Fairy Tale: An Urban Fantasy Novel (The Lillim Callina Chronicles Book 3) (11 page)

“I can taste your mission in the air, Dioscuri. I even came here to watch your little hunt, but you cannot expect to add me to the scales of power in Fairy.” He threw back his head and cackled, a loud booming sound that made shivers run down my spine like a cascade of icicles.

“And why is that?” I asked, pointing my gun at him again. It hadn’t done any good last time, but that didn’t make me want to lower it. Kishi groaned at my feet, and I took a step away from her, dropping my left hand and gripping Set, my wakazashi, once more.

“Because I am not of Fairy in the classical sense. I am balance. I am the middle road that no one ever takes. I am fall and springtime, the sunrise and the sunset. I am all the days between birth and death.” He grinned, facing me fully and clapping his hands together. The sound was like thunder in the hallway, and it echoed off the walls.

“So you’re trying to do what we’re doing?” I asked, and for the first time, a small thread of relief tickled the back of my mind.

“Yes.” He bent down and touched the fallen hound. Its body melted away, leaving the form of a tiny pixie no bigger than a can of beans. He picked it up, and with a shrug, tossed it over his shoulder. One of the dire wolves snapped it out of the air, swallowing its tiny body in one gulp. “Though I
am
one hound short. I should take you now, but I am inclined to allow you to finish your hunt.”

He was next to me in an instant, reaching out and stroking my cheek with fingers the size of rolling pins. I opened my mouth to scream but no sound came out. I stood there transfixed, unable to move as his fingers trailed along my face, rough and coarse like sandpaper. My hands dropped to my sides as he leaned in close, and the rough musk of wolf filled my nose.

The Keeper’s face loomed over mine, his huge lips clamping down over my mouth and nose in a movement that jerked my entire body backward. I would have fallen if he hadn’t wrapped his arm around me, not quite pulling me close but not letting me fall either. He breathed outward and his breath filled my lungs, expanding my chest to nearly the bursting point.

Stars flashed across my eyes, and a reddish haze filled my vision. My knees shook underneath me, rattling so hard that the metal armor on my legs clanked together. He stood back, releasing me so suddenly that I collapsed to the floor, my pistol slipping from my hand and clattering next to me on the ground.

“You have been marked, Lillim Callina. I will allow you to finish this hunt, but afterward, you are to join your brothers and sisters in my pack. Is that clear?” the Keeper asked.

“Like crystal,” I said shakily. My head was swimming as visions of leaping wolves and starlight jumbled my thoughts.

“Good. I look forward to you joining me.” He grinned, and the wolves behind him threw their heads back and howled. Without thinking, I did the same and my cry echoed theirs. Blood rushed in my ears and a surge of adrenaline exploded through me. “Now go bring balance to Fairy, young one. Know that if you must you may call on me in this effort. I am at your disposal,” he added.

There was a flash of color, like a flurry of falling leaves, and both he and his hounds were gone. Whatever he had been was bad. Him wanting me to join him was worse. I did not relish the idea of spending an eternity turned into a giant dog sniffing around Fairy. Still, he offered to help, that was positive, right?

Kishi stirred, flopping onto her back and staring up at me with half-glazed eyes that made me think concussion. I grabbed the Beretta and pointed it at Kishi as casually as I could while still helping her to her feet.

“At some point,” she wheezed. “You will have to stop pointing your gun at me.”

“Look, you just got me chained to whatever Tall, Dark, and Scary is. He says he’s going to claim me after we restore balance. I think that as long as I don’t shoot you in the face, you’re coming out ahead,” I said.

Kishi’s eyes got as big as saucers, and she took a step away from me. “He claimed you? As part of his pack?”

“Yes.”

“Well we’re screwed then,” she wailed.

“Why?” I asked.

“Because he is the Keeper of the Wild Hunt.
The Wild Hunt
, Lillim. Do you know what that means?”

I swallowed and took a step backward, releasing Kishi. She stumbled, barely catching herself as I tried to swallow again, but my mouth had gone dry. The Keeper of the Wild Hunt wasn’t a person or creature per se. It was more like the physical embodiment of an idea. The Wild Hunt was what made tremors run down your spine when the big bad wolf came to huff and puff and blow down your house.

“It’s really not that big of a deal,” I said with a shrug.

“It is a big deal,” Kishi insisted.

