The Lillim Callina Chronicles: Volumes 1-3 Read online

  The Lillim Callina Chronicles

  Volumes: 1-3

  J. A. Cipriano

  Copyright © 2014 by J. A. Cipriano

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Contents

  Want to get this FREE?

  Also by J.A. Cipriano

  Kill it with Magic

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  The Hatter is Mad

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Fairy Tale

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Thank You for reading!

  Author’s Note

  Pursuit

  Want to get this FREE?

  Sign up here. If you do, I'll send you my short story, Alone in the Dark, for free.

  Visit my blog at JACipriano.com for all the latest updates.

  Also by J.A. Cipriano

  World of Ruul

  Soulstone: Awakening

  Soulstone: The Skeleton King

  Bug Wars

  Doomed Infinity Marine

  The Legendary Builder

  The Builder’s Sword

  The Builder’s Greed

  The Builder’s Pride

  Elements of Wrath Online

  Ring of Promise

  The Vale of Three Wolves

  Kingdom of Heaven

  The Skull Throne

  Escape From Hell

  The Thrice Cursed Mage

  Cursed

  Marked

  Burned

  Seized

  Claimed

  Hellbound

  The Half-Demon Warlock

  Pound of Flesh

  Flesh and Blood

  Blood and Treasure

  The Lillim Callina Chronicles

  Wardbreaker

  Kill it with Magic

  The Hatter is Mad

  Fairy Tale

  Pursuit

  Hardboiled

  Mind Games

  Fatal Ties

  Clans of Shadow

  Heart of Gold

  Feet of Clay

  Fists of Iron

  The Spellslinger Chronicles

  Throne to the Wolves

  Prince of Blood and Thunder

  Found Magic

  May Contain Magic

  The Magic Within

  Magic for Hire

  Witching on a Starship

  Maverick

  Planet Breaker

  Kill it with Magic

  1

  What kind of tip do you give someone you’ve just blown up? That’s the thought that ran through my mind as I frantically rummaged through my pockets for something, anything to give the delivery boy I’d just blasted into the brick wall outside my tiny apartment.

  It wasn’t my fault, I swear. It’s not like my day planner reads: brush teeth, shower, get dressed, blow up delivery boys. No, if anyone was at fault, it was him. Call me crazy, but when something that looks and smells like a rotting corpse lumbers out of the bushes beside my apartment, I attack. No zombie was getting my brains, that’s for sure.

  It had reached toward me with one translucent hand, splattering bits of gelatinous goo that smelled like rotten eggs and bad breath. Those are not the normal actions of delivery personnel. Besides, I’ve never seen a UPS guy with an enormous, milky eye in the center of his chest before.

  So what had I done? I’d taken a deep breath, forced my heart to stop trying to beat its way out of my chest, and made up a new rule of thumb. When in doubt, poke the thing in the eye. As it had opened its mouth to groan at me, I’d jabbed it in the chest-eye with my finger while calling upon my magic.

  “Boom,” I’d whispered, unleashing a surge of power at point blank range into the creature.

  Now, to be fair, saying a word like boom while hitting someone doesn’t have much effect unless you’re in one of those old Adam West Batman shows, especially when it comes from a five-foot-nothing teenage girl wearing a gray cardigan over a white button up and a knee-length black skirt. Unfortunately for Mr. Tall, Green, and Disgusting, I’m Lillim Callina, and I know magic.

  Yeah, that’s right, I said magic. Some people might call it different things, but I’m a simple girl. So I’ll stick to the M-word even if it gets me horrified glances from old people feeding pigeons in the park.

  So what had happened when I hit the zombie in the chest and muttered boom? An arc of electricity had exploded from my fingertip.

  Time seemed to stop for a moment as the delivery boy turned his head to regard me curiously, as though he couldn’t figure out what I was doing. I suppose, in retrospect, he had a right to be confused as he was flung backward into the brick wall outside my apartment building with a horrifyingly wet squelch.

