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

the red wasn’t splotchy. But then it happened. Her lips in the reflection didn’t move.

Instead, a slow smile spread across the lips reflected back at her. She nearly dropped the knife but couldn’t keep her eyes from staring at the nightmare manifesting before her.

“Lyra.” The lips were whispering to her now. “Lyra.”

“Has it truly been that long already?” she whispered back.

“Lyra, you owe us.”

“I owe one person.” Her voice deepened with severity. “I do not owe multiple.”

“Your debt is due.”

“I have time.”

“You have no time.”

“I refuse,” she whispered in a shaking voice. But even she knew that the likelihood was that she was doomed. A debt had to be paid, especially when her contract was held by one of the Lords.

A shiver went down her spine as those lips simply smiled again. She knew that her own face wasn’t making those movements. She could feel the frown that marred her usually beautiful expression.

If her debt was truly up then she was in a lot more trouble than she had originally imagined. She was going to have to hide or run. Fat lot of good it would do her, but she could figure it out. The last thing she wanted to do was put her own team at risk.

The hand that held the knife shook. She didn’t want to admit any weakness to this apparition that had likely been formed through a curse. Her pride demanded that she remain strong and wait for her own reflection to return.

“Why the frown?” The deep voice cut through her concentration. The knife slipped from her grasp and clattered to the table.

The other patrons jumped at the sound. Lyra almost flinched at the angry glare the waitress burned into her. The plate on the table had cracked when the heavy silver had struck it. Just her luck really.

“Shit,” she muttered. Her hands were still shaking. When had her hands started shaking so badly?

Perhaps it was when she realized that her life had just been cut short. She had thought she would be ready to handle the reality of her situation. Apparently not. Lyra grit her teeth and tucked her twitching fingers into her lap.

Wolfgang sat down in front of her slowly. The worried expression on his face was not what she had expected to see. After the shit he had pulled in the cafe, she had fully expected him to be difficult.

“You alright?” he asked her.

“Yes.”

“Let me see your hands.”

The words were so curious that he almost managed to snap her out of her fear. Almost. She shook her head. “Why do you want to see my hands?”

“Just show me.”

“You don’t seem like the hand holding type.”

“I’m not.”

She needed information out of him. This was a simple action that would appease him. There were far worse things he could ask her to do, so Lyra lifted her hands and placed them on the table palm up.

They were still shaking. Her fingers seemed to have a life of their own as she forced them to remain open and not curl into her palm. If she allowed her hands to create fists, she might strike something. The last thing she needed to do was prove to that nasty little waitress that the leather clad Siren was really as bad as she appeared.

This meeting needed to be completed sooner rather than later. Lyra wasn’t certain how long she could manage. The walls were already closing in around her.

“Satisfied?” she asked him.

He was staring at her hands as though he had never seen the appendages before. Or perhaps he was simply horrified that she was shaking. She slid her hands back under the table.

Mismatched eyes followed her movements. He knew. He had to know that there was something wrong. Again she was struck by how odd the human in front of her was. He saw too much. He understood too much to be just a Red Blood.

“Let’s get this over with.” She cleared her throat to bring his attention back to her. “You said we could trade information.”

“Yes. My employer is very curious about what you know.”

The waitress interrupted them for a moment with a new plate for Lyra. She could almost feel the anger radiating off of the other woman. The plate likely cost more than Lyra’s entire outfit. Why had she picked this place again?

Hell if she knew.

“Your employer.” She nodded. “The Graverobber. I have a few questions about him as well.”

“Understood. For that information you will tell me all you know about Malachi.”

She could almost hear the crickets chirping in her brain. Or maybe that was the moth whispering in her ear as it shifted. She could hear her team murmuring but chose to ignore whatever they had to say.

“You know Malachi?” she asked him.

“Not personally, I have not had the pleasure.”

“It is no pleasure.” She spat the words at him. “That monster needs to be destroyed.”

“Is that so? I believe the Graverobber would rather make that decision on his own.”

Wolfgang leaned back in his chair as though he owned the place. He wore a black shirt today. No less fine than any of the others she had seen on his body. Silver buttons danced down the long curve of his chest and disappeared into the waistband of wonderfully tight pants. Lyra’s eyes caught on a sparkling earring in his left ear.

“I hadn’t imagined you to be the kind of man who wore jewelry.”

His hand lifted to touch his ear. “I’m open to new things.”

“The Graverobber would be a fool if he sided with Malachi.”

“I didn’t say anything about siding with Malachi.”

“I know his kind.” Her teeth grit so hard she could hear the grinding. “Malachi is looking for the most powerful creatures he can find. The Lords are the obvious choice, and the Graverobber is one of the most feared Lords.”

“Is that so?” If she didn’t know better, she would say Wolfgang looked almost proud of her words. “He will be pleased to know that his name has spread so far.”

“You said you were a