Magic Binds
Page 42

Fiona narrowed her eyes. “Jun?”
A young Japanese man stopped by her. “Sister?”
“Bring the ex-Consort to me.”
“Curran!” I backed away from the railing. “Curran, help!”
Laughter exploded in the bedroom. Bastard.
• • •
I STOOD IN the middle of the floor, trying not to move while three of Fiona’s people, two young women and a man in his midtwenties who looked a lot like her and Jun, sewed me into a practice gown. Jun, Fiona’s brother and enforcer, positioned himself in front of me. The real wedding dress would apparently come later and, according to them, I’d have to do at least two more fittings. I could barely contain my joy.
“Please stop grinding your teeth,” Fiona said. “It’s very distracting.”
“This one or this one?” Jun held up two squares of lace.
They tried to make me pick one out of twenty different samples. I told them I didn’t care, so they resorted to the process of elimination.
“Left.” The one on the right clearly had been stolen from some grandma’s coffee table. “Teddy Jo will be here any minute.”
“When he’s here, you can go,” Fiona told me.
A needle poked my thigh.
“Sorry, ex-Consort,” one of the seamstresses said.
I looked at Julie snickering in the corner. “Where is Curran?”
“Curran can’t be here,” Fiona said. “It’s bad luck for the groom to see the wedding dress before the wedding.”
“Who made that rule?”
“It’s tradition,” Fiona said.
“I don’t care about tradition.”
“Tradition is everything,” Fiona said.
“Julie, where is he?”
“He went out to check on the horses.”
“Really? He hates horses.”
Julie’s eyes sparkled. “He said it was very important for him to check that they were still there. And that he was also there and not here when you snapped.”
When I got out of this dress, I’d give him a piece of my mind.
“She keeps flexing.” The seamstress on the left said.
“How much difference is it making?” Fiona said.
“About an inch overall. She’s very muscular,” the man said.
“Stop talking about me like I’m not even here.”
The seamstress on the left pulled on the fabric. “If you want me to take up this slack and she flexes during the wedding, we’ll have a problem.”
“She’s a human,” Fiona said. “I don’t care how muscular she is, she isn’t going to rip it like the Incredible Hulk.”
“She won’t rip it, but it will skew this seam right here.”
Fiona frowned and tapped her pencil on her lips. “Let it go?”
The seamstress let go of the fabric and all five stared at my waist. Keep looking, it will do a trick.
Someone knocked. I turned.
“Do not move!” Fiona snapped.
Jun opened the door and Barabas stepped inside. He took in the scene and gave me a brilliant smile.
“Ah!” Fiona said. “Perfect. Unbiased opinion.” She marched over to me and pulled the fabric tight. “No slack?” She let go. “Or slack?”
“No slack,” Barabas said. “It gives her an almost hourglass figure. Kate, which way do you like it?”
“I don’t care.”
“The ex-Consort has been most uncooperative,” Jun said.
“I can’t imagine why.” Barabas grinned wider. “She’s usually the embodiment of patience and cooperation.”
Christopher stumbled into the house, walking backward, his eyes wide.
Something was wrong. “Christopher?”
He turned to me, his face shocked, the corners of his mouth slack with terror. “Thanatos.”
“What?” Barabas asked.
“Thanatos is coming.” Christopher’s voice shook. “The reaper of souls is coming to take one of you to the afterlife.”
Oh boy. “No, that’s Teddy Jo. He’s a friend.”
“Chris.” Barabas moved in front of the door. “Remember how we spoke about visual cues? Look at my face. I’m not upset. Look at Kate. She isn’t upset.”
“It’s okay, Christopher,” I said. “Teddy Jo and I have a business appointment this morning. He’s actually a nice guy. He’s coming to pick me up.”
Panic slapped his face. “No! Don’t you get it? He is coming for someone’s soul!”
And now the book burning made total sense. He clearly had a Greek underworld fixation.
“Deep breath,” Barabas said. “Calm . . .”
“He’ll take no one.” Christopher’s voice dropped deeper. “I won’t allow it.”
“Calm . . .” Barabas repeated.
Christopher jerked his hands up and shoved Barabas aside. The weremongoose flew across the floor and smashed into the wall to the left of me.
Oh shit.
Christopher’s body expanded, ripping through his clothes. He opened his mouth and his canines grew, curving down like vampire fangs. Red smoke spiraled out of his back. “Stay inside!”
He ran out the door.
“What the fuck?” Barabas charged after him. I grabbed the hem of my gown and ran after them.
I burst onto the lawn. Barabas spun around, searching the street.
No Christopher.
Nobody outside except Teddy Jo flying in from the west on his dark wings.
“Stop!” I yelled, waving my arms. “Stop!”
Teddy Jo waved back at me.
The gown tangled around my legs and I nearly tripped. I grabbed the hem and ripped the skirt all the way to my waist.
“What the hell was that?” Barabas snarled.
“I don’t know.”
“Where is he?” Barabas spun around.
“I don’t know.”
Julie dashed onto the lawn.
A piercing scream rolled through the air. Fear grabbed me into a tight fist, an instinctual deep terror rising from somewhere within, from the place where the primal fears of fire, darkness, and predators lived. Barabas let out an odd high-pitched chatter that no human mouth should have been able to make.
A winged shape swooped down from above, propelled into an eagle dive by enormous blood-red wings. Somehow Teddy Jo saw it and careened to the left, banking hard. The creature that used to be Christopher spread its wings, trying to slow, and landed on the lawn. He was muscled like an antique statue. He opened his mouth, his fangs glistening. Madness churned in his ruby irises.