Page 14 (1/2)

"I thought you rinned He looked alreat, but three days of rice is a littlean alpha is that you can neveradvantage of your position You have to wait until the other person decides they want in"

Jim set the basket on the coffee table and crouched by me

"And sometimes it seems like that person likes you, and you try to test the waters, so you try to tell her how you feel, that she matters and that you want to be with her and you’re concerned about her safety And every time you do that, she waves her ar alpha asshole So you back off and hope you didn’t completely fuck it up"

He was close, too close I just stared at hi me this?"

His voice was low and smooth "That tiht about your looks …"

"Aha …"

"I meant it," he said "Because I think you’re beautiful"

This was actually really, really happening

He kissedthis novella was a blast We had a lot of fun, and we hope you enjoyed reading about these characters asabout the anted to into the word liotten so many requests froround that we’re planning to work on a full-length novel featuring these characters in the near future

If you don’t want to wait to read ic, where Ji on everyone he can

Read on for an exciting preview from the new novel in the world of Kate Daniels

GUNMETAL MAGIC

by Ilona Andrews

Available August 2012 from Ace Books

The world has suffered a ress too far, and now eance It ca planes out of the sky, droppingthe power plants dry, and ja firearms Some people awoke and found theic-fueled disease, and rose again as mindless undead, robbed of their ability to reason and driven only by their all-consuained power, and telekinesis and telepathy were no longer the products of illusion and special effects

For three days thethe world reeling, its population decimated, its cities in tatters

Since that day, the day of the Shift, the oes as it pleases It floods the planet like a wave crashing on the shoreline, hissing and boiling, leaving its dangerous gifts, and then recedes once again Sometimes a wave lasts half an hour, sometimes three days Nobody can predict it and nobody knohat our future holds

But we are resilient We will survive

"40th Anniversary of the Shift"

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

THUD!

My head hit the sidewalk Candy jerked me up by my hair and slaain!" Michelle squeaked, her teenage voice shrill

I kneas a dream, because it didn’t hurt The fear was still there, that sharp, hot terror, e, the kind of fear that turns you fros beco; I eak, they were strong They hurt me, and I endured

Thud

My skull bounced off the pavement Blood stained my blond hair Out of the corner ofstart like a kicker before a field goal The flesh on her body boiled Bones grew, muscles wound around the the new body, half human, half animal, in a coat of pale sandy fur dappled with telltale hyena spots The bouda grinned atmy ten-year-old self into a ball The clawed foot crashed into my ribs The three-inch claws scraped a bone and it crunched insiderown from my memories, but still just a dream I knew this, because ten years after my mother took eleven-year-old me and fled halfway across the country, I cah Sarah’s eyes I had emptied a clip into Candy’s left ear I still remembered the way her skull had blossomed with red when the bullets tore out the other side I had killed the entire werehyena clan I wiped those bouda bitches off the face of the planet, because the world was a better place with theone Michelle was the only one who had escaped

I sat up and grinned at the up, ladies Go fuck yourselves"