Gunmetal Magic: A Novel in the World of Kate Daniels

children. Where boudas spoiled their kids with too much freedom and cats encouraged offspring to go on solitary wanderings, the jackals always stressed family. In the wild, unlike wolves who formed packs or rats who swarmed, jackals mated for life and lived in pairs, raising their children on their own little slices of territory.
    “I yelled at Ruth.” Geraldine clenched her hand into a fist. “I thought she walked off or fell asleep, and Brandy had snuck out.”
    “We checked the bars on the window and did a complete sweep of the wing and the outside,” Colin said. “No sign of her.”
    “He took that baby.” A snarl slipped into Geraldine’s voice. “He plucked her right out of her bed, that fucking bastard. I will tear his guts out.”
    “If you confront him, he’ll kill you and her,” Kate said.
    Geraldine whirled to her.
    “It’s not an insult,” Curran said. “She’s stating a fact. He has power over jackals.”
    “So what do we do?” Geraldine raised her hands.
    “We do nothing,” Curran said.
    “But—”
    “We do nothing,” he repeated. “We don’t know where he’skeeping the child, but he won’t hesitate to kill her. We will meet his demands. For now.”
    “He wants Andrea and I to help him,” Raphael said. “We will do it.”
    “We’ve discussed it,” I said. “As long as we play ball, no more children will be taken.”
    Colin’s voice turned into a rough growl. “So you want us to sit on our hands, then?”
    “No,” Kate said. “Find out everything you can on him. Go to the books, visit experts, get as much information as you can on him. Find out his weaknesses, if he has any. As soon as the moment presents itself, we will hit him with everything we have.”
    “We’ve killed wannabe gods before,” Curran said. “Hell, we could probably kill him now. But I will not do it at the cost of a child’s life. We must be patient and smart. Bring your people into the Keep. The fewer isolated targets the better. Raise the alert. Nobody goes anywhere except in groups of three. Sleep in shifts, with the guards watching over the children.”
    “I will reinforce the wards on the south wing again,” Kate said. “It won’t stop him, but it may make it harder for him.”
    The alpha Jackals looked like they wanted to tear their hair out.
    “Patience,” Curran said. “We can’t pull that chain, because there is a child attached to the other end of it. We’ll stalk him like a deer, with all the cunning and calculation we have. Jackals have a reputation as scavengers, but all of us know better. All of us here have seen Clan Jackal families bring down deer and moose. There is honor in taking prey much larger than yourself, especially if that prey is smart and difficult to trap.”
    There was a reason why Curran was the Beast Lord.
    “He may be a god,” Curran continued, “but he’s in our world now and he’s alone. Together we’re smarter, more cunning, and more vicious. Patience.”
    The Jackals switched from agitation to a terrifying steely determination. “Patience,” Geraldine repeated, as if tasting it on her tongue to get the full meaning of the word.
    Colin nodded. “AJ is a professor of cultural anthropology. He may know an expert.”
    Five minutes later they had come up with six names and left.
    “It won’t hold them for long,” Jim said, a few moments after the door closed behind them. “When the parents return, they will whip the clan into a frenzy.”
    “Then we need to resolve it before the parents return.” Curran looked at Raphael and me. “What do you need?”
    “A deer,” I said.
    “I’m sorry?” Jim said.
    “He said that Kate would know where the shield was and to tell her to bring another deer,” Raphael elaborated.
    Curran looked at his mate. Something passed between them, some sort of wordless conversation only they understood.
    “Hell no,” Curran said.
    “They can’t summon it by themselves and you can’t get involved,” Kate said.
    Curran’s eyes turned into molten gold. “Are you out of your mind? It took you, me, and five vampires and we barely got away. He has your scent now. Nobody goes to see him twice.”
    “Nobody except me.” She gave him her psycho look.
    The Beast Lord clenched his jaw.
    Kate smiled at him.
    The tension was so thick you could cut it into slices and serve it on toast. Of all control freaks, Curran was the worst and he existed convinced that Kate was made of fragile glass. I understood it. I