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

to be that delicate. Except, Lyra was finding she did need people.

Perhaps she was more human than she thought.

Wren was seated in Burke’s lap next to the fire. Her direct gaze suggested she may already know what Lyra was about to tell them. E was never very good at keeping things secret in its own head. She wasn’t surprised that Wren knew more than the others.

Jasper was staring at her as though he knew something was up. In a way, she was certain he did. Lyra had been disappearing every night and coming home just before the sun rose. She was avoiding him, which certainly followed her trend of behavior when she was doing something she knew he wouldn’t approve of.

Even the Five were all staring at her as though they were expecting a story to be told. It was harder with them in the room. They were the parental figures of this group. To disappoint them would be a terrible thing.

She cleared her throat. “So. Do you want the bad news or the very bad news first?”

Silence met her question. They were obviously not expecting her to lead with that.

“Why don’t we ease into it?” Wren said quietly. “Start with the bad news.”

“Okay, I found the Graverobber.”

“Isn’t that good news?” Jasper asked.

“I found the Graverobber about a month ago.”

Crickets could not have chirped louder than the silence that rung in her ears. There were even a few dropped jaws from the people seated around her. Then the cacophony of angry shouts began.

“Why didn’t you tell us?”

“Why would you keep that secret?”

“What did you think that would accomplish?”

She let them have their moment. She would have wanted to yell too if one of them had done something like this to her. They deserved a few moments of anger before they realized how deeply she had dug herself into a hole.

As they quieted down with the expectation she would explain herself, Aether stirred from her corner in the back. Her fingers were drumming against the arm of her chair as she could so rarely stay still.

Aether was not the only one of the Five who was capable of reading minds. But she was incredibly good at it and always knew what others were thinking. Lyra wasn’t surprised at all that Aether had immediately jumped into the shallow depths of the Siren’s head.

“I’m beginning to notice a pattern here,” Aether murmured.

“What? In my behavior?” Lyra nodded. “Irresponsible and selfish has always been my thing.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” The deep voice that muttered the words felt like a knife to her heart. She had known this would hurt Jasper the most. They had shared every secret throughout all of their lives.

Except this one.

“I’m sorry. I should have told you right away,” she tried to begin gently.

“Yes, you should have.”

She hated the hurt expression on his face. She hated even more that she was the one who had put it there. “Jasper…”

“She’s falling in love with him.” Aether’s voice interrupted them.

Instantly, Lyra shook her head. “No, no I can’t be in love with him.”

“And yet you are.”

“No, I—”

Then the words truly sunk into her head. She was a Siren. She didn’t know how to love, nor had she ever wanted to understand the emotion. Yet, every time she thought of Wolfgang, a painful heat spread in her chest.

It wasn’t the way he looked. Nor the way he treated her; he had a lot to learn in that department. The heat was caused by the memory of grace his hands held when he was practicing magic. The expression of wonder on his face that mirrored hers whenever she found pleasure in what he had created. And even more than that, it was his desperate desire to make her happy.

He didn’t want her around to make himself happy. Lyra wasn’t even certain he understood what real happiness was. He wanted her to be happy so that he could find that emotion himself.

What a twisted relationship they had. He was incapable of being happy, and she needed to have someone constantly feeding her compliments. This couldn’t work. Like a bonfire, they would blaze bright and hot but die by morning.

She tried to not notice the way Jasper’s face had turned white. She didn’t want to think about the implications that might mean. He was her brother. She did not need him to be anything more than that.

Wren scooted off of Burke’s lap to kneel beside Lyra’s chair. She pressed her hand gently against her arm and squeezed. “If you’re in love with him, that is good. You can bring him here.”

“He won’t come here.”

“Why not?”

“I think you know. For the same reason E didn’t want you to come here.” Lyra stared down at her palms.

Wren arched a delicate eyebrow. “He doesn’t trust the Five’s intentions?”

“Yes. No, maybe it’s not that at all.” She quirked a shoulder. “It could be simply because he doesn’t want to. He’s a very unusual man.”

“If he’s managed to capture your eye, I can only imagine.”

Lyra knew what that meant. They had seen the men she brought back with her after missions. They were model perfect males with sculpted features and perfect hair. She took them to her bed to feel better about herself and then disposed of them later. There was no guilt involved.

But none of them had ever given a part of their soul to her. None of them had whispered dangerous words against her skin. And certainly none of them were quite as addictive as Wolfgang.

Gaia coughed to get the room’s attention. “If the bad news is that you are having difficulty bringing in the Graverobber, then I have high hopes the very bad news is not as awful as you think.”

This was the hard part. She didn’t want to tell them this. Especially since as soon as the thought crossed her mind, Aether’s forehead creased in worry.

“I have been lying to you all for a very long time.”

Lyra couldn’t look at Jasper. He had leaned back in his