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

were with me at Haven. And when you slipped through my fingertips through that portal I felt as though it was the end of all I knew. You don’t complete me, Wren. You are me.” He moved forward again. This time, she stayed put. “Everything I am is because of you. I was created for you and for this exact moment.”

Now that his soul was bared, there was only so much else he could do. Burke froze where he was and waited. He waited for her to make her decision. He waited for her to love him back. He waited for the answer to the question she was.

Wren stepped forward. She reached out a hand to touch him, and he wanted nothing more than to feel her fingers upon his skin. But just before her fingers brushed against him, a wind blew her fingers into oblivion.

He watched with rapt attention as the smoke that made up her hand disintegrated before him. The expression on her face crumbled as she withdrew into herself.

“You should go,” she whispered.

“I’m not leaving you. Wren-”

She flinched back from him again. One foot hovered above the edge of the cliff. That too disappeared as a wind blew past them once more.

“Jiminy, please.”

But he didn’t know if she was begging him to leave, or if she was begging him to stay. He took a chance and hoped that it was the latter. He stepped closer and raised his hand to reach inside the hood of her cloak.

Against his fingers, she felt warm. The smoke parted in billows from the weight of his hand. Pink stained cheeks were revealed as he pressed his calloused palm against her. His hand guided her towards him until they were nearly touching.

“Please what?”

She tilted her head until the hood fell onto her shoulders. He leaned down and blew against her mouth. The smoke disappeared and left soft lips in its place. White tendrils of smoke were her hair, but they remained as the wind around them started to buffet at their bodies.

“Please don’t let me go.”

Wren raised up onto her tiptoes and crushed her mouth to his. He inhaled her beloved scent, and the wildness that made up her body. She was the earth and the air. A storm that raged around his heart and swept him into her currents.

Both his hands tangled into silk strands of hair that now existed. His arms encircled the black cloak, and he willed her into existence. As his lips and tongue tangled with hers, she became whole again.

“You’re going to have to trust me eventually,” he whispered against her.

“Never.”

“Yes you will.”

“You sound so certain.” She chuckled as they leaned just far enough away from each other to breathe.

“I am.”

“Cocky.”

“I’m not letting you out of my sight for a good while,” he muttered. “You’ve given me enough of a fright. No more adventuring.”

“Adventuring every day. Heart attacks for you whenever I can manage them.” She interrupted herself to press against him. “Don’t worry.”

“I will,” he grumbled.

“I can save myself.”

He certainly knew that. She had managed to save herself more times than he had. But this time he was going to be the one that brought her home.

Her fingers tangled around the vial at his throat. He watched as her eyes grew large. “Is this?”

“You know what it is too?”

“E always showed me what the elixir of life looked like,” she spoke with awe. “But I never thought there was any left.”

He let her lift the cord off of his neck and hold the vial in front of her. Within seconds, the wind suddenly stopped. Calm, sweet smelling air was the only thing between the two of them now. That and the glinting bottle that held the finest silver powder he had ever seen.

Clarity had returned to Wren’s eyes. He could see the parts of her he loved now. She wasn’t muttering or rambling. Burke selfishly wanted to think that it was because he was close to her now. Even in her madness, Wren had recognized him.

“Is this for me?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“You think it’ll work?”

“I don’t know.” He shrugged.

She didn’t know anymore about it than he did. Burke’s hand flexed against her back as she uncorked the bottle. A fine silver dust rose from inside the bottle. Just as she was about to tip it back, he closed his hands over hers.

“Let me do it.”

“Why?” She gave him a curious look.

“Because I haven’t managed to save you once, controlling woman. Let me do it just once.”

“So you can take it to the grave with you?”

“Excuse me?”

“I saved the damsel at least once in my life.”

The sparkle in her eyes was one that he recognized. He leaned forward to press his forehead against hers and growled. “Insufferable is now added to the list.”

“List?”

“Of words I use to describe you. Insufferable. Headstrong. Foolish. Wandering.”

“Beautiful. Intelligent. Strong.” She shook her head at him. “Can we go home now?”

“I thought you’d never ask.”

Together, they tilted the vial backwards so that she could inhale the fine powder. The pieces of her that hadn’t been quite right snapped back into place. From her chest and arms, black flecks of ash fluttered to the ground.

Pieces of E. He realized with awe. Those pieces were the ones that were holding her together so that her mind didn’t shatter entirely.

“I’m going to have to thank E for keeping you together for me,”he muttered.

“E?” she asked.

“Right here, darling.”

They both turned to look at the creature that was using the shadow of the cliff to form itself. Faceless and shapeless, E remained an indistinguishable humanlike shape. But when it opened its arms, Wren flew into them.

It could hold onto her. Burke shifted backwards uncomfortably as he realized this was the first time Wren and E had ever been able to touch each other. He felt like an intruder in this moment that was obviously so sacred between the two of them.

There was a significant difference between speaking every day and being able to touch. These two souls had