Ilona Andrews - Magic Binds

Silence.

The god’s eyes shone brighter. “Done.”

Darkness swirled around Roman and withdrew back into the forest. He blinked, as if waking up, his massive sword again a simple staff, and his head bare.

Aspid hissed and slithered to Roman, the serpent dragon’s huge head level with him. If he opened his mouth, he could swallow the volhv in one gulp.

Roman shook his head, clearing it.

The dragon opened his mouth, his teeth like long curved sabers. Oh crap.

“Roman!” I started toward them and sank into the mud.

Aspid’s long serpentine tongue flicked out and wound around the volhv. I sped up, splashing through the bog. There was no way I could make it through all this muck in time.

Roman blinked again and smacked Aspid’s nose with his hand. “What did I say about kisses? No kisses unless invited.”

Aspid’s tongue contracted. He pulled Roman into his mouth.

I sprinted.

“Yes, I love you, too,” Roman said from inside the forest of teeth. “I need to go now. Come on.”

The dragon opened his mouth and put Roman back into the mud. The massive serpent looked at me, hissed, and slid into the forest, his obsidian body going and going . . . It would be comical if it weren’t so damn scary. I glanced behind me. Sirin was gone.

“Happens every time,” Roman said. “He misses his father. I’m a substitute until he sees Chernobog in the next flare.”

“You have a weird life.”

“Look who’s talking.” He shrugged. “It’s not that I’m that evil, really. I’m just beloved by evil things.”

A sword wrapped in black canvas rose from within the bog hilt up, like some strange flower. I gripped the hilt. It was cool to the touch. Huh. The last time I’d used it, I’d had to get special gloves and wrap the hilt in three layers of cloth. I pulled the sword free. Some people pulled swords out of stones and went on to rule Britannia. I pulled a sword out of the mud and tried not to think about what I had done.

“This way.” Roman started through the woods. “Well, that was fun.”

“I did the best I could,” I told him.

“Not questioning that.” He dragged his hand over his face. “My uncle will have to be told. Professional courtesy. This is going to really upset the power apple cart. That’s why the Dark God didn’t use me.”

“Why?”

“Because if I had known what he wanted, I would’ve talked him out of it. You have no idea the shit I’ve stopped.”

“He wanted the whole battlefield dedicated to him.”

Roman grimaced. “I know.”

“At least this way, once he is on the battlefield, he won’t be claiming human sacrifices.”

“It won’t be him,” Roman said. “It will be me on the battlefield channeling his power.” He grinned. “I will be a battle volhv. This will be my first time. I’m excited.”

“I didn’t mean to rope you into this.”

“I didn’t mean to bring you into a scary swamp. Things happen.”

“How often are Sirin’s predictions wrong, Roman?”

“Do you want the true answer or the one you can live with?”

“That often, huh?”

He nodded.

The trees parted. Teddy Jo stood in the middle of the road, looking confused. The sun was to our right. We’d lost a few hours somehow.

He saw us and shook his head. “I’ve tried going through the woods twice. I keep ending up on this road.”

“I believe this is yours.” I pulled the fabric off the sword. The blade burst into flame. I tossed it at Teddy Jo.

He caught the blade. His whole body realigned itself, standing straighter, taller, his shoulders wider, the color of his skin brighter. Teddy Jo a second ago was a pale shadow of the one standing in front of me now. I never realized how much the sword meant. And he’d let me borrow it once to pull a prank on Curran.

“What did you trade?” he asked.

“Nothing important.”

He glanced at Roman.

“I’ll tell you later,” the volhv said.

“Nothing important,” I repeated. “Let’s get home. Tell me about the pegasi, Teddy Jo.”

He held out the swing and I wedged my butt into it. Now we had to go home and sort out what had happened to Christopher. If he was even Christopher anymore. At least we’d gotten the dragon out of the way. Thank the Universe for small favors.

ROMAN HAD DECLARED that turning into a crow for the second time in one day was above his pay grade. He whistled, made some kissy noises with his lips, and a black horse trotted out of the woods. He mounted bareback and headed to the house.

I climbed back into the swing. Flying really was overrated, but it was fast, and beggars couldn’t be choosers.

According to Teddy Jo, the pegasi couldn’t be tamed, but they could be enticed.

“They’re curious and they like adventure,” he said, as we flew southwest. “You’re going to walk up to the herd and offer them a gift of some sort. Carrots, sugar, whatever. If you’re interesting enough, one of them might come over and decide to go adventuring with you.”

“And if none decide to adventure?”

“Then there’s nothing we can do.”

Oh boy.

“Why do you need a pegasi, Kate?”

“I need to get to Mishmar.”

“What is Mishmar?”

“My father’s magic prison in the Midwest.”

Teddy Jo chewed on that. “Why?”

“I’d rather not say. But I need to get there as soon as possible.”

“Well, they are damn fast. Faster than me flying. I took one to Miami the other week. Made it in six hours. You need one as soon as possible, I take it?”

“Yes.” It had been three days since I found out about Saiman’s kidnapping, which left us with twelve days until my wedding. In Sienna’s original vision, I had married Curran and our wedding led to the battle. But with the way I was altering the future, I had a feeling the battle would happen before that.

“Then we’ll do this tonight. I’ll pick you up around eleven. Can you be packed and ready?”

“Yes. Can I ask you to drop me off at Milton’s ER? I need to check on a patient there.”

“You sure you want to be dropped off at Milton? That’s a long trek back and you have no horse. I can wait.”

“Why are you being so nice all of a sudden?”

“Well, since you got my sword back, I figure I can be cordial for a day or two. It will wear off.”

“Yes, it would be awesome if you waited for me.”

“Will do,” he said.

Milton Hospital occupied a squat solid building that looked less like a hospital and more like a bunker with narrow windows guarded by grates, thick walls, and spikes on the roof. Most hospitals now looked that way. Things that fed on humans were drawn to the scent of blood, and hospitals were full of bleeding people.

“Depressing places, hospitals,” Teddy Jo said, landing in the parking lot behind some large trucks. He shrugged his shoulders and his wings vanished. “Visiting a friend?”

“Something like that.”

“I’ll come in with you. I could use a nice chair.”

I left Teddy Jo in the waiting area. An older nurse, rail thin, with pale blond hair twisted into a bun, walked me to Adora’s room. The sahanu sat on the bed, flipping through a newspaper. Her color was good. Considering that her intestines had been spilling out twenty-four hours ago, it was a great improvement.

She saw me and tried to get up.

“No, no, stay where you are,” I told her.

“Yes, Kate.” She bowed her head.

The nurse gave me an odd look. I sighed.

The nurse turned to Adora. “If you need anything, I’ll be down the hall.”

Translation— yell for help and I’ll come running. I couldn’t really blame her. I smelled like a swamp and the sword wasn’t exactly helping my trustworthy image.