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

“Why?”

“He is the Lich King now.”

“Why does that change who he is?”

Bones stood before her and took her injured hand in his own. “Because he has no soul. For many years, he thought he did not have a soul at all. He took on the persona of an angry man who was dangerous and unpredictable. But underneath all of that blustering a good man remained.”

He covered her milky pale hand with his own. The warmth of his skin sank into her like the delicious sensation of a ray of sunshine. He squeezed for comfort while remaining gentle.

“And now?” She forced herself to ask.

“Without a soul, he may lose all that goodness. It will be difficult to bring him back. It will be difficult to see any of the man he once was.”

“And will he always be…” she stumbled over the words, “as he is now?”

“A skeleton?”

She nodded.

“I do not rightly know the answer to that.” Bones sadly smiled. “There are so few recollections of a Lich King. We are walking in uncharted territory.”

“I’m frightened of him.”

“You would be a fool if you were not.”

Lyra bit her lip and looked away so the tears did not fall. “A good friend told me the same thing once. I said I refused to be afraid of him.”

He let go of her hands. “Then you should remain unafraid.”

“I don’t know if I can do that.”

The words broke as they tumbled from her tongue. Her mouth felt dry and her body exhausted. A battle? Now? She did not think she could fight when she was bleeding from her own soul.

“Call Jasper.” Bones nudged her. “He’ll know what to say.”

“You remember Jasper?”

“Hard to forget the big man.”

Bones turned to walk away from her. She stood alone in the center of his back room where all her troubles had begun. Alone, as she had been the first time she had been brought here.

“Bones?” Lyra called. Pitch’s words rang loud in her ears like the gong of a bell.

“Yes?”

“Can I break our contract?”

“Why?”

She smiled because she recognized the patronizing tone from countless hours of training. “I am happy in my life, and I do not wish to live here.”

“What will you give me in return?”

“I will visit, for a start. Holidays if you wish. And I will help with any angry girls you find on the streets who ask for impossible things.”

She heard Bones’ snort of laughter. “Then consider the contract broken. I expect to see you soon! I did not train you so well for nothing.”

“Wait,” she could hardly believe it. “Really?”

He leaned against the door jam and crossed his legs at his ankles. “Why do you think I make contracts, Lyra?”

“Wolfgang says it’s because you have an usual way of protecting people.”

“But why do you think I do it?”

She paused to give his words thought. She had always thought it was because he was a twisted man. Now, she was not so sure.

Lyra found she did not have an answer. So she merely shrugged.

“Ah,” Bones nodded. “I found you on the streets with a man who would have likely changed your life for the worse. You were weak. You were hungry. And, more than anything else, you were alone.

“I wanted to give you a life you could be proud of. That is all I want from any of my contracts. You are one of the rare ones who found your life without me.” He chuckled and pushed himself away from the door. “If you want to break the contract you can. There’s no clause that says you can only have the happiness I provide. Congratulations, Lyra. You grew up better than I had expected.”

With that said, he walked back up the stairs and into his home.

The smile that stretched across her face was a quiet kind of smile. She hadn’t felt this way in a very long time. Strange that she would feel such acceptance and peace while feeling overwhelmed and lost.

She knew why Bones had managed to reassure her. No matter what, she knew she had a home here. And though she was embarrassed to say she had hated him for a very long time, she now wondered if he was a bad man at all. She was intrigued to find out the answer to her thoughts.

In her pocket was a very small stone that she could use to contact Jasper. He had the twin, which would heat up until he answered. They had used these two enchanted stones for nearly their entire lives to speak with each other.

Now it felt like a weight in her pocket. She had chosen Jasper over Wolfgang, and she was certain why. She had decided to love Wolfgang. He was a selfless man who made her pretty things.

But he was also more than that. He loved her because of her flaws, not in spite of them. She had many flaws.

Jasper had done the same thing, and she loved Jasper. Not in the way she loved Wolfgang. Lyra found herself confused. Now that Wolfgang was this other creature, she wanted to go back to Jasper. To curl up in his brotherly arms and to tell him to hide her again.

It was all very confusing. She couldn’t process these thoughts while trying to prepare herself for a battle they had to win.

A battle with Malachi who frightened her more than Wolfgang. She didn’t want her friends to be injured protecting the man she loved. Or what was left of him at least.

Her mind swirled with frantic thoughts and terrible endings. She had no control over this situation. She dearly loved control. To not have it made her feel as though she were bobbing in an ocean with no land in sight.

For a Siren that shouldn’t have been a frightening feeling. But Lyra had never been to the sea. She didn’t know what to expect.

Her thumb rubbed the stone. It heated against her palm as she drew it out of her pocket and whispered against its