Red Blood (Series of Blood Book 2) by Emma Hamm (best short books to read .TXT) 📕

Not sarcastically or because he was expected to. But because he truly found her amusing as she tried to catch the carp he had created.

He teased her by flicking a hand and making them dart away at the very last second whenever she got close. Lyra didn’t catch on until the fourth or fifth time he had done it before she shot him an angry look and splashed water at him.

He didn’t feel weak when he was around her. Normally, he felt years older than he was. His bones ached, and his mind was troubled by dark thoughts. Both were banished just by being near her.

Worry that he was becoming addicted to her like a drug made his mind race. But was it so bad to be addicted to a person? Perhaps worse than any substance that existed in this dimension. He now thought if she were to disappear from his life that he would be lost forever to the void his mind had become.

Wolfgang could not return to being the soulless creature he had become. The Blood Magic Magician who was capable of a great many things. Yet he had never been capable of being simply a man.

And when she left, he asked her the question that had festered in the back of his mind the entire evening.

“Lyra?”

The smile on her face sparkled in the light he had created. “Yes?”

“Is it you?”

“Is what me, Wolfgang? Your questions are always vague.”

“Does Bones hold your contract?”

She froze and took one more step into the dark hallway that would lead her out of his domain. A shadow fell across one side of her face and seemed to pull her away from him.

“Yes.”

The whisper remained in the room as she left. It filled the space like a bubble that refused to pop. Acidic, the knowledge burned against his tongue and down the back of his throat.

The tarot cards in his pocket fluttered. His hand shook as it reached into the pockets deep within the folds of the heavy fabric that covered him. The worn edges of his tarot cards dug into his palm as he pulled them slowly out. One card stood above all the rest.

He pulled the card away from the others and slowly flipped it over. As he saw the image, he hissed out a breath and immediately placed it back with the others.

The Judgement had stared back at him with solemn eyes.

Chapter 8

The Team, as Lyra had chosen to call them, materialized on a stone slab in the middle of a swamp. Dark water surrounded them, and great bubbles of air released foul smelling gas into the air. Jasper released his hold upon all three of them as their feet struck the ground.

They were on a mission. Yet another mission that Lyra considered to be entirely useless. But then again, she thought most of them were.

Her head was in the clouds. Why did they need to keep trying to find a solution to their Malachi problem? They had Wolfgang! He could raise people from the dead, and he could do much more than that. She was certain of it.

And sure, the magic was mostly Blood Magic. But that didn’t mean anything! Certainly it was better than finding themselves in a swamp.

“Don’t tell me we’re going to have to beg on our hands and knees,” she muttered.

Wren ignored her and turned towards Burke. Her hands brushed against his shoulders as though she were swiping away dirt.

“There’s no dirt there yet,” Lyra couldn’t help but tell her.

Wren rolled her eyes. “Yes I know, Lyra. Thank you.”

She did it again just to annoy Lyra. Wren had been unusually snarky towards her lately. She wondered if it had anything to do with E ratting her out. Honestly, Lyra was more intimidated by E than Wren. She’d take her chances on the woman.

“Be careful,” Lyra heard Wren whisper as she leaned forward to press her lips against Burke’s.

“Gag me.”

Wren’s body shuddered once, twice, and then her eyes flipped backwards. The milky white that meant her creature was in control always made Lyra uncomfortable. It wasn’t natural. Black or Blue, that was normal. Sometimes, even the rarest yellow of human eyes could be looked into without getting the jitters. But white?

E surveyed the area around them with a critical eye. Lyra noticed that its gaze lingered upon the weeping willow trees whose branches touched the top of the swamp water. Lily pads spotted the surface and likely hid horrible little monsters she didn’t want to think about.

“You know, rumor has it that the frogs in this swamp aren’t normal anymore.” So much for not thinking about it. Lyra was definitely thinking about it, and now everyone had to think about it too. “They supposedly grew teeth and a liking for meat.”

“Lyra,” Jasper said with an exasperated tone. “Do you really need to do that?”

“I’m just warning people!” She glared at him. “Don’t step in the water.”

“You’re a pain in the ass sometimes.”

“You’re just mad at me.”

He rolled his eyes at her. Why was everyone doing that today?

“Why would I be mad at you?” he growled.

“I don’t know.”

“Because maybe I know you were in your room after breakfast a few mornings ago? And I know you disappeared. Somewhere. Again. No one knows where you keep disappearing to.”

Lyra licked her lips and glanced out over the swamp. “Don’t step in the water and don’t look the bitches in the eyes. Those are my suggestions.”

“You won’t even give me an answer?”

Anger laced Jasper’s words with a punch like a stiff drink. Her spine straightened, but she refused to answer him. She knew where this road was leading her. If she told him one little bit then he would ask for the rest.

Jasper had a way of wanting to unravel all of her secrets. He’d grab a tiny bit of a string and pull so hard that there would be nothing left of her. He would know everything and then he would poke and