Red Blood (Series of Blood Book 2) by Emma Hamm (best short books to read .TXT) 📕

looking directly into his gaze. There were hidden depths in those eyes that she wanted to pull apart until she knew what every little piece of him meant.

There was heat there. There was blistering heat that made her want to blush and growl at the same time. She didn’t growl; she let the men do that. Yet it was her who wanted to lean into him and see if he tasted as good as she thought.

“Lyra.”

Her name snapped her out of the trance that had her body swaying towards him. She would always battle against the Siren part of her, but she hadn’t fallen under its spell so completely in a while. She blinked a few times as the fog cleared from her mind.

“Yes?”

“Do you want to get that coffee?”

Once more, she blinked. That wasn’t the way she had thought this conversation was going to go. “Coffee?”

“In a cafe.”

“There are cafes here?”

He arched a brow. “And here I was thinking you were familiar with the Black Market.”

She followed him as he turned away from her to make his way down the street. “I thought I was too,” she murmured.

The Black Market hadn’t changed much since she had lived in its shadows. There were still dark corners that always lingered at the corner of her vision. The creatures were still the evil, the dangerous, and the rejected ones that society would not welcome into their arms.

She blinked a few times to try and see what he saw. There were stores certainly, but they were where people could buy dark magic and enchanted objects. This wasn’t a place for shops to pop up and families to take their children. It was the Black Market.

Wolfgang lightly stepped up a few stone stairs and placed his hand against a worn black door.

“And here I was thinking you were familiar with the Black Market,” she repeated his words. “That’s a potion shop.”

“So it is.” His eyes sparkled as he opened the door and slipped into the darkness.

Lyra shook her head. The man was insane, clearly. Although she had to admit, she liked this side of him better. Rather than trying to hide from her or break away from her attention, Wolfgang appeared to be more comfortable.

Maybe it was this place although that didn’t bode well. She always did like the bad ones. Sighing, she stepped into the potion shop with the singular thought on her mind that she was getting in over her head.

Potion shops were never well lit. Shadows clung to every shape that bulged out from the wall. Cauldrons lined one side of the shop, some of them bubbling with bright green liquid. The earthy smell of herbs assaulted her nose until she sneezed.

“Watch the potions,” Wolfgang quietly said.

He must have been waiting for her on the other side of the door. His voice murmuring into her ear was so unexpected that she squeaked and jumped away from him. Her hand palmed the knife at her hip as she spun towards him.

“Don’t do that,” she scolded.

“Why not?” he teased as he moved past her.

“Because the next time I’m going to stick a knife in you.”

“I doubt that.”

He sounded far too certain. Lyra had to tell herself not to swipe at him just to make a point. She was an adult. Doing that would be highly uncalled for. But that didn’t mean she wasn’t going to stare at his back and imagine what it would feel like for her blade to sink between his shoulders.

“Don’t imagine it either.”

“I’m not imagining it,” she retorted.

“You’re a terrible liar.”

“I am not!”

He turned on his heel to stare down at her. Those mismatched eyes were hard to lie to, she’d give him that. He nodded his head towards a curtain. “Go on.”

“Go on where?”

“Behind the curtain.”

She eyed the thick fabric that was covered with a thick layer of dust. She doubted there was anything behind that other than an angry shopkeep. Or maybe that was his plan all along. If she got the Black Market authorities called on her then she wasn’t going to be coming back here anytime soon.

Her hand raised, and she brushed aside the barrier to reveal another large room. Her eyes widened in shock. This room wasn’t what she expected at all. She expected it to look like the other. Dark, dank, slightly dreary.

This room felt more cheery than the front of the potion store. There were still cauldrons burping in the corner, but these released bright bubbles that floated through the air and burst in a rush of citrus scent.

“What in the world?” she murmured as she took in the small circular tables with a myriad of patrons settled around them.

Women with horns on their heads were gathered around a table with cards in their hands. A snake skinned man sat in the corner with what could only be a Gnome. It even appeared that a Wisp was sitting by himself with a dim light glowing from underneath his skin.

It was…warm. Everything felt warm and comfortable even though the wallpaper was peeling and they were in a potion shop in the middle of the Black Market. Never in her life had Lyra thought she would see the day when she felt safe in this place.

Wolfgang walked past her to seat himself at a table. She was still standing in front of the curtain with her mouth gaping open as he beckoned her. Sit down? Here?

There was nothing else for her to do. She gingerly walked between the tables and wondered if any of the people were going to reach out and grab her. They did not. The men’s eyes lingered upon her a little longer than was necessary and the women cast cold glances in her direction, but these were normal reactions to Sirens.

Had she jumped into another dimension?

“No,” Wolfgang replied.

“Did I say that outloud?”

“You frequently speak your thoughts, but I don’t think you realize that you do.”

She blushed a deep scarlet. She wouldn’t be surprised if she was a running commentary on