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

chair, and his expression smoothed into nothing. She knew exactly what that meant. He had completely shut down from this conversation.

Wren gave her hand a squeeze and moved to sit back with Burke.

“Care to explain?” Gaia asked.

“When I was younger, I signed a contract with one of the Lords of the Black Market. In return for all the magical abilities my species might have been able to control, I offered my life. My contract has ended.”

“The mirrors,” Jasper murmured. “That’s why all the mirrors in your room are shattered.”

“You were in my room?”

“I didn’t know where you were.”

“You invaded my privacy! You aren’t allowed in my room without my permission!” She shouted.

“I am if none of us know where you are sneaking off to at night,” he growled.

“No, you aren’t!”

Jasper slammed his fists against the coffee table. She had not seen him so angry in a very long time. “You are putting yourself in danger knowingly. Without any of us to protect you. I think it’s perfectly acceptable for me to attempt to save you from yourself.”

“I can take care of myself!”

“Obviously you can’t!”

They glared at each other. Drips of water leaked out of Lyra’s ears and soaked the neckline of her shirt. She was angry, but damn it, he was right. She obviously wasn’t capable of taking care of herself if she sold her very soul to a devil.

She wouldn’t have him breaking into her room. She wouldn’t have him knowing that she had shattered every reflective surface in her apartment in hopes that she could rid Bones from her life. These were her problems and her flaws. Not Jasper’s.

“You are not my mother,” she spat at him.

“No, I am not. I am not your blood either although you seem to forget that so easily.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You know damn well what I’m saying to you!”

The worst part was that she didn’t. He wasn’t making any sense to her, or she wasn’t allowing herself to understand what he was hinting at. She didn’t have time to argue with him right now. She had to explain to the team what this meant.

Lyra glanced around and made eye contact with the others. “Wolfgang has said he may be able to help. But if I cannot get out of this contract, I will no longer be able to help you.”

“Wolfgang?” Jasper snorted and leaned back in his chair. His crossed arms and his arched eyebrow made her wonder if he was attempting to goad her into another fight. “You’re on a first name basis with the monster?”

“He’s not a monster,” she answered between gritted teeth.

“Really? That’s not what the rumors say.”

“Anyone will embellish rumors into what they want.”

“I don’t think you know this man as well as you think you do.”

She clenched the arms of her chair to stop herself from throwing punches. “You don’t know him at all. You have no right to say anything like that.”

The words shot out of her mouth like arrows. Anger made her foolish until she suddenly froze. Electricity danced upon her arms. Her hair shifted as it stood up on end. He was here. Of course he was here.

She turned, expecting to see an orb like she had seen at the lake. But instead, she saw the shadows at the edge of the room shifting. That too was familiar.

The shadows became sticky as they attempted to hold onto the two people that stepped out of them. First was Pitch who acted as though this was nothing surprising or new for him. He had not changed clothing since the last time she had seen him, and her eyes lingered upon the exposed muscles of his chest.

Until she saw movement from behind him. The knot in her stomach eased as Wolfgang stepped out of the shadows covered by his robe. Blue light, which suggested he was already angered, glowed from the tips of his fingers.

How much of that conversation had he heard? Probably more than he should have, considering the hood of his robe immediately turned to look towards Jasper. She didn’t need to see what would happen if the two of them got into a jealous fit.

She hopped to her feet and quickly made her way to his side. The shadows slid back to their corner although one remained stuck to Pitch’s elbow until he shook it free.

“I thought you wouldn’t come to see the Five?” she asked Wolfgang.

“I wasn’t given much choice.”

This close, she could see through the shield of runes and darkness masking his features. He was glaring at Pitch with a heat she remembered all too well. He wore the same expression he had when the Banshee had bumped into her. He wasn’t about to fly off the handle when she needed him to remain calm. Light danced upon his hands and grew until it lit the area between them.

She reached underneath the robe to place her hand inside of his. The electricity sparked stronger between them, but she held fast to his bony fingers.

“Wolfgang,” she whispered. The others didn’t need to know she was reprimanding him.

He did not stop the quiet spell immediately. She felt a burning sensation on her hand and winced. Yet another scar and this one not so easily hidden.

His mismatched eyes missed very little. Suspicious, his gaze locked upon hers. “Why?”

The quiet murmur would have confused others. But she knew he was asking why she had winced. With her thumb, she stroked the top of his hand. This was not a conversation she would have with him now.

“Because.”

“You are hiding something from me.”

“I don’t think it is important right now.”

His troubled gaze danced over her features. He wouldn’t argue with her in front of the others; he was too prideful for that. This was not her Wolfgang. This was the Graverobber. But Lyra knew he was telling her it was important to him.

“Later.” She shook her head. “For now, you have to meet the Five.”

He pursed his lips but shifted her to stand beside him rather than