Blue Blood (Series of Blood Book 3) by Emma Hamm (books to read this summer .txt) 📕

state. Jasper had good control over his powers, and he knew his limits.

This time, there hadn’t been a choice. His body rebelled against the strain of teleporting with so many people tagging along. He had grown weak in the dungeon and it felt as though he had been squeezed through a bottle.

He groaned as he rolled over onto his side. This was becoming far too commonplace for his liking. It seemed that more mornings than not, he was aching and semi wounded.

Coughing from nearby suggested at least a few of the others had survived. He had done something right then. Had they been dead, then he was going to teleport right back to Haven. He didn’t care if it was too soon after expending so much energy. He’d lose a limb if it meant returning with an army to save Lyra.

“Damn it.” The Hellhound moaned. “What did you do to us, twinkle toes?”

Jasper bit back an angry retort. Their master had commanded teleportation, but he hadn’t specified comfortable teleportation. They shouldn’t have taken the mission if they couldn’t handle a little distortion discomfort.

He shook his head hard to clear the fuzzy edges of his vision and glanced around. Jasper was pleased to see he had managed to put them quite close to where they needed to be. The mark was on a tree a hundred paces away, and the aged oak beside it still bore the strange scar on its trunk.

Bluebell purred in his head. “Oh,” she whispered, “we’re home.”

He hardly had time to think before she rushed forward from the corners of his mind and seized control of his body. His fingers flexed and pushed themselves into the soft moss of the forest. He inhaled the sweet smell of dirt and fallen leaves.

“Home.”

Bluebell’s voice was heart-wrenching. She was nearly sobbing in pleasure as his hands dug into the ancient forest floor. His wings rattled and shuddered stretching wide to cast multicolored shadows upon the ground as light filtered through them.

“I missed it so much,” she whispered. “I didn’t think I would ever see it again.”

Jasper gritted his teeth and struggled to wrest control back from her. “This isn’t home, Bluebell. We’re still in the same dimension.”

“This is just as good. Don’t you feel it, Jasper? The ancients call to us.”

Of course he felt it. He felt every whispered sound of falling leaves. He heard the soft sway of the trees in the gentle wind that brushed through their branches. His palms tingled with moisture from the fertile ground.

Fairies were meant to be in the forest. They were meant to glide through tumbling leaves and dance upon spring flowers. Jasper had always felt that impulsive desire to run into the wild and become one with the forest.

The trees spoke to him. They whispered of old times when they were young and this land was free of mankind. He sensed their roots stretching and burrowing ever deeper into the welcoming arms of Mother Nature.

He longed to remain here just as much as Bluebell. But he had a job to do. The promise to protect Lyra burned his mind like a brand.

“Bluebell, we can’t.”

“Please. Please just a few more minutes to feel home again.”

He wished he could give in to her. Instead, Jasper pushed her aside as gently as he could. He wrapped her soul in soft comforting memories of blooming flowers and gentle raindrops.

She settled. It would only last a short while, but Jasper wanted her to be happy for a few more moments.

The Dragon was standing. Jasper could see his booted feet a few inches from his hands. He did not want to anger these people any more than he needed to. So he clenched his fists around the moss once more, holding it as he rose.

“Are you finally done with your ridiculous homecoming?” the Dragon asked.

“Yes.”

“Good.” The man inclined his head towards the scorched tree. “Then lead the way.”

Jasper arched his brow. “Lead what way? I expected you would know where we are going.”

The Dragon jabbed a finger in the direction of the tree.

Jasper knew arguing would get him nowhere with this bunch. Even a snarky response would get him in more trouble than he was willing to deal with.

He was gritting his teeth so often they were going to be little nubs by the time he got home. His shoulders ached, tense with worry as he counted the many reasons he needed to stay focused.

Lyra. Family. Friends. His motives felt hollow.

“That’s because you’re being lied to,” Bluebell muttered angrily.

He started towards the tree and brushed aside a low hanging branch. “I don’t doubt you.”

“Why don’t you listen to me more often? I’m not a child.”

“No, you’re a thousand year old Fairy who wouldn’t know responsibility if it bit you in the ass.”

She huffed. “I wouldn’t be caught leading the blind in the middle of the forest to find a creature with no name, no face, and no past. All at the whims of a madman!”

Jasper grunted when a tree branch whipped back and struck him across the chest. “You’ve done this before, don’t try and deny it.”

“When I do it, it’s for fun.”

“What? This isn’t fun for you?”

“No! This is a foolish task that will have a bad ending.”

He chuckled. It wasn’t particularly fun to be travelling blind towards what was potentially a trap, but he hadn’t felt this alive in a very long time.

Jasper supposed he could chalk that up to being in the wilderness again. He had lost count of the years he had been away from nature. And oh what magnificent nature it was.

The trees, fed by magic, had grown as tall as skyscrapers, round as redwoods, and strong as Giants. Large bugs chirped around their roots, glowing with unnatural light.

Any other person might have been afraid in this place. The landscape had altered when the dimensions collided. But this was where Jasper was meant to be. He had missed the forest of his childhood, and this all seemed very familiar.

He stooped low to duck