Gunmetal Magic: A Novel in the World of Kate Daniels

bind him and survive.”
    “You’re doing wonders for my confidence,” I told him.
    Kate put the bundle with the Cherokee beadwork on the ground, knelt by it, and untied its cord. Inside lay four sharpened sticks, each about three feet long. She picked the first one up, found a rock and pounded it into the ground by the beginning of the path. That was the way I’d run when it came time to get the hell out of there. The second stick went to the left side of the clearing, the third to the right, and the final exactly opposite the first.
    “These are our defenses. They will delay him a little bit. Don’t fight him. Just run.”
    Kate got a pipe out of a box and began smoking it. The tobacco hit her and she coughed.
    “Lightweight.”
    “Whatever.” She circled the clearing, waving her pipe around.
    “I’ve never seen this before,” Roman said. “It’s very difficult to witness Native American rituals these days. So much has been lost due to assimilation and lack of written records. Exciting stuff!”
    “Well, so glad we could indulge your intellectual curiosity, Professor,” Raphael told him.
    “I’m probably making a hash job of it, but the tribe refuses to approach this hill, so I’m all you’ve got,” Kate said.
    She completed the circle, sat down, and started pulling things out of her bag: a plastic honey bear, a metal canteen, and a little bag.
    I blinked and the forest was full of eyes. Elongated, solid yellow, they peeked at us from under the boulders, from the darkness by the roots of the trees, from the branches…
    I bared my teeth. “What are these?”
    “I’m not sure.” Kate kept her voice low. “They came out last time, too. I think they might be
uldra
. Ghastek said they’re nature spirits from Lapland. They didn’t attack us the last time.”
    To my right, one of the
uldra
crawled up on the end of the fallen tree trunk, just feet away. An inch or two over a foot tall, it perched on the tree bark, gripping it with avian feet. Dense dark fur covered its humanoid body. Its face vaguely resembled a baboon.
    The
uldra
found its spot, moving with slothlike slowness, and froze, oversized hands with long, large-knuckled fingers folded in front of it. Its mouth gaped open, displaying a forest of long, deep-water fish teeth.
    “It’s just some small
nechist
,” Roman said next to me.
    “
Nechist
?” I asked.
    “Yes. Unclean thing. They’re harmless.” He dug in his bag. “Hang on…Here.” Roman pulled out a small pack of crackers and shook one out. “Here, you want a cracker?” He offered the cracker to the creature.
    “Roman…” A warning crept into my voice. Those teeth didn’t look good.
    “No worries,” he told me. “Here.” He clicked his tongue. “Come get a cracker.”
    The
uldra
’s pale eyes focused on the cracker. Slowly it reached for it and plucked the small square from Roman’s fingers. The
uldra
took a bite.
    “Good, huh?” Roman clicked his tongue some more. “Come on. Come.”
    The
uldra
crawled onto his forearm and climbed up the black sleeve to sit on his shoulder.
    “Jesus,” Raphael said.
    Roman made smoochy lips at the
uldra
. “Who’s so good? Want another cracker?”
    A second
uldra
made its way out of the bushes and sat by Roman’s boot, funky arms folded, waiting for a handout. Roman tossed another cracker on the ground. A couple of smaller creatures trudged over and tugged on the hem of his robe.
    “There are plenty of crackers for everyone,” Roman reassured them.
    Raphael leaned forward. The
uldra
bared their teeth. He growled at them.
    “No need to bully them.” Roman petted the nearest beastie.
    The first
uldra
finished its meal and rubbed its head against Roman’s cheek.
    A low unearthly moan came from the trees. The
uldra
fled. One second they were there and then
whoosh
, only half-eaten crackers were left.
    “Here we go.” Kate walked up to the stone and the sedated deer lying on it.
    The plan was simple. Once the draugr showed up and we obtained the scale, I would take off. Normally I would only have to make it to the stone pillars, which marked the beginning of the Cherokee defenses. But Kate was worried that carrying the scale past the pillars meant we’d be moving a piece of the creature’s stash behind the ward line, which may or may not cancel the spells. We had to stop it at those pillars.
    “Are you sure you can bind it?” I asked Roman.
    “Don’t worry,” he said. “I’ve got this.”
    Suddenly, I