Kill It With Magic: An Urban Fantasy Novel (The Lillim Callina Chronicles Book 1) (11 page)

She put a hand on my shoulder and smiled. “Besides, you have all the help you need. All you need to do is open your eyes to it. That’s all you must do, my Lillim. Just open your eyes.”

Chapter 14

“Lillim, just open your eyes.”

Mattoc stood over me with a relieved look on his face. Had that whole thing been a dream? I blushed, somewhat embarrassed. I had argued with my mother in a dream… sane people totally did that.

I had the worst headache ever. I wasn’t sure how, but someone had stuck my brain in a blender, and then bashed the blended bits with a comically oversized mallet. I groaned and tried to rub my head. I couldn’t move.

A tremor went through me as I struggled. My limbs would not respond. A numbing chill swept over me. The great weapon Frost was embedded into the ground beside me. Of all the elements, ice was the one I had never quite mastered. If you wanted me to burn something, no problem… but I had never really gotten the hang of ice… and now? Now I was encased in a solid block of ice.

This was really kind of ironic in a way. My teacher had been the great Warthor Ein, and his element of choice was ice. Maybe it was a type of subconscious rebellion that kept me from gaining more than a fundamental grasp of the art.

“On the upside, you beat a founder, and you still have all of your limbs. That’s pretty tough.” Mattoc’s voice interrupted my thoughts.

“I got pretty lucky,” I mumbled as I concentrated on thawing the ice that encased my legs and arms. Yet, even something that I could normally have done with ease seemed to be practically impossible now.

“Can’t you go get help?” I screamed in frustration.

“Already done. You think I’d just sit here and wait for you to wake up?” Mattoc shook his head as he wandered around me in an amused sort of way.

“Point taken, so who is coming?”

“About that… you have to promise not to get mad.”

“They’re coming anyway so why should I promise?”

Mattoc sneered. He licked his finger and poked me in the ear. I screamed even though I couldn’t feel it and finally snorted at him. “I promise.”

“I went back to the Owl house and told Danae what happened, but as soon as I did, Gib, did I mention Gib was still there? Apparently he was holding them all hostage until you returned with his son. He took off.”

“So is Danae coming then?” I shook my head as much as I could. I guess it could have been worse.

“No…”

“Dear lady,” said Voln D’Lamprey, “I heard you have need of some assistance.” His fingers were crossed into a sort of steeple in front of his chest. He tapped them together restlessly, and I could tell he wanted to leave as quickly as possible.

Voln waved his hand over me, and the ice started to melt. He started talking, but I ignored him, mostly because I was too busy rolling into a ball. I took a deep breath and crawled to my feet. My clothes were soaked, and I shivered as I placed a hand on Frost’s hilt and swung it over my shoulder. I still wasn’t used to the weight, and I wobbled. The blade slipped from my hands and hit the ground with a clang.

I shook my head. I sighed and maneuvered the massive ice blade into something of a walking stick. So far, this was going great. Logan had a Demonslayer, a weapon powered by a fire demon. He was with the Bear founder, and they were probably in some lair plotting something crazy. Like helping an ancient dragon named Sharkface take over the world from another ancient dragon named Trius. The vampires still had the werewolf baby, and if that wasn't bad enough, I still hadn't found Warthor!

This was the perfect time to have broken one of the blades of Shirajirashii because I obviously had more than enough time to spend countless hours reforging the weapon. Besides, I had Frost now.

“So why did you come help me, Voln?” The words came out nastier than I meant them to be.

“Your job is to keep that child safe and the best way I know of keeping said child safe is to send you after it.”

“And why is that?”

“Because, you will not let children come to harm and that we, as vampires,” he pointed to his chest, “will do the baby harm. So, therefore,
you
will rescue said baby.”

I shook my head. “Well, he is with Logan now and Logan has a Demonslayer. No one can withstand a battle with a Demonslayer. It destroys anything it touches, so unless Logan is going to do him harm, he’s probably safest with the vampires.” Even as I said it I knew it wasn’t true. No one is safe in the company of vampires. Goddamned bloodsuckers.

“You must rescue the baby. It is imperative that the vampires do not retain possession of him. You don’t understand how important that baby is to their plan.” Voln started to say something else but he was flung backward. His body didn’t so much hit the ground as it sunk beneath the dirt. I watched in horror as the earth swallowed him whole.

