Ilona Andrews - Magic Bleeds

Twenty minutes later we made it to Andrea’s, where I used my mad detective skills to deduce that she wasn’t home. Her door was locked, and she didn’t answer when I knocked. She was probably at Raphael’s. That left me with one option: the Order. The Order had the added benefit of military-grade wards. It would take a small army of mages to break through them. Or my aunt. What a pleasant thought.

I dragged myself to the Order. Sleep still clung to me and fatigue made me slow and stupid. It took me over a minute to get the foldaway cot from the armory. I set it up in my office, and collapsed on it. Grendel flopped next to me and we passed out.

I HAD EXCELLENT REACTION TIME. THAT’S WHY I didn’t run Andrea through with my saber when she barged into my office. Instead I dropped Slayer a fraction of a second after I’d grasped it and sat up slowly. Best friend, no kill.

Andrea glared at me. “You’re here!”

“Where else would I be?”

She shut the door. “You have no idea.”

“My apartment is in shambles. I stopped by your place, but you were gone, so I came here. It’s safe and warm and there is coffee.”

“You were at Jim’s last night.”

“Yes. Jennifer and Aunt B were about to have a fight and I made my escape. Normally I would’ve paid money to see something like that, but I had to go and get my dog. Where is my spawn of hell, by the way?”

“He was scratching by the door, and I let him out. That’s how I knew you were here.” Andrea shook her head. “After you left, Doolittle broke up the fight. Eventually everyone calmed down enough to realize you’d taken off. Doolittle wigged out because he’d loaded your tea with sedative and he thought you would pass out somewhere in the snow. Both the wolves and the boudas have been combing the snowdrifts for hours looking for you.”

I picked up a book and bumped my forehead on it a few times. Why me? Why?

“And nobody thought to call here and check?”

“Jim called, but Maxine told him that you weren’t here and she would give you the message when your shift started.”

Of course. Standard policy of the Order meant that when a knight was off, she was off, unless it was an emergency. Otherwise knights tended to work themselves into complete exhaustion.

I concentrated. “Maxine?”

“She is out. Ted dragged her off to some meeting. There is nobody here but you, me, and Mauro.”

“What meeting?”

“I have no idea.” Andrea waved her arms. “Kate!”

“What?”

“Focus. Jennifer, Aunt B, and Doolittle are going to tell Curran this morning.”

Hi, Your Majesty, we drugged your love muffin and then let her walk out into the dark, in the snow. Her apartment is destroyed and we’re not sure where she is . . . “He’ll need a lot of metal plates.”

“What?”

“Never mind. It’s not my job to comply with Aunt B’s body guarding. I didn’t agree to it.”

Andrea leaned toward me and spoke very slowly and clearly. “You need to call the Beast Lord. Before he skins my boyfriend’s mother, if at all possible.”

I dragged myself to the desk and picked up the phone. Call the Beast Lord. Right.

Trouble was, I wasn’t sure the Beast Lord and I were okay.

I dialed the Keep.

“Kate Da—”

The line clicked, and Curran’s voice filled the phone. “Yes?”

Here we go. “Hey. It’s me.”

“I’ve been waiting for you to call.”

Is that waiting good or waiting bad? “How’s it going?” That’s me, chipper.

“It’s been better.” He didn’t sound like he was in the middle of skinning anyone. Although knowing Curran, calm voice didn’t indicate much. I’d seen him calmly jump on a silver golem’s back and be completely rational about it afterward despite the excruciating pain.

Andrea paced the floor like a caged tiger.

“Me, too. I’m at the Order. Been here since last night.”

“That’s not what I heard.”

So they told him already. “Did you rip anyone to pieces?”

“Not yet. I’m thinking about it.”

I leaned back. “Andrea is wearing a hole in my carpet, because she’s worried you might be upset with her future mother-in-law. She is a little emotional about this issue.”

Andrea paused her pacing and gave me her thousand-yard stare. I’d seen this precise look on her face when she peered through the scope of a sniper rifle sighting a target.

I rubbed the bridge of my nose. “Can I tell her to stop pacing?”

“Is that what you would like?”

“Yes. As a favor to me.”

“As you wish.”

I couldn’t figure out who was the bigger idiot, him for saying it to me, or me for wanting to drop everything and go straight to him because he said it. This insanity had to stop. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. A favor,” Curran said. “Would you let me pick you up at the Order today?”

He didn’t finish but I knew what he left unsaid: Let me pick you up and take you home, to the Keep.

“My shift started”—I glanced at the clock—“twelve minutes ago. It ends at six. If it’s at all up to me, I will be here waiting for you. I promise.”

“Thank you. I’m sorry about your place.”

“Me, too.”

I hung up. That was the second civil conversation we’d had since we’d known each other. Too bad there was no champagne handy to celebrate the occasion.

“He’s let it go. Satisfied?”

Andrea frowned. “The Beast Lord just asked you for a favor?”

“Yes, he did.”

“Were Aunt B and Jennifer there?”

“I don’t know, I didn’t think to ask.”

“I bet they were there.” Andrea squinted at me. “Curran doesn’t ask for favors. He doesn’t bother. And he just let this whole thing go without an argument. That kind of influence is something only a mate would have . . . You slept together.”

I gave her a blank look.

“You slept with Curran and you didn’t tell me? I’m your best friend.”

“It didn’t come up.”

“How disappointing for you.”

Ha-ha. “That’s not what I meant.”

She pulled up a client chair and sat down on it. “Details. Now.”

“We had a fight, screamed at each other for a while, I kicked him in the head, and then he stayed the night.”

“That’s it? That’s all?”

“That’s it.”

She waved her arms in the air. “How was it?”

Like fireworks, only better. “It was good.”

“Getting information out of you is like pulling teeth. Does Aunt B know?”

I nodded.

“That explains their collective panic attack. So did the two of you trash your apartment?”

“No.”

“What happened?”

That wasn’t a question I could answer with Mauro down the hall. I took a piece of paper from the drawer, wrote “My Aunt Erra” on it, and showed it to her.

Andrea paled.

I tore the paper to pieces and threw into the trash can. “The good news is I know who the Steel Mary is. Her name is Erra. The bad news is I know what she can do.”

I gave her the rundown on Erra, her history, and her powers, keeping our family connection out of it in case anyone was listening. “She’s completely amoral. She has absolutely no connection to any other human being except Roland. For Erra, the world breaks down into family and not-family. Not-family is fair game. And just because you were born to the family doesn’t keep you safe. If she decides that you’re not up to snuff, she’ll fix the mistake of your existence. Her words, not mine.”

“She has a high opinion of herself,” Andrea said.

“Oh yes. When she gets into a car, her ego has to ride shotgun.”

She tapped her fingers on my desk. “Are you thinking direct challenge?”