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

her life. There were a certain amount of words she simply had to say by the end of the day. Otherwise, Lyra was certain she would pop.

Wolfgang leaned back in his chair with an arm looped over the back. His crisp white shirt stretched across the wide breadth of his chest. Lyra was struck once more with how incredibly handsome this man was. He seemed to know it as well.

A sparkle in his eye suggested mirth as she looked him up and down. He knew what she was doing, and Lyra couldn’t care less. It was unusual for her to meet a man she was this attracted to. Most seemed to blend into the hundreds of other men she had met. Oh she loved a good bit of manflesh, but she so rarely considered one to stand out.

He stood out in the strangest way. The tingling sensation under her skin suggested she was attracted, but there was a dull quality to everything about him. She wondered if there was more… The waving lines that had been shaved into the sides of his head were a pattern that sparked a memory. She should know those lines, but couldn’t remember what they meant.

Her eyes flicked towards his fingers as he started drumming them against the table. Long, fine fingers, she wondered if they had ever seen callouses in their life.

“No,” he replied.

“Again?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“Well it’s a valid question. You have an artist’s hand.”

“I believe that is a compliment.”

“To some.”

He nodded towards her hands which were pressed flat against the worn table. “And yours?”

Lyra lifted them palm out towards him. She knew very well that there were telltale callouses on her palms. Along the base of each finger and the inner corner of her index finger.

“A warrior then,” he murmured.

“Only with knives.”

He leaned forward to place his elbows on the table, so he could be closer to her. She stared into his mismatched eyes and wondered what could have made him so serious all of a sudden. She was having fun.

“Why are you here?” Wolfgang asked her.

“Well.” She leaned away from him. “That’s because one night my parents looked at each other and thought they might like having a child. Spoiler alert, they didn’t-”

“Lyra.”

She hated being interrupted. “What?”

“Why are you in the Black Market?”

“I’m looking for the Graverobber.”

“Why?”

“Because I was told to,” she retorted.

“By whom?”

“You have very good grammar.”

“By whom.”

Now it was her turn to lean into him. She leaned so close that she could only stare at one of his eyes lest she go cross eyed. “I don’t believe that’s any concern of yours.”

“If it pertains to the Graverobber, it is. I need to know who you’re working for.”

“So you work for him?”

“Perhaps.”

“That’s not an answer.”

They stared into each other’s eyes. Neither wanted to back down and admit that there was a secret they weren’t telling each other. But Lyra could see that he wasn’t telling her something. It was bubbling underneath his skin and bursting in his eyes.

“Wolfgang. Do you work for the Graverobber?” She reached out a gentle fingertip to his chin. “I would very much like to see him.”

“You can’t.” He pulled away from her just before she made contact with his skin. She wondered if it would be smooth or scratchy with a light dusting of scruff.

Sighing, she flung herself back in her seat and crossed her arms over her chest. “You’re making this unnecessarily difficult. You know that, right?”

“I just work for him. What makes you think I can tell him what to do? He sees no one.”

“No one? At all? I find that hard to believe.”

“You haven’t heard the legends of him then.”

“I try not to believe in legends.” She winked. “They’re usually far less accurate than people give them credit for.”

“The Graverobber takes his magic from the world around him. That’s the rumor. That all he is capable of doing is ripped from people around him. He is said to be beast-like, scarred and tattooed until he no longer even looks human.”

She snorted. “Right. None of us are human, and we all know that’s ridiculous.”

Wolfgang said nothing. Instead, he arched a brow at her.

“Wait…” she murmured. “Are you?”

“Human? Yes.”

“A Red Blood in the middle of the Black Market.” The thought was nearly enough to set her head spinning. Did he understand the danger he was in? There were people here that would want to tear his head from his shoulders simply because he was weak.

“Don’t make the mistake of thinking I cannot take care of myself.” He glared at her.

“I could kill you.” Lyra had always been blunt in her words. “I could kill you easier than I could kill myself.”

“I’d like to see you try.”

She shook her head. “Of course, that’s why you’re here. You have a death wish. I haven’t read you correctly at all since I’ve met you.”

“I’m capable of more than you’re giving me credit for.”

Again, she snorted. “Right. So my name is Lyra. I’m a Siren. Which means that I have a few tricks up my sleeve that no one can ever seem to figure out. I work for the Five. Godly creatures who want to put an end to a rising power that wants to wipe everyone from existence. Including you. That’s who I am, Red Blood. Now show me your card.”

He followed her words with rapt attention. She appeared to have shocked him by being so honest. He shouldn’t have been so surprised. Lyra thought he would have known by now that she liked making people feel that way.

She likely shouldn’t have spoken so loudly. The horned women behind her had stopped talking entirely as soon as she mentioned the Five. They were listening and were obviously going to cause a problem in only a few moments.

“My name is Wolfgang. I’m am the right hand man and mouth of the Graverobber. And I need to know what you know.”

“I’m almost hurt that you weren’t here for me. I was hoping you’d ring.” Lyra couldn’t help but jab at