Wardbreaker: An Urban Fantasy Novel (The Lillim Callina Chronicles)

by J. A. Cipriano

  “Dioscuri…” the one next to me said, rolling the word over in his mouth. He pulled off his glasses, revealing his blood-colored eyes and looked at me like I was some sort of mythological creature. “We’ve heard of you… but our creator said you were all wiped out a few years ago.”

  “Well, your creator lied to you.” I turned back toward Luc, ignoring the two vampires. “Get back in the car, Luc. Let’s get out of here. The Owls have a chateau a few cities from here. Let’s pay them a visit. If there’s a bunch of mooks like this,” I jerked my thumb at Dimitri and his counterparts, “doing things like this in broad daylight where they could get discovered by the humans, they will definitely put a stop to it.”

  Luc gave me a strange smile before opening his door, presumably to get back inside, when Dimitri put his fist through the hood and tore something important looking free in a shriek of tortured steel. Green fluid spurted into the air as he dropped the hunk of twisted metal to the ground with a thud.

  “No one’s going anywhere. We have a right to be here. We have an agreement with the Owls. We keep the wolves, the spooks, and the others out of here, and they let us do what we want.” He grinned at me, baring his fangs. “If you expect them to help you, you’re wrong.”

  I believed him because vampires couldn’t flat out lie. They could twist the truth like hell, and for all I knew, what he said wasn’t true, but this guy believed it was. Still, what he’d said made no sense. Why would the Owls, one of the most powerful vampire castes, align themselves with these scrubs?

  “Is that so?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at him. “I find it incredibly hard to believe the Owls would make a deal with you or your creator. Most of them would find you less valuable than the gum stuck to the bottom of my shoe.” I looked at him, trying to suck understanding from his eyes and failing. Mostly because there was nothing there. Clearly, intelligence was a mostly foreign concept. “Unless your creator is a member of the Owls?”

  “That’s none of your damned business, Dioscuri. Now back the hell off,” Dimitri snapped before turning his attention back to Luc and ignoring me like I didn’t even matter. It was irksome to say the least. I was a Hyas Tyee of the Dioscuri dammit. Did he know how hard it was to climb to that rank? And he was ignoring me? The jerk would pay for that.

  “Are you seriously ignoring me?” I asked, and the next thing I knew, a hand was on my shoulder, squeezing hard enough for it to hurt, but not hard enough to break anything.

  “I say we find out what happens when we drink a Dioscuri. Remember when we caught that werewolf? That was intense…” the vampire gripping my shoulder trailed off, savoring the memory.

  “You die when you drink from a Dioscuri,” I replied, spinning as fast as my magic-fueled muscles would let me. I grabbed the vampire by the back of his shaved head and slammed him face first into the van hard enough to dent the metal. “I mean it isn’t instant or anything. See you drink my blood. I get pissed off and tear your undead heart from your chest and set it on fire.” I shrugged as I let the vampire’s stunned body slump to the floor. “That kind of thing. It’s more cause and effect, I’ll admit.”

  The rest of them were upon me in a heartbeat, but I’d sort of expected it after smashing one into the vehicle. I pulled Set from its sheath in one smooth motion and drove it straight through the heart of the closest vampire. He collapsed onto his knees gripping the weapon as it flared with red light. The smell of electrified flesh filled the air.

  The creature fell backward in a smoking heap as one of his friends came at me. I ducked the vampire’s swing and drove my elbow into his stomach with as much force as my muscles could generate. It was enough to fling the monster backward and send him skidding across the pavement.

  Dimitri leapt, landing on the hood of the van and denting the front, which probably didn’t matter since the vehicle was probably useless. Then he came at me. I was instantly thankful his three friends were still back by their car.

  He crashed into me, tackling me to the ground, and my skull smacked against the pavement with a wet thud. His jaws came snapping at my neck, and I instinctively threw my arm up to block. His teeth clamped down on my wrist, and the moment his fangs pierced my flesh, a strange sense of euphoria clouded the edge of my consciousness. He wasn’t old enough for me to totally succumb to his bite, but it was enough to take the edge off my concentration.

