Read Wardbreaker: An Urban Fantasy Novel (The Lillim Callina Chronicles) for Free Online

Agony exploded through my ribs.
    “You really shouldn’t do that to her,” Luc said from within the car.
    “Or what? What will you do, Luc? Use the Vulcan death grip on me?”
    Rage filled me as the suit pinning me to the ground started laughing like his friend had made some kind of really funny joke. I wasn’t sure what was so funny. I wouldn’t want any kind of death grip used on me. Still, as the guy stepped off me, I was sort of happy they’d turned most of their attention back to the hunter. Evidently, they didn’t expect me to do much, which was fine by me. You know, since I was planning on killing them.
    “Anyway, I think we can make a deal. Ralph wasn’t especially well liked or anything, so I’m willing to let you off easy. Let’s say, $20,000?” Dimitri said, and I heard Luc’s door start to open.
    “Dollars?” Luc gasped, the shock in his voice clear.
    “No bicycles. Of course dollars.” Dimitri shrugged. “That’s the weekly buy in for my poker games.”
    “I don’t have that kind of money,” Luc said as I started to get to my feet. No one seemed to notice me.
    Dimitri shoved Luc against the wall of the van. “That’s right. I forget how poor you humans are. Good for only one thing.” Dimitri leaned in and licked Luc’s neck. “Blood money it is.”
    A shudder ran through me at the prospect of fighting them all by myself. Six vampires seemed like a lot, even if they didn’t seem very old. For there to be this many newbies around, there had to be a nest nearby, but how could that be? The only masters still alive were old enough to know they should play by the rules. But what if Luc was right? What if there was a breakdown between the information I got back home and what was really happening? If that was true… No, I didn’t want to think about that. If I did, I was going to feel responsible, and I wasn’t. I just wasn’t.
    “Who is your master?” I asked, brushing myself off and turning toward the vamp who had pinned me, but even through his sunglasses I could tell he wasn’t quite sure what I was asking him.
    “What are you talking about?” Dimitri asked, stopping short of Luc and looking over at me with confusion evident on his features.
    “Who is the vampire who created you?” I smiled as best I could as I held up one hand. “You’re clearly just a baby, so I’m guessing you didn’t make all these guys yourself.” I gestured to his compadres. “Unless you have a thing for guys who look just like you.” I smirked. “That’s cool if you do, I don’t judge.”
    “What’s she babbling about?” the vampire closest to me asked as he leaned down and smelled me, actually smelled me. Even though lots of supernatural creatures did that, it was always a little unnerving. “She doesn’t smell like food either.”
    Dimitri took a step away from Luc and rounded the car in an instant. He was pretty fast for a young vampire, much faster than Ralph had been, and by the look of it, I was guessing he was two, maybe three years old… about how long it’d been since the Dioscuri civil war.
    The vampire grabbed me by the collar, his hand twisting my sweatshirt in his fist as he pulled off his sunglasses and gazed into my eyes. As a rule, you weren’t supposed to meet the eyes of a vampire, especially an older one because it could lead to some crazy mind games. Thankfully, this guy was just a baby by vampire standards.
    The force of his stare slammed into me, and I smiled back at him as sweetly as I could. “Oh, that sort of tingles. You’re pretty strong…” I shook my head. “For a baby. The one’s we use during our training to withstand a vampire’s gaze are at least ten times your age.”
    “What are you?” he asked, letting me go and taking a step backward, horror etched across his features. “When I looked in your eyes… it felt wrong…” I tried not to take his words personally. I’d heard it from vampires before, and like always, it shook me. I wasn’t