Silver Blood (Series of Blood Book 1) by Emma Hamm (bill gates book recommendations .TXT) 📕

“Yes.”

“And they know about me.”

“Yes.”

“What do they know about me?”

He frowned down at her. “I do not know. Enough to make you interesting.”

“What does Malachi do with people he finds interesting?”

“Keeps them.”

His answer sent a shudder down her spine. Of course that was the only answer that could be provided. Wren didn’t know who this Malachi was or why he was interested in her of all people. But she would not be “kept” by anyone. It simply wasn’t in the fiber of her being to allow such a thing.

She clenched her fingers on his biceps and stopped them from moving once more. The long velvet of her dress split along the length of her leg. Smooth, pale flesh drew Burke’s gaze downwards, and he smirked when he saw the shitkickers on her feet.

“So what do we do?” she asked him.

“Run.”

“How? Through the crowds of people until someone manages to catch up with us?”

“You underestimate me.” He winked at her. “We’re going to have to create a diversion.”

“We can’t create a diversion. We’re the ones that they’re looking for.”

She watched Burke raise a hand to his mouth and breathe into his palm. He didn’t say any words that she could see. He simply let a hot breath warm the skin of his palm. She hadn’t noticed the cut on his hand until it opened. A small blue bead fell from his body and dropped onto the floor. It rolled a few steps before it was shattered underneath the heel of a woman with a long elephant trunk replacing her nose.

Nothing happened for a few moments. Wren stared at him with an arched brow before the lights cut out in the warehouse. Everyone stopped moving instantly. Even the music was silenced as darkness swallowed everyone whole.

A red light blinked on and stuttered for a few moments before light burst inside the room. Wren was blinded for a few moments before she was nearly deafened as a massive boom echoed around her. This time she looked up and was startled to see black clouds swirling at the peak of the ceiling.

A fat drop of water hit her cheek. Brushing her fingers over it, she glanced up at Burke once more.

“What did you do?” she asked.

“A little weather spell,” Burke replied as he started to drag her through the crowd.

The clouds opened up and poured water down upon them. Wren had never seen rain such as this. Nor had she felt such discomfort as everyone around them began pushing and shoving to get out of the warehouse.

Women were shouting that their dresses were going to be ruined. Men were desperately attempting to placate the tears that were streaming down their partner’s faces. But in the end, they all looked like a sodden mess within seconds.

It would have been a hilarious situation if Wren hadn’t been watching for the people who were looking for her. Every face that was hidden by melting makeup made her worried she was missing a detail. Burke hadn’t told her everyone to watch out for.

His hand tightened around hers every time someone tried to shove between them. He was her only tie in this ocean of people that made certain she didn’t drown. Wren hated that and loved it at the same moment. She could swim on her own without him. Yet he hadn’t given her a choice in the matter.

Her fingers curled tighter around his.

A man was staring at her. He wasn’t moving through the crowd but standing directly in the middle. People parted like waves around him and he the only rock in the river. She did not know who he was. Nor did she know his purpose or that he was even looking for her.

His eyes met hers, and her soul froze. He had unnatural eyes. Not black. Not blue. Not white like her Curiosity eyes. Darkness swallowed the whites and a ring of red seemed to glow where his irises should be.

“Burke,” she whispered.

He didn’t hear her. He continued to drag her towards the man as though he didn’t see him. Perhaps he truly didn’t see the man, as Wren could see a fine glimmer of smoke around his form.

“Burke!”

His head turned towards her, and that was enough. She tugged hard at her hand until he almost lost his grip on her.

“What?” The words were angrily tossed back at her.

“It’s him.”

She didn’t know why she was so certain of it. Any man could be standing there. Any Curiosity like her who probably wouldn’t appreciate the evil notion she had place upon its shoulders. But Wren knew deep in her soul that this wasn’t just any man.

This was Malachi. This was the man they were all so afraid of.

Burke stopped. Wren slammed into his back as she was jostled forward by the crowd, but he did not move even as others shoved past them. His hands steadied her against his spine and his eyes scanned the faces around them.

“Where?”

Wren peeked around his shoulder but could not find the apparition that had so frightened her.

“I don’t know. Gone.”

“Fantastic,” he growled.

She tried to find the man in the crowd around them, but quickly realized that he had disappeared into thin air. Had he been there at all? She didn’t know if it had been a trick of the light or maybe a figment of her own imagination.

Wren would have bet her entire life’s savings that the man had been real. Those eyes weren’t something she could think up on her own. Nor were the shivers that traveled up and down her spine something that she had created.

“Come on.” Burke growled. His face was entirely blank as he gripped her hand once more. Wren found this expression far more intimidating than any other she had seen. He looked ready to kill.

And he very well might have to. Her eyes caught on a woman who was walking towards them in the crowd. All the other guests were trying to get out of the