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

They got to work strapping on as many weapons as their bodies could carry. Throwing knives, guns, swords, magical orbs, everything that they might need in every possible situation.

Burke yanked hard on the last strapping that held a curved blade against his thigh and looked at the other two. Lyra was just finishing tying a bag of cursed objects onto Jasper before the two of them gave him the thumbs up.

“You ready?” he asked them.

“To die?”

“Not today.”

Burke rolled his eyes as the two of them spoke over each other.

“You two are ridiculous you know that right?”

“Yes.” Again, together they spoke as one.

He held out the amulets towards them. They hung low over their clothing and close to their heart. They had forgone armor in hopes that it would make them faster. Burke hoped that they managed to complete this mission.

“Jasper?”

“Yeah I know. Teleport. Get to the right place. Get the girl. Teleport. What would you do without me?”

“I suspect we’d be losing the war.”

That seemed to cheer the big man up. Lyra grabbed one of his shoulders and Burke grabbed the other. Blinking, they disappeared from existence and reappeared in another place entirely.

Snow drifted around them as the wind instantly buried them in a snowstorm.

“I hate the cold!” Lyra shouted into the wind.

“Where are we?” Burke shouted back.

He could see her fumbling with something attached to her arm before Jasper moved in front of her to create a shield against the snow. Lyra looked down once more at what Burke could now see as a map and froze. She groaned and shook her head.

“Not very close boys. Amulets were only good for one jump.”

“What? What use are they!”

“Magic doesn’t react well to other types of magic, Burke! I can’t control that!”

“Useless!”

Jasper grabbed onto his arm and growled at both of them. “We’re going in hot then.”

“So much for them not knowing?” Lyra’s feral grin was enough to make adrenaline run through Burke’s veins. He knew what that grin meant. She was incredibly brutal when she fought. He had never seen anything like her in a battle.

“New plan.” Burke managed to grit out through chattering teeth. “Kill as many of them as possible.”

Jasper teleported all of them once more.

Wren moaned. There was something dripping down her lip, but she didn’t know what it was. She couldn’t reach it, and she couldn’t open her mouth to lick it away. Everything hurt. Not only physically but also mentally. It felt as though someone had reached into her brain and stirred everything around.

“I’m so sorry, sweetie.”

A gentle hand wiped away the liquid on her lip. Blood. She realized as she managed to swallow. The copper taste made her stomach want to rebel.

Her swollen eyes opened to look at the man in front of her. He was dabbing at her sweat covered face as though he cared. Maybe he did?

“Who are you?” she rasped.

“Malachi.”

“Do I know you?”

“Yes.”

He replaced the towel in his hand with a glass of water. She opened her mouth automatically, not knowing why she thought she had to. Deep gulps of water managed to clear her mind only slightly.

The room around her seemed warped. The walls weren’t right. They were moving, or maybe shimmering. In some way it all seemed different and strange. Not real.

“Am I in the hospital?”

“Yes.”

The odd walls wavered and suddenly she was in a white room. White walls, white floors, white curtains that blew in a wind she could not feel. She was reclining on a bed that didn’t feel comfortable but looked comfortable. A pillow she could not see was pressed against her back. Or maybe it wasn’t a pillow; it felt as though rocks were underneath her legs.

She tried to raise her arms to rub her eyes but couldn’t.

“My arms…” Wren craned her neck to try and see why she couldn’t lift them. For a moment, it looked as though there were chains holding her down. Her heart sped up until the chains dissolved before her eyes, and she was held down by padded straps.

“You’ve been in an accident, dear.”

She looked up at the man in front of her. He was so handsome. So kind looking. The smile on his face didn’t seem natural though. Just like the rest of the room around her.

“What happened?”

“I don’t think you’re ready to hear that yet.” He settled himself down on the bed beside her. “How are you feeling?”

“I don’t know.” She licked her lips. “I feel… wrong.”

“That’s natural. You’ve had quite the head wound.” He reached out to brush a hand against her cheek. “You’ll be better soon.”

“Are you my doctor?”

“Not qualified to be a doctor, no.” He chuckled.

“Then who are you?”

“Just someone who requires you to get better.”

He looked as though he was going to say more, but his head cocked to the side. Wren thought she could see another person standing in the corner. A rippled shape that looked there but not at the same time. He was looking at it too.

“Do you see-?” She pointed to where the shadow was.

His head snapped around to look at her before looking at the shadow again. It disappeared instantly.

“Do I see what?”

“I-” She didn’t know what to say. “I don’t-”

“Shh.” He pressed a finger against her lips. “Don’t strain your mind. This is natural. Just relax. I’ll be back soon, you should rest.”

“I should rest,” she repeated as she leaned back on the bed.

He left the room, and she tried to remember what was happening. Every time she tried to remember anything her mind seemed to stretch too thin. She was trying to think too hard, and Wren was frightened that everything felt so incredibly fragile all of a sudden. Her body, her mind, everything felt as though she was going to break.

Shatter like glass.

Glass.

She remembered glass. She remembered the sound of breaking glass as her heart contracted, because someone had died. Something had died.

Pain nearly split her head in two. She gasped and writhed on the bed. She couldn’t hold her head. She needed to hold her