“Look, I’ve dealt with things like this before. I’ll figure out a way to stop the whole Wild Hunt thing later.” I smiled at her though I knew it didn’t reach my eyes. Inside I was terrified. If we kept standing here talking about it, I was going to break down and start crying. That was not going to end well for anyone. “Besides… I’m sure Warthor has a way to fix this.”

Kishi gave me a dubious look that suspected I might be crazy. “Warthor is a smart guy.” She bit her lip and shook her head. “But I think even this is out of his league.”

I laughed then. It spilled out of me in quick staccato bursts of sound. “Warthor brought me back to life by threatening to rip the doors off of hell and release its denizens into the world. Warthor outsmarted dragons and demons alike. Sure, he’s never tried to get someone out of the Wild Hunt before, but it was only because he hasn’t wanted to do it.”

“This isn’t funny, Lillim.” Kishi glared at me. “This is serious.”

“You just don’t understand Warthor. As soon as you tell him what’s happened and say he can’t do it… well, it’s as good as done.” I smiled. I was feeling better now. I was going to see Warthor when this was over, and he was going to fix it. He had to fix it. There was no other way.

A large claw split the ground in front of me, bursting upward between us and showering me in rubble. I stumbled backward, trying to gulp down my fear as the creature pulled itself from the hole. Another claw smashed into the stone walls composing the hallway and tore great gouts in the marble. I ducked, dropping to all fours as a giant, black tongue lashed through the air above my head spattering my shoulders with great gobs of sticky saliva.

I rolled backward, coming to my feet as it opened one giant, yellow-blue eye and blinked at me. It was massive, with tufts of black and red fur springing up from its body as though a gardener had haplessly tossed seed on fertile ground. Large pointy cat-like ears topped its head. Its arms were like giant redwoods. It roared, a deep inhuman wail, and pulled the rest of its bulky body out of the floor. Now that I could see the entire thing, it sort of looked like a giant, reptilian cat.

I took a quick step back and readied my Beretta, pointing my right foot toward the creature. I gripped the hilt of my wakazashi, Set, ready to pull it free in a moment’s notice. It lunged at me, toothy mouth opened wide. I pivoted on my right foot, sweeping my left leg back around. My momentum carried my body around in a tight circle, and I lashed out with my wakazashi, jamming it in the thing’s neck.

It squealed as gobs of gray-green slime sprayed from the wound, covering me in hot, sticky goo. The creature’s eyes narrowed as it batted me to the side with one massive paw. I flew backward, smacking the stone wall with a thud.

I flopped forward, trying desperately to suck in air. The wall behind me rumbled and before I could do anything, something burst through the wall and slammed me face first into the other wall.

The entire world went blurry, and my vision swayed as I fell helplessly to the floor. I rolled, pointing the Beretta at the hazy shape looming over me, but the cat pinned my arm to the floor with one giant paw.

It leaned down close until it was eye to eye with me, its whiskers brushing along my face as it sniffed. Casually, it opened its mouth to reveal a long, lolling black tongue. Its tongue lashed out and rubbed across my face like sandpaper, leaving a long, glistening trail of saliva in its wake.

“Hmm… you don’t taste so good, Dioscuri,” it bellowed in a deep throaty voice. “You don’t taste like the Breaker at all.” It glanced over its shoulder and a sigh vibrated through its body. “My sister has all the luck.”

“Sorry to disappoint you,” I wheezed, “but I wouldn’t taste good anyway, I’m rather tough. You know, hard to chew and all that.”

The cat sat back on its hind legs and looked at me for several moments. Slowly and deliberately, it raised a single talon and placed it against my stomach. With a flick of its wrist, the creature slashed through my golden armor, peeling back the metal to reveal my flesh.

There was a scream down the hall, and the cat smiled, revealing a set of stupidly sharp teeth. It dug its talon into my flesh, and I howled as it ripped a chunk of meat from my body. Blood gushed from the wound, pouring out over my skin and pooling down around the insides of my armor. The cat took the strip of flesh and dangled it over its large mouth before dropping it in. It chewed, very slowly, and its eyes widened. Its tongue lashed out, lapping up the blood that oozed from the wound.

“You don’t seem tough at all,” it purred, its face so close to mine that I could smell the metallic scent of my blood on its breath. “Won’t need a stewpot for you. Could eat you raw.”

