“I’m sorry. I really am but I don’t have time to—”
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.
“What the hell!” Teddy Jo screamed.
I rushed at Christopher. Barabas beat me by half a second, but before he reached him, Christopher beat his wings and shot into the sky. The weremongoose’s arms closed over empty air.
Christopher flew up and smashed into Teddy Jo. The angel of death threw his arms up trying to deflect the blow, but the impact of Christopher’s body knocked him sideways. If he used his flaming sword, Christopher was a goner.
The two winged shapes spun in the air, ripping at each other, black wings and blood-red wings slapping against each other again and again.
Another scream. Terror gripped me, crushing my ability to think. It couldn’t be . . . Crap. Crap, crap, crap.
Teddy Jo fell from the sky.
I jumped one way, Barabas jumped the other, and Teddy Jo crashed between us like a rock. He rolled to his feet, huge wings sweeping the ground. Blood spattered his face and chest. Above us Christopher flew up, getting ready for another dive.
“That’s an avatar!” Teddy Jo snarled at me. “Damn it, Kate!”
“I didn’t know! Where is your sword?”
“I don’t have
it! I can’t fight him without the sword.”
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 arm
s 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.
• • •
FLYING 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.