Red Blood (Series of Blood Book 2) Emma Hamm (the beginning after the end read novel .TXT) 📖

Together, they planned to prevent the inevitable end of their lives and everyone else’s. Unfortunately, saving the world rarely seemed to go as smoothly as possible.

Lyra was usually caught narrating all the proceedings in her head. She liked to make Aether laugh. The tiniest of the Five represented the Wind and appeared in all aspects to be the embodiment of it. Aether could read minds, and Lyra knew that she was always poking around in other people’s heads.

Narrating the meetings dramatically was the best she could do to entertain herself. It also kept her more personal thoughts out of Aether’s grasp. Lyra liked her secrets to be kept to herself.

“We should be more concerned with finding the next person in the prophecy.” Wren spoke up for the first time in this meeting. She was usually rather quiet and chose to listen to what everyone else was saying. It fit the creature inside her very well to listen rather than to speak.

“We have been looking for them.” Burke said with a soft smile.

“You have been looking for them while insisting I get my rest.” She arched an eyebrow at him.

“This is why couples shouldn’t be on the council together.” Lyra’s quip was said while staring at her bright red nails.

“The council? So that’s what we’re calling it now?” Burke asked.

“Absolutely.”

“It’s not a council.” Burke rolled his eyes. “We’re soldiers. Not politicians.”

“You’re right. You aren’t smart enough to be a politician.” She finally looked up. “I vote we find someone more intelligent to replace the weak link.”

“Lyra.” Aether was laughing in the corner. “Really. We’re trying to pay attention.”

“I am paying attention.”

“Shouldn’t you listen to me? I did find Wren all on my own. Maybe you need my help,” Burke said while waggling his eyebrows at Lyra.

“No, you’re the last person I need help from.” She stacked her hands in the air one by one until she reached as far as her arm could. “Everyone else on the planet is up here.” She shifted the hand that was on the table. “This is you.”

He smirked. “Does that make you by the floor? Considering you have had...” he pinched his fingers together, “this much luck.”

“Oh no, I’m not on this scale. There’s a special way to measure how important I am.”

The feral grin on her face warned him not to push her. Lyra was not only unpredictable, but she was also known for having a short fuse and a nasty bite. Even towards those she loved. Both of these qualities were strange for a woman with a Siren inside of her.

Considering that Lyra was part of this elite group and could hold her own against any creature they had found so far, the others were rather baffled by her. Her own family had been baffled. She wasn’t surprised by their stunned silences as they knew she wasn’t a “normal” woman.

No one should ever dare to call her that.

Lyra flicked her hair over her shoulder. “Who even remembers the prophecy part we’re supposed to be looking for anyway?”

“There are three more parts. And you should know all of them; it’s your job,” Gaia, the first of the Five who was considered the embodiment of Mother Earth, responded.

“God, you expect me to do all the work,” she muttered. “Someone give me a piece of the prophecy to figure out, or I’m going to go insane.”

Wren stirred from her corner of the table. They all watched as her eyes flipped back in her head, and a milky white gaze stared back at them. Lyra would never get used to that. E seriously creeped her out.

The voice that came out of the tiny Bohemian woman was not quite human. “Beneath the ground is the creature who protects. Carved and scarred by all it detests.”

“Wow. So clear,” Lyra muttered.

“Prophecies rarely are. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be difficult to complete,” Aether murmured.

“Well isn’t that just lovely. And here I was thinking saving the world would be easy.”

A hand on her knee stilled her from speaking her mind further. The palm of the hand was nearly as large as her head. Jasper. It was always Jasper.

“Easy there, small fry.” He nodded his head. “There’s a few people in these parts that meet that description. None of them are good as far as I know.”

“Speak, Jasper.” Gaia nodded for him to continue.

“We have always considered that there may be a chance for someone in this prophecy to be inside the Black Market.” His eyes lingered upon everyone seated at the table. “There are more captives there than we can imagine. Rare creatures that would be worth looking into.”

“Rare, yes. But not worthy of a prophecy. Those creatures are lost to this world. If they fit the description they wouldn’t be capable of handling the job,” Lyra clarified. “It’s a wasted cause.”

“We don’t know that for certain.”

“Yes, we do.” A haunted expression crossed her face before she shook her head firmly. “It’s a waste. If there’s anyone strong enough to take on Malachi in that place then you need to look to the Lords.”

Jasper winced.

“The Lords?” Wren asked.

“They’re the people who run the Black Market. They’re all extremely powerful, either in magic or influence. They make the deals. They hold the contracts.”

She didn’t like the calculating look Burke was giving her. Lyra knew that expression all too well, and it made a burst of anger chill her blood. She lifted a hand to point at him. “You stay out of it. You know damn well I’m not going to answer that question.”

One of his brows arched, but he nodded.

Gaia cleared her throat. “Then where shall we look if we are to cast our nets into the Black Market?”

“Nowhere.”

“There is always somewhere.”

“Not in that place. You want answers? You have to make a deal. And you don’t want to be making any deals with the Lords.”

“Why not?”

Lyra’s throat closed. She shook her head firmly and tried to look as though she was fierce but was terrified that they would know. The words wouldn’t come