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

He let out a long breath. Fire began to dance upon her shoulders, the dream creatures that suggested she was asleep once more. Jasper dropped heavily onto the ground in exhaustion.

Ella snickered. “That was a lot of Fairy Dust.”

“I haven’t used it in a while,” he said with a chuckle.

“That could have taken down an elephant!”

“I don’t think I’d want to see an elephant on Fairy Dust. Especially now that magic has given them wings.”

They both burst into laughter. When they finally managed to calm down, Ella shook her head. “That was really close.”

“I thought she’d have better control than that.”

“I remember stories about the Phoenix.” Ella’s voice changed slightly. When he looked up, her eyes were glowing blue. This was the Unicorn speaking, not Ella. “They were known to be extremely giving and loving. It was once said that they would give their favor to all who needed them. They could heal with their tears and more times than once sacrificed themselves for another. Seeing a Phoenix was once an omen of good times ahead.”

“No rumors that they were so…vicious?”

“No.” Ella’s creature shook her head sadly. “I wonder what happened to her. Something terrible if it forced a creature capable of such wonderful rebirth to become something so full of anger. She protects herself from everything. Even those who might help her.”

Jasper glanced at the sleeping redhead. A dragonfly soared from her parted lips to spiral in the air. It was hard to imagine anyone wishing her harm. “Something terrible indeed.”

7

“Jasper.”

The voice curled through his conscious mind like a thread of darkness. It was not normal, or at least not the kind of voice one would hear in the physical world.

Murky dust reigned in those blackened tones. There was a hint of barely leashed aggression, and a honey smooth accent that wasn’t quite from this world. Jasper immediately knew who was speaking to him, but he had not expected to hear that voice ever again.

Jasper now knew he was awake, and still in his cell. He glanced around. All the other prisoners remained limp in their sleep. The voice echoed around him, loud enough to startle the sleeping prisoners. He pinched his arm hard. He was certainly awake.

Jasper squinted as he searched for the owner of the voice.

“Pitch?” he asked quietly.

“Of course it’s me. Who else would it be?”

“How are you here?”

“I’m not.” There was a hint of laughter with the words.

“Then how are you speaking to me?”

“Secrets secrets, things you cannot know.”

Jasper began to search the shadows. It took him a while to find the patch that seemed darker than the rest. The blasted mystery man wasn’t as mysterious as he thought. Pitch walked only in darkness, and rarely stepped outside his comfort zone. It was a dead giveaway that he near when the shadows seemed a little too lifelike.

“What do you want?” Jasper asked.

“To help you.”

“That’s not really your thing, now is it?”

The shadows churned. “Not particularly. And yet, here I am.”

“Did Wren send you?” She was the only person who could ask a favor of the dangerous man. Jasper had yet to find out why Pitch had a soft spot for her and no one else.

“No.”

“Then who did?”

“Can you not believe I sent myself?” Pitch asked.

“Definitely not. You aren’t the giving type, Pitch. Someone must have told you to come here.”

“Mm.” The sound seemed to both affirm and deny Jasper’s statement. Pitch always twisted words so they could be taken in either way. He was never on anyone’s side but his own, yet others always believed he would help them.

Jasper was not so foolish. He had no desire to be indebted to a liar made of shadows.

“Pitch,” Jasper began again, “why are you here?”

Pitch sighed and it sounded like the hiss of snake. “You are running late. You were supposed to get out of this prison long ago. And now you are ruining the plan.”

“The plan?” Jasper worried what this could mean. “Are you working with Malachi?”

“No. I have told all of you this already.”

“But you knew I was here. And now you’re saying I should have escaped for some plan?”

“Why don’t you trust me?” The words were projected with such force that a headache bloomed between Jasper’s eyes.

“Because you are a selfish prick who cares for no one but yourself.”

“Can’t argue with that.” Pitch laughed. “I am trying to get you out of this little hellhole. How are you getting out of the cell?”

“I will tell you nothing until you say whose orders you’re taking. It’s not the Five, or I would have heard. So who is it?”

Jasper heard a small snicking sound from the corner. His eyes canted to the left. He hadn’t been looking at Pitch at all, the man was standing in the opposite corner of the cell. Light had flared as Pitch lit a cigar. The shadows parted to reveal Pitch’s porcelain smooth face, twisted into a macabre grin.

Pitch exhaled streams of yellow smoke through his nose. “No, it’s not the Five. I have no love for them.”

“Then who?”

“A kind soul you will meet someday. But that is not today.”

Jasper wanted to argue, to demand Pitch answer truthfully without hiding behind veiled riddles. But he also wanted to get out of this cell. The thought of waking up and seeing the sky, even for one night, was too tempting an offer to refuse.

Though his lips curled in displeasure, Jasper finally relented. “I have no plan on how to get out of the cells. I’m still working on it.”

“I’m not supposed to interfere,” Pitch growled, “but there is a schedule to stick to, and I’m not surprised it was you who messed things up.”

The shadows moved again, gathering in a bunch near the middle of his cell. Like a dark cloud, they shifted and swirled before something was thrown at his head. Jasper ducked instinctively but froze in a crouch when he heard the distinct sound of metal hitting stone.

He whipped around to look at the small,