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

back. “You can’t know that. Surely they have some heart—”

“I am certain they will not,” he interrupted again. “They will not give us a key, Ella.”

She started wringing her hands. “I have not lost hope that there is good in people. There must be some chance that they would pity us. They might help us escape if we but asked.”

“I should have taken my chance when I had it. But I didn’t.”

Jasper rolled onto his back and stared up at the dark ceiling. He didn’t know why he hadn’t left. It hadn’t been Bluebell wanting to stay. He rarely listened to her poor decisions. He had lingered because he wanted to, despite her claims that they needed to stay.

“Why didn’t you take the chance?” Ella asked.

“It was a woman.”

“What?”

“Malachi sent me to retrieve a woman, and I couldn’t just leave her there.”

She moved, the soft sound of fabric his only indicator. Skittering pebbles near his head told her where she was. Closer than before. “What did she look like?”

“Never seen anything like her before. Red hair, tan skin, impossible eyes.”

“Sparkly,” Bluebell added.

He didn’t recall her being particularly shimmery, but his memory was unreliable at best. Hunger always distracted him.

Ella rolled her eyes. “Wow, you are so descriptive. That could be any number of people, when you think about it.”

“Could it?” He wouldn’t really know. He didn’t usually have a habit of staring at random women on the streets. “Why do you want to know so badly anyways?”

“Because I think they brought her back with you.”

“We’ll probably never see her again then.” Guilt churned his stomach to bile and gnawed at his spine.

“You’ll probably see her. She’s only three cells down, across the way.”

He lurched up. “What?”

“What?” Bluebell echoed.

Ella had her arms wrapped around her legs, but she raised one hand to point behind him.

Slowly, he turned his head, and saw bright streaks of red spilled in a cell. She was crumpled on the ground like a dead flower. Unmoving, but unmistakable.

“Thank the gods,” he said quietly. “I didn’t think they’d bring her back with us.”

“Why not?”

“We went through a lot of trouble to get her. I didn’t think Malachi would put something he so obviously values in with the rest of us.”

He stood on shaky legs and made his way to the other side of his cage. She was well out of reach, but he could see her. Hair tumbled over her tanned arms, and a strong hand had relaxed while reaching in his direction.

He felt a strange connection with this woman, though he couldn’t explain it. Perhaps it was because he had dug her out of the ground and held her in his arms. He had been the first person she had seen.

Fairies were notoriously selfish creatures, but Jasper had never walked that path. His desire to protect outweighed his natural tendencies. Most of his life had been spent saving others and putting his own body on the line. This instinct raged when he looked at this woman. He didn’t want her to be afraid. He didn’t want her to be in danger.

He had saved her, but he couldn’t protect her. It was maddening.

He kept his gaze upon the flame colored hair that still sparkled with light even in this dark place. The movement at the corner of his eye didn’t immediately register until he noticed Ella had retreated to the back of her cell.

“I see you have brought back my prize.” The voice drifted towards him as though from a nightmare. Malachi.

“Oh no,” Bluebell murmured, disappearing into the cracks of his mind.

Jasper wanted to close his eyes, but if he did, he wouldn’t be able to watch the woman. So, his gaze flicked towards Malachi who now stood near his cage. “I did. Now are you going to hold up your end of the bargain?”

Malachi smiled. “You don’t seem like you wish to leave. You’re fairly salivating over my newest conquest.”

Jasper had no response. Of the many things he wished to say, few wouldn’t result in pain or death. He felt obligated to stay. He wanted to be here, not only for the redhead but also for Ella. For all of the creatures Malachi had locked up.

If he were offered a chance to leave, Jasper would take it, if only to gather his friends and tear this place to the ground. He would not be satisfied until this building was little more than dust and rubble.

Malachi’s shoes clicked on the stone floor as he meandered towards the woman’s cell. He sank into a graceful crouch, peering at the redhead like a man at a zoo.

“She’s a rather beautiful thing, is she not?”

Jasper gritted his teeth. “Our deal?”

“It’s rare that I get a prize such as this in my personal collection. There are many here who are passable. The Unicorn at your side is one of my most valuable prizes. But this one…” Malachi paused to smack his lips, “she’s quite the unusual little thing.”

“You said you would release me,” Jasper growled.

Malachi sighed and slowly rose to his feet. He brushed invisible dirt off his perfectly pressed pants. “If there is one thing you should learn about me, Jasper, it is that I lie.”

Red rage roiled through Jasper. Bluebell had been right, and he had known better than to accept a deal from a devil of a man. He had expected to be dragged through the dirt, to face death, but he had still given Malachi the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps he was more like Ella than he thought. He, too, wanted to believe there was good in everyone.

He grasped the iron bars, staring through smoke rising from his burning palms. “You will regret that.”

“I don’t think I will,” Malachi said while grinning. “In fact, I got what I wanted. You gathered this perfect little treat for me. I lost none of my men because you were pure enough of heart to get close to the World Tree. And should I ever need the power to teleport, I