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

children to share the world with us. In their own desire for power, they destroyed themselves to create masses of dark creatures that would start a war our dimension almost did not recover from.”

Wren watched with rapt attention as the beautiful woman swept a glistening tear from her cheek.

“We did as we could,” Gaia continued. “There was only so much that we could give without destroying ourselves as well. What our dark brothers and sisters did not realize was that their creations could also make life. It simply would take time. While we watched them grow and create families of their own, they could not wait.”

Gaia paused for another moment before taking in another deep breath.

Wren raised a hand. “You don’t have to tell me more if you don’t want to,” she said quietly. There was a certain raw quality to this story that made Wren feel as though it was not something she should be listening to. It was not a story that was meant for her.

“I do have to,” Gaia said. “I need to make you understand. Of this first generation of darkness, many species did not survive the war. Malachi is of this first generation and the last of his kind. He is everything that makes darkness powerful and more. If we do not stop him, he will attempt to swallow everything that is good and make it his own.”

“Why can’t you help?”

“Excuse me?”

“If you’re part of the original creations then you should be stronger than Malachi. There’s five of you to his one. You don’t need a prophecy or people to stop him.”

“We took a vow when our siblings killed themselves. We will never again involve ourselves in the affairs of our creations. What problems you face can be guided by our visions and our voices, but we no longer can step in.”

“Then break the vow,” Wren said vehemently.

“It is unbreakable.”

Wren leaned forward until her forearms were braced against her legs. Her forehead was wrinkled in pain as well as remorse. “Look. This story isn’t for me. I don’t walk into this story years later and save everyone. I’m not capable of that.”

“We believe you might be.” Gaia settled herself into another chair across from Wren. “The prophecy spoke not of a person but of a creature. As you know, all creatures are housed within humans. What is your creature, Wren?”

“I don’t know,” she shrugged. “E has never been very forthcoming about that.”

“E?”

“The name I gave it. Short for Entity.”

“Ah,” Gaia said quietly. “I do believe that E may have a considerable amount of power to lend us if what Burke has told us is true.”

Now that the pain and fog in her head was clearing, Jiminy’s name brushed against her mind like a paintbrush. She felt for the moment as though she was standing on the edge of a cliff and something life changing was happening. With a shake of her head, she dispelled the unsettling thought.

“E doesn’t want to help you,” Wren replied.

“Why is that?”

“It believes that if I help you then I will end up dead. After everything that’s been happening, I agree with E.”

“You very well might not make it through this ordeal. But if we do not try to stop Malachi then we will all surely die.” Gaia paused for a moment before asking, “I can’t help but notice that you do not call your creature male or female. Why is that?”

Wren shrugged again. “E doesn’t choose a gender.”

“I do not know many creatures which do that.” Gaia tapped a long finger against her chin before nodding. “I am very interested to find out what your creature is. Would you be willing to do that at least?”

“I can’t betray E’s trust like that. If it doesn’t want me to know, then I shouldn’t know.”

“You live with this creature inside you, Wren,” Gaia said in a cajoling tone. “You don’t know what it is. For all you know, you could be housing some kind of Demon inside of you.”

“I have never worried about it before.” But that statement was a lie. As soon as the words slipped out of her mouth they burned against her tongue. “E has a right to its privacy.”

“Inside of you?” Gaia cocked her head to the side and looked at her with pity. “You’re telling me that the creature who uses your body has a right to privacy?”

There was a silent pause as Wren tried to puzzle out this dilemma in her head. The creature inside of her was always going to be her dearest friend. It was as much a part of her as her own flesh. Yet there would always be the temptation of not knowing what it was.

In the end, she made the only choice that could be made.

“No. I trust E.”

Gaia leaned back in her chair with a huff. “Wren, I don’t think you understand. This creature could be using you, and your trust could be completely misplaced. Have you ever had a blackout? Do you have blanks in your mind where memories should be?”

She did, but Wren wasn’t going to admit to that. It was only recently that these episodes had started to occur, and Wren knew it was because E didn’t want her to see bad things. These thoughts must have been reflected on her face as Gaia’s expression changed to something much more calculating.

“Do you really know what is happening in those blackouts? Burke reported that the last time revealed considerable talent. Violent talent. I can return all those memories to you. E doesn’t have to know.”

“E knows everything I know.”

“That’s not true,” Gaia said firmly. “You have not merged with your creature, or we would not have been able to put it to sleep.”

Wren blinked at her. “Merged?”

“There are different states in which your creature can exist. Most choose to remain a separate part of the host so that when the host dies, they live on. But creatures can also choose to merge with their host. Essentially, they choose