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eBook ISBN: 978-1-101-62487-6

PUBLISHING HISTORY

Ace mass-market edition / August 2013

Cover art by Juliana Kolesva.

Cover design by Jason Gill.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the authors’ imaginations or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

Contents

Praise

Also by Ilona Andrews

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Acknowledgments

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 11

CHAPTER 12

CHAPTER 13

CHAPTER 14

CHAPTER 15

CHAPTER 16

CHAPTER 17

CHAPTER 18

EPILOGUE

Authors’ Note

“An Ill-Advised Rescue”

About the Authors

Dedication

To our fathers, wherever they may be

Acknowledgments

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Before we dive into acknowledgments, please note that we’ve included a bonus short story of Saiman’s rescue. It’s toward the end of the book, but you may want to read it first.

* * *

We would like to thank Anne Sowards, our editor, for believing in us and always working on making the book better. We also would like to thank our agent, Nancy Yost, for all of her help and her friendship.

Many other people have worked on creating these books. Michelle Kasper, the production editor, and Jamie Snider, the assistant production editor, oversaw the process of turning a manuscript into a finished book. Judith Lagerman, the art director; Juliana Kolesva, the artist; and Jason Gill, the cover designer, created a stunning cover. Amy Schneider had the difficult job of copyediting our mess. Rebecca Brewer, Anne’s editorial assistant, and Sarah E. Younger, of Nancy Yost Literary Agency, valiantly tried to deal with our requests. We are deeply grateful to all of you.

Special thanks to the beta readers who helped make this book better: Ericka Brooks, Ying Areerat, Hasna Saadani, Laura Hobbs, Michelle Kubecka, Wendy Baceski, Joyce Casement, William Stonier, and others.

And finally, thank you to you, dear readers, for believing in Kate Daniels and her twisted world.

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 1

I spun the spear. “One more argument and I’ll ground you.”

Julie rolled her eyes with all the scorn a fourteen-year-old could muster and pushed her blond hair away from her face. “Kate, like when will I ever use this in real life?”

“You’ll use it in the next five seconds to keep me from impaling you.”