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

Jasper knew that look. He recognized the tone of her voice. He pressed his remaining darts into her hand and stepped backwards. The others followed him as soon as they caught wind of her mood.

Lyra took in a deep breath and slid the darts between each of her fingers. “Go back to your bastard maker,” she muttered.

The darts flew out of her fingers. Her arms were a blur as she tossed each deadly weapon towards the creatures with a precision that whispered of dangerous knowledge. She struck her targets as they all burst in succession. The battle ended in a matter of seconds.

Silence made her ears ring. She didn’t have episodes such as this all the time, but when she did, Lyra was always embarrassed. Fighting was not a natural ability for one such as her. It was unnatural for a Siren to be so good at causing pain. She refused to answer questions on where she had learned these talents.

“You couldn’t have done that a lot earlier?” Burke growled.

“It wouldn’t be fun if I didn’t let you get a few hits in,” Lyra responded. “Gotta save that sensitive masculinity. Eh?”

Truth was, she couldn’t have. Lyra had to get blackout angry for precision like that. Brainwashing and training through pain had given her abilities only when she had tunnel vision.

He grumbled in response as he turned to Wren and started to pat her down. Did he think she had been harmed? Out of all of them, she was the only one who knew enough to get herself out of this situation. Wren shared the knowledge of thousands. Lyra was walking into this blind. She was lucky if she even figured out how to kill things these days.

She watched as his hands lingered upon the high angles of Wren’s cheeks. Wren turned into his gentle touch with a smile as she reassured him that she was fine. She didn’t need his saving but appreciated his concern nonetheless.

Lyra’s heart clenched.

“You okay?”

The deep voice eased a little bit of the ache inside her. Jasper had always been her savior. Had always been her rock. It was only too bad that he was also the closest thing to a brother she would ever have.

“Yeah,” she replied.

“You don’t look it.”

“Do I ever?”

He arched an eyebrow and crossed his arms firmly over his chest. “Yes, in fact you do sometimes look like you are all right. What’s got your panties in a twist?”

“It’s nothing.” She turned away from Burke and Wren. “Are we done?”

“We have to clean up first,” Burke responded. Obviously he wasn’t as wrapped up in Wren as Lyra had thought.

Jasper eyed her carefully before shaking his head. “Not her.”

“Somehow I thought I was the leader of this group.”

“You are,” Jasper added begrudgingly.

“And yet none of you ever listen to me,” Burke grumbled.

“‘Cause you have bad ideas, boss.” Jasper grinned at him and slid an arm over Lyra’s shoulders. She hadn’t realized she had been shaking until she felt the vibration of him against her. Jasper didn’t shake; he never had in his entire life. That meant it was her.

“Home,” she whispered. Jasper would hear her; she knew he would.

It took only a few seconds for Jasper to disappear from the blood covered house and appear back to their home. Haven. The strange place that had been created by the Five to house all of those who were loyal to them.

As Lyra was touching the teleporting Fairy, she disappeared along with him. She kept her eyes open wide as she solidified herself in the space. Her apartment suite had always been a safe place. Warm blue walls and bright lights banished the dark images from her mind.

She blinked. Every time her eyes closed, all she could see was the sight of the woman stretched out on the floor. Nightmares would likely come along with these terrible memories.

“Now, what’s the real problem?” Jasper asked as he stepped away from her. Those blasted arms crossed over his barrel chest again.

“Seriously? You’re worse than a mother.”

Lyra flicked an imaginary piece of dust off of her shoulder and turned towards her bathroom. The apartment was pristine and meticulously clean. Every corner was spotless so that the white, black, and blue color scheme could be easily appreciated. The white leather furniture looked as though they were hardly sat upon. The granite countertop of her kitchen sparkled as the light hit it.

Lyra might not be in her rich family anymore, but she wasn’t going to live in squalor. She had a standard of living that had to be met. Not to mention, she frequently battled with bouts of OCD, which compelled her to clean.

“You can’t hide from me in the bathroom.”

“Yes I can!” she called out. “Unless you want an eyeful of blood covered Siren that is.”

Tossing a sassy look over her shoulder, she slammed the bathroom door in his face. Jasper had asked a long time ago to live with her. She always refused. The last thing she wanted was for him to be hovering over her anymore than he already did.

Sighing, she stripped the dirty clothes from her body. Her shoulders ached. Her thighs quivered. Was she getting old?

She stopped in front of the mirror to check. Her skin was still perfectly smooth with no wrinkles marring her face. Pink bowtie lips curled into a seductive smile as she made certain that her breasts were still perky, her butt was still curved, and her legs still looked fairly long despite her height.

The smile from her face fell, and exhaustion took its place. Sure, she was still just as beautiful as any Siren should be. But that didn’t change the haunting image of the woman on the floor.

Her reflection in the mirror appeared to shudder. As though a small droplet of water had hit its surface, it rippled until it slowly stilled again. Her reflection appeared the same, but she leaned in just to be sure.

Lyra twisted her face into different expressions, watching for even the slightest