Gunmetal Magic: A Novel in the World of Kate Daniels

out in her fur and claws for her would be equivalent to me taking off my clothes and parading through the city naked.
    Something had happened. Something really bad.
    I looked at Curran. “I guess we’d better go back to the office.”
    I walked through the office doors carrying a vampire’s head smeared in green sunblock. I had picked it up after the draugr had punted it out of the ward zone. It was beginning to smell and needed to be buried in ice ASAP.
    Andrea sat at her desk. She was wearing her beastkin shape, a perfect meld of human and hyena. It was a shape that could get her killed. Andrea’s father was a hyenawere, an animal who turned into a human. That made her beastkin, and many older shapeshifters would want to murder her on sight.
    “Want” being the operative word. Andrea could take care of herself. On top of that, I would help her, and Curran had made it plain that this was a prejudice he would not tolerate. He was waiting outside now in a parking lot a block away. I had asked him to give us a few minutes.
    Andrea’s feet were on the table. Her T-shirt was torn, her pants were in tatters, and a mess of blood and tissue stained both. She wiggled her clawed toes at me.
    “Hey.”
    “Hey.” Andrea raised her hand. There was a bottle in it. She was drinking.
    I went into the kitchen, got a ceramic dish from under the sink, and deposited my vampire head inside the fridge. Then I came back, shrugged out of my sword sheath, and sat in the chair.
    “What are you drinking?”
    “Georgia Peach Iced Tea. Want some?” Andrea shook the bottle at me.
    “Sure.” I sipped it. FIRE. “What the hell is in this?”
    “Vodka, gin, rum, sweet and sour, and peach schnapps. Lots of peach schnapps.”
    I’d never seen her drink before. “Do you actually get a buzz from this?”
    “Sort of. It lasts for about thirty seconds or so and then I need another gulp.”
    I tried to think. Derek was back at the Keep, but I was pretty sure Ascanio should have reported to the office this morning. “Where is the bane of my existence?”
    “In the shower, freshening up.”
    Damn it all to hell. “Oh God, who did Ascanio screw now?”
    “No, no, he’s covered in blood.”
    “Oh good.” Wait a minute. “The kid is covered in blood and we’re relieved. There is something wrong with us.”
    “Tell me about it.” Andrea eyed me. “Not going to mention my beastkin appearance?”
    “I like it. The torn pants and gore-stained T-shirt is a nice touch.”
    She pointed her foot at me. “I was thinking of painting my claws a nice shade of pink.”
    Those claws were three inches long. “That would take a lot of nail polish. What about some golden hoops in your ears instead?”
    Andrea grinned, baring a row of sharp fangs. “It’s a definite possibility.”
    Okay, you know what, screw this.
“What happened?”
    “I saw Raphael this morning. I’d called him last night, because Jim put me on some shapeshifter murders and I needed to interview him. I wanted a chance to apologize.”
    Raphael, you spoiled moron, what the hell did you do?
    I took her bottle and drank from it. I needed some alcohol for the next part. It tasted vile. I swallowed it down anyway. “How did it go?”
    “He replaced me.”
    “He what?”
    “He found another girl. She is seven feet tall, with breasts the size of honeydew melons, legs that start at her neck, bleached blond hair down to her ass, and her waist is this big around.” She touched her claws together. “They are engaged to be engaged.”
    Of all the stupid, idiotic things…“He brought her
here
?”
    “She sat in that chair right there.” She pointed at a chair. “I’m thinking of burning it.”
    Andrea loved Raphael the way birds loved the sky, and until a minute ago I would’ve sworn that he would have run into fire for her. “Did you punch him?”
    “Nope.” Andrea shook her head. “After he told me that his new sweetheart’s best quality is that she isn’t me, it didn’t seem like it would make any difference.”
    “Is she a shapeshifter?”
    “A human. Not a fighter. Not that bright either.” The false cheer evaporated from her voice. “I know what you’ll say—it’s my own fault.”
    I wish I knew the right words to say. “Well, you did check out of his life. You checked out of my life for a while.”
    “Yeah, yeah.” Andrea looked away.
    Raphael was spoiled. He was handsome, and treasured by both his mother and Clan Bouda in general, but he was