Thwap!

My body was thrown sideways at an awkward angle across the pavement. Sharkface smiled and walked toward me. Wait… where had he come from? He was still wearing that expensive suit from the last time I’d seen him, except for his sunglasses. His face curled into an eerie display of cheer, despite the fact that he was missing one eye.

“You will come with me, Lillim Callina.” He curled one finger toward himself.

“Hmm… I’ll pass. You’re a little old for me.” I pushed myself to my feet.

“You ought to come quietly. You can’t run, and you can’t fight me. It would be a shame to have to kill you,” he continued in a steely voice. “I’m immeasurably more powerful than the last time we met.”

“Well that’s nice… considering you were the only one left standing the last time we met.”

“You will come with me.” I was suddenly stopped dead in my tracks by his hand around my throat. My wakazashi moved through the air only to be caught barehanded by Sharkface. He tightened his hand around the blade and the metal stressed and screamed beneath his touch. He smiled, leaning so close to me that our noses touched. With no more effort than it would take to snap a toothpick he shattered my wakazashi and the pain of it exploded behind my eyes.

“I want you to join me.”

Chapter 15

How do you respond to something like that when the one who “asked” has a hand around your throat? It wasn’t like I was going to join this drake, and I was pretty sure if I refused he wasn’t going to just let me go and be like “oh, my bad.” His hand, which felt like a vice covered in sandpaper, made his intentions pretty clear…

“Um…” I murmured right before the point of a massive broadsword ripped through Sharkface’s stomach and tore out its side. Greenish blood and gore sprayed over me as I fell to the ground and scurried backward.

Behind Sharkface I could see a man whom I knew very well. The sight of him was enough to make me both very grateful to my mother and hate her a whole bunch. Standing before me was Caleb Oznek, my mother’s second in command.

“Thanks,” I squawked, but before I could get to my feet the drake grabbed me by my ponytail and dragged me backward. Apparently, being gored had little effect on him.

A brilliant smile stretched the crisscrossing scars that marred his otherwise handsome cheeks. He pointed his sword, Incinerator, at Sharkface and a lance of flame exploded from his weapon. The drake darted out of the way, releasing me in its haste.

A devilish smirk flashed across Caleb’s face as he stepped between me and Sharkface. He held out his hand in a gesture of supreme arrogance. “Come with me if you want to live.”

I was still too weak from the fight with Bob to really concentrate on what was going on. Caleb’s sudden appearance wasn’t helping things any. He shouldn’t have needed to defend me, shouldn’t have seen me sitting on the ground like a weakling. Just because I’d just gone toe-to-toe with a vampire founder did not mean he got to come save me.

Clang!

Caleb threw his arm in front of me. The shriek of steel filled the air as he blocked a blow with his gauntlet that would otherwise have smashed my skull to bits. I should have been paying better attention.

“Okay. I’ll come.” Even saying the words seemed to kill a small part of me. I didn’t normally admit when I needed help, at least not when I
really
needed help. To accept it from Caleb meant I was accepting it from my mother. To say it was upsetting would be like saying the ancient pyramids were big.

Caleb’s sword interposed itself between me and another attack, and the force of it sent a shockwave through my body. Sharkface was not really attacking Caleb, at least not yet. He was still attacking me, trying to kill
me
.

“Do you have a way out of here?” My voice came out in a hoarse whisper that made small stars explode behind my eyes. I was going to have a word with the demolition crew in my head after this was over.

“The transporter feed is struggling to gather power.” Caleb moved like lightning, tearing Frost from the earth in a spray of dirt and swinging it at the drake in one smooth motion. Evidently, its weight didn’t bother him very much. Sharkface ducked as Frost cleaved through the air above his head, filling the air with the crackling sound of ice. A strange mix of horror and revulsion crossed his face as he took a couple steps backward and eyed the weapon.

“There’s some big energy source trying to block it,” he added, almost as an afterthought.

Magical energy could easily cause most technology to malfunction. Granted most Dioscuri stuff was designed with this in mind, but that didn’t mean someone with enough spiritual chutzpah couldn’t block our stuff, too.

