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

in front of him. The blue tinge of his power slowly disappeared as he bowed. Lyra couldn’t help but think that he may have been mocking them.

Gaia raised a hand to wave at him. “Welcome, Graverobber.”

“The pleasure is all mine.”

“You have been avoiding us.”

“With good reason.”

The words rewarded him with an arched brow from the leader of the Five. “Care to embellish?”

“No.”

Aether stood from her chair to stand behind Gaia. “You are guarded very well.”

Wolfgang nodded. They would not have been able to see the nod if were not for the way the robe had shifted with him.

“Gaia,” Aether said. “I cannot read him.”

“Surely you can.”

“I cannot read him at all. It is as though he has no thoughts.”

Wolfgang snorted. “I can assure you, I have plenty of thoughts. Perhaps I do not wish you to hear them.”

Both sisters were clearly taken aback by his words. Gaia in particular bristled at his tone. “What are you?”

“Surprises are considerably more fun.”

“You will reveal yourself now, or we will find out through other means.”

“I would like to see you try.” Wolfgang’s angry tone prompted Lyra to reach for him again. She squeezed hard against his arm. A battle against all of the Five was not going to end well for any of them. Even Wolfgang may not be strong enough to put them in their place.

“I’m bored with all the blustering,” Lyra said. “Can’t we all just sit down and get along? I’ll even break out the playing cards.”

The joke landed flat. Everyone in the room was far too tense to listen to Lyra’s usual prattling. At least, they were until Wolfgang lightly chuckled.

He tilted to look down at her. “You know I prefer my own cards.”

He spoke of his dangerous tarot cards that spoke far more truth than lies. She wasn’t certain how to feel about those things. He had only shown them to her once and had predicted her entire day for her. She would be happy never seeing them again.

Wolfgang sighed and pulled his arm out of her grasp. He raised his arms towards the hood but paused when she made a soft sound.

“Are you sure?” she couldn’t help but ask.

“Would you be ashamed?”

“Of course not. I don’t mind the way you are. I just don’t want you to lose your privacy.”

She could see a slight flash of white teeth underneath the darkness of his hood.

“Oh, Lyra. I do it all for you, Love.”

She swallowed hard at his words. Of course he would call her that. He had heard more of the conversation than she had thought. She’d need to thank Aether for helping her take this important step with him. At least now she didn’t have to be the one to say it.

His hands reached once more. The sleeves fell down to reveal the painfully thin fingers that were webbed with scars. Even the pads of his fingers were marred and misshapen by blood magic. He delicately pinched the edges of his hood and pulled it back.

Somehow, he was far more grotesque in this lighting than he had been in his home. Or perhaps it was seeing him in this place where he was not at home. The scars stretching across his face stood out in stark relief against his chalk white skin. One of his eyes was painfully stretched to the side because of a scar, which was an angry red.

The black band around his throat was hardly the most startling thing about him. There were too many details upon his skin to stare at. He was not a man at all, she realized. He was a patchwork quilt of pain and magic.

And he was hers. She had never been more proud than in this moment. He stood before them without flinching and revealed everything that he despised about himself. Wolfgang was stronger than any man she had ever met before.

“This is the guy you want to end up with?” Jasper’s harsh words dug at her heart. “Really?”

She didn’t have words for that. Lyra knew that whatever she managed to say would be angry and hurtful. Instead, she kept her eyes upon Wolfgang and did not flinch. She refused for him to think she did not consider him to be worthy of her affections.

As foolish and selfish as it sounded, next to him she appeared all the more beautiful. He was strong. He was kind. He was everything she was not. He did not need beauty to shield himself from the world as she did. He gave her that shield simply by being himself.

Wolfgang gifted her with a small smile before turning his mismatched gaze towards the others. “I am a Magician.”

Gaia immediately shook her head. “All Magicians were wiped from this earth many years ago. You will not fool me that easily.”

“Magic has a way of finding its own path. No matter what you tell it to do.”

“Prove it.”

It was then that he reached for Lyra’s hand. His ugly fingers that appeared so brittle clutched her own with surprising strength. He squeezed her only once before he whispered the smallest word.

The spell was not one she recognized. Everyone seemed to be holding their breath for some grand show of magic. They waited. Seconds and then minutes passed while Wolfgang remained with a smug smile upon his face.

“Well?” Gaia asked him.

“Ah, my apologies,” Wolfgang replied. “Perhaps your eyes are not as keen as I thought.”

He lifted his and Lyra’s hands and tilted until her hand was turned palm up. Gently he pried his fingers from hers and slowly lifted their hands apart. As his rose, Lyra could see bright petals of ruby red.

Farther and farther his hand moved from hers, until she had a long stem of a blood red rose growing out of the center of her palm. Upon its delicate leaves a single drop of water was held suspended in time. It was beautiful.

“Oh, Wolfgang.”

“Don’t touch,” he scolded as she lifted her other hand. “It’s not done yet.”

The bud continued to bloom until the petals