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

a little when I’m upset.” Lyra shrugged. “Among other things.”

“I’m in a madhouse,” Wren muttered as she began walking with Lyra once more. “An absolute madhouse.”

She was led to another room that appeared to be much more sterile. It reminded her of a hospital, though slightly more friendly than that. The walls were painted a light shade of blue, and the tile floor echoed as Lyra’s boots clicked against it.

There was no one else here. This seemed like such an oddity that it made Wren uncomfortable. If this was such a large place, and it was indeed incredibly large, why was it not filled with more people?

“Where is everyone?”

“Who knows. There’s so many levels to Haven, and there aren’t that many of us.”

“How many people work here?”

Lyra tapped a finger against her chin. “Somewhere around 30? And their families.”

“That’s a lot more than I would have imagined,” Wren replied as she looked around the empty room that held only a desk and three chairs.

“The Five are very private people. They try to keep only those who are close to them here.”

“So you all just… live here? Are you allowed out?”

Lyra gave her an odd look. “We’re not prisoners. We can do what we want. Well, the families can. Jasper and I are part of a team, so when the Five snap their fingers we jump.”

“Do you like that?”

Again, Lyra gave her another odd look. “Why are you asking so many questions?”

“I’m just curious. We’re in an empty room with a desk, and I’m about to have my head pulled apart to find out what is in my body with me.”

“You’re not going to be in here for long. We’re just waiting for Gaia.”

Before she could ask yet another question, Gaia’s voice could be heard from behind another door. “Come on in Lyra.”

The dark haired woman jumped and then shook her head. “Ridiculous. She always scares me doing that.”

“How did she get here before us? I thought she was going to meet us?”

Lyra shrugged. “It’s her way.”

“That’s not confusing at all,” Wren muttered as they both walked through the next door.

Gaia was seated in the corner of the large room. Cool green walls matched the wood floor. A few chairs were at the end of the room lined up next to each other. Each chair looked brand new, and the leather did not appear to have been sat on before. It was a warm room; the kind one would go to for wine and a movie during a relaxing evening.

However, in the center of this room was an old wooden chair that was surrounded by glass walls. A shiver went down her spine as soon as she saw the chair.

“What are you going to do to me?”

Gaia looked up from the papers in her hands. “We’re going to wake E up and coax it out of you. We should be able to exert a small bit of control. Once you’re in that tank, we’ll fill the room with a truth serum that will force E to answer our questions. It’s painless and once it’s over everything will go back to normal.”

“I don’t think-”

“Really, Wren. A small walk changed your mind so easily?” Gaia tapped her nails on the table and pointed towards the glass tank. “Sit down, and it will be over in minutes. We just have a few small questions and then you can leave.”

“What does this have to do with the prophecy?” Wren had to ask. None of this was making sense, but she was firmly in the opinion that she was crossing some kind of line. E would never forgive her for waking up in this sterile room and not being able to lie. Backtracking at this point was going to be difficult.

“We’re confirming that you are actually part of this prophecy. For that, we need to know what E is capable of. There are specifics qualities that it must exhibit.”

“Can’t you just ask me for that?” Wren wanted to argue more, but Lyra was already guiding her towards the glass room. She wasn’t certain how these people constantly pushed her in doing what they wanted.

Wren had always been very strong in her abilities to put her foot down. No one had told her what to do in a long time, other than E. Yet with these people, she was off balance. They were so confident; this place was so abnormal to her. Everything was so perfect and expensive. Wren was not. She was out of place here and somehow that transferred into allowing them to make decisions for her.

She didn’t like it.

Her feet crossed the threshold into the glass room, and her heart started to pound. The glass door closed behind with her a soft suctioning sound as Lyra pushed hard to lock Wren inside.

“We’ve all done it,” Lyra said quietly.

“That doesn’t mean I have to like it.” Wren’s reply was acerbic.

She turned around and noticed how sturdy the glass walls appeared to be. She sat down on the chair and crossed her hands in her lap. Her palms were slick with sweat.

“We’re going to start allowing the gas into the chamber, Wren.” She could hear Gaia’s voice clearly even though the glass surrounded her. “It should smell sweet.”

“I know what Truth smells like,” Wren muttered. “I make it.”

She wished for E’s sarcastic response in her head. She missed the way it was constantly arguing with her. But most of all, she missed the comfort that the creature had always provided in its kind way. She wanted nothing more than for it to wake up.

White mist poured down upon her. It was far more Juice than they needed to use. She squinted her eyes and breathed in slowly. This was a waste as far as she was concerned. If only they had asked her before they let this ridiculous amount of fog fill the chamber. She would have told them how much product they were wasting. Didn’t they know people gave up their memories for this?

Already, she