  “And if you think that’s bad, you should see my next trick,” I’d muttered as the backlash of the spell whipped around me, threatening to make me pass out. Like always, firing magical energy off willy nilly had felt like an elf had hacked into my brain with an axe. I ignored it like I always did. I could deal with the aftermath of using my magic later.
r />   The smell of its burned flesh, like over-cooked fish, filled my nose and stung my eyes. Thick curls of steam rose from the creature’s body as it hoisted itself onto its feet, anger evident in its milky chest-eye, and spoke the words that changed everything.

  “Lillim Callina! I was told to bring you a message, and this is how you treat me?” The creature’s grating speech rubbed on my nerves, so much so, it took me nearly a full ten seconds before I realized what it had actually said. “It was supposed to be an easy job,” he added with an annoyed mutter.

  That’s when I noticed the small package and a messy clipboard with a big sticker that said “sign here” on the ground next to me. I stared at the objects for a long time as various scenarios ran through my mind. While it wasn’t common to dispatch monsters to deliver messages in my neck of the woods, it was uncommon enough, especially given his hideous appearance, to throw me off. Particularly since I’d been keeping my head down and ignoring supernatural whoziwhatsits for a while now. No, given my circumstances, this was the worst possible way to contact me. So who had done it?

  “Sorry.” I knew I was turning several shades of crimson because I could feel my cheeks burning. “I wasn’t expecting a delivery zombie to leap out of my bushes.”

  I sighed, wondered once more what kind of tip you give someone you’ve just blown up, and decided the bits of lint lining my pockets weren’t going to do the job. Maybe he’d be satisfied with a friendly smile and a handshake? Only there was no way I was going to touch him. I guess he’d have to be satisfied with a smile.

  He glared at me with his weird chest-eye as I picked up the clipboard and signed on the line. This wasn’t going to be my day. I mean it was what, eight in the morning and I’d already accosted an innocent, albeit disgusting, monster. Whatever came next was undoubtedly going to be worse. Man, I knew I should have just stayed in bed, but no, I’d had to return my library book before the library opened so I could avoid the late fee. At this rate, I was starting to think I should have just paid the damned late fee.

  “This is the last time I deliver anything for Joshua Landers!” The slime-covered delivery creature snatched the form from my hand and vanished into nothingness. I was still feeling guilty as I stared forlornly at my goo-covered porch when I realized what the thing had said.

  Joshua Landers. He’d said Joshua Landers. That meant, both obviously and unfortunately, my ex-boyfriend had found me. Somehow, someway, he had tracked me to this apartment in Southern California. I tried to gulp, but my mouth had gone dry. This was not good. Not good at all. A tremor ran through me as I turned toward my front door and hastily unlocked it.

  I’d known this day was coming since I’d run away a year ago. I had known, deep down, that no matter how far I ran, my people would find me… but I’d had to try. You always have to try, right?

  I slammed the door behind me and bolted all six of the locks in quick succession. I fought the urge to slump to the ground in defeat and tried to ignore my growling stomach as I glanced around my sparsely furnished studio apartment. Beneath my tattered, threadbare desk chair, my heart-patterned blanket lay bunched up into a ball. The far wall was largely obscured by a patchy yellow and white dresser. The top drawer was so stained and misshapen, it looked almost black.

  Heaped upon the dresser itself was a pile of clothing that hadn’t quite found its way inside. A doll lay lopsided against the nest of clothing as though sunning itself beneath the bright pink lamp that stood mere inches away.

  Sure it was tiny, but I’d liked to refer to it as cozy. Either way, it had worked as a great hiding place until now, even if I never picked up the books that lay strewn about the floor.

  My stomach rumbled so loudly, I was sure the neighbors could hear it. I didn’t eat much, but when I did, it was usually because I was nervous. Still, I tried to tell myself blasting the zombie made me hungry. That was it… just the spell. My sudden need to chew the wallpaper off the walls had nothing to do with Joshua.

