Magic Binds by Ilona Andrews Page A

their capacity. Roland is purging the ranks. Anyone loyal to Hugh has been killed or run off, and the Legatus of the Golden Legion openly hunts people Roland exiles. If you’re not going to kill me, what are you going to do with me?”
    Curran looked at me. “He’s yours. It’s your call.”
    I sighed. “We’ll take you to the Guild medic. The magic is up and our medmage is good. You have twenty-four hours to get on your feet. Don’t be in the city when the sun rises tomorrow.”
    â€œI won’t,” he said.
    â€œGood. Load him up.” Curran rose and walked over to me. “Come talk to me.”
    I followed him down the road.
    He dipped his head and looked at me. “What happened?”
    â€œHe crucified families, Curran. I could smell their rotting bodies. And then he had the audacity to tell me that this is what happens to people who disobey him. Disobey. Like I’m one of his flunkies who stare at him with adoration and throw themselves off a cliff because he frowned at them. I can’t take it anymore. He sits there and taunts me. I have to protect my land.”
    â€œWhen did it become ‘my land’?” he asked quietly. “It was ‘the city’ just a few months ago.”
    â€œIt became my land when I claimed it. Nobody else wanted to step up and defend it from him.”
    â€œWhat about them?” He nodded slightly toward the mercs arranging Stoyan in a vehicle. “Did they not step up? Did I not step up?”
    I wanted to hit him.
    Full stop.
    I took a deep breath and blew the air out.
    Where did that come from? I loved him.
    â€œBarabas is a friend,” Curran said.
    â€œAnd?”
    â€œYou seem to have forgotten that. I’m reminding you.”
    I didn’t like the way he was looking at me. Like he was trying to figure out if there was something wrong with me.
    â€œRoland’s grooming Julie to become his next Warlord. She’s still talking to him and there is nothing I can do to stop it.”
    â€œI’ll speak to her,” Curran said.
    â€œIt won’t do any good. We both talked this into the ground. He’s got his claws into her and I don’t know how to pry her loose.”
    â€œWe’ll fight for her,” he said. “To the very end. But she’s her own person, Kate.”
    â€œShe’s a kid! He’s thousands of years old.”
    â€œShe’s sixteen and it’s an old sixteen. She loves you and me. I’m not worried. He tried his shit on me, he tried it on you, and we’re both still here. We didn’t run off to join his crazy parade. Julie is our child. She bucks against authority. I don’t think it’s as bad as you think. But there will come a point when she’ll make a decision you don’t like and you’ll be powerless to stop it.”
    But I wasn’t powerless. I could order her and she wouldn’t be able to refuse my command. And then I would become my father.
    â€œI’m going to the office,” I told him. I was done talking. I needed space and time to sort myself out.
    â€œOkay,” he said. “I’ll drop by later, after I’m done at the Guild.”
    â€œIf you want.” Okay, I was being a total ass now. “I’d like to see you.”
    â€œAs you wish,” he said.
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    I DROVE TO the office in our Jeep, wishing I could punch something in the face to vent my frustration. Barabas was right. I’d lost my temper. Curranwas right, too. Barabas was a friend and deserved better. The fact that they were right only made me madder.
    Something happened there when Curran stood in front of me. Something that almost overrode my brakes. He challenged my authority, just like my father challenged my right to hold the land, and I had felt myself teetering on the precipice. The urge to enforce my will was so strong. Thinking about it made me