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

“It’s not an adventure,” he growled before leaning down to yank her foot towards him. He was so forceful that he nearly tossed her into the water with the creatures that were clearly waiting for her flesh.

“That’s not yours.” She yanked her foot back, but he held onto her ankle.

“I know it’s not mine. I’m trying to stop you from dying.”

“I’m not going to die. It’s just a foot!”

Burke almost left the dream then. He was frustrated and angry with the woman before him who looked as though her hair was alive. She didn’t seem to understand how the Dream World worked, or she didn’t care. He needed to bring her back to the Five and had the oddest feeling that if he didn’t take care of her she would be out of his reach forever.

And he was running out of time.

“You won’t if I can help it.”

“Let go of my foot.” She was pulling hard enough that he was having trouble holding onto her. Burke suddenly wished he was in his own body, which was much larger than this one.

“Would you just stay still for a moment so I can look at it?”

“You don’t understand, I have to stay here and finish.”

“That doesn’t mean I can’t help you.”

“Stop touching me!”

He pulled her firmly towards him so that he could get a hold of her leg as well as her ankle. He saw a small flash of fear in her eyes and remembered with perfect clarity that he was not in the real world. Just the smallest of nudges and he could be putting both of them into a nightmare.

He would have let go in that instant if the strangest thing hadn’t happened to her. In one moment, he was staring into her turbulent gray eyes, and in the next, they rolled back into her head. He could only see the backs of her eyes as a pure white marble.

Burke was certain she was having a stroke. He had never seen anyone have a stroke in a dream, but there it was. She was having a stroke, and there was nothing he could do to stop it, because it was her dream.

Except her eyes were slightly moving as they tracked his movements, and she was perfectly still. She spoke then, and the voice that came out of her mouth was not hers.

“Let go of her, boy.” The voice was impossibly deep and made the skin on his borrowed form tingle as power raced along his arms. The hair on the back of his neck stood up straight as he realized he was talking directly to the insanity inside her.

He dropped her foot.

Wren pulled back until she was seated more properly. Her legs were spread wider in the way that a man might sit, and her shoulders were further back. A cigarette materialized in her hand, and she took a long drag. When she exhaled, the smoke was bright blue.

“Don’t tell Wren.”

“What?”

“Don’t tell Wren that we smoke.” She exhaled again. “Wren doesn’t like smoking at all, but I certainly do.”

“Ah.”

The power of that insanity made it very difficult for Burke to focus. It was an electricity that was constantly moving over him. This was entirely different than sitting before the odd and unusual woman.

“Who are you?” the deeper voice asked.

“You don’t need to know that.”

Suddenly, Burke realized that the dream had turned on him. He was the one that had stepped into a nightmare, yet the environment around them remained unchanged. It was beautifully calm in the meadow and deadly underneath the still waters of the pond.

“Oh but I do. Anyone that frightens my girl needs to make themselves known.”

“I’m far more interested in knowing who you are.”

She blew out a swirl of blue smoke that was steadily changing purple. “You’re not going to find that out. If I’m not telling Wren who I am, I sure as hell am not telling you.”

“I believe I was sent to find you,” Burke said as he moved a little bit away from the creature that inhabited Wren’s body. He remembered all too well the constantly moving mass of insanity that was inside of her head.

“Who would send you to find me?” Wren tipped her head back and started blowing smoke rings at the sky, which was significantly less blue. Burke knew that the creature’s relaxed position was anything but relaxed. A creature like this would never let its guard down.

“The Five.”

All movement in the woman’s body stopped. Slowly, her head turned towards him and those unnatural white eyes did not blink. “The Five?”

A curl of red smoke drifted out of her nose like blood.

“They believe you can help us.”

“Let me give you fair warning, boy.” Wren rolled her shoulders. “The Five are not welcome near Wren. They can shove whatever nonsense they got themselves into right up their royal asses. Wren stays safe.”

“Is that your decision?”

“This is our body. She does not know what they are capable of. I do.”

Wren glanced up towards the sky that was now completely gray. The grasses were nearly leeched of color and the pond was no longer the vivid blue that had glittered in the sunlight.

“The world needs you to help us.” Burke tried once more and was just as easily dismissed.

“It’s a shame really,” the creature murmured. “She so enjoys sitting by this pond. She’s never seen anything as green as this or a place as beautiful. I have so many memories like this to share with her, but this one was ruined.”

“Ruined?” Burke couldn’t help but ask. The voice that came out of her mouth was unnerving yet captivating.

“Cutting it short will hurt her. She’ll be exhausted tomorrow.”

“Why? Why are you hurting her?”

“It wasn’t my choice. You rushed the process, and now you need to go.” White eyes turned to stare at him again, but this time they blinked. The blink was slow, as though there was no need for it to blink, but it did so to make him uncomfortable.

“I need to