Gunmetal Magic: A Novel in the World of Kate Daniels

teetered and dropped to its knees.
    “Fire in the hole!” I fired another shot. For half a second the arrowhead buzzed, lodged between the undead’s ribs, then it exploded, splashing emerald fire over desiccated flesh. The blast wrenched the draugr’s ribs wide open and through it I saw the shriveled sack of its heart.
    The crows hurtled into the hole and out of the draugr’s back, dragging chunks of bone and tissue with them.
    I saw the ravaged remains of the heart and fired. The arrow pierced the tough muscle. Bull’s-eye.
    The explosion shook the ground. Chunks of rotting corpse pelted the ground and Håkon crashed like a falling skyscraper. His chin hit the dirt, his entire skull reverberating from the impact.
    Ha. We killed an unkillable giant. Eat your heart out, Beast Lord.
    Kate got up and limped toward us.
    Her knee. She had an old injury that kept flaring up. I had completely forgot. Damn it. “Is your knee okay?”
    “It’s not the knee.” Kate limped past the pillar and sagged against the cart. “He backhanded me, the sonovabitch. I hit a tree trunk with my hip. I swear this leg is cursed.”
    Roman spat on the ground. His face was mournful. “Such a waste. One-of-a-kind and we had to kill it.”
    It almost tore us to pieces and he had regrets. Wow.
    Raphael strode to me. His eyes were on fire.
    “Nice shot,” he said.
    “Thank you. You were…” Awesome, brave, fast, amazing. “…not so bad yourself.”
    Roman shook his head. “Such a waste.”
    “I’ll split the teeth with you,” Kate said. “If you want them.”
    He turned to her. “Of course I want the teeth. And the hair.”
    The two of them started for the head, looking like two starved dogs who had just found a fresh juicy carcass.
    Raphael grabbed me into a bear hug. I grinned at him. This wasn’t so hard after all.
    Ascanio trotted up. “Why are they pulling his teeth out?”
    “They’re magic,” I said.
    “Do you want me to help them?”
    “Yes,” Raphael said.
    The kid went off to the giant corpse, where Kate and Roman argued over the teeth.
    The draugr’s head moved.
    “Watch out!” I screamed.
    Kate looked at me.
    I ran.
    The eyes flared with green fire, the great jaws gaped, baring thick teeth. Kate whipped about, slicing with her sword.
    I was six feet away when magic erupted out of the draugr’s mouth, wound about Kate, and dragged her into the maw, crushing her between those stumpy teeth.
    I leaped onto the skull, pulled my knife, and sliced into the tendons holding it together.
Let go of my friend, you fucker!
    The jaws mauled Kate, trying to crack her like a nut.
    Grisly flesh tore under my fingers. I caught a glimpse of Kate—she’d curled into a ball, keeping away from the teeth.
    The tendons I had severed snapped right back together. I needed to cut faster.
    We were rising. I glanced down. The draugr had pulled himself up.
    “Raphael!” I yelled, slicing across the flesh. “He’s regenerating!” Where was he?
    Slayer’s blade sliced through the flesh right in the corner of the joint where the mandible fit into the upper jaw. Slayer’s blade smoked. Kate was trying to cut her way out.
    The draugr chewed, trying to work his massive tongue to shift Kate toward his teeth.
    Flies blanketed the undead, turning into maggots, eating his flesh. I sliced and diced, the maggots ate, but the more damage we did, the faster its flesh grew back.
    Kate groaned. I had to get her out now.
    I went furry. Shreds of my clothes fluttered to the ground. I took a short running start up the draugr’s bony shoulder and kicked the temporomandibular joint. The bone popped with a dry crunch, announcing a dislocated jaw. The draugr’s mouth fell open and Kate dropped out.
    A huge hand swept me off the shoulder and clenched me, squeezing. I snarled and bit. Pressure ground me. My bones whined. He was crushing me as if I were a rag and he were trying to squeeze all the squishy red stuff out.
    The scent of gasoline slapped me.
    The pain was unbearable now. My eyes watered from pain and fury.
    The draugr gripped me harder.
    My shoulder gave and I screamed when my arm snapped like a toothpick.
    Something sparked. Through my tears I saw the flare of fire and Raphael, his beast face furious, climbing up thedraugr a hair above the flames. Raphael leaped up, clawed his way onto the creature’s face, and tore an undead eye out of the left socket.
    The draugr screamed and dropped me, slapping himself, trying to grab