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

The movement was the key to the lock that held her body down. She shook her head hard and closed her mouth as drool threatened to leak out of it. Wren attempted the immensely difficult job of sitting back up, but the only thing she managed was a slight twitch of her fingers.

She heard a thump that sounded familiar but could do nothing other than shake her head. A soft clink of glass warned her just before a hand touched her shoulder.

“Wren?”

Jiminy’s whiskey-smooth voice soothed the ringing in her ears. He sank onto his haunches before her and gently pushed her weight backwards. He held her in place then and ducked his head to look into her open eyes.

“Is it you?”

She took strength from the warmth of his hand against her shoulder. Slowly, she inhaled again. A nod felt as though it required the remaining store of energy inside her. She managed the smallest of movements.

A breath of air whooshed out of Jiminy as he nodded slowly along with her. His relief was palpable.

When she did not speak, he began to grow worried again. His hands reached for hers and gripped them a little too tightly. Her hands looked delicate inside his, she noticed. She had never noticed before. Wren’s hands were calloused from work and tiny scars decorated the tips of her fingers from mishaps in her Juice making. His were even more worn by the world than hers.

“Your hands are freezing,” he murmured as he leaned closer to her. “Are you alright?”

She didn’t know if she was alright. She felt as though she was still a little disconnected from her body. But at least this time she was the one holding the controls.

“Just-” She tried to speak and had to pause for a few moments. Her fingers flexed within his grip. “Just feel odd.”

“I’m not surprised.” Jiminy’s expression darkened. “They never should have done this to you.”

“It was the right thing to do.”

“They should have let you know what would happen. They should have known that this would be a risk.”

She swallowed hard and nodded in response.

The sound of heels clicking against the floor resulted in Jiminy swearing viciously before looking over his shoulder. Gaia stood behind him with her hand on her hip.

“That proved to be highly successful. Thank you for your cooperation, Wren. I believe we have enough evidence to be certain that you are part of the prophecy.”

“At what cost?” Jiminy’s voice cut through the air around them as though this words were made of steel.

“Excuse me?”

“At what cost? We don’t know what breaking through E’s barriers has done to her. You might have killed the first piece of our puzzle.”

“Then we must hurry to find the others.”

Gaia turned and left the room. Jiminy’s eyes did not stray from her back. If looks could harm, then Gaia would have been left in ashes on the floor. Wren was glad that Jiminy was a Dream Walker and not the kind of creature that could do bodily harm easily.

“I’m fine now,” she whispered. Although it still sounded as though her voice was distorted. She raised a hand and marveled at the movement. The hand was in front of her, and she had not felt it lift. Strange how the mind could be twisted into not realizing that it was moving itself.

Whether this was the dreaming world or reality was another question she did not know if she could answer.

“You’re not fine.”

She stared into Jiminy’s angry gaze. For a few moments, she thought she might agree with him. She wasn’t fine. In fact, she was anything but fine. But Wren didn’t have the luxury of not being fine. She didn’t have the luxury of a lot of things in her life.

“I will be,” she said and squeezed his hands as hard as she could.

“You’re too cold. We need to get you warm.”

She could see the gears turning in his head. If he was threatening to put her in a bath again, she wouldn’t argue. But he was far too concerned about her for his own good.

“It’s unlike you to be worried about me, Jiminy,” she said with a half smile. “I can take care of myself.”

“You can’t.”

“E has always taken care of me.”

“E wanted me to help.”

She arched a disbelieving brow. “Now that will happen only when Hell freezes over.”

“You know so much about Hell of course.”

“I do have thousands of creatures in me apparently. One of them is bound to know something about Hell.”

Jiminy shook his head at her but left the argument there. He stood slowly and drew her up from the chair. The ties which had previously bound her slithered to the floor with a thump.

As soon as she stood, her head swam. Blood rushed towards her feet and sparks danced around the edges of her vision. She had never been one to faint so easily, and it was discouraging that she had become so weak. It did not bode well for her future.

“Jiminy,” she murmured. “I think I’m going to pass out.”

“No you aren’t,” he responded as he pulled her body against his chest. “You’re going to be fine. That’s what you said.”

She pressed her forehead against the wide expanse of his chest and inhaled slowly. Her head swam all the more as the warm scent of his soap filled her senses. His heat sunk into her skin as his hands swept up the length of her back.

The fleeting memory that had been so difficult to remember she now saw clear as day. The cliff. The feel of his body against hers. The low press of his lips against hers and the blush that had swept up her toes and into her cheeks.

She had kissed him. Or… she had in a dream. But he was a Dream Walker, so it was entirely possible that he had been there. Strange how her reality had been bent so much in the past few days.

Slowly, she drifted out of her mind and