Wardbreaker: An Urban Fantasy Novel (The Lillim Callina Chronicles) by J.A. Cipriano Read Free Book Online

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