Free Kill It With Magic: An Urban Fantasy Novel (The Lillim Callina Chronicles Book 1) by J.A. Cipriano

hard on my knees. Pain flashed through my legs, and I bit my lip to keep from crying out.
    The once lavish peaks of the building had been totally consumed by flames, making it resemble an enormous funeral pyre. Thankfully, the rain was starting to beat the blaze down. Every time flames pushed up through the crackling wood, storm clouds seemed to concentrate on it, so that the fire was sent scurrying down into the house. Was it Gib’s doing? He must have seen the blaze from outside and summoned the rain to help with the fire. Elemental magic would likely be his thing after all. Or it could be coincidence.
    Gib circled the demon like the predator he was. His wolfish features glinted in the firelight, making him seem more like a bronze god and less like a creature of flesh and blood. He darted forward, raking the demon’s flesh and tearing away gobs of a sickly yellowish substance. Even as I watched, I knew it couldn’t last forever. Each attack was melting Gib’s flesh nearly to the bone, and he wasn’t allowing his body time to heal. If he kept it up, even he wouldn’t be able to heal the injuries.
    The rain was coming down so hard that it was like standing in a monsoon. The trees to my left were swaying so violently that they nearly bent in half. The Owl’s gardener was not going to be happy when this was all said and done. My hair was plastered to my face, and I was soaked with muddy water. I wiped my hair from my eyes and crawled to my feet. I reached my hand out and called my katana to me. The blade flew through the air and into my hand, but even that tiny effort caused stars to shoot from behind my eyes. I wasn’t going to be doing much more magic tonight.
    I froze when I noticed that the demon caught Gib by the throat. Fire licked down Gib’s skin, but the werewolf kept attacking, kept slashing. Deep wounds continued to open on the fire demon as it stood there, allowing its flame to blaze down Gib’s body. The smell of burning flesh and melted hair filled the air and my gag reflex started to kick in.
    Danae screamed from a frost-covered balcony high above. She threw her hands outward and large shards of ice tore through the sky. They sliced into the burning monster, ripping holes that gushed foul yellow ichor where they struck. The demon snarled and dropped Gib. He struggled there, steam curling off him in tendrils.
    The demon’s eyes settled on Danae, and it tried to take a step toward the vampire. The ice held it pinned in place, but I could tell that wouldn’t hold it for much longer. Already the ice was melting away.
    My stomach clenched in horror. Even though this was a vampire who would have gladly ripped out my intestines and played jump rope with them, I still needed information from her.
    I threw my battered hand out toward the creature. “No!” I screamed. There was a ripping sound as power leapt from my fingertips. The magic struck the demon full on and tossed it to the ground. Yellow blood burst from the thing like a geyser. There was so much blood that I could scarcely believe it all came from the creature. Was there truly flesh beneath that exterior?
    White stars danced across my vision as I pulled a bag of salt from one of my overcoat pockets and hobbled toward the creature. If there was one thing that could stop a demon it would be salt. One angry eye focused on the bag of salt in my hand. Already I could see its skin starting to sew itself back together. A ring of flames exploded from the demon and barreled toward me as it struggled to right its broken body. I took a deep breath and charged forward, dumping energy into my injuries to numb them, before I leapt over the flames. When I dropped, I rolled and crashed into the creature.
    It burned me even with magic shielding me. I shoved the bag of salt deep into the creature. The demon’s scream ripped through my thoughts as an explosion threw me backward. I hit the ground with a wet thud, sliding in the mud until I was covered in its soothing