“Well you better tell the transporter to hurry up before we both get killed,” I said though part of me wondered what reaction we’d get back at HQ if it worked after Sharkface succeeded in killing both of us.

“That would be a pretty piss poor rescue attempt if we both died. Don’t worry; it just needs a little more power.” Caleb sheathed Incinerator and put both hands on the hilt of Frost. “I can buy us that much time.”

“Just because you came down here to rescue me does
not
mean I am going to fall all over you.”

“It would be the traditional thing to do.”

I blushed. At one time, I had been friends with Caleb. Now things were different, allegiances had changed, and lines in the sand had been drawn. I shook my head, frustrated that he, of all people, had come to save me. It couldn’t be that simple. Someone, probably my mother, wanted me for something.

“I really can’t let you take her away. It won’t ruin everything, but it’d be more than a minor setback.” Sharkface’s mouth turned into a wicked smile that revealed several rows of jagged teeth. He reached toward the sky, golden light filling his hands. He brought them down in a wide arc as he dropped down to his knees in the dirt. There was a glimmer to the left. A blinding flash pierced the sky as spears of light split the heavens. One struck Caleb through the chest, and he stumbled backward, blood spurting from his lips as the spear in his chest exploded into a thousand scintillating shards of light.

The drake had cast the most reviled spell in all the Dioscuri record books. It was said that even talking about it could be grounds for exile… from living. I, personally, didn’t know much else about the spell, other than it was meant for one purpose and one purpose only, to destroy.

Spears continued to fall from the heavens as though the very wrath of God was coming down upon us. I reached out and seized Caleb’s arm, my hands wrapping around the golden transporter bangle on his wrist as he began to buckle, still clutching his chest. Blood gushed through his fingers, slick and steaming in the cool air. I pulled his body close to mine and closed my eyes as my lips found his. I breathed into his mouth, forcing my power inside him, as the world faded around us.

Chapter 16

Even though it was my third day waking up in the Dioscuri hospital, I swear to god a tiny little man with a jackhammer was still going to town on my forehead.

I coughed and wondered who had taken a belt sander to my throat. I fished a large chunk of gauze from my mouth that was little more than a lump of congealed blood and slime.

“Gross.”

A groan escaped me as I tossed the wad of goo in the trash. I picked up some ibuprofen and chased them down with a glass of room-temperature water.

Then, I threw up in the sink. A little while later I wiped my mouth and flopped down on the hospital bed. That was when I noticed a box of chocolate covered donuts sitting on the tray next to my bed. I picked them up and eyed the yellow post-it note stuck on the top of the box.

You looked a little thin. Love, Mom
was written across it her loopy scrawl. My face lost a little color as I eyed the donuts. I wanted them. They were my favorite, and my mom knew that. Evidently she had been in to see me while I was sleeping. I stared at the unopened box, wondering if they would upset my already griping tummy if I ate them.

I shoved the sugary treats away. The worst part of this whole hospital stay was that Caleb was hurt worse than me. That meant I’d had to fill out all of the paperwork at the Dioscuri Headquarters in Lot. Not that much remained of the great floating city anyway. No one had questioned us when I’d dragged in Caleb’s broken body. It wasn’t that unusual for Dioscuri to come back from missions half-dead. I knew one thing though, there would be questions, and I did not want to be around for them.

Some of the people here still bore grudges toward Dirge, and fair or not, most of them directed that hatred onto me. Sometimes I could even see the revulsion in my mother’s eyes when she looked at me and remembered her old rival. Yeah, that’s right. In my past life I had been rivals with my mother. We had hated each other so much that we’d come to blows just minutes before Dirge had died. It was a truly cruel fate that placed me in her belly a few days later. Maybe that’s why she taught me to swim by throwing me into a lake full of sea monsters.

Caleb had never done anything like that. He had always treated me like I was my own person. Maybe that was because he and Dirge had been on one too many adventures together or maybe it was for another reason entirely. Perhaps without his presence to remind me, I could forget that his cheerful smile made butterflies dance in my stomach. Perhaps I could stop thinking that maybe Dirge could have prevented the events that had left him poisoned. Or, even better, that I could find a cure if I left. Either way, I’d had to leave then, and I had to leave now.