  Then his head detached from his body, teeth still wrapped around my arm. Luc stood over me, holding my wakazashi. Blue light flared up his hands and arms as he grabbed the still bleeding headless vampire and flung it at the three oncoming creatures. The body hit them like a sack of wet cement, and they all went down in a heap.

  How had he done that? And, more importantly, why was his skin glowing like a goddamned sapphire torch? I was about to ask him when he jerked me to my feet and tore the vampire’s head from my arm, ripping my flesh in the process and spattering himself with my blood.

  His eyes went golden for a second, and it was then I realized they were ringed with red and silver. How could that be? What was he?

  “Get down,” he said, shoving by me and taking the head off the vampire behind me with one swing of my wakazashi. As it hit the ground, Luc spun and actually leapt ten or so feet, landing next to the downed vampires as they flung their headless companion to the side.

  Not that it mattered because he pulled a bottle from his pocket and flung its contents on the creatures. The smell of gasoline hit my nose as he flicked open a lighter and tossed it on the vampires. Flame swarmed over them as they fell back to the ground, thrashing and clawing at the fire like they could somehow put it out.

  “What are you?” I asked as he walked toward me, the light around his body making him seem like some kind of blue angel.

  Instead of replying, he held out my wakazashi to me. “My name is Jean Luc. I thought we were past this part?”

  Chapter 4

  “Yeah, so that’s when we decided to steal Dimitri’s car because, well, he doesn’t need it anymore,” Luc said into his silver cellphone as he weaved through traffic. There was noise on the line I couldn’t understand. “Well, I’ve always wanted a Mercedes. Anyway, we’re on our way over. The Dioscuri needs some medical attention.” He shrugged as though the gesture would be visible through the phone. I didn’t think it would be, but then again, what did I know? He pulled the phone from his ear a moment later and tossed it in the cup holder as the screen faded to black.

  “Who was that?” I asked, not because I cared exactly, but I’d been sitting in the car bleeding as he drove yammering for the last ten minutes. He hadn’t even asked if I’d minded if he made a phone call. I wasn’t sure if he was supposed to do that, but it seemed like he should have.

  Part of me was still pissed off about the fight, but only part of me. I couldn’t believe one of them had bitten me. Granted, it was on my wrist where I’d stupidly blocked his lunge, but it was the principle of the thing. It wasn’t very deep and didn’t even really hurt, but thanks to the anti-coagulant in their blood, it hadn’t actually stopped bleeding yet. It would eventually so I wasn’t that worried. My body was more than strong enough to fight off the effects of their venom.

  No, I was angrier about Jean Luc. Apparently, he was some kind of vampire fighting superhero. So why the hell had he been playing dumb and asking me for help? He clearly hadn’t needed it. And furthermore, if he was so strong, why hadn’t the vamps shown him more respect? Something was definitely off with the whole situation. I just didn’t know what. That should have made me curious to find out more, but instead, it just made me want to get as far away from here as possible. Hey, a girl has to have priorities, right? Survival was high on my list.

  “Remember my friend with the dead parents? That was her,” he said, face going from cheery to solemn in the space of a moment. “She worries when I’m out working. She’s a nurse though. She’ll have you fixed up in a jiffy.”

  “Oh,” I swallowed, suddenly embarrassed though I didn’t know
why. “Are you two, like, together?”

  He laughed then, glancing at me as the sound bubbled out of him. “Oh, heavens no. She’s like twice my age. She used to watch me when my mom went to nursing school.”

  “Ah,” I said because I had no idea what nursing school was. He had also called the lady a nurse and said she could help with my arm. Maybe that meant she was some type of healer?

  “Sorry to keep you in the dark about my abilities by the way,” he said as he drove around a girl in a silver car who was too busy putting on lipstick to drive in only one lane. “I’m normally not quite that strong. Most vamps don’t have the power to give me that kind of pick me up unless they’re really old. But just one drop of yours…” He shook his head. “You must be really strong, Lillim.”

