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

Humans will rebuild this dimension, and eventually we will be nothing more than myth.”

Wolfgang rubbed a rune at his wrist. “Does that include me?”

He had returned to his human form. Lydia’s magic could draw him back, although she listened to his mind and was amused to find he thought it was still only Lyra. Their bond was impressively strong.

“Yes, even you,” she said. “Magicians are much weaker without natural magic to fuel their power. You could likely continue small magics, but your power would fade drastically.”

“And our creatures?” Mercy asked. Ignes sat on her shoulder, smoldering with anger. “What of them?”

“They will die.”

Their reaction was visceral. So much anger and rage washed over her that they felt like a storm.

Lydia smiled. “There is another choice.”

“Then tell us!” Jasper growled. “We’re not going to kill our creatures!”

“The only other choice is for the Gods to remain. Pitch and I will not continue to be your Gods, frankly because I am tired. He has been fighting for you and your people for thousands of years. We both deserve our rest. Therefore, the responsibility falls upon you.”

They all blinked at her.

Lyra was the first to blurt out, “What?”

“I chose you all because you are the embodiment of what Gods and Goddesses should be. Knowledge, compassion, honor.” She turned her head, meeting Pitch’s gaze. “Free Will.”

“I’m not part of this crazy plan,” he said.

“You are. You always have been, and I’m supposed to leave you here with them. It was the only future I could see where everything worked out in the end.”

“You’re asking me to let you go again.”

“I’m asking you to save their lives, because that is what we’ve worked so hard for.”

He brushed his fingers through her hair. “I can’t lose everything again.”

“Neither can I,” she whispered through tears. “It is their decision. I leave this choice with people I trust to make a judgment with thoughts of their world and people in the forefront of their mind. But I can’t leave you. I can’t do it, no matter that I should.”

A tear slid down her cheek, caught by his thumb. “I would never let you, anyway.”

Lydia took a shuddering breath and turned to the others. “I chose you, Wren, because knowledge is important. Without knowledge, we lose everything we are. You are tempered by the creativity of a dreaming mind, and a lover who will always test fact against what could be.”

She pointed to Wolfgang. “Although you have walled off your world, your compassion for your people has always defined who you are. Lyra will always make certain that the people are worthy of your trust, and if they are not, then she will turn your opinion from them. You will keep your people safe whether those numbers are in the hundreds or the thousands.

“And Mercy. My dear, sweet Mercy. I have wronged you in so many ways, and still you hold tight to your steadfast ways. You are honorable, and the justice of this group. But justice can be blind, and the natural kindness and forgiveness of Jasper will ensure you never condemn someone without reason.”

She squeezed Pitch’s hand. “Pitch, my phantom, you were always meant to be their guide. Their light in the darkness and their path home. But I cannot let you go. So if you choose this path, to become the Gods of your people and guide them to a better future, you will do so on your own.”

Lyra flinched. “You’re just going to leave us with divine powers and let us run wild? What if we don’t know what to do?”

“We won’t be far. We can answer your questions, but I think you will have very little of them. As I have personally learned, powers such as this come with memories of their own. It’s not a third voice, it’s not another creature, it’s something else entirely. A knowledge, an understanding you never would have had before.”

They turned to each other, their murmuring voices hiding their words. In a way, she was grateful for it. Lydia was so tired. Her bones ached. Her eyes drifted shut, and she wanted nothing more than to rest.

She didn’t think it was even sleep she craved although that also sounded agreeable. For the last two hundred years in this body, and for thousands of years before that, she had fought to reach this moment in time. Now that she was here, she wanted it to be over with.

And in the same breath, she didn’t want it to end. This was her reason for being. What would she be without it? Just a woman? Just a lover of a nightmarish man who would have to find his way as well?

“We have to do it,” Wren’s voice rose. “I’m not willing to lose E, and I don’t think any of you are willing to lose your creatures either.”

“Easy for you to say,” Lyra responded. “I don’t have a creature, neither does Wolfgang. This doesn’t include us, and I think I speak for everyone when I say no one wants me as a Goddess.”

“You are mine,” the tattooed man beside her responded.

“Shut up,” Lyra growled. “You’re not helping.”

“I’m not losing Ignes,” Mercy said. “I’m with Wren. I’ll take being a Goddess over anything else. And I’ll fight every one of you to the death if I have to.”

“No one is fighting,” Burke muttered while rubbing his forehead. “We won't argue over it either. We have to come to some kind of decision.”

“We’re going to say yes.”

“We’re going to kick the Gods out!”

Two sides were clearly forming. Anger and fear ran hot beneath their skin, but Lydia was not frightened.

She leaned and whispered in Pitch’s ear, “Wolfgang doesn’t mind the idea of becoming a God. It frightens him, but he fears seeing this world without magic more. He doesn’t remember a time when technology was king. This is an evil he knows.”

Wolfgang stood and repeated her words.

“Lyra wants to argue, but she won’t. If Wolfgang agrees then she will as well. Jasper