Black Blood (Series of Blood Book 4) by Emma Hamm (scary books to read .TXT) 📕

me!” She whipped her head down, staring at him with lightning eyes. “He hid from me!”

The house rocked with the force of her rage. A stone shingle slid from the ceiling, crashing to the floor. Pitch ducked to dodge the sharp pieces as they ricocheted off the walls.

He almost lost his balance as the floor warped. The earth itself was shifting, rolling, rumbling as her anger awoke the ancient veins.

“Lydia!” he shouted. “Lydia stop! We will stop them!”

The air fell still and silent. Her ragged breath sawed through the air which pressed against him with the heavy weight of a tomb. “We will?”

“That’s what we were created for. We’ll figure something out, but first, we need to save Mercy.”

She exhaled. “I can do that.”

“You need to gather your strength. You can’t push yourself so hard, you’ll burn out.”

“I have to do this.”

He furrowed his brows. “Why? We cannot save the world if you end up killing yourself.”

“I’m connected to all of them.” Her voice rang with the power of an avalanche and the gentleness of the first falling snow. “It’s my fault, everything which has happened to them. It was my choice to lock her up. It was my choice to manipulate who Jasper became. I was the reason why Wren was tortured by Malachi. The wheel keeps spinning and I keep hurting them, Pitch.”

If anyone else could understand that feeling, it was him. Pitch had hurt his home original dimension so badly they fled to a new world.

He ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. “Okay. Okay, fine. What do you need me to do?”

“Watch over my body?”

“I can do that.”

“If I have a seizure or…” she hesitated. “Or if I look like I’m going to die, pull me out.”

“What will that do to you if I rip you out of the web of time?”

“I don’t know. Can you do it though?”

“I can.”

“Then I’d rather not have my body die and be stuck wandering the webs forever.”

This was the most dangerous thing they had ever done. He rushed to her, yanking her into his arms and plundering her lips. There was no chance he would forget her taste, the scent of her skin, the feeling of her comforting weight in his arms. This might be their last moment together, and he refused to waste it.

She fisted his shirt in her hands. “I love you.”

“And I you.”

“I’m sorry this isn’t what you wanted, that we aren’t what you wanted. I’ve tried so hard to make this right, but there’s just so much-”

He pressed his hand to her mouth. “Stop worrying about us on top of everything else. Let me worry about us.”

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

She nodded again and tucked her head underneath his chin. Her body relaxed, sinking into a deep dream-like state which she might not return from.

Pitch sank to the floor and cradled her. He wouldn’t let anything harm her.

Chapter 17

Her mind wandered through the threads. She shifted and twirled, distracted by all the glowing bits and pieces of history. The past and future were mysteries. Their haunting calls sang of midnight trysts and secrets untold. They wanted her to play with them, to see what they hid.

The white magic surrounding her pulsed, fighting away Time with light and raw power. There was no time to waste on new knowledge. She needed to find the Present, something she found difficult on a good day.

Lydia could feel her body growing more and more distant. She hadn’t been entirely honest with Pitch. Her limbs were always cold, her stomach unsettled, and her heart beat in irregular rhythms.

She was dying. Sil’s magic, Lydia’s own magic now, was burning her from the inside out. The world didn’t need saving less just because she was unwell, and Lydia was reluctant to pause. They were close, she could feel it. Although the visions still evaded her, she knew this deep in her soul.

Her toes curled as she stepped onto the battlefield near the statue where Jasper hid. All the possible endings flashed in her mind, filing away like books sliding onto a shelf. She knew the right choices to make, the way she wanted it to end, and how to guide it there.

That didn’t mean it would be easy.

Jasper pressed his spine against the stone statue, covering his head as shards of rock flew past him. Mercy stood on a platform with Phoenix wings stretched out behind her. The city would fall.

Lydia could not save it, or the people who lived there.

The heart in her body thumped and struck out against her ribs. It wanted to fly. It wanted to still, to find the peace it so desired. She would not die today.

“Jasper,” she called. Lydia pressed her hands against his shoulders, letting the white light of her power bathe him. Its cool touch could calm and heal. “Jasper, can you hear me?”

“Who are you?”

Tears blurred her vision. This was the first time he had ever spoken directly to her. The joy she felt was almost painful. He did not see her, could not know who was touching him, but he still spoke to her.

She smiled and the armor of her magic grew stronger. “I am your shield. Go to her, and I will hold the magic at bay.”

Jasper searched for her, his eyes lingering in the shadows, and stood. He could not feel her, Lydia was certain of that. But she still reached out and slipped her hand made of light into his.

Fire slashed and brimstone boiled at their feet. Lydia turned to the Phoenix with determination, her magic pushing back at the fire. She would be Jasper’s shelter, his protector, his steadfast companion because he needed her.

“I’ll get us there,” she whispered to herself as she poured all her magic into keeping him safe. “I will do this for you, Jasper. You’re going to live.”

She wished she could say the same for herself.

Step by step, they made their way to the podium. Lydia took each step as he did. She pushed at the