Magic Breaks (Kate Daniels 7)

CHARACTER LIST

The Pack

KATE DANIELS: Main character. Female, approximately twenty-seven at the time of the book. Former mercenary, former member of the Order, currently Consort to Curran, Beast Lord of the Free People, and female alpha of the shapeshifter Pack. Carries a sword named Slayer. Daughter of Roland, from whom she has been hiding all of her life, and raised by his renegade warlord Voron. Kate owns Cutting Edge, a small investigative agency bankrolled by the Pack.

CURRAN LENNART: Beast Lord. Alpha and leader of Atlanta’s shapeshifters. Male, about thirty-three. Has been Beast Lord since he was fifteen. Turns into a North American gray lion. Blond, gray-eyed, approximately 5'10" with the build of a longtime weight lifter. In human form, prefers hand-to-hand combat with a concentration on grappling, which utilizes his training in judo, wrestling, and jujitsu.

JIM SHRAPSHIRE: Werejaguar and alpha of Clan Cat. Male, age thirty-five; 6'2" and built like a middleweight boxer. Dark skin, brown eyes. Jim moves with an easy athletic gait that belies the pent-up energy and violence waiting just under the surface. Jim is the Pack’s head of security. He is a paranoid micromanager who sees threats to the Pack around every corner and in every shadow. Has a history with Kate Daniels (nonromantic) going back to their service together in the Mercenary Guild.

BARABAS GILLIAM: Weremongoose but member of the bouda (werehyena) clan; 5'9" and slender. Appearing to be in his late twenties, Barabas is very pale-skinned with a shock of bright red hair, usually gelled and spiked atop his head. He has the lean build of a fencer or dancer. Barabas is the Pack’s lead legal counsel and one of Kate’s “babysitters” appointed by Aunt B prior to her death in Magic Rises. Barabas is a skilled knife fighter with an encyclopedic knowledge of laws both human and Pack.

ANDREA NASH: Female, 5'2", blond. Andrea is Kate’s best friend. Former knight of the Order and expert marksman. Andrea is beastkin, meaning she is the extremely rare offspring of a female bouda and a hyenawere, a hyena who could shapeshift into a human. In many shapeshifter packs, beastkin are at best tolerated but mistreated, at worst seen as abominations and killed at birth. Andrea and her mother suffered unspeakable abuse and cruelty at the hands of her birth pack. As a teen, Andrea escaped and, disguising herself as human, joined and graduated with honors from the Order’s Academy for knights. After the events of Magic Bleeds, Andrea was exposed as a shapeshifter and forcefully retired from the Order; she subsequently joined Kate in the detective agency Cutting Edge. Andrea is engaged to Raphael, alpha male of Clan Bouda, and together they now run the clan after Aunt B’s death.

RAPHAEL MEDRANO: Scion and alpha of Clan Bouda, late twenties and around 6'3". Only surviving son of Aunt B and her late husband. Raphael is a right sexy bastard, tall, dark, and extremely handsome with a devilish smile that hints at exciting sex. Like the majority of Clan Bouda, Raphael is romantically experienced with a long list of partners but fell in love with Andrea Nash at first sight and pursued her relentlessly until, despite her better judgment, she accepted his advances. Curran has a grudging respect for Raphael but until recently viewed him as spoiled and vain, despite his status as arguably the best knife fighter in the Pack.

DEREK GAUNT: Werewolf and protégé of both Jim and Curran. Introduced in Magic Bites as a teen, Derek is now a young adult, about nineteen and an experienced fighter. Once almost pretty, Derek was irreparably disfigured during the events of Magic Strikes. His vocal cords were also damaged in the attack, leaving him with a permanently low and menacing voice. Kate often refers to Derek as “boy wonder” and his devotion to her is almost fanatical, second only to his admiration and loyalty to Curran. Derek, like Curran, has a profound hatred and disdain for loups, shapeshifters gone feral.

ASCANIO FERARA: Teenage bouda, age sixteen. Basically a younger version of Raphael, but even more incorrigible. Introduced in Magic Slays, Ascanio is a young bouda raised until recently in a religious compound and sheltered from the outside world. He’s determined to make up for lost time and sometimes his behavior is extreme, even by bouda standards. His antics often bring unwanted attention to Clan Bouda and the Pack. He is seen by Derek in somewhat the same light that Curran views Raphael, wild and undisciplined. At the time of the book, Ascanio is an unpaid intern at Cutting Edge where Kate and Andrea can keep an eye on him.

DESANDRA: Female, late twenties, werewolf. Introduced in Magic Rises, Desandra is an enigma. Her father was one of the most ruthless and sadistic alphas among the Mediterranean shapeshifter packs. The only one of his children to live to adulthood, Desandra survived by pretending to be vain and stupid. Brought back to Atlanta with her twin infant sons, she has quickly risen through the ranks of Clan Wolf to become beta, second only to Jennifer. Beneath her outwardly crude and shockingly blunt exterior, she is her father’s daughter, cunning, smart, and capable of sudden shocking violence.

DR. DOOLITTLE: The Pack’s premier medmage, Doolittle is an African American male appearing to be in his midfifties, with short graying hair, wire-rimmed glasses, and a stocky, powerful build. An extremely talented physician and medical mage, Doolittle tends to devote his time to science and the treatment of the Pack, but much like his honey badger alter ego, he is fearless and willing to stand up to anyone, up to and including Curran and Kate. Doolittle was severely injured in Magic Rises, which resulted in him using a wheelchair.

JULIE: Teenage female referred to by Curran as “Kate’s cub.” Blond, petite, and pretty, Julie is being raised by Kate after losing her mother in Magic Burns. Like Kate, she is a human with magic living among and under the protection of the Pack. Julie has the unique ability to see magic; she is a human m-scanner and her powers are still developing. She has a crush on Derek, who sees her as a little sister, and an adversarial relationship with Ascanio, who views her as a rival and potential romantic conquest. During Magic Slays, Julie had been infected with Lyc-V, the shapeshifter virus, and was going loup. Kate used one of her father’s rituals to save Julie’s life by washing her blood with her own, which bound Julie to her. Julie is unable to refuse Kate’s direct order, a fact that Kate and Curran hide from her.

JENNIFER: Female alpha of Clan Wolf and widow of Daniel, who died in Magic Slays. Jennifer still holds a grudge against Kate for killing her sister and hates her even more now for bringing Desandra back to Atlanta. Jennifer knows she is weak and it is only a matter of time before her new beta makes her move. She fears for herself and her child.