Clockwork Boys (Clocktaur War, #1)

by T. Kingfisher

Magic made the corpse stir, as if something were walking past it and kicking up the flies.

Maybe they’d all melt if you throw live chickens at them or something.”

Hours passed, like a kidney stone.

“I don’t know why we even bother having wars,” muttered Slate. “The world’s trying to kill us fast enough as it is.”

“Oh, come on, if your friends aren’t willing to strangle you, what kind of friends are they?”