Kill It With Magic: An Urban Fantasy Novel (The Lillim Callina Chronicles Book 1) by J.A. Cipriano Page B
Authors: J.A. Cipriano
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be plain with you, my dear sweet Lillim.” Her voice was hard as granite, cold as a glacial iceberg, and angry as the western winds. “You are a piece of self-loathing work. If my stomach was any weaker, it would empty its contents in revulsion.”
I glared at her, anger billowing up inside me, so blistering that it should have frightened me. I tried to stand, tried to push myself from the mud so I could throttle her. The more I struggled, the more the mud pulled me backward.
“How can you say those things to me? After all I’ve gone through… how?” I’m not proud of it, but my voice cracked part way through, and I started to cry. Tears ran down my cheeks, so hot that they seemed to sear my flesh. I wiped at them frantically, desperately trying to hide my shame, but I succeeded only in smearing mud across my face.
My mother leaned closer to me, a smug smile on her blood-red lips. Slowly, she extended her left hand and touched my cheek. Her fingers trailed down to my neck and rested on my shoulder as she took a drag on the cigarette, exhaling the smoke through her nose.
“Do I need a reason to taunt you? Take a look at yourself, my daughter. You are lying in the mud.” For the first time warmth seemed to gather in her cheeks. “I know you are tougher than this, for you are my daughter.”
My face flushed with anger, and I pushed her hand away. “I never hold myself back!” I screamed and struck the mud.
Her face turned stern, her lips a tight line against her almond-colored skin. She tapped the ash off her cigarette and held it between two knuckles. Then she dropped her cigarette into the mud. The rain put it out before it even touched the ground. My mother squatted down in front of me, her elbows on her knees.
“Even if the whole world was against you, my daughter, that should not make you give up. It should be the reason why you rage against it.” She looked up to the sky and lightning flashed, thunder boomed, and wind howled. My mother waved her hand at the sky, and the clouds melted away, the rain stopped, and the sun broke through.
“What if those that count on me die because I’m too weak? I tried to stop them. I tried to save the baby. What if I keep trying my best and they still win?”
“My dear sweet daughter,” she cooed and pulled me from the mud. “All we can do is our best. Sometimes our best is not enough, and you will feel the sting of defeat. The important part is to keep getting up. It is to keep standing when you fall.”
I gulped and looked her in the eyes. They weren’t as hard as I expected them to be. If I didn’t know better, I’d have said she looked almost proud.
“You have started down a path, and you are welcome to leave it. You are welcome to ask for help, and you are welcome to give up. But if you give up now, if you walk away and leave this trouble in someone else’s hands, then you will have made a poor choice.”
She put a hand on my shoulder and smiled. “Besides, you have all the help you need. All you need to do is open your eyes to it. That’s all you must do, my Lillim. Just open your eyes.”
Chapter 14
“Lillim, just open your eyes.”
Mattoc stood over me with a relieved look on his face. Had that whole thing been a dream? I blushed, somewhat embarrassed. I had argued with my mother in a dream… sane people totally did that.
I had the worst headache ever. I wasn’t sure how, but someone had stuck my brain in a blender, and then bashed the blended bits with a comically oversized mallet. I groaned and tried to rub my head. I couldn’t move.
A tremor went through me as I struggled. My limbs would not respond. A numbing chill swept over me. The great weapon Frost was embedded into the ground beside me. Of all the elements, ice was the one I had never quite mastered. If you wanted me to burn something, no problem… but I had never really gotten the hang of ice… and now? Now I was encased in a solid block of ice.
This was really kind of
I glared at her, anger billowing up inside me, so blistering that it should have frightened me. I tried to stand, tried to push myself from the mud so I could throttle her. The more I struggled, the more the mud pulled me backward.
“How can you say those things to me? After all I’ve gone through… how?” I’m not proud of it, but my voice cracked part way through, and I started to cry. Tears ran down my cheeks, so hot that they seemed to sear my flesh. I wiped at them frantically, desperately trying to hide my shame, but I succeeded only in smearing mud across my face.
My mother leaned closer to me, a smug smile on her blood-red lips. Slowly, she extended her left hand and touched my cheek. Her fingers trailed down to my neck and rested on my shoulder as she took a drag on the cigarette, exhaling the smoke through her nose.
“Do I need a reason to taunt you? Take a look at yourself, my daughter. You are lying in the mud.” For the first time warmth seemed to gather in her cheeks. “I know you are tougher than this, for you are my daughter.”
My face flushed with anger, and I pushed her hand away. “I never hold myself back!” I screamed and struck the mud.
Her face turned stern, her lips a tight line against her almond-colored skin. She tapped the ash off her cigarette and held it between two knuckles. Then she dropped her cigarette into the mud. The rain put it out before it even touched the ground. My mother squatted down in front of me, her elbows on her knees.
“Even if the whole world was against you, my daughter, that should not make you give up. It should be the reason why you rage against it.” She looked up to the sky and lightning flashed, thunder boomed, and wind howled. My mother waved her hand at the sky, and the clouds melted away, the rain stopped, and the sun broke through.
“What if those that count on me die because I’m too weak? I tried to stop them. I tried to save the baby. What if I keep trying my best and they still win?”
“My dear sweet daughter,” she cooed and pulled me from the mud. “All we can do is our best. Sometimes our best is not enough, and you will feel the sting of defeat. The important part is to keep getting up. It is to keep standing when you fall.”
I gulped and looked her in the eyes. They weren’t as hard as I expected them to be. If I didn’t know better, I’d have said she looked almost proud.
“You have started down a path, and you are welcome to leave it. You are welcome to ask for help, and you are welcome to give up. But if you give up now, if you walk away and leave this trouble in someone else’s hands, then you will have made a poor choice.”
She put a hand on my shoulder and smiled. “Besides, you have all the help you need. All you need to do is open your eyes to it. That’s all you must do, my Lillim. Just open your eyes.”
Chapter 14
“Lillim, just open your eyes.”
Mattoc stood over me with a relieved look on his face. Had that whole thing been a dream? I blushed, somewhat embarrassed. I had argued with my mother in a dream… sane people totally did that.
I had the worst headache ever. I wasn’t sure how, but someone had stuck my brain in a blender, and then bashed the blended bits with a comically oversized mallet. I groaned and tried to rub my head. I couldn’t move.
A tremor went through me as I struggled. My limbs would not respond. A numbing chill swept over me. The great weapon Frost was embedded into the ground beside me. Of all the elements, ice was the one I had never quite mastered. If you wanted me to burn something, no problem… but I had never really gotten the hang of ice… and now? Now I was encased in a solid block of ice.
This was really kind of
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