Chapters (48)
- Title Page
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- THIRTY-NINE
- The Undead Pool: An Excerpt
- Chapter 2
- About the Author
- Also by Kim Harrison
- Credits
- About the Publisher
Ceri fell back a step. Then her jaw clenched, and I felt her tap a line.
I stiffened. She’s going to spell me? “Don’t you dare!” I exclaimed, shoving her like we were two girls on the playground fighting over a piece of chalk.
Ceri gasped, falling down on her butt, her eyes wide in shock as she looked up at me with her hair all over the place. My face went red in embarrassment. “I’m sorry, Ceri,” I said. “She’s my friend, and Piscary will screw her up. I don’t care if it’s a trap; she needs me.”
The elf gaped at me, all her skills and magic forgotten in her confusion and affront that I had shoved her down. “Keasley,” I said, spinning to find him. “I’ll be back—”
My words cut off as I saw him with my cherry red splat gun in his hands. Adrenaline jerked through me, and I froze. “I can’t let you knock me down,” he said, the gun’s alignment unwavering from my chest. “I might break something,” he said, then pulled the trigger, as smooth and unhurried as a waltz.
I tensed to run, but the puff of the escaping air shocked me. “Ow!” I yelped as the stinging sensation hit me square in the chest, and I looked down at the slivers of red plastic.
“Damn it, Keasley,” I said, then collapsed, out before my head hit the soft garden soil.
TWENTY-FIVE
“Is it supposed to take this long?” came Jenks’s voice, buzzing as if from behind my eyes. My shoulder hurt, and I shifted my arm, bringing my hand up to touch it. I was soaking wet, and surprise brought me awake.
Taking a lungful of air, I sat up, my eyes flashing open.
“Ho! There she is,” Keasley said, worry in his brown eyes as he backed up and straightened. His leathery face was creased with wrinkles, and he looked cold in his faded cloth coat. The rising sun gave him a hazy glow, and Jenks hovered beside him. Both of them were watching me with concern as I slumped against a tombstone. We were surrounded by pixies, and their giggles sounded like wind chimes.
“You spelled me!” I shouted, and Jenks’s kids scattered with squeals. I looked down, realizing it was salt water dripping from my hair, my nose, and my fingers, and pooling in my underwear. I’m a freaking mess.
Keasley’s age-worn expression eased. “I saved your life.” Dropping the plastic five-gallon bucket onto the grass, he extended a hand to help me up.
Avoiding it, I lurched to my feet before the water could seep farther. “Damn it, Keasley,” I swore, shaking my dripping hands and disgusted with myself. “Thanks a helluva lot.”