Black Blood (Series of Blood Book 4) by Emma Hamm (scary books to read .TXT) 📕

He and Sil had worked thousands of years to see this plan come to fruition. It could not fall apart because of a few frightened sheep.

“Damn it,” he swore as he ran his fingers through hair more shadow than strands. “Damn it!”

“Sir,” Leo’s voice murmured from a corner nearby. “Do you need my assistance?”

“Find her.”

“Who?”

Pitch held an unimaginable amount of fondness for the cat-like man and his unfailing sense of loyalty. Someday, he would employ the man’s entire family and provide a lifestyle which would sustain them for centuries to come.

“Her name is Sil,” Pitch growled. “You’ll know her when you see her.”

“Sir…” Leo’s hesitated.

“Trust me, you’ll know.”

No one could mistake his love for anything other than unique. Pitch gave the assassin one last look before he burst into shadows and fled from the hallway. Color faded from his sight as he rushed into the club.

She was somewhere in this chaos. His business was dark, created for his form not hers, but he couldn’t find her sparkling light anywhere. She wasn’t hiding in the chandeliers. Their red lights cast harsh shadows upon the floor and ceiling. He would see her there.

He pulled together the long length of himself in the center of the club. Ignoring the surprised gasps of dancers, his slanted eyes narrowed further as he searched for her errant soul.

A hand stroked his chest. The woman’s forked tongue slithered out of her mouth as she appraised him. Another body pressed against his spine, male, Pitch thought. More joined as they realized the most dangerous man alive was in their presence.

He ignored the drug addicts and thrill seekers. His eyes probed every shadow, every crevice in his club, but could not find the one thing he needed. Until he saw them.

The glittering lights of Juice. Each bottle held the darkest of emotions. Lust. Rage. Power. Every dark desire fulfilled within the safe setting of a club where others could contain the pandemonium.

A small, unfamiliar bottle balanced on the highest shelf. Golden mist glowed in the red light. Hope. The most dangerous of all emotions balanced out of reach. And all around it a silver mist quivered.

“There you are,” he muttered as he pushed through the sea of people. “Time to go back into your bottle.”

Perhaps she heard him, or perhaps she found her target. Regardless, the soul of his beloved moved. Like a dancer leaping, the mist twisted and twirled above the crowd.

A voice rose from nearby. “What’s that? What is that?”

No one should see her. She was his treasure, his captive, his love. What would happen if he lost her? Concern made the blood in his veins turn to ash.

Sil traveled through the air currents and up a level of stairs. It was safer on the catwalk for those who weren’t used to the club scene. On the dancing level, where he stood, creatures of all manner took liberties with twisting lithe forms.

He snarled and shoved bodies out of his way. His palm hit a sternum and pushed hard. Pitch did not have to wonder if he had harmed the individual. A shattering sound reverberated over the music and made his ribcage vibrate.

He closed his hand upon the railing to the second level. Women in skimpy dresses flashed provocative glimpses of skin as he passed. His eyes did not linger upon the soft skin or curves they revealed.

Sil hovered in the air above three women. One had snakes tangled in her hair. Her skin was a beautiful mocha accented by a tight dress made of what looked like scaled skin. Another glowed with an inner light he knew could blind even through the black leather suit she was wearing. A Gorgon and a Wisp.

He had money on the Wisp being Sil’s choice, even though he couldn’t see the third woman hidden behind them. Sil was likely to pick a host like her earlier form.

Power was already waiting inside the other magical creature. Sil might absorb it, if she wished, or she could shove the current creature out of its host. He hoped she was smart, and ruthless, in her quest for a physical form.

“Ladies.” He tried to sound charming as he distracted them from the hovering light. “I hope you are enjoying your evening.”

Snake eyes met his gaze with surprising confidence. The woman was daring, but perhaps she did not recognize him.

“Pitch.” Her forked tongue warped the words. “We hadn’t thought the Lord of Shadows would appear tonight.”

He was wrong. She recognized him and proved herself to be a very foolish woman. Sil undulated, so he plastered a false smile on his face and sauntered toward them.

The red silk shirt he wore split open to reveal a sculpted chest which never failed to woo women. The ladies seemed distracted by the muscles he always manifested.

“It’s your lucky night then.” His voice oozed with seduction.

“Is it?” The Wisp licked her lips. “Well, I think we can come up with a few ways to repay you for the drinks you’re about to buy us.”

He knew the game. But he wasn’t interested in playing tonight. He reached for the Wisp and sank his fingers deep into her hair. It was easy to pull her head back, leaving an opening for Sil. “Maybe later, pretty thing.”

“Wha-” the Wisp began before another voice interrupted them.

“What is that?”

That voice. It curled at the base of his spine and sent shivers along his skin. He ground his teeth together and looked up. He locked his gaze with the plainest woman he had ever seen.

Mousy. Her hair held little color as it fell in front of her dull brown eyes like a curtain. A drab dress made her body look like a square with sticks poking out as limbs. Her arms wrapped around her waist and her body language screamed discomfort.

He would have disregarded her if he hadn’t noticed Sil hovering over her. Her? He wanted to scream.

Pitch had standards and a persona that needed to radiate power and control. Someone even halfway attractive would be