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

Lyra was going to argue. She was going to tell him off and say that she had grown. She had grown teeth and claws that could rip and bite into him. Wolfgang’s hand on her knee steadied her.

Details had always been Bones’s strength. His eyes narrowed in on that smallest touch and suddenly his entire demeanor changed. He shifted forward. His expression turned hawk like as he surveyed the two of them.

“Wolfgang,” Bones growled.

It was not a question. It was a demand for an explanation of what he plainly saw in front of him. Lyra would have to remind Bones that he was not her father.

Not that her father would react very well to seeing her. He was more likely to fly off the handle and start a screaming match with her irate mother. They would fall to pieces to see that she was fraternizing with someone who wasn’t even a magical creature. He was entirely human.

“Malachi is going to attack my section of the Black Market,” Wolfgang told him.

A small frown creased between Bones’ eyes. “Excuse me? He wouldn’t dare.”

“Apparently he would. He has already explicitly told me his intent to do so.”

“Then I will fight with you.”

“I already consulted with the cards to see what we will be dealing with. It is not something I would ask anyone to fight against. He is a Void.”

Bones leaned over to pour another glass of scotch. He did not put ice in this glass. “Of course he’s a Void. No other creature would have been so ballsy as to threaten all four of the Lords.”

“I intend to fight him.”

“Alone? Now who has the balls in this room?”

“With Lyra.”

“She’s a good fighter, but she’s not that good.”

Lyra blew out an angry breath and waved her hands. “She is in the room.”

“Apologies.” Wolfgang squeezed her knee. “We do not mean to speak as if you are not here.”

“Sure you don’t,” she grumbled.

He squeezed her again. “When Lyra touches me, I capable of more magic than I have ever been able to do.”

“So she is a Spark then?” Bones nodded sagely.

“Oh don’t nod your head like you knew that all along!” Lyra shot to her feet. “With the two of you talking in another language, I don’t even need to be here.”

“We don’t mean to not include you, Lyra.” Wolfgang tried to comfort her.

“I don’t care. I’m tired of this. Bones, turn Wolfgang into a Lich.”

Bones stared at her as though she had grown a third head. Wolfgang stared at her as though she had stepped on something foul.

“You want me to what?” Bones asked the question and then immediately drank another glass of scotch.

“Lich. Make it happen.”

“We already tried that once.” Bones leveled a serious gaze at her. “It did not work. Obviously, Wolfgang is not a Lich. The spell failed.”

Wolfgang interrupted them. “Because we didn’t have her. I did not have enough power to become the Lich. Now I do.”

“If you do this, Wolfgang. You will not be able to come back.”

“Perhaps not. But I will save the lives of my people.”

“You might kill them instead.” Bones turned to stare at Wolfgang with those serious eyes Lyra so hated. “You might decide your army does not have enough fresh soldiers. There is no controlling a Lich King.”

“That’s where I come in,” Lyra said. “He thinks I can do it.”

“Do you now?”

Bones leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers before them. She hadn’t noticed how perfectly manicured his hands were. That wasn’t among the many new memories she was discovering. He had always had strong hands. Sturdy hands that were constantly working. These were not the hands she remembered.

“You’re getting older, aren’t you?” she asked with a smile. It was the strangest question she had asked all night. But she was suddenly feeling sentimental that the strong man she remembered was starting to slow down.

“Yes, I am. And I’m too old to be dealing with this foolishness.”

He stood up slowly and planted his hands on his hips. He stared down at the two of them with a severe expression she could not read. Lyra was almost saddened that he wasn’t the man she remembered.

It was so easy to think that they were all immortal. The creatures inside of them usually were. So the idea that Bones would slowly age had never occurred to her. He would always be the strange and magical man who saved her on a street and offered her another option.

He would always be the man who stole her freedom with a signature that had meant nothing to her at the time. But now she saw him in a different light. Maybe he was losing his edge, but she had a feeling that she was now seeing him through an adult’s eyes.

“If you two are so set on this, we’ll go in the back. I don’t want the spell to go wrong and ruin my house,” Bones said gruffly as he turned to walk away from them.

It gave Wolfgang and Lyra precious moments alone. He stood up to follow the dark skinned man, but she snagged his sleeve before he could get too far. Slowly, she reeled him in.

“You’re sure about this?” she asked him.

“It’s the only way,” he murmured as he pulled her into a hug.

She settled against his chest and tried to ignore the ribs that dug at her. He had never really been hers after all. She shared him with death itself.

A hum of power sent electricity dancing upon her skin. “Wolfgang, shouldn’t you be saving that magic for what we’re about to do?”

“I can spare a bit of it.”

He shifted her backwards to offer her a blooming glass rose. The edges were lit with the vibrant blue color of his magic.

“Thank you,” she said as she took it in her hand.

“To apologize for the one I destroyed.”

“Black Magic?”

He shook his head and pressed his thin lips against her forehead. “A little bit of Green.”

The rose was unusually