Fatal Ties: An Urban Fantasy Novel (The Lillim Callina Chronicles Book 7) by J.A. Cipriano Read Free Book Online Page B

just covered the deck in darkness. No, he’d sealed us in a bubble of void.
    Before that thought could take hold, I stopped the surge of fear that welled up in me and turned my attention toward the wakazashi rocketing toward me. Arcs of scarlet fire rippled from its hilt like the tail of a comet as the wakazashi hit my outstretched left hand with a familiar thrum.
    A surge of chaotic energy burst through me, filling me with the strength of the ancient warrior god who had defended Ra against the coming darkness. Set might be many things, but first and foremost, he was a warrior, and warriors fought. Forever and always.
    Grabbing the weapon made a surge of confidence run roughshod through my veins. Now that the band was back together, this guy wouldn’t be more than a footnote. I was Lillim Callina, dammit. And now I had two magical swords inhabited by Egyptian deities. Hrym could suck it.
    The frost giant’s mouth twisted into a grimace that made me think he’d sucked on a whole bushel of lemons, which was a little strange. I mean, why would he do that?
    “Egyptian scum.” He shook his head disdainfully. “The Egyptians are not warriors.” He took a step forward, spreading hoarfrost in his wake. “The Norse are warriors.”
    “What a jackass,” Set said, his serpentine voice reverberating in my skull as red lightning arced across the length of my wakazashi and thunder boomed in the distance.
    “Fee, fi, fo, fum,” I said as I looked the giant up and down. A smirk crossed my lips. He’d just made a big mistake, only he didn’t know it yet. That was fine.
    “You dare mock me?” he growled as I pointed my wakazashi at him and unleashed a bolt of scarlet lightning. It arced from the tip of my blade and slammed into his frosty chest. Now, to be fair, ice is a relatively poor conductor because water isn’t especially conductive when it’s frozen. It’s the impurities dissolved in the water that makes it conduct electricity, and most of them go away when water turns to ice. That said, metal does not have that problem.
    My blast of lightning instantly melted the frost clinging to his body, and as it did, crimson electricity leapt across the chains wrapped around the giant’s body because it turns out that wearing chain was a pretty poor choice of apparel when it came to fighting girls who controlled lightning. Just saying.
    Hrym staggered back, his muscles seizing as I pulled enough strength from Set to practically warp the blade. My wakazashi blazed like a molten torch in my hand as I leapt into the air once more. I came down with both feet on the giant’s chest, using all my momentum to drive my swords straight through his throat.
    Blood splattered across my face as Hrym reached up, trying to grab me while tottering backward. Before he could wrap his giant mitts around me and toss me across the deck, I tore my twin blades free in a sideways slash that revealed his insides to the frosty air. A blast of bloody steam hit me in the face as I kicked off the giant, throwing myself backward just before his hands swiped through the frosty air.
    Hrym’s convulsing body collapsed into a slowly spreading pool of crimson as I landed lightly on the deck of Naglfar. I had half a second to congratulate myself on a job well done before the entire ship erupted into ice-blue flames that danced across the deck, spreading outward from the frost giant’s body like I’d just set off the world’s worst failsafe.
    “Connor?” I asked, turning toward him as the bubble of darkness surrounding us exploded. His power hit me like a shotgun blast, perforating my soul with darkness before crawling across my flesh and worming inside me. I screamed, flailing wildly as Connor reached out toward me, black fire blazing in his eyes.
    “Lillim!” he cried, and as his fingers touched mine, the ship listed violently sideways, sending me tumbling over the side and down into the depths below.

7
    A s the ocean’s cold embrace pulled me beneath