Free Magic Binds by Ilona Andrews Page B

skin. My father would kill Curran or our son. There was nothing I could do to stop him.
    The magic inside me boiled. I had to vent or it would tear me apart. I looked up to the patch of light and sky above me and let it go.
    The magic burst from me, surging upward, into the sky. The water of the basin rose in the air, stretching into a thousand glittering strands, revealing the rocky bottom of the pool. Power and fury poured out of me, flowing like a raging river.
    The pressure eased. I shut off the current. The water crashed back into the basin.
    â€œOh, Katenka,” Evdokia whispered.
    Maria made a small choking noise. Sienna scrambled over to her. “Roman, help me. She needs some fresh air.”
    Together they lifted the old witch off her seat and led her outside.
    â€œI saw my father this morning,” I told Evdokia. The sky above me was so blue. If only I could sprout wings and fly far away from all my problems. “He kidnapped Saiman. He’s refusing to release him and I can’t ignore it. There will be war. I’ve signed my husband’s and my child’s death warrants.”
    Evdokia looked at me, her face at once sad and kind. “No. You didn’t. We foresaw this days ago. One way or the other, it would’ve come to pass.”
    I came and sat by her. She reached out and stroked my hair. It felt so familiar. She must’ve done it when I was little, before Voron took me away.
    â€œHelp me.” My voice came out quiet and ragged.
    â€œAnything in my power,” she promised. “All my magic is yours. I wish I knew what to do.”
    Sienna came back into the cave and sat by me.
    â€œWhy haven’t the three of you left?” I asked.
    â€œBecause this is our city,” Evdokia said. “Our home. We can’t all leave, Katenka. The future will find us.”
    â€œRoman is right,” Sienna said. “The future is fluid. But when it’s this close and this certain, you have to do something really big to change it. Something that will alter everything. Something nobody would expect.”
    â€œI don’t have any Rubicons to cross,” I told her.
    â€œFind one,” Sienna said. “If anybody can do it, youcan.”

CHAPTER
4
    T HE MAGIC WAVE ended on our way back to the city and technology once again reasserted itself. When we got back to the office, it was early afternoon and nobody was there. Ascanio must have bailed early. My mammoth donkey was also MIA, probably back at our home, in the stables. I dropped Roman off, went into the office, and pulled a legal pad to me. I always thought better with a pen in hand.
    I wrote
Choices
on the piece of paper and stared at it.
Fight my father now, before he expects a direct assault.
Wait until my father attacks.
Play ball.
    Choice number one was right out. I still had no idea how to defeat my father. I’d felt his power this morning and while I could hold my own, if he gave it his all, he would crush me. Also, I had no army. I could ask the Pack and the Witches for help, but they would expect some sort of strategy besides “let’s all run at Roland’s castle and get killed.”
    Choice number two wasn’t much better. In theory, I was supposed tobe able to protect Atlanta after claiming it. In practice, I had no idea how. When I reached for the magic of the land, it was like a placid ocean. Within its depths, life moved and shimmered. The waters were capable of storms, but I had no idea how to start one.
    Choice number three was what my father wanted. That alone should’ve been enough to stop me. Except when I closed my eyes, I saw two lifeless bodies. If I went to him now, if I left Curran, he would survive. My father couldn’t kill my child if the child didn’t exist.
    I loved them both. I loved my unborn future baby. I loved Curran, his eyes, his laugh, his smile. I woke up next to him, I ate breakfast with him, we went to work together, and we came home