Lupi 08 - Death Magic

York)
     
    ON THE PROWL
    (with Patricia Briggs, Karen Chance, and Sunny)
     
    INKED
    (with Karen Chance, Marjorie M. Liu, and Yasmine Galenorn)

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    DEATH MAGIC
     
    A Berkley Sensation Book / published by arrangement with the author
     
    PRINTING HISTORY
    Berkley Sensation mass-market edition / November 2011
    Copyright © 2011 by Eileen Wilks.
    Excerpt from Mortal Ties by Eileen Wilks copyright © by Eileen Wilks.

     
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    ISBN : 978-1-101-54552-2
     
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This book is joyfully dedicated to
my daughter Katie
and her wonderful fiancé, Matt.
I couldn’t be more delighted.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
     
    Typically writers use this space to acknowledge the help others provided. I’m using it to offer an apology. There are inconsistencies between what we call the real world and some of the details in my fictional world that may disconcert some readers. A female president, for one. The building and security systems at the FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C., for another. There are more, but if I describe them, I’ll give away too much about the story.
    What can I say? The realm Lily and Rule live in isn’t ours. For some reason, they elected a female president a couple years ago. We didn’t. The architect of the FBI building there had a slightly different plan than ours did. And they have lupi. And dragons . . .

ONE
     

     
    LILY Yu was at the shooting range at FBI Headquarters when she saw the ghost.
    Her ears were warm beneath the headgear. Her bare arms were chilly, with her left arm out and steady; the right one ached and trembled. She’d fired a few clips right-handed before switching, which was dumb. Should have started with the left so her bad arm wouldn’t be bitching so much. To bring her new Glock in line with her dominant eye while keeping her stance and grip neutral, she had to twist her right arm in a way that her damaged bicep objected to.
    It objected to a lot of things. The humerus might be healed, the skin grown back nice and smooth over the entry wound, but the exit wound was bigger, bumpier, and dented. Lost muscle didn’t regrow.
    Except that Lily’s was. Slowly, but it was returning.
    A whiff of sulfur hung in the air. Sound slapped at her ears through the protective muffs as her neighbor to the right fired steadily on the other side of the divider. The