Free Pursuit: An Urban Fantasy Novel (The Lillim Callina Chronicles Book 4) by J.A. Cipriano Page A

destroyed the entirety of the Dioscuri. I knew that, so why was I so surprised? Wait a second…
    “Why do you all keep calling Mitsoumi, King? I know he’s the heir and all, but when did he become King?” I asked.
    “It happened while you were in Fairy. His father died, hence Mitsoumi who was the heir, is the King,” Joshua said, looking at me like I didn’t know how succession worked.
    “I know how succession works. I hadn’t realized the king died… but he wasn’t that old, how could he just die?” I asked.
    “Age doesn’t matter when you’re stabbed through the chest by a spear,” Joshua said with a shrug. “We had a break in about a month back. The King was killed. Mitsoumi took over. That’s part of the reason Masataka can get away with whatever he wants. Like I said before, everyone knows Mitsoumi won’t overstep him, so everything he does is basically with the King’s authority.”
    “Still, it seems unreal that Masataka can put a chokehold on the entire Dioscuri. I mean it’s my mom we are talking about. No one tells Diana Cortez what to do,” I said, pulling myself free of Joshua’s grip and fixing him with my best glare.
    “Lillim…” he sighed and shook his head. “I don’t know how to make you understand.”
    “Make me understand what, Joshua?” I asked.
    “Everything that’s happened since you and Kishi went into Fairy. I know it’s only been a few days for you, but it was a couple months for us. Things have changed…” He looked up at me with such sadness that it actually made me take a step backward. His eyes opened wide for a split second before his face went completely unreadable.
    “What?” I asked, taking a step back toward him. “What did you think of?”
    “I think I know what I have to do,” he said.
    “Oh and what’s that?” I asked, but I had a sneaking suspicion what he was going to say.
    “Show you what’s happened,” he replied. Before I could move, he reached out and grabbed my face with both of his hands. Power exploded around us, tinging the air with the smell of fresh cut oranges as the scenery melted together in a swirl of colors.
    I staggered back, collapsing to my knees as the entire world spun around me. “What are you doing, Joshua?” I cried, trying desperately to find some part of the world to hang onto.
    “Showing you everything that has happened,” he said, his words fading like the last grin of a Cheshire cat.
    I was suddenly standing in the middle of the Dioscuri council building as Reath Al Akeer addressed the entire council. He was leaning across the oak pulpit in the center of the room, resting one huge arm on its surface. His massive bulk dwarfed my mother, Diana Cortez.
    She sat next to him in a small wooden chair because it wasn’t her turn to speak. Reath was caught in mid-gesture, frozen in time with one hand pointed accusingly at my mother. His face was curled into a snarl that my mother seemed to be ignoring, her face an unreadable mask of smug contempt.
    I glanced around, looking for Joshua, but couldn’t find him. I knew he was a master of illusions, hell, I’d been trapped in a pretty devastating illusion when he stole my magic gun from me last year, but he had never used his power to show me one of his memories before. Of course, the whole thing could have been made up, but as I looked around, I sort of doubted it.
    All throughout the room, various councilors sat in the pews that lined the huge hall, but I couldn’t really make out any of their faces because the light coming from the candelabras was too dim. It must have been nighttime, otherwise sunlight would have flooded the room from the skylights overhead.
    Off to my left, Masataka was sitting next to his brother Mitsoumi in the Royal box. It wasn’t super ornate or anything. It was an ordinary bench that was reserved for the King or his representative. Mitsoumi had a look on his face that was a cross between annoyance and exasperation as he leaned his head on