  “Not so much,” I said a moment later as I stared out at the passing cars. So he was some sort of power absorber, and he did it via blood? I knew some of the Owls could do that, but I didn’t get the impression Luc was a vampire. No, he was most definitely human. “I’ve never seen someone absorb power from blood like that.” I shivered as the memory of his glowing body flitted into my mind. He had dropped those vampires way easier than I could have.

  “When we get back to my apartment, I’ll explain everything. I promise,” Luc said, and as I turned to look at him, I realized he was holding the steering wheel so tightly, his knuckles were white with strain.

  “Okay,” I said because I wasn’t sure what else to say. “So why do you need me at all?”

  “You’ve never come up against a threat so big you needed a partner?” he asked, and I got the impression he was really worried about something in particular. Then again, he had said the city was infested… maybe there really were just that many of them?

  “Sometimes,” I replied. “But not for normal run-of-the-mill vampires, at least not for a long time. Werewolves, sure, but vampires?” I shook my head. “There’s something you’re not telling me. Let’s just put this on the table right now. I’m not a fan of surprises.”

  “They control the police,” Luc said. “It’s simple. All the hunters who come here to help get thrown in jail.”

  “Even still…” I shrugged, but I could see how that would be a problem for someone who, you know, actually lived within the city. If the vampires controlled the police, they could route hunters fairly easily. I shifted uncomfortably. Killing that first vampire had been riskier than I’d known. “What are you hiding? It’s something more, isn’t it?”

  Luc didn’t say anything, but the silence between us grew tense. I was determined to wait him out, but even still, I was pretty sure he wasn’t going to tell me, which meant it was bad. If it was that bad, I wanted no part of it. No, I was going to disappear given the first opportunity, but maybe I’d throw a hail up first and get some Dioscuri boots on the ground. They could clean this place up in a day, you know, provided they could find time to actually do it. Which they probably couldn’t…

  “You should just tell me. Not everything that goes bump in the night is easy to kill, and there’re a lot more of them than there are of us.” I let out a slow breath. “Not all of us are looking forward to dying at the hands of a horde of undead monsters.” I didn’t add the next part of my sentence even though I should have. “Like Dirge had done…”

  “I’m not asking you to die for my cause, Lillim,” Luc replied, voice annoyed. “I’m just asking you to do your damned job and help me.”

  I glared at him as heat filled my cheeks. He was right after all. It was my job to stop monsters from taking over, and I had tried to abandon it. The thought made me sick to my stomach. I had tried to shirk my duty and foist it on a guy like Luc. It was stupid because at the end of the day, he was just a normal guy with a neat trick up his sleeve. Thinking he could do this without me getting my hands dirty was a laugh.

  “I might consider helping you if you told me what the problem really was. Going against an unknown threat is suicide!” I snapped. “If you won’t tell me, I’ll be gone so fast, you’ll see a dust cloud sitting where I am now.”

  “So you would just let me die down here? By myself?” he asked, suddenly angry. He smacked the steering wheel again and nearly swerved into a blue jeep on our right. “You’re supposed to be a hero, not some scared little girl.”

  I tried my best to ignore the barb, which was really hard, let me tell you, and instead said, “It’s not supposed to be this bad down here,” like it meant anything at all because it clearly was that bad down here.

  “I’m glad you feel that way, Lillim Callina of the Dioscuri.” He shook his head. “Where is Dirge Meilan when you need her? She would have just gone and killed all those vampires before teleporting back to her cloud city.” He gestured at me with one hand. “And here I have you, who won’t do anything at all.”

  “Don’t compare me to Dirge,” I said, the heat in my voice surprising even me.

  “And why shouldn’t I?” he yelled. “She was my friend. She trained me under the table. Helped me hunt down that werewolf who tore up the high school a few years ago…”

  “Dirge is dead,” I replied, and my voice was shakier than I’d expected. I thought I’d come to terms with her death, but evidently, I’d been wrong. So very wrong. Tears clouded my vision as Luc turned toward me, and I looked away from him. “She can’t help you. She’s not back from the grave. Sorry I’m not good enough.” The words tumbled out of me before I could stop them. “I’m sorry.”

