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

claws into her shoulders. “Then I will scorch it.”

“You know they spit water.”

“They could do little against me.”

“Against us?”

She would like a little credit at least. Ignes was the one with all the power, but she had discovered how to wield it. Before her, Ignes had been very young and untrained. They learned to use his magic together.

“Against us.” He tucked his head underneath her chin. “Now sleep for real. For the first time in a long time.”

“I don’t think I can. This is the Dream World, and I’m wide awake.”

“Let your mind relax. I will take care of you while you rest.”

Because she trusted him, Mercy did just that.

6

Her screams rang in his ears hours after she had been taken. Jasper paced back and forth in his cell like a caged lion. Chuffs of angry breath preceded him.

None of the prisoners had been speaking when the guards came. They used silence as a shield. The condemned, oddly companionable quiet eased Jasper’s troubled mind.

He had watched the guards drag prisoners from their cells more times than he cared to count. But from the moment they had entered, he knew this time was different. He’d never seen the contraption they had held in their hands — a long pole controlled by a pulley system with claw-like metal arms pinching the air.

Mercy had watched them approach her cell with a wild look in her eyes. Her fists burst into flames. He had worried she would destroy them all.

They never gave her the chance. The iron claws darted forward, wrapping around her throat with a decisive click. Jasper had smelled her blistering flesh burning beneath the metal, and then she had screamed.

“Mercy”. He had whispered her name as though it was a prayer.

Mercy, for them all.

Now — hours after she had been taken — he paced in his cell and waited. He hoped that they would bring her back. That she would return in one piece, and he hadn’t brought her to her death.

Anger surged through his veins, unlike anything he had felt before. Fairies were not hateful creatures, and Bluebell’s instinctive good nature complemented Jasper’s kindness. It was easier for him to place all his energy towards love, even if it led to great abuse.

His teeth clacked together as he snarled at the bars. His fists curled into clubs, longing to bludgeon his enemies into a fine mist. His skin felt tight, as though he wasn’t capable of holding his form.

Bluebell shuddered in his mind. He steeled himself for her fear. She always hated it when he got worked up. It was the main reason why he had trained himself to prevent anger from becoming his master.

Jasper stilled when she spoke.

“Angry.” She sounded as though she were holding back a growl. “They took her.”

“I know. I saw.”

“They took our pretty thing.”

A guttural growl vibrated in his throat. “I know.”

“They cannot take my pretty things!” She screamed, causing Jasper to wince and clutch his skull. “I will make them wish they did not have eyes to see. That they did not have hands to steal. That they did not have minds capable of coveting what is mine!”

He had never heard her sound so possessive of any creature. In fact, she generally disliked most people who were close to Jasper. She wanted him all to herself.

Apparently, she also wanted Mercy to herself.

“They’ll bring her back,” he said in a guttural tone.

“You don’t know that.”

“I have to believe it.”

“If they don’t, I’m going to rip their wings off—”

He had to interrupt her. “They don’t have wings, Bluebell.”

“Then their teeth. I will take their teeth one by one!”

His anger cooled slightly as he thought of the Tooth Fairy myths. The creatures were now thought of as fierce, the legends had changed when the dimensions collided. He always thought it was a children’s tale, but Bluebell spoke with confidence. Almost as though she had done it before.

“Jasper.” Ella’s voice cut through his thoughts like a knife. “You need to calm down.”

“I will not!” he shouted.

“If you continue, the guards will come back in, and you might not see her again.”

He increased his pace, nearly throwing himself from each end of the cage. “I want to hurt them. I want to hurt everyone who touched her.”

“This is not logical thinking.” Her voice was calm, and it made him irate that she couldn’t get angry on behalf of Mercy. “Jasper, you need to be still. They will bring her back.”

He spun towards her, his face twisted and his teeth bared.

“Do they ever? Do they ever bring anyone back?” His shouts bounced off the stone walls, his deep baritone laced with Bluebell’s piercing scream. “She is gone, and I will make them regret their existence!”

Ella crawled towards him and rose onto her knees. He looked into the deep pools of her eyes, and something in him shifted.

“You are calm,” she said.

Suddenly, he was.

Her eyes were hypnotizing. “You will sit back on the ground and rest. Think of your Lyra and the family waiting for you.”

He recognized the glow of magic in her eyes, and did not want to bow to its weight. She was forcing him to feel what she wanted him to feel, and though he fought against it, he did not have a choice.

Power pushed at his shoulders and he sank until the cold ground pushed against his knees. His heartbeat slowed, his gaze locked upon hers. Unicorns, he thought bitterly. They were capable of far more than anyone ever thought.

Ella’s eyes were limpid jewels, and they held him entranced like a snake being charmed. Eventually, she blinked twice. The spell shattered, but Jasper remained on the ground.

His chest heaved once, twice, in long breaths. Finally, he nodded. “Thank you.”

“I did not know Fairies were so deeply possessive.”

“Neither did I.”

Bluebell whined in his head. “I like pretty things. They are mine and no one else’s. They should not steal things that aren’t theirs. Mine, ours, mate.”

Perhaps he did not know the Fairy as well