Ilona Andrews - Magic Burns (Kate Daniels, Book 2)

Treat yourself to a splendid new urban fantasyI 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 Iron Kissed

Andrews shows a great deal of promise. Readers fond of Laurell K. Hamilton and Patricia Briggs may find her work a new source of reading pleasure.

SF Revu

The plot moves along at a pleasant clip, and the world building is interesting and well done.

Romantic Times

The strong story line coupled with a complex alternative historywill have readers hoping for more.

Monsters and Critics

An excellent start to a brand-new series.

Dragon Page

Fans of CSI The X-Files , and any other of a host of such subgenre offerings should be pleased.

FantasyBookSpot.com

Magic Bites is an enchanting paranormal whodunit that takes the supernatural into new, natural directions.

The Best Reviews

Her world building and characterizations are exceptional Magic Bites is not to be overlooked.

Book Fetish

A unique world laced with a thick plot full of strife, betrayal, and mystery.

Romance Junkies

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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 BURNS

An Ace Book / published by arrangement with the authors

Copyright 2008 by Andrew Gordon and Ilona Gordon.

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To the late David Gemmell.

You have inspired me with your books.

It was my dream to meet you,
and I deeply regret your passing.

THE PHONE RANG IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT. THE magic wave was in full swing, and the phone shouldnt have worked, but it rang anyway, again and again, outraged over being ignored, until finally I reached over and picked it up.

Yehmmm?

Rise and shine, Kate. The smooth cultured voice on the line suggested a slender, elegant, handsome man, all things that Jim was not. At least not in his human shape.

I clawed my eyes open long enough to glance at the windup clock across the room. Two in the morning. Some of us sleep during the night.

Ive got a gig, Jim said.

I sat up in the bed, wide-awake. A gig was goodI needed the money. Half.

Third.

Half.

Thirty-five percent. Jims voice hardened.

Half.

The phone went silent as my former Guild partner mulled it over. Okay, forty.

I hung up. The bedroom lay quiet. My curtains were open and moonlight sifted into the room through the metal grate shielding the window. The moonlight acted as a catalyst and the metal bars glowed with a weak bluish patina where the silver in the alloy interacted with the ward spell. Beyond the bars, Atlanta slept like some hulking beast of legend, dark and deceptively peaceful. When the magic wave ended, as it inevitably would, the beast would awaken in an explosion of electric light and possibly gunfire.

My ward wouldnt stop a bullet, but it kept the magic hazmat out of my bedroom, and that was good enough.

The phone rang. I let it ring twice before I picked it up.

Fine. Jims voice had a hint of a snarl in it. Half.

Where are you?

In the parking lot under your window, Kate.

Calling from a pay phone, which shouldnt have worked, either. I reached for my clothes, left by the bed for just such an occasion. Whats the gig?

Some arsonist wacko.

FORTY-FIVE MINUTES LATER, I WAS WINDING MY way through an underground garage and cursing Jim under my breath. With the lights knocked out by magic, I couldnt see my hand in front of my nose.

A fireball blossomed in the pitch-black depth of the garage. Huge, churning with violent red and yellow, it roared toward me. I jumped behind the concrete support, my throwing knife sweaty in my hands. Heat bathed me. For a moment I couldnt breathe, and then the fire hurtled past me to burst in an explosion of sparks against the wall.

A thin gleeful cackle emanated from the garage depths. I peeked out from behind the support in the direction of the sound. Nothing but darkness. Where was the tech shift when you needed one?

Across from me at the next row of supports Jim raised his hand and touched his fingers to his thumb a few times, imitating an opening and closing beak. Negotiate. He wanted me to engage a lunatic who had already turned four people into smoking meat. Okay. I could do that.