I kicked at it, and it smacked me in the side of the head with its paw. The world went a little dim, and for a moment, the only thing I could see was its leering smile. My left hand dropped to my side, and I seized hold of my Set. With one quick motion I pulled the blade free and jabbed it into the cat’s paw.

It roared in anger and leapt backward in surprise, taking my sword along with it. I raised my aching right arm, pointed the Beretta at the creature, and fired. The bullets hit it with that same sound that reminds me of smacking a side of beef with a meat tenderizer. The bullet punched through its chest in an explosion of gore that sprayed backward along the wall behind it.

I scrambled to my feet and fired again, but the cat darted forward, dodging by the bullet with ease, and brought its massive paw down on top of my head. It felt like I’d been poleaxed by a sledgehammer. I hit the floor with a thunk and rolled. My left hand bit into the rubble, tearing the flesh from my palm as I put my weight on it and crawled down the hallway.

The cat reared back, ready to pounce as I pulled my katana, Isis, free of its sheath. The weapon felt awkward in my left hand, but I didn’t want to lower the Beretta. The cat leapt, and I spun around on the balls of my feet. The creature slammed into the ground next to me, and I ducked its swipe as I drove the katana into its eye. The weapon tore from my grip as it wobbled forward, its face a mass of blood and ichor.

The creature growled at me, one eye squeezed tightly around my katana. The cat charged. I fired as quickly as I could pull the trigger. Nine bullets blew holes in the creature the size of watermelons as it darted forward, ignoring the injuries completely. It slammed me into the stone wall so hard that said wall cracked.

It began to furiously beat me with its uninjured paw as I struggled to dodge its claws.

“Boom!” I cried releasing a burst of magic at close range into the cat’s chest. The blast ripped through it like a cannonball, and for a slight moment, the creature hesitated. I grinned and made a grabbing motion with my hand, and used my magic to tear all the bullets out of its body in different directions.

It screamed as its blood spattered across the hallway. It reared back in its rage and flung me across the across the hallway. I hit the ground and rolled, coming to my feet in an instant and glaring at the creature.

“I told you I was tough,” I growled as my power swelled around me, thrumming through the hallway like a living thing. I called it down, and as I did so, the air around me began to glow as I pointed one hand at the creature. Lavender light began to stream from my fingertips, throwing garish shadows on the wall.

“Goodbye,” I said, but before I could release my magic a giant meteor-like blast struck the cat from behind. It exploded, painting the walls with blood and meaty scraps. Thick black smoke filled the hallway leaving a lone figure just barely visible.

Chapter 12

A scream echoed down the hallway, and I swung my body around, tearing my gaze from the shadowy figure. The other cat was holding Kishi in the air between its paws. I decided to ignore the figure and sprinted toward Kishi, stopping only to scoop up my two swords. My abdomen screamed in pain, and warm fluid seeped from the wound and down my waist.

The second cat’s ears perked up, swiveling toward the back of its head. It turned and flung Kishi at me. I dropped my swords and threw my arms up to brace myself as she slammed into me.

I fell backward, landing hard on my shoulder blades as I dropped Kishi and rolled to keep from breaking my neck. I came to my feet, pulled my Beretta, and fired into the pouncing cat. The bullets struck it just below the chin, blowing the back of its head to smithereens as my gun clicked empty. The creature careened through the air and slammed haphazardly into the wall to my left with a bone crunching thud.

“Well they’re certainly easier to kill when they aren’t actively beating the tar out of you,” I said as I picked up my swords and sheathed them. Kishi groaned in response, got to her hands and knees, and vomited all over the floor. I was caught with the sudden urge to flee, and rather than hold her hair out of the way, I took several steps backward and turned my back to her.

“Hello, Bunny. How are things?” Warthor Ein stood in front of me. He was looking over my shoulder at the dead cat and shook his head. “I hate Cheshires. The damn things are like Texas cockroaches. I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to kill a Texas cockroach, but it’s damn hard.”

“Cheshires?” I asked, glancing back at the creature before sighing. “How’d you get here anyway?”

“Gee, thanks for saving me from the Cheshire Cat a moment ago, Warthor. I’m forever in your debt,” he mimed in an almost uncanny imitation of my voice before clapping me on the shoulder and grinning. There was a flare of cold in the air, like a thin thread of frost webbing over the back of my brain. Silver-blue light wrapped itself around my wounds, and I watched in amazement as they closed over in seconds.