Pursuit: An Urban Fantasy Novel (The Lillim Callina Chronicles Book 4) Read Online Free Page A

chest and shoulder.
    “Nice artwork,” I said a second before he grabbed me by the wrist and began hauling me into the forest.
    “I want you to think about what you just told me. You just said a bunch of Dioscuri are on their way here right now. What do you think they will do when they get here and you are not here? Do you think they will take our word for it and leave peaceably? Or is it more likely they start hurting people until we admit we helped you?” Gib growled. His voice much deeper and bestial then it had been just a moment ago.
    I swallowed and was about to reply when Gib started talking again.
    “I know you’re going to say something ridiculous like ‘I didn’t think about that’ and that’s the problem. You never think. You just go about on your way, and the rest of us get screwed.” His voice had dropped a few more octaves, and when he glanced at me his eyes had taken on that wolfish yellow color he had when he transformed. Great.
    “Um… sorry, I… um… I didn’t…” I murmured, wiping my eyes with the back of my hand as I stared at the ground. He was right of course. I hadn’t thought about what would happen once the Dioscuri found out I’d been here. And, to be fair, normally the Dioscuri would just leave after questioning the wolves. But Masataka? He was clearly a few eggs short of a cake and… well it wouldn’t surprise me to see him raze the whole village. Dammit.
    That said nothing of what he would do to my mother. Now that Masataka had her, he could be torturing her and there wasn’t anything I could do to stop it because I was running away and endangering even more people. I swallowed, trying to push the thought away and failing. My mother had made her choice to stay behind, but these people hadn’t… they were going to be collateral damage for me. They hadn’t asked for that.
    “I’m an idiot,” I added a moment later, and it was a struggle to keep my voice from cracking. “I’m sorry, I’ll go.”
    “At least you’re sorry,” Gib growled and bent down next to me so that his mouth was close to my ear. His breath was warm on my skin as he spoke. “I am going to cut you now. I’m going to spill your blood on the ground. This will serve two purposes. It will allow you to be untraceable until the blood dries, which should give you something like an hour at this temperature.”
    “And the other thing?” I asked.
    “It will look like we fought,” he said as his right hand morphed into a fist full of claws and doom. “Ready?”
    I nodded and steeled myself. His hand transformed, fingers elongating as brown fur flowed over it. Black claws burst from the tips so quickly that I couldn’t exactly put my finger on the where and when of it. One moment his hand was normal and the other it was something out of a nightmare.
    Without a word, he slashed me, his nails cutting through the flesh on my right forearm. Four gashes welled with blood. It stung like hell, and I had to reach down and spend some tough girl points to keep from yelping, even though I could tell it was mostly a superficial wound.
    Gib reached out and grabbed my bloody arm in his hand and began to rub my blood all over the nearest trees. The trees blazed, glowing bright green for a moment and I turned my face away. White spots danced across my eyes as he dragged me forward and sprinkled more of my blood over the grass. Then he took his index finger and scratched a thing that sort of looked like a stick-figure cat on the back of my hand.
    He blew on it, and it blazed with green fire. The creature looked up at me from my flesh and yawned, its mouth opening to reveal several crude teeth. Okay, that was a little weird.
    “When the marmot dies, the spell has run out of time. Good luck Lillim Callina. Don’t come back.” He released me and began walking away, his long braid swishing behind his ankles as he moved.
    “Where am I supposed to go, Gib?” I asked, staring after him as he disappeared toward his