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

his good hand. He was wearing the purple and red cloak that befitted his station over a standard Dioscuri fighting suit, but had no other jewelry on.
    Masataka looked like he was wearing the standard black fighting suit too, only I could just make out the shape of his Vajra, frozen in mid-writhe. Most people who had attuned to a Vajra, and were authorized to use one, didn’t really wear clothes. Instead, their Vajra covered the entirety of their body like a living, breathing uniform. I’d been told that some Vajras could even mimic normal clothes, though I’d never seen that particular trick in action.
    “That’s why we need to send a force into Fairy! We need to rescue my daughter and bring her kidnapper to justice!” Reath snarled and his voice was so loud in the silence of the room that it made me jump. I swung my body around, glaring at him as he gesticulated at my mother. White hot rage filled me, so blindingly intense that my vision went a little hazy as I took a step toward him, hands curled into fists.
    “I didn’t kidnapped Kishi! She came of her own free will! In fact, it was her idea!” I snarled at Reath, but he didn’t react to me at all, which all in all, wasn’t all that surprising because I was just watching a scene from the past.
    “My daughter did not kidnap your daughter,” Diana Cortez said, her voice an ocean of calm serenity. “All accounts state that they left together.”
    “Lies!” Reath bellowed, pointing his finger at my mother’s face from only a couple inches away. “My daughter would never leave the city. She knows better. Your daughter must have done something to her!”
    “Reath! Calm yourself and act like an adult,” my father called, rising from a bench at the back of the room and striding forward between the pews. I hadn’t even known he was there but now that I saw him, my jaw dropped. He was dressed in his formal judge’s robes, and they were so bright that I had to shield my eyes from the sight of them. They were sewn from solid silver thread and flashed in the light like an effervescent fish as he moved.
    “I will not calm myself. Your spawn has absconded with my daughter,” Reath cried, whirling to face Mitsoumi. “How can I expect Lillim Callina to be found when the person in charge of her investigation is her mother? How can I expect her to be appropriately punished for her actions if her father is the one judging her?”
    Mitsoumi quirked one eyebrow at Reath, but before he could say anything, Masataka put his hand on his brother’s shoulder.
    “I have a suggestion, brother,” Masataka said with a shrug.
    “What is it, Masataka?” Mitsoumi asked, glancing from Reath to his brother.
    “I can go retrieve Lillim Callina—”
    “Out of the question!” Mitsoumi said, cutting his brother off in mid-sentence. “You will not be the one to pursue her.”
    “And why not?” asked Reath, taking a step toward the brothers, hands clenched into fists at his sides. “If we were trying to find anyone else, we would send Masataka. Is it because Lillim Callina is their daughter?” he asked, whirling to point at my parents. They both stood there looking at him like he was a very annoying rodent.
    “No, it is not.” Mitsoumi rose to his feet and strode across the floor. His silver-green hair fell over his eyes as he moved, which was a little odd because he normally kept it cut short. It wasn’t exactly long either, more scruffy, as if he just hadn’t found the time to get it cut in the last couple months. “It is because I, your King, has declared it so.” Mitsoumi was nearly to Reath now.
    “That isn’t a reason,” Reath mumbled to himself as Mitsoumi stepped up in front of him, glaring at the huge man. It was strange because even though Mitsoumi was a foot shorter and not nearly as bulky, he somehow dwarfed the bigger man.
    “It is a reason, Reath Al Akeer,” Mitsoumi said as he turned and addressed the audience. “In case you have all forgotten, Lillim