Blue Blood (Series of Blood Book 3) by Emma Hamm (books to read this summer .txt) 📕

“What?”

Jasper couldn’t explain it, but his gut said that his friends shouldn’t be going at all. This was something he had to do on his own. “I don’t know how to explain it.”

“You should listen to yourself more often. That gut reaction is more of a true emotion than what your Fairy is telling you.”

“The Crone said to control her or I would hold a monster on a leash,” he told Lyra. “I don’t have control over her.”

Of all his friends, Lyra was the most likely to believe him. She believed in intuition, even when it wasn’t supported by evidence. More than that, she believed that the Maiden, Mother, and Crone were powerful creatures. Their warning would mean something to her.

He was right.

Lyra lifted her hand to press it against the base of her spine where he knew glass globes were fitted. Each globe was filled with some kind of battle magic. “So she’s going to be out of control?”

“The Hag warned me again about the same thing, when we were at the campsite.”

“Shit.”

“Yeah. Shit.”

A muscle in Lyra’s jaw ticked. “Is it even worth bringing weapons?”

“I think you and Wolfgang are going to be our best weapon. Magic is the only thing that’s going to stop her.”

“Wolfgang isn’t certain how his magic will react to hers.”

“Then we should just go.”

Lyra nodded. Her gaze lost focus as her head tilted back slightly. Moments later, the others returned to the kitchen. Wolfgang, with a furious look upon his face, led the pack. He reached Lyra just as her eyes cleared and wrapped an arm around her waist.

“Don’t talk to me like that,” he angrily growled. His tattooed hand reached up to frame her jaw. “When I tell you that you’re going to be safe, then you respond with ‘yes sir’.”

“You know I won’t.” Lyra grasped Wolfgang’s wrist, and his skin turned bloodless beneath her strong grip. “We might need the Lich for this one.”

“Hold back the dead guy for a while,” Jasper said. “Just…let me see what’s going on first.”

“Then let’s teleport.”

Jasper held out his arms for them. He wanted to say something grand. Something about how he appreciated them for risking their lives. How they were good friends and he missed them in the time he was gone. He should have at least cracked a joke like he would have before all this had happened.

But he didn’t. Instead, he let the heat of their hands sink into his skin and calm his soul. Then he reached into his memory for the image of the statue at the center of the city and focused on it.

They materialized in the exact location Jasper had planned; behind the statue, looking out on the square. It was filled with more people than he had expected. A teeming crowd full of dark and unnatural creatures loomed before them. He could feel the power that vibrated from their beings deep within his bones.

The large statue that hid them from view had once been a soldier seated upon a horse. Now it was missing a head and limbs. Vandalism had always plagued this section of New York. Now it was worse than it had ever been.

Red Bloods disappearing had made those who were against their existence rowdy. More people had started flocking to Malachi’s cause, easily seen by how many people had come to his call.

Burke peered around the corner of the statue, cursing as he ducked back into cover. “There’s a lot of them.”

“We can take ‘em,” Lyra said, palming a knife.

“No, we can’t,” Burke corrected. “I don’t want to leave this place with anyone on this team dead. There has to be another way.”

“We have time,” Jasper told them. “Malachi hasn’t started speaking yet.”

“Is he even here?” Wren asked. They heard a thunderous boom from the crowd. Wren’s eyes flipped back in her head, and E answered her question aloud so all the others could hear as well. “Now he’s here.”

A platform appeared in the square. Thankfully, it wasn’t far from them. Rickety wood creaked as Malachi and his men began to walk upon it.

Jasper leaned to peer around the edge of the stone and felt the blood in his veins turn to ice. The back of the stage held a familiar tall pillar of wood stretched towards the darkening sky.

It looked as though they were about to burn a Witch.

A small hand pressed against Jasper’s spine. He knew that touch. Lyra smoothed her palm against his back in an attempt to ground him. “I don’t see her.”

“She’ll be here.”

“Are you so sure?”

“Absolutely,” he growled. “There’s a reason he called everyone here.”

“It could be unrelated.”

“Not with a stake. He’s making a point, or a scene, or something else that I cannot comprehend. She cannot die by fire. So what is he up to?”

Jasper barely registered the movement behind him as Lyra backed away and someone else took her place. Blue light glowed at the edges of his vision.

“Let’s see what they are thinking, shall we?” Wolfgang’s hand reached forward. Jasper’s gaze fell on Wolfgang’s thumb, from which the tattoo of an eye stared back at him. As he watched, the eye began to bleed. Red droplets of blood, so rare these days, looked like tears as they fell to the ground.

“Wolfgang,” Lyra interrupted, “Malachi’s mind is too well-guarded. Even Wren couldn’t get into it.”

“I’m not peeking around in his head. I’ve been there, and I didn’t particularly like it.” The tattooed eye blinked. “But that Golem is well within my reach.”

Mist formed around them. At Wolfgang’s subtle nod, it rolled towards the podium and the creatures upon it. No one seemed to notice the unnatural weather event. But the white mist swirled around the Golem, crept up his back, and poured into his ears.

Jasper turned to look at Wolfgang, whose eyes had closed and were twitching underneath the lids. Lyra reached out to place her palm upon her lover’s hand. Her thumb began to bleed.

“You feed his power?”