  My pint-sized hedgehog, Georgie, stared at me as I walked over to the desk wedged between the front door and my messy futon. I set Joshua’s package down next to his cage and backed away from it like it was a ticking time bomb. I mean, it probably wouldn’t explode, but the chance of it having a dynamite-like effect on my cozy little life wasn’t exactly insubstantial.

  No, this was definitely not going to be unicorns and rainbows. Damn, I ought to just run away right now. I could pack a bag and be gone in the next ten minutes. Hell, my get out of Dodge bag was already packed in case this happened, but as I looked around my crummy apartment, I realized I didn’t want to leave.

  No, this was my home, and I wanted it to stay that way. It wasn’t the smart move, mind you, but well, it was the first place I could really call my own. If I wanted to keep it, I’d have to, at the very least, see what Joshua had sent me.

  To be fair, I wasn’t sure this was necessarily a bad thing. It wasn’t like a hundred armed soldiers had shown up. If that’d happened, I’m not sure what I’d have done, probably been slightly less shocked than if Joshua himself had shown up in a three-piece suit with roses. Yeah, like that’d happen…

  As I glanced out the blinds of the only window in my apartment to check for said soldiers, my breath started to come out in quick, ragged little bursts. Thankfully, I didn’t see anyone outside. Yet.

  Maybe Joshua hadn’t told the others where I was? It was possible, even likely. Joshua had never been the most upfront guy when it came to, well, anything. If this gift was part of a plan to get back in my good graces, he’d know not telling my people where to find me would be step one. Maybe, just maybe, he was showing me he knew where I was and could be trusted? It seemed possible, but unlikely.

  No, the more likely scenario was that this package was going to start a horrible chain-reaction that was going to bring me into a confrontation with everyone I’d hidden from for the last year. After all, if Joshua had found me, the others couldn’t be far behind.

  Georgie yawned and ignored me as I turned back to the package and ripped it open. I started carefully enough, but after the seventieth or so piece of tape, I just called upon my magic and shredded the cardboard with my magically infused muscles. Don’t judge, it got the job done.

  The object inside want not a bomb, but it might as well have been. It was as thick as my thumb and about as long. Even beneath its translucent cellophane wrapper, the silver candy sparkled with mischievous brilliance. A solid gold stamp in the center was emblazoned with the letters H. H. and I knew exactly what it was. This was a candy swizzle.

  Candy swizzles were one of the most addictive substances on the planet. They were like injecting concentrated yummy into your veins. That’s really saying something when all we’re talking about is my people’s version of a vending-machine candy, albeit, an enchanted vending-machine candy.

  Unfortunately, the real reason those things were so addictive wasn’t because they happened to taste exactly like the thing you wanted most. It was because emotional messages could be sent through them. Imagine biting into pure love, and you get the idea. Joshua had sent me temptation in a candy-coated shell. Awesome.

  “Stop being such a baby and eat the damn thing already.” The voice behind me spoke in a soft, almost melodious way that reminded me of the way you’d think fairy princesses would sound if you didn’t already know they sounded like a bunch of squawking bats.

  “Quiet, Matto,” I said, turning to look at the ghost before swatting at him. My fingers passed through his insubstantial form, and as they did, my fingers went nearly numb from cold.

  Touching ghosts was never really very fun because they always seemed to suck the heat right out of you. My heart was already beating just a little faster than normal as I wrung out my fingers in an effort to bring back some feeling.

  I wouldn’t go so far as to say I’m scared of ghosts... really, I’m not. But I certainly didn’t like them. They were icky and see through and all-around spooky. I’d never, not in a million ye
ars, not even for all the gold in Fort Knox, have asked to have a ghost soulbound to me. I had not been given that choice. Like it or not, Hisen Mattoc was firmly anchored to my soul, and even though it wasn’t his fault, there were times I hated him for it.

  “Don’t even think about it, Lil’. Just put on your big girl pants and—” Mattoc said before I cut him off.

  “There you go with that talking again.” I glared at him in his black sunglasses, white T-shirt, and black leather pants and had the sudden urge to smack the smug look off his face. It wouldn’t work, but I sort of wished it would.