Ilona Andrews - Magic Strikes (Kate Daniels, Book 3)

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

Acknowledgements

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 11

CHAPTER 12

CHAPTER 13

CHAPTER 14

CHAPTER 15

CHAPTER 16

CHAPTER 17

CHAPTER 18

CHAPTER 19

CHAPTER 20

CHAPTER 21

CHAPTER 22

CHAPTER 23

CHAPTER 24

CHAPTER 25

CHAPTER 26

CHAPTER 27

CHAPTER 28

CHAPTER 29

COMING OCTOBER 2009 FROM ACE BOOKS

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Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the authors imaginations or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

MAGIC STRIKES

An Ace Book / published by arrangement with the authors PRINTING HISTORY

Ace mass-market edition / April 2009

Copyright 2009 by Andrew Gordon and Ilona Gordon.

All rights reserved.

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eISBN : 978-1-101-02529-1

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To Anastasia and Helen

PRAISE FOR THE KATE DANIELS NOVELS

Magic BURNES

Fans of Carrie Vaughn and Patricia Briggs will appreciate this fast-paced, action-packed urban fantasy full of magic, vampires, werebeasties, and things that go bump in the night.

Monsters and Critics

With all her problems, secrets, and prowess both martial and magical, Kate is a great kick-ass heroine, a tough girl with a heart, and her adventures... are definitely worth checking out. Locus

[ Magic Burns] hooked me completely. With a fascinating, compelling plot, a witty, intelligent heroine, a demonic villain, and clever, wry humor throughout, this story has it all.

Fresh Fiction

A new take on the urban fantasy genre, the world Kate inhabits is a blend of gritty magic and dangerous mystery.

The Parkersburg Sentinel

The sexual tension Kate emits has me gritting my teeth.

SFRevu

Magic BITES

Treat yourself to a splendid new urban fantasy... I am looking forward to the next book in the series or anything else Ilona Andrews writes.

Patricia Briggs, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Bone Crossed

Andrewss edgy series stands apart from similar fantasies... owing to its complex world building and skilled characterizations. Library Journal

A perfectly paced supernatural mystery with bits of dark humor andif youll forgive the puna fair amount of bite.

Rambles.net

Ace Books by Ilona Andrews

MAGIC BITES

MAGIC BURNS

MAGIC STRIKE

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Telling this story wouldnt have been possible without my editor, Anne Sowards. Thank you, as always, for your advice, guidance, and endless patience. Im very fortunate to work with you, and I deeply appreciate your help and your friendship.

Thank you to my wonderful agent, Nancy Yost, for being a zealous advocate of my work and for having the patience of a saint and rescuing me time and time again.

Thank you to Cam Dufty, Aces editorial assistant, for fielding numerous, and sometimes unreasonable, requests for help.

A huge thank you to Michelle Kasper, the production editor, and Andromeda Macri, the assistant production editor, who made sure the manuscript became a book. Thank you to cover designer Annette Fiore DeFex and artist Chad Michael Ward for the spectacular cover.

Several people have read this book and were kind enough to offer an opinion on it. They are Bianca Bradley, Brian Kell, Brooke Nelissen, Elizabeth Hull, Heather Fagan, Jeaniene Frost (who threatened me with a posse), Jennifer Lampe and Jill Myles, Leslie Schlotman, Melissa Rian, Melissa Sawmiller , Meljean Brook, Reece Notley, Shannon Crowley, Stacy Cooper, and Vernieda Vergara (who wasnt mad about Dali). Thank you so much, guys! Youve made the book better.

Finally, thank you to the readers! You make it all worthwhile.

SOME DAYS MY JOB WAS HARDER THAN OTHERS.

I tapped the ladder with my hand. See? Its very sturdy, Mrs. McSweeney. You can come down now.

Mrs. McSweeney looked at me from the top of the telephone pole, having obvious doubts about the ladders and my reliability. Thin, bird-boned, she had to be past seventy. The wind stirred the nimbus of fine white hair around her head and blew open her nightgown, presenting me with sights better left unseen.

Mrs. McSweeney, I wish you would come down.

She arched her back and sucked in a deep breath. Not again. I sat on the ground and clamped my hands over my ears.

The wail cut through the stillness of the night, sharp like a knife. It hammered the windows of the apartment buildings, wringing a high-pitched hum from the glass. Down the street, dogs yowled as one, matching the cry with unnatural harmony. The lament built, swelling like an avalanche, until I could hear nothing but its complex, layered chorus: the lonely howl of a wolf, the forlorn shriek of a bird, the heart-wrenching cry of a child. She wailed and wailed, as if her heart were being torn out of her chest, filling me with despair.

The magic wave ended. One moment it saturated the world, giving potency to Mrs.

McSweeneys cry, and the next it vanished without warning, gone like a line drawn in the sand just before the surf licked it. The technology reasserted itself. The blue feylantern hanging from the top of the pole went dark, as the magic-charged air lost its potency. Electric lights came on in the apartment building.