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

she knew that it was many, she could feel every mind inside her. They were constantly swirling and moving. Not because they wanted control over her body, but because they wanted to be close to her. They liked her. They wanted to touch her mind to feel what she felt like. To welcome her into the mind that was now both hers and not. They had never been given this chance before.

She could hardly think as so many emotions flitted across her mind. But she also knew that she was safe for the time being. There was so much love inside of E, and all of it was for her.

Malachi stroked the delicate glass neck of his goblet. The wine swirled as dark as blood while he tilted his hand back and forth. A low murmur grumbled from his throat.

While he was thinking, Wren had time to observe him. Her eyes traced over his form. He truly was a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

He was strong in a manicured sort of way. Every muscle that flexed on his throat when he swallowed moved because he had willed it to be. His biceps were perfectly formed, as were the pectoral muscles she could see through his tight shirt. His slanted eyes were mysterious enough for her to wonder what combinations of race had created such a beautiful man.

The dark hair that was tamed in a braid didn’t dare to have a strand out of place. The darkness accentuated the alabaster tone of his skin and high cheekbones. No shadow darkened the line of his jaw, suggesting, perhaps, that he did not have facial hair at all.

Wren’s eyes trailed down to the V of his shirt. No hair on his chest either, or at least that she could see. He was beauty carved out of marble that glowed in the firelight.

In other words, he was dangerous.

“Have you looked your fill?”

Her eyes flicked to his dark gaze, which was now staring at her. “Might as well get a good look at the man who’s going to kill me.”

“Oh, I’m not going to kill you.”

“You’ve already killed part of me.”

He scoffed. “Now Legion is part of you? Your tune changes so quickly, human.”

“E has always been part of me.”

“Right.” He sat up. “Then this shouldn’t be a surprise when I say I’d like to talk to a part of Legion.”

“You can talk through me,” Wren said defiantly. She wasn’t going to allow him to kill yet another bit of Legion. The first death had been hard enough.

“Oh no, I’m not going to talk through you.” He stared down at his nails for a moment before spearing her with a direct gaze. “I can pull it out of you or you can step aside for a little while. The choice to feel pain or not is yours, Wren.”

She hesitated. The pain of losing one of her parts was so vivid in her mind. She would do anything to protect E from losing another bit of itself, but there was no choice. She was going to feel pain whether she took his offering or not.

The murmuring in her head grew louder as each soul inside of E started to talk all at once. Wren squinted her eyes and shook her head as her vision grew foggy. One voice eventually spoke louder than the rest, and it was a voice she recognized. Strong and masculine, it was the voice who had always protected her when she was frightened.

“Let him make a request of us, Wren.”

“I don’t want you to get hurt,” she whispered.

“And I don’t want you harmed. Step aside, Wren. Allow us to deal with this creature.”

Malachi was watching her with a critical eye. He knew she was speaking to E, just as he knew that he had won. Wren could see the glint of triumph in his eye as she let out a small sigh.

Letting the others that were in E’s mind take over was so incredibly simple. It was easy to melt into the crowd that was her mind and rest for a few moments. Her soul glided back into the mass of shadowed forms that enveloped her within their arms.

“What is it that you want, Malachi.” The voice that came out of her throat vibrated as more than one creature spoke at the same time.

A grin spread across his sculpted features. “There’s the power I was looking for.”

“If you wish to speak, then speak.”

“I just want a moment to enjoy you.”

“How quaint.”

Malachi reclined in his chair as his eyes took in the sight before him. “Your eyes are white. Not blue or black or gold.”

“Fantastic observation.”

“You’re different, just like me.”

“Not like you.” E’s voice seemed to deepen far more than should have been physically possible.

“No perhaps not like me.” Malachi sipped his wine. “But in a way, we’re very similar.”

“Get it over with, Malachi.”

“You insist upon rushing me, and yet I have never listened to your kind before.”

“What do you want?”

Even Malachi understood that he was walking a fine line. He stood then and sauntered in front of Wren. His clothing creased perfectly as he knelt down in front of her.

“What do you know of me, Legion?”

“Enough to consider you dangerous.” The reply was murmured as Wren’s body leaned further away from him into the plush chair.

Malachi reached forward to grab a ringlet of her hair that had fallen in front of her face. His fingers were longer than she had expected. Lean and strong, they held no calluses or scars that would have labeled him a working man. Wren was not surprised nor were the others inside her head.

The minds that controlled her body seemed to pull back from his hand. Malachi chuckled at her flinch.

“You do not like me touching you.”

“I don’t think many would.” Wren’s voice sounded aged as a far older woman spoke with her tongue.

One of Malachi’s eyebrows raised. “So you know that I am dangerous. What else?”

“You are a Void. A swallower of souls and magic.”

He nodded.

“I know