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

His features were nearly hidden beneath a huge brown cloak that reminded me of a monk’s robes. Tufts of blond hair streaked with pink and orange poked from beneath his hood, but since his head was tilted toward the ground I couldn’t really make out his facial features. Not that it mattered because it was unlikely I’d know who Random Person A was anyway.
    “So why are you here?” I asked, glancing from him to Warthor’s still sealed castle doors. “Warthor isn’t home right now. He’s in Fairy.”
    “Ahh,” the man said and seemed to shift back on his haunches as if contemplating something. “I didn’t come to find Warthor, though.”
    “Seems like a strange place to be if you’re not trying to find Warthor.” I narrowed my eyes as I took a step back from him. Something about him was giving me the heebie jeebies, and this cold wasn’t helping. If I didn’t get inside soon, well, I was going to start losing body parts.
    “I could say the same thing to you,” he offered with a shrug.
    “But we aren’t talking about me,” I replied with a sigh and crossed my arms over my chest.
    “This is where you ask me how you can help me,” he said, and I caught the glint of teeth from beneath his hood. “And yes, you can help me, Miss Callina.”
    “How in the hell do you know my name, Random Person A!” I squawked, wishing I had my swords within reach. You’d think I’d have learned by now.
    “You know they say that Shirajirashii is the sword that came back from death to strike down its enemies,” Random Person A said as he pointed to my waist. “And you don’t even have it out. Why don’t you go get it? I’ll wait.” The man shrugged and flopped down Indian-style in the snow.
    I blinked at him for a moment before shrugging. “Okay…” I said as I gathered my power around me. Heat washed over me, just enough to sweep away the worst of the chill as I concentrated. Magic swelled all around me, so heavy in the magical realms of the Nether that I could nearly taste it.
    I thrust my hand into the air itself, grabbing hold of it and warping the reality around my hand. It shifted in my grip, struggling to escape as I said the magic words. “Spirit pouch, where the air splits, I cause you to tear and keep an item in your care.”
    “Nice rhyme,” the man said as the air in front of me tore itself asunder to reveal a glowing purple pustule of space. “Did you get that from one of those books your kind uses to teach children to read?”
    “Not sure actually,” I said as I shoved my hands inside and fished around for the twin blades of Shirajirashii. I always hated reaching into the Spirit Pouch because depending on what part of the Nether it was residing in at the time, it always felt a little different. This time was no exception, and it felt like reaching into a slimy volcano. Which, honestly, was a welcome reprieve from the glacial cold.
    I pursed my lips as my fingers closed around the weapons. I yanked Shirajirashii free with a plop. Without a backward glance at Random Person A, I belted the sheathes to my waist and pulled the twin blades free.
    They were glowing. Faint white light glimmered across the surface of their blades. It was like they were close to a huge power source and couldn’t help but absorb some of the energy. I swallowed as I pointed the weapons at Random Person A. The light throbbed and pulsed.
    “They know you,” I said, mouth agape. “How do they know you?”
    With a loud sigh, the man swept the hood back to reveal a horribly scarred face. Even though his hair fell down to cover most of it, a huge burn was still clearly visible. It looked like something had scorched away the flesh of his face and left it to heal without treatment.
    A massive scar covered his throat, spider-webbing outward in such a way that it looked like he must have been stabbed. But who could survive being stabbed in the throat?
    “Perhaps you have forgotten the battle we postponed so very long ago,”