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

Rolling to his side, he groaned and blinked his eyes. The fire was still going. Of course it was. And now, he realized he was lying in a pool of his own sweat.

“It was too warm to have a fire,” he grumbled.

“Too bad.”

Mercy was already awake. In fact, she was alert and already radiating an aura of anger. He frowned at her. It was too early in the morning for anyone to be completely aware of their surroundings. Maybe the lack of sleep made her angry. Dark circles under her eyes suggested she had been awake all night. He wasn’t surprised. She had said she would keep an eye out, and he trusted her to do that.

Bluebell had insisted there was no need to worry. No one would dare harm anyone when they were in the circle’s protection. Fairy rings were sacred. Jasper doubted Malachi cared about that at all. Culturally, it was rude, but that wouldn’t stop a murderous Void bent on destroying the world.

He slowly stood up and stretched to ease the ache in his spine. His stomach growled. If only they had a chance to grab provisions before they ran. At the very least, they should have teleported to a place where food would have been an option.

He rubbed his abdomen. “Are you hungry?”

“Yes.”

Her tone was blistering. For a couple moments there he had thought they were getting along. Obviously he was wrong.

“I might be able to catch us something.”

She raised a brow. “I doubt that, city boy. We’ll only go hungry for a few more miles, anyway. There should be a town near here.”

“There aren’t any towns left in any enchanted forests.”

“You know this to be a fact?”

He nodded.

“Good,” she grumbled, but her voice shuddered and her fists clenched. “Then my hometown doesn’t exist anymore. At least they got what they deserved.”

“Probably. But there’s still the issue of food.”

Instead of answering, she leaned forward and put her hand in the fire.

He lurched forward to stop her before he remembered that fire wasn’t going to hurt her. He wasn’t going to get used to that any time soon. Everything in him wanted to prevent her from doing something stupid.

“I’ll get some water to put out the campfire.” He turned away, wondering where he was going to find any water.

“No need.”

He glanced at her and saw the lizard crawl out of the fire. Ignes. Just as strange as his owner, the creature was enough to send Jasper’s mind spinning. As it climbed up her arm, the fire died. Coals that were burning red hot suddenly dulled to black as the Phoenix left them.

“That’s useful,” he muttered.

She did not reply because apparently she wasn’t talking to him. Jasper wanted to snap his fingers in her face to get her attention. Logically, he understood that was a bad idea. But, damn, she had that blank expression on her face again that he was coming to hate.

He was used to Lyra. That woman was an open book. She told it how it was and said whatever she was thinking, often before she realized her mouth was open and words were spilling out. It made figuring out what she wanted a hell of a lot easier than Mercy.

Sighing, he licked his lips. An ice breaker couldn’t hurt. “So does Ignes not exist in your head at all?”

“Not in the traditional sense. If he wants to speak to me privately, he can. He prefers not to.”

“Seems more like a buddy than a creature using your body to stay alive.”

The question had been burning into him since last night. Sure, Mercy and Ignes had an unusual relationship, but she might have embellished or lied. Ignes could be an illusion created with her powers, and she might be something else entirely.

“I told you. My body is not human.”

“And that explains this…how?”

She was still kneeling on the ground next to the fire. Her eyes flicked up, gaze making him lose his breath again. “I don’t have a heart anymore. Every Phoenix has an endless well of heat we call an Ember. The stone from when they were created that holds their flame. Without it, they die.”

He shook his head. “I still don’t understand.”

“Ignes was a newborn when the dimensions collided. His people gave their lives to ensure his survival. When he and I joined, it was not just to share a space. My body, my DNA, changed so that he could live inside me.” She tapped a finger against her breastbone. “His Ember exists in place of my heart. My body is a vessel for his power, his soul.”

Jasper’s lungs froze and pressure built in his chest. She wasn’t normal. Hell, he could argue she wasn’t human. Mercy was proof that magic was not going to stop changing human bodies. She was contrary to everything people thought they knew about this world

Now he was certain she was part of the prophecy. Wren was one of a kind. Wolfgang should not exist. And Mercy? She was a miracle.

Some of these thoughts must have shown on his face as she stood up and growled at him. Her deep voice was a balm to his aching soul. Jasper found that the more she tried to make him dislike her, the more endearing she became.

He couldn’t explain his change of heart. Just hours ago, he thought she was the most annoying person on the planet. She was dangerous, irredeemable. Yet now he was beginning to see her in a different light.

This person he could deal with. This wounded soul who needed guidance.

“Let me find us some food. We shouldn’t be walking on an empty stomach,” he said.

She started to argue with him but snapped her mouth shut. She narrowed her eyes, but they were no longer on him. He worried.

“Mercy, what—”

She raised a hand to silence him.

Anger spread across her face like a match striking into flame. Her lips curled into a snarl, and flames bloomed on her arms.

“Ignes,” she said hoarsely, “go