Kate Daniels 02 - Magic Burns

in a Chapter house of the Order. You can’t get more secure.”
    He reached behind him and pushed the door closed. “I’ve come to extend a petition from the Pack.”
    I don’t want to work with Curran, I don’t want to work with Curran, I don’t want to work with Curran. “I’m sorry, I didn’t hear that right. I thought you said the Pack wanted my help?”
    â€œYes.” Little tiny sparks danced in his eyes. “We were screwed and he didn’t even kiss us first.”
    â€œHow tacky of him. And this ‘he’ would be?”
    â€œWe aren’t sure,” Derek said carefully. “But you have his bolt on your desk.”
    I leaned forward. “Do tell.”
    â€œLet’s just say that this morning one of our teams was jumped by a man using this specific type of bolt. He has stolen Pack property and we want it back.”
    â€œAha. Why me?” The last time I checked, the Pack preferred to take care of their own problems. Hell, they didn’t even admit to having problems most of the time.
    â€œBecause you have contacts we don’t.” Derek permitted himself a small smile. “And because if we start turning the city inside out looking for this person, certain parties will wonder why and the rather embarrassing facts of the theft might come to light. We don’t want to air our dirty laundry in public. The Order always helped us without undue publicity.”
    Great. The battle was lost. Greg was the only person within the Order who had earned the Pack’s trust. Now since he was dead and I had earned Friend of the Pack status, that trust naturally extended to me. The Order wanted to keep an eye on the Pack, I knew that much. Something told me the knights would view this petition as a wonderful opportunity to do just that.
    â€œWhat did the crossbowman take?”
    Derek hesitated.
    â€œDerek, I’m not going to hunt I don’t know whom to retrieve I don’t know what. What did he take?”
    â€œHe jumped a survey team and took the maps.”
    I almost whistled, except that my Russian father would have risen from his grave and smacked me for whistling indoors. The Pack maps, legendary in quality, precise, up-to-date, with all the new neighborhoods and power zones clearly marked, every alley explored, every place of interest indicated. I knew at least a half a dozen people who’d give their left nut for a chance to photocopy the bloody things.
    â€œHe must have balls,” I said.
    â€œHe did look male.”
    â€œDescription?”
    â€œVery fast.”
    â€œThat’s it? That’s all you got?”
    â€œVery good shot.”
    I sighed. “Who did he shoot?”
    â€œJim.”
    Oh shit. “Is he okay?”
    â€œHe was shot four times in less than two seconds. He isn’t very happy about it. A bit tender in places. But generally he’ll be okay.”
    My brain put the pieces together. “After our mark went down, Jim got a call from the survey team. The crossbowman tailed Jim, jumped him, incapacitated the survey team, and stole the maps.”
    Derek’s face radiated all the joy of a man biting into a lime.
    One hell of a trick, tailing my former partner. “Just out of curiosity, how many people are in a survey team?”
    â€œFour.”
    Five with Jim. “And you let him get away?”
    â€œHe just disappeared.”
    â€œI guess the shapeshifters’ sense of smell isn’t what it used to be.”
    â€œNo, Kate, you don’t understand. He vanished. He was there one moment and then he was gone.”
    I couldn’t resist. “Like a ninja. In a puff of smoke.”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œSo you want me to track down a supernaturally fast sniper who can disappear into thin air, retrieve your maps, and do it so nobody finds out what I’m doing or why?”
    â€œExactly.”
    I sighed. “I’ll get the paperwork.”

CHAPTER 3
    WHEN YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO NEXT, GO back to the beginning. I had no name, no description, and no place to start looking for the mysterious sniper, so I figured the garage where Jeremy almost toasted us was my best bet. Since the magic was determined to fluctuate and I didn’t fancy being stranded, I decided to take a horse from the Order’s stables, located a block away.
    Turned out I wasn’t the only person who had noticed the magic craziness. The stables were