiss broke. I opened my eyes and saw his, focused on me and heated from within by something wild.

I flipped onto my knees on the bed and kissed him, again and again, tasting him, his tongue, his lips, my hands sliding over his hard shoulders, his muscles tensing under my fingers. “I love you,” I whispered.

He buried his face in my neck. His tongue painted heat on my skin. He knew where to kiss, the sensitive spot right below my ear. It sent delicious shivers all the way down my spine.

“More . . .”

He kissed me there again. His teeth nipped the skin, the slight ping of pain a shocking burst of pleasure. I gasped. He pulled me to him, possessive, completely sure I would let him. His hand slid up my back, under the T-shirt. I stretched from the sheer pleasure of it. He unhooked my bra, rocked me back, and then he was on top of me, looking at me from three inches away. “Mine.”

“Always.”

He tugged my T-shirt up. I tried to wriggle out of it and he caught it halfway up my arms, pulling the fabric tight. I couldn't move my arms. His mouth closed on mine. He kissed me, hungry, so hungry. Heat surged through me. I wanted him so much. I needed him to love me. He kept kissing me, his stubble scraping my neck, his hand caressing my breasts, my
side, lifting me toward him. His tongue teased my nipple, pulling a moan out of me. The world shrank to him. I wanted him between my legs.

He let me go and I wrapped my arms over him and pushed him to the side. He rolled on his back and I landed on top of him. I pulled my T-shirt off, threw my bra aside, and pulled his shirt off of him. My Curran . . . How did I ever end up with him? The way he looked at me made me want to strip naked and dance just so he would pounce.

“Your move,” he said, his voice rough.

I kissed his lips, moved down and kissed that chest, stroking him, sliding my hand lower, over the ridges of his abs, down to the hard length of him in his jeans. He drew a sharp breath. I unzipped him and slid my hand up and down his shaft. He groaned, straining, trying to stay where he was.

Any more and it would be torture for us both.

I hopped off of him and pulled off my jeans. When I was done, he grabbed me, already naked and ready to go. His hand caught my hair. His body caged mine. I wrapped my legs around him. I had no patience left. He pushed my legs off him and slid down. His mouth closed on me, his tongue in the perfect spot. Each lick, each touch coaxed pleasure out of my body. He kept going, faster and faster, insistent, the wet heat growing hotter until the climax burst through me. I cried out and forgot about everything as waves of bliss shook me. He was on top of me, thrusting, long and hard, all of him focused on me, all of him mine alone. We were making love and when the second burst of pleasure came, we shared it.

He was right about the danger. I had no idea.

•   •   •

M
Y EYES SNAPPE
D
open. A noise came from the street, the very particular noise of claws scraping brick outside my window. Next to me Curran lay still, his eyes open. My head was on his chest, his right arm around me.

A clawed hand grabbed the windowsill and a furry, thin creature landed on it and hunched over, its face a nightmarish blend of human and rodent.

Last time a vampire, this time a wererat. There was no peace to be had in my apartment.

The wererat inclined his head. “Former Beassssht Lord. Former Consssshort.”

I knew that voice. I'd met him before; he was Robert's favorite surveillance agent.

“Hello, Jardin,” Curran said, his voice calm.

“The former Conssshort's father is away from hisssh bassshe. When he returnssh, he will find only asshess.”

“Jim burned my father's base?”

Jardin nodded. “You can shee the glow in the easssht.”

Oh, Jim. I knew why he did it. Dali was hurt. She was his world. He wanted to retaliate, the Pack expected him to retaliate, because that's what a strong shapeshifter leader would do, and so he retaliated. Curran might have done the same.

“I'm to tell you that war issh coming. Thesshe are dangeroush timesh. Friendsh mussht look out for each other if all are to shhhurvive.”

“We heard your message,” Curran said.

Jardin nodded and leapt off the windowsill into the night.

“Robert is scared,” I said.

Curran nodded, his hand stroking my shoulder. “There were probably heavy losses.”