Contents (15)
—Jim Butcher, #1 New York Times bestselling author
“Benedict Jacka writes a deft thrill ride of an urban fantasy—a stay-up-all-night read.”
—Patricia Briggs, #1 New York Times bestselling author
“[An] extremely promising urban fantasy series starter . . . Jacka deftly invents the rules of magic as he goes along, creating an emotionally satisfying story arc and a protagonist who will keep readers coming back.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Benedict Jacka will become a favorite for fans of Jim Butcher, Simon Green, and/or John Levitt. His recipe for success combines believable and well-developed characters, lots of action, enough suspense to keep one up all night, and a new twist on magic . . . Fated is one of the strongest first books in a series I’ve read in a long time.”
—SF Site
“An excellent example of not just great urban fantasy but also of brilliant storytelling. There is a near-perfect mix of everything, and it has been masterfully crafted with a meticulous eye for those pieces of humanity that make a great protagonist and a fantastic story.”
—Fantasy Faction
Ace Books by Benedict Jacka
FATED
CURSED
TAKEN
CHOSEN
HIDDEN
VEILED
An imprint of Penguin Random House LLC
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014
VEILED
An Ace Book / published by arrangement with the author
Copyright © 2015 by Benedict Jacka.
Penguin supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin to continue to publish books for every reader.
ACE and the “A” design are trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC.
For more information, visit penguin.com.
eBook ISBN: 978-0-698-16507-6
PUBLISHING HISTORY
Ace mass-market edition / August 2015
Cover photographs: St. Paul’s Cathedral © Tim Gartside / Trevillion Images; fractal pattern © Quka/Shutterstock.
Cover design by Judith Lagerman.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
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contents
Praise for Benedict Jacka
Ace Books by Benedict Jacka
Title Page
Copyright
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 1
It was midwinter.
A cold wind blew down the street outside, beating at the houses and rattling the windows. The night was overcast, the air a few degrees above freezing. It was the early hours of the morning, and the noise of the clubs and bars had faded to a distant murmur until the loudest sound from the city around us was the whine of the wind.