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

He reached down, grabbed a handful of moss, and twisted to drip water onto her head. It wasn’t much, but the cold drops trailed down her cheeks.

She flinched hard and gasped. Panic made her scuttle backwards on her hands as though he were attacking her.

“Hey hey hey.” Jasper held his palms up. “I’m not going to hurt you. What’s going on?”

Another tear dripped down her face. “The village.”

“What?”

“It’s burning.”

His mind strained to comprehend the information; unless Ignes got carried away, there was no reason for the village to be burning. Until he remembered that they weren’t two people on a honeymoon. They were being hunted by the worst kind of person.

“They found us,” he said.

“It’s my fault. This is all my fault.”

“No.” He yanked her into his arms. It was an awkward embrace. He knelt precariously on uneven ground, and she sank into him, limp. Still, they both needed the touch. “It’s my fault too. We shouldn’t have stayed here as long as we did.”

“I thought it would be safe.”

“Me too. We have to go.”

At that, Mercy pulled away from him. She wiped fiercely at the tracks of tears on her cheeks. “No. We have to go and see if anyone survived.”

“They’re strong. They have a real Giant, for god’s sake! We can’t go back there. We know Malachi is there.”

“Ignes is there.”

Jasper rubbed a hand down his beard and shook his head. “How far away can you get from him?”

“No.” Mercy shook her head and stood up. “We’re not doing what you’re thinking.”

“We can just wait a little while until they’ve gone.”

“No.” She was already walking away from him, barefoot and furious. This would always be the way Jasper remembered her.

He sighed and jumped to his feet. “We can’t just go in guns blazing. You can’t even wield fire if you don’t have Ignes.”

“I never said that.”

“Yes you did. Many times.”

“That’s not how it works. If he’s using power and isn’t on me, he draws from my life force. It’s the same for me.”

“So you’re saying that we’re going to walk into that village, you’re going to add more fire into the mayhem, and you’re going to pull the lifeforce out of your Phoenix, who might already be weak? You don’t see the issue here?”

“I’m not adding anymore fire. I’m just using what’s there.” She turned her furious gaze towards him and stopped, pressing a hand against his bare chest. “Teleport us to the center of the village.”

“We don’t know what’s there.”

“I do. I looked through his eyes, and I saw exactly who’s there.”

“And who is that?” Jasper asked, although he knew he wouldn’t get an answer. When she remained silent, he sighed and drew her firmly into his arms. “You’re going to be the death of me.”

For a moment, sadness seeped from her pores. “I never said I wouldn’t be.”

He teleported them immediately, because he didn’t want to know what her words meant. He couldn’t process her displaying such vulnerability now. There was a battle to be fought and won. The fewer distractions, the better.

It was a good thing he set aside those concerns, as they teleported into Hell.

Everything was ablaze. The smoke was so thick, he could barely inhale. And worst of all, the air was tainted with the smell of burning flesh.

He tightened his hold upon Mercy and held a hand up to his mouth. “Here?”

“Yes.”

Her voice was the deep rumble of a volcano. It was the eruption of magma and the deafening roar that came after. He understood now that he had to let her go. Otherwise, he wasn’t certain he would come out alive.

Jasper heard her raspy exhale of a breath as she stopped breathing entirely. He squinted into the light burning the back of his eyes. He couldn’t stop watching her. Everything that burned around her seemed to bend to her will.

She lifted an arm and pushed back the heat. Some of the flames died instantly, while others leapt to the next fuel source as though carried on a gust of wind. From where they stood in the inferno, he was unable to see if anyone had survived.

“Mercy!” he shouted. “Do you see anyone?”

“Yes.”

“Who is it?”

“Him.” Her growled response was barely audible over the crackling flames. But he knew who she meant.

He charged forward. “Mercy, no.”

But he should have known she would not be commanded. She lifted her hands above her head and let out a war cry that would have put a Harpy to shame. And when the echoes of her screams died down, the flames parted to reveal a man they both hated.

Malachi.

He stood in the center of the camp, where Mercy and Jasper had danced only hours ago. The long tail of his braid was a silhouette against red fire. Jasper recognized the expression on his face as one of sheer glee. Malachi began to laugh when he saw Mercy striding towards him. Her, the tall Amazon with power and anger on her side. And him, the cold, cold man who underestimated the rage barreling towards him.

Jasper followed on her heels, hoping he could prevent whatever was about to occur. He believed in her. She was stronger than anyone he had ever met before. Still, this battle would not end well for anyone.

“Ah ah.” Malachi wagged a finger. “Careful. You wouldn’t want to lose anything important, now would you?”

He lifted a gloved hand, from which a dark shape dangled. Mercy’s sharp inhalation confirmed Jasper’s fear; it was Ignes. Of course it was. Malachi had no qualms in using loved ones as leverage

“Let him go.” Flames snaked around Mercy’s wrists.

“I don’t think I will. Not until you listen to me.”

“You have nothing to say.”

“I do, and you have little choice.” Malachi’s hand curled harder around Ignes until Jasper could hear a soft shriek of pain. “Now, little Phoenix, you are very powerful. But I need to whisper something in your ear.”

Jasper stepped forward. He even dared to put a hand against Mercy’s shoulder.

“Don’t,” he warned her. “You cannot trust him.”

Malachi laughed.