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

building. But this woman had her gaze locked upon the two of them as she shoved a woman with green skin out of her way.

“Burke.”

He didn’t hear her or was ignoring her. Wren found herself propelled forward as his hand clenched hers in a vise like grip. The woman in the crowd was already getting too close for comfort.

Wren planted her heels into the ground and leaned back against the hand holding her captive. She jerked hard once, twice, three times until Burke finally paused for a moment to glare at her.

“Seriously? You do this for a living!”

He blinked at her before following her pointed finger. The woman seemed to notice at that moment that she had been spotted. She burst into motion, shoving people aside as she started to sprint towards them. Wren swallowed hard. That was definitely not good.

“Shit,” Burke swore. He turned on his heel and pushed her in the other direction. “This way then.”

He planted his hand on her back and shoved her towards the back of the warehouse.

“Nope!” she shouted and hoped he could hear her. “Not that way either!”

There was a man with pitch black eyes making his way towards them. Wren had no idea how she knew he was bad news, but the determined stride towards them was likely a bad sign.

“To the right!”

They both swerved to avoid another hand that was reaching for the long length of her dress. There appeared to only be three of them chasing them down. Wren felt a flash of terror as she realized just how much danger she had been in. Somehow, she had managed to tell herself that she wasn’t in trouble at all.

She was wrong.

“Door!” Burke shouted. He let go of her hand to charge forward and slam his shoulder into the metal that blocked their escape.

It folded beneath his weight and clanged against the wall as it flew open. He stumbled into the fresh air and hit the wall on the other side of the alley. Wren could hear the whoosh of breath just before he propped himself against the crumbling brick.

She quickly turned on her heel and pushed the door shut. The metal was bent at an awkward angle and wouldn’t close the entire way. So she turned and placed her back square against the door as she peered at him in the moonlight.

“You okay?”

“Forgot how much that hurt,” he wheezed.

“Right,” she muttered. “How long until this door goes flying open again?”

“Not long.”

He looked worse for wear. She wasn’t convinced he had fully inhaled since he had attempted to become one with the brick. Which left them in a very precarious position as Wren needed Burke, apparently.

“I’m glad I wore these shoes,” she said.

He slowly blinked at her. “What?”

Wren stuck her foot out. The velvet slid from her skin to reveal the long length of pale skin and black shitkickers. “Wouldn’t be able to run this fast without them.”

“Huh.” He was staring at her shoes as though they held a hidden answer for him. “Fantastic.”

“I thought so.”

She squeezed her eyes shut and frantically pushed herself against the door as it shuddered behind her. They had been found.

“You okay to run again?”

He was out of breath, but he nodded.

“Let go of the door then?” she asked.

He shrugged and opened his arms wide. “Might as well.”

“Might as well,” she repeated. “It’s like you don’t do this every day.”

“I don’t exactly do this every day. Most of the time it’s just sitting around eating donuts.”

She gave him a censoring look. “Really? That joke is ancient.”

He shrugged. “You’re the one still holding the door. Which is impressive, by the way. How strong are you?”

“Stronger than I look.” She gritted through her teeth. Really, they weren’t trying all that hard. It was almost as though they knew she was holding the door, and they were still within reach.

Of course, there was a gap next to her so they could probably see her.

“Running now?” he asked.

“Lead the way.”

As soon as he turned on his heel, Wren let go of the door. They two of them sprinted down the alleyway as the door smashed against the cracked pavement. The sound of feet hitting the ground echoed around them as the chase began once more.

“Left!” she directed Burke as he paused at an intersection.

“Right!” he yelled back at her as they rounded another corner.

They ran next to each other through the Labyrinth of alleyways that made up the city around Pitch’s warehouse. Together they managed the best they could, though it seemed as though the streets were changing before them.

“Seem fishy to you?” Wren asked him.

“Not near the docks.”

“Not everything needs to be humorous, Burke!”

“We’re being herded,” he responded grimly.

He wasn’t out of breath, but she was. She was gasping in deep breaths as she tried to keep up with him. Wren’s legs were starting to ache, and her chest was burning.

They turned a corner and found themselves staring at a dead end. One of the creatures behind them had to be controlling something. There was no way that both Burke and Wren had missed something as important as that.

Or had they?

Out of breath, they both skidded to a stop as they stared at the stone wall blocking their path. The creatures behind them slowed as their prey had already been trapped. Now all they had to do was capture them.

“Burke?” Wren whispered.

“Yeah.”

“Are we screwed?”

“Probably.” He turned around to glare at the three standing at the mouth of the alley. One woman and two men. Fighting them should be easy enough, except the woman already had flames licking up her arms.

“Wow,” Wren said. “That’s not something you see every day.”

“I’m going to need you to help me fight.”

“I don’t know how to fight,” she said with a scoff. “I can’t help at all.”

“You’re going to have to, because otherwise those three are going to kill me and do who knows what to you.”

She swallowed hard and wished she had taken self defense classes. She was a small person with weak