  “Um, what’s going on?” he asked, confusion filling his voice. The car slowed, and I realized he’d pulled off the road.

  “Nothing,” I said, pulling off my seatbelt and flinging the door open. I was on the street a moment later, walking away from him and his stupid stolen Mercedes. “I shouldn’t have tried to help.”

  “Something is clearly wrong,” Luc said, feet crunching on gravel as he jogged toward me.

  I whirled around as he was about to touch me and grabbed his wrist. I squeezed, and he winced. “You keep talking about Dirge being so awesome, but you didn’t mean a damned thing to her,” I snarled, releasing him. He tugged his hand back and rubbed it. “Don’t you get that?”

  “We were friends,” he said, looking from his wrist to me and back again. “I don’t understand what just happened.”

  “You know how I know you meant nothing to her?” I narrowed my eyes at him. “Because I don’t remember you. Not even a little bit.”

  “Um, so what? We’ve never met before,” Luc replied, bewilderment filling his face.

  “After Dirge died, well, she got reincarnated.” I poked my chest with my thumb. “Into me. Into little Miss Lillim who can’t do anything right and is always told about how awesome Dirge was. So thank you for letting me know once again that I’m not good enough. It’s awesome. I’d almost forgotten for a moment.”

  “Even assuming I believe that for a second, how can that even be possible?” he asked, staring at me, pouring over each and every one of my features like people always did when they found out. I didn’t look exactly like Dirge had, but if you’d stood us together, we’d look very closely related. “Dirge only died a few years ago.”

  “After I was born, my growth was magically accelerated until I was a teenager.” I waved my hand through the air. “It’s overly complicated to be honest, but suffice to say, I’ve got a whole mess of her memories too. That’s how I know you didn’t matter one bit. I’d remember you.” I wasn’t sure why I was saying what I was. Was it to hurt him? No… no, that wasn’t it, not really. I was just so sick and tired of being compared to Dirge the hero. Couldn’t he understand that?

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t know,” he said, shaking his head. “But you should still just go kill the vampires.”

  “I told you I’d help you if you just told me what the problem really was!” I snapped. “Even though I’m running away, and it’s against the rules.”

  “Sorry…” He moved forward, pulling me into a hug I didn’t understand at all. “The real problem i
s the Owls have claimed this city like Dimitri said earlier. Every single time we off one of their overseers, well, they kill a hundred people. We need someone like you to step in and tell them that if they don’t stop, the whole might of the Dioscuri will rain down on them like an olden days plague.” He released me and stood back, staring at me with his big brown puppy eyes.

  I sighed because he was right. He was one hundred percent right. If the Owls were doing that, the Dioscuri did need to step in… only I wasn’t technically with them anymore. Still, they probably didn’t know that.

  “Look,” he added, slowly leading me back to the car by one hand. “If you help, I won’t mention Dirge again. Hell, I’ll tell everyone how much more awesome you are than her.” He winked at me.

  “No one cares what you think,” I replied, smiling in spite of myself. It sort of annoyed me because I was going to help him even though it was a bad idea. I sighed. I wasn’t the type of person that could leave an entire city under the yoke of some vampires. I guess in that one tiny aspect, my momma raised me right.

  “I get that a lot,” Luc said, opening the door for me. “Now let’s go kill some vampires.”

  I stared at him for a moment. Was I really going to help him? It wouldn’t matter much in the end. This was just one man and one city, not much in the grand scope of things, but for him, it would be something, and besides, he’d known Dirge. Maybe… maybe if I helped him, he’d stop comparing me to her? Maybe, maybe he’d think I was better than her. I tried to shove that thought away the moment it entered my brain, but it lingered anyway. Was I really going to help him just to prove I was better than Dirge? And while I hoped not, deep down, I knew it was true.

  “Fine,” I grumbled, getting into the seat. “But you need to buy me lunch first. Preferably somewhere the meal doesn’t get interrupted just as I’ve gotten my food.”

  “Deal,” he said, slamming my door shut and moving around to the other side of the car. “Then you can share with me why your wrist isn’t